Browsing by Author "Hobby, William P."

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    Saving Galveston: A history of the Galveston Historical Foundation
    (2009) Schmidt, Sally Anne; Boles, John B.; Hobby, William P.; Gruber, Ira D.; Masterson, Harris, Jr.; Mahca, Joseph; Cullinan, Nina J.
    The history of the Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) reveals how innovative Galvestonians looked to the past to create a future for their distressed city and inspired the development of one of the nation's leading local historic preservation organizations. Galveston, an island city fifty miles south of Houston, flourished economically and culturally as Texas's leading city during the nineteenth century. By 1900, islanders had built a city filled with handsome commercial and residential structures that reflected Galveston's significant status. The city rebuilt following the devastating Hurricane of 1900, but it never recovered its past glory. With the opening of the Houston Ship Channel in 1914 and the overall growth of Houston, Galveston's prominence slipped away. In 1954 a group of preservation-minded men and women organized the Galveston Historical Foundation to prevent the destruction of the second oldest house on the island, the Samuel May Williams House. Influenced by past Galveston historical societies, GHF's volunteer leadership worked to raise awareness of the city's historical and architectural treasures. Many born-on-the-island Galvestonians did not initially see the purpose of saving dilapidated houses and abandoned commercial buildings, and they had to be persuaded. Little-by-little GHF leaders succeeded and the preservation movement found a foothold on the island. With the hiring of the Foundation's first executive director, Peter Brink, in 1973 and the establishment of a revolving fund to save commercial properties on the Strand, GHF began to materially impact the island's physical, cultural, and economic landscape. The subsequent work of the Foundation in the 1970s and 1980s was not easy, but it resulted in the evolution of Galveston from a run-down, second-rate, beach town into a popular destination for historically-minded tourists. It also helped begin the positive transformation that occurred in Galveston's residential neighborhoods and inspired homeowners (of all economic backgrounds) to maintain their property. As GHF worked to revitalize the city, the Foundation itself transformed from a small, volunteer-led historical society into a professionally-managed, nationally-recognized, non-profit institution.
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    Sunbelt Civil Rights: Race, Labor, and Politics in the Fort Worth Aircraft Industry, 1940-1980
    (2011) Abel, Joseph; Hobby, William P.
    This dissertation critically engages the growing literature on the "long" civil rightsmovement and the African American struggle for equal employment. Focusing on the FortWorth plants of General Dynamics and its local competitors, this study argues that thefederal government's commitment to fair employment can best be understood by examiningits attempts to oversee the racial practices of southern defense contractors both prior to andafter passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. From World War II onward, the aircraftfactories of north Texas became testing grounds for federal civil rights reform as a variety ofnon-statutory executive agencies attempted to root out employment discrimination.However, although they raised awareness about the problem, these early efforts yielded fewresults. Because the agencies involved refused to utilize their punitive authority or counterthe industry's unstable demand for labor through rational economic planning, workplaceinequality continued to be the norm. Ultimately, federal policymakers' reluctance to reformthe underlying structural causes of employment discrimination among southern defensecontractors set a precedent that has continued to hinder African American economicadvancement.This dissertation also reevaluates assumptions regarding southern unions and theresponse of white workers to the civil rights movement. Just as the economic relationshipbetween the federal government and defense contractors gave rise to early mandates on fairemployment, the unstable demand for labor and adversarial management style of the FortWorth aircraft manufacturers nurtured a form of unionism unique within the South for itsmoderate treatment of African Americans. Long before most labor organizations in theregion resigned themselves to similar philosophies, the local aircraft workers' unionsadopted a pragmatic approach toward racial questions based largely on their need to countermanagerial abuses and provide job security. Whatever their personal prejudices may havebeen, local white labor leaders nevertheless protected the economic rights of AfricanAmericans through forceful shopfloor representation and the negotiation of inclusionarycontracts. By demanding a workplace in which management's actions were constrained bya set of fairly negotiated contractual rules, Fort Worth's aircraft unions struck an importantif unintended blow against the arbitrariness of employment discrimination.
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    When marriages fail: Divorce in nineteenth-century Texas
    (2008) Blum, Francelle L.; Boles, John B.; Hobby, William P.
    Divorce in nineteenth-century Texas was rooted in social customs as much as law, with class, gender, and race serving as strong influences on marital experiences and decisions to divorce. Legal divorce took place primarily at the local level, with the option of appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. Under Mexican rule, Anglo settlers had no option for divorce, and marital status was itself often uncertain, resulting in the practice of bond marriage (marriage by contract). For a short time under the Republic of Texas, a few Texans sought legislative divorce. However, judicial divorce soon became the standard practice and remained so throughout the century. This study is based on a reading of 1,578 local divorce cases from Harrison and Washington Counties. An extensive database including all available information on the litigants of each case provides insight into the influences of class, race, gender, kinship, and community on divorce. Although culturally very southern, Texas was also a western frontier and a community-property state. A combination of property protections based on Spanish law, frontier attitudes, and southern paternalism assured Texas women of a relatively high legal status. The Texas divorce law of 1841 remained intact throughout the nineteenth century with only minor changes. With remarkable legal persistence, social factors were the most evident influences on marital expectations and divorce. Chapters are laid out chronologically. Chapter One examines the statutory context of Texas divorce. Chapter Two addresses marital dissolution in the earliest phase of Anglo settlement and under the Republic of Texas, with an emphasis on frontier circumstances and changing political identities. Chapter Three examines divorce under antebellum statehood with an eye toward social hierarchy. Chapter Four discusses the impact of the Civil War and the actions of divorce seekers in postwar Texas, with emphasis on kinship and community influences as well as changing expectations for marriage. Chapter Five deals with the unique experiences of African American divorce seekers in Texas after 1865.