urn:taro:houpub.00003 Ida M. Darden Collection: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library Inventory prepared by Laura Speck Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library April 1979
500 McKinney St. Julia Ideson Building, 2nd Floor Houston, TX 77002 832/393-1665
Encoded in EAD Version 1.0 by Andrew Hempe inFebruary 2003 Finding aid written inEnglish. November 7, 2003Changed elements coded as unnumbered components (c) to nested components (c01, c02, c03).May 20, 2003Updated to comply with EAD Version 2002. Changes include: langencoding, source (deleted), type (deleted), systemid (deleted), langmaterial (deleted), admininfo (deleted).June 2007Updated by Amber Seely to include boxes 3-7 in container list. Descriptive Summary Darden, Ida M.Ida M. Darden Collection1950-1961MSS 00723.5 linear feet; 7 document boxes Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library Mrs. Ida M. Darden edited and owned the newspaper she founded in 1949, The Southern Conservative. A Fort Worth based newspaper, The Southern Conservative was a right-wing anti-Communist publication, centering topically on national issues. The paper ran from 1950 until 1961. Mrs. Darden ceased publication of The Southern Conservative in 1961 due to the affect of the death of her daughter. The Ida M. Darden Collection contains a complete file of The Southern Conservative, except for four early issues. Also included in the collection are volumes by Mrs. Darden and various clippings and correspondence pertaining to The Southern Conservative. Biographical Note

Ida Mercedes Muse was born on March 9, 1886, in Bosque County, Texas, and moved with her family at an early age to Moran. She briefly attended the Unviersity of Texas, and married Bert Darden in 1904. Her daughter, Helen, was born in 1905. In 1906 her husband died. Over the years she was employed by financier J. A. Arnold. She also worked as a publicist, fund-raiser, and lobbyist for various conservative organizations, including the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. In 1920 she married Fort Worth businessman Walter Myrick.

In 1949 Darden founded The Southern Conservative, an extreme right-wing publication whose foremost crusade was anti-Communsim. Darden was opposed to United States membership in the United Nations; one headline of The Southern Conservative read "The United Nations is the Devil's Workshop". She was opposed to the Ku Klux Klan, yet also opposed the Civil Rights movement.

Darden ceased publication of The Southern Conservative in 1961. She died in 1980.

 Scope and Contents

The Ida M. Darden Collection is arranged according to types of materials. The first box contains volumes and other miscellaneous materials. The second box contains issues of The Southern Conservative from 1950-1961.

 Use Restrictions

Permission to publish or reproduce materials from the Ida M. Darden Collection must be obtained from the Houston Metropolitan Research Center or the appropriate copyright holder.

 Preferred Citation

Ida M. Darden Collection. Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

Acquisitions Information

Acquired from the Texas Gulf Coast Historical Society in December 1977.

Processing Information

Processed by Laura Speck, April 1979.

 Index Terms Personal Names: Darden, Ida M. Subjects: Conservatism--Texas--Newspapers Texas--Politics and government Titles: Southern Conservative Detailed Description I. ManuscriptsBound Volumes11The Desire to Own, by J. A. Arnold. Anti-Federal Income Tax.12Lobby Investigation. Hearings before a United States Senate subcommittee on the Judiciary regarding a resolution to investigate the activities of lobbying associations and lobbyists in and around Washington, D. C. Volume I: October 15 - November 15, 1927.13Gentlemen of the House, by Ida M. Darden14My Night, by Ida M. Darden15The Best of the Southern Conservative, by Ida M. Darden.Foldered Items11The Southern Conservative: By-laws and legal documents12Correspondence: Incoming and Outgoing, 1949-195513Clippings: The Southern Conservative14Essays15Ronald Reagan dinner brochure II. The Southern Conservative21The Southern Conservative, Vol. 1, # 1-9, 11-12: 195022The Southern Conservative, Vol. 2, #1-10: 195123The Southern Conservative, Vol. 3, #1, 3-12: 195224The Southern Conservative, Vol. 4, #1-12: 195325The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #1-12: 195426The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #1-12: 195527The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1-12: 195628The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-12: 195729The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 1958210The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #1-12: 1959211The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #1-12: 1960212The Southern Conservative, Vol. 12, #1-12: 196131The Southern Conservative, Vol. 3, #5, 7-8, 10: 195232The Southern Conservative, Vol. 4, #1, 10: 195333The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #1-3, 5-10: 195434The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #1-12: 195535The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1-12: 195636The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-12: 195737The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 195838The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #1-12: 195939The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #1-5, 7-12: 1960310The Southern Conservative, Vol. 12, #1-12: 196141The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #1, 3-12: 195442The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #1-6, 9-12: 195543The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1-4, 6-12: 195644The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-12: 195745The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 195846The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #1-12: 195947The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #2, 4, 5, 7-12: 196048The Southern Conservative, Vol. 12, #1-12: 196151The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #3-5, 7-12: 195852The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #1-6, 9-12: 195953The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1-3, 6-12: 196054The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-12: 196155The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 196256The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #2-4, 6-12: 196357The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #2, 5, 7-12: 196458The Southern Conservative, Vol. 12, #1-12: 196561The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #3-5, 7-12: 195862The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #3-5, 7-12: 195963The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1, 2, 6-8, 10-12: 196064The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-12: 196165The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 196266The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #2-4, 6-12: 196367The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #2, 5, 7-12: 196468The Southern Conservative, Vol. 12, #3, 5, 7-8, 10-12: 196571The Southern Conservative, Vol. 5, #3-5, 7-12: 195872The Southern Conservative, Vol. 6, #1, 3-5, 9: 195973The Southern Conservative, Vol. 7, #1-2, 7-8, 10-12: 196074The Southern Conservative, Vol. 8, #1-3, 5-12: 196175The Southern Conservative, Vol. 9, #1-12: 196276The Southern Conservative, Vol. 10, #2-4, 6-12: 196377The Southern Conservative, Vol. 11, #5, 7-12: 1964