Learning from the Past

History is not about dates and places but about the people who shape them. A new exhibit in the Special Collections Department at UTA Libraries called “Shifting Shapes of Early Texas” will do just that. It will tell the stories of people who shaped Texas through documents, books, and maps they left behind.  

The exhibit is set to take place in the middle of September and will run through Jan. 15, 2023. It is free for students, staff, faculty, and community members to attend.  

Ben Huseman, Special Collections Cartographic Archivist, stated the exhibit would explore Texas’ history before it became part of the United States.  The exhibit will explore Texas’ history in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries ending around 1850.  

“The exhibit’s goal is to show off the collections to our students and the community around us to give them an idea of the richness of Special Collections,” Ben said.  

Ben stated as people walk through the exhibit, they will be able to see how knowledge changed over time as the new world was explored. He noted that looking at the items on display shows “history’s unfiltered story.”  

“Not all progression of human knowledge was a progression. Some of it was a regression. One step forward and two steps backward,” Ben said. “An example of this is some early French maps of the interior of North America, which show the Mississippi River coming out in the middle of Texas.” 

The maps are only part of the process of telling the story of Texas’ early years. One of the earliest accounts of the exploration of Texas in the exhibit comes from 1555. This account is from the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in his book called “La relación y Comentarios,” which translates to “The Account and Commentaries.” This account tells of Cabeza de Vaca’s survival after being shipwrecked off the Texas coast.  

Items that will surprise visitors include an original copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence from 1836 and a letter from General Thomas Jefferson Rusk during the Texas War of Independence.  

Ben stated that it is an “incredible honor” to be the caretaker of these items and to be able to share them with the public. He wants to encourage everyone to stop by and view the exhibit when it goes on display in September.  

For more information about the exhibit, go online to https://libraries.uta.edu/collections/special-collections. If people have additional questions, they can be emailed to the Special Collections Department at spcoref@uta.edu.