Mrs. S.M. McAshan to Mrs. WBS, 1942

Walter Benona Sharp helped usher in the oil boom in Texas, while his wife Estelle Boughton Sharp used her wealth and talents throughout her long life for a variety of social and charitable projects. A record of their lives, their times, and the people who surrounded them may be found in the Sharp Collection. Although of only moderate size--six linear feet of shelf space, a four inch deep oversized drawer, and twelve and one-half hours of oral interviews--this collection holds much of value for those interested in the Southwest. Within the Walter B. Sharp Papers (1889-1912) are his correspondence with his family, his business papers, other personal papers, and tributes, memorials, and expressions of sympathy at the time of his death. The Estelle B. Sharp Papers (1883-1965) consist of personal correspondence, and items related to social service, the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, the Texas Centennial, world peace, Rice Institute, and the University of Texas. Business papers, various clippings, and scrapbooks comprise other portions of her papers. The Sharp Family Papers (1868-1969) include material related to the Boughton-Frost-Sharp genealogy, and letters written and received by Estelle and Walter's sons, Bedford and Dudley. Magazine articles, biographical material on the Sharps, family photographs, and assorted books related to the Boughton-Frost-Sharp families are also housed with the Family Papers. The Sharp Oral Interviews (1953-1978) pertain to the oil and gas industry in the Southwest, Estelle, Walter, and Dudley Sharp, the J.S. Cullinan family, the Howard Hughes family, and the growth and development of Houston. Prominent events dealt with in the Sharp Collection include Spindletop, the founding of the Texas Company, the founding of the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company, the establishment of United Charities, the start of settlement house work in Houston, and Dudley C. Sharp, Sr.'s years of service as Assistant Secretary and Secretary of the Air Force. Besides the Sharps, individuals associated with the collection include Howard Hughes, Sr., Howard Hughes, Jr., J.S. Cullinan, Will C. Hogg, Edgar Odell Lovett, W.L. Clayton, James L. Autry, and Clark M. Eichelberger. Much has been written on the turbulent birth of the oil industry in the Southwest--and Walter Sharp's life certainly had its share of drama--yet, perhaps even more important was the ongoing role of the entrepreneurial families which came out of these early years. Within the bounds of the Sharp Collection is an indepth look at one of these families.

The Sharp collection is a particularly appropriate acquisition because it complements the Woodson Research Center's present holdings of the papers of other 19th- and 20th-century Texas entrepreneurs in oil and gas exploration, as well as in other ventures. Some of these are the papers of Judge Harris Masterson, General William Hamman, and Judge James L. Autry (who, through his oil interests, became General Counsel of the Texas Company). The Sharp papers, along with the other entrepreneurial collections, will provide not only original source material specifically concerning the development of the petroleum industry in Texas, but also information generally useful to researchers in the economic, political, cultural and social history of this area.