Southwest Collection

Southwest Collection The Southwest Collection acquires, preserves, and makes accessible archival collections of regional, national, and international significance.

The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University holds archives of national and international significance. It is one of the one of the top academic research repositories in the country. The marquee unit of the institution is the Southwest Collection, which encompasses millions leaves of documents, over a hundred thousand books, millions of photographs, thousands of or

al histories, reels of microfilm, and films and videos relating to the history, economy, politics, military, environment, and cultures of the U.S. Through an active field program the Southwest Collection acquires and preserves many important collections. For example, it houses the largest collection of historic ranching related materials in the United States and undoubtedly the world. In addition, there are numerous important collections relating to: military affairs (including 19th and 20th century); architecture, religion (Jewish Archives and Protestant denominations), sports, farming, Archives for the History of Financial Planning, oil production, water resources, politics (including legislative, gubernatorial, and congressional collections), radio broadcasting, advertising, urban development, commercial and business growth, waste disposal, industrial development, science and technology [including, wind and atmospheric sciences (Tetsuya “Ted” Fujita Papers), federal solar power projects, the Mohole Project, and nuclear waste disposal project, NASA records (Colombia Commander Rick Husband, Dr. Sherman Vinograd collections, and others)], immigration, minority studies, genealogy, and the environment. We hold records from various organizations such as the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, the Southwest Athletic and Big Twelve Conferences, Cooperative Communicators of America, Disabled American Veterans: Texas Division, and the WWII Glider Pilots Association. The modern facilities at the archive encompass the Holden Reading Room, an attractive open research environment with microfilm reader/copiers, independent study carrels, online catalogue database access, and security lockers. The Marshall Formby conference room can seat a hundred people for symposia and meetings. The Governor Preston Smith conference room has wireless and white-board screen capabilities. We house the Hoblitzelle Conservation Lab and an Exhibits and Outreach department that works with regional organizations and campus departments to create exhibits advertising the holdings of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.

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ORAL HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: John AaronIn this 2017 interview, John Aaron recounts his time as a NASA engineer and working in...
08/28/2026

ORAL HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: John Aaron

In this 2017 interview, John Aaron recounts his time as a NASA engineer and working in Mission Control for the Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 missions. Aaron is well known as the "steely-eyed missile man" and is credited for saving the Apollo 12 mission by telling the crew to switch "SCE to AUX" after lightning struck the rocket. He is also depicted in the 1995 Apollo 13 movie. Aaron was born in the West Texas town of Wellington.

https://hdl.handle.net/10605/360053

Welcome back TTU students! We're cheering you on this semester!📷 - Members of the 4th Annual Cheerleading School, 1966: ...
08/24/2026

Welcome back TTU students! We're cheering you on this semester!

📷 - Members of the 4th Annual Cheerleading School, 1966: Instructor Tommy Taylor of Texas Tech, Pam Dial, Carolyn Hayes, M. Nieves, and Diane Peck.

The University Archives at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

Texas Tech students, stop by the University Library today until 4:00 p.m. for some swag and to learn about the Southwest...
08/20/2026

Texas Tech students, stop by the University Library today until 4:00 p.m. for some swag and to learn about the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. Come say hi!

08/20/2026
Happy World Photography Day! Pictured here is Winston Reeves, who began his photographic career in 1938 when he opened a...
08/19/2026

Happy World Photography Day!

Pictured here is Winston Reeves, who began his photographic career in 1938 when he opened a studio at 1719 Broadway after graduating from Texas Tech University. Reeves documented the growth of Lubbock and the surrounding area until his death in 1965. In 1996 the files of Reeves Photography were deposited in the Southwest Collection.

Digitized photos from the Winston Reeves collection can be viewed at https://hdl.handle.net/10605/16706

For more information on Southwest Collection Photographs, check out our LibGuide at https://guides.library.ttu.edu/swcphotos/topics

Kinda chic to hop on a trend sometimes! Come experience the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. For resear...
08/14/2026

Kinda chic to hop on a trend sometimes!

Come experience the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. For research inquiries, please reach out to Reference Services at [email protected].

Today we'd like to feature the digitized William G. DeLoach Papers, 1880-1967. DeLoach was a longtime resident of Crosby...
08/11/2026

Today we'd like to feature the digitized William G. DeLoach Papers, 1880-1967. DeLoach was a longtime resident of Crosby County and Lamb County, Texas. His family traveled from southern Oklahoma to settle in a small farmstead in Crosby County. For fifty years, he kept a diary to record his life experiences as a farmer in West Texas. The digitized diaries are dated 1914 through 1964 and can be accessed at https://hdl.handle.net/10605/271713.

Pictured is the first ledger, March 29, 1914 to January, 16, 1916.

Want to know more about the Southwest Collection? Visit our LibGuide at https://guides.library.ttu.edu/swc for informati...
08/05/2026

Want to know more about the Southwest Collection? Visit our LibGuide at https://guides.library.ttu.edu/swc for information on searching for resources, accessing archival collections, the digital repository, and some collection highlights!

Happy Friday! Today we're featuring this image of David Gracy, Ruth Horn Andrews and Mabel Erwin looking at a scrapbook ...
07/31/2026

Happy Friday! Today we're featuring this image of David Gracy, Ruth Horn Andrews and Mabel Erwin looking at a scrapbook taken on November 7, 1968. The accompanying press tucked behind the photograph release states: "THEY REMEMBER WHEN -- Ruth Horn Andrews (right), daughter of Texas Tech's first president, and Prof. Emeritus Mabel Erwin take a trip down memory lane for a tape recorded interview with David Gracy, archivist for Tech's Southwest Collection."

Courtesy U 100.11 Information Services Photo Collection from The University Archives at Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library.

Here's a great news segment on the Matador Ranch and their new exhibit! Did you know the Southwest Collection has an ext...
07/27/2026

Here's a great news segment on the Matador Ranch and their new exhibit! Did you know the Southwest Collection has an extensive Matador Ranch Collection? Visit the following links for a look at the resources:

Collection Finding Aid - https://txarchives.org/ttusw/finding_aids/00082.xml

Matador Ranch Land Maps - https://hdl.handle.net/10605/62559

KCBD article - https://www.kcbd.com/2026/07/21/matador-ranch-opens-historic-headquarters-public-under-new-family-ownership/

KCBD NewsChannel 11 Matador Ranch Kase Wilbanks KCBD

The headquarters division of the historic Matador Ranch is now open to the public, offering visitors a look at artifacts, photographs and the storied history of one of West Texas’s most recognized ranches.

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MS 41041, 15th And Detroit, Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX
79409

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