This collection follows the African American experience here at Texas A&M and consists primarily of secondary materials such as biographies and timelines of Black American Aggies. There are also primary materials in the media section of the collection, which consist of cassette tapes filled with interviews.

This collection contains the papers of Sterling C. Evans including personal correspondence with friends, family members, and business associates; personal notebooks; plat maps, blueprints, diagrams of land: legal and financial documents surrounding real estate transactions; favorite quotations and poems; manuscripts; a travel diary; notes, notebooks of advertising and commercial brochures; photographs, newspaper clippings, receipts for gifts, and personal artifacts. The collection also contains the papers of his lifelong assistant, Dorothy Whitley.

The papers reflect Evans' personal life, his early career in the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, his professional career with the Federal Land Bank, and his retirement to a second career of investments in and operating large ranches and plantations in Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana. In addition, the papers reflect his generosity and his involvement with Texas A&M University through his service to the Board of Regents during a pivotal time in the university's history as well as his support of the university library.

While the papers record Evans' early career, they more extensively detail his agricultural business after his retirement from the Federal Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Land Bank. This post-retirement career is highlighted by a growing friendship with Gus Wortham of Houston, Texas, and their joint real estate ventures such as Randle Lake Plantation in Milam County, Texas, Bear Lake Plantation in Tallulah, La., Crescent Plantation in Louisiana, Little Eva Plantation in Chopin, La., Nine Bar Ranch in Cypress, Texas, and the U Bar Ranches in Medina County, Texas and Hidalgo County, N.M., as well as other smaller operations. These subject files include personal correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, photographs, brochures, advertising materials, and news clippings.

Correspondence includes Evans' exchanges with his wife, Cathrene Thomas Evans, and well-known professional associates such as Gus Wortham, W. N. Stokes, John Wasson, Eugene Butler, Mildred McCoy, Carl Detering, John Lindsey, Earl Rudder, Frank Vandiver, William Mobley, Perry Atkission, Ray Bowen, Irene Hoadley, Fred Heath, Ambassador Edward Clark, and Dolph Briscoe. Also included is correspondence from many family members, and close friends, as well as students from Texas A&M University and Evans' former employees.

Unprocessed

Lubbock, 1914-1917; Iowa Park, 1924 and 1953; Del Ri0, 1916-1917; Nacogdoches 1912; Krum 1916

This collection consists of letters (mostly to his mother and family between 1943-1944), newspaper clippings, and a few other materials detailing the life of Charles Walt Brown during his tenure in the US Army Air Force, especially his experiences while in the Air Crew Training Division on the Texas A&M campus.

From 1943 to 1944, Texas A&M College provided its land and facilities to the US Military to prepare soldiers for World War II (WWII). In Brown's letter to his mother, Mary Swan, and to other family members, he told of details of his life in the Army and at the different military facilities he was stationed at.

This collection contains fifteen portrait photographs of Texas A&M College students. The photographs were given to A. H. Neighbors by other classmates also graduating in the Class of 1911, and one portrait from a member of the Class of 1913. Only one of the photographs has yet to be identified. Also included is the letter accompanying the photographs when mailed to the Ex-student Association from A. H. Neighbors, Jr. in 1976.

This collection contains materials that were part of the work done by David Woodcock through the Center for Heritage Conservation as well as the Design Review Sub-Council (DRsc), which reports to the Council for Built Environment and is responsible for ensuring all construction and renovation on the Texas A&M Campus. The materials focus on DRsc review, the Campus Houses that A&M faculty lived in, the Riverside Campus, formerly the Bryan Air Base and the Annex, and historic Bryan and College Station.

This collection contains biographical data, publications, and data on the Biology Department at Texas A&M in which Sewell was a faculty member, as well as reports and other papers relating to oyster mortality research carried out through the Texas A&M Research Foundation Research Project 9 (February 1, 1947 - May 31, 1950).

The research project 9 was funded by six major oil companies and led by two Texas A & M University Professors, Sewell H. Hopkins (Head) and John G. Mackin (Associate Head).

Prompted by several lawsuits filed by Louisiana oystermen against major oil companies claiming damages to oyster fields as a result of drilling in the Gulf Of Mexico region, Project 9 was conducted under the auspices of the Texas A & M Research Foundation. Project 9 allowed researchers to design and implement field and laboratory studies seeking to determine the effects of oil production activities on oyster production. Eventually, a then as-yet-unknown parasite was discovered which preyed upon the oyster crop after they had begun to reach maturity.

Two other large research groups investigating the same allegations against oil production in the Gulf headed by H. Malcome Owen (Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission) and Albert W. Collier (Gulf Oil Company) compared notes with the Heads of Project 9, coming to the same conclusion. As a result of this collaboration, a description of this newly discovered parasite called Dermocystidium marinum was published in 1950. The lawsuits were subsequently dropped or settled out of court.

More importantly for the history of the Texas A & M University System, however, is the fact that Research Project 9 led ultimately to the creation and expansion of a Marine Sciences program, represented by the newly established (1949) Department of Oceanography at Texas A & M University in College Station. On 1 June 1950, after the termination of Research Project 9, Research Project 23 was begun to continue studies on oyster disease and maintain a Marine Laboratory at Grand Isle, La. The Texas A & M Marine Laboratory was established (1952) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Tex. In 1968 Texas A & M University was named a Sea Grant College. The Marine Laboratory and the Texas Maritime Academy were merged in 1971, which is now known as Texas A & M University at Galveston.

These papers, therefore, form a picture of the ground-breaking research in oyster mortality conducted by Sewell H. Hopkins as head of Project 9, which led to increased sensitivity of the interplay of industry and the ecosystem, and to the formalized study at the university level of marine biology in the Gulf area.

Other researchers whose work is represented in the papers include Jay Donald Andrews, A. D. Bajkov, Harry J. Bennet, James L. Boswell, Clair Brown, Sidney O. Brown, M.D. Burkenroad, Fred Caulthron, C. Ray Elsey, I. I. Gardescu, Gordon Gunter, C. K. Hancock, Harold W. Harry, Joel W. Hedgpeth, Willis G. Hewatt, A. A. Jakkula, Fred W. Jensen, P. Korringa, Louis Lambert, Hugh B. Lofland, Elmer J. Lund, G. Robert Lunz, Jr., John C. Aull, Alvin F. Dodds, Shirley Alfred Lynch, John G. Mackin, Wiley G. Lastrapes, H. A. Marmer, R. Winston Menzel, Thurlow C. Nelson, Joseph F. Prokop, W. C. Rasmussen, Sammy M. Ray, J. H. Roberts, Fred W. Sieling, John J. Sperry, Victor Sprague, and Claude E. ZoBell.

    * Bibliography

    * Ray, Sammy M. "Historical Perspective on Perkinsus Marinus Disease of Oysters in the Gulf of Mexico." Journal of Shellfish Research. Vol. 15, No. 1:9-11.

    * Ray, Sammy M. "Texas A & M University's Contributions to Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Research." [Viewed 2002-10-10 at: ]

General correspondence. UNPROCESSED

The collection spans the life of James Earl Rudder. The bulk (1944-1970) of the materials roughly correspond to the chronology of James Earl Rudder's life, with additional materials collected mainly by his wife, Margaret Rudder. The collection includes materials from Rudder’s time in the service during WWII, clippings from newspapers, as well as posters, magazine issues, memorabilia, and Rudder’s awards.

This collection contains scrapbooks, treasurer's books, and a minute book from the Women's Social Club.

This collection contains scrapbooks/press books, minute books, treasurer's books, yearbooks, and other materials from the Extension Service Club in relation to the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

Unprocessed

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

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

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

This collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, programs of conferences attended and/or participated in, notes, photographs, memos, reports, proposals, itineraries, lists of contacts, minutes of committee meetings, news releases, newspaper clippings, articles and other writings by Dr. Aebersold, and notes, outlines, slide lists, abstracts, and texts of speeches given by Dr. Aebersold. The materials document Dr. Aebersold's career well from graduate student days to Atomic Energy Commission officials. A considerable amount of additional information should be available in the files of the Manhattan Project and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Among the most important items in the papers are the 294 speeches and 100 articles and other writings by Dr. Aebersold, the 37 speeches and 180 articles he collected, and the 1,200 newspaper clippings. The speeches and articles reflect the latest thinking and reveal the broadest picture of developments even though they represent only a minute historical significance of the early activities of the Isotopes Branch and the use of isotopes in the immediate post-war period, Dr. Aebersold began to collect clippings about isotopes in earnest in 1946. Unfortunately, this extensive collection lasted only until 1949. During these three years, however, there certainly are very few aspects of isotope production, distribution, and use that are not mentioned in the clippings.

Although most of the correspondence deals with commitments to speak before various groups or with attendance at numerous conferences, some of the early letters prior to 1940 do record some of the thoughts and activities of Dr. Aebersold’s early associates at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. Many congratulatory letters in 1957, when Dr. Aebersold moved from Oak Ridge to Washing, serve as a measure of his stature in the atomic energy field throughout the United States as well as South America and parts of Europe.

From time-to-time aspects of Dr. Aebersold’s character and philosophy are revealed in rather unexpected areas. That he enjoyed a good story is shown in numerous handwritten notes and a few typed introductory remarks to speeches. Unfortunately, only in a few cases did he write out the whole story. Usually, he only jotted a brief note to remind himself of a particular story. In speaking before the Knife and Fork Clubs of McAllen and Dallas, Texas on March 23 and November 16, 1948, Dr. Aebersold recalled his experiences in and reactions to the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico. These are about the only personal references to his wartime activities.

This collection contains the printed proceedings of Texa Pecan Growers Association Meetings, Texas State Pecan Show results, and issues of Pecan Quarterly and Texas Pecan News.

This collection contains speeches from Ward during his time as Educational Director of the National Cottonseed Products Association.

Materials are arranged chronologically

This collection represents 68 years of materials authored or collected by Turner. Series 1. through Series 4. include highway engineering reports written for the Bureau of Public Roads, Clay Committee papers dating from the 1950s hearings on the development of a national interstate highway program, and speeches, publications, correspondence, and research notes generated by his career as a federal highway official. The aforementioned inscribed copy of A More Beautiful America by Lyndon Baines Johnson is is included in this material.

Upon his retirement, Turner became a transportation consultant, advising local, national, and international agencies, associations, and companies on transportation issues. The bulk of these post-retirement and consulting materials are found in Series 5 through Series 9. These materials include maps, photographs, research notes and manuscript drafts for a three-year study he and Harmer E. Davis conducted for the International Road Federation. The study, published in 1977 and titled A Comparative Analysis of Urban Transportation Requirements, compares transportation needs in urban areas in fourteen countries, including the United States.

Another large portion of the papers found in Series 7. contains papers related to Turner's membership in various associations. Throughout his lifetime Turner remained devoted to groups such as the Highway Users Federation and the American Association of State Highway Officials. Correspondence, speeches, and conference notes related to these associations reflect his continued involvement in the transportation field almost until the year of his death.

The collection also includes correspondence, transcripts, and drafts of several reports recording the history of the interstate highway, a subject for which Turner was a popular informant. The most extensive project is a study by the Public Works Historical Society, commissioned by the American Public Works Association and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials.

This collection contains metal markers with the names, class year, date, and location of the death of A&M men who died during their service in World War I. The markers were used to identify trees that were planted for these men around the Drill Field. These are the first two versions of the markers, the originals were made of brass and the second version was made of aluminum.

During the November 24, 1919 Board of Directors meeting in Fort Worth, Board of Directors' President L. J. Hart suggested that the college plant a tree commemorating the death of each student of the college who gave up his life in the great war. The board agreed and authorized the planting of oak trees. President William B. Bizzell formed a committee to make arrangements for the Tree Planting Day. The committee consisted of R. F. Smith, chairman and Associate Professor of Mathematics; E. O. Siecke, Professor of Forestry; A. T. Potts, Professor of Vegetable Gardening; S. W. Bilings, Professor of Entomology; and A. B. LaRoache, Professor of Architecture and Architectural Engineering. The Memorial Tree Planting Committee was charged with the selection of the variety of trees, location for planting the trees, and the selection of a date and preparation of a program for the occasion. The Committee chose live oaks and set a date of February 23, 1920, for the memorial exercises.

At 2:00 PM on February 23, 1920, President Bizzell, five members of the Board of Directors, President L. J. Hart, W. A. Miller, Jr., John T. Dickison, J. R. Kubena, and H. A. Breihan together with several hundred cadets, a number of faculty members, and family members of those being honored gathered in front of Guion Hall. The ceremony started with Dr. John. A Held, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bryan giving a blessing, followed by the College Band playing "God Save the Queen", and President Bizzell introducing the day's speaker, L. J. Hart, President of the Board of Directors. Mr. Hart went on to give a speech extolling the sacrifice that these 52 men gave to preserve freedom and by commemorating them with the planting of the trees.

Upon the completion of Mr. Hart's speech, Professor Smith read the names of the 52 men, and members of the Federal and College students, alumni, and faculty were placed in charge of a squad of four cadets to plant a tree for each one of the heroes. The College Band started playing the French National Anthem "Marseillaise", and the squads marched to their sites around the south side of the drill field, around the corner of Houston and Lamar Streets (near present-day Bizzell Hall), and to the south of Hart Hall. As the tree planting began the College Band played "America" and on completion of the planting the "Star-Spangled Banner" closed out the ceremony.

In 1930 the trees were identified with a bronze plaque inscribed with the name, class year, location, and date of their death was mounted on a small limestone obelisk at the foot of each tree. These markers stood until 1971 when national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega came to their aid. The markers had generally fallen into disrepair, with some missing altogether while others were missing the memorial plaques. After receiving approval from the Board of Directors in February, APO's General James Earl Rudder Pledge Class relocated 15 of the markers that were to the South of Bizzell and Hart Halls on March 25, 1971. These 15 markers were moved to the drill field with the additional 37 that had lined it. On April 18, 1971, during Parent's Weekend, APO held a rededication ceremony. At this ceremony the names of the heroes were read, a small American flag was placed at each tree, and new aluminum plaques were unveiled and mounted on spring-loaded bolts embedded in the trees with the idea to allow for normal growth. During the process of renovating the memorials with Physical Plant personnel and Robert H. Rucker, the university's landscape architect, APO members found that three additional markers were needed, bringing the total to 55.

The Texas Aggie Countryman was a Texas A&M College monthly publication created in 1930 by students at the Texas A&M College Press. It is one of the first student-run publications at Texas A&M.

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

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.

This collection contains materials from R. D. Lewis during his time with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES).

This collection contains articles, correspondence, photographs, news clippings, and other materials from the special courses offered by the Department of Agronomy during the 1940 summer session. Included are the lecture notes and related materials for Agronomy 526, Fundamentals of Grass & Pasture Improvement taught by Dr. Franklin D. Keim (University of Nebraska); the complete outline and references for Agronomy 525, Range Management and Ecology taught by Dr. William G. McGinnies (Southwestern Forest and Range Experiment Station, Tucson, AZ); the complete outline and references for Agronomy 527, Forest Soils taught by Dr. Robert F. Chandler, Jr. (Cornell University); and a tentative outline with proposed lab and field practice for Agronomy 410, Soil Classification and Mapping by E. A. Norton (USDA).

This collection covers predominantly the 1990s to the early 2000s. Most publications are from the Brazos Valley or Texas area, including some national.

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.

This collection contains documents, class schedule, and requirement list for the completion of the Army Specialized Training Program for the ROTC at Texas A&M College during 1943. Included are course descriptions for the various classes in the program, along with schedules and requirements.