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Las Moras Ranch Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000046
  • Collection
  • 1869-1913

This collection consists chiefly of correspondence regarding the Runge family of Galveston, Tex. and Menard, Tex., including Henry Runge, his sons Henry J. Runge and Louis Hermann Runge, their cousin Julius F. Runge, as well as family members in Hannover, Germany, including heirs Hans Eyl and his wife Meta Eyl; German immigrant and Texas businessman Walter Tips (1841-1911) who, after the death of Henry Runge, had formed the Las Moras Ranch Company (December 21, 1879) with his wife's aunt Julia Runge, wife of Henry Runge, and Runge's sons Henry J. Runge, and Louis H. Runge; German Emigration Company lands, lawyers and law firms in Austin, Tex. and San Antonio, Tex., including C. A. Goeth, the firm of Webb & Goeth, Adolph Goeth, the business partner of Walter Tips and brother of C. A. Goeth.

Also present are: legal documents, including deeds, wills, powers of attorney, some ranch operations records, including ranch inventories, accounting ledgers, and handwritten notes. These papers record the operations and transfers of ownership of over 130,000 acres of property, principally in the Texas counties of Comal, San Saba, Tom Green, Concho, and Menard, collectively known as the Las Moras Ranch.

Beyond the acquisition, operation, and ultimate liquidation of this ranch property, however, an interesting part of Texas history, that of the Adelsverien or German Emigration Company, and early German immigrant settlement are illuminated through the documents in the collection.

The collection series reflect the history of the ranch from its foundation until its sale in 1913.

  • Series 1 begins with an 1867 legal document showing a transfer of ownership of many thousands of acres of land from Hermann Arnold Henry (Heinrich) Runge (1821-1861) of Funchal, Madiera, Portugal to his brother and business partner, Henry Runge (1816-1873). Henry Runge paid for the land in American Gold. Other documents in the papers include a very large judgment against the Adelsverien or German Emigration Company, a copy of the lengthy handwritten "Last Will of Henry Runge," probated April 2, 1873, and that of his wife, Julia, dated March 23, 1896.
  • Subsequent documents in Series 2-Series 4 of the papers highlight the operation and eventual liquidation in 1913 of the Las Moras Ranch, including transcontinental communications between Germany and Texas among heirs to the Runge fortune. Several of these family letters scattered through the papers may be particularly difficult to translate since they are written in Kurrentschrift, a Gothic handwriting style.
  • Playing important roles in the later transactions concerning the ranch properties were the sons of Henry Runge (1816-1873): Henry J. Runge (1859-1922), Louis Hermann Runge (1861-1936), and his nephew Julius F. Runge (1851-1906). Henry J. Runge and Julius F. Runge were financial advisors, while Louis Runge served as the ranch manager and lived on the Las Moras Ranch property. Walter E. Tips (1841-1911), another German immigrant, Texas Senator, and successful hardware merchandiser, who married into the Runge family, along with C. A. Goeth (b. 1869), a San Antonio attorney, were involved in the ranch operations and legal issues concerning the eventual dispersal of Las Moras Ranch property.

Las Moras Ranch, 1869-1913

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.

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

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

Sharon Faye Wilbur Star Trek Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000129
  • Collection
  • 1970-2013

The collection contains a wide variety of material related to Star Trek, including books, records, calendars and realia such as pins, playing cards, music boxes, pictures, magazines covering Star Trek, apparel, cups, and glasses, models, ornaments, and other collectibles.

Approximately 102 books have been integrated into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection. Each book added has a note "Sharon Faye Wilbur Star Trek Collection."

An additional series contains reference material relating to the author Andre Norton, with whom Wilbur was acquainted. Works by Norton that Wilbur owned have been integrated into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection.

Wilbur, Sharon Faye

Martha Wells Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000133
  • Collection
  • 1991-2021

This collection consists of manuscript drafts, copyedited manuscripts, and galley proofs of all of Martha Wells' novels, as well as a number of other materials that include program books from many science fiction and fantasy conventions.

The March 2017 Addendum contains mostly media-related materials, particularly from the television show _Hercules: The Legendary Journeys_and the _Star Wars_films.

Wells, Martha

Lisa Tuttle Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000181
  • Collection
  • 1959-2013

The Lisa Tuttle Collection consists of books, manuscripts, galley proofs, and magazines tracing the storied career of science fiction, horror and fantasy writer Tuttle.  The collection is a work-in-progress, with additions from the author as they become available.

Tuttle, Lisa

William Schelly Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000182
  • Collection
  • 2003

This collection contains notes, checklists, copies of Otto Binder letters, and edited drafts of Bill Schelly’s Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of Otto Binder (2003).

Schelly, William

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

Arkham House Collection (August Derleth)

  • TxAM-CRS C000195
  • Collection
  • 1930-1953

The Arkham House Collection consists of correspondence from August Derleth to Howard Wandrei. Derleth, a writer, founded Arkham House to publish and keep in print the work of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a friend and fellow writer. Lovecraft died in 1937; for the next two years Derleth tried unsuccessfully to find a publisher for Lovecraft's writings. Using money from prepaid orders and the personal investment of Donald Wandrei (brother of Howard Wandrei), Derleth founded Arkham House in 1939. Arkham House published science fiction works by Lovecraft and other writers such as Algernon Blair, Clark Ashton Smith and Henry S. Whitehead.

In his letters to fellow science-fiction writer Howard Wandrei, August Derleth writes about his publishing efforts at Arkham House, his own writing career and the details of his personal life. His letters also mention other authors and publishing houses. The letters date from 1930-1953; most letters are accompanied by the original stamped envelopes.

Derleth, August

Joe R. Lansdale Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000207
  • Collection

This collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, books, magazines, and other material related to Lansdale's writing career, circa 1989-2003.

Lansdale, Joe R., 1951

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 Silverberg Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000231
  • Collection

This collection consists of numerous manuscripts and related materials - including outlines, notes, and proofs - of works by noted science fiction author Robert Silverberg.

Silverberg, Robert

Steven Utley Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000232
  • Collection
  • 1972-1995

This collection consists of manuscripts for several works of fiction by Utley, including the novella Custer's Last Jump (1976, with Howard Waldrop) and the short-story anthology Ghost Seas and Other Vistas (1997).

Utley, Steven

Richard E. Geis Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000243
  • Collection
  • 1951-1953

This collection contains over 100 letters and postcards, most written by science fiction fan writers and editors regarding amateur writing and publishing, largely related to Psychotic (later Science Fiction Review), a fanzine published by Richard E. Geis from July 1953 to October/November 1955.

The correspondence includes letters from influential science fiction fans and fanzine editors of the period: Terry Carr (6 letters, 1 postcard), Harlan Ellison (2 letters, 1 postcard), Marion Zimmer Bradley (1 letter), Robert Silverberg (2 letters, 1 postcard), Ron Smith (editor of Inside, one of the more important fanzines of the 1950s) and others, as well as a letter from pro editor Samuel Mines (accompanied by drafts and carbon copies of fan letters from Geis to Mines critiquing material published in Startling Stories), and a typed letter on FBI letterhead from J. Edgar Hoover.

Ardath Mayhar Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000262
  • Collection
  • 1970-2004

This collection includes manuscripts, papers, and publications from throughout Mayhar's career, but the bulk of the material dates from the late 1980s to the present.

Mayhar, Ardeth

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

Isaac Asimov Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000272
  • Collection
  • 1957-1992

This collection includes an assortment of manuscripts and correspondence of Isaac Asimov, including short stories, novels, non-fiction, and correspondence with publishers. The segment on the submission of "Stay, Oh Fleeting Moment," a nonfiction piece on time and the subsequent correspondence, internal documentation of Playboy editors and readers, and the rejection of the article providing an informative look at the working of a major magazine.

Asimov, Isaac, 1920-1992

Andre Norton Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000276
  • Collection
  • 1950-2002

This collection consists of a small assemblage of Andre Norton's later manuscripts, her review compilations, her portrait, science fiction artworks, and related material.

Norton, Andre

Robert H. Kokernot Letters

  • TxAM-CRS C000347
  • Collection
  • 1943-1946

This collection consists of letters between Robert H. Kokernot and his first wife, Edith May Babcock (Edith Kokernot Grinnell) during and after World War II from 1943-1946.

The majority of letters collected by Edith are from Robert with the exception of one folder of correspondence from Edith to Robert in March and April 1944, one folder of letters written to Edith's parents from Robert, and two folders of letters written by friends addressed to Robert and Edith.

The corresponding postmarked envelopes were not with their accompanying letter when the collection was processed. These are held in separate folders at the end of the collection.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Jesse L. Easterwood Notebook

  • US TxAM-C 11
  • Collection
  • 1908-01-26-1909-02-06

This collection consists of one notebook (housed in a phase box), measuring approximately 10 x 8 inches, containing 49 leaves of machine ruled paper, in cloth over cardboard covers, which was manufactured with two-hole punched metal fasteners.

The front cover design shows: at the top "…A. & M. COLLEGE…, COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS"; in the center, a black and white picture depicting the Old Main building on the Texas A & M College campus, measuring 4.5 x 4 inches; below picture, "Department of" with a ruled space filled in by hand with ink the word "Horticulture," and "Name" with a ruled space filled in by hand in ink with the name "Jess Easterwood."; at center bottom, "PUBLISHED BY, W. M. WELCH MFG. COMPANY, 100 LAKE ST., CHICAGO, WELCH'S PATENT AUTOMATIC FASTENER." The name "EASTERWOOD" and other initials, etc. are scrawled in ink or pencil on the front cover as well.

Most of the notebook's leaves are filled in on the recto page only with class notes written by hand in either pencil or ink, labeled as taken from lectures. A few pages are filled with scrawled names and phrases, repeated over and over, the phrases usually in some way related to the lecture notes, but often just variations on Easterwood's name or initials.

One exception found on leaf 19 is the beginnings of a draft letter, dated January 25, [19]08, to his father, noting that Easterwood has been recently ill for a "protracted" period of time. Lecture notes in roughly the first half of the notebook pertain to Animal Husbandry [l. 1-14; l. 15-18 & 20 are blank], especially causes, symptoms, and treatment of conditions such as colic, heaves, constipation, dysentery, catarrh of stomach and bowels in livestock, while the latter half are concerned with a class labeled "Horticulture 4" [l. 21-49; the top half of l. 45 is torn out], particularly the cultivating of fruit trees and the marketing of their produce.

Aside from presenting an interesting taste of curriculum offerings at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College in the early twentieth century, some of the notebook's scrawled asides give a quite colorful glimpse into the mind of a restless and enterprising cadet straying from the lecture in progress.

Easterwood, Jesse L., 1888-1919

Willmund Reaux Glaeser Diary

  • US TxAM-C 114
  • Collection
  • 1919-1920

This collection contains a diary (December 9, 1919 - November 25, 1920), signed by hand in ink on recto of the first leaf "Willmund Reaux Glaeser", held on top and bound with three-hole-punched loose-leaf ring binder memo book, with imitation brown leather covers, measuring about 14 x 9 cm. Filler paper (120 leaves) is narrow-ruled in blue, with most entries closely handwritten in ink, a very few in pencil, on both sides of the leaves, with only 21 leaves left completely blank. Some leaves preceding the diary entries are filled with names and addresses of friends and family, lists of traveler's cheques and numbers, as well as other miscellaneous lists. Unused index divider sheets labeled A-Z are included in a group at the back of the main body of diary entries. Diary entries begin on leaves just after the group of index dividers, continue for only two leaves, then begin again starting from the other end of the diary. Typed transcript on 39 pages of 8.5 x 11-inch white bond paper is undated, untitled and the author is unknown.

Entries in the diary are fairly evenly divided between Glaeser's service on the tramp steamer Sag Harbor, and on the New York-based excursion ships, the S.S. Chester W. Chapin and S.S. Richard Peck.

As a wireless operator aboard the "tramp freighter" S.S. Sag Harbor, Glaeser sailed the coast of South America to the port of Antofagasta, Chile, to take on a cargo of "nitrates and saltpetes." Glaeser describes hordes of migrating birds, ducks, whales, sea lion, sharks, and pelicans. With great gusto Glaeser includes much detail on life aboard ship, including a crew of mixed nationalities, contending with furious storms at sea and drunken brawls ashore, often ending in arrests and wounds. One steward, in particular, addicted to both "booze and cocaine," proves especially disturbing, since ships stores of food are being sold off to fund the man's habit. The S.S. Sag Harbor puts into port at Malon, Panama, then Balboa and Panama City, passing through the canal on January 22, 1920, with orders to proceed to Baltimore. Storms are reported disabling and sinking several ships off the coast of Georgia (January 30, 1920 - February 3, 1920), but the S.S. Sag Harbor reaches Baltimore safely on February 9, 1920, proceeding on to Washington, DC. With a new captain and much better steward, hence better meals, the S.S. Sag Harbor takes on a cargo of coal bound for Havana, Cuba, where a long longshoreman's strike holds up both delivery of cargo and taking on new cargo, from early February to mid-March 1920. Finally free to take their new cargo of phosphates to Wilmington, NC the S.S. Sag Harbor continues on its journey, finally arriving on May 8, 1920, in New York City.

In New York City, Glaeser stays at the YMCA intermittently as he is transferred May 28, 1920, to the S.S. Chester W. Chapin, an excursion steamer based in New London, Conn., and later (June 5, 1920) to another excursion boat, the S.S. Richard Peck. While in New York, Glaeser has quite a social life, visiting restaurants, theatres, and the shore on dates, but also looking for an office job. He buys stock in the Century Adding Machine Co. and is offered a job starting a sales agency for the company in Texas, but Glaeser declines that offer, later taking a position as an accountant with the A. H. Bull Steamship Co. in New York.

Glaeser includes vivid descriptions of life in the ports of Havana, Cuba, Miami, and Tampa Bay, FL, Charleston, SC, Wilmington, NC, as well as the cities of Baltimore and New York in 1920. He is attuned to the unrest of longshoremen in Cuba, observes the unsteady nature of trading on the stock exchange, and aware that, although life on a tramp steamer is romantic to a young man fresh out of the Army in World War I, it is eventually not that attractive a life considering the storms, brawls, and other natural vicissitudes of peacetime seafaring life. Glaeser's sense of adventure and humor are both keen, so he manages to infuse the diary with both in equal measure.

Glaeser, Willmund, 1897-1966

Joseph Sayers Mogford Papers

  • US TxAM-C 1146
  • Collection
  • 1916-1980

This collection contains the personal letters of Dr. Joseph Sayers Mogford's (TAMU 1916) during his years as the Former Student Association's Class Agent in 1971-1980. Other documents in this collection include; a Bryan/College Station Eagle's special edition newspaper exploring the history of College Station, June 24, 1979, and Mogford's original 1916 graduation announcement.

Mogford, J. S. (Joseph Sayers), 1893-1989

E. M. Arnold, MD Travel Diaries

  • US TxAM-C 1160
  • Collection
  • 1936-1939

This collection includes a travel diary of E.M. Arnold, MD, documenting his journey through Mexico, Canada, and the United States during 1936-1939.

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