Texas SAR
Sons of the American Revolution Patriotism, Education, History

Joining Info

Texas SAR Archives

 

Overview

From 2003 – 2023, Texas SAR Archives were submitted to the University of North Texas Special Collections library; see History.  As of 2023, new donations to the University of North Texas were suspended.

As of 2024, future state and chapter donations should be handled as per the new Texas SAR Archive Instructions; Questions should be directed to the Texas SAR Historian at historian@texassar.org.

 

History

UNT-Logo

The University of North Texas Special Collections library contains 100+ collections from industries all across Texas.  Located in the main campus Willis Library 4th Floor, documents and photos are stored for research and general interest.  Viewing of these documents can be in person or online through their Portal to Texas History.

The Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution began archiving documents at UNT in late December 2003.  The agreement was initiated by Compatriot Jim Johnson and finalized by Compatriot Bill Marrs.  Compatriot James G. Robertson was the Texas SAR Society President at the time.  It made the UNT Special Collections the official archives repository for the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution.  This collection is known as the TXSSAR Collection.  An initial donation was made and continued until 2023.  The collection contains various published materials, artifacts, scrapbooks, papers, newsletters, and photos.  All are organized in boxes and easily retrievable.

In 2023, the University of North Texas Special Collections suspended future TXSSAR donations.  Scanning the backlog of documents was prioritized and continued annually.  Not all but many were scanned and are available via the online Portal to Texas History.  Completed were several Texas SAR state level documents including the old Texas SAR Bulletin and current The Texas Compatriot newsletters.

State documents will be posted by the Texas SAR Archives Committee.  For chapters with websites, their web admin can post their archives themselves.  For chapters without websites, the Texas SAR Archives Committee will support.

 

UNT Texas SAR Collection

The TXSSAR collection is divided into number series according to the National Society, State Society, District, Chapter, Artifact, and Administrative levels (five levels).  As such, a numbering series was established for each item held within the collection and each series demands special mention due to its numbering scheme.  The series itself was broken down by a distinct level series.  For example, the Denton Chapter is in District 11 and is Chapter #23.  Each box for the Denton Chapter begins with the first part of District 011 and the second part of the chapter number 023.  The box number completes the series number.  This means that the first box of records for the Denton Chapter is labeled 011.023.001, the second box would be 011.023.002, and so forth.  Each box also contains a number of folders.  011.023.003.001 uniquely identifies the Denton chapter, box 003, folder 001.  This creates a unique subset for each chapter and allows for continued growth of the collection.

 

UNT Research

Research is available in person at the Willis Library in their Special Collections Reading Room during their posted hours, generally all day of open days.

When researching online, easy access is available without login:

  • Use the free UNT online Portal to Texas History to the TXSSAR Online Collection Search.
  • Enter your Search Terms and Search for items of your interest.
  • Once found, puruse and/or download those items as needed.

When researching in person, remember the TXSSAR Collection is housed offsite in library size boxes:

  • Use the free UNT online Finding Aid for TXSSAR Scope and Contents to the index of boxes.
  • Enter your search criteria in the Search Collection and Year range.
  • Once found, use the Aeon Request for a free login to schedule an onsite appointment made at least a day in advance.  Also note when requesting a folder, the full box will be retrieved.

 

Texas SAR Research

Use the TexasSAR.org website magnifying glass to initiate document searches on both the public and private websites.

 

Frequent TXSSAR Links at UNT: