Russell Martin named inaugural executive director of SMU’s Rees-Jones Library of the American West

Russell L. Martin III has been named the inaugural executive director of SMU’s Rees-Jones Library of the American West, a major new research library currently under construction.

A nationally respected scholar, bibliographer and longtime director of SMU’s DeGolyer Library, Martin will lead the Rees-Jones Library as it brings together two extraordinary bodies of rare and distinctive materials: the Rees-Jones Collection of Western Americana and the complementary holdings of DeGolyer Library. Together, these collections will support advanced research into the social, cultural, political, economic and environmental history of the American West, while also opening new opportunities for the study of literature, visual culture, cartography, commerce and everyday life.

“From the beginning, my hope has been to build a collection that would not only preserve the stories, people and experiences that shaped the American West, but also serve future generations of scholars, students and readers,” said Trevor D. Rees-Jones ’78. “SMU is the right home for this collection, and I am delighted that Russell Martin will lead the Rees-Jones Library. His knowledge, judgment and commitment to researchers make him uniquely qualified to guide the library as it grows into a major center for the study of the American West.”

The Rees-Jones Collection’s exceptional strengths in the pre-1901 West will complement DeGolyer’s deep Western Americana holdings from the same period, while DeGolyer’s expansive 20th-century collections in women’s history, Mexican history, business history, photography and literature will broaden opportunities for research across later periods and related fields of inquiry. Together, the collections will provide scholars, students and educators with a rich research environment for examining the American West across time and space.

“The Rees-Jones Library, anchored by one of the nation’s most significant collections dedicated to the American West, will be a transformative resource for scholars, students and the public,” President Jay Hartzell said. “We are excited that Dr. Martin has agreed to serve as the inaugural executive director, and we are grateful to Trevor Rees-Jones for his vision and generosity. With their leadership, this extraordinary library will create new opportunities for research, teaching and discovery while making these remarkable collections accessible to future generations.”

Martin joined SMU in 2001 as director of DeGolyer Library, where he has spent more than two decades advancing collection development, scholarly access, exhibitions, teaching and public engagement. Under his leadership, DeGolyer has strengthened its reputation as one of the nation’s most important repositories for the study of Texas, the West, transportation, business history, and photography.

“Russell combines deep expertise in Western Americana with decades of distinguished leadership in rare collections and archival stewardship,” said Holly Jeffcoat, dean of SMU Libraries. “He understands both the scholarly significance of these materials and the intellectual opportunity created by bringing them into conversation with one another. Under his leadership, the Rees-Jones Library will become a major research and education center for the study of the American West.”

For Martin, the appointment represents the culmination of nearly a decade of planning and collaboration surrounding the creation of the Rees-Jones Library.

“Trevor Rees-Jones is an astute, passionate, and visionary collector whose commitment has brought together one of the finest collections of Western Americana in private or public hands and created an extraordinary opportunity for scholarship, teaching and discovery at SMU,” Martin said.

Martin said the relationship between the Rees-Jones and DeGolyer collections will distinguish SMU nationally. “Together, the collections should open up new vistas for understanding the American West in all its complexity.”

The library will support undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars, while also serving as a cultural and educational destination for Dallas and the broader region.

Through exhibitions, classroom teaching, fellowships, and community engagement, the Rees-Jones Library will make rare and unpublished materials available for study and appreciation, both in person and digitally.

“The collection includes an impressive range of materials—manuscripts, journals, maps, photographs, letters, diaries, rare books and pamphlets—that should inform many future dissertations, articles, books and exhibitions,” Martin said. “Researchers will find opportunities not only to revisit familiar narratives of the West, but to ask new questions and recover voices and experiences that have not yet been fully explored.”

Martin holds a B.A. and M.A. in English from SMU, an M.S. in library science from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Virginia. He previously worked in libraries at Monticello, the University of Virginia, the University of Illinois in Urbana and the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. Martin has published and edited numerous books, essays, catalogs and reviews, curated dozens of exhibitions, and presented lectures and informal talks to audiences ranging from schoolchildren to learned societies.

He is a member of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Bibliographical Society of America, the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia, the Ephemera Society of America, the Book Club of Texas, the Alliance for Texas History, the Texas State Historical Association and the Western History Association. A former president of the Texas Map Society, Martin is also an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the American Antiquarian Society.

He is currently working on a bibliography of Texas imprints, 1877–1900, many of which will soon be gathered on the shelves of the Rees-Jones Library.