Historical Geography

A collection of recommended budgets for Sam Houston State University from 2005-2012.

See a collection of reports published by Sam Houston State University and The Texas State University System. The collections includes the university budget dating back to 2005.

A small collection of art found at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, TX.

This is the fourth largest collection of Mexican masks in the United States; this collection was assembled by William J. Breitenbach between 1968 -2004. The masks, which represent human faces, animal faces, or skulls are constructed of wood, ceramic, paper mache or leather. Most are brightly painted in a polychrome technique, some with incredibly detailed designs. Many are enhanced with quills, fur, hair, teeth, fabric, or wool.

The Wild Dog Collection contains correspondence documenting the lives and writing careers of authors and poets who started their careers writing for a small, campus magazine called Wild Dog during the early 1960s (the Beat period). The collection contains material documenting the small press publishing industry as demonstrated by the “Wild Dog” magazine, including correspondence between “Wild Dog” and other small presses. It also documents editorial workings that sustained the press during its short existence. This collection contains manuscript and first edition versions of poems and short stories written by the many authors who got their start writing for “Wild Dog.” The original artwork in the Wild Dog Collection includes various sketches for magazine covers.

The Austin H. MacCormick Papers (1923-1978; eight boxes) contains materials documenting the personal life and career of Austin H. MacCormick, one of the nation’s most influential criminologists and prison reformers. This collection contains materials covering his career as Executive Officer of the U.S. Naval Prison, Assistant Director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Professor and Dean of Criminology at Berkley, and Director of the Osborne Association of New York. Some of the many subjects include: state and federal prison conditions, prison reformation, juvenile detention centers, probation, parole, correctional standards and staff training. The collection includes over twenty five individual state correctional system reports conducted by Austin H. MacCormick and other criminologists of the time.

The Charles Spear Collection (1840-1851, one box) contains the personal correspondence, journal, and passport of Charles Spear. The collection concerns Spear’s work to abolish the death penalty in the United States and his support of prison reform. Along with documents regarding Spear’s travels to England in pursuit of support to eliminate the death penalty in the United States, the collection also includes a subscription book carried by Charles Spear and his brother that contains signatures of prominent people of the time. Thomason Special Collections also has multiple editions of Essays on the Punishment of Death by Charles Spear, CJ Spec. HV8698 .S6 1844.

A collection of personal photographs of James Van Benschoten Bennett. The photographs portray his role as the second Director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and as a prolific prison reformer. The photographs cover his family life, his travels overseas to inspect prisons, and his work as the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The items in this collection represent Jane Howe Gregory’s extensive research into the Texas Penitentiary system, primarily focusing on issues surrounding female inmates. Journal articles, class notes, and prison records are the most common types of materials in this collection. Prison statistics and prison reforms pertaining to female prisoners are the most common themes.

Take a look at the papers written by participants of the Leadership Command College(LCC) of The Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), The program is designed to provide police executives with the knowledge and skills necessary for successful leadership in a modern law enforcement agency.

A collection of rare books and materials digitized from the Thomason Room Criminal Justice Rare book collection.

This collection assembles autographed documents of 53 early Texas attorneys and judicial officials.

View complete editions of the Journal of Business Strategies, published by the Center for Business and Economic Research here at Sam Houston State University.

See every published issue of the NCPEA Education Leadership Review (2000-2005).

The Universality of Global Education Issues Conference centers on the educational similarities found in our disciplines throughout the world.

Participants are invited to attend and to submit proposals related to current issues, theory, research, practice, and teaching of Education Leadership, Counseling, ESL, Language Arts, Curriculum & Instruction, Library Science, Agriculture, and Kinesiology.

This collection contains fifty early maps of the lands which came to be known as Texas. These items were acquired from the Clark Texana Collection, through private gifts and purchases, as well as "Keepsake" facsimiles.

Visit this collection for information about the publication by SHSU's very own Jim Tiller. See previews and purchasing information for many of Jim Tiller's article and monograph publications, including Before the Line: Volume I, Our American Adventure: The History of a Pioneer East Texas Family, 1657-1966, and "The Shreveport Caddo, 1835-1838."

The Mark Twain Correspondence and Ephemera Collection contains original correspondence from Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The letters and postcards consist mostly of thank you letters and correspondence concerning travel accommodations for a trip to Europe. The collection includes original photographs and postcards of Mark Twain.

The Wild Dog Collection contains correspondence documenting the lives and writing careers of authors and poets who started their careers writing for a small, campus magazine called Wild Dog during the early 1960s (the Beat period). The collection contains material documenting the small press publishing industry as demonstrated by the “Wild Dog” magazine, including correspondence between “Wild Dog” and other small presses. It also documents editorial workings that sustained the press during its short existence. This collection contains manuscript and first edition versions of poems and short stories written by the many authors who got their start writing for “Wild Dog.” The original artwork in the Wild Dog Collection includes various sketches for magazine covers.

The Goree Family Papers consists of documents, correspondence, articles, and photographs concerning the Goree family of Walker County, Texas. The majority of the collection is the original correspondence of Thomas Jewett Goree who served as aide to General James Longstreet during the Civil War.

The Mark Twain Correspondence and Ephemera Collection contains original correspondence from Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The letters and postcards consist mostly of thank you letters and correspondence concerning travel accommodations for a trip to Europe. The collection includes original photographs and postcards of Mark Twain.

Listen to this collection of oral histories about Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.

Our digital collection of Texas Military Veteran Video Oral Histories includes over 65 recordings of military veterans recounting their lives and memories including their childhood, military service, and post-military lives.

The majority of this collection deals with land cases in Walker and San Jacinto counties, with much focus on early Walker County. The correspondence reflects both legal and personal communication. The collection also contains some Civil War related correspondence, dating from 1862-1864. This includes many thank you letters that McKinney sent to donors of medicine or other supplies to soldiers of the 13th Texas Volunteers. There are thirty-one (31) Letter Books with copies of all correspondence written by McKinney from 1869-1906. Journals and other materials related to McKinney’s time in the House of Representatives as well as court proceedings in the Court of Civil Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas are also included.

This collection of rare broadsides, orignial manuscripts, decrees, proclamations and military orders, documents the Hispanic heritage of the Spanish Province, Mexican Colony, and the Independent Republic of Texas.

A collection of 23 documents relating to slavery, including slave inventories, selling slaves, third party hiring of slaves and valuation of slaves in Texas.

The Huntsville Walker County Photographs Collection is composed of photographs of various subjects throughout Walker County, primarily Huntsville, Texas.

The John F. Kelly Collection (1866-2007; one box) contains the original diary of John Felix Kelly, an early Walker County settler. His personal diary includes perspectives on events, weather, east Texas terrain, and people. The diary includes songs, scientific problems, surveying procedures, and medical treatments. The John F. Kelly Collection also contains photographs, correspondence, and additional documents that relate to John F. Kelly and his family.

The John Warren Smith Collection (1836-2009; ten boxes) contains materials documenting the history of John Warren Smith and the Smith family of Walker County, Texas. The Walker County probate and deed records include information that was used in the writing of John Warren Smith’s novel No Holier Spot of Ground published by Sam Houston State University’s Texas Review Press in 2004. The original manuscript and author’s notes for No Holier Spot of Ground are part of the collection, which also includes materials pertaining to many early Walker County residents, businesses, and historically significant incidents. Included are articles on the Trinity River and steamboat travel, early Huntsville newspaper clippings, early Texas and Walker County maps, information on Polk County, and material on the ghost town of Cincinnati, Texas. The majority of the materials concern the Smith family of Walker County (Cincinnati) and includes information regarding Hood’s Texas Brigade, the yellow fever epidemic, slaves, the mentally ill, lawsuits, family wills, as well as photographs of family gravestones. Also included in the collection are early Sam Houston Normal Institute and Sam Houston Teachers College certificates and diplomas for Boyce O. Smith and Mary Traylor.

This collection consists of letters from an English immigrant who settled in Huntsville, TX. Topics include yellow fever and farming in Huntsville.

The museum is dedicated to the life & times of General Sam Houston, former Governor of Tennessee, victor over Santa Anna in the Texas War of Independence, first President of the Republic of Texas, Senator from the State of Texas and Governor of the State of Texas. This collection features over 300 images, documents and artifacts associated with Houston's life.

This collection contains various manuscripts relating to Sam Houston and his time as President and Governor of Texas.

This collection of thirty documents represents original papers signed by a number of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" [among the earliest Anglo settlers of Texas].

This collection assembles autographed documents of 53 early Texas attorneys and judicial officials.

Our digital collection of Texas Military Veteran Video Oral Histories includes over 65 recordings of military veterans recounting their lives and memories including their childhood, military service, and post-military lives.

This collection contains documents relating to the early history of the Republic of Texas.

A collection of documents that relate to various topics that are found in the Thomason Room. Contains financial records, land records, and personal correspondence.

This collection contains fifty early maps of the lands which came to be known as Texas. These items were acquired from the Clark Texana Collection, through private gifts and purchases, as well as "Keepsake" facsimiles.

A selected index of the Huntsville Items that can be found in Thomason Special Collections. The documents pertains to events, people, and places that the compiler thought would be of interest to historians interested in Walker County, Texas. This is not a complete index of the Huntsville Items in Thomason Special Collections.

The Goree Family Papers consists of documents, correspondence, articles, and photographs concerning the Goree family of Walker County, Texas. The majority of the collection is the original correspondence of Thomas Jewett Goree who served as aide to General James Longstreet during the Civil War.

This collection contains the personal correspondence, scrapbooks, journals, articles, obituaries, photographs, and documents of the Werner family of Huntsville, Texas. The correspondence includes letters concerning the Werner family and friends with specific instances regarding the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The collection also includes many photographs of the Werner family and friends. Significant photographs include historic Werner family pictures, Robert A. Werner’s Air Force pictures, and Carolyn Werner’s travel pictures. Many of the family pictures contain images of the city of Huntsville in the 1950s and 1960s.