urn:taro:rice.wrc.00160 Guide to the J. Russell Wait Port of Houston papers, 1927-1962 Woodson Research Center 1999 EAD tagging provided by Amanda York Focke, September 2004. Finding aid written in English. 09132004 Edited with XMetal 3 by Amanda York Focke, according to instructions in TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. Guide to the J. Russell Wait Port of Houston papers, 1927-1962 Woodson Research Center 1999 Descriptive Summary J. Russell Wait Port of Houston papers 1927-1962 MS 346 29 linear ft. (36 boxes plus oversize material) Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX Business and personal records of J. Russell Wait, Director of the Port of Houston from 1930-1947, offering a comprehensive history of the Port of Houston's construction, facilities, finances, clients and operations from 1931-1962. During this time, the Port of Houston grew from the nation's twelfth largest port to its third largest. Materials also relate to the Brazos River Harbor Navigation District, Houston Ship Channel maps, and scrapbooks on WWII and Japan. Wait, J. Russell Materials are in English. Biographical Note

J. Russell Wait was General Manager of the Port of Houston from 1930 to 1947. He was born in New Jersey in 1882 and graduated from Lehigh University in 1906. Prior to his coming to Houston, Mr. Wait had been director of the Port of Charleston, South Carolina, and had spent a year at the Port of Beaumont. Four years after retiring from the Houston Port Authority, Mr. Wait came out of retirement in 1951 to serve the Brazos River Harbor Navigation District as general manager and re-retired to Kerrville the following year.

While General Manager of the Port of Houston, Mr. Wait was responsible for the dredging of the ship channel from Galveston to the Turning Basin and under his leadership Houston grew from twelfth to the nation's third largest port. During these years, Wait amassed detailed information on the history and activities of the port: its construction, facilities, finances, clients and operations. While with the Brazos River Harbor Navigation District he expanded his collection to include District Annual Reports for the years 1952 through 1958, with supplementing documents and detailed, annotated photographs of the harbor construction, which had taken place from 1952 to 1956.

Although not a Rice alumnus or official faculty member, Wait lectured frequently at Rice and developed a fondness for the university. At the time he announced the gift of his collection to the university he said, "Most of my work was done in Houston, and most of the pictures and many of the books and papers have Houston origins. It seemed to me that this great university should have them."

Excerpted from "Treasures in the Attic" by Alan Harris Bath, featured in Fondren Library's The Flyleaf, Summer 2000.

 Scope and Contents

Business and personal records of J. Russell Wait, Director of the Port of Houston from 1930-1947, offering a comprehensive history of the Port of Houston from 1931-1962. Materials also relate to the Brazos River Harbor Navigation District, Houston Ship Channel maps, and scrapbooks on WWII and Japan. Formats include correspondence, reports, maps, blueprints, scrapbooks, photographs, and more. The bulk of the Wait papers retain their original office filing system and are filed alphabetically according to Wait's subject headings. These headings include correspondence and reports relating to Wait's time as Port Manager, 1939-1947.

Two large scrapbooks in the collection document Houston area daily newspaper coverage of WWII from late August 1939 to June 1942, providing insight into the increasing impact of the war upon American life. A set of four scrapbooks document Wait's 1939 business trip to Japan.

Series I: Office Files, 1939-1947 (Boxes 1-29) Series II: Publications, 1933-1959 (Box 30) Series III: Brazos River Harbor Navigation District, 1927-1962 (Boxes 31-34) Series IV: Scrapbooks, 1939-1942 (6 volumes) Preferred Citation

J. Russell Wait Port of Houston papers, MS 346, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Acquisition Information

Donated to the Woodson Research Center by J. Russell Wait, 1967.

 Use Restrictions

Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

 Access Restriction

This material is open for research.

 Index Terms Subjects (Organizations) Port of Houston Authority -- history Brazos River Harbor Navigation District -- history Subjects Freight and freightage -- Houston, Tex. Harbors--Texas--Houston Harbors -- design and costruction Harbors -- photographs Harbors -- United States. Harbors -- maintenance and repair Harbors -- safety measures Harbors - traffic control Harbors -- speeches Subjects (Places) Houston (Tex.)--Commerce -- 20th century Formats Correspondence Reports Photographs Scrapbooks Detailed Description of the Collection Series I: Office Files, 1939-1947 (Boxes 1-29)

The bulk of the Wait papers retain their original office filing system and are filed alphabetically according to Wait's subject headings. These headings include correspondence and reports relating to Wait's time as Port Manager, 1939-1947.

 11 A-1 Acts of legislature pertaining to the Port of Houston 12 A-1 Acts of legislature pertaining to the Port of Houston 13 A-2 Addresses-1947 roster of officers and committees of AAPA 14 A-3 American Association of Port Authorities 15 A-3 AAPA general 16 A-3 AAPA reports 17 A-3 AAPA correspondence, 1940-41 21 A-3 AAPA correspondence, 1943-47 22-3 A-3-a AAPA Committee on Port Practices, Rules and Terminal Rates 24 A-3-b AAPA Harbor Dues Study 25 A-3-c AAPA Shipside Study 26 Proceedings of 24th Annual Convention and Annual Meeting of AAPA 27 Houston/Galveston, 11/11-15/35, volumes 1 & 2 31 A-5 Auditor-General Manager correspondence 32-3 A-6 Advertising for Port of Houston 34 A-8 American Society of Civil Engineers correspondence 35 A-9 Ammonium nitrate-correspondence and instructions on handling 36 A-10 Administration of publicly owned rail-water terminal facilities 37 A-11 Airport-info. and corresp. re Houston airport 38 B-2 Barbour agreement (Morgan’s Point) correspondence 41 B-3 Bridges-correspondence and information 42 B-4 Burchfield Valuation Study-appraisal of land in ship channel industrial area 43 B-7 Bond elections, Harris County Navigation District 44 B-8 Board of Commissioners, Harris County/Houston Ship Channel Navigation District correspondence and reports 45 B-10 Boats-descriptions and specifications 46 C-1 Carloading contract between ship channel and railroad 47 C-2 Coal-corresp. and newsclippings 48 C-4 Customs brief on custom house proposal for Houston ship channel 49 Chamber of Commerce 1961 51 C-7 Chamber of Commerce committees 52 C-7 Chamber of Commerce committees 53-6 C-8 Contracts with Harris County Navigation District 57 C-9 Crossing signals correspondence 58 C-10 Clients-addresses of engineering clients 61 C-10 Clients-Will L. Clayton 62 C-10 Clients-Knappen Engineering Co. 63 C-10 Clients-Nelson Rockefeller 64 C-10 Clients-Humble Oil & Refining Co. 65 Clients-Rohm & Haas 66-7 C-11 Channel (main Houston Ship Channel) 68 C-12 Channel (upper Houston Ship Channel) 69 C-13 Channel (tributaries) 610 C-14 Channel fuel wharf 611 C-15 City wharves-reports, agreements, photos, correspondence 612 C-16 Counsel-Navigation District attorneys corresp. 613 C-17 Contract with Freese, Nichols and Turner engineers 614 D-1 Drum handling device-photos, blueprints, reports 615 D-2 Drydock-corresp., reports 616 D-3 Dikes (oil terminals) corresp. 617 D-4 Demurrage 618 D-5 Dispatching reports and corresp. 71 D-7 Diesel locomotives reports, corresp. 72 E-1 East Texas iron ore-clippings, reports, corresp. 73 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1910-11 Catlett rookery ATSF 74 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1927-28 Heisig 75 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1930 76 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1937 agreement 77 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1937-38 78 E-1 East Texas iron ore-1939-42 79 E-2 Explosive dock corresp. 710 E-3 Equalization agreement-reports on equalized rates 81 E-4 Engine terminal-specs and bid to build terminal at ship channel 82 E-5 Editorials 83 E-6 Esperson dock and terminal project 84 F-2 Fireboat corresp. and reports 85-8 F-3 Flood control 91-2 Flood control reports 93 F-5 Foreign Trade Association corresp. 94 F-6 Foreign Trade Zone corresp., reports 95 F-6 Foreign Trade Zone 96 F-7 Finances (Navigation District) 101 F-7 Finances (Navigation District) 102 F-8 Ferguson Patent reports and corresp. 103 F-9 Fuel oil terminal 104 G-3 Grain elevator corresp., reports 104 G-3 Grain elevator corresp., reports 105 G-3 Grain elevator 106 G-4 Grain treatment-drawings, dust explosion info. 107 G-5 Green’s Bayou reports 108 G-6 Gulf Ports Association membership, by-laws, corresp. 109 H-1 Harbor lines-blueprints, corresp., reports, brief 1010 Harbor Traffic Control 1011 H-3 Houston Port and Traffic Bureau 1012 Houston Port and Traffic Bureau-rate book, by-laws 111 H-3 Houston Port and Traffic Bureau 112 Houston Ship Channel improvements 113 H-6-a Handling equipment-general 114 H-6-b Handling equipment-vacuum device 115 H-6-c Handling equipment-heavy lift 116 H-6-d Handling equipment-towmotors 117 H-6-e Handling equipment-sweeper 118 H-6-f Handling equipment-cranes 119 H-6-g Handling equipment-car dumper 1110 H-6-h Handling equipment-pallets 1111 I-1 Industrial maps 1112 I-2 Intracoastal Canal Association 1113 I-3 Insurance (Navigation District) 1114 I-4 Inspection trips of Navigation District 1115 L-1 Land appraisals and valuation of harbor property 1116 L-3 Locomotive terminal 1117 L-4 Land purchases 1118 L-5 Legislation 1119 M-1 Manchester Basin 1120 M-3 Maritime Commission 121 M-5 Morgan’s Point 122 M-6 Mehrtens, George-corresp. 123 M-8 Misc.-business 124 N-1 North Side Belt Railroad 125 N-3 Navigation District auditor’s reports 126 N-3 Navigation District auditor’s reports 127 N-3 Navigation District auditor’s reports 131 O-1 Organization (Navigation District) 132 O-2 Oil (drilling in the Bay) 133 O-3 Operations-accounts, balance sheets, etc. 134 O-3 Operations-accounts, balance sheets, etc. 135 P-1 Permits, building-for structures on navigable waters 136 P-2 Pictures-from newspapers (ship channel, Wait) 137 P-3 Pilots-corresp. and reports 141-2 P-3 Pilots 143 P-4 Ports, general 144 P-4 Ports-Albany, NY 145 P-4 Ports-Atlanta, GA 146 P-4 Ports-Baltimore, MD 147 P-4 Ports-Bayonne, NJ 148-9 P-4 Ports-Beaumont, TX 151 P-4 Ports-Boston, MA 152 P-4 Ports-Broward Co., FL 153 P-4 Ports-Brownsville, TX 154 P-4 Ports-Chambers-Liberty Co., TX 155-7 P-4 Ports-Charleston, SC 158 P-4 Ports-Chester, PA 159 P-4 Ports-Cleveland, OH 1510 P-4 Ports-Chicago, IL 1511 P-4 Ports-Concord, NH 1512 P-4 Ports-Corpus Christi, TX 1513 P-4 Ports-Freeport, TX 161 P-4 Ports-Galveston, TX 162 P-4 Ports-Goose Creek, TX 163 P-4 Ports-Greenville, NC 164 P-4 Ports-Gulfport, MS 165 P-4 Ports-Halifax, Nova Scotia 166 P-4 Ports-Hamilton, Canada 167 P-4 Ports-Hampton Roads, VA 168 P-4 Ports-Honolulu, HI 169 P-4 Ports-Jacksonville, FL 1610 P-4 Ports-Lake Charles, LA 1611 P-4 Ports-Long Beach, CA 1612 P-4 Ports-Los Angeles, CA 1613 P-4 Ports-Matagorda Co. Navigation District 1614-15 P-4 Ports-Matagorda Co. Navigation District, Bay City, TX 171-2 P-4 Ports-Matagorda Co. Navigation District, Bay City, TX 173 P-4 Ports-Memphis, TNX 174 P-4 Ports-Miami, FL 175 P-4 Ports-Milwaukee, WI 176 P-4 Ports-Mobile, AL 177 P-4 Ports-Montreal, Canada 178 P-4 Ports-New Haven, CT 179 P-4 Ports-New Orleans, LA 1710 P-4 Ports-New Orleans, LA 181 P-4 Ports-New York City, NY 182 P-4 Ports-New Westminster, British Columbia 183 P-4 Ports-Newark, NJ 184 P-4 Ports-Newport Harbor, CA 185 P-4 Ports-Norfolk, VA 186 P-4 Ports-Oakland, CA 187 P-4 Ports-Ottawa, Canada 188 P-4 Ports-Panama City Port development 189 P-4 Ports-Philadelphia, PA 1810 P-4 Ports-Port Isabel, TX 1811 P-4 Ports-Portland, ME 1812 P-4 Ports-Portland, OR 1813 P-4 Ports-Providence, RI 1814 P-4 Ports-Puerto Rico 1815 P-4 Ports-Richmond, VA 1816 P-4 Ports-Rochester, NY 1817 P-4 Ports-Rotterdam, Holland 1818 P-4 Ports-Sacramento, CA 1819 P-4 Ports-Saint Lawrence project 1820 P-4 Ports-San Diego, CA 1821 P-4 Ports-San Francisco, CA 1822 P-4 Ports-San Jose, CA 1823 P-4 Ports-San Jacinto (Harris Co.) Burchfield Plan 1824 P-4 Ports-Savannah, GA 1825 P-4 Ports-Seattle, WA 1826 P-4 Ports-Shreveport, LA 1827 P-4 Ports-St. John, New Brunswick 1828 P-4 Ports-State of New Jersey (S. Jersey Port Comm.) 1829 P-4 Ports-Stockton, CA 1830 P-4 Ports-Tacoma, WA 1831 P-4 Ports-Tampa, FL 1832 P-4 Ports-Texas City, TX 191 P-4 Ports-Toledo, OH 192 P-4 Ports-Toronto, Canada 193 P-4 Ports-Trinity River Project 194 P-4 Ports-Vancouver, British Columbia 195 P-4 Ports-Wilmington, DE 196 P-4 Ports-Wilmington, NC 197 P-5 Projects-estimates of work in Port Houston 198 P-6 Peggy Lake-surplus ship storage, dredging 199-11 P-8 Publicity, general 201-3 P-8 Publicity, general 204 P-8-a Publicity by Ella Tarbell 205 P-9 Policy-corresp. and reports 206 R-1 Railroad (PTRA general) 211-4 R-1 Railroad (PTRA general) 221-2 R-1 Railroad (PTRA general) 223 R-1-a Railroad statistics 224 R-1-b Railroad (PTRA contracts) 225 R-1-c Railroad switching 226 R-1-d Railroad (PTRA Booth yard) 227 R-2 Railroad (Harbor Belt RR) 231 R-7 Rates-freight 232 S-1 Shipyard (Todd-Houston) 233 S-2 Smog-produced by Champion Papers & Fiber Co. 234 S-3 Southwest Tonnage Study 235 S-4 Speeches by Wait 241-3 S-4 Speeches by Wait 244 S-5 Steamship lines 245 S-6 “Switching” editorials 246 S-7 Steel plant (corr. soliciting shipments) 247 S-8 Statistics on trade through the port 248 S-9 San Jacinto water supply 249 S-10 Solicitation 251 S-11 Sheffield Steel Plant 252 S-12 Shipside rail-water terminal 253 S-14 San Jacinto Battleground and Monument 254 S-15 Seatrain 255 T-1 Taxes (Harris Co.) 256 T-4 Tunnels 257 T-5 Terminal practices 258 T-6 Testimonial dinners 259 T-7-b Trips-West Coast 25 10 T-7-c Trips-Algonquin 26 1-4 T-7-d Trips-Japan 27 1 T-7-d Trips-Japan 27 2 T-7-e Trips-Carlsbad Caverns, NM 27 3 T-9 Texas Ports Association 27 4-8 T-10 Tariff 28 1 T-10 Tariff-Houston, Galveston, Texas City, New Orleans, Texas lines 28 2 T-12 Textiles industry corresp. 28 3 T-13 Toredo and termites 28 4 T-14 Tin smelter 28 5 T-15 Tidal lands 28 6 T-15 Tidal lands 28 7 T-16 Turning basin 28 8 U-1 United States services-list of Army engineers supervising River and Harbor projects, 1867-1947 28 9 V-1 Vegetable oil plant 28 10 W-2 World Ports magazine 28 11 W-4 Water supply reports and corresp. 28 12 W-5 Wharves and docks-Wharf Characteristics, Port of Houston 29 1-3 W-5 Wharves and docks 29 4 W-5-a Wharves and docks-Frank White report Series II: Publications, 1933-1959 (Box 30) 30 1 The Port of Houston-How It Came to Pass by Col. Thomas H. Ball, 1936 30 2 Principal Industries, Port Facilities and Points of Interest Along the Houston Ship Channel, 1959 30 3 Report of Survey for Revision of Warehouse Lease, June 20, 1933 30 4 Proposed Houston-New York-Boston Steamship Service 30 5 Before the Navigation and Canal Commissioners of Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District (Barbour Terminals, Inc., Complainant) Brief and Argument in Behalf of Complainant, [1937?] 30 6 Presentation of Harris County Houston Ship Channel Navigation District to Mayor Oscar F. Holcombe and City Council on Buffalo Bayou Upper Channel Improvements, 1935 30 7 Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Director of the Port, Houston, Texas, 1946 30 8 General Education Board Houston visitation, April 9, 1947 30 9 Navigation District 1958 Annual Review 30 10 “Wild River” ...yet untamed; A Pictorial Presentation of Factual Information especially prepared for the Members of the 46th Legislature Series III: Brazos River Harbor Navigation District, 1927-1962 (Boxes 31-34) 31 1 Mr. J. Russell Wait’s Report to Brazos River Harbor Navigation District, 1950 31 2 Data for survey report, 1948 31 3 Survey Report to Brazos Harbor Navigation District by J. Russell Wait, May 1, 1950 31 4 Document No. 10 for Creation of Brazos River Harbor Navigation District of Brazoria County, 1927 31 5 Specifications 31 6 Financial data, 1956-62 31 7 Soil and foundation investigation 31 8 Data to Quartermaster, 1953 31 9 Facts-study on Brazos River and Freeport harbor 31 10 Jetty alignment approval 31 11 Information on interest to Pilot and Canal Commissioners re: S/S Marinero, 1957 32 1 Proposal for location of new shipbuilding-repair yard 32 2 Port Tariff; Rates, Rules and Regulations Governing the Navigation District and its Public Facilities, 1957, 1960 32 3 Statement of Brazos River Harbor Navigation District of Brazoria County with reference to Flood Control and Related Improvements in Brazoria County, Texas, 1962 32 4 Brazos River at Brazoria, Tex., and Water Overflowing into Buffalo Camp Bayou near Brazoria, Tex. Discharge for Flood Period April- June, 1957 32 5 Stenographer’s Minutes Before the Interstate Commerce Commission, Docket No. 33558 In the Matter of Brazos River Harbor Navigation District of Brazoria County, Texas v Abilene & Southern Railway Company, et al, Dallas, Texas, March 1961 [volumes I-V] 33 1-3 Improvements 33 4 Annual Report 1952 33 5 Annual Report 1953 33 6 Annual Report 1954 33 7 Annual Report 1956 33 8 Annual Report 1957 33 9 Annual Report 1958 33 10 Harbor construction photos, 1952-53 34 1-2 Harbor construction photos, 1953-54 34 3 Harbor construction photos, 1954-55 34 4 Harbor construction photos, 1954-55 Series IV: Scrapbooks, 1939-1942 (6 volumes)

Two large scrapbooks in the collection document Houston area daily newspaper coverage of WWII from late August 1939 to June 1942, providing insight into the increasing impact of the war upon American life. A set of four scrapbooks document Wait's 1939 business trips to Japan, featuring typewritten notes, published booklets, clippings, and postcards.

World War II newsclippings scrapbooks, 1939-1942 (Vols. I and II) Trips to Japan (Vols. I - IV)