urn:taro:utexas.cah.00156 A Guide to the Ross Shaw Sterling Papers, 1930-1939 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, March 2001. Finding aid written in English. October 15, 2002 Edited with XMetaL 2 by Bill Hardesty and Evan Hocker according to instructions in Editing TARO EAD XML Finding Aids with XMetaL. Tue Jul 22 15:28:13 CDT 2003 urn:taro:utexas.cah.00156 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505). November 2008 Edited by Shelley Rowland according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. September 2011 Edited by Evan Usler according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. Descriptive Summary Sterling, Ross S., 1875-1949 Ross Shaw Sterling Papers 1930-1939 22966173 12 ft., 10 in. University of Texas at Austin, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History Correspondence, campaign material, scrapbooks, and photographs comprise the Ross Shaw Sterling Papers, 1930-1939, documenting Sterling’s term as governor of Texas (1931-1933). English Organization

Organized into eight series: 1. General correspondence. 2. Classified correspondence. 3. Campaign material. 4. Voting irregularities. 5. Scrapbooks. 6. Financial records and miscellany. 7. Literary productions. 8. Photographs.

 Biographical Note

Texas Governor Ross Shaw Sterling (1875-1949) was born to Benjamin Franklin and Mary Jane (Bryan) Sterling near Anahuac, Texas. He spent his early career in farming and business, and then entered the banking industry. In 1898, he married Maud Abbie Gage, with whom he had five children. In 1910, Sterling purchased two oil wells and developed the Humble Oil and Refining Company. He sold his interests in the company in 1925 and entered real estate development in the Houston area. In 1925-1926, he purchased the Houston Dispatch and Post, merging them to create the Houston Dispatch-Post. Sterling served as chairman of the Texas Highway Commission in 1930 and was inaugurated governor of Texas a year later. Confronting agricultural and oil emergencies due to the Great Depression, he declared martial law in four counties in East Texas to shut down oil production. The courts later ruled this declaration unconstitutional. After not being re-elected in 1933, Sterling returned to Houston, where he directed the Sterling Oil and Refining Company until 1946. He was also president of the American Maid Flour Mills and the R. S. Sterling Investment Company, as well as chairman of the Houston National Bank.

Source:

“Sterling, Ross Shaw,” The Handbook of Texas. Accessed September 19, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fst42.

 Scope and Contents

Correspondence, campaign material, scrapbooks, and photographs comprise the Ross Shaw Sterling Papers, 1930-1939, documenting Sterling’s term as governor of Texas (1931-1933), including his gubernatorial campaign, his proclamation of martial law in East Texas, voting irregularities, and subsequent lawsuit during his unsuccessful race for a second term as governor in 1932.

 Arrangement

The papers are arranged into eight series:

I. General correspondence II. Classified correspondence III. Campaign material IV. Voting irregularities V. Scrapbooks VI. Financial records and miscellany VII. Literary productions VIII. Photographs

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Sterling, Ross S., 1875-1949 -- Archives. Subjects (Organizations) Democratic Party (Tex.)--Photographs. Democratic Party (Tex.) -- History -- 20th century. Subjects Elections -- Texas. Martial law -- Texas. Politicians -- Texas. Aeronautics -- Photographs. Elections -- Photographs. Politicians -- Photographs. Politics, Practical -- Texas -- History -- 20th century. Places Texas -- Governors -- History -- 20th century. Texas -- Governors -- Election. United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century -- Sources. Preferred Citation

Ross Shaw Sterling Papers, 1930-1939, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

This collection was processed by Angela Olivera, May 1986.

Subsequent revisions were made by Shelley Rowland, November 2008, and Evan Usler, September 2011.

 Inventory 3F45 General correspondence: 3F45 1/1/1930-12/18/1930 3F46 12/19/1930-1/14/1931 3F47 1/15/1931-2/28/1931 3F48 3/1/1931-4/15/1931 3F49 4/16/1931-6/14/1931 3F50 6/15/1931-8/17/1931 3F51 8/18/1931-10/31/1931 3F52 11/1/1931-1/31/1932 3F53 5/1/1932-4/30/1932 3F54 5/1/1932-6/22/1932 3F55 6/23/1932-7/31/1932 3F56 8/1/1932-8/31/1932 3F57 9/1/1932-10/20/1932 3F58 10/21/1932-1/31/1933 3F59 Classified correspondence, 1931-1932 3F60 Campaign material: 3F60 Mailing lists by counties, 1932 3F60 Anderson - Eastland 3F61 Edwards - Hunt 3F62 Jackson - McLennan 3F63 Nacogdoches - Young 3F64 Voting irregularities: 3F64 Sterling vs. Ferguson, 1932: 3F64 Lists and correspondence 3F65 Lists and correspondence 3F66 County lists: 3F66 Anderson - Gillespie 3F67 Grayson - Presidio 3F68 Rusk - Wise; County reports of unqualified voters. 3F69 Transcripts of hearings, pp. 413-1562 4M579 Sterling vs. Ferguson, transcript 3F70 Scrapbooks: 3F70 November 29, 1930-June, 1931 3F71 July, 1931-October, 1932; April 29, 1939, and undated 4M580 Miscellaneous articles 3F72 Financial Records and Miscellany, 1931-1932 and undated 3H162 Literary productions 3H162 "Sterling-Texan: A Biography of Ross S. Sterling," by Ed Kilman, undated. 3S3 Photographs