Descriptive Summary
Goforth, Flora
Dee
Flora Goforth Papers,
1906-2000
Papers of the Texas
Technological College graduate Flora Goforth, who went on to teach for the
Indian Service at the Sioux Reservation.
U 242.3
Southwest Collection/Special Collections
Library, Texas Tech University
3 Boxes (2.5 linear
feet)
English.
Biographical Sketch
Born in 1907 in Granger, Texas, Flora Goforth spent her childhood in
Texas and New Mexico. Relatives on both sides of her family had been weavers,
spurring her desire to make a career out of designing surface patterns. She
attended Texas Technological College in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Texas
Technological College was the only school west of the Mississippi to have a
textile school.
A sociable person, Goforth became the first freshmen to be elected
president of the Home Economics Club. Music also occupied her time as Flora
played the saxophone in the Girl's Orchestra and the trombone in the Tech Band.
While teaching for the Indian Service at the Sioux Reservation, Goforth sought
to impart to her students the perfection in the straight edges of weaving.
Under her direction, students learned to create their own designs, build looms,
weave the textiles, and finally turn them into a useable product such as a
scarf or jacket that was marketable. Her book,
Weave It Yourself, showed the reader how
to build a loom and the steps required to produce the depicted blanket. This
book included photographs of her students at work.
Scope and Content
The collection includes correspondence, financial records, printed
materials, hand notes, diaries, and appointment calendars by Flora Goforth,
some Texas Technological College memorabilia, a stick loom project, and class
notes.
Also included are 115 negatives and 175 prints of the Goforth family
and friends, and images taken by Flora Goforth on an archaeological expedition
at Jemez, New Mexico, under the direction of Dr. Hewitt of the University of
New Mexico. These expedition images are all undated but likely circa the late
1920s or early 1930s.
Organization
The collection is divided into two sections: manuscripts and
photographic materials.
Index Terms
The subject headings used by the Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library are derived from the Library of Congress and/or locally
developed.
Subjects (Persons)
Goforth, Flora
Dee
Goforth, Flora
Dee--Correspondence
Goforth, Flora
Dee--Diaries
Goforth, Flora
Dee--Friends and associates--Photographs
Subjects (Organizations)
Texas Technological
College
Subjects
Archaeological
expeditions--New Mexico--Photographs
Weavers--Photographs
Weaving--Study and
teaching
Handlooms--Design and
construction
Acquisition
Collection accession #(s):
2001-0123-B, 2001-0324-B, 2002-0165-B
Gifts, 2001-2002
Access Restrictions
Open for research
Processed by
Abel Ramirez and Lynn Whitfield, December 2002
Preferred Citation
Flora Goforth Papers, 1906-2000, Southwest Collection/Special
Collections Library, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Related Materials in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections
Library:
Flora Goforth oral history interview [sound recording], 1999
Drama (Lubbock, Tex.), Papers, 1960-1966
Flora Goforth Photographs, undated
Flora Goforth Papers, 1927-1934 and undated
Collection Inventory
I. Manuscripts
1
1
Correspondence: Personal and Business,
1935-1940
1
2
Financial Material: Miscellaneous Expenses,
1935-1965
Literary Production
1
3
Address Booklets,
undated
1
4
Diaries,
1929
1
5
Diaries, Auto Log Book, and Appointment Calendars,
1935-1939
1
6
Diaries, Auto Log Books and Expenses, and Appointment
Calendars,
1940-1949
1
7
Diaries, Expenses, and Appointment Calendars,
1950-1957
1
8
Diaries, Expenses, and Appointment Calendars,
1960-1970
2
1
Diaries, Expenses, and Appointment Calendars,
1969-1979
2
2
Diaries, Expenses, and Appointment Calendars,
1980-1989
2
3
Diaries and Appointment Calendars,
1990-1997
2
4
Hand Notes on Weaving,
undated
2
5
Hand Notes, Poems, and Agenda,
1938 and undated
Printed Materials
2
6
Articles about Flora Goforth,
1936-1972
2
7
Bulletins of Archaeological Institute of University of
New Mexico,
1929-1930
2
8
Denver Art Museum,
1950
2
9
Hand Crafts of Sioux Spinning and Weaving, Vol. 1,
1942
2
10
Miscellaneous Publications,
1938-1954 and undated
2
11
Rocky Mountains Weavers' Guild, 40th Anniversary,
1993
2
12
Texas Sesquicentennial, Read and Remember,
1986
Scrapbook Material
2
13
Calendars,
1933-2000
2
14
Kate Douglas Wiggins' artwork,
1933
2
15
National Wool Growers Association,
1956
2
16
Miscellaneous and Texas Tech,
1929-1983 and undated
Texas Tech
2
17
Class Notes,
1930
2
18
Goforth's School Records,
1930
2
19
Stick Loom Project,
undated
3
1
Memorabilia,
1930-1940s
Red yo-yo
Texas Technological College pendent on chain, still in
original box
Red and black "Tech" armband
Texas Tech Engineer's Show miniature rolling
pin
Silver gear with
"Tech 1930" on one side and
"Engineers" on the
other
Silver
"Texas Tech Engineers"
seal
Beaded bookmarker
Matchbook with three matches, from Pinson Drug
Co.
Miniature bell with pink ribbon tie
Texas Tech belt buckle
Leap the Frogs red ribbon
3 silver keys, unidentified
Silver item, possibly a weight?
City Bus coin with heart-shape stamped out of
center
One penny,
1930
One mill tax token, New Mexico Bureau of Revenue,
1935
II. Photographs
1
1
Rolled, oversized group portrait, unidentified and not
dated
1
2
Family and friends (14 negatives),
undated
1
3
Family and friends (124 prints),
1906-2000
1
4
New Mexico and Native American Images (6 prints),
undated
1
5
New Mexico Expedition (101 negatives),
undated
1
6
New Mexico Expedition (45 prints, 3
postcards),
undated
1
7
Scrapbook,
1923-1924