Waco race relations – The Texas Collection

Research Ready: September 2017

Posted on September 29, 2017

Each month, we post an update to notify our readers about the latest archival collections to be processed and some highlights of our print material acquisitions. These resources are primed for research and are just a sampling of the many resources to be found at The Texas Collection!

September’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

- Horton Foote Screenplay collection, 1954-1988 (#4006): Includes five scripts and screenplays composed by Texas-born playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote.
Two historical markers now commemorate Long Branch Cemetery: one recounting the history of the cemetery and the other honoring a former slave named Sylvia King who is buried there. Long Branch is one of the oldest cemeteries in central Texas. You’ll find these items in the Long Branch Cemetery collection, 2009-2016, undated (#4020), box 1 OVZ, folder 4, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.
- Joe Lett Ward, Jr. papers, 1953-1972, undated (#4029): Materials about Waco civic organizations that Ward was a member of through the years.
- Long Branch Cemetery collection, 2009-2016, undated (#4020): Collection contains materials about the dedication for two Texas state historical markers in Long Branch Cemetery, a historically African American cemetery in Falls County, Texas.
- BU records: Office of the President, Chancellor, and President Emeritus (William Richardson White), 1936-1977, undated (#BU/142): Contains correspondence, literary productions, photographs, clippings, and other materials related to White’s personal life and his role as Baylor University president and chancellor 1948-1963.
September’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print MaterialsEllis, Edward Sylvester. Lightning Jo: The Terror of the Santa Fe Trail. New York: Beadle and Adams, [1874]. Print.

Part of the Beadle Pocket Novels series, Lightning Jo is the adventure story of a scout leading a party through treacherous Comanche country. Click here to view in BearCat.

Lafrentz, F. W. Cowboy Stuff: Poems. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1927. Print.

Number 98 of 500 copies produced, this special edition volume of Cowboy Stuff, complete with handmade laid paper, is signed by the author, Illustrator, and publisher. Each poem, written by F. W. Lafrentz, who, at 14-years-old immigrated to the U.S. from Germany, has an accompanying etching by Henry Ziegler, noted British artist. Click here to view in BearCat.

Research Ready: March 2013

Posted on March 26, 2013

"Ask the American boy why he prefers Kellogg's" — A patriotic advertisement for Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes during WWI. The Thomas L. and Pit Dodson Collection has hundreds of similar early- to mid-twentieth-century art prints and clippings, providing a colorful window into American culture.

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. Here’s the scoop for March:

Kenneth Hazen Aynesworth papers, 1826-1965, undated: Aynesworth’s papers consist of family materials, correspondence, literary productions, collected materials, and medical records collected by Kenneth Hazen Aynesworth, a local doctor who gave the first donation to establish The Texas Collection in 1923.
[Waco] Branch Davidians: “The Facts About Mt. Carmel” Exhibit collection, 1961-2004, undated: This records group contains materials collected by various groups and individuals (including Calvin Smith of the Strecker Museum) to organize an exhibit about the history of the Waco Branch Davidians. The exhibit, entitled “The Facts About Mt. Carmel,” was featured at the Helen Marie Taylor Museum in Waco, Texas, in February 1994.
Adina E. De Zavala papers, 1830 (copy) -1940, undated: These papers document De Zavala’s historic preservation efforts in Texas to protect significant architecture in the state.

Correspondence from the Adina De Zavala papers — A letter of recommendation written by the Mexican Consul in San Antonio, Dr. Plutarco Ornelas, for Adina De Zavala on her historical research trip to Mexico in 1902.

Thomas L. and Pit Dodson collection, 1710-1991, undated: The Thomas L. and Pit Dodson collection contains a wide variety of collected materials, including literary productions, books, photographic materials, and scrapbooks. While spanning three centuries, this collection consists primarily of early- to mid-twentieth-century art prints and periodical clippings.
Marvin C. Griffin papers, 1940-2010, undated: The Griffin papers contain literary productions, photographic materials, audio recordings, and other materials pertaining to Reverend Marvin Griffin, an African American pastor who fought for the spiritual and political freedoms of his congregations at New Hope Baptist Church (Waco) and Ebenezer Baptist Church (Austin).
Roxie Henderson collection, 1852-1919: This collection contains personal items and collected materials of Roxie Henderson, a Baylor graduate who served during World War I as an American Red Cross nurse. Learn more.
Isabella M. Henry papers, 1931-1981, undated: Henry’s papers features manuscripts detailing her career in the Women’s Army Corps and the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II. Learn more.
Lula Pace collection, 1895-1969, undated: This collection contains student notebooks, topographical maps, and scholarly publications by Lula Pace, a PhD graduate of the University of Chicago who served as a science professor at Baylor University in the early 1900s. Learn more.

Research Ready: February 2013

Posted on February 25, 2013

Paul Quinn College art class, circa 1916. This photo taken by Waco photographer Fred Gildersleeve documents a historically black college formerly housed in Waco. The school was coed, but this class appears to be all men.

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. Here’s the scoop for February:

[Waco] Evangelia Settlement Records, 1912-1975: Evangelia Settlement was the first day care program for underprivileged children in Waco. The organization’s records consist of correspondence, legal, financial, and literary manuscripts generated by the settlement or written about the settlement, along with scrapbooks that contain newspaper clippings and photographs.
Gildersleeve-Du Congé Collection, 1910-1918: Former Waco Mayor, Roger Conger, received the extensive collection of Waco photographer Fred A. Gildersleeve
some time after his death. The subject matter of the photo negatives contained in this collection were either requested by Oscar DuCongé, Waco’s first African-American mayor, or selected by Conger to present as a gift.
Francis Gevrier Guittard papers, 1811-1960: This collection contains the personal papers of Dr. Francis Gevrier Guittard, a prominent history professor who served Baylor University for much of the early twentieth century.

Francis Guittard's diploma documenting his PhD from Stanford University, 1931 — Francis Guittard’s passion for history and teaching was evidenced by his personal, lifelong devotion to learning. On April 3, 1931, at the age of 64, Guittard received this Ph.D. diploma from Leland Stanford Junior University. His dissertation, also found here at The Texas Collection, examined Theodore Roosevelt’s commitment to conservation.

Research Ready: October 2012

Posted on October 30, 2012

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. Here’s the scoop for October:

Mary and Oscar Du Congé at work. Their papers document their work, family, and social life in Waco, Texas.

Bolt Family Homestead and Legion Valley Indian Massacre Collection, 1985: This collection is a modern scrapbook about an 1868 Indian raid on several families in Llano County, Texas.
Georgia Jenkins Burleson Collection, 1850-1934: Georgia Burleson was the wife of Baylor president Rufus C. Burleson and served Baylor and Waco in various ways. This collection includes a keepsake album, a diary transcript, a speech transcript, a music book, and The Evergreen.
Camp MacArthur Collection, 1916-1982: Literary productions, maps, photographic materials, and scrapbooks created at Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas.

Bolt Family Homestead and Legion Valley massacre scrapbook photo, 1985 — Dr. Johnie Reeves at a vista overlooking the Colorado River and the Comanches’ route after the Legion Valley massacre of 1868. Legion Valley is on the other side of the Cedar Mountains in the distance.

William Carley Family Collection, 1834-1936, undated: Documenting the Carley family from 1836-1936, this collection includes records about William Carley’s experiences moving to Texas in 1836, his service in the United States-Mexican War, and other events in the life of the family.
Oscar “Doc” Norbert and Mary “Kitty” Jacques Du Congé Papers, 1908-1987: This archives consists of manuscripts pertaining to the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Du Congé. Oscar was the first African-American Mayor of Waco, and his wife, Mary, was a schoolteacher and secretary who was a leader in the community, a socialite, and a volunteer member of many Catholic religious organizations.
Wilhelm Esch Collection, 1870-1943: This collection contains certificates of appointment and of honorable discharge for German-American soldier Wilhelm Esch, photographs and books concerning military life in World War I, items related to the Order of the Elks and miscellaneous WWII items including ration books.
Guyler (Lydia Ann English) [Mrs. William] Papers, 1860: A correspondence between
Mrs. Lydia A. Guyler (Mrs. William) from General Sam Houston, in response to Mrs. Guyler’s request for Houston to name her daughter.
Adolf Hitler Papers, 1938-1943: Our Hitler Papers contain two documents signed by the Chancellor of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.
Benjamin Judson Johnson Papers, 1942-1960: These papers include correspondence, legal documents, literary productions, and artifacts relating to Benjamin’s experience in the U.S. Naval Air Force during World War II.
Jones Family Papers, 1857-1867, 1920, undated: The Jones family records consist of correspondence, legal, and financial documents, including fourteen Civil War letters from family members in the 10th Texas Infantry.
Luper Family Papers, 1909-1990: The Luper Family Papers are comprised of correspondence, literary productions, and other materials pertaining to a Baptist missionary family and their experiences during the mid-1900s in Portugal, Brazil, and central Texas. (This finding aid is updated with additional materials that came to The Texas Collection after we initially announced the finding aid in June 2012.)
Harry Hall Womack, Jr. Papers, 1940-1948: Womack’s papers consist of correspondence and literary productions relating to his experiences in the 1940s. These include medical school, a tour as a doctor in the Army during World War II, and the beginnings of his marriage and family.