University Libraries

Hardin Library is currently hosting the exhibit, From DNA to Beer: Harnessing Nature in Medicine and Industry.  This exhibition was developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

From DNA to Beer explores the processes, problems, and potential inherent in technologies that use life.  The National Library of Medicine’s description of the exhibit explains:

Microbes—tiny organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye have altered human history. Life forms such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds can cause sickness or restore health, and help produce foods and beverages. Scientists, in partnership with industry, have developed techniques to harness the powers of these microbes. In recent years, headline-grabbing technologies have used genetically modified bacteria to manufacture new medicines.

The exhibit is located on Hardin Library’s 3rd floor, and will be on display through June 15, 2014.  More information about the exhibit is available from NLM at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/fromdnatobeer.

Head Qurs., 129th Regt. Ills. Vol. Infty.
Pleasant Grove near Ringold, Tenn. [sic], May 4th 1864
My Dear Wife

Yours of the 25th March [sic] I recd. at Gordon’s Mill.¹ We left that place at 9 o clock A.M. and arrived here at 4 P.M., 15 miles.² We are now at the foot of Taylor’s Ridge, 2 1/2 miles from Ringold, about 10 miles from Tunnel Hill, and from 15 to 20 miles from Dalton. One column is moving by Ringold, Tunnel Hill, and Buzzard Roost; another from Cleveland, and ours, making in all three columns.³ We are close on the enemy’s lines. The weather is warm but pleasant during the day and quite cool at night.

Plattenburg has not yet returned, & I am still acting Adgt. & get to ride. [Captain] Hoskins was last night detailed to act as Major until further orders and is also mounted. [Lieutenant] Smith is in command of the Company. Chris [Yetter] was sick last night but is quite well to-night. Bart Allen is better.

I would like very much to give you a full history of our movements, but it is unsafe. The capture of a mail would furnish too much information.

I am happy to hear that you are making such good progress in music. Learn “Fairy Bell” and “Laurina” for me; I shall be happy to hear it when I return. Do not allow yourself to feel the least uneasy about us. We never felt in better spirits. All will be well.

I hope your effort at gardening may prove more successful than my last one. Have any of the Grape lived? And the roses should be in bloom.

We are so far in the field that I fear that there will be no pay forthcoming until the close of the Campaign. No pay since Dec. 31st. We can easily get along here. If you get short, call on Remick or Henry [Greenebaum], either of them will advance all you need.

Give my love to all. Tell Henry and Russell and all the rest I will write as soon as paper becomes more plentiful; our transportation is too limited. We have plenty of meat and hard bread & get along finely.

May God bless and keep you in health and happiness. Live in hope “God doeth all things well.” Kiss Mother [Murphy] for me and Maggie. Remember me kindly to all. May Holy Angels guard thee. With much love, I remain,

Your Affectionate Husband
J. F. Culver

1. The subject letter is missing from the Culver Collection.
2. The division had struck its tents and moved out at an early hour. Butterfield’s orders were to take position near Pleasant Grove Church, with his left in contact with Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis’ division. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. IV, p. 29.
3. Maj. Gen. John Palmer’s XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, had marched from Graysville on the road paralleling the Western & Atlantic Railroad, and by the 4th had occupied Ringgold, Ga. General Howard’s IV Corps, advancing on Palmer’s left, had left Cleveland, Tenn., on the 3d, and reached Catoosa Springs on May 4. Hooker’s XX Corps constituted the Army of the Cumberland’s right. General Schofield’s Army of the Ohio had followed Howard’s corps south from Cleveland and was camped in and around Red Clay. General McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee was being concentrated at Chattanooga, preparatory to following the route pioneered by Hooker’s columns. Ibid., pp. 25-33.

PubMed is the National Library of Medicine’s index to medical literature and includes over 22 million bibliographic citations in life sciences. This one-hour session will show you how to improve your search results by using subject headings (MeSH) and advanced keyword searching techniques.

This session is hands-on and free for UI students and affiliates. There will be time for questions at the end.

Our next session is:

Tuesday, May 6, 9-10 am

Location: Hardin Library for the Health Sciences (EAST Information Commons classroom)

Register today or check out our quick tutorial to learn the basics of using PubMed.

Need help? Contact us at lib-hardin@uiowa.edu or by calling (319) 335-9151.

Hd. Qurs., 129th Ills. Vols.
Gordon’s Mill, May 3d 1864¹
My Dear Wife

The mail will leave here for Chattanooga this evening. Rumor says that no mail goes North of Nashville now, but I will write anyhow.

Yours of April 28th came to hand last night.² You do not say that you are well, but I feel assured that you are else you would have told me. I grant that 20 days’ Leave of Absence would have been very acceptable, but I am not so fortunate. I think at the close of this Campaign, if my life is spared, I shall surely get home. It is possible that “August” with its trials may be over and I hope abundantly blessed.³

Allen Fellows is well and doing well.⁴ I am sorry to hear of Bro. Johnson’s continued ill health. We recd. the “Louisville dailies” regularly at Wauhatchie. I have seen no papers here yet, but they will soon come along. Haldeman has not been heard from for a long time.⁵ I am surprised to hear of Harry McDowell’s intention to resign.⁶ I have had no opportunity to answer his letter.

We have but little paper with us, and, if we are to be kept in the field in this way, I fear I shall soon have to stop writing for want of paper. I cannot spare any to write to anyone except my Wife, so all my letters must remain unanswered. Write to Mother [Culver] often. Tell her that I have to carry all the paper and envelopes for the campaign in a haversack and the supply is very limited.

I wrote to you yesterday from Lieut. Donaldson’s tent;⁷ his Brigade left this morning for Ringold. We will probably stay here a few days. We are just notified that a train leaves in an hour, & the mail must be sent in immediately.

Chris [Yetter] is sick lying on my bed; he is not bad and will be all right as soon as he is rested. Bart Allen is very sick. Co. “A” were sent out on Picket last night after the march.

We have a very pleasant camp. It was very cold last night, and we had a heavy frost. It is quite cool to-day. This climate is unaccountable, the nights are very cold and the days hot.

I hope to get another letter by the wagon train to-morrow. The nearest place to Rail Road here is Ringold, 8 miles. This is the first time we have been off the Rail Road since we left Bowling Green. “Buzzard’s Roost,” a Rebel stronghold, is 10 miles front of us. There are about 35,000 troops there.⁸

I must close for the mail. Allen [Fellows] is setting here and wishes you to tell her [his wife] he is well and that he has not felt better since he has been in the service and where we are. May God bless you and keep you amid all your trials. I hope you may be happy. Do not allow yourself to feel uneasy about me. Trust all to God. Give my Love to all the family. I burnt all my letters before leaving Wauhatchie, as I do not much expect ever to see my trunk again. Write often, good long cheerful letters. Accept my Love and my heart’s warmest affection.

Your Husband
J. F. Culver

1. Reveille was beaten at 4 A.M. on the 2d. After roll call a “hasty breakfast” was eaten, and “the haversacks filled with bread, meat, etc. for three days.” Preparatory to taking up the march at 6:30 o’clock, the shelter tents used as roofs on the huts were taken down, rolled up, and buckled to the knapsacks. At the designated hour the regiment fell in to the beat of the drums and marched to the parade ground, where the brigade rendezvoused. General Butterfield gave the command to move out, and the 1st and 3rd Brigades, along with the division artillery, ordnance and supply trains, took up the march. Passing to the southwest of Chattanooga, the column marched through Rossville Gap and across the Chickamauga battlefield, going into camp at Gordon’s Mills. Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, pp. 53-54; O.R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXVIII, pt. IV, pp. 11-12.
2. Mary Culver’s letter of April 28 is missing from the Culver Collection.
3. Mary Culver was five months pregnant and the couple’s second child would be born in August.
4. John Allen Fellows of Pontiac was the regiment’s hospital steward.
5. John Halderman, a 30-year-old miller, was mustered into service on Sept. 8, 1862, as a sergeant in Company D, 129th Illinois Infantry. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant two days later. Lieutenant Halderman was captured at Richland, Tenn., on June 4, 1863, and sent to Libby Prison. Transferred to Camp Oglethorpe, Ga., on May 1864, he was subsequently sent to a prison camp near Columbia, S.C., where he died of fever on Nov. 15, 1864. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA.
6. Lt. W.H.H. McDowell reconsidered and served with the regiment until it was mustered out near Washington on June 8, 1865.
7. The subject letter is missing from the Culver Collection.
8. On May 2 Union cavalry had advanced, and driving Confederate outposts from Ringgold Gap, forced them back on Tunnel Hill. Camped in and around Dalton, Ga., and braced to oppose the Union advance, was General Johnston’s 44,000-man Army of Tennessee. O.R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXII, pt. II, p. 866.

Open Access to scientific literature is one of the most hotly debated topics in scholarly publishing. This workshop will provide an overview of what scientists need to know when making their research open access. We will cover the basics of what we mean by open access, how open access relates to the NIH Public Access policy, open access journals in the biomedical sciences, predatory publishing scams, and best practices for evaluating your open access options.

This session is hands-on and free for UI students and affiliates. There will be time for questions at the end.

Our next session is:

Monday, May 5, 2-3 pm

Location: Hardin Library EAST Information Commons

Register here.

Head Qurs., 129th Regt., Ills. Vols.
Wauhatchie, Tenn. May 1st 1864
My Dear Wife

I feared when I wrote this morning that I might not be able to write much to-day.¹ We are almost ready to move, and will commence the march at 6 1/2 A.M. to-morrow.² I am not allowed to tell our destination but you will hear from me before very long if the mails are not stopped. Do not allow yourself to be troubled. Trust in God. All will be well in any event.

My health is excellent. I am furnished with a horse as I am still acting Adgt. There is much that I would like to say, but I have not the time. I will endeavor to give you satisfactory accounts of all our marches whenever opportunity offers, but let me urge upon you the necessity of being contented. It is possible you may not hear from me for a month or even two months, and, though you may feel lonely, still try and be happy. May our Father in Heaven deal kindly with us.

We are 1st Brig., 3rd Division, 20th A.C. You may hear from us through the papers. Give my love to Mother [Murphy] & Maggie and Remember me kindly to all. May God in his mercy keep you and bless you, so that whether we meet again in this world or not, we may have the assurance of a Home in Heaven. Pray for me that God may sustain me by his Grace. Good bye, Dearest.

Your Affectionate Husband
J. F. Culver

1. The subject letter is missing from the Culver Collection.
2. During the morning the brigade received its long expected marching orders. Rations for three days were issued, and the officers alerted to have their men ready to take the field early on the 2d. All equipment not prescribed, including the officers’ writing desks, was stored. A final dress parade was held during the afternoon, and the troops retired early, sleeping for “the last time at the foot of grand lookout, whose peak towers high toward heaven.” Grunert, History of the 129th Illinois, p. 53.

Join us for an Evening of Irish Music and Mystery, featuring author Erin Hart and musician Paddy O’Brien. The evening will begin with traditional Irish music on the square between the Main Library and the Adler Journalism Building, followed by the author presentation and reception, and tours of the Conservation Lab and the Iowa Women’s Archives.

Hart will share how the discovery of the ninth century Fadden More Psalter inspired her latest novel. Hart worked with preservationists, conservationists, and scholars to include the book’s actual history in her story.

This event is sponsored by the University of Iowa Libraries, the UI Libraries Conservation Lab, and the Iowa Women’s Archives.

An Evening of Irish Music & Mystery
Featuring Author Erin Hart & Musician Paddy O’Brien
Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:00 PM
University of Iowa Main Library
Shambaugh Auditorium

Der literarische Expressionismus Online is a full-text database of 151 German expressionist periodicals and anthologies.

Please send additional comments to Tim Shipe.