From NBCUniversal to the Texas Collection, Pirtle brings wealth of experience to Baylor

Scholars and researchers from all over the world know precisely where to go when they want to study all facets of Texas history: Baylor’s Texas Collection. Part of the Baylor University Libraries, the Texas Collection holds one of the largest Texana collections in the world, as well as volumes of information on the Southwest, Mexico, westward expansion and beyond.

In 2022, West Texas native Jeff Pirtle jumped at the chance to make a career move, leaving Hollywood for the Baylor Libraries as director of the Texas Collection, University Archives and W. R. Poage Legislative Library. It was a perfect match… and perfect timing, too, as Baylor’s vaunted special library began preparations for its 100th anniversary in 2023. Pirtle just happened to have experience celebrating centennials for two top brands you don’t often associate with museums: JCPenney and NBCUniversal.

Pirtle’s pathway to his life’s work with museums and archives began when he was a graduate assistant at Texas Tech’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. After graduation (and a short stint working at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo — home of the free 72 oz. steak dinner, if eaten in one hour!), he snagged a coveted graduate internship with the Getty Research Institute’s Conservation Lab in Los Angeles. This experience set his career in motion, first at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, and later as the Museum Manager and Corporate Archivist at JCPenney’s corporate headquarters in Plano.

In 2002, Pirtle helped guide his first centennial — JCPenney’s 100th anniversary — which he described as a “highlight of my time there.”

But the siren song of Hollywood beckoned Pirtle back to L.A. During his two decades at Universal Studios and NBCUniversal, culminating as director of archives & collections for Universal Studios and NBCUniversal, Pirtle was called upon again for his centennial expertise to help Universal Pictures celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2012. The iconic movie studio’s celebration included selecting a “baker’s dozen” of 13 films for restoration and reissue from Universal’s 5,000-feature library, screening classic films, curating exhibits of the studio’s props, wardrobe and design sketches, and even rolling out a new Universal Studios logo.

A bonus to working at a movie studio was rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Pirtle helped Kirk Douglas write a book about the making of Spartacus, co-curated an exhibit about Universal at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and participated in interviews with national media outlets.

Now firmly settled in at Baylor, Pirtle witnesses each day how the materials in the Texas Collection offer endless research potential into numerous topics for scholars and the public, ranging from Texas history, culture, military affairs and education to African-American histories, religious institutions and culinary expressions.

“One aspect I love about working in archival collections is when a researcher identifies with and becomes passionate about material they’ve discovered,” Pirtle says. “The researcher may find a person in history with whom they share talents and abilities, they may find primary source material from a historic event they heard about from relatives, or learn more about a painful historic happening that will hopefully never be repeated. To provide the content that resonates with each individual researcher, it’s important for the Texas Collection to have that material available.”

Sic ’em, Jeff Pirtle and the Texas Collection!