A Guide to the Katherine Pollard Carter Papers, 1921-1988

Biographical Note

Native Texan, Katherine Pollard attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she actively participated in student publications, and received a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1922. She spent two years as a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, N.Y., but left before receiving a master’s degree. Soon after returning to her family in Bay City, Texas, Pollard found work in Houston, employed consecutively as ad manager for The Woman’s Viewpoint, Assistant New Business Manager for Houston Land and Trust Co., and in public relations for Will Hogg’s Forum of Civics, a civic improvements promotional organization. During this time she also served as publicity chairman for the American Bank Women’s convention held in Houston in 1927 and helped found the Women’s Flying Club of Houston.

Depression era cutbacks caused Pollard to become a teacher, first in Houston and later in Bay City. In 1938, she married Kenneth Innes Carter, a Bay City farmer. During World War II, the couple lived in Palacios, where she served a short time as the Secretary of the Palacios Chamber of Commerce. After the war, they returned to Bay City and she to teaching. Commuting to Houston on weekends, Katherine earned her masters degree in Education in 1951 from the University of Houston. She wrote for various local newspapers and a radio station until stopping to write several books about Christian miracles, including Hand on the Helm (1972), Heard in Heaven (1975), and The Outstretched Arm. Kenneth died in 1977, and Katherine in 1989.

Sources:

Katherine Pollard Carter Papers, 1921-1988, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Carter, Katherine Pollard,"http://www.tshaonline.org /handbook/online/articles/CC/fcabv.html (accessed August 9, 2010).

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Contents

Scrapbooks, newspapers clippings, correspondence, certificates, and printed material compose the Katherine Pollard Carter Papers, 1921-1988, which illuminate her career in journalism and public relations, particularly Houston in the 1920s. The scrapbooks consist of her articles, correspondence, news clippings, photographs, memorabilia, pamphlets, and other ephemera and relate to her school days, her work with numerous news and civic organizations, and her hobbies. The scrapbooks and publications illustrate the history of the University of Texas at Austin, the Houston Land and Trust Co., the Women’s Flying Club, Will Hogg’s Forum of Civics in Houston and its publication Civics for Houston, the American Bank Women’s convention, the Palacios Chamber of Commerce, The Woman’s Viewpoint, women in World War II, religion, as well as Houston schools, parks, and gardening. Carter’s personal correspondence also concern her religious and political interests. Furthermore, her correspondence, awards, and certificates represent her work with the Republican Party, support of the Reagan administration and the Presidential Task Force, and participation in Conservative causes in the 1980s.

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Katherine Pollard Carter Papers, 1921-1988, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Anne L. Cook, April 1983. Subsequent revisions were made by Alison Beck, June 1986, and archival staff in 1988.

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.

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Papers

Return to the Table of Contents