An attorney, politician, newspaper publisher, and radio executive, Marshall Formby was born in 1911 in Commo, Hopkins County, Texas. He received a B.A. from Texas Technological College (1932); an M.A. from the University of Texas (1937); and a J.D. from Baylor University (1951). Formby served as county judge of Dickens County, Texas (1937-1940); Texas State Senator, Lubbock District (1941-1945); and on the Board of Regents of Texas Tech University (1967-1971), and was a member of the Texas Highway Commission and the Texas Turnpike Authority. He was also a newspaper publisher and owned or co-owned numerous radio stations in Texas including KPAN in Hereford; KFLD in Floydada; KTVE in Tulia; KSML in Seminole; KACT in Andrews and KLVT in Levelland. Formby died in 1984 in Plainview, Texas.
Sharleen Wells Formby Rhoads was the wife of Marshall Formby. Born in Barberton, Ohio, in September 30, 1918, she married Marshall in Seale, Alabama, on September 8, 1946. She graduated from Breward Junior College as an English major in 1940 and taught at the Army War College in Washington, D. C. Sharleen also attended the University of Texas graduate school where she took courses in radio communication. In August 1947, the Formby Family moved to Plainview, Texas.
The collection is comprised of Marshall Formby's and Sharleen Rhoads' personal and professional materials of correspondence, speech files, radio station files, travel files, news clipping files, scrapbook materials, and memorabilia.
The files are arranged in alphabetical order. Donated over a thirteen year span, the materials were organized as they were received and are arranged into the following groupings:
Series 1: Papers, 1962-1996 and undated (8 boxes). The papers consist of family correspondence, Marshall Formby's files, and alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics.
Series 2: Papers, 1913-1995 and undated (26 boxes). The papers consist of family correspondence, Marshall Formby's files, financial records, scrapbook material, and alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics. The last two boxes contain plaques, memorabilia, and some framed items.
Series 3: Papers, 1978-1997 and undated (1 box). The papers consist of scrapbook material and alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various Texas topics. Also included are 9 memorabilia items- 2 hard hats, 5 vcr tapes, 1 booklet, and 1 Texas Tech Milk Bottle. The milk bottle was one that the Texas Technological College's Dairy Barn utilized for distributing their daily milk to the dormitories during the early history of the college.
Series 4: Papers, 1900-1997 and undated (4 boxes). The papers consist of scrapbooks, Marshall Formby's personal journals, journal draft copies, and alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics. The Formby journals are an eleven binder set dating from 1941-1984. Frances Formby Seales, Marshall's daughter, and Sharleen Formby made an effort to transfer his handwritten journals to easy-to-read text which resulted in the four draft copies now included in this collection.
Also includes a photo album with photographs dated 1900-1939, one Midland newspaper, one
Series 5: Papers, 1860-1994 and undated (47 boxes). The papers consist of Marshall Formby's scrapbooks, personal letters, papers, chronological speech files, radio station files, financial material, memorabilia, magazines, and alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics. There is also a large sample ribbon barbed wire from the Matador Ranch.
Series 6: Papers, 1910-1994 and undated (24 boxes). The papers consist of Marshall Formby's scrapbooks, personal letters, papers, chronological speech files, radio station files, financial material, memorabilia, magazines, alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics, travel files, and plaques and certificates. There is also a large sample ribbon barbed wire from the Matador Ranch and a piece of barbed wire which is believed to be called Giddeon Wire.
Series 7: Papers, 1930-1997 and undated (2 boxes). The papers consist of alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics, 9 photographs and one framed item (
Series 8: Papers, 1911-1994 and undated (26 boxes). The papers consist of files on various topics such as Formby's work as a Highway Commissioner, his run for the Texas governor's seat, and his ownership of several local radio stations. Additionally, there is financial material, memorabilia, legal material, files on Texas Tech, scrapbook material, speech material, and information on Texas history. Transferred from the collection were 10 framed images, 4 boxes of sound recordings, half a box of films, and 1 box of photographs.
Series 9: Papers, 1979-1996 and undated (1 box). The papers consist of 2 books, a certificate from the Friends of the University Library/Southwest Collection to Sharleen Rhoads, and a plaque in memory of Marshall Formby from the Merket Alumni Center.
Series 10: Papers, 1964-1998 (2 boxes). The papers consist of Sharleen Rhoads' alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics and eight books.
Series 11: Papers, 1912-1998 and undated (5 boxes). The papers consist of Sharleen Rhoads' alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics, Marshall Formby's law school class notes taken at Baylor University between 1950-1951, and three journals Formby wrote between 1912-1947. Two photographs and 4 oversized prints were transferred from the collection.
Series 12: Papers, 1957-2000 (4 boxes). The papers consist of Sharleen Rhoads' alphabetically arranged newspaper clippings on various topics, particularly Texas politics.
The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally developed.
Gifts, 1975-1988
Open for research
Abel Ramirez, 2000
Marshall Formby and Sharleen Rhoads Papers, 1860-2000 and undated, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
For related materials located in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, see the following collections: