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Surprise discovery brings “True Grit” Author’s Archive to The Wittliff Collections

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The Wittliff Collections have acquired the archive of literary legend Charles Portis, whose personal papers were discovered in a hidden cache two years after the author’s death. The self-effacing Portis, an Arkansas native who died in 2020 at age 86, avoided publicity and kept a low profile during his lifetime. Yet his five acclaimed novels, …

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The Remarkable Connie Todd (1941-2024) Wittliff Director 1997-2010

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Light seemed to follow Connie Todd everywhere. She had a natural stage presence, a gift she’d cultivated from an early age. Connie was only fourteen when she joined a prominent Austin orchestra as its lead vocalist in the 1950s. Her voice remained unforgettable to all who knew her. It flowed like a crystalline Hill Country …

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The Treasures of Tesoros

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Tesoros: Treasures of Mexican Photography is a new gallery at The Wittliff that highlights treasures from our extensive collection of Mexican photography. The inaugural exhibition was curated by two student interns, Deandra Lee and Blanca Luna Nuñez, working alongside Carla Ellard, photo-archivist. Deandra, BFA in Photography ‘24, interned at The Wittliff for course credit with …

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Improving Archive Access in a Digital World

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Continuing our series of blog written by our student employees, Alie Dowell writes about her experiences working as a metadata assistant. Alie assisted with The Wittliff’s metadata and archival description initiatives focusing on the migration of Microsoft Word and PDF collection inventories into ArchivesSpace to enhance online discovery and access. The Wittliff’s ArchivesSpace site can …

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From The Archives: Texas Music Oral History Project

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By Wittliff intern Abigail Moon. As a student at Texas State University, I was pleased to join the Wittliff Collections team as a Digitization Assistant in Fall of 2023. My internship consisted of working with the unique archival materials found in the Texas Music Oral History project. This collection consists of interviews with a diverse …

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The Wittliff acquires the Archive of Renowned Writer Benjamín Alire Sáenz

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The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University have acquired the complete archive of internationally acclaimed writer Benjamín Alire Sáenz. A major literary voice from the US-Mexico borderlands, Sáenz is the author of nearly 30 books and his works have been published in 25 languages worldwide. Sáenz, who lives and works in El Paso, has said, …

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Wittliff Acquires Large Texana Research Collection

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Longtime Texas writer Mike Cox, author of more than 40 nonfiction books, has donated his extensive Texana research files to the Texas State University’s Wittliff Collections. Amassed over sixty years, the material consists of 1,000-plus file folders that cover numerous aspects of Texas people, places, folklore and history. The files also include notes, correspondence and …

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Texas music gallery

Highlights from The Texas Music Collection

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Editor’s note: Student employees are a big part of The Wittliff’s success. In celebration of National Student Employee Week we want to highlight the hard work of our student employees. This is the first in a series of blog posts about how students contribute behind-the-scenes in the archives. Abigail Moon is a Wittliff digitization student …

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Souls of Prom

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Recently, Wittliff intern, Deandra Lee, curated Souls of Prom, a photo installation featuring photographs by Will van Overbeek. This new exhibition at The Wittliff’s Treasures gallery showcases six images from his 2005 Prom series. Lee’s enthusiasm comes through in her introductory curatorial statement, “I was excited to learn about a photographer who has been photographing …

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