Archives & Special Collections

Jarrett Library houses a part of the collection known as the Archives & Special Collections.  These materials are housed in a fireproof vault just off the Heritage Room.  The bulk of the archives deal with ETBU, including the eras when the university went under the names of The College of Marshall and East Texas Baptist College.  This part of the collection includes documents and publications such as catalogs, The Martian (yearbook), The Compass (newspaper), The Beacon (literary magazine) as well as photographs, miscellanea, and relia from the university's past.

Other collections within the archive include a collection of rare books, the Gardner Collection of Training Union Materials, the Baptist Archives, a small collection of rare Texana, and some documents relating to local history.

A recent donation has been received from the estate of R. Quinn Pugh, a graduate of East Texas Baptist College and includes a large number of rare psalmodies and hymnbooks.

Although all students are welcome to use the archives and special collections those in the area of history will find it most helpful because of the large number of materials considered primary sources which are especially useful for historical research.

The archives and special collections are closed to general browsing and as a result you should consult with a librarian who will retrieve materials for you.  Because of the fragile condition of these materials and their intrinsic value they must be used in the library.  A user may be asked to wear white cotton gloves (which the library will provide) and follow all other rules to help the library protect these materials from further deterioration.

Over the next few years the library plans on digitizing some sections of the collection, including the university yearbooks, newspapers, and other similar publications.  This project will make these publications freely available to all who wish to see them.  It is hoped that the digitization of the yearbooks will be completed by 2012, the year the university celebrates its centennial.  After the digitization of all publications the library will begin to explore ways to digitize other portions of the archives and special collections.