Texas College of Arts and Industries
Benjamin F. Wilson Jr. Collection
Col. Benjamin F. Wilson Jr. was born July 4, 1913, he was the third child of Judge Benjamin F. Wilson Sr. and Alice Warnock Wilson. He attended the University of Texas and graduated from Texas A&I University (then College) in 1940 with a MBA degree. Ben Jr. married Florence Collins in Kingsville in 1941. He was mobilized when the Texas National Guard, 36th Division was called into Federal service. He served throughout World War II in North Africa, Italy, and the European operations. Awarded the Bronze Star in 1945, Ben Jr. returned home to Kingsville. He bought and operated Wilson's True Value Hardware. Ben and Florence had two sons; Ben F. Wilson III in 1947 and Allen Collins Wilson in 1950.
Frank & June Dotterweich Collection
Professional papers, files, and publications from the career of Dr. Frank Dotterweich, who established the Natural Gas Engineering Program at the Texas College of Arts & Industries in 1936. As part of the first of-a-kind program, Dr. Dotterweich published many articles that even today continue to offer foundation research. Included in this collection are copies of most of his publications, some of which are the only copies available, as well as scrapbooks, news clippings, and papers left by his wife, June Dotterweich, who was active in local civic organizations.
J. K. Northway Papers
Dr. J.(James) K.(Kellogg) Northway was a long time veterinarian with the King Ranch at the beginning of the 20th century. Included in the collection he left for the Archives are correspondence, literary productions, photographs, and printed and oversized materials of his early days as a King Ranch veterinarian and his activities.
South Texas Archives All-American Javelina Collection
The collection of 143 photographs of All-American Javelina athletes from Texas A&I University and Texas A&M University-Kingsville, spanning years 1925-2010 was created for a John C. Conner Museum exhibit, "Javelina Pride: Eight Decades of Athletic Tradition," in the fall of 2011. Included are athletes from football, baseball, basketball, tennis, track & field, and golf.
University Archives El Rancho Annual Yearbook Collection
Dismantled copies of annuals that where digitized.
University Archives Collection
The collection includes records from TAMUK since its beginning as South Texas State Normal School.
Charles E. Pulliam Sound Recordings Collection
The Charles E. Pulliam Sound Records Collections consists of 36 78 RPM recordings of popular music during the 1930s through the 1940s. Two of the titles of the recordings include Voice of the Mountain Land by J. R. Thomas and The Clang of the Forge by Paul Rodney.
David More Family Papers
David More immigrated to Canada from Scotland in the late 19th century and to Texas in the early 20th century. He worked on various railroad-building projects and farmed in the area of Driscoll, Texas. The collection contains correspondence, family documents, and photographs.
Genoveva Barrera Leach Collection
This collection includes twenty-six negatives and a few photographs of early 1900 scenes in Premont, Texas. Correspondence concerning the family, schools, and conditions in Premont when wild burros roamed the streets is included along with financial records of Cibolo Ranch where Genoveva Barrera Leach was born and grew up. Leach graduated from Texas College of Arts and Sciences. She taught at Cibolo Ranch, La Copita, and Premont schools. A great reader and local historian she preserved papers and items she donated to South Texas Archives.
Josiah Cox Russell
Collection of publications by Dr. Josiah Cox Russell, a professor of history at Texas A&I University in the 1970s. In 1971 Dr. Russell had been awarded the Prestigious Piper Professor Award from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. His work was primarily on medieval demography.
Olan E. Kruse Collection
Olan E. Kruse came to Texas College of Arts in Industries as an undergraduate and received a Bachelor of Arts in Physics in 1942. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he earned advanced degrees in Physics, taught at Stephen F. Austin College and ultimately returned to Texas A&I as chairman of the Physics Department where he supervised the design and construction of Hill Hall, the Physics Building, served as chairman of the ad hoc committee which established the Faculty Senate and was the founding president of the campus Faculty Senate.
J. R. Manning Collection
Dr. J. R. Manning was elected Head of the Department of Business Administration at the South Texas Teachers College in 1925. Throughout his forty-four year career, from 1925 to 1969, Dr. Manning directed the growth and direction of the Business Administration Department and was actively involved with several business-related student fraternities and clubs. Upon his retirement in 1969, the University named the building that housed the Business Administration Department since 1925 in his honor, Manning Hall. He went on to become Kingsville's mayor for three terms. Dr. J. R. Manning was given the status of Professor Emeritus in 1982 and he was the last surviving member of the original faculty of the South Texas State Teachers College, now Texas A&M University-Kingsville. His papers show his academic achievements and his dedication to the Business Administration Department and the University.
Lon C. Hill Collection
Lon C. (Leonidas Carrington) Hill, Jr. was an early developer in the South Texas region. He was extremely instrumental in the growth and development of Corpus Christi and is known as the pioneer of irrigation in South Texas.
Cynthia Woehl Fulton: Fox-Calhoun Collection
In October of 2017 Cynthia Woehl Fulton donated documents, photographs and memorabilia of her mother's, Jean Calhoun Woehl, time at Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) and of her family who were descendants of Adolf Fuchs, a Lutheran minister, musician, and teacher who emigrated from Hamburg, Germany and settled in Texas around 1835.
Dr. James C. Jernigan Collection
The Dr. James C. Jernigan Collection consists of over 280 photographs from 1914 to his retirement from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) in 1975. The photos, originally in four scrapbooks, illustrate his life growing up in North Texas, his quest for a higher education and his accomplishments as President of a Texas A&I University. Professional documents and correspondence during his service in World War II are included along with newspaper clippings of major events during his professional life.
Daniel Amos Barber Collection
The D.A. Barber collection was donated to the South Texas Archives by Phil McCormick, Barber’s grandson, in 2002. The donation consists of personal and business papers of Daniel Amos Barber who lived in Bee County, later moving his family to Kleberg County. He worked at several occupations throughout his life, first as a grocer, then realtor and lastly as a life insurance agent. There are also papers in the collection that pertain to John Dryder Morgan, Barber's business partner and his son-in-law. The last series of documents are the business papers of Eugene McCormick, the other son-in-law of D. A. Barber and a partner in business.
Dr. Columbus Vandiver Mooney Collection
Dr. Columbus Vandiver Mooney Collection consists of his professional and scholarly papers, correspondence and reports during his time as a Professor of Chemical and Natural Gas Engineering and chair of the Frank H. Dotterweich Committee at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville).
Charles Simons Family Collection
This collection chronicles the World War II experience of Capen Simons, father of Charles Simons, through personal letters, newspaper clippings, official government documents, Western Union telegrams and photographs. The collection covers his activities before the war, flight training, active duty, Capen going MIA, Capen being a POW, and his recollections after the war. Capen Simons is a descendant of Maurice Kavanaugh Simons of the South Texas Archives’ Simons Family Collection.
Pat & Alfred Gross Collection
The collection consists of mostly photographs of Alfred and Patricia Gross' professional and personal lives. They are materials from their estate donated by a great nephew of Alfred Gross, Brian T. Grisham. Dr. Gross was the head of Industrial Technology and a long time Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) faculty member. Pat Gross was the Curriculum director for the Kingsville Independent School District.
Marie Bennet Alsmeyer Collection
The Marie Bennet Alsmeyer Collection is two stories, one about the life of Marie Bennet Alsmeyer, a freshman in the journalism department of Texas College of Arts and Industries in 1941, she left to join the Navy as a Wave after Pearl Harbor. The other story is about Dr. Otis Malvin Montgomery, a journalism professor at Texas College of Arts and Industries who influenced Marie Bennet Alsmeyer and also joined the Navy during World War II. He tells of his experiences in letters he wrote to his daughter, Linda, titled "Who Me, Stories from a Charmed Life." Marie Bennet Alysmeyer tells her story in the published monograph, "The Way of the Waves, Women in the Navy," and "Well Done, Mr. Monty... Carry On! Letters from O. M. Montgomery" by Marie Bennet Alsmeyer. The two became friends in 1941 and remained friends throughout their lives.
Lawrence Elling Family Collection
The collection was given to South Texas Archives from the estate of Lawrence J. Elling, an engineering graduate of Texas A&I. He received his BS in 1946 and an MS in 1953. He worked for Houston Gas and was ultimately Chief Design Engineer for Entex in Houston. The Archives accepted his thesis, and supporting documentation including class term papers, maps, drawings, and other research in support of his thesis. Also accepted were his diploma, certificates and photos of his family which lived in Kingsville, Riviera, and Vattman for most of the first half of the 20th century.
Tom Brookshire Store Photographs
Tom Madison Brookshire moved to Kingsville from Lufkin in 1923. He was a rancher and a farmer and also associated with several Kingsville businesses. These photographs focus on his Brookshire Market on Kleberg Avenue. Brookshire was a veteran of World War I, active worker in the Democratic Party and served as a Kleberg County Judge. He was married to Dixie Brookshire; they had one son, Robert. Tom Brookshire was generous in giving to the city. The Brookshire Pool at the Harvey School Playground and the outdoor pool at Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) were funded by Brookshire. A Scholarship Fund was set up under the Brookshire Foundation which also funded many projects of the university including the Conner Museum. Tom Brookshire died at age 72 and services were held at First Methodist Church of Kingsville.
Carolyn Regan Collection
Carolyn Regan was Carolyn Stromberger when she attended Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) from fall of 1949 to spring of 1954. Carolyn was involved in many activities and clubs and created scrapbooks of her years at college. This collection contains three scrapbooks illustrating her involvement with the students and faculty of Texas College of Arts and Industries during the years of 1949 to 1954.
Dr. Otis Malvin (Monty) Montgomery Papers
Dr. Otis Malvin (Monty) Montgomery was a journalism professor at Texas College of Arts and Industries. This collection is an autobiographical account of his life from 1907 to 1993.
Ladd Family Collection
The Ladd Family Collection consists primarily of personal correspondence between family members, photographs and scrapbook, legal materials, financial materials. Pauline Schostag Ladd (mother) or Robert Boyd Ladd (son) wrote or received the majority of the correspondence. The correspondence takes place mostly during the 20th century. Both Pauline and Boyd were educators, Pauline at the elementary level and Boyd at the university level. The collection also documents most of the educational achievements of the family, and includes many of the diplomas and certificates. Reprocessing occurred in 2018 with the original accession numbers left on individual items and keeping the original order.
Samuel Preston Doughty Family Papers
Samuel Preston Doughty compiled the genealogy records of his family dating back to the 1600’s to the time when they first immigrated to South Carolina. Doughty, a Certified Public Accountant in Corpus Christi, donated his personal family documents, photographs, and newspaper clippings of his professional activities and accomplishments. He was a Texas A&I graduate and involved with the Alumni Association. His book, Our Doughty Families was published in 1969.
Robert and Melba Gafford Family Collection
The family collection of Robert and Melba Gafford begins even before their wedding in March 1952, in Gulfport, Mississippi where Bob met Melba while he was attending graduate training at Keesler AFB. Documents and photographs illustrate their careers and lives in Kingsville, Texas in the retail business, ranching, real estate and service in many civic organizations.
Conner Family Collection
John E. Conner was a member of the first faculty at the South Texas State Teachers College that opened in Kingsville in 1925. He was a chairman of the history department, and later dean of the college. He trained students in history by having them visit historic sites and collect documents throughout South Texas; establishing the Robert J. Kleberg History Club and laying the foundation of the South Texas Archives. He left personal papers, records of the South Texas Historical Association, and the early days of Texas College of Arts & Industries as well as research materials from his work and his study. His son, Dr. William Conner and his daughter-in-law Katherine Smith Conner also gave historical records, and family photographs.
Irma Lerma Rangel Collection
The legislative and personal law collection of Irma Lerma Rangel, the first Mexican American legislator elected to serve in the Texas House of representatives. Representative Rangel served the Forty-ninth and Thirty-seventh legislative districts of Texas for twenty-six years as a legislator. Papers and cases from her law office in Kingsville are included. The collection was given in three accessions one each in: 1989, 1999, and 2003. The collection includes all of her papers from government proceedings, correspondence concerning the bills, and a log with constituent opinions from the 65th legislature to the 78th legislature. Representative Rangel considered her greatest achievements as a legislator, the introduction of House Bill 1755 designed to provide employment and educational programs for mothers on welfare with dependent children; House Bill 1629, the Good Faith Donor Act, designed to exempt retailers and manufacturers from liability when food was donated to the needy and to the Food Banks; House Bill 588 requiring all state colleges and universities to automatically admit all students who graduate in the top ten percent of their high school class and Merging Texas A&I with Texas A&M. She tirelessly promoted education as a way to break the cycle of poverty.
Norman Laird (Brownie) McNeil Music Collection
Professor Norman Laird (Brownie) McNeil was a folklorist, scholar, and educator who studied and collected the ballads and literature of the Mexican people in South Texas. The collection includes correspondence, biographical materials, literary productions, newspaper clippings, photographs, printed materials, and sound recordings of corridos, ballads, and folk songs of Texas and Mexico, as well as articles and manuscripts on curanderos and folk medicine in South Texas.