Leon Metz

Leon Metz was not only an archivist, but an author as well. He wrote works like Turning Points in El Paso, Texas (1985), John Wesley Hardin: Dark Angel of Texas (1996), and John Selman: Texas Gunfighter, a book he published in 1966, prior to becoming the university’s archivist. Leon Metz first became acquainted with El Paso and the Southwest while he was in the U.S. Air Force and stationed at Biggs Field in the early 1950s. He quickly came to like the Southwest and after his discharge in 1953 he began attending night classes at Texas Western College (now UTEP) while also working for the Standard Oil Refining Company. After being offered the position of becoming archives librarian in 1967, Mr. Metz played an important role in developing and organizing U.T. El Paso’s Special Collections Department, located in the university library.

Area: Central / University

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History