Did you listen for the bells this Homecoming weekend? So many Baylor alums talk about missing the beautiful hymns played on the McLane Carillon, or just the chiming of the time. From getting students to class on time to September 11 memorial recitals, the bells are an integral part of the Baylor experience. But did you know that on their way to Waco, they took an accidental trip to Mexico?
The smallest bell in the McLane Carillon weighs 29 pounds, and the largest weighs 4,370 pounds.
The 48 bells of the McLane Carillon were made by the Paccard Bell Foundry in Annecy, France, a company whose bells can be heard around the world. After they were finished in 1988, a freighter picked them up and was to unload them in Houston, and a trucking company would complete their journey to Waco.
The bells of the McLane Carillon took about a year to craft.
Yet the best laid plans can go astray—the ship failed to stop, and the bells went on their way to Mexico. Of course, the error was discovered, the freighter returned to Houston, and the bells made it to Baylor, just a few days later than planned.
But wait, you’re thinking—weren’t there bells ringing from Pat Neff before 1988? Yes! But unfortunately, the Cullen F. Thomas chimes had fallen into disrepair after 50 years of music, and the tower fell silent. Thanks to the generosity of the Drayton McLane family and the McLane Company, Inc., of Temple, Texas, Baylor was able to purchase a new carillon.
Yet the bells are a bit of a mystery—you can’t really see them, after all. Did you know that they’re played using both feet on the pedal board and closed fists on a keyboard? (The carillon is connected to a computer programmed to play the Westminster chimes and some songs, but yes, real people play the carillon too! Lynnette Geary is the current carillonneur, and she even teaches carillon classes.)
Inscribed quotes on the bells include wisdom from Baylor presidents up to the time the McLane Carillon was dedicated in 1988. (A quote from Herbert H. Reynolds is on the preceding page of the program.)
And Baylor’s bells are inscribed with biblical and literary quotations. Selected by the McLane family, there is a quote from each of the Baylor presidents up to the 1980s, a bell dedicated to the faculty of Baylor University with a line by Geoffrey Chaucer (“And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche”), and much more. The quotations can be seen on a plaque in the Pat Neff Hall entryway.
So next time you hear “Doxology” or “That Good Old Baylor Line” pealing across the campus, stop and listen a moment. The Baylor soundscape wouldn’t be the same without them.
Source: Baylor University Subject File: Buildings: Pat Neff Hall: McLane Carillon, at The Texas Collection
Did you know that “Lamartine” was a proposed name for Waco? Or that “Waco Village” was once in Milam County? Do you know where Waco Female College was? Explore Mapping Waco: A Brief History, 1845-1913 to learn the answers to these questions and more.
Bird’s eye view style map of the city of Waco, circa 1873. Lists points of interest including Waco University, Waco Female College, the City Ice Works and the Waco suspension bridge.
In this physical and digital exhibit, maps represent the changing landscape of Waco from its earliest days in the mid-1800s to the boom years of the late 1910s. Selections include bird’s-eye views of the city drawn in the late 19th century; illustrated maps of new additions and suburbs; and blue lines of individual plats on Waco city streets.
“We hope this exhibit of early Waco maps will spark an interest in local geography and history,” said John Wilson, director of The Texas Collection. “It may also begin a dialogue regarding other maps and resources that are in the community and could be shared.”
The maps are on display in The Texas Collection within Carroll Library, which is open from 8-5, Monday through Friday. We hope you’ll come and see them in person AND take a zoomed-in look at them on the Baylor Digital Collections site. The physical and online exhibits are up now and will be on display through December 2012.
We collaborated with the Digitization Projects Group on preparing the digital component of the exhibition–read about the digitization and curation process on Baylor Digital Collections’ blog–and enjoy the maps!
Homecoming 2012 is upon us! As this post goes up, the Baylor Nation is beginning to flood the Waco campus. Baylor University welcomes everybody home, from the 50th reunion class of 1962 to the class of 2012, for a weekend of nostalgia and fun. Watch the video below for a taste of Homecomings past:
We’ll have Round Up yearbooks available as giveaways during the Homecoming Parade on a first come, first served basis, at the Baylor University Libraries/Department of History tent, located on 5th Street near the side entrance to Carroll Library. Did one of your yearbooks get lost in a move, or maybe you never bought one back in the day? Now’s your chance! The bulk of them are from the 1950s and 1960s, but we’ll be giving away books from the 1940s all the way to 1980.
Please also drop by Carroll Library and The Texas Collection and see a small Homecoming exhibit featuring past Lariats and Round Up yearbooks. We’ll be open till 5 pm today (November 2) and from 8-12 on Saturday morning during the Homecoming Parade. (We also have some Alamo materials and historic Waco maps on display from other recent projects!) Did you know that an online archives of the Baylor Lariat and the Round Up yearbook is now available? These rich resources, representing the life of the university throughout its history, will be an invaluable resource for alumni looking to relive the past and for researchers seeking valuable primary resource materials for their inquiries.
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 October:
Mary and Oscar Du Congé at work. Their papers document their work, family, and social life in Waco, Texas.
Georgia Jenkins Burleson Collection, 1850-1934: Georgia Burleson was the wife of Baylor president Rufus C. Burleson and served Baylor and Waco in various ways. This collection includes a keepsake album, a diary transcript, a speech transcript, a music book, and The Evergreen.
Camp MacArthur Collection, 1916-1982: Literary productions, maps, photographic materials, and scrapbooks created at Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas.
Dr. Johnie Reeves at a vista overlooking the Colorado River and the Comanches’ route after the Legion Valley massacre of 1868. Legion Valley is on the other side of the Cedar Mountains in the distance.
William Carley Family Collection, 1834-1936, undated: Documenting the Carley family from 1836-1936, this collection includes records about William Carley’s experiences moving to Texas in 1836, his service in the United States-Mexican War, and other events in the life of the family.
Oscar “Doc” Norbert and Mary “Kitty” Jacques Du Congé Papers, 1908-1987: This archives consists of manuscripts pertaining to the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Du Congé. Oscar was the first African-American Mayor of Waco, and his wife, Mary, was a schoolteacher and secretary who was a leader in the community, a socialite, and a volunteer member of many Catholic religious organizations.
Wilhelm Esch Collection, 1870-1943: This collection contains certificates of appointment and of honorable discharge for German-American soldier Wilhelm Esch, photographs and books concerning military life in World War I, items related to the Order of the Elks and miscellaneous WWII items including ration books.
Adolf Hitler Papers, 1938-1943: Our Hitler Papers contain two documents signed by the Chancellor of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.
Benjamin Judson Johnson Papers, 1942-1960: These papers include correspondence, legal documents, literary productions, and artifacts relating to Benjamin’s experience in the U.S. Naval Air Force during World War II.
Jones Family Papers, 1857-1867, 1920, undated: The Jones family records consist of correspondence, legal, and financial documents, including fourteen Civil War letters from family members in the 10th Texas Infantry.
Luper Family Papers, 1909-1990: The Luper Family Papers are comprised of correspondence, literary productions, and other materials pertaining to a Baptist missionary family and their experiences during the mid-1900s in Portugal, Brazil, and central Texas. (This finding aid is updated with additional materials that came to The Texas Collection after we initially announced the finding aid in June 2012.)
Harry Hall Womack, Jr. Papers, 1940-1948: Womack’s papers consist of correspondence and literary productions relating to his experiences in the 1940s. These include medical school, a tour as a doctor in the Army during World War II, and the beginnings of his marriage and family.
Alamo postcard, circa 1920s, given by Mrs. J.R. Milam. From The Texas Collection postcard collection
“…Donovan has pulled together one of the best accounts ever of the Alamo siege, the attack, the massacre of James Fannin’s men at Goliad and Sam Houston’s ultimate victory over the Mexican army on April 21, 1836 at San Jacinto.”
—David Hendricks, mysanantonio.com
The Baylors of 1899 gather for a team photo. Football started as an intramural competition between the classes but a school team soon developed to compete against other institutions.
This piece by former Texas Collection director Kent Keeth originally was published in The Baylor Line in October 1975, then was reprinted in Looking Back at Baylor (1985), a collection of Keeth and Harry Marsh’s historical columns for the Line. Blogging about Texas periodically features selections from Looking Back at Baylor, with hopes of sharing Keeth’s work with a new audience.
We took this excerpt from “The Baylors of ’99” in honor of Saturday’s football game versus TCU, the first match-up of the teams since TCU became part of the Big 12. In this piece, TCU 1899 graduate Charles Edward Bull recalls the first time the schools competed at football. This was written before TCU was TCU, before Baylor became the Bears, and before the flying wedge was banned for safety reasons.
The time was September 1899. “See you in Manila” was still the popular cliche of the period. It was the day of the first football game ever played between TCU (then called AddRan) and Baylor, when both schools were located in Waco.
We had challenged them to a game, and—to our surprise—the Baylors accepted. We were cocky, and they were ascairt of us. [Baylor blogger’s aside—wouldn’t TCU like to think we were scared?! We may not have been the Bears yet, but as you’ll see, we held our own in this game!]
Came the big game, and the TCU team took the trolley cars to the Baylor field…a bed of white sand with a little bit of McLennan County black land mixed in, a perfect mixture for punkin’ yams and stingy, glistening white sandburs—or bricks. Sad to relate, the yams had not been planted but the sandburs had come up volunteer.
The Baylors play football on what is probably Carroll Field in a 1900s game. Note the lack of pads, helmets, or well-manicured playing field—and their festively striped socks!
Somebody flipped a two-bit piece, and we elected to receive. Blue-eyed Bill Doherty from Galveston took the kick-off and stiff-armed three or four men before they downed us on their 40. By a series of end runs, we worked the ball down to their 20, but we fumbled and the Baylors took over.
The game seesawed up and down across the middle for 30 minutes. At half-time, we all took off our shirts and picked stickers from each others backs, consoled by the thought that the Baylor team was doing the same thing.
Later in the game, one of their men got hit and came up with his face stuck all over with burs. “Get me out of that yaller jacket nest,” he yelled.
As we walked back toward the field for the second half, I decided to make friends with my adversary, a six-foot senior weighing upwards of 300 pounds by the name of [Ernest M.] Rasor.
“Mr. Rasor, my parents are Baptists,” I said. “Then, what the h— are you doin’ with that gang o’Campbellites?” he asked. I resented the word “gang”—made me mad. The attempted truce was off.
After every scrimmage both sides raked and picked sandburs. The official would take the ball and start scraping it on the ground; it, too, was thorny as a porcupine …..
About the middle of the second half I thought a cyclone had struck. The Baylors just played leapfrog and piled on top of me. I started counting them, hoping every thud would be the last; then I lost count.
When they untangled the heap, someone doused me with water and I sat up half dazed.
“A flying wedge hit you. How do you feel?” Bill Doherty asked. I wanted to lie down again. “Sleepy,” I said.
Later we were on the Baylor 15….. “X … Y … Z … 8 … 7 … 3,” counted Jim Ray.
The whistle blew, and we all stood up. People came crowding onto the field. “Game’s over,” said the official timekeeper. “A tie—0 to 0.”
“How did you like our brand of football, Mr. Rasor?” I asked my opponent.
“You outwinded us. But next time it’ll be different,” he replied.
A June 2, 1896, letter requesting official student organization status for the Cadet Club: “We, the Baylor cadets, do respectfully petition that you recognize our “Cadet Club,” which we have organized subject to your approval, as a valid and permanent organization of Baylor University.”
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 September—it’s been a busy month but we’re a little behind on getting finding aids up. Look for a big batch in October!
BU Records: Baylor Cadets Records. 1886-1902, undated: These records consist of correspondence, legal documents, and literary productions produced in connection with the Baylor Cadets, a university-sponsored military preparation program.
BU Records: Baylor Heritage Club Records. 1977-1980: This records group consists of correspondence, legal documents, and literary productions about the formation and first several meetings of the Baylor Heritage Club, an organization for alumni who graduated more than 50 years ago from Baylor University.
[Waco] Branch Davidians: Ron Armstrong. Inclusive: 1931-1960, undated, Bulk: 1931-1933: This collection contains twenty-one scrolls produced by the leaders of the Branch Davidian sect. These materials focus primarily on biblical prophecies found in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, and shed some light on the early beliefs of the Davidians and Branch Davidians.
In the final letter of the collection, dated April 1, 1865, Carlton describes the Battle of Spanish Fort, which was one of the last Union assaults of the war.
In July 2012, The Texas Collection acquired the letters of Hiram W. Carlton, a Union soldier who spent a significant portion of his enlistment in the South. Hiram W. Carlton was residing in rural Illinois when the Civil War began. Like many of his contemporaries, Carlton sought to serve the country he loved through military service. When the time came, he joined the 94th Illinois Regiment, which would go on to fight in key battles such as Vicksburg (Mississippi), Brownsville (Texas), Mobile Bay (Alabama), and Spanish Fort (Alabama).
In this last missive in the Hiram W. Carlton Letters, he describes with great detail the sights and sounds of the Battle of Spanish Fort in Alabama. (The excerpt text from the beginning of the blog post can be found at the bottom of this page.)
Carlton’s correspondence here at The Texas Collection tells the story of a simple man who was just trying to find his way—to perform his civic duty in service to his country. Carlton had a rudimentary education, like many young men at the time, often spelling his words as they sound rather than in the standardized form. But don’t worry—The Texas Collection transcribed each original letter to make reading easier and more enjoyable for those who are not fluent in nineteenth century script! (Spelling has been normalized in the transcriptions for the convenience of modern scholars.)
Readers first encounter Carlton in the town of Brownsville, Texas, where he claimed that the 94th Illinois Regiment was the first to capture the Confederate position. Carlton was not married at the time, so he directed most of his correspondence to his sister Mary and her husband Merrill Walden, who had removed themselves to Portland, Maine, at the outset of the war. His letters ring of homesickness and loneliness but also with an unwavering resolve to do what must be done.
Researchers interested in the Civil War will find stories of intrigue, humor, and suffering within the pages of these letters. In the winter of 1863-1864, Carlton accompanied his unit into the Mexican town of Matamoras, where an American consulate requested protection from the fighting that was taking place between the native population and French forces. While most students of history are aware that the Union feared an English or French alliance with the Confederacy, the danger of mounting hostilities between the French/Mexicans and the Union forces that are presented within these letters is breathtaking and suspenseful.
The Hiram W. Carlton Letters (1862-1865) also reveal the human side of an ordinary soldier. While spending time in Brownsville, Carlton was court-martialed for disobeying a direct order that he believed lacked any sort of common sense. He ultimately paid for his stubbornness with three months’ hard labor and a loss of two months’ pay, but the way in which he recounted the tale was so casual that it borders on hilarity.
In this letter from May 10, 1864, Carlton recounts to his sister the circumstances surrounding his court-martial. His reaction to his superiors was casual yet defiant, earning him three months of hard labor and two months without pay.
Yet in every soldier’s life, there is almost always the pain of loss and suffering. The reader will walk alongside Hiram as he endures bouts with scurvy and other serious ailments. News of significant victories by General Ulysses S. Grant and General William Tecumseh Sherman were tempered with losses of thousands of men. And Hiram experienced personal loss—his brother, Jefferson, died in a Confederate prison near Richmond, Virginia.
Recently, The Texas Collection released an online exhibit, “Believe Me Your Own: Letters from the Battlefield to Fanny from Alex, 1862-1865.” This collection of letters chronicled the experiences of Confederate surgeon Alex Morgan and shed some light on the difficulties that soldiers experienced in daily life. Comparing the letters of Alex and Hiram proves the old adage that “there are two sides to every story.” While Unionists and Confederates differed strongly in their views of slavery, economics, governance, and the future of the North American continent, the average soldier was not as different from his counterpart as one might expect. In both Alex’s and Hiram’s letters, we see the struggle of ordinary men to survive and thrive in wartime.
By Thomas DeShong, Archival Assistant—Digital Input Specialist
Every good Baylor Bear is abuzz with excitement about the new Baylor Stadium. The first time in more than 75 years that Baylor Football will play on campus! A new boat harbor and footbridge along the beautiful Brazos River! Baylor is partnering with the City of Waco to make a wonderful new event space for the entire community to enjoy.
The turnout was huge for this Baylor vs. Texas A&M game in 1950. Notice towards the bottom of the image that cars are parked along Dutton Avenue to Highway 6 (now South Valley Mills Dr.). The hard work of the Baylor Stadium Corporation turned what was an empty field a year earlier into a bustling, modern sports facility. Photo by Jimmie Willis and digitally scanned from the original 4×5 photo negative.
But what do you know about the last time Baylor and Waco teamed up to build a football stadium for the Bears? That story begins around 1936, when Baylor Football’s home turf was Municipal Stadium, located at 15th and Dutton Avenue. With a maximum seating of 20,000, it didn’t take long for the Baylor Football program to outgrow this facility.
This picture was intended to highlight the aging Municipal Stadium in 1949 that both Baylor Football and Waco High School shared. This facility could no longer hold the crowds that Baylor football games were drawing. Photo by Jimmie Willis and digitally scanned from the original 4×5 photo negative.
And so a 500 member-strong Baylor Stadium Corporation formed in the late 1940s. Baylor President W.R. White banded together with Waco civic leaders including Harlon M. Fentress, Jack H. Kultgen, A.M. Goldstein, Gordon Rountree, and Walter G. Lacy Jr., to get the job done. The preliminary cost to build the stadium was projected to be $1.5 million dollars in 1949. (That would be about $14 million in today’s dollars, according to inflation calculators.) The city was to cover $500,000 towards the project, and it was estimated that $1 million dollars could be raised from non-Waco resources such as Baylor alumni, football fans, and “outstanding Baptists [sic] laymen.”
An infographic from a fundraising publication compared Municipal Stadium to others in the SWC. It pleads, “Baylor is a poor cousin in the Southwest Conference. Its stadium is the smallest and the poorest among the seven universities.”
So how did they go about raising that money? The Baylor Stadium Corporation issued 30-year stadium bonds at 3% interest. If bonds of at least $100 dollars were purchased, this would count for tuition credit and prospective students would receive “entrance priority.” (This is not how fundraising works today at Baylor!) Supporters also had the option of purchasing seat options, which guaranteed a seat for all home games for 20 years after the construction of the stadium, with prices varying according to stadium seat locations.
Fundraisers traveled across Texas, with exhortations from President White that “Baylor is not asking for a gift. The bonds are sound investments from a financial standpoint. The [seating] options are investments in future entertainment for sports lovers.” The rhetoric must have worked—by January 1950, $1,001,836.70 and counting worth of bonds and stadium seat options were sold.
While fundraisers were out stumping, Baylor had to figure out the right location for the stadium. Their first choice was to stay in the same area as Municipal Stadium, on the grounds of the former Texas Cotton Palace. But then as now, parking was an issue, and a geological fault on the land caused construction concerns. On to Plan B—a February 1949 news release announced the purchase of a 100-acre plot in “Waco’s west suburbs” for the new Baylor Stadium.
Baylor President W.R. White digs the first shovel of dirt to at the Baylor Stadium groundbreaking on May 28, 1949. (The event started at 5 pm, hence the large array of lighting.) Photo by Jimmie Willis and digitally scanned from the original 4×5 photo negative.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Baylor Stadium was held on May 28, 1949, and construction began in November of that year. And even though the stadium wasn’t quite done yet, the Bears played their first game at Baylor Stadium on September 30, 1950, against the University of Houston. The President of the Baylor Stadium Corporation, Jack Kultgen, presented the stadium to Baylor University.
The stadium’s seating capacity was 49,000 at the time and it was hailed as a “Fittin’ home for the Fightin’ Baylor Bears.” Opening ceremonies included the nearby Connally Air Force Base sending a group of planes to do a flyover of the new facility, while the University of Houston played the national anthem and the Baylor Air Force ROTC color guard raised the colors. Baylor even beat the University of Houston 34-7 on this long-awaited opening day.
This may be the dedication game, Baylor v. Houston, that took place on September 30, 1950, but we are not certain. It is indeed a very early photograph of Baylor Stadium, with construction still in progress in the end zone. Additionally, tracks from construction vehicles can be seen around the field. This is a U.S. Air Force photo.
The final costs of the stadium? Legendary sportswriter Dave Campbell reported in a 1957 Waco Tribune-Herald article that “the show-piece stadium” where “every seat is good” cost “$1,668,790.27, and that figure includes a $70,000 outlay for a lighting system in 1955. The debt will be paid off by 1980.”
The city of Waco, Baylor University, and a vast network of alumni and sports fans made this vision a reality. Baylor Stadium (which became Floyd Casey Stadium in 1989) was a true investment in the future of Baylor Football and for the Waco community, serving both for more than 60 years. The new Baylor Stadium, with the dedication and support of Baylor fans and Waco citizens alike, also will turn a lofty vision into a stunning reality.
Enjoy a Flickr slideshow with more early photos of Baylor Stadium and its construction. Click the large arrow to start the show–and if you want to see the photos full-screen, click on the crosshairs that will appear in the lower right corner of the photo.
Read more about Baylor Stadium/Floyd Casey Stadium’s early beginnings:
The Invisible Line (The Baylor Stadium Corporation: Waco, Texas, 1949). Baylor University Subject Files: BU Buildings: Baylor Stadium: 1948-1949. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
Waco and the Baylor Stadium Campaign: a handbook for workers and a prospectus for investors. Baylor University Subject Files: BU Buildings: Baylor Stadium: 1948-1949. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
W.R. White Letter, March 8, 1950. Baylor University Subject Files: BU Buildings: Baylor Stadium: 1950. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
“Nash is Named To Head BU Stadium Group.” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 11, 1952.
“Baylor Stadium Site Chosen,” Baylor University Newsletter. Baylor University Subject Files: BU Buildings: Baylor Stadium: 1948-1949. The Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
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:
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.
