Baylor University

Research Ready: December 2012

Adelphian Theological Society, African American universities and colleges, African-Americans, authors, Baptist history, Baylor at Independence, Baylor University, Belton Texas, Calvary Baptist Church Waco, Caritas of Waco, Catholic Charities USA, Citizens Advisory Committee Waco, Civil rights in Texas, Community Race Relations Coalition Waco, Discrimination in Education, Dublin, Esther Miller Jud, First Baptist Waco, Historic Waco Foundation, Humanitarianism, Huston-Tillotson University, James Milton (J.M.) Carroll, Lynching in Texas, Pat Neff, Philomathesian Literary Society, Poor Man's Supper, Quanah-Texas, Race relations, Raymond Biles, Research Ready, Rockport, Roger Conger, Seymour Texas, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Texas college integration, Texas historic buildings, Texas railroads, Texasa, Theology study and teaching, Tillotson College Austin, Waco
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"Dialogue on Race Relations," Waco Community Race Relations Coalition flyer
The Community Race Relations Coalition (CRRC) began as a series of grassroots dialogues on race in Waco. The First Anniversary Dialogue was held in 2000.

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 special entries from the Archival Collections and Museums class that worked on an archival processing project with us here at The Texas Collection. (You’ll learn more about that in a guest post by a student in January.) We’re not quite done proofreading all of the students’ finding aids, so there will be a few more finding aids coming from that group. Here’s the scoop for December:

  • BU Records: Adelphian Theological Society, 1889-1916: The Adelphian Theological Society was formed in 1889 by Baylor ministerial students. The records group contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and ledgers that reflect how the Society operated. (Archives class)
  • Roberta Lucille Malone Bailey Papers, 1936, undated: This small collection contains two items: a letter written by Pat Neff to William and Ada May congratulating them on 50 years of marriage and a photocopy of a journal entry citing this letter.
  • Raymond E. Biles Collection, 1954-1973: The Biles Collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings covering the educational desegregation era in Texas from 1956-1973. Also included is correspondence to Mr. Biles and other materials relating to his role as an adviser to the Waco Citizen’s Advisory Committee, which was tasked with reviewing local desegregation policies. (Archives class)
  • [Waco] Calvary Baptist Church Records, 1929-1955, undated: Calvary’s church records consist of literary documents created by church members including church publications and a directory. (Archives class)
  • [Waco] Caritas Records, 1965-1988: The [Waco] Caritas Records represents organizational records from the Caritas Catholic charity located in Waco, Texas. The records follow the meetings, programs, and public image of Caritas from its creation in the 1960s through its continued service in the 1980s. (Archives class)
  • James Milton Carroll Papers, 1898-1929: Centered around Carroll’s writings, these documents include manuscripts, proof sheets, sermons, tracts, and other writings.  (Archives class)
  • [Waco] Community Race Relations Coalition Records, 1998-2011: The Waco Community Race Relations Coalition Records consist of correspondence, legal and financial documents, literary productions, photographs, and media documenting the coalition’s efforts to promote racial awareness in the community of Waco, Texas.
  • [Waco] First Baptist Church Collection, 1892-1978, undated: The First Baptist Church of Waco was established on 1851 May 31 by four charter members along with Noah T. Byars, who became their first pastor on June 1. Their records consist of correspondence, literary documents, and financial records. (Archives class)
  • Historic Waco Foundation Records, 1954-2005: The Historic Waco Foundation is a nonprofit institution that was created in 1967 after the merger of three Waco
    foundations: the Heritage Society of Waco, the Society of Historic Preservation, and the Duncan Foundation. These documents consist of correspondence, financial documents, legal documents, literary papers, and oversized materials. (Archives class)
  • Huston-Tillotson University Records, 1930-1935: The Huston-Tillotson University Records consist of correspondence and financial documents from Tillotson College as University President Mary Elizabeth Branch tried to keep the college open during the Great Depression.
  • BU Records: Philomathesian Literary Society, 1859-1951: Established in 1851 while Baylor University was located in Independence, Texas, the Philomathesian Literary Society was the first literary society to be established in Texas. The records include roll books, minutes books, general business records, library records, their constitution, contest records, and records on their fight with the Erisophian Literary Society from 1912-1913. (Archives class)
  • Quanah, Seymour, Dublin, and Rockport Railroad Records. 1836 (copy)-
    1922, undated: The Quanah, Seymour, Dublin and Rockport Railroad Records consist of correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, field notes and maps
    produced by the railroad company and associated small companies in South
    Texas. (Archives class)
Philomathesian vs. Erisophian debate letter, January 10, 1913
In this letter from J.W. Thomas to R.E. Dudley, Thomas refers to recent “squabbles” between the Philomathesian and Erisophian Literary Societies at Baylor. The question of who should debate first at the 1913 match apparently caused much controversy…and occasional name-calling.

An Independence Commencement: How Baylor&#x27s Earliest Graduates Celebrated

Baptist history, Baylor at Independence, Baylor Female College, Baylor University, Carroll Chapel, Commencement, Margaret Hall Hicks, That Good Old Baylor Line, Waco, Washington County Texas
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Baylor University Commencement party invitation, 1859
One of The Texas Collection’s earliest records of Baylor Commencement, dated 1859. The “managers” of the party, the Erisophians and Philomathesians, were prominent (and often rival) literary societies that began when Baylor was in Independence.

We introduced Margaret Hall Hicks, a Baylor alumna from the 1870s, this summer in our “Looking Back at Baylor: Simple Pleasures in Independence” post. We encourage you to read it for a view of Christmas celebrations in Baylor’s early years. Pretty different from Christmas on 5th Street, but as Hicks said, they enjoyed their Yuletide festivities “to the fullest.”

Now we look to Hicks’ remembrances of Independence again as another Baylor Commencement approaches. December’s commencement isn’t nearly as large as the spring celebration, but every graduation is an exciting day for the Baylor family. But what did Commencement look like back in Independence? For starters, people came from all over Texas, the celebrations lasted a week, and included the examination period. (Students spoke recitations that essentially were their final exams. Hey, class of 2012—aren’t you glad you didn’t have oral examinations for all of your classes?)

Baylor University Commencement invitation, 1888
The invitation hails the 1888 ceremony as Baylor’s 42nd commencement, but Baylor actually did not graduate any students until 1854, when the Board of Trustees voted to award Stephen Decatur Rowe his degree. This invitation is a good example of the deteriorating effects of tape on paper.

Hicks’ memoir, Memories of Ancestors, tells us that in 1866, “Commencement Week was the gala time of the whole year. People from all over the state made their plans to attend the Commencement of the two Baylor schools, and the little town of Independence was taxed to its utmost, both the hotels and private homes, to care for the great number of visitors.”

Of course, in Baylor’s early years, the university’s students all hailed from Texas (although many students’ families probably hadn’t been in the state for very long). But people came from all over the state to attend the fine university. That was a feat by itself, considering the small size of the school and the large size of Texas!

Baylor University Commencement in Carroll Chapel and Library, 1920s
Commencement was held in Carroll Chapel before the building burnt in 1922. This might have been one of the last graduation ceremonies hosted in what is now simply Carroll Library (and the home of The Texas Collection).

“Relatives of the students felt it a duty as well as a pleasure to attend Commencement exercises in the schools in which their children were pupils. So we had all kinds of visitors for this season. Very fashionable people from Galveston and Houston, moderately dressed people from the small towns and the country around Independence, and pioneer people with their primitive styles from the northern part of the State. Of course, we found much delight in seeing and mingling with all of these people. Many of them stayed in the rooms with us, and we thought it no hardship to sleep three or four in a bed or on a pallet on the floor that the visitors might have our beds.”

In addition to the public examinations, students held debates and gave speeches. Every night of Commencement Week, there was some kind of program, with the younger Baylor primary school students participating as well as the university students. Baylor University and Baylor Female College took turns hosting the “entertainments,” which culminated with a “grand Senior Concert.” On the last night of Commencement Week, the faculty and students of Baylor University hosted a party for the faculty and students of Baylor Female College.

Baylor University Commencement, 1966
Judge Baylor watches over the soon-to-be graduates of 1966 as they process into Waco Hall.

This “crowning event of the season” was held in the Burleson Domicile, which was President Rufus C. Burleson’s home and a dormitory for male students. The octagonal shape of the building created nooks that were perfect for courting on the third floor veranda, as Hicks tells us: “The veranda was furnished with chairs and benches, dimly lighted, just the place to fill young heads with thoughts of love and romance. Many of the young men and maidens, knowing this would be the last meeting of the happy school days, plighted their troth, which resulted in the future marriages of some of the best people of our state.” Well, that sounds familiar—plenty of marriage proposals still happen on or around Commencement day at Baylor! And we like to think that the best people in the state (and the world!) come here.

Students (and their families) come to Baylor Commencement from all over the world now, and the official Commencement ceremonies don’t span a week anymore. But the thrill of sending new Baylor graduates out to “fling the green and gold afar” hasn’t changed since Baylor graduated its first student in 1854. Congratulations, class of 2012!

Looking Back at Baylor: The Good Ship “Baylor Victory”

Baylor University, Judge Minor L. Moore, Looking Back at Baylor, Pat Neff, The Baylor Line, United States Maritime Commission, Victory merchant vessels
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This piece by former Texas Collection director Kent Keeth originally was published in The Baylor Line in June 1979, then was reprinted in Looking Back at Baylor (1985), a collection of Keeth and Harry Marsh’s historical columns for the Line. Blogging about Texas periodically features selections from Looking Back at Baylor, with hopes of sharing Keeth’s work with a new audience.

We dedicate this post to the military men and women who serve our country and to the memory of those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

S.S. Baylor Victory publicity photo
You can just make out the “Victory” on the left and “Baylor” on the right of this photo, taken at the shipyard before launching.

Early in 1945 Baylor President Pat M. Neff received an unexpected communication from the United States Maritime Commission. This letter informed him that a new ship, then under construction in a shipyard near Los Angeles, would be named in honor of Baylor University. It would be one of the “Victory” series of merchant vessels, intended to provide “muscle behind the fists of the armed services,” and was designed for use in either war or peace. According to early information, its date of launching would be “on or about March 1, 1945.”

Neff soon wrote to inquire whether Baylor University might have a part in the launching of its namesake vessel. Informed that a representative of the university would be permitted to make a brief address during the christening ceremonies, Neff arranged for Los Angeles District Judge Minor L. Moore, a Baylor graduate of 1900 who had been an outstanding student orator, to participate in the program. He also raised a hundred dollars for the purchase of a library of about forty volumes for use by the ship’s crew.

Baylor Lariat article about the launch of the S.S. Baylor Victory
“In the year of grace when the whole world is convulsed by the totality of war, when the vicious are allied with the enemies of freedom, the naval arm of our government should christen a fighting ship with the name of Baylor,” Moore declared, according to this March 9 article in the Baylor Lariat.

When the schedule of the launching became known, Judge Moore wrote wryly to President Neff of his discovery that “the limit of the speech to be made by the representative of Baylor is one and a half minutes.” Neff, amused by the strictures which this limitation would impose upon his old friend’s easy flow of words, replied with some tongue-in-cheek advice: “Now, Minor, you need not feel that you must use all of this time unless the inspiration of the occasion just compels you to do so. The early morning air will be so invigorating that I feel sure as you stand on the deck of this ship bearing the Baylor name and look out onto the great Pacific, you will have inspiration to occupy nearly all of your minute and a half.”

As matters developed, the date of the launching was moved from March 1 to March 6, and the time, which was regulated by the occurrence of high tide, was set for 1:20 a.m. A participant later described the scene in a letter to President Neff: “The night was very dark; but time and time we were almost awed by the myriad of lights which illuminated the different war plants and ship yards. The display was far more breathtaking than the lighting of any great fair or centennial. Some of the buildings of Standard Oil rose like domes of light or spread into a cascading shower of individual lights which reminded one of some dream or fairyland. Our passes cleared heavily policed gates and doors…Then we went to the dock for the launching. Flood lights brilliantly illuminated…the ship which loomed so far up, up above us that we had to look very high up with heads way back to see all of her: yet, we were aware that by comparison she was a small ship.”

Despite the inconvenience and lateness of the hour, Baylor was represented at the launching by a total of about a dozen and a half graduates and friends, one of whom carried in her arms a plush teddy bear with a green and gold ribbon around its neck. Judge Moore delivered his address of 185 well-chosen words, ending with the valedictory, “All hail, Baylor Victory!” Then, as the ship’s sponsor christened the vessel with a bottle of champagne, the S.S. Baylor Victory glided into the water of the Pacific Ocean and began her naval career.

S.S. Baylor Victory was launched only a few months before the Allies celebrated V-E Day. We assume the ship was used in the last months of World War II; we know it went to Korea. We believe it may have become part of a shipping company’s fleet after that.

S.S. Baylor Victory, photo and model
The top photo is the ship; the bottom one also is labeled “Baylor Victory,” but the model doesn’t look the same as the real ship. What do you think? (Updated: We’ve been informed that the upper image is indeed a Victory ship, while the lower is a tanker. We’re not sure why the images were put together, though–that’s still a mystery!)

Research Ready: November 2012

American Revolutionary War, Baylor University, Civil War, Foreign Missionary Band, Fort Oglethorpe Georgia, Gene Autrey, George Wythe Baylor, Henry Weidner Baylor, John Robert Baylor, McCloskey General Hospital Temple Texas, missionaries, missions, Research Ready, Student Volunteer Band, Texas military hospitals, Texas physicians, Texas Rangers, Texas Revolution, United States Women's Army Corps, Waco tornado 1953, WACs, World War I, World War II
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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. Here’s the scoop for November:

Gene Autrey entertaining veterans at a military hospital, 1945
Gene Autrey entertains veterans at a military hospital in 1945. Hannibal “Joe” Jaworski’s photo album includes photos of several notable figures who visited soldiers during World War II.
  • Baylor-Carrington Family Papers, 1715-2007, undated: These family papers consist of correspondence, financial and legal documents, literary productions, books, photographs, artifacts, and scrapbooks pertaining to the Baylor and Carrington families. The bulk of the collection spans from 1840-1930.
  • Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Collection, 1944-1946: This collection consists of a scrapbook relating to Eleanor’s service in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) during World War II.
  • Hannibal “Joe” Lucas Jaworski Papers, 1895-1987: The Hannibal “Joe” Lucas Jaworski Papers include correspondence, literary productions, books, and photographic materials related to his service in World War II and his response to the Waco Tornado of 1953.
  • BU Records: Student Volunteer Band, 1900-1957: This archives consists of organizational records, missionary correspondence, and a history of the origin of the band. The group originated to inspire students to missionary action and involvement by educating them about world missionary movements.
Baylor University Student Volunteer Band Minutes Book, 1940s-1950s
The Student Volunteer Band, or Foreign Missionary Band, kept meticulous minutes of the organization’s meetings, from its earliest days in 1900 through the 1950s. Note Dick Baker’s name on the right side of the book–Baker would go on to be a leader in Baylor’s Youth Revival Movement and began the Baylor Religious Hour Choir.

How the McLane Carillon Missed Its Stop (But Has Been Making Beautiful Music Ever Since)

Baylor Homecoming, Baylor University, carillonneur, Cullen F. Thomas chimes, Doxology, Drayton McLane, McLane Carillon, Paccard Bell Foundry, Pat Neff Hall, That Good Old Baylor Line
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Did you listen for the bells this Homecoming weekend? So many Baylor alums talk about missing the beautiful hymns played on the McLane Carillon, or just the chiming of the time. From getting students to class on time to September 11 memorial recitals, the bells are an integral part of the Baylor experience. But did you know that on their way to Waco, they took an accidental trip to Mexico?

McLane Carillon dedication program cover, 1988
The smallest bell in the McLane Carillon weighs 29 pounds, and the largest weighs 4,370 pounds.

The 48 bells of the McLane Carillon were made by the Paccard Bell Foundry in Annecy, France, a company whose bells can be heard around the world. After they were finished in 1988, a freighter picked them up and was to unload them in Houston, and a trucking company would complete their journey to Waco.

Paccard Fonderie de Cloches brochure, 1980s
The bells of the McLane Carillon took about a year to craft.

Yet the best laid plans can go astray—the ship failed to stop, and the bells went on their way to Mexico. Of course, the error was discovered, the freighter returned to Houston, and the bells made it to Baylor, just a few days later than planned.

But wait, you’re thinking—weren’t there bells ringing from Pat Neff before 1988? Yes! But unfortunately, the Cullen F. Thomas chimes had fallen into disrepair after 50 years of music, and the tower fell silent. Thanks to the generosity of the Drayton McLane family and the McLane Company, Inc., of Temple, Texas, Baylor was able to purchase a new carillon.

Yet the bells are a bit of a mystery—you can’t really see them, after all. Did you know that they’re played using both feet on the pedal board and closed fists on a keyboard? (The carillon is connected to a computer programmed to play the Westminster chimes and some songs, but yes, real people play the carillon too! Lynnette Geary is the current carillonneur, and she even teaches carillon classes.)

McLane Carillon dedication program, quotation pages, 1988
Inscribed quotes on the bells include wisdom from Baylor presidents up to the time the McLane Carillon was dedicated in 1988. (A quote from Herbert H. Reynolds is on the preceding page of the program.)

And Baylor’s bells are inscribed with biblical and literary quotations. Selected by the McLane family, there is a quote from each of the Baylor presidents up to the 1980s, a bell dedicated to the faculty of Baylor University with a line by Geoffrey Chaucer (“And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche”), and much more. The quotations can be seen on a plaque in the Pat Neff Hall entryway.

So next time you hear “Doxology” or “That Good Old Baylor Line” pealing across the campus, stop and listen a moment. The Baylor soundscape wouldn’t be the same without them.

Source: Baylor University Subject File: Buildings: Pat Neff Hall: McLane Carillon, at The Texas Collection

Mapping Waco: A Brief History, 1845-1913

City Ice Works, Historic Waco, Lamartine, Maps, Milam's Colony, Waco, Waco Female College, Waco University
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Did you know that “Lamartine” was a proposed name for Waco? Or that “Waco Village” was once in Milam County? Do you know where Waco Female College was? Explore Mapping Waco: A Brief History, 1845-1913 to learn the answers to these questions and more.

1873 Bird's Eye View of the City of Waco
Bird’s eye view style map of the city of Waco, circa 1873. Lists points of interest including Waco University, Waco Female College, the City Ice Works and the Waco suspension bridge.

In this physical and digital exhibit, maps represent the changing landscape of Waco from its earliest days in the mid-1800s to the boom years of the late 1910s. Selections include bird’s-eye views of the city drawn in the late 19th century; illustrated maps of new additions and suburbs; and blue lines of individual plats on Waco city streets.

“We hope this exhibit of early Waco maps will spark an interest in local geography and history,” said John Wilson, director of The Texas Collection. “It may also begin a dialogue regarding other maps and resources that are in the community and could be shared.”

The maps are on display in The Texas Collection within Carroll Library, which is open from 8-5, Monday through Friday. We hope you’ll come and see them in person AND take a zoomed-in look at them on the Baylor Digital Collections site. The physical and online exhibits are up now and will be on display through December 2012.

We collaborated with the Digitization Projects Group on preparing the digital component of the exhibition–read about the digitization and curation process on Baylor Digital Collections’ blog–and enjoy the maps!

Experience the Tradition: Baylor Homecoming 2012

Baptist history, Baylor Homecoming, Baylor Lariat, Baylor Round Up, Baylor University, Photographs
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Homecoming 2012 is upon us! As this post goes up, the Baylor Nation is beginning to flood the Waco campus. Baylor University welcomes everybody home, from the 50th reunion class of 1962 to the class of 2012, for a weekend of nostalgia and fun. Watch the video below for a taste of Homecomings past:

We’ll have Round Up yearbooks available as giveaways during the Homecoming Parade on a first come, first served basis, at the Baylor University Libraries/Department of History tent, located on 5th Street near the side entrance to Carroll Library. Did one of your yearbooks get lost in a move, or maybe you never bought one back in the day? Now’s your chance! The bulk of them are from the 1950s and 1960s, but we’ll be giving away books from the 1940s all the way to 1980.

Please also drop by Carroll Library and The Texas Collection and see a small Homecoming exhibit featuring past Lariats and Round Up yearbooks.  We’ll be open till 5 pm today (November 2) and from 8-12 on Saturday morning during the Homecoming Parade. (We also have some Alamo materials and historic Waco maps on display from other recent projects!) Did you know that an online archives of the Baylor Lariat and the Round Up yearbook is now available?  These rich resources, representing the life of the university throughout its history, will be an invaluable resource for alumni looking to relive the past and for researchers seeking valuable primary resource materials for their inquiries.

Research Ready: October 2012

10th Texas Infantry Regiment, Adolf Hitler, African-Americans, Albert Luper, Baptist history, Baptist missions, Baptist women, Baylor at Independence, Baylor University, Bolt Family Homestead, Brazil, Camp MacArthur, Civil War, Confederate States of America, diaries, Fannie Mae Luper, First Baptist Church Oak Cliff Dallas, Frontier and pioneer life, Georgia Jenkins Burleson, German-Americans, Germany, Granbury's Texas Brigade, Harry Hall Womack Jr., Historic Waco, Indians of North America, Kentucky National Guard, Legion Valley Massacre, letters, Llano County, Lydia Ann Guyler English, Mary "Kitty" Jacque Du Congé, Mexican War 1846-1848, military history, missionaries, missions, Oscar "Doc" Norbert Du Congé, Otto Georg Thierack, Portugal, Reconstruction, Research Ready, Rufus Burleson, Sam Houston, Slavery, Texas Catholics, Texas governors, Texas Mayors, United States Air Force, United States Navy, University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, Waco race relations, Woman pioneers, World War I, World War II
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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. Here’s the scoop for October:

Mary and Oscar Du Congé at work
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 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.

Looking Back at Baylor: The "Baylors" of '99

Baylor football, Baylor University, Historic Waco, Looking Back at Baylor, McLennan County, Texas Christian University
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Baylor Football, 1899
The Baylors of 1899 gather for a team photo. Football started as an intramural competition between the classes but a school team soon developed to compete against other institutions.

This piece by former Texas Collection director Kent Keeth originally was published in The Baylor Line in October 1975, then was reprinted in Looking Back at Baylor (1985), a collection of Keeth and Harry Marsh’s historical columns for the Line. Blogging about Texas periodically features selections from Looking Back at Baylor, with hopes of sharing Keeth’s work with a new audience.

We took this excerpt from “The Baylors of ’99” in honor of Saturday’s football game versus TCU, the first match-up of the teams since TCU became part of the Big 12.  In this piece, TCU 1899 graduate Charles Edward Bull  recalls the first time the schools competed at football. This was written before TCU was TCU, before Baylor became the Bears, and before the flying wedge was banned for safety reasons.

The time was September 1899. “See you in Manila” was still the popular cliche of the period. It was the day of the first football game ever played between TCU (then called AddRan) and Baylor, when both schools were located in Waco.

We had challenged them to a game, and—to our surprise—the Baylors accepted. We were cocky, and they were ascairt of us. [Baylor blogger’s aside—wouldn’t TCU like to think we were scared?! We may not have been the Bears yet, but as you’ll see, we held our own in this game!]

Came the big game, and the TCU team took the trolley cars to the Baylor field…a bed of white sand with a little bit of McLennan County black land mixed in, a perfect mixture for punkin’ yams and stingy, glistening white sandburs—or bricks. Sad to relate, the yams had not been planted but the sandburs had come up volunteer.

Baylor Football, 1900s
The Baylors play football on what is probably Carroll Field in a 1900s game. Note the lack of pads, helmets, or well-manicured playing field—and their festively striped socks!

Somebody flipped a two-bit piece, and we elected to receive. Blue-eyed Bill Doherty from Galveston took the kick-off and stiff-armed three or four men before they downed us on their 40. By a series of end runs, we worked the ball down to their 20, but we fumbled and the Baylors took over.

The game seesawed up and down across the middle for 30 minutes. At half-time, we all took off our shirts and picked stickers from each others backs, consoled by the thought that the Baylor team was doing the same thing.

Later in the game, one of their men got hit and came up with his face stuck all over with burs. “Get me out of that yaller jacket nest,” he yelled.

As we walked back toward the field for the second half, I decided to make friends with my adversary, a six-foot senior weighing upwards of 300 pounds by the name of [Ernest M.] Rasor.

“Mr. Rasor, my parents are Baptists,” I said. “Then, what the h— are you doin’ with that gang o’Campbellites?” he asked. I resented the word “gang”—made me mad. The attempted truce was off.

After every scrimmage both sides raked and picked sandburs. The official would take the ball and start scraping it on the ground; it, too, was thorny as a porcupine …..

About the middle of the second half I thought a cyclone had struck. The Baylors just played leapfrog and piled on top of me. I started counting them, hoping every thud would be the last; then I lost count.

When they untangled the heap, someone doused me with water and I sat up half dazed.

“A flying wedge hit you. How do you feel?” Bill Doherty asked. I wanted to lie down again. “Sleepy,” I said.

Later we were on the Baylor 15….. “X … Y … Z … 8 … 7 … 3,” counted Jim Ray.

The whistle blew, and we all stood up. People came crowding onto the field. “Game’s over,” said the official timekeeper. “A tie—0 to 0.”

“How did you like our brand of football, Mr. Rasor?” I asked my opponent.

“You outwinded us. But next time it’ll be different,” he replied.

“Not with a dull Rasor,” I retorted.

Research Ready: September 2012

Baylor Cadets, Baylor Heritage Club, Baylor University, Branch Davidians, Research Ready, Waco
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Baylor Cadets Letter, 1896
A June 2, 1896, letter requesting official student organization status for the Cadet Club: “We, the Baylor cadets, do respectfully petition that you recognize our “Cadet Club,” which we have organized subject to your approval, as a valid and permanent organization of Baylor University.”

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 September—it’s been a busy month but we’re a little behind on getting finding aids up. Look for a big batch in October!

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