Browse Collections (12 total)

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  World War I at Southwestern University

  In 1918, during World War I, the United States War Department created the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) program to help fill positions in the military with trained men. Implemented at hundreds of universities across the nation, the SATC combined both practical and lecture-based military instruction with the general college curriculum. The intended goal was to create a viable population of educated and trained young men who would then join the U.S. military and fight in the war. Southwestern University was one of the colleges with an SATC chapter, which was only active during the fall semester of 1918; Germany’s formal surrender in November rendered its purpose moot. However, as the World War I collection shows, the SATC was a highly valued part of campus life during its existence. <br /><br />The collection of World War I materials from Special Collections prominently features documentation related to the SATC, which is highlighted here on our site. This collection gives us a clear idea of the amount of effort it took to establish, organize, and run this federal military recruitment program. Among these items are correspondence between individuals and institutions, grade reports, photographs of SATC students, curriculum outlines, and pamphlets. Although military instruction was the impetus for the creation of the program, academics were meant to be the central component of the SATC, as shown by the many education-related pamphlets, notices, and letters. The amount of highly detailed correspondence between various agencies, including Southwestern University, the University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Naval Reserve, and the War Department, is tangible evidence of the value placed on this program by its founding institutions. <br /><br />You can also find these items on the University of North Texas's <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/">Portal to Texas History</a>.

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  Thomas Falconer Correspondence

  Thomas Falconer (1805-1882) was an English jurist and explorer who immigrated to the Republic of Texas in 1840. In 1841, he joined the Texan Santa Fe Expedition as an observer. On the trail towards New Mexico, the expedition leader decided to take some of the party to San Miguel to gather provisions, while the rest remained in camp; Falconer, whose horse had been stolen, stayed in camp. The camp party was attacked multiple times by Native Americans, almost starved to death, and when the other party finally returned as prisoners of the Mexicans, they were also arrested. The group of explorers was taken to Mexico City, where Falconer was immediately released at the demand of the British minister. He published his account of this experience in the 1842 book <em>Expedition to Santa Fe: An Account of Its Journey from Texas through Mexico, with Particulars of Its Capture</em>. Falconer would go on to publish more accounts of his travels and return to work as a judge in England until his death. <br /><br />The Thomas Falconer Collection includes correspondence related to this ill-fated journey to Santa Fe. The letters from Falconer describe his involvement in the expedition and give a glimpse into both the life of an explorer on the frontier and the experience of being a prisoner. The sketches and amount of detail in his writings lend themselves well to his future occupation as a chronicler of explorations. Letters from other correspondents indicate the larger political implications of the expedition and its connection to the contemporary relationship between Texas and Mexico. The political motivations of the expedition are evident in one of Falconer’s letters, in which he states that he was told that the expedition’s purpose was for trade, when in fact it was to capture Santa Fe. The expedition was unofficially initiated by the then President of Texas, Mirabeau B. Lamar, in an attempt to gain control over the lucrative Santa Fe Trail and further develop the trade links between Texas and New Mexico. <br /><br />You can also view these items on the University of North Texas’s <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/" target="_blank">Portal to Texas History</a>.

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• The Megaphone

  Southwestern University’s student newspaper began in 1907. The first issues were published during the week of commencement as The Commencement Daily, which merged into a weekly publication the next year. The Megaphone reflects campus life as well as Georgetown and Williamson County events and activities, especially during the early years when "town and gown" were indistinguishable.

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  Southwestern University Archives

  The Southwestern University archival holdings include Southwestern University historical records and documents, personal papers of individuals associated with the university, photographs, prints, maps, microfilm, and audiovisual materials.

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  Orceneth Fisher Papers

  Orceneth Fisher was a Methodist circuit rider in Central Texas whose circuit included Goliad, Galveston, Indianola, San Marcos, and other locations. He eventually moved to Oregon, and some of his papers are at Oregon State, Corvalis, and the University of the Pacific. Other papers are at the American History Center at University of Texas. He was in Georgetown, Texas, in 1841, and probably had connections with the early institutions that preceded Southwestern University as well as Southwestern. Southwestern has the ceremonial sash he wore as chaplain of the Republic of Texas Senate, probably at the last session of the Republic. The papers include letters of courtship, letters to children with “good advice,” letters to and from his wife and family while traveling from parish to parish, sermons, tax receipts, and materials related to Methodist churches.

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  Michael Reed Papers

  Michael Reed (1777–1859), an early settler of Robertson’s Colony and a wealthy landowner in central Texas before the Civil War. This collection features records of Michael Reed’s business endeavors in the Robertson Colony, including promissory notes, receipts, records of payments and bills, and correspondence concerning requests for Reed’s corn and other goods. Included are many bills of sale for slaves as well as Michael Reed’s ledger of the daily activities of his slaves. Other documents include court documents, affidavits, ledgers, petitions, currency, and newspapers.

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  Johnson Family Papers

  The Johnson family, originally from Missouri, came to Texas in 1844, moving several times before finally settling in Hays County. Thomas Johnson and his wife, Catherine Johnson, had six children. Thomas Johnson, a schoolmaster, established the Johnson Institute in 1852, thirty miles north of San Marcos. The Johnson Institute was a private secondary school with a coeducational student body. Three of the Johnson children would later teach there. A family member of particular interest is the daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Ellen Johnson, born on May 9, 1840 in Cole County, Missouri. <br /><br />The Johnson Family Collection, dating from the years 1859-1887, was donated to Southwestern University by John E. Shelton, grandson of Emma Johnson, sister of Lizzie Johnson. It consists of letters, personal notes, announcements, newspaper clippings, magazines, books, and personal objects from the entire Johnson family. Highlighted here is Lizzie Johnson’s incoming correspondence, which includes invitations to parties, letters from close friends, and marriage proposals. This selection of items gives us an insightful look into how relationships functioned among the white middle class youth in Texas during the latter half of the 19th century. Browse our exhibit “<a title="Social Graces on the Texas Frontier: The Lizzie Johnson Papers" href="http://texasheritage.omeka.net/exhibits/show/social-graces-on-the-texas-fro">Social Graces on the Texas Frontier: The Lizzie Johnson Papers</a>” for an in-depth exploration of this topic. <br /><br />You can also find these items on the University of North Texas's <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu" target="_blank">Portal to Texas History</a>.

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  John G. Tower Senate Collection

  John Goodwin Tower (1925-1991) was a Republican politician who represented Texas in the Senate from 1960 until 1985. Born in Houston, Texas, he received his bachelor of arts in political science from Southwestern University in 1948 after serving in the Navy during World War II. In 1960, he was elected as the first Republican senator in Texas since 1870, heralding the return to a two-party system in the state. Throughout his 24 year career, Senator Tower was highly involved with numerous domestic and foreign policy decisions, strongly focusing on economic growth. He maintained close ties with his alma mater, Southwestern University, serving on its Board of Trustees from 1968 through 1991. After retiring from Senate in 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed Tower as the Chief U.S. Negotiator at the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in Geneva with the Soviet Union. Spanning a fascinating and often troubled time in our nation’s history, Senator Tower’s papers mirror the period and provide insight into the events of the 1960s through the 1980s. <br /><br />In 1987, Tower decided to give some of his papers to Southwestern University; after his death in 1991, his family donated the remainder of his papers. The collection, which is now approximately 800 linear feet, consists primarily of materials from Washington, D.C. that Senator Tower accumulated during his 24 years in the Senate, although there are some files from his state offices in Texas that pre-date and post-date his Senate career. Highlighted on our site are his political speeches, which cover topics ranging from environmental conservation and national health insurance to the rights of Mexican-Americans. Drafts and revisions of some of these speeches offer a unique insight into the political speechwriting process. <br /><br />You can also find these items on the University of North Texas's <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/" target="_blank">Portal to Texas History</a>.

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  J. D. Giddings Collection

  Jabez Demming Giddings (J.D. Giddings), born in Pennsylvania, came to Texas in 1838 to claim his brother Giles’s land bounty after Giles’s death at the Battle of San Jacinto. After initially teaching school, Giddings became a lawyer and wealthy entrepreneur in Brenham, becoming one of the state’s wealthiest men. A Methodist, he became involved with a number of Methodist colleges whose charters were eventually inherited by Southwestern University. After his death in 1878, his family members would continue to support the endeavors of the university: his wife Ann funded the construction of Helping Hall, and their son-in-law Heber Stone served for fifteen years on the Board of Trustees. <br /><br />This small collection is almost exclusively correspondence from Texas Methodists to J.D. Giddings, with some to his son-in-law Heber Stone and a few items to and from other family members. The letters were donated to Southwestern University’s library by Wallace Giddings, a descendant of J.D. Giddings, in the Spring of 1996 with a few additional materials donated by Patricia Giddings, wife of Wallace Giddings. <br /><br />You can also find these items on the University of North Texas's <a title="Portal to Texas History" href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/" target="_blank">Portal to Texas History</a>.

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  Henry Matthews Diaries

  Henry Matthews (1799-18?) was a Methodist circuit rider, schoolteacher, and practicing physician from Ohio, who made his way from Ohio, through the Illinois Territory, to Texas. The five-volume set of diaries includes transcriptions of letters written by Matthews to various family members and friends in Ohio; student rosters and progress reports; descriptions of medical services rendered and patients’ progress and conditions; and sermon notes and copies of scriptural passages. The earliest of the diaries traces Matthews’s life on the Fairfield Circuit in Ohio and as a schoolteacher in rural Ohio. In later diary entries, Matthews’s commentary focuses on daily life in Texas, ranging from weather reports to crop and garden progress to community events and news to Texans’ relations with the nearby Native American Indian tribes like the Coshatta Indians.

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