25 Years/25 Treasures
A Celebration of UT Austin’s Briscoe Center for American History
In 1991, The University of Texas at Austin created the Center for American History. Since then, the center has grown into an internationally-known history research center that fosters exploration of the American past through scholarship, preservation and public programing.
In September 2016, the center will present 25 Years/25 Treasures: A Celebration of the Briscoe Center for American History. The exhibit will be on display at the LBJ Presidential Library. 25 Years/25 Treasures will showcase some of the Briscoe Center’s most valuable objects—items that are precious and important because of their historical, cultural and educational significance.
“25 Years/25 Treasures celebrates the center’s quarter centennial, as well as more than a century of collection and curation at the University of Texas at Austin since its founding in 1883,” said Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. “Items on display vary greatly from each other, but have at least one thing in common—they each make unique and important contributions to our understanding of the past.”
Documents on display will include a 1769 George Washington letter, Stephen F. Austin’s 1835 prison diary, and an 1881 legal opinion that has been called the “founding document of American corporate capitalism.” Other artifacts include maps, photographs, and flags, as well as historic furniture, quilts and clothing. Each item will be supplemented by a “supporting cast” of additional artifacts that help explain both the treasure and its time.
25 Years/25 Treasures will be on display at the LBJ Library until January 16, 2017. In addition to celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Briscoe Center is celebrating the renovation of its public service and exhibit spaces in Sid Richardson Hall Unit 2, which are set to reopen to the public in early 2017.
