Waco History Podcast

On this episode: Dr. Kenna Lang Archer, author of "Unruly Waters: A Social and Environmental History of the Brazos River," joins us to talk about Waco's most prominent river. We talk about its history all over the state, and the many attempts to tame it. Check out Dr. Archer's website at kennalangarcher.com. You can find Kenna's book on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. Special thanks to ACT Music f...

Early Texas Colleges Waco Female College Waco University Baylor University Paul Quinn Hill’s Business Colleges Add-Ran College Toby’s Business College 4C Higher Education Tangents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Kim Patterson. Over the years, Central Texans have celebrated a variety of Easter customs. Dr. Delta Hafford  of De Leon managed the clothing program at the Methodist Children's Home in the 1950s and later served as school coordinator. She describes Easter at the Methodist Home in...

Guest(s): Brady Taylor Topics: Climate v. Weather Rainfall Weather Events Floods Droughts Freezes Tornados Historical Impact on Waco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Prof. Sloan talks with Benna Vaughan about the Horace Sherman Miller Collection Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Guest(s): Dr. Mike Parrish Topics: Early history WWI and WWII bases Billy Mitchell and others spent time in Waco Connally AF Base Bluebonnet Ordinance Plant Rocketdyne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Dr. Slaon talks with Baylor alumnus John Dennis Anderson about Madison Alexander Cooper, Jr. Madison Cooper was an American businessman and philanthropist from Waco, Texas, and is best remembered for his long novel Sironia, Texas (1952), which made publishing history at that time as the longest novel in English originally published in book form, in two volumes totaling 1,731 pages, containing an e...

Guest(s): Mayor Dillon Meek Topics:  Organizing city political system over time 4 governors from Waco At one time was where all statewide races were announced The Bush ranch brought the political world to Waco Broader political connections to Waco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://...

In the early to mid-1900s in Waco, circuses were the stuff of children's dreams and stirred excitement from the moment they rolled into town. Charles Armstrong  recalls circus members on Seventeenth Street, when they were performing on the Cotton Palace grounds: "By the corner, they had a fireplug right behind where Safeway store is right now—old Safeway store. And had a fireplug, and they'd water...

Guest(s): John Morris Topics: Waco Auditorium Cotton Palace Sports Top host of HS playoff games Host of TAPPS Magnolia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Dr. Sloan visits the Dr. Pepper Museum during their "The People Who Made Dr. Pepper LIVE" and interviews Bj Greaves, and Harvey Griggs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Topics: Overview, the concept of crossroads as a way to understand Waco The North Bosque valley was a seasonal travel way for Native Americans from the high plains to the lowlands 1837 Santa Fe Expedition Torrey Trading Company Sam Bass Bonny and Clyde Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at htt...

"in the morning of January 22, 1927, Baylor University's basketball team set out by bus for Austin to play the University of Texas that night. The game, however, would never be contested. Ten of the twenty-two passengers died when a train hit the team's bus at a crossing in Round Rock--the worst such accident in Texas history at the time. The students who died soon became known as "The Immortal Te...

Episode #1 – Waco as Crossroads Guest(s): Claire Kultgen MacDonald Topics: Overview, the concept of crossroads as a way to understand Waco I-35 Brazos River (only natural crossing at Marlin Falls) Hwys 6, 84, and 77 Geographical Ecological Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.co...

In the late 1800s, cotton was the driving force in Waco's economy, and the city wanted to implement a fall festival to celebrate the white substance. With a newly built exposition hall, Waco held its first Cotton Palace in 1894, and it was a great success. The building burned shortly after the month-long event but was rebuilt and opened again in 1910, and for two decades the Cotton Palace drew peo...

In September of 1936, much of Central Texas was enduring heavy rainstorms and flooding, with Waco especially hard-hit. Cresting at 41 feet, the Brazos River burst through a levee a mile above town, resulting in a torrent that put much of East Waco under water. Approximately two thousand residents were left homeless, and city manager W. C. Torrence ordered martial law in the flooded area. Alva Stem...

Passenger rail travel in America enjoyed its heyday in the early 1900s, carrying at its peak in 1920 an estimated 1.2 billion passengers that year. Trains made travel possible and relatively comfortable even in inclement weather, something no other method of transportation could offer at the time. In 1911, Texas became the state with the most railroad mileage, a position it has not relinquished. M...

Before television and computers monopolized our free time, chasing police calls was a popular hobby. People needed only a radio, the knowhow to tinker with it, and a car. Charles Armstrong , a lifelong radio enthusiast and Waco resident, explains how he and wife  Ruth  had access to police dispatches through the 1940s, 50s, and 60s: "They was on AM, but they were up high on the band. On your car r...

This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Kim Patterson. Dr. Stanley E. Rutland served as president of Paul Quinn College from 1969 through 1976. Under his leadership the college enjoyed many improvements, among them accreditation for the first time with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1972. Dr. Norman...

The GI Bill is a term often associated with the years immediately following World War II, but it has existed in some form or fashion since then. A revamped version approved by Congress in 2008, known as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, has given new life to the program and increased the number of veterans on college campuses throughout the country. Brandon Ewing  served in the marine corps for five years an...

The clothing industry in the United States was at its peak in the mid-1900s. Reports show that by 1957, Americans were spending more than $25 billion annually on clothes, nearly twice the amount spent on automobile purchases and eight times the figure spent on private education. Waco was home to several clothing factories during this time that employed many women—companies like Hawk & Buck and...

Madison Cooper is a legendary figure in Waco. He put the city in the national spotlight in 1952 when his novel  Sironia  landed on the  New York Times ' Best Seller List and was known about town as an eccentric bachelor. But Cooper's greatest contribution to Waco was his philanthropic spirit, from sponsoring civic programs to establishing the Cooper Foundation in 1943 for the purpose of bettering...

This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Louis Mazé. Merriam-Webster defines  philanthrop y as "goodwill to fellowmen;  especially  : active effort to promote human welfare." The word is by no means new. The ancient Greeks called it  philanthropia  and thought the idea was the key to civilization. Waco is fortunate to cl...

This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Louis Mazé. For most families during the Great Depression, Christmas was not a time for extravagance. Money and jobs were difficult to come by, and it was all some families could do to keep food on the table. Retired Baylor physics professor  Robert Packard  remembers how hard tim...

This is Living Stories, featuring voices from the collections of the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. I'm Kim Patterson. In Tennessee in 1866, a year after the Civil War ended, six Confederate veterans formed an organization called the Ku Klux Klan for amusement. Shortly after, local Klan groups began popping up all over the South and quickly became synonymous with hate and terror. Kl...