TCU Library to be home of Texas Legation papers for the next five years

Mary Volcansek, dean of AddRan College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Peggy Rudd, director of Texas State Library and Archives Commission, signing the agreement for TCU to host the papers for five years.

Fort Worth, TX

11/7/2006

On Friday, Nov. 3, 2006, TCU and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission unveiled a collection of 250 state historical documents touched by the legendary Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, which have been on a 161-year adventure. The collection has been conserved through the efforts of private donors and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The records will be housed in the Special Collections area of the Mary Couts Burnett Library at TCU for five years, beginning in December. Following the end of their loan to TCU, the Legation Records will return to the Commission for permanent retention in the State Archives. Texas State Archivist Chris LaPlante said neither scholars nor the general public has seen many of the original documents in the collection.  

According to a recent article by Art Chapman in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the papers were official correspondence of the Republic of Texas and housed in its legation office in Washington, D.C.  In 1846, Sam Houston was directed to close the Texas Legation and bring the papers to Texas. Packed away with his personal correspondence, the documents were passed down through his descendants, then to private collectors. Over the decades, they have been stored in attics, basements, even the trunk of a car. The collection includes much that has not been seen before by scholars or the general public, including the Treaty of Velasco, signed by Houston and the Mexican President Santa Anna.


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Lisa Albert
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