A Guide to the Oscar Cromwell Dancy Papers, 1917-1965
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator: | Dancy, Oscar Cromwell | |
| Title: | Dancy, Oscar Cromwell Papers | |
| Dates: | 1917-1965 | |
| Abstract: | Oscar Cromwell Dancy (1879-1971) served as county judge of Cameron County from 1921-1932 and 1934-1962. He was an energetic proponent of county water and highway improvements. The collection consists of correspondence, legal and financial records, speeches, political broadsides, newspaper clippings, brochures, magazines and postcards, scrapbooks, maps and photographs. | |
| Accession No.: | 67-84; 73-162; 97-345; 99-112 | |
| Extent: | 9 ft., 6 in. | |
| Language: | Materials are written in English. | |
| Repository: | Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin | |
Biographical Sketch
Oscar Cromwell Dancy (1879-1971) was born and raised in Wilkes County, North Carolina. After receiving his law degree from Southern Normal University in Huntington, Tennessee, he taught in North Carolina and served with the U. S. Aarmy in the Spanish-American War. Upon returning to the United States, Dancy served as mayor of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In 1909, Dancy resigned as mayor and moved with his wife to Brownsville, Texas, after she contracted typhoid fever.
Dancy practiced law and served as county judge of Cameron County from 1921 to 1932 and 1934 to 1962. A proponent of county water and highway improvements, he actively encouraged the statewide use of county bond financing and was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party. His length of position as county judge was longer than any other man’s in the history of the state. The Cameron County courthouse is now housed in the Oscar C. Dancy Building in Brownsville, Texas.
Source:
"Dancy, Oscar Cromwell." Handbook of Texas Online Accessed September 20, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/fda73.html.
Scope and Contents
The Oscar Cromwell Dancy Papers, 1917-1965, consist of correspondence, legal and financial records, speeches, political broadsides, newspaper clippings, brochures, magazines and postcards, scrapbooks, maps and photographs. These items pertain to Dancy’s career as a county judge as well as to his political positions. Additionally, the collection contains poll tax receipts; legal briefs, including some from before Dancy’s judgeship; speeches concerning the Cameron County road system as well as taxes; and correspondence with many significant residents of Cameron County, Austin, and Washington, D.C.
Arrangement and Organization | ||
| The papers of Oscar Cromwell Dancy are arranged into seven series, as follows: | ||
| I. General and correspondence files | ||
| II. Personal files | ||
| III. Speeches | ||
| IV. Legal records | ||
V. Printed material
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| VI. Scrapbooks | ||
VII. Pictorial files
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Restrictions
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research use.
Index Terms | ||
| Subjects (Persons) | ||
| Anderson, W. E. (William Eugene), 1946- | ||
| Dancy, Arthur | ||
| Dancy, Oscar Cromwell, 1879-1971 -- Archives. | ||
| Couch, Ed C. | ||
| Faulk, Henry | ||
| Garner, John Nance, 1868-1967 | ||
| Jones, Jesse Holman, 1874-1956 | ||
| Mead, Elwood, 1858-1936 | ||
| Neff, Pat Morris, 1871-1952 | ||
| Pease, Charles Henry, 1873–1933 | ||
| Sexton, Harry | ||
| Sheppard, Morris, 1875-1941 | ||
| Subjects (Organizations) | ||
| Democratic Party (Tex.) | ||
| Subjects | ||
| Bonds--Texas | ||
| Broadsides--Texas | ||
| County government--Texas--Cameron County | ||
| Depressions--1929--Texas | ||
| Highways--Texas | ||
| Judges--Texas | ||
| Politicians--Texas | ||
| Poll tax--Texas | ||
| Prohibition--Texas | ||
| Speeches--Texas | ||
| Taxation--Texas | ||
| Voting-machines | ||
| Water resources development | ||
| Places | ||
| Cameron County (Tex.) | ||
| Rio Grande Valley | ||
Related Material
See also the Sheppard, Morris Papers, 1894-1953. |
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Separated Material
Some material has been separated to the Map Collection. |
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Oscar Cromwell Dancy Papers, 1917-1965, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by archives staff.
Subsequent revisions were made by Evan Usler, September 2011.
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 | |||||||||||||
| Contact repository for more information. | |||||||||||||