The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 71, July 1967 - April, 1968 Page: 472

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Book Notes
Handbook of Texas Archival and Manuscript Depositories. Compiled by
James M. Day. Austin (Texas Library and Historical Commission),
1966. Pp. 73.
This publication, Number 5 in the Texas State Library Monograph
Series under Title I-Library Services and Construction Act, was com-
pleted as a library tool. It may well bring the "little" holdings in
Texas libraries to the attention of library users as Philip M. Hamer's
A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States (19g61) did
for major collections of manuscript holdings throughout the nation.
A gap remains concerning the "middle" holdings, to some extent. This
may result partly from the fact, noted by the compiler, that the archival
profession itself is new, that there is confusion about terminology, and
that "an educational program on archives and manuscripts is needed."
Entries, arranged by towns, include information as follows: name of
agency, hours of operation, title of director, staff, reproduction equip-
ment, size, type, content of holdings, and guides, if any, to collections.
The agencies of government-federal, state, and local-were not polled,
though the Fort Worth Federal Records Center and a few other gov-
ernmental agencies are noted. Private manuscript collections, largely be-
cause of changing ownership, were excluded. The gap created by omission
of the extensive archival holdings of the University of Texas, however,
should be filled in the near future by a publication from the University
of Texas Press. The user of this handbook should read the Preface
carefully to familiarize himself with the general nature of the collections
reported as well as with limitations of this particular "first attempt"
at such a handbook.
The exploratory nature of this survey and publication marks it as
indeed "only an elementary beginning," as the compiler noted. However,
should this introductory study prove useful to librarians, teachers, and
scholars, perhaps sufficient additional information will be forthcoming
to support a supplementary or revised and enlarged edition.
Austin, Texas FRANCES J. NESMITH
Texas in r850. By Melinda Rankin. Introduction by John C. Rayburn.
Waco (Texian Press), 1966. Pp. xxxiii+-199. $6.95.
New Englanders had mixed feelings about the admission of Texas
to the Union and many disapproved of the war with Mexico. Melinda
Rankin was from New England, but she accepted the opportunity to
become a Presbyterian missionary-teacher on the new frontier, pushing
across the wide state to the lower Rio Grande Valley where she hoped
to uplift Texans and Mexicans. From the first fifty pages the reader
obtains an insight into the New Englander's conscience and her com-

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