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Open Your Eyes - And Where are You? An Untrue Tale

  • US TxAM-C C000081
  • Collection
  • 1916

This collection contains a "complete manuscript copy, written in a ruled notebook in black ink with occasional corrections in red, a few additional pencil notes... a few additional sheets with re-drafting in ink or pencil loosely inserted... Written by a cousin of H. Rider Haggard, this unpublished novella presents the fantasies of a child ill in bed in the form of six dreams." - bookseller's description.

Military World War I Archives of Lt. Bewman Gates Dawes

  • US TxAM-C C000078
  • Collection
  • 1917

This archive documents Lt. Bewman's time in the American Ambulance Service during World War I (WWI).

This archive includes a large amount of war dated letters and documents, a scrapbook with war clippings, and other war-related items kept by either Lt. Bewman Gates Dawes or a member of his family, and an mss diary in both ink and pencil covering January 8 - July 10, 1918. This 4x6 in. diary in dark cloth boards is printed in France with heading in French...[Dawes] was an engineer in France at least as early as 1916 and joined the American Ambulance service in 1917, then a supply company in the French Army and later the 17th Engineers Co. with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and it appears from his diary that his company was in charge of a major port and the distribution of the supplies that arrived to the front.....These letters give very detailed accounts of life in port and while in Paris...Most of the letters are from 1917...The scrapbook has a large chromolithograph on the cover of 'American Ambulance Service' in action with pasted title below reading 'B.G. Dawes Jr./May 1917-1919'. It is packed with newspaper clippings, many of which must have come from Marietta papers and deal directly with Dawes and other local boys serving in France. It also has several telegrams from the war, pamphlets, 'American Ambulance Service' document, a photograph of Dawes, his last will and testament, and much more. A truly unusual WWI archive of a soldier who served in both the French and American Armies during that bloody conflict." - bookseller's description.

First World War Christmas Truce of 1914 (Clippingdale) Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000077
  • Collection
  • 1914-1915

Series of autograph letters and cards, by No. 8865 Lance Corporal Gordon Clippingdale ('Clip') of the 5th Battalion, City of London Rifles, to his wife Bridget of 141 Willesden Lane, London NW, comprising over 50 autograph letters, postcards and pre-printed sickness forms, the first fourteen written when in training and travelling out to Belgium, the remainder either from the front or while convalescing in hospital in Rouen, giving a graphic account of life in the trenches in the first few months of the war: "The country is absolutely laid waste & yet a fair number of the inhabitants remain, though there is scarcely a whole window left in the village. The place rocks continuously from the explosion of our guns firing but we sleep calmly through it all, being quite used to it by now. The mud is even worse than the frost, being liquid & well up to the knee, our putties & boots being nearly rotted to pieces" (30 November 1914); the series containing some outspoken observations that seem to have escaped the censor's eye: "It makes me wild to see in the papers, so many thousand witnesses to Football match between so & so. Bah. And over here, its work day & night week in week out, ruined churches & villages, fields ploughed by shells, harvests trampled in, homeless people & killing going on day by day. And at home they wear a little flag in their coat & say 'Another victory' or 'No further news', but little they trouble that every day some poor devil goes to his last rest" (3 December 1914); with two letters written during the Christmas Truce (see note below); the earlier letters, written when in training, also showing an eye for sharp observation and the unexpected: "Suddenly we came to a little green lane upon the right, facing an ancient inn & across the end of the lane were standing a row of men in brilliant uniforms & at the end of the line the King in a dark uniform looking very ill & tired out" (20 September 1914); together with a group of photographs, his certificates of birth (8 April 1885) and death (15 June 1955), and letters of consolation to his widow from work colleagues at B.A. Smith & Sons, Chartered Accountants, and LRB veterans, some 100 pages, both Christmas Truce letters of one page each, written on small folio letter-forms (c.240 x 150 mm.), with address, censor's signature and postmarks on the verso (date-stamped by the Army Post Office 30 December and 5 January), the rest of the letters and cards bearing censors' signatures, stamps, postmarks etc., some minor creasing and contemporaneous staining etc., but overall in good attractive condition, 4to, 8vo and on postcards, 31 August 1914 to 17 February 1915 -- Bonham's Lot 169" - bookseller's description.

Nazi Atrocities Photographs

  • US TxAM-C C000058
  • Collection
  • 1945

This collection contains photographs taken by members of the 166th Signal Corps as well as the Associated Press just after the liberation of the concentration camps from the Nazis in 1945.

"A harrowing array of images, including 26 silver gelatin prints, each approx. 8" x 9 3/4", all stamped on verso with detailed captions and other information (some stamped "confidential"), as well as 30 smaller scale photographs (image sizes approx. 3 1/2" x 4 1/2") printed on larger paper stock (6 3/4" x 5") with type-written captions under the image, almost all of the images documenting Nazi horrors perpetrated in several concentration camps, as well as an envelope in which a member of the signal corps sent some of the images home to the USA. Germany 1945. Taken by photographers accompanying the troops that liberated the camps, these images provide detailed and unflinching documentation of the extreme horrors endured in Buchenwald, Ohrdruf, Hergenhein, and Schwartenxenfield and other camps. There are many images of dead bodies in various states, both individual and in masses, barely living survivors, mutilations, images of the structure of the camps themselves, civilians being forced to transport and bury the dead, and, for some reason particularly horrifically, a photo of a decorative tattoo that was skinned off a body and used as a decoration on the wall [of] the Nazi SS quarters at Buchenwald. An envelope from S/Sgt V. Amoroso to Mrs. Amoroso, which apparently contained the smaller images, is also present."

Robert Byrns Lafayette Lumpkin Foster Research Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000044
  • Collection
  • 1886-1964

This collection chronicles Robert's writing of his Masters' Thesis, "A Biography of L. L. Foster (President of A&M, 1898-1901)".

Included are around 100 letters to and from Byrns to help further his research. The recipients of these letters are from all over Texas and cover a wide range of persons from the military to librarians. Also included are pictures of L. L. Foster's children.

Byrns, Robert E., 1910-1999

Texas A&M College Junto Club

  • US TxAM-C C000043
  • Collection
  • 1919-1920

This collection includes manuscripts discussing World War I (WWI) propaganda cartoons, an essay on war and physicians, and other essays written by students at Texas A&M College in 1919-1920.

Earl Oxford Hall Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000042
  • Collection
  • 1913-1946

This collection is the result of the family of Earl O. Hall seeking to determine the circumstances of his last mission (in February 1943), and the location of the action where the plane was shot down. The search took several years and resulted in the discovery of several incorrect versions of the events of that day. With the assistance of the Air Force Historical Unit at Maxwell Air Force Base, a good record of the actions of the 42nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) from December 1941 through February 1943 was assembled. The collection consists of family papers from the Hall family, records from the family of Joaquin Castro, Co-Pilot, correspondence to and from the Hall family, correspondence from individuals in the South Pacific, correspondence from the Army Air Force, and other related correspondence. Material from printed histories of the Seventh Air Force, the 13th Air Force, the 42nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), and other published material sheds light on the wartime history of the area, and conditions of the military bases in 1942.

Hall, Earl Oxford

Richard J. Dunn Collection - Fighting Texas Aggie Band

  • US TxAM-C C000041
  • Collection
  • 1922-1970

This collection contains correspondence from the A&M College Bandmaster Richard J. Dunn. Other items in this collection include infantry music books dating from 1930-50s. The collection also contains original sheet music from the Fighting Texas Aggie Band and legal documents pertaining to Richard J. Dunn's song "Texas Aggie", "Spirit of Aggieland", "The Aggie War Hymn" and other Aggie Sheet music.

Dunn, Richard J., 1881-1961

J. R. Cole Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000040
  • Collection
  • 1871-1971

This collection contains clippings, news articles, and photographs of J. R. Cole, Sr., as well as the resources that he used to write his autobiography (included). Also included is correspondence from J. R. Cole, Jr. and correspondence between the archives and donors.

Cole, James Reid, 1839-1917

Baylor Incident Files

  • US TxAM-C C000039
  • Collection
  • 1926

This collection contains transcripts, witness reports (photocopies included), and newspaper clippings regarding a fight that occurred between A&M and Baylor students at Cotton Palace in Waco on October 30, 1926.

Kyle Field Stadium Bonds

  • US TxAM-C C000038
  • Collection

Copies of documents pertaining to bonds issued for Kyle Field in 1929.

Samuel R. Delany Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000033
  • Collection
  • 1968-1979

This collection consists of materials relating to two of Samuel R. Delany's more famous novels. Materials include two typescripts of his 1973 novel Equinox (originally published as The Tides of Lust), and the corrected galley proofs of Triton (1976).

Also included is the typescript of Delany's 1979 memoir Heavenly Breakfast.

The manuscripts all contain holograph corrections and revisions by Delany.  There is also a note contextualizing the manuscript on the first page of each item.

Delany, Samuel

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.

Edward Everett Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000024
  • Collection
  • 1846-1906

This collection dating from 1846 to 1906 (bulk: 1846-1847) consists chiefly of handwritten letters, journal entries, a memoir, a proof copy of a report from the U. S. Secretary of War on Army operations in Texas and on the Rio Grande during the Mexican War (1846-1848), as well as plans, maps and nine hand-colored copies of lithographic engravings drawn by Everett, which vividly chronicle southwest Texas cultural as well as military history during the late1840s.

Series 1, Letters (1847-1863), mainly handwritten in ink by Edward Everett to his brother, Samuel W. Everett, from 1846-1847, while Everett was serving in San Antonio de Bexar with the U. S. Army during the Mexican War. A few letters from other correspondents pertain to Everett's disability and eventual official discharge from the Army. Three letters written in the period 1852-1863 are about business or from family members.

Series 2, Journal and Memoir (1846-1899) contains three sets of journal entries for Sept. 1846-Jan. 1847. All are handwritten in ink on loose sheets of paper. The memoir, also handwritten in ink, on machine-ruled paper measuring about 8 x 5 inches, covers the years 1846-1848, with additional material added and dated, on at least one page, with 1899. This memoir is edited in pencil by Everett, evidently for publication, since one note suggests that the memoir was donated in 1899 to the Quincy Historical Society, later known as The Illinois Historical Society. The memoir was actually published, at least part, or possibly all of it, under the title "Military Experience," in Transactions of the Illinois Historical Society for 1905.

Series 3, Engravings, Maps, and Plans (ca. 1846-1849) includes nine copies of lithographed illustrations drawn by Edward Everett and engraved by C. B Graham Lithographers in Washington, D.C. The engravings were to be published in a report on U.S. Army operations in Texas during the Mexican War. A proof copy of this 67-page report, titled Report of the Secretary of War, communicating ... the Operations of the Army of the United States in Texas and the Adjacent Mexican states on the Rio Grande (31st Congress, 1st Session, Senate. Executive Document 32), published in 1850, is annotated throughout by Everett in pencil. For this publication Everett was at least responsible for eight illustrations: seven engravings of the San Antonio de Bexar area, including the Alamo church, as well as locations in Mexico; a plan of the ruined Alamo as it was in 1846, before being renovated according to Everett's direction, as a U. S. Army supply depot and workshops.

Engravings include nine copies of the lithographed prints. Notations made in ink on the separate prints, and on p. [4] of the proof copy of the published government report, indicate that: illustrations numbered for publication 2, 3-6 were engraved from original drawings made by Everett; those numbered 1, 7-8 were engraved from drawings made by Everett based on pencil sketches by other individuals, particularly no. 1 titled "Watch Tower Near Monclova," which was drawn by Everett from a sketch by Lieutenant McDowell of the U.S. Army.

Everett's proofs of the lithographic prints have all been exquisitely hand-tinted, in contrast to the severe black-and-white reproductions in the printed report. Of the nine hand-colored prints, two are duplicates of two illustrations, one titled "Church Near Monclova," and the other "Watch Tower Near Monclova." These identical prints are each hand-colored in two versions, apparently to represent the depicted buildings' appearances during the daytime, as well as at dusk or sunset.

Maps include one copy of a published map, possibly also by Everett, though it has been attributed to Josiah Gregg, which also appeared in the 1850 Army Operations report, titled "Map Showing the Route of the Arkansas Regiment from Shreveport La. to San Antonio de Bexar Texas," which is annotated with a penciled in route drawn from San Antonio to Austin, and a town location labeled "New Braunsfels." Also included are two manuscript versions of a map by Edward Everett, one copy titled "Plan of the Vicinity of Austin and San Antonio, Texas."

Plans are represented by two copies of an illustration drawn by Everett for the 1849 Army operations report showing plans of the Alamo before the renovation, titled "Plans of the Ruins of the Alamo near San Antonio De Bexar, 1846." Also present is one manuscript plan, titled "Plan of San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, 1848," which is labeled as "Drawn from recollection by E. E." The legend states that locations number 1-5 on the plan show, for instance, the spot near the Plaza in town where Everett received his disabling gunshot wound in the leg, the Hospital where he convalesced, and the Quartermaster's Office, to which he was assigned to work after being declared disabled from active service in the field.

A handwritten loose-leaf page kept with the proof copy of the report is titled "Index to Col. Hughes Report," and lists subject divisions and page numbers, though these divisions are not present in the published report by Hughes.

Thus Everett's accounts of frontline actions in the Mexican War mainly rely on reports from occasional volunteer soldiers or scouts, or Mexican nationals, returning back to Texas from the front lines of battle in Mexico. As much as he is able, however, Everett produces very detailed accounts of the various battles and skirmishes in and around the Texas-Mexico border, including battles at Monterrey, Saltillo, San Luis, Camargo, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, and Tampico, recording a large number of casualties on both sides.

Of particular interest is Everett's extensive first-hand description of the ruins of the Alamo, and how it was converted for U.S. Army use as a military headquarters, according to plans drawn up by Everett. He deplores the vandalism already wreaked by relic seekers and stressed the respect shown to the mission church by the U. S. Army restorers, who refused to plunder it for building stone but instead merely cleaned away the debris. In the process, skeletons were uncovered, which Everett assumes to be from the time of the siege and Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Everett's accounts of frontier life in the rather rambunctious confines of San Antonio, complete with ambushes, shootouts, rough and ready court trials, and various local characters are often riveting.

Everett also pictures the moods and attitudes of the soldiers toward a variety of issues. Everett describes their arduous marches, unsavory living conditions, often dire medical care, and the cruel climate tormenting them. Having been left behind in San Antonio with all the stores rejected by the army, which had proceeded on into Mexico, Everett's men were faced with nursing broken down mules and horses back to usefulness, salvaging wagon parts from several damaged ones to make a serviceable one, and generally, trying to make do with what could be had in the vicinity, or easily transported from the Quartermaster at New Orleans.

According to Everett, communications on the Texas frontier often proceeded through "solitary express riders." He describes Mexican culture co-existing with "the Indians" and their horse-stealing. He also gives an excellent but pejorative account of the Texas Rangers and their activities, calling them desperados. Everett describes Mexican Generals Santa Anna, Torrejón, and Woll, the exceedingly unpopular U. S. Army Colonel Churchill, officers George W. Hughes, 1st Lieutenant W. B. Franklin, 2nd Lieutenant F. T. Bryan, General Zachary Taylor ("Old Rough and Ready"), General Winfield Scott, and General James Morgan, Captain J. H. Prentiss, Brigadier General John E. Wool, Major General Worth, Captain James Harvey Ralston, Captain L. Sitgreaves, as well as Edward Everett's own two brothers Charles Everett and Samuel W. Everett (Sam).

Full of absorbing narrative and elusive details often lost in larger historical works, the content of Everett's narratives and letters may be summed up in his own words from the handwritten memoir: "Mine is not a tale of battles, or of the movements of great armies, but the details will show some of the hardships and vicissitudes of a soldier's life, the exposure to which causes a greater sacrifice of life than that ensuing from wounds of death received from the enemy."

Everett, Edward

William Wallace Burns Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000023
  • Collection
  • 1848-1910

This collection consists mainly of correspondence (1858-1888) in which Brigadier General William Wallace Burns, of the United States Army, gives detailed accounts of Civil War battles fought during the Peninsular Campaign (March-August 1862), particularly the Seven Days Battles (June 25 - July 1, 1862 ), including Peach Orchard, Allen's Farm, Savage Station, Glendale, Nelson's Farm, and Malvern Hill. Burns discusses topics such as military strategy, troop movements, military surgeons, weather conditions during battles, building pontoon bridges, building defense works and, and capturing Confederate works. One letter is present from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

Also included is personal correspondence with high-ranking officials such as President Abraham Lincoln, U. S. Secretary of War Charles Stanton, General Henry W. Halleck, General Winfield Scott Hancock, General George McClellan, General William Starke Rosecrans, and Major General Edwin Vose Sumner, as well as Emil Schalk who was a war journalist. The latter correspondence concerns political viewpoints on the causes of the war, primarily slavery, as well as the conduct and outcome of the war.

Some correspondence (1888-1904) was written just before and after Burns' death among family members, notably his grandchildren Lloyd Burns Magruder, who was a cadet at the United States Military Academy, and Pauline Magruder, as well as William Wallace Burns' sister Mabelle Burns, usually called "Mab." A substantial group of letters to Mabelle Burns is from her suitor for marriage, B. L. Prince. A few of the family letters from Pauline Magruder to her Aunt Mabelle Burns are written in French from Paris, France.

Also present is a substantial group of copies of military orders and official reports focused on Burns' thwarted ambitions to become Major General, and lead a Division in the Army of the Cumberland under the command of General Rosecrans. Apparently Burns believed political maneuverings of high governmental officials obstructed his promotion to Major General and precipitated his resignation as Brigadier General in 1863.

A few financial records and documents from legal proceedings are included concerning disputed rights to the "Sibley Tent," an invention whose patent royalties were eventually shared by Burns with Henry Hastings Sibley. Also present are a few documents concerning Texas real estate transactions.

Burns, William Wallace, 1825-1892

H.M.S. Alfred Crew Station Book

  • US TxAM-C C000020
  • Collection
  • circa 1800

This collection contains the crew station book of the H.M.S. Alfred (3rd rate 74, built 1778). Unpaginated [276].

The H.M.S. Alfred was in the harbor for service from 1799 until she was broken up in 1814. This notebook was used for training crews for the Napoleonic wars, and it gives very detailed accounts of the jobs from getting up the anchor, to furling sails.

Liebig Card Sets Depicting the Middle East and Africa Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000014
  • Collection
  • 1906-1969

This collection contains Liebig card sets which are trading cards that depict scenes and peoples from the Middle East and Africa including images of Muslims, flags, and maps. The cards are primarily written in French, with a few in English. Most of them were created to advertise the Liebig business.

Liebig Extract of Meat Company

Charles Levy Civil Rights Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000013
  • Collection
  • 1863-1975

This collection contains nearly 1000 items related to the civil rights movement from 1955-1975. The early part of this collection (1955-67) formed the basic research for Levy's book Voluntary Servitude, Whites in the Negro Movement, (New York: Appleton-Century, 1968). The collection includes hundreds of pages of writings, publications, bulletins, internal memos, broadsides, hand-printed magazines, etc. Prominent figures of the civil rights and revolutionary movements, organizations, and committees are covered in the collection. The collection also includes two photographs of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act with Rev. Martin L. King, Jr. and other luminaries of the civil rights movement.

Alex Haley Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000012
  • Collection
  • 1949-1965, 1967, 1991

This collection consists of one box of material that includes heavily edited and complete manuscript pages from the Autobiography of Malcolm X, his writings on Mahalia Jackson, Wilma Rudolph, the story Queenie, a follow-up to Roots, and other writings. Also included are his notes regarding the re-run of the mini-series Roots. He mentions a meeting he had with Warren Beatty where they discussed Roots. The notes are titled "Re: Roots Re-Run for TV Guide. Between the Covers acquired the collection from a bookseller who bought it directly from the estate of Virginia Hannon. A group of early letters from Alex Haley it's seven letters sent between 1949-1954 (one from 1967) to close family friend, Virginia Hannon. The letters present Haley, then a journalist in the Coast Guard, trying to get his writing career started and relating thoughts about his working habits, carious siblings, and plans for the future. All letters are written light, optimistic, and sometimes flirtatious style. Accompanying them are several related photographs, including one of Hannon in uniform, and a copy of Haley's posthumous novel Queen inscribed to her by his brother, George.

The July 2015 addendum includes an archive of seven Typed Letters Signed from Alex Haley sent between 1949-1954 (with one from 1967) to a close family friend, along with related photographs and the first edition of Queen Inscribed by his brother George Haley. The letters are overall near fine with typical folds from being mailing and light toning, with their original mailing envelopes that show wear including are nick, tears, and chip, but all are present; the photos are fine. The book is fine in a fine dustwrapper.

The letters, which are signed both as "Alex" and "Palmer," his middle name, were written to Virginia Hannon, a woman who taught Alex Haley French at Alcorn College before he left to join the Coast Guard. The letters begin after he's become a journalist writing for Coast Guard Magazine, and it seems, after an absence from Hannon. The letters are very familiar and playful with references to her French class, updates on his brothers George and Julius, and although married, some flirtatious comments about her breasts, "they were not as you say, spinsterly," and his faraway demeanor in class, "believe me, love, I was not, when you observed me, thinking about any damned touchdowns." There is also lots of talk about Haley's writing career. The early letters from 1949 included his thoughts on his drive to be a writer: "I'm trying pretty hard and have thus far had some minor successes," as well as his bad habits: "I'm essentially lazy, but I love to write once I get started." It's during an extended hospital stay for the treatment of a pilonidal cyst in 1953 that he seems to really make headway: "I never had so much time on end to write in my life. I have to stand up to type, to be sure, but - boy, am I turning out the words! Things I've wanted to work on for ages." In a letter the next year he excitedly describes what was his first big career break: "The prime accomplishment to date, a milestone in my life, I guess, was the sale two weeks ago, of 'The Harlem that Nobody Knows,' a 4,000-word piece, to Reader's Digest ... As a result, I, last week, got taken in the stable of Ruth Aley, probably one of the top 5 literary agents in the country. I am working like a bastard, to put it bluntly." The job led to a series of articles in the magazine and an assignment with Playboy interviewing many of the most important African-Americans of the day. The final letter from 1967 takes the form of two short but sweet holograph notes to Hannon written on the margins of a form letter and a photocopied travel article. They show a busy, successful writer still trying to keep in touch with an old friend.

The letters are accompanied by a black and white photograph of a young Hannon in a military uniform (possibly Red Cross), along with two later color photos of George with Wynelle [Hannon's sister] and George with President Bill Clinton. Plus, there is a copy of Haley's book Queen, published posthumously, and warmly Inscribed by George: "To my dear sister, Virginia Rose Hannon With love, respect and appreciation Your brother George Haley - and all the rest of the Haley Family 12 June 1993." An interesting and intimate collection of early correspondence from one of the most influential African-American writers of the 20th Century.

Haley, Alex

Eldridge Cleaver Archives

  • US TxAM-C C000011
  • Collection
  • 1959-1981

Eldridge Cleaver, a founding member of the Black Panther Party, was also an author, Black power activist, who in his later life became a patriot and Mormon.

The Eldridge Cleaver Archives contains over 1000 individual items of his writings and letters from his prison stints from 1959 to 1966 after he published his seminal work, “Soul on Ice;” BPP writings, his exile in Cuba, Algiers, Paris and other writings; newspapers and other publications. The collection contains rare and unique items from founding members and insider within one of the most notorious and progressive organizations this country has ever witnessed.

There is extensive correspondence from his wife Kathleen that includes correspondence written by and to her, writings to and correspondence from journalists, activists, and from friends.

Cleaver, Eldridge, 1935-1998

Slavery and Emancipation Documents

  • US TxAM-C C000006
  • Collection
  • 1737-1875

This collection contains 58 items are related to slavery or emancipation in the states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Texas and the countries of Cuba, the Caribbean, Jamaica, and Paris, France.

The descriptive write-up provided by Respess and William Reese, Company is used in the listing of documents. Each document purchased has a title, date, and some have an abbreviated transcription of the text.

The Texas document recounts the hiring, auctions, renting, and transferring ownership of slaves. The Missouri documents concern the purchase and transferring of ownership of slaves named Nancy, George, Phebe, Washington, Lucinda, Madison, Benjamin, and Sarah. No last names or additional information is provided except that Nancy is a Mulatto Woman and George is "of the age of seventeen or thereabouts." Of particular note are two documents, a Texas free woman of color filing a complaint regarding an illegal beating by a group of five men one and the other document is from Missouri and details a sale of slaves by a woman, a rarer document than those recording sales by men.

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.

William Harrison Mays Papers

  • US TxAM-C C000003
  • Collection
  • 1866-1982

This collection contains a variety of documents related to William Harrison Mays, an African American cowboy living in Corpus Christi, TX during the late 19th and early 20th century, and his family. The collection consists of tax receipts, promissory notes, land deeds, and receipts for lumber and building loan payments, photographs, and correspondences from which the researcher is able to track the development of a family over the course of three generations.

Of particular interest is a letter written by W. H. Mays' grandson, Roby Williams, dated September 12, 1982, in which he claims that his grandfather, "was a gun toten cow puncher with the Kings and Kennedys who used to ride over the border and steal Mexican's cattle and bring them back to Kings ranch and brand them KR. Grandpa knew he was living such a hard and risky life, he knew he was subject to being killed on some of these adventures and cattle drives up to Abilene, Kansas, so he didn't buy anything in his name. If he was arrested for cattle rustling, they couldn't take his property." One of the deeds dated 1872 may dispute this claim as it conveys to "Harrison Mays, Colored" a property in Corpus Christi for the sum of twenty-five gold dollars. However, all the tax receipts thereafter for the property are made out to a Clarissa Sinclair (also known as Alice Sinclair, William Harrison Mays' wife).

Other items of interest include a photograph, circa 1865, of two African-American men each standing with a leg up on a wooden box with a large bag marked "$1,000." The handwritten caption on the back reads: "Uncle Willie Cox on left. Just after a win in a cock's fight. Bag contains $1,000.00 in gold. San Luis Portisi, Mexico."

Mays, William Harrison

Don Bosworth Letters

  • US TxAM-C 98
  • Collection
  • 1919

This collection consists of twelve letters handwritten in black ink on both sides of thirteen pages of blue-lined paper with an envelope. The letters are arranged into two series. At the center of the top of the paper are printed the words "Nation War Work Council of the Young Men's Christian Association," each side of which is decorated with an American Flag and the symbol of the YMCA printed in red and dark blue ink. Each page, measuring 27 cm. x 15 cm., is now housed in a transparent plastic folder. On the upper-right side of the envelope are handwritten words "Sailor's Mail". The addressee written on the envelope is Mrs. J.E. Bosworth, who lived on 141 Midland Ave. in Syracuse, New York. However, the letters are addressed to "Dear Folks." Bosworth seems to have bought the envelope before he wrote the letters because his letters begin on June 16, 1919, but the date stamped in blue ink on the envelope is June 14, 1919. In his letters, Bosworth very often does not write the first singular pronoun "I" and uses "&" in preference to the word "and." He crosses out with one or two lines on the words he writes incorrectly. He provides some hand-drawn maps and pictures. He frequently mentions numbers to detail his stories. Of interest is that he comments on the characteristics of the Bolsheviks. He also mentions that he hopes to fight them because he has had no chance to hear gunshots, except in practice.

Bosworth, Don

John Henry Bliler Diary

  • US TxAM-C 97
  • Collection
  • 1862-1875

This diary serves as John Henry Bliler's account of the Civil War. It was kept in the Bliler family, in some form since the Civil War, up until it was acquired by the repository.

It looks that Bliler copied over his original diary several times himself, and this last copy occupies all but a few leaves of the five exercise tablets. As noted in the description of Series 1, these first five exercise books could not possibly have contained a copy made any earlier than 1890. The only exception seems to be a portion of the last tablet, which is filled by entries copied over in pencil in 1944 by one of Bliler's descendants, Ardath Bliler Kelly, reportedly since the family copy had become quite damaged by then.

Thus, according to p. 56 of the typewritten transcript of the diary entries in the five exercise books, "[John Henry] Bliler copied his account of the Civil War three times during his lifetime. The last copy was made shortly before his death in 1924." On page number 116 in pencil in the fifth exercise book, an entry from March 31, 1944, made in different handwriting reads "The following copied from by [sic.] originally by Ardath Bliler Kelly, granddaughter of the narrator [sic.]. The original is ragged and yellowed and crumbling." Entries which are thus copied on p. 116-123 of this last exercise book are out of order, dated June 24, [1865] - June 29, 1865, followed by a note in Ardath Bliler Kelly's hand, "A portion of the original omitted in the copy," then the dates January 24 - January 31, 1865.

The typed transcript and index were probably made by Roy K. Bliler later than 1944, and not too long previous to when it was received by the repository. This transcript preserves the original order of John Henry Bliler's diary entries.

Bliler, John Henry, 1844-1924

Ellen Schulz Quillin Manuscripts

  • US TxAM-C 95
  • Collection
  • 1928-1964

This collection contains two manuscripts written by Ellen D. Schulz Quillin. The first, "Texas Wild Flowers. a Popular Account of the Common Wild Flowers of Texas.", was published in 1928 by Laidlaw Brothers (Chicago, IL), and the second, "Texas Cacti: A Popular and Scientific Account of the Cacti Native to Texas", was published in 1930 by the Texas Academy of Science and written with Robert Runyon.

The manuscript for "Texas Wild Flowers. a Popular Account of the Common Wild Flowers of Texas." consists of two bound volumes, typed with handwritten edits and notes, and both contain a title page handwritten in graphite, dated and initialed by Ellen (December 23, 1955). The inscription in Part I reads, "Original Texas Wild Flowers manuscript. Of no value to anyone else. Kept for reference to revision, if I should get to it". and in Part II, the inscription slightly changes with the last sentence reading "Kept for reference in case of revision".

The first volume, Part I (pages 1-337), has a second note by Ellen handwritten in ink, dated October 20, 1963, in which she talks about the book being published, the revisions she wanted to make after it becoming know the book was out of bring in 1959 [Part 2 state 1939], and never got around to due to her work in writing "History of the Museum" in 5 volumes and resigning in 1960.

The second volume, Part II (pages 338-640), also has a handwritten ink note from October 20, 1963, however, the inscription reads "Presented to Peggy C. Owens, College Station, Texas to use in any way she can as Texas Wildflowers has not been replaced since it became out of print in 1939 [Part I states 1959] - used copies are generally not available - and the last used copy I saw advertised in a California catalogue was $27.50 - a prohibitive price".

The second manuscript in this collection, "Texas Cacti: A Popular and Scientific Account of the Cacti Native to Texas", is held within a Weston Paper box with an address label for Mrs. Peggy C. Owens affixed to the outside. The manuscript itself is bound, typed with handwritten edits and notes, and original photographs (95 pages total). Also found within are a few publications that were used for reference.

Contained within the front cover are four documents, two are keys for illustrations, one for illustrations from "Succulents" by van Laren from paintings made in Amsterdam by Messrs. C. Rol, J. Voerman and H. Rol, and the second unidentified. The third is an announcement for the release of "Texas Wild Flowers: A Popular Account of the Common Wild Flowers of Texas by Ellen D. Schulz Quillin, M. S." with an overall description of the book, an excerpt from the book on the origin of Texas bluebonnets and two reprints from Texas newspapers of articles announcing Ellen's new book in June and July of 1928. The fourth document is a note handwritten in ink, originally paper clipped to the front cover, dated April 21, 1964, reading "To Peggy Owens - One of my most Precious possessions. Ellen S. Quillin". Also noted in graphite below the original note is "send vols 1 & 2" by Ellen, May 12, 1964. On the first page in the top right corner is another handwritten note in ink by Ellen dating April 21, 1964, "To Peggy Owens - Compliments of the author".

Quillin, Ellen Schulz, 1892-1970

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

One Hundred and Eleven Poems Correspondence

  • US TxAM-C 869
  • Collection

This collections contains an archive of correspondence that supplements the Golden Cockerel Press production of One Hundred and Eleven Poems written by Robert Herrick.

Herbert Winfield Cumming Collection

  • US TxAM-C 864
  • Collection

This collection contains black and white personal photographs taken by Herbert Winfield Cummings, Texas A&M College class of 1941, and several photocopies of military records regarding Cummings disappearance in Europe during World War II (1943).

Paul A. Dresser Papers

  • US TxAM-C 863
  • Collection

This collection contains the personal papers from Dresser's time as a student at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (TAMC).

Texas Aggie Bonfire Torch

  • US TxAM-C 860
  • Collection
  • 1989

The torch used to light 1989 Texas Aggie Bonfire, which is a student tradition where students participate in building a wood bonfire each November, traditionally, before the game against the University of Texas.

Luther Goodrich Jones Texas A&M College Paddle

  • US TxAM-C 855
  • Collection
  • 1925

This collection consists of a 1925 paddle incised with the name of Luther Goodrich Jones and signed by him and 25 other people, who served on the Texas A&M College faculty.

Professor Jones served in the Agronomy Department from the early 1920s until his retirement in 1950.

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