In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Southwestern Collection

The 122nd Annual Meeting of the Texas State Historical Association, will take place March 8–10, 2018, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Marcos Hotel Conference Center and Spa in San Marcos, Texas. Sessions will cover a wide range of Texas history, and attendees will also have the chance to experience special speeches and events, awards ceremonies, and more. More information will be available in the coming months at https://www.tshasecurepay.com/annual-meeting/. [End Page 212]


Click for larger view
View full resolution

Photograph of the Main Building, Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, Texas. Date unknown.

Courtesy Texas Historical Commission.

[End Page 213]

In Memoriam

Note: We asked Stephen S. Cure, TSHA's Chief Operating Officer and Director of Education, for this memorial of his friend and mentor John Clifton Caldwell. Much of the material below is drawn from the thoughtful and loving tribute written by Shirley Caldwell and published in numerous newspapers around Texas.

A man of impeccable character, integrity, and humor, Clifton Caldwell was a rancher, photographer, and independent businessman. He died April 11, 2017, and was interred at Our Lady of the Mountain Cemetery on the Mitre Peak Ranch in Jeff Davis County, in his beloved West Texas. The son of the late Jeannette and Guy Caldwell of Abilene, he had deep Texas roots and spent a lifetime supporting the state's history, folklore, and culture. Born in Abilene in 1933, Caldwell moved to Albany at the age of three, attended grade school there, and graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1950. He then attended West Point and served in the United States Army. He married Shirley Welch in 1958, and they had five children. Rounding out his education, Caldwell received a bachelor of mathematics degree from Southern Methodist University in 1960.

Clifton Caldwell devoted more than five decades to the preservation and promotion of Texas history and culture. Significantly, he was appointed to the Texas State Historical Survey Committee in 1968 by Governor Preston Smith and remained an active member for thirteen years, including a reappointment from Governor Dolph Briscoe. As chairman, he changed the name from Texas State Historical Survey Committee to the Texas Historical Commission. He served on the board of the Texas Historical Foundation for thirty-six years and was president of the Philosophical Society of Texas, of which he remained a member from 1968 until his death. He belonged to the board of directors and served as president of the Historic Preservation League of Dallas.

Starting in the late 1960s, encouraged by his friendship with the late Carl Hertzog, Clifton took an active interest in book design, culminating in Katharyn Duff's book, Rupert N. Richardson: The Man and His Works. He served as president of the Friends of the Library at Hardin Simmons University (HSU); later the Caldwells gave their Hertzog collection to the HSU library. In 1974, he convinced young book designer, Bill Wittliff of Encino Press, who later was active in the production of the Lonesome Dove television miniseries, to use his design talents in a reprint of an annotated edition of the 1908 book Shackelford County Sketches, which was published by Caldwell's Clear Fork Press.

Caldwell and his wife, Shirley, founded the Lynch Line, a store in Albany that carried books, maps, and information on Texas history and culture. This business was housed on the courthouse square in Albany in an 1881 native stone commercial structure, a building they had restored [End Page 214] in the 1970s. The preservation efforts helped inspired the revival of the town, and he was given the Cornerstone Award by the Chamber of Commerce as Albany's outstanding citizen in 1977. At the urging of legendary ranchman Watt Matthews, Caldwell assumed the restoration of the Aztec Theater. Recently, Caldwell initiated a gift enabling an addition to the Old Jail Art Museum, which is intended to be a fully equipped archives building.

Clifton was an active member of the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). As president in 1984–1985, he established an endowment fund that provided financial incentives for young writers, honoring his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs...

pdf

Share