Contact Details

The Wittliff Collections
Alkek Library
Texas State University-San Marcos
601 University Drive
San Marcos, Texas 78666
office: 512-245-2313
fax: 512-245-7431
email: thewittliffcollections@txstate.edu
website: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu

Overview:

Housed on the seventh floor of the Alkek Library at Texas State University-San Marcos, the Wittliff Collections provide access to some of the library’s most unique resources and attest to the tremendous diversity of creative expression among the region’s writers and photographers.

In addition to offering research opportunities, tours, and classes, the Wittliff Collections explore the relationship between artistic processes and the “spirit of place” with public exhibitions, two award-winning book series, and a full calendar of lively events featuring leading visionaries in today’s literary and photographic circles.

Austin screenwriter and photographer Bill Wittliff and his wife Sally founded the Wittliff Collections: the Southwestern Writers Collection in 1986, and the Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection in 1996.

The Southwestern Writers Collection preserves and exhibits the literary papers and memorabilia of the Southwest’s leading authors, screenwriters, and songwriters. Manuscripts, research notes and journals, drafts, correspondence, interview tapes, snapshots, movie props, art works, rare books, and personal artifacts are part of the wealth of intriguing resources available to students and researchers on a non-circulating basis.



The Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection is a photo archive and creative center devoted to the photographic arts and culture of Mexico and the southwestern United States, showcasing the works of distinguished photographers whose images document and celebrate the visual heritage of the region. Important serial publications, books, videos, and ephemera are also collected and made available.

Staff:

The Wittliff Collections have twelve full-time staff members including a Curator, two Assistant Curators, Development Officer, Media Relations & Publications Coordinator, Lead Archivist, Processing Archivist, Archives Assistant, Events Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Cataloging Librarian and Cataloging Assistant and one temporary project assistant. We also support many interns and student workers during each semester.

Collection Holdings

Southwestern Writers Collection

The Southwestern Writers Collection is focused on literary, film, and music archives. The papers of over 100 authors make up the core of this collection, including Cormac McCarthy, Elizabeth Crook, James Crumley, John Graves, Stephen Harrigan, Larry L. King, Beverly Lowry, Rick Riordan, Sam Shepard, and Edwin “Bud” Shrake.

The entire production record of the CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove and the major archives of the Fox series King of the Hill, as well as select materials from Tommy Lee Jones and Sam Shepard, are part of the television and film archives.

Among the music archives at the Southwestern Writers Collection are original materials by Willie Nelson and the personal archives from Austin City Limits creator Bill Arhos. The Writers Collection also serves as the repository for the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame.

Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection

The Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection houses a significant—and quite possibly the largest—collection of modern and contemporary works by leading photojournalists and fine-art photographers from Mexico. Prized among our images are prints by modern masters such as Lola Álvarez Bravo, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lázaro Blanco, Héctor Garcia, Kati Horna, Nacho López, Rodrigo Moya and Mariana Yamposlky. We also house the major collections of many notable contemporary artists, illuminating the arc of their creative development, including Kate Breakey, Keith Carter, Jayne Hinds Bidaut, Ken Rosenthal, Josephine Sacabo, Rocky Schenck, Geoff Winningham, as well as Bill Wittliff.

While traditional silver-gelatin darkroom prints make up the core of this collection, images created using other processes are also included. Daguerreotypes, cyanotypes, tintypes, photogravures, and more recently, archival digital prints represent the variety of processes collected. The collection grows monthly through purchased acquisitions and gifts made by photographers.

OPAC:

Both the Southwestern Writers Collection and Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection have a budget for acquiring books and supporting materials for researchers. These items can be found using our OPAC which is available online through the Alkek library’s website.