Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Exhibit: Discovering Special Collections and Archives--Environmental Studies



Students visiting Special Collections for the first time often tell us the Rare Book Room brings Harry Potter to mind, with its dark wooden cabinets filled with books of all sizes.  Wandering through the room, students see books focused on the arts, on history and several first editions of books written by famous named authors.  Sometimes they’re surprised to discover they can also find books and collections focused on so many other different areas – such as our current exhibit on environmental studies.  

Big Bend National Park (Courtesy of the NPS)
This exhibit includes a diversity of material.  Records of early battles to stop development efforts over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone are found in the Fay Sinkin Collection, while the newly processed William B. Tuttle collection chronicles his efforts to raise money in San Antonio for the statewide effort to purchase additional land necessary for Big Bend to become a national park, rather than state park. He spoke to numerous organizations within the city, trying to raise the San Antonio share of $25,000 for the overall effort. This would be the first national park within the state and he believed the financial benefits for the state would be great, along with perhaps even increasing the state population from visitors who might decide to make Texas their home.  Col. Tuttle was also a member of the San Antonio Airport Company which played a major role in securing land used for a new flying field in San Antonio. That field was named Randolph flying field and the land is now part of Randolph Air Force Base. His papers include maps and even copies of deeds for the land purchased and given to the state, and eventually the federal government for the new flying field.

This summer also brought about the addition of the Char Miller Collection, a former Trinity University history professor, whose writings have focused on the environment and include an award winning book on Gifford Pinochet, the first chief of the United Sates Forest Service and a former governor of Pennsylvania.  To learn more about the collection, take a moment to read the Special Collections Blog post by Sarah Alger, former processing archivist, who processed the collection this past summer.

Discover more information about our collections on the Special Collections and Archives homepage.  Even better – come to Coates Library to visit Special Collections and Archives (2nd Floor) and view our new Discovering Special Collections and Archives: Environmental Studies exhibit.  We are open Monday through Friday, 1:15-5pm unless otherwise posted.  Find current hours by visiting the homepage linked above.

--Meredith Elsik