The Texas Observer, June 6, 1958

Walter Gardner Hall has been a man of many parts--most of them seemingly incongruous. He has been a successful banker and a champion of the liberal wing of the Texas Democratic Party. He has had important social and business ties with the conservative Houston establishment and at the same time has been a close friend of such anti-establishment figures as John Henry Faulk. Through the political wars of the 1950's and 1960's, Hall managed to remain on good terms personally and politically with both Lyndon B. Johnson and Ralph W. yarborough, the oft-feuding leaders of the Texas Democrats on a national level. Within the 25 shelf feet of the Hall Papers there is a record of these diverse associations.

Contained within these papers as well is much information on the men and women with whom Hall corresponded. Among the most notable politicians are Lyndon Johnson, Ralph Yarborough, Sam Rayburn, Minnie Fisher Cunningham, Jim Wright, and Hubert Humphrey. Hall often served as an access route from the people of the Gulf Coast to these politicians, and his letters to the lesser-known folk of his area are equally interesting. Walter Hall, though, has been more than a political animal; his papers reflect extremely close ties with his sons and with friends such as J. R. Parten, George Heap Alexander, W. A. Cooper, Fagan Dickson, and Ralph Yarborough.

Besides speaking of politics and Hall's feelings for other human beings, these papers say much about Walter Hall himself. Hall is the piece of the puzzle which makes these incongruous parts fit together into an understandable whole. His ability to accept divergent opinion if honestly held and to work within the practical limits of a situation reveal some of the reasons for his political and economic success. At the same time, his political values and his position in the midrange between political officials and the voting public illustrate why the American system of government has worked as well as it has.