Descriptive Summary
Parker, Edith H.
Parker (Edith H.) Papers
1922-1984
Materials are written in English.
84-046; 84-100; 84-114; 84-119, 84-216
2 ft., 10 in.
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
The Edith H. Parker Papers,
1922-1984, contain personal, professional, and political correspondence, literary
productions, education and employment records, photographs, other pictorial
material, and a map.
Biographical Sketch
Edith H. Parker (1905-1985) was a journalist, political aide to Senator Tom Connally,
and professor. She attended Federicksburg, Virginia State Normal School and earned
her teaching certificate in 1923. After teaching elementary school, she worked for
the Washington Herald as a reporter, librarian, and
assistant editor, 1931-1934. Parker then worked as an aide to Tom Connally, chairman
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
on Dec. 7, 1941. Though Connally was supposed to write the declaration of war
against Japan after the bombing, he could not be found, so Parker penned the
document, basing it on the U.S. declaration of war document against Germany in World
War I. Parker later taught English and history at Northwestern State College in
Alva, Oklahoma, 1953-1954; East Texas State College, 1954-1958; and Del Mar College,
1958-1968. She remained active in Democratic Party politics, maintaining close ties
with Lyndon B. Johnson and serving on an advisory committee of a special Senate
committee chaired by John F. Kennedy, 1957. Parker retired from teaching in 1970 and
died in 1985.
Sources:
Edith H. Parker Papers, 1922-1984, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,
University of Texas at Austin.
Los Angeles Times obituary, Edith Parker, 79; Senate Aide Penned the Declaration of War Against
Japan, March 28, 1985.
Scope and Contents
The Edith H. Parker Papers, 1922-1984, contain personal, professional, and political
correspondence, literary productions, education and employment records, photographs,
other pictorial material, and a map. The correspondence is mainly between Parker and
other members of Senator Connally’s staff, although a large portion of
correspondence also documents her relationships with people such as Walter Prescott
Webb, Joe B. Frantz, Llerena Friend, Walter Rundell, Jr., and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Materials relating to Parker’s education can be found in the collection, including
drafts of papers, grade reports, and bibliographies. The employment records contain
newspaper clippings from the Washington Herald, federal
government employment applications, recommendations, and research grant
applications. Furthermore, the papers include copies of manuscripts written by
historian Walter Rundell, Jr., a dissertation by Frank Smyrl on Tom Connally, and
newspaper clippings relating to Dr. Parker's achievements and to Connally's death. A
map of metropolitan Corpus Christi, 1961, can also be found in the collection.
Use Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Parker, Edith H., 1905-1985--Archives.
Connally, Tom, 1877-1963.
Bailey, Joseph W. (Joseph Weldon),
1863-1929.
Barnett, Raymond.
Benson, Nettie Lee
Castañeda, Carlos Eduardo, 1896-1958.
Clark, Tom C. (Tom Campbell), 1899-1977.
Doty, E. William (Ezra William), 1907-1994.
Dubois, Charlotte.
Escott, Florence.
Frantz, Joe Bertram, 1917-.
Friend, Llerena.
Jackson, Robert M.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines),
1908-1973.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald),
1917-1963.
Estill, Harry, F. (Harry Fishburne),
1861-1942.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano),
1882-1945.
Rundell, Walter.
Smyrl, Frank H.
Wallace, Richard K.
Webb, Walter Prescott, 1888-1963.
Subjects (Organizations)
Del Mar College.
Democratic Party.
East Texas State College.
Northwestern State College (Okla.).
United States. Congress. Senate.
United States. Congress. Senate. Special Committee on
the Senate Reception Room.
University of Texas. College of Fine Arts.
University of Texas. Dept. of History
Washington Herald
Subjects
Politics--United States.
Politics--Texas.
Politicians--United States.
Politicians--Texas.
Presidential elections--United States.
Journalists--Texas.
Teachers--Texas.
Universities and colleges.
Places
Austin (Tex.).
Commerce (Tex.).
Corpus Christi (Tex.).
Dallas (Tex.).
Marlin (Tex.).
Alva (Okla.)
Edinburgh (Scotland).
Portsmouth (Va.).
Washington (D.C.).
Preferred Citation
Edith H. Parker Papers, 1922-1984, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin.
Separated Material
Some material has been separated to the Newspaper, Ephemera, Map, Texas, Autograph,
and Postcard Collections and to the Vertical Files.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Lawrence A. Landis, November 1985.
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
2E66
General correspondence,
1931-1951
2E67
General correspondence, 1952-1984,
undated
2E68
Education records:
George Washington University,
1935-1945
University of Texas, 1946-1949,
undated
British University summer school,
1966
2E68
Employment records:
Washington Herald,
1931-1934
Sen. Tom Connally, 1968
Department of the Army, professorships and research grants,
1951-1970
2E68
Literary productions:
1922-1978, undated
Walter Rundell, Jr. manuscripts and articles,
1961-1982
2E69
Literary productions:
Frank Smyrl dissertation on Tom Connally,
1968
Richard Wallace, 1964-1967
Others, 1947-1959, undated
2E69
Activities of U.S. Senate Advisory Committee,
1957-1959
2E69
Political activities, 1934-1961
2E70
Professional organizations materials,
1950-1958
2E70
Financial and legal records,
1937-1972
2E70
Newspaper clippings:
On Edith Parker, 1941-1983
Tom Connally, 1941, 1963
2E70
Miscellaneous materials:
ca. 1935-1970
Supreme Court opinions of Justice Tom Campbell Clark,
1949-1950
Greeting cards, 1931-1970, undated
3Y6
Photographs