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This blog post was written by second-year Student Assistant Brigid Splaine. Brigid recently completed her Junior year as a Political Science Major, with a Minor in History. 

Since it was first chartered in 1845, Baylor University has included women in its mission of providing higher education, marking it as one of the “first coeducational colleges or universities west of the Mississippi” (5). It would not be for another ten years until coeducational learning would be introduced into any other public university which by then Baylor already had their first female graduate, Mary Gentry Kavanaugh (5). Yet despite providing female students with ample access to attend the university and obtain a degree, inequality between the female and male students was as present as ever. While women were able to seek enrollment at the university, “their experiences were rarely equal to men’s once on campus” (6). Women at this time were seen by society as being “physically unequal to men” perpetuating “the unequal treatment of women on campus” (6). These societal pressures limited female students at Baylor to the “women’s sphere,” only allowing women access to certain majors and student organizations (6).

Despite these ongoing inequality issues, Baylor was able to effectively address them with the help of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Established in Boston, Massachusetts in 1882 as the American Association of Collegiate Alumnae (AACA), this group focused on inequality issues by developing higher educational opportunities for women while also setting high standards for institutions serving women. In 1921, the AACA merged with another group, the Southern Association of College Women, to form the AAUW we can still see working today. The AAUW began its involvement at Baylor in 1923, when it recognized the university as being one of the few in the state of Texas to be placed on this accredited list (1). The AAUW would accredit higher education institutions after they displayed that a fixed set of standards had been met by the university, such as providing the “same pay for the same work as men” and calling for a dean of women to be created that would have “an equal rank with that of the dean of men” (1).

Ms. Edna E. McDaniel arrived in Waco in the fall of 1924 to serve in the newly created role as Dean of Women at Baylor University (2). Previously serving at the University of Texas in the same role, Ms. McDaniel was influential in helping Baylor obtain admission into the American Association of University Women as well as improving the lives of female students at the university. After her arrival in the fall of 1924, the new Dean of Women helped Baylor achieve the standard for accreditation and earned “admission into the AAUW” (2). McDaniel “advocated strongly for the vocational opportunities” for female students on campus, wanting Baylor women to be “well rounded and seek out vocations they were passionate about” (4).  Dean McDaniel helped break down the barriers of the “women’s sphere” on campus by encouraging women to pursue careers outside of the socially acceptable teaching degree. She states that it was “a pity that there are so many women with various talents who are all trying to be schoolteachers when they finish their college career” and while she saw the teaching professions as a noble line of work, she believed “there are a large number of other fields in which some women would be far more successful than they would be in teaching” (3). When Dean McDaniel resigned from her position at Baylor in the Spring of 1926 to “accept a position with the University of Oklahoma as dean of women” her impact was profoundly felt across the Baylor campus for years to come (2). From 1921 to 1930, the percentage of women enrolled at Baylor increased 5%, no doubt because of the improved conditions for female students cultivated by the work of Dean McDaniel and the American Association of University Women (6).

The AAUW chartered its Waco branch in 1926. The Waco Branch continued to carry out the AAUW’s mission of promoting education and equity for women through a variety of different programs including everything from study groups to science fairs to scholarship programs. The Waco Branch worked to support college-educated women at Baylor, as well as middle-school aged girls in the community in any way they could. After 75 years of serving Baylor and the surrounding community, the Waco Chapter of the AAUW disbanded in 2001 due to declining membership numbers and insufficient funds, but the legacy of their work would continue to be felt for many years to come.

Works Cited

1. “For Equal Rights in Coed Colleges: Texas Branch of American Association of University Women will Demand Justice” Waco News-Tribune, 27 April 1926, https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/85054460/?terms=American%20Association%20of%20University%20Women&match=1
2. “Dean of Women at Baylor Drafter by Oklahoma to Take New Place in Fall” Waco News-Tribune , 22 April 1926, https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/85053624/?terms=%22American%20Association%20of%20University%20Women%22&match=1
3. “Decades of Growth: 1919 – 1940s” Impact, School of Education, Baylor University https://www.baylor.edu/soe/impact/news.php?action=story&story=215394
4. DeLong, Misha. “Road to Educational Equality: Women’s Access at Baylor from 1921 – 1930.” HESA Baylor History Project, https://blogs.baylor.edu/hesabaylorhistoryproject/mishas-paper/
5. “Meet Seven Baylor Women who Blazed New Trails in the Sciences.” BaylorProud, 7 March 2019, https://www2.baylor.edu/baylorproud/2019/03/meet-7-baylor-women-who-blazed-new-trails-in-the-sciences/#:~:text=It%20began%20with%20Mary%20Gentry,parts%20in%20the%20university’s%20success.
6. “Access at Baylor: 1921 – 1930.” HESA Baylor History Project, https://blogs.baylor.edu/hesabaylorhistoryproject/baylor-1921-1930-2/access-at-baylor-1921-1930/

This piece by former Texas Collection director Kent Keeth was originally published in The Baylor Line in February 1980. Blogging About Texas periodically features selections from Looking Back at Baylor, with hopes of sharing Keeth’s work with a new audience.

**In honor of Arbor Day, read about Baylor’s early tradition of planting trees to beautify campus as well as mark the passage of campus traditions from one class to the next. **

At the turn of the century, Texas’ official observance of Arbor Day occurred on February 22, in conjunction with the state’s commemoration of George Washington’s birthday. On Baylor’s campus, however, students selected a different presidential milestone with which to combine the annual event. Beginning in 1903, seventeen successive senior classes marked December 4, President Samuel Palmer Brooks’s birthday, by a ritual known as “tree-planting” on Burleson Quadrangle.

Brooks had assumed Baylor’s presidency in June 1902. By the time of his fortieth birthday, eighteen months later, he had won the admiration and respect of the university’s students to such an extent that the seniors chose this occasion to honor him with their symbolic contribution to their alma mater.

Burleson Quadrangle, in every sense the focal point of the campus, had been completed by the dedication of Carroll Science Hall and Carroll Chapel and Library earlier in the year. The students had sought a project which would make the university’s grounds even more beautiful.

The agenda of the first tree-planting, as reported in the Lariat, set a pattern for years to come. Seniors, garbed for the first time in their caps and gowns, solemnly paraded in pairs to the selected location. They were followed by members of the junior class, who joined them in forming a circle around the site. Following the invocation, a poem and a song which had been composed for the occasion were read and sung, and the senior class roll was called and answered with humorous responses.

The presidents of the two classes saluted one another in carefully worded speeches of jocular challenge and, the tree was placed into the ground, each of the seniors scooped a spadeful of dirt around its roots. After President Brooks had accepted the seniors’ gift on behalf of the university, the spade was handed over to the junior class president for use in similar ceremonies the following year. Then, with eyes moist but spirits high, all participants adjourned to the annual senior- junior football contest on adjacent Carroll Field.

While the broad outlines of the tree-planting ceremonies remained constant, the passage of years saw the addition of new features. By the nineteen-teens, seniors had begun to place more than shovelfuls of earth around the base of their tree. In a 1976 interview Dr. Cornelia M. Smith (BA ’18), retired chairman of the biology department, recalled the 1914 ceremony which she had witnessed as a student: “The climax of the program was reached at the roll call of the class. Each member responded by burying some words of condemnation at the foot of the tree, the things that he or she most detested about Baylor. Some of the burials brought good results, as for instance the abolition of chapel examinations. Can you imagine? Chapel examinations!”

Other buried grievances itemized by the Lariat included final examinations, the campus’ inaccurate system of clocks, certain areas of much- patched linoleum flooring, “sickening campus spooners,” and the rats in Burleson Hall.

Perhaps Baylor’s students during the 1920s grew too sophisticated for the continuation of such a simple and rustic tradition: or perhaps, after seventeen years, Burleson Quadrangle was becoming so thickly wooded that no available sites remained for further implantations. Whatever the reason, the annual tree-plantings were discontinued after 1919.

In any case, with the construction of the new heating plant near Waco Creek in 1920, and of Brooks Hall at the northern extreme of the campus in 1921, Baylor’s horizons were beginning to expand beyond the confines of the Quadrangle. Future generations of students would move within a greatly expanded sphere of activity, while continuing to enjoy the shaded and leafy inheritance bequeathed to them by their predecessors.

**Ring Out and Passing of the Key, established in 1927 and 1946, respectively, accomplish the same intent as tree-planting; recognizing and passing on the knowledge and traditions of the university from one class to the next. Similarly, the Freshman Class Hymn, established in 2008, also fulfills the sentiments of tree-planting. The first ceremony included an original poem and song composed for the event.**

Maps

Cemeteries, 2018: McLennan County, Texas

Through painstaking research, Sharon Erwin McNary Rita Ballentine Hogan, and John R. Kamenec illustrate the most up-to-date information regarding cemeteries in McLennan County. Cemeteries are marked in red and are also included in an alphabetical list.

 

Post route map of the state of Texas, with adjacent parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Indian Territory and of the Republic of Mexico, 1878

The first state of the second postal map of Texas, this map includes an explanation of mail service, showing railroads, mail messengers, beginning and ends of routes, the frequencies of delivery and discontinued offices. However, it does not appear to show the actual routes which would not appear until 1879.

 

 

Finding Aids

MARCH

• BU Records: Baylor Geological Studies # BU/26
  • The BU Records: Baylor Geological Studies contains primarily theses and print materials related to field trips taken by Baylor geology students. Field guides, newsletters, clippings, and brochures are included.
• J.J. Greve papers #29
• • The J.J. Greve papers document the personal and political work of James Joseph Greve, a lawyer in Nacogdoches, Texas. Correspondence, speeches, and political campaign materials are present.
• Davis Robert Gurley Family collection #2896
• • The Davis Robert Gurley Family collection contains one account book, genealogical materials, and a family Bible. The account book seems to track financial transactions from a Central Texas plantation owned and operated by Gurley.
• Daphne Herring papers #3717
• • The Daphne Herring papers contain photographs and cards, organization materials from Baylor and Waco, and correspondence to Daphne and her husband Jack.
• William Moses Jones papers #598
• • The William Moses Jones papers contain personal photographs, correspondence, financial materials, collected publications, and educational materials such as class records, exams, and academic reports from Jones’ time at Yale and Baylor University.

 

APRIL

• Paul Baker papers #3869
  • The Paul Baker papers contain biographical materials about the life and professional career of Paul Baker, a famous theater director and chair of the Baylor Theatre Department from 1940 until 1963.
• Burleson Family papers #2612
  • The Burleson Family papers contain correspondence, news clippings, and genealogical materials about the Edward Burleson family
• Ann Oldham papers #18
  • The Ann Oldham papers contain correspondence, art programs, questionnaires and reports for the Daughters of the American Revolution American Music Committee, biographical sketches of American composers, photographs, newspaper clippings, and printed materials.
• Vernon John Puryear papers #300
  • The Vernon John Puryear papers consist of correspondence, certificates, diplomas, newspaper clippings, and six scrapbooks documenting his life and work as a university professor and author.
• Waco Art League records #784
  • The Waco Art League records document women’s interest in the arts in Waco. The records include minutes, by-laws, yearbooks, programs, newspaper clippings, and a scrapbook.
• Waco Lewis Shoe Store records #3451
  • The [Waco] Lewis Shoe Store records consist of the store’s advertising materials from the 1950s-1960s, which had been collected into a scrapbook. These advertisement materials include photographs, newspaper ads, magazine ads, radio ads, TV commercials, store window designs, and information on events and promotions.
• Jake Wilson papers #3970
  • The Jake Wilson papers contain clippings, correspondence, obituaries, and collected materials documenting the life of Waco resident W.L. “Jake” Wilson.

 

 

 

 

This blog post was written by Student Assistant Morgan Ballard. Morgan is a Senior Anthropology (Archeology) major in her second year at The Texas Collection. Morgan wrote this post as an analysis of research methods she learned while at Baylor compared to those used in a real-life scenario. Photos included were taken by Morgan as part of her research. 

The First Street Cemetery was one of the first public cemeteries in Waco, Texas which opened in 1852. The original plot is located on the corner lot of South University Parks Drive, formerly First Street, and North I-35 Frontage Road with additions reaching to the Brazos River and behind Hebrew Rest Cemetery. First Street Cemetery is recognizable by the sparse markers and many unmarked graves further back surrounding the Texas Ranger Museum. In contrast, Hebrew Rest, a perpetual care cemetery is recognizable by the clearly marked rows and ornate fence surrounding the property.

Buying plots was not a requirement for burial in this cemetery, which has continuously contributed to confusion related to finding graves. The lack of cemetery layout records led to reuse of several plots (stacked graves) as the cemetery filled quickly with various members of society including Civil War and World War I veterans as well as many members of the founding families of Waco. First Street Cemetery has never been a perpetual care establishment, which began to show in the late 1800s as the cemetery began to deteriorate. Headstones began to sink into the ground or were stolen and made identifying graves difficult at best. Considered full, the cemetery was officially closed to the public in 1897. Plots that were purchased, such as those by the Free Masons and the Odd Fellows of Waco, were used until the last interment in the 1920s, after World War I.

Record keeping for the First Street Cemetery has been poor from the beginning, a trend that has unfortunately continued for many years. In 1963, the publication of the McLennan County Cemetery Records, which can be found at the Texas Collection, was the first time intensive cataloging was conducted. However, because of the lack of initial record keeping, the cemetery records only record graves that were visible at the present time. In 1965, in preparation to build the Texas Ranger Museum on the northwest corner of First Street Cemetery, a map, also found at the Texas Collection, was plotted to identify known graves and move them within the confines of the original portion of the cemetery. At the time, legally, only headstones had to be removed from an area to build. No further documentation could be found that extensive searching for unmarked graves was conducted. As such, when looking at the old layout of the cemetery it is highly likely the areas initially checked for graves, including under the parking lot and main building, still contain burial sites.

In 2006 the Texas Ranger Museum set plans to build an additional meeting hall to the main building and hired archaeologist Michael Bradle to conduct an archaeological excavation in the area and report his findings. According to normal standards of archaeological research, reports should include detailed background research of the area, both historic and prehistoric, detailed methods of excavation and all findings, as well as an interpretation of the site including a full investigation if artifacts for cultural importance. An analysis of Bradle’s investigation shows no mention of the First Street Cemetery history or other historic references, nor does it mention artifacts he found. For example, in his report he briefly mentions a brick wall uncovered in one of the deeper excavations but does not list this as an artifact (the map created in 1965 clearly shows the bricks). In the case of known or supposed historic graves, the minimum depth of excavations should be at least six feet down as this is, and has been for some time, the most common burial depth. The report shows Bradle used scraping techniques over the entire site area, which only removes three inches of topsoil, using a shovel or trowel. He also dug trenches of three feet deep, but according to standards these should continue down to bedrock.

Bradle granted the museum permission to begin construction in 2007, however, it did not last long. As construction crews began digging trenches for utility lines, they uncovered several unmarked graves. A cause for alarm, this resulted in years of work on the part of several state archaeologists, archaeology students, legal teams, museum staff, and state officials to look over the original findings from Bradle. Over the span of three years, 200 people were disinterred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2013, the First Street Cemetery Memorial Advisory Committee was formed. The committee was comprised of fifteen people including Baylor employees, Historic Waco Foundation members, funeral home directors, avocational historians from the Waco area, and various community leaders. The committee provided historical research on the cemetery, found an appropriate reburial site (Rosemound Cemetery), compiled biographical information of individuals, sought designation of the First Street Cemetery as a Texas Historical site, and submitted text for a historical marker for the reburial site. The committee was active until 2018, ceasing operation once most people were reburied, the First Street Cemetery was designated as a historic site, and the historic markers were placed.

Today the First Street Cemetery still surrounds the Texas Ranger Museum. The city remains in charge of the cemetery and museum grounds yet continues to neglect the cemetery. Efforts are currently being made by a small student organization at Baylor University to receive permission to take care of the cemetery.

 

References

“1st Street Cemetery.” S.l: s.n.] 1968, Print.

Bradle, Michael R., Gilbert T. Bernhardt, and Ronald W. Ralph. Archaeological Survey and Monitoring of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum Expansion Project for the City of Waco, McLennan County, Texas. Lampasas, Tex: American Archaeology Group, 2006. Print.

Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970. S.l: Bell & Howell, UMI. Print.

First Street Cemetery Location Lists. S.l: s.n., 1992. Print.

First Street Cemetery Memorial Advisory Committee Records, 2013-2015 (bulk 2014). N.p., Print.

“Map of First Street Cemetery.” S.l: s.n.] Print.

Shaw, Rissa. “Waco: City Aims to Right Past Wrongs by Bringing Peace to Disturbed Graves.” Https://Www.kwtx.com, 19 May 2018,  www.kwtx.com/content/news/Local-city–483106341.html.

Smith, J.b. “Dead Await Reburial at Ranger Museum.” WacoTrib.com, 15 July 2020, wacotrib.com/news/government/dead-await-     reburial-at-ranger-museum/article_3576a4a0-5bfa-5e69-91db-bd656b1df48a.html.

Usry, John M. McLennan County, Texas, Cemetery Records. Waco: N.p., 1965. Print.

Robert Preston Taylor was born in Henderson, Texas, in 1909 and attended Baptist revivals from an early age. As a teenager he began preaching at the events, gaining a small following and lauded for his work. He attended Jacksonville (Texas) College Academy and Junior College, then Baylor University and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, all while following his call to serve. But what happens when that call takes you to battle? To serve God while fighting for your life?

For Taylor, his journey to serve God and country began in 1938 while he was serving as a preacher at the South Fort Worth Baptist Church. He received a letter from the Chaplains Division of the War Department seeking men to minister to American troops. After praying, Taylor answered the call by joining as a Reservist. He was stationed at Fort Hood for two months later that year. In 1940, the call came once again from the War Department. This time to serve one year in the Army Air Corps as a Chaplain. Again, he prayed, and decide he would take a leave of absence from the church. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps, 31^st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Division located at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. Because of rising tensions, the division was activated and arrived in the Philippines in May 1941.

While in the Philippines, Taylor was united with twenty-five other chaplains and provided servicemen regular chapel services until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Once the U.S. declared war, Manila was attacked by the Japanese. With casualties rising and a constant need for services, Chaplain Taylor was authorized to use one of the few remaining Jeeps to travel and minister to the troops. He saw a need for the presence of the Word. As circumstances worsened, services became mere scraps of paper passed about with hymns, a verse or two of song, and short bits of scripture.

In the Spring of 1942, U.S. and Filipino troops could no longer sustain action against the Japanese, and officially surrendered. As the Japanese prepared to transport the now prisoners of war, they began confiscating items of personal value. For Chaplain Taylor that meant the loss of his Baylor class ring. On April 8, the troops, already weakened by malaria and dysentery, were forced to endure over twenty-four hours without food or water at the beginning of a sixty-five-mile trek across the peninsula, what would be become known as the Bataan Death March.

The walk took about five days as Japanese troops inflicted many torturous acts upon the prisoners, pushing them to their brink. As they marched, Taylor became both a physical and spiritual pillar, literally holding up his comrades as he professed his faith. Through sheer luck, the chaplain was rescued before the end of his trek. An American ambulance patrol was given permission to collect those in the worst physical health. Although Taylor was not among them, he was recognized as a chaplain and for his need at the Japanese prison camp hospital ward.

The hospital provided a reprieve, if only temporary. It was bombed and evacuated; survivors were sent to Cabanatuan prison camp. In camp, Taylor learned only half of the chaplains in the unit survived. As new assignments were made within camp, Taylor chose to attend to the frailest, those in the “pearly gates ward,” or death house. After repeated denials by the strict Japanese camp management to perform any worship services, he ultimately joined the funeral detail to ease his thoughts of men being laid to rest without a final blessing.

Prisoners were denied many basic needs in Cabanatuan, including medicine. Aware of this, Chaplain Taylor, at his own risk, organized a smuggling operation to obtain supplies. The operation was only thwarted by his own request for a Greek New Testament Bible. This request sent him to the hot box, a 20 square foot cell he shared with one other. In confinement, Taylor’s faith waivered, but the hope of others and constant conversation with the Lord uplifted him when he was low.

After fourteen weeks of confinement and reduced rations, dysentery took its toll on Taylor; his release to the hospital ward only came at the eminence of his death. Still unable to perform worship services, the prisoners defiantly sat in vigil outside the hospital ward and conducted prayer chains around the clock for two weeks. Taylor’s recovery brought a renewed hope and visible symbol of prayer to camp. After a two-month recovery, and change of camp management, Taylor helped perform the first camp wide religious service. In his time at Cabanatuan, Chaplain Taylor ministered to over 10,000 men, sharing his faith, and observing that of others.

Taylor’s call to ministry led him throughout his imprisonment and beyond. After nearly four years he was released and looked forward to seeing his wife, only to discover she believed him to be dead and had recently remarried. Not letting this affect his faith, the chaplain decided to continue military service over 105 days of convalescent leave. His decision made him one of only two chaplains in his unit who endured the atrocities of World War II to continue his career. Taylor’s experiences allowed him to share his faith through his chaplaincy and public speaking engagements. Eventually, Taylor remarried, had one son, and turned a one-year commitment into more than 25 years of service that culminated as the Chief of Chaplains for the United States Air Force.

 

By Geoff Hunt, Audio and Visual Curator, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. 

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” blog series 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.

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At 601 Austin Avenue, Waco, Texas, stands the 9-story tall Liberty Building, also known as One Liberty Place. It was completed in 1923, and opened for business in May of that year. Its architect was Birch D. Easterwood and it was originally built as the Liberty National Bank building. The Liberty National Bank was chartered on February 1, 1918, and its first president was J.B. Earle. The Liberty Building was one of several high-rise commercial structures built in downtown Waco in the first two decades of the twentieth century. The much larger Alico Building was completed in 1911, The Raleigh Hotel in 1914, The Praetorian Building in 1915, the Stratton Building in 1921, and the Roosevelt Hotel in 1928. However, while the Liberty Building seems unassuming compared to some of these taller structures, it still holds a prominent place among the city’s surviving business buildings from this period. Indeed, at nearly 100 years old, the Liberty Building has stood the test of time and is still supplying much needed office space to a vibrant downtown Waco of the 2020’s.

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The “Then” picture from February 1960 in the image sequence below shows: the Liberty Building, located at 601 Austin Avenue, Waco, Texas. Photographer, Windy Drum, General Photo File, The Texas Collection, Baylor University. The “Now’ is a similar view of the building taken in 2020 by GH.

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Works Sourced:

“In Our New Home, The Liberty National Bank Building,” The Waco News-Tribune, May 19, 1923.

Waco Chamber of Commerce News, April 1923, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: “Waco Downtown Historic District.” Accessed March 25, 2021.

 

 

The Texas Collection posts newly accessible resources each month. If you have any questions or would like to use these materials, please let us know and we would be happy to assist!

MAPS

The Bankhead Highway from Roswell to Fort Worth and Dallas, circa 1926-1936

From the Automobile Club of Southern California, this set of maps shows the Bankhead Highway from Roswell, New Mexico to Fort Worth and Dallas. The maps are broken into segments and  denotes various travel stops such as hotels, gas stations, and garages.

 

Tauola dell’isole nuoue, le quali son nominate occidentali, & indiane per diuersi rispetto, 1558

A 1558 copy of the 1540 wood cut by Sebastian Münster. This map is the 8^th state and depicts Magellan’s ship as well as the Spanish flag over the Caribbean and the Portuguese flag near the coast of Brazil. Additionally, it was one of the earliest maps to identify Japan (“Zipangri”).

 

 

Finding AIDS

JANUARY

• BU Records: Baylor Religious Hour Choir BU/311
  • The BU Records: Baylor Religious Hour Choir contains correspondence, programs, and audio recordings of the Baylor Religious Hour Choir. The choir is a student-led religious choir that is known for their singing at Baylor campus events, local area churches, and international mission trips.
• BU Records: Continuing Education BU/356
  • BU Records: Continuing Education contains a wide variety of documents related to the operation of Baylor Continuing Education program from the late 1970s up to 2005, including correspondence, memos, annual reports, course materials, grant and scholarship applications, financial documents, and other administrative files.
• BU Records: First Families of Baylor Award BU/222
  • The BU Records: First Families of Baylor Club includes minutes, correspondence, membership lists, and other materials. The club was a student organization that Baylor students could join if they had a previous relative attend Baylor.
• BU Records: Native American Student Association BU/410
  • The Native American Student Association records contain correspondence, contracts, membership records, financial documents, publicity, and a grant proposal related to the activities of the student group.
• BU Records: Retired Professors and Administrators Program BU/312
  • BU Records: Retired Professors and Administrators Program contains correspondence, faculty information and obituaries, newsletters, and other materials from the program’s efforts to connect, engage, and honor the legacy of retired faculty and administrators.
• Normand Louis LaRoche papers #643
  • The Normand Louis LaRoche papers contain a variety of documents and materials related to LaRoche’s experiences serving in the United States Army during World War II, including his time overseeing prisoners of war in Camp Milam, Texas, and serving in the military police in Europe.
• J.C. McGary papers #377
  • The J.C. McGary papers include one transcribed letter that McGary wrote as a soldier in the American Civil War.
• Waco Civic Theatre #2231
  • The Waco Civic Theatre records document business operations and performances of the community volunteer theatre group from 1931-2020. Notable documents include minutes, programs, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, and correspondence.
• [Waco] Hamilton House Records #3048
  • The [Waco] Hamilton House records document the history and use of the house as a place for women’s clubs to meet and operate in Waco, Texas. Some clubs include the American Association of University Women, the Baylor Round Table, and Altrusa of Waco. Clippings, meeting minutes, membership lists, notes, cookbooks, newsletters, brochures, yearbooks, and financial documents are included.
• Washington County Tennant Farm ledgers #3971
  • The Washington County Tenant Farm ledgers contain small bound ledger books kept by Washington County landowners.

 

FEBRUARY

• American Association of University Women, Waco Branch records # 232
  • The American Association of University Women Waco Branch records contain correspondence, membership listings, yearbooks, by-laws, and publications for local, state, and national levels. Branch projects and scrapbooks are also included.
• [Waco] Austin Avenue Methodist Church records #2912
  • The [Waco] Austin Avenue Methodist Church records document a limited history of the church from 1900 to 1970. Charter membership lists, baptism records, minutes, and yearbooks are present, in addition to other materials.
• Belton Brick Manufacturing Company records #1520
  • The Belton Brick Manufacturing Company records document the company from incorporation in 1883 until 1889. The collection includes stock certificates, legal documents, company minutes, and financial ledgers and daybooks.
• [Waco] Brookview Neighborhood Association records #3700
  • The [Waco] Brookview Neighborhood Association records documents the early stages of development for the community program. Minutes, by-laws, membership rosters, various reports and correspondence are included. A neighborhood housing survey is also available as it was the basis for early projects.
• Fiesta de San Jacinto Invitations #459
  • The Fiesta de San Jacinto invitations include oversize invitations for the annual Fiesta de San Jacinto activities in San Antonio, Texas. The oversize items are dated 1937-1959 and include art prints and Fiesta history.
• Edward Clark proclamations #285
  • The Edward Clark proclamation contains two photocopies of an 1861 proclamation by Texas Governor Edward Clark, calling for a military force of 2,000 to be raised for service in the Confederate Army.
• Confederate Veterans collection #1864
  • The Confederate Veterans collection contains a program and delegate’s certificate to United Confederate Veterans reunions and two essays about veterans.
• J.W. Curtis papers #355
  • The J.W. Curtis papers contain a single transcribed letter from Curtis, describing his work at a California gold field near Sacramento.
• Gay Family collection #2229
  • The Gay Family collection contains genealogies of the Gay, Mann, and Ellis families, along with news clippings about Texas independence and Baylor University President Reddin Andrews. There is also a poem written in tribute to Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
• Sinia Reaves Brewer Harris papers #3016
  • The Sinia Reaves Brewer Harris papers contain correspondence, clippings, photographs, manuals, and other materials documenting Harris’ life and work as a a schoolteacher and project director for the National Youth Administration.
• Pan American Round Table of Waco, Texas Scrapbooks #2964
  • The Pan American Round Table of Waco, Texas scrapbooks include seven books documenting events and membership of the organization. Scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings, photographs, newsletters, conference programs, correspondence, and other related materials.
• Reconstruction collection #2288
  • The Reconstruction collection contains general military orders #1 and #11 from the Reconstruction period in Texas history.
• Henry C. Smith papers # 3784
  • The Henry C. Smith papers consist of letters and a few photographs recounting Smith’s daily experiences in the United States Army in flight cadet training school in Ithaca, New York; Dallas, Texas; and Waco, Texas during World War I.

 

This blog post was written by Graduate Student Assistant B.J. Thome. B.J. is a Ph.D. candidate in English Literature in his first year at The Texas Collection. He processed and wrote a finding aid for the Henry C. Smith papers, #3784. 

Concerned that his mother might worry about his health given the epidemic raging throughout the United States, Henry C. Smith sends her a message: “No mother, I am not sick with the Influenza nor am I dead.” Replace “Influenza” with “Coronavirus,” and Henry’s message might resemble messages we’ve sent our own mothers recently. But Henry’s message isn’t recent. It is, in fact, more than one hundred years old, written to his mother on October 11, 1918. Despite the century-long gap between Henry’s experience and our own, his descriptions of quarantine and his attempts to deemphasize the epidemic’s effects on his life might feel eerily familiar to our own pandemic experiences.

Henry C. Smith enlisted in the Army near the end of World War I, seeking a commission as a pilot. Throughout 1918, he studied in various camps and flight schools: first at Cornell, then at Camp Dick near Dallas, and ultimately learning to fly at Rich Field in Waco, Texas. (Rich Field was an army air base founded in Waco in 1917.  The Extraco Events Center and Waco High School now sit on the land formerly occupied by Rich Field.)

As a cadet, Henry wrote almost daily to his mother; his letters from October reference the ongoing Influenza epidemic and the quarantine measures put in place to slow its spread. In one letter, he notes, “We are not allowed to go in public gatherings from today on.” In another, he tells his mother, “Did I tell you we are under quarantine. We have to sleep with out [sic] bunks at least five feet apart and they prefer having you sleep under the stars.” Avoiding crowds, staying several feet apart, and being safer outside than inside—sound familiar?

Even as Henry frequently notes the quarantine procedures, he attempts to downplay their importance, preferring to focus on his flight training. The October 11 letter, for example, discusses the flu and quarantine in only a few lines, most of which have already been quoted. The bulk of the letter describes his first solo flight and the wonder of that experience. Other letters referencing the flu are similar: lines mentioning that he feels fine and quarantine safeguards, while the rest of the letter recounts his experiences training.

However, despite his tendency to deemphasize the impact of the epidemic and quarantine, his brief mentions of it reveal a more significant effect on Henry’s life than he probably wanted to admit. In a letter from October 13, he notes, seemingly in passing, that the nearby Camp MacArthur is hauling out the dead: “Thirty-three dead ones were shipped out yesterday.” In a letter from October 19, he notes that he loaned his last dollar to one of his bunkmates so that he could go home to care for his sick wife. Given how often Henry’s letters emphasize his lack of money, he obviously thought being sick with the flu was serious enough to give away his last dollar.

Most telling of Henry’s influenza-related fears, is the brief letter from October 23. In it, Henry writes: “I don’t really have the time to write but no letter came today and I am afraid someone is sick. Please write if it is only a note and let me know if everything is alright.” Henry’s mother and sisters had the habit of writing to Henry at least as often as he wrote to them. When he didn’t receive a letter for some time, he began to worry that someone might be sick—and given the ongoing epidemic and his frequent assertions that he doesn’t have it, the clear implication is that he worries someone in his family might be sick with the flu.

Henry’s letters demonstrate experiences from 1918 which we, having survived 2020, might well share. The precautions we are encouraged to undertake during our own pandemic resemble the precautions Henry took during his quarantine. Our own complex responses to the current pandemic allow us to sympathize with the complicated mix of Henry’s desire to focus on the normalcy of his training rather than the danger of the spreading disease while still fearing that it might harm his loved ones.