In 1976, The University of Texas at Arlington was given the opportunity to purchase a portion of the Sterling Clack Robertson family papers belonging to Mr. Thomas Sutherland, a Robertson descendant and cousin of Dr. Malcolm D. McLean, compiler and editor of the series entitled, Papers Concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas . At that time, Dr. McLean was on the faculty at Texas Christian University and had most of the Robertson papers in his possession, including Mr. Sutherland's portion. In addition, he had already completed three volumes of the series dealing with these papers.
It became apparent that if the university purchased Sutherland's portion of the Robertson papers it would seriously disrupt Dr. McLean's work. It was at this time that a plan was devised whereby UT Arlington would be able to purchase Sutherland's share and also hire Dr. McLean to finish his lifelong work on the papers at UT Arlington. As Dr. McLean modestly described it, "I came along as part of a package deal." The truth of the matter was that the university realized the importance of Dr. McLean's work and did not want to miss an opportunity to "acquire" him as well as the papers.
An office was designed on the 6th floor of the library to house the Robertson Colony Collection. It was in this office that Dr. McLean continued compiling and editing the series beginning with Volume IV. Dr. McLean retired from UT Arlington on September 1, 1992, after he had completed preparing the manuscript for Volume XVIII, the final volume in the series.
The papers that make up Collection AR341 reflect the daily operation of the Robertson Colony office. This includes all business correspondence and the papers dealing with the processing, compiling, editing, and publishing of the series.
From the guide to the Robertson Colony Collection Office Records AR341., 1937-1993, (Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library)
