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McGovern Historical Center

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McGovern Historical Center

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The McGovern Historical Center is the Special Collections department of The TMC Library. This page is for sharing our cool materials and current projects.

The John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center (McGovern Historical Center) is the Special Collections department of The TMC Library. We house, provide access, and preserve rare books, manuscripts collections, and institutional records relating to the Texas Medical Center (TMC) and medical history. Our notable historical collections document the foundations of the medical specialties, Texas medicine, rheumatology, and North American public health. The archival collections focus on the development of the institutions and hospitals in the TMC in Houston, the careers of Houston physicians and biographical information on Texas physicians. The McGovern Historical Center has collections in two locations. The Archives, located at the Historical Research Center at 2872 El Rio, suite 190, holds personal papers of medical personnel, institutional records of health care institutions, medical-related photos, graphic arts and objects. The Historical Research Center also houses several rare book collections, including the Mading collection on public health, the Dow collection about dentistry, and the Menninger collection about mental health. The McGovern Rare Book Collections is located in The Texas Medical Center (TMC) Library, which is in the Jesse Jones Library building located between Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas McGovern Medical School. The McGovern Rare Book Collections houses the John P. McGovern History of Medicine Collection, including the works of Sir William Osler, and the Burbank/Fraser Collection of Arthritis, Rheumatism and Gout. Visiting the Rare Book Room is BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.

10/30/2026

Posters, undated circa 1980s. IC 029 Houston Department of Public Health has a brand-new inventory available on our website.

10/29/2026

10/28/2026

This small book on arthritis is wrapped in a single sheet of parchment with red staff lines, square black music notes, and lines of Latin written in a tight gothic script: It’s a page from a medieval choir book
To learn more from Tara about the history of binding books in “liturgical waste”, visit our blog at library.tmc.edu.

10/27/2026

Pamphlet about the “Extending Arms of Christ” mosaic mural by Bruce Hayes for Methodist Hosputal. MS 023 Hebbel Hoff, Box. 1.1.

10/22/2026

Rough drafts of brochures for a symposium, 1981. Ic 049 Kelsey-Seybold Foundation, currently box 10, folder 19.

10/22/2026

Good morning!

Wrong-door garter snake has been relocated outside.

10/21/2026

From IC 049 Kelsey-Seybold Foundation, currently box 7, folder: Newsletter, 1st in 1989 (this collection will be reboxed soon) - Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Phobos but had no-one to ask, 1987.

10/20/2026

Volunteer award in the form of a clear plastic or acrylic fortune cookie, 1980s. IC 086 Hermann Archives, box 586.

10/19/2026

Most of our collections have a finding aid or inventory available online—they are searchable .PDFs that can be downloaded using the “button” on the right-hand side of the screen.

For collections that don’t have an inventory available, please contact staff at [email protected].

Address

8272 El Rio, Suite 190
Houston, TX
77054

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+17137997899

Website

http://library.tmc.edu/mcgovern

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