A Guide to the Esther L. Mueller Papers, 1845, 1916-1984


Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	Mueller, Esther L., 1902-1984
	Title:	Mueller, Esther L., Papers
	Dates:	1845, 1916-1984
	Abstract:	Papers produced and collected by Esther L. Mueller (1902–1984), pertain primarily to her study of, and writings about, the history of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County.
	Accession No.:	85-219
	Extent:	5 ft., 4 in.
	Language:	Materials are written in English.
	Repository:	Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

Biographical Note

Educator, historian, and writer Esther L. Mueller was born in 1902 in Fredericksburg, Texas, and graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1921. She wrote extensively about the history of Texas and the Fredericksburg area as well as fiction and poetry. Published works include A Bakery of Pioneer Days and Haupt Strasse - Americanized as well as historical articles and unpublished manuscripts. Additionally, Mueller taught at the Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women’s University) and spent three years teaching in Germany in the early fifties.

Scope and Contents

Papers produced and collected by Esther L. Mueller (1902–1984), pertain primarily to her study of, and writings about, the history of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County. Included are notebooks containing interviews with descendants of the area's early German pioneers and the resultant biographies she wrote as well as printed material about Sunday houses, county courthouses, the Easter fires celebration and her research and writing of a book about the area's history, entitled Haupt Strasse - Americanized. Her fictional works are documented through notes, manuscripts, and typescripts for three unpublished novels: "Cornerstone," "Given Name," and "Whispers the Dust," and some short stories and poems. The papers also contain correspondence between Esther's grandfather, Conrad Wehmeyer, and his relatives in Illinois and letters from J. Frank Dobie and Lady Bird Johnson, diaries, observations on students and teaching, a scrapbook of a trip to California, watercolor paintings, and photographs.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.


Index Terms

	Subjects (Persons)
		Mueller, Esther L., 1902-1984
		Dobie, J. Frank (James Frank), 1888-1964
		Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-2007
	Subjects (Organizations)
		Texas Woman's University -- Faculty
	Subjects
		Women and literature -- Texas
		Frontier and pioneer life -- Texas -- History -- 19th century
		Germans -- Texas -- History
		Educators -- Texas
		Courthouses -- Texas
	Places
		Fredericksburg (Tex.)
		Germany