Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation Records

History

The idea for a Bicentennial celebration in Dallas was raised by prominent civic leaders as early as 1971, and, after continued discussions and meeting held by private citizens, the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Committee was jointly established in February, 1974 by the City of Dallas, Dallas County, and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce. One month later, an outgrowth of this Committee was formed: the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation was incorporated in the Sate of Texas on 14 March 1974.

The non-profit Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation (DARBC)was established for the purpose of coordination and Publicizing Bicentenial events and projects in the City of Dallas during the national celebration of the United States' 200th Anniversary. With a ten-member Board of Directors, the DARBC was headed by President John D. Torry, Jr., retired Brigadier General of the United States Army.

Once the City of Dallas had been officially designated a Bicentennial City on 11 November 1974 by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), the DARBC began working under the guidelines established by the ARBA. The ARBA desired grass roots involvement in celebrating the Bicentennial and the DARBC was the local agency responsible for creating and managing a Dallas Bicentennial interest. The DARBC therefore reviewed all proposals from individuals and groups who wished to sponsor a Bicentennial event in Dallas. If the proposal passed the DARBC's standards, the project was designated as an official Bicentennial event.

The DARBC sponsored several projects of its own, even though its funding was extremely limited. A one-time public fund raising campaign was held in January, 1975 in which a coupon was run in both of the leading Dallas newspapers, requesting contributions from the general public, and a letter was sent to 1965 private corporations soliciting donations. Approximately $110,000 was raised through these efforts.

Bicentennial events grew in frequency all through 1975 and 1976 as the DARBC worked with hundreds of civic groups, churches, and schools. The culmination of this activity and the climax of the DARBC's efforts took place in the "Dallas Celebrates America" week, July 1-5, 1976 and the observance of the nation's Bicentennial. With the celebration completed, the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial was voluntarily dissolved on 1 December 1976.

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Scope and Contents

The collection covers the lifespan of the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation (DARBC), 1974-1976, and provides insights into all of its activities. The records are divided into four series: Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation (DARBC), Major Events, Projects Resource File, and Memorabilia.

The DARBC series includes the following subseries: Organization and History, Board of Directors, Committees, Correspondence, Personnel, Budget, In-House Operations, Projects, and Publicity. These subseries are a record of the internal substructure of the DARBC.

The Organization and History section gives a very thorough coverage of the life of the Corporation. Materials starts with the resolutions in February, 1974 adopted by the City of Dallas endorsing the establishment of such a corporation, through the articles of incorporation, the bylaws, the purposes and goals, and end with the dissolution of the DARBC on 1 December 1976. No formal dissolution contract was ever drawn up but there are rough drafts and some correspondence on this matter between corporate officers.

The Committees file is divided into a minutes of meetings section and a correspondence and organization section. Under both of these subdivisions the various committees are listed alphabetically. The same committee is not necessarily represented in both sections.

The two major correspondents found in the correspondence section are S.L. Abbott, the Regional Director of the ARBA, and Lillian Bradshaw, Director of the Dallas Public Library. Most of the correspondence in this collection is filed with the subject that it deals with and has not been separated and placed in this Correspondence segment.

The DARBC received no direct funding from any government bodies. The DARBC had to rely on its own fund raising campaigns. These included the newspaper coupon drive, asking corporations for donations, the management and sale of the Dallas Bicentennial medallions, and the sale of U.S. Postal Service Bicentennial memorabilia packages and cachet covers. All of the operations are fully documented in the Budget file.

The In-House Operations section covers the DARBC's use of Bicentennial artwork, the creation of calendars of Dallas Bicentennial events, and the mailing list for distribution of Bicentennial materials to Dallas community leaders. The DARBC received a large amount of literature from manufacturers of Bicentennial novelties and this has been compiled into a resource file in the In-House Operations sub-series. Correspondence from citizens and groups suggest project ideas has also been filed in the In-House Operation segment.

There is a large Publicity section and this is to be expected since one of the main functions of the DARBC was to inform the Dallas community of the upcoming Bicentennial events. Besides the newsletters, press releases, speeches, and media correspondence there were two unusual publicity methods employed by the DARBC. One was a booth ser up at the Holiday Shopper's Show in Dallas in November, 1975 to distribute pamphlets and provide information on celebrating the Bicentennial. The other was the Dallas Bicentennial Speaker's Bureau, a group of volunteers who spoke to various organizations on the history of the American Revolution and how individuals or groups could participate in the Dallas celebration of the Bicentennial.

The second series, Major Events, is divided into two sections: "Dallas Celebrates America" July 1-5, July 1976, and the American Freedom Train Visit to Dallas, 29 February - 4 March 1976. The sheer number of participants and the size of the audience separates these two events from other Bicentennial projects which were also being administered by the DARBC.

The DARBC had to arrange a site in Dallas for the American Freedom Train, provide accommodations for its crew, schedule the visits of school children, organize daily entertainment at the Train's location, publicize the event, and manage the sale of tickets, This burden of responsibilities taxed the abilities of the DARBC and the full administrative account is contained in these records.

Coordinating the "Dallas Celebrates America" celebration was the other major undertaking of the DARBC. This five day festival involved numerous civic groups and hundreds of citizens. The publicity arranged by the DARBC, its correspondence with sponsors, and a collection of pamphlets from various events, are all retained in this section.

The Projects Resource File series comprises the bulk of the material in this collection. This series was collected by the DARBC and is made up of records from various organizations involved in planning and sponsoring Bicentennial projects. The Projects Resource File has been divided into three geographical areas: local, State of Texas, and national. Each of these areas has been further divided into public agencies and private organizations. The State of Texas and the national areas also contain a separate subdivision of materials on their respective coordinating bodies.

The local records cover Bicentennial projects that took place in the City and County of Dallas. Public agencies represented include units of the United States Armed Forces which were involved in the participation of local events. The private sector has a large quantity of sponsors and groups and these have been divided into subject classifications. Besides the brochures and pamphlets that these projects generated, there is also in these files correspondence between the DARBC and these local groups since the DARBC reviewed their projects and coordinated their activities.

On the State of Texas level, the first elements are records of the American Revolutionary Bicentennial Commission of Texas that the DARBC compiled. Even though the Commission was the statewide coordinating body for all Bicentennial events, there is very little in these records to reflect this role. The majority of the files contain either publicity materials or accounts of three statewide workshops helf in 1974 and 1975.

The coordinating agency on the national level was the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA). The DARBC collected a large amount of brochures, calendars, newsletters, and documents on the ARBA's structure, goals, and activities.

The public agencies on the national level range from the Federal departments in Washington D.C. to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. The projects of the public agencies and the private organizations are arranged alphabetically by sponsor. For both public and private projects, the DARBC accumulated a wide variety of correspondence and publications. These materials detail the scope of the projects and the activities of their sponsors.

The container list has the complete listing of all of the projects on the local, State of Texas, and national levels.

The fourth and final series, Memorabilia, has been divided by physical characteristics into the following categories: Newspaper Clippings, 1974-1976; Magazine Articles, 1975-1976; Photographs and Negatives; Slides; Artifacts; and Oversized Materials. While the three previous series were differentiated by their subject content, the Memorabilia series has no distinct subject orientation. It is arranged solely on physical format and contains material from all three preceding series. The researcher is advised to check both the separation record and the container list if he is interested in these types of materials.

The Newspaper Clippings are limited to Texas newspapers only. The Magazine articles segment is divided into Texas and national publications. The Photographs and Negatives file is separated into three sections based on the three series: Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation (DARBC). Major Events and Projects Resource File. There are Slides only from the Project Resource File series. All Artifacts are randomly stored within the three designated cartons for artifacts. All Oversized Materials are kept separate from the rest of the collection. Access to these materials is available trough the Archival Librarian.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

MA76-1 Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation Records Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division, Dallas Public Library

Processing Information

Paul B. Beck

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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