The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989 Page: 42
682 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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42 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
time, however, he would lift his head and rephrase questions other
members of the committee asked. I had planned to write my disserta-
tion on a Chinese topic, but Dr. William R. Braisted was on leave and I
wanted to start work immediately. I had learned from a member of the
committee that Webb had indeed been pleased with my oral exami-
nation, so I decided to ask him to direct my dissertation on a New Mex-
ico topic.
I turned in chapters of my dissertation as I completed them, but they
disappeared into the pile of papers atop Webb's desk. He expressed sat-
isfaction with my progress whenever I appeared with another chapter,
but he declared that he wanted to see the entire manuscript before
making suggestions. In the meantime the second reader, Dr. Barnes F.
Lathrop, was covering each page of my efforts with red notes suggest-
ing changes in style, wording, and sentence structure. As for Webb, I
feared that he would never find my manuscript among the other papers
on his desk.
Several days after submitting the last chapter, I approached Webb
with some apprehension to ask if he liked my dissertation. After a few
minutes of groping, much to my delight he pulled out all of the chap-
ters with his suggestions on a few margins, but he had written on the
last chapter "cut this chapter in half." I followed his suggestions, and
then asked if he thought one of the other members of the committee
might refuse to accept it. With jaw set, he fixed me with a stare and
stated, "They wouldn't dare!" And none did.
Before I left the University of Texas to return to Midwestern Uni-
versity (where I had taught for two years before starting my doctoral
program), Webb called me in. He felt strongly that I should consider
moving to Arlington State College (now the University of Texas at Ar-
lington), a two-year college that was growing and needed history teach-
ers. His close friend, Dr. Bert Barksdale, chaired the history depart-
ment. Webb stated that he believed the school would develop into a
four-year institution and that I should get in on the ground floor. I was
to follow that advice.
After teaching one year at Midwestern, I accepted Dr. Barksdale's in-
vitation in the summer of 1955 to join his department. James H. Boren,
the son of a former president of Midwestern University and a doctoral
student in history at the University at the same time as I, had become a
close friend and was now teaching at Arlington College. I also discov-
ered that two other fellow graduate students at the University had
heeded Webb's advice to cast their lot with the Arlington school.
In 1958, following his election as president of the American Histori-
cal Association, Webb addressed the Association on the need for closer
cooperation between university historians and history teachers in the
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 92, July 1988 - April, 1989, periodical, 1989; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101212/m1/69/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.