The Archives of Women of the Southwest is one of the special collections of DeGolyer Library. The primary mission of the Archives of Women of the Southwest is to document the historical experience of women in the Southwest, with special emphasis on Dallas and North Texas, as well as a regional focus that includes Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and the Spanish Borderlands.

The Archives includes papers of leaders in women's organizations and social and political reform movements; papers of outstanding women in the professions, the arts, and voluntary service; papers of families and of women in private life; records of women's organizations and organizations concerned with women's issues; and oral history interviews. The collection comprises letters, diaries, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, periodicals, and other print, audio and video materials.

The Archives of Women of the Southwest relates to a significant set of University interests and programs, including the SMU sponsorship of an annual Women's Symposium, the longest continuously running program of its kind in the nation. The Women's Center at SMU and the University's nationally recognized interdisciplinary Women's Studies Program in SMU's Dedman College provide students the opportunity to develop knowledge and leadership skills as part of their undergraduate experience. The Archives holds collections that are important to SMU students and other researchers seeking to understand and document women's roles in shaping the history of our time and the issues of the day.

Through a partnership with The Women's Musuem: An Institute for the Future manuscripts and other documents collected by that organization are deposited at SMU in the Archives of the Women of the Southwest.

Inquiries about the donation of materials or use of these collections should be directed to DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275. Phone: (214) 768-3231. Fax: (214) 768-1565. E-mail degolyer@mail.smu.edu.