Border Heritage Center

The El Paso Public Library’s Border Heritage Center was formed in 1995 by combining three major collections – Southwest, Genealogy, and Raza – into one area of the Main Library. The purpose of the Center is to enhance the quality of life of El Pasoans and others by collecting, preserving, and making available information about the history and culture of the residents of El Paso and the surrounding Southwest region.

Collections

NEW!

The El Paso Public Library Border Heritage Center's (BHC) new digital collections website, facilitated through AM Quartex, allows our patrons to discover, access, and utilize BHC’s special collections remotely!

Digital Archives Collection

Southwest Collection

The El Paso Public Library began collecting and preserving materials on the history and culture of the Southwest (west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Chihuahua of Mexico) as early as 1902. Among other things, the collection includes vertical files on local and regional topics, Southwest periodicals, the El Paso Times and El Paso Herald-Post newspapers and other regional serials on microfilm/fiche, historical maps, and a high school yearbook collection. The Southwest Collection includes both reference and circulating materials.

Genealogy Collection

The Genealogy Collection holds resources related to family history research. Genealogy guides and manuals, U.S. region-specific books, sources relating to specific ethnicities and heritages, vital record indexes, census records, cemetery records, city directories, and a wide variety of genealogy publications are included. The entire Genealogy Collection is reference material and is not available for circulation.

RAZA Collection

The RAZA Collection was inspired by the Chicano pride movement of the 1970’s and continues to -document the history, culture, and literary works of Mexican Americans. Used both for research and recreational reading, the collection continues to grow and is particularly strong in poetry and fiction. Both Reference and circulating materials are available.

Research Services

Border Heritage Center staff are available to assist with research both in-person and remotely. To request assistance or to speak with staff regarding the Center’s collections, the Border Heritage reference desk is open to calls during Main Library’s hours of operation. Please feel free to email the Border Heritage Center directly if preferable.

Phone: 915-212-3218, Email: [email protected]

Sun. 1:00-6:00, Mon. 10:00-6:00, Tue.-Thu. 10:00-7:00, Fri. 1:00-6:00, Sat. 10:00-6:00