Formats - Broadsides & Ephemera
The Center for American History collects printed ephemera and broadsides as part of its research collections. Ephemera, which has been called “raw, unedited history,” is defined as something short-lived or created for a single purpose, then discarded once that purpose has been served. Examples of printed ephemera include invitations, advertisements, business cards, campaign posters, admission tickets, printed programs, and greeting cards. For historians and other researchers, ephemera has value because it has the characteristic of being “of the moment,” thus serving as a mirror of our past. Broadsides, a type of ephemera, are public notices, usually printed on one side and displayed for a short period of time in order to inform, announce, or advertise.
All ephemera and broadsides are available in the Center's Research and Collections Division, which is located in Sid Richardson Hall Unit 2 on the University's main campus in Austin. Researchers will find printed ephemera housed in several of the Division's research collections. For example, many individual pieces of printed ephemera are part of collections of personal papers or organizational records and are listed on collection inventories. Additionally, the Research and Collection's Division maintains a modest but growing Ephemera Collection, which houses a variety of individual pieces of ephemera that are not associated with a specific manuscript or archival collection. These individual pieces have been organized by format, and the collection is described in an Ephemera Collection notebook in the James Stephen Hogg Reading Room. The Division also maintains a separate and extensive collection of 19th and 20th –century broadsides. The contents of this Broadside Collection are described individually in a card file, also located in the Reading Room. Finally, some very special pieces of ephemera have been cataloged and are accessible through UTCAT, the University's on-line library catalog. Ephemera and Broadsides are stored in closed stacks and must be used in the James Stephen Hogg Reading Room.