Dedman College is the oldest and largest academic unit at Southern Methodist University. Renamed in 1981 for philanthropist Robert H. Dedman, Sr., Dedman College encompasses the humanities, social sciences, as well as the natural and mathematical sciences. This collection comprises the records of Dedman College from its earliest times to 2001. The contents include general information about Dedman College, departmental records (listed alphabetically), and records of various endowed lectures, symposiums, and forums.
This collection contains records related to the Southern Methodist University School of Law, renamed the Dedman School of Law in 2001. The SMU Law School was not established until 1925, but some records date from 1915-1916. The collection ends around 2001. Specific types of material include information on scholarships, student organizations, student and alumni directories, information on faculty members, course catalogs, facts and figures on the SMU Law School and other admissions-related information, and pamphlets and news releases on special lectures and conferences held at the school.
This collection holds records from the Southern Methodist University School of Engineering. Founded in 1925, the school was renamed the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering for alumnus Bobby Lyle in 2008. Within the collection are records pertaining to school administration such as committee materials, directories, correspondence and other information from former engineering students, information on specific engineering programs, printed admissions material, and reports with information on accreditation and general school development and facts/figures.
William M. Finnin served as chaplain at Southern Methodist University from 1980 until 2008. These administrative records include meeting minutes, yearly reports, bound Sunday service worship bulletins, and a few photographs.
Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon is an organization formed in 1970 to "provide opportunities through which associates may become acquainted with each other and with the resources of the university library system; to share enthusiasm for learning, books, prints, and related materials, and to establish Southern Methodist University’s libraries as centers of cultural activities enriching the whole community." Since 1970, Colophon has provided the SMU libraries with various gifts and financial donations and its membership has enjoyed many social activities associated with being a member. This collection includes business records, records that document the building of Colophon collections, records of the group’s activities, and other records.
Contains papers from Southern Methodist University history professor Herbert Gambrell. Most of the material relates to the writing of Gambrell’s 1948 biography of Texas Republic President Anson Jones. The collection also contains other writings from Dr. Gambrell, including his recollections on various parts of SMU history. Some personal and academic correspondence is also included.
This collection contains transcripts, news releases, and news clippings from the 1958 controversy over editor of the Daily Worker and communist John Gates’ invitation to speak at a student-sponsored event at Southern Methodist University. The Gates invitation and forum received much coverage in the local and state press, examples of which are in this collection. Transcripts from the event—opening comments and the question and answer period—are also included.
The records of the graduate school faculty of Southern Methodist University (SMU) relate mostly to faculty members who worked in the humanities and sciences, although the entire collection predates the naming of Dedman College in 1981. The collection includes reports for the graduate school, correspondence, as well as other types of documents. The collection is small and provides only a snapshot into the Graduate School Faculty’s activities for the inclusive years.
Dr. Paul Hardin III served as the sixth president of Southern Methodist University for two turbulent years, 1972-1974. He was a native of North Carolina, a lawyer and scholar, and an active Methodist. These papers (mostly collected by others in the SMU community) relate to the presidential search that resulted in the appointment of Paul Hardin as president of SMU, his inauguration, and his resignation. Types of material in the collection include search committee records, correspondence, programs, memoranda, newspaper and magazine articles, and university press releases.
Ima Herron taught English at Southern Methodist University from 1927 to 1931 and from 1934 to 1966. She was the first woman at SMU to achieve the rank of full professor, and received the “Woman of Achievement Award” from SMU’s Alumni Association (1965). The bulk of the collection consists of materials relating to Herron’s teaching and writing. These include tests, assignments, syllabi, lecture notes from the courses Herron taught, and four textbooks she used in her classes; as well as multiple drafts of Herron’s two books: The Small Town in American Literature (1939) and The Small Town in American Drama (1969).
Lorn Howard joined Southern Methodist University as professor of electrical engineering in 1959. Over the course of his 29 years of active tenure, Dr. Howard founded the Biomedical Engineering Program, established the University's first Electron Microscopy and the Thin Films Laboratories, served as Chief Marshal to the University for 13 years, and was the University carillonneur. Topics of the papers include the engineering program at SMU, electron microscopy, and academic governance. This collection includes correspondence, subject and reading files, and grant proposals.
Robert Stewart Hyer served as Southern Methodist University's first president, from 1911 until 1920. This collection contains biographical information about Hyer, awards and honors, correspondence, writings and addresses by and about Hyer, and information on Hyer's vision and plan for the SMU campus.
Kidd-Key College and Conservatory began in the late 1860s as the Sherman Male and Female High School, supported by the North Texas Methodist Conference. In 1888, Lucy Ann Thornton Kidd-Key became president of the school and tirelessly promoted it as a bastion of fine arts education for genteel ladies. Included in this collection are records of the college from August 1876, shortly before the school was chartered as North Texas Female College, to its closing in 1935, as well as biographical and historical information and alumnae records extending to 1989. SMU "adopted" Kidd-Key alumnae in 1936. These materials include student and faculty records, correspondence, writings, clippings, minutes, scrapbooks, yearbooks, catalogs, photographs, artifacts, transcripts, and financial ledgers. Material for the early years is extremely sparse. The bulk of material dates from 1888 to the mid 1920s.
Finding aids are inventories that are the primary way to discover collection contents in archival boxes.
