The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 280

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A History of Rusk County, Texas. By Dorman H. Winfrey. Waco
(Texian Press), 1961. Pp. xiii+ 18o. Illustrations, maps, bib-
liography, appendices, index. $5.95.
Texas history would reap great benefits if every county in the
state could produce a Dorman Winfrey. Too much local history
is hidden away because no native collects and records the activ-
ities of his area. Dorman H. Winfrey, Archivist of the University
of Texas Library, is known for editing the Texas Indian Papers,
1825-z859.
The importance of regional history and Winfrey's contribution
is superbly expressed by H. Bailey Carroll in his introduction to
this book.
Local history is not only living history-it is basic history. Gen-
eralizations at the census level in the broad field of American history
are frequently difficult to make and sometimes meaningless. The
same limitations are not met in local history where the subject is
much more intimate and more readily comprehended.
Dorman H. Winfrey actually began accumulating background on
the history of Rusk County, Texas, in his boyhood for he lived in
the county, tramped its woods and streams, attended its schools, and
met cultured and refined neighbors who had roots sunk deep in the
Rusk County heritage and way of life.
Young Dorman's footsteps were turned by various members of the
Watkins family the way they should have been and he early entered
the Junior Historian work and the Texas State Historical Associa-
tion. He won state awards for the excellence of his writings.
After Army service, he put in about a decade in editorial services
in the office of the Association where he worked on the Junior
Historian, the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, the Handbook of
Texas, and other books. During this time he also graduated from
the University of Texas and entered its graduate school. When the
time came to choose formally a subject for a Master's thesis, he made
a choice that had actually been made years before. He chose to write
a history of Rusk County, an account of his own native soil and the
people who had molded the region and had, in turn, been shaped
by it.
Winfrey's background and his graduate training combined to

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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/314/ocr/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

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