Vernon Smylie Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: Coll-9

Staff Only

The Vernon Smylie papers contain correspondence, newspaper articles from the late 19th century until the 1970s, manuscripts of several of Smylie’s books, political advertisements produced by Vernon Smylie and Associates, records and correspondence from the Texas Historical Commission for the 1960s and 1970s, photographs from the late 19th century through the mid 1950s, memorabilia from World War I and World War II, and other items.

Dates

late 1800s-1970s

Creator

Smylie Jr., Vernon (1920-1977) (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

No Restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

This material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to taking precautions against infringement of copyright and respecting the publication rights of reproduced materials. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Any materials used should be fully credited with their source according to the example given in the Preferred Citation note. Requests for assistance with citations and images of publication quality should be directed to specialcollections@tamucc.edu

Conditions Governing Use

Extent

31 Linear Feet (70 Boxes)

Abstract

This collection is comprised of Vernon G. Smylie Jr.’s papers including much of his writing materials. Smylie was particularly interested in Padre Island and his public relations company frequently took part in local elections.

Biographical / Historical

Noted author Vernon Guy Smylie, Jr. (1920-1977) was born in Houston and attended high school in La Porte, Texas. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1941 with a B.A. in journalism and government; he entered the U.S. Army Air Corps where he served in public relations during World War II. He married Mary A. Gaydon of Miami, Florida in March 1944. He did graduate study in public relations at the University of Wisconsin and in government at Texas A&I University. He and his wife moved to Corpus Christi during the early 1950s where he opened the public relations firm of Vernon Smylie and Associates.

Smylie wrote extensively on Texas and Southwestern topics. He was a member of the Texas State Historical Commission and the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony. He was president of the Nueces County Historical Society and a vice chair of the Nueces County Historical Survey Commission.

Vernon Smylie was the author of Edward Cunningham Lasater: His Life and Accomplishments (1952); Taming the Texas Coast (1963); The Secrets of Padre Island (1964); The Moon Belongs to Houston (1966); A Noose for Chipita (1970); Swinney Switch, Texas (1971); Texas in Fact (with Eric Smylie, 1972); The Texas Coast: A Verbal and Artistic Portrait (with Gerda McMurry, 1975); W.H. Bauer: a Biography of Accomplishment (1976); and other titles.

Arrangement

This collection is divided into seven series, Texas Historical Markers, History, Which has Texas and Other sub-series, Travel, Smylie Personal Papers, Photographs, Newspapers & Newspaper Related, and Realia. The physical collection is very mixed, with multiple records groups in individual folders. In those cases the biggest noteworthy items(s) took priority in the directory.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was donated by Dr. Richard Marcum in December of 1984.

Related Materials

4 Blucher Family Papers

Processing Information

This collection was processed previously by an unknown person. The ArchivesSpace directory and most of the Finding Aid were created by Eric Christensen, Librarian of Archive Processing in 2023.