Special Collections Division the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Vol. XIV * No. 1 * Spring 2000

Seek and Ye Shall Find an Aid
By Shirley R. Rodnitzky

The culmination of several months’ work by archival students has resulted in descriptive finding aids for three manuscript collections preserved in the Special Collections Division: the W. K. Gordon, Sr. Papers, the Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers, and the Maclin Robertson, Jr. Family Papers. Information about each collection was compiled from a variety of sources, and a summary of the content and organizational structure is provided in each guide. Completion of the processing of our collections makes them easier to use and provides the staff with a valuable resource to assist users. Unprocessed collections, however, are almost always available for research. Exceptions include materials restricted by the donor, materials that require repair or preservation treatment, or extremely large collections for which there is no comprehensive inventory.

If any of the following collections would aid your current research, please request the finding aid by name and number when you visit the library. The finding aids described here and in all future articles will be available on the Internet, linked to the Web version of The Compass Rose from the Special Collections Division homepage at http://libraries.uta.edu/SpecColl

For those without internet access, a photocopy of any finding aid in Special Collections may be requested by mail or telephone for a small photocopy and mailing fee. Please contact:

Shirley Rodnitzky, Archivist
UTA Libraries, Special Collections Division
Box 19497
Arlington, TX 76019-0497
Metro: 817-272-3393; Fax 817-272-3360
E-mail: rodnitzky@uta.edu

W. K. Gordon, Sr. Papers (AR421), 6 boxes (2.1 linear feet)

W. K. Gordon, Sr. (1862-1949), a surveyor and civil engineer, came to Texas in 1889 to survey a rail route. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position as a civil and mining engineer for the Texas and Pacific Coal Company in Thurber, later renamed Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company. He soon rose to general manager and at the time of his death he was chairman of the board of directors with sixty years of company service. Gordon is credited with guiding the company’s transition from coal mining to oil production and was instrumental in the discovery of the Ranger oil field in 1917.

In addition to personal papers, the W. K. Gordon, Sr. Papers include business correspondence and records, reports, agreements, oil and coal field logs and notes, and maps, 1888-1986. The bulk of the materials relate to Gordon’s role in the operation of the Texas and Pacific Coal and Oil Company and its impact on Ranger and Thurber, Texas, 1888-1922. Also included is the correspondence of W. K. Gordon, Jr. with others regarding his father and the role he played in Thurber’s history.

Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers (AR423), 5 boxes (1.25 linear feet)

Frances Sanger Mossiker (1906-1985) was an award winning Dallas author best known for historical nonfiction. She was the granddaughter of Alexander Sanger, an early Dallas settler and civic leader and one of the founders of retail merchants Sanger Brothers. Mossiker began her career as a book reviewer for the Dallas Morning News in the 1930s. When WFAA radio began broadcasts, she hosted a book review program and later a daily program, "Woman’s World" for KGKO in Fort Worth. Her first book, The Queen’s Necklace, was recognized best nonfiction book of the year in 1961 by the Texas Institute of Letters.

The family papers, 1887-1985, which include the Sanger, Beekman, and Mossiker families, were collected and preserved by Mossiker. The bulk of the collection consists of postcards, travel books, and photographs of family European travels, 1910-1930. There are also letters, newspaper clippings, a travel journal and souvenirs, family portraits, photos of the Sanger home in Dallas, and a copy of Mossiker’s will. Two newspaper articles, 1969 and 1981, feature interviews with Frances Mossiker about her life and career.

Maclin Robertson, Jr. Family Papers (AR422), 2 boxes (.7 linear feet)

Maclin Robertson, Jr. (1895-1953), born in Salado, Texas, was a prominent Texas cattleman and a great-grandson of Texas empresario Sterling Clack Robertson. The empresario's son, Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson, founded Salado and Salado College. Robertson, a veteran of World War I, was also associated with the West Production Company in Houston. His wife, Nora Ann Enloe, was a descendant of a Tyler County, Texas, pioneer family.

Correspondence, photographs, postcards, newspaper clippings, genealogical materials, histories of selected areas of East Texas, and artifacts, 1895-1989, comprise the collection. Genealogical materials describe the Robertson, Curlee, Enloe, and Goode families. Local histories describe Tyler County; the Tyler County Court House; Woodville and Doucette, Texas. Robertson’s participation in World War I is reflected in artifacts and a graphic containing the roster of the Headquarters Company, 132nd F.A., 61st Brigade, 36th Division, formerly the First Texas Cavalry. The artifacts include Dutch wooden shoes, baby shoes, a handkerchief embroidered "Souvenir de France," and a World War I combat helmet. A centennial issue of the Temple Daily News, April 7, 1936, was received with the family papers.

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