Manuscript Collections 


Manuscript Collections Page 2 of 4.


Please contact the archives for any questions about the collections. Not all the collections have been completely processed.  Links in titles indicate Finding Aids or Inventories for that collection.   For an alphabetical listing of the manuscript collections click here.

MC021 - Jack Cato Papers

Photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence, a WNET radio program transcript, printed materials, a scrapbook, recorded materials and a caricature document the professional and political careers of Jack Cato (1953 – 2006), reporter and Harris County Treasurer. Ninety-seven digital images record Cato's from his high school years as a puppeteer in an early children’s television through his tenure as Harris County Treasurer.

MC022 - Walter W. Whitson Papers

A group photograph, "The 1915 Charity Organization," includes Walter Whitson, a long time Harris County Social Worker. 

MC023 - Houston Post Newspaper Collection (1880 - 1967)

Originally owned by the Houston Public Library and donated by the Clayton Library Friends, 636 bound volumes of the Houston Post (1880 - 1967) document local, state and international events.  The earliest volumes are not available for research due to their condition.  Please contact the archives for access to specific years.

MC024 - Robert A. Eckels Audio-Visual Collection (1985 - 2007)

Photoprints, photonegatives, digital images, and videos provide visual documentation of the political career of Robert A. Eckels.  Of interest is his tenure in the Texas Legislature, political campaigns, Hurricane Katrina response, and documentation of Harris County government. Additional materials  including correspondence, campaign records, ephemera, legislative records, scrapbooks, and artifacts are unprocessed but may be made available to researchers. For records created in his capacity as county judge of Harris County, please see County Records.

MC025 - William G. Sharman Papers

Correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and artifacts document the life of life-long Harris County employee and Precinct 3 Commissioner (1921 - 1932) William G. Sharman. Of particular importance are 3 photographs recording the 1910 courthouse prior to the 1952 renovations and correspondence discussing the county road camps.

MC026 - Jefferson Davis Hospital Auxiliary Records

Fifty-six items including requests for reimbursement, membership lists, correspondence, minutes and printed materials document the work of the Jefferson Davis Hospital Auxiliary from 1972 – 1976.

MC027 - Gene Zaboroski Papers

Printed materials including campaign posters, a brochure, a handbill, copies of 2 commissions, newspaper articles, and political advertisements, document three campaigns of Gene Zaboroski for Justice of the Peace of Precinct 6 and later Precinct 4-1 in Harris County, Texas, 1966 - 1974. Two newspaper articles discuss the Juergen Store (1974) and Zaboroski’s donation to Harris County Precinct 3 (2004) of family-owned land, buildings, and artifacts which would become the foundation for Cypress Top Historical Park.

MC028 - A. E. Amerman Collection

Photographs, political ephemera, speeches, two funeral memorial books, and a scrapbook document the life of A. E. (Almeron Earl) Amerman, Harris County Judge (1907 – 1913) and Houston Mayor (1918 – 1921).  Of particular interest are the 150 glass plate and 72 nitrate negatives taken by A. E. Amerman and his brother C. H. C. Amerman ca. 1895 and 1910.  All the nitrate negatives have been digitized and the condition of the images vary from poor to good documenting Niagra Falls, the Hudson River, New York City, and locations and people with family interests.

MC030 - Carol Vance Scrapbook Collection

Seven scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, printed materials, correspondence, and photographs, document the career and interests of Carol S. Vance, Harris County District Attorney (1966-1979).

MC031 - Roy F. Campbell Scrapbook Collection (Digital)

Correspondence, election materials, photographs and newspaper clippings document the life and career of Roy Forsythe Campbell from 1890 – 1957. Of particular interest are letters announcing his admission to the bar including his exam results, the oath of office taken in 1925 as judge of the 80th District Court, a 1925 election poster, a push card from 1918, and photographs of Campbell and his family. A photograph taken in January 1940 of the 80th District Court shows the interior of a courtroom in the Harris County Courthouse prior to renovation in 1952. Records in this collection were selected and digitized from a scrapbook created by Helen Elizabeth Campbell Gose, Roy F. Campbell’s daughter.

MC032 - William Look Papers

Records (.5 cubic feet) documenting the business and land holdings of the William Look Family 1892 – 1955.  Records include but are not limited to warranty deeds, abstracts of title, leases, World War II Selective service correspondence, plans for property improvements, Extension Service plans for dairy barns, and tax receipts.

MC033 - Houston Post Police Beat Records (1976 - 1979)

Two log books (1976 – 1979) and 9 spiral notebooks of clippings (1976 – 1979) document the process and work of reporters from the Houston Post assigned to the police beat during the years 1976 – 1979.  The log books record daily events by shift.  Entries include notes about which officers were working a case, decisions made by editors, and story assignments.  Filled with clippings from the Houston Post, the notebooks provided reference materials for the police reporters and included the articles written by them.

MC034 - H. M. Hobbs Scrapbook Collection (1910 - 1975)

Approximately 255 scrapbooks (1910 – 1975) document the interests of H. M. (Harold Maxwell) Hobbs and the local, national, and international newspaper articles available in Houston, Texas. His scrapbooks are often compiled by subject then chronologically.  For example, a scrapbook contains advertisements for automobiles in the 1950s, another pro-Wrestling stories, a third America’s entry into World War II, and a series of obituaries (with an index).  A rudimentary subject index list his interests from the spines of the scrapbooks.  He also compiled Obituaries and Wedding books.

MC035 - Books and Serials

The Harris County Archives uses a web OPAC, Library Thing, to catalog many of our donated books and serials. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/harriscountyarchives

MC036 - Jefferson Davis Hospital

 The Caduceus of 1950, a Jefferson Davis School of Nursing yearbook, and a list of residents and interns (1924 – 1948) with some annotations document the educational functions of the county hospital.

MC037 - Beatrice Massey Papers

Two scrapbooks (1936 – 1938), correspondence, clippings (1983 – 1988), and a photograph of C. D. Massey document the tenure of Beatrice Massey, the first woman commissioner in Harris County (1935 – 1938).  Appointed to fulfill her husband’s term, C. D. Massey (1927 – 1935), after he died in office, Massey successfully ran for election in Precinct 2. She was not successful on her second attempt.

MC038 - Samuel Ashe Photograph Collection

A photographic portrait of Samuel Ashe (1839 – 1919) was discovered in the Valley, donated to the Heritage Society, and who then donated it to the Harris County Archives. Ashe was a decorated Terry’s Texas Ranger and served Harris County as a justice of the peace, sheriff, tax collector, and district criminal court clerk between 1870 and 1897.  The photograph was likely taken between 1910 and 1919 but had significant damage.  Here is the portrait before and after conservation work.

MC039 - William Tautenhahn Papers

One photograph and 5 County Commissioners certificates (1933 - 1941) document William Tautenhahn's 10 year tenure as commissioner for Precinct 3 (1933 - 1942).

MC040 - Marks Ranch Headquarters Collection

 A written history, photographs, negatives, and sketch plans from the Texas Historical Commission document of the Marks Ranch, Headquarters and Grounds located west of Houston in Harris County.