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MSU’s Mitchell Memorial Library houses rarities like two headed bobcat taxidermy – reflector-online.com
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On the third and fourth floors of Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library, a variety of intriguing items live in Archives and Special Collections, the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and the Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum.
Two-headed bobcat in Archives and Special Collections
MSU’s Archives and Special Collections houses the Mississippiana and Rare Books Collection and the Manuscripts Collection, which hold items intrinsic to MSU’s history, but one small section of Special Collections holds some particularly peculiar items for viewers to see.
The “Cabinet of Curiosities” exhibit curated by Carrie Mastley, an assistant professor and director of historical manuscripts, showcases two cases’ worth of archival wonders at MSU at the entrance of Archives and Special Collections on the third floor of the library. From Jesuit theologian Martin Anton Delrio’s “Magical Investigations,” a textual study of witchcraft and superstition used during the Salem Witch Trials, to ash and rock components from Mount St. Helens in Washington, the archive provides a wide variety of artifacts to admire.
Amongst them is one item that has drawn lots of attention for its backstory and notable appearance. The two-headed bobcat, a part of the Jerry Clower collection at MSU, is a piece of mythical animal taxidermy that was common in curiosity cabinets in the twentieth century.
The bobcat came to Archives and Special Collections in early 2020, just before the pandemic shutdowns. Jerry Clower was a well-known stand-up comedian in the 1970s and 1980s. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1951 with a degree in agronomy. He played football and was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. His love for hunting resulted in numerous taxidermy accolades, one of these being the “two-headed” bobcat – really a bobcat with a second head sewn on the backside. Clower’s collection includes more taxidermy, but this piece is a favorite.
Associate professor and university archivist Jessica Perkins-Smith noted her surprise when the bobcat was received.
“I’ll be honest. When we first got it, I could not see how a research library would ever be able to use a piece like this,” Perkins-Smith said. “The joke was on me because it has now been a part of two exhibits and is regularly a favorite item at Science Night at the Museum.”
The item is incredibly engaging for students and faculty alike. Associate Dean of Archives and Special Collections David Nolen expressed his appreciation for the figure.
“I think it really exemplifies the variety of items that we have in Archives and Special Collections. An item like that makes an interesting and eye-catching exhibit by itself, but to also have a connection to such a prominent and beloved alum of MSU makes it that much more engaging,” Nolen said.
Lock of Frederick Douglass’s hair in the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library
The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library on the fourth floor contains around 15,000 linear feet of notes, memorabilia, photographs and scrapbooks of the United States’ eighteenth president. Documenting his early life, Civil War victories, presidential term and life beyond it, the library boasts an impressive collection, including a collection for another president — the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana.
Containing items such as an 1864 election ticket for the Lincoln/Johnson Republican ticket and the 1886 “Seven-Mile Funeral Cortege of General Grant,” which is a rare, hard-bound book of photographs of the president’s funeral procession published by the U.S. Instantaneous Photogenic Company, the presidential library contains many cool items to see.
However, the strand of Frederick Douglass’ hair in the presidential library stands out amongst the array of Lincolniana and Ulysses S. Grant’s items, with its personal story, which Ryan P. Semmes, a director of research at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, explained. Lloyd Lewis, a Chicago-based historian who intended to write three books on Ulysses S. Grant, passed before he could begin the second book, and encased within his manuscripts was an envelope with the strand of hair.
As for how Lewis obtained the hair, Frederick Douglass, an American abolitionist and writer, was brutally attacked by a pro-slavery mob during the “Hundred Conventions” tour in Pendleton, Indiana, in September 1843. A local Quaker family took him in and sheltered him in their home. One of those family members was Lewis’s aunt.
After Ulysses S. Grant had been inaugurated as president in 1869, Douglass returned to Pendleton to visit the family. The children, having asked for pieces of his hair, cut off more than they bargained for and divided the hair amongst themselves. According to Semmes, gifting strands of hair was a personal means of connecting with others.
“It was a unique thing that people did back then — giving each other pieces of their hair. It was something people collected and gave to you because it was tangible and personal,” Semmes said. “And the fact that he gave these kids his hair, and they took more than they should have, is a small act of gratitude in the larger story of his anti-slavery work.”
Those who want to see this lock of hair and other sights should check out the museum.
Fairy phonograph lamp at the Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum.
Adjacent to the presidential library sits the Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, containing the collection of MSU business alum Charles H. Templeton Sr.’s over 40 years worth of music memorabilia. The collection, titled “The Business of Music,” was donated to MSU and appraised in 1987 at a value of $470,000. Today, it is worth roughly $1,304,502. The collection started when Templeton and his wife, Mary Ann, purchased an outdoor horn record player, and the collection now includes over 192 self-playing instruments, 22,000 pieces of sheet music and 12,000 music recordings.
Some of the collection’s rare items include a 1904 New Century Disc Box, a 1920 reproducing piano and a Johnson A. phonograph, whose owner had used it as a doorstop for years.
Templeton was also a member of the university’s band, and a vinyl recording of his class playing the fight song sits not too far from the entrance of the collection. Items like the various Thomas Edison model phonographs, Eldridge Johnson and Columbia gramophones, the birdseye maple woodgrain S. Grand Harp and the Victrola XVI turntable, prior to its name change in 1921, all stand out amongst the already intriguing collection.
For one of the museum’s front-desk workers, Emmett Cooper, the fairy phonograph lamp stands out. Invented by Roman R. Gonsett, a Canadian immigrant from Ukraine, the fairy phonograph doubles as a lamp and a music player in one. It was meant to appeal to “the eye as well as to the ear,” read the plaque nearby in the museum. The adjustable lamp shade can be lifted to reveal the tonearm and needle and covertly lowered when not in use.
“It interests me how [Gonsett] was able to craft this piece, through combining both auditory and visual art into one effective and ornate item,” Cooper said.
The eccentric bobcat from the Jerry Clower collection, the lock of Frederick Douglass’ hair and the elegant fairy phonograph lamp are only some of the historical oddities found in the Mitchell Memorial Library. More hidden artifacts such as these reside in the library, waiting patiently to be discovered.
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