Creator Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Acquisition Information

Restrictions

Organization Of Materials

Series and Folder Listings

George Otis Coalson was born in 1926 at Camp Wood, Real County, Texas. He graduated from Uvalde High School in 1944. He served in the United States Army in World War II in the European theater as a combat infantryman, earning the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and participating in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he attended the Texas College of Arts and Industries, receiving a B.A. degree in History in 1949 and his M.A. in History in 1950. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received his doctorate in 1955, writing his dissertation on "The Development of the Migratory Farm Labor System in Texas, 1900-1954."

Dr. Coalson returned to his alma mater, Texas College of Arts and Industries, in 1955. He began his teaching career as an instructor and progressed to become a full Professor in 1962. During his career at the University, which eventually became Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Professor Coalson served as Chairman of the Department of History (1963-1978), President of the Faculty Senate, and served twice as the interim Vice President for Academic Affairs (1977-1978, 1981-1982). He gave the Annual Faculty Lecture at Texas A&I University in 1972, and served on numerous committees, including the Committee which drafted the Constitution for the General Faculty Senate, the Presidential Search Committee in 1973, the Graduate Council, and the Strategic Planning Committee (1987-1988). George O. Coalson published a number of articles in historical journals, published his dissertation in 1976, and was elected the President of the South Texas Historical Association in 1977. He was an Emeritus Professor of History and was directing his fiftieth Master's theses when he died on Sunday, June 4, 1995 at the age of 69 years old.

The George O. Coalson Collection consists of two main parts. The more than 15,000 (5"x8") note cards comprising his research for the Dictionary of South Texas totaling approximately 30 cubic feet, and the 1.5 cubic feet of Research Files, Cartographic Materials, Newspapers, Journals and Field Diaries. Most of the material is copies and notes of information that was first printed as early as the mid-1800s up through 1995, but collected by Dr. Coalson from around 1955 to 1995.

Accession A1984-019 donated by Dr. George O. Coalson, 1/25/1984.
Accession A1988-015 donated by Dr. George O. Coalson, 10/10/1984.
Accession A1990-046 donated by Dr. George O. Coalson, 10/1990.
Accession A1991-004 donated by Dr. George O. Coalson, 1/18/1991.
Accession A1995-015 donated by Angeline Coalson, 6/29/1995.
Accession A1996-008 donated by Angeline Coalson, 2/20/1996.

None.

Organization of Materials:

I.        Research Files

II.      Cartographic Materials

III.     Newspapers

IV.     Journals

V.      Field Journals