The Texas A&M University Archives

The University Archives was established in 1950 to collect, process, preserve, and provide access to all records of Texas A&M University which have administrative, fiscal, legal, or historical value.

Included in the Archives collection are correspondence files of administrative offices such as the chancellor, president, deans, directors, and department heads; records of the Board of Regents; minutes and other records of committees; publications of all types of all units of Texas A&M; a complete file of course catalogs; student publications such as yearbooks, magazines, and newspapers; photographs of campus buildings; scenes and activities; and special subject and biographical newspaper clippings files about A&M subjects.

Africana Collections

The resources identified here represent collections created by or collected on the topics of African American, Africa and African Diaspora. Other manuscript groups, such as the papers of a family, oral histories, or the extensive photographic collections in our REMSTAR files, contain material pertinent to the study of African Americans, Africa and the African Diaspora.

Art Collections

The Art Collections of the Cushing Memorial Library make up one of the largest and most significant fine art resources on the Texas A&M University campus. The bulk of the collections have been donated to the library by various friends and supporters over the last thirty years. The collections consist primarily of four groups of art work: the Krueger Collection of European oil paintings, the Jeff and Martha Dykes Western Art Collection, the Mavis and Mary P. Kelsey 19th Century Print Collection, and the General Collection which contains pieces that have come to the library individually rather than as a part of a larger collection.

The Illustrators Collection

While many illustration collections focus on one artist, or even a handful, the Cushing Library'sIllustration Collection attempts to represent the broad spectrum of illustration, from early wood engravings to war propaganda posters.

Through the donations of Mavis P. and Mary Kelsey, the collection is particularly strong in nineteenth-century prints and periodicals such as Harper's Weekly, Harper's Monthly, Scribner's, and Century Magazine. The Kelsey's contributions have also enriched the collection with the addition of texts about or illustrated by celebrated eighteenth-century artist and wood engraver Thomas Bewick and American illustrators Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast.

The Literature Collections

The Cushing Library maintains an active and diverse literature collection, contining both author-specific collections (those that aim to be as complete as possible in terms of first and later editions as well as secondary and manuscript material), as well as the archives of two publishing enterprises: the Poem-of-the-Month Club and the Arkham House archive. One of the more significant parts of Cushing literary holdings is the Science Fiction Research Collection, which contains first and later editions of many classic and contemporary science fiction writers as well as long runs of pulp magazines and other periodicals.

Specific collections within this group include:

• Literary Manuscript Collection
• Rudyard Kipling Collection
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection
• The W. Somerset Maugham Collection
• The William A. Owens Collection

Military History Collection

No collection is more appropriate to Texas A&M, a University with a strong military tradition and alumni who have fought in every war for the last century, than a military history collection. Cushing Memorial Library's Cooper K. Ragan Military History Collectionseeks to complement the military beginning of this University. The collection is comprised of nearly 30,000 volumes spanning military history from the American Civil War through and including the Gulf War, but concentrating most heavily on the twentieth century (from the Spanish-American war through the Gulf War). It is strong in areas such as naval and aviation history.

The collections highlighted here display the chronological breadth of this collection: from the E. B. Long Civil War papers to the Michael Kelley Gulf War collection.

Modern Politics

The Archives of Modern Politics of the Cushing Memorial Library focuses primarily on state and local politicians. Foremost among the manuscript holdings are the papers of U.S. Congressmen Olin E. Teague, Graham Purcell, Robert Casey, and John Young. Texas legislators in the collection include Bill Presnal, Will L. Smith, Tom Creighton, Susan G. McBee, John Traeger, Billy W. Clayton, and former Texas governor William P. Clements. Of national interest are the research files of noted journalist Bascom N. Timmons.

The Oral History Collections

Many hours of recollections of former students and faculty members have been recorded and transcribed. Approximately twenty hours of memoirs of refugees from Mexico who came to Texas during the Revolutionary War period of 1910-1920 have also been recorded and transcribed. Some of these interviews are in English, others are all in Spanish, and still others are bilingual.

Science and Technology Collections

The Archives of Science and Technology of the Cushing Memorial Library houses collections reflecting the research and teaching mission of Texas A&MUniversity. Here can be found such diverse collections as the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, noted nuclear physicist Paul C. Aebersold, Texas Entomological Society, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, Texas Engineering Extension Service, Texas Transportation Institute, marine zoologist Sewell H. Hopkins and others.

The Texana Collection

Like most Texas libraries, the Cushing Memorial Library maintains a Texana collection, which highlights the pride and unique heritage of the state of Texas. Comprised of nearly 15,000 volumes, Cushing's Texas Collection covers all of Texas history and life and contains many maps and various papers and photographs. It extensively covers county and community histories, as well as all aspects of rural and agricultural development in Texas.

The sets of papers exhibited here serve to illustrate the wide diversity of this collection: the papers of Mercurio Martinez, South Texas rancher and schoolteacher, and the papers of W. J. Estelle, Director of the Texas Department of Corrections. However, the collection far exceeds this limited picture.

Local history historians, architecture students, genealogists, and term-paper writers are among the primary users of this collection, but anyone interested in any aspect of Texas history or culture will find something of interest in this extensive collection.