Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

Endowments

All endowment funds are placed in long-term accounts, where the principal remains intact. All funding from endowments is drawn from the earned interest. The established minimum amount to create a named endowment is $50,000, although it varies according to the aims set forth by the donor. The Ransom Center benefits from several types of endowments:

Collection Development

Each year the Center adds key collections that represent the best of the arts and humanities. Through new acquisitions, the Center remains a vital source for education and research.

Public Programs

The Ransom Center offers a vibrant program of exhibitions, lectures, performances, readings, and films to enrich visitors' knowledge of the humanities and highlight the Center's remarkable collections.

Conservation and Preservation

Conservation and preservation is an important step in the Ransom Center's commitment to provide access to rare materials. Preserving and restoring the collections ensures that future generations may enjoy them. The Ransom Center collections are maintained with excellent staff and care, ensuring both increased accessibility and public exposure of treasured works.

Technology

Technology supports and enables virtually all Ransom Center initiatives, and services are driven by ever-increasing public demand for web access to collections, exhibitions, publications, programs, and research. Priority enhancements include an enriched interactive website, selective digitization of cultural materials for preservation and access, expanded web exhibitions, database development, and multimedia projects.

Current Endowments

Bromberg Memorial Fund
Established in 1957 and dedicated to the Ransom Center in 1971. Income is to be spent for acquisitions to enhance the collections of post-1950 writers.

Stanley Burnshaw Lecture Endowment
Established in 1995 to support a lecture series at the Ransom Center entitled The Stanley Burnshaw Lecture Series, which is held every other year.

Amon G. Carter Lectureship Fund
Established in 1965 to support the Amon G. Carter Lectureship and enable the University to invite eminent people to the campus to speak, including outstanding bibliographers, architects, artists, and philosophers, with due consideration to the Fine Arts.

C. L. and Henriette F. Cline Senior Curator Endowment in British Literature
Established in 1998 to support a senior curatorial position under the administration of the Director.

Henriette F. and Clarence L. Cline Memorial Endowment Fund
Established in 1984 to support academic activities such as lectures, conferences, and visiting scholars in 19th- and early 20th-century English literature.

Fleur Cowles Endowment Fund
Established in 1992 to support Fleur Cowles fellowships for research, Fleur Cowles interns, an international biennial conference named the Flair Symposium, maintenance of the Fleur Cowles Room for teaching and research in the academic disciplines of the Ransom Center, and lectures by experts in relevant fields of study.

L. Sprague de Camp & Catherine Crook de Camp Endowment for the Study of Science Fiction & Fantasy
Established in 1990 for the purpose of organizing, preserving, accessing, and developing the de Camp literary archive housed at the Ransom Center.

Robert De Niro Endowed Fund
Established in 2006 to fund one or more research fellowships or travel stipends to support scholarly research projects relating, in whole or in part, to the Robert De Niro collection.

Dorot Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Jewish Studies
Established in 1998 to support postdoctoral research in Jewish studies.

David Douglas Duncan Endowment for Photojournalism
Established in 1998 to support exhibitions, public events, research, acquisitions, and related activities to enhance the study of photojournalism at the University.

Endowed Fund for Photography
Established in 2004 for the acquisition of modern prints and photographs to enhance the Ransom Center's collection of photographs.

Exhibitions and Conferences Endowment
Established in 1992 for long-term support of Ransom Center exhibitions and conferences.

Creekmore and Adele Hay Fath Excellence Fund in Humanities Resources
Established in 2000 for programs that the Director of the Ransom Center identifies as the most strategic. Such programs shall include acquisitions, conferences, exhibitions, publications, research, preservation, and other priority areas related to the ongoing functioning of the Ransom Center.

Filmscript Acquisitions Endowment
Established in 1994 to acquire manuscripts and other archival materials of film writers of special interest.

Erle Stanley Gardner Endowment for Mystery Studies
Established in 1997 to support exhibitions, lectures, fellowships, and collections, and to ensure support and recognition of the Gardner collection and maintain a strong public visibility for the collection and Gardner's contribution to the mystery genre.

Gift Publications Endowment
Established in 1992 to be used for collection development at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.

Albert & Ethel Herzstein Foundation Jewish Literature and Culture Fund
Established in 1997 for program support, acquisition, cataloging, preservation, and public exhibition of collections of or relating to Jewish literature and culture.

Hobby Family Foundation Endowment
Established in 1996 for program support of an endowed position of senior librarian.

Harry Ransom Center Imprint Series Endowment
Established in 2003 to publish rare materials from the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center via the University of Texas Press.

Knopf Fellowship Program
Established in 1992 to support costs associated with the Knopf exhibition and catalog in 1995 and for an ongoing fellowship beginning in 1993.

The Limited Editions Club Endowment
Established in 1992 to support research initiatives, including fellowships, visiting lectures, and partial support of conferences.

Lundell Endowment for the Lundell Library
Established in 1998 to augment the salary of the Lundell librarian, to conserve the Lundell library, to assist in housing the collection as a unit, to make acquisitions, to assist in scholarly studies of the collection, and to preserve, maintain, and permanently house the Lundell papers as an integral part of the Lundell library.

Norman Mailer Endowed Fund
Established in 2006 for use by the Director to support the cataloging, conservation, and scholarly use of the Norman Mailer archive. The endowment can be used without limitation to fund symposia, lectures, visiting fellowships, or similar events related to Norman Mailer's writings, times, and the archive.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Research Fellowship Endowment
Established in 2006 to support fellowship awards to scholars doing research at the Ransom Center and provide administrative support and promotion of the fellowship program.

David Nathan Meyerson Endowment for Collecting Modern Literature
Established in 1999 to support the acquisition of important papers and books by both established and younger authors for the Center's literary collections.

Marlene Nathan Meyerson Photography Fellowship Endowment
Established in 1999 to support advanced research in the Center's photography collections.

Nancy Inman Curator for Photography Endowment
Established in 2007 to support a senior curator and activities associated with the care, development, and interpretation of the photographic collections of the Ransom Center.

Elizabeth Olds Fund
Established in 1986 for support within the paper and art conservation program of the Ransom Center.

Cora Maud Oneal Room Endowment Fund
Established in June 1985 for activities relating to the Cora Maud Oneal Room and to give the room more exposure to the general public.

Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Curatorial Endowment
Established in 1996 to support a senior curatorial position and activities associated with the care, development, and interpretation of the Pforzheimer collection.

The Carl H. Pforzheimer Endowment
Established in 1986 for maintenance, preservation, and enhanced availability of the Pforzheimer collection and to establish the annual Pforzheimer Lecture Series.

Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Endowment in Photography
Established in 1993 to provide support for the photography collections at the Ransom Center. Although its emphasis remains on Texas and the Southwest, funds from the endowment can be used to support the overall interest and needs of the photography department.

Publications Endowment
Established in 1963 as a depository for unrestricted or commemorative gifts and funds generated by book sales. It was re-designated as an endowment in 1992 to attract gifts intended for endowment and to provide income for collection development.

Ransom Collection Development Endowment for Modern Literature
Established in 1992 to assist in the long-term goal of enrichment of the Ransom Center's twentieth-century literary collections.

Ransom Center Endowment for Education and Public Programs
Used to enhance public programs, education, and outreach initiatives of the Ransom Center by supporting a consultant to develop activities, design of interpretive programs, design and fabrication of the Center's exhibitions, and other programs and operations to provide educational outreach to the UT community and the public.

Harry Ransom Distinguished Fellowship
Established in 1994 to support visiting fellows who pursue advanced research at the Ransom Center for periods ranging from one week to three months.

Harry Huntt Ransom General Endowment Fund
Established in 1996 for general support of operations and collection development within the Ransom Center.

Harry Ransom Memorial Rare Book Fund
For the aquisition of rare books and manuscripts.

Warren Skaaren Film Research Endowment
Established in 1996 to provide program support for research and a lecturer related to films and motion pictures.

C. P. Snow Memorial Fund
Established in 1981 to pay travel expenses for scholars doing research at the Ransom Center.

Ralph and Mary John Spence Endowment for Literature
Established in 2002 to support the acquisition, maintenance, preservation, exhibition, and program development of literary collections within the Center.

Clara Pope Willoughby Centennial Fund for Humanities Research Center Development
Established in 1982 for support and maintenance of the Ransom Center at the discretion of the Director.

Woodward and Bernstein Endowment
Established in 2003 to provide support for the preservation, access, and cataloging of the Watergate collection and for public lectures, symposia, and educational programs to enrich the understanding of American political history.

Bill and Alice Wright Endowment for Photography
Established in 1993 to provide support for symposia, lectures, and public programs in photography, and for various publications for the photography collection.

For more information on giving to or establishing an endowment, please contact Lisa Avra at (512) 471-5174 or lisaavra@mail.utexas.edu.