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Museums

This list of museums across the Southwest continues to grow as we add records to our database. Check back frequently for updates or contact our Webmaster to suggest an addition.


Texas

Institute of Texan Cultures
http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/public/
An educational center located at the University of Texas at San Antonio dedicated to enhancing the understanding of the history and diverse cultures of Texas through exhibits, programs, and publications that encourage acceptance and appreciation of our differences as well as our common humanity.

Center for American History
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/
Facilitates research and sponsors programs on the historical development of the United States. Located at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sam Rayburn Museum and Library
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/divisions/rayburn.html
Exhibits, photographs, original letters, political cartoons, art, furniture, and personal memorabilia relating to important events in the life and times of Sam Rayburn.

Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art
http://www.blantonmuseum.org/
One of the foremost university art museums in the country and the leading art museum serving the city of Austin and Central Texas.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/
Established to preserve and make available for research the papers and memorabilia of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In addition, the library actively collects the papers of Johnson's contemporaries and conducts an oral history program designed to supplement the written record.

Winedale
http://www.cah.utexas.edu/divisions/winedale.html
A 225 acre complex of 19th-century structures and modern facilities in northern Fayette County preserved to foster an understanding of Texas history and culture through research, teaching, and public service

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/
A dynamic educational institution that engages visitors in the exciting Story of Texas through a variety of program and exhibit experiences.

Museum of the Southwest
http://www.museumsw.org/
Collections focus on art and archeology of the American Southwest. Exhibits include ethnographic materials relating to Southwestern cultures and regional works by artists from New Mexico and Texas.

Witte Museum
http://www.wittemuseum.org/
Offers an interpretive exhibit of the archeology, lifeways and rock art of the prehistoric Indian hunter-gatherer societies of the Lower Pecos region.

San Jacinto Museum of History
http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/
Contains material relating to the period of the Republic of Texas. Exhibits interpret Texas history from the early Indian civilizations through the end of the 19th century, including contributions to the development of the state made by Spanish, Mexican and French colonists. Located in San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park, off SH 225.

O. Henry Museum
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/ohenry.htm
Austin home of William Sidney Porter, who became famous as a short-story writer under the pen name O. Henry. This Queen Anne-style cottage has since been restored and now contains artifacts and memorabilia from Porter's life in Austin.

Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens
http://www.utep.edu/museum/
An academic support and outreach unit of the University of Texas at El Paso focusing on the natural history and the indigenous, colonial, pre-urban, and folk cultures of the border regions of southwestern United States and Mexico.

Pearce Collections Museum
http://www.navarrocollege.edu/library/museum/
Two museums in one: the Pearce Civil War Museum exhibits and interprets letters, diaries, journals, photographs, and artifacts from the civilians, soldiers, military, political, and civic leaders of the era; the Pearce Western Art Museum exhibits original representational works of art by acknowledged masters of Western Art as well as recent original works. Located at Navarro College.

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
http://www.cowgirl.net/
The only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West. Nationally known for its exhibits, research library, rare photography collection, and the honorees in its Hall of Fame.

Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
http://www.panhandleplains.org/
The largest history museum in Texas; located on the campus of West Texas A&M University. Exhibitions dedicated to petroleum, Southern Plains lifeways, paleontology, transportation, and the art of the Southwest before 1945, including the Santa Fe, Taos, and Texas schools.

Museum of the Big Bend
http://www.sulross.edu/~museum/
Collects and exhibits artifacts of the Big Bend region. Reflects the history and culture of the Native Americans, Spanish, Mexicans, and Anglo-Americans who inhabited the area. Located at Sul Ross University.

Brazoria County Historical Museum
http://www.bchm.org/
Located in Angleton, Texas in the heart of Stephen F. Austin's Colony. This is where Texas began its emergence as an independent nation. National award-winning Austin Colony exhibit chronicles the birth of that nation.

Longview Museum of Fine Arts
http://www.lmfa.org/
Exhibits changing collections and selections from its permanent collections, predominantly consisting of contemporary works by artists working in the Southwest.

El Paso Museum of Art
http://www.elpasoartmuseum.org/
Presents changing exhibitions that express the region's diverse culture. Exhibits selections from its permanent collection of art from Europe, Mexico, and the United States.

Museum of Texas Tech University
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/
Collections in the arts, humanities and sciences consisting of natural and cultural material from Texas, the Southwest, and other regions related by natural history, heritage, and climate. Exhibits selections from the museum's art collections and a variety of traveling exhibitions.

Mexic-Arte Museum
http://www.mexic-artemuseum.org/
Presents and promotes traditional and contemporary Mexican, Latino, and Latin American art and culture. Collection consists of works by emerging and established artists.

Museum of Western Art
http://www.caamuseum.com/
Preserves and promotes the heritage of the American West. Exhibits historical objects, photographs, works from contemporary painters and sculptors, and past masters such as Remington and Russell.


New Mexico

National Hispanic Cultural Center
http://www.nhccnm.org/
Supports the cross-cultural appreciation and understanding of Hispanic culture by preserving and showcasing historic and contemporary Hispanic arts, humanities, and achievements over the past 400 years.

Museum of Fine Arts
http://www.museumofnewmexico.org/inst.cgi?_fn=Inst&_instid=MFA
Home to more than 20,000 works of art, with an emphasis on artists working in the Southwest.

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology
http://www.miaclab.org/
Premier repository of native art and material culture. Collection tells the stories of the people of the Southwest from pre-history through contemporary art.

Museum of International Folk Art
http://www.moifa.org/
Internationally recognized as the home of the world's largest collection of folk art from around the globe.

Palace of the Governors
http://www.palaceofthegovernors.org/
Originally constructed in the early 17th century as Spain's seat of government for what is today the American Southwest. Chronicles the history of Santa Fe, as well as New Mexico and the region.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
http://www.indianpueblo.org/
Dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Pueblo Indian culture, history and art from Pre-Columbian to current time.


Arizona

Museum of Northern Arizona
http://www.musnaz.org/
Originally established as a repository for Native American artifacts and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau, the museum has evolved into a regional center of learning with collections, exhibits, educational programs, publications, and research projects that serve more than 100,000 people each year.

Heard Museum
http://www.heard.org/
Leading repository of Native American art. Offers exhibitions and educational programs about the heritage, living cultures, and arts of Native peoples, with an emphasis on the peoples of the Southwest.

University of Arizona Museum of Art
http://artmuseum.arizona.edu/
Houses a wide-ranging collection of over 4,500 paintings, sculptures and works on paper (prints and drawings) dating from the sixth century B.C. to the present.

Amerind Foundation Museum
http://www.amerind.org/
Archaeological research facility and museum devoted to the study and interpretation of Native American cultures located in Southeastern Arizona in the Dragoon Mountains.

Arizona State Museum
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/
The oldest anthropological museum in the Southwest, its collection is recognized nationally as being among the most significant resources for the study of the American Southwestern and northern Mexican cultures from prehistory to the present. Located at the University of Arizona.

Pueblo Grande Museum
http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/PARKS/pueblo.html
Located at a 1,500 year-old Hohokam village. Collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits materials from the site of Pueblo Grande as well as archaeological and ethnographic material from the Greater Southwest.

Arizona State Library Archives and Public Records
http://www.dlapr.lib.az.us/
Provides access to unique historical and contemporary resources: archives of historical records in Arizona, library extension assistance to public libraries, library for the visually and physically disabled, museums on state government history and people of the state, public records management program, research and law library.

Sharlot Hall Museum
http://www.sharlot.org/
Dedicated to human and natural history. Explores the rich diversity of regional heritage through festivals, living history events, outdoor theater performances, changing exhibits, publications and research services.


Nevada

Nevada State Museum
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/cc/carson.htm
An educational institution whose purpose is to advance the understanding of the history, pre-history, and natural history of Nevada, emphasizing southern Nevada and its relationship with surrounding areas.

Nevada State Railroad Museum
http://www.nsrm-friends.org/
Houses over 60 pieces of railroad equipment from Nevada's past and is considered one of the finest regional railroad museums in the country.

Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History
http://hrcweb.nevada.edu/Museum/
Collects, preserves, researches, interprets and exhibits objects and thematic concepts that illustrate the natural history of Southern Nevada and bordering regions. Exhibitions emphasize Native Cultures of the Southwest and Central Americas.

W.M. Keck Museum
http://mines.unr.edu/museum/
Houses a collection of minerals, ores, fossil specimens and photographs, in addition to mining related relics. There is a special emphasis on early Nevada mining history with samples from famous mineral districts. Located at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Nevada State Museum and Historical Society
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/lv/vegas.htm
A state agency whose purpose is to advance the understanding of the history, pre-history, and natural history of Nevada, emphasizing southern Nevada and its relationship with surrounding areas. It collects, researches, interprets, exhibits, and preserves Nevada's heritage.

Lost City Museum
http://comnett.net/~kolson/
Collects and exhibits artifacts of the aboriginal people of Nevada including the Anasazi, Pueblo, and Paiute indians.


Now Available
Sensing Dobie's Shade: The Al Lowman Collection of J. Frank Dobie Publications in the Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos has been published in a limited edition of 100 copies.

 

Texas Literary Outlaws:
Six Writers in the Sixties & Beyond
 
 

At the height of the Sixties, a group of rowdy Texas writers came together, raising hell and creating memorable literature as they found their voices in opposition to Texas' conservative traditions. Making use of untapped literary archives, Southwestern Writers Collection assistant curator Steven L. Davis weaves a fascinating portrait of these "literary outlaws" who came of age during a period of rapid social change.

 
  Photo © Laurence Parent, from Texas Mountains  published by University of Texas Press