Collection Development:
We are actively building our collection and seeking artifacts and mementos, manuscripts, research materials, creative works, rare books, periodicals and news clippings, photographs, and audiovisual sources relating to LBJ, especially regarding his association with San Marcos, Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University), and Cotulla, Texas. We are also interested in acquiring materials on the context of LBJ’s early life in the Texas Hill Country, early twentieth-century Texas politics and education, the American Presidency as an institution, Civil Rights and other Great Society legislation, Gary Job Corps, and any enduring legacy that LBJ left to the community of San Marcos, Hays County, and the Central Texas region. These materials will be incorporated into our collection, catalogued, organized, and published in reference guides and made available to the general public for research and educational purposes.
School Group Tours:
The LBJ Museum of San Marcos invites teachers and educators to bring your students to the Museum for guided tours, lessons, and presentations of our artifacts, exhibits, history, and archival documents. This program is open to all ages and class levels. Please contact our Museum manager at (512) 353-3300 or director@lbjmuseum.com to help plan your visit.
Online Exhibits:
The Museum features our Online Exhibits page that allows students, teachers, historians, and others to interact with history. Learn about Lyndon Baines Johnson as a young student at Texas State University or as a schoolteacher in Cotulla, Texas, and then take a short quiz to test your knowledge. Access the speeches and quotes from some of Johnson’s legislative acts during the 1960s relating to education and civil rights. Watch or listen to audio/visual clips of Johnson. Please go to the Online Exhibits page and have fun!
Traveling Trunk:
The Traveling Trunk is a mobile exhibit for public and private schools, clubs, organizations, and special events, in which we bring the LBJ Museum of San Marcos to you! Our trunk of archival goodies includes bumper stickers, campaign memorabilia, magazines and books, LBJ hat, and much more. We will visit your class or group and give a presentation about LBJ history using real artifacts and documents.
Speaking Tour:
The LBJ Museum offers representatives to speak at lectures, meetings or conferences for schools, businesses and other groups at no charge. We can give a presentation about the Museum and our collections, a history of Lyndon Baines Johnson in San Marcos, and other topics. Our Traveling Trunk may be included if the organization wishes to see some of the artifacts and photographs in our collection. Please contact our Museum manager at (512) 353-3300 or director@lbjmuseum.com.
Lecture Series:
Our Lecture Series is a joint initiative of the LBJ Museum of San Marcos and the Department of Political Science at Texas State University. Begun in 2013, the lectures are held twice a year during the fall and spring semesters. The lecture series brings scholars and public officials to speak on a range of historic and contemporary political issues. Past speakers have included Dr. Thomas Doyle, Texas State University, Dr. H.W. Brands, University of Texas, David Schafer, Ranger at the LBJ National Historic Park, and the Honorable Oliver del Cid, Belizean Ambassador to Mexico.
The Museum also is hosting 50th anniversary commemorations of history-making legislation signed into law by President Johnson. On August 6, 2015, the Museum featured Larry Temple, Chairman of the LBJ Foundation and once Special Counsel to President Johnson, as our guest speaker commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The LBJ Museum is also a sponsor of Texas State University’s 50th Anniversary celebration of the Higher Education Act, with events on campus on October 26, November 3 and November 4, 2015.