This collection encompasses a number of resources obtained with the support of A&M's Africana Studies Program.

Box 1, Teaching Aids, consists of chromo card albums that were published in continental Europe by various companies to garner support for the continuation of the control over colonies across Africa and Asia. Also, many of these albums intend to educate on the natural resources of the colonies and their indigenous inhabitants.

Box 2, Cards and Chromo Albums, consists of cards produced by various European companies that depict the African lifestyle and diaspora. Some cards also depict many stereotypes widely held by mainland European society. Also included are albums that may have been intended to educate the collector on topics such as the fauna of Africa, and the practice of hunting.

Box 3, Oversize Items, consists of more Chromo trade albums, teaching aids, ballots, and posters.

This collection documents Criner's professional and personal life as an artist and educator. The collection includes correspondence, original works of art, prints, drawings, exhibition photos, postcards, writings, photographs, publicity, news clippings, interviews with Criner, and thank you letters and cards from students and visitors who have been taught the art of printmaking and provided tours of the Museum of Printing History in Houston by Criner. The collection includes a number of Criner's prints and copies of his art reproduced as advertisements, exhibits, and prints. Of particular note are the significant examples of Criner’s various cartoons, Johnny Jones, The Job Crowd, The Dogs, and a few others. These were all produced from his stint in the Army, his work with the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, HUD, and his collaboration with William Henry Hygh. 

A listing of Criner’s artwork and cartoons is included at the end of the finding guide. The collection includes examples of each of these works either in print, photos, or exhibit material.

These comics were created in countries that were ruled by colonial powers in Africa, namely Italy, France, Belgium, and Spain. The comics are both individual copies and bound volumes with numerous copies. They date from around 1926 to 1973.

The Mercurio Martinez Papers (1797-1963 (bulk: 1910-1963)) include correspondence, copies of legal documents such as wills, deeds, affidavits and courtroom briefs, maps, a few photographs, field notes for land surveys, genealogical charts, accounts of family and regional history by Mercurio Martinez, and historical accounts from other sources, principally newspapers. There are also financial records of various kinds including tax records, bills and receipts, books of check stubs and account sheets.

The vast majority of the papers relate to families, places and events in Zapata County. Webb County is also well represented, as is the region surrounding the town of Guerrero, Tamaulipas located on the south bank of the Rio Grande opposite Zapata County, Texas. A few papers deal with families, places and events in Starr County and further south in the Rio Grande Valley and a few files deal with Mexican, United States and world affairs. Unless otherwise noted in the inventory, files deal with Zapata or Webb County matters.

The oldest original papers date from the latter part of the nineteenth century and include such documents as Mercurio Martinez's Texas Teachers Certificate, 1898 (Series 1-3/4); a General Land Office map of Zapata County, 1885, (Series 3-14/25); and a certificate appointing Proceso Martinez, Sr., Mercurio's father, to the Zapata County Board of Appeals, 1870, (Series 3-25/23). There are also copies and translations of nineteenth-century documents including partition deeds, deeds of sale, birth records, and maps. Accounts of family and local history written by Martinez in the 1950s and early 1960s deal with events dating back to the Spanish settlements along the lower Rio Grande in the 1750s. Genealogies are generally traced back to the first colonists to arrive in the region. Family records, therefore, cover a time span of more than 200 years, from the settlers who arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande in about 1750 to their descendants in the early 1960s. Each decade from 1900 onward is represented in the papers. There are more files from the 1950s than any other single decade.

Among the most important files in the collection are those on the relocation of the town of Zapata due to the construction of Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande in the early 1950s, the salvation of the community of San Ygnacio from destruction during this period, the accounts of family history and genealogy from Zapata County, and the papers related to the division of lands between descendants of original holders of Spanish grants and sales of family lands. Maps, genealogies, and legal documents provide a clear picture of the rapidity with which even extensive landholdings can be reduced to tracts hardly adequate to support the families of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original owners. Reconsolidation of holdings through the purchase of interest from siblings and through cousin marriage are also documented. It is also possible to trace shifts in settlement and land-use patterns. For example, the original grantees of porciones along the Rio Grande held land in long narrow blocks extending inland from the river. Over the generations, these blocks were subdivided among heirs and parts of them were sold outside the families. Through separate inheritance from parents, through marriage, and through purchase, individuals came to own small pieces of land located in widely separated tracts. This pattern of dispersed holdings, each of economically inefficient size and too far apart to be worked as units, has been noted for many peasant societies. These papers clearly reveal the processes whereby such a land-holding pattern developed out of the more economically efficient block holdings within a few generations. The most completely documented tract of land is the vast Jose Vasquez Borrego Grant made in 1750. It was later divided into the Dolores, Corralitos, and San Ygnacio Subdivisions. The first settlement was made at the Hacienda de Dolores on August 22, 1750. This settlement was abandoned, apparently during Indian troubles in the early 19th century. A settlement or Rancho of Dolores was founded nearby in the Dolores subdivision of the Borrego Grant by Cosme Martinez in 1859. Meanwhile, the town of San Ygnacio had been founded in the San Ygnacio subdivision in 1830. Until the early 20th century, an hacienda in the Corralitos subdivision was occupied by members of the Vidaurri family, who were descendants of the original grantee's daughter, Alejandra Vasquez Borrego de Vidaurri.

Also of interest are the Corridos, or ballads, composed by Mercurio Martinez and dealing with dramatic events in Zapata County history such as an escape from prison, a contested election and the destruction of Zapata by the rising waters of Falcon Reservoir.

This collection includes over 11 different groupings of approximately 1 to 10 issues in each grouping. The latter half of the collection includes illustrations of African and African Americans in European periodicals.

This collection consists of an illustrated mailer postmarked New Orleans, and hand-addressed to Toledo OH, containing 18 accordion-folded 6in x 4in color photos purporting to show (stereotypical happy variety) black life in the south, with two songs, "Dixie Land" and "Dixieland for M" printed on the inside of the mailer with a cypress tree on one side of the fold and a photo of a black man and woman next to the address label.

These were reproduced from hand-tinted black and white originals. Postcard-size images, but double-sided without space for messages.

The collection documents the life of Reverend William M. Taylor and his pursuit of education in various cities in Texas. A biography provides details about his education, religious vocation, and family life in Texas that provide a glimpse into the trials and tribulations Blacks faced in attaining any type of progress. This small collection is also rich in the history of the Guadalupe Baptist Association, Guadalupe College, and the community life for African Americans in Texas.

This collection includes an exchange of letters between Berenice Napper and an official of Connecticut's Commission on Civil Rights, six items concerning Napper's membership in the National Council of Negro Women, eight printed ephemeral items including a photograph of Berenice Napper with three other individuals looking over a copy of Walter White's book How Far the Promised Land?, and a small group of newspaper clippings concerning her work as a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

This collection was part of a gift given to the library by the Anthropology Department.  The collection documents the work and writings of Professor Dolores Richter. The collection includes photographs, negatives, writings, and news clippings related to Prof. Richter’s research in the Ivory Coast, West Africa, and Oceania and the publication of her book “Arts, Economics and Change: the Kulebele of Northern Ivory Coast” published in 1980.

This collection contains over 100 items, primarily books that are cataloged and available via the Libcat system. The manuscript and drawings are also cataloged and available via the Libcat system.

The collection contains a letter written by J. B. Rayner announcing a forthcoming visit to Edna, Texas, dated October 19, 1900 (envelope included), and a handbill announcing Rayner's talk on October 27, 1900.

The collection covers the personal, academic, and professional life of Jeff Stumpo and his founding of the Java Shock slam poetry event held initially in College Station, but now based in Bryan, TX.

This collection is UNPROCESSED.

This collection was intentionally developed, pulling together political documentation and radical writings of people of African descent from around the country.

These two volumes documents feature the personal and political reminiscences of journalist William S. Robinson and were edited and published by his wife in 1877. In the first edition, the first volume was expanded to two with extra illustrations (142 portraits and 53 autograph letters from prominent Americans of the time). Writing as “Warrington,” the journalist was especially noted for his reform positions and radical anti-slavery voice. The portraits and views represent a wide range of 19th-century American historic events, sites, and public figures.

This collection pertains to Ernesto Mejia-Sanchez, who was a major Nicaraguan diplomat, poet, scholar, and critic whose papers are primarily in Spanish. Materials include photographs, correspondence, writings, publications, newspapers, course writings, and research materials from archives and libraries around the world.

This collection consists of cost reports, blueprints, financial statements, and correspondence.

This collection contains the personal and business documents of Joseph Woodyard Batts. The majority of the documents, around 600, are handwritten duplications of land abstracts that track the distribution of land from the founding of Texas. Other documents included are correspondence of land and loan agreements from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Lastly, there are personal tax receipts for himself and his son, J. W. Batts, Jr.

Notable documents include land granted to Texas A&M, land granted from the Mexican government before Texas was a part of the U. S., land granted to the Confederate war efforts during the Civil War, and land granted from Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.

Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson, CBE (11 August 1913 – 31 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was one of England's first openly gay authors. This collection contains a CD copy of four cassettes as well as the original four cassettes of the following: Dickens and the City, Dickens and the Law, Dickens and Dostoevsky, and Dub.
This collection contains a CD copy of four cassettes as well as the original four cassettes of the following:

• Dickens ad the City
• Dickens and the Law
• Dickens and Dostoevsky
• Dub

Alfred Edgar Coppard (4 January 1878 – 13 January 1957) was an English author, noted for his poetry and short stories. His collection of papers, the A.E. Coppard Manuscript Collection, contains consists of handwritten and typed transcriptions of correspondence primarily between Coppard and Don Suddaby from 1927 to 1952, miscellaneous correspondence between Coppard and David Posner, and a typed and edited manuscript of Coppard’s work Chinfeathers.

This collection contains 124 handwritten letters to Coppard's friend and fellow author Don Suddaby discussing such topics as books, plays, authors, and religion. Included are 11 pages of the manuscript "Chinfeathers", handwritten and heavily corrected.

These scrapbooks contain clippings, pictures, and other materials Dewey accumulated as a member of the Texas Legislature.

This collection contains a copy of Fulton's manuscript "Mines, Mortars, Matching Guns and Riflemen", along with correspondence to a few individuals and between others regarding the manuscript and its contents.

This collection consists of notes to an A&M University Press book.

This collection, compiled by Professor A. W. Yeats, contains numerous letters handwritten by Kipling, copies of Kipling letters, letters written by his sister Alice Fleming discussing her childhood with Kipling, and correspondence from Kipling's wife Caroline and daughter Elsie.

Included in the collection are many original newspaper clippings, poems, short stories, photos, drawings, . articles, a publishing contract, lists of various Kipling collections, material regarding the Kipling Society and the Last Will and Testaments of Rudyard Kipling, his wife Caroline and his sister Alice Fleming.

The collection, through a large display of original and reproduced letters, gives a peek at the kind of everyday tasks that Rudyard, as a famous author, and his wife Caroline had to contend with. Through its many newspaper clippings and articles written about him, the collection shows how eminent Rudyard Kipling was as a writer both in the 19th and the 20th centuries. It also serves as an introduction to the Kipling Society, its founding and difficulties therein, as well as the struggles legal and otherwise that surrounded Kipling's work during his life, continuing many years after his death. The collection contains interesting facts about the Kipling family, including some light genealogy, the places they lived and visited, and the people they knew.

There are some thirty-six Rudyard Kipling autograph pieces, all of which are letters excluding a few poems and miscellaneous items. The collection contains many original letters of Alice Fleming, Caroline Kipling, Elsie (Kipling) Bambridge, J.H.C. Brooking, A. W. Yeats and various others as well as many copies of letters from other Kipling collections throughout the country. In addition to any personal correspondence, there are many letters and notes, several minutes, member lists and other paraphernalia of the Kipling Society founded by J.H.C. Brooking in 1926 [?]. There is an assortment of page-proofs, galleys, original drafts, and copies of Kipling's poems, short stories, and manuscripts, along with a wide range of newspaper clippings dealing with all aspects of Kipling's life and influences on society. In addition, the collection has several original and copied catalogs from bookseller's and auction houses holding Kipling material.

Along with the letters, clippings, and many books in the Rudyard Kipling Collection at Texas A&M University, the collection contains items such as an autograph copy of "The Foreloper" framed with an illustration by an unidentified artist, the manuscript for "The Maltese Cat," and the ledger book of Mr. T.E. Elwell, an early member of the Kipling Society, who made many notes and collected numerous clippings towards a Kipling bibliography.

This collection contains over 275 letters of correspondence in Series 1, serving to portray the longtime relationship between Roy Fuller and Julian Symons which started on terms of business and grew to a close friendship. The letters are primarily from Roy Fuller to Julian Symons with occasional addendums from Kate Fuller. There are several letters from Julian Symons in response. In addition, there are some letters from John Fuller to the Symons, from Roy Fuller to Jack Clark, and from Roy Fuller to Sebastian Barker. The folder list contains a brief description of each individual letter and its focus, often with a list of Subjects. Especially lyrical and poetic are Roy Fuller's war letters starting when he was stationed in Africa (Kenya and Nairobi) and Ariel through the office of the Admiralty (folders 1000-1370).

In Series 2, there are 64 letters from Roy Fuller with three annotations from Jack Clark and five from Kate Fuller, one letter from Jack Clark, one from Kate Fuller, six from John Fuller, Roy Fuller's son, and several others from miscellaneous individuals. The letters from Roy Fuller date from 1958 to 1990 and are primarily handwritten postcards to Jack Clark, Co-founder of the Poem-of-the-Month Club. Many of these letters are regarding or, at least, in reference to Fuller's position as advisory to the Poem-of-the-Month Club. However, Fuller and Clark were also close friends, and Fuller feels free, in these letters, to discuss everything from his failing health to how he met his wife, along with many other personal remarks. Most of the letters from John Fuller and the one from Kate Fuller were written after Roy Fuller's death. The few other items in this series include poems, obituaries, newspaper clippings, and pamphlets pertaining to Roy Fuller's life and/or subjects exchanged between Fuller and Clark.

List of Abbreviations Used:

• ALS - Autograph letter, signed.
• AL - Autograph letter, unsigned.
• ANS - Autograph note, signed.
• APCS - Autograph postcard, signed.
• TLS - Typed letter, signed.
• TL - Typed letter, unsigned.
• TPCS - Typed postcard, signed.
• RF - Roy Fuller
• POMC - Poem-of-the-Month Club
• TCV - Twentieth Century Verse

This collection covers the (mostly public) life of Phyllis R. Frye, from time as a member of the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Corps of Cadets as Phillip Frye, an undergraduate, through her transition to Phyllis in the 1970s in Houston, Texas, her activism through the 2010s, and her career.

The scope of the collection goes back as early as the 1940s, with the bulk of its contents from the 1970s on. Most of the collection is from Frye’s public life, thus it is Texas-based; however, because of Frye’s national prominence, it also includes national context on the movement for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, (and especially) Transgender rights.

This collection contains the personal papers of Kate Adele Hill during her time as an employee of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Included are correspondence, speeches, clippings, articles, photos about extension work, pioneer women in Texas, demonstration work, and agriculture.

This collection consists of 1200 slides of Texas courthouses located throughout the state. This collection also contains newspaper clippings, personal notes, and issues of the periodical Texas County Progress (incomplete issues from 1984-1999 and incomplete issues from 2002-2003) on the subject of Texas courthouses. This collection also includes magazines and brochures about Texas courthouses; pictures and slides of Texas courthouses; calendars; and a video cassette.