Southwestern Lore (open access)

Southwestern Lore

Collection of a miscellany of Texas and Mexican folklore, including folk stories about treasure hunters, cowboys, Native Americans, and razorback hogs, as well as myths, customs and other superstitions. The index of song material begins on page 192 and the general index begins on page 193.
Date: 1931
Creator: Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
System: The UNT Digital Library
Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore (open access)

Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore

Volume of essays about African-American folklore, including reminiscences of African-American folk culture in Texas, studies of specific genres of folklore, information about Texas-African food-ways, studies of specific performers, information about songs and other folklore. The index begins on page 353.
Date: 1996
Creator: Abernethy, Francis Edward
System: The UNT Digital Library
Paisanos: A Folklore Miscellany (open access)

Paisanos: A Folklore Miscellany

Collection of Texas and Mexican folklore, including "folk tales, folklore in journalism, reflections on the lore of the past, and some analyses of folklore generally" (inside of the front cover).
Date: 1978
Creator: Abernethy, Francis Edward
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texian Stomping Grounds (open access)

Texian Stomping Grounds

Collection containing sketches of post-war life in East Texas, including descriptions of early recreations and games, stories about Southern food and cooking, religious anecdotes, Negro folk tales, a first-hand account of a Negro folk play about the life of Christ, and other miscellaneous folklore. The index begins on page 159.
Date: 1941
Creator: Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Paul Decker, November 14, 1987 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Paul Decker, November 14, 1987

Interview with Paul Decker, a United States Navy veteran from Maurepas, Louisiana, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the battleship USS California.
Date: November 14, 1987
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Decker, Paul
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with George and Wanda Holcombe, January 2, 2017

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with George Holcombe, a Methodist pastor and civil rights activist from Houston, Texas, and his wife and associate Wanda, from Sims, Texas. The Holcombes discuss their family origins, initial exposure to racial problems and civil rights, their respective educations, pastoral work in Baton Rouge and Chicago, the Ku Klux Klan and dangers encountered, work with the Ecumenical Institute of Chicago and empowering black communities, the 1968 Chicago riots, Fifth City, and similar work in Australia and the Philippines.
Date: January 2, 2017
Creator: Czap, Joseph; Holcombe, George & Holcombe, Wanda
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Lawrence Varnell, November 12, 1987 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Lawrence Varnell, November 12, 1987

Interview with Lawrence Varnell, a United States Navy veteran from New Orleans, Louisiana, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the battleship USS Maryland.
Date: November 12, 1987
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Varnell, Lawrence
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Elmer Duren, October 22, 1983 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Elmer Duren, October 22, 1983

Interview with Elmer Duren, a United States Navy veteran from Louisiana, regarding his experiences during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 while aboard the destroyer USS Dale. Duren discusses his education, training, the construction of the USS Dale, and his memories of the attack.
Date: October 22, 1983
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Duren, Elmer
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Ursulines in Louisiana: 1727-1824 (open access)

The Ursulines in Louisiana: 1727-1824

Book describing the early history of New Orleans and the Ursuline order's presence there. Notable figures from the order are discussed.
Date: 1886
Creator: Carroll, Mary Theresa Austin
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with John R. Zanca, November 14, 1987 (open access)

Oral History Interview with John R. Zanca, November 14, 1987

Interview with John R. Zanca, a United States Navy veteran from New Orleans, Louisiana, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the cruiser USS Honolulu.
Date: November 14, 1987
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Zanca, John R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interviews with Pete Evans, 1984 (open access)

Oral History Interviews with Pete Evans, 1984

Interview with Pete Evans, a Texas National Guard veteran and POW from Hamby, Texas. Evans discusses his time as a member of 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery (the "Lost Battalion") which was captured by the Japanese in March, 1942, including: his upbringing; entering the Guard and training; mobilization, the Louisiana Maneuvers, and deployment to East Asia; diversion from the Philippines to Brisbane and then Java, after December 7th, 1941; assignment to Sangosari near Malang; the Japanese invasion and the American surrender; and experiences in internment at Surabaya, Tanjong Priok in Batavia, Changi Camp in Singapore, Nagasaki, and the Orio district of Kitakyūshū.
Date: {1984-02-15,1984-02-29,1984-03-07}
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Evans, Pete
System: The UNT Digital Library

Always for the Underdog: Leather Britches Smith and the Grabow War

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Louisiana’s Neutral Strip, an area of pine forests, squats between the Calcasieu and Sabine Rivers on the border of East Texas. Originally a lawless buffer zone between Spain and the United States, its hardy residents formed tight-knit communities for protection and developed a reliance on self, kin, and neighbor. In the early 1900s, the timber boom sliced through the forests and disrupted these dense communities. Mill towns sprang up, and the promise of money lured land speculators, timber workers, unionists, and a host of other characters, such as the outlaw Leather Britches Smith. That moment continues to shape the place’s cultural consciousness, and people today fashion a lore connected to this time. In a fascinating exploration of the region, Keagan LeJeune unveils the legend of Leather Britches, paralleling the stages of the outlaw’s life to the Neutral Strip’s formation. LeJeune retells each stage of Smith’s life: his notorious past, his audacious deeds of robbery and even generosity, his rumored connection to a local union strike—the Grabow War—significant in the annals of labor history, and his eventual death. As the outlaw’s life vividly unfolds, Always for the Underdog also reveals the area’s history and cultural landscape. Often using the particulars of …
Date: December 15, 2010
Creator: LeJeune, Keagan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with John W. Wisecup, July 28, 1987 (open access)

Oral History Interview with John W. Wisecup, July 28, 1987

Interview with John Wisecup, a Marine Corps veteran and a survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Wisecup talks about the sinking of the Houston (1942), his capture and imprisonment at Serang, Java, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Kanchanaburi, Thailand (1944), Changi Jail (1944-1945), and his liberation.
Date: July 28, 1987
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Wisecup, John W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Growing up in Texas (open access)

Growing up in Texas

Memoir written by Annie Margaret Rankin Warner and Virginia "Jenny" Louise Rankin Marshall of stories on growing up in West Texas from 1866-1995.
Date: 2016
Creator: Rankin Warner, Annie Margaret & Marshall, Virginia R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hoein' the Short Rows (open access)

Hoein' the Short Rows

Volume of Texas folklore, including folk arts and crafts, lime production, oil and petroleum, information about cockfighting, folk poetry, mysticism and other stories. The index begins on page 231.
Date: 1987
Creator: Texas Folklore Society
System: The UNT Digital Library
What's Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore) (open access)

What's Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore)

Volume of "a collection of essays by contemporary folklorists who are writing about the customs and traditions and the songs and the stories that are going on now" (inside the front cover). It includes information about the folklore of cowboys, rodeos, chain letters and marijuana, as well as information about country, swing and gospel music. Index begins on page 301.
Date: 1976
Creator: Abernethy, Francis Edward
System: The UNT Digital Library
Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd (open access)

Follow de Drinkin' Gou'd

This volume includes information about the play-party in Oklahoma, folklore of Texas birds, tall tales, folk anecdotes, Texas folk songs and ballads, and other folklore (back cover). The index begins on page 185.
Date: 2000
Creator: Texas Folklore Society
System: The UNT Digital Library
Backwoods to Border (open access)

Backwoods to Border

Book about folklore in Texas, including folk songs, ghost stories, Mexican animal tales, anecdotes about lawyers, folklore about Texas plants, riddles and miscellaneous legends. The index begins on page 225.
Date: 1943
Creator: Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
System: The UNT Digital Library
Happy Hunting Ground (open access)

Happy Hunting Ground

Collection of popular folklore from Central and South America, including Mexican ballads, primitive art, cowboy dances, reptile myths, superstitions, Indian pictographs, and other folktales. The index begins on page 127.
Date: 1925
Creator: Texas Folklore Society & Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
System: The UNT Digital Library