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The Perkins-Prothro Fund, established in 1978 by Lois Perkins and Charles and Elizabeth Prothro, is the largest of the endowed funds. Also known as the Prothro General Book Fund, this is a general endowment that can be used to purchase books on any subject chosen by the library. In a typical year, slightly under 10,000 books are purchased with Perkins-Prothro funds.
In 1981 distinguished historian and former SMU professor Stewart Oost died, leaving SMU his entire estate, including one of the largest private classical collections in the United States. This library numbers 8,000 books and pamphlets in over seventeen languages and comprises the collections of the eminent Greek scholars and professors Benedict Einarson and Paul Shorey from the University of Chicago. Income from the endowment established with The Oost Collection purchases well over 1,000 books and journals every year.
The George J. McManus Fund, established in 1954, is used for bibliographic research items. For many years, most of the books in the Fondren Library Center reference collection have been purchased with McManus funds.
The Cheatham Endowed Research Library Book Fund was established in 1964 by Miss Ivy Cheatham of Waxahachie in memory of her parents, Mr. And Mrs. T. O. Cheatham. Half of the income from this generous fund goes to the sciences, and the other half is divided among other disciplines.
The Fannie and Stephen Kahn Library Fund was established in 1972 to purchase books in the field of history for Fondren Library. The subject area was later broadened to include books on art history for the Hamon Arts Library.
The Henry S. and Dorothy M. Jacobus Book Fund was established in 1959 to assemble a collection of materials in the humanities to serve as a strong complement to the other holdings of Fondren Library. The Jacobus Fund, in addition to its continuing support of the humanities, now funds many of the titles in Fondren Library’s popular Browsing Collection, which includes recently published volumes of general interest.
The Leland Fikes African Collection by the gift of an endowed fund from the Leland Fikes Foundation. All aspects of African studies, including economics, political science, geology, art, ecology, and emerging national literatures are included in the scope of the collection.
The Fondren Texana Collection provides for books and other materials relating to Texas in the general collections. This fund has made possible in-depth purchasing in Texas history. Purchases from this fund have also provided the basis for a strong collection of Texas literature in the library.
The DeGolyer Geological Library includes a significant part of Everette Lee DeGolyer’s working library and as such bears witness to the international interests of this distinguished American geologist. The DeGolyer Geological Library has holdings in the development of petroleum engineering and geology, especially as related to the United States and Mexico, where Mr. DeGolyer was a leading participant. Additional funds have been provided by the DeGolyer Foundation to augment the strengths of the library and to continue the subscriptions of scholarly journals.
The MacNaughton Collection came to the University in 1972. It consisted of the personal library of Lewis MacNaughton (1903-1969), world-renowned petroleum geologist and partner in the firm of DeGolyer and MacNaughton of Dallas. Revenue generated by the fund is used to purchase additional titles in geology and geography for the collection.
