Walter Gardner Hall (1907--), born in Houston, Texas, attended Rice University from 1924 to 1928. During the Depression, he began working as a cashier for the banking industry. Ultimately he and his wife, Helen Lewis, bought controlling shares of the Citizens State Bank of Dickinson. Hall gradually took over ownership of the Alvin State Bank, the League City State Bank, and the Webster State Bank.
Hall developed a keen interest in politics, beginning in the late 1930s, and became a leader of the Liberal Democrats in Texas. He supported, and aided the election of both Lyndon B. Johnson and Ralph W. Yarborough to the United States Senate. Hall was an avid supporter of Democratic politics, continued his involvement throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and remains active in banking and politics today.
In 1979, Walter Hall was interviewed by Chandler Davidson, Louis Marchiafava, and Walter Buenger, and in 1980 he was interviewed again by Chandler Davidson. Davidson was a Professor of Sociology at Rice University who instigated the Texas Politics Oral History Program to interview individuals associated with the liberal political movement in Texas.
Chandler Davidson Texas Politics research collection, 1967-1992, MS 259, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ricewrc/00168/00168-P.html (accessed June 23, 2010).
The Walter Hall Oral History Transcripts, 1979-1980, consist of photocopies of oral history transcripts of interviews with Hall, interviewed by Chandler Davidson, Louis Marchiafava, and Walter Buenger. During these oral history interviews, Hall discussed well-known people such as Lyndon B. Johnson, Ralph Yarborough, Sam Rayburn, Frankie Randolph, Minnie Fisher Cunningham, and John Connally. Furthermore, Hall speaks about Rice University; Galveston, Texas; Dickinson, Texas; and the Democratic Party in Texas.
The originals of the Oral History Transcripts and Recordings can be found at Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
Unrestricted access.
Unrestricted use.
Walter Hall Oral History Transcripts, 1979-1980, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. Photocopied from originals at the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
See also the
See also the