The Family and Personal Collection offer sources for the study of a variety of topics such as agriculture, economic conditions, the Civil War, the role of Texan women, and family history in Texas history. Such collections contain diaries, letters, land records, memoirs, and other papers collected by, and centered on, an individual or successive generations of a family. Among the collections is material from Karle Wilson Baker, Stephen F. Austin, Archie P. McDonald, and local NAACP leader Arthur Weaver. These collections document the social, cultural and economic history of East Texas from European colonialism to the present day and provide a view into southern culture and life.