Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon Records

A Guide to the Collection

Historical Note

The first meeting of The Friends of the SMU Libraries/ Colophon took place on September 3, 1970 in the offices on the third floor of the Science Information Center. Founding members included SMU professor Charles Ritcheson, Mrs. Elizabeth Prothro, Rabbi Levi Olan, SMU professor James Early, Charles G. Cullum, and Mrs. Eleanor Swank. The founders agreed that the purpose of the organization was "to provide opportunities through which associates may become acquainted with each other and with the resources of the university library system; to share enthusiasm for learning, books, prints, and related materials, and to establish Southern Methodist University’s libraries as centers of cultural activities enriching the whole community." The members selected the name "Colophon" for the group because it was a term which referred to the graphic device by which printers marked their books. In the first year of its existence, Colophon recruited 159 members, increasing to 200 members by the 1971-1972 academic year. Only months after its founding, Colophon invited the former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, to the campus to discuss and promote her recently released memoir. The magnitude of this event was emblematic of the drive of the membership of Colophon.

In 1972, Colophon chose to establish the "Colophon Moderns Collection," which attempted to collect the literature that best reflected the "contours of the spirit-soul-mind" of the United States from 1950-1975. Quickly the group acquired a large collection of poetry from the Beat Movement, as well as many definitive authors of that generation, from James Baldwin and Donald Barthelme to J.D. Salinger and John Updike. By 1991, the Colophon Moderns Collection numbered nearly 1,400 volumes. In 1995, the University celebrated Colophon and the 25th anniversary of the Colophon Moderns Collection by hosting an exhibition of the collection. (The exhibit catalog is found in this collection).

Throughout the years Colophon hosted many literary and artistic celebrities of national and international renown, including Larry McMurtry, John Graves, Tom Lea, José Cisneros, Kim Edwards, Ray Nasher, Ron Kirk and Deborah Crombie. By 2009 the group had donated more than $500,000 to the Southern Methodist University libraries. These donations were used to purchase materials that were beyond or outside of the libraries’ budgets. Since its inception in 1971, Friends of the Libraries/Colophon continues to be important to SMU libraries and the campus in general. Membership has grown and includes many prominent Dallas families and SMU supporters.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Colophon Papers include a wide collection of material that covers the breadth of the group’s activities. The collection encompasses records from the group’s founding in 1970 to recent years and contains correspondence, business records, membership rolls, annual reports, published materials, and speeches.

Restrictions

Access to Collection:

Collection is open for research use.

Publication Rights:

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the DeGolyer Library.

Copyright Statement:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon Records, Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Acquisition Information

Transfer, Multiple Dates.

Finding aid written by

Aaron Sanchez, 2009.

Encoded by

Lara Corazalla, 2009.

Detailed Description of the Collection