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Mary Dengler Hudgins began transferring her collection of Arkansiana to the University of Arkansas Libraries in 1972. A large portion of her papers came to Special Collections in 1984 and the remainder after her death in 1987.

The Mary D. Hudgins Collection (finding aid available online) represents a lifetime's serious pursuit of materials related to Arkansas and its people. The working collection of a professional writer and librarian, it has a wide range of content in virtually every type of materials held by Special Collections. The book collection numbers more than three thousand volumes, from the fundamental works of Arkansas history and biography through geology, archaeology, folklore, arts and crafts, and popular culture. Some books were acquired when Miss Hudgins reviewed books and interviewed authors and other creative people on her own program on radio station KTHS in Hot Springs. Many are inscribed by the authors in appreciation of Miss Hudgins's support.

In addition to books, the collection includes original manuscripts, more than ten thousand photographs, over 250 glass negatives, over than thirty stereographs, and two thousand postcards, as well as pamphlets, sound recordings, magazines, and newspaper clippings. Her extensive research files and correspondence include speeches, letters, and other materials acquired as background for her writing. Also included are copies of her published articles, which include pieces in national, state and local newspapers, popular magazines, historical journals, as well as an article on Hot Springs in the 1964 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica.

Mary Hudgins published more than seventy articles on Arkansas music. In the course of her research about music and musicians, she collected approximately twenty-five hundred pieces of sheet music,including early printed scores of various versions of the "Arkansas Traveler," a frequent subject of her writing. A collection of gospel music includes seven feet of song books and research materials.

A particular strength of the collection is its coverage of popular culture and local history. The history and social life of Hot Springs are very strongly represented in books, maps, post cards, brochures and other material promoting tourism and the health benefits of the resort. Her Hot Springs research files fill six boxes. Among other Arkansas topics covered in the collection are Niloak pottery, the Federal Writers Project in Arkansas, and the history of Garland County.

Mary Dengler Hudgins (1901-1987), a native of Hot Springs, was graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1924 with a major in English. She studied library science at the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, and Emory University, and worked as a librarian in Hot Springs from 1939 until 1959, first at the public library and later at the U.S. Army and Navy Hospital.

A permanent member of the Arkansas Historical Association, she contributed thirteen articles to the association's quarterly journal, beginning with the first number in 1942. She served for nineteen years as a board member or officer of the Association, and received its Award for Distinguished Service in 1982. She was an active member of many other professional and service organizations, including the Arkansas Library Association, Altrusa International, and the American Association of University Women. In her home town of Hot Springs, she participated in clubs and activities associated with the theater, music, fine arts, and literature, as well as local history and genealogy.

Miss Hudgins often stated that she did without a car in order to spend her limited resources on her passion for collecting Arkansiana. Nevertheless, she endowed the University of Arkansas with two funds to support Arkansas studies. The Mary Dengler Hudgins Arkansas Music Fund, established in two increments amounting to $40,000, is shared by the Department of Music and the Special Collections Division of the University Libraries. The endowment supports acquisition of research materials pertaining to Arkansas composers and promotes performances of their music, especially at the annual Arkansas Composers Weekend in Fayetteville. In 1977 she established a scholarship fund of $50,000 in the Department of History to support research in Arkansas history.

Access to the Hudgins Collection is open to students, faculty, and others upon application to the Special Collections staff. To facilitate their work, researchers who wish to use the papers are advised to write or telephone the division in advance.

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