Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Bernard Sbisa Family Collection
Date(s)
- 1877-1919 (Creation)
Extent
2.00 Boxes
Name of creator
Biographical history
Bernard Sbisa was born in Austria and raised in New Orleans. In 1864, he opened a commercial hotel in Matamoras, Mexico, and four years later opened the Washington Hotel and Restaurant in Galveston, TX. In 1874, Bernard Sbisa opened another hotel, the Grand Southern Hotel in Galveston, TX. He met his wife while operating the Grand Southern Hotel. In January 1878, he accepted a position as manager of the Sustenance Department (food services) at Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas (TAMC) and was later made Steward of the Mess Hall.
Bernard and his wife lived on campus in an apartment in the Mess Hall building. The Sbisas were beloved by the campus and praised for their culinary and social skills. Their daughter, Rita Sbisa, was very active in campus social life and help found a Bicycle club that promoted healthy living and social activities through bicycling. Bernard Sbisa passed away in 1928. Rita Sbisa married Eugen W. Kerr (Class of 1896), and they both lived in Cuba with their three children.
Sbisa Dining Hall, built after a kitchen fire destroyed the original mess hall, was named in honor of Bernard Sbisa in 1926.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Bernard Sbisa Family Collection consists of photographic scrapbooks, personal correspondence, photographs of the Sbisa Family, and early Texas A&M College photographs along with other early college photographs of the campus of Perdue. The items included either have no date or are dated from between 1877 to 1919.
Bernard Sbisa was one of the first Texas A&M College professors who lived and taught the early Texas A&M College.
System of arrangement
Arranged by material type.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
unrestricted
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
For more information about Sbisa and family, see Sbisa, Bernard in the Remstar 2: Biography Files.
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
- Conservation/Preservation: Fragile, handle with care.
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Finding Aid Authors: Jenny Reibenspies.
Archivist's note
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