Tom Charlton Named Acting Director Of Texas Collection

Dr. Thomas L. Charlton, vice provost for administration and professor of history at Baylor University, has been appointed acting director of The Texas Collection, a major special collection among Baylor's library facilities, effective Aug. 1. Charlton succeeds director Kent Keeth, who is retiring at the end of the summer.
"Nobody is more committed to the advancement of Baylor's outstanding Texas Collection than Dr. Charlton," said Dr. Reagan Ramsower, dean of libraries and chief information officer. "Baylor is extremely fortunate Tom is willing to take on this new project shepherding the existing Texas Collection, seeking new materials, and bringing awareness to what is arguably the leading Texana library in the state and the world."
"I am honored and delighted to be associated again with The Texas Collection, long a strong research center at Baylor and, potentially, a major player in achieving the goals of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision," Charlton said. "I look forward to working with the university's fine library system in a new capacity, and I sincerely thank the Baylor administration for this wonderful opportunity."
Charlton received his bachelor's degree from Baylor and his master's degree and doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. From 1962 to 1970, he taught American and British history at San Antonio College. He joined the Baylor faculty in 1970. In addition to his teaching duties in the department of history, Charlton served as director of the Institute for Oral History and as acting director of the program for regional studies.
Since 1993, he has served in the general administration of the university, as assistant vice president for academic affairs, vice provost for academic affairs and research, vice provost for research and currently as vice provost for administration.
In directing The Texas Collection, Charlton will be responsible for a collection that features a vast repository of materials of every kind and on every subject pertaining to Texas and Texas culture. Included in the collection, which was begun in 1923, are books (both rare and current), periodicals, maps, manuscript collections, company records, Texas denominational histories, university archives, photographs, state agency reports, Central Texas county archives, oral histories on numerous subjects, electronic and microform sources, newspapers and Baylor graduate theses and dissertations, among other items.
Additionally, in association with the President's Office, Charlton will continue his activities related to the university's proposal to become the host site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library Center and will teach a class in the history department.
Keeth began his tenure at Baylor in 1973. A native of Marshall, Texas, he received his bachelor's degree from Baylor and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley. From 1965-1968, he worked at the Library of Congress, and from 1970-1973, he served as associate archivist/librarian for the Barker Texas History Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a former president of the Society of Southwest Archivists and author of Looking Back at Baylor: A Collection of Historical Vignettes.
"Since 1973, Kent Keeth has provided valuable direction, expertise and leadership for The Texas Collection," Ramsower said. "Kent is a Renaissance thinker and has assembled and organized a world-class collection of materials about Texas and by Texans. He has also contributed so much to the rich history and culture of Baylor University and to the Libraries."
For more information, contact Charlton at 710-7737.