Research Ready: April 2019

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!

April’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Assistant Director and Processing Archivist

• Ruth Boggess Royer papers, 1840-1998, undated (#3981): Contains correspondence, financial, legal, and other materials relating to Royer’s life in Central Texas as well as various members of her family.
• Port Arthur Wharves photographic collection, 1922-1923 (#494): Photographs of the construction of a wharf at Port Arthur, Texas.
• Texas Young Nurse’s photo album, 1912-1913 (#151): Includes photographs from a nurse’s time at Providence Hospital, Waco, just prior to World War I.
• Texas and Oklahoma Oil Drilling photographic collection, circa 1920 (#473): Consists of photographs of oil welling across Texas and Oklahoma.
• Harry F. Downes photo album, circa 1917-1919 (#226): Photograph album and history of the 184th Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Force, during World War I.

April’s print materials
By Thomas DeShong, Library Information Specialist III

Corpus Christi: Port of Play and Profit. Corpus Christi, TX: Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, [1939]. Print.

Despite being in the midst of the Great Depression in 1939, members of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce sought to promote their city as a year-round “Port of Play and Profit.” Touting the city’s industrial, oil, and shipping capabilities, the promotional heralds the Texas city as the fifth largest deep-harbor port in the state with room for significant expansion. The brochure also appeals to those seeking leisurely activities as well including swimming, sailing, and fishing.

View this in Bearcat here.

Irrigation in the Gulf Coast Country of Texas. St. Louis: Frisco Lines, [1914]. Print.

One of the most prominent groups promoting migration to Texas were railroad companies. This promotional, published by Frisco Lines (a.k.a. the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway), encouraged farmers to test the fertile lands of the Lower Rio Grande Valley where cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane were flourishing. The promotional also provides a host of facts about up-and-coming settlements on Texas’ Gulf Coast alongside illustrations and photographs of the area’s relative fertility due, in large part, to innovative irrigation practices that had been developed.

View this in Bearcat here.

Souvenir of Galveston, Texas: 90 Views. Galveston, TX: Ferdinand Ohlendorf, [1897]. Print.

This souvenir booklet, published by Ferdinand Ohlendorf, depicts the city of Galveston, Texas, through a variety of illustrations. An 1897 bird’s-eye-view map of the city graces the inside cover followed by prominent houses of worship, local schools, bustling industrial yards, and the majestic residential homes of its leading citizens. As the “Queen City of the Gulf,” Galveston was a premier tourist attraction and final destination prior to the devastating hurricane of 1900.

View this in Bearcat here.