Mexico: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints
A great strength at the DeGolyer Library is collections related to Mexico and its history. The library is an important resource for photographs, manuscripts, maps, original artwork, prints, postcards, broadsides, currency, pamphlets, books, and periodicals. Particularly strong are materials related to the Mexican Revolution in the Powell Collection.
Business History
We are the home of the papers of Stanley Marcus, J.C. Penney, Texas Instruments, Belo Corp., and other businesses which have made significant contributions to our economy and culture.
Literary Manuscript Collections
Literary scholars can consult the manuscripts and correspondence of Horton Foote, J. Frank Dobie, Blackie Sherrod, Nela Río, Vaida Montgomery, Lon Tinkle, Marshall Terry, and other writers.
Map Collection
DeGolyer Library has over 3,000 maps, from the 15th to the 20th centuries, and most devoted to North America and the American West in particular. Represented are the great European mapmakers such as Sanson, DeLisle, and Coronelli, as well as American counterparts like Tanner, Mitchell, and Colton.
Western Americana
Our Western Americana collection is numbered among the finest in the country and includes not only the great rarities but also the more commonplace imprints of the Western country. Manuscripts as well as landmarks of 19th century photography further bolster the collection.
Rowe-Barr Collection of Texas Currency
The Rowe-Barr Collection of Texas Currency at DeGolyer Library is the most comprehensive in the United States, representing thousands of notes, scrip, bonds, and other financial obligations issued in Texas between the 1820s and 1935.
Transportation History
DeGolyer Library’s transportation history collections are particularly strong in railroad history. Materials include photographs, prints, drawings, manuscripts, books, timetables, ephemera, railroad passes, and annual reports.
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The DeGolyer Library is the principal repository at SMU for special collections in the humanities, the history of business, and the history of science and technology. Its rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, and other materials are available to all SMU students, faculty, visiting scholars, and other researchers. DeGolyer Library’s holdings of primary sources are complemented by exhibitions, lectures, publications, and other programs. Dedicated to enhancing scholarship and teaching at SMU, the DeGolyer Library is charged with maintaining and building its various collections “for study, research, and pleasure.”