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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

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

American Field Service Ambulance Driver Diary

  • US TxAM-C 189
  • Collection
  • 1915

The diary begins at an entry for 19 May 1915 with the driver's departure from Paris, to report to the Bureau, or main Section office of the service, at Pont-á-Mousson, which he often abbreviates to Pont. in diary entries. The diary's driver is often under fire, either while driving the roads among convoys, or in the towns being shelled, and, on a least one occasion, even at his billet, called a caserne. He is also clearly interested in becoming an aviator and visits a French aviation field with a friend from the American Field Service during his time off.

There are descriptions of German prisoners in the town square, serious casualties called couchés, episodes of shelling, the hazards of evacuating casualties under fire, as well as the daily life of an American soldier serving in World War I before the official entrance of the United States, is terse and vivid. The narrative presents an interesting contrast of intense activity and intermittent loafing in the French towns and countryside, including a tour of such battle areas as Bois-le-Prêtre, the site of the First Battle of the Marne.

The diary may have come into Stratemeyer's possession at Kelly Field from an aviator being trained or otherwise based there. Ambulance drivers who served first as volunteers in France seem to have transferred to other branches of the service, in several cases the Air Service, after serving in the American Field Service for possibly only a few months.

The entries end abruptly on June 9, 1915.

The shiny dark brown paper-covered diary measures 17 x 10 cm., with 26 of its 40 blue-ruled pages filled with entries handwritten in ink. Although found inserted into an issue of the Kelly Field eagle published between April 1918 and January 1919 and donated to the repository by General George Stratemeyer, the diary is neither labeled, nor signed, and the entries are dated [May] 19 - June 9, 1915.

A newspaper clipping is slipped into the diary, dated 1873 by hand in ink, probably from a British newspaper, which contains a poem, "To Loch Skene", on which corrections to the text have been made in ink.

It may be noted that George Stratemeyer, probably did not write the diary since he served with the 7th and 34th Infantry divisions in Texas and Arizona until September 1916, immediately after his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy in June 1915. He subsequently became commanding officer of the Air Service Flying and Technical Schools at Kelly Field, Texas in May 1917. The diary may have come into Stratemeyer's possession at Kelly Field from an aviator being trained or otherwise based there.

The 25-page paper transcript was made in February 2002 by Aletha Andrew, who processed the collection in the repository.

Ambulance Driver

Alva Mitchell Collection

  • US TxAM-C 6
  • Collection
  • 1892-1956

The collection is an assortment of newspaper clippings, photographs, a typed biography, commencement programs, an Army training certificate and receipt, and contact information for Ralph Howard Mitchell.

Mitchell, Ralph Howard

Alfred Elton Van Vogt Collection

  • US TxAM-C C000180
  • Collection
  • 1949-1956; Undated

This collection consists of materials relating to the 1956 A. E. Van Vogt novel Empire of the Atom, including the original typescript, galleys, and correspondence related to the book's publication and review.

Van Vogt, A. E. (Alfred Elton), 1912-2000

Alexander Thomson Letter

  • US TxAM-C 37
  • Collection
  • 1832-08-05

The Alexander Thomson letter is dated August 5, 1832, from Texas, Austin's Colony. Addressed to "Mr. Wm. D. Thomson, Giles County, Tennessee, Cornerville P.O.," with the salutation "My dear son," and signed "your Aff. Father, Alexs. Thomson."

The text of the letter recounts recent events in Austin's colony which, in retrospect, have a direct bearing on the brewing struggle for independence of the colony from Mexico. Most noteworthy is the account of the early revolt of Anglo-Texas colonists against the Mexican government's steady encroachment on the freedom of colonists to conduct free trade or encourage further immigration into Texas from the United States.

In the letter, Thomson details the build-up of hostilities between Colonel Juan Davis Bradburn, born in Virginia, but in service to Mexico, who was made commander of Fort Anahuac.

Noteworthy also in the letter are the expressions of loyalty and admiration shown toward General Antonio López de Santa Anna by the colonists, who saw him as championing their rights in the condemnation of Bradburn, who was known to be a supporter of the hated General Anastacio Bustamante. Bustamante, who had been the dictator of Mexico since January 1830, was now involved with Santa Anna and his allies in a fierce civil war. (see general note)

As the Thomson letter records vividly, the Texas colonists threw their support to Santa Anna, believing him to favor their freedom to enforce their own laws and maintain their own system of trade and civil courts. The letter records Stephen Austin's whole-hearted support of Santa Anna and Thomson's encomium on Santa Anna as "a true republican ... determined not to lay down his arms until republicanism prevails," rings ironically optimistic in the face of events only a few years later, culminating in the bitter defeat of the colonists by Santa Anna at the Alamo, and the equally bitter final defeat of Santa Anna at San Jacinto, assuring Texas's independence from Mexico.

Accompanying the letter are three other items.
A sepia-toned picture apparently reproduced from an oil painting. The picture is pasted inside a dark brown oval paper matting on a piece of cardboard measuring about 20 cm by 15 cm. The image measures about 13 cm by 7 cm. Though the original painting is as yet unidentified, "Alexander Thomson" is written on the back of the cardboard in pencil.

A sheet of letterhead stationery for the "St. Louis Southwestern Railway Lines, St. Louis 2, Mo.," with the logo for the "Cotton Belt Route," and below that "F. W. Green, President." On this much-folded piece of letterhead is an undated and unsigned biography of Alexander Thomson handwritten in pencil.

A photocopy (circa 1980) of a booklet originally prepared by Ralston P. Haun in Coleman, Tex. around 1936, which includes a transcription of the August 5, 1832 letter, as well as other family letters and papers. According to the copy of an explanatory note appended to the booklet, dated May 1, 1980, and signed Jim Glass of Houston, Tex., one of the three copies made by Haun was given to Ana Gardner Thomson and passed down to her granddaughter Ana Haun Frómen, thence apparently to Gardner Osborn. The booklet includes transcriptions of five other family letters and two memoirs. Though speculated upon in the Glass note, the current disposition of the other letters and papers is still unverified.

Thomson, Alexander, 1785-1863

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

Albert S. Brient Collection

  • US TxAM-C 282
  • Collection

This collection contains an assortment of newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, and a typed 'saga' of Albert S. Brient.

Included are photographs from the 1923 Texas A&M Varsity Basketball team, biographic information on Brient, correspondence concerning his efforts to be declared a member of the "T" Association 44 years after his college days, as well as newspaper articles both about Brient and about his finally being awarded a "T".

Brient, Albert S.

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