This week, we here at the W.R. Poage Legislative Library have been reflecting on the long, sometimes tumultuous history of the Presidential Inauguration. You might not imagine that choosing a date to swear in the President would inspire much debate among legislators, but the forward march of progress has always necessitated discussion. In 1937 the…
The holiday season is upon us here at the W.R. Poage Legislative Library, and we’d like to wish you all hearty season’s greetings. As the semester winds down, many of our staff are looking forward to spending some quality time with their families over the winter break. In that spirit, we’ve decided to look at…
During his time in office, Congressman Chet Edwards worked hard to see to the needs of American veterans and their families. One of his most lauded acts was the creation of the Machine Gunnery Sgt. John David Fry Scholarship, which grants the GI Bill college tuition benefits of soldiers killed on active to their children.…
After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the relationship between the United States of American and Fidel Castro’s regime began to suffer. This was due in part to Communist influence and the nationalization of private industry in Cuba – two factors which weakened American influence on the island nation. By early 1960, the United States had begun…
For our final week of American Archives Month, we took a look at the papers of Sam B. Hall. When long-time Congressman Wright Patman died in 1976, Sam B. Hall, Jr. was chosen in a special election represent Texas’s First District. He held this seat in the House of Representatives until 1984 and was re-elected…
This post was researched and written by Jacob Hiserman, one of our BCPM @ Poage Library graduate student assistants, who uncovered these documents while processing our Alan Steelman collection. Imagine a twenty-two-year old freshman Congressman in one of the House of Representatives’s iconic wooden chairs listening to a speech on an appropriations bill. Could an…
In the 1970s, America underwent a period of political turmoil. After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, our military had become embroiled in an open-ended conflict on Vietnamese soil that was heavily protested at home and abroad, leading to civil unrest and anti-American sentiment. Bridges were being built across the racial divide between black…
To kick off American Archives month, we looked into the letters of Congressman W.R. Poage. This post was researched and written by Scott M. Anderson, one of our BCPM @ Poage Library graduate student assistants. Perhaps one of the most difficult parts of archive work is the perception that archives are boring, devoid of…
This year marks the 37th anniversary of the W. R. Poage Legislative Library. In the time since its founding, our library has continually reinvented itself. What began as a repository for “Bob” Poage’s papers and the headquarters of Baylor’s Graduate School has grown into a nationally renowned legislative center encompassing Congressional collections, state and local…
Class is back in session here at Baylor University, and that means the newest renovations to our beloved W.R. Poage Legislative Library building are nearing completion. Over the summer, we’ve been re-tooling the second floor into our brand-new Graduate Research Center (GRC). From the GRC website: The Graduate Research Center (GRC) is a space dedicated…