The Institute of Texan Cultures
The Federation of Genealogical Societies (“FGS”) and co-hosts, the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society and the
Texas State Genealogical Society, will welcome the nation’s genealogists to San Antonio, Texas, 27-30 August, 2014 for the
FGS 2014 Conference, “Gone to Texas.”
This year’s local hosts invite attendees to an evening you won’t soon forget at the Institute of Texan Cultures. This
amazing museum, a component of the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), is located directly behind the
convention center and contains sixty-five thousand square feet of exhibits and displays that tell the stories of all the
cultures that make up the people of the Lone Star State.
Besides a museum, the site also houses the UTSA Libraries’ Special Collections, featuring primary resource
materials, such as manuscripts, rare books, personal papers, photographs, oral histories, and the University’s own
archives. The collection includes:
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Manuscripts: San Antonio history, San Antonio authors, architecture and urban development, women and
women’s history, and immigration.
University Archives: records of UTSA academic and non-academic departments and central
administration, university publications, faculty papers, records of student organizations, and archived
university website captures from 2009 forward.
Rare Books: Texas History, San Antonio History, Mexican cookery, architecture and urban development,
and archived websites of San Antonio restaurants and Mexican cooking blogs.
Photographic Collections and Oral Histories: more than seven hundred oral histories of significant
Texans and Texas folk life. The photographic collections include more than three million images from the
San Antonio Light, the San Antonio Express-News, along with images from photojournalist Harvey Belgin
and Ray Howell, and Zintgraff Studios.
Using the Collections
The Special Collections at HemisFair Park are open Mon- day through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Changes to
operating hours, including announcements about upcoming closures, can be found on the official Special Collections
website (http://lib.utsa.edu/special-collections/). Collections are available for viewing at no charge,
but it is recommended that you call or e-mail to make an appointment should you have a specific research
need. Information about the Collections is available through the UTSA Libraries online catalog, UTSA’s
digital collections website and Texas Archival Resources Online.