Related Collections

Bruno Wolf Jr. Family Collection
The documents span the reigns of five Spanish kings: King Charles II; King Philip V; King Louis I; King Ferdinand VI; and King Charles III. The earliest documents are primarily court records and transcripts. Later documents include materials to support the family’s claim to disputed land holdings in South Texas.

Sue and Ernest Ford Collection
Julia Sue Runnels Ford was a writer for the "Kingsville Record and Bishop News" in 1922 when she married Ernest A. Ford Sr in Riviera at her mother's home. The couple farmed, ranched, and were of service to their community in many ventures. The collection consists of Sue's photographs, negatives, two weekly columns published by the paper, "Farm Notes" and "These are Your Neighbors," and correspondence. The photographs and negatives are images of South Texas, during the middle of the twentieth century. Country and ranch life are depicted along with images of the people and culture of a small, growing community. The towns of Kingsville, Ricardo, and Corpus Christi are highlighted, along with the livestock and crops of the farms. King’s Ranch and the famous Santa Gertrudis breed of cattle are included.

Tomas H. Molina Family Collection
The Molina Family was one of the earliest settlers of South Texas. Documents consist of family papers and photographs. Their love of baseball resulted in the collection of a large number of photographs and documents about the history of baseball in South Texas.

Luis Fuentes Family Collection
Luis Fuentes Sr. was a respected business owner and pioneer of the Kingsville community.He was born in Mexico, his family immigrated to the United States when he was a child. He was a hard working citizen who created his own opportunities and owned several respected clothing businesses in South Texas in the first half of the 20th century.

Stevens G. Herbst Collection
Stevens G. Herbst, an alumni of Texas A&I University now Texas A&M University donated a collection of documents and photographs that details the name change of the university in the 1990s, the funding and creation of the Frank H. Dotterweich statue by Armando Hinojosa and the change of the name of the College of Engineering to the Frank Dotterweich College of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Miguel Avila Collection
In 1928 Miguel Avila and his wife Maria Amparo Mendoza opened a bakery in Kingsville and later a grocery store that sold “zebras.” Avila’s patrons asked him for herbs to use in folk medicine. The collection consists of business records, correspondence, publications, and photos of his children and grandchildren.

Joe Stanley Graham Jr. Collection
Joe Stanley Graham, professor of Anthropology and folklore at Texas A&M University-Kingsville from 1988 until shortly before his death in 1999 lived and worked on ranches in southwest Texas ultimately studying at the University of Texas, Austin with Dr. Amerigo Paredes, a leading folklorist from south Texas. Dr. Graham continued Dr. Paredes work of collecting materials about the rural Mexican and Mexican American communities, the people and their folkways. Hundreds of photographs, interviews, student term papers, and research materials used for museum exhibits have been saved for future researchers of his favored topic.