Southwestern Collection

On February 16, 2010, the Austin History Center opened a new exhibit "Relief, Recovery & Progress: The GreatDepression and the New Deal in Austin." This exhibit explores 1930s Austin, how the Depression had a lasting impact on the community, and what lessons can be learned as the country grapples with its current economic woes. The exhibit will be in the lobby and Grand Hallway at the AHC and will run throughJuly 1 1, 2010. Other programs being offered include a "Music of the Great Depression" program, featuring Guy Forsyth, at the Sweet Home Baptist Church on Saturday, May 8, 3-5 pm. For more information , contact the AHC by phone at 51 2-974-7480, by e-mail at ahc_reference @ci.austin.tx.us, or on the web atwww.austinhistorycenter.org. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his only trip to Austin onJune 11,1 936, as part of a train tour through the state. Accompanying him in this photo are First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Texas GovernorJames Allred. During the speech, FDR set offa dynamite charge as the groundbreaking for the Texas Memorial Museum. The sound of the explosion rumbled through the crowd, even though the train stop was some 20 blocks from the future site ofthe museum. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Image # PICA 25665 5 1 o Southwestern Historical QuarterlyApril In Memoriam Jenkins Garrett died in Fort Worth onJanuary 28, 2010, at the age of 95. He was an integral force within the Texas State Historical Association throughout much of his long life. He was a life member, having served as president of the organization (ig88-8g) and on the Executive Council. He was also president of the Collectors' Institute (ig68-8o), which was cosponsored by the TSHA. Jess Jenkins Garrett (called Jenks or Jenkins by his friends and family ) was born on December 14, igi4, in Caldwell, Texas, the son ofJesse and Sudie Garrett. Jesse Garrett was an up-by-your bootstraps attorney in Caldwell who was later called to the Baptist ministry at Rosen Heights Baptist Church in Fort Worth, while Sudie Garrett was a Baylor music graduate. Jenkins Garrett's formative years were spent in Fort Worth. He attended Sam Rosen Elementary School, North SideJunior High, and North Side High School, where he graduated in 1g3 1 , at the age ofsixteen. Two years before he graduated from high school, the Leonard Brothers Store hired him as an office boy. His paywas five dollars a week and a bicycle. His dedication and enthusiasm for his work was noticed by J. Marvin ("Mr. Marvin ") and Obadiah Paul ("Mr. Opie") Leonard, the store's owners, and they soon developed a personal relationship with him. From this point on, his life and career became closely interwoven with the Leonard family. Garrett entered the University of Texas (UT) in September ig3i. His career goal was to become an attorney like his father had been, so he enrolled in a six-year program where he could earn an undergraduate degree and a law degree. At the university he became immersed in campus life, participating in the activities of the Baptist Student Union and the YMCA, joining the debate team and the Tejas Club, and serving on theJudiciary Council and President ofthe Student Association. He graduated in ig37It was at UT where his interest in history was piqued. This happened during a U.S. History survey course taught by noted historian Walter Prescott Webb, whose ideas inspired him to begin reading more about Texas and the American past. From UT, Garrett entered Harvard Law School, graduating with a master's in legal letters in 1 g3g. He practiced law with the Fort Worth firm of Walker, Smith, and Shannon until U.S. entry into World War II looked imminent in ig4i. In ig4i, he resigned his position with the firm and entered the FBI. While with the FBI, he worked on the West Coast and married Virginia 2Oio Southwestern Collection511 Williams of Fort Worth on November 26, ig4i, in San Francisco, just days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He had met Virginia at Rosen Heights Baptist Church. Garrett spent the war years working with the FBI in California and later as...