For this week’s installment of Treats & Treasures, we’re discussing a vibrant Waco landmark: the Brazos River. The Brazos originates in northwest Texas and eastern New Mexico and flows for 820 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Since before Stephen F. Austin’s 1821 arrival, Mexican and Indian settlers have been manipulating the river for their…
If there’s one thing Texans love, it’s the great state of Texas. If there are two things Texans love, they are the great state of Texas and the United States of America. We’re big fans of freedom and liberty here in the Lone Star State, and few events inspire as much civic pride as the…
In the early days of October, sports fans across America start to feel dejected, demoralized, and distraught. This combination can only mean one thing: its baseball postseason, and chances are your favored team is stuck riding the pine until next year. Luckily, there’s still hope! Where baseball season let you down, football season’s there to…
October is American Archives Month, and the mood here at the Baylor Collections of Political Materials can best be described as “ridiculously excited”. American Archives Month began in 1979 with local archivists celebrating their respective collections and repositories. Since then, the merrymaking has grown to include archivists across the nation. The Society of American Archivists…
On September 21st, 1979, the W.R. Poage Legislative Library was born. Thirty-six years later, Baylor Collections of Political Materials continues to uphold the vision of the library’s founders: to pay tribute to W.R. Poage, a Baylorite “whose long career in government service on the state and national level epitomized genuine statesmanship”. Our facility began as…
It’s that time of year again; leaves begin turning brown, students sojourn back to their universities, and (at least here in Texas) the weather remains a humid 90 degrees with no sign of abating. School is back in session and here at the Baylor Collections of Political Materials, we’re knee-deep in the papers of former…
Who doesn’t remember where they were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001? Like December 7, 1941, it is “a date which will live in infamy”. So today, thirteen years after the fateful events of that horrible day, we pause to remember. Remember the innocents whose lives were lost, remember the families and loved ones they left…
Seventy years ago today D-Day was launched by members of what Tom Brokaw rightly described as “The Greatest Generation”. As Americans, each of us owes a debt of gratitude for the preservation of not only our freedom, but also the freedom of the world. In honor and remembrance of those who fought and served, Baylor…
This week the Poage Library is celebrating the 225th birthday of the United States Congress. “Congress Week” is the creation of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress (ACSC). It takes place during the first week of April each year, commemorating the month in which Congress achieved its first quorums in 1789. Its…
When dinosaurs roamed the Earth and I was in library school [well, it was before the turn of the century!] I took several classes concentrating on reference materials for specific subjects. This meant discovering the many books people wrote in order to help others find information. Now, of course, outside of school, our default is…