|
|
TABLE OF CONTENTSIII. UTSA Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) |
A Guide to the Thomas R. Hester Papers, 1966-1999 (bulk 1973-1987)
Biographical NoteThomas R. Hester was Professor of Anthropology, Division of Social Sciences at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 1973-1987 and created and served as Director of UTSA’s Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) from 1974-1987. Hester joined the UTSA faculty in 1973 as Associate Professor in Anthropology after receiving his PhD in Anthropology from University of California, Berkeley in 1972. Hester has written extensively on stone tools in South Texas and has conducted research in Texas, Nevada, Montana, California, Egypt, Mexico, and Belize. During his tenure at UTSA, he conducted field schools in South Texas and Belize, and as Director of CAR he oversaw many excavations, including the 1977-1982 investigations of over 400 sites in the Choke Canyon region in McMullen and Live Oak Counties, the largest-ever dig conducted in South Texas. Among over 400 publications of which he authored or co-authored are the books Field Methods in Archaeology with Harry J. Shafer and Kenneth L. Feder (Routledge, 2009) and Stone Artifacts of Texas Indians(Taylor Trade Publishing, 2011) with Ellen Sue Turner, as well as articles, monographs, conference papers, and other books. Hester has received grants through agencies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Geographic Society, as well as contracts through the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service. In addition to his publications, Hester was an active member of the faculty at UTSA, serving as chair or member of numerous university-wide committees; he also received many awards for his teaching and research through UTSA. In 1987, Hester joined the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin, where he continued teaching, writing, and conducting field schools. From 1987-2000, he served as the Director for the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL) at the Balcones Research Center, which was renamed the J.J. Pickle Research Campus in 1994. Dr. Hester is currently a professor emeritus. Along with co-founder Dr. Harry J. Shafer, he currently (2017) works performing Phase I surveys and project monitoring in South and West Texas for the cultural resources management firm Abasolo Archaeological Consultants. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Content NoteThe Thomas R. Hester Papers span the years 1966-1999 and include manuscript drafts, correspondence, committee files, grant files, lectures, conference files, and other materials related to Hester’s career as an archaeologist and a professor of anthropology. The bulk of the materials date from 1973-1987, during Hester’s tenure at UTSA. This collection documents Hester’s role in creating UTSA’s cultural resource management program at the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), for which he served as director. Hester’s research interests include lithics in the American Southwest and the Mayan zone in Belize. The collection is organized into six series: I. Teaching; II. Research and Publishing; III. UTSA Center for Archaeological Research (CAR); IV. UTSA Committee Work;V. Professional Associations and Committees; and VI. Activities. Series I. Teaching consists of records related to Hester’s role as a professor and include course syllabi, book lists, student surveys of teaching, grant reviews, and correspondence. Also included in this series are notes and material pertaining to archaeological field schools, continuing education classes at UTSA, and his role in UTSA’s Gifted and Talented program for high school students. The items in Series II. Research and Publishing relate to Hester’s research, including manuscripts, promotional materials for publications, and correspondence to publishers, as well as editions of The Interamericano: Newsletter of the Instituto Interamericano. Series III. UTSA Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) consists of records related to the Center for Archaeological Research, such as organized research reports, loan authorizations for artifacts, staff listings, a list of publications, press clippings, and promotional materials. Series IV. UTSA Committee Work includes records pertaining to Hester’s active role in UTSA-wide committee business, as well as two UTSA Annual Organized Research Reports. Throughout his tenure, Hester was active in many committees that shaped the university’s early years. Of note are the records on the Select Committee on Higher Education Research and the Faculty Review Advisory Committee. The items in Series V. Professional Associations and Committees include records pertaining to professional organizations with which Hester was affiliated. Files contain research related to presentations Hester gave at the annual meetings of these organizations, as well as planning and promotional materials for the meetings. Information on the 1986 World Archaeological Congress is of note in this series. Series VI. Activities is comprised of press clippings, appointment calendars, and office logs detailing Hester’s day-to-day work as a professor and administrator for CAR and, later, for the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory (TARL). The activities files from 1973-1987 include information Hester collected to add to his annual reports such as correspondence about publishing, events, and community involvement. Some examples of his community involvement include letters to editors of publications indicating errata, letters to and from legislators, and letters to and from schoolchildren who wrote him due to their interest in archaeology. Press clippings are comprised mostly of newspaper and magazine articles about Hester’s work, as well as the UTSA publications UTSA Bulletin and The Roadrunner. Included in this series are also promotional materials relating to the UTSA men’s basketball team, of which Hester was an active fan. Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThis collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please schedule a visit. Use RestrictionsThe researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation[Identification of item], Thomas R. Hester Papers, UA 99.0030, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections. Acquisition InformationReceived as a gift from Thomas R. Hester in July 2016 (Acc. 2016-039). The publication titled “Archaeological Papers Presented to J.W. House” was assembled by Thomas Hester in 1972. A copy was donated to Special Collections in 2018 by Paul McGuff (Acc. 2018-008) and was added to the collection. Processing InformationProcessed by Christina Frasier, Student Assistant, and Kristin Law, University Archivist, in 2017. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Collection
Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||