Texas Historical Commission, Marketing Communications Division:

An Inventory of Records at the Texas State Archives, 1955-1998, 2002, undated

Agency History

The Texas State Historical Survey Committee was created on a temporary basis in 1953 (Senate Concurrent Resolution 44, 53rd Legislature, Regular Session) to administer a comprehensive state program for historical preservation; it was given more permanent status in 1957 (Senate Bill 426, 55th Legislature, Regular Session). The Committee became the Texas Historical Commission in 1973 (House Bill 1512, 63rd Legislature, Regular Session).

The Texas Historical Commission is composed of eighteen members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, serving overlapping six-year terms. Members must be citizens of Texas who have demonstrated an interest in the preservation of the state's historical heritage, and represent all geographical areas of Texas. Beginning in 1995, the membership must include a professional archeologist, a professional historian, and a licensed architect; and two of the members must be from counties with populations of less than 50,000. The governor names the chairperson. The members appoint an executive director to administer the agency. In 1998 the commission had a staff of about 100 employees.

The mission of the commission is to protect and preserve the state's historic and prehistoric resources for the use, education, economic benefit, and enjoyment of present and future generations. The main functions of the agency are to identify, preserve, interpret, and maintain historic and archeological sites. Duties of the agency include preservation consultation with the public; providing leadership to heritage organizations and county historical commissions; working with communities to protect Texas' architectural heritage, including operation of the Texas Main Street Program; administering the state's historical marker program; working with property owners to save archeological sites on private land; ensuring archeological sites are protected as land is developed for public construction projects; consulting with citizens and groups to nominate properties for historical and archeological landmark status and for the National Register of Historic Places; and making historical attractions a cornerstone of the Texas travel industry. The Commission also maintains the Historic Sites Atlas (a database of information on 200,000 historic sites in Texas); is involved with the LaSalle excavations; and was involved with the development of the Bob Bullock State History Museum in Austin.

In the late 1990s, the Texas Historical Commission went through an agency restructuring in which several divisions were combined. The agency now contains seven divisions that carry out the responsibilities of the agency. The Administration Division oversees budgetary, planning, and other executive functions. Staff Services handles personnel, accounting, and other staff functions.

The Marketing Communications Division, which now includes the former Publications Division, issues a bimonthly newsletter, The Medallion, and provides production services for other departments, including the production of educational and technical materials concerning archeology, architecture, museum laws, and other topics. It also helps coordinate the agency's annual museum conference and assists with public outreach.

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Scope and Contents of the Records

This series consists of news releases and public service announcements; newspaper clippings and journal articles; newsletters, brochures, pamphlets and other publications; drafts of speeches and introductions; drafts of publications; correspondence (both incoming and outgoing) and memoranda; annual and biennial reports; minutes of meetings; workshop programs, lists of participants, and other workshop materials; copies of legislation and administrative rules; resumes; notes; etc. Dates covered are 1955-1998, 2002, undated. These are records of the Marketing Communications Division, formerly the Publications Division, of the Texas Historical Commission, documenting some of the publishing activities of the Commission in the 1960s and the 1970s, award recognitions, press releases and other public outreach, and the THC's museum conferences and annual meetings. The press releases announce events and projects of the Commission, such as archaeological excavations, new publications, exhibits, preservation or restoration projects, upcoming conferences, and appointments or resignations. Publications consist largely of brochures about history awareness or the work of the commission.

This finding aid describes the files of several series of the Marketing Communications Division of the Historical Commision. See Texas Historical Commission: An Overview of Records for more records series.

To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Because of the possibility that portions of these records fall under Public Information Act exceptions including, but not limited to, home addresses and phone numbers of government employees and officials (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Section 552.117), an archivist must review these records before they can be accessed for research. The records may be requested for research under the provisions of the Public Information Act (V.T.C.A., Government Code, Chapter 552). The researcher may request an interview with an archivist or submit a request by mail, fax, or email including enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the archivist to accurately identify and locate the information requested. If our review reveals information that may be excepted by the Public Information Act, we are obligated to seek an open records decision from the Attorney General on whether the records can be released. The Public Information Act allows the Archives ten working days after receiving a request to make this determination. The Attorney General has 45 working days to render a decision. Alternately, the Archives can inform you of the nature of the potentially excepted information and if you agree, that information can be redacted or removed and you can access the remainder of the records. Lists of commission members, that may include home addresses, can be found in the Annual meeting files folders and in a folder titled Texas Historical Commission, 1970-1981.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Marketing Communications Division records, Texas Historical Commission. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1990/020, 2002/115

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the the Texas Historical Commission on October 19, 1989; and by the Legislative Reference Library on March 27, 2002.

Processing Information

Tony Black, May 1990

Laura K. Saegert, October 2002

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Detailed Description of the Records

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