The Collection

The John Hunter Room Collection, located on the first floor of the Arnulfo L. Oliveira Library, contains historical material documenting the development of Cameron and Willacy counties, as well as Northern Mexico. This collection supports the university curriculum by providing materials for student, faculty, and outside researcher use. There are over 3,000 rare and local history-related books, as well as microfilm collections, rare maps, oral and video history interviews, and photo collections.

A major subject focus is the Mexican-American War and our partnership with the Palo Alto National Battlefield. The Battlefield's collection of hundreds of books and microfilms are now housed in the Hunter Room.

This is a closed-stack collection, meaning that materials cannot leave the Hunter Room.

Archival Collection Highlights include:

• The Menton Murray Papers, documenting the life of longtime Cameron County Representative Menton Murray, Sr.
• The Bruce Underwood Papers, documenting the life of Bruce Underwood, a prominent journalism professor and newspaper reporter.
• The Brownsville Chamber of Commerce Papers, documenting the 1920s to the 1960s, a key period in the development of both the tourism and maquiladora industries.
• The University Archives, which chronicle the development of the institution that is now the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College (1926-present).