Welcome
The University Archives is here to help! Let us know what you need for your class and we'll do what we can to assist.
We've set up this guide to provide you with easy and remote access to photographs as well as research materials. Note that the subjects chosen are based on materials the University Archives has in its collection; not every story worth telling is documented. Our hope is that you will each find a story that you find interesting and worthy of sharing. There are MANY stories about each place, item, and event listed -- you will need to decide which story you want to tell.
While we would love to have each of you in the Archives to do hands-on research, we simply don't have the staff or space to accommodate 26 individual research projects so we posted relevant research on this guide. Please double-check your source(s) and be sure to provide accurate information when telling your story. Stating incorrect will only confuse the historical narrative and cause future frustration for anyone - including other students - who want to know about university history. When in doubt, quote the source. Or contact an archivist!
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail UnivArchives@txstate.edu. Zoom conversations are also available - just send an e-mail to request a meeting. We want you to have fun with this project and hope that you will learn something about campus history!
Hints:
- Start your research early. Archival research takes time, even when the materials are digitized and available in this guide.
- Use the yearbooks. A great place to research stories and histories about locations across campus is the student yearbook, the Pedagog. All issues are online and fully searchable, and are one of our best resources about campus history.
- Use the Star. The Normal Star (1911-1918) and the College Star (1918-1930s) are digital and fully searchable. Later years are available on microfilm in the Alkek Library. You might find more history about your topic by searching this newspaper.
Contact Information
University Archives
Alkek Library, Room 580
Research by appointment
Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm
The University Archives is physically located on the 5th floor of the Alkek Library. Research appointments at Alkek or the ARC are generally available Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 4:30pm (excluding holidays and energy conservation days).
Research appointments are required to allow time for retrieval of offsite materials, to reserve research space, and to allow staff to sanitize the space between researchers. Walk-in assistance is dependent on staff and space availability, as researchers with appointments are given priority. Masks are encouraged while in the Alkek Library and in the University Archives.
For questions or assistance, please Ask an Archivist.
How to Access Photographs
Select a topic from the drop-down menu on the tab.
- To enlarge a photograph on your screen, right-click and select VIEW IMAGE.
- To download a photograph, right-click and select SAVE FILE.
Campus Maps
If you are working on a story that took place a long time ago, you may want to check out the Campus Maps tab on this guide. There are many maps of campus through the years, and they may assist you with determining how big the campus was and where buildings used to be before they were torn down and something new was built in their place.
How to Access Documents
Documents that relate to the photographs on the page are presented in this box. Some documents are individual publications, some are a collection of materials from various sources. Look carefully at the content if you need to cite your sources - these collections are not static (they evolve over time), so try to use the title of the article/document and the date in order to provide the best citation possible.