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Civil War Collection, 1856-1961Add to your cart.

By Ashley Rankin

Collection Overview

Title: Civil War Collection, 1856-1961Add to your cart.
Predominant Dates: 1861-1864
ID: 01/ AR0798
Primary Creator: Historical Collection (University of North Texas)
Extent: 3.0 Boxes
Arrangement: This collection was kept in its previous arrangement from the UNT Museum.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2014
Subjects:
Languages: English

Abstract

A collection of Civil War-era items previously housed in the UNT Historical Museum.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains Confederate paper currency, bond agreements, a Confederate army pay account, personal letters, books, official documents, clippings, diary fragments, ephemera, invoices, personal histories, and lecture transcripts from Union Soldiers, Confederate Soldiers, the United States of America, and the Confederacy during the Civil War Era.

Collection Historical Note

This collection contains items from the Civil War era.

Biographical Note

Dr. Joseph Lyman Kingsbury, a member of the History faculty, founded a museum on campus 1925 “In the two and one half years that I have been engaged in this work the Historical Collections have grown from a few hundred items to about seven thousand and we are now occupying three rooms of the third floor of the Library building of the Teacher’s College….It is the ambition of both President Marquis and myself to make the Historical Collections the largest in the United States…We are determined to make a collection that shall be comprehensive.”[ a letter from Dr. Kingsbury to Mr. Dick Chapman, 1928-11-01]

            “In the spring of 1925, the students of the Criddle Society voted to sponsor a museum in memory of E. D. Criddle, the history department head who had just died.  The first few exhibits were quartered in the history offices in the Administration Building [now the Auditorium Building]. A year later the Board of Regents named Dr. J. L. Kingsbury of the history faculty a curator of the Historical Collection, which was given one room on the third floor of the Library Building [now known as Curry Hall].  Two ore rooms had been taken over by 1929.  In March 1930 the legislature designated the college museum as a State Historical Collection.  Dr. Kingsbury by 1931 had developed a collection of manuscripts and documents, arms and weapons from 1840 through the World War, articles representing American economic and industrial development, foreign items, and archives of the college.” [The Story of North Texas, James Rogers, p174]

            Eventually the Historical Collection would be moved down stairs and take over all the rooms on the first floor.  The museum had a large collections of firearms, dolls, blue glass, and ethnographic artifacts.  It was closed in 1986. Part of the collection went to the Layland Museum in Cleburne, Texas.  Artifacts that had been placed on loan to the museum were returned or became the property of the state. Some of the artifacts remain in the collection of Special Collections.

Subject/Index Terms

Access Information

Access Restrictions:

This collection is not restricted.

Use Restrictions:

Reproduction and publication of materials in this collection are subject to the policies of the UNT Special Collections department. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Physical Access Note:

This collection is housed in the UNT Special Collections department vault. The UNT Special Collections department request a 24 hour notice from patrons in order to page materials from vault and ready the materials for use. Please contact the UNT Special Collections department for further information.

Reading Room or Duplication Requests

Depending on any access restrictions noted above, you may be able to request items be delivered to our reading room, or that we make reproductions for you. Just click on either the or icons in the listings below to be routed to our request form.

Administrative Information

Repository: University of North Texas Special Collections
Acquisition Source: University Museum
Acquisition Method: Transferred to Archives from the Historical Collection.
Preferred Citation: Civil War Collection, University of North Texas Special Collections
Other Note: This collection is transferred from the Historical Collection. Each series was donated as a separate collection to the former UNT museum.

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