The Alethean Society was originally founded as the Eutopian Literary Society on the 21st of April 1881. It was later renamed because the “young gentlemen at the college found the name hard to remember.“

Organized around poetry, literature and debates, the Alethean Society was one of the four literary societies at Southwestern University, which at the time, were comprised of at least 90% of the student body. It was said that the societies “ran Southwestern at the student level.” Meetings were held during the week, and inter-society debates took place on Fridays and Saturdays.

Along with hosting poetry readings and musical performances, the Alethean Society published the Southwestern University Magazine in collaboration with the three other literary societies on campus.

In 1916, the society merged with the other female literary society, the Clio Society, to form the Cody society, which dissolved in 1919 when the two male literary societies (the San Jacinto, and Alamo) became co-educational.

Much of the information for this note was taken from: Southwestern University Literary & Debating Societies, a study by Williams, Randall Southwestern University Student and Graduate of 2000.

Scope and Content Note

The Minutes Book contains minutes and notes from the meetings of the Alethean Society from 1895 to 1896. The first 10 loose pages in the front of the book are the bylaws of the Society. They are written on the pages of what appears to be an address book. The entries appear to fall within the academic year (September through May), and are an account of the decisions passed in the meetings, such as the nomination and election of new officers, a list of members present and absent, and the amount of money absent members were to be fined. In the back of the book, there are a number of loose pages. The majority of these pages appear to be first drafts of the minutes for the meeting of the following academic year (1896-7). There are also apologetic notes from what were, assumedly, members who had missed meetings and were attempting to avoid fines.

Born in 1937, Martha Mitten Allen made her way to Texas, and attended Southern Methodist University. Dr. Allen graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in History. She continued at SMU, earning a Master’s degree in history in 1960. Later the same year, she arrived at Southwestern University as Dean of Women and part-time faculty member in history. After serving seven years as Dean of Women, she began teaching full-time and working on her Ph.D. In 1972, she earned her Ph.D. in history at the University of Texas at Austin. Continuing to teach at Southwestern, she served as the Chair of the American Studies Program, and Chair of the Division of the Humanities. During this time, she applied and was awarded an NEH Grant for the Humanities which was used in Humanities in Praxis—a freshman interdisciplinary program. In 1980, due to her excellence in teaching, she was awarded Outstanding Professor by Southwestern University.

Dr. Allen also made significant contributions to the community of Georgetown, Texas. In the early 1980s she founded the Annual Quilt Show. With the success of the quilt show, she was motivated to found Handcrafts Unlimited where over 400 artisans produce handcrafts that are sold by local volunteers. She remained executive director of the non-profit consignment shop on Georgetown Square from its opening in 1983 to 1996. After collecting oral history interviews with students in her Texas History class, she helped edit Georgetown’s Yesteryears, Volumes I-IV from 1985-1987. She also served as President of the Heritage Society from 1987-1989. When she found out that Meals on Wheels was not able to deliver on Christmas, she organized the Community Christmas Dinner and helped coordinate it from 1987-1995. The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce honored her for all her contributions to the community by naming her Citizen of the Year in 1988.

Another significant contribution of Allen’s to the Georgetown community was Allen her research on The Negro Fine Arts School with Dr. Gregory Washington, the university’s Director of Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Washington’s research led him to discover the story of the Negro School of Fine Arts and it’ founder Iola Bowden Chambers. The Negro Fine Arts School began in 1946 at First Methodist Church in Georgetown, as a result of the ideas and volunteerism of several SU students and Iola Bowden, a music teacher at Southwestern. During a time of segregation, the Negro Fine Arts School taught young black students. The school continued instructing until 1966. In 1990, Washington and Allen organized a reunion for the Negro Fine Arts School’s students and volunteers who taught at the school. The reunion included a commemoration of Iola Bowden. When Washington decided to leave Southwestern he gave his research to Allen, which resulted in her writing the book, The Gracious Gift: The Negro Fine Arts School 1946-1966. Martha Allen’s book describes the founding of the school, the class curriculum and how Iola Bowden’s legacy is continued through the lives she touched. In 2005, Allen donated her research materials to Southwestern University. She was subsequently recognized by Williamson County and named Citizen of the Year in 1995. Dr. Allen retired from Southwestern University in September 1997, after serving 34 years.

Scope and Content Note

The Martha M. Allen Collection is a collection of the information acquired over 35 years of service at Southwestern University. The entire collection, which is divided into three series, contains information and papers collected from students and consists of 17 boxes with papers, pictures, newspaper clippings, bound books, audiocassettes and microcassettes.

The Course Materials series, (box 1) contains a sampling of information collected from the courses Dr. Allen taught at Southwestern. The first portion of the series contains reports on the past, present, and future status of minorities at Southwestern. There is also information on Women’s Studies at Southwestern, from papers presented at conferences, to a printed program on the Women’s Studies films featured in the Fall of 1987. Another item in this series is a diary Dr. Allen kept, recording the process of the application for an NEH Grant which she was subsequently awarded. The grant was applied towards a course which was taught the following semester at Southwestern, entitled Humanities in Praxis. The Course Materials series includes a syllabus of this course. There is also some material from both an English History class and a Texas History class she taught.

The Southwestern University/Georgetown series, (boxes 2-6, 8-18) provides a more general view of Southwestern. The series includes a study on the university’s self perception, an original musical about Southwestern that was written, produced, and performed by Southwestern’s Alumni, information regarding the University’s participation in the Texas Sesquicentennial in 1986, and the transcribed notes from interviews that Allen had with Drs. William Finch and Durwood Fleming, who were both former SU presidents. Lastly, there is a section on the city of Georgetown with studies of two urban projects: theUrban Renewal Program and the Main Street Project. The third through sixth boxes contain the transcripts of interviews and some reports that students wrote based on interviews conducted with the elderly of the community of Georgetown. These files were organized and arranged alphabetically, based on the subject’s last name. Also included, are audio cassettes of an interview with Dr. Fleming as well as interviews that Dr. Allen conducted with Mrs. Iola Bowden and others to find information regarding the Negro School of Fine Arts. There are also tapes of interviews conducted by students in Dr. Allen’s Texas History class which were subsequently used to produce a book for the Georgetown Heritage Society: Georgetown’s Yesteryears. These are tapes used to produce the transcripts in boxes three through six. Lastly, the series contains student papers from by Dr. Allen’s Texas History class of 1984. The subject matter in these papers had to do with Georgetown’s location and/or folklore. The papers (box 18) are based on interviews conducted by the students with members of the community who contributed their oral history. Although these interviews were conducted at the same time as those in boxes three through six, they gathered information on historical topics, rather than biographical topics such as those found in boxes three through six. There are no tapes on these interviews.

The Miscellaneous Research Materials/ U.S. Bicentennial series (box 7) contains a variety of items used by Dr. Allen in writing her dissertation. It also contains information on a filmstrip entitled We the People, educational materials about the founding of the United States, and information regarding four specific pioneer/frontier women of the West.

New Accession (1990-1999)

This addition to the Martha M. Allen Collection comprises Dr. Allen’s research on Iola Bowden and the Negro Fine Arts School that resulted in the book, The Gracious Gift. The 19 folders in the collection include correspondences of Dr. Gregory Washington’s, his preliminary research that he eventually turned over to Dr. Allen, photography, programs from all of the school’s recitals, newspaper articles written about the school both during its time and after its closure, and personal artifacts of Mrs. Iola Bowden Chamber.

This collection contains eight folders of photos, including class photos taken during the school’s time, as well as individual photos of attendees and photos of Iola Bowden. Many of the photos were used in Martha Allen’s book. Also within the collection are recital programs from major recitals. The new accession also contains information on Southwestern University’s first black student, Ernest Clark. Clark can be found in several of the recital programs in folder 13, which also includes a program for a tribute to given to Ernest L. Clark in February 1990. There are also two lists that give the names of every person who attended and taught at the school between 1947-1966. Many folders include articles from various media sources, including the Megaphone, that were written during the time of the school’s existence as well as some that were written later, and these give a perspective on the accomplishments of the school. Music books that were used within the school and were possessions of Iola Bowden’s are present as well.

Biographical Note

Alpha Chi, a coeducational honorary society, was founded at Southwestern University in 1922 when faculty and students recognized a need to honor students for academic excellence and exemplary character. On February 22, 1922, representatives met and adopted the name “Scholarship Societies of Texas.” At the annual council meeting in 1927, applications for membership were accepted from Louisiana and Arkansas colleges, and the name was changed to Alpha Chi. By 1970, the society expanded into three additional regions, bringing the number to five regions with chapters nationwide. There are currently seven regions and a chapter in Puerto Rico.

The Greek letters are initials, which represent the Greek words ALETHEIA, meaning truth, and XAPAKTHP, meaning character. The society honors students from all academic disciplines and seeks to make “scholarship effective for good.” Southwestern University is the official repository for the records of Alpha Chi. Additional information about Alpha Chi and its history can be found in Robert Sledge’s 1997 book Scholarship and Character: Seventy-five Years of Alpha Chi.

Scope and Content Note

The collection begins with a minute book ranging in dates from 1924-1931. In addition to minutes, the book also contains documents on the society’s founding and correspondence. The bulk of the collection is made up of correspondence, financial and business papers, the society newsletter (Alpha Chi Recorder), manuals, sponsor handbooks, constitution revisions, meeting minutes, recent conference T-shirts, audio cassettes, pins and pinning ribbon, a framed charter, and wood and metal printer’s blocks.

The papers are arranged in four series: two chronological, one alphabetical, and a subject series. The first is a chronological general series. The creator(s) of the papers is not known. They span 1970 to the present. Robert Sledge, who served on the National Council twenty-four years, 1973-87 and 1989-99, twelve of those as president, created a second series of papers ranging from 1970-1998. They contain information specific to his roles in the society and are also arranged chronologically. The third series is composed of new chapter correspondence arranged alphabetically. The dates cover the 1970’s. Earlier and later chapter correspondence can be found in the other two series. More papers and other materials were added in the summer of 1999. Current materials are continuously added to this series.

In addition to the official records of Alpha Chi, Southwestern also has materials related to the founding of the society and to its own chapter, Texas Alpha.

Biographical Note

Jessie Harriet Daniel was born on November 2, 1883 in Palestine, Texas. Her family moved in 1893 to Georgetown, where she completed high school and graduated from Southwestern University in 1902. In 1905 she married Roger Post Ames, a doctor and friend of her father. Over the years Roger Ames’ medical practice fighting yellow fever took him to remote locations, and Jessie eventually moved back to Georgetown to live near her family. The Ames had three children, the last of whom was born in 1914, the same year that Roger Ames died. Jessie Daniel Ames was a widow at age thirty-one with three small children. Her mother, widowed a few years earlier, was operating the Georgetown Telephone Company, and Jessie joined her in the family business.

A suffragette and active member of civic groups, Ames became a leader in women’s rights and social reform. She organized the Georgetown Equal Suffrage League in 1916, was elected its first president, and also began writing weekly suffrage postings for the local newspaper. In 1919 with the ratification of the 19th amendment, she became an active participant in the newly formed League of Women Voters. Ames’s interest and activities then shifted to issues of race and anti-lynching, and in 1922 she was asked to lead a Texas branch of the Atlanta based Commission on Interracial Cooperation. In 1924 this turned into a salaried position, and in 1929 Ames moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to become the national director for the Commission’s women’s branch. While working at the commission, Ames formed the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL) in 1930. In all, she devoted over two decades to the front line fight against lynching. The effort was so successful that Ames dissolved the ASWPL in the early 1940s. 

Jessie Daniel Ames retired in 1944 and moved to Tyron, North Carolina. Later she moved back to Texas to live with her daughter Lulu Daniel Ames. She died in Austin, Texas, on February 17, 1972 and was buried in Georgetown. 

More information about Ames’ life is available at: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fam06

Scope and Content Note

The papers, which are mostly from her retirement years, consist mainly of scrapbooks and clippings related to her political activities and subjects that interested her (e.g. politics, health care, race relations) as well as correspondence, reports, a family photograph album, and materials regarding her donation to Southwestern University. 

The correspondence includes season’s greetings and birthday cards and letters from friends and family, as well as letters from editors, authors and politicians. There are also health reports and calendars. Of special interest relating to Ames’ private life is the extensive correspondence with her sister Lulu Daniel Hardy and her daughters, Mary A. Raffensperger and Lulu Daniel Ames, in the 1960s. 

Jessie Daniel Ames donated her library of more than 1,200 books to Southwestern University. The collection has a strong focus on women’s rights, race relations and African-American history, but also include history, politics, art, travel, religions and fiction. These books can be located by searching the library’s online catalog.

Biographical Note

James Samuel Barcus was born in Tulip, Arkansas on December 5, 1865. His father was a teacher/Methodist minister and his mother was a teacher who moved to Texas in the 1870’s. His family remains prominent in the history of Southwestern University: J.S. Barcus’ mother was a member of the “Thousand Dollar Club” and ten of eleven of J.S. Barcus’ siblings graduated from Southwestern, including J.S. Barcus who graduated in 1890. He continued postgraduate work at Vanderbilt University and like his father and two of his brothers, J. S. Barcus became a Methodist minister. In 1893 J.S. married Ms. Minnie Williams. They had three children: Joseph Garland, Annie Edwards, and James Samuel Junior (Jim). Barcus and his family became instrumental in the expansion of Methodism in Texas.

J.S. Barcus maintained a close affiliation with Southwestern University throughout his life. As chair of his department, he taught Bible classes for four years (1905-1909) and was the first faculty member to live in Mood Hall as an administrator*. J. S. Barcus returned to ministry after this interlude of teaching. However, he preserved his ties to Southwestern when in 1917 he joined Southwestern’s Board of Trustees.

J. S. Barcus’ most significant contribution to Southwestern University was as President of the University from 1924-1928, becoming the first alumnus to achieve that appointment. Because at the time he came to office Southwestern was in dire financial problems and enrollment was down, J. S. Barcus initiated “The Greater Southwestern Movement.” This movement had a goal of raising $500,000 by 1925 and proved successful but in 1925 the Women’s Building Annex burned down and the money raised by the Greater Southwestern Movement had to be used to build a new women’s dormitory (later known as Laura Kuykendall Hall).

Equally notable was the role J.S. Barcus played in 1928 to keep Southwestern located in Georgetown. The board had proposed that due to Southwestern’s lack of endorsements, the university should be moved to San Antonio and joined with Westmoorland College. However, Barcus was able to depress the agitation

Barcus’ presidency also stood out in terms of the academic integrity to which he adhered. In 1922 both he, as president, and another professor refused to sign a paper with other Texas Methodist university Presidents and Theology Professors. This paper was in support of doctrines set down by the Northwest Texas Conference and would establish guidelines for Biblical teaching in Texas Methodist universities. The following year the professor who had refused to sign was charged with heresy at the conference. Barcus presented a paper defending the professor and maintained that scholarship should not be endorsed by majority vote. He successfully halted the incursion of Conferences into establishing approved collegiate curricula.

Barcus remained strongly committed to his ministry and vacated his position in 1928 to return to that profession. He remained in contact to the school through his children, two of which graduated from Southwestern University as well as through countless relatives who continued to enter into enrollment until his death in 1948.

Much of the above biographical information was taken from Southwestern University: 1860-1961. Jones, Ralph Wood. Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1973.

Scope and Content Note

Papers of J. Samuel Barcus (1865-1948), President of Southwestern University from 1924 to 1928, and other members of his family. Barcus was a Methodist minister as well as a teacher at Southwestern University. J. Samuel Barcus created most of the papers, including memoirs, correspondence, sermon notes, daily journals, and brief histories of Texas Methodist churches. Other materials, mostly created by his family members, include family photographs, Southwestern University memorabilia and publications, and scrapbooks.

Memoirs: 1865-1940 
The memoirs series is J.S. Barcus’ 188 page handwritten autobiography of his life from his birth in 1865 until about 1940, supplemented with a separate 35 page file on his preaching appointments in Denton and McKinney, Texas. Events of interest include his presidency at Southwestern University (SU) from 1924-1928, his active promotion to keep SU located in Georgetown during his presidency, his description of SU and Georgetown life during his position as theology professor, and his various placements as a minister.

Correspondence: 1885-1944 
Throughout his life, J.S. Barcus corresponded with many people and stayed in close contact with his family. Most of the correspondence in this collection are between him and members of his family. The earliest letters are from his older brother J.M. Barcus, dating from 1885. Letters written by Barcus to his family are through 1944, while letters from his family end in 1941 with a happy 75th birthday greeting from his daughter Annie. The other correspondence is from past or present members of his congregation and old collegiate friends who had also become Methodist ministers. These letters range from 1895-1921. The most notable non-family letters were written in 1913. These are written by fellow pastors in positive response to J.S. Barcus’ article “The Appointing Power of the Episcopacy.”

Sermon Notes, Church Histories, and Other Papers: n.d., 1893, 1932-1937 
This series includes a collection of sermon notes that Rev. Barcus kept in a file folder. The series is organized by Biblical book. For example, the first comes from Genesis and the last one comes from Revelations. The collection is further broken down into “New” and “Old” Testament folders. Almost all of the notes were handwritten by Barcus. There are a few that are typed, either his own personal notes or in some cases newspaper clippings which featured his Sunday sermons. Also found here are notes regarding the histories of area churches and other miscellaneous papers and documents concerning his family and the church.

Daily Journals: 1935, 1938, 1940, and 1947 
The 1935 journal records J. S. Barcus’ daily events. The 1938 journal is primarily a collection of other people’s inspirational poetry interspersed with anecdotes and sermon notes J.S. Barcus wrote in every Sunday entry. The 1940 journal comments on the Second World War in Europe and America’s involvement , and describes J. S. Barcus’ church work and parishioners. The 1947 journal was kept by J. S. Barcus’ wife, Minnie, as noted at the end of the journal, because J. S. Barcus was unable to write. This journal records the visitors at the Barcus’ household that year in addition to daily weather notes.

Photographs, Post Cards: n.d.; c.1915-1957 
Subjects are primarily relatives of the Barcus family. Items of interest include: a c. 1915 copy of a photograph of J. S. Barcus and his immediate family, a 1947 photograph of son Jim Barcus’ Sunday School class, and photographs of J. Sam Barcus’s daughter, Annie Edward, as an infant.

Southwestern University Memorabilia: n.d.; 1908-1958 
This series is a collection of SU memorabilia primarily from J. S. Barcus’s tenure as president of SU from 1924 to 1928. Sub-series include items retained by his wife, Minnie Williams Barcus, and his daughter, Annie Edward Barcus Minga. Items of interest include the “Book of Southwestern: 1873-1923, Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of SU;” “Bulletin of Southwestern University,” Series 24, 25, and 27; “A Dedication to Action,” a brochure publicizing the fundraising effort to build the Laura Kuykendall residential building; and a 1922 program for the “SU May Fete.”

Scrapbooks: n.d.;1913-1964 
Scrapbooks total eleven in all, kept by various people. The majority of them were kept by J.S. Barcus’ son J.S. (Jim) Barcus Jr. and contain clippings from the Georgetown and SU papers. They are principally composed of articles about the Barcus family, SU news, marriage announcements, obituaries, and Texas Methodist news of preachers and parishes. Local news articles include information about Archer City, Clarksville, Georgetown, McKinney, and Sulfur Springs. One scrapbook was kept by Ruth Horner, a 1914 graduate of SU, during her senior year and contains SU and graduation memorabilia.

Biographical Note

Bruce Barrick became involved in politics at age 15 in Lubbock, Texas, where he founded the Teen Age Republicans (TARs). As a student at Southwestern University from 1967-1969, he re-initiated the Young Republicans club. According to Barrick, the Young Republicans were at the forefront of building the Republican Party in Texas. Barrick states “if you want control of the party, get youth and women’s clubs and use them as volunteers.” During this period there were battles among senior party officials to control Republican youth. Two separate groups were formed – the ”black hats” and the “white hats.” The “black hats” were members of a conservative group, Young Americans for Freedom. Barrick’s group, the “white hats,” were more progressive.

Barrick, who now considers himself a Democrat, has a public relations firm in Austin and does political consulting.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, printed material including newsprint, membership lists, organizational manuals. Of particular note are the College Republican Organization Manual and the Organizational Structure of the Young Republican National Federation. The papers also contain Republican campaign memorabilia including posters, brochures and items from the 1968 Republican National Convention.

Biographical Note

The Belford Lumber Company was a well-known and respected business that operated in Georgetown, Texas, from 1891 until 1967. This company built some of the most architecturally and historically significant buildings and homes in Georgetown. C. S. Belford, the company’s founder, was known by other builders of his time as one of the best judges of construction in the state. He created a large operation of construction, building supplies, wagons, and buggies that was located on West 7th Street. While Belford supervised all construction, A. W. Sillure, Vice President, selected all building materials and managed all bookkeeping for the company.

Many meticulously crafted Belford homes and buildings still exist in Georgetown and surrounding areas. Belford would not use inferior lumber and tolerated no chimney a fraction of an inch off plumb.

C. S. Belford operated the Belford Lumber Company from 1891 until his death in 1929. The company continued operations under the direction of A. W. Sillure and Fred Belford through the depression years and stiff competition until it officially closed its doors in 1967.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of journals, artifacts, files, and documents related to the operation of the Belford Lumber Company.

The most significant artifact is the C. S. Belford Master Carpenter’s Tool Chest. This tool chest was made by Belford for his Master Carpenter’s certification in the 1890s and was loaded on the wagon he drove to all building sites.

Other materials in this collection include Contract Ledgers 1910-1924, Minutes from the stockholder meetings 1892-1967, Journals, rent ledgers, stock sales records and certificates 1892-1968, samples and sample books, as well as spec sheets and blueprints of various homes identified only by original buyer, addition and lot number.

One item from the original accession was listed as an Expanding File and contained folded documents. The papers in this file have been flattened and placed in file folders in a document case and are organized by alphabetic letter as they were in the expanding file. The papers cover a time period of 1925-1949 with many of the liens/deeds of trust dating from the depression years. These lien/deeds indicated that property such as homes, land, farming equipment or cattle were to be given to Belford Lumber Company as collateral for home construction or supplies purchased. There are ledger pages of amounts owed/paid, sheets of figures, tax receipts, and some correspondence.

Many of the collection’s fourteen blueprints have spec sheets for the buildings contained in the files. Some plans are for unidentified buildings, and many are identified by the name of the person contracting the building or by addition and lot number; no street addresses are shown on the plans. There is a small group of artifacts that were items used in the offices such as glue pots, ink stands and tin measuring cups. The Belford Lumber Company seal and a sample of the razors sold under the title “Belford Safety Razor” are also part of the collection.

Note to researchers: In order to find the contract date or other building information about a specific Belford structure, you will need to know the name of the person who made the original contract for construction with the Belford Lumber Company.

Biographical Note

The Young Republican National Federation or “Young Republicans” organization is a group for members of the Republican Party ranging from high school to forty years of age. Although groups for younger Republicans existed as early as the mid-1800s, the Young Republican National Federation was founded in 1931 at the urging of Herbert Hoover. The group supports Republican party political goals and candidates. Within the organization, there is both national leadership as well as local leadership.

The materials in this collection are all Texas based and belong to Young Republicans who were active during the 1960s and 1970s. They supported Senator John G. Tower and other Republicans during the period when both Texas and the South were transitioning from being one-party Democratic to one-party Republican.

Scope and Content Note

This collection houses three different Texas Young Republican’s leaders papers: Neil Calnan, George Darby, and Linda Underwood. They are arranged in that order. Both Darby and Underwood gave their papers to Neil Calnan with the understanding that they would be donated along with his to the John G. Tower Library. The collections include papers dealing with Young Republican groups and issues in Texas that tie these young Republicans to more well known names such as John Tower and George H.W. Bush. In a 2011 interview with Mr. Calnan at the time the papers were donated, he stated that this particular group of Young Republicans were “white hats” - more moderate than their rival “black hat” conservative colleagues. Calnan also noted that there were 14,000 Young Republicans in Texas in 1967.

Neil Calnan Collection

Biographical Note

Neil Calnan, a Houston attorney, was the self-declared strategist and hatchet-man for the “white hats.” He was first vice chair of the Texas Young Republicans (YR) in 1963-66 and ran for multiple offices later, generally losing by a few votes.

Scope and Content Note

Neil Calnan’s collection contains six (6) boxes. Within these boxes are correspondence, official documents, campaign platforms, flyers, brochures, issues of the Young Republican Star, and meeting minutes among other materials. Each folder is labeled with the information held within and the names of important people whose correspondence is included in the folder.

Biographical Note

Dr. Claude Carr Cody was born on November 5, 1854, in Covington, Georgia. Cody graduated from Emory College in 1875 with an A.B. degree and highest honors, followed with an A.M. degree in 1878 from the same institution. After he complet a few years of graduate studies and work at Cornell University in New York, Emory awarded Cody an honorary doctorate degree. He accepted a position at Southwestern University (SU) as Professor of Mathematics on January 20, 1879, and left Georgia for Texas.

At Southwestern, Dr. Cody’s responsibilities evolved and increased significantly. In addition to teaching, he served as the University’s first Dean, managed men’s dormitories, acted as both secretary and chairman for the faculty, worked on the University’s Executive Committee as both a member and secretary, and held the office of University Treasurer. On two occasions, Cody served as SU’s acting president. He co-authored several mathematics texts and produced an original biography for the University, The Life and Labors of Francis Asbury Mood (1886). During the 1910-1911 debate regarding the first “proposed removal of Southwestern from Georgetown,” described in Ralph Jones’ history, Southwestern University: 1840-1961, Cody opposed President Robert Stewart Hyer’s efforts to relocate the University and successfully campaigned against the proposal. When not immersed in the duties of his official positions, Dr. Cody shared a unique and positive relationship with students. Many considered him a beloved father figure of the University, later recounting his warm humor, kindness, concern, and special counsel as a professor and friend.

Cody supplemented his academic duties with his individual roles as a member of the Methodist Church, family man, and citizen of Georgetown. Not only did he regularly participate in local church activities, but he taught Sunday school for several years, including a term as Superintendent. Cody was a lay speaker and regular Methodist Conference participant/organizer. He held state-level offices in both the Sunday School Institute and the Epworth League. Cody was also a co-founder of the Texas Methodist Historical Association and editor of its publication, the Texas Methodist Historical Quarterly. He married Mattie Hughes on December 20, 1883, and had three sons, Claude Carr, Jr., Hughes, and Darrell. Despite increasing responsibilities, Cody managed to participate in multiple civic organizations and citizens’ committees, including his appointment to the Board of Examiners for Williamson County by the State Department of Education and his term as City Engineer.

Cody’s dedicated career at SU lasted 37 years and afterward earned him two distinct mantles. The first was as a member of “The Five” – a group of professors whose influence and presence proved the earliest in the University’s history and lasted the longest throughout the first fragile decades of the University’s half-life. The second mantle was a character-title all his own: “The Grand Old Man of Southwestern,” whose love for the university and support of its ambition won him the deepest respect and esteem from both his colleagues and students. Cody died on June 26, 1923, and was buried at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Georgetown. As a tribute to his achievements, Southwestern University’s first library was named in his honor – the Cody Memorial Library. Its original collections are currently kept and used by the A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center.

Scope and Content Note

Materials include: incoming topical and miscellaneous correspondence, various handwritten compositions and themes, curricular texts and handwritten notes, old report cards, handwritten speeches, personal financial and household items, biographical texts and posthumous documents for colleagues, historical sketches of local communities, various photography and illustrative media, documents and clipped articles regarding the “proposed removal of Southwestern University from Georgetown,” university contracts and resolutions, Southwestern University Medical College documents, university organizational and administrative records, Methodist documents, sketches and reminiscences of university-related figures, university financial and statistical reports, documents for other colleges/universities, Southwestern University and other publications, personal journals and entry books, clippings, newspapers, university bills and receipts, university checks and check stubs, personal and financial records, personal scrapbooks, grade books, tuition account books/ledgers, pocket account books, receipt books, bank books, artifacts and memorabilia. These records reflect the breadth of interests, responsibilities, activities, and achievements pursued by Cody throughout his life and career.

The first series, Incoming Correspondence, is arranged in eleven folders by subject and contains incoming correspondence to Cody from personal and professional contacts. Included are letters concerning both Cody’s contact with members of his family and with members of his family from other senders, including condolences sent to Cody’s wife following his death in 1923. Also included are letters from individuals reacting to Cody’s resignation from SU in 1915 and letters from individuals at other universities and colleges, including the University of Texas in Austin, the Polytechnic College in Fort Worth, and the Peacock Military College in San Antonio. Some letters in this series express thanks, praise, and/or affection to Cody from his friends and colleagues. A considerable number of letters relay or request information of a business/professional nature, focusing on subjects such as Southwestern University, Georgetown, Methodism, Texas, education, and both religious and secular organizations. Subsequent letters convey requests or inquiries to Cody from current and former SU students, with specific concerns to college credits, courses, and student-related incidents. Final letters in this series make requests and inquiries to Cody from parents of SU students regarding matters such as adequate boarding, attendance, academic performance, expense arrangements, and disciplinary actions.

The second series, Other Correspondence, is likewise arranged in eleven folders by subject and provides both incoming correspondence to Cody and collected correspondence between other individuals. Letters to Cody include ones from building/construction companies discussing architectural/design affairs for SU buildings, as well as letters listing monetary donations gathered from Methodist conferences for SU. Some sets of letters appear to have been kept or obtained by Cody, particularly those between Bishop Edwin D. Mouzon and SU President C. M. Bishop. Other letters to Cody cover a range of university and Methodist-related affairs such as costs for printing SU catalogues, the missionary work/experiences of John Clark, biographical facts about Martin Ruter, invitations to university events and celebrations, as well as Christmas cards to Cody and his family from several university colleagues, associates, and friends.

The third series, Miscellaneous Compositions, is arranged in five folders by subject and contains collections of compositions and writings believed to have been done by Cody, students, professors, and/or Cody’s sons as students themselves. The compositions concern a wide range of issues, some of them possibly serving as either affirmative or negative cases for issues that may have been used by student literary societies in debates. Topics include education, citizenship, America, nationalism, roles/responsibilities of clergymen, juvenile crime, Georgetown’s history, Sunday school, taxation, music education, foreign immigration, comparative “natures” of men and women, and human reason. Also included are two compositions possibly written and/or used by Cody, “Progress” and “[Quadrature] of the Circle.” Finally, an assortment of poetry and prose narratives follows, the authors of which are unknown. The subjects of these writings likewise vary, but many center upon religious or historical themes such as “Mark Antony,” “Daniel,” and “Prayers.” Also included are documents that list the dates of death for Thomas and Judith Collins.

The fourth series, Curriculum Supplements and Educational Materials, is arranged in seven folders by subject and holds both handwritten and printed documents pertaining to class curriculums and educational supplements used for those curriculums. A copy of G. A. Parr’s “The Mannheim Slide Rule” (possibly used in Cody’s math/geometry classes) is included in this series. Also found here are bound collections of notes, most of which are believed to have belonged to C. C. Cody’s son, M. D. Cody. M. D. Cody’s curriculum notes reflect the range of classes he took as a student, including American literature, chemistry, biology, Latin, Spanish, math, history, German, politics, and economics. Among these notebooks are scattered essays/compositions similar those in the previous series. Essay and composition topics include “Students in Evidence,” “The Reproduction of Palamon and Arcite,” “El Pajaro Verde,” “Poema Morale,” “The Ormulum,” “The Brut(us),” “King Horn,” Catholic/Methodist comparative church structures, and “Education.” Documents that provide guides and references to non-class items such as the “Key to Mystified Writing,” lists of names and addresses, “Gould’s Universal Index and Everybody’s Own Book,” and copied text excerpts from “The Ancient Mariner,” “Cicero,” and “Julius Caesar” also populate this series. Last in this series are grade reports (equivalent to report cards) for an M. D. Cody (believed to be an earlier relative of C. C. Cody rather than his son) from the University of Georgia from 1844 to 1847.

The fifth and sixth series are arranged together in seven folders by subject. The first three folders, Speeches, contain copies of speeches, addresses, and lectures believed to have been given by Cody, Cody’s sons, other professors, or keynote speakers at events. Some speeches address specific audiences or occasions such as “Respondent’s Address Delivered to the Senior Class Valedictorian of 1874,” “Ultimate in Mathematics” delivered to the SU junior class of 1898, “Valedictory – to the Trustees,” “Address on Tobacco” delivered to the Band of Hope, a speech addressed to “The Young Ladies of the Helion Society,” and a speech addressed to “The President and Members of the [Williamson County G. S. Association]. Other speeches address more general topics and issues, some of which comprise cases used in formal debates such as “Public Debate Case for Phi Gamma Debate – Resolution: Were the governments justifiable in expelling the Indians from their homes?/Negative Case.” The last four folders, Personal/Household/Financial Items, contain loose personal, household, and/or financial documents for Cody. These include copies of paid bills and financial statements from various businesses, Battle Creek Sanitarium documents, and various business forms and legal documents regarding both living and deceased figures.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth series are arranged together in twelve folders by subject. The first six folders, Colleagues/Associates, possess documents honoring both historical and deceased figures through biographical narratives, eulogies, clippings, and condolences. Half of these relate the life and death of local lumber businessman J. I. Campbell, providing multiple reminiscences of his career and detailed reports of his death. The second half presents biographies and/or eulogies for John Wesley Kennedy, Francis Asbury Mood, and J. G. Swofford. The seventh folder, Towns and Communities of Texas, offers reminiscences of its own, specifically historical sketches and descriptions of “Florence, Texas” and “Rice’s Crossing community.” The last five folders, Photography and Illustrative Media, hold visual media – photography, artwork, and printed commercial documents. Black-and-white portraits are included in this series, with photographs of Cody himself among them. Scenic photography is also found here, offering pictures of natural subjects and historically significant areas. Artwork available in this series includes picture postcards of major cities and points of interest, as well as color maps and illustrated advertisements.

The tenth series, SU History, is arranged in fifteen folders by subject and is divided between two boxes of folders in the collection, all of which contain documents specifically concerning the history of Southwestern University. The first box holds nine folders – over half of the content in this series. Some of the documents in this box pertain to specific events or periods of time in the university’s history, most notably its attempted removal from Georgetown during President Hyer’s administration. Publications and newspaper articles serve as supporting arguments for either position, ranging from copies of “The Origin and Location of the Southwestern University” to “In Re-Removal of Southwestern University – A Statement.” These may have been used or referenced by Cody, who was a strong opponent of the university’s proposed relocation. The series also holds copies of university resolutions, decrees, and contracts from committees and boards, on most of which Cody was either an involved party or recipient with authority to approve or reject. Other documents include correspondence and publications about Southwestern University Medical College in Dallas, notebooks and loose notes recording meeting minutes for both university and civic organizations, attendance lists for Methodist Conferences, lists of students under various financial or academic conditions, song lyric sheets, and handwritten historical sketches/descriptions of Southwestern figures and departments.

SU History continues in a second box with six additional folders arranged by subject. Over half of the documents kept here are lengthy statistical reports kept by Cody. Their contents attend to administrative and financial issues both within and beyond the university. Examples of university-related reports include “Reports of the Faculty,” “Executive Committee’s Report Addressed to the Trustees of SU (1903-1904),” “R.W. Tinsley’s Financial Reports of the Ladies’ Annex (1908),” and “Tuition Accounts (1895-1896, 1908).” Broader reports examining educational rankings include “Bureau of Education Universities and Colleges Report for the Scholastic Year ending June 1908” and “Statistics of Denominational and Private Schools and Colleges in Texas.” Although several of these reports clearly indicate the figures and offices within Southwestern responsible for their authorship/presentation (i.e., Treasurer, Financial Secretary, Registrar-Bursar, etc.), Cody may have helped create and deliver some of these reports because of his occupation of various positions in the university’s administration during his career. The rest of the documents in this box consist of other administrative records for the university, yet also include brief amounts of papers, correspondence, and lists relating the histories of other schools such as Blinn Memorial College and the colleges that later joined to create Southwestern.

The eleventh series, Publications, is arranged in eleven folders by subject and narrows the range of historical artifacts from the previous series to focus on publications and print-media materials. This series is divided between two boxes, the first box containing the first six folders. The first four folders of this box contain published (and presumably distributed) documents from Southwestern University. These include “SU Bulletins” and publications from when the university attempted to adopt the name “Texas University,” various informational brochures and celebratory booklets, an issue of the Texas Inter-Colegian publication, event programs, handouts, and registration/attendance blank slips. The last two folders include printed and published materials pertaining to Methodist organizations, subjects, and events. These range from attendance lists for Methodist Annual Conferences, to booklets and pamphlets concerning aspects of Methodist/religious education such as “The Methodist Superintendent and His Helpers” and “Catechism for the Use of the Methodist Missions.”

Publications continues in a second box with five additional folders, which are also arranged together by subject and continue to focus upon historical publications and print-media within their own contents. The first folder includes business-related publications that focus upon financial issues of specific organizations, corporations, and markets. The next two folders contain published documents and copies of distributed materials from other universities, colleges, and schools, including Franklin College, Emory College (Cody’s alma mater), Georgetown High School, Packard Business College, University of Georgia, Alexander Collegiate Institute, and Clarendon College. Materials for this series range from event programs and topical booklets to actual copies of academic catalogs used by the separate institutions. Another folder contains copies of promotional publications for events occurring in Georgetown, namely the Texas Chautauqua Assembly (including program booklets for the 1889, 1891, and 1892 annual sessions), as well as town promotional brochures such as “Did You Ever Think About Georgetown?” A final folder in the series presents copies of published materials concerning education-related subjects. Some of these documents provide prescriptive/descriptive issues involving specific methodologies for educators such as “What Should Be Emphasized and What Omitted in the High School Course in Algebra, 1907” and R.S. Hyer’s own “A Rare Opportunity for the Teacher in the Rural Schools.” Other documents record and describe specific educational organizations and their products, including “The Texas World’s Fair Educational Committee, 1903” and “The Texas World’s Fair Educational Commission, Texas Educational Exhibit, 1904.”

The twelfth and thirteenth series are arranged together in eleven folders by subject and consist of documents representing written and printed keepsakes of Cody’s life. The first five folders, Journals and Personal Books, house both bound and loose-leaf pages of handwritten, daily/weekly/monthly journal entries that Cody kept during the 1870s, specifically his smaller journal, “My Amusements, by C. C. Cody,” as well as his larger “1873” journal. Other separate pages of entries whose author is unknown (although believed to be Cody) are likewise included in this series, particularly a seven-page set of notes relating the events of a trip from Georgetown to San Antonio. Also included is a hardcover sign-book containing the inscription, “[To] Claude C. Cody from Edward Everett, 22, February 1859” and pages of personal notes with signatures from various individuals either related to or acquainted with Cody. Last in this series are separation records documenting the various educational, religious, and miscellaneous books presumably kept and/or used by Cody. The next seven folders, Clippings, contain a considerable amount of clipped articles and issues from various newspapers to which Cody may have subscribed. Initial articles include brief narratives and editorial columns about subjects such as education, Methodism, and Southwestern University, while others focus upon specific places and individuals (including Cody himself). They range from “What Should the Summer Normal Do for the Teacher?” and “Schools of Texas, Schools Census Poor, Crimes Against Pupils” to “Judge Carr Dead” and “Merited Tribute – Bishop Candler Speaks of Georgetown and the Southwestern University.” Subsequent clippings in the series present various poetic and spiritual verses by both renowned and amateur writers, including “Chroniclings of Billie” (a tribute to Dr. Cody), “”Sands of the Desert in an Hour-Glass” by H.W. Longfellow, “The Tree of Life” by Orelia Key Bell, and “The Dying Christian” by A.A.E. Taylor. Other clippings display printed illustrations and media artwork such as “The First Parting” by A.B. Walter, “Fun for the Boys - Fun for the Mule” (a comic strip), and “New York [Area Map]” by the New York Rubber Company. In addition to the clipped articles are copies of entire issues of newspapers and publications possibly read and/or kept by Cody, ranging from campus/local titles like The Williamson County Sun and The Megaphone to newspapers from neighboring cities like The San Antonio Express, The Houston Post, and The Austin Daily Tribune.

The fourteenth series, SU Financial Documents, is arranged in sixteen folders by subject and is divided between two boxes of folders among the collection. The first box of nine folders in this series contains stacks of separately packaged financial notes written to or on behalf of Southwestern University. Various sets of bills and receipts, account notes, check stubs, and check copies from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries constitute the types of documents found in this box. This series continues in a second box with seven additional folders, all of which hold stacks of university check copies, check stubs, and checkbooks.

The fifteenth series consisting of twelve folders arranged by subject, Personal and Financial Records, begins in the second SU Financial Documents box with its first three folders. The first folder holds tax receipts possibly belong to Cody himself. The second folder holds more receipts and letters, and the third folder holds a stack of personal bank statements. The series continues in a second box with nine more folders whose contents likewise reflect the scope of Cody’s and his family’s finances. Folders in this box range from general stacks of documents such as check copies, bank statements, and appointment diaries, to more specific stacks of documents like check copies belonging to T. H. Cody and M. Darrell Cody (Cody’s relatives). A few loose, miscellaneous documents accompany these stacks, most notably a “List of Books Which Belonged to C.C. Cody, Jr.” sheet.

The sixteenth series in the Cody collection, Scrapbooks, consists of eighteen individual scrapbooks arranged together in rough chronological ascension, from albums with content dating back to the early 1800s through albums with materials dating as late as the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the documents held in these scrapbooks reflect aspects of Southwestern University’s history, from its celebrated events and early culture to its focus on education and roots in Methodism. Several scrapbooks contain numerous pages of clipped articles from several local and national newspapers similar to those in the Clippings series, covering subjects and issues such as Southwestern, education, Methodism, Georgetown, Texas, and Prohibition. Of special note are those articles authored by Cody that present his published opinion(s) of such topics. Other documents in the scrapbooks move beyond the scope of the university to represent significant subjects within the nation and time period. One scrapbook contains documents pertaining to the American Civil War , ranging from newspaper articles accounting political positions of 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore (1850-1853 term) to Union/Confederate war strategies and listings of Confederate soldiers. Another scrapbook contains a mysterious, handwritten history of a secret society, “A History of the ‘Temple of the Skull,’” of which Cody may have been a member when he was a student at Emory. Sets of newspaper clippings and printed illustrations from a third scrapbook describe a visit of Japanese ambassadors to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Some scrapbook documents are copies of institutional publications, media, and printed forms distributed and/or kept by the university that Cody may have used in his administrative duties. Examples of these include programs for university events, report card forms, honor roll lists, faculty reports, copies of the Southwestern University Charter, and promotional brochures for other colleges and universities. Among the last to be found among these scrapbooks are biographical documents and media representative of Cody’s career and achievements. Letters to both Cody and his family are scattered among these scrapbooks. One scrapbook contains copies of report cards for C.C. Cody (from Emory College) and C.C. Cody, Jr. Black-and-white photographs of Cody’s old home in Georgia and “Wesley Chapel, the first Church erected in Atlanta” illustrate locations presumably significant to him and are found in separate scrapbooks, as well as pages of telegram copies sent from friends and colleagues conveying condolences to Cody’s surviving family following his death in 1923.

The seventeenth series, Teaching and Administration Materials, consists of 104 folders arranged by subject and divided into three boxes, making this series the largest physical series in the collection. The first of the three boxes in this series contains twenty-eight folders, all of which hold individually filed pocket grade-books that Cody kept for the classes he taught. The grade-books in this box span a period of classes from 1879 to 1900. A second box in this series holds thirty subsequent folders also arranged by subject. More of Cody’s grade-books are found in the first sixteen folders of this box, spanning a following series of classes held from 1900 to 1915. Additionally, four more folders hold bundled stacks of tuition account books and ledgers that Cody may have kept on file for his students. The last ten folders in this box hold pocket account books (similar to the tuition books and ledgers) ranging from 1894 to 1908. The series concludes in a third box with forty-six folders arranged by subject. The first five folders include receipt books from 1899 to 1905. The last forty-one folders contain bank books of Cody’s, possibly created and used for his office as University treasurer. The bank books range in date from 1889 to 1907.

The eighteenth and last series, Memorabilia, consists of fourteen folders/files arranged by subject/function and are divided evenly between two boxes. Documents in the first box serve as identifying/explanatory indexes for the series that follows them. The first folder indexes undergraduate and graduate degrees received by Cody and his relatives. The second folder indexes photograph and print plates either belonging to Cody or made in memory of him. The third folder indexes medals and pins awarded to Cody, listing titles, awarding organizations, and dates. The fourth folder indexes decorative office tools possibly kept on Cody’s desks. The fifth folder indexes framed certificates from various medical organizations. The sixth folder in the series indexes plaques and trophies given to Cody by Southwestern students, as well as awards given to C.C. Cody, Jr. The seventh and final folder indexes photo albums of Cody’s, the photographs of which are separately catalogued under Special Collections’ SU Photograph – Archives section. The items indexed in the first box are separately wrapped and labeled together in a second box according to their individual contents. This completes the amount and type of content in the C. C. Cody Collection.

Biographical Note

Anne Cole served as the Chairperson of Texas Teachers for Tower during the 1966 Senatorial Campaign. Tom Cole, Anne Cole’s husband, served as Tower’s 1960 Campaign Chairperson.

Scope and Content Note

Materials in this collection consist of papers dealing with the 1960 and 1966 campaigns, a large scrapbook of the 1966 campaign, and a red vinyl briefcase use by the women involved in Tower’s campaign effort. The “Vote for Tower” scrapbook chronicles the 1966 Campaign with campaign literature (posters, flyers, mailers, bumper stickers, and lapel buttons), newspaper clippings, and form letters to different voter groups such as Oilmen for Tower and Aggies for Tower. This collection also has small group of campaign materials for and against Waggoner Carr.

One folder contains miscellaneous papers from 1960 and 1978. Part of this material relates to Anne Cole’s lobbying work and meeting with John Tower for the development of a cabinet level Department of Education and her work as chair of Texas Teachers for Tower in the form of correspondence, lists, and memoranda. The Tower Campaign of 1960 portion of the folder has a copy of a form letter mailed under the signature of Tom Cole, but was, according to Anne Cole, the first direct mail campaign letter written by Richard Viguerie.

This collection is housed with Tower Small Collections (Papers and Memorabilia).

Biographical Note

The records were collected by Norman Spellmann, a professor at Southwestern University, who was involved in efforts to integrate the Georgetown Independent School district during the early 1960s.

Scope and Content Note

The records were collected by Norman Spellmann, a professor at Southwestern University, who was involved in efforts to integrate the Georgetown Independent School district during the early 1960s.

Biographical Note

The Cox map collection was donated by Larry L. (x 1925) and Pearl B. Cox of Austin, TX, to Southwestern University over a period of time from 1981 to 1985. The maps, mostly survey maps of the United States and Central and South America, tend to be from government publications. Many maps are not dated and some are reprints/facsimiles. They were sent to the university via John H. Jenkins’ rare book and manuscript company.

Scope and Content Note

Maps, surveys and proposals (300+) for the Atlantic/Pacific [Inter-oceanic] Canal in Central and South America, dating from the 1860s to early 1900s. There is a smaller group of maps of Central and South America for the proposed Inter-Continental Railway. Some of the maps/surveys were made by the British Navy.

Surveys and proposals (300+) for canals in the north and east around the Great Lakes area dating from the 1850s. This group also includes ship and railroad route maps and surveys.

Survey maps (200-300) of the western territories including: New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Also in this group are maps of sections of the west coast: California, Oregon, and Washington.

US Army Corps of Engineer surveys, diagrams, and plan maps for proposed dams in the western US; as well as for river improvements on the Missouri, Mississippi, St. Mary’s, Charleston, and Red Rivers. This group also contains maps of river, lake, and ocean frontage for New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, the Carolinas, and some Gulf Coast states. These date from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.

Maps and surveys (100+) for military bases and harbor defense as well as maps relating to troop movements and battle locations from the American Revolution, Civil War, Spanish American War, War in China, and WW II in the Philippines. Some of the maps are likely reproductions.

Several maps tracking outbreaks of diseases such as Poliomyelitis and Typhoid Fever, with locations of each case marked on city maps. Most of this group are for cities in the east and northeast and are dated c. 1900 and 1912.

Small group of population maps. Several have the qualifying statement “excluding Indians non-taxed.”

Small group of plans for “Harbor of Refuge” for the east coast and Great Lakes. These date from the 1860s.

Small group of precipitation maps. Also mineral and mine district maps.

Small group of tornado “tracking” maps for midwest states. These maps are named according to the counties or cities hit by the particular storm.

Group (about 100) of reproductions of early Spanish maps from the 1600s-early 1700s. They are possibly maps of exploration of Atlantic islands, North America, and North Africa. Some of these are copies of Dutch map reproductions, also apparently exploration maps.

There are also maps (about 100) in French and Italian. Some of these are of Mediterranean countries.

Small group of maps that encompass parts of Canadian territories and lands near Canada including: New Brunswick, Greenland and Iceland.

Biographical Note

Bertha McKee Dobie (Southwestern University class of 1910) was born on July 8, 1890, and spent her childhood chiefly in Velasco, Texas. After graduating from school at age 14, she entered Southwestern University. In some of her classes at Southwestern, she noticed a young man named James Frank Dobie, but did not meet him until February of their last year, when rules were changed to allow senior girls to date. Six years later, after a lengthy exchange of letters, Bertha McKee and Frank Dobie were married in the McKee home in Velasco on September 20, 1916.

When Bertha Dobie was given Southwestern’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1973, she said her sole claim to fame was as a helpmeet to her famous husband. But she had become a writer in her own right, contributing a series of articles on gardening to Texas newspapers, and writing articles and stories for numerous periodicals, including Nature Magazine, the New York Herald Tribune Magazine, Garden Digest, Holland’s Magazine, Southwest Review, and Publications of the Texas Folklore Society. After J. Frank Dobie died in 1964, she edited his posthumous works, including Rattlesnakes (1965), Some Part of Myself (1967), and Out of the Old Rock (1972).

But Bertha Dobie by no means spent all her time helping her husband or completing his projects. In fact, she thought of her own life as centering on plants and the world of nature. For many years an active member of the Texas Federated Garden Clubs, she also syndicated a garden column in Texas newspapers and gave talks in many Texas towns and cities on gardening. She took botany courses and collected specimens for the University of Texas herbarium. She was a member of the Audubon Society and an interested participant in the formulation of plans for Paisano Ranch, a Hill Country retreat for Texas writers and artists. She also was famous for her lovely rose garden at the Dobie home at 702 Park Place in Austin, known as “the house on Waller Creek.”

Bertha McKee Dobie – helpmeet, author, and Texas naturalist – died on December 18, 1974, at the age of 84, and was buried alongside her husband in the State Cemetery in Austin.

Source:

Norma Siviter Assadourian and Jon D. Swartz, “Bertha McKee Dobie: An Exhibition at Southwestern University” (1988).

Scope and Content Note

The Bertha McKee Dobie Papers (1889 – 1986; 10.5 linear feet) include writings, publications, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and other items documenting Mrs. Dobie’s life and work as an author, editor, and naturalist, as well as her role as the spouse of author J. Frank Dobie.

The collection is organized in eleven series. Highlights of each series are listed.

• Biographical Materials (1 box): Mrs. Dobie’s birth certificate, family history, and autobiographical notes.

• Writings and Publications (6 boxes): Handwritten and typed drafts of Mrs. Dobie’s newspaper columns and articles about gardening, Mexico, and Frank Dobie, as well as speeches, short stories, poems, and children’s stories. Some of the drafts are written on the verso of discarded correspondence and drafts by Frank Dobie.

• Nature/Texana (2 boxes): Notes and publications illuminating Mrs. Dobie’s interests in gardening, botany, ornithology, and the natural world, especially in Texas. This series also contains flower seeds collected by Mrs. Dobie.

• Correspondence (8 boxes): Letters to and from Mrs. Dobie dating from 1913 to 1984. This extensive series, comprising almost one-third of the collection, also includes some correspondence to Frank Dobie and to Edgar Kincaid, Jr. (Mrs. Dobie’s nephew), who lived with the Dobies for many years. Letters from Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, Senator Ralph Yarborough, and John Henry Faulk are part of the collection.

• Clippings (1 box): Pieces written by and about the Dobies, and well as articles collected by Mrs. Dobie on gardening, Texana, Velasco (her hometown), and women’s issues.

• Photographs (1 box): Photos of the Dobies, their family members, and their Austin home, as well as photos taken in Mrs. Dobie’s garden, at Southwestern University, and in Mexico.

• Southwestern University (2 boxes): Mrs. Dobie’s senior yearbook (1910) and materials relating to her Distinguished Alumna Award (1973).

• European Trip of 1948 (1 box): Her passport and itinerary, ocean liner memorabilia, and souvenir publications and postcards.

• J. Frank Dobie (1 box): Publications and notes about Dobie, copies of pages from his family Bible, and copies of nine Christmas booklets (1948-63) containing reprints of Dobie articles.

• Assorted (1 box): Publications by and from Mrs. Dobie’s friend, Senator Yarborough, as well as materials from President Johnson’s 1965 inauguration.

• Oversize (1 box): Oversize certificates, photographs, and publications, as well as the plaque Mrs. Dobie received when named a Distinguished Alumna by Southwestern University in 1973.

Biographical Note

Bertha Dobie (Southwestern University class of 1910) was born on July 8, 1890, and spent her childhood chiefly in Velasco, Texas. After graduating from school at age 14, she entered Southwestern University. She thought of her own life as centering on plants and the world of nature, becoming a prominent Texas naturalist.

For more biographical information on Bertha Dobie, please visithttp://www.southwestern.edu/infoservices/departments/specialcollections/finding-aids/Dobie.html or see her entry in the online Handbook of Texas.

Edgar Kincaid, Jr., Bertha’s nephew, was the recipient of the majority of Bertha’s letters in this collection. Born on December 30, 1921 in San Antonio, Edgar became one of the most important birders in Texas and earned the name of “The Father of Texas Birding.”

For more information on Edgar Kincaid, Jr., please visit http://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/may/legend/ or read in his entry in the online Handbook of Texas.

Scope and Content Note

The Bertha Dobie Correspondence collection consists of one folder of correspondence, the majority of which is from Bertha Dobie to Edgar Kincaid, Jr., although a few letters are to and/or from other people. For example, there is one letter from Ray Pearl Condry to her aunt, as well as one letter to J. Frank Dobie from a man named Stan. The correspondence deals mostly with routine family matters, such as Edgar’s health and schooling, travels, finances, and J. Frank Dobie’s schedule. There are also references to birding and World War II. Mentioned in the letters are close friends Roy Bedichek and his wife, as well as family member Ray Pearl Condry.

Biographical Note

Ray Pearl Condry was the niece of Bertha McKee Dobie. Her mother, Emily McKee Wood, was Bertha Dobie’s sister as was Lucile Ray McKee. Bertha Dobie, a naturalist and horticulture writer, was married to the well-known folklorist, J. Frank Dobie. Both were graduated from Southwestern University in 1910.

Scope and Content Note

The Ray Pearl Condry Collection consists of two document cases and a hat box containing the hat that Bertha Dobie wears in a photographic portrait also held by the university. The collection consists of correspondence (handwritten and typed) newspaper articles, postcards, notebooks, travel diaries, photographs, and Bertha Dobie’s diploma from the University of Texas. Most of the collection is correspondence to and from family members, especially J. Frank Dobie, Ray Pearl Condry, and Bertha Dobie’s parents. Also found is one folder of correspondence between Ray Pearl when she was a WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency service) during World War II and a friend who was a WAC (Women’s Army Corps).

Materials related to J. Frank Dobie include correspondence from him to Bertha, correspondence and materials with publishers, notes regarding his assets and writing projects, clippings, a foreign service identity card, and other items. A number of letters are from J. Frank to Bertha while she was traveling in 1948. These discuss his writing, politics, his longhorn cattle project, Texas heat and pollen, Barton Springs, and friends, family, and colleagues. Five travel diaries as well as correspondence belonging to Bertha Dobie describe trips to Mexico, Texas, and Europe. These often include lists and reports of flora and fauna sighted, especially birds. One diary records gardens visited in the southern United States. Also found is the manuscript of an essay Bertha submitted to the San Antonio Express in 1940 titled Tarhumara Indians Untouched by White Man’s Ways. More of her writings are found among her papers, which are also housed in Special Collections at Southwestern University.

Biographical Note

Isabel Maltsberger Gaddis was an avid collector of the works of the well-known folklorist, humorist and scholar J. Frank Dobie. Gaddis met Dobie when he was her professor at the University of Texas, where she graduated with a major in journalism. She later completed graduate work at Columbia University and then returned to Texas to teach in the Cotulla public schools. She eventually enrolled at Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, becoming a school librarian. Her son is the well-known US historian, John Lewis Gaddis.

Dobie and Gaddis became friends and Dobie visited the Gaddis family frequently. The various letters and photos in this collection give evidence to the warm friendship and intellectual camaraderie between the two. Dobie often sent Mrs. Gaddis copies of his books with personal inscriptions and he sought her advice and editorial skills. They co-edited a collection of Dobie’s short stories, I’ll Tell You a Tale.

Both J. Frank Dobie and his wife Bertha Mckee Dobie (whose papers Southwestern holds) were 1911 graduates of Southwestern University. Southwestern University campus recognized Gaddis with a “Dobie-Gaddis Day” celebration on the day of her formal donations of her collection, on October 27, 1970. In addition to the Gaddis Collection, the university also has another significant Dobie collection, The Clara Harmon Lewis Collection of Dobie Material, as well as several other smaller collections.

Scope and Content Note

The Isabel Gaddis Collection extensively covers Dobie’s lengthy career from the early 1920s to his death on September 18th, 1964. The collection contains hundreds of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and books, all of which are written by or are about J. Frank Dobie. Also included in the collection are photos, correspondence both to and from Dobie, smaller pamphlets, an extensive collection of Dobie’s weekly Sunday column in San Antonio Light, excerpts by Dobie, manuscripts, and photos and articles concerning “Dobie Day” and the formal donation of the Gaddis Collection. The book collection is cataloged separately and housed with other Dobie books in Special Collections.

Biographical Note

Orceneth Fisher was a Methodist circuit rider in Central Texas whose circuit included Goliad, Galveston, Indianola, San Marcos, and other locations. He eventually moved to Oregon, and some of his papers are at Oregon State, Corvalis, and the University of the Pacific. Other papers are at the American History Center at University of Texas. He was in Georgetown, Texas, in 1841, and probably had connections with the early institutions that preceded Southwestern University as well as Southwestern. Southwestern has the ceremonial sash he wore as chaplain of the Republic of Texas Senate, probably at the last session of the Republic. The Fisher family had connections to other prominent Texas Methodists, some of whom are represented in the university archives. For example, Thomas Fisher’s first cousin was married to John D. Wheeler. Wheeler’s son, Sterling, was a Methodist minister associated with SMU. [Some of the above information was provided by the donors.]

Scope and Content Note

The papers include letters of courtship, letters to children with “good advice,” letters to and from his wife and family while traveling from parish to parish, sermons, tax receipts, and materials related to Methodist churches. Fisher’s son, O. A. Fisher was also a Texas Methodist minister, and a published copy his diary is in Special Collections, call number 287.633 F535d. See also Clark 917.64 T3124F: “Sketches of Texas in 1840” by O. A. Fisher.

Biographical Note

George Washington Foster (1834-1921) was a Texas physician who attended medical school at the University of Louisiana, New Orleans, and eventually practiced in Georgetown, Texas. Foster survived three wives according to notes provided by his descendants. Foster’s second wife, Margaret (Bettie) J. Elizabeth Thompson (1848-1872) lived in Travis County while Foster attended medical school in New Orleans. After the death of his second wife, Foster married Martha (Mattie) Louise Hoskins (1846-1919) and they had six children. Correspondence indicates that they moved to Georgetown around 1886. Their daughter (Stella Ann Foster 1879-1963) married Stephen Halcuit Moore, Sr., a classics professor at Southwestern University from 1894 until 1919, when he accepted a chair at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Correspondence between other family members, most of whom lived in Texas, is also found in the collection.  These include relatives of his wives as well as Foster’s own relations.

Scope and Content Note

The collection is almost exclusively correspondence, much of it between Dr. Foster and his second and third wives.  The two largest folders are 1) Correspondence written from Dr. Foster to his second wife (Bettie) while Foster was in medical school in Louisiana, 1867-1869 and 2) correspondence between Foster and his future wife (Mattie), all written during 1873 when Hoskins lived in Oyster Creek, Brazoria County, Texas, and Foster resided in Wesley, Texas.

Correspondence from Foster to his second wife “Bettie” includes descriptions of his trip to Louisiana; the challenge of finding housing; living conditions; finances; health concerns related to cholera, yellow fever, and consumption; and Bettie’s pregnancy. Foster met the Mr. Dolbear, the founder of Dolbear Commercial College (a flyer for the college is found in the collection) whom he describes in most genial terms.

Correspondence between Foster and his third wife “Mattie” is predominantly from 1873 during a year of courtship with a few letters from much later when Dr. Foster traveled. There is also considerable correspondence from Mattie’s relatives to her. Letters from relatives often speak of family matters, crops (cotton), weather, illness, births and deaths, and hard times.

Non-correspondence items found among the papers include a July 29, 1865 transfer title “of a negro woman slave, Nancy” from E. H. Allen to his his daughter Amanda M. Kiefer; Parole of Honor form for F. M. Thompson (brother of Bettie?) in which he vows not to serve in the Confederate Army; T. B. Stone (Georgetown, Texas) drug store prescription form; 1881 annual circular from the President of the Texas State Medical Association to the members, matters related to settling estates.

Giddings Family Background

Jabez Demming Giddings (J.D. Giddings), born in Pennsylvania, came to Texas in 1838 to claim his brother Giles’ land bounty after Giles’ death at the Battle of San Jacinto. After initially teaching school, Giddings became a lawyer and wealthy entrepreneur in Brenham, becoming one of the state’s wealthiest men. He and a brother founded one of the state’s earliest banks and he became a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Houston Texas Central Railway. Giddings joined the Somervell expedition against Mexico and also served in the Confederacy during the Civil War. The town of Giddings, Texas, was named after him.

A Methodist, Giddings met Texas Methodist pioneer Martin Ruter before Ruter’s death in 1838, and Giddings lived briefly in the Rutersville community named after Ruter.  The earliest institution of higher education in Texas, Rutersville College was founded in 1840 as a result of Ruter’s activities, and Giddings would go on to be associated with several Methodist colleges whose charters – including Rutersville College’s - were eventually inherited by Southwestern University.  For a time, Gidding’s pastor in Brenham was Francis A. Mood, the first regent of Southwestern.  Giddings financially supported F.A. Mood as a stockholder in the Texas University Company that would become Southwestern and was one of the original Board of Trustees.  After J.D. Giddings death in 1878, his wife Ann continued to support the endeavors of Mood in the building of Southwestern by creating Helping Hall which was later renamed Giddings Hall in her honor.  Four years after Ann’s donation, the Board of Trustees recommended her son-in-law, Heber Stone, for a position on the Board.  Stone was approved to serve as a Trustee and he served 15 years.

Sources: William B. Jones, To Survive and Excel: The Story of Southwestern University 1840-2000 and the online Handbook of Texas (accessed Nov. 4, 2014). 

Scope and Content Note

This small collection is almost exclusively correspondence from Texas Methodists to J.D. Giddings with some to his son-in-law Heber Stone along with a few items to and from other family members. The correspondence regards the financial struggles of Soule University, fundraising and issuing stock for Texas University Company, the founding of Southwestern university, Southwestern  business and financial matters, and family members and their activities. The letters were donated to Southwestern University’s library by Wallace Giddings, a descendent of J.D. Giddings, in the Spring of 1996 with a few additional materials donated by Patricia Giddings, wife of Wallace Giddings. There appear to be no letters from 1873-1875.

SEE ALSO:  SpecColl 976.42 G362, Giddings’ in the news from 1854; SpecColl 976.092 G361 v.1 & v.2, Letters and information on Jabez Deming Giddings and Fam

Biographical Note

“The Glamazons” was a “Tall Girls’ Club” founded at Southwestern University in 1946 during the John Nelson Russell Score administration. The group, originally called Basileis, had 26 charter members, who had to be at least 5 feet 7 inches tall. The Dean of Women, Mrs. Ruth M. Ferguson, described the club’s members as “representing a cross-section of the six social organizations on the campus.” The charter members chose the white calla lily as the organization’s flower, and the phrase “Divinely tall, divinely fair.” as their motto. According to it’s constitution, the purpose of the organization was “to promote pride in height, grace, poise, and dignity among its members, and to form closer bonds of friendship and maintain high cultural standards.” The executive officers voted to disband on May 25, 1956.

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes two slightly different constitutions, a brief history of the organization written by the Dean of Women, Mrs. Ruth M. Ferguson, and a copy of “Regulations Governing Student Organizations at Southwestern University.” All of these items are undated and are filed at the beginning of the collection. Other items, arranged chronologically according to school year, include membership lists, speeches, correspondence, invitations, annual reports, miscellaneous items, and a single short story about a tall young woman.

Biographical Note

John Cowper Granbery, Sr. (1829-1907) was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The son of Richard A. and Mary Granbery, John Granbery was born in Norfolk, Virginia, December 5, 1829. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church April 1844, under the ministry of Rev. William A. Smith, D.D. He was graduated in 1848 from Randolph-Macon College with the highest honors of his class. Licensed to preach in the autumn of 1847, Granbery was admitted on trial in the Virginia Conference in 1848, at Elizabeth City. The church ordained Granbery as a Deacon (1850) and Elder (1853), and he remained in the Virginia conference until his election to the Episcopacy in 1882.

In 1862 he married Ella Fayette Winston, a great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry. Of their eight children, only three survived: Ella Winston Granbery, wife of H.C. Tucker; John Cowper Granbery, Jr., Ph. D., a professor at Southwestern University from 1913-38; and Winston Henry Granbery. Granbery Sr. served as Professor of Practical Theology and Moral Philosophy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1875-82. In 1882, he was elected a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Although a pacifist, Granbery served as Chaplain in the Confederate Army and he wounded in 1862 on the battlefields at Frazier’s Farm where he lost the sight in one eye. Captured, he was carried to Fort Warren, Boston, but was exchanged on July 3rd.

With his daughter Ella Winston Tucker, Granbery traveled to Brazil in 1886 to establish a Methodist presence. They arrived at Rio de Janeiro on July 4, 1886. By September he had met residency requirements for holding property and he then organized the Brazil Mission Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and held the first Conference in 1888. He authorized the founding of the first Methodist School in Brazil for boys, which later took the name, Granbery College, located at Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. By 1891 he had returned to Ashland, Virginia, seat of Randolph Macon College where he retired and died in 1907, preceded by his wife’s death a year earlier.

John Cowper Granbery, Jr., taught a wide variety of classes in the social sciences at Southwestern University. Well known as the publisher of the progressive Christian journal The Emancipator, Granbery was a liberal, peace activist, Methodist minister, and suffragist who spent most of his life in Texas.

Born June 15, 1874 in Richmond, Virginia, he was the son of Ella Winston and Bishop John Cowper Granbery, Sr. (see above). Granbery attended seminary at Vanderbilt in 1895 and was ordained in 1897. After his graduation in 1899, he went to the University of Chicago where he was influenced by social activists such as Jane Addams; he received his doctorate in sociology in 1909. Granbery accepted a position at Southwestern University in 1913, following a controversial few years of preaching in West Virginia and Kentucky. When World War I broke out in 1914, he decided to join the YMCA’s Foyer du Soldat in Europe where he served in the French Army. The Greek government decorated Granbery for his service during the war. After the war he returned to Texas and Southwestern University. He opposed the Ku Klux Klan and supported prohibition in the community. At the university, he fought fraternities and tobacco advertisements in the school newspaper. Granbery’s anti-Klan activities led to personal threats and local controversy, and in 1925 he decided to resign from the university. He accepted a job at Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech) as the chair of the history department. While there, he co-authored a history book that was sympathetic to the theory of evolution. Granbery was fired in 1932 for his liberal views and found himself without a job during the Great Depression.

After spending two years in Brazil, Granbery returned to Southwestern University in 1934 as a professor of Philosophy and Political Science, only to be dismissed in 1938 on vague charges of “noncooperation,” “subversive activity against the administration,” and undue campus influence. Considerable controversy swirled around Granbery’s dismissal since there was little public explanation. In September of that same year, he began publishing a liberal Christian magazine, The Emancipator. He left Georgetown in 1941 to move to San Antonio where he continued publishing, teaching at local universities, and advocating for liberal causes. On May 5, 1953, Granbery died at his house in San Antonio. Granbery was married for 50 years to Mary Ann Catt, also a liberal activist. She edited the magazine of the Texas League of Women Voters and co-edited The Emancipator.

University of Texas’ Briscoe Center for American History also has John C. Granbery, Jr. papers.

Sources:

Assadourian, Norma S. Special Collections in Methodism: John C. Granbery. Georgetown, TX: A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center, 1990

Dixon, Ford. Granbery, John Cowper, Jr. Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association, 2009. 

Jones, William B. To Survive and Excel: The Story of Southwestern University 1840-2000. Georgetown, TX: Southwestern University, 2006.

Other Granbery Collections:

Granbery Papers at the Briscoe Center for American history at the University of Texas

Handbook of Texas article on John C. Granbery, Jr.

Scope and Content Note

The Granbery Papers are part of the Jackson-Greenwood Collection donated to Southwestern by Mrs. Ruth G. Jackson of San Antonio in 1975. W. W. Jackson and his wife, Ruth Jackson, were friends of the Granberys. He invited Granbery to teach in San Antonio after Granbery was dismissed from Southwestern. Apparently May Granbery gave the collection to Ruth Jackson, who in turn donated it to Southwestern.

The collection is primarily family correspondence but also includes genealogical information, documents, passports, photographs, business cards, and a large collection of postcards, some from Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Germany, England, Finland, Mexico, United States, and Canada. Many of the postcards appear to be from the era of World War One and the 1920s.

The correspondence is divided into two series. The first series includes mainly personal correspondence between Bishop John C. Granbery and his wife, Ella Granbery and condolence letters regarding his daughters’ death, Ruth and Fay, and his wife’s death. The correspondence also includes some letters about the Civil War and Reconstruction, travels throughout Europe, and correspondence regarding the Methodist Church in relation to the Methodist Conferences and helping to establish a Methodist presence in Brazil and throughout the country by preaching. The second series is subdivided into personal correspondence between John C. Granbery, Jr., May Granbery, Ella Granbery Tucker, and H.C. Tucker and correspondence between various members of the Granbery Family and various people. The second series is mainly made up of personal correspondence, correspondence regarding Southwestern University, and letters regarding the Methodist Church and the political state in Brazil. A set of The Emancipator is cataloged separately from this collection.

Biographical Note

J. French Hill served United States Senator John G. Tower (R-Texas) 1982-1984 in two capacities. Hill functioned as Tower’s legislative aide (1982-1984) for a part of the period of the Senator’s membership on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Hill also acted as Tower’s chief legislative assistant during the Senator’s tenure as chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs (1983-1984). Hill worked closely with the Texas senator in Washington, D.C., primarily informing Tower of banking and housing activities and legislation. While Hill performed and supervised routine office duties such as answering mail, setting up meetings, and writing memos, he also researched and prepared legislative briefs, speeches, and statements for Tower, as well as meeting and speaking with individuals and groups in the Senator’s absence.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, printed material, creative works, maps, and legal documents, 1981-1986 (2 linear ft./1,068 items), created and maintained by J. French Hill, primarily document the activities of United States Senator John G. Tower (R-Texas) as a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs.

A relatively small body of materials (185 items) relate to other activities of Tower’s public service, such as his unexpected retirement, his chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Committee, his interest in Texas history, and weekly legislation activity reports. Approximately three-fourths of the Hill Papers consist of material gathered and produced from Tower’s membership on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee (329 items) and the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs (437 items).

Tower played an influential role on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, reflected by his efforts to pass legislation on mutual-to-stock conversion of thrift institutions, as well as his dealings with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (78 items). The documents also reflect Tower’s commitment (1982-1984) to constituents residing in South Texas, particularly their problems with unemployment and coping with the weak Mexican peso (144 items). Tower participated in the recommendation process to secure the nomination or reappointment of several important members of the government banking community to prominent positions (35 items). Under Tower’s leadership on the Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs (1983-1984), landmark residential mortgage legislation was initiated and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. The Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act of 1984 (225 items) and the companion legislative initiative, Trust for Investment in Mortgages (TIMS) Act (61 items), enhanced the role of the private sector in mortgage finance and facilitated a lower cost of housing for American families.

The Hill Papers contain much of the working material behind these two pieces of legislation, including background information, the hearings, mark-up activities, and the opinions and reactions of the media. A new accession to the group (1-5-93) compliments the material relating to the Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act, namely Tower’s fight to curve Fannie Mae’s (Federal National Mortgage Association) growth in home mortgages (52 items). The material on the Condominium Cost Reduction Act (1981-1984), comprised of 31 items, pertains to legislation to amend the federal tax code by encouraging building owners to convert apartments to condominiums without involving third-party developers. The Hill Papers also include 65 items which relate to Tower’s role and activities as co-sponsor of the Arkansas Wilderness Bill (1982-1985).

Biographical Note

W. W. Jackson was a well-known San Antonio, Texas educator, civic leader, and insurance executive. A 1916 graduate of Southwestern University, Jackson also attended University of Texas and Yale. He was also an active layman in the Methodist church at both state and national levels.

After service in World War I, Jackson taught and eventually become President of the Wesleyan Institute (Mexican Methodist Institute), a preparatory school which educated a number of children who were refugees from the Mexican Revolution. A number of these students became prominent in Mexico and the United States.

Jackson later accepted the presidencies of Westmoreland College and the University of San Antonio. He was instrumental in merging Westmoreland with Trinity University. In 1946, Jackson became vice-president of American Hospital and Life Insurance Company. He helped organize and promote educational television (KLRN) and was the first chair of the public station’s council. Elected to the State Board of Education in 1959, he eventually rose to chair.

Jackson received numerous awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate and distinguished alumnus award from Southwestern University. The library of Jackson and his wife, a Southwestern University alumna, was donated to the university.

Scope and Content Note

This small collection contains biographical information, photographs, speeches, clippings, awards and other materials related to Jackson’s life and career. Included are several reminiscences of Mexican students who attended the Wesleyan Institute during Jackson’s presidency. The folder of Jackson’s speeches reflects his educational philosophy, and addresses issues such as higher education for African-Americans.

Biographical Note

The Johnson Family, originally from Missouri, came to Texas in 1844, moving several times before finally settling in Hays County. Thomas Johnson and his wife, Catherine Johnson, had six children. Thomas Johnson, a schoolmaster, established the Johnson Institute in 1852, thirty miles north of San Marcos. The Johnson Institute was a private secondary school with a coeducational student body. Three of the Johnson children would later teach there. A family member of particular interest is the daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ellen Johnson, born on May 9, 1840 in Cole County, Missouri.

Lizzie taught at various schools in the Austin area. She also had “unusual financial ability” and was hired in the 1860s to keep the books for some local cattlemen. Using the funds she earned from teaching and bookkeeping, Lizzie started investing in cattle herself and did quite well. Well enough in fact that she was able to register her own brand on June 1, 1871. She then bought a ten-acre plot of land in Austin on which to keep her cattle. She continued to flourish financially, buying a large, two-story house two years later and forming a reputation as a very successful “Cattle Queen.” Lizzie Johnson is thought to be the first woman ever to ride up the Chisholm Trail with her own cattle under her own brand.

On June 8, 1879, Lizzie married Hezekiah G. Williams, though a prenuptial agreement stipulated that Lizzie would keep her own property and control her own financial affairs. Together, the couple would continue to succeed in business, though at the time it was well understood that Lizzie was the real factor behind their success. They became community leaders in Hays County, even involving themselves in politics, trying to move the county seat from San Marcos in 1908.

Hezekiah died in 1914, and Lizzie inherited the bulk of Hezekiah’s estate. This, added to her own property holdings, formulated a rather large collection of assets spanning several businesses located in Travis, Hays, Llano, Trinity, Jeff Davis, and Culbertson counties. Once her husband died, she moved into a building she owned on Congress Avenue in Austin, renting out other floors to tenants and continuing to manage her own affairs. She became somewhat reclusive and had little company in the way of friends or family. She had several eccentric habits noted by Austin citizens— for example, despite her relatively vast wealth, her clothing appeared ragged, and she limited her meals to a bowl of vegetable soup from a local café. Because of these habits, people were surprised to find out after her death on October 9, 1924, that Lizzie Johnson’s estate totaled nearly a quarter of a million dollars. She is buried in Austin.

Sources:

Taylor, T.U. “Johnson Institute.” Frontier Times. Volume 18, Number 5, Feb. 1941.

Duncan, Roberta S. “Elizabeth Johnson Williams.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed April 7, 2010.

Scope and Content Note

The Johnson Family Collection was donated to Southwestern University by John E. Shelton, grandson of Emma Johnson, sister of Lizzie Johnson. It consists of letters, personal notes, announcements, newspaper clippings, magazines, books, and personal objects from the entire Johnson family. The majority of the collection dates from the years 1859-1887. Overall, the collection gives us a clear picture of the family’s experience living in Texas from the mid 19th to early 20th century. Topics included among the collection range from descriptions of daily life in Texas to letters from Civil War soldiers (Lizzie’s brother John Hyde Johnson served in the Confederate Army) to information relevant to general cultural history and race relations.

Box One (ten folders) is comprised entirely of material directly related to the Johnson family, with most items dated from 1860 to 1886. It is almost exclusively composed of correspondence to different members of the family, and is organized according to the receiver, and further according to provenance (friends or other family). Most correspondence in this box was received by either Lizzie Johnson or Emma Johnson, though there are folders for their parents, for their husbands, and for their brother John Hyde Johnson. Topics of interest include the courtship of the two sisters, descriptions of Civil War battles or conditions, specific documents of importance to Lizzie Johnson, and descriptions of racist crimes against African Americans.

Box Two (sixteen folders) consists of miscellaneous material from both the Johnson family in the late 19th century and a small amount of material belonging to the donor, John E. Shelton. Shelton materials are either personal writing or refer to the Johnson Family Collection itself. The Johnson family material is much more diverse and can help demonstrate the social or cultural histories of late 19th century Texas. It includes newspaper clippings, magazines, booklets, random announcements or flyers, poems, stories, and sheet music. Of particular interest is the material on gender (relationships and reproductive anatomy), the sheet music, and material relating to Soule and Rutersville Colleges.

Boxes Three, Four, Five, and Six all hold artifacts. Box Three includes a handkerchief box, a paper fan, a pocketbook belonging to Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Lizzie’s father), and ribbons/pins commemorating various events like Confederate veteran reunions and stockyard conventions. Box four includes a metal lunch pail. Box five includes a petticoat worn by Lizzie Johnson, and a quilting guide. Box six includes an umbrella.

The collection also includes many books, which have been integrated into the Special Collections library. In addition to the Johnson Family collection, the library also owns a small piece of lace and the receipts of Lizzie Johnson’s wedding dress and a few other items related to her wedding. These were donated by C.C. Cody III, who was related to Lizzie Johnson through his wife, Gladys Locket, a niece of Lizzie Johnson.

Scope and Content Note

Materials are those Knaggs used to write Two Party Texas (1986). Included are background materials such as campaign materials, voter surveys, notes, memos, Republican party items, correspondence, and photographs, as well as drafts and galleys of his work.

The materials collected by Knaggs as part of his research also include a set of papers given to him by Marvin Collins and Jim Leonard. Collins was Director of the Dallas G.O.P, 1962 Director of the Texas G.O.P., and 1970 campaign manager for George Bush. Leonard was the campaign manager for Jack Cox in 1962, George Bush in 1964, and John Tower in 1966.

Biographical Note

Franklin Deaderick Love was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on May 22, 1870. His mother was Sarah (Alexander) Love and his father, Robert Love, was a distinguished lawyer. His family was quite well-known in Tennessee political circles, for his cousins Alf and Robert Love were both governors of that state.

He received his A.B. from Milligan College in Tennessee. He pursued his post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, where Woodrow Wilson was one of his instructors. In 1894, he received his law degree from Vanderbilt University.

Love came to Georgetown in 1897 to practice law. In November of 1902, he married Mellie Lockett, daughter of M.B. and Annie Lockett, who were prominent citizens of Georgetown. Mellie was valedictorian of the Southwestern class of 1895. Two of her sisters were married to Southwestern professors: Pearl married Prof. Albert Shipp Pegues and Kate was married to Prof. Wesley Carroll Vaden. Mellie and F.D. had only one child, Frances Lockett Love, who was born on August 20, 1904.

F.D. branched out from the law and entered politics in 1905 as a flotorial representative from Burnet and Williamson counties. He served on several committees, including Senate Affairs, Banking and Private Corporations, Judiciary, State Affairs, Suffrage, Elections, and Revenue and Taxation. Love also authored and proposed the city depository bill.

After serving in the legislature for four years, Love returned to his law practice in Georgetown and added a partner, Alfred Nunn. He was prominent in local affairs, serving as city attorney, then as county judge from 1919-1927, at which time he retired due to poor health. He was also president of the local school board for many years.

Throughout his adulthood, Love was active in the Knights of Pythias, a charitable fraternity that sponsors halfway houses and other community homes. F.D. Love passed away in 1931, after a two-year illness following an attack of influenza.

Scope and Content Note

The bulk of the collection is composed of correspondence between F.D. Love and his wife Mellie (Lockett)Love, written between 1903 and 1910. The majority of these letters describe F.D. Love’s experiences as a Texas legislator, including his work on specific committees, the ad valorum tax, and the passage of the City Depository Bill, which he authored and proposed. These letters provide a candid look at many Texas politicians, such as Governor Lanham, Judge Glasscock, Senator Bailey, and J. T. Canales. Of particular note are two letters describing celebrity visitors to the Texas Capitol, including Sarah Bernhardt (1906) and Theodore Roosevelt (1905).

The later correspondence between F.D. and Mellie (1921-1928) deals primarily with the divorce between Albert Shipp Pegues and Pearl Lockett Pegues, as well as his service as city attorney and county judge.

Other items in the collection include stock certificates; a portfolio of important papers such as subpoenas, stock and tax information; a handwritten book of poetry composed by Love (1887); and a letter copy book, which contains typewritten copies of letters he wrote as a private attorney in Georgetown (1905-1906).

Accessions processed July 2006:

The bulk of this group of documents, 1 document case, consists of Franklin Love’s Taylor/Love family genealogy research correspondence. The remaining documents are a mixture of legal work from the Love law practice, legal documents relating to the Franklin Love family, some personal correspondence and a small group of financial documents. These were found circa 2004 among Mood-Heritage Museum items stored in the university warehouse.

Among the non-genealogy correspondence are copies of letters to former Tennessee classmates, miscellaneous family correspondence as well as two letters from the Civil War period written by Gen. A. E. Jackson to “Landon” regarding the Confederate States Alien Enemy Act. The legal documents and correspondence contain information regarding subjects such as: a petition for pardon, a guardianship dispute, a group of papers relating to a suit for seduction, insurance suits and collection letters.

A small group of booklets pertaining to Bell and Scottish Alexander family members, data on the Love family, booklets with alphabetic lists of correspondents were retained with the collection. Periodicals from the East Tennessee Historical Society and Haywood County Centennial, a “Let’s Go Back to Tennessee” Homecoming brochure, booklets pertaining to North Carolina were donated to the Haywood County Library and other Tennessee institutions.

The remaining materials, a letter copy book (1904-1905) and a ledger book with account payment information from the Love law practice, are boxed with the folder of “Valuable Papers” from the original accession of Love papers. The book, Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Andrew Johnson, was pulled from the collection and cataloged in Special Collections.                     

Biographical Note

Henry Matthews (1799-18?) was a Methodist circuit rider, schoolteacher, and practicing physician from Ohio, who made his way from Ohio, through the Illinois Territory, to Texas. Primarily a circuit-riding preacher and schoolteacher in his early days in Ohio, Matthews practiced medicine more formally in the 1830s and 1840s in San Felipe, Texas, where Matthews and his wife Miranda eventually settled. Evident from his later writings, Matthews was well acquainted with some of the founders of Rutersville College, near La Grange, Texas, in 1840, and may have been an active participant in the initial Methodist camp meetings at Rutersville in the late 1830s.

Henry Matthews was the father of Zenas Wells Matthews. Special Collections holds Zenas’ war diary and service papers from the 1846 U.S.-Mexico War.

Scope and Content Note

The five-volume set of diaries includes transcriptions of letters written by Matthews to various family members and friends in Ohio; student rosters and progress reports; descriptions of medical services rendered and patients’ progress and conditions; and sermon notes and copies of scriptural passages. The earliest of the diaries traces Matthews’s life on the Fairfield Circuit in Ohio and as a schoolteacher in rural Ohio. In later diary entries, Matthews’s commentary focuses on daily life in Texas, ranging from weather reports to crop and garden progress to community events and news to Texans’ relations with the nearby Native American Indian tribes like the Coshatta Indians.

Biographical Note

George Walker McClanahan Sr.

George Walker McClanahan Sr. (1824-1874) was the first principal of the Paine Female Institute in Goliad, Texas, from 1855 to 1860. He graduated in 1853 from Emory and Hill College, a Methodist seminary in Virginia, and set off for Goliad with his family to take the position at the Paine Female Institute, which had been founded there in 1852. In 1865 McClanahan moved to Oakville, Texas and then to Beeville before moving south to Corpus Christi. The move to Corpus Christi coincided with an outbreak of Yellow Fever and McClanahan’s wife Mary Dorthea (Harris) McClanahan fell ill and died there in 1865. McClanahan then moved back to Beeville where he went into merchandising. He and his partners built the first business building in Beeville. McClanahan was Beeville’s first postmaster, the district and county clerk, and a Sunday school teacher. He died in Beeville in 1874.

The Paine Female Institute

The Paine Female Institute was established in 1852, when members of the Methodist Church in Goliad held a public meeting to establish a college for women, to take the place of the late Hillyer Female College. The Rev. Jesse Hord, a Methodist minister and then president of the newly elected board of trustees, held classes in his home until a building could erected to house the institution. When a permanent two-story structure was constructed in 1856, the Institute’s charter placed the school under the direction of the Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. According to the 1874 minutes the school enrolled 130 pupils and maintained a staff of seven teachers. For a more detailed account of the Paine Female Institute’s history see The Handbook of Texas Online.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of three folders that contain G.W. McClanahan Sr.’s correspondence dating from 1854 to 1857 concerning the Paine Institute, including three versions of an article he wrote about his journey from Virginia to Texas, a small bound notebook containing a curriculum and an attendance log from the 1855 Spring semester at the Paine Institute, a Bible questions and Answers booklet written by McClanahan’s son, G.W. McClanahan Jr., an article in the Lutheran newspaper The Messenger written in remembrance of G.W. McClanahan Jr. and a several newspaper clippings relating to the McClanahan family’s history. Of particular interest to both researchers and genealogists are the Institute’s attendance logs in the second folder. McClanahan’s account of his arrival in Texas includes descriptions of frontier life and agricultural practices. His correspondence also details his travel times and expenses.

Biographical Note

Reba McMinn, a student from Childress, Texas, studied at Southwestern University Ladies’ Annex from 1913-14. McMinn transferred from Southwestern University to Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In 1917, she attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York City.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains McMinn’s letters to hometown friend Mary Biggerstaff throughout McMinn’s college experiences. Biggerstaff, who was approximately a year behind McMinn, studied at TCU in Fort Worth. Most of the letters were written consistently once a week (Thursdays for the most part.) Several letters from her friends Intha, Frieda Wirtz, and May accompany the collection.

Biographical Note

Of Herman Melville’s four children, only his daughter Frances was married. Frances and her husband Henry B. Thomas had four daughters, of whom one, Frances Cuthbert Thomas, married Abeel Osborne. Frances Osborne had a strong interest in her grandfather, and drew up early recollections of him which are contained in the Osborne Collection. Frances sister, Eleanor Melville Metcalf, received the bulk of Melville’s literary remains, including the manuscript of Billy Budd, which Melville left unfinished at the time of his death.

Frances Osborne, however, bequeathed family memorabilia to her son Walter, items that were inherited in turn by his children and assembled by his son, Duncan Elliott Osborne. These items include materials relating to Herman Melville, and also to the family of his illustrious father-in-law, Judge Lemuel Shaw.

It is noteworthy that mementos of Herman Melville’s grandfathers are preserved here. Major Thomas Melville and General Peter Gansevoort were heroes of the American Revolution, and their reputations continued into the early 19th century.

In all, the Osborne Collection embraces mementos reaching across seven generations of an American family.

Scope and Content Note

The Duncan E. Osborne Collection of papers and memorabilia pertaining to his great-great-grandfather, Herman Melville, came to Southwestern University as a loan in 1984. The University is indebted to Mr. Osborne, of Austin, Texas, for allowing the documents and mementos in the collection to be housed in the Special Collections department of the University’s A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center. 

Among the items in the Osborne Collection, of particular note is a letter from Melville to his aunt Lucy Melville, written in 1828 when he was 9 years old, as well as prints and a pocket compass that were among his personal possessions. The collection also includes manuscripts, published materials, and other items bearing on the life and work of Melville and his father-in-law Lemuel Shaw. The entire collection is described in the accompanying inventory.

Thanks are also due to Professor Robert K. Wallace, Northern Kentucky University, for identifying a number of Herman Melville’s prints.

Biographical Note

O.W. Moerner first attended Southwestern University in 1910. During his years at the university, he also took classes at the Fitting School. In 1912, he joined the faculty at Cherokee Junior College, where he participated in the Glee Club and the College Quartette. He also helped coach/manage the Cherokee Junior College Men’s Baseball Team. After two years at Cherokee, Moerner returned to Southwestern an active student. He was a member of the San Jacinto Literary Society, Southwestern University Glee Club, Head Yell Leader, and a competitor on the Southwestern Track Team. Moerner also had the privilege of being one of the Chief Marshals at the first May Fete held in 1915. After he graduated from the university that same year, Moerner went on to become a Methodist preacher. O.W. Moerner was an active alumnus of Southwestern University throughout the rest of his life.

Scope and Content Note

The O.W. Moerner Collection includes several of Moerner’s personal belongings acquired during his years at Southwestern University and Cherokee Junior College. The collection reflects Moerner’s involvement at both institutions. A majority of this collection was donated by his daughter, Alyce Phillips.

From Moerner’s first years at Southwestern University, the collection includes an SU Student handbook, debate programs, a debate speech by Moerner, and a track meet program. A Cherokee Junior College Catalogue and Annual are included in the collection from the years in which Moerner was a faculty member at the college. In photograph archives, there is a picture of the Cherokee Junior College Men’s Baseball Team with Coach (?) Moerner pictured to the far right. There is also a picture of the SU class of 1915 at their 50th reunion in 1965, and a picture of Moerner along with a Rev. King and Iola Bowden [Chambers] and several others who are unidentified. The rest of the Moerner collection is from Moerner’s later years at Southwestern, including alumni events. There are programs for recitals, Moerner’s graduation, debate meets, Glee Club, senior luncheon, and a Baccalaureate service. There is also a program for the first May Fete in 1915. The textiles collection contains a May Fete sash Moerner wore as one of the official May Fete Marshals. Among the programs there are broadsides/flyers for several concerts, track meets, and team manager elections. Other Southwestern includes promo flyers, a game ticket, SU buttons, and an SU Homecoming flag with a picture of the Homecoming King and Queen. There are also two ribbons Moerner earned in his track events. One was awarded to him for receiving 2nd place in the relay race, and the other for receiving 3rd place in the 440-yard run. Moerner’s photograph album dates from about 1911 to 1915 and contains pictures of Moerner at track meets, districts/towns in which he possibly preached, fellow students, friends, and family.

Biographical Note

Kevin Moomaw was a campaign volunteer in the 1972 and 1978 Tower Senatorial Campaigns.

Scope and Content Note

This collection of memorabilia contains examples of the various types of campaign materials used by the Tower Campaign in 1972 and 1978. There is a Volunteer Guide and a Tower Issues booklet along with a Young Texans for Tower brochure.

The memorabilia items include one Women Power for Tower sticker from the 1972 campaign, two different Tower Power canvas bags, John Tower bumper stickers in blue on white and white on blue, Nosotros Con Tower bumper stickers, and a lapel stick pin from the 1978 election bid. There are examples of the different posters and yard signs as well as the various flyers, including “The Issue isn’t Unions. It’s Freedom.” and “Let’s Start from Strength. Not from Scratch.” used in the 1978 campaign.

There are a few items from the Krueger campaign, a door hanger and an article from the Texas AFL-CIO Labor News.

Biographical Note

Rev. Olin W. Nail was born to Daniel and Martha Jane Nail in China Springs, Texas, near Waco, on June 12, 1890. He volunteered for the ministry on March 14, 1909, was licensed to preach in May that same year and delivered his first sermon at Coon Creek on July 11, 1909. He was made a deacon in 1913 and an elder in 1917. Nail received four degrees from Methodist schools, including a doctorate of Theology. He joined the West Texas Conference in 1924, and served Texas churches for forty years.

Dr. Nail wrote numerous articles on Texas Methodism and prepared a short history of the Methodist church in Texas that dealt especially with church accomplishments after 1900. This history appeared in the Handbook of Texas issued in 1958. He married Mary Crowson on September 30, 1915, and they had two children. Rev. Olin Nail died in 1970 at age 80.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, sermons, church publications, printed materials, and photographs, 1888-1969 (2.9 linear feet). The majority of the materials are sermons that Nail delivered at Texas churches between 1915 and 1964. Among the places he preached were China Springs, Smiley, Lavernia, Kempner, Harlandale, Pearsall, Travis Park Church, Elgin, Weslaco, Lampassas, Sterling City, Carrizo Springs, Mathis, Donna, Denver Heights, Aldersgate, Falfurrias, Cordele, SMU, and St. John’s Baptist Church. Each sermon has on its top right corner the date and the name of the city in which it was preached. The biographical information on Olin Nail within the collection is divided between his own life and family (with several photographs and a statement of insurance), and his wife, Mrs. Nail. Relating to his education is a copy of his dissertation. Church related papers abound within the collection including pamphlets from churches where he preached, the number of members for each church, and Sunday service programs. Other publications include articles he wrote for The Southwestern Advocate, History of the West Texas Conference, and Methodism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. The collection also includes an original recorded tape of a sermon entitled "Why the Light Failed" which Nail delivered at a dinner in Falfurrias.

Biographical Note

Pearl Alma Neas was born in Liberty Hill, Texas in 1893 to Isaac and Hester (Ottinger) Neas. In 1913, Pearl Neas graduated from Tyler Business College in Tyler, Texas. She continued her education at Southwestern University, which she attended from 1913-1916, 1923-1924, 1925-1926, 1930-1932, and 1933-1934. Ms. Neas also attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago in 1931.

It is no exaggeration to state that Southwestern University encapsulated Ms. Neas’ career. In 1913, she came to Southwestern as secretary to the President; in 1917, she became Assistant Registrar. Six years later, she took over as Registrar, a position she held until her death in 1962. Ms. Neas was the first woman in the history of the University to hold this position. She served the University in other ways as well, working as Director of Publicity and Correspondence in the mid-1930s, and as Executive Secretary of the Ex-Students Association in 1936. She also wrote “A Brief History of Southwestern” for fundraising purposes in the late 1930s.

Ms. Neas worked to promote higher education through her membership in several organizations. She was one of three founding members of the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars, and was a member of the Southwestern and National branches of that organization. She held memberships in the Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Higher Education, and the National Education Association. Her interests included cultural and civic issues as well: she was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Georgetown Business Women’s League, and held leadership positions in the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, Pi Gamma Mu, Pi Delta Epsilon, Zeta Tau Alpha, the Wesleyan Guild, and the Texas Fine Arts Association.

Ms. Neas was active in politics, having served as a delegate to Democratic conventions. She used her connections to Lyndon Baines Johnson to bring great civic improvements to Georgetown and Williamson County. The collection contains some correspondence between her and Lyndon B. Johnson which reveal her influence in promoting the construction of the Georgetown Airport and the San Gabriel Dam. She was also instrumental in securing a V-12 Military Training Unit for the University during World War II, which was a lifesaver for the campus during those difficult years.

In 1956, Ms. Neas was named Woman of the Year by the Georgetown Business Women’s League. She received other honors as well, for her dedicated service to Georgetown and to the University. She was named in Who’s Who in Texas; in the South and Southwest; in Education; and in Methodism. She was recognized in Notable Women of the Southwest, The Blue Book, The International Blue Book of Notables, and the National Social Directory.

During her forty-nine years at Southwestern University, Pearl Neas was a force for progress and change. Her efforts bridged the gap between the University and the Georgetown community, and brought cultural, educational, and civic improvements to both. When she died on July 3, 1962, her funeral and subsequent memorial services were held on campus in the Lois Perkins Chapel.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, printed material, personal files, photographs, artifacts and textiles, 1914-1962 (3.3 linear feet). The bulk of the correspondence is between Ms. Neas and Lyndon Baines Johnson, conducted throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Most of this correspondence concerns the Naval V-12 Unit, a military training program instituted at Southwestern for the duration of World War II. Other correspondents include Lady Bird Johnson, Rebekah (Mrs. Sam) Johnson, Coke Stevenson, W. Angie Smith, and A. Frank Smith.

The collection houses many other items relevant to Southwestern University history. Ms. Neas’ personal files contain her secretarial work on the Inaugural Committees for J. N. R. Score’s and William Carrington Finch’s inaugurations; a list of students inducted into Pi Gamma Mu; programs from Southwestern University-related events, and other cultural, community, and business-related events. Of particular interest are Southwestern University football programs from the 1940s (8 items). Ms. Neas’ personal files also include advertisements for Southwestern University placed in Texas newspapers from the 1920s-1940s. These files also contain advertisements designed by Southwestern University journalism students (1926-1927).

The collection also contains scrapbooks compiled by Neas from the late 1910s-1930s (3 items), and the push to move Southwestern University from its Georgetown location is thoroughly documented in these newspaper clippings. Other artifacts of interest are a set of Texas Centennial placards (36 items) with text written by J. Frank Dobie; a plaster model of the Cullen Building made for the Golden Jubilee in1923; and a leather-bound Southwestern University calendar from 1914. A Southwestern University diploma for Jannie McCollough (date unknown) and a sampler dating from 1831 are other items of interest in this collection.

Biographical Note

Jim Oberwetter, born November 3, 1944, was a major participant in the burgeoning Texas Republican Party in the 1960’s and 70’s. As a student at the University of Texas he pushed for the expansion of the UT Young Republican Organization, holding office as Vice President in 1965. Seeking higher office within the organization, he became national committeeman in 1966 and eventually ran for state chairman, albeit unsuccessfully. His work with the Young Republicans increased the viability of the Republican Party in state and national politics.

He continued his political career by serving as George H. W. Bush’s press secretary during his time in congress. He stepped out of politics for a time to work in the oil business, becoming Vice President of Hunt Consolidated, a major oil company from Dallas. He returned to politics at the behest of President George W. Bush to serve as ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2003-2007. In 2007, he founded Oberwetter and Company, a firm dedicated to international business and corporate strategy. As of 2008, he was serving as president of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains primarily correspondence among important Texas Young Republicans and campaign brochures. The brochures cover local, state, and national campaigns throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Also found are membership directories as well as news clippings and publications about both the Young Republicans and GOP, including a large section on the 1968 national and state elections. Other media include radio and television commercials and photographs from the 1968 Paul Eggers Gubernatorial campaign. Of special note is the play A Comedy of Errors: The Story of the Texas Young Republican Federation: 1967-68, by Jack Brannon that details the frequent infighting within the organization that is a common theme in this collection. Although the collection focuses primarily on the UT Young Republican club, it also mentions other Texas and National YR organizations.

Biographical Note

William E. Orgain, a judge who lived in Beaumont, Texas, was a Southwestern University Trustee for twenty-three years (1917-1940). Orgain attended Southwestern University from 1899 to 1903. After his death, family members established a scholarship fund in his memory for students at Southwestern.

Scope and Content Note

Bulk of papers is correspondence, both personal and business-related. Most of his correspondence consists of business and financial dealings of the university, including several pieces of correspondence concerning land in Brazoria County that the Standard Oil Company purchased from the university. The collection also contains minutes from Board of Trustees meetings throughout Orgain’s years of service to the university.

Biographical Note

Farley Snell, a native Floridian, holds an A.B. degree from Florida Southern College and a M.Div. and Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He served as chaplain at Southwestern University for 27 years, from 1972 until his retirement in 1999. As the chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, Snell was a rather unconventional chaplain who spoke on topical events within a religious context and who valued his time in the classroom. He coordinated the Religion Lecture Series bringing scores of internationally recognized scholars and theologians to campus. The university historian, Bill Jones, described Chaplain Snell as “a person of independent mind who refused to be forced to do what he did not believe in, he was splendid preacher, always preaching from the lectionary.” Snell spoke eloquently on the place of religious values in the academy and he was appointed Presider for the creation of the new Master Plan for the University. At the time of his retirement, the university published a book of his sermons entitled Sometimes a Surprising Word.

Snell retired to Asheville, North Carolina after 27 years at Southwestern. He was a frequent lecturer at Senior University in Georgetown, TX and now gives lectures around Asheville on religion.

Scope and Content Note

Printed sermons and sermons in audio tape dating from 1978 to 1999. The papers also include the book that the university published at the time of his retirement, Sometimes a Surprising Word.

Biographical Note

Sue Stanford was born on October 1, 1889 on her family’s farm eight miles southwest of Waco, McLennan County, Tx. Growing up with seven brothers and sisters, Sue Stanford spent much of her youth either assisting with farm chores or worshipping in Stanford Chapel, named for her paternal grandfather who was a pioneer Methodist preacher and a successful grandfather. Her love for education was ingrained through her family life as six of her seven siblings went to college. As her desire for education and her strong emphasis on spirituality grew throughout her childhood, her experience at a missionary meeting conducted by her mother revealed a life-changing link between learning and religion. from that point forward, missionary work deeply interested Stanford. Attending prep school at Coronal Institute, San Marcos, Tx, Stanford chose to pursue undergraduate studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Tx. It was in Georgetown where she was introduced to the YMCA and Student Volunteer Movement. more importantly, she studied under Dr. Herbert Lee Gray, a Bible professor and missionary to China from 1890 to 1897. Dr. Gray helped finalize her decision to dedicate her life to missionary work.

Graduating from Southwestern University in 1911, Sue Stanford entered missionary training at Scarritt Bible and Training School. In 1914, she left for China and arrived in Shanghai, a rapidly growing port city of two million. Stanford served as a teacher and principal at the Virginia School for girls in Huchow for the majority of her stay. She also taught a the McTyeire School in Shanghai when the Virginia School was temporarily shut down due to extenuating circumstances.

Stanford's work in China ended in 1950, when anti-Christian pressure from the newly empowered Communist regime under Mao Zedong took control in 1949. Despite this sudden and forceful ouster, Sue Stanford and her fellow missionaries left behind a solid foundation of indigenous leaders who would continue to advance the spread of Christianity in China.

Professor E. Steelman Collection of Central Texas Fossils and Native American Artifacts and Native American Collection of Unknown Provenance.

Edmund Steelman was a Southwestern University professor of religion and Biblical archaeology from 1946 to 1978. His collection includes various Native American artifacts and a few fossils. The collection’s content is from assorted locations in the central Texas area. Some of the artifacts were excavated by Dr. Steelman in the mid to late 1970s. He undertook excavations mainly along the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, though there were a few on the farm of Dr. Edward M. Lansford near Leander. This excavation yielded points, large blades, grindstones, and a few shell and bone remains. The fossils were given to the university by Mr. Sam Goldenley, Jr. The fossils are all from the Georgetown area and are various sea creatures.

A second large collection does not have a known provenance; the majority of these objects are Native American points and stone tools, though there are also some bone, antler, and shell remains, and a pottery shard. These artifacts, unlike the Steelman artifacts, have no identifying marks so it is impossible to tell with certainty where in the central Texas area they are from or who excavated them. Since they were grouped with the Steelman artifacts it is possible that these objects are also from his excavation but without anything to identify them there is no way to know which is the case.

Part of the collection is made up of assorted Native American points. The variation in size and shape of these points is quite extensive, and there are many different types. There are also some large stone blades that would have been used for scraping and cutting. The collection also contains quite a few different grinding stones and grinding slabs. These would have been used for grinding grains, seeds, and nuts. The stones and slabs have smooth areas where they were worn away with use. The rest of the collection is an amalgamation of other artifacts that have not been fully identified. The types of fossils are known but the types of bone are not, nor are the types of shell. The antlers type is also not known but they appear to be deer. The pottery shard is the only one of its kind in this collection and there is nothing known about it.

There are some written records on file that pertain to the Steelman artifacts. These are mainly excavation notes about the Dr. Edward M. Lansford dig and information about Native American life/remains. There are also records of students who worked on the dig. Along with these there is a layout of the dig site and a topographical map of the area surrounding the North Fork dig. Lastly there are some recent additions to the file that are about conservation of the artifacts.

Biographical Note

Julia E. Stewart, a native of Georgetown, attended Southwestern University in the first half of the twentieth century. She came to Southwestern University in 1910, and took classes until 1912. During this time she attended the Summer Normal and Fitting School in order to become a teacher. She returned in 1915-1916 for another session of Summer Normal. In the 1920s, Stewart taught elementary school, though we do not know where she taught. Later, Stewart once again returned to Southwestern University to broaden her education. She attended the university from 1935-1941, graduating with a bachelor's degree. In 1935 she was initiated into Sigma Tau Delta and was the secretary for this group in 1939. In 1938, Stewart became a member of Pi Gamma Mu. In 1941 she was chosen to be a member of Alpha Chi.

Stewart’s papers came to SU some time in the 1990s. A note indicated that she was 106 years old at the time, living in the Mel Haven Convalescent Home in Corsicana. The note stated that she was hard of hearing but still “sharp as a tack,” still writing, and studying the Bible daily. The Corsicana newspaper did stories annually on her February (?) birthday.

Scope and Content Note

Writings, certificates, poem booklets, school storybook, school papers, and a Southwestern University magazine make up the scope of this collection. Most materials are Stewart’s school papers, which she wrote during her school days at Southwestern University. The bulk of these papers are from 1935-1941. They consist of prose, poems, and critiques of other written works. Stewart wrote a partial novel entitled “Ebb Lange”, which seems to be about a family’s life on their farm. She wrote prize-winning poetry and prose and was honored by having Dean Meyers ask for her piece entitled Music. She wrote many of her poems on nature and life in general. She also won a prose contest sponsored by the Southwestern Magazine. Her prose, Time, was published in the May 1939 edition of this magazine.

Biographical Note

May Esther Peterson Thompson, an opera singer with an international career, was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where her father was a Methodist minister. Her earliest musical performances were singing for her father's services in church. After beginning formal musical studies at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, Peterson traveled to Europe when she was in her late teens to pursue a career in opera. She struggled financially for many years, sometimes living on bread and milk. Eventually, for health reasons, she moved to France where she was asked to learn the extremely difficult title role in Manon. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and in 1918, she signed a contract to sing soprano with the Metropolitan Opera Company. She also had a contract with the Vocalion record label and gave radio concerts. She famously declared that she avoided romance because of the demands of her career. In 1921, she apparently had a change of heart when Col. Ernest Thompson escorted her to a party in Amarillo, Texas, where she was performing. Thompson was a prominent lawyer, businessman and politician who ran for Governor and served in several political offices. They married in 1924, and Peterson, now known as May Esther Peterson Thompson, soon retired from the opera and relocated to Texas where she continued to give concerts in local venues. On October 8, 1952, she died of natural causes at their summer house in Colorado. Information obtained from:

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fth48

Scope and Content Note

The May Esther Peterson Thompson Collection is divided into two sections, personal papers and sheet music. The personal papers include correspondence to and from May Peterson and Col. Thompson, relatives, composers, friends, and her lawyer. The collection also contains recital and concert programs; travel brochures from Europe and America; recital planning and repertoire ideas; advertisements for Peterson's performances and recordings; newspaper clippings and articles related to May Peterson and Col. Thompson; and various ephemera including business and calling cards, greeting cards, and horoscope cards. There is also a scrapbook of early performances dating back to 1896.

The sheet music collection contains mostly American art songs published in the 1920's but also includes art songs from the standard classical voice repertoire, folk songs, sacred songs, choral music, song cycles, pieces for organ and a book of cadenzas for arias. The sheet music collection was housed at Southwestern University's School of Fine Arts for many years. When it was transferred to the library, some classical pieces were removed for cataloging in the general collection. The remaining pieces were sent to Special Collections where her personal papers were held. The popular sheet music also complemented the Carrie Minette Hickerson Sheet Music Collection housed in Special Collections.

Scope and Content Note, 2013 Accession

The 2013 Accession consists of two main components: personal papers and 78rpm sound recordings. The former includes personal letters and postcards from the 1910s to 1920s reflecting on travels as well as new clippings and papers pertaining to her later life and death. The collection also contains photographs, personal as well as promotional; an assortment of programs to overseas and continental recitals and performances; concert schedule posters; a large map of railway routes in Germany and nearby countries; and her US passport issued in 1923.

The sound recordings comprise of mostly 10 inch and some 12 inch 78 rpm sound discs and are accompanied by an assortment of original sleeves. Most of the items are by Aeolian Company, recorded in 1916 and 1921. A small number are "not for sale" test records. Some of her recordings have been digitized and are available online.

Biographical Sketch

John Goodwin Tower was born on September 29, 1925 in Houston, Texas to Beryl Goodwin Tower and Joe Z. Tower, a Methodist minister.

John grew up in the various East Texas communities where his father preached. He received his diploma from Beaumont High School in the Spring of 1942 and entered Southwestern University in the Fall of that same year. By June of 1943, John Tower had enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served during World War II on an amphibious gunboat in the Western Pacific. He was discharged from the Navy with the rank of Seaman First Class in March 1946. Tower remained active in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1946 until 1989, retiring with the rank of Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate.

After the war, John Tower returned to Southwestern University, where he received a bachelor of arts in political science in 1948. He worked for a time during and after college as a radio announcer at country and western station KTAE in Taylor, Texas. By Spring of 1949, Tower had moved to Dallas and enrolled in graduate courses at Southern Methodist University. While in Dallas, he also worked as an insurance agent. He completed his coursework at Southern Methodist University in the Spring of 1951 and accepted a position as assistant professor of political science at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, a job he held until 1960. In 1952 and 1953, Tower continued his graduate studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. While in London, he conducted field research on the organization of the Conservative Party in Britain which he used for his master’s thesis, “The Conservative Worker in Britain.” He received his master of arts in political science from Southern Methodist University in 1953.

In March of 1952, John Tower married Lou Bullington in Wichita Falls.  They had three children during their years in Wichita Falls:  Penny, born in 1954, Marian, born in 1955, and Jeanne, born in 1956. John and Lou Tower were divorced in 1976, and Senator Tower married Lila Burt Cummings in 1977. They were divorced in 1987.

While living and working in Wichita Falls, John Tower became active in the Republican Party of Texas. In 1954, he ran an unsuccessful race for state representative from the 81st District, and in 1956 he represented Texas as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. By 1960, Tower was sufficiently well known to be nominated at the Texas State Republican Convention to run against Lyndon B. Johnson for U.S. Senator in the November general election. Johnson easily won the senatorial seat, but he was also elected vice president. William Blakely was appointed to fill the seat which Johnson resigned, and a special election was slated for the spring. Tower entered the special Senate election as a Republican candidate, and, on April 4, 1961, led the field of 70 candidates. William Blakely came in second, forcing a May 27 runoff election that Tower also won. Senator Tower’s election marked the first time a Republican senator had been elected in Texas since 1870 and was seen by many as heralding the arrival of two-party politics in Texas. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1966, 1972 and 1978.

Upon assuming his seat, Senator Tower was assigned to two major committees, the Labor and Public Welfare Committee and the Banking and Currency Committee. He served on the Labor and Public Welfare Committee until 1964. He remained on the Banking and Currency Committee, which became the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in 1971, throughout his Senate career. In 1965, Senator Tower was assigned to the Senate Armed Services Committee where he served continuously until his retirement, chairing the Committee from 1981 until 1984. Senator Tower also served on the Joint Committee on Defense Production from 1963 until 1977 and on the Senate Republican Policy Committee in 1962 and from 1969 until 1984. He was elected by his colleagues to chair the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 1973 to 1984.

Tower FlyingThroughout his 24 year career, Senator Tower influenced a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues. As chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, he worked to strengthen and modernize the nation’s defenses. He was widely respected for his skills in guiding legislation through the often complex process by which it is enacted into law. Senator Tower worked to stimulate economic growth, improve opportunities for small business, promote U.S. exports, improve transportation systems, and encourage strong financial institutions and systems. He was also concerned with promoting prosperity in agriculture, the energy industry, fishing and maritime industries, and other areas of commerce particularly important to Texans.

Senator Tower took a leadership role in Republican Party politics in Texas and on the national level. He supported Barry Goldwater for President in 1964, headed Richard Nixon’s Key Issues Committee in 1968, supported Gerald Ford for President in 1976, and worked for the Reagan-Bush tickets in 1980 and 1984, and the Bush-Quayle ticket in 1988. Senator Tower was a member of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 1962-1963, 1969-1970, and 1973-1974 and was chairman of the Committee in 1969-1970. He was a Texas delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1980. He also chaired the National Security and Foreign Policy Platform Subcommittee in 1972 and the National Republican Platform Committee in 1980.

Senator Tower maintained close ties with his alma mater, Southwestern University, serving on its Board of Trustees from 1968 through 1991. In 1964, he received the honorary Doctor of Literature degree from the university and was named Distinguished Alumnus in 1968. The Tower-Hester Chair of Political Science, named for Senator Tower and his former professor, George C. Hester, was inaugurated at Southwestern University in 1975.

John G. Tower - ReaganJohn Tower retired from the Senate on January 3, 1985. Two weeks later President Ronald Reagan appointed him to be Chief U.S. Negotiator at the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in Geneva with the Soviet Union.

Senator Tower served for fifteen months as chief negotiator and gained the Soviets’ respect for his negotiating skills, knowledge of the issues, and mastery of technical details. In April 1986, he resigned as chief negotiator to pursue personal business. Senator Tower was Distinguished Lecturer in political science at Southern Methodist University from 1986 until 1988 and chaired Tower, Eggers and Greene Consulting, Inc. of Dallas and Washington, D.C., from 1987 to 1991. President Reagan again called Senator Tower into government service in November 1986 when he appointed him to chair the President’s Special Review Board to study the action of the National Security Council and its staff during the Iran-Contra Affair. The Board, which became known as the Tower Commission, issued its report on February 26, 1987. In 1989, Tower was President George Bush’s choice to become Secretary of Defense, but the Senate did not confirm his nomination. The charges, counter-charges, and accusations of the hearings are chronicled in Senator Tower’s 1991 book,Consequences: A Personal and Political Memoir. In 1990, President Bush named Tower chair of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Senator Tower died, along with his daughter Marian, in a commuter plane crash near New Brunswick, Georgia, on April 5, 1991. A dedicated statesman, John Tower will long be remembered for his service to Texas and his country.

Summary Description of Papers

Senator Tower’s career spanned a fascinating and often troubled time in our nation’s history, and his papers mirror the period and provide insight into the events of the 1960s through the 1980s. The Vietnam War, civil rights, busing, the rise of the Republican Party in Texas and the South, Watergate, the energy crisis of the 1970s, women’s issues, abortion, environmental concerns, the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration, labor, defense, deregulation in the 1980s - the papers are a microcosm of the era from a national and a Texas perspective and occasionally from an international point of view.

The collection, which is now approximately 800 linear feet, consists primarily of materials that Senator Tower accumulated during his 24 years in the Senate, although there are some files that pre-date and post-date his Senate career. The majority of the files are from Washington D.C., but there are also files, mostly casework, from his state offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Lubbock. The collection contains papers and manuscripts, printed materials, videotapes, audiocassettes, films, photographs, memorabilia and artifacts, microfilm, and a few electronic records. The 21 series in which the papers are arranged document Senator Tower’s activities and accomplishments: legislation he sponsored or co-sponsored, his voting record, correspondence, casework, campaigns, trips, political activities, committee work, speeches, floor statements, newsletters, radio and television broadcasts and more. During his time in office, Senator Tower served many years on the Armed Services Committee, the Joint Committee on Defense Production, and the Banking and Currency Committee (later called the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee).

Although committee records remain in Washington, D.C., as part of the permanent record of Congress, Senator Tower retained copies of some material related to these committees, particularly the Banking, Armed Services and Senate Republican Policy committees. The papers also reveal the work of the Senator’s staff. In addition to a series, Aides, and a sub-series, Legislation: Aides, almost all series contain evidence of the work of Tower’s staff as they wrote speeches, planned campaigns, handled constituent correspondence and case work, and assembled information that the senator needed to make informed decisions.

After Senator Tower’s untimely death in 1991, his family donated the remainder of his papers, most of which concern his life before and after his years in the Senate. The university also holds collections from John Knaggs, a writer and political columnist and consultant, and J. French Hill, one of Senator Tower’s aides. In addition, there are several small accessions of scrapbooks, campaign memorabilia, and miscellaneous items donated by friends, relatives and supporters.

Biographical Note

No information available other than that Thompson wrote his MA thesis at the University of Maryland and his papers ended up at University of San Antonio.  UTSA donated them to the Tower Library at Southwestern in 2012.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains materials Thompson gathered during research for his MA thesis: Senator John Goodwin Tower of Texas; an examination of events leading to his election in 1961 and his reelection in 1966. Thesis (M.A.) – University of Maryland, 1968. Southwestern University has a copy of the thesis. The papers include original and photocopies of materials Tower’s office and campaigns created, correspondence, interview notes, questionnaires, responses to questionnaires, and studies. Thompson had responses from important Republicans, including George H. W. Bush, Peter O’Donnell, Albert Fay, and others.

Biographical Note

W. Ernest Thompson was born on March 24, 1978 in Fairfield, Texas. Raised in Hillsboro, Thompson graduated from Southwestern University in 1898 and attended the University of Texas Law School. He wrote various articles that appeared in several local and university periodicals such as the Houston Tribune and Southwestern University Monthly. Thompson also wrote biographies for other periodicals such as the Texas Bar Journal and Southwestern Historical Quarterly and achieved a local reputation as a writer. Thompson’s best-known achievement is his historical study, From the Grass Roots: A Land Man’s Story, which describes the evolution of land and farm mortgage patterns in Texas from the 1880s to 1947. His book represents the product of a professional career in the land business, in which Thompson was active for over 65 years as a mortgage banker, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civilian land appraiser, and real estate broker. Thompson served with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in public relations, working with 37 counties in southeast Texas. He was also a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas and the Texas Land Title Association. Loyal to his Alma Mater, Thompson corresponded frequently with President Fleming at Southwestern University and maintained a strong interest in the university’s history.

Scope and Content Note

Outgoing & incoming correspondence, a written reminiscence, and newspaper clipping articles both by and about him portray the interests, memories, and biographical information of W. E. Thompson (158 items). The first correspondence series is organized in five folders by subject. The first two folders concern his contact with former Southwestern University President, Dr. Durwood Fleming (108 items). They include outgoing & incoming correspondence relating daily events and news, invitations, friendly wishes, Thompson’s memories of his days as a Southwestern student, and his authored works. Additionally, Thompson occasionally attaches copies of correspondence with others for Fleming’s knowledge. The third folder holds correspondence specifically about his written works, authored articles, etc. (35 items). It includes outgoing and incoming correspondence related to requests for Thompson’s writing skills and historic knowledge as well as commentary on his articles and book, From the Grass Roots. Some of the correspondence in the third folder has biographical documents and/or small pieces of poetry by Thompson attached. The fourth folder focuses on the Texas Land Title Association and the Federal Housing Administration (8 items). Included here are incoming and outgoing letters about a Texas Land Title Association meeting at which Thompson was asked to be a guest speaker, plus letters to and from the FHA referring to a debate held between the San Jacinto and Alamo Societies. The fifth and final folder holds miscellaneous letters (7 items). It includes outgoing and incoming correspondence with White House employee Joe B. Frantz, as well as a cover letter to a list of Southwestern University graduates from 1885-1903, which is filed in the “SU History” series of the Thompson collection.

A second correspondence series of two folders contains the correspondence of Reverend Joseph D. Thomas and Sanford Reed (44 items). The first folder deals with Thomas (22 items), including incoming and outgoing letters with President Fleming on subjects such as the Pastors’ School at Southwestern University, the taping of Thomas’ life history, and the historical events of his life. Thomas writes much about his memories of Southwestern, and his correspondence to Fleming includes “Episodes” of his experiences as an SU student. The second folder has incoming and outgoing correspondence addressed to Reed (22 items). It includes correspondence concerning Allan K. Ragsdale and personal letters between Reed and Thompson commenting on each other’s writings and exchanging memories.

Following the two correspondence series is a third series related to the history of Southwestern University. This is the final series of the Thompson collection. It consists of four folders of newspaper clippings, historical documents, historical publications, written historical accounts, biographical documents, and photograph/slide media (55 items). Newspaper clippings, historical documents and publications are located in the first folder (42 items). Included in this folder are sketches of buildings on the SU campus and in Georgetown, a copy of the program for “The Legend of the Bell” sponsored by the 1927 SU Senior class, a clipping promoting Southwestern University from the 1904 Southwest Texas Conference Journal, copies of articles from Southwestern University Monthly, copies of an excerpt from the 1839 Twentieth Annual Report of the Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church, a clipping from a 1958 edition of the Houston Chronicle of a picture of Dr. Hyer with faculty members around a prototype version of the X-ray, a copy of the souvenir booklet celebrating the 1944 Southwestern University Commencement Exercises, and the list of SU graduates between 1885 and 1903. The second folder includes written historical accounts of SU student experiences as remembered by Rev. J. Thomas and W. E. Thompson (2 items). Thomas’ written account relates the mischief of the SU Prep Glee Club and describes noted personalities at Southwestern such as Dr. Hyer, Dr. McGinnis, Dr. Mouzon, Dr. John Hicks, Dr. Barcus, J. Frank Dobie and Y. Switzer. Thompson’s account is somewhat broader and includes recollections of various buildings, residence halls, classrooms, literary societies, fashions, customs, forms of entertainment, well-known pranks, and faculty members. The third folder contains newspaper clippings both by and about Thompson (7 items). Of especial note in this folder are a 1968 SU Megaphone picture of Thompson as an old graduate at an alumni celebration, an article from an October 1966 edition of the Houston Tribune written by Thompson about a boy’s dream of joining the Army in 1893, and an article from a September 1969 edition of the Houston Post written about Thompson’s experience as a writer after the publishing of his book, From the Grass Roots. The fourth folder of this section holds photographs and slides of both figures in SU history and of Thompson (4 items). Two of the items are slides of Hyer and the x-ray machine and of the SU faculty members of 1898, while the two photographs are both of Thompson, one with his wife Bettie, and one of him at the age of 91.

Biographical Note

Oscar A. Ullrich began his 45 year career with southwestern University in 1920 as a professor in the Education department, later head of the Psychology Department. In 1926, after the resignation of Dean Charles Wunder, he was named Dean of the Faculty, a position he held for 38 years. Dr. Ullrich retired from the position of Dean in 1958, but continued to teach in the Education Department. He was asked to serve, again, as Dean from 1961-1962.

Dr. Ullrich was nationally known in the field of education and was an active member of groups such as the American Psychological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Educators Association, Texas State Teachers Association, Scholia, Phi Delta Kappa, the Lions Club among many others. He was active in church and civic organizations, helping to form the Georgetown United Fund and Lone Star Girl Scout Council.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, speeches, articles, programs, and news clippings. The papers were received in no particular order and were sorted into subject groups within document cases.

One item of interest is a book containing minutes for the Faculty Women’s Forum that was in the possession of Otha Horger Ullrich, a member of the group. There is one folder of material related to Dean Ullrich’s work toward Southwestern faculty paying into the Social Security system.

The largest group of files consists of correspondence with alumni, faculty, University presidents, trustees and others involved in Dean Ullrich’s many interests. One folder contains correspondence with Representative Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the proposed Georgetown Airport and other business before Congress. Another folder contains correspondence with John C. Granbery, some personal and some dealing with his firing from the university.

Dean Ullrich served during the Depression years when the university suffered financial hardship. At one point, the faculty members were asked to take on student loans to collect in lieu of salaries. There are some papers in this collection that deal with the loans the Dean was collecting. There is also material related to the Wiess gift that cleared university indebtedness and laid the foundation for the endowment fund.

The folder “O.A. Ullrich-Personal” has a letter from Lyndon Johnson discussing his desire to stay out of the war in Europe, a completed questionnaire regarding the SU Honor System, humorous poems about the Dean, a copy of a speech given the day President Kennedy was shot, the Dean’s answer to a faculty member’s letter of grievance, President Finch’s letter of resignation to the Dean, letters of recommendation, and news clippings.

There are programs and invitations from various Southwestern activities as well as some from dean Ullrich’s many other organizational activities.

A subsequent gift of the Dean’s files contained several Reports to the President and Reports to the Board of Trustees from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s that were unique to the Archives. This group of files also held an open letter to the Community Chest, which later became the United Fund, and a report on the Georgetown Girl Scout Council as it related to the Community Chest. One copy of People’s Lobby Bulletin from July, 1941 focused on Fascism and the American desire to stay out of the war in Europe. There is a proposal written by Robert Lancaster in the early 1970s pertaining to the Georgetown IMPACT I Plan (Improved Municipality through Planning Agency Council of Texas) to bring together arts, crafts and trades in an effort to foster learning within the community.