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Research Ready: February 2018

Adventure, American West, Archives, Books, Cowboys, frontier and pioneer life, Frontier and pioneer life, Indians of North America, NoZe Brotherhood, Old West, Research Ready, student life, Texas ranches, Waco, West
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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!Continue Reading

Herman Moll and His Distorted Map

Archives, Herman Moll, Maps, United States history
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by Rachel DeShong, Special Event Coordinator and Map Curator 

“Recalculating” is a term that many of us are far too familiar with. We hear it when the GPS navigation system on our phone is telling us how to get from Point A to Point B, but we somehow managed to miss the turn. It is hard to imagine a time when maps were unable to give accurate directions in real time. Modern maps are expected to be flawless and up-to-date. So, what happens when maps are wrong?

A New Map of the North Parts of America Claimed by France Under Ye Names of Louisiana, Mississippi, Canada, and New France with Ye Adjoyning Territories of England and Spain. 1720. Drawer 1 Folder 3, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

Maps drawn centuries ago often contain inaccuracies that seem painfully obvious to viewers in the present day. For example, let us consider A New Map of the North Parts of America Claimed by France Under Ye Names of Louisiana, Mississippi, Canada, and New France with Ye Adjoyning Territories of England and Spain. (What a mouthful!) Produced in 1720 by Herman Moll, this map was a direct response to an earlier French map entitled Carte de la Louisiane du Cours du Mississippi that claimed French ownership over portions of the Southwest and the Carolinas. Moll’s map, by contrast, attempted to assert British ownership over the Carolinas. However, Moll’s map contains numerous mistakes:

  • California is portrayed as an island
  • Florida is much too small
  • the Great Lakes are far too large
  • all the rivers in Texas flow north and south
  • non-existent mountain ranges are depicted in western Texas

Continue Reading

Research Ready: October 2017

African-Americans, Archives, Books, German-Americans, Germany, Research Ready, Texas Artists, Texas Baptists, Texas Painters
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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!

October’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

  • Mission San Antonio de Valero [The Alamo] by Donald Yena
    The materials at The Texas Collection include many images of historical Texas and Baylor people, places, and events. One of the finest paintings in the Fine Arts collection is this framed oil on canvas painting of the Alamo, one of a series of paintings of the San Antonio missions by Donald Yena. You’ll find these items in the Fine Arts collection (#3839) at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.
    • Sanger Family papers, 1874-1990 (#581): Photographs, memorials, family trees, and other biographical materials related to multiple generations of the Sanger family. The Sanger family immigrated from Bavaria to the United States in the mid 1800s. Several brothers worked together to establish the Sanger Brothers Department Store chain in Central Texas following the Civil War.
    • Rufus W. Weaver papers, 1906-1947, undated (#3178): Collection contains materials produced by Dr. Rufus W. Weaver, a noted Southern Baptist pastor, educator, and cultural commentator. Weaver was the president of Mercer University, and his later church-state work led directly to the founding of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs.

October’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials

Armstrong, Yvonne M. Black Trailblazers of San Antonio, Texas: Their Businesses, Communities, Institutions and Organizations. San Antonio: Inkbiyvonne, [2006]. Print.
Armstrong, Yvonne M. Black Trailblazers of San Antonio, Texas: Their Businesses, Communities, Institutions and Organizations. San Antonio: Inkbiyvonne, [2006]. Print.

Highlighting the contributions of black San Antonians, this volume contains information on the people, businesses, organizations, and events that helped shaped the city. Segregation, education, and the arts are also examined. Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

The Majestic Hotel and Bath House Co. [Marlin, Texas?]: [publisher not identified], [between 1908 and 1920?]. Print.The Majestic Hotel and Bath House Co. [Marlin, Texas?]: [publisher not identified], [between 1908 and 1920?]. Print.

Complete with a bath house, sanatorium, and hotel, Marlin, according to this brochure, is the perfect vacation spot to “regain your health and vim.” Also included is an analysis of the hot waters, which supposedly cure rheumatism, blood and skin diseases, and stomach trouble.  Click here to view in BearCat.

 

Jordan, E. P. Souvenir of Austin, Texas. Brooklyn, N.Y. : Albertype Company, [1907]. Print.

Jordan, E. P. Souvenir of Austin, Texas. Brooklyn, N.Y. : Albertype Company, [1907]. Print. This photograph book features images of the Capitol, churches, residences, places of higher learning, etc. Especially interesting are photos of several University of Texas buildings, including a panorama of campus.  Click here to view in BearCat.

Portrayals of Texans in Western Films

archival research, Archives, Screenplays, Texas
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by Ben Leavitt, Graduate Assistant

This call sheet for Three Young Texans indicates resources necessary for a day of filming at California’s famed Iverson Movie Ranch—including three wranglers, eight horses and eighty-five hot lunches.

The Texas Collection maintains more than a half dozen screenplays either written by Texans or set in Texas. Many of these screenplays were used in the production of Western films, and from them we can get a good idea of the archetypal Texan. Generations of Americans were fascinated by the “Wild West”—how did they perceive the inhabitants of the Lone Star State when watching Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s?

Written by Gerald Drayson Adams and set along the Rio Grande in the early 1870s, Three Young Texans (1954) features cowboys with names like Johnny Colt, Tony Ballew, and Jeff Blair. Johnny’s character is “ruggedly handsome” and “intensely devoted to his boyhood pals,” while Tony “goes in for bright colored shirts and neckerchiefs.” Jeff, for his part, is “a big man both physically and mentally,” and “is friendly, easy-going and always ready to help a neighbor.”

Opposite Johnny, Tony, and Jeff is only one major female character: Rusty Blair. Played by actress Mitzi Gaynor, Rusty is nearly as much a cowboy as her male counterparts. Her character description notes that, “On the ranch she rides and ropes and gets her face dirty with the rest of the cow hands,” but “when she goes to a dance she’s a knockout and undisputed belle of the Rio Grande Valley.”Continue Reading

Research Ready: September 2017

Adventure, American West, Archives, Books, Cowboys, Falls County Texas, frontier and pioneer life, Frontier and pioneer life, letters, Old West, Photographs, Printing, Race relations, rare books, Research Ready, Screenplays, W.R. White, Waco, Waco race relations, West
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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

  • Santa Fe Railroad Route Map, undated
    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.

     

  • 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.Ellis, 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.

     

     

     

     

    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: August 2017

Alamo, American West, Archives, authors, Books, Dairy shows and exhibitions, Frontier and pioneer life, Old West, performing arts, postcards, Rail Road, Railroads, Research Ready, San Antonio, Screenplays, Texas historic buildings, Texas railroads, Texas ranches, Trains
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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!

August’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

Santa Fe Railroad Route Map, undated
Covered with handwritten notes (and safety messages), this employee timetable represents the more practical side of railroad operations in Texas. You’ll find this item in the Texas Railroads collection, Accession #2692, box 1, folder 4, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

 

August’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials

Fourteenth Annual Panhandle-Plains Dairy Show: Premium List. [Plainview, TX]: [publisher not identified], 1941. Print.
Fourteenth Annual Panhandle-Plains Dairy Show: Premium List. [Plainview, TX]: [publisher not identified], 1941. Print.

This program for the 1941 Panhandle-Plains Dairy Show contains all the information anyone showing cattle or attending the event might need, including exhibitor’s rules, judges’ rules, dairy products judging contest, officers and directors, etc. Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

 

The Story of the S·M·S Ranch. [Stamford, TX?]: [Swenson Bros.?], [1919]. Print.The Story of the S·M·S Ranch. [Stamford, TX?]: [Swenson Bros.?], [1919]. Print. 

Filled with more than 120 photographs documenting cowboy life on the S. M. S. Ranches, this volume also provides info on breeding, show policy, cattle sales, etc. Click here to view in BearCat.

 

San Antonio, Tex. New York: Rotograph Co., [1905]. Print.

San Antonio, Tex. New York: Rotograph Co., [1905]. Print. This accordion-style fold-out postcard, which was mailed in 1907, contains photographs of several prominent places in San Antonio including City Hall, Alamo Plaza, San Pedro Park, and several missions. Click here to view in BearCat.

Research Ready: July 2017

Adventure, Archives, Civil War, Confederate States of America, Cowboys, diaries, frontier and pioneer life, Frontier and pioneer life, German pioneers, letters, Mexico, Old West, Paul Baker, Prohibition, Rail Road, Railroads, Research Ready, Screenplays, Texas navy, Texas railroads
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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!

July’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

    • James Lee Barrett Screenplay collection, 1967 (#4001): Contains one screenplay entitled Bandolero!, written by James Lee Barrett in 1967. The resulting film starred James Stewart and Dean Martin, and centered around a bank robbery in Texas and subsequent chase into Mexican, “bandolero”-held territory.
Autographed title page of play book
Screenplay for the movie “Where the Heart Is,” a film from 2000 starting Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, and Joan Cusack. This screenplay, autographed by director Matt Williams and actress Natalie Portman, was given to Baylor University as a gesture of appreciation for letting portions of the movie be filmed on campus. You’ll find these items in the “Where the Heart Is” Screenplay collection, 1999 (#3384), box 1, folder 1, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

July’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials

Sullivan, John H., Jr. "Gun-play" by the World's Fastest Revolver Shot "Texas Jack.” [United States]: [publisher not identified], [between 1932 and 1937]. Print.Sullivan, John H., Jr. “Gun-play” by the World’s Fastest Revolver Shot “Texas Jack.” [United States]: [publisher not identified], [between 1932 and 1937]. Print.

“Texas Jack” Sullivan, who claimed to be the world’s fastest revolver shot, analyzes the skills of other accomplished gunmen such as “Broncho John” Sullivan, “Wild Bill” Hickok, and “Bat” Masterson. Sullivan also offers advice on handling weapons and what one should do if involved in a “stick-up.” Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

West-Texas: Das "Land der Gelegenheiten.” [Dallas, Texas?]: [publisher not identified], [1906?]. Print.

West-Texas: Das “Land der Gelegenheiten.” [Dallas, Texas?]: [publisher not identified], [1906?]. Print.

Written in Fraktur, this promotional booklet was produced by the Texas & Pacific Railway to entice Germans to West Texas. Like most promotionals, this one provides information on farming, climate, and opportunities.  Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texas Prohibition Songs. Waco, Texas: Published and for sale by B. H. Simpson, [between 1900 and 1935?]. Print.

Texas Prohibition Songs. Waco, Texas: Published and for sale by B. H. Simpson, [between 1900 and 1935?]. Print. 

This two-sided pamphlet contains songs such as “Prohibition Battle Hymn” and “Vote the Whiskey Out,” all with a clear warning about demon liquor. Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

 

Stories from Independence: San Jacinto Day

Archives, Baylor at Independence, courtship, Florence L. Davis Bledsoe, frontier and pioneer life, Independence, Margaret Hall Hicks, San Jacinto Day, Washington County Texas
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By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

This is the first in a number of upcoming posts about the town of Independence, where Baylor University’s original campus was, and the connections between Independence and Baylor people and events.

Independence has always been connected with the history of the Republic of Texas. From the renaming of Coles Settlement to Independence, to Sam Houston living in Independence, there is no shortage of connections to historic early Texas people and events. One of these special events celebrated each year is San Jacinto Day.

This holiday, commemorating Sam Houston’s victory at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21 against Santa Anna’s government, was a major holiday at Baylor at Independence. Multiple historical accounts preserved at The Texas Collection at Baylor University in Waco mention the annual festivities of San Jacinto Day at Independence.

Drawing of the male campus of Baylor University, 1870s
Drawing of the Baylor University Male Campus (Windmill Hill) at Independence. Note the buggies moving fast down the road.

One letter, written by Florence L. Davis Bledsoe, vividly describes an event that took place at Baylor University in Independence on San Jacinto Day in 1859:

One of the jubilees here is on the 21st of April, in commemoration of the battle of San Jacinto. We had “big doings” here on the 21st. General Houston was here and spoke to us. I like very much to hear him speak. He said there were but two things he now aspired to, one was to be an overseer of the roads, to see that they were in good order for he knew the ladies did not love to travel over rough roads. The other was to be Squire and see that the young ladies did not marry worthless vagabond fellows and that the young gentlemen did not marry slovenly careless girls.

Margaret Hall Hicks, also a Baylor student at Independence in the mid-1800s, describes the holiday in her unpublished book “Memories of Ancestors.”

An annual picnic on San Jacinto Day was a social event anticipated and prepared for months before the time. Each girl had made a date weeks before with some boy, generally her sweetheart, for the whole day together. If the boy was financially able, he hired a horse and buggy to take his lady love, and these were the envy of the other girls, who had to join in with others in hiring a hack or wagon and go in crowds.

Things have changed since the days students used buggys for transportation, but the excitement and fun of holidays and events on campus lives on in such events as Dia del Oso and Homecoming.

Works Cited: Keeth, Kent. “Looking Back at Baylor: a Collection of Historical Vignettes.” Waco: Baylor University, 1985; BU records: Baylor at Independence, Accession #BU/220, The Texas Collection, Baylor University; and Hicks-Hall-Harman family papers, Accession #1726, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

Research Ready: May 2017

Adventure, American West, Archives, Baptist missions, Baptist women, Belton Texas, Books, broadsides, China, Dallas, frontier and pioneer life, Indian captivities, Indians of North America, letters, missionaries, missions, Old West, Photographs, Rail Road, Railroads, Research Ready, Texas railroads, Waco, Waco Interfaith Conference, World War II
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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!

May’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

Ordination of Pastor Peter H.H. Lee, 1939
Annie Jenkins Sallee and her husband Dr. William Sallee were missionaries to the interior of China in the early 1900s. This photograph shows the Sallees as guests at an ordination service in Kaifeng, the capital city of the Henan province. You’ll find these items in the Annie Jenkins Sallee papers, 1897-1967, undated (#715), box 1, folder 13, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

May’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials

Thomas, Henry J., Mrs. The Prairie Rifles, or, The Captives of New Mexico: a Romance of the Southwest. New York: Beadle and Adams, [1868]. Print.

Thomas, Henry J., Mrs. The Prairie Rifles, or, The Captives of New Mexico: a Romance of the Southwest. New York: Beadle and Adams, [1868]. Print. 

This dime novel, one of nearly 400 in The Texas Collection, contains the fictional tale of two women who are captured by Comanche Indians.  Click here to view in BearCat.

 

 

Catalogue of the West Texas Military Academy: a Church School for Boys. San Antonio, TX: The Academy, 1904-. Print.

Catalogue of the West Texas Military Academy: a Church School for Boys. San Antonio, TX: The Academy, 1904-. Print. 

This catalog was produced just eleven years after the 1893 founding of the West Texas Military Academy in San Antonio. Two-thirds of the volume explains rules and regulations, administrative information, and academic standards. The remainder is devoted to athletics.  Click here to view in BearCat.

Some of the Things 1909 Farmers Buy. Volume 1. Texas. New York: Crowell Publishing Company, 1909. Print.

Some of the Things 1909 Farmers Buy. Volume 1. Texas. New York: Crowell Publishing Company, 1909. Print. 

Published as a special issue of the national publication Farm and Fireside, this volume highlights a group of Grayson County, Texas farmers randomly selected from the publication’s subscription list. Included in the volume are photographs of homes and descriptions of farms.  Click here to view in BearCat.

 

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