The Heritage Preservation Oral History Program was designed to preserve for future generations of Aggies the history and traditions of Texas A&M as experienced by a diverse group of people.

The oral histories were largely collected by Haskell Monroe, the director of the program and the Dean of Faculties Emeritus, through an interview process. Haskell Monroe was a history professor at Texas A&M University as well as the President of the University of Texas at El Paso and the Chancellor of the University of Missouri. While at A&M he served as the secretary of the Aspirations Committee. This Committee wrote crucial reports advising changes that would help create the diversity experienced at A&M to this day including racial integration, co-education, and the elimination of the compulsory Corps of Cadets service.

The interviewees, for the Heritage Preservation Oral History Program, ranged from faculty, staff, students, and people highly involved in the university. This was intentionally done to give a diverse and well-rounded history and perception of life at Texas A&M University. These people ranged from university Presidents and their wives, yell leaders, student body presidents, and professors. In the Early Years of the program's history the focus was on A&M in the 1930s and the impact of the Corps. While in later interviews conducted professors and students were interviewed about more specific facets of A&M and individual programs and departments. While the program initially was supposed to only interview about 24 important people to the intuition it grew considerably throughout the process. The interviews were conducted from 1998 to 2002 totaling up to over 200 individual interviews and interviewees.

This collection includes flags (felt) brought along on the geographical expedition in search of meteorites in Antarctica, headed by A&M professor John Wormuth, from November 1986 to February 1987. The expedition was an international collaborative effort between Japanese, Austrian, Dutch, and American researchers with William A. Cassidy (University of Pittsburgh) as the expedition team leader.

Other items included are a Texas House Resolution awarding Austin Mardon the United States Navy's Antarctica Medal on February 27, 1989.

This collection includes correspondence, publications, and class notes related to or written by Biology Professor Lawrence S. Dillon. The items in the collection span Lawrence S. Dillon's works from 1946 to 1975. The collection includes class syllabi taught by Dillon, publications, AIBS directory, and conference schedules. Other items include journal articles and publications written by Dillon and his colleagues on topics pertaining to zoology, evolution, and geological events.

The Class of 1995 scrapbook contains photographs and miscellaneous clippings of events throughout the year 1995.

This collection contains articles written by James Russell Couch from his duration at Texas A&M as professor of Poultry and Nutrition Science. The articles relate to Poultry and Nutrition science and range from 1950 to 1974.

This collection contains tickets, season ticket books, a game passes for A&M athletic games and events including men's and women's Basketball, Baseball, Football, Track and Field, Sports Day, Roller Derby, Huntsville Prison Rodeo, and the Fiddler's Festival Dance. The majority of the tickets are from A&M Football, followed by men's Basketball and Baseball.

This collection consists of the white, extra copies of the correspondence of the Dean of Agriculture. Most of the correspondence dates from 1960-1968. It should be noted that there is some overlap with material for the Texas Agriculture Experiment Station. This is due to the fact that both R. E. Patterson and H. O. Kunkel who were Deans of Agriculture during this time span also served as Directors of the Experiment Station simultaneously.

The papers from 1959 are from the tenure of Dr. R. E. Patterson as Vice Chancellor for Agriculture. In 1960 he was appointed Dean of Agriculture and simply continued this white copy file until his resignation and departure in August of 1967. Dr. H. O. Kunkel, upon his assumption of duty as the Dean of Agriculture, chose to continue to add to the files of his predecessor rather than creating his own. These files cover virtually the entire time span in which the Dean of Agriculture and Director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station were posts held concurrently by the same individual (1960-1972).

Collection of Negative photographs of Corps of Cadet companies from 1949-1957, and 1971-1977. Negatives are oversized and organized by date. Names of individuals not listed: See Texas A&M Yearbooks for identifying information on individual persons.

This collections includes a brief biography of Barclay composed by his daughter, Louzelle Barclay, seven photographs concerning A&M College of Texas (Texas A&M University) including one image taken of several alumni by the R. Sullivan Ross statue on the A&M campus and a shot of B. Sbisa, Alumni letters spanning 20 years (1916-1936), and engineering notes taken by Barclay while attending A&M College of Texas.

This collection contains biographical data, publications, and data on the Biology Department at Texas A&M in which Sewell was a faculty member, as well as reports and other papers relating to oyster mortality research carried out through the Texas A&M Research Foundation Research Project 9 (February 1, 1947 - May 31, 1950).

The research project 9 was funded by six major oil companies and led by two Texas A & M University Professors, Sewell H. Hopkins (Head) and John G. Mackin (Associate Head).

Prompted by several lawsuits filed by Louisiana oystermen against major oil companies claiming damages to oyster fields as a result of drilling in the Gulf Of Mexico region, Project 9 was conducted under the auspices of the Texas A & M Research Foundation. Project 9 allowed researchers to design and implement field and laboratory studies seeking to determine the effects of oil production activities on oyster production. Eventually, a then as-yet-unknown parasite was discovered which preyed upon the oyster crop after they had begun to reach maturity.

Two other large research groups investigating the same allegations against oil production in the Gulf headed by H. Malcome Owen (Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission) and Albert W. Collier (Gulf Oil Company) compared notes with the Heads of Project 9, coming to the same conclusion. As a result of this collaboration, a description of this newly discovered parasite called Dermocystidium marinum was published in 1950. The lawsuits were subsequently dropped or settled out of court.

More importantly for the history of the Texas A & M University System, however, is the fact that Research Project 9 led ultimately to the creation and expansion of a Marine Sciences program, represented by the newly established (1949) Department of Oceanography at Texas A & M University in College Station. On 1 June 1950, after the termination of Research Project 9, Research Project 23 was begun to continue studies on oyster disease and maintain a Marine Laboratory at Grand Isle, La. The Texas A & M Marine Laboratory was established (1952) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Tex. In 1968 Texas A & M University was named a Sea Grant College. The Marine Laboratory and the Texas Maritime Academy were merged in 1971, which is now known as Texas A & M University at Galveston.

These papers, therefore, form a picture of the ground-breaking research in oyster mortality conducted by Sewell H. Hopkins as head of Project 9, which led to increased sensitivity of the interplay of industry and the ecosystem, and to the formalized study at the university level of marine biology in the Gulf area.

Other researchers whose work is represented in the papers include Jay Donald Andrews, A. D. Bajkov, Harry J. Bennet, James L. Boswell, Clair Brown, Sidney O. Brown, M.D. Burkenroad, Fred Caulthron, C. Ray Elsey, I. I. Gardescu, Gordon Gunter, C. K. Hancock, Harold W. Harry, Joel W. Hedgpeth, Willis G. Hewatt, A. A. Jakkula, Fred W. Jensen, P. Korringa, Louis Lambert, Hugh B. Lofland, Elmer J. Lund, G. Robert Lunz, Jr., John C. Aull, Alvin F. Dodds, Shirley Alfred Lynch, John G. Mackin, Wiley G. Lastrapes, H. A. Marmer, R. Winston Menzel, Thurlow C. Nelson, Joseph F. Prokop, W. C. Rasmussen, Sammy M. Ray, J. H. Roberts, Fred W. Sieling, John J. Sperry, Victor Sprague, and Claude E. ZoBell.

    * Bibliography

    * Ray, Sammy M. "Historical Perspective on Perkinsus Marinus Disease of Oysters in the Gulf of Mexico." Journal of Shellfish Research. Vol. 15, No. 1:9-11.

    * Ray, Sammy M. "Texas A & M University's Contributions to Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Research." [Viewed 2002-10-10 at: ]

This scrapbook was created by the Auxiliary to the Texas Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association at Texas A&M.

This collection contains records from the Texas A&M University Office of Continuing Education. Records include official summaries, meetings, conventions, workshops, pamphlets, and other miscellaneous continuing education documents.

This collection consists of a scrapbook showing "Early Views", mostly buildings, of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas through photographs taken by D. Yarbrough, Co. "A" Engineers (most dated 1938 on the back).

Included is a photo of the "Duncan House, College Station" which is probably the house of the Board of Directors (W. A. Duncan, as director of food services, was assigned a living space in that building). Photographs of several community buildings are also included:  The Boyett Apartments (North Gate), A&M Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Christian Church, St. Mary's (Catholic) Chapel, A&M Consolidated High School, and A&M Consolidated Grammar School (both schools were located on campus). There is also a close-up photo of a "typical" project house, and a long-distance shot of a group of project houses.

This collection contains unpublished papers written by A&M Professor Bardin H. Nelson discussing education, nutrition, and a number of other topics.

The collection spans the life of James Earl Rudder. The bulk (1944-1970) of the materials roughly correspond to the chronology of James Earl Rudder's life, with additional materials collected mainly by his wife, Margaret Rudder. The collection includes materials from Rudder’s time in the service during WWII, clippings from newspapers, as well as posters, magazine issues, memorabilia, and Rudder’s awards.

This collection of reports was assembled by a staff member who worked in the department from 1949 to about 1974. Some reports were added after 1974, but that was not done as consistently as before. Thus, for the first twenty-four years, the collection should be at least virtually complete.

All of the reports are in good condition. The earliest ones were published as mimeograph copies while the later ones seem to be published as photo-offset copies.

The collection contains the publication Agron-o-gram Newsletter from the Soil and Crop Sciences Department.

This collection includes flower show information, historical club materials, minutes, club yearbooks and scrapbooks, and club reports.

This collection consists of publications from the Texas Real Estate Research Center with the following box titles and contents:

• Issues in Real Estate, (1985)
• Miscellaneous Publications (September 1973 - March 1991)
• Executive Newsletter, (1988-1999)
• Publications List, (1976-1984)
• Reprints and Brochures
• Teachers Instructional Packet (TIP), (1984-1986)
• The Educator, (1974-1981)

This collection includes the following publication titles from the A&M Texas Forest Service:

• Field Notes, (1986-1991)
• Publications Catalog, (1986-1988; 1990)
• Publication, # 104 (1969); 106 (1970); 111 (1975); 132 (1983); 139 (1985); 140 (1986)
• Bulletins
• Wildlife Danger Report, (1993-1997)

This collection consists of the publication Graduate College News.

This collection includes three issues of the publication The Nth Degree: The Graduate Newsletter, one from 1994, 1995, and 1996.

The Texas Aggie Countryman was a Texas A&M College monthly publication created in 1930 by students at the Texas A&M College Press. It is one of the first student-run publications at Texas A&M.

This collection contains daily crime summaries and monthly reports that were sent to the Office of the President and other offices of A&M. Information in the daily crim summaries has been previously redacted (blacked out) due to personal or sensitive information contained within.

Twelve Wedgwood plates with a cadet on back, not a collector's edition.

The March to the Brazos photographic scrapbook album contains photographs from 1909 to 1911 "March to the Brazos" Corps of Cadets tradition along with Texas A&M College Campus views, Campus tents, along with military campsites, and social events.

Collection of student life photographs.

The James C. Nagle Photographic Album is a Kodak album containing photographs of Texas A&M College campus, circa 1900.

This scrapbook contains newspaper clippings regarding A&M College of Texas.

This collection contains three scrapbooks, one of which belonged to Irene Claghorn, filled with photographs and mementos dating from the early 1900s through the 1940s.

One, 5" box with one folder of earlier campus photographs and one scrapbook of newspaper clippings from 1960-1969.

This collection contains a photocopy of Chapter 8 from the second edition of a book entitled Gustav McKee Watkins: A Biography, by John Bennett Watkins II, with additional references including a follow-up email of contents and extra biography materials.