Who we are
As one of the leading historical research centers in the United States, the Briscoe Center for American History’s essential purpose is to collect and preserve primary source material documenting American history for use in teaching and research. The center’s archives, museums, and historic buildings document the people, events, and ideas that have shaped America. Our vast collection of historical evidence includes the most significant collection of Texas-related materials in existence, one of the top three archives on the American South, significant photographic materials documenting Civil Rights and social justice, and unmatched holdings on news media history, to name a few. These materials and more support teaching and research on a variety of topics in American history by students, faculty, writers, filmmakers, and many others who access the archives to seek evidence-based answers to their questions and deepen their knowledge of our nation.
How you can help
Public access to the center’s collections helps ensure that discussions concerning American ideas, identities, origins, and values remain rooted in historical evidence. Contributions help make the collections widely accessible through archival processing and digitization and by supporting the center’s collection-based endeavors such as books, documentary films, exhibitions, programs, and digital projects.
Your support allows the center to respond rapidly to time-sensitive opportunities that advance the center’s mission of collecting, preserving, and making historical records available for teaching and research. Your gift, in any amount, to the Briscoe Center helps preserve the American story. You can invest in the future of our past by making a charitable gift to benefit the Briscoe Center today.
Your impact
Without records, there is no history—only myth and legend. Students, faculty, and other researchers have questions about the past. The Briscoe Center helps them find answers based on evidence in the archives. Such research develops into theses, dissertations, books, film, and other projects, which enhances public knowledge of our nation. Your support for the Briscoe Center during the 40 for Forty campaign ensures that students and scholars can access evidence of the past in order to understand the present.