Oklahoma History: Other Libraries

Libraries, historical societies and history museums in Oklahoma may have special collections or archives pertaining to the state and to their local area. These places are often times the repository of the personal papers of individuals and organizations important to the locality. Expect to travel to see the material because the material is not available for InterLibrary Loan in almost every case. Each web site has information on hours of operation and visitor use policies. It's always a good idea to contact the library before making the trip.

Carl Albert Center Congressional Research and Studies Center

This archive at OU contains papers of over 50 former members of Congress plus other related collections . The majority of the material at the Center  covers members of the Oklahoma delegation over the years, some others are available too, including Helen Gahagan Douglas. In addition to Congressional materials, the collection contains papers of journalists such as Harry Culver and Malvina Stephenson.  See the list of current collections .

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

The Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center contains books, photographs, and audio-visual materials covering the topics of history, Native Americans, rodeo, etc. Online finding aids are available for those collections which have been processed and open to researchers.

Oklahoma Dept. of Libraries. Archives Dept.

The Archives Dept. preserves state records, from Territorial days to the present. Some finding aids are online.

Oklahoma Historical Society

The Historical Society has another great collection of materials. The Research Center is the main access to collection detail. There are catalogs for both the library collection and the archives collection.  

Oklahoma State University

The Special Collections Division of OSU has many valuable resources for the study of Oklahoma. Only a few of the finding guides are provided at the web site. The collections include a wide range of materials from the papers of Thomas W. Cheek,  President of the Oklahoma Farmers' Union, 1931-1945 to the papers of Angie Debo, noted Oklahoma historian.   

Tulsa Historical Society & Museum

THS has a library web site which lists their book, film and photograph holdings. The manuscripts and vertical file collection is not yet listed online.

Other museums

Museums USA provides a list of museums in Oklahoma

Other libraries

The Oklahoma Dept. of Libraries maintains a directory of public libraries in the state.