UTA Special Collections: A Premier Research Destination

By: Sara Pezzoni

Where can you find an original copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Peter Apian's Cosmographia published in 1534, an Arlington State College football letterman jacket, or photos of John F. Kennedy’s visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963 all in one place? You'll find your answer by venturing to the sixth floor of UTA’s Central Library to a premier research destination of campus—UTA Special Collections.

The Society of American Archivists’ Dictionary describes “special collections” as “an administrative unit of a library responsible for managing materials outside the general library collection, including rare books, archives, manuscripts, maps, oral history interviews, and ephemera.” UTA Special Collections excels beyond this definition in that it provides comprehensive access to its historic materials for research/community use and promotes transformative learning experiences. At its core, the department is committed to open, collaborative partnerships with staff, faculty, and beyond to share its materials with as many people as possible.

UTA Special Collections has served campus and its surrounding community for nearly six decades, and it continues to be actively involved in campus programming. It prides itself in its outreach efforts and is available to present and/or display items at events on and off campus. It hosts dozens of classes for research each semester and staff actively post to its blog, the Compass Rose, and its social media outlets on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X with news updates. 

Special Collections began operation within UTA Libraries in 1967 with the establishment of the Texas Labor Archives. The university has undergone many changes since then, to include one name change, seven presidential transitions, and an increase in average annual enrollment of roughly 30,000 students.  Whether you are hosting an event focusing on the history of your department, advising students with research needs, or looking to refresh your office décor with historic photos of campus, UTA Special Collections has something for you!

Within Special Collections is the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library, established in 1978, which comprises thousands of maps and atlases (dating from 1493 to the present) relating to Texas, Mexico, the Gulf Coast, Africa, and even Antarctica. Special Collections’ robust photographic collections form a rich visual history of the DFW metroplex, with its largest and perhaps most well-known photo collection being the “photographic morgue” of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper. The collection includes an estimated 400,000 print photographs and over six million negatives, dating from about 1849-2003. Texas history is broadly covered throughout its collecting areas, to include disability history, political history, labor history, and the U.S. War with Mexico.

Additionally, the university’s origins and history of its evolution is preserved in the University Archives, which encompasses records reflecting the achievements of its officers, faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Special Collections also holds the answers to many questions embedded in university lore, including: why is there a cemetery on UTA grounds? What happened to the bar in the basement of University Center? Why was an elephant once buried on campus?

Special Collections aims to “collect, arrange, preserve, and make available materials that have research value in a variety of different fields.” With this diverse range in the types of materials within its holdings, Special Collections emphasizes many different ways to access and explore its collections. The Library Catalog allows users to search for books, maps, journals, microfilm, newspapers, and archival collections within its holdings. Finding aids are available as a guide to each archival collection and can be searched through ArchivesSpace. Nearly 125,000 items have been digitized from collections and made available through the UTA Libraries Digital Gallery. The Digital Archive provides access to collections that are “born-digital” for materials that only exist digitally. There are a number of curated digital collections and digital exhibits that can be explored through the UTA Libraries’ website. There is also a series of blog posts available to help guide your search through these online resources. Whether you have a specific research topic in mind or want to peruse the space and view the latest exhibit, Special Collections staff are eager to assist and answer questions.

UTA Special Collections fosters lifelong learning and encourages exploration of its collections. It is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday, 9AM-5PM. If you’re interested in having Special Collections join your next event, please reach out via email at spcoref@uta.edu.

Copy of the “Staff Advisor,” the Staff Advisory Council (SAC) Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 2, September 1997, located within the UTA Staff Advisory Council Records (Unproc. 2009-122).