The value of one dollar has really changed since the 1970-s. In 1973, Mr. John Seymour spent $1.00 to pay for a year of subscription to the “FAD” magazine associated with the LDS Church – Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). What is even more interesting is that a month later the magazine stopped circulating and the editor credited him with $0.70. This is financial particularity! Is there is anything today we could buy for 70 cents?
Greetings from Rome…
John Seymour’s papers include not only letters but also interesting postcards from all around the world. Some of the postcards were sent to Mr. Seymour’s from his students. The students were so excited to share what they saw with their professor. How unique is to have this kind of relation between students and their teacher. It shows appreciation of the art and aesthetics that only the teacher would understand as they wrote: ..”Today we went to St. Peter’s Basilica and Sistine Chapel! They were unbelievable! It is a feeling and experience we will never forget! There is just so much to see and experience. It’s just marvelous! […] We are also going to the Catacombs tomorrow…”
“Wearing many hats.”
A flower from England
Every family has its story.
Rejection and courage…
This week I worked on the processing plan template for Dr.
Seymour papers trying to find the best way to organize the materials. There are
lots of letters on different subjects. I am thinking if they should they be organized by
dates, subject, name, or importance? These letters are like our present emails.
However writing letters on papers, in my opinion, has so much more value. First
it requires to write it by hand, then mail it out, (take to the post office, buy
stamps), then wait for the reply, and lastly (the most exciting part I think)
receive the reply by mail. Today we receive emails in seconds but it was not
the case. It took days, weeks, even months. After all this effort how
disappointing it must be when the reply was not as expected or rejecting. Dr.
Seymour received some replies from publishers who rejected to publish his plays
for various reasons. Still, it didn’t slow him down to write another play or
opera. He is a good example how not to get discourage. Last week I posted a picture from his childhood, here is Dr. Seymour as the professor at Southern Utah State College in Cedar City.
Memories from childhood.
I am really impressed with Mr. Seymour’s papers. He wrote so much during his lifetime; not only
operas and plays but also so many letters, diaries, lectures, and educational
materials. While thinking about all his achievements I just picture him as an
adult, a serious person. I forget that once, as everyone else, he was a child.
This picture of Mr. Seymour as a child with his violin really surprised me and
made me think about his childhood. Except for this picture, there are not many
materials from his childhood in the collection, but the violin truly fits him and I have no doubt
that the practiced a lot!
A little note found between letters…
I did not realize how much one might learn about a person’s life just by reading his correspondence. Indeed letters can create the whole picture of someone’s life like, for example, in the book “The Bach Reader: A life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents” by H. David.
New Experience
Hello everyone!