Texas Women's University Library
The Woman's Collection
http://www.twu.edu/library/
History
The Woman's Collection of the Blagg-Huey Library at Texas Woman's University represents a major research collection on the history of American women. The Library first began collecting the biographies of great women in 1932 at the suggestion of its president, Dr. Louis H. Hubbard, "to serve as role models" to students. Since then it has grown to over 42,000 books, 3,000 cubic feet of manuscript collections, 19,000 photographs, approximately 2,000 periodical titles, and major manuscript and book collections on microform.
The Woman's Collection also houses the University Archives, which provide rich research materials on the history of women's education in Texas. An international cookbook collection offers insight into culinary and cultural history.
WMA's Relationship with the Library
TWU was suggested to the WMA Board because of the work they do with the organization of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII. In 1996, TWU also became the archive for the Whirly Girls, pushing its growing reputation as a women in aviation archive.
In 1998 WMA established an official relationship with TWU to preserve the history of our members through a gift agreement. Texas Women's University (TWU) has been established as the official repository for the WMA archives to provide state of the art, professional and enduring archives to house the history of Women Military Aviators should they so choose. Many of the resources are available online.
Why WMA Established a Relationship with TWU
Every organization begins to look back and recognize its history and founders, so it is important to document the history of an organization. More importantly, the membership of WMA is filled with women of remarkable experiences and achievements in the military and in aviation. Members are encouraged to save personal papers for historical use. At TWU, we feel that in years to come, the members of the WMA will represent a rich field of research for women historians and students. Our job is to document the lives of women, to acknowledge the significant milestones of women's lives. All you have to do is walk around at a reception of the WMA to realize that you are in the midst women of great accomplishment.
Access and Research to the Collections
Access is provided by the Woman's Collection Department during the hours listed below. For timely access to the rare books and manuscript collections, or for tours of the collection's materials, we encourage researchers to contact the Department before coming to use the collection. Manuscript listings provide access to collections of personal papers, the University Archives, documents, photographs, and records. The Texas Women's Bio-files can be accessed through the TWU Online Catalog.
Hours
The Woman's Collection staff is available to help researchers Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Materials housed in the vault are available during staff office hours only.
Patrons will find a portion of the TWU Woman's Collection materials available on open stacks whenever the Library is open. Materials with easy access include:
· Woman's Collection books
· Woman's current and bound periodicals
· Woman's microform collection
· Cookbook collection
Location, E-mail Address and Telephone Number
The Woman's Collection is located at Blagg-Huey Library on the Texas Woman's University main campus off Bell Avenue in Denton, Texas. We are 35 miles north of Dallas/Ft. Worth.
E-mail address: womansc@twu.edu
Mailing address: P.O. Box 425528
Denton, TX 76204
Phone: (940) 898-3751 Fax: (940) 898-3745
Staff
Dawn Letson
M.L.S., Director of the Woman's Collection, Assistant Director of Libraries for Materials Processing and Special Collections. With TWU Woman's Collection since 1991. Previously worked at Southern Methodist University DeGolyer Library, Curator of Manuscripts and Photographs.
E-mail: Dawn Letson at dletson@twu.edu
Tracey Mac Gowan
M.Ed. in Counseling and Student Services. Library Assistant in the Woman's Collection since 2001.
E-mail: Tracey Mac Gowan at tmacgowan@twu.edu
Ann McGuffin Barton
B.A. in History/Government. Library Assistant in the Woman's Collection since 1997.
E-mail: Ann Barton at abarton@twu.edu