The Boxing/Sports/Martial Arts Collections are diverse holdings related to competitive, professional, and amateur physical activity practiced all over the world. The collections include rare and contemporary boxiana, pugilistic, and fistiana (1743-1968) documents donated by Dr. Lawrence Mitchell; the Robert W. Smith Martial Arts Collection (1930-2012); and the Mal Ricketts Boxing Collection (1897-2001), plus other smaller sports-related collections. The Collections are designed to support the research interests of scholars across multiple disciplines, as well as the reading interests and curiosity of general readers. These collections have positioned Texas A&M University to have one of the strongest research collections in boxing and martial arts.
The Boxiana Collection is an ongoing donation, created by Dr. Lawrence Mitchell, Texas A&M University scholar, and professor. The collection is rich in British/European books, and resources. It contains rare broadsides, monographs, hand-colored prints, periodicals, and rare film typescripts. “The collection documents the historical progression of the sport of boxing, from its earliest days into the twentieth century as well as its appearances in literature and the arts.” (Hand to Hand: Selections from the J. Lawrence Mitchell Collections catalog)
The Robert W. Smith Martial Arts Collection is a collection donated by the family of Robert W. Smith, noted author, scholar, teacher, and practitioner of martial arts in all of its forms. The collection houses Chinese/Japanese resources, writings, and other Asian and American works. There are substantial writings, photographs, and correspondence of Smith and individuals interested in martial arts from all over the world. Smith, a master teacher of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Shaolin Temple boxing, and other Chinese martial arts. As an editor, author, co-author, and co-translator, Mr. Smith wrote the first books in English on Pa-kua Ch'uan and Hsing-i Ch'uan and one of the first books in English on T'ai Chi Ch'uan, co-authored with the famous grandmaster, the late Cheng Man-ch'ing. Mr. Smith wrote 14 books, more than 240 reviews, and was largely credited with introducing Western practitioners to T'ai Chi. The Smith collection has already produced dissertations, articles, and has been extensively used by national and international researchers.
The Mal Ricketts’ Boxing Collection is rich in American/Africana/Asian boxing. It contains posters, documents, books, serials, and other ephemeral boxing programs that document the contemporary history of boxing in America and its influence throughout the world. The materials are valuable in that they preserve data about fighters (record, physical statistics, biography, etc) that are often otherwise lost and includes photographs of the fighters in action as well as trainers, managers, sparring partners. The collection is rich with posters on boxing greats such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Marvin Hagler, Joe Frazier, Rocky Graziano, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson, and many others. The international aspect is strong in materials that tie to the Smith’s East Asian focus and the Boxiana collections.
As noted above these collections contain correspondence, manuscripts, newspapers, posters, serials, books, programs, ephemera, objects, oral histories, and other documents. The materials collected are in foreign languages with a particular focus on English, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian languages.
The Collection is particularly strong in the following:
Correspondence, manuscripts, newspapers, posters, serials, books, programs, ephemera, objects, oral histories, and other documents. The materials collected are in foreign languages with a particular focus on English, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian languages.
Cushing Library continues to acquire materials of significance, both past, and present. Dr. Mitchell and I have continued to add materials when they come on the market.
Texas A&M University archive has significant holdings in football, baseball, basketball, golf, track/field, and volleyball.
Created: 09/30/2020
Curator/co-curator: Dr. Larry Mitchell/Rebecca Hankins
Mailing Address:
Cushing Memorial Library & Archives
TAMU 5000
College Station, TX 77843-5000
Physical Address:
400 Spence St.
Main Campus near the Central Campus Garage
Phone:
979-845-1951