Benajah Harvey B.H. Carroll – The Texas Collection

Sharing Student Scholarship: Religion at Baylor University, 1890-1910

Posted on May 8, 2019

Our Sharing Student Scholarship blog posts showcase original scholarship written by Baylor students who conducted research using primary source materials in The Texas Collection. This post is the the third of five in a series of blog posts written by graduate and PhD students from the Fall 2018 Foundations & History of Higher Education Leadership course.

by Sean Strehlow, Trenton Holloway, Maddie Whitmore, and Tori Guilford

Rufus C. Burleson: Cultivating the Baptist Way at Baylor

President Rufus C. Burleson first served as president of Baylor University at Independence from the years 1851-1861. After Baylor University at Independence merged with Waco University, Burleson again took on the role of president. He served in this role until 1897. Burleson’s dedication to his own Baptist faith helped define and distinguish Baylor University’s Baptist identity. Following his death in 1901, Baylor University erected a monument in Burleson’s honor. Burleson’s students, it is said, “have carried his noble lessons around the globe” (Ritchie, 1901, pp. 4). As teachers, preachers, legislators, physicians, bankers, and lawyers, Burleson’s former students became worldwide leaders. His undeniable faith in God is evidenced by his commitment to Christian education. At the time of this memorial being planted, the Baylor faculty sought to continue his great legacy. The faculty committed themselves to prayer and the perpetuation of Burleson’s vision for Christian education (Ritchie, 1901, pp. 5). Chief among the faculty was B.H. Carroll, First Baptist’s magnanimous preacher, and one of the most influential denominational leaders among Southern Baptists. His sermons never failed to convict the hearts of his congregants (Ray, 1927, pp. 149-150). Burleson was both friend, and mentor to Carroll.

From the very beginning, Baylor has been steeped in Baptist tradition. Baylor’s Baptist ties could be seen most clearly in their Chapel services. These services, held once a day, served as an opportunity for students, faculty and staff alike to come together and sing songs, pray, and hear biblical teaching. In the 1890’s, these services were held at 9:00a.m. on weekdays and at 4:00p.m. on Sundays. Students’ attendance at these services was mandatory and strictly enforced, and absences could earn a student anywhere from two to ten demerits. Chapel speakers were most often University professors who would speak on a topic of their choosing. B.H. Carroll gave his first address to the students in 1886, and quickly became a regular speaker at Chapel services (Carroll, 1923, pp. 409). He was admired by students like Jessie Brown, a student between 1888-1891, who recorded fond reflections of his sermons in letters written to her sister at home (Brown, 1890, pp. 233). Despite the strict attendance policy, many students really enjoyed the Chapel services. These Chapel “exercises,” as Jewell Leggett refers to them in her diary, helped students to grow in their faith by teaching them spiritual discipline.Continue Reading

Research Ready: July 2014

Posted on August 5, 2014

Tarrant County superintendent election certificate for Wade Hill Pool, 1888 — Wade Hill Pool earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor in 1887 and very shortly thereafter was elected the Tarrant County superintendent of public schools. He returned to Baylor to lead its Academy in 1892. Wade Hill Pool papers #76, box 1, folder 2

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’s finding aids include several produced by the Archival Collections and Museum class from spring 2014. Topics include the papers of a Paul Quinn College professor, a Texas lawyer involved with the Nazi war trials right after World War II, and a committee that considered moving Baylor University from Waco to Dallas, Texas. Here are July’s finding aids:

James Andrew and Ruth Newton Baggett papers, 1917-1919, undated (#3876): Comprised of letters and photographs written during James’ service in the United States Army during World War I.
Katherine McKinnon Edmond papers, 1849-1969, undated (#33): Consists of letters, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to Edmond and the Edmond family. (Archives class)
John Thomas Harrington papers, 1884-1947 (#728): The John Thomas Harrington Papers consists of correspondence, financial papers, medical practice materials, and other literary documents from Harrington’s life in Waco, Texas. (Archives class)
Billie Huggins Harrison papers, 1923-1997, undated (#3906): Contains scrapbooks documenting Baylor campus life for a female student in the 1930s and 1940s.
L.L. Johnson papers, 1908 (#3905): Class lecture notes compiled by L.L. Johnson, a student in a class taught by Benajah Harvey Carroll.
Virgil Hoyt McClintock papers, 1911-1952, undated (#3912): Case files, photographs, and scrapbooks relating to McClintock’s judicial review of Nazi war crime cases.

Inside pages of “Military Training at Paul Quinn College” pamphlet — This pamphlet shows the military training Paul Quinn College students received during World War II. John H. Talton papers #3082, box 1, folder 7.

BU records: Movement for the Perpetuation of Baylor at Waco Committee, 1928 April-November (#BU/122): Letters and newspaper clippings documenting the proposed move of Baylor to Dallas and efforts to keep the university in Waco.
Wade Hill Pool papers, 1878-1941, undated (#76): Legal documents and literary productions related to the life of Professor Wade Hill Pool, a Latin professor at Baylor University.
Annie Keeling Randle papers, 1919-1928 (#2545): Contains copies of two plays written by Randle, an influential member of the black community in Waco throughout the twentieth-century.
John H. Talton papers, 1914-1968, undated (#3082): Includes letters and ledger books related to the life of John H. Talton, a history professor at Paul Quinn College when it was located in Waco, Texas.
Waco Public Library Association records, 1856-1925, undated (#2041): Traces the formation and continuing operations of the first Waco Public Library, funded in part by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

Baylor Quiz Time

Posted on January 13, 2014

by Amanda Norman, University Archivist

A "slime" (freshman) scrubs the Baylor seal in the foyer of Pat Neff Hall, 1951 — Fortunately, freshmen aren’t imposed on anymore to use the toothbrush method to keep the Pat Neff Hall seal clean–and the seal is roped off to keep people from walking on it.

It’s back to school today—time for a quiz! These Baylor trivia questions are drawn from things I’ve learned through assisting patrons with reference questions. Test your knowledge of the green and gold—or learn more about Baylor’s past!

When did Baylor have its first female yell leader?
In the 1950s-1960s, AFROTC cadets practiced their rifle shooting in an indoor range in what building? a) Bill Daniel Student Center b) Rena Marrs McLean Gymnasium c) Penland Hall
What does legend say is buried near the swing in Burleson Quadrangle?
How many years elapsed between when Tidwell Bible Building was first proposed and when it was completed?
True or False—A Baylor student designed the Baylor seal in the floor of the Pat Neff Hall foyer.
How much money did George W. Truett raise to eliminate Baylor’s debt in his role as financial agent in the early 1890s?
Sociology is a part of the College of Arts and Sciences now, but it hasn’t always been housed there. In what school did it reside in the 1920s?
What subject did the first African-American professor at Baylor teach?
How many classes celebrated their graduation at Baylor Stadium (now Floyd Casey Stadium)?
Who coined Baylor’s motto, Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana?

Yell Leaders at Baylor (Floyd Casey) Stadium, circa 1970 — The female yell leaders in this 1970s photo were not the first.

Vivienne Malone-Mayes in the classroom, undated

Answers

Weta Timmons was elected a yell leader in 1923 and is heartily commended for her efforts in the Lariat. However, after her term and up to 1968, there were no female yell leaders. The decision to break that gender gap was much debated throughout the 1960s.
a) Bill Daniel Student Center. From 1953 to about 1964, the AFROTC competitive shooting team carried rifles up four flights of stairs to the attic of the Student Union Building and practiced target shooting. Apparently you could hear the shots outside the building (through air vents) but not inside.
An “Indian princess” from the Huaco Indian tribe. When Colonel Joseph Warren Speight owned the property, his daughters found turquoise beads beneath a tree where they were playing. Speight investigated and found the skeleton. According to a Huaco legend, a plague befell the tribe. The chief’s beloved daughter helped nurse the ill but eventually died herself, and the bones are hers. In the 1930s, a marker declaring the grave to be that of “an Indian Princess” was erected on the site but was later removed and then returned in 1988.
Twenty-one years. The building was first conceived in 1933 but wasn’t completed till 1954. It was delayed due to fundraising challenges, including World War II and other building priorities like Baylor Stadium, Armstrong Browning Library, and the Student Union Building. Architectural problems also delayed the project—an overly ambitious initial design, leading to a new architect being engaged and a lawsuit. Check out BU Records: Tidwell Bible Building Campaign Committee at The Texas Collection
True. Enrique Ramirez designed the seal for the building, which was completed in 1939. Ramirez was an art student who did various art and design projects for the university throughout his time at Baylor.
Truett raised $100,000 in two years. Benajah Harvey (B.H.) Carroll, the president of the board of trustees, offered the job of financial agent to Truett, who accepted the position but suffered a bad case of the measles before he could start the job. After completing the fundraising project, Truett enrolled at Baylor as a student in 1893, and, of course, went on to become a major figure in Texas Baptist history. In 1990, Baylor claimed his name for a future seminary, and in 1994, the first students began classes at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. Check out the George W. Truett papers at The Texas Collection. We also have many of the books he authored and audio recordings of his sermons.
The School of Commerce and Business Administration, which was founded in 1923 (and now is known as the Hankamer School of Business). Political science and journalism are a few other departments that were housed in the new program but eventually were moved to the College of Arts and Sciences.
Vivienne Malone-Mayes was hired as a mathematics professor at Baylor in 1966—only five years after she had been denied admittance to the school as a graduate student. She was among the first black women in the nation to earn a PhD in mathematics. Check out the Vivenne Malone-Mayes papers at The Texas Collection and her oral memoirs from the Institute for Oral History.
Five. The classes of 1951-1955 celebrated commencement exercises at Baylor Stadium. In 1956, President Eisenhower came to Baylor and gave the commencement address. According to the Lariat, his advisors “much preferred that he speak in a completely enclosed building,” so the venue was moved that year to the (un-air conditioned and thus very warm) Heart O’ Texas Coliseum. Commencement was held there until 1988, when the Ferrell Center was constructed.
Rufus Burleson. When he accepted the presidency of the university in 1851, he included an outline of institutional policies. Number eight on the list was, “The mottoes of Baylor University shall be, “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana;” “Dulce et Decorum, pro patria Mori.” The Baylor seal still boasts the first motto, which translates to “For Church, For Texas.” The latter quote is attributed to the Roman poet Horace, and roughly translates to, “It is sweet and proper to die for your country.” It fell out of use as an official slogan—really, it’s not clear if it ever was adapted. Check out the Rufus C. Burleson papers at The Texas Collection.

You can read more about these stories and many others in the digitized Lariats, Round-Ups, and press releases, just a few of many Texas Collection items that can be found on the Baylor Digital Collections site. And if you want to investigate even further, drop me a line at The Texas Collection—we have archival records on many of these people and places.

The Tragedy of William Cowper Brann, Waco's Infamous Firebrand

Posted on April 1, 2013

By the later decades of the 1800s, Waco, Texas, had become the epitome of a western town. Violent duels were all too common on its dusty streets—Waco earned the nickname “Six Shooter Junction.” On the evening of April 1, 1898, another gunfight ensued in which both of the men involved died from fatal wounds. Why have we singled out this particular altercation (aside from its date, 115 years ago today)? Because one of the duelers was one of Waco’s most controversial figures, William Cowper Brann.

William Cowper Brann in his Iconoclast office in Waco, undated

Brann gained significant clout as the editor of Brann’s Iconoclast, a journal he started in Waco in February 1895. Throughout his lifetime, Brann had striven to succeed as a writer. In the late 1890s, Brann discovered his niche in the central Texas region. The Iconoclast had an enormous circle of influence, with a readership of approximately 100,000 people across the nation. Such fame did not come without a price, however. Brann, who was openly critical of Baylor University, Baptists, Episcopalians, women, African Americans, and the British (to name a few), made a number of enemies. A sample of his writing:

“The Tyler Telegram humbly apologizes for having called that wide-lipped blather-skite, T. DeWitt Talmage, ‘a religious fakir.’ Next thing we know our Tyler contemporary will apologize for having inadvertently hazarded the statement that water is wet. …The Iconoclast will pay any man $10 who will demonstrate that T. DeWitt Talmage ever originated an idea, good, bad or indifferent…. The man who can find intellectual food in Talmage’s sermons could acquire a case of delirium tremens by drinking the froth out of a pop bottle.”—Brann on Talmage, a significant religious leader during the mid- to late-19th century.

Brann's Iconoclast, November 1897 — Brann’s Iconoclast, November 1897. In this issue he describes one of the times he was attacked for his writings: “When we find a contumacious sinner we waste no time in theological controversy or moral suasion, but promptly round him up with a rope and bump his head, and we bump it hard.”

But as usual, there’s more to Brann’s story than meets the eye. Indeed, his life was truly tragic, from beginning to end. Brann was born the son of a Presbyterian minister on January 4, 1855, in Coles County, Illinois. After his mother passed away two years later, Brann was given over to the care of a neighboring couple. By the age of thirteen, Brann decided to head out west to find his fortune.

Brann married Carrie Martin of Illinois in 1877. They had three children, one of whom eventually committed suicide at the age of twelve. In addition to his family struggles, Brann could not find stable work in editing. His first attempt at starting a newspaper in Austin failed miserably. Not until he relocated to Waco did Brann find success.

"The Brazilian Girl and Baylor University," 1895 — In 1895, President Rufus Burleson sought to defend the integrity of both his family and Baylor University by calling into question the character of the young Brazilian girl.

One of the most controversial issues Brann wrote about was the impregnation of a fourteen-year-old Brazilian girl. Baylor University President Rufus Burleson took Antonia Teixeira, an orphan brought to the US by a Baptist missionary, into his home to care for her. After it was revealed that the young girl was pregnant, Brann seized the story and used it to tarnish the reputation of Burleson and Baylor. Steen Morris, the brother of Burleson’s son-in-law, was accused of rape but ultimately acquitted. Burleson’s transition from the Baylor presidency to becoming president emeritus was in part due to the scandal.

Brann received much criticism for his assaults on Baylor University—he was even attacked. Newspapers from the time period (including the Iconoclast) report that Brann was kidnapped by a large mob of Baylor students and dragged through campus by a rope secured around his neck. On another occasion, Brann was jumped by three men— reportedly a Baylor trustee and two students—beaten, and left in the streets to die. Yet Brann was not swayed from his purpose.

William Cowper Brann funeral notice, 1898 — This is the original funeral notice printed after Brann’s death. He died several hours after the gunfight and was eventually buried in Oakwood Cemetery, not far from The Texas Collection. Brann’s funeral service took place in his Waco residence which has since been torn down. He was 43 years old.

On April 1, 1898, Brann was approached from behind by Tom Davis, a disgruntled father of a Baylor student. Davis shot Brann three times. Amazingly, Brann had the wherewithal to turn around and fire all six of his bullets into Davis. Both men eventually died from the encounter, and a number of bystanders were also wounded.

William Cowper Brann's tombstone in Waco's Oakwood Cemetery — Brann was buried in Oakwood Cemetery on April 3, 1898. His unique tombstone represents the “lamp of truth” and has been the unfortunate subject of much vandalism over the years. It was stolen in 2009.

Some have admired Brann for his devotion to presenting what he believed was the truth, while others discounted him as a radical seeking to stir up the masses. The Texas Collection houses the William Cooper Brann collection and a sizable run of Brann’s Iconoclast, among other resources on and relating to him in our library and archives. I encourage you to make the trip to our reading room and decide for yourself!

By Thomas DeShong, Archival Assistant and Digital Input Specialist

Research Ready: August 2012

Posted on August 31, 2012

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 August:

"Big Auto Race at Cotton Palace Track, 1916" — Pictured is a “Big auto race at Cotton Palace track, 1916”–one of the many attractions held at the Texas Cotton Palace exhibitions in Waco, TX. The Texas Cotton Palace Records cover the life of the exhibition, from 1910 to 1931, and include correspondence, minutes, programs, and many fascinating photographs.

Cego German Evangelical Church Records: These records contain the minutes of Cego German Evangelical Church (located in Falls County, Texas), produced by secretary A.A. Miller during the Great Depression.
Matthew Ellenberger Papers: The Matthew Ellenberger Papers contain Ellenberger’s research notes and correspondence as well as literary publications concerning Texas Revolutionary Albert C. Horton and American Revolution figures Thomas Walker and Jack Jouett.
A leader among Texas Baptists, B. H. Carroll contributed many years to Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, among other denominational efforts.
Texas Cotton Palace Records: This collection contains correspondence, legal and financial documents, literary productions, photographs, and an artifact pertaining to the Texas Cotton Palace and its festivities in Waco, Texas.

Benajah Harvey Carroll Papers: The Benajah Harvey “B.H.” Carroll Papers consist of correspondence, financial records, and literary productions regarding the various positions Carroll held throughout his life, including pastor of First Baptist Church in Waco, professor and chairman of the board of trustees of Baylor University, secretary of the Texas Baptist Education Commission, and founder and president of Baylor Theological Seminary/Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.