{{Short description|American librarian}} {{Infobox person | name = Dechard H. Turner | image = Decherd Turner.png | alt = a middle aged white man in suit and tie staring straight into the camera | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|09|01}} | birth_place = Pike County, Missouri | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|07|07|1922|09|01}} | death_place = Austin, Texas | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = librarian and educator }} '''Decherd H. Turner''' (1 September 1922, Pike County, Missouri – 7 July 2002, Austin, Texas) was an American bibliophile, ordained Presbyterian minister, director of S.M.U.'s Bridwell Library, and director of U.T.'s Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, known for acquiring rare books, manuscripts, and other archival materials.

==Career== Turner grew up on a Missouri farm<ref>{{cite journal|author=Sue Brandt McBee|author2=photographs by David Sprague|title='''Decherd H. Turner''', Alcalde's 1982 Sampler of Interesting Campus Intellectuals|journal=The Alcalde|year=1982|volume=70|issue=3|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12}}</ref> and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri in 1943. He studied theology at the Vanderbilt University School of Religion, earning another bachelor's degree, and then became an ordained Presbyterian minister. Turner was director of the Bridwell Library in Dallas, Texas from 1950 to 1980. As director of the Bridwell Library, he made many acquisitions and assembled what is now, thanks to his successor Valerie Hotchkiss, the American Southwest's largest collection of 15th-century books. Turner also acquired vellum copies of such rare books as the Kelmscott Chaucer, the Doves Press Bible, and the Ashendene Dante.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Former Bridwell Library Director Dies at Age 79|journal=S.M.U. News|date=July 11, 2002|url=http://smu.edu/newsinfo/releases/01379.html|access-date=January 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515031716/http://smu.edu/newsinfo/releases/01379.html|archive-date=May 15, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1963, while continuing to serve as the Bridwell director, he became editor-in-chief of the Southwest Review.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://smu.edu/shulermuseum/publication_pdfs/j_grad_research/Maxwell1964.pdf |title=The First One Hundred Books: A Brief History of Southern Methodist University Press: 1937 – 1964 by Allen Maxwell |access-date=2013-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515032231/http://smu.edu/shulermuseum/publication_pdfs/j_grad_research/Maxwell1964.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1980 the Harry Ransom Center hired Turner to direct the Center and its acquisitions program. Before retiring in 1988,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ransom Center will lose Decherd Turner to retirement|journal=The Alcalde|date=Jan–Feb 1988|volume=76|issue=3|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9YDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26}}</ref> he acquired the Uzielli Collection,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Rare classical collection comes to Ransom Center|journal=The Alcalde|date=Nov–Dec 1986|volume=75|issue=2|page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28}}</ref> the Wolff Collection of 19th-century fiction,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Wolff fiction collection is best in 19th century|journal=The Alcalde|date=Sep–Oct 1985|volume=74|issue=1|page=34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UOQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34}}</ref> the Pforzheimer Collection,<ref>{{cite journal|title=World-famous Collection Finds New Home at UT|journal=The Alcalde|date=March–April 1986|volume=74|issue=4|pages=18–19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DuQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18}}</ref> the David O. Selznick archive,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Movie studio archives acquired by UT|journal=The Alcalde|date=Nov–Dec 1980|volume=69|issue=2|page=22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=''Gone With the Wind'' sheltered on campus|journal=The Alcalde|date=Jan–Feb 1992|volume=80|issue=3|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30}}</ref><ref>[http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections/film/holdings/selznick/ David O. Selznick Collection - Harry Ransom Center]</ref> and a number of other notable collections.

== Notes == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffe04 Ferguson, Daniel - Texas State Historical Association]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Decherd}} Category:Librarians from Missouri Category:1922 births Category:2002 deaths Category:People from Pike County, Missouri Category:Vanderbilt University alumni Category:University of Missouri alumni

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