UNT Libraries

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is a scientific research and conservation center located in Fort Worth, Texas, and is one of over 550 partners who contribute digitized materials to The Portal to Texas History. The BRIT's collections on the Portal include over 19,000 items spanning 9 decades and 31 countries! Included are photos documenting the institute's research and education efforts and slides, photographs, negatives, and field notebooks created by Sherwin J. Carlquist, a mid-20th century American botanist and photographer.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/partners/BRIT/

Willis Library 24/7 returns August 17! 📚 🦅 🪩

Fall 2026 is right around the corner and the UNT Libraries are here whenever you need a study space, a book, a computer, or just a place to hang out.

Check out our full hours for all of our locations at https://calendar.library.unt.edu/hours

The UNT Libraries and Department of History have updated the Texas History for Teachers curriculum website to include new and updated 3D virtual tours of historic sites in Texas including Caddo Mounds, Casa Navarro, Presidio San Sabá, Presidio la Bahía, San Felipe de Austin, and Fort McKavett.

Users can 'walk' these spaces using a desktop, phone or even a VR headset! Spanish translations of all lesson materials and ASL interpretations of all videos are also being updated as part of this work.

This project is made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (Grant # LS-259205-OLS-25) * to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. (2025)

https://education.texashistory.unt.edu/

If you're looking looking to beat the heat with some relaxing time indoors this summer, check out this Texas Wildlife Coloring Book created by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on The Portal to Texas History. Digitized and made available as part of UNT’s responsibility as a Texas State Depository program, this coloring book features illustrations and facts about some of Texas’s most beloved creatures, like the Texas kangaroo rat and mallard ducks.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth532089/

A new restaurant has recently opened in Ponder, Texas, in Denton County at the former site of the storied Ranchman's Ponder Steakhouse. In this "Texas Traveler" video clip on The Portal to Texas History from 2000, NBC-5 reporter Brett Johnson discusses the history of the original Ranchman's restaurant including its famous visitors like John Wayne. You can also find a 2003 commercial for the restaurant in the UNT Media Library's Spotlight on North Texas Collection on the Portal.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth796403/
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth796240/

Going on a trip this summer? The Transportation in Central Texas collection on The Portal to Texas History chronicles the history and development of transportation across central Texas. From covered wagons and steam locomotives to the Ford Model T, the collection spans 12 decades and includes over 900 items.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/TRCTX/

In honor of the 57th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon, check out the front page of the Denton Record-Chronicle from July 21, 1969. 🌕 🚀

The front-page features headlines like, “We’ll Never Be the Same!” and “Man Reaches the Moon; Besides That, It Rained!” You can find more headlines from this historic day across Texas on the Portal to Texas History.

https://bit.ly/3Rz4MIu