About the Collection

Accurate news reporting and journalistic freedoms are considered essential to a democratic society. News media provide an essential source of information, but also record the first draft of history by providing a chronicle of important events and significant cultural trends within a community. Journalism and news media are a rich source of historical research but is ephemera by nature and difficult to preserve. The Special Collections department works to preserve newspapers, magazines, television news media, photojournalism, personal papers of journalists and publishers, and records which document the evolution of news media.

The Special Collections department works closely with the UNT Libraries’ Digital Newspaper Unit to provide digital access to newspaper collections when possible, as well as to house the physical archives of newspapers that have been digitized. The Digital Newspaper Unit collaborates with Texas communities, publishers, and institutions to promote standards-based digitization of newspapers and to make newspapers freely accessible via The Portal to Texas History, in the Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

Atlanta (TX) Public Library Newspaper Collection, 1889-1991

This collection contains issues of three historical newspapers from Cass County, Texas: Cass County Sun, Citizen's Journal, and Linden Standard.

BLK (Magazine) Collection, 1988-1994

This collection contains originals and photocopies of BLK magazine, a free, monthly publication about the black LGBT community.

Mike Cox Newspaper Collection, 1800-2010

Nearly 400 copies of historical newspapers published in Texas or containing news about Texas, from the early 19th century to the 2000s.

David Collins Papers, 2014-2017

This collection contains the research materials and draft pages of David Collins's 2017 book, Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their Fight for Marriage Equality in Texas.

Denton County (TX) Newspaper Collection, 1892-1911

This collection contains issues of the following historic newspapers from Denton County, Texas: Denton County News, Denton County Record, Denton Evening News, Denton Monitor, Legal Tender, and Record & Chronicle (Denton).

Eagle Pass Guide (TX) Collection, 1887-1938

This collection contains five bound volumes of the Eagle Pass Guide from 1893-1896 and 1909-1910, as well as items by and related to Joseph Boehmer, who was the editor and publisher of the paper during those years.

Mexia Newspaper Collection, 1902-1952

Collection of newspapers from Mexia, in Limestone County, Texas.

NBC 5/KXAS Television News Collection, circa 1947 – 2014

This collection contains news film, video, photography related materials created, acquired, and broadcast by NBC5/KXAS (WBAP-TV), the oldest television news station in Texas.

Charles Reagan Papers, 1964-2013

This collection contains the research of Charles E. Reagan, Jr., collected in preparation for writing a book about John F. Kennedy and the era surrounding his presidency.

QTX (Q Texas) Magazine Collection, 2000-2004

QTX (Q Texas) was an LGBT magazine, published by Q Texas Publishing.

The Lester Strother Texas Metro Records, 1917-1986

The collection includes records pertaining to Texas Metro magazine (published 1965-1975), and personal records from publisher Lester Strother and his second wife Dora Dougherty.

Texas Daily Newspaper Association Records, 1921-2012

Texas Daily Newspaper Association Records documents the activities of the organization over 91 years and their role in media and publishing within Texas.

Texas Farming and Agriculture Newspaper Collection, 1884-1909

The collection includes issues of the Texas Live Stock Journal, The Texas Stockman Journal, Farm and Ranch, and The Texas Wool Grower.

The Texas Triangle Magazine Collection 1997-2004

The Texas Triangle was a statewide LGBT publication, founded by Kay Longcope and her partner Barbara Wohlgemuth in Austin, Texas.

TXT Magazine Collection, 2005

TXT Magazine was an LGBT magazine, published by Q Texas Publishing. In 2005, the LGBT periodicals QTX (Q Texas) and The Texas Triangle were combined to form TXT Magazine.

Dennis Vercher Collection (The Dallas Way), 1973-1999

A collection of personal papers and research created by Dennis Vercher, editor of The Dallas Voice newspaper from 1986-2006.

WFAA John F. Kennedy Assassination Audio Tapes Collection, 1963-1964

The tapes within this collection cover the events and commentary of and related to the Kennedy Assassination. News outlet commentary, President Johnson's speech, interviews with Lee Harvey Oswald and his family members, coverage of the Ruby hearing, trial, and interviews are all included in this collection.

Bill Woodside Lake Whitney Views Collection, 1950-1990

This collection contains photo negatives of Bill Woodside, created for the Lake Whitney Views newspaper in Whitney, Texas, spanning from the years 1950 through 1990.

World War I Newspaper Collection, 1918 – 1921

This collection contains newspapers--whole and partial--from the period during and post-World War I.