The Bureau of East Texas Research was organized in 1953 under the direction of Dr. Robert S. Maxwell of the History Department.  It sought to locate, acquire, and preserve materials that emphasized the agricultural business and industrial development of the East Texas Region.  From its inception the materials that the Bureau collected ended up in the Special Collections Department of the Library.  One collection that was of significance was that of the Mr. E. L. Kurth and the Angelina County Lumber Company.  This collection started the influx of Lumber Companies that donated their materials to SFA.  As a result of all of these Forestry Collections, the Forest History Foundation designated the Special Collections an official North American Forestry History Repository in 1959. The Bureau of East Texas Research was taken into the Special Collections Library, which in turn was renamed the East Texas Research Center in 1994.  The work of the Bureau of East Texas Research helped to establish a connection with Lumber Companies which allowed the Special Collections/East Texas Research Center continue to expand its collection in this field of study.