Research Ready: May 2014

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. This month we have a few finding aids from the Archival Collections and Museums class that worked on archival processing projects with us here at The Texas Collection…and there will be more to come in upcoming months! Here’s the scoop for May:

Carroll Chapel furniture bids solicitation, 1902
Before Carroll Chapel and Library could be declared done in 1903, the building needed furniture! This letter solicits bids for Chapel seating, most of which would be lost in the 1922 fire. However, you still can see some of the pews in the corridors of the updated Carroll Library building today. BU Records: Carroll Buildings #BU/57, box 1, folder 1.
Letter from Carr P. Collins to Earl C. Hankamer regarding the Greater Baylor Campaign, 1930
Carr P. Collins and Earl C. Hankamer were both noted Baylor Trustees and supporters. Here Hankamer pledges to assist with the Greater Baylor fundraising campaign. BU Records: Greater Baylor Campaign #BU/100, box 4, folder 2.

Sharing Student Scholarship: Finance at Baylor, 1921-1930

For the next few weeks, we’re putting up teasers about the fascinating Baylor history, 1921-1930, that Higher Education and Student Affairs students analyzed and shared on the Foundations and History of Higher Education class blog. Last week we looked at Curriculum. This week we’re looking at Finance at Baylor, with papers examining gridiron finances and the town-and-gown relationship as seen in the Greater Baylor campaign. Did you know that…

  • The Southwest Conference was formed in part to ensure that college athletics remained “sport for sport’s sake,” and that no one school had a greater advantage over another due to uneven financial means. Read more…

    The arch of the 5th Street entrance to Baylor University's Carroll Field
    Baylor might have had the 1915 football championship on the Carroll Field sign, too, but a transfer rule in the newly formed Southwest Conference meant that Baylor had to forfeit the title. General photo files–Baylor–Buildings–Carroll Field.
  • When a proposal to move Baylor from Waco to Dallas arose in the 1920s (an effort intended to unite the university with the medical school and save money), the students, churches, and general Waco community rose up in opposition, helping to raise money for Waco Hall and other projects. Learn more…

We hope you’ll explore these blog posts and enjoy the benefits of the HESA students’ research and scholarship. If you’re inspired to dig deeper, most of their sources can be found in the University Archives within The Texas Collection and in our digitized materials available online in the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections.

Background on this project: Students in the Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) masters program have taken on the challenge of creating original scholarship that adds to what is known about Baylor’s history. As part of Dr. Nathan Alleman’s Foundations and History of Higher Education course, students were grouped under the five class themes: curriculum, finance, students/student groups, access, and religion. In collaboration with Texas Collection archivists and librarians, students mined bulletins, newspapers, correspondence, and other primary resources as they researched their topics. Final papers have been posted on blogs.baylor.edu/hesabaylorhistoryproject and grouped by their particular sub-topic so that patrons, researchers, and other interested persons could benefit from these students’ work. This is the second installment of an annual accumulating project–see last year’s teasers here. Please visit again for future installments!