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Ku Klux Klan Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000321
  • Collection
  • 1868-1870, 1916-1970, undated

This collection consists of historical materials relating to the early 20th-century history of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan. Although it began existence after the Civil War and ebbed away with the end of Reconstruction, the Klan re-emerged following World War I and gained a great deal of political and social influence across the United States into the early 1920s. The materials in this collection are drawn from that period when the Klan came out into the semi-public eye as a formal organization. A few items date from later in the 20th century.

In addition, the collection contains a number of issues of the American and Commercial Advertiser newspaper from 1868-1870, documenting the campaign of violence initiated by the first iteration of the Klan, from immediately after the Civil War.

Materials in the collection include newspaper and magazine articles on the Klan, Klan-sympathetic and Klan-run newspapers and other publications, photographs, organizational materials, and assorted examples of Klan literature and propaganda. They reflect the deep reserves of hate, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, ignorance, and nonsensical beliefs of the Klan and its members, as well as the comically risible vocabulary that was a part of Klan culture and practice.

Materials come from various Klan "klaverns" in Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, with additional materials from Maine, Minnesota, and other locations.

Cherokee Freedman Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000304
  • Collection
  • 1900-1907

The Cherokee Freedmen Collection housed at Cushing Memorial Library and Archive is composed of written interviews of African Americans and Native Americans conducted by the United States Department of the Interior’s Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. The Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes also became known as the Dawes Commission, after its chairman Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts. The interviews, testimonies, and affidavits relate to the applications of African Americans that were denied enrollment as Cherokee Freedmen during the Dawes Commission. The collection encompasses over 500 documents from 30 different applications affecting over 100 people. Most of the documents are filed with their original envelopes. The documents in the Cherokee Freedmen Collection are dated from 1900 to 1907. Most of the hearings were conducted at Fort Gibson or Muskogee, Oklahoma. There is a high degree of intertextuality between the files regarding people and places mentioned.

In addition to the interviews, there are also interdepartmental letters between various commissioners and the Secretary of the Interior, and notices to applicants and their lawyers. The collection offers a primary source on the arbitration involved in the decision of who did and did not count as Cherokee Freedmen, as well as frontier life in general both before and after the war. The language used vividly reveals the prevailing racial attitudes of the day, chiefly toward African Americans and Native Americans; casual use is made of pejorative terms, and open prejudice is occasionally voiced. All of the applications that are contained within the Cherokee Freedmen Collection housed at Cushing Library were rejected, denying the applicants citizenship to the Cherokee Nation.

In 1866, each of the Five Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles) that had sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War entered treaties with the United States to abolish slavery in the Native American Territory and established provisions that addressed the status and rights of the freed slaves and people of African descent that lived among the Five Tribes. Since the Cherokee Nation sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, the United States’ punishment for the Cherokee Nation was to give “all the rights of a native Cherokee” to all freed slaves who still lived within the Cherokee Nation.

In 1877, the Dawes Act (also called the General Allotment Act) was passed under President Grover Cleveland, allowing the federal government to break up tribal land to try to force Native Americans to assimilate. The federal government took the 150 million acres of land that was already controlled by the tribes. The commission's mission was to divide tribal land into 160-acre plots which were then divided among the members of the tribe. As part of this process, the Commission either accepted or rejected applicants for tribal membership based on whether the tribal government had previously recognized the applicant as a member of the tribe and other legal requirements. Applicants were categorized as Citizens by Blood, Citizens by Marriage, Minor Citizens by Blood, New Born Citizens by Blood, Freedmen (African Americans formerly enslaved by tribal members), New Born Freedmen, and Minor Freedmen. Once the land was divided amongst the citizens of the Native American Nations, the United States government sold the surplus tribal lands to non-Native Americans for a profit.

Many of the testimonies include personal histories, sometimes dating as far back as the 1830s, and great detail is given on the moving of slaves to and from the Cherokee Nation during the Civil War. Notable pieces include accounts of runaway slaves returning to their separated families, individual reactions to Emancipation, and a letter directly to the Secretary of the Interior personally written by an applicant, requesting that her case be re-opened. The letter, polite and heartfelt but clearly frustrated, is spelled phonetically. Many of the applicants in the collection are related to one another. For example, Henry Albert is the son of Martha Albert, who was a freed slave of the Cherokee Nation. Henry Albert was over the age of 21, he had to apply to be enrolled as a Cherokee Freedmen for himself and his children. Since Henry was born free, most of the information contained within the file is based on his mother, Martha Albert’s testimony, and other witnesses who testified on her behalf or on behalf of the Cherokee Nation. The investigation on whether Martha Albert was truly a freed slave of the Cherokee Nation or not determined whether or not her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews would also be eligible to be enrolled as Cherokee Freedmen. The files of Henry Albert, Barnes Family, and Lula Knalls all contain copies of Martha Albert’s testimonies. Another interesting letter that allowed for the subject listing to include "Leonid Meteor Showers" refers to one elderly woman's age which was determined by the fact that she was 16 "the year the stars fell". The commissioner noted that that was in 1832, and he was there himself. The following year, '33, was the year that the Leonid shower was officially "discovered” and caused something of a panic in the eastern US; no one knew what meteors were, yet!

Several of the locations mentioned were Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Fort Smith, Arkansas. As well as Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capitol of the Cherokee Nation, and Goingsnake District, now Adair County, Oklahoma, which was the location of the Goingsnake Massacre. Occasionally the communities cited in the interviews have since become ghost towns, been absorbed into larger cities, or changed names. Many of the testimonies also included interviews with both Confederate and Union soldiers.

A few historical figures were involved in the Cherokee Freedmen trials. Namely, Ethan Allen Hitchcock served as the United States Secretary of the Interior under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt from 1899 to 1907. Also, the attorneys for the Cherokee Nation, James Davenport and W.W. Hastings (in all likelihood, William Wirt. referenced as "W. W. Hastings" in transcripts, but a William Wirt Hastings, of Cherokee heritage and from Oklahoma, was an attorney who worked in private practice, as the attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, and then as the national attorney for the Nation from 1907. The dates do match up, and there is a W. W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, given by William Wirt when he was in Congress, as a gift) both of whom later served as U.S. Representatives for Oklahoma.

The affidavits, correspondence, and any support materials are arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the applicant. Note: File 22 is in critical need of preservation.

United States. Department of the Interior.

African American Professional Organization (AAPO) Records

  • TxAM-CRS C000071
  • Collection
  • 1991-2010; 2016-2017

This collection includes the organization's development materials, bylaws, minutes, correspondence, programs, newsletters, and 1st Friday programs in print and digital formats.

Created in 1991, this African American organization has as its mission to serve as a vehicle through which African Americans are fully recognized as contributing members of Texas A&M University, its local system components, and the community-at-large.

The African American Professional Organization's goals are to:

  • Provide assistance and support to Texas A&M African American students, faculty, staff, and citizens in the community.
  • Assist and advise Texas A&M on issues related to the enhancement of African American faculty, administrators, staff and students, and community citizens.
  • Develop a political initiative to monitor, interact, or intervene with legislative bodies at local, state, and national levels relative to African American issues and concerns.
  • Work with the myriad of African American and other organizations who aspire to "speak to" and "speak for" African American people on African American issues at Texas A&M and the Bryan-College Station community.

African American Professional Organization

Gigi Edgley Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000548
  • Collection
  • 1999

This collection consists of "Durka Returns", a script for Episode 15, Season 1 of the joint Australian-American television series Farscape (1999-2003). The episode, originally released in 1999, is notable for introducing the character Chiana, played by Gigi Edgley. It was written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and Grant McAloon.

The script was originally the property of Edgley's, and has been heavily marked up with her acting notes and edits. It is inscribed to Jeremy Brett, to whom it was given in early 2023.

Edgley, Gigi, 1977-

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

Walter Jon Williams Manuscript Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000489
  • Collection
  • 1979 - 2018

This collection contains manuscripts and manuscript material from noted science fiction author and historical novelist (under the name Jon Williams) Walter Jon Williams. Included are drafts in various stages of evolution for a number of Williams' novels and stories.

The collection contains small amounts of other materials relating to Williams' life and career, including correspondence.

Williams, Walter Jon

Silvia Moreno-Garcia Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000238
  • Collection
  • 2021-2022

This collection consists of manuscripts and literary materials from Mexican-Canadian fantasy and horror novelist, editor, and short-story writer Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Materials include versions and drafts (in paper and digital form) of her novels Signal to Noise (2015), Certain Dark Things (2016), and The Beautiful Ones (2017), among others.

Moreno-Garcia, Silvia

Elmer Kelton Collection

  • US TxAM-C 215
  • Collection
  • 1982-2003

The collection is an assortment of newspaper clippings, articles about cowboys and ranch living, copies of programs, pamphlets for symposiums and articles written by Kelton himself.

Kelton, Elmer

Collection of Science Fiction and Superhero Figures

  • TxAM-CRS C000549
  • Collection
  • 2004-2022

This collection consists of a number of action figures, statues, and Funko POP figures, almost all of whom depict Marvel or DC superheroes. There are several other items that depict other figures from pop culture.

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) Miscellaneous Publications

  • TxAM-CRS 1473
  • Collection
  • 1938-1977

This collection contains an assortment of reports, booklets, research papers, committee reports and project reports produced by or in connection with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, and is only a small part of the materials which highlight the role of Texas A&M in the development of the state's agricultural program.

The records included dates between 1938 and 1977, with the majority of the papers from 1968-1977. Of the significant items included, the annual reports of the Southern Agricultural Workers are available between 1938 and 1972, though some years are missing. Also, there are a number of project reports on research undertaken for Houston Lighting and Power and a number of publications included.

William A. Owens Instantaneous Disks Folk Song Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 1102
  • Collection
  • 1937-1942

Sound recordings on 199 instantaneous disks (196 embossed aluminum, 3 lacquer) made by William A. Owens during the late 1930s to early 1940s, during which time he was a professor of English at the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas. The recordings document folk songs, ballads, play-party songs, fiddle tunes, and folk culture of East and Central Texas. Some of the material was later transcribed and published in Owens' books "Texas Folk Music" and "Tell Me a Story, Sing Me a Song..." and are noted in item descriptions.

Audio CDs transfers of the original disks were made in 2002 by The Cutting Corporation. The recordings are of good quality unless noted otherwise.

Robert L. Dawson French Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 411
  • Collection
  • circa 1570-circa 1970

This collection consists of manuscripts, typescripts, printed items, correspondence, official documents, and publications from the French seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Authors and addressees include many personalities prominent in French history but also many ordinary individuals.

Dawson, Robert L.

NecronomiCon Providence Collection

  • TxAM-CRS C000482
  • Collection
  • 2013-2015

This collection consists of various items from or relating to NecronomiCon Providence, a biennial convention and academic conference centered on the work of H.P. Lovecraft and on Weird Fiction more generally. It is always held in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft's home, and generally held in late august, close to Lovecraft's birthday.

Margaret Rector Collection

  • TxAM-CRS 1561
  • Collection
  • 1981-2004

This collection contains correspondence to and from Margaret Rector, copies of articles, book reviews and other materials related to the publication of the book Cowboy Life on the Texas Plains: the Photographs of Ray Rector as well as a letter from Margaret to David Chapman regarding the donation of the materials.

Bernhardt Wall Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000031
  • Collection
  • 1922-1994

This collection includes correspondence between Williams and Wall, as well as photographs, original drawings, etchings (some showing cancelled plates), newspaper clippings, postcards, books, exhibition notices, and other Walliana. The letters concern Wall's printmaking and publishing activities and provide a unique glimpse into his personal and professional concerns.

The collection contains numerous self-portrait etchings of Wall and etchings of his friends, correspondents, and subjects of his writings. Wall's personal stationery contains a variety of etchings, drawings, and self-portraits. Much of this material has been captured in oversized scrapbooks that were reconditioned, re-boxed, and professionally conserved by Carrabba Conservation, Inc. Additional information on conservation treatment of the collection can be found in the Bernhardt Wall control folder.

Irene "Mom" Claghorn Scrapbooks

  • US TxAM-C 706
  • Collection
  • 1900-1940

This collection contains three scrapbooks, one of which belonged to Irene Claghorn, filled with photographs and mementos dating from the early 1900s through the 1940s.

Manuela A. Gomez Photograph Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000169
  • Collection

This collection contains photographs from an exhibit entitled "Juarez Without the Myth."

Gomez, Manuela A.

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

F. S. Owat Scrapbook

  • US TxAM-C 1404
  • Collection
  • 1929

This scrapbook contains progress photographs and news clippings of the construction of Kyle Field in 1929.

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

LGBTQ Archive - Social Scene

  • TxAM-CRS C000140
  • Collection
  • 1994-1999

This growing collection covers the period in Bryan-College Station when the gay community was increasingly out and vocal, but still faced significant hostility on the Texas A&M University campus, where Aggie Allies was still a very young organization at this time, and in the local community. It contains papers, flyers, records, photographs, promotional items, and ephemera from the gay bar/club scene in Bryan-College Station in the 1990s.

LGBTQ Archive - Campus Climate

  • TxAM-CRS C000138
  • Collection
  • 1990s-2010s

This collection includes campus climate research and reports from the mid-1990s to the 2010s. During this time, for several years, A&M was listed on the Princeton Review list of the top twenty LGBTQ-unfriendly campuses in the United States.

LGBTQ Archive - Resources and Research Products

  • TxAM-CRS C000139
  • Collection
  • 1978-2014

The earliest scholarship in this collection is from 1978 before the A&M Gay Student Services (GSS) received official campus recognition. Students and scholars in the fields of Philosophy, Sociology, and History have produced work included in this collections.

LGBTQ Archive - Organizations

  • TxAM-CRS C000136
  • Collection
  • 1970s-2017

This growing collection contains documents and artifacts from LGBTQ-related organizations at Texas A&M University and the Brazos Valley. The bulk of its contents are from the late 1980s to the present, but it goes back as far as the mid-1970s when Gay Student Services (GSS) began on the TAMU campus.  This period includes GSS’s court battle for official recognition on campus, the founding of Aggie Allies in the nineties, and activities of the TAMU GLBT Resource Center in all its iterations.  The papers contained within, deal with the various organizations’ origins, governing documents, and internal organizational planning.

Abolitionists' Archive

  • US TxAM-C C000553
  • Collection
  • 1795-1910; Undated

The collection contains over 100 rare letters, autograph quotations, and photographs from 50 major figures in the American antislavery struggle, including several rare autographs from key British abolitionists. Many of the individuals noted provided selfless support, financially, morally, and wrote on behalf of the abolishment of the 'peculiar' institution of slavery. Some of the well-known abolitionists include Henry Ward Beecher, Blanche K. Bruce, William Channing, William Lloyd Garrison, Joshua R. Giddings, the Grimke sisters, Gerrit Smith, Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and Lewis Tappan, one of the leading financial supporters of the Amistad Africans.

The collection contains photographs and newspaper clippings of these 50 prominent abolitionists.

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.

Afro-American Society Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000555
  • Collection
  • 1967-1968

Original black students' association charter. Authored by Ken Lewallen and Antwine Jefferson in Fall 1967-68.

African American Southern Family Scrapbook

  • US TxAM-C C000557
  • Collection
  • 1900

This collection consists of a photo scrapbook with six small charcoal images that depict African-American life in the rural south with an unrelated pictorial on-lay on the upper cover, all tied together with string.

African Publications Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000558
  • Collection
  • 1959-1965

This collection was developed for Africana Studies scholars interested in research on the continent of Africa. The materials consist of African publications between circa 1959-1965 from countries that include Zambia and parts of East Africa.

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