Tarlton exhibit reflects on life at UT 100 years ago through the diaries of a former professor
The Samuel Peterson Diaries, originally exhibited in Summer 2007 to mark their acquisition by the Tarlton Law Library, are again on view in the atrium through Summer 2008. A new virtual exhibit accompanies the physical exhibit, enabling viewers to flip through the pages or read text transcripts of selected diary entries.
Dr. Samuel Peterson, an Adjunct Professor of Political Science, taught at the University of Texas from Fall 1904 through Spring 1907. He left the University in 1907 to enter private practice with Otto Taub in Houston. Through an assortment of historical photographs, transcripts, and scanned pages from the actual diaries, one enjoys a glimpse of university life at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Law School was the “Law Department,” law classes convened in the Old Main building, and offers of employment came in over the telegraph wire.
The exhibit was curated by Jennifer Cummings, Archives Assistant.
The Rare Books and Special Collections department at Tarlton Law Library serves as the repository for the Law School’s historical materials and includes over a century of yearbooks, the papers of former professors and deans, and several incarnations of the famed mascot, the Peregrinus.