A Texas-sized legacy
Dallas plays a vital role in the United States’ high-tech industry today, but its connection to electronics innovation began nearly a century ago. In the 1930s, a small company that made seismographic tools for the oil industry set roots in the city. This early venture eventually grew into Texas Instruments, a company that helped transform Dallas into a leading center for technology and innovation.
A Legacy of Innovation: Texas Instruments and Dallas in the Digital Age, a digital SMU Libraries exhibit, offers a compelling look into the company’s enduring impact on society. Through archival materials from DeGolyer Library, the exhibit traces TI’s contributions, from pioneering semiconductor design with the first transistor radio in the world, to shaping the future of technology.
Ben Jenkins, university archivist, curated the exhibit with this history – and continuing legacy – at the forefront of mind.
“With all the high-tech investment in Texas in recent years, I wanted to explore the roots of this critical company to show how it paved the way for DFW to be a leader in a vital economic sector,” says Ben. “Through longtime president J. Erik Jonsson, TI was deeply involved with the city of Dallas, so having the archives of Texas Instruments – an immense resource stretching back to its origins – at DeGolyer Library allows SMU to preserve a unique part of the city’s history.”
Dallas business history lives on in DeGolyer
The Texas Instruments Records, housed at the DeGolyer Library, are a treasure trove of knowledge on this Dallas business giant, containing corporate records, photos, and artifacts that tell the story of a true tech pioneer. The collection captures TI’s spirit of innovation and its pivotal role in driving the tech revolution that changed the world, containing archives on revolutionary inventions like the first commercial silicon transistor, the iconic electronic calculator, and groundbreaking digital signal processors that shaped the future.
Today, with headquarters in Dallas and a presence in over 25 countries, Texas Instruments continues to push boundaries, and the DeGolyer Library proudly preserves this remarkable legacy shaping Dallas to this day. “With deep Dallas roots, TI has propelled the city and the DFW Metroplex as a whole to the forefront of technological development,” says Ben.
This post was written in collaboration with Ben Jenkins. Ben is the university archivist at SMU Libraries and has curated other exhibits, such as Leading the Mustang Legacy: The Presidents of SMU.