10. Texas in the Twentieth Century: Part A (1901-1930)
(Back to Texas in the Twentieth Century Table of Contents)
H. P. N. Gammel. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1938. 31 vols.
Austin: Gammel Printing Company, 1898-1939. One can browse and search.
There is an analytical index to the first twelve volumes. Volumes 11-27
have material pertaining to the time period covered by this list.
Link to links to volumes 1-20
Link to Volume 21
Link to Volume 22
Link to Volume 23
Link to Volume 24
Link to Volume 25
Link to Volume 26
Link to Volume 27
J. Vance Lewis. Out of the Ditch, a True Story of an Ex-slave. 1910. Author, born a slave in Louisiana, made his way north after the Civil War, became an attorney, practiced law in Illinois, then returned south in 1900, this time to Houston to take up the practice of law there. Tells of professional discrimination because of his race and recounts some of the cases in which he was involved. [Texas material begins on p. 72.] Link to document
Charlie Jeffries. Reminiscences of experiences in the Sour Lake oil field in 1903. [Probably written in the 1940s.] Explains why he abandoned cotton farming and went to work in the oil field in early October, 1903. Much detail about the life and work of himself and others in the field. Link to document
Adkins & Green to W. W. T. Lanham, February 6, 1905. Attorneys at Columbus requests through Governor Lanham that the state pay them for successful prosecution of Gregorio Cortez for murdering the sheriff of Gonzales County. Link to document
Texas Democratic Party. State Democratic Platform. Adopted, August 13, 1906. [Scroll down to the document, which continues for several pages.] Link to document
John Bartlett to S. W. T. Lanham, August 17, 1906. Cameron County judge reports to Governor Lanham on a recent incident in which he alleges that African-American U.S. Army troops "had attacked the city." Asks the governor's help in getting the black soldiers replaced with white ones. Link to document
T. M. Campbell. Message of Governor T. M. Campbell to the Thirtieth Legislature of Texas. January 16, 1907. The governor lays out his legislative program. Link to document
T. M. Campbell. Proclamation of Governor Campbell, calling the Thirtieth Texas Legislature into special session, April 12, 1907. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
T. M. Campbell. Message of Governor T. M. Campbell to the First Called Session of the Thirtieth Legislature. April 16, 1907. Link to document
T. M. Campbell. Message of Governor T. M. Campbell to the First Called Session of the Thirtieth Legislature. April 22, 1907. Link to document
J. R. Pringle to A. M. Barron, June 15, 1907. Officer of a cedar timber firm writes the secretary of the state penitentiary board, inquiring about the possibility of leasing state convicts for use as cedar choppers. Link to document
R. L. Sanders to T. M. Campbell, March 11, 1908. Wheeler County resident touts to Governor Campbell his invention that would supposedly pump water from the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate High Plains farmlands. Link to document
Quanah Parker to Thomas Campbell, July 22, 1909. Comanche leader asks Governor Campbell for protection so that he can come to Texas from the Indian Territory to rebury the body of his mother, Cynthia Ann Parker. Link to document
Clarence Owsley to O. B. Colquitt, September 19, 1910. Editor of the Fort Worth Record informs Governor Colquitt of efforts by certain prohibitionists to cause problems for the Texas Democratic Party. Link to document
C. B. Randell to Erminia Folsom, November 25, 1910. Texas congressman writes to Texas woman's suffrage leader expressing opposition to giving women the right to vote, especially because of "the race question." Link to document
Oscar B. Colquitt. Message of Governor O. B. Colquitt to the Thirty-second Legislature of Texas. January 18, 1911. The governor lays out his legislative program. Link to document
Adina de Zavala to O. B. Colquitt, August 25, 1911. President of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas commends Governor Colquitt for his determination to restore the Alamo chapel in San Antonio. Notes forces opposing this. Attaches postcard and newspaper clipping. Link to document
Erminia Folsom to Eleanor Brackenridge, November 9, 1911 [telegram]. Author, leader of suffragists in Austin, asks recipient to stop by on her way home from Waco to San Antonio, to talk about "Suffrage Work." (Evidently, the specific work was establishing a suffrage club in San Antonio.) Link to document
Erminia Folsom to Annette Finnigan, December 23, 1912. Austin woman's suffrage leader urges that a state convention of suffragists meet very soon. Mentions other matters relating to the movement. Link to document
[James E. Ferguson]. Campaign material in support of Ferguson's bid for the governorship of Texas, 1914. [Three pieces; the first incomplete.] Link to documents
Elijah L. Shettles to Alexander Dienst, July 18, 1914. Author, a Methodist minister, expresses in some detail his dismay that his friend and fellow prohibitionist is supporting James Ferguson. [Dienst was a dentist and Texas historian.] Link to document
E. L. Dohoney, "Suffrage and Prohibition." [December 1914.] Article submitted to the Dallas Morning News for publication. Author urges that Texas supporters of woman's suffrage and prohibition meet to devise strategies to achieve both reforms in the state. Indicates some of the problems involved. Author was a long-time supporter of both movements. [The text of the article is part of a latter to Erminia Folsom, December 20, 1914.] Link to document
Falls County Prohibition Committee. Open letter to local citizens, July 5, 1915. Mentions that over 800 local people had signed a petition to the county commissioners court asking that open saloons be banned. Emphasized that this is a local movement. Link to document
United States. Supreme Court. Decision in the case of Houston Railway vs. United States, [1916]. Deals with alleged discriminatory freight rates. [Somewhat excerpted.] Link to document
Arthur Zimmermann to ______ von Eckhardt, January, 1917. This is the famous "Zimmermann Telegram," sent by the German foreign minister to the German minister to Mexico. In it Germany offered to allow Mexico to re-conquer Texas as a reward for entering World War I on the side of the Central Powers. Link to document
Jacob McComb. "Extremes" [poem], [March? 1918]. Member of the Texas House of Representative expresses by means of a poem why he voted against giving Texas women the right to vote in primary elections. [The measure passed the House by a vote of 84 to 34.] Link to document
WPA life histories from Texas. These documents, made available by the Library of Congress, are mostly first-person accounts of life in Texas collected during the Great Depression. Subjects include pioneer reminiscences (including those of immigrants from Europe), cowboy and ranching reminiscences and experiences of African Americans and Hispanics. There is some discussion of Indians, among other matters. There are 445 titles. (To see all of them, select "List All Texas Titles.") Link to documents
W. P. Hobby to M. M. Crane, February 9, 1918. Governor Hobby asks former attorney-general Crane if the governor can justify approving a statute prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Suggests possible political ramifications for the gubernatorial campaign of that year. Link to document
W. P. Hobby to S. B. Cooper, March 25, 1918. In a letter to his father-in-law, Governor Hobby comments favorably on the recent woman's suffrage law passed by the Texas Legislature. Link to document
Campaign material in opposition to James E. Ferguson, 1918. [April or later, 1918]. A reprinting by the William P. Hobby campaign of an editorial in the Cleburne Morning Review, April 26, 1918. Link to document
J. Frank Norfleet. Norfleet: The Actual Experiences of a Texas Rancher's 30,000-Mile Transcontinental Chase after Five Confidence Men. [Published in 1924.] Deals with events in 1919-1923. The author, a rancher in the Hale Center area of the Panhandle, was swindled out of $45,000 cash in Fort Worth in 1919. Link to document
W. P. Hobby. Initial Messages of Governor W. P. Hobby to the Thirty-Sixth Legislature, State of Texas, January 14, 1919 and January 22, 1919. Link to document
Texas Equal Suffrage Association. Broadside: "Handicapped," [sometime before May 14, 1919]. Makes the obvious point that those who cannot vote are handicapped politically. Urges males to work and vote for the suffrage amendment on May 14. Link to document
D. C. Morris to D. E. Woods, November 6, 1920. A deputy supervisor of the Oil & Gas Department of the Texas Railroad Commission writes from Breckenridge, Texas, to another person with the same title in Austin with information about activities on a typical day in the Breckenridge oil field, which was booming at that time. Link to document
Pat M. Neff. Messages of Pat. M. Neff, Governor of Texas to the Thirty-seventh Legislature. 1921. This compilation includes messages to the Legislature about proposed legislation, messages explaining why he is approving and vetoing certain bills, plus his inaugural address, January 18, and a speech on the necessity for deep harbors on the coast of Texas at a banquet in his honor at Corpus Christi on April 18. Link to documents
James Wilson Moffett, annotator. Gammel's Rule's for the Courts of Texas. The subtitle is Rules for the Courts of Texas, Adopted by Order of the Supreme Court, October 8, 1892, as Amended by Order of the Supreme Court, June 24, 1895, November 8, 1897, December 22, 1898, February 7, 1901, December 23, 1901, March 20, 1902, March 15, 1906, November 22, 1911 (Effective January 1, 1912), and June 25, 1913 (Effective November 15, 1912), and June 25, 1913 (Effective July 1, 1913), and June 21, 1921 (Effective September 1, 1921. (1922) Includes rules for the various state, district, and county courts, plus rules for admittance to the bar. Link to document
Pat M. Neff. Speeches Delivered by Pat M. Neff, Governor of Texas, Discussing Certain Contemplated Legislation. Period covered: January 1922-January 1923. Subjects covered: need for a new state constitution, education, road building, taxation, industry, supremacy of the law, the penitentiary system, and flood control. The last speech is Neff's second inaugural address. [Scroll down to the see the title page.] Link to documents
Warren G. Harding to Pat M. Neff, May 18, 1922. Telegram. President Harding asks Governor Neff to bring to Texans' attention the free Civilian Military Training Camps to be conducted that summer. Link to document
Pat M. Neff to the Texas Legislature, May 1, 1923. Governor Neff, in this message to a special session of the Legislature, urges lawmakers to pass a bill to establish "a system of parks and camping places throughout the State." Link to document
Texas League of Women Voters. Resolutions passed by the Texas League of Women Voters at its annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, October 22-26, 1923. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Jessie Daniel Ames. Report to the Texas League of Women Voters, [December?], 1923. League president recounts achievements and activities of the organization during its first five years (1919-1923). Link to document
Anti-Ferguson political cartoon during the campaign of governor of Texas. 1924. Link to document
P. O. Ray to Jessie Daniel Ames, August 20, 1924. Northwestern University political science professor asks the president of the Texas League of Women Voters for her views on the candidacy of Miriam A. Ferguson for the office of governor of Texas. Link to document.
Jessie Daniel Ames to P. O. Ray, August 30, 1924. President of the Texas League of Women Voters explains to a Northwestern University political science professor why she supported Miriam A. Ferguson in the second Democratic primary. Details. Link to document
Jessie Daniel Ames to P. O. Ray, September 17, 1924. President of the Texas League of Women Voters writes to a Northwestern University political science professor, reporting that the dean of the Law School at the University of Texas has resigned that post to run for governor as a Republican against Democratic candidate Miriam A. Ferguson. Ames is not sure that his election would be a good thing for Texas but has problems with Ferguson's candidacy as well. Is critical of the recent Democratic convention in Austin. Link to document
J. H. Morehouse. Daily reports of a conservation agent of the Texas Railroad Commission, September 23-30, 1924. These documents show the author traveling through several counties in southeastern Texas inspecting oil fields and conferring with persons associated with various oil companies. Link to documents
Pat M. Neff. Speech about the new Texas state parks system. [1925]. [The speech has as its heading, "Taken from the BATTLES OF PEACE by Pat M. Neff." The date was penciled in on the first page of the typescript. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission site refers to the material as a speech.] The former governor provides a rationale for state parks, summarizes what he and the State Parks Board had done during the previous year to establish a parks system, and mentions recommendations he made to the Legislature regarding new parks. Link to document
Miriam A. Ferguson. Pardon proclamation for Jim Hunter, February 27, 1925. [Example of hundreds that Governor Ferguson issued during her first administration.] [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Miriam A. Ferguson. Proclamation of Child Health Day, April 7, 1925. Child Health Day, May 1, was evidently already an established observance in the state and/or nation. Governor Ferguson addresses herself first to the children of Texas, then to parents and teachers. Link to document
Texas. Adjutant General's Office. Enlistment, oath of service, and description for entry into Texas Ranger force for Will Rogers, February 16, 1926. Rogers enlisted as a "special" Ranger. Link to document
Jessie Daniel Ames. Texas woman's suffrage leader assesses the contributions of women to the political scene in Texas, c. 1928. Link to document
Roxana Petroleum Corporation to the Texas Railroad Commission, May 24, 1928. Asks for increased regulation in the Hendrick pool in Winkler County because of overproduction. Link to document
T. M. Burgess to Dan Moody, July 3, 1928. California resident regrets learning that Governor Moody plans to stick by Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith, in spite of the latter's anti-prohibition stance, etc. Link to document
League of United Latin American Citizens. Statement of Aims and Purposes. 1929. LULAC was organized in Corpus Christi in 1929 as a merger of three earlier Texas organizations. [Scroll down to the document.] Link to document
Frank Hamer to Dan Moody, May 13, 1930. Texas Ranger captain reports to Governor Moody on the recent race riot in Sherman. Link to document
Golden West Petroleum Company. Petition to the Texas Railroad Commission, June [?], 1930. Alleges that three oil companies in the Salt Flat Oil Field in Caldwell County have acted in a discriminatory manner against the petitioner. Asks for a hearing before the Commission. Link to document
* * * * * * * * * * *