Archive Week to Highlight Hurricane Damage to Library Materials

A new exhibit focusing on hurricane damage to library materials of historical and cultural institutions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will be featured at an open house hosted by the Baylor Collections of Political Materials (BCPM) on Tuesday, Oct. 25. The open house will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the W. R. Poage Legislative Library on the Baylor University campus. Refreshments will be provided.
"We have designated the week of October 24-28 as Archives Week," said Ben Rogers, BCPM director. "The next time you have a question about the past, visit an archive near you. There you will find history is alive and waiting for you to discover it."
Archives week, sponsored by the Society of Southwest Archivists, encourages citizens to become acquainted with the archives in their areas during October. This observance provides libraries with an opportunity to publicize the important work of archives and archivists, Rogers said.
In addition to the exhibit on hurricane damage, displays will feature materials related to presidential campaigns, Bob Bullock, Jack Hightower and JFK assassination conspiracy theories found in the papers of Penn Jones Jr. Visitors will be able to view the unusual display case custom made by the Texas Collection to hold information and scrapbooks about Dixon Wecter, a 1925 Baylor graduate who was a professor of history at several major universities and served as literary editor of the Mark Twain estate.
The BCPM will display plans for converting part of the reading room into a book vault with temperature/humidity controls. In addition to rare books, this area will house historic newspapers and media materials. Visitors also can visit the recently constructed Jack and Colleen Hightower Reception Area.
For more information about the Archives Week open house at the BCPM, contact Rogers at 710-3540; Benna Ball, project director of the Bullock Archive, at 710-3767; or go to https://www.baylor.edu/library/BCPM.