The mission of the Woodson Research Center at Rice University is to "support the institutional, research and public service programs of the University." Their collections include the institutional records of the institution, along with materials on United States Southern history, British history and drama, Houston, and business. As part of their work, they have contributed hundreds of items to Rice University's Digital Scholarship Archive. Visitors to the site may wish to start by looking over the William Ward Watkin architectural records sub-collection. Watkin was the first supervising architect for Rice, and visitors can learn about his life's work and the very interesting tunnel system he designed for the school. Moving on, the "early Houston histories and documents" area contains 21 primary documents including "Pen and sunlight sketches of greater Houston: the most progressive metropolis in the South" from 1913 and a fascinating document from 1880 titled "Texas: the best land for the Emigrant."