Born in Ohio in 1897, Albert Curtis came to Texas in 1933 after periods of residence in New Orleans, Louisiana, and North Carolina. A visit to the Alamo soon after his arrival sparked an interest in Texas history, an avocation he would pursue for the remainder of his life.
After two years residence at the Veterans Administration hospital in Legion, Texas (now part of the town of Kerrville), Curtis moved to San Antonio, taking a room a short distance from the Alamo. After several years convalescence, he secured a civil service position, working first in the Office of Censorship during World War II and continuing as a civilian employee at Fort Sam Houston and Kelly Air Force Base.
Much of Curtis' spare time was devoted to research on Texas history, particularly the Alamo and William Barret Travis. He apparently gained his first professional writing experience in New Orleans in the 1920s, where he published pamphlets and short articles on local history, usually under the pen name "Stephen Curtis West." After his move to San Antonio he published
While his published output in the area was relatively small, the subject that occupied much of Curtis's research time was the Battle of the Alamo and the commander of the Texan defenders, William Barret Travis. A tireless researcher, Curtis sought out and reviewed primary sources from libraries, archives, and private collections in Texas and beyond. His written output suggests an ambition to complete a full-length treatment of the battle or a Travis biography; a portion of his output was published in two illustrated pamphlets
Albert Curtis died in San Antonio on 1969 September 25. His papers were willed to Octavia West Jones, who later donated them to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library. Evidence indicates that some of the Curtis papers remained in her possession and were dispersed upon her death.
Manuscripts, source material, correspondence and personal items make up the Albert Curtis Papers, reflecting years of research and writing on the history of Texas. The bulk of the papers are edited typescripts. Many of these are works on the Texas Revolution, particularly the Battle of the Alamo and commander William Barret Travis.
The earliest items in the collection are photocopies and transcriptions of original documents.
This collection is organized into four series.
No restrictions. The collection is open for research.
Please be advised that the library does not hold the copyright to most of the material in its archival collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure those rights when needed. Permission to reproduce does not constitute permission to publish. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright, literary property rights, and libel.
Albert Curtis Collection, 1962-1965, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Albert Curtis Papers, 1729-1967, Col 1275, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.
Gift of Octavia West Jones in memory of Sally Ward Beretta, 1979 June.
Processed by Warren Stricker, 1999 October.
Finding aid edited and encoded by David Gallin-Parisi, 2011 August.
The bulk of the papers are part of this series, which consists of edited typescripts and published works. The typescripts were generally loosely organized, if at all, and the author frequently rewrote and reorganized chapters and sections in various ways. As most of this work remained unpublished, and since the author did not consistently specify his intentions, it is often difficult to determine the intended grouping of chapters within a larger framework. A number of tables of contents are found with the typescripts; however, Curtis' frequent changes make these only partly reliable as a guide.
The typescripts have been arranged by title, if one is present, or by subject matter for untitled works. This arrangement is often tentative and is based on the author's occasional grouping of sections in binders, the presence of a working title, or other internal evidence that suggests the order of completion, such as a similarity of format or the inclusion of the author's various addresses.
A large part of this series is devoted to works on the Texas Revolution, particularly the Battle of the Alamo and the role of William Barret Travis. The best-organized work is titled "Remember the Alamo: Biography of the Alamo Commander William Barret Travis," which includes twenty short chapters on the battle and the subsequent history of the Alamo. Another well-ordered work is "Remember the Alamo: William Barret Travis Biography," which focuses more closely on Travis and his role in the history of Texas. The other titled works are generally less organized or complete. Untitled manuscripts arranged under subject often include some duplication of chapters or content from other groupings. Some of this material was incorporated into the two published works
Other subjects are also covered in the manuscripts, and another of the better-organized titled works deals with the history of the town of San Felipe de Austin, including a lengthy chapter on Gail Borden, Jr. San Antonio history is covered in a typescript entitled "Mission Stars Over San Antonio" on the Spanish missions of the area, and under untitled groupings which cover some of the subject matter dealt with in Curtis' published writings on San Antonio. A work on New Orleans history, "Perfume Creole," presents vignettes of local color. Unsorted and unidentified manuscripts generally consist of incomplete or disordered sections that could not be reliably identified.
Shorter works include fiction, a number of articles on San Antonio topics, a small amount of poetry, and miscellaneous writings. Copies of some of Curtis' published works are included here,
Most of the correspondence consists of letters received in connection with historical research, and a large part dates from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Curtis corresponded with librarians, archivists, historians, and private individuals in gathering source material and other information incorporated in his writings. A few copies of outgoing letters and a small number of personal letters are also included.
Copies and transcriptions of some of the sources Curtis used in his work are found in this series. These include letters and other documents, newspaper articles, other published works, printed material, and newspaper clippings. Particularly extensive are transcriptions of newspaper articles, most dating from the 1870s through the 1930s and dealing with the Alamo. Curtis also kept voluminous notes, some on loose sheets and scraps of paper, but most in over one hundred notebooks. These notebooks are not labeled and no particular organization of their content is evident.
Personal material is represented by a single folder of miscellaneous printed and financial documents.