The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, July 1943 - April, 1944 Page: 163
456 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Texas Collection
of previous study, the part of the work already finished, and
the time estimated to bring the work to completion. Also a
statement should be made of the further contemplated expenses
and the loss in salary that might be involved in dropping normal
duties and devoting full time to completion of a manuscript.
All communications and inquiries should be addressed: Com-
mittee on Grants-in-Aid, The Texas State Historical Association,
Box 2145, University Station, Austin 12, Texas.
Dr. Eugene C. Barker is the present chairman of the Com-
mittee, with President L. W. Kemp and Vice-President Herbert
P. Gambrell as the other members. The Committee has recently
made two additional grants: (1) John McCarty, Amarillo, Texas,
for the completion of a manuscript on "Old Tascosa, Cowboy
Capital of the Panhandle," and (2) J. W. Williams, Wichita
Falls, Texas, for the completion of a manuscript on "The Early
Trails of West Texas."
Four times within the last year Charles Messer Stow, "the
Quester" of The New York Sun, has carried on his page articles
relating to the work of the Association. Mr. Stow wrote recently,
"I seem to have developed a great interest in Texas in the last
few years." His latest Texas contribution from The Sun of Sep-
tember 3, 1943, deals with the Handbook:
HISTORIANS SEE NO GLITTER IN GENERALITIES
SINCE THEIR JOB DEMANDS AUTHENTIC DATES
Word comes that work is going ahead on The Handbook of Texas,
a two-volume compilation suggested by the Texas State Historical Asso-
ciation. Like the Texas it describes, it has got everything, the Quester
hears.
The historical association has been busily digging up topics to be dis-
cussed in the handbook. The Quester has no inkling of the subjects to
be included, but he would make bold to offer one suggestion, and if it
has already been considered, emphasis will do no harm.
He hopes the phrase "many years ago" will not appear between the
handbook's covers. He would also warn against "about a hundred years
ago." Both of these are the despair of the seeker for information and
the infuriation of the historian.
What the casual user of the handbook will desire and what the historian
will demand is a concise, accurate and well organized statement of facts
about Texas, and exact dates.
Writers of the nineteenth century were careless about their dates.
"Several years ago . . ." is a red rag to a seeker for information. How
many are several? How accurate is the writer's knowledge or how
credible is the old inhabitant who gives him facts? Through a score of
years spent in writing about antiques the Quester has ended each year
with less faith in "family tradition." Now he is inclined to distrust it
entirely unless it is backed up with written data exactly dated.
There was an old lady who wanted, when her time grew short, to leave
everything in good order, for she owned many valuable antiques. So she163
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 47, July 1943 - April, 1944, periodical, 1944; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146054/m1/181/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.