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Vision Statement
 The vision of
LSUS Archives and Special Collections is to be the instrument of regional historical and institutional memory,
to be an active participant in furthering the institutional mission and knowledge of the history of northwest
Louisiana and the Red River region, and to continuously provide unexpected learning opportunities for all
constituencies of LSUS.
Mission Statement
The mission of
LSUS Archives and Special Collections is to collect, preserve, and make accessible to interested users and
researchers the papers, records and other materials of persons, groups and organizations significant to the
history of Northwest Louisiana and the Red River region, and to provide for the orderly retention and
disposition of all University records.
History
The Archives
and Special Collections program at LSUS was created in 1974 through the efforts of Dr, John Hall,
Chairman of the Social Studies Department, Malcolm Parker, Library Director, and Hubert Humphreys,
Assistant Professor of History. Their aim was to document and preserve area history, particularly
the history of northwest Louisiana. In 1975, LSUS hired Patricia Meador as the first archivist.
Starting with
just two collections and relying on community support, Ms. Meador built a program that today features approximately
600 archival collections, 300 manuscript collections, and 150 oral histories and continues to grow.
In 1994 the
Archives moved from its location on the second floor of the original library building to the attractive and
spacious quarters it now occupies on the third floor of the new Noel Memorial Library. Staffed by four full-time
employees and a part-time volunteer, LSUS Archives and Special Collections acts as the instrument of the university’s
institutional memory and assists visitors from all over the United States and abroad with research about the Red River,
steam boating, plantation life, business and industry, society and culture, education, politics, architecture,
and the natural environment of the Ark-La-Tex area from 1830 to the present day.
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