John H. Slate, CA Dallas Municipal Archives

Transcription

1 The Texas Library Association Archives and Local History Round Table : Fifty Years of Promoting the Role of Libraries In Preservation and Access to Primary Information John H. Slate, CA Dallas Municipal Archives Formed out of an interest in archives and local history collections within Texas libraries, the Archives and Local History Round Table has been the Texas Library Association s advocate for the preservation of and access to archival and primary source materials, more especially materials relating to Texas local history. The Round Table seeks to further the activities of libraries, museums, and local governments, which collect and preserve historic material and disseminate historical information about Texas. Until the formation of the regional Society of Southwest Archivists in 1972, no other professional group in the state existed to promote and encourage archival education, preservation of historically valuable library materials, and the professional management of archives and local history special collections. Like many TLA units, the Archives and Local History Round Table (ALHRT) began as an informal interest group that met at the annual TLA meeting and at other professional conferences, such as ALA and the Southwest Libraries Association. When the unit formed half a century ago, TLA had six divisions, four committees, and a handful of informal sections, analogous to Round Tables. Today, ALHRT is one of 22 Round Tables and is in the company of 33 Committees, five Interest Groups, and four Divisions. The charter membership of the group at the first meeting was 21; in 2000 the membership was173. Prior to the creation of the Archives and Local History Round Table, archival issues among TLA members were discussed primarily within the confines of the College and University Libraries Division, though increasing attention was being given to the wealth of local history contained in public libraries around the state. Allied interest among public and academic librarians in the preservation and access issues surrounding archives and local history materials paralleled the development of the archives profession in the United States and the rise of library professional specialization. The Society of American Archivists, for example, was only fourteen years old at the time of ALHRT s creation. More specifically, the missionary efforts of the deputy archivist of the United States, Dr. T. R. Schellenberg, and the introduction of academic and federally-sponsored archives seminars for librarians in the 1940s and 1950s created considerable interest among a number of Texas librarians in strengthening the longstanding but not fully realized connections between special collections in libraries and formal archives. In the late 1940s, a core of librarian/archivists met at the annual meetings of TLA and the Southwestern Libraries Association to discuss issues of mutual interest. Among these pioneers was Winnie Allen, Llerena B. Friend, and Marcelle Hamer at the collections of the University of Texas, Dr. William S. Dix, director of the Fondren Library at Rice Institute (later University),

2 Dorothy W. Knepper, director of the San Jacinto Museum of History Association, Ray C. Janeway of Texas Tech University Library, and Abby Moran, Fort Worth Public Library. A general consensus was reached in a petition signed by 37 TLA members to create an archives and state and local history division and was presented to TLA president Arthur M. Sampley. He acknowledged the petition February 22, 1950, and the TLA Executive Bo ard authorized the Division at a meeting of the Southwestern Libraries Association in San Antonio on November 9, In a February 26, 1951 form letter sent by Dorothy W. Knepper, the following objectives for the group were outlined: 1. To try to eliminate duplication, overlapping, and competition among various collecting agencies and to establish a basis of cooperation for the collecting of archival and related materials; 2. To exchange the use of services and facilities, such as microfilming, photographing, photostating, binding, decontaminating equipment, et cetera; 3. To establish a standard form for recording and describing archival material; 4. To publish a union list or catalog of archival holdings of Texas libraries, if financial aid can be secured; 5. To exchange mimeographed lists and descriptions of material, until a union list of archival holdings in Texas libraries is published. While some of the preceding goals were not formally achieved, some were, such as the sharing and dissemination of inventories and collection descriptions. More importantly, however, the discourse and dialogue creating a network among professionals had begun in earnest. The early years of the unit were primarily occupied with the tasks of organizing and promoting fundamental archival education and developing local history resources for TLA members. Two early chairs devoted considerable time and energy to the unit, Winnie Allen and Abby Moran. Allen, Archivist of the University of Texas, and Moran, librarian in the Genealogy Section of the Fort Worth Public Library, displayed unbounded enthusiasm and effort in creating programs and bringing distinguished speakers to the meetings and workshops. Until 1960, the Archives and State and Local History unit was designated a Division. After t he 1960 TLA conference the category of Round Table was created; Archives and State and Local History became a Round Table. In 1975 the name of the unit was changed to its present form, the Archives and Local History Round Table. Many special programs have been presented over the last fifty years. The topics and speakers have included Dr. Joe B. Frantz, speaking on Business Records in County Archives (1953); George W. Hill, Texas State Historical Survey Committee, Education of Archivists and Local History Librarians in Texas (1962); Dr. Cornelius C. Smith, Jr., William Sanders Oury: History Maker of the Southwest (1968); Dr. Larry D. Sall, Texas State Archives, The Regional Archives Program of the Texas State Archives (1977); Warren Stricker, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, The Alamo in Books (1998) and many others. For several years during the 1990s, Dr. Donald G. Davis, Jr. of the University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Library and Information Science sponsored student presenters from his course in Texas library history as a part of the Texas Library History Colloquium. Also since the

3 1990s, ALHRT has sponsored history-oriented walking tours or guided bus tours at the Annual Conference. Initiated by Carol Roark, the tours have provided exercise for Annual Conference attendees and insights into the local history of San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston. Besides the annual meeting, professional development workshops have been held. As early as 1951 the unit held demonstrations of archival methods and techniques, hosted by Winnie Allen in Austin. According to a mailed announcement, the workshop included instruction on materials handling, mending techniques, and filing and copying methods. 1 In November of 1953 a program was sponsored by the group on the preservation of county records, stimulated by a paper delivered at the 1953 Annual Conference by Witt B. Harwell of the Texas State Library. 2 Perhaps the greatest achievement of the unit was its relationship with Dr. T. R. Schellenberg, deputy Archivist of the United States. Schellenberg, one of the most influential American authors on archives and public records and the author of the seminal text Modern Archives; Principles and Techniques (1956), spoke on The Relation of the Archival and Library Professions at the ALHRT business meeting in Houston in Though not organized under the sponsorship of the group, he gave a one-day seminar in Fort Worth in the same year. Although it began as an ALHRT-sponsored program, a four-week intensive Institute on Archival Management was taught on the University of Texas at Austin Campus in the Summer of 1960 by Schellenberg. However sporadic, a newsletter has kept members of the unit in touch with ALHRT activities and announced upcoming events since the early days from the mimeographed one - sheets from the enthusiastic typewriter of Abby Moran to the printed newsletters of later years (often supported by generous donation of Amigos Preservation Services). In 1999, ALHRT revisited its educational roots to help spread interest throughout TLA in broad preservation- related subjects by co- sponsoring several programs through the Preservation Interest Group, steered by Thomas F. R. Clareson. Issues such as book and document repair, disaster planning, and imaging have been canvassed in recent years. Archives and Local History also have periodically presented awards and other recognitions to distinguished Texans for their interest in the preservation of Texas history. Beginning in 1964, awards have been given to such advocates as Dr. Rupert N. Richardson, Dr. H. Bailey Carroll, Walter E. Long, Dora Dieterich Bonham, and Dr. Chester V. Kielman. Despite lean years and occasional low membership and low enthusiasm, the unit endures. After fifty years, the Archives and Local History Round Table has demonstrated that the care of and access to archives and local history continues to be a vital area of interest to professional librarians in Texas. And as interest in local history, genealogy, and special collections continues to grow, so will the interest in how best to provide and care for these permanently valuable resources. 1 Workshop announcement, Division of Archives and State and Local History, [ca. September, 1951] Texas Library Association Archives. 2 Minutes of the Division of Archives and State and Local History, Texas Library Journal, June, 1953, p. 53.

4 Special Thanks for Help and Encouragement to the Following: William W. Hardesty Gloria Méraz Audrey N. Slate ALHRT Chairs : Elaine Davis Kathy Sparkman Michael Miller

5 Chairs of the Archives and Local History Round Table Texas Library Association Winnie Allen, University of Texas at Austin Winnie Allen, University of Texas at Austin Winnie Allen, University of Texas at Austin Seymour V. Connor, Texas Tech University Doris Clower, Southern Methodist University Grace Phillipi, San Antonio Public Library Margaret B. Pratt, Dallas Public Library Winnie Allen, University of Texas at Austin Abby Moran, Fort Worth Public Library Dorman Winfrey, University of Texas at Austin James M. Day, Texas State Library Doris Clower, Southern Methodist University Mrs. Fischer Osburn, Texas State Library Edna P. Deckler, Fort Worth Public Library Mildred Gervasi, Southwestern University Katherine Drake Hart, Austin Public Library Carmen Perry, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Katherine Ard, Texas State Library Field Consultant Andrew Johnson, Lamar State College of Technology Sister M. Claude Lane St. Pius X High School (San Antonio) Catherine McDowell, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Lucile Boykin, Dallas Public Library Leonard J. McCown, Dallas Baptist College Ann D. McDermott, Texas Christian University Louise H. Frederick, Richardson Public Library Larry J. Wygant, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston Charlotte Olin, Kimball Art Museum Kenneth A. Mjaaland, Jr., Carrollton Public Library Marie B. Berry, San Antonio Public Library Katherine Kippy Jagoe, Dallas Public Library Lloyd Bockstruck, Dallas Public Library Gary L. Jennings, Dallas Public Library Ellen K. Berg, Bishop College Jo Kimbro, Southwest Texas State University Linda Cheves Niklas, Stephen F. Austin State University David Murrah, Texas Tech University Doris (Dorothy) Glasser, Houston Public Library George Gause, University of Texas-Pan American University William Howard, Houston Public Library Bradley Sue Howell, Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas) Gerald Saxon, University of Texas at Arlington Dora Guerra, University of Texas at San Antonio Deborah Austin, Fort Worth Public Library Thomas F. R. Clareson, Amigos Preservation Services Carol Roark, Dallas Public Library Mark E. Martin, T.L.L. Temple Memorial Library and Archives Mark E. Martin, T.L.L. Temple Memorial Library and Archives John H. Slate, Texas African American Photography Archive Kathy Sparkman, Baylor University Elaine Davis, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library

6 Texas Library Association Archives and Local History Round Table