This collection was donated to Tarrant County Junior College (Tarrant County College) in 1969 by Joe D. Galloway, who was a former Deputy Chief of Police with the Fort Worth Police Department. After retiring, he served TCJC as Law Enforcement Coordinator.
The collection consists of two volumes of wanted posters, hand bills, post cards, correspondence, and newspaper clippings, a court docket book (1873-1877), Register of Prisoners in the City Jail (1886-1890), and a bound volume of The Detective (1901-1912), a periodical for police officers.
The digital scanning of the collection began in 2018. Selected images were added to TCC's library catalog in 2019. Archivist Thomas Kellam is co-editor of a book about the collection, Wanted in America, published by TCU Press.
The District Archives is the program responsible for collecting, storing, and preserving the College’s history, retired institutional records, and managing its special collections. It is the official repository for the College’s institutional records that have historical value and require permanent retention. Additionally, Tarrant County College is one of just a few Texas community colleges fortunate enough to have donated items and collections in its archives. The Heritage Room Special Collections, as they are collectively entitled, have proven to be a rich and valuable resource on Texas culture and history. The primary function of the District Archives is to preserve history and provide educational support to the student, scholarly, and public communities.
