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George R.R. Martin Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000004
  • Collection

This collection consists of the personal papers, manuscripts, memorabilia, and other associational material of science fiction and fantasy author George R.R. Martin.

Martin has also deposited as part of his collection a growing assortment of books, including his own work in various editions and translations, as well as works that he has edited or to which he has contributed. A bibliography of these books is available from the Reading Room upon request and items from that list are available for consultation.

Martin, George R.R.

Office of the President Records, Gibb Gilchrist through Jack K. Williams

  • TxAM-CRS C000049
  • Collection
  • 1948-1972

This collection contains official documents from the Office of the President at Texas A&M University. A PDF finding aid is available upon request.

Presidents included are:

Gibb Gilchrist, C. E.

  • President May 27, 1944 - September 1, 1948
  • Chancellor of the Texas A&M System September 1, 1948 - August 31, 1953
  • Born: Wills Point, Texas; December 23, 1887
  • Died: College Station, Texas; May 12, 1972; buried in College Station
  • Appointed dean of the School of Engineering in 1937; elected president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas May 27, 1944; served until September 1, 1948, when the Texas A&M System was created and he became the first chancellor of the System, serving until his retirement on August 31, 1953.

Marion Thomas Harrington, Ph.D.

  • President June 3, 1950 - September 1, 1953, and September 1, 1957 - July 1, 1959
  • Chancellor September 1, 1953 - August 31, 1965
  • Born: Plano, Texas; September 8, 1901
  • Dean of the College when elected president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas on September 22, 1949, effective "at the end of the present school year." This was interpreted to be June 3, 1950, and on that date, he officially took over the reins of the presidency. He served until September 1, 1953; when he became the second chancellor of the System, succeeding Mr. Gilchrist. Dr. Harrington was elected president a second time on August 23, 1957, and in addition to his duties as chancellor served as president from September 1, 1957, until July 1, 1959. He retired as chancellor on August 31, 1965. He was the first graduate of Texas A&M University to serve as president and also as chancellor.

David Hitchens Morgan, Ph.D.

  • President September 1, 1953 - December 21, 1956
  • Born: Portsmouth, Virginia; January 2, 1909
  • Died: St. Petersburg, FL; April 21, 1974
  • Dean of the College when elected president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas on June 17, 1953, effective September 1, 1953; resigned December 21, 1956.

David Willard Williams, M.S.

  • Acting President December 22, 1956 - September 1, 1957
  • Born: Venedocia, Ohio; August 20, 1892
  • Died: Bryan, TX; October 30, 1985; buried in Bryan.
  • Vice President for agriculture when appointed acting President on December 22, 1956; served until September 1, 1957.

James Earl Rudder, LL.D.

  • President of Texas A&M University July 1, 1959 - March 23, 1970
  • President of the Texas A&M University system September 1, 1965 - March 23, 1970
  • Born: Eden, Texas; May 6, 1910
  • Died: Houston, Texas; March 23, 1970; buried at College Station.
  • Vice President when elected president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas June 27, 1959, effective July 1, 1959. On September 1, 1965, when Dr. Harrington retired as chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, the title was changed to president, and Mr. Rudder, in addition to his duties as president of Texas A&M University, became president of the Texas A&M University System, which dual position he held until his death on March 23, 1970.

Alvin Roubal Luedecke, LL.D.

  • Acting President March 30, 1970 - November 1, 1970
  • Born: Eldorado, Texas; October 1, 1910
  • Died: San Antonio, Texas; August 9, 1998; buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
  • Associate dean of the College of Engineering when appointed acting president on March 30, 1970; served until November 1, 1970.

Jack Kenny Williams, Ph.D.

  • President of Texas A&M University November 1, 1970 - July 31, 1977
  • President of the Texas A&M University System November 1, 1970 - July 31, 1977
  • Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System August 1, 1977 - January 24, 1979
  • Born: Galax, Virginia; April 5, 1920
  • Died: Houston, Texas; September 28, 1981; buried in Clemson, South Carolina, on the campus of Clemson University.
  • Vice-President for academic affairs, University of Tennessee System, when elected President of Texas A&M University and president of the Texas A&M University System on September 11, 1970, effective November 1, 1970; Elevated to Chancellor of the System on May 24, 1977; Resigned as Chancellor on January 24, 1979, to return to teaching.

Samuel Erson Asbury Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 33
  • Collection
  • 1872-1960

The Samuel Erson Asbury Papers consist of research materials, correspondence, mainly original contemporary letters and copies of the older historical correspondence, Asbury's writings and copies of state and national documents, held in eight boxes and one map case drawer occupying approximately twelve linear feet of shelf space. Asbury's broad range of interests is reflected in the variety of topics contained in these papers. Foremost among them are the files of correspondence, historical documents, articles and research notes concerning various aspects of Texas history.

Also included in the Asbury papers are articles, short stories, essays, plays, poetry, and a Texas Revolution opera written by Asbury; research notes and correspondence on the cultivation of roses and the growing of plants without soil; articles written about Asbury; correspondence with family members; general correspondence; and photographs of Asbury, his family and friends, and North Carolina A & M College.

Asbury, Samuel E. (Samuel Erson), 1872-1962

Ide Peebles Trotter Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 216
  • Collection
  • 1922-1964

This collection consist of correspondence, telegrams, notes, reports, speeches, newspaper clippings, and publications which span most of Trotter's career in Agricultural Education.

Some periods are much better documented than are others. Materials for the period before 1936 include some leaflets, a few letters, circulars and clippings, and one pamphlet. Trotter's move from Missouri to Texas is well documented in letters, bills, and telegrams, but his transfer to Agricultural Extension and then to the Graduate School at Texas A&M College in College Station, Texas are poorly covered. Most of the available information is in the newspaper clippings. Both moves were made during periods of controversy. Hopefully additional documentation can be found elsewhere in the records of Texas A&M University.

Trotter's activities as Director of Extension and Dean of the Graduate School at Texas A&M College should be fairly well covered in the records of those two offices. Unfortunately his personal papers conatain very little information on them. The only documentation on Trotter's two periods of foreign service is in the reports he wrote on his cotton surveys in 1948. Some special activities such as service on the Postwar Planning Committee and participation in Rural Church Conference are fairly well documented.

Trotter, Ide Peebles

Sam Moskowitz Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000190
  • Collection
  • 1940-1993

The Sam Moskowitz collection consists of his research files, correspondence, manuscripts, many of his books, and working documents related to his study of the history of science fiction and fantasy.  Drafts of two unpublished books are included.

Moskowitz, Sam

Bill Crider Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000212
  • Collection
  • 1987

The collection spans Bill Crider's entire career. A near-complete run of manuscripts traces his writing career, supplemented by a correspondence file, miscellaneous material, and books and magazines. A long run of "DAPA-EM," the organ of a mystery writer's amateur press association completes the collection.

Crider, Bill

Robert E. Howard Collection

  • C000224
  • Collection
  • 1920-1997

A collection of letters to and from Robert E. Howard, from circa 1920-1936, with miscellaneous Howard items, copies of magazines featuring Howard stories, and books containing Howard stories and novels. Also included are a number of items relating to films based on Howard's works.

Howard, Robert E.

Yolanda Broyles-González and Francisco González Archive

  • TxAM-CRS C000105
  • Collection
  • 1930-2015

The Dr. Yolanda Broyles- González & Francisco González Archive is a rich borderland Mexican-American collection with a focus on performance arts, theater, and music.  Dr. Broyles-González studied and lived in Germany for twelve years, in Berlin, Freiburg, and Hamburg. She published the first translations of Chicano literature into German and she was instrumental in bringing Chicano/a literature and history to European readerships and consciousness. 

Broyles-Gonzalez, Yolanda

General Walter Krueger Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 160
  • Collection
  • 1943-1945

This collection includes copies of administrative orders, field orders, and weekly reports compiled by the staff of the Sixth Army and sent to General Krueger, as well as copies of operation reports sent from General Krueger to the Adjutant General in Washington, D. C. Also included are after-action operation reports concerning the 6th Army.

The administrative orders primarily contain data or amendments to accompany Field Orders and are concerned with supply, evacuation, traffic, service troops, personnel, prisoners of war, and miscellaneous items. Also included are instructions and annexes dealing with captured enemy equipment, individual clothing and equipment, supply, burials and cemeteries, native labor, sanitation, prisoners of war and enemy dead, captured material trophies, air supply circulars, and plans of operation. Maps and sketches are also found among the administrative orders.

The field orders contain data and instructions relating to hostile dispositions and support of operations, task forces, command posts, supplies, and communications. Also included are annexes concerned with staging, loading and embarkation plans, intelligence, artillery and antiaircraft artillery, communications, and engineering. Maps, sketches, and code names are also included in the field orders.

The weekly reports contain intelligence information on enemy activities, terrain, counterintelligence, material and equipment, captured documents and POW interrogations, reclassification of documents, enemy tactics, psychological warfare, and code names and numbers. Also included are photographic coverage reports, sketches, and maps.

The operation reports provide the history of the operation, including organization and operating instructions, plans and preparations, background and terrain, reconnaissance, communication, operations, enemy reaction, engineer activities, captured materials, relations with natives, the recapitulation of casualties, commendations, awards, and decorations, conclusions, credit for success, and lessons learned.

Krueger, Walter, 1881-1967

Dave Mellor Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 220
  • Collection
  • 1957-2004

This collection contains correspondence to Dave Mellor from the Lewis and Clark Heritage Foundation, an organization whose members are dedicated scholars of the Corps of Discovery's expedition to map the Louisiana Purchase. Other items also originating from that organization are copies of their member's only journal "We Proceeded On", foundation notes from meetings, and plans for the annual gathering of all the members (usually at a location pertinent to the Lewis and Clark expedition in some way), newsletters informing members of upcoming activities.

Aside from the material from the Heritage Foundation, there are also pamphlets from various tourist sites located on the trail; some are actual locations the Corps of Discovery passed by (Pompey's Pillar, the Lolo Trail, Fort Clatsop), whereas others are cities and towns located near these historic locations. Others are simply named for the explorers (Lewis and Clark Lake), and others relate to the Native Americans the Corps of Discovery encountered on their journey (Big Hole Battlefield, a site sacred to the Nez Perce). A number of magazine articles on the expedition are included, topics cover such as the environmental impact on some of the historic sites, Meriwether Lewis's death, Sacagawea's biography, and later, her gold dollar coin, Thomas Jefferson, both about his shrewdness in making the Louisiana Purchase and the controversy surrounding his relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, descendants of Lewis, Clark, and other members of the Corps of Discovery meeting together to travel the Expedition trail on the 200th Anniversary of the Expedition, and the plight of the Columbia River. Most of the remaining material is a re-hash of all of these topics, save for a couple of unique articles (including a biographical account of Sacagawea's son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau).

Mellor, Dave

Dave Mellor Texas County Courthouse Research Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 221
  • Collection
  • 1963-2003

This collection consists of 1200 slides of Texas courthouses located throughout the state. This collection also contains newspaper clippings, personal notes, and issues of the periodical Texas County Progress (incomplete issues from 1984-1999 and incomplete issues from 2002-2003) on the subject of Texas courthouses. This collection also includes magazines and brochures about Texas courthouses; pictures and slides of Texas courthouses; calendars; and a video cassette.

Mellor, Dave

Kate Adele Hill Papers

  • TxAM-CRS C000025
  • Collection
  • 1930-1965

This collection contains the personal papers of Kate Adele Hill during her time as an employee of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Included are correspondence, speeches, clippings, articles, photos about extension work, pioneer women in Texas, demonstration work, and agriculture.

Hill, Kate Adele, 1900-1982

JeFF Stumpo - Javashock Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000573
  • Collection
  • 1998-2008; Undated

The collection covers the personal, academic, and professional life of Jeff Stumpo and his founding of the Java Shock slam poetry event held initially in College Station, but now based in Bryan, TX.

Stumpo, Jeff

Dolores Richter Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000569
  • Collection

This collection was part of a gift given to the library by the Anthropology Department.  The collection documents the work and writings of Professor Dolores Richter. The collection includes photographs, negatives, writings, and news clippings related to Prof. Richter’s research in the Ivory Coast, West Africa, and Oceania and the publication of her book “Arts, Economics and Change: the Kulebele of Northern Ivory Coast” published in 1980.

Richter, Dolores

Berenice Napper Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000557
  • Collection
  • 1949-1958

This collection includes an exchange of letters between Berenice Napper and an official of Connecticut's Commission on Civil Rights, six items concerning Napper's membership in the National Council of Negro Women, eight printed ephemeral items including a photograph of Berenice Napper with three other individuals looking over a copy of Walter White's book How Far the Promised Land?, and a small group of newspaper clippings concerning her work as a field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Napper, Berenice

Guadalupe Baptist Association Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000566
  • Collection

The collection documents the life of Reverend William M. Taylor and his pursuit of education in various cities in Texas. A biography provides details about his education, religious vocation, and family life in Texas that provide a glimpse into the trials and tribulations Blacks faced in attaining any type of progress. This small collection is also rich in the history of the Guadalupe Baptist Association, Guadalupe College, and the community life for African Americans in Texas.

Taylor, William

Mercurio Martinez Papers

  • TxAM-CRS C000563
  • Collection
  • 1767-1963

The Mercurio Martinez Papers (1797-1963 (bulk: 1910-1963)) include correspondence, copies of legal documents such as wills, deeds, affidavits and courtroom briefs, maps, a few photographs, field notes for land surveys, genealogical charts, accounts of family and regional history by Mercurio Martinez, and historical accounts from other sources, principally newspapers. There are also financial records of various kinds including tax records, bills and receipts, books of check stubs and account sheets.

The vast majority of the papers relate to families, places and events in Zapata County. Webb County is also well represented, as is the region surrounding the town of Guerrero, Tamaulipas located on the south bank of the Rio Grande opposite Zapata County, Texas. A few papers deal with families, places and events in Starr County and further south in the Rio Grande Valley and a few files deal with Mexican, United States and world affairs. Unless otherwise noted in the inventory, files deal with Zapata or Webb County matters.

The oldest original papers date from the latter part of the nineteenth century and include such documents as Mercurio Martinez's Texas Teachers Certificate, 1898 (Series 1-3/4); a General Land Office map of Zapata County, 1885, (Series 3-14/25); and a certificate appointing Proceso Martinez, Sr., Mercurio's father, to the Zapata County Board of Appeals, 1870, (Series 3-25/23). There are also copies and translations of nineteenth-century documents including partition deeds, deeds of sale, birth records, and maps. Accounts of family and local history written by Martinez in the 1950s and early 1960s deal with events dating back to the Spanish settlements along the lower Rio Grande in the 1750s. Genealogies are generally traced back to the first colonists to arrive in the region. Family records, therefore, cover a time span of more than 200 years, from the settlers who arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande in about 1750 to their descendants in the early 1960s. Each decade from 1900 onward is represented in the papers. There are more files from the 1950s than any other single decade.

Among the most important files in the collection are those on the relocation of the town of Zapata due to the construction of Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande in the early 1950s, the salvation of the community of San Ygnacio from destruction during this period, the accounts of family history and genealogy from Zapata County, and the papers related to the division of lands between descendants of original holders of Spanish grants and sales of family lands. Maps, genealogies, and legal documents provide a clear picture of the rapidity with which even extensive landholdings can be reduced to tracts hardly adequate to support the families of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original owners. Reconsolidation of holdings through the purchase of interest from siblings and through cousin marriage are also documented. It is also possible to trace shifts in settlement and land-use patterns. For example, the original grantees of porciones along the Rio Grande held land in long narrow blocks extending inland from the river. Over the generations, these blocks were subdivided among heirs and parts of them were sold outside the families. Through separate inheritance from parents, through marriage, and through purchase, individuals came to own small pieces of land located in widely separated tracts. This pattern of dispersed holdings, each of economically inefficient size and too far apart to be worked as units, has been noted for many peasant societies. These papers clearly reveal the processes whereby such a land-holding pattern developed out of the more economically efficient block holdings within a few generations. The most completely documented tract of land is the vast Jose Vasquez Borrego Grant made in 1750. It was later divided into the Dolores, Corralitos, and San Ygnacio Subdivisions. The first settlement was made at the Hacienda de Dolores on August 22, 1750. This settlement was abandoned, apparently during Indian troubles in the early 19th century. A settlement or Rancho of Dolores was founded nearby in the Dolores subdivision of the Borrego Grant by Cosme Martinez in 1859. Meanwhile, the town of San Ygnacio had been founded in the San Ygnacio subdivision in 1830. Until the early 20th century, an hacienda in the Corralitos subdivision was occupied by members of the Vidaurri family, who were descendants of the original grantee's daughter, Alejandra Vasquez Borrego de Vidaurri.

Also of interest are the Corridos, or ballads, composed by Mercurio Martinez and dealing with dramatic events in Zapata County history such as an escape from prison, a contested election and the destruction of Zapata by the rising waters of Falcon Reservoir.

Martinez, Mercurio, 1876-1965

Charles Criner Papers and Art Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000560
  • Collection
  • 1960-2009

This collection documents Criner's professional and personal life as an artist and educator. The collection includes correspondence, original works of art, prints, drawings, exhibition photos, postcards, writings, photographs, publicity, news clippings, interviews with Criner, and thank you letters and cards from students and visitors who have been taught the art of printmaking and provided tours of the Museum of Printing History in Houston by Criner. The collection includes a number of Criner's prints and copies of his art reproduced as advertisements, exhibits, and prints. Of particular note are the significant examples of Criner’s various cartoons, Johnny Jones, The Job Crowd, The Dogs, and a few others. These were all produced from his stint in the Army, his work with the Houston Post, Houston Chronicle, HUD, and his collaboration with William Henry Hygh. 

A listing of Criner’s artwork and cartoons is included at the end of the finding guide. The collection includes examples of each of these works either in print, photos, or exhibit material.

Criner, Charles

Dr. Gwendoline Y. Fortune Papers

  • TxAM-CRS C000552
  • Collection
  • 1983-2014

This collection consists of volumes of correspondence (bulk 2005-2014), video and audiotapes of Dr. Fortune's classical music performances, writings, business ventures, and research material for her published books.

Fortune, Gwendoline Y.

Kevin M. Bailey Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000068
  • Collection
  • 1976-1990

This collection covers A&M Gay Student Services (GSS), Gayline, GSS Roommate Locator Service, and campus attitudes toward homosexuality and the LGBT community at the university before and after A&M officially recognized GSS as a campus organization.

Some material dates back to 1976, while other documents go as late as 1990. The bulk of the contents are from 1983-1986, being the period when the GSS lawsuit for recognition was ongoing to when litigation ended in July 1985, giving GSS official recognition. Media coverage over the issue of gay and lesbian students at A&M heated up in the fall of 1984 as GSS awaited a new court ruling. Most of the collection is local, given its subject, but also included are regional LGBT news and national entertainment news regarding LGBT persons.

Bailey, Kevin

Raiford L. Stripling Architectural Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 167
  • Collection
  • 1937-1989

This collection is made up of over 250 projects contained in 24 boxes, as well as drawings and construction documents housed in flat files in one map case.  Stripling’s work consists of 327 legal size folders, each related to architecture projects, as well as 60 folders of information associated with the field of architecture and miscellaneous items. 

The folders in the collection hold articles such as: contract documents, architectural services billing, contractors’ requests for payment,  correspondence, brochures, pamphlets, newspaper articles, magazine articles, photographs, sketches, drawings, and miscellaneous notes.

Stripling, Raiford L., 1910-1990

Angela Y. (Yvonne) Davis Collection

  • US TxAM-C 20
  • Collection
  • 1971; Undated

The collection consists of written correspondence primarily in the form of postcards, handmade cards, or other support materials from individuals in Germany. Many of the postcards have colored flowers and colorful artwork, some are from mechanical postcards distributed to school children and individuals in Germany to write in support of Angela Davis. These cards and correspondence are in response to a solidarity campaign of support called "A Million Roses for Angela Davis" started in East Germany. Some of the postcards are addressed to Marin County Courthouse in California and others are addressed to the United National Committee to Free Angela Davis in New York.

Davis, Angela Y., 1944

Lord Edward Dunsany Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000213
  • Collection
  • 1953-05-01

This small collection consists of one letter from Dunsany to Min Winwar, May 1, 1953, in which he comments favorably on her new book.

Dunsany, Lord Edward

H. O. "Cowboy" Kelly Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 35
  • Collection
  • 1948-1979; undated

This collection contains 171 watercolor illustrated letters by H.O. Kelly, written to his close friend and biographer, William "Bill" Weber Johnson, his wife Elizabeth Ann (McMurray) Johnson, Mary Longwell (Lady), and their family between 1948 and 1955. These letters formed the basis for William Weber Johnson's research for Kelly Blue, a biography of Kelly, first published by Doubleday in 1960, with a foreword by Western writer Tom Lea.

A smaller group of fifteen letters by H.O. Kelly, and two in pencil by his wife Jessie (Bowers) Kelly, are addressed to another art collector and friend, Dallas lawyer, Rudolph Johnson. Seventeen additional letters by Rudolph Johnson, typewritten on yellow paper between 1955 and 1958 are included, addressed to Kelly, or, after the artist's death, to his wife, Jess.

Of interest too is a letter to Kelly by Otto Kallir of the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City, requesting some of Kelly's works to be displayed in an exhibition of American primitive artists to be mounted at the Galerie early in 1952. Included is Kelly's letter to Mrs. Daniel Longwell (Lady) asking permission to refer Kallir to her to view the painting she had just purchased from Elizabeth Ann McMurray. Also of note is a letter written by John L. Paxton of Fort Worth, Texas, in reply to Rudolph Johnson soon after Kelly's death in December 1955. Attached to Paxton's reply is a list of all the known owners of Kelly's artwork at that time, whom Paxton has written to in the interest of collecting funds to aid in supporting the then-destitute Jess Kelly.

In Series 2 copies of correspondence between Elizabeth Johnson, J. Wayne Stark, Irene Hoadley, and others relates to the bulk of the letters in this collection, an art exhibit at the Texas A&M University Memorial Student Center, a color slide of the painting "Penning Goats". and plans by Texas A&M University Press to publish an illustrated edition of Kelly Blue.

The tiny colored drawings found on Kelly's letters and cards to friends and family are a foreshadowing of the lovingly detailed scenes in his oil paintings. As a significant primitive artist, Kelly's paintings present a world of rolling, green pastures, tranquil blue skies, and solid farms and farming towns, also populated by a thick dusting of livestock, including wily goats, unpredictable donkeys, fine mules, and lively horses. The robust folk is reminiscent of Kelly's mother's German ancestors in Ohio, similar to those living in Fredericksburg, Texas, a town Kelly often visited for inspiration. As these letters so vividly attest, when Kelly sold a painting, it was the buyer's initiation into a warm friendship with the raconteur artist, not a mere business transaction.

Kelly, H.O., 1884-1955

E. M. "Buck" Schiwetz Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 312
  • Collection

This collection contains letters, magazine and newspaper articles, magazines, prints, and other materials documenting the work of artist Edward Muegge "Buck" Schiwetz, as both a commercial and fine artist.

His sketches and watercolors are featured in a vast majority of the print material in the collection, from Christmas cards to sketchbooks to fine prints.

Rather than focusing on Schiwetz's life and his time at Texas A&M, the collection pays most attention to his art career and people's opinion of Schiwetz as an artist in the traditional sense of the definition.

US Passport of John Livezey and Wife

  • US TxAM-C 296
  • Collection
  • 1846

The US Passport of John Livezey and wife, signed by Secretary of State James Buchanan.

Livezey, John

George and Nell Armstrong Papers

  • US TxAM-C 93
  • Collection
  • 1913-1920

The Papers consist chiefly of personal correspondence (1913-1920) between George Armstrong and Nell Floss Steel, later Nell Steel Armstrong, over the course of their courtship and marriage, both before and during World War I (1914-1918).

The correspondence is unusual in that both George Armstrong and his sweetheart, later wife, Nell Floss Steel, both served on the front during World War I, either in Europe, or at home in hospitals or camps in the United States. Life as a U. S. Armyinfantry officer in charge of recruits, or a Red Cross nurse is therefore vividly depicted in their letters to each other.

The Armstrong correspondence is also unusual for war-time, since Nell Floss Steel was the first of the two sent overseas in September 1914 to serve in a military hospital in Serbia, while her future husband was serving in army military camps in Texas City, Texas, at El Paso, Texas and Columbus, Ohio. In turnabout, George was later sent to France (September?-November 1918), while, as a result of her recent marriage to George, Nell had to remain in the United States, despite her eagerness to return to active war duty.

During this time George Armstrong served primarily with a U. S. Army General Services Infantry Recruit Depot, training recruits, and was stationed periodically at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana and at Camp Sherman, Ohio, eventually serving with the 83rd Infantry Division in France (September?-November 1918).

Nell Floss Steel served six months as a Red Cross nurse in a military hospital in Serbia (1914-1915) and as part of "The Texas Ten" group of nurses in a military camp at Eagle Pass, Texas (August 1916-March 1917), before marrying George Armstrong 21 August 1917. She spent the rest of the war mainly working in hospitals and sanitariums in the Columbus, Ohio area.

Details of daily life in the military camps, or in Red Cross service are many, and recorded by both the Armstrongs in delightfully intimate and detailed letters. Subjects mentioned in the correspondence include domestic and international politics, housing issues, income, social customs in different cultures, such as Greek nationals encountered both in the United States as well as in their homeland, or Austrian soldiers, both as officers and an hospital orderlies, politics, sports, and the lives of both a professional soldier and a professional nurse.

As a career nurse during wartime, Nell Floss Steel faced typoid and typhus epidemics, patients with unimaginable wounds, along with the difficulty and challenge of learning to understand Greek and German. Mail is forever delayed, obstructed or censored, the nurses never venture outside the hospital area after dark, and the availability of serum to innoculate the nurses before they face sufferers of contagious diseases is not certain. Over the course of the correspondence a very plucky and independent Nell Floss Steel records such moving scenes as a child dying of typhus, a young soldier dying of lockjaw, and a young military wife whom Nell Steel Armstrong aids when she miscarries.

Nell Floss Steel is invigorated by these challenges, however, and keeps a keen eye on the socio-political interactions manifested by relations between, for example, Austrian orderlies who are prisoners-of-war and an Austrian officer, who though a countryman and dying patient, is abused as a result of his former tyranny to underlings. Her letters present a finely detailed and atmospheric portrait of life as a World War IRed Cross nurse in occupied territory far from home. The contrasts inherent in World War I are shown by the delightful sightseeing Nell enjoys in Athens, just a short journey from the horrors of a Serbian hospital.

Nell Steel Armstrong is also approvingly aware of the political struggles of the "suffrage ladies," and extremely disappointed after 1917 that her married status prevents her from returning to war work in Europe, although she rejects the option of "divorcing for the war."

Patriotic and convivial, George Armstrong is both an avid football player and horseback rider, a passion he shares with Nell Steel Armstrong. He recounts incidents of heat-exhuastion after a 16-mile march in Texas heat, resulting in the death of two soldiers, as well as other accidents and wounds. He voices doubts, however, about the advisability of the United States becoming involved in the political upheavals of Europe or Mexico. Much comment about political developments of the day are included. President Woodrow Wilson and former President Teddy Roosevelt are mentioned. George Armstrong also describes the early military training of Pancho Villa, and comments on Texas/Mexico border activities of the Texas Rangers with great admiration. Nell Steel Armstrong describes former President Taft speaking to a group of nurses including herself.

Military camaraderie is evident in George Armstrong's high spirited description of pistol matches, parades, training exercise, mule and horse training, as well as life among soldiers living in often makeshift army training camps. For example, life in tents on the dusty fields at Texas City, Texas is enlivened by socializing with the population of Irish soldiers, most of them "fresh from the old sod."

Also present are letters from Nell Steel Armstrong to her mother, Mrs. James G. Steel, or sisters, Jane Steel, Margaret Steel, and Ethel Withgott; official correspondence regarding Nell Steel Armstrong's nursing service and George Armstrong'smilitary service; family correspondence to the married couple; George Armstrong's diary for 1914; an American Civil War letter (1862) by William Steel to his brother James G. Steel (Nell's father), with two poems (1863) collected by William Steel, newspaper clippings, a few programs and Christmas cards; one box of photographs [some negatives lacking photographic prints] of George Armstrong and Nell Steel Armstrong, either separately, together, or in groups; one flat storage box of oversize diplomas and photographs.

Items separated include five drawings of Platoon Plans of Attack[missing as of 10/2002], and one map of the northeast of France for bicycle and automobile touring.

  • “Partially processed. Might not be available to patrons. Please contact the Cushing Library’s Reading Room for more information.”

Armstrong, George, 1884-1964

General Alvord Van Patten Anderson Papers

  • TxAM-CRS 14
  • Collection
  • 1886-1976

The General Alvord Van Patten Anderson Papers, 1886-1976, contain many letters from Alvord Anderson to his father, John R. Anderson, and his wife, Cora Anderson. The nineteenth century letters are handwritten, while the twentieth century letters are typed, with the exception of the World War I letters.

Throughout the collection, some letters are annotated in pencil with dates, page numbers, and names of recipients. This added information is contradicted by information in the letters themselves in one or two cases. A few undated or incompletely dated letters have been arranged according to the approximate date.

Letters in Series 1. are sometimes accompanied by other materials, such as military papers, reports, citations of awards, newsletters, black and white photographic prints, newspaper clippings, a poem, an essay, and a map.Series 2 consists of a scrapbook of photographic prints and postcards, and Series 3. Published monographs collected by Anderson, 1905-1966, icludes 8 monographs which are cataloged and housed seperately in the repository's stacks.

  • “Partially processed. Might not be available to patrons. Please contact the Cushing Library’s Reading Room for more information.”

Anderson, Alvord van Patten, 1872-1951

Howard Waldrop Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000271
  • Collection
  • 1965-1994; Undated

This collection contains manuscripts, printed material, correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, idea books, photographic material, and books created and/or maintained by Howard Waldrop which give a glimpse of his personal life as well as document his professional life as one of the prolific and best-known science fiction writers from Texas.

The first category consists of Howard Waldrop's works both published and unpublished arranged alphabetically by title. Some manuscript files in this category may contain correspondence, notes, research material, contracts, royalty statements, proofs, etc. Thus, information about a specific story can be found in the collection by title.

The second category consists of materials related to Waldrop personally and/or professionally. This category is arranged alphabetically by general topical heading. His idea for some of his stories can be found in his Idea Books file from 1968 to 1988. Information about him personally or professionally can be found in the newspaper clippings, correspondence, and his work diaries files. His movements for any given year from the 1970s to 1994 could be reconstructed from his science fiction convention, conferences, programs, etc. file. But the most important file in this category is his story logs file 1970-1989. The file shows: when and where a story was written, how long it is; who bought it or did not; when and where it was published (or supposed to be published); and any subsequent reprints or foreign editions, royalties, etc.

The last category of the collection is works by or materials related to other science fiction writers. It includes manuscripts of other writers' works that happened to be in his possession or other writers' manuscripts in which he is a collaborator. Some biographical sketches of other writers can be found in the Con Bios-writers file. Information about Waldrop written by other writers can also be found in this category of the collection.

Waldrop, Howard

Crawford Family Letters

  • TxAM-CRS MSS00164
  • Collection
  • 1852-1900

This collection comprises twenty-seven autograph letters from various family members, three autograph documents written by Joel Crawford, additional unsigned correspondence, fout vintage photographs, five black and white photograph reprints, thirteen mailing envelopes, and a number of other address panels on the letters, some with quite scarce postal stamps from small towns in Georgia and Florida. Short excerpts of some letters are included in the description listing.

The collection also includes biographical information on the Crawford family, a photocopy of a marriage certificate for Charles P. Crawford's marriage to Anna Ripley Orme, and a page from the estate of Joel P. Crawford, signed by his executors James Buchanan and Charles P. Crawford admitting it into the record.

Postal history envelopes contained throughout the correspondence: cancellation stamps from La Grange, Fort Gaines (1855), Bainbridge (1855), Blakely (1855), and Macon (1858), Georgia, Orange Mills (1858), Florida, and Richmond (1862), Virginia. There are also five additional undated envelopes from members of the Crawford family.

Crawford, Charles P.

W. J. Estelle Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 10
  • Collection
  • 1927-1984; Undated

This collection contains mostly correspondence dating from 1927to 1984; personal office calendars; speeches; criminal justice materials; Huntsville First National Bank materials; and clippings, especially concerning the escape attempt of Fred Carrasco, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Ruiz v. Estelle court case.

Also present are reports, publications, reprints, and photographs relating to the several prison systems with which W. J. Estelle was associated during his career in corrections, some video cassettes, audiotapes, and souvenirs, including buttons, pins, and badges.

Estelle, W.J., 1931

William A. Owens Papers, Part Two

  • TxAM-CRS 24
  • Collection
  • 1940-1980

This collection supplements Part One of William A. Owens, in that it emphasizes the years from 1972 to 1980, yet also contains correspondence written prior to 1972. Therefore, it adds much to the first collection.

The collection is divided into seven categories. These are: Personal correspondence 1940-1980 (Series. 1-3), which also includes some printed reviews of Owens' books; Transcripts of the tapes containing the "Oral History of Texas Oil Pioneers" (Series. 4); Research materials, manuscripts and drafts for unpublished books written by Owens (Series. 5-8); Shorter works by Owens (Series. 9); Works written by other authors (Series. 10), and; Miscellaneous materials and drafts collected by Owens (Series. 11-13). Of special interest in this collection is correspondence concerned with Owens' books, letters from World War II, and the various drafts of books by Owens which have not been published.

Owens' personal correspondence files are further divided into three more specific categories. The first covers primarily the period 1972-1980 but also includes papers dating from prior to this period. This correspondence is broken down alphabetically according to a key word in the subject, name, company, or book. Within the letter grouping the papers are filed chronologically. The undated material follows the last dated papers. The compilers of the collection attempted as much as possible to keep the material grouped as Owens himself had had it arranged. This material contains correspondence with friends and fans on the writing and publication of his books, with organizations Owens participated in, on awards won by Owens, about folk songs, on the writing of other authors, and other various topics. To be especially noted about the dramatizations of This Stubborn Soil.

The second division of personal correspondence primarily covers 1940-1965. These letters are broken down by their subject matter and then arranged chronologically. The subjects covered are Owens war letters and letters with Annie Laurie Williams, who was Owens' literary agent.

The third division of the correspondence files covers Owens' tour with the National Humanities Series in 1972 and 1973. The production was entitled "Frontiers: Settling a Nation," and consisted of Owens and a folksinger. The papers include correspondence concerning the itineraries, reviews, and other matters of the tour. The first nine boxes hold this personal correspondence.

Also included in the correspondence files are the printed reviews of books authored by Owens. They are predominantly newspaper reviews although some were printed in journals and magazines. The reviews are broken down by title and arranged chronologically.

Filling the next seven boxes are the transcripts of the "Oral History of Texas Oil Pioneers" tapes. These are filed by the number of the tape. There are transcripts from 218 tapes.

The manuscripts of books written by Owens since 1975 compose the next category of the collection. The five titles of the books are Caves of Arayat, Running in Place, Japanese Soldiers in World War II, Not So Far Away, Not So Long Ago, Special Agent 2142, and the second edition of Texas Folk Songs. Of these books, only Texas Folk Songs, 2nd edition, has been published (1976). The first three works concern World War II, and the fourth is the third volume of Owens' autobiography. There are many drafts of each book, some having different titles. The drafts are filed from earliest to latest. Some of the drafts were not identified and have been filed as accurately as possible. The labels of the drafts include the number of the draft, whether it is typescript or a copy, and whether or not it contains written notes. The labels "manuscript" and "typescript" were used interchangeably.

One may find it interesting to examine the various drafts and trace the development of the books. Not So Far Away, Not So Long Ago, for example, has thirteen drafts and four different titles. The drafts are in good condition and are usually complete.

There are also numerous shorter works written by Owens. These are predominantly articles, essays, and short stories. Most of them appear in printed form, but some were never published. Of interest in an essay written for a Bicentennial essay contest which Owens subsequently used for a lecture.

This collection also contains three boxes of short works by other writers. These include histories of World War II operations in which Owens participated, articles on folklore and ethnic groups, and other topics which interested Owens. There are many works that were sent to Owens by students and friends for him to critique. Of special interest are two biographies of Owens and short stories by J. Frank Dobie.

The final category of the boxed papers contain miscellaneous material collected by Owens which includes magazines, pamphlets, and other material.

Separated from the collection is sixty books which Owens included in the collection. Most pertain to fields which Owens researched such as folksongs, ethnic groups in Texas, history of the oil industry, and others.

Also separated, are oversized materials such as Owens' Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts diplomas from Southern Methodist University, two large prints of an oil gusher, four parts of a copy of an old map of Virginia, and a copy of an 1898 map of Jefferson County, Texas.

Owens, William A., 1905-1990

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