The Institute of Texan Cultures was established by the Fifty-ninth Texas Legislature on May 27, 1965. The agency was directed to develop and implement an appropriate plan for the state's participation in HemisFair '68 to plan exhibits related to the history of Texas, its development, resources, and contributions; and to design and erect a building suited to housing these exhibits, giving due consideration to its utility for state purposes after the fair. The institute, a permanent state agency located on HemisFair grounds in San Antonio, was designed to study the ethnic groups that settled in Texas. While not a museum, the institute displayed relics, artifacts, and personal memorabilia, but only those that had a direct connection with telling the story of the people in each ethnic group. The exhibits made use of sound, color, movement, and atmospheric design. R. Henderson Shuffler guided the research projects and formed the original staff.
The institute's continued function is to bring together, on loan, fragments of Texas history collections from museums and archives throughout the state, to produce filmstrips and slide shows on segments of Texas history, and to publish historical pamphlets and books. The Institute of Texan Cultures was put under the University of Texas System effective June 5, 1969, and its official title became the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. In February 1973 the institute became, more specifically, a part of the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Upon the death of Shuffler in 1975, Jack R. Maguire was named director. Rex H. Ball was director of the institute in 1995. He was advised by the institute's development board and reported directly to the president of UTSA, Samuel A. Kirkpatrick. In 1995 there were 100 regular staff members and 450 volunteer workers. The institute was funded by biennial legislative appropriations, grants, contributions, and funds generated by the sale of publications, audiovisuals, other products, and the rental of the institute's facilities. In addition to maintaining 50,000 square feet of exhibits featuring twenty-seven cultures and ethnic groups, the institute hosts the Texas Folklife Festival, the Asian Festival, and other events.
Source: Tiller, David C.
This collection spans the years 1966 through 2006 (bulk 1966-1979) and includes records transferred from the Institute of Texan Cultures Office of the Executive Director. The records comprise the administrative files of R. Henderson Shuffler, the first director of the Institute of Texan Cultures. Administrative files primarily include incoming and outgoing correspondence.
This collection is housed at UTSA's HemisFair Park Campus, though
Personnel files are closed.
Please contact University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections for further information about copyright issues and permission to publish items from this collection.
[Identification of item], UTSA: Institute of Texan Cultures: Office of the Executive Director Records, UA 15.01.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections
Transferred from the Institute of Texan Cultures Library in 2005 (Acc. 2005-28) and the Institute of Texan Cultures Office of the Executive Director in 2006 (2006-23).
Proclamations donated by Jack Maguire Jr in 2012 (Acc. 2012-042).
Processed by Meagan Brunts and Heather Brunts, Interns, January 2006 (Acc. 2005-28); Angela McClendon, Manuscripts Archivist, November 2007 (Acc. 2006-23); and Sean Heyliger, March, 2011 (Acc. 2011-007).
Encoded by Angela McClendon, November 2007, September 2008.
Encoded by Sean Heyliger, March, 2011.
R. Henderson Shuffler was the first director of the Institute of Texan Cultures. This subseries is chiefly comprised of correspondence.
Personnel files are closed.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or last name of correspondent. Shuffler's outgoing correspondence is primarily located at the end of the series, in Boxes 14-16.
Original order and folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.