For more than two decades, East Texas A&M University alumnus Ted Crim has been on a mission to preserve the university's history, continually searching for rare artifacts that help tell the story of the institution and its people.

His latest discovery is a university seal die dating to 1913, when the institution was known as East Texas Normal College. Crim recently acquired the artifact and donated it to the university’s archives, continuing a long tradition of locating historically significant items and returning them to the university.

“I feel that acquiring artifacts such as this is essential to documenting the university's lengthy history,” Crim said. “This is a small but very important part of East Texas A&M's historical record.”

The artifact, which weighs approximately 1.5 pounds, was used to create the university's official seal and represents one of the institution's earliest symbols. University archivist Sawyer Magnus speculates that it was used by Professor Leonidas Mayo, the university's founding president, or other university officials as a device to create a wax seal on official documents.

“This artifact represents an important element of our history as an institution,” Magnus said. “It is a great example of a prominent symbol of the East Texas Normal College era. We greatly appreciate Mr. Crim's dedication and assistance in helping us collect and preserve items that tell the story of ET from the beginning to the present.”

Because artifacts from the East Texas Normal College era are increasingly rare, Crim said he tries to acquire them whenever circumstances permit. The 1913 seal die joins a growing list of historical treasures that Crim has helped preserve for East Texas A&M. In 2025, he donated a 1897 lambskin diploma belonging to William Allen Wilson, one of the university's earliest graduates. The diploma, written in Latin and bearing the signatures of the institution's founding leaders, is now among the oldest in the university's archives.

Crim has also donated other historically significant items over the years, including a gavel personally used and signed by former U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn (also an ETAMU alumnus), and a collection of signed books, manuscripts, and historical documents from U.S. presidents, first ladies, authors, and journalists.

As historical materials become harder to find, Crim remains committed to ensuring that important pieces of East Texas A&M's past are not lost. Through his ongoing efforts, students, alumni, and researchers can continue to explore and better understand the university's rich and evolving history.

Visit the Ted R. Crim Collection online or in person at the university's Archives Department in Waters Library.