University Libraries

Head Qurs. Co. “A”, 129th Ills, Vols.
Wauhatchie, Tenn., April 24th 1864
My dear Wife

I arrived here safe on yesterday evening. Bro. Johnie came with me & is now here.¹ We went to church this forenoon, & this afternoon we will take a walk to see some of his acquaintances. He will leave for his Battery this evening or in the morning.

Yours of the 14th I recd. on my return last night.² I cannot understand why my letters do not reach you regularly; I have certainly written. I will write a long letter to-night if Bro. Johnie leaves, &, if not, I will write to-morrow.

We left Bro. Sammy very well. All are well here. I recd. a letter from W. O. Russell & A. J. Cropsey this morning, also from Lieut. H. H. McDowell.

I hope to hear from you soon again. I close in haste. May God bless you with the riches of his Grace. Give my love to all.

Your Affect. Husband
J. F. Culver

1. Sergt. John Murphy, having received a three-day pass, accompanied J.F.C. on his return to Wauhatchie from Cleveland.
2. Mary Culver’s letter of April 14 is missing from the Culver Collection.

Overwhelmed by the number of databases that the National Center for Biotechnology Information has to offer on nucleotide sequences, genes and proteins? Wondering which database you should always start with? Would you like to learn how to set up an NCBI account to link articles in PubMed to records in other databases? Do you know about PubMed’s Gene Sensor? Are you familiar with the concept of linear navigation? Learn all of these tips and more in this session that is designed for anyone who needs to search the NCBI databases for genetic information. 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, April 28, 2-3 pm

Location: Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, EAST Information Commons Classroom

Register here or contact us by calling 335-9151 or emailing lib-hardin@uiowa.edu

[Image via astrobio.net]

Would you like to renew your books before summer begins?  Now is the time!  Faculty book loans due  June 2, 2014 and graduate loans due June 25, 2014 can now be extended.  You will need to bring your books in person; the material may not be renewed by telephone, by e-mail, or from a list.  However, staff can renew books at any University library.

You can see a list of books checked out to you on-line:  visit My Books on Loan (Pomerantz Business Library).

Thanks.

From April 21-May 9, patrons can do good at the library.

Textbooks will be donated to World Wide Books, a non-profit organization which recycles used books and promotes literacy. Food goes to benefit migrant farmworkers in Iowa and must be non-perishable, sealed, and unexpired.

Donations may be placed in the red box at our 3rd floor reference desk. Questions? Contact us at (319) 335-9151 or email lib-hardin@uiowa.edu to learn more.

World Wide Book Drive has donated 3,000,000 books globally. [Image via worldwidebooks.org]

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Happy Earth Day!  Today, April 22, Earth Day celebrations are occurring throughout the United States as well as around the world.  This year’s theme, Green Cities, focuses on sustainable communities.  Denis Hayes was the first coordinator of Earth Day, an environmental “teach-in” held on April 22, 1970.  In the first Earth Day participants from two thousand colleges and universities, roughly ten thousand primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities across the United States “brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform.”  He founded the Earth Day Network in Washington, DC and expanded it to 192 countries.  Time Magazine named him “Hero of the planet” in 1999.  His mentor, former US Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, originated the idea 44 years ago, in 1970, to promote and support responsible protection of our environment, the Earth. Gaylord Nelson hired Denis Hayes, a student attending the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University to organize the first Earth Day. In 1995, Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his work.

The first to propose an international day to honor the Earth was peace activist John McConnell. His vision, formed at a UNESCO conference on the environment in 1969, included a celebration to be held on the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere: March 21, McConnell’s proposal led to a proclamation signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations in 1971, initiating an annual Earth Day on April 22nd.  McConnell later founded the Earth Society in 1976 with anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Sources:

April 22 Is Earth Day: What it Means, (2014) from http://usparks.about.com/od/conservationpreservation/a/earth_day.htm

Brosnan, Kathleen A.  Encyclopedia of American Environmental History Volume II.  New York: Facts on File, Inc.  An imprint of Infobase Publishing, 2011.  Engineering Library Folio GE 150 .E53 2011 V.2 http://infohawk.uiowa.edu/F/?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&local_base=UIOWA&request=005765304

Earth Day Extravaganza Sheds Its Humble Roots (April 22, 1990) from http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/22/us/earth-day-extravaganza-sheds-its-humble-roots.html?scp=2&sq=%22earth+day%22&st=nyt

Earth Day History:  The History of Earth Day (2014) from http://environment.about.com/od/environmentalevents/a/twoearthdays.htm

Gorman, Hugh S. The Story of N:  A Social History of the Nitrogen Cycle and the Challenge of Sustainability.  N.J.  : Rutgers University Press, 2013.  Engineering Library TD196.N55 G67 2013.  http://infohawk.uiowa.edu/F/?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&local_base=UIOWA&request=007232308

Khale, Lynn R, and Eda Gurel-Atay, editors.  Communicating Sustainability for the Green Economy. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2014.  Engineering Library HC79. E5.C61236 2014. http://infohawk.uiowa.edu/F/?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&local_base=UIOWA&request=007444474

Taback, H.J. Environmental Ethics and Sustainability: A Casebook for Environmental Professionals. Florida, Boca Raton: CRC Press 2014. Engineering Library GE42. T33 2014. http://infohawk.uiowa.edu/F/?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&local_base=UIOWA&request=007366984

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (2014) from https://unfccc.int/2860.php

Who Invented Earth Day? ( 2014)  from http://environment.about.com/od/earthday/f/who-invented-earth-day.htm

Hart and O’Brien in their St. Paul home. [Image via twincities.com]

 Celebrate 30 years of conservation at the University of Iowa with an evening of Irish music and mystery. Detective fiction writer Erin Hart will share how the discovery of the ninth century Fadden More Psalter inspired her latest novel.

The Psalter is an ancient religious text recently discovered in an Irish peat bog. Written at an estimated 1,000 years ago, the book is a significant archaelogical find because of its age and incredible condition and because it is bound in papyrus, which suggests a link between ancient Irish and Mediterranean cultures. Hart worked with preservationists, conservationists, and scholars to incorporate this element of Irish history into her fiction.

Participants will also enjoy a tour of the University Conservation Lab and the Iowa Women’s Archives. Musical accompaniment will be performed by Paddy O’Brien, a distinguished Irish musician who is currently at work on the third volume of The Paddy O’Brien Tune Collection: A Personal Treasury of Irish Traditional Music.

Now available from the UI Libraries: The Merck Index Online (http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/MerckIndex)

An authoritative and reliable source of information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals, the Merck Index Online offers the same highly authoritative information as the print edition in a convenient and easily searchable full text database. It contains over 11,500 monographs – including historic records not available in the print edition. The Merck Index Online will be updated regularly with accurate information curated by experts.

This acquisition was made possible by generous donations from Chemistry Department alumni. Thank you!

Hd. Qurs. Co. “A”, 129th Ills. Vols.¹
Wauhatchie, Tenn., April 20th 1864
My Dear Wife

I recd. a pass this evening with recommend[ation] to get pass from Chattanooga to Cleveland.² I will start on the 5 o’clock train to-morrow morning, & will try to get to Bro. Johnie & Sammy to-morrow if possible. My pass is only for three days.

Your letter of 13th & 14th arrived this evening.³ I am happy to hear that you are well. May God preserve your health.

There is a rumor here of a battle at Cleveland to-day.⁴ If it be true, I may not get through to-morrow. I will write again in a few days. Give my love to all. May our Father in Heaven keep you, and so endow you by grace Divine that you may be continually happy. Good night,

Your Affect. Husband
J. F. Culver

1. On April 18 Lieutenant Culver was detailed for temporary duty as an aide-de-camp to General Butterfield, and 48 hours later he was relieved from that assignment and rejoined Company A, 129th Illinois. Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers, NA.
2. Company M, 1st Illinois Artillery, the unit to which Sergt. John Murphy was assigned, had left Loudon, Tenn., on April 18 for Cleveland, Tenn. Adjutant General’s Report, State of Illinois, Vol. VIII, p. 666.
3. The subject letter is missing from the Culver Collection.
4. There was no truth to the story that there had been a battle at Cleveland. Reports reaching General Thomas’ Chattanooga headquarters indicated that General Johnston’s Army of Tennessee was in its camp in and around Dalton, Ga. O.R., Ser. I, Vol. XXXII, pt. III, pp. 411-12.