Welcome! Established in the fall of 2013, the Tyler Junior College Archive and Special Collections (Archive) is responsible for identifying, maintaining and making available records of enduring value that document the history and development of the college. The Archive also collects materials of interest and significance from alumnae and others that help illustrate the college's interaction with the community.
For information on our collections, how to transfer college records to the archive, or what types of materials we take as donations please see the links below.
The Archive provides digitization services for those who need copies of photos in our collections and also for those who request digitization of personal photos. Please note when we digitize photos provided from personal collections, the Archive reserves the right to keep a copy and to use it in projects that detail the history of TJC.
TJC Archive Digitization Service Request
Access to the special collections held within the Archive is by appointment only. Please contact Robin Insalaco at rins@tjc.edu or 903-510-2549 or Kerry Johnson at kjoh2@tjc.edu to request information about or access to these collections.
TJC Historical Photo Collection
The TJC Historical Photo Collections documents the history and activities of the college through photographs supplied by a variety of sources. The photographs may not be taken from the Archive, but a digitized version may be available upon request. Copies of the photographs are not to be used for commercial purposes without written consent of Tyler Junior College. You may click on the following link for a brief overview of photographs in this collection: Finding Aid
TJC Publications Collection
The TJC Publications Collection consists of a variety of documents and communications produced by the college or its students. A listing of what the collection holds is being prepared and a detailed finding aid will be posted when completed.
The Archive has digitized some selections from the TJC Publications Collection. Links to and information about these resources follow.
Student Newspapers:
Tyler Junior College was established in 1926 and was housed in the Tyler High School until moving to its own campus in 1948. That year, the students began producing a column titled “Junior College News” for the Sunday edition of the Tyler Daily Courier-Times newspaper. This column was briefly titled “The Tyler Teepee” and finally “The Apache Pow-Wow”. In December of 1930, the first independent issue of The Apache Pow-Wow was published by the students, although publication of a column in the Tyler newspaper continued. In the 1931-1932 academic year, a combined high school/college newspaper, The Apache-Lion Pow-Wow was produced. After that year, the college ceased producing a student newspaper until 1937 when publication of The Apache Pow-Wow recommenced. The newspaper went through a series of name changes to The Pow-Wow, The TJC Pow Wow, Tyler Junior College News, The Apache Pow Wow, and finally to its current name, The DrumBeat.
The TJC Archive acknowledges with appreciation the Smith County Historical Society for providing copies of early issues of the newspaper for this digitization project. See the digitized version of these student newspapers.
Yearbooks:
Tyler Junior College was established in 1926 and was housed in the Tyler High School until moving to its own campus in 1948. Initially, The Alcalde, the high school annual, became a combined yearbook for the two schools until 1934 when the college began publication of their own yearbook, the Apache. The Alcalde was not published in 1933, and the Apache was not published in 1940, 1943, 1944, or 1945. The Apache ceased publication in 1981.
Alcalde
Apache
1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1941 1942 1946 1947 1948
1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
The Bell Tower:
The Bell Tower consists of works created solely by Tyler Junior College Students.