The purpose of the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library and J. Evetts Haley History Center is to facilitate the study of our Southwestern Texas history.
The Library houses more than 25,000 books, manuscripts and other printed material documenting western history.
NEW IN 2021: Electronic Card Catalog of our entire book holdings. On our shelves are books, magazines, and periodicals found no where else. Significant to historians and researchers, our book stacks can be researched via our new electronic catalog.
The Mission of The Haley Library & Research Center
J. Evetts Haley created a privately managed Trust for the benefit of those who choose to research the history of the Great Southwest. The Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library & J. Evetts Haley History Center maintains and administers the astonishing research collections utilized by J. Evetts Haley and other notable historians for their published works of the history of the frontier development of the Southwestern U. S. These collections include interviews, documents, correspondence, maps, manuscripts, and photographs that reveal the lives of those pioneers that settled the open ranges following the War Between the States. The history of the vast ranges of the western two thirds of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona is unique to the American experience and is available at no charge to researchers, both professional and casual.
I found what I was already beginning to suspect – that history was not confined to Greece and Rome, but was also on the ranges all around me.
J. Evetts Haley
The collections and programs of the Haley Library and the History Center concentrate on the common threads between the cowboy, the range cattle industry, military and railroads. Each industry depended on the other in order to expand. The settlement of the West could not have occurred without these elements co existing and growing together.
Established in 1976, this remarkable institution has endured the test of time. Offered in the collections are printed and manuscript materials on western exploration, frontier military history, early railroads, the development of ranching and farming, mining, politics, frontier social history and material on regional and local Texas histories.
Need Research Assistance? (432) 682-5785
Help Us Preserve Your Western Heritage
Your membership ensures that our work continues for every generation to benefit from. Join today and receive the latest “Haley Library Newsletter” and be placed on the Library Master List to be sure to receive all event mail-outs either digitally or in hard copy (your preference). The Library Calendar of Events will keep you up to date on upcoming events from fine art shows and exhibits to book signings, our annual “Fall Gathering Ranch Storytelling and Foy Proctor Cowman’s Award of Honor” event.