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Established in 1923 when Dr. Kenneth Hazen Aynesworth donated books to Baylor University, the Texas Collection is a library and archives research center holding a vast compilation of materials about Texas. Dr. Aynesworth (1873-1944) was born in Florence (Williamson Co.) and attended Baylor before graduating from the University of Texas medical school in Galveston. Dr. Aynesworth opened a general surgery practice in Waco and served in numerous community, vocational and scholarly organizations. He was also an avid collector of materials about Texas. Worried that his collection could perish in the event of a house fire, Dr. Aynesworth donated approximately one thousand volumes to Baylor University in 1923. He soon donated a further one thousand volumes, and three thousand pamphlets and documents to Baylor. The donations expanded what was then a small section in Carroll Library containing books about Texas. Baylor staff sorted, organized, catalogued and assessed the new materials and soon, an entire room on the second floor of Carroll Library held the collection. The room also became the meeting place for Baylor’s first course in Texas history, one of the first college-level Texas history classes taught at a university. The collection continued to expand throughout the years. In 1939, it was moved to Pat Neff Hall. In 1955, it returned to the Carroll Library, now on the third floor. In 1968, the materials moved into a larger area on the second floor. In 1994, after a renovation of Carroll Library, the extensive collection moved to an area specifically designed for it. Today, the Texas Collection continues to serve faculty, students, scholars and others as a world-class center of research on Texana topics. (2008) |
