Special Collections Division the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Vol. XIII * No. 1 * Fall '99

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

Star-Telegram building, Fort Worth, Texas, c. 1920.

The culmination of several months’ work by staff archivists and archival students has resulted in descriptive finding guides for a variety of archival, manuscript, and photograph collections preserved in Special Collections. 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 for the convenience of researchers. The completion of the processing of our collections makes them easier to access and research and provides the staff with a valuable resource in assisting users. Unprocessed collections without finding guides are almost always available for research, however. Exceptions would include materials restricted by the donor, extremely large collections without any type of inventory, or materials that require preservation and repair before being handled. If any of the following collections would aid your current research, please request the finding guide by name and collection number on the occasion of your visit.

A photocopy of any finding guide in Special Collections may also be requested by mail or telephone for a small photocopy and mailing fee. Please contact:

Shirley Rodnitzky
Archivist
University of Texas at Arlington
University Libraries, Special Collections Division
Box 19497
Arlington, Texas 76019-0497
Metro: 817-272-3393; Fax 817-272-3360; e-mail rodnitzky@uta.edu

Communications Workers of America, Local 6201, Fort Worth, Texas, Records (AR424). The eleven boxes contain 4.6 linear ft. of materials, 1939-1996, but date primarily from 1951-1990. The local was originally organized as the Southwestern Telephone Workers Union, Local 3028 circa 1937. In 1947, the members voted to join the newly organized Communications Workers of America, a large national union dealing with major companies. The majority of the members of Local 6201 were employed by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company or the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). The records of the local reflect the activities of the union on the local and district levels as well as participation on the national level. They include correspondence, minutes, financial records, legal documents, and a variety of printed materials on labor and management topics.

Detail of letterhead for Geo. E. Dilley & Son Founders and Machinists.

Geo. E. Dilley & Son Founders and Machinists Records (AR420). Geo. E. Dilley and Son was established in 1873, in Palestine, Texas, when the Missouri Pacific Railroad began construction there. The founder, George M. Dilley, established the company to provide gray iron and brass castings to the railroad. After his death his son and business partner, George E. Dilley, changed the company’s name to Geo. E. Dilley & Son Founders and Machinists and made his son, Clarence V. Dilley, his partner. Although originally established to provide services and equipment for the railroad, the business expanded to provide machinery for lumber, cotton ginning, and oil field companies. The foundry ceased operation in 1940.

June 1, 1899, bill found in the Dilley Records.

The records consist of 2.7 linear ft. of business and personal correspondence, financial and legal documents, and printed materials in seven boxes, 1881-1931. The bulk of records are 1907-1930. Also included is the personal correspondence of George E. Dilley with friends, family, merchants, and community organizations, 1917-1930. Advertising materials, brochures, and catalogs describe equipment made by the foundry and companies for whom the Dilleys served as sales agents.

Star-Telegram linotype operators, c. 1921.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection (AR406). The Fort Worth Star was founded in 1906 by a group of newsmen and investors that included Col. Louis J. Wortham, Amon G. Carter, Sr., D. C. McCaleb, A. G. Dawson, and Col. Paul Waples. By 1908, the Star was in financial difficulty so Carter and Worth bought out their competitor, the Telegram, which dated back to several Fort Worth newspapers that began around 1879. The new paper, known as the Star-Telegram, began publication January 1, 1909. In 1985, and through subsequent donations, the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries acquired the Star-Telegram’s archives of photographs, negatives, clippings, maps, and index card files, 1849-1990. The largest body of materials in the collection dates from the 1920s to the 1970s. There are 179,000 photographic prints used by the newspaper to document local and national news stories, some 512,000 clippings of news events, and 400,000 film negatives including, 1,118 rare glass negatives related to north central Texas history.

Finding guides are available for six series of photographs and printed materials as follows:

• Photographs of people, 1861-1987, bulk 1920s-1979;
• Photographs of sports figures, teams, and stadiums, 1888-1979;
• Photographs of subjects, 1920s-1980s;
• Photographs of early Texas events and people, 1849-1922, bulk 1870-1919;
• Oversize photographs which contain subjects, sports, people, and early Texas scenes, 1879-1986, bulk 1920s-1970s;
• Printed materials which include a vertical file the bulk of which documents World War II subjects, 1889-1986, but includes architectural drawings, a Fort Worth centennial issue, and a scrapbook; and newspaper clippings, 1920s-1960s.

In addition to the finding guides:

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram film negatives, 1920-1990, are accessed through an alphabetical index card filing system of names, organizations, and subjects.
• A collection of 18,000 index cards describes Texas servicemen who fought in World War II
• A 170,000 card index of oil wells in Texas fields, 1944 to the early 1970s, contains information on oil wells and their ownership.
• The glass negatives, 1915-1935, are restricted until funding can be acquired to make prints and copy negatives.
• A collection of 101 oversize sectional maps showing the location of oil wells in Texas fields, 1921-1981, were cataloged individually and added to the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library.

U. S. Mail coach that ran between Plainview and Lubbock, Texas, 1907.
From the Star-Telegram Collection.

A. C. Greene autographing copies of his book The Santa Clause Bank Robbery, August 1972.

A. C. Greene Papers (AR409). A. C. Greene, born in Abilene, Texas, in 1923, was a journalist, historian, teacher, writer, businessman, musician, radio and television talk show host, and family man. Now retired but still writing books, Greene spent many years as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Abilene and Dallas before leaving journalism to become an independent author. Often called the "Dean of Texas Letters," Greene is a fellow of both the Texas State Historical Association and the Texas Institute of Letters and is one of the most respected authorities on Texas in the nation. His twenty-eight published works focus on local and regional history, criticism, and fiction. Greene’s papers are contained in ninety-two boxes totaling more than forty-four linear feet. The papers reflect his career and family, 1848-1997.

A large variety of materials, which document A. C. Greene’s diverse interests, comprise the collection. Correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, biographical information, financial and legal records, scrapbooks, photographs, awards and certificates, reviews, essays, posters, clippings, newspapers, maps, research materials and notes, sound and video recordings, and memorabilia are included. Autobiographical profiles, articles about Greene, and transcribed oral history interviews reflect the man and his career. Book manuscripts, essays, articles, and other writings by Greene as well as manuscripts by other authors and an extensive vertical file on numerous Texas topics, especially Dallas, are also included in the collection. Papers created by Greene’s grandmother, Maude E. Craighead-Cole-Tileston, a well known poet, novelist, and librarian in Abilene, Texas, and the work of Greene’s first wife, Betty Dozier, as a columnist for the Abilene Reporter-News, are preserved in his collection.

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