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
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.
Originally published in El Paso as an advertisement for Rodeo Outdoor Clothes, this volume contains info on cowboys such as “Jim” Gillett, Dallas Stoudenmire, Billy the Kid, and Tom Threepersons.Click here to view in BearCat.
College, Belton: For Women. [Belton, TX?]: [publisher not identified], [between 1925 and 1929?]. Print.
The purpose of this volume is two-fold. The many photographs of the grounds and student body show a beautiful, thriving Baylor College campus while the new development campaign seeks $500,000 to pay university debts and $250,000 to build a permanent endowment. Click here to view in BearCat.
Waco 52 Playing Cards. [Waco, TX]: [publisher not identified], [2017]. Print.
Though not a traditional book, this set of playing cards is unique to Waco. Each card is designed by a different artist and contains images of locations throughout the city, including the ALICO building, Waco Suspension Bridge, Hippodrome, Lake Waco, etc. Click here to view in BearCat.
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
Waco, Belton, and Georgetown Railroad records, 1909-1910, undated (#1577): Contains correspondence, financial notes, clippings, and the articles of incorporation about the planning and construction of the railroad in 1909-1910. Ultimately, however, the venture failed and the railroad was not completed.
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.
Annie Jenkins Sallee papers, 1897-1967, undated (#715): Includes manuscripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, diaries, and letters to and from Annie Jenkins Sallee and William Eugene Sallee, Baptist missionaries to China in the early 1900s through the beginning of World War II.
Texas Colony Association collection, circa 1870’s (#3295): Contains a broadside entitled “Texas Colony Association, Rapid Development of a Glorious Country.” It was produced in the mid-1870’s in an attempt to entice Americans to move to Texas, particularly the Kaufman County area east of Dallas
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
April’s finding aids By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
From the opening of the Waco Suspension Bridge 1870 until 1889, the Waco Bridge Company exacted tolls on individuals wishing to cross the bridge. Pictured here is a blank pass found in the collection. You’ll find these items in the Waco Bridge Company records, 1868-1991, undated (#2010), box 1, folder 6, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.
April’s print materials By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
Tomlin, Henry. Courtship and Marriage of Henry Tomlin. [Dallas?]: [publisher not identified], [1908?]. Print.
Henry Tomlin explains the difficulties he had in marrying his 13-year-old bride due to her parent’s objections. Oddly, nowhere in the volume does Tomlin mention his fiancé’s name or that he is 53-years-old. He also doesn’t mention his nearly two-decade stint in a Texas prison in the late 19th century, which he recounts in another volume, Henry Tomlin: the Man who Fought the Brutality and Oppression of the Ring in the State of Texas for Eighteen Years, and Won. Click here to view in BearCat.
Touted as the “Bootmakers of the West Since 1879,” Justin Boots & Shoes has been making footwear for nearly 140 years. This circa 1940s catalogue shows the wide range of boots, cowboy shoes, and waddies available at the time as well as photographs of the boot manufacturing process. Click here to view in BearCat.
Street Car and Bus Service in Dallas: Information for Centennial Visitors and Home Folks. [Dallas?]: [publisher not identified], [1936]. Print.
This informational brochure highlights the courteous, prompt, and safe modes of transportation that await those visiting Dallas for the 1936 Texas Centennial. A map showing the street car and bus lines is included and as well as info on how to get to popular attractions. Click here to view in BearCat.
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 are February’s finding aids:
BU records: Baylor Literacy Center, 1946-1988 (#BU/32): Contains the files of Baylor’s literacy center, which helped to teach members of the Waco community how to read. The collection contains brochures, subject files, and student work produced by the staff and students of the Literacy Center.
Photograph of Tom Padgitt, owner and head of the Tom Padgitt Company, a noted Waco-based leatherworking company. Forest Edwin and Edna Lee Sedwick Goodman Family photographic collection, 1870-1918, undated (#3944), box 1, folder 3.
Winter family photographic collection, 1880-1920 (#3945): Mostly unidentified photographs from Waco and Central Texas. The photographs provide insight into the style and photographic practices of American society at the turn of the twentieth century.
Jessie Brown frequently wrote to her sister Lizzie while a student at Baylor, 1888-1891. In this letter, she mentions the local fair and a spat with the president’s wife and disciplinarian of Baylor women, Georgia Burleson, over the oft-discussed topic of fashion. Jesse Breland and Jessie Brown Johnson papers, 1888-1929 (#440), box 1, folder 1.
When Pace was first hired at Baylor, she was one of only five female professors. Due in large part to the success of these individuals, the number steadily grew as time went along. Pace, a professor of botany, is pictured in the bottom left corner of this page from the 1919 Baylor Round-Up.
Today we might be tempted to take for granted the many female professors who teach at Baylor and the numerous women who are earning doctoral degrees. However, it wasn’t such a long time ago that female PhDs, JDs, and so forth, were few and far between at Baylor and at other institutions of higher education. So today, in honor of Women’s History Month, we look back at Lula Pace, one woman who proved that hard work and brilliance outweighed the gender-based stereotypes of her day.
Pace was born in Newton, Mississippi on November 3, 1868, a mere three years after the end of the Civil War. Before she had turned a year old, her parents decided to relocate to the central Texas area. The move proved to be advantageous for her. She was able to attend school at Baylor Female College—now the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor—in Belton, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1890. Upon graduation, she began teaching in the public schools in Temple.
But Pace’s aspirations for education were not yet satisfied. During her summers off, Pace attended the University of Chicago, a newly constructed school whose reputation was rising thanks to the support of the Rockefeller family.
Lula Pace’s notebooks, which she composed as a student at the University of Chicago, comprise most of the collection. Cytology is the study of cells.
By 1902, Pace had attained her Master of Science degree, and she applied for a teaching position at Baylor University. When she was accepted, she became one of only five female professors at the school. Even more impressive was the fact that she was the only female professor in the male-dominated science department.
In order to succeed as a student of botany, Pace had to learn how to draw diagrams. This cross-section of a plant is but one of the examples in which Pace demonstrated her artistic ability.
Seeking to increase her education and credibility, Pace continued taking classes during the summers and graduated with her PhD from the University of Chicago in 1907. Her dissertation focused on the study of plant cytology (cells). This achievement placed Pace in a class all her own: she became the first female professor at Baylor University to hold a PhD.
For 22 years (1903-1925), Dr. Pace taught courses in biology, geology, and botany. Not only was she accomplished as a scholar, but she also had a good reputation among students and offered innovative classes, such as a summer 1917 course held on-site at the Chatauqua grounds at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A student, J. Weldon Jones, was a member of that class and recalls being “struck by Dr. Pace’s knowledge of organizing a camp, cooking, laying in provisions, etc…her knowledge of first aid—avoiding dangers in the mountains, edible wild fruits, poisonous plants etc. was far beyond that of a ‘plainsman’”—and on top of all that, she maintained an orderly classroom while in the field.
Dr. Pace had a reputation for being strict, but she often had a powerful impact on the lives of her students. This reminiscence from a former student records some of Dr. Pace’s most perceptible traits: her knowledge of botany, a quiet sense of humor, and even her physical stamina!
Her prowess as a scientist and skill as a professor led to Pace’s appointment as the Chair of the Department of Botany and Geology, another first—she was the first woman to be the chair of a science department at Baylor. She held the position until she died in 1925.
The Lula Pace collection represents the life work of a woman who followed her passions in spite of what society’s norms dictated. Researchers who examine this collection will find notebooks that Pace composed as a graduate student, scholarly articles she wrote as contributions to the scientific community, as well as various maps which Pace collected in her studies. (In the Burleson Quad, just outside Carroll Library, you also can see another part of Pace’s legacy—one of the gingko biloba trees she planted on campus.) Please come down to The Texas Collection and celebrate with us as we commemorate one of Baylor University’s history trailblazers.
Even after securing her position as a professor in Baylor University’s science department, Pace continued to contribute to her field. In 1921, Dr. Pace published the “Geology of McLennan County, Texas.”
By Thomas DeShong, Archival Assistant and Digital Input Specialist
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] 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)
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.
![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)
![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.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4276/34869832812_281d3deb8e_o.jpg)
![Tomlin, Henry. Courtship and Marriage of Henry Tomlin. [Dallas?]: [publisher not identified], [1908?]. Print.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2874/34301673685_8a91004bab_o.jpg)
![H.J. Justin & Sons. Justin Boots & Shoes. [Fort Worth?]: [publisher not identified], [1947?]. Print.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2806/34301669055_f6ca305841_o.jpg)
![Street Car and Bus Service in Dallas: Information for Centennial Visitors and Home Folks. [Dallas?]: [publisher not identified], [1936]. Print.](https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2827/34301663995_e75f8d7846_o.jpg)
