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exhibit

THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS,
J.D. WILLIAMS LIBRARY, THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

"Land That We Love:" Patriotic images from the Ann Jefcoat Rayburn Collection of Paper Americana with a holograph stanza from "God Bless America."

Exhibit I: Selections from the Ann Jefcoat Rayburn Collection of Paper Americana
     In 1984, Ann Jefcoat Rayburn donated several thousand postcards, trade cards, and sheet music from the late 1800's to the mid-1900's to the Department of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi. A wonderful source for cultural historians, the postcards and sheet music range thematically from holidays to town views to novelty items. Featured in both the online and onsite exhibit in Special Collections are several examples of patriotic cards and sheet music from her collection.

Exhibit II: Holograph stanza from Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" taken from "The Book of Gold."
     An extraordinary autograph album and scrapbook, Eric Dawson kept "The Book of Gold" throughout much of his adult life. A Mississippi native, Dawson graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1908. Later he taught French at his alma mater. During World War I, Dawson served with the American YMCA in its "Foyers des Soldat" (Soldier's Club) program in France. Initially he worked in Pierrefitte, a small village in the Lorraine where Dawson began his unique book by inscribing "Foyer du Soldat de Pierrefitte" on the title page. In 1918, he joined the United States....
                                                                                                     Introduction, page two