The Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) Curator of Exhibits was responsible for collecting materials to display in exhibits, researching exhibits, and maintaining exhibits.
The ITC 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 ITC, 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 ITC 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 ITC'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 ITC 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 1986 the ITC 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 ITC in 1995. He was advised by the ITC'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 ITC was funded by biennial legislative appropriations, grants, contributions, and funds generated by the sale of publications, audiovisuals, other products, and the rental of the ITC's facilities. In addition to maintaining 50,000 square feet of exhibits featuring twenty-seven cultures and ethnic groups, the ITC hosts the Texas Folklife Festival, the Asian Festival, and other events.
Also included in the collection are the records of an exhibit project on Tejano history and culture that began in 1990. The Tejano Task Force was chaired by Phyllis McKenzie, a research associate for the Institute of Texan Cultures, and the task force established an exhibit that was on display from 1996-2000. The mission of the Tejano Project was to “foster an understanding of the history and culture of the Tejanos while encouraging appreciation of their contributions. The Tejano exhibit encourages acceptance and appreciation of our differences as well as our common humanity.” The exhibit incorporated the ideas and concerns of the Tejano community through a series of community meetings held throughout Texas. The Tejano Task Force was composed of an interdepartmental team of the Institute of Texan Cultures staff members Patrick Chavez, Matt Solorio, Phyllis McKenzie, Tom Shelton, Sally Wiskermann, David LaRo, Willie Mendez, Patty Burrus, and Lorenzo Galvan Jr., The task force took the stories of first, second, and third generation Tejanos and created an exhibit that documented their struggles, history, and culture in Texas.
Phase one of the exhibit began in December 1994 and was completed and opened in March 1995. The exhibit included architecture, miniature dioramas showcasing life in San Antonio in the 1790’s, and an interactive video featuring three mannequins designed to give the visitor a sense of what life was like during the Spanish Colonial Era. Phase Two of the exhibit began in December 1995 and opened in March 1996 and was comprised of installations of Tejano life from the Spanish Colonial period through the 1970s. The themes of the exhibit were Tejano conceptions of community and identity. The first two sections were Colonial Roots and Family completed in 1996 and 1998, while the last two sections Work and Community and Family Life were installed in 1999 and 2000.
Comprises the files of museum exhibit curator Susan Harwell from 1987-1989. Includes administrative correspondence and memoranda regarding the functions of exhibit preparation and maintenance, as well as files regarding the curation of specific exhibits.
Exhibit files pertain to exhibits created and displayed by the Institute of Texan Cultures museum. Exhibit titles include
The records of the Tejano Task Force are comprised of memoranda, correspondence, research files, committee reports, videotapes and minutes of community meetings, drafts, and photographic materials pertaining to the planning, function and preparation of the Tejano Exhibit Area between 1990-2000. The collection consists of 12 linear ft. organized into six series: Community interviews (6 ft.), Correspondence (2 ft.), Report and surveys (2 ft.), Subject files (1 ft.) Research files (1 ft.). The majority of the records are videotapes and audiocassettes of interviews conducted between 1991-1998 with Tejanos in Texas.
This collection is housed at UTSA's HemisFair Park Campus, though
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no known other archival collections created by the University of Texas at San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures Curator of Exhibits at the date of accessioning.
Transferred to the University Archives from Rebecca Luther, Senior Editor, Office of University Publications, University of Texas at San Antonio in 2008 (Acc. 2009-051). The material had been found by Luther in a file cabinet acquired from the UTSA Surplus Property department.
Processed and encoded by Angela McClendon Ossar, University Archivist, August 2009. More detailed processing is not anticipated at this time.
[Identification of item], University of Texas at San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures Curator of Exhibits Records, UA 15.01.11, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.
Comprises the files of museum exhibit curator Susan Harwell from 1987-1989. Includes administrative correspondence and memoranda pertaining to the functions of exhibit preparation and maintenance. Also included are files regarding specific exhibits created and displayed by the Institute of Texan Cultures museum.