Biographical Note
Clyde McQueen (b. 1926 ), a native of Lufkin, Tex., received a B.S. in Agriculture in 1950 from Prairie View College, a M.S. of Education from Pairie View A & M University in 1957 and a M.U.P. in Urban Planning from Texas A & M University in 1970. For most of his career, he worked for the U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service. From 1965 to 1972 he worked as a Soil Conservationist in Brazos, Burleson and Waller counties, Tex. In 1972, he was transferred to Temple, Tex. with an assignment to work in the rural development area. It was during this time that he became a student of Texas history and the growth and development of its economy. He retired from the Soil Conservation Service on 3 July 1984 after thirty-one years of service to the federal government. Later, as an independent researcher, McQueen published the results of a survey he had conducted from 1988-1997 of African American churches in Texas, titled
Black Churches in Texas. A Guide to Historic Congregations (Texas A & M University Press, 2000).
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Bibliography:
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College Station, Tex.
Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.
Clyde McQueen Papers.
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Earles, Phyllis to Robin Hutchison, email correspondence, 14 February 2003.
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McQueen, Clyde. Black Churches in Texas. A Guide to Historic Congregations. College Station, Tex: : Texas A & M University Press, 2000. [dust jacket]
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Texas A & M University, Association of Former Students. Directory of Former Students, 1876-2000. [College Station, Tex: Association of Former Students], 2000.
Scope and Content Note
The Clyde McQueen Papers (1944-1999 (bulk: 1988-1993)) consists of the research collection McQueen built and used to write
Black Churches in Texas. A Guide to Historic Congregations (Texas A & M University Press, 2000).
Four record center boxes and one flat oversized box, representing nine linear feet of material contain mainly
Texas County Historical Black Church information sheets, each listed as an inventory in the finding guide, accompanied by related church history materials including: church worship service programs, also called orders of worship; church homecoming and anniversary publications; handwritten and typed letters mostly regarding church history; newspaper clippings about historic congregations and members; notes about the history and location of churches and contact persons in congregations; business cards for contacts; published church histories; photocopies from published books about related counties, cities, and congregations; Texas county maps; color slides, photographic prints and negatives of church cornerstones, existing church buildings, Texas Historical Markers, and congregation members.
Also present are photocopies of newspaper clippings covering African American religious issues and manuscript drafts for McQueen's book, many of which are heavily annotated by McQueen.
The inventories and related church history materials were amassed by data collection teams organized by McQueen and also collected by McQueen himself. Norris Braly, a member of the Burleson County Historical Committee, documented the first church history in February 1988. McQueen documented the last congregation 24 August 1997.
Most of the church worship service programs were laser printed. However, there are a few earlier documents that are photocopies of mimeographed sheets, and a few that were professionally printed. When the word typed is used to describe a church history, it means that the history was not professionally printed. For conservation purposes and ease of handling, newspaper clippings were photocopied by the Cushing Memorial Library and Archives staff and pasted to acid free paper.
Variant congregation names exist within the documents (for example, Macedonia First Baptist Church and Macedonia Baptist Church). For the purpose of this finding guide, we have chosen to use the form of the congregation name given in
Black Churches in Texas. Files exist within the collection for congregations that do not appear in Black Churches in Texas because exact organization dates could not be determined at the time of publication. Conversely, not every church listed in McQueen's book has a folder in the collection (for example: Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of Sweeny in Brazoria County).
McQueen used different versions of the inventory form to document the churches. Though the information requested is the same, the format may differ. McQueen also copyrighted many of his slides, and so most of them bear handwritten copyright information.
The collection is organized into nine series. The first five series contain the research files McQueen created on each congregation in the different regions and follow the arrangement McQueen used in his work
Black Churches in Texas. They are as follows: Series 1. Central Texas Region; Series 2. East Texas Region; Series 3. Gulf Coast Region; Series 4. North Texas Region; Series 5. South Texas Region. Series 6. contains newspaper clippings of African American religious issues around the nation. Series 7. contains various drafts of McQueen's manuscript. Series 8. contains miscellaneous research materials used by McQueen. Series 9. contains maps used by McQueen to locate congregations around the state.
The bulk of the papers is found in the first five series which, for the most part, follow the arrangement established by McQueen in
Black Churches in Texas; alphabetically by county, then by city, and then by congregation founding date (with two exceptions, one in Anderson County and one in Brazoria County). Files for congregations that were not included in his book (because exact founding dates could not be determined) are filed in with the appropriate county and city and are further organized by their unsupported founding date. If this date was not available, the files are placed at the end of the city where the congregations are located. Prior to the Harris County and Tarrant County sections there are folders that contain miscellaneous background materials used by McQueen when compiling each of those sections. At the conclusion of both the Gulf Coast and the North Texas region, there are files containing miscellaneous slides for congregations which do not appear in the book, or elsewhere in McQueen's papers.
Series 6. is organized chronologically by publication date.
Series 7. maintains McQueen's original order. The drafts are generally in folders labeled to the corresponding section of his book, but are fairly freely organized within each folder.
Series 9. is filed alphabetically by county name.