Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame-
2007
click here
to see exhibit case
Hall of Fame Inductee
2007 Brooks Wallace Award Winner
Texas Tech Sports Initiative Works With Hall of Fame to Archive Sports
The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library (SWL/SCL) is one of
the preeminent sports archives in the country. It possesses substantial
material related to regional sports history. For example, it holds the
records of the now defunct Southwest Conference. The vast archives
manuscript holdings, oral histories, film and video collections and
photograph collections, are housed in a 79,000 square foot,
climate-controlled building. Professional archivists, a conservator and
support staff ensure that the items are properly cared for and that
patrons have access to the materials for research purposes. The SWC/SCL
is fully prepared to work cooperatively with the College Baseball
Foundation and Hall of Fame in archiving the history and development of
collegiate baseball.
Opened in October 1996,
the SWC/SCL is one of a handful of research libraries in the nation with
the capability to comprehensively care for research materials and the
capacity to provide uncompromising patron service. Complementing the
impressive manuscripts storage space at the SWC/SCL are over 100 square
feet of space suitable for exhibiting documents and other memorabilia.
The SWC/SCL provides full services to scholars and other users of the
repository. Annually, the Southwest Collection handles approximately
6,000 research inquiries from throughout the nation and around the
world.
Texas Tech University is
one of the few colleges in the Southwest that offers undergraduate
courses in sports history. Annually, professors offer undergraduate
courses in the history of sports in America, as well as the history of
baseball. In addition, graduate students in history have the opportunity
to research and write in the area of sports history. Approximately half
of all Southwest Collection patrons are general public researchers;
these include visiting scholars, journalists and others who pursue
research for various reasons.
In 1996, the Southwest Conference designated the SWC/SCL as the final
repository for its records and all documents were transported to the
archive. From 1914-1996 the conference reigned as one of the dominate
sports associations in the country. The collection is a treasure trove
for serious scholars and the curious public. In 1998 the SWC/SCL
acquired the records of the early New Orleans Saints football franchise
owned at one time by Houston oilman John Mecom. These documents form the
core of what will hopefully become a professional sports collection.
The Southwest
Collection’s oral history efforts have created one of the finest sports
oral history collections in the country, with interviews highlighting
the Southwest Conference, the Border Conference, Texas Tech University
and high school and professional sports. Amongst the hundreds of
interviewees are such sports notables as: Grant Teaff, Frank Broyles,
Darrell Royal, Emory Bellard, D. X. Bible, “Slingin” Sammy Baugh, E. J.
Holub, J. T. King, Bobby Moegle and William Morely Jennings.
Additionally, other manuscript collections contain a wide diversity of
papers from broadcasters, athletic directors, coaches, players and
officials. Perhaps the most compelling collection of materials related
to collegiate sports history is found among the numerous video and
photograph collections. Some Southwest Conference football games, dating
from 1954-1958, are preserved on Humble Oil and Refining’s weekly
television program, “Texas in Review,” copies of which are on file at
the archives. In addition, the Southwest Collection possesses nearly a
half million photographic images including seven major collections
holding sports-related items.