Since the inception of the Museum of Texas Tech University in 1929 (then the West Texas Museum), the Museum has been collecting ethnographic materials, historical costumes, and textiles.  To date, with the collection totaling more than 100,000 items, the Ethnology & Textiles Division is one of the largest in the Museum.  Materials made and/or used by people living in Texas, the American greater Southwest, the Great Plains, and other semi-arid and arid lands around the world have been gathered through systematic field collecting, donations, and, in some cases, purchase.  These materials are cared for and managed by the Museum to preserve in perpetuity an important part of our cultural heritage.  The Museum fulfills its mandates of disseminating knowledge about the human relationship with the environment by conducting research and disseminating its findings through scholarly publications, interpretive exhibitions, and educational programming.