UPDATE (10/7/19) Due to work on the new library programming and event space, the Genealogy Collection will be temporarily unavailable from October 14-16, 2019. All other collections will be open and available.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has completed the remodel of the Reference Reading Room on the first floor of the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building and welcomes visitors to explore the new configuration with the images below and in person during our regularly-scheduled hours.
Essential Genealogy resources like vital statistics indexes and city directories, along with a new Genealogy Reference section are now located on the first floor. Patrons will find all public computers, microfilm readers, photocopier and scanning equipment, and assistance from Reference Staff available in the Reference Reading Room.
Questions about our collections or conducting research at TSLAC? Contact Archives and Information Services at: ref@tsl.texas.gov.
Inquiries about improvements at the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building may be addressed to: pio@tsl.texas.gov.
When the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) / Society of American Archivists (SAA) held their joint annual meeting in our hometown of Austin,Texas this summer, the name badges of Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) staff could be spotted throughout the conference. TSLAC archivists gave presentations, facilitated panel discussions and obtained vital information on current trends in the field. Colleagues from the State and Local Records Management (SLRM) division of TSLAC also presented and attended sessions relevant to government records.
TSLAC Archives and Information Division Director and State Archivist, Jelain Chubb served on a panel discussion about controversial monuments.
The CoSa/SAA program featured a number of TSLAC presenters. State Archivist and the division director for TSLAC Archives and Information Services, Jelain Chubb, chaired a timely panel discussion on the role government archives play in relation to controversial public monuments. Jelain also facilitated the session for CoSA’s invited speaker, former State Archivist for Texas and retired University of Texas professor David Gracy.
Archivist Anna Reznik found deeper meaning in records dealing with radioactive waste for a Science, Technology, and Health Care Section presentation and Jessica Tucker, another TSLAC archivist, facilitated a session on how student employees contribute to archival work. Both Anna Reznik and Rebecca Romanchuk, the team lead for our TSLAC archives unit, presented at a forum for the archives information database, ArchivesSpace.
TSLAC Archivist Rebecca Romanchuk presents at the 2019 CoSA/SAA joint annual meeting in Austin, Texas.
TSLAC invited conference attendees to explore the home of the State Archives with two behind-the-scenes tours of the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building. Archives and Information Services personnel offered close-up views of the Summerlee Conservation Lab, archival storage and processing areas, the digital program, and reading rooms.
Digital Asset Coordinator, Steven Kantner gives a talk on TSLAC digitization projects for a tour group.
Digital Asset Coordinator, Steven Kantner, played a little hoe-down music from a Pappy O’Daniel radio program that he had reformatted to digital audio. Conservator Sarah Norris described how she approached a recent project to conserve a Texas Ranger company muster roll from the 19th century.
Conservator Sarah Norris provides a tour of her lab at TSLAC.
Sarah Norris describes the conservation techniques she applied to a Texas Ranger muster listing from the 19th century.
We had a great time hosting our guests and sharing a few of our techniques and procedures with fellow archivists from around the country. The annual national conference takes place in a different city each year and we look forward to when Austin once again welcomes archivists back to town.
More scenes from CoSA/SAA 2019:
Archivists Angela Swift, Rebecca Romanchuk and Anna Reznik pose with former ARIS Preservation Officer, John Anderson.
State Archivist, Jelain Chubb gives a behind-the-scenes tour of the State Archives.
Rebecca Romanchuk stands ready at the registration desk for the ArchivesSpace forum.
Anna Reznik, second from left, with TSLAC colleagues from the State and Local Records Management division (L-R Erica Siegrist, Sarah Jacobson, Craig Kelso and Megan Carey)
Conference name badges with ribbons indicating presenters, first-time attendees, etc.
Archivist Tiffany Criswell demonstrates how a large trash can serves as a humidification chamber.
UPDATE: (August 16, 2019) TSLAC has made significant progress relocating
frequently-accessed materials from the second floor to the reconfigured
first-floor Reference Reading Room. While work continues on converting the
second floor to a library event and educational programming space, many of the
key changes to collection locations and service points are complete. Patrons
may now expect to conduct (non-archival) research and use all library resources
in the Reference Reading Room. New additions to the space include:
Vital statistics, city directories and other essential research tools.
A new Genealogy Reference section.
Expanded area for display of featured collections and new books.
Questions about our collections or
conducting research at TSLAC? Contact Archives and Information Services at: ref@tsl.texas.gov.
Inquiries about improvements at the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building may be addressed to: pio@tsl.texas.gov.
Read more about the project in our
original post here:
UPDATE: Starting Tuesday, at 12 p.m. August 6, 2019: All reading room services will be provided in the Archives Reading Room. Researchers planning a visit between August 6 and August 13 may contact reference staff for more information at 512-463-5455 or ref@tsl.texas.gov.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is pleased to announce an exciting transition coming to the Reference and Genealogy public service areas in the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building. Frequently accessed materials such as Texas vital statistic indexes and city directories from the Genealogy and Family History collection will be relocated to the Reference Reading Room.
The current Reference Reading Room in the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building.
This transition will begin on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 with as little disruption to services as possible. We do not anticipate closing to the public during this period. Please consult with reference staff upon arrival to confirm which reading room will be available for research while the change is underway, which we expect to be completed within a few days.
Key changes
include:
Ready Reference shelving
will be relocated to the current microfilm computer area to make room for
additional research tables and microfilm stations will be moved to a central
location in the reading room.
The updated space
will include a refreshed Reference Collection, expanded display area for
featured and new books, as well as periodicals.
The second floor
will be enclosed to create a new public events and educational programming venue.
According to TSLAC Director and State Librarian, Mark Smith,
“This change allows us to increase the visibility of our collections and
concentrate our staff to work more closely with researchers.” Smith adds, “We
are also pleased to be able to dedicate space for public programming and
enhance our slate of educational activities.”
Check back here at Out of the Stacks for updates. Thank you
for your patience as we work to improve services for our patrons.
Questions about our collections or conducting research during the transition? Contact Archives and Information Services at: ref@tsl.texas.gov.
Inquiries about improvements at the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Building may be addressed to: pio@tsl.texas.gov.
In 1927, two years after Miriam “Ma” Ferguson became the state’s first woman governor, four years after Edith Wilmans entered the Texas House of Representatives as the first woman in the Legislature, and only eight years after Texas women’s suffrage rights were acknowledged and enforced by the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Margie Neal became, as Governor Allan Shivers said at Margie Neal Appreciation Day in Carthage in 1952, “the first woman to invade the masculine sanctity of the Texas Senate.”
Margie Elizabeth Neal was born in 1875 in Clayton, Panola County, Texas, to William Lafayette and Martha Anne Gholston Neal. Later in life, she recalled that her interest in politics was sparked at age ten, when she saw then-Governor John Ireland speak in Carthage in 1885 or 1886. She attended, but did not graduate from, Sam Houston State Teachers College.
In the spring of 1893, Neal earned a first-grade teaching certificate and began her career in the Mount Zion community in east Panola County. She subsequently taught in several schools, including in Forney, Scottsville, Marlin and Fort Worth, before returning home to Carthage in 1904 to be the primary caregiver of her mother, whose health was failing. However, this move also provided her a new professional opportunity. From 1904 to 1911, Neal was publisher and editor of the Carthage East Texas Register. A large portion of the newspaper’s content was editorial writing. Neal used its pages to champion the establishment of a Y.M.C.A. in Carthage, push for city clean-up and tree-planting projects, argue for the creation of a chamber of commerce and press for improvements to county roads. But the Register’s most consistent editorial interest was in public education. As editor, Neal argued for improvements to school facilities and sponsored scholarships to local business colleges.
Photograph: “Margie E. Neal—The Progressive Editor.” From Harris, Walter L. The Life of Margie E. Neal, MA thesis, University of Texas, 1955. Available from TSLAC-MAIN Collection (non-circulating) ARC 923.2764 N254H.
From 1912,
her mother’s health worsened, and Neal was forced into semi-retirement for four
years. Despite these family obligations Margie Neal was also instrumental in
the founding and development of both the Carthage Circulating Book Club from
1907 and the Panola County Fair, first held in 1916. Her interest in women’s
suffrage also continued to grow, and she became secretary of the Panola County
Equal Suffrage Association.
In 1918, the
Texas Legislature recognized women’s right to vote in state primary elections.[1]
In an effort to bolster women’s turnout in Panola County, Margie Neal ordered
professionally printed buttons reading “I have registered” and distributed them
among women. At the end of the 1918 voting drive, more than 500 women in the
county had registered. Margie Neal was, unsurprisingly, the first woman to cast
a vote in Panola County.
Margie Neal
was the first woman to serve as a member of the State Teachers Colleges board
of regents (1921-1927) and the first woman to serve as a member of the State
Democratic Executive Committee in 1918. She was also a delegate to the 1920
Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. In 1922 and 1924, she turned
down first Governor Pat Neff’s and then Governor Miriam Ferguson’s offer to
appoint her Secretary of State.
Photograph: Margie E. Neal in 1925. From Harris, Walter L. The Life of Margie E. Neal, MA thesis, University of Texas, 1955. Available from TSLAC-MAIN Collection (non-circulating) ARC 923.2764 N254H.
Neal’s work
as a regent was the primary impetus for her 1926 Senate run. She was a frequent
visitor to Austin during legislative sessions; in an interview later in life,
she recalled a specific visit during which she became concerned about the
direction certain legislation was heading, leading her to think to herself, “If
I had a vote… I might do more for education than I am doing as a college regent
sitting in the gallery.”[2]
She returned to Carthage and sought advice from trusted colleagues, family, and
friends, then decided, in March 1926, that she would run for the Texas Senate
from District 2.
This
district included Panola, Harrison, Gregg, Rusk and Shelby Counties. Neal’s
only opponent in the Democratic primary was Gary B. Sanford of Rusk County, who
had prior experience as a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Neal
launched her campaign on June 12 in the Carthage County Courthouse, followed by
five weeks of intensive campaigning in all five counties of the district. Her
platform consisted of four components: better public schools—especially rural
schools, to be achieved through an increased per capita apportionment; an
improved state highway system, to be achieved through a new gasoline tax; more
aid for farmers, labor, and capital; and a streamlining of laws for improved
law enforcement. In the end, Neal defeated Sanford in every county but his own,
and, facing no opponent in the general election, was elected to the Senate on
July 28, 1926.
Display of titles on Texas women from the collections of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Every March, we as a country celebrate women and their role in our nation’s history with Women’s History Month. According to the United States Statutes, Public Law 100-9, the first celebrated Women’s History Month was in March 1987.
Visit the Law Library of Congress’ Women’s History Month webpage for more information about the federal government’s role in this yearly event. In addition to the annual proclamation, the National Women’s History Alliance suggests a theme for each year’s celebration. This year’s theme is, “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace & Nonviolence.”
As the Texas Legislature is currently in session, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) would like to share some of our resources about women in the Texas Legislature. These women embody this year’s theme by the way they have brought about change in peaceful and nonviolent ways. Whether they were serving unfinished terms for their husbands, lobbying for a woman’s right to vote, or becoming the first of many to serve in the Texas Legislature, Texas women have had a vibrant and important role in the history of Texas politics.
A selection from the TSLAC collections highlighting the contributions of Texas women.
Some of the more notable women in Texas politics include: Edith Wilmans, the first woman to be elected to the Texas Legislature; Miriam “Ma” Ferguson, the first woman to be elected as Texas Governor; Barbara Jordan, the first African-American woman to be elected to the Texas Legislature; and, Irma Rangel, the first Mexican-American woman to be elected to the Texas Legislature. Read more about Texas’ female Legislators in Nancy Baker Jones’ book, Capitol Women: Texas Female Legislators, 1923-1999.
Below you will find a reading list of publications that cover people or topics related to Texas women in politics. The list is not intended to be comprehensive, but can be a starting place for learning more about Texas women legislators.
“The majority of the American people still believe that every single individual in this country is entitled to just as much respect just as much dignity, as every other individual.” Barbara Jordan, Texas State Senator 1967-1973
To search for these collections, books and more, check out our catalog at www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog. To learn more about our archives collections visit our Descriptive Guides webpage.
Contact the Reference Desk with any inquiries regarding these or other materials at TSLAC at ref@tsl.texas.gov, call us at 512-463-5455 or visit in person at 1201 Brazos Street, Austin, TX 78701 room 109.
Quotes above were referenced from Susie Kelly Flatau and Lou Halsell Rodenberger’s “Quotable Texas Women” (State House Press, 2005).
Beginning in January, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) will offer resource orientation workshops at 10 a.m. each Second Saturday of 2019. The workshops highlight key tools researchers may use at the State Archives or through the website, with each 20-minute session focusing on one essential resource. Reference staff will present on Texas city directories, county records, newspaper collections, vital statistics, U.S. Census records and Ancestry.com (Texas Collection). The sequence repeats after the first cycle ends in June.
Researchers using Reference Library computers.
The free workshops should appeal to a wide range of patrons interested in library research. Those still familiarizing themselves with the assortment of access points one must navigate to discover source materials may find all of the topics germane, while the more practiced patrons may have specific collections in mind. Guests are invited to stay on and use TSLAC’s public service areas for their research activities until the library closes at 4 p.m. (Learn more about visiting the library here.) Here is the 2019 Second Saturday Workshop Series schedule:
Searching the Census Online Jan. 12 | July 13
Introduction to Newspaper Collections March 9 | Sept. 14
Introduction to Texas County Records April 13 | Oct. 12
Selection of titles on the subject of Western art available in the Texas State Library and Archives collections. The display is currently on view in the Reference Reading Room.
Our newest featured collection is now on display in the Reference Reading Room. “Western Artists: Texas Landscapes and Beyond” features the works of Tom Lea, Frank Reaugh, Charles M. Russell, and many other Southwestern artists who captured the sights of the Wild West. Browse through tranquil images of longhorns in their pastures and bluebonnets in bloom. Study the images of Native American hunters and horse- wrangling cowboys. Whichever book you choose, you’ll be sure to enjoy this sampling of artistic publications from our collections.
John Canfield Ewers’ “Plains Indian Painting,” Stanford University Press, 1939.
To search for these books and more, check out our catalog at www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog. You may search for subjects like “Texas in art” or “West (U.S.) –In art” or for the names of specific artists. If you are interested in a title on our Featured Collection shelf, please visit the Reference Desk in room 109. Below is the complete list of titles you’ll find on our Featured Collection shelf for June and July. Download the list of the featured collection. .
High School student Bailey Judis (center) with the TSLAC library staff (l-r) Taylor Fox, Stephanie Andrews, Brianna Cochran, Angela Kent, Maria Barker, and Mackenzie Ryan
I am a high school student at the Austin Waldorf School, and as part of our school’s curriculum, we are given two weeks during the Spring semester to experience a type of work featuring a process. Given my passion for history and interest in museums and archives, I chose to do my work experience at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). I have very much enjoyed learning the many processes that go into storing, preserving, and digitizing the TSLAC’s many artifacts. I was able to witness many dedicated and hardworking staff members as well as numerous steps taken to ensure all of the archival materials and artifacts are available to everyone for research. Accessibility is a key motivation for this organization.
One of the processes I observed was the TSLAC’s process of digitization. By putting scans of artifacts and documents onto the Texas Digital Archive, I learned that this allows patrons and researchers to access and observe them from anywhere in the world. It also helps preserve the life of the artifact and documents. I was able to observe the project and process of digitizing the Texas Supreme Court documents. The first thing I learned about this process is that in order for the documents to be scanned, they must be flat. Since most of the documents had been rolled very tightly and stored in boxes for many years, they definitely needed to be flattened. After removing the documents bindings, such as ribbons and brads, the documents were then humidified using a simple method of container humidification. After being humidified, the documents were laid between pieces of blotting paper and transferred to the book press. Some documents however were bound with homemade glue, requiring a tedious process of removing the adhesive before they could be pressed. After being left in the book press for two weeks, the now flattened documents were stored in the stacks as they waited to be scanned and put onto the Texas Digital Archive. An overview of what was said in each document would be added with the document’s scan to the Texas Digital Archive, that way a researcher would be able to look through the Texas Supreme documents and have an easier time finding what they were looking for.
Bailey Judis with State Archivist Jelain Chubb in the stacks at TSLAC.
One of the most surprising things I learned was how organized and neat the stacks are. There is so much detail and so many little steps that are key to ensure no artifacts and documents become lost. The Archives and Library staff put so much care into what they do, and their passion for what they do has been very inspiring for me. I was able to learn so much about how the Archives and Library works, and I also had the privilege of seeing their Talking Book Program, working on my skills of scanning and learning about digitization, looking at old photographs and nineteenth century microfilm and much more. I feel very honored to have had the privilege to work with so many inspiring and compassionate people and the opportunity to learn about such an amazing organization. Their passion for their jobs was incredibly inspiring.
By Stephanie Andrews, Library Assistant, with contributions from ARIS staff
Selection of books in honor of Women Veterans Day from the collection at the Texas State Library & Archives. The books are available for use in the Reading Room. See the list below for call numbers.
In honor of Women Veterans Day, ARIS has created a booklist for our readers. Our list features books about women in many service areas and over various periods of military history. In addition to representing women veterans, these titles also reflect the many ways women assisted military efforts in history before they could serve in an official capacity.
On June 12th, 1948 President Truman signed into federal law the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, making it possible for women to serve as regular, permanent members of the armed forces. This year will mark the 70th anniversary of that signing. During the last Texas legislative session, Senate Bill 805 established Women Veterans Day as June 12th and was signed into law in June of 2017. This summer will mark the first observance of this day.
If you’d like to search for these books and more, check out our catalog at www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog. If you are interested in checking out a title from this booklist, please visit the Reference Desk in room 109. Below is the complete list of titles you’ll find in our Women Veterans Day booklist.
Title
Author
Call No.
Collection
A History of the Women Marines, 1946-1977
U.S. Marine Corps
D 214.13:W 84/2
USD
Air Force Women: A Heritage of Excellence
Air Force History and Museums Program
D 301.76/5:W 84
USD
American’s Youngest Women Warriors
Brandt, Dorothy Hinson
355.0082 A512
MAIN
Beyond the Latino World War II Hero
Rivas-Rodriguez, Maggie and Zamora, Emilio
ZUA 380.8 B468LA c.2
TXD
Breaking Codes Breaking Barriers
U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command
D 101.2:C 64
USD
Department of Defense Celebrates: March 1997, Women’s History Month
Department of Defense
D 2.9:D 36/2/No.110
USD
Finding Dorothy Scott
Rickman, Sarah Byrn
ZTT 422.8 R425fi c.2
TXD
Kate: The Journal of a Confederate Nurse
Cumming, Kate and Harwell, Richard Barksdale
973.776 C912k 1959
MAIN
More than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man’s World
Collins, Captain Winifred Quick
ZN 745.8 M813 1997
TXD
Nancy Love and the WASP Ferry Pilots of World War II
Although the Texas State Library and Archives Commission has “closed stacks” — meaning certain materials are pulled by staff and brought to researchers in the reading rooms rather than allowing patrons to publicly browse — there are tools to help unlock the information held within. Over years of processing materials and roving the stacks, staff members have identified a number of themes that go beyond their classification on the shelf. To highlight these hidden collections and to showcase the stream of titles coming into the library, about every six weeks staff create book displays in the Reference and Genealogy reading rooms for patrons to enjoy.
An aisle in one of the seven floors of closed stacks at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
The New Books displays feature books that are new to our collections. In addition to regularly reviewing and acquiring titles through our collection development efforts and depository commitments, the library also receives donations and suggested titles from the public. If you’re interested in the library’s donation policy or have suggested titles, please email ref@tsl.texas.gov.
The Genealogy New Books display is located in our Texas Family Heritage Research Center.
The Featured Collection contains books selected and arranged by library staff around a particular theme or event. The current display showcases the variety of Texas Children’s Books in our collection. Previous displays include “Oh the Places You’ll Go- Texas Style”, an exploration of Texas’ vacation spots, a WWI centennial display, and a display focusing on Texas Music and Film.
In our reference reading room, located on the 1st floor of the Lorenzo De Zavala building, the Featured Collection display and New Books display sit side by side near the reference desk.
If you can’t visit our book displays in person you can find updates on the latest Featured Collection here, through the Out of the Stacks blog.
To see a list of new titles, visit the library catalog and click on “New Materials”.
The “New Materials” link is on the gray menu bar near the top of the webpage on the library catalog at www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog.
Click on a collection name to see a list of recently acquired material for that collection.
Click on a collection name to see a list of new material.
Click on a collection name to see a list of new material.
When you click on “TSLAC Genealogy” from the New Material Lists page, you are directed to a list of titles. Click on a title to see further details about our holdings and the catalog record.
Stay tuned for more library catalog features, tips and tricks, and walkthroughs in our upcoming posts!
