HemisFair '68 History and Resources

[Image: Minutes of Initial Meeting of Interested Citizens Pertinent to the 'Fair of the America's,'" February 15, 1962 (page 1), Folder 5:7, San Antonio Fair, Inc., Records, 1962-1995, MS 31, Archives and Special Collections, University of Texas at San Antonio Library.]

The records of the San Antonio Fair, Inc., document the planning, lobbying, financing and construction of HemisFair '68. The records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, committee reports, financial records, newspaper and magazine articles, press releases, photographic materials, blueprints, maps and plats, artwork, oral history interview transcripts, scrapbooks of clippings and ephemera, and audiovisual materials (film and sound recordings). Most of the records predate the opening of the fair.

• Outline of the collection
• History of the collection

William Sinkin was the first President of San Antonio Fair, Inc., serving as president from 1963-1964 and as Honorary Co-Chairman of the Board from 1964-1968. The Community subseries of the collection documents Sinkin's leadership roles in HemisFair. Several newsclipping scrapbooks chronicle HemisFair and portray the extent and type of media coverage that the Fair attracted from preliminary planning in 1962 through its 20th anniversary in 1988. (More Sinkin material is available in the Executive Officers Series of the San Antonio Fair, Inc. Records.)

[Image: Page with Reuse Plan map from HemisFair Scrapbook, 1964 (Box 16), William and Fay Sinkin Papers, 1928-1998, MS 64, Archives and Special Collections, UTSA Library.]

[Image: Statement by H.B. Zachry for Second State Appropriation for HemisFair (Folder 2:7), UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures Library Collection of HemisFair '68 Materials, 1965-1994, MS 292, Archives and Special Collections, UTSA Library.]

The Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC), a museum and campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio, was established in 1965 by the 59th Texas Legislature. Originally housing the Texas Pavilion at HemisFair '68, it was designed to study the ethnic groups that settled in Texas. The ITC Library was established in 1965 as a repository for books and images of artifacts being collected by researchers preparing exhibits for the Texas Pavilion. This collection spans the years 1965 through 1994 and includes materials relating to HemisFair '68 that were collected by the ITC Library. Materials include photographs, transparencies, printed materials, newspaper clippings, souvenir items, essays, and other materials.

Natalie (Zoe) Wright served on the Board of Directors of the Woman's Pavilion at HemisFair 1968. This collection is comprised of one scrapbook, compiled by Zoe Wright. The scrapbook spans the years 1967 through 1968 and includes materials documenting HemisFair 1968, with a particular focus on materials generated by and relating to the Woman's Pavilion.

[Image: Zoe Wright pointing to her handprint on the Woman's Pavilion, Zoe Wright Scrapbook of HemisFair Materials, 1967-1968, MS 273, Archives and Special Collections, UTSA Library.]

Vivian Johnson Hamlin Terrett spent most of her adult life as a resident of San Antonio, Texas, where she was an active member of civic and cultural organizations. She received numerous citations for her work. Printed material, correspondence, reports, photographs, scrapbook material, and artifacts, 1966-1990, document Vivian Johnson Hamlin Terrett's work in civic and cultural organizations in San Antonio, Texas, notably the Woman's Pavilion at HemisFair '68 and the San Antonio Bicentennial Commission. There are also personal items in the collection.

[Image: Woman's Pavilion informational packet with handwritten quote, undated (Folder 1:15), Vivian Johnson Hamlin Terrett Papers, 1966-1990, MS 100, Archives and Special Collections, UTSA Library.]

The collection consists of 43 flags (8.5 in x 11.5 in) made by students from Alamo Heights Junior School in the late 1960s. The small flags are recreations of flags that have flown in Texas over the course of Texas history. The flags were originally displayed in the students' classroom, but were donated to be shown during HemisFair '68.

[Image: The Flag of the Galveston Invincibles (1842), Alamo Heights Junior School Student Flag Collection, 1968, MS 134, Archives and Special Collections, UTSA Library.]

HemisFair Memorabilia Collection, 1960s (MS 127)

The UTSA Archives also holds a collection of HemisFair '68 memorabilia, donated by various members of the community. Items include souvenir books and maps, license plates, salt and pepper shakers, posters, ashtrays, plates, glasses, coffee mugs, and a Tower of the Americas decanter, among other items. The collection is unprocessed, but can be accessed by appointment.

ITC Library Vertical File

The ITC Library has 250 linear feet of vertical files. An in-house vertical file index database is available to researchers. The vertical files include one HemisFair folder containing newspaper clippings, photocopies of magazine articles, and HemisFair maps and photographs.