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
Photographs
Research Ready: September 2018
American South, Archives, Baptist Joint Committee, Baptist missions, Baptist women, Baylor athletics, Baylor football, Baylor traditions, Books, China, Civil War, Confederate States of America, ephemera, football, missionaries, missions, Photographs, Research Ready, Student Foundation, student life, Texas, Texas Baptists, World War I
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
We Want That Picture! Fred Gildersleeve’s Record Breaking Texas Cotton Palace Print
By Geoff Hunt, Audio and Visual Curator
In 1905 or 1906, Fred Gildersleeve came from Texarkana, Arkansas to Waco to work in the photography business. He later became a pioneer in the field of industrial photography in the state. One of his more famous pieces of work was his enlargement of the Texas Cotton Palace Main Building in Waco, Texas. Shown is a picture of the enlargement being processed. At the time, this photograph set a world record among photo prints at 120 inches wide. A representative from Eastman Kodak personally delivered the large roll of photo paper it required and supervised the enlargement process. The photo was exhibited for some time until it was sold for $50.00 to the building’s architect, Roy Ellsworth Lane. Gildersleeve later recalled that was “a good price in those days…as you remember, at that time 1913 the largest enlargement ever made. Eastman Kodak sent George McKay to supervise this. It was written up in Studio Light Magazine and also used this photo.”Continue Reading
Research Ready: July 2018
African-Americans, Amicable Alico Building, Archives, baseball, basketball, Baylor athletics, Baylor football, Books, Camp MacArthur, Eldorado, football, Galveston, Grant Teaff, Harlingen, Historic Waco, Houston, letters, Photographs, Republic of Texas, Research Ready, student life, Texas Baptists, Texas land grants, Texas Revolution, United States Air Force, Waco, West, World War II
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
Texas Over Time: “The Raleigh Building, Waco, TX”
Texas has changed quite a bit over the years, as is readily seen in our vast photograph and postcard collections. To help bring some of those changes to life, we’ve created a “Texas over Time” series of Meta Slider’s that will illustrate the construction and renovations of buildings, street scenes, and more. Our collections are especially strong on Waco and Baylor images, but look for some views beyond the Heart of Texas, too.
The Raleigh Building, Waco, TXContinue Reading
Research Ready: March 2018
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
Research Ready: January 2018
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!
January’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
- Lois Marie Sutton photographic collection, 1940-1976 (#4035): Contains photographs of Sutton’s travels in the United States and abroad, together with a few clippings. Sutton was a professor of foreign languages at Baylor University.
- BU Records: Phi Delta Phi, 1946-1971, undated (#BU/129): Administrative records, correspondence, and literary productions related to the Hemphill Inn chapter at Baylor University.
- Mamie Boone papers, 1867-2006 (#3780): Includes materials on Boone’s travels in Europe and the eastern United States, plus recipes and scrapbooks. Boone was principal of John H. Reagan Elementary School in Dallas, Texas, during the 1950s.
- BU Records: Graduate Council, 1959-1963 (#BU/99): Meeting minutes for Baylor University’s Graduate Council.
- BU Records: Delta Delta Delta, 1947-2001, undated (#BU/274): Collection contains items pertaining to the Beta Tau Chapter of Delta Delta Delta at Baylor University, previously known as the Peer Club and Kappa Theta.
January’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
Part of the Adams-Blakley collection, the volumes below recount the lives and legends of outlaw brothers Frank and Jesse James.
James, Edgar. The Notorious James Brothers: the latest and most complete story of the daring crimes of these famous desperadoes ever published : containing many sensational escapades never before made public. Baltimore: I. & M. Ottenheimer, 1913. Print.
The James Boys. A complete and accurate recital of the dare-devil criminal career of the famous bandit brothers, Frank and Jesse James and their noted band of bank plunderers, train robbers and murderers, specially compiled for the publishers. Chicago, Henneberry Co. [date of publication not identified]. Print.
Frank James and His Brother Jesse: The Daring Border Bandits. Baltimore, MD: I. & M. Ottenheimer, 1915. Print.
Research Ready: December 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!
December’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
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Letter from Charles Wellborn, student at Baylor and future evangelist and pastor, to the Armed Services Representative for Baylor University. In the letter, Wellborn describes drilling for the past week, after enlisting in the United States Army in July 1943. - BU Records: Armed Services Representatives, 1942-1945, undated (#BU/12): Collection contains correspondence sent by former students, parents, and government officials to Merle Mears McClellan, Baylor University’s Armed Services Representative during World War II. Baylor President Pat Neff appointed McClellan as the acting liason between the university and the military, in conjunction with Baylor University becoming a training site for Army officers prior to World War II.
December’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
![Cunningham, Eugene. Famous in the West. El Paso, TX: Hicks-Hayward Co., [1926]. Print.](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/27679186229_438e5ec3a1_o.jpg)
![College, Belton: For Women. [Belton, TX?]: [publisher not identified], [between 1925 and 1929?]. Print.](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/38748265324_f4cffd98a7_o.jpg)
![Waco 52 Playing Cards. [Waco, TX]: [publisher not identified], [2017]. Print.](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/39426131812_df48b1b35b_o.jpg)
Research Ready: September 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
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- 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 Materials![Ellis, Edward Sylvester. Lightning Jo: The Terror of the Santa Fe Trail. New York: Beadle and Adams, [1874]. Print.](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4490/37343412066_4a2746c1b7_o.jpg)
Texas over Time: Camp MacArthur
Texas has changed quite a bit over the years, as is readily seen in our vast photograph and postcard collections. To help bring some of those changes to life, we’ve created a “Texas over Time” series of GIFs that will illustrate the construction and renovations of buildings, changing aerial views, and more. Our collections are especially strong on Waco and Baylor images, but look for some views beyond the Heart of Texas, too.
• Named after Lt. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, the camp was opened July 18th, 1917, to train men demobilized from service on the Mexican border at the end of World War I. It was in service for less than three years when it was abandoned on May 15, 1919.
• As well as a demobilization facility, Camp MacArthur served as an officer’s training school and an infantry replacement training camp.
• Located in northwest Waco, local businessmen helped to create a 10,700-acre complex from cotton fields and blackland farms.
• The estimated cost was five million dollars and included a base hospital, administration offices, tent housing for troops, and other military personnel buildings.
• The first commander was Major General James Parker who formed the 32nd U.S. Infantry Division later known as “Les Terribles” for their “successful, tenacious attacks” on enemy troops in Langres, France.
• The camp’s capacity could occupy over 45,000 troops but never exceeded 28,000 troops at a time.
• After the establishment of Camp MacArthur, the large influx of soldiers helped stimulate Waco’s economy until the Great Depression. The military presence also heavily influenced Waco’s Cotton Palace Exposition with an exhibit of a “bullet-ridden German biplane.”
Works Cited
• Kelley, Dayton. “Camp MacArthur.” The Handbook of Waco and McLennan County, Texas. Waco, TX: Texian, 1972. 47. Print.
• Amanda Sawyer, “Camp MacArthur,” Waco History, accessed July 6, 2016, http://wacohistory.org/items/show/48.
• Stanton, John. “Camp MacArthur.” FortWiki. MediaWiki, 7 Feb. 2015. Web. 07 July 2016.
• Handbook of Texas Online, Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl, “Camp MacArthur,” accessed July 07, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qcc27.
See the still images in our Flickr set.