DeGolyer Library Archival Collections: A-B

Glenn G. Addington was a Dallas advertising executive who wrote radio, film, and television scripts for Texas clients. His papers mostly contain his scripts and unpublished manuscripts, with some photographs, correspondence, and personal papers.

Claude C. Albritton (1913-1988) was a key figure in the academic development of Southern Methodist University, where he was a professor of geology and an administrator for over five decades. The materials in this collection contain chiefly Albritton’s correspondence with his parents and, occasionally, other people, during his graduate studies at Harvard (1933-1936) and then during his employment with the United States Geological Surveys (1942-1944).

This collection consists of historical materials bearing on the science of surface geochemistry as it is applied to the exploration for oil and gas reserves. The documents in the collection were compiled and organized by two pioneers in the field, Dr. Donald F. Saunders and Dr. Martin J. Davidson. In addition to offprints of journal articles, arranged topically by Dr. Saunders, the collection includes an incomplete run of the Bulletin of the Association of Petroleum Geochemical Explorationists, newsletters of the APGE, key monographs in the field, unpublished research reports, and other materials. The collection is organized by topic into 28 series.

Baldwin Locomotive Works collection is devoted to the largest and most influential manufacturer of steam railroad locomotive engines in the world. This collection includes specifications, engineering drawings, advertising and corporate publications, ledgers, and manuscripts.

The Balsas Valley Company was an American mining company in the state of Guerrero, Mexico during the twentieth century. These records provide a history of an American mining company in Mexico during various political upheavals. In 1961 the Mexican mining industry was nationalized, and in the 1970s foreign mining companies faced even tougher restrictions. This collection includes business records, correspondence, maps, and photographs.

M.M. [Margaret Mary] Basye (1814-1896) writes to her mother Anne [Ann] Thornton in Shelbyville, Illinois about her life in Dallas, Texas and Duck Creek, Texas. Her letter written to her mother in March describes her crops, the economy, and family matters. Her letter in December was written after her husband's death, and describes in detail her son Newton's illness. She writes her mother that she plans to sell Sallie, an enslaved woman, and plant "as much corn and oats as one man can tend" in order to pay all debts. Included is a cabinet card photograph of her mother, Ann Thornton. Part of the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas image collection.

James Bell was a surveyor for the Texas and Pacific Railroad. This collection contains his letters written in 1873-1890 to his family in Michigan while he was in Dallas, Texas and Arizona. He describes gold prospecting and surveying trips in Montague County, Native Americans in Texas, and Arizona. A friend of James wrote Mary Bell, his sister, a full account of James' last days in Arizona. Most of this collection contains letters to Mary Bell regarding her request for his pension after his death. Letters from Mary Bell's brother, nephew, and niece are included. Part of the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas image collection.

Rudolph Leopold Biesele served as a faculty member in the History Department at the University of Texas from 1931-1957. He also taught at Corsicana and Waco High Schools (1910-1924), the University of Alabama (1929), and Louisiana Polytechnic Institute (1930). Biesele is known for his book, The History of German Settlements in Texas 1831-1861 (1930). His papers are arranged in five series: written works (1929-1952), correspondence (1926-1959), research (1820-1952), student work (1933-1940), and maps and photographs (1910-1956).

Darlene Prouse Birkes was a Texas author, historian, and historical preservationist. She was the older sister to Ruth Prouse Morgan who was the Southern Methodist University Provost from 1986-1993. Birkes papers document Prouse and Prcesang family history and genealogy, as well as her involvement with Gray County, Texas history projects. Materials include: resumes, scrapbooks, Gray county history, VHS, DVD, and photographs.

John Insley Blair was a businessman who invested heavily in railroads, eventually becoming president of sixteen railroad companies and a director of many more. This collection consists of a large number of letters written to or by Blair and his business associates; and business-related documents, including tax records, bills of lading, invoices, receipts, checks, proposals for railroad legislation, legal documents, petitions, lists of shareholders, meeting minutes, railroad passes, documents relating to the establishment of new railroad lines and companies, newspaper clippings, monthly earnings statements, payroll vouchers, railroad construction estimates, employee wage receipts, account statements, contracts, reports, distance tables, ledger books, and a memorandum book.

May Blessington was a stenographer and writer affiliated with Paramount and United Artists, and she also worked for Triangle Films. Her papers include manuscripts, letters, photographs, and papers related to her husband Charles, who served in World War II. Also included are Dallas screenwriter True T. Thompson's letters to May written on his True Films letterhead, as well as his photographs and newspaper clippings. Part of the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas image collection.

Karen Blumenthal (1959-1920) was a financial journalist and author from Dallas, Texas. She worked for The Dallas Morning News as a reporter before joining The Wall Street Journal's Dallas bureau in 1984. After working for various news outlets for over 30 years, she became a full-time young-adult author in 2016. Her books for teens tackled complicated issues, and focused on politically “hot-button” topics such as gun control, sex discrimination, and abortion rights; she also wrote biographies of modern historical figures: Sam Walton, Steve Jobs, and Hillary Clinton. Her papers comprise research files, manuscript drafts, columns, newspaper clippings, press, reviews, interviews, correspondence, and her reference library.

Lawrence and Doris Budner spent over twenty years amassing a collection of books, periodicals, pamphlets, photographs, and ephemera related to the twenty-sixth president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. They began donating their collection to Southern Methodist University in the 1980s. In addition to periodicals from the era of Roosevelt’s presidency, the collection contains records from the Budners’ activities in the Theodore Roosevelt Association, as well as from exhibitions and events on Roosevelt. Also related is the Budners’ collections of Roosevelt books and photographs; these items are not listed here, but are also open for research use.

This collection includes manuscripts of Alpaca Revisited, Missions of Old Texas, and The Last Southerner, later retitled Sweet Dream. Burke was commissioned by H.L. Hunt to rewrite Alpaca, and correspondence regarding payment is included. Included are drafts and source materials for Missions of Old Texas; correspondence and drafts of Sweet Dream for American and British editions; and photographs and two pen and ink drawings of Texas missions.