Descriptive Summary
Texas Bluebonnet Girls
State
Texas Bluebonnet Girls State
Records
1942-2008
Materials are written in English.
AR 95-097; 95-172; 96-373; 97-214; 98-229; 2008-184;
2009-182
8 ft., 5 in.
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
Publications, photographs,
scrapbooks, operating records, videocassettes and a documentary film trace the
history of Bluebonnet Girls State, a program sponsored by the American Legion
Auxiliary that aims to educate high-school age girls in the rights and
responsibilities of American citizenship.
Historical Note
Sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Department of Texas, Bluebonnet Girls
State aims to educate high-school age girls in the rights and responsibilities of
American citizenship. In annual weeklong sessions, participants, or “citizens,”
organize their own city, county, and state governments, conducting elections,
introducing and debating bills in a mock legislature, and learning the duties of
government offices. Two girls are selected annually to attend Girls Nation in
Washington, D. C.
Although the American Legion Auxiliary instituted Girls State in 1937, the Texas
program started three years later with the first and second Bluebonnet Girls States
held at Baylor University in 1941 and 1942, respectively. Meetings were suspended
during World War II, recommencing in 1946. One of the most influential figures in
Bluebonnet Girls State history was Frances Goff, who began working with the program
in 1947 and served as Director from 1952 until her death in 1994. That year, Connie
Bridges, a former Girls State citizen and 1974 Girls State governor, became
Executive Director.
Scope and Contents
Publications, photographs, scrapbooks, operating records, videocassettes, and a
documentary film compose the Texas Bluebonnet Girls State Records, 1942-2008.
Publications in the collection include annual manuals, the summer Bluebonnet
newsletter, counselor and staff guidebooks, brochures, and sheet music. Black and
white photographic prints document the Bluebonnet Girls State sessions of the 1940s
and 1950s, while scrapbooks record participants’ activities from the late 1950s to
2002. The organization’s operating records consist of schedules, programs,
participant rosters, correspondence, memoranda, applications, minutes, financial
reports, invoices, and clippings. Additionally, the records of Connie Bridges
pertain to the 1974 Girls State session, and a body of photographic material
documents the annual gift shop and hospital volunteer work of the American Legion
Auxiliary Department of Texas in the 1940s to 1950s.
Access Restrictions
Portions of these records are restricted due to their sensitive financial nature.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Goff, Frances, 1916-1994.
Bridges, Connie.
Trahan, Mary Ellen.
Subjects (Organizations)
Girls State. Texas.
American Legion. Auxiliary. Dept. of
Texas.
Subjects
Girls -- Societies and clubs -- Archival resources.
Women -- Education -- Texas.
Places
Texas.
Preferred Citation
Texas Bluebonnet Girls State Records, 1942-2008, Dolph Briscoe Center for American
History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Related Material
Forms part of the Francis Goff
Papers, 1914-1994
See also the American Legion
Auxiliary Department of Texas Records
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Deborah Bloys, April 1995. Subsequent revisions were
made by NAME, DATE.
Subsequent revisions were made by Shelley Rowland, July 2008, Megan Mummey, July
2009, and Laurel Rozema, August 2010.
Detailed Description of the Papers
Inventory
2.325/G139l
Girls State publications:
2.325/G139l
Bluebonnet Girls State Manual, published
annually:
2.325/G139l
1955-1956, 1958-1976, 1978
2.325/G145
1964, 1966-1975, 1978-1979, 1981-1983, 1986-1990,
1992-1993, 1997, 1998, 2002
2.325/G145
Counselor and Staff Guidebook, 1969, 1997,
1998
2.325/G145
“Training Leaders for a Free Future: A History of Girls
State, 1937-1957”
2.325/G145
“Guide for American Legion Auxiliary Girls State,”
1970, 1975
2.325/G145
Brochures, 1970, 1979, 1981,
1984
2.325/G145
Sheet music, “To the Auxiliary,” “For God and for Country,”
“Here’s to Girls State”
2.325/G145
“The Bluebonnet,” newsletter
2.325/G145
1967, 1979-1985
2.325/G146
1986, 1989-1990, 1996-2000,
2002-2003
2.325/G146
Operating records: Programs, correspondence, memoranda, rosters,
applications, minutes, financial reports and clippings
2.325/G146
1965-1970
2.325/G146
Clippings, 1970
2.325/G146
1970-1979
2.325/G146
Invoices, financial records,
1979
2.325/G146
1979-1980
2.325/G146
Invoices, financial records,
1980
2.325/G146
1980-1981
2.325/G147
1981-1982
2.325/G147
Girls State transportation fee,
1982
2.325/G147
Waiting list, 1982
2.325/G147
Correspondence and form letters, 1982 and
undated
2.325/G147
1982-1984
2.325/G147
Program and rosters, 1984
2.325/G147
Waiting lists, 1984
2.325/G147
1984-1986
2.325/G147
Arliss Treybig, Chairman, letters received,
1986
2.325/G147
Correspondence re. registration and waiting list,
1986
2.325/G147
Expense account forms, 1986
2.325/G147
Supplies received, 1986
2.325/G147
1986-1987
2.325/G147
Financial reports and accounts,
1986-1987
2.325/G147
1988-1991, 1994
2.325/G147
Schedule and roster, 1997
2.325/G147
Schedule and roster, 1998
2.325/G147
Legislation proposed in Girls State,
2004-2005
2.325/G147
Governor’s Proclamation, House and Senate Daily Floor
Reports, 2008
2.325/G147
Rental of Girls State film, 1979-1983
2.325/G147
Supplies ordered, 1980-1983
2.325/G147
Expense accounts, 1983-1985
2.325/G147
Blank certificates:
2.325/G147
1989, 1991
2.325/C113b
1992
2.325/C113b
Collected publications:
2.325/C113b
Boys State Manual, The American Legion, Department of Texas,
1977
2.325/C113b
“Know Your America: Suggested Study Course in Americanism,”
1977
2.325/C113b
“The American Way: Stories… that rekindle pride in our
country,” 1975
2.325/C113b
“Proudly We Hail: The Story of Our National Anthem,”
1965
2.325/C113b
“Americanism Manual,” The American Legion,
undated
2.325/C113b
“The Key to the Constitution of the United States,”
1972
2.325/C113b
“How to Display and Respect the Flag of the United States,”
1976
2.325/C113b
“American Documents of Freedom,” American Revolution
Bicentennial, circa 1976
2.325/C113b
“Bicentennial Times,” Vol. 1, No. 5, circa
1974
2.325/C113b
Photographs:
2.325/C113b
Girls State sessions,
1942-1976, 1996, undated
2.325/C113b
Ann Richards, Frances Goff, at Girls State, 1990,
1993
2.325/C113b
Guest speaker file photographs and biographical information,
1990-1999
2.325/C113b
Connie Grusendorf Bridges, records:
2.325/C113b
Lloyd Bentsen internship: Photographs, letters received (2
folders), 1974-1975
2.325/C113b
Photographs, Girls State sessions, 1974,
1975
2.325/C113b
Girls State, 1974: Letters received, schedules
2.325/C113b
Girls State session, 1975: Letters received, schedules,
rosters, staff guide
2.325/C113b
Clippings, 1974
2.325/C113b
Department of Defense information packet, circa
1974-1975
2.325/C113b
Girls State song lyrics, circa
1970s
2.325/AA13c
The Washington Post,
July 12 and 13, 1974
2.325/C113b
VHS videocassettes:
2.325/C113b
American Legion Mid-Winter Conference, 1993; Maryana Iskander
– Governor of Texas Girls State
2.325/C113b
Inauguration 1991
2.325/C113b
American Legion Auxiliary, “Citizens of Tomorrow,” Texas
Bluebonnet Girls State, 1989
2.325/C113b
Texas Bluebonnet Girls State, “The Fiftieth Session,”
1994
2.325/C113b
Girls State, 1992
2.325/F281
Scrapbooks:
2.325/F281
1959
2.325/F282
1958-1961
2.325/F283
1963-1967
2.325/F285a
Federalist Party, 1965
2.325/F285b
1958-1963
2.325/F285c
Girls Nation, 1958; Bluebonnet Girls State,
1964-1966
2.325/F286
1968-1973
2.325/F287
1974-1977
2.325/F288
1978-1985
2.325/F289
1989
2.325/F284
1990
2.325/F290
1991
2.325/F291a
1992
2.325/F291b
1993
2.325/F291c
1994-1996
2.325/D16j
1997-1999
2.325/D16k
2000
2.325/D16l
2001-2002
2/FilmD24
16mm film: Girls State documentary film, produced by the American
Legion Auxiliary Unit, undated
2.325/D42b
Oversize material:
2.325/D42b
“The Bluebonnet,” Special 50th Session Edition,
June 14, 1994
2.325/D42b
Photograph, session participants, 1993
2.325/OD5
Photographic collage, Girls State participants,
circa 1974
2.325/H11
American Legion Auxiliary Records:
2.325/H11
Annual Gift Shop and hospital volunteer work
2.325/H11
Veterans Administration (V.A.) Hospital, Amarillo,
1947-1955
2.325/H11
V.A. Hospital, Big Spring, Texas,
1952-1954
2.325/H11
U. S. Naval Hospital, Corpus Christi,
1951-1952
2.325/H11
V.A. Hospital, Dallas, Texas,
1948-1959
2.325/H11
Houston, 1950-1955
2.325/H11
Legion Hospital, Kerrville,
1949-1954
2.325/H11
V.A. Hospital, McKinney, Texas,
1948-1955
2.325/H11
V.A. Hospital, Marlin, Texas,
1952-1954
2.325/H11
San Antonio, 1949-1956
2.325/H11
Temple, Texas, 1948-1954
2.325/H11
Waco, Texas, 1948-1959
2.325/H11
M.D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research, Houston, undated,
and The Cancer Bulletin, 1950
and 1951
2.325/B9
Bank statements, canceled
checks, financial records, 1977-1986
[RESTRICTED]