Bexar Archives Going Electric

News from UT's CAH:

"Briscoe Center Awarded TexTreasures Grant for Bexar Archives

February 25, 2010

AUSTIN, Texas – The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a TexTreasures grant to support online access to the Bexar Archives. The $19,930 grant was awarded by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission who administers the grant program with funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant will fund a one-year project to create the Bexar Archives Online, a web-based, searchable research tool featuring digital images of the original Spanish-language documents along with the corresponding English-language translations.

Rebolledo's comments on Gálvez instructions to Domingo Terán, with suggestions for the founding of settlements at Béxar, La Bahía, and among the Asinais and Cadodaches, circa 1717. Bexar Archives, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin; di_05751.

"As the Bexar Archives are one of our most historically significant collections, I'm thrilled that this grant will improve access to this invaluable resource," said Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. "This new initiative will create a powerful online presence for the Bexar Archives that will benefit researchers worldwide. It's a fitting continuation of the tremendous care and resources that the University has provided the Bexar Archives for more than 100 years."

Called "one of the greatest historical treasures of the American continent" by the late historian Lester Gladstone Bugbee, the Bexar Archives constitute the principal resource for the Spanish and Mexican history of Texas from 1717 to 1836. The TexTreasures project will digitize over 8,000 pages of original documents (via microfilm) and 125 volumes of corresponding translations, and will result in a web-based interface called Bexar Archives Online."

Parlor:  Remember the project is planned to take about a year.  But get ready.

Read more at:

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/news/press_release.php?press=press_textreasures