Today I visited the Special Collections/Archives of Prairie View A&M University, the second-oldest public university in Texas. Founded in 1876, this historically Black university is one of the most venerable of the state’s public institutions. The Special Collections of the John B. Coleman Library at Prairie View holds many of the records that document the history of this unsurpassed heritage. The Coleman Library is a modern, state-of-the art facility. The Special Collections Department, under the able direction of University Archivist Phyllis Earles, welcomes researchers with a comfortable, friendly, and efficient archives facility. In addition to university-related holdings, o
ther collections include the papers of Wilhelmina Ruth Delco, a respected state legislator who served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1974 until 1995. PVAMU also has a building named in Representative Delco’s honor. (At left, Special Collections Head Phyllis Earles, me, and Rosetta Combs, archives assistant.)Holdings in Special Collections also include papers and materials dealing with the southern United States and African-American history as assembled by Rice University Professor Harold Hyman. Researchers can also consult the papers of the Prairie View Interscholastic League which, from 1920 to 1970, mirrored for Black school children in Texas the competitions sponsored by the then racially segregated University Interscholastic League. For further information, see: http://www.pvamu.edu/pages/3667.asp.
ther collections include the papers of Wilhelmina Ruth Delco, a respected state legislator who served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1974 until 1995. PVAMU also has a building named in Representative Delco’s honor. (At left, Special Collections Head Phyllis Earles, me, and Rosetta Combs, archives assistant.)Holdings in Special Collections also include papers and materials dealing with the southern United States and African-American history as assembled by Rice University Professor Harold Hyman. Researchers can also consult the papers of the Prairie View Interscholastic League which, from 1920 to 1970, mirrored for Black school children in Texas the competitions sponsored by the then racially segregated University Interscholastic League. For further information, see: http://www.pvamu.edu/pages/3667.asp. 
