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North Texas History Center Publishes Early Texas Oral History

The North Texas History Center, the leading source of historical information in North Texas, is pleased to announce the publication of the George Pearis Brown Papers.

“This is an extraordinarily important and unique collection of oral interviews conducted in the early 1930s with a focus on early North Texas pioneers of the 1840 – 1880 period,” said NTHC Curator Bryan Lean. “As far as anyone knows, this is the only systematic collection of oral interviews conducted with early North Texas pioneers. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to learn about mid-19th century Texas.”

George P. Brown was an attorney who came to history late in life. In the early 1930s, he began traveling throughout Collin County interviewing the children of the original pioneers. Brown was always accompanied by his “stenographer, Miss Lovell,” who took dictation as the interviewees spoke. She then transcribed the interviews. Brown used the information to publish several articles in the local press and began to organize the material into a book. He never created a workable manuscript and his papers survived in the form of some 265 pages of typed material.

The collection was edited by Helen Hall and Dr. Donald R. Hoke, the Executive Director of the North Texas History Center. “We tried to stay true to what Brown had done,” said Helen Hall. “We transcribed the originals and made only minor editing changes. What you read is what they said.”

Publication was supported by the Summerfield G. Roberts Foundation that not only funded production but also a Ph.D. graduate student, Houston Mount, from SMU who spent a summer working with the NTHC staff in annotating the work and finding illustrations. In addition to the Summerfield G. Roberts Foundation, other sponsors included Jane Willard, McKinney Office Supply (Gerry Ruschhaupt), and Jane Hudson Samuels.

“Houston Mount did an excellent job in working with our staff and volunteers to improve the manuscript,” said Dr. Hoke. “Without his help, it would have taken another two years to prepare the manuscript for publication.”

The book is heavily illustrated not only from the NTHC collections, but also from various libraries and sources throughout North Texas. “I really like the illustrations,” said Helen Hall. “They add so much flavor to the text and help the reader understand many early tools and methods that are no longer around.”

The book is available at the North Texas History Center (open 7 days per week) in downtown McKinney and on the History Center’s web site at www.northtexashistorycenter.org. Orders may be phoned to the History Center at (972) 542-9457.

For further information:

Donald R. Hoke, Ph.D.
Executive Director
don@northtexashistorycenter.org
(972) 542-9457, ext. 101