UTA Libraries Highlights Diverse Collections to Celebrate Digital Gallery Milestone

In honor of uploading more than 100,000 images to its Digital Gallery, the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries is highlighting several of the collections that users can access for free online. 

“Our Digital Gallery is a priceless resource for scholars in Maverick Country and around the world,” said Rebecca Bichel, dean for UTA Libraries. “The six collections we are highlighting to celebrate our latest milestone provide a glimpse into the wealth of materials available to researchers 24/7, thanks to generous donation by members of the UTA community and the financial support of grants from private and public institutions and individuals.” 

The Digital Gallery is managed by UTA Libraries staff in Digital Creation, Special Collections, and Marketing & Communications. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, which collects more than four million photos dating from 1849 to 1991, anchors the Digital Gallery. The materials arrived in increments from 1984 through 1999, according to Photograph Collections Coordinator Sara Pezzoni. 

“Thanks to six grants in the last five years, as well as research and publication requests, exhibits, and internal needs, we have been able to digitize about 1.8% of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection,” she said.

These grants include two $25,000 TexTreasures grants by the Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 to digitize Through the Lens of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: A Photographic View of World War II in Fort Worth as well as a grant from the Tarrant County Historical Society to digitize Fort Worth, Texas Residential Architecture, 1940s-1990s. UTA Libraries also shared a $50,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) with Texas Christian University to create Emperor of West Texas – Digitizing the Amon G. Carter Papers. Finally, the Libraries was awarded two more $24,909 TexTreasures grants by TSLAC for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 to digitize Big Hair and Bigger Business: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Captures the 1950s.

This collection includes journalistic materials relevant to history of Arlington. General subjects include buildings, events, landmarks, people, businesses, schools, and street scenes in the Arlington area. The most notable are images of Arlington Downs, Arlington State College/University of Texas at Arlington including the 1957 Junior Rose Bowl game, General Motors plant, and Mineral Wells. 

“This collection hasn’t been processed yet, which is why only 0.12% of its contents have been digitized so far,” Pezzoni said. “We are currently able to digitize the materials in this collection thanks to research requests and internal needs like exhibits.” 

The raw materials of the collection were received by Special Collections in increments from 1991-1998. 

According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Reeder School was a celebrated children’s theater school in Fort Worth. It was founded by Flora (nee Blanc) and Dickson Reeder in the fall of 1945 and thrived until its closure in 1958. 

The Reeder School Records were donated to UTA Libraries over several years from 1993 to 2018 by Flora Reeder herself, as well as her estate, Edmund P. Cranz, the Arts Council of Fort Worth, and an anonymous donor. 

“Records from this collection were processed with assistance from various grants and digitized by students and staff members,” said Pricilla Escobedo, archivist for UTA Libraries Special Collections. “While the online collection only represents a small fraction of the overall collection of Reeder School Records—we have 50 boxes of materials!—we hope that our students and scholars will enjoy the various photos of the school’s many productions, hand-drawn costume studies, and sketches of various set designs they will find in our Digital Gallery."

Elzie Odom was the first and only (yet) African American mayor of Arlington, TX. He was elected mayor in 1997 and served until 2003. He also served on the City Council. More information about Elzie Odom can be found on the City of Arlington's website.  

The Odom family donated their papers in February 2020 in a ceremony held in the UTA Libraries Atrium. Then-head of Special Collections, Brenda McClurkin, said at the time, “It is a privilege to be charged with preserving the Odoms’ papers. We hope our students, faculty, staff, and visitors will explore the collection for themselves and learn more about these important leaders in our local history.” 

About half of the total collection has been digitized through the efforts of UTA Libraries’ Digital Creation department, including scrapbooks created by the Odoms’ daughter, Barbara Odom-Wesley, who has served on the Arlington City Council since 2019. 

These essential records of the Moving Mav’s wheelchair basketball team were donated to Special Collections from 2011-2018 by Helen Eustace and current head coach of adaptive sports for UTA Doug Garner. The collection includes photographs, news clippings, journals, score sheets, manuscript materials, and more related to the history of Movin’ Mavs team. 

“It’s difficult to say exactly how much of the collections has been digitized,” said Michael Barera, University and Labor Archivist. “However, a significant portion was made available online for the Texas Disability History Collection in 2018, as well as digitized for the Digital Gallery in subsequent years.” 

The Maps of Africa Collection is UTA Libraries newest acquisition, courtesy of UTA alumnus and friend of the Libraries Dr. Jack Franke. Nearly 200 maps from this collection have been digitized so far, representing about a third of Franke’s donation. 

“We were lucky to be acquire grant funding for two art history interns—Mya Lewis and Jessica Khazem—to make these gorgeous maps available online,” said Ben Huseman, Cartographic Archivist for UTA Libraries. “We hope to continue to their efforts in the future to ensure more people are able to access these important pieces of history.”