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Discovering the Southwest Metroplex

Meacham Field, Love Field, and the DFW Regional Airport

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Aerial view of the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport

Aerial view of the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection

Dallas and Fort Worth share such a strong rivalry, it’s somewhat of a surprise they’ve been able to work together on some of the most exciting infrastructure projects in North Texas. Take the DFW Regional Airport, for example. Both cities operated their own airports quite successfully for a time–Meacham Field in Fort Worth and Love Field in Dallas. However, these airports were not ready to accommodate the larger airliners that began arriving in the 1930s, nor the expected rise in population.

Construction workers at the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport site

Construction workers at the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport site, from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection

Fort Worth and Dallas each sought to make necessary renovations by asking the Civil Aeronautics Administration for financial assistance, but the CAA was preoccupied with finding an airfield in DFW for army use. Love Field was expanded through a bond program, and Meacham Field was transitioned into the Greater Fort Worth International Airport, or Amon Carter Field.

While both cities had suggested at different times to cooperate with each other in developing a shared airport, the timing was never right. In 1961, however, it became clear that the federal government wanted Dallas and Fort Worth to work together in establishing a new airport, rather than continuing to renovate the outdated ones. From this, the Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Airport Board was formed, and plans began to materialize.

From "The Southwest Metroplex: A Megalopolis with Leg Room"

From “The Southwest Metroplex: A Megalopolis with Leg Room,” from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection

The Airport Board drafted plans for a world-class airport hub that would have several design breakthroughs, making it a comfortable place for passengers and a profitable place for airlines. Plans included a high-speed spine roadway with localized spin-off parking, which would allow passengers to quickly arrive at the destination appropriate to their needs, whether that be picking up a passenger, dropping off a passenger, or parking and going into the building. The terminals were also planned to be circular in shape, which would allow for better airplane access and visibility. The airport would also implement a computerized multi-terminal transit system for passengers and baggage.

Interior of "The Southwest Metroplex: A Megalopolis with Leg Room"

Interior of “The Southwest Metroplex: A Megalopolis with Leg Room,” from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection

When the airport opened in 1974, there were still plans to continue expanding well into the 21st century. This was due to the anticipated population growth in the Southwest Metroplex, which this pamphlet describes as a “megalopolis with leg room.” Today, the airport covers nearly 27 square miles, operates 165 gates, 7 runways, and plays host to approximately 174,000 passengers a day.

The Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection offers more information about the planning and construction of the DFW Airport. Texas Metro was founded largely to promote the airport and the Southwest Metroplex as a whole. The collection also contains materials from other urban planning and infrastructure projects in North Texas.
-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

How Cool is the State Fair of Texas?

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An aerial view of the State Fair of Texas

An aerial view of the 1966 State Fair of Texas

 

The 2015 State Fair of Texas has been up and running for a full 6 days now, and hopes are high to beat the record-breaking numbers it saw last year. A welcome reprieve from the hot lines at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, families are excited for the cool weather of this autumn attraction. Students in Fort Worth ISD even get a day off with a free ticket to the fair. Other cool things this year include a Smoky Bacon Margarita, Deep Fried Alligator’s Egg Nest, an auto show, and a chili and BBQ cookoff. There’s little excuse to miss this Texas tradition, even bad weather. This news clip from the KXAS/NBC-5 News Collection shows 1967 fair-goers enjoying the festivities, despite a torrent of rain and the parade getting cancelled.

What else is cool about the State Fair of Texas?

    • It’s old. The Fair traces itself all the way back to 1886, when a grand Fourth of July celebration was held at a newly purchased, 80-acre exhibition site in East Dallas. It was called the State Fair of Dallas, and attracted 100,000 visitors during its first year.
    • Celebrities, of a historical nature, have visited the Fair. Among them are Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Booker T. Washington, Vice-President Richard Nixon, President William Taft, President Franklin Roosevelt, and King Olav V of Norway. Elvis Presley also made a big splash in 1956 with his appearance at the Cotton Bowl, as can be seen by this news script from the KXAS/NBC-5 News Collection. (Any piece of literature that begins with the line, “Elvis, Elvis, where’s the Pelvis?” deserves a look!)
    • Military use. Camp Dick, an aviation boot camp, was established in 1918, effectively cancelling that year’s fair. The military again leased buildings in Fair Park for military purposes during the Second World War, leaving Texas without its fair from 1942 to 1946
    • Corny dogs. Though we can’t thank Neil and Carl Fletcher for inventing them, they started
      Patrons wait to ride the Ferris wheel at the State Fair

      Patrons wait to ride the Skydiver ride at the State Fair, 1966

      marketing them as a fast food product at Fair Park in 1946–a delicious beginning to the Fair’s love affair with all things fried (even Coca Cola, which was first fried up in 2006)!

    • The Ferris Wheel. Known as the Texas Star, this is certainly a crowd favorite. It can entertain 264 passengers at a time, and was the largest Ferris Wheel in North America from 1985 until 2013, when it was outdone by Mexico’s Star of Puebla.
    • The Cotton Bowl. Construction on the Cotton Bowl began in 1936 to replace a wooden stadium already in place at Fair Park. Seating was later added to the Cotton Bowl twice to support the infamous annual football rivalry between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma. In 1960, the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Texans played their first seasons here.
    • Big Tex. A renovated giant Santa Claus from the city of Kerens, Big Tex has welcomed visitors to the State Fair since 1952. He has endured many makeovers, including moving to a completely new body in 2012, after the original burst into flames. He was 60 years old.
Handlers and their calves wait for judging at the State Fair

Handlers and their calves wait for judging at the 1966 State Fair

Texans have enjoyed the State Fair in Dallas, and all the cool things that come with the Fair, for over a century. The Fair has served the city and the rest of the state well for just as long. Operating as a non-profit, the Fair gives back to citizens by supporting agriculture, offering student scholarships, and working to keep Texas beautiful. The photographs in this post are all from the Texas Metro Magazine collection, which contains advertisements, articles, photographs, and correspondence about the booming economy and exciting culture of the Southwest Metroplex.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

Texas Instruments Takes Us to the Moon

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Texas Instruments Press Release

Texas Instruments Press Release from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection, UNT Special Collections

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins embarked on a journey to the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. (Or, if you are one of the many who believe the moon mission to be a hoax, they either pretended to go to the moon while simply orbiting the Earth several times, or they actually took off to a film studio). Whatever really happened, Dallas-headquartered Texas Instruments played an exciting role in developing technology necessary for the trip, as well as guidelines for what sorts of experiments should be conducted while on the lunar surface.

The Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection contains a variety of materials pertaining to the role of Texas Instruments in the Apollo 11 mission. This press release from Texas Instruments provides details about a contract from NASA to “investigate the optimum scientific measurements, experiments and geologic studies to be made by the first astronauts to land on the moon.” The contract provided $194,000 for a 10-month program out of TI’s Environmental Sciences branch.

Texas Instruments Press Release, Page 2

Texas Instruments Press Release, Page 2 from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection, UNT Special Collections.

During this 10-month period, Texas Instruments considered the most valuable methods astronauts could use to make discoveries about the moon. Some of the issues NASA was concerned with included lunar trafficability, hazards to life support systems, origins of the moon, and whether water deposits existed.

Texas Instruments was founded in 1951 after the company Geophysical Service reorganized. Fred Agnich, later a member of the Texas House of Representatives, served as president from 1956 to 1961. TI has had its hands in the space industry, semiconductors, defence electronics, military computers, missiles, and even consumer electronics like clocks and handheld calculators. In 1997, TI sold its defense business to Raytheon.

Much more information about the role of Texas Instruments in the Apollo 11 mission and other endeavors in outer space can be found in the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine collection. The Texas Metro was founded in large part to market the growing southwest metroplex and the DFW airport. The collection includes 183 linear feet of articles and photographs from the magazine, as well as other grey literature.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

Fort Worth’s Aviation Industry

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An Assembly Line at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth

An Assembly Line at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine Collection, UNT Special Collections.

Everyone everywhere was hit hard by the depression in the 1930s, but some areas were more resilient than others. Fort Worth was one of those cities that enjoyed a profitable comeback, and it was largely due to the area’s burgeoning aviation industry as the country prepared to enter the second world war. Aviation technology remained an important aspect of the Tarrant County economy after the war, and it continues to thrive today.

Jet Research Center Advertisement

Jet Research Center Advertisement from the Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine Collection, UNT Special Collections.

By the end of WWII, Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (later known as Convair, then General Dynamics) set up camp in Fort Worth and provided jobs to some 35,000 workers. Bell Helicopter arrived in the early 1950s and was also a major employer. Other, smaller corporations, like the Jet Research Center in Arlington brought scientists and researchers to the metroplex, as well.

Carswell Air Force Base (known as Tarrant Field from 1932 to 1948) brought military men from around the country to Fort Worth, where they were trained in the flight of heavy bombing aircraft during the war. The base provided Airmen and equipment during World War II, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf War. Over 4,000 people were trained at Carswell in the use of B-24 Liberators. These B-24s were produced in a factory adjacent to the base, providing even more economic opportunity. Today, Lockheed Martin owns the Fort Worth Convair factory, as well as the factory adjacent to Carswell.

After the war, Carswell became one of the new Strategic Air Command stations in the country. Strategic Air Command was responsible for a network of military bases, its land-based bomber aircraft, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, and all of the atomic weapons owned by the United States. The Command was dismantled in 1992.

Census records show a mushrooming population throughout Tarrant County since the start of WWII, and Carswell Air Force Base, as well as jobs provided by other aviation companies, were a large factor in that boom. Between 1930 and 1950, the population jumped from 197,553 to 361,253. By 1960, 538,495 residents lived in Fort Worth, and that number jumped 67% in 1970 to a whopping 716,317 inhabitants. It is in large part due to this population increase that the southwest metroplex developed many of its infrastructure projects, including highways connecting Fort Worth with Dallas and the mid-cities. Today, these aviation organizations continue to be leading employers in Fort Worth.

General Dynamics Advertisement

General Dynamics Advertisement from the Lester Strother Metro Magazine Collection, UNT Special Collections.

In 1991, Carswell was recommended for closure by the U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and it was officially closed on September 30, 1993. This news clip from the KXAS-NBC 5 News Collection shows a piece of the inactivation ceremony of the 9th Bomb Squadron in 1992. Today, the base is a Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, where commands for the Navy Reserve, National Guard, Air Force, and Marine Corps are located.

The Lester Strother Texas Metro Magazine Records collection offers a variety of information about the aviation industry in Fort Worth, including photographs, correspondence, and articles from Bell Helicopter and General Dynamics. Texas Metro Magazine was founded to support the growing DFW Metroplex and International Airport, and the collection includes 183 linear feet of articles and photographs from the magazine, as well as other grey literature.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

The Statler-Hilton Dallas

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Helicopter on Statler-Hilton Helipad

[Helix Air Transports : Helicopter on top of Building (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth66941), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Municipal Archives, Dallas, Texas.

 

In 1956, Dallas gained what was hailed as the finest hotel of modern times: the Statler-Hilton, located downtown at 1914 Commerce Street. The building boasted amenities unheard of at the time, including elevator music, custom 21” Westinghouse television sets, as well as conference rooms and ballrooms on the lower levels. The hotel had one-thousand rooms and twenty stories.

[News Script: Statler]

WBAP-TV (Television station : Fort Worth, Tex.). [News Script: Statler], January 16, 1956; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc498599/), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections, Denton, Texas.

The hotel was inspired by Conrad Hilton and constructed by William Tabler, and it was the nation’s first glass-and-metal building. The grand structure brought celebrities from around the world to Dallas, soon making it the south’s “convention city.” This news story from the KXAS-NBC-5 News Collection gives an overview of the opening of the Statler-Hilton.

Dallas was able to grow on many levels due to the establishment of this new downtown landmark. Comedian George Gobel headlined an opening event for the hotel, which raised a large sum of money for the Southwestern Medical Foundation. The hotel became home to the city’s first heliport soon after its opening debut, making Dallas the fifth city in the country to offer taxi service via helicopter. You can read more about the heliport in this news story from the KXAS-NBC 5 Collection. In the years following the hotel’s opening, celebrities, politicians, and military men came to stay, entertain, and raise funds for charity in Dallas.

The Statler-Hilton was later renamed the Dallas Grand Hotel, and it has been vacant since 2001. Today, it is under renovation. Next year, it is expected to reopen with a total of 219 luxury residences and 161 hotel rooms. The Old Dallas Central Library is also part of the renovation project, which will be named the Statler Hotel and Residences. A “black box” music venue is planned for the hotel’s lower level. Additional amenities included in the renovation are four restaurants, a lounge, boutique shopping, and plenty of office and meeting space.

The fate of the Statler-Hilton hotel in Dallas hung in the air for over a decade before the renovation project began. With promises to restore the hotel and surrounding areas of downtown Dallas to its earlier era of luxury and wealth, the Statler Hotel and Residences may be one of the most important projects in Dallas in recent years. More information about the hotel, and the many events hosted there, can be found in the KXAS-NBC 5 News Collection, which offers news scripts, clips, and log books from 1956 onward.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

A Look Into Tomorrow for Waxahachie

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Location Map of Proposed Superconducting Super Collider

Location Map, Dallas-Fort Worth SSC Authority, Superconducting Super Collider Proposal Collection, UNT Special Collections.

 

In the 1980s, Waxahachie, Texas was an exciting place to be. Located in Ennis County, the city attracted many companies to set up headquarters within its limits, including TXI, Chaparral Steel, Owens-Corning Fiberglass, Chevron-Gulf Chemical, Foster Forbes Glass, Tyler Refrigeration, and Leggett and Platt. The city’s population was around 15,000, and its numbers standed to gain a great deal. In 1987, plans for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) were approved by President Reagan, and the DFW area was chosen for the site. Waxahachie (and Dallas-Fort Worth as a whole) prepared for a massive influx of project workers, scientists, and other SSC personnel and their families.

The Superconducting Super Collider Proposal Collection provides proposals from the various Texas cities who hoped to provide a home for the project. The winning proposal from the Dallas-Fort Worth SSC Authority (entitled “A Look into Tomorrow: The Plan to Bring the Superconducting Super Collider to Texas”) is a feature of this collection. Information about Ellis County and the rest of the Southwest Metroplex can be found in the proposal, which spans hundreds of pages. Other information includes financial incentives to workers on the project, geology and tunneling information, regional resources, environmental factors, regional conditions, and utilities.

It was obvious that North Texas wanted the SSC badly. The reasons are clear. The project would provide an enormous economic boost, and it would establish DFW as one of the world’s leading scientific research communities. The proposal details a fundraising plan to help offset costs of the collider, which had an end goal of $1.5 million. Several local companies had already guaranteed large sums of money to the cause, including Dallas Biomedical Corps, University of Texas at Dallas’ Engineering School, University of Texas at Arlington’s Advanced Robotics Research Institute, the Dallas Art Museum, and the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The metroplex also promised incentives for employees of the Super Collider, such as discounted moving help and airfare, reduced interest rates on loans, and free child care services.

For more information about the fate of the Superconducting Super Collider project in Waxahachie, take a look at this earlier blog post. The Superconducting Super Collider Proposal Collection includes the proposals from all the Texas cities, including Dallas-Fort Worth and other regions. The project is a great example of DFW’s capabilities and aspirations. The fate of the project also provides insight into the political environment and its impact on scientific research.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

 

The Odd Fellows of North Texas

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Map of Friendship Towers Apartments

Map of Friendship Towers Apartments, North Central Texas Council of Governments Planning Group Records Collection, UNT Special Collections.

Throughout the 1970’s, North Texas worked to establish affordable housing for the low-income, elderly, and disabled. The Department of Housing and Urban Development provided aid and support for these projects. One such housing complex is the Friendship Towers building, an apartment complex for the retired and disabled, which was chartered and maintained by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Located in Corsicana, the unit planned for 150 units within a single apartment building. A library and craft room were some of the amenities enjoyed by residents. Friendship Towers II was later built near the original building to expand the society’s outreach.

Fraternal organizations have had great influence on the establishment of towns and cities across the country, and North Texas is no different. Many of the places we see or people we meet have been touched by societies like the Odd Fellows in some way. North Texas has enjoyed the philanthropic efforts of this organization for well over a century. The three links that make up Odd Fellowship are Friendship, Love, and Truth. The organization has four goals that center their philanthropy efforts: visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan.

Officers of Stanfield Lodge in Denton

Stanfield Lodge, Photograph, 1888; (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth14786/ : accessed September 02, 2015), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library, Denton, Texas.

In the city of Corsicana in Navarro County, the society constructed a children’s home in 1885, which was later transformed into a small community for orphaned children, widows, and the elderly. Around the same time, the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows worked together to provide public education in the city of Denton. These organizations provided funds and school buildings for students to learn, as well as other types of aid. The photograph on the left shows seven officers of Denton’s Stanfield Lodge in 1888. Pictured are: W. F. Egan, W. R. Dudley, J. W. Cook, C. H. Clements, S. M. Bradley, J. R. McCormick, and W. H. Sprawls.

The Odd Fellows also established cemeteries in North Texas, such as the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Denton, where the society assumed the burden of burial costs. Before life insurance emerged as an economical venture, funeral costs were a heavy weight on widows’ shoulders, so the Odd Fellows stepped in to help with the expense. Many of the families left behind by the deceased found homes under the care of the organization, like the one in Corsicana.

Today, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows maintains great influence in North Texas. They continue to operate low-income housing for the elderly in Corsicana at both Friendship Towers buildings. They also operate a nursing home and rehabilitation facility in Ennis. The Order makes great effort to supply aid to those in need through disaster relief service and raising funds for charity.

More information about the Odd Fellows’ work in constructing Friendship Towers can be found in the North Central Texas Council of Governments Planning Group Records Collection. The collection spans the years 1967 to 1980, and includes planning documents, handwritten notes, city-submitted project proposals, and cassette recordings of several meetings. To learn more about the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and their influence on cities in North Texas, the Portal to Texas History is a great place to start.

 
-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

TMPA and the Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station

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Architectural Rendering of the Gibbons Creek Power Project

Architectural Rendering of the Gibbons Creek Power Project, taken from Gibbons Creek Power Project: Socioeconomic Effects and Community Programs, Tom Harpool Collection, UNT Special Collections.

Sign for Site of Gibbons Creek S. E. S.

Sign for Site of Gibbons Creek S. E. S. , taken from Gibbons Creek Power Project: Socioeconomic Effects and Community Programs, Tom Harpool Collection, UNT Special Collections.

Where would our world be without electricity? Well, we’d certainly be in the dark! It’s hard to believe now that people used to thrive with nothing but sunshine and candlelight. Cities in North Texas began to get electricity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but its usage was very limited. In Greenville, for example, electrical use was only available in the evenings from dark until 10:00 p.m., and also on Tuesdays for women to use their electric irons.

To offset the costly business of supplying power to thousands of residents living in a city, the Texas Municipal Power Pool was formed in 1963. Original members were Greenville, Garland, and Bryan. Denton joined in 1969. The pool used the transmission systems of the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, which allowed the cities to share a back up facility and reserve power rather than building and maintaining four individual systems. This cooperative saved millions of dollars and provided better service to residents, and the Pool became the Texas Municipal Power Agency in 1975.

As the cities of Denton, Greenville, Garland, and Bryan grew, so did their need for electricity. They needed a new energy source, and they found it at Gibbons Creek in Carlos, a small town near Bryan and College Station in Grimes County. The TMPA planned to mine 20,000 acres for lignite and to construct a plant site, cooling reservoir, and railroad spur (which would consume 7,200 acres).

Many residents in Grimes County protested the lignite mining project. The county expected a loss in tax revenues, because the tax-exempt TMPA would acquire such a large amount of land. However, the loss in revenue was quite small (less than one percent of the annual budget), and the construction of the plant would bring new residents and a drive to better housing and community services, which would cause overall improvement of economic conditions.

Map of Gibbons Creek Power Plant Location

Map of Gibbons Creek Power Plant Location, taken from The Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station: A Project of the TMPA, Tom Harpool Collection, UNT Special Collections.

The Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station was in use from 1982 to 1996, when the mine was closed. The TMPA now imports its coal from Wyoming. The project site has been in a state of reclamation since its closure, and much of it has been returned to pasture, ponds, and woodlands. The methods we use for energy production and their environmental impact are an engaging topic to study today, and our 20th century decisions on this matter will surely be an important and fascinating subject for scholars in the coming decades.

The Tom Harpool Collection in UNT’s Special Collections department offers literature about the Texas Municipal Power Agency and its projects, as well as papers pertaining to the City of Denton, the Denton Utility Board, Clean Power Production and Water Conservation.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

Making Medical Education Accessible at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

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Area Plan for Student Housing at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

In 1966, the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas opened its doors to patients in the Southwest Metroplex. As a teaching hospital, it also welcomed medical students with open arms. It had especially close ties with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, located about ten miles away.

By 1971, Dallas Presbyterian offered several educational programs for residents, including psychiatry, ophthalmology, generalHUD Application, Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas surgery, urology, plastic surgery, and neurology. However, they weren’t receiving the number of residents that they hoped due to the high cost of living in the area. To remedy this, they applied for a HUD grant through the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) to construct housing for married residents and interns. Page one of the application for assistance is pictured.

The plan was to construct five apartment buildings, each of which would have six units. There would be six one-bedroom homes, eighteen two-bedroom homes, and six three-bedroom homes (which would accommodate the estimated 60% of residents with children). The total cost was estimated to be nearly $659,000.  An area plan, as well as designs for the first floor, are pictured here. Architects on the project were James Patterson, David L. Alexander, and J. Bailey Brooks.

The NCTCOG collection contains correspondence between Mr. Rod Bell, Administrator of the Presbyterian Hospital, and Charles Sprague, M. D. and Dean of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. As the correspondence shows, UT Southwestern planned on increasing its incoming class size to 200 students by 1975, and the school desired an educational partnership with the hospital. In the views of both parties, construction of housing was vital to a successful partnership. Other hospitals UT Southwestern planned on working with included Parkland Memorial and the Veterans Administration Hospital.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments Planning Group Records collection spans the years 1967 to 1980. The collection includes grey literature from the organization, which served as a liaison between cities requiring aid and the state and federal organizations that were offering it. Items included in the collection are planning documents, handwritten notes, city-submitted project proposals, and cassette recordings of several meetings. To learn more details about the collection’s offerings, view the finding aid here.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

Sam Tasby Dies at 93

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Today, students in Dallas are heading back to school, many to Sam Tasby Middle. The school’s namesake, Sam Tasby, passed away on Sunday, August 16 from prostate cancer. He was 93 years old. Though Tasby was not one to enjoy the spotlight, he initiated a lawsuit 45 years ago that would forever change education in the city of Dallas.

In 1970, Tasby filed a court case against the DISD superintendent, Dr. Nolan Estes, because his sons weren’t allowed to attend a “white school” near their home in Arlington Park. Instead, they had to attend a “black school” further away. This was 16 years after the Brown v. Board ruling in 1954. This lawsuit initiated years of integration efforts in the district, including bussing programs and the creation of magnet schools. To learn more about those programs, take a look at this post about the Brenda Fields Dallas Schools Desegregation Collection.

Early on, Tasby found himself the subject of considerable harassment. However, as the years passed, he was beginning to be seen as a prominent, yet quiet and humble, activist in the world of equal education. In 2010, Sam Tasby Middle School was named in his honor. Dallas citizens should take a moment to reflect on how times have changed since that lawsuit started in 1970.

The materials in the Brenda Fields Dallas Schools Desegregation Collection offer a view of the changing educational landscape in North Texas following the Tasby v. Estes case. Court reports and six VHS recordings of NAACP public meetings concerning parental involvement in schools are exciting inclusions of this collection.

 

-by Alexandra Traxinger Schütz

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