The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 56, July 1952 - April, 1953 Page: 122

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

in 1945 as A Tentative List of Subjects for the Handbook of
Texas, the first step toward an authoritative, comprehensive en-
cyclopedia of Texas history, biography, and culture.
Once the working list was compiled, concentrated effort began
on getting each authority in any field to write the articles on
those topics for which he was best qualified. Thus Professors C.
W. Hackett and C. E. Castafieda prepared or checked most of
the articles on the Spanish or mission period of Texas history;
Dr. E. C. Barker wrote the articles on colonization and on the
Austins and furnished the foundation material for many of the
topics on the Mexican period; two former Association presidents,
L. W. Kemp and Harbert Davenport, did outstanding articles on
the period of the Texas Revolution and the Republic as did Dr.
Joseph Schmitz; Professors Claude Elliott and Ralph Steen gave
generously of their time in the preparation of topics relating to
the Civil War and statehood. Dr. Rex Strickland and his col-
leagues at Texas Western furnished much of the information on
the El Paso area as well as contributing articles on their special
fields. Hobart Huson supplied data relating to the Texas Gulf
Coast area. Earl Vandale, L. F. Sheffy, and J. Evetts Haley sup-
plied many topics from the Panhandle area while Curry Holden
and R. N. Richardson contributed articles and suggestions from
the Central West Texas region. J. L. Clark wrote articles and gave
advice and suggestions as to topics that should be covered in
East Texas. Herbert Gambrell and Wayne Gard contributed sev-
eral articles relating to the Dallas area as well as sketches of the
lives of the diverse men whose biographies they have written.
Fred Cotten prepared or checked articles on the Parker family
and many of the persons, places, and events relating to Weather-
ford and North Central Texas. Dr. P. I. Nixon wrote the article
on the medical history of Texas and contributed biographies of
outstanding physicians from Liotot and Medar Jalot to his recent
colleagues, as well as suggesting writers when he felt others better
qualified. Tad Moses, editor of publications of the Agricultural
Experiment Station at the Agricultural and Mechanical College,
assigned to various members of his staff the articles on specialized
agricultural topics, while T. C. Richardson, former editor of
Farm and Ranch, wrote general articles on agriculture and the

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