urn:taro:utexas.cah.01305 A Guide to the Olin Wellborn Nichols Culberson Papers, 1860-1964 Original EAD encoding by Lauren Algee according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. November 2009 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Culberson, Olin Wellborn Nichols Olin Wellborn Nichols Culberson Papers 1860-1964 Materials are written in English. 73-120; 82-389; 90-373 10 ft. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,The University of Texas at Austin Olin Culberson was a Texas Railroad Commissioner known for championing the causes of independent oil producers. Biographical Note

Olin Culberson was a Texas Railroad Commissioner known for championing the causes of independent oil producers. Culberson was born October 26, 1886 in Turnerville, Texas. He began his working life in the railroad yards at the suggestion of his relative Charles A. Culberson, Texas governor and U. S. Senator, before enlisting for World War I. Culberson returned to Texas and was elected Hill County Clerk and then County Judge. Culberson was then appointed examiner for the Commission in the late 1930s. He was elected to the Texas Railroad Commission in the summer of 1940. Culberson served on the three-member commission for over 20 years, administering the affairs of Texas’ oil-gas industry, the state’s public carriers, and its gas utilities. Culberson was active in local politics and a forerunner in urging the conservation of natural gas.

 Scope and Contents

Papers document the career of Culberson (1886-1961) as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 1940-1961, his interest in the regulation of the oil and gas industries by the state rather than the federal government, and the elimination of discriminatory freight rates against southwestern Texas. Included are correspondence, a diary, financial accounts, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, speeches, legal records, reports, sound recordings, motion pictures, photographs, and a large volume of Texas Railroad Commission maps (oil and gas division) embossed with Ernest O. Thompson’s name. Photographs contain images of Culberson’s family and friends and his colleagues at the commission.

 Access Restrictions

Access to the audio and moving image portions of these papers is restricted for preservation purposes. Contact repository for more information.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Craven, Walter Culberson, Charles Allen, 1855-1925. Culberson, Olin Wellborn Nichols Daniel, Price Davenport, John Fields, William A. Jester, Beaufort Halbert McCalla, Kenneth Mitchell, George Murray, W. J., Jr. Nimitz, Chester W. (Chester William), 1885-1966. Pressler, Herman P. Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961. Scrivener, Arthur Thompson, Ernest Othmer, 1892- White, Ben Yarborough, Ralph Webster, 1903-1996 Young, John Subjects (Organizations) Railroad Commission of Texas Subjects Petroleum industry and trade--Texas. Politicians--Texas Railroads--Texas. Places Houston (Tex.) Preferred Citation

Olin Wellborn Nichols Culberson Papers, 1860-1964, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Related Material

See also Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Records, 1947-1995

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s "History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light" project, 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Inventory: 3G310 Correspondence: 3G310 1942-1960 3G310 Speeches: 3G310 “Americanism,” Women’s Club of San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 24, 1960 3G310 “Anglo American Treaty,” Public Affairs Club, Dallas, Texas 3G310 “Armistice Day,” American Legion, November 11, 1948 3G310 “Bill of Rights” 3G310 “Boy Scout Speech” 3G310 “A Calm Appraisal of A Vital Question,” Houston Post, February 12, 1951 3G311 “Campaign Speeches of Olin Culberson,” May 4, 1940 – July 25, 1946, and undated 3G311 “Christopher Columbus,” Italo-American Club, San Antonio, Texas, October 19, 1951 3G311 “Citizenship,” June 5, 1956, and February 27, 1958 3G311 “A Citizen’s Duty To His Country,” Denton Lions Club, Denton, Texas, April 17, 1959 3G311 “Communism” 3G311 “Conservation,” Sept. 10, 1953, and May 5, 1959 3G311 “Constitution” 3G311 “Culberson’s Banquet Speech,” Dallas, Texas, November 5, 1951 3G311 “Dallas Testimonial Dinner,” Dallas, Texas, September 13, 1957 3G311 “Danger of Military Control” 3G311 “Decontrol,” North Texas Oil and Gas Association 3G311 “Dedication of Monument – Seventy Years of Oil Celebration,” San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 1, [?] 3G311 “Dedicatory Address,” Gatesville, Texas, December 14, 1946 3G311 “Delinquency Blame Falls Upon Us All” 3G311 “Democracy Must Survive,” 1945 3G311 “Determination of MER in Texas,” The Phoenix IOCC, May 1952 3G311 “A Diagnosis of Our Uneasiness” 3G311 “A Discussion of States’ Rights,” Friday Club, Houston, Texas 3G311 “Divine Destiny Shaped America” 3G312 “The Early Days of Oil,” Exchange Club, March 7, 1956 3G312 “Easter” 3G312 “Economics,” September 10, 1952 3G312 “For American Families: A Pattern That Is Changing” 3G312 “Freedom,” Daughters of American Revolution, April, 1954 3G312 “Freedom, (Individual Rights)” 3G312 “Freight Rates Ruling,” West Texas Today, pp. 11-12, November 1945 3G312 “God and The Atom (Atomic Energy),” 1949 3G312 “Glass Making – An Ancient Art” 3G312 “Government,” 1935-1951 3G312 “Graduation,” 1942, 1945, 1951-1952 3G312 “Hidden Texas” 3G312 “Holy Week” 3G312 “The Illusion of Permanence” 3G312 “Independence Day,” July 4, 1947, and undated 3G313 “Internationalism And The Survival of State Powers,” Wichita Falls, Texas, March 29, 1958 3G313 “Jokes and Poems,“ 1950-1951 3G313 “Jenken Lloyd Jones,” October 17, 1950 3G313 [Love For Our Government] 3G313 “Magic Barrel” 3G313 [The Magna Charter] 3G313 “Masonry and Education” 3G313 “Memorial Day,” November 4, 1945, and undated 3G313 “Mother’s Day,” Luling Kiwanis Club, Luling, Texas, May 16, 1945 3G313 “National Defense” 3G313 “Need For Christian Citizenship” 3G313 “The Need For Looking Ahead” 3G313 [A Nuclear Arms Race] 3G313 “Oath of Office,” [Austin, Texas], January 2, 1941 3G313 “Oil-Gas Depletion,” Houston Post, October 5, 1951 3G313 “Oil-Gas Depletion Allowance,” San Angelo Standard Times, October 3, 1951 3G313 “Oil-Gas Statistics” 3G313 “Oil and Its Effect On Texas Economy,” Dallas (Ft. Worth/Dallas SKAL Club), October 21, 1957 3G313 “Oil Imports and Us,” Downtown Rotary Club, Dallas, Texas, June19, 1957 3G313 “Oil’s Progress,” Civic and Business Groups on Oil Progress Day, October 14, 1948 3G313 “Oil and Gas Resources of Texas,” 1944-1945, 1947-1949, 1951-1952 3G313 “Old Trail Drivers,” 1950-1951 3G313 “Organization And History Of The Railroad Commission,” November 18, 1941 3G314 “Our Constitution, U. S. A.,” Fort Worth Kiwanis Club, Fort Worth, Texas, February 17, 1955 3G314 “Oysters or Eagles?” 3G314 “The Political Career of Thomas Jefferson,” Patrick Henry Chapter, No. 11, Austin, Texas, February 22, 1943 3G314 “Preamble” 3G314 “Procedures, etc. of Railroad Commission,” Dallas Bar Association Clinic Meeting, Dallas, Texas, March 19, 1955 3G314 “Progress In The Permian Basin of West Texas” 3G314 “Religion” 3G314 “Responsibilities of Man” 3G314 “Riders Wanted” 3G314 “The Rights of Man” 3G314 “The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the University of Texas,” 1958 3G314 “The Spirit of George Washington” 3G314 “Squeeze Is On For Oil Industry,” The Odessa American, p. 15A, Sunday, October 13, 1957 3G314 “States Rights and Constitutional Government” 3G314 “The State’s Rights In Conservation,” Conference on Petroleum Land Management, McMurry College, Abilene, Texas, October 23-24, 1957 3G314 “The Texas Cowboy,” Old Trail Drivers’ Association, San Antonio, Texas 3G314 “The Texas Fraternal Congress,” Houston, Texas, November 20, 1953 3G314 “Texas History” 3G314 “Texas Oil and The Railroad Commission of Texas,” May 8, 1958 3G314 “Statement by Olin Culberson,” Texas Oil Journal, February, 1951 3G314 “Transportation In Texas,” Galveston-Firemen’s Convention, Galveston, Texas 3G314 “West-Central Texas Oil & Gas Association,” August 22, 1940 and October 3, 1940 3G314 “Who Will Write Present History For Future World?” 3G314 “Why The Iron Curtain Helps The West,” Readers Digest, March, 1952 3G314 “Women In Federal Government” 3G314 “The World Today” 3G314 May 31,1940 – August 12, 1940 3G315 August 13, 1940 – August 23, 1940 3G315 1941-1942, 1946 3G315 1947, 1951, 1954, 1956-1958, and undated 3G316 Press releases, 1941-1961 3P37 Photographs: 3P37 “Vote for Olin Culberson for Railroad Commissioner” [lantern slide] 3P37 [young girl] 3P37 [Olin Culberson working]

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 3P37 [Olin Culberson being sworn in]

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 3S28 My trip down the Houston Ship Channel, May 21, 1949 (Album) 3S28 Olin Culberson and associates 3S28 The Olin Culberson family and homes 3S130 Texas Railroad Association Dinner, honoring members, Texas Railroad Commission, Austin, Texas, October 17, 1955 (Album) 3S182 Chester W. Nimitz, et al, autographed 3S182 Olin Culberson 3S182 Drawings: 3S182 Political Cartoons:

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 3S182 “Decline and Fall of Independent Oil Producers,” Bill McClanahan 3S182 “Nibble or Bite?” Herc Ficklen 3S182 [Oil Industry], 1940, 1950 3S182 Culberson Family Coat of Arms 3Y300 RESTRICTED Moving image: 3Y300 RESTRICTED 16mm reels of film on Olin Culberson, KRLR-TV, Dallas, undated 3P37 RESTRICTED Unidentified reels of film [8] 3P37 RESTRICTED Olin Culberson, KRLD-TV, Herald Square Texas, undated 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Sound Recordings (discs): 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Opening speech for Railroad Commissioner, Hillsboro, Texas, 1940 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Discs, Part 1 and Part 2, Seguin, Texas, July 4, 1941 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Disc No. 126 and 127, Commissioner Olin Culberson, Duncan Coffee Company, March 23-24, 1942 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Discs Part No. 1 and Part No. 2, W. L. Coker Campaign, Monday, July 1, 1946 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Ser. 10-2732, Mr. Olin Culberson, VOX POP CBS. AIR, October 15, 1946 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Union Bus Lines, Hon. Olin Culberson, KRGV, American Broadcasting Company, November 10, 1946 and November 17, 1946 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 1, Set 1 and No. 1 Set 2, Olin Culberson, Lubbock Texas, March 23, 1952 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 3, Set 1 and No. 4, Set 1, Olin Culberson, March 23, 1952 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 7, Set 1 and No. 8, Set 1, Olin Culberson, Lubbock, Texas, March 22, 1952 and March 23, 1952 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 5, Set 1 and No. 6, Set 1, Olin Culberson, March 22-23, 1952 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Part 1 and Part 3; Part 2 and Part 4, Paul Harvey, KNOW, Pioneer Broadcasting Company C., Austin, Texas, Sunday, April 13, 1952 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED KOLE, Port Arthur, Texas, Olin Culberson – Interview, November 19, 1955 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED THIS IS YOUR LIFE, Olin Culberson, Side 2 and Side 4; Side 1 and Side 3, Program at Appreciation Dinner, Petroleum Club, (KCRS), Midland, Texas, March 28, 1957 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 1 and No. 2, Roy Terry Introduction 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 3 and No. 4, Roy Terry [Introduction] 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 5 and No. 6, Fred Erisman, George A. Holder and M. W. Day 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 7 and No. 8, M. W. Day, L. H. Reed, W. D. Watson and John Wrather, 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 9 and No. 10, John Wrather 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 11 and No. 12, Bill Murray 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 13 and No. 14, Bill Murray, Foster Bean, Gen. Thompson, A. B. Childs 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED No. 15 and No. 16, A. B. Childs, Mrs. Culberson 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Play 1 and Play 2, Olin Culberson, KOCA, March 10, 1950 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED A115 and B115, Part 1 and Part 3, Nesbitt and Olin Culberson, December 16, and December 22, [?] 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED 29120 A, Side 7, EILI, EILI (My Lord, My Lord), by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians; and 29120 B, Side 8, THE LOST CHORD (Sir Arthur Sullivan-Adelaide A. Procter), by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Part One, 784B, Funny Papers, December 19, [?], Part Two, 784A, Olin Culberson, December 16, [?] 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Part One 783B, Olin Culberson, December 16, [?], and Part Two 783A, Cedril, December 17, [?] 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Audio Disc 6078, Dee Humphery, August 13, 1940, and other side unlabeled 2.325/S Oversized RESTRICTED Blank discs 4N64m Scrapbooks: 4N64m 1860-1865, 1895, 1901, 1916, 1925, 1939-1953 4M616 July 1935 – February 1940 4M616 1939 – 1942 4M617 January – April 1940 4M617 May – August 1940 4M618 August – October 1940 4M618 January 1943 – December 1944 4N64n January 1947 – December 1948 4N64n January 1947 – December 1948 4N72a 1951 -1955 4N72b 1891, 1903, 1935, 1948, 1953 – 1961 4N72c 1954 – 1961 2.325/OP9 Broadside: 2.325/OP9 “They Are Outstanding,” Austin American Statesman, Austin, Texas, January 12, 1964 2.116/OD1285 Maps: 2.116/OD1285 Railroad Commission of Texas Oil and Gas Division, Ernest O. Thompson, 1940-1941 3S187 Memorabilia: 2.325/OP9 Certificate of Membership, presented to H. C. Lindsey by C. A. Culberson, Governor of the State of Texas, Austin, July 29, 1898 3S187 Certificate for Master of Scottish Rite, April 1951 3S187 Proclamation of Honorary Citizenship, Waco, Texas, 1957 3S187 Certificate of Appreciation, Houston, Texas, 1958 3S187 Certificate of Honor, Members and Personnel of the Railroad Commission of Texas, May 24, 1941 3S187 Biography of Olin Culberson, 1886-1961 3G320 Certificate of Appreciation, Rotary Club of Corpus Christi, Texas, May 1, 1958 3G320 Certificate of Honorary Membership, American Legion, May 10, 1961 3G320 Certificate of Merit, State Railroad Commissioner of Texas, January 2, 1941 3G320 Certificate of Merit, American Cancer Society, Inc., 1960 3G320 The Mike Flynn Citizenship Award Data, Established by Olin Culberson, 1948-1958 3G320 Miscellaneous certificates, proclamation, and diploma, 1947-1959 3G320 Guest log, Olin Culberson’s birthday, October 26, 1948 3G320 Honor guest ribbon, 58th Annual Washington’s Birthday Celebration, Laredo, Texas, February 17-23, 1955 3G320 Ernest O. Thompson’s Resignation, Texas National Guard, Camp Mabry, Austin, July 13, 1947 3G320 Guest book from Edna Lodge No. 767, February 7, 1958 3G320 Olin Culberson’s personal diary, “My trip to Europe,” July – October 1958 3G320 The TIPRO, Tyler, Texas, 1953-1960 3G320 Pension Plan Study Committee, State Firemen’s and Firemen’s Association of Texas, May 7, 1958 – February 17, 1960 3G320 Culberson’s personal birthday greetings, 1960 3G320 Announcements and resolution, 1961 3G320 [Humorous Military regulations for Staff Officers], from Ernest O. Thompson 3G320 Proverb (framed) 3P37 [Illustrated program from dinner honoring Mr. Olin Culberson], November 5, 1941 3P37 TIPRO Reporter, August 1953 [“Olin Culberson—Champion of the Independent” on cover] 3P37 School enrollment ledger, 1876-1906 [for “The Story of the Public Schools of Hill Co. Thompson”?] 3P37 Culberson Family Bible 3P37 Framed bookplate of Tom Edward Pooley 3P37 Bookplate of Martha Vogeler W 3P37 Publications: 3P37 A Layman’s Impressions Harry Hines [signed booklet] 3P37 More Leaves from the Scrapbook of M. W. Terrell [2] 3P37 The Greatest Confederate Commander 3P37 The Old Plantations and Their Owners of Brazoria County, Texas, Abner J. Strobel 3P37 A Century of Texas Governors and Capitols, Republic and State, Citizenship Series Number Five, Flag Day, June 14, 1943 3P37 The National Word-Lists: 7 and 8 Letter Words, with a Treatise on How to Solve Word Building Puzzles, The National Book Club, 1953 3P37 The National Word-Lists: 2, 3 and 4 Letter Words, The National Book Club, 1953 3P37 Collier’s, July 7, 1951 4M626 Albums: 4M626 Acknowledgment of invitations, August – September, 1957 4M626 This Is Our Life, The Culbersons, 1935-1961 4M627 A Tribute to Olin Culberson, Dinner Dance Honoring Judge Olin Culberson, Houston, Texas, February 28, 1958 4M628 Tributes to Olin Culberson, 1943-1962 3G321 World Atlas, Rand McNally & Company 3G321 Tributes to Olin Culberson, 1961, 1967 3G321 Miscellany: 3G321 Political file of Olin Culberson, 1940-1947 3G321 Campaign expense account, 1946 3G321 Campaign endorsers, January 15, 1940 3G321 Radio and television speeches 3G22 Fragments of speeches 3G22 Speeches by friends: 3G22 1925 - 1961 and undated 3G22 Clippings: 3G22 Newspaper and magazine excerpts 3G22 Communism and un-American activities, 1945-1949 3G22 Miscellaneous