Revivals

Sharing Student Scholarship: Religion at Baylor, 1921-1930

Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baptist history, Baptist Student Union, Baylor University, BGCT, Higher Education and Student Affairs, Nathan Alleman, Revivals, Samuel Palmer Brooks, Texas Baptists, Theology study and teaching
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For the last few weeks, we’ve been 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. We’ve already looked at Curriculum,  Finance, Students/Student Groups, and Access. This final week we’re looking at Religion at Baylor, with papers examining Baylor’s relationship with the BGCT, the beginnings of the Baptist Student Union, and the role of Samuel Palmer Brooks’ faith in maintaining Baylor’s Christian identity. Did you know that…

Baptist Young People's Union of Texas, Waco, Texas
The Baptist Young People’s Union was one of many existing groups that would fall under the Baptist Student Union’s umbrella after the latter organization was formed in 1921.
  • Out of concern over the evolution controversy, the BGCT formed a textbook commission with Samuel Palmer Brooks at its helm; however, the challenge of how to select textbooks for all departments and courses quickly showed itself to be unwieldy and the idea was dropped. Learn more…
  • The Baptist Student Union worked with the university to hold a revival every year, with regular classes canceled for five days—the revival was considered a part of the coursework in the academic catalogue. Discover more…
  • People from all over were aware of Brooks’ faith and knowledge of the Bible, to the point that people as far away as Missouri sometimes wrote to him asking theological questions. He would reply if he could, but always with the disclaimer, “I am not a theologian.” Read 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!

Research Ready: January 2013

Austin's Colony, Baptist history, Baylor at Independence, Baylor athletics, Baylor Female College, Baylor University, Bertie Routh Barron, Charles Wellborn, Civil War, classical education, Colonization in Texas, Delta Sigma Pi, diaries, Edna, genealogy, Grimes County, Harry Raymond Morse Jr., Henry Trantham, Jackson County, Jacob de Cordova, James M. Kendrick Jr., Jews in Texas, Julie Holcomb, Kendrick family, McLennan County, Milam County, Olive McGehee Denson, Research Ready, Revivals, Rhodes Scholarship program, Roger Conger, Seventh and James Baptist Church-Waco, Southwest Athletic Conference, Texas Baptists, Waco, Waco tornado 1953
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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. As we did in December, we have a few special entries from the Archival Collections and Museums class that worked on an archival processing project with us here at The Texas Collection. (Read more about that project from a student’s perspective.) Here’s the scoop for January:

Simons-Stoner-Rose Family Papers
During the Civil War George F. Simons served in the Confederate army Company K, 2nd Texas Infantry Regiment, and participated in the Battle of Shiloh. He received this certificate of parole in 1865, which can be found in the Simons-Stoner-Rose Family Papers.
    • Bertie Routh Barron Papers, 1897-1972, undated: These papers contain correspondence, financial documents, literary productions and photographic materials pertaining to Barron’s life, particularly the time she spent at Baylor Female College.
    • De Cordova Family Papers, 1845-1956: The chronology of the collection ranges from 1845 to 1956, but the bulk of the materials originated from 1845 to 1863 when Jacob de Cordova was most active as a land agent in Texas. Most materials are correspondence or legal documents related to land sales in central Texas, particularly Bosque and McLennan counties. (Archives class)
    • Olive McGehee Denson Papers, 1916-1957, undated: The bulk of the Denson papers are scrapbooks about Texas and church history. There are also photographs from Independence, Texas. (Archives class)
    • James M. Kendrick Jr. Papers, 1922-1945: Kendrick’s papers include various items of correspondence between family and friends of Kendrick, as well as some financial and legal documents. There is a large number of literary productions, comprised of an assortment of documents and Kendrick’s own diaries. Also present are several photographs and artifacts pertaining to his time at Baylor University. (Archives class)
    • Harry Raymond Morse Jr. Collection, 2000: This collection consists of four cassette tapes containing oral history interviews related to the Waco Tornado of May 11, 1953.
Southwest Conference meeting minutes, April 24, 1922 (page 1)
These minutes are from the papers of Henry Trantham, who served as Baylor University faculty representative to the Southwest Athletic Conference from 1916 to 1923, and from 1925 to 1941. Trantham was the president of the conference from 1918 to 1919, and from 1938 to 1941, and in that position he assisted in the establishment of the Cotton Bowl Association.
  • Simons-Stoner-Rose Family Papers, 1828-1977, undated: The Simons-Stoner-Rose Family Papers are comprised of original correspondence, legal and financial documents, literary productions, military records, printed materials, family histories, and photographs pertaining to five families (including Wells, Simons, Kay, Stoner, and Rose) in Texas from its pre-republic days to the late twentieth century. (Archives class)
  • Henry Trantham Papers, 1894-1962, undated: Trantham’s papers consist of correspondence, administrative and academic materials, and other loose materials related to Baylor University and the Greek and Classics Departments, the Southwest Athletic Conference, and the Rhodes Scholarship program. (Archives class)
  • Charles Wellborn Papers, 1945-2009: This archives contains sermons and other materials primarily from Wellborn’s time as pastor of Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco, Texas.
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