Media Credit: Bruno Morlan Film curator at the Ransom Center Steve Wilson shows story boards from the movie "Gone With the Wind." Wilson has been a curator at the Ransom Center since the early '90s and he is currently cataloguing items from Robert De Niro movies.

Editor's Note: This is the second part of a series on the various resources available to students at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. This article is an overview of the film and manuscript collections.

A curious student walking into the Harry Ransom Center is like a kid walking into a candy shop; there are more treats than you could imagine, but it's overwhelming to the point of intimidation.

With 36 million manuscript pages, more than one million rare books, five million photographs and an extensive film collection, it is no surprise that some UT students bypass the center's entrance, never to take advantage of the experience that goes with handling an original movie script or reading authors' letters.

"The biggest hurdle is getting in the door," said Molly Schwartzburg, curator of British and American literature. "But that's the same with everything you do. You have to take initiative."

Beige and gray archival boxes line the center's seventh floor hallways, each filled with materials from literature and film. Schwartzburg said students have to walk in, admit they do not know what they are doing and ask questions.

It is the job of the staff to help students find what they need, but students have to come in with an idea of what they are looking for, said film curator Steve Wilson.

"Contact the curator, for whatever department or subject area," Wilson said. "It's our job to help you get access to the stuff. We know it's intimidating. Our number one constituency is UT students, so we want you to come in and see this stuff."

The largest archive at the center is that of David O. Selznick, the Hollywood producer of Oscar-winning movies such as "Gone with the Wind" and "Rebecca," according to the center's collection guide.

The archive, which was acquired in the early 1980s and took two years to catalog, contains 5,000 boxes and hundreds of paintings, Wilson said.

Continued...

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