This post was written by Maura Okula, the D.M. Edwards (The Texas Collection Waco History) intern for summer 2025 During my summer internship at The Texas Collection, I worked on several projects that supported the archive’s mission to preserve and provide access to materials related to Texas history and culture. One of my primary projects was processing the General Menu…
(BCPM) A Summer at the W. R. Poage Library: Dowdy Intern Katherine Beall
This blog post was written by Dowdy Summer Intern Katherine Beall, a master’s student in the Museum Studies Department. This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to be the Dowdy Intern at the Baylor Collections of Political Materials at the W. R. Poage Library. This was an enriching experience that taught me so much about archives. I was given three…
(BCPM) Texas Mental Health Reform During the Reagan Era: A Cyclical Struggle for Human Rights and Resources
This blog post was written by graduate assistant Heather Woycheshin, a master’s student at the Baylor School of Social Work. As one of the graduate archival assistants here at the W. R. Poage Library, I have had the unique experience of exploring the intersection between archival material and my passion for social work and mental health services. This post highlights…
Welcome to Fall 2025, Baylor Faculty!
The Libraries have been hard at work all summer, and we are eager to present new programming, new spaces, and tons of updates as you prepare for the start of fall classes. Let’s jump right in! Pathways: Your On-Ramp to Creativity in Making and Media! Starting this Fall, all users of the Makerspace and Creative Media resources are required to…
(BCPM) Disabilities Pride Month and the ADA
This post was written by Thomas DeShong, processing archivist at the BCPM Disabilities Pride Month is celebrated each July to commemorate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). This law prohibits discrimination based on disability. Marvin Leath, who represented Waco in 1990, was a key proponent of the ADA. He received constituent correspondence for and against…
(BCPM) “Ladies, Have You Heard?”: Texas Women and the Equal Rights Amendment
This blog post was written by former graduate assistant Aaron Ramos. In today’s political climate, thinking about history through a lens of women’s/gender studies is bound to attract criticism from pundits who claim that this lens of academic inquiry seeks to upset traditional gender roles and needlessly politicize that which seems apolitical. It is true that one aspect of women’s/gender…
(BCPM) The American Controversy over the Ten Commandments
This blog post was written by former graduate assistant Seven Franklin. Beginning in the late 1990s and continuing into the early 2000s, religious liberty once again became a focal point for controversy in American public life. School prayer, sex education, and marriage were prominent topics of discussion. Many Americans believed that a more pointed effort needed to be taken to…
(BCPM) Artesia Hall: A Texan Horror Story
This blog post was composed by graduate assistant Aaron Ramos, a master’s student in the Department of History. “Send us your daughter and we will return to you a lady or send us your son and we will return to you a gentleman.” (Printed along the bottom of Aston Educational Foundation letterhead, of which Artesia Hall was a part.)…
(Texas) The Texas Centennial
This blog post was written by Grace Collins, the summer 2024 Texas Collection intern On March 2, 1836, the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed, marking a pivotal moment in the state’s history. This declaration set the stage for a series of events that would define the struggle for Texas independence from Mexico. Just over a month later, on April…
(BCPM) “With God’s Help, Let Us Build a Prosperous, Expanding, and Free Agriculture:” American Agriculture Politics from 1958-1961 (Part 3)
This blog post was written by History Ph.D. candidate Emma Fenske. This is the final post covering former Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson, his speeches, the Christian Right, and American agriculture politics from 1958-1961. While it might stand out that a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had such a public religious and pro-America platform…