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Collins, Davidson, Farrington, and Angier Photographs

 Collection
Identifier: UAC/37/2024.a064

Scope and Contents

This collection is comprised of three photographs of Sam Houston Normal Institute alumni Vinson A. Collins, Oscar L. Davidson, Claude B. Farrington, and Eugene L. Angier posing outdoors as a group. The photos are dated approximately to the 1940s, with the exact date and year they were taken unknown.

Dates

  • Creation: 1940s

Conditions Governing Use

The materials represented in this finding aid have been made available for research, teaching and private use. For these purposes, you may reproduce (print, make photocopies, or download) these items without prior permission on the condition that you provide proper attribution of the source in all copies.

Please contact the Newton Gresham Library's Special Collections and University Archives department to request permissions to reproduce materials for any other purpose, or to obtain information regarding the copyright status of a particular digital image, text, audio or video recording.

Biographical / Historical

These photographs depict Sam Houston Normal Institute (SHNI) Class of 1893 alumni Claude Bolin Farrington, Eugene Luther Angier, and Oscar L. Davidson, along with Vinson Allen Collins, SHNI Class of 1892.

Vinson A. Collins (1867-1966) was a prominent Texas lawyer and politician (Wooster n.d.). He served three terms in Texas senate, during which he supported causes such as prohibition, worker’s compensation laws, women’s suffrage, and an eight-hour workday. He campaigned for the United States House of Representatives and the gubernatorial election, both of which were unsuccessful. He served on the board of regents for state teachers colleges from 1935 to 1950. He was a Klu Klux Klan member. His first marriage was to Lizzie Hopkins, who died in 1900, and he went on to marry Nannie Kuykendall of Grand Saline. He died in 1966 (Wooster n.d.).

Further information about Oscar L. Davidson is unknown.

Claude B. Farrington (1873-1956) was a faculty member at Sam Houston State Teachers College (SHSTC, formerly Sam Houston Normal Institute) in the Department of Chemistry (Building SHSU n.d.). He was a professor of chemistry from 1901 from to 1944. Farrington was a member of the local Methodist church, where he taught Sunday School for college students for 35 years. He was additionally a member of the Walker County Chamber of Commerce. He was married to Gladys Farrington and died in 1956. In 1958, SHSTC’s new science building was named in Farrington’s honor, the Farrington Science Building (also called the Farrington Building). The building's facilities included laboratories, a planetarium, and a celestial observatory. The Farrington Pit, located at the former site of the original Education Building, receives its name by being close to the Farrington Building.

Eugene L. Angier, Jr. (1870-1949), was a physician and community leader in Huntsville, Texas (Monday and Monday n.d.). After attending medical school at the University of Texas School of Medicine in Galveston, he served local draftees during World War I in Huntsville. He practiced medicine formally for twenty-one years before retiring in 1918; however, he aided in the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. He additionally worked as a physician for the Boy and Girl Scouts of America and the Texas State Penitentiary (1925-1929). He was a member of the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Woodmen of the World, the Texas University Ex-Students Association, and the Texas State Fox Hunters Association. He was a charter member of the local Kiwanis Club and the Walker County Historical Society. He served as president of the Sam Houston Normal Ex-Students Association and vice president of the Walker County Medical Society. He married Sarah Elizabeth Bohannon in 1907 before they divorced in 1915. In 1918 he married Nancy Lenora Bowden. Angier died in 1949.

Extent

1 file : 3 photographs

Language of Materials

English

Physical Location

This file is located within the Small Collections Box.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The three photographs in this collection were donated to the SHSU Archives by the late James Patton (d. 2023) from the Walker County Historical Commission. Patton, who was heavily involved in regional history endeavors such as the County Museum, Descendants of Austin's "Old 300," and the Sons of the Republic of Texas, donated numerous other materials to the SHSU Univeristy Archives over the course of his life.

Bibliography

Building SHSU. n.d. “Claude Farrington.” Accessed February 12, 2024. https://www.buildingshsu.com/f/farrington_claude.html

Charles W. Monday and Jane Clements Monday. n.d. “Angier, Eugene Luther.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed February 12, 2024. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/angier-eugene-luther

Robert Wooster. n.d. “Collins, Vinson A.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed February 12, 2024. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/collins-vinson-a.
Status
Completed
Author
Welsch, J.
Date
February 2024
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
  • Farrington Collection

Repository Details

Part of the Thomason Special Collections & SHSU University Archives Repository

Contact:
1830 Bobby K. Marks Drive
Huntsville TX 77341 US
9362941619