A Guide to the Eugene Campbell Barker Papers, 1785, 1812-1959

Biographical Note

Eugene Campbell Barker (1874-1956) grew up in the east Texas towns of Riverside and Palestine before enrolling at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his B.A. in 1899 and his M.A. in 1900. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania where he finished his Ph.D. in 1908. With the death of George P. Garrison, Barker became the chair of the University of Texas History Department, a position he held until 1925. Barker is widely credited with leading the UT History Department to a position of national prominence through the recruitment of important faculty and the matriculation of notable students.

Among Barker's seminal works were his collecting, editing, and publishing of The Austin Papers and the subsequent publication of The Life of Stephen F. Austin. He also served as editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and director of the Texas State Historical Association. Barker played a key role in the establishment of the University of Texas Latin American Collection and the development of the Littlefied Collection of Southern History.

Source: The Handbook of Texas Online

Scope and Contents

Papers produced by Barker (1874-1956), University of Texas historian and educator, relate to the development of the Texas State Historical Association, the American Historical Association, and other learned societies; scholarly research and publication; teaching at the university; national historical affairs; Barker's consideration of academic freedom, tenure, and the administration of the University of Texas; his studies of the Fredonian Rebellion, Texas finances (1835-1836), Houston and the 1836 Campaign, miscellaneous data and sources in Texas history, Mexican Army and Mexican sources, Goliad and the Tampico Expedition, Texas-Mexican relations (1827-1834), causes of the Texas Revolution; letters concerning the writings of Sam Houston; transcriptions of documents concerning the Alamo, James Walker Fannin, Jr., James Grant, Francis W. Johnson, and William B. Travis; Stephen F. Austin; Anglo-American settlement in Texas; Austin's Colony; Austin in Mexico; Declaration of Independence; establishment of the Republic of Texas, civil government, land speculation, and nonmilitary events of 1836; native Latin American contributions to the colonization and independence of Texas; Texas relations with Great Britain, France, and Europe; William Barker family notes; Frederick Jackson Turner notes; miscellaneous notes on state banks, Virginia Convention of 1788, economic interpretation of the Constitution, the judiciary and slavery, Velasco, East Texas, expulsion of John Bradburn, Convention of 1833, homestead law in Texas, Mexia Expedition, religion, Peter Grayson, and impressions suggested by Sam Houston's writings; and records of Barker's major publications. The papers contain correspondence, speeches, lecture notes, research notes, literary productions, class records, scrapbooks, and photographs.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Eugene Campbell Barker Papers, 1785, 1812-1959, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

Detailed Description of the Collection