Texas Supreme Court advisory
Contact:
Osler McCarthy, staff attorney for public information
512.463.1441 or click for email
Bill Kroger, co-chair, Supreme Court
Historical Records Task Force
713.229.1736 or bill.kroger@bakerbotts.com
For Tuesday, August 10, 2010
TASK FORCE SURVEY FINDS ‘TREASURE TROVE’
OF STATE COURTS RECORDS
A comprehensive survey of historical court records across the state has
confirmed that Texas courts contain a treasure trove of historical documents,
many of them critical records of antebellum life and information about notable
Texans such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin.
The survey was conducted by the Texas Supreme Court Historical Records Task
Force. More than 400 forms were distributed to district and county clerks, with
278 responding to the request for information.
“For the first time, we have current information on what is in these archives
and their condition,” said task force co-chairman Bill Kroger, a trial partner
at Baker Botts law firm in Houston. “The survey
responses also confirm that these records are of historical importance with
many dating back at least to the Republic of Texas.”
Mark Lambert, deputy commissioner for archives and records with the General
Land Office, is co-chair of the task force.
“The task force’s systematic approach and the yield from its survey proves why it is critical to preserve these records for the
people of Texas,” Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson said. “This history,
brought to life, should be available for all generations and not sentenced to
decay.”
The list of documents reported to the task force from district and county
clerks include:
¶ information about Houston, Austin, the Kiowa Chief Santanta,
John Wesley Hardin, Charles Goodnight, Judge Roy Bean, and other famous Texans;
¶ historically important information about African-Americans;
¶ information about the first railroads, early banks, the first oil discoveries
and wildcatters, the development of ports, ship channels and canals and the
creation of the first hospital districts; and
¶ details about wars, epidemics and the booms and busts of the 19th and early
20th centuries.
The survey responses also provided details on how many records are at risk of
being lost, stolen or destroyed through time, the elements and pests.
“One clerk identified a case file concerning Billy the Kidd that somehow ended
up in California,” Kroger said. “Other records are being eaten by rodents, are
black with mold, and are literally crumbling to dust.”
The Galveston County archives are a special case, Kroger noted. Because
Galveston was the largest Texas city in the 19th
century, Galveston County has one of the largest archives.
“Because of its location, its records reflect the unique maritime and trading
history of the city,” Kroger said. “Because it also was an immigration center,
the archives there contain decades of information -- including photographs --
about immigrants to Texas from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It also
contains the original blueprints for the Galveston Seawall.”
The survey results point out a number of concerns for the task force, Kroger
said.
“We need help,” he said. “The survey clearly shows that our district and county
clerks are conscientious and concerned that we need to do more to protect our
state’s historical records. What we are trying to do is to develop a team of
qualified, trained historians, document preservationists and attorneys who are
willing to do additional field work on some of the archives with the most
important collections and in need of the greatest help.”
The task force also needs assistance from people with training and experience
in identifying grants and other funding sources.