Image of books in exhibit

Hidden Treasures
Sixty Thousand Books
SWC Summer 2005
 
It is not enough for archives to collect, preserve and make available to
patrons all kinds of manuscript collections. These collections, in order
to be most useful for research, must be supported by other collections
such as maps, photographs, scholarly journals and, perhaps most useful
of all, books. The Southwest Collection boasts a library of more than
sixty thousand volumes and the information in these volumes augments
and illuminates the information contained in the manuscripts. Other
uses of our books include education, particularly those items falling into the
Juvenile range, and genealogy for those engaged in the search for their
personal histories. Some of the more useful types of books collected by
the Southwest Collection are presented here.

RANCHING is the largest single category of manuscripts in the Southwest Collection.  This should be no surprise as many of the world’s largest ranches—millions of acres—were located in West Texas and, although not formally recognized by the Board of Regents until 1955, the Southwest Collection began collecting ranching records almost from the founding of Texas Technological College in 1925.  Many of the types of books listed in this exhibit are used in conjunction with the ranching manuscripts.  It is fair to say, however, that these items could not have been written without the manuscript material in our collections.

COOKBOOKS!!  Is there anyone who does not enjoy reading or just browsing through a cookbook.  The Southwest Collection has a large collection of cookbooks and they range from those published by small clubs and organizations such as church groups and women’s clubs to those with lavish illustrations and recipes from the most
elegant restaurants in today’s major population centers.  
There are cookbooks for healthy cooking and then there are
those cake recipes calling for a dozen eggs and a pound of
butter.  There are even collections of recipes which were
used by the cooks on trail drives.  Vinegar Pie, anyone?

 Sixty Thousand Books Exhibit Case Image
    Sixty Thousand Books Exhibit
       Curated by Albert Camp
        Fabricated by Lyn Stoll

The Southwest Collection is fortunate in holding the corporate archives of the WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA, an organization that encourages and recognizes the best writing with Western themes in many genres such as novels, screen plays, short stories, non-fiction and juvenile literature.  The three authors represented here are all members of WWA, have all been president of WWA, have all done research in the Southwest Collection’s archives, and have all chosen the Southwest Collection as the repository for their personal papers.  Their writing is representative of the large fiction collection in the Southwest Collection’s Library, and good fiction is a true and accurate reflection of everyday life.  They have all won the highest honor the Western Writers of America can bestow, the SPUR Award, the equivalent of the Academy Award for movies, the Emmy for television or the Grammy for the recording industry.  In fact, among the three of them, they hold no less than 12 SPUR Awards.  Jeanne Williams, Elmer Kelton and Preston Lewis are well-known names to legions of fans and good and gracious friends of the Southwest Collection.

COUNTY HISTORIES are one of the most sought after and collected types of history.   They preserve the yesterdays many of us “just plain folks” remember with fondness.  One of the problems with county histories is that they tend to be published by small publishing concerns and in small or limited numbers.  They are thus not widely available and since everyone in the county wants one, the supply is usually quickly exhausted. Other examples of this type of publication are church histories and the privately published memoir or autobiography.  The Southwest Collection is fortunate in having a good collection of county histories, especially those of the State of Texas.  One use of this type of history that has become popular in recent years is in genealogy, the search for our “roots”.  County histories have become some of the Southwest Collection’s most popular and used collections. 

Although learning and education happen throughout our lives, perhaps the best time to learn is when we are young.  Since education is one of the functions and responsibilities of an Archive, the Southwest Collection has a large JUVENILE collection which includes items suitable for preschoolers, elementary and middle school students and young adults.  This collection has been used by young patrons for research projects.  Frequently teachers from local schools have brought their classes to the Southwest Collection for tours or just to be introduced to the study of the past. The juvenile collection includes eye-catching books such as the pop-up kind and picture books with compelling illustrations and even historically accurate books of paper dolls with period costumes (published by Texas Tech University Press).  There is something of the philosophy of “catch them when they are young, and you will have them for life” in the Southwest Collection’s approach to the juvenile collection. 

It is impossible to study the history of the Southwest without mention of NATIVE AMERICANS.  The Southwest Collection’s library includes many items pertaining to these proud and colorful peoples whose history long predates the advent of the white man or the settlement of the West.  The prehistoric ruins of lost civilizations have been studied extensively by anthropologists and archaeologists and their reports are in the Southwest Collection’s library as well as many other libraries.  The settlement of the West and the relations between Native Americans and other peoples are not only a part of the story of the past but are today’s history in the making.  Our collections include Native American writing as well as studies of their social, economic and political life, and skills such as basketry, weaving, painting and the making of jewelry.

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