The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 478

eas CollectioH
H. BAILEY CARROLL
T HE death of Leslie Waggener, Jr., on January 1, 1951,
was a staggering loss to the Association, to the Univer-
sity of Texas, and to the state. Since 1946 he had served
as chairman of the Association's Ways and Means Committee.
On April 29g, of last year, he was named Honorary Life President
of the Association. He was also a patron and an honorary life
member. More than any other person he was responsible for the
present financial health and well-being of the Association.
From the Board of Regents of the University and from other
sources has come the request that I make a statement concerning
Leslie Waggener's work for and contributions to the Association.
The statement follows:
LESLIE WAGGENER, JR.
I first met the late Leslie Waggener in 1940 when I was calling
upon various members of the Texas State Historical Association. I
am sure that I was especially attracted to him because of the "Buck"
Dunton picture, "The Texan" which hung in his office over his desk
in the Republic National Bank of Dallas. The picture led to a dis-
cussion of "things of a Texan character," and I found Leslie Waggener
devoted to the state, to things of a cultural nature, and to the Uni-
versity of Texas.
Shortly after Waggener's resignation as a Regent of the University,
I began a discussion with him in which I asked him "for the good of
Texas and on behalf of the Texas heritage" to assume the chairmanship
of a Ways and Means Committee for the Association in the course of
which he would solicit contributions for the creation of a publication
fund.
The monies to be collected were to be used only for the publication
of Texas books. The weight of my argument to him was that the
Association had need of some intelligent business interest in its wel-
fare. His first reply was, "You know my interest in good books and
my high regard for the Association, but I have never solicited even
so much as $1.oo contribution to the Red Cross in my whole life."
I explained that the need was not for a professional solicitor but for
a broad-gauged citizen who had the confidence and respect of the