This post was written by Maura Okula, the D.M. Edwards (The Texas Collection Waco History) intern for summer 2025
The author (bottom right) along with the summer interns from The Texas Collection and BCPM at Poage Library and its director, Jeff Pirtle (left)
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 Collection, a set of menus, predominantly from Texas, dating from the late 19th to the 21st century. This work included arrangement, description, and preservation, as well as writing the finding aid for the collection. This project helped to ensure these materials are accessible for researchers and properly maintained for long-term storage.
A cart of archival materials from the menus collection processed by Maura.
Another major task I worked on was the inventory and condition assessment of over 400 high school and college yearbooks. This project aimed to identify what yearbooks we actually have, as well as document the physical state of the materials, in order to eventually contribute to outreach efforts with institutions across Texas and beyond. I also participated in the ongoing collections assessment of The Texas Collection’s holdings to evaluate preservation needs and improve accessibility. This involved going through various collections and analyzing what they contain, who they pertain to, their condition, and other identifying information. Lastly, I assisted with smaller-scale inventories of theses and map projects, contributing to a more complete understanding of the archive’s collections.
The projects I worked on this summer assisted in strengthening the Texas Collection’s ability to manage, preserve, and share its holdings with researchers, educators, and the public, and helped to make Texas history more accessible. Overall, this internship has provided me with invaluable archival and processing experience that will assist me in my future career and pursuit of historical research.