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 railroads
Research Ready: December 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. The books included this month are not new to our holdings but were deemed appropriate as a celebration of the Christmas season. 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: August 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!
August’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
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- Texas Railroad collection, 1903-1966, undated (#2692): Railroad timetables and manuals from railroads that operated in or around Texas.
- Jay Presson Allen screenplay collection, 1968-1972 (#4002): Collection contains two screenplays written by Jay Allen Presson entitled The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1968) and Travels with My Aunt (1972).
- James Edward Grant Screenplay collection, 1961 (#3997): Includes the final screenplay James Edward Grant composed for the film The Comancheros. The screenplay, finalized in May 1961, was based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman.
- David Newman and Robert Benton Screenplay collection, 1967 (#3999): Contains a screenplay written by David Newman and Robert Benton in 1967. Titled Bonnie and Clyde, this story is centered around the infamous couple and their criminal careers.
August’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
Fourteenth Annual Panhandle-Plains Dairy Show: Premium List
here to view in BearCat.
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Research Ready: July 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!
July’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
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- 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.
- F.P. Leavenworth Confederate ordnance book, 1862-1865 (#4025): Collection consists of one order book written by F.P. Leavenworth during his command of the Confederate arsenal in Shreveport, Louisiana, and ordnance depot in Jefferson, Texas.
- BU records: Baylor/Paul Baker Controversy, 1961-1963 (#BU/394): Includes materials about the production of Eugene O’Neill’s play “Long Day’s Journey into Night” at Baylor University by director Paul Baker, and the university’s subsequent cancellation of the play. The collection contains thousands of letters in response to the controversy, among other files.
- Texas Navy records, circa 1970’s-1980 (#2201): The Texas Navy records consist of a brief history of The Texas Navy as well as various artistic prints produced in the 1970’s and 1980s.
- Betty Wilke Cox papers, 1896-2007, undated (#3860): Cox was a writer, editor, and publisher based out of Austin, Texas. Her collection includes manuscripts, correspondence, personal journals, research material, photographs, and biographical information.
- National Railway Historical Society, Central Texas Chapter records, 1887-1983, undated (#2519): Contains books, articles, photographs, maps, and other materials collected and produced by the Central Texas Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. This research was used for a self-published book, The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway: The Story of the Famous “SAP” Railway of Texas (1983).
- Richard D. Donner and Ronald L. Buck Screenplay collection, 1967 (#3998): Includes a single screenplay written by Richard D. Donner and Ronald L. Buck in 1967. Entitled Deaf Smith, the work chronicles the life of a frontiersman in Texas.
- “Where the Heart Is” Screenplay collection, 1999 (#3384): Collection consists of a screenplay for the film Where the Heart Is. The finished product contains scenes shot on Baylor University’s campus.
- San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway Company collection, 1891-1983 (#2448): Contains photocopies of annual reports and timetables produced by the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway Company from the 1890’s to the 1930s.
- Rose Franken Screenplay collection, 1936-1946 (#3967): Consists of four scripts and screenplays written by Rose Franken. Franken was a novelist and playwright best known for her “Claudia” stories and for their stage and film adaptations.
- Gerald Drayton Adams Screenplay collection, 1953 (#4000): Includes the “Shooting Final” screenplay, written by Gerald Drayson Adams in 1953, and related materials. Titled Three Young Texans, the story is set in the 1870s and centered around a train robbery in Texas.
July’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
Sullivan, John H., Jr. [United States]: [publisher not identified], [between 1932 and 1937]. Print.
here to view in BearCat.
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Research Ready: May 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!
May’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
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- 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 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.
- Waco Conference of Christians and Jews records (#2701), 1980-1996, undated: Speeches, photographs, and records of the humanitarian work done by the Waco Interfaith Conference (formerly known as the Waco Conference of Christians and Jews).
- 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
- [Temple] Southwestern Traction Company collection, 1918-1927, undated (#1526): Correspondence and legal documents pertaining to the interurban railway between Belton and Temple.
May’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
here to view in BearCat.
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Research Ready: April 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!
April’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
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- Waco Bridge Company records, 1868-1991, undated (#2010): Financial ledgers and minute books produced by the company as it constructed and maintained the first bridge over the Brazos River in Central Texas, the Waco Suspension Bridge.
- [Belton] Southwestern Traction Company collection, 1913-1918, undated (#1511): Consists of legal documents about maintaining the rail line from Belton to Temple, and the construction of a proposed new line from Belton to Williamson County, Texas.
- Belton and Northeastern Railroad Company records, 1895-1898 (#1576): Correspondence and financial documents pertaining to the creation of a railroad in the 1890s to connect Belton to the Cotton Belt Railway via McGregor, Texas.
- Crush Collision collection, 1896-1983 (#1253): Includes correspondence containing eyewitness accounts of the famous intentional crash of two locomotives in Crush, Texas, on September 15, 1896.
April’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
here to view in BearCat.
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Research Ready: March 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!
March’s finding aids
By Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist
- Estes family papers, 1853-1996, undated (#187): Includes Civil War correspondence from Aaron Estes, a soldier in the 10th Texas Infantry, plus legal and financial papers.
- Gordon Zahorik papers, 1939-1980, undated (#284): Contains photographs of streetcars operated by the Texas Electric Railway Company during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
- Davis and Manon Yantis Stribling papers, 1898-1912, undated (#1595): Two albums of photographs from around the Baylor University campus, circa 1907-1910. Other materials include European postcards and books.
- Currency collection, 1837-1914, undated (#3866): Collection contains currency from Texas, Mexico, various states, and organizations throughout the 1800s and early 1900s.
- Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway records, 1880 (#1902): Consists of a cancelled land deed from 1880 that was initially proposed to attract the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway Company to Belton, Texas.
- Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad records, 1948-1949 (#2192): Includes conductor’s orders and clearance cards used in directing a special presidential campaign train carrying President Harry Truman to Waco on September 27, 1948.
- Nora Elizabeth Potter Sims papers, 1943-1971, undated (#3925): Contains materials including diaries, notebooks, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and artifacts all pertaining to Nora’s life.
- Roy Elmer Beck collection, 1918-1946, undated (#3293): Materials from Beck’s lengthy employment for the Texas Electric Railway Company in Waco.
- Texas and Pacific Railroad Company records, circa 1874 (#1542): Consists of a single, U.S. Congressional bill pertaining to the construction of a transcontinental railroad via the Texas and Pacific Railway Company.
- Brinkman-Alston Texas currency, 1841-1843 (#3908): Includes three paper bills: 2 Republic of Texas currency notes and 1 McKinney, Williams, and Company currency
- C.E. Casebier collection, undated (#2242): Collection contains an essay by C.E. Casebier concerning his trip to Washington, D.C. in 1923 to advocate for the Kansas City-Mexico-Orient railroad.
March’s print materials
By Amie Oliver, Librarian and Curator of Print Materials
This month, we are highlighting a selection of 16th century volumes recently discovered in our backlog and added to the collection.
here to view in BearCat.
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here to view in BearCat.
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here to view in BearCat.
ClickUnderstanding a Derailment: Camp MacArthur Train No. 264
by Geoff Hunt, Audio and Visual Curator
On June 18, 1918, a troop train carrying soldiers from Camp MacArthur’s 80th Field Artillery left East Waco traveling eastward on the Cotton Belt line on a trip to a southern training camp. After traveling for 15 minutes (about 7 miles), the train derailed just north of Selby (no longer on the map). Two troops, Corporals Laurn Harrell and August Handschumacher, Jr., were killed, and about 30 military personnel and four employees of the railroad were injured.
In these photos taken by Edward Charles (E.C.) Blomeyer, of Waco, Texas, we can see the aftermath of the crash. Blomeyer was not involved with the railroad but rather was president of The Texas Telephone Company—while also pursuing amateur interest in photography. Blomeyer (1883-1964) lived in Waco from about 1912 to 1920. His collection of nearly 1,500 negatives and prints allow us to be an eyewitness to historical events that otherwise might be lost to time.
According to the Interstate Commerce Commission’s report on the incident, the train consisted of 14 passenger coaches, 6 freight cars, and a caboose. Troop train no. 264 left East Waco at 3:25 p.m. and after traveling eastward about 7 miles and approximately 1.1 miles north of the town of Selby (no longer on the map), the train derailed at approximately 3:40 p.m. The locomotive was a Baldwin Consolidation-type, 2-8-0, #510, of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas, also known as the Cotton Belt line.
The derailment occurred as the train approached a trestle crossing the Tehuacana Creek. After an investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and upon hearing statements from the train’s engineer, Statham, the agency came to the conclusion that a sun kink was the main factor of the accident. Sun kinks can occur during extreme heat causing rails to bulge or spread. At the time of the accident on this June day, it was reported to be 103 degrees.
Statham reported to the agency that the sun kink was “3 to 5 inches in width and about half a rail length long, located about 400 feet south of the trestle; he then set the air [brakes] in emergency and jumped.”
Another factor reported by the ICC describes the poor condition of the track: “this section was not properly supported by a ballast, and should not have been permitted to remain in that condition.” Based on the information, it was determined this resulted in the locomotive to begin its derailment 113 feet south of the trestle, causing the engine to turn over when it began to cross. A Waco News-Tribune account of June 19, 1918, states: “…at the time of the wreck [the train] was passing over a wooden bridge across Tehuacana creek. As the engine went onto the bridge timbers suddenly gave way and the locomotive ploughed through.”
The ICC determined that there were no mechanical problems with the Baldwin Locomotive #510. However, the arrangement of the cars made the event more tragic: during the derailment, the engine’s tender cistern became unattached from its frame, and unfortunately, directly behind it was the first passenger coach, which was made of wood. The wooden coach was practically demolished under the tender’s frame and tank, and the two deaths and many of the injuries occurred in this car. The ICC claimed that placing this lighter wooden coach behind the locomotive with the heavier steel cars behind it “undoubtedly increased the danger of injury to the passengers.”
After the incident there was much speculation as to the cause of the mishap. The June 19, 1918, Waco News-Tribune reported that: “The favorite opinion of the hundreds of officers, camp and railroad officials, and citizen spectators, was that the bridge or the rails had been tampered with, by persons knowing of the troop movement.” With the U.S. into its second year of involvement in World War I, it is not surprising that such theories of sabotage were being put forth. Just a few days after the derailment, these theories were debunked by the investigation reports.
All of the above photographs were taken by Edward Charles (E.C.) Blomeyer, of Waco, Texas. See more of the photos from this accident in our Flickr album below:
Research Ready: December 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. 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)