Memorial Day was typically a fun holiday for me and mine. It usually meant cookouts and warm weather. These don't always go together in Nebraska where I grew up. Every few years it would mean a sojourn out to the family cemetery to lay flowers on graves of people I never knew. I enjoyed the quiet graveyard by the little abandoned church and read the familiar names- names I had only heard in foggy stories. I liked trying to find the oldest markers, trying to decipher the military markers, and always stopping to admire the stone featuring a detailed drawing and patent number awarded to my kin for some kind of stump grinding devise.What does Memorial Day have to do with books? Henry Carter Welles was a hyphen bookseller. Not another Barber, but a more common Druggist-Bookseller. Welles, born in 1821, was too old to serve during the Civil War. Sure, there are many, many recorded volunteers who were in their 40s, and beyond, but it was not the norm. However, Henry, like the rest of the nation, was certainly thinking about the war and how many boys from home never returned.At a social gathering in the summer of 1865, Henry suggested that a day should be set aside to honor the dead of the Civil War. The next year, he repeated his suggestion to General John B. Murray. The two men and a group formed of local citizens gained the support of the village, and on May 5, 1866, the first complete observance of Memorial Day took place in Waterloo, NY.On that day, civic societies joined the procession led by veterans marching to martial music to the three existing cemeteries . At each cemetery there were impressive and lengthy services including speeches by General Murray and a local clergyman. The ceremonies were repeated on May 5, 1867.Henry C. Welles died in July 1868, but had lived long enough to see Memorial Day nationally proclaimed by General John Logan, first commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. This was General Order No. 11 establishing “Decoration Day” as it was then known. The date of the order was May 5, 1868, exactly two years after Waterloo’s first observance. That year Waterloo joined other communities in the nation by having their ceremony on May 30.The Centennial Committee, formed in Waterloo, New York for the 100th observance in 1966, found newspapers of the time gave Henry C. Welles credit for suggesting the first Memorial Day.So, we have one other to remember this Memorial Day. Henry C. Welles, the bookman who brought recognition to those who have gone on before.
Last night I attended the 8th annual FOL sale benefiting the University of Central Oklahoma Library. I've visited the UCO campus a couple times before, and never the library. So I started in the visitor lot (mistake) and wondered around. There are no maps posted, so I relied on the kindness of students hanging around to point the library out. The Max Chambers library is in the Northwestern quarter of campus.It was friends day, so I joined at the door. Membership levels start at $5, which is quite a bargain! Books were shelved along general topical lines. You know, environmental law in gardening, etc. I arrived at the end of the evening, long after the afternoon rush, so it was a little rummaged, but I still found some great books. There was a good mix of newer and older, hardback and paperback, ex-library and donated. Prices are very reasonable, and of course, go to a good cause. Follow the link at the top of the post for all the nitty-gritty.Also, I found a flyaway for the record books. Flyaways are the stuff found in books. Usually postcards, receipts, etc. Well, this was nothing like that. The book published 1889, in cloth with a shaken spine and hinges starting. There seemed to be a good sized pebble or something in the spine. I tried to peek down the back strip-- something was down there alright, but I couldn't see what. I delicately prodded it with my Parker Jotter popping the invader loose. It clunked out on the shelf-- a chocolate chip. Whole and unsullied. Weird.
Meeting 2: We're growing! We had 6 in attendance! For those who missed the last after-action report, that is double what we had last time. At this rate, every human in Oklahoma will belong in about a year and a half! That is certainly exciting. If dues were only $1, we'd have a budget of over $3M! Three million dollars would buy a lot of book fun. Well, not for 3 million people though. As long as I'm dishing out some reality, I'm also not being wholly honest. The 6 attendees includes my wife who just got off work and needed a bite. But it's not like she's a book *hater*, so she counts too. The original 3 were joined by two more members. M collects modern firsts. From our chat I would classify him as a late-stage protocollector. Our other new member, JB, is a life long collector who collects books related to his record collection and antique audio equipment. He is perhaps an early-stage protocollector. One thing I have learned trying to start a collector's society is that many people are reluctant to refer to themselves as collectors. Why is that? It seems some believe book collectors have to spend thousands of dollars on every leather-bound purchase. Some collectors do, but for most of us, that just isn't the case. I've started referring to people who accumulate books along with a general idea or nucleus as protocollectors. Can you tell I once pursued archaeology as a career? Perhaps I need to work up a scale, or evolutionary chart of progression... hmmmm. Stay tuned. The meeting was fun and even a little productive. We hashed out some ideas to promote BoOK and also set dates for future meetings. So, if you'd care to join us, check out the website for details. The next two meetings will be 4/24 and 5/22, 7-9 pm. Those times are -ish.
