The Jim Hightower Archive: A Populist’s Life In Politics

Exhibition On View In San Marcos Thru July

AUSTIN – Jim Hightower, featured in the Sept. 28, 2005 edition of The Iconoclast, is considered America’s #1 populist, a man admired as a radio commentator, syndicated columnist, best-selling author, and sought-after public speaker. Hightower believes the true political spectrum is not right-to-left but top-to-bottom, and he is dedicated to battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the “Powers That Ought To Be”: working families, farmers, consumers, environmentalists, small business owners, and “just plain folks.”

In December 2008, Hightower named the Wittliff Collections as the official repository for his archival legacy, and now his papers are the focus of the next exhibition from the Southwestern Writers Collection at the Alkek Library on the campus of Texas State University in San Marcos.

The exhibition traces the life and work of Hightower, from the beginning with his experience in the 1960s as an aide to the U.S. Senator, Ralph Yarborough (D-TX) to his first organizing efforts on behalf of family farmers and farm workers in the early 1970s to his statewide campaigns for office in the 1980s, and his successful post-government work as a syndicated daily radio commentator, speech-maker, prolific best-selling author, and all-around populist agitator. The collection will continue to grow as Hightower’s career moves forward.

One of the earliest pieces among the papers is a small document from 1964: a Certificate of Exemption From Poll Tax issued to a 21-year-old Hightower, then a junior at the University of North Texas, because he was a first-time voter. Finally abolished in Texas in 1966 as unconstitutional, the poll tax was designed to deter poor people, especially blacks and Latino Americans, from voting, an issue in the Civil Rights Movement that inspired the young Hightower to set out on a populist political path.

The archive also includes:

· A wealth of paper documentation (draft copies of his radio commentaries, speeches, and The Hightower Lowdown – his monthly political newsletter).

· 1,964 photographs and 4,613 audio/visual materials.

· Papers from his work as the national campaign coordinator for U.S. Senator Fred Harris’ crusade for president in 1976.

· Numerous campaign photos and memorabilia from Hightower’s own runs for office, including his eight years as Texas Commissioner of Agriculture where he implemented many of his populist ideas including consumer protection, worker safety, organic production and direct marketing by small farmers.

Jim’s bio, weekly commentary, Hightowerisms, and much more are available online at .