50 PEOPLE WHO MADE DALLAS

A city is its land, buildings, streets and public places, but it is also an idea, an imperfect dream, a place in the heart. Here we commemorate those who have risen to the challenges, led us to the victories and shown us, by example, what we possess and what we still lack. Who are they? The land givers and the philanthropists, of course; the spiritual leaders, the oilmen, the bankers, the officeholders- but not only them. Dallas the idea has also been molded by dreamers, artists, entertainers. And it has been prodded on its way by those who raised their voices against injustice. Of course 50 is an arbitrary number, but had our goal been 250 or 500, many valuable makers of our city would still have been left out. The moment you think you have a definitive list of “founders,” a question arises: When is a city’s founding finished? The process had a start, certainly, but where is its end? Perhaps Dallas, a living and vital city, is being founded still.

JOHN NEELY BRYAN

1810-1877

HE STARTED IT ALL

Who really lived in that log cabin that sits in front of the Records Building downtown? While some historians doubt that it really belonged to John Neely Bryan, nobody disputes his role as the founder of Dallas. A native of Tennessee and a lawyer, Bryan laid out a half-mile square city of 200-by-200 foot lots in 1844. He also operated a ferry, farmed and was postmaster for a short time. He died in the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin in 1877.

LEE HARVEY OSWALD

1939-1963

THE KILLER

A drifter and malcontent, Lee Harvey Oswald lived here only a short while before November 22, 1963. His dark rage, like his mail-order rifle, came from across state lines, but because of him Dallas was forced to carry a bloody asterisk beside its name for decades.

TEX SCHRAMM

b. 1920

THE RINGMASTER

Original owner Clint Murchison, coach Tom Landry and a host of great players helped build the Cowboys, but Schramm, the team’s first president and general manager, was the public relations genius behind it all. Combining Landry’s stoic piety with the Cheerleaders’ wholesome pulchritude, he created a dazzling dynasty that transcended the gridiron and became a way of life.

STANLEY MARCUS

b. 1905

MERCHANT PRINCE

Forget J.R. Ewing, Stanley Marcus has done more for Dallas’ image than anyone we can think of, With his innate skill for marketing and public relations, Marcus created a fashionable mythology about the city’s cultural life in the eyes of the national press. As the home of Neiman Marcus, Dallas became known as a center of style and sophistication instead of an untamed frontier town on the prairie. At 86, Marcus continues to exert a civilizing effect on the city.

H. L. HUNT

1889-1974

HOLDING OFF THE REDS

So many elements of the Dallas and Texas myths have their source in the enigmatic Haroldson Lafayette Hunt: the wildcatter; the self-made, two-fisted scrabbler; the fantastic wealth; the virulent right-wing politics. Hunt made $100 million in the Rusk County oil fields during the Thirties, and he amassed another fortune with a line of canned goods and health aids. He was better known, however, for his ultraconservatism, expressed through support of the John Birch Society, as well as the radio program Life Line (1953-1971), heard over 531 stations, and his syndicated newspaper column Hunt for Truth. During the 1960 presidential election Hunt persuaded his Baptist minister, W.A. Criswell, to write a letter, circulated nationally, arguing that John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism made him unfit to be president.

AL LIPSCOMB

b. 1925

SHAKING THE SYSTEM

Lipscomb, the Jackie Robinson of Dallas city government, ran repeatedly for a City Council seat in the 1960s but was stonewalled by the city’s at large election system, which gave North Dallas whites a disproportionate influence. His 1971 victory in Lipscomb vs. Dallas, created the 8-3 system with eight single-member districts; Lipscomb was elected to one of them in 1984. Lipscomb is capable of passionate argument, unintentionally comic rhetoric and honeyed homilies from the Bible, but few doubt his commitment to social justice.

THOMAS L. MARSALIS

1852-1903

THE FLAMBOYANT FATHER OF OAK CLIFF

Marsalis’ wealth and entrepreneurial spirit brought Oak Cliff into being. At 20 he started his own grocery business, even paving the streets in front of his store just to prove it could be done, and after 16 years and $20 million in sales, Marsalis split with his business partner, John Armstrong (who later initiated development of Highland Park). Marsalis bought 2,000 acres and began making land improvements for the planned community he called Oak Cliff, laying out lots and building an elevated railway into Dallas. He went on to become president of three Oak Cliff railroad businesses and Oak Cliffs water, light and hotel companies.



EDWIN J. KIEST

I861-1941

THE EVENING EMPEROR

In 1896, Kiest gained control of the Dallas Times Herald, which had been formed in 1888 from the Dallas Evening Times and the Dallas Evening Herald. While serving as a city radio commissioner in 1925, he helped develop programming suitable for Dallas; he created KRLD-AM in 1926. Kiest was president of the Dallas Park Board from 1931 to 1935 and between 1930 and !934 he gave the city almost 250 acres for the Elizabeth Patterson Kiest Memorial Park, honoring his wife.



ANTONIO MACEO SMITH

1903-1977

MR. CIVIL RIGHTS A native Texan who was educated in New York and Tennessee, Smith came to Dallas in 1933 and set up an insurance company. While publishing the Dallas Express newspaper, he also was the driving force behind organizations such as the Negro Chamber of Commerce, the Negro Business League, the Hall for Negro Life and the Progressive Voters League. As secretary of the Texas NAACP, he helped establish 175 NAACP branch offices in the state. Smith was involved in Sweatt vs. Painter, the decision against the University of Texas which gave the Supreme Court legal precedent to order desegration in Brown vs. Board of Education.



ADELFA B. CALLE

b. 1923

TAKING LEGAL ACTION

For more than 30 years, Callejo has been in the forefront of minority activism. The founder and former president of the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas and as a tireless worker on numerous boards, she was the first Hispanic to chair the library board, served on the DART board and was appointed by President Carter to the Commission of Hispanic Affairs.



MARVIN E. CRENSHAWb. 1945

THE BOW-TIED GADFLY

Crenshaw earned notoriety through years of haranguing the City Council about the city’s financial ties to South Africa (and setting a record for most times ejected from the council chambers). He also challenged alleged unfair hiring practices at El Centra Community College and was instrumental in the successful defense of Charles Tillis, an African-American man accused of shooting a Dallas police officer. In 1988 Crenshaw and Roy Williams brought suit against the city, claiming the at-large council election system discriminated against minorities. After three years of court debate in the various courts and rulings from the Justice Department, the 14-1 single-member district system was implemented.



JUANITA CRAFT

1902-1985

DALLAS’ OWN ROSA PARKS

Starting as a hotel maid, Craft became a power in the local NAACP and the first black woman to vote in a Democratic primary in Texas (1944). In 1955 she led the movement to desegregate the State Fair and later led in the desegregation of North Texas State University. In the Sixties she was in the forefront of the boycotts to open lunch counters, theaters and public transportation to all citizens. Elected to the Dallas City Council in 1975, Ms. Craft was the first black to earn the prestigious Linz Award. She also earned the Eleanor Roosevelt Pioneer Award for distinguished service to humanity.



ROT H. WILLIAMS

b. 1942

LOCAL HERO

Once identified more as a kook than a legitimate political activist, Williams has come a long way in redefining his image. With Marvin Crenshaw, he brought suit against the city in 1988, an action that led to the at-large city council system being declared unconstitutional, paving the way for a council more racially inclusive than ever before. He also founded the Rainbow Bridge Youth Outreach Program. Williams is still considered quirky, with his daily meditation rituals and well-publicized gab sessions at La Madeleine on Mockingbird Lane, but his name is forever tied to a dramatic political change.

WILLIAM HENRY GASTON

1840-1927

THE FATHER OF EAST DALLAS

In 1868, three years after his discharge from the Texas Guards of the Confederate States, Gaston established the city’s first bank at Main and Jefferson. He owned the land that is now the fairgrounds, spearheaded the fund-raising drive that built the Commerce Street bridge over the Trinity and launched a mule-drawn streetcar system. Among his signal accomplishments, Gaston donated the right-of-way that lured two major railroads into Dallas. He was director of the Texas State Fair for almost 30 years and first president of Dallas Electric Light and Power.

SARAH T. HUGHES

I896-1985

JUDICIAL. TRAILBLAZER

In 1935 Hughes became the first woman to be sworn in as a judge in the state of Texas; in subsequent years she became known as a social reformer and equal rights activist and a strong voice in Dallas Democratic politics. Hughes received a flood of international attention-in 1963 when she administered the Presidential oath of office to LBJ after Kennedy’s assassination; and in 1972, when the US. Supreme Court upheld her pro-abortion ruling in Roe vs. Wade.



GEORGE LOUIS ALLEN

1909-1991

CLEARING THE WAY

In the 1960s, Allen loomed large in the peaceful desegregation of the city’s schools and public facilities. As the first black to serve on the Dallas City Council (1969-75), he fought the building of freeways through South Dallas neighborhoods and pushed an open housing ordinance and a public accomodations ordinance to plug loopholes left by the 1964 Civil Rights Act.



J. W0RTHINGT0N TATE

1870-1938

THE LAST STRONG MAYOR

During Tare’s 1929 campaign, he had promised a charter election on a council-manager system that would have sharply reduced the mayor’s powers. Once in office, he reneged, and the Citizens Charter Association was formed to push through the changes, giving Dallas a form of government that has lasted for more than 60 years.

REV. W. A. CRISWELL

b. 1909

FIRE AND BRIMSTONE

During his long reign (1944-1991) as pastor of the huge First Baptist Church of Dallas, the largest congregation of the Southern Baptist Convention, Criswell’s influence was staggering. Under his guidance the church grew to a membership of 28,000 with a budget of $12 million, 31 mission chapels and its own television and radio program. Railing from the pulpit against communists abroad, subversives at home and liberals in his denomination, the evangelist, along with the editorial page of The Dallas Morning News, set the tone for the claustrophobic conservatism that defined the city during the Fifties and Sixties.



RABBI LEU OLAN

1903-1984

A TEACHER OF THE HEART

After the Kennedy assassination, Fortune magazine called him “the conscience of the city,” a role he filled during a time when liberal voices preaching compassion and racial justice were depressingly scarce. As rabbi of Temple Emanu-El from 1949-1970, Olan tried, he said in 1983, to talk about “the things that really matter in people’s lives, about their relationship to a society where they took care that people got justice and were cared for.”



SARA MINER CALLAWAY

1863-1916

SUFFRAGETTE WITH A POWERFUL PEN

An early rabblerouser and suffragette, Callaway was also one of the first women journalists in Dallas. As editor of The Woman’s Century page for The Dallas Morning News, she covered women’s news and issues. Using the nom de plume Pauline Periwinkle, she encouraged women to organize, and despite her rather theatrical-sounding pseudonym, she took her role seriously. In 1894 Callaway organized the first Women’s Suffrage Club in Texas and in 1898 she organized the Dallas Federation of Women’s Clubs, which played a major role in the development of the cultural and civic life of small towns everywhere. Callaway espoused such avant-garde notions as voting rights for women and a safer water system for Dallas. She died two years before women were allowed to vote in Texas.

WILLIAM E. KING

1866-1919

KING OF THE BLACK PRESS

An editor and activist, King was known as the “Black Horace Greeley” of Texas. Forced to leave his home state of Mississippi in 1885 because his Fair Play advocated racial equality, he came to Dallas as managing editor of the Western Star newspaper, then published the Dallas Bee, which became the Dallas Express. He organized the statewide Negro Business League and was an active Republican.



GEORGE BANNERMAN DEALEY

1859-1946

THE VOICE OF DALLAS

As Dallas boomed and grew, The Dallas Morning News, established by G.B. Dealey in 1885, prodded the city and pricked its conscience. After Dealey became publisher of the News in 1926, the city’s leading paper called for a wide range of civic improvements, from bringing the Texas State Fair to adopting the Kessler Plan in 1910. In the 1920s, Dealey risked the wrath of readers by standing up against the resurgent Ku Klux Klan.

MARY KAY ASH

D.O.B. unknown COSMETICS QUEEN

In 1963 Mary Kay Ash took the $5,000 she had in savings and started her own business. Mary Kay Cosmetics is now one of the world’s largest cosmetic empires, with over 200,000 independent beauty consultants in the U.S. and 11 other countries. Ash’s homegrown philosophy of success couples Christian ethics with an abiding desire to give women unlimited career opportunities. Beyond the pink Cadillacs and lavish sales seminars, Ash had the entrepreneurial skills to grow her company in a business climate that was decidedly male.

TRAMMELL CROW

b. 1914

MEGABUILDER

The steel and concrete tentacles of the Trammell Crow Company stretch clear across the country, making Crow the largest real estate developer in the U.S. But it’s a single hometown project that has brought the world to Dallas’ door. Crow’s 175-acre Dallas Market Center is the largest trade and merchandise mart on the planet-its satellites include the Apparel Mart, Home Furnishings Mart, World Trade Center, Menswear Mart, Market Hall and INFOMART. Also worthy of note: Unlike many of the luminaries on this list, Crow was born, raised and educated in Dallas.



J. WOODALL RODGERS

1890-1961

A CENTRAL FIGURE His arching namesake freeway serves as a reminder that Rodgers’ success as a four-term mayor (1939-1947} was due to more than guiding Dallas through WWII into profitability. During the war, he commissioned the definitive plan for the quickly expanding city. After voters approved a S40 million bond issue, Rodgers’ blueprint gave us that stop-and-start marvel, Central Expressway. Other notable capital improvements, included the expansion of Love Field.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS SLAUGHTER

1837-1919

THE CATTLE KING WHO BAILED OUT BAYLOR

Christopher Columbus Slaughter, a native of Sabine County who came to Dallas in 1870, loomed large in the early cattle industry. He once drove herds up the Chisholm Trail and owned more than one million acres in five states. A founder of what was to become American Exchange National Bank, he is credited with saving Baylor University with his donations in 1898. Six years later Slaughter gave $320,000 to start what was to become Baylor Hospital.

H. ROSS PEROT b. 1930 AMERICA’S BILLIONAIRE

Comparisons of Perot with H. L. Hunt, another wealthy, conservative Dallasite, are tempting but futile. Hunt made his money from the old Texas economy-fossil fuels- while Perot, the founder of Electronic Data Systems, is the Midas of the Information Age. More importantly, Perot plays an active if unpredictable role in the life of the community, giving millions to the DISD, the Arboretum, SMU, Southwestern Medical School and the Mort. He also chaired former Gov. Mark White’s education task force, which birthed the ’no-pass, no-play’ rule.



ALEXANDER SANGER

1853-1925

THE FIRST NAME IN

FASHION

At the turn of the century, the Sanger brothers’ chain of stores was the most important retail and wholesale dry goods company west of the Mississippi. Alexander Sanger and his brother Philip opened the Dallas branch in 1872, decades before Neiman Marcus made its debut. Alex took over the business after Philip’s death in 1902 and was a major player in Dallas’ civic life as well. He helped establish the city’s first library, organized what became the United Fund, and helped secure the Texas State Fair for Dallas.

R.L. THORNTON

1880-1964

BANKER, BIG-THINKER Banker R. L. (Uncle Bob) Thornton could sell anything, but his biggest coup was in convincing city fathers to endorse his $25 million bid to make Dallas the home of the 1936 centennial celebration. After a bidding war in Austin, Dallas won out, and Thornton returned home to make his pledge a reality. Born in a sod house in Hico, Texas, Thornton arrived in Dallas low on cash, but determined to succeed. In 1916 he opened a bank that would evolve over the years into Mercantile National and, ultimately, M Bank. As mayor and as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Committee, Thornton launched incentive programs to make Dallas an attractive place to do business.



COMER J. COTTRELL

b. I 931

BISHOP’S GAMBIT

The wealth acquired through Pro-Line, a hair care company that is the 18th largest black-owned company in the United States, enabled Cottrell to buy the ailing Bishop College in 1990, paying $1.25 million for the 132-acre campus and then negotiating the move of Paul Quinn College from Waco. Also a partner in the Texas Rangers franchise, he is the first African-American to own part of a major league baseball club.



JOHN M. STEMMONS SR.

1909-1991

YES, THAT STEMMONS

Man and freeway forever will be linked in the public mind. Stemmons donated land for the right-of-way for the highway named for his father, Leslie. While it was the elder Stemmons who got the Trinity River rechannelized and acquire the BOO acres that would become the Trinity Industrial District, it was John who opened the flood plain for development. On it now stand some of Dallas’ biggest commercial projects, including five market centers built by Trammell Crow.

J.ERIK JONSSON

b. 1901

MAYOR OF THE CITY THAT WORKED

Every Dallas mayor for the past two decades has been measured against the long shadow of Erik Jonsson (1965-1971), who was the very model of a modern businessman/ volunteer mayor. Having made his fortune as president and chairman of the board of Texas Instruments (1951-66), Jonsson brought to the mayor’s office an engineering model of long-range planning, as seen in his 10-year chairmanship of Goals for Dallas. The group included, for the first time, whites, blacks and Hispanics working together to plan and control the city’s development. A watershed of Jonsson’s career was the passage of the $175 million Crossroads bond election, which paved the way for branch libraries, the new city hall and the purchase of land for D/FW airport.



EVERETT LEE DEGOLYER

1886-1956

A FINDER OF OIL, A LOVER OF BOOKS

E.L. DeGolyer didn’t just get rich off the oil industry. He changed it. In 1910 the University of Oklahoma geology major was working for a Mexican oil company during his summer break; he found oil and went back to school a million dollars richer. He went on to become the foremost pioneer in using geophysics and seismology to detect oil. DeGolyer forecast the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, and Texas Instruments was spun off from one of his companies. A major supporter of the arts, DeGolyer was a bibliophile; his 85,000-book collection was donated to the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas and SMU. For 15 years he was publisher and majority owner of the Saturday Review of Literature. His White Rock Lake estate is now part of the Dallas Arboretum.

PHILIP O’BRIEN MONTGOMERY

b. 1921

ARTS DISTRICT DREAMER

This native Dallasite contributed years of work as a medical educator and researcher before coordinating the project that became the Dallas Arts District. After receiving a B.A. degree from SMU and a medical degree from Columbia University and then completing a stint in the Army, Montgomery spent much of the next two decades at Southwestern Medical School. The doctor’s major contribution to the Dallas medical community came from 1975 to 1989, when he served as executive director of the cancer center at the UT Health Science Center at Dallas. His civic prominence was defined by his planning of the 60-acre, 20-block Dallas Arts District, which now houses the Mort Meyerson Symphony Center and the Dallas Museum of Art.



GEORGE E. KESSLER

I862-1923

THE MAN WITH THE PLAN

Why would Dallas, in 1910, hire a St. Louis city planner to design its master plan? Because Kessler had not only grown up in Dallas but was the foremost urban designer of his day. After his successful 1904 redesign of Dallas’ State Fair grounds, he set out to correct problems with the city’s flood plain, railroads and streets. The release in 1911 of the sweeping plan was met with conservative disdain and most of the suggestions were not acted upon until necessity forced town elders to call Kessler back in 1920 to update the plan. His work would lead to widespread improvements and what we today know as the foundations of Dallas’ urban design.

RALPH B. ROGERS

b. 1909

DEAN OF PUBLIC TELEVISION The retired helmsman of Texas Industries, Inc., Rogers will be remembered for more than just concrete. As the founder of PBS in 1970, he can be thanked for getting quality television on the air. In the late Sixties, he worked his magic closer to home, forging a future for KERA/ Channel 13 as something beyond an educational station.

GEORGE DHL

1894-I987

ART DECO DESIGNER OF FAIR PARK

You can hardly swing a wrecking ball near downtown Dallas without hitting a building designed by architect George Dahl. Methodist Hospital. The Neiman Marcus store. The Dallas Morning News building. The Sears store on Ross. The old Joske’s building. The jewels in Dahl’s crown are 29 buildings in Fair Park-the finest collection of art deco structures in the U.S. and now on the National Register of Historic Places.



SARAH HORTON COCKRELL

1829-1893

BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER TRINITY

There was no glass ceiling for Sarah Cockrell, who helped build early Dallas as one of its leading entrepreneurs. The widow of Alexander Cockrell, who was shot and killed in Dallas in 1858, she took over the ferry business he had bought, along with land holdings, from John Neely Bryan. Mrs. Cockrell built Dallas’ first hotel, the St. Nicholas, in 1859; built an iron toll bridge across the Trinity in 1872; and financed many of the city’s business deals.



JACK ST. CLAIR KILBY

b. 1923

MR. CHIPS

Kilby is one of those innovators whose myriad other accomplishments pale beside one volcanic explosion of genius: Working at Texas Instruments in 1958, he built the first monolithic integrated circuit, or microchip, the building block of the entire field of modern microelectronics. In 1961, he led the TI team that built the first computer using the microchip. Kilby was also the co-inventor of both the handheld calculator and the thermal printer for portable data terminals. He is the holder of 60 U.S. patents.

RUTH SHARP ALTSHULER

b. 1924

THE ULTIMATE VOLUNTEER She’s never drawn a salary, but Ruth Sharp Altshuler has raised millions of dollars for Dallas. Along the way she’s picked up countless “firsts”: first woman on the board of the Salvation Army, first woman on the board of Goodwill Industries, first woman on the Dallas Citizens Council board. She was the first woman to be general campaign chairman for the United Way of Dallas, for which she exceeded her fund-raising goal by half a million dollars, bringing in $34.4 million. She is vice chairman of the Southwestern Medical Foundation and vice chairman of the Communities Foundation of Texas. She raised $16 million for the Salvation Army while she was chairman and established funds for the indigent at Baylor. Mrs. Altshuler’s father was Carr P. Collins, founder of Fidelity Union Life Insurance company.

LEE GRESHAM PINKSTON

I883-I961

ACTIVIST AND HEALER

A prominent physician, businessman and political activist, Pinkston was one of the first black doctors in Dallas. In 1927 he opened his own clinic in the State-Thomas area, the only full-time medical facility available to African-Americans. In 1936 he helped found the Progressive Voters League, an organization created to solidify black voting strength. His numerous other accomplishments include his post as the president and publisher of the Star Post newspaper, a stint as president of the Negro Chamber of Commerce and the landmark event in 1954-his admittance into practice at St. Paul Hospital.

ANITA NANEZ MARTINEZ

b. 1925

GODMOTHER OF WEST DALLAS

A tireless fighter for West Dallas, Anita Martinez became the first Hispanic elected to the City Council in 1969 and spearheaded funding for everything from better streets to a library for that part of town. Among the projects bearing her name are a West Dallas recreation center and a program that raises money for parks activities in low-income neighborhoods. The recipient of numerous civic awards as well as state and national appointments, she now devotes time to her Anita Martinez Ballet Folklorico, a professional dance troupe that offers direction to Hispanic youths.



EDMUND J. KAHN 1

904-I984

A QUIET MAN

Kahn, a low-key, behind-the-scenes philanthropist, was committed to achievement through education. His efforts led to the creation of the Dallas County Community College District in 1965, one of the most important developments in the city’s education history. “He was the conscience of the junior college system in getting it done right,” said former mayor Erik Jonsson. Kahn’s gift also helped launch the new library. After his death. Kahn’s widow Louise funded Dallas’ Edmund J. Kahn Job Training Center.

ANDREA FLORES CERVANTES

b. 1931

HEALING THE SICK, FEEDING THE HUNGRY

For the poor of West Dallas, medical care used to mean a trip to Parkland Hospital, or care at all-at least until the 1972 opening of Los Barrios Unidos clinic, which offers care on a sliding fee scale. Andrea Cervantes, a founder of the clinic, has been involved in many other projects to aid West Dallas. She brought the first food cooperative to West Dallas and the first free summer lunch program to the area’s children. She also was a founder of the Mexican-American Advisory Committee to DISD on bilingual education and improved education for Hispanic students.



KARL HOBLITZELLE

1879-1967

MR. MAJESTIC

Born in St. Louis, Hoblitzelle first became known in Dallas as an entertainment guru during the vaudeville era. He opened Majestic Theaters in Dallas, Waco and Fort Worth in 1905, converting them to motion picture houses in 1920. His theater holdings grew to 165 nationwide before he sold them in 1951. From the late Twenties until the mid-Fifties, this civic leader and philanthropist donated his time (serving as head of 13 civic and business organizations), money (by 1960, the Hoblitzelle Foundation had donated more than $4 million) and land (for Southwestern Medical School, among others).



FRED FLORENCE

1891-1960

THE BANKE

If New York was the city that never sleeps, Dallas for decades was the city that always banked-and Fred Florence deserves much of the credit. In 1929 he became president of Republic National Bank and over the next 28 years guided the bank from assets of $1 million to $900 million. He was president of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition. “The entire city of Dallas stands as a monument to Fred Florence,” said one of his peers.

BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON



1897-1929

DEEP ELLUM LEGEND

The first commercially successful bluesman-and the man who put Dallas’ original Deep Ellum music scene on the map-was born in Couchman, Texas. As a young man he’d trudge from his home in South Dallas to Deep Ellum. There, he would play his primal blues on street corners and in speakeasies. A clerk in a downtown record store connected Jefferson with Paramount, the record label for which he made over 100 recordings between 1926 and 1929. As music historian/critic Tim Schuller says, “There is nothing in the blues experience quite like Lemon’s seminal music. It is eerie, unchaste and disturbing-a low moan from the very embryo of the idiom.”



ALGUR H. MEADOWS



1899-1978

THE GIFT OF THE GOYAS

Dallas has the most comprehensive collection of Spanish art in the world outside Spain, thanks to Al Meadows. An oil man, he made drilling trips to Spain after World War II, and there developed his passion for the art. He founded the Meadows Museum of Spanish Art on the SMU campus with a SI million endowment from his Meadows Foundation, and later gave the museum 36 Spanish paintings. Over his lifetime he gave SMU $30 million, including an $8 million endowment to support the art school. He touched nearly every facet of life in Dallas through his active membership on boards ranging from Hope Cottage to the symphony to Presbyterian Hospital. The Meadows Foundation continues to be a major supporter of Dallas arts.

MARGO JONES



I911-1955 PIONEER OF THE

AMERICAN STAGE

To Jerome Lawrence she was “the patron saint of playwrights.” To her pal Tennessee Williams she was simply the “Texas Tornado.” To America she’ll be remembered as the powerhouse behind regional theater. Jones’ obsession was to wrest some of the power away from Broadway and bring professional theater to the hinterlands. To that end, in 1947 she gave Dallas the first professional non-profit resident theater in the country. Jones discovered and developed playwrights like Lawrence and Williams and had the courage to produce the controversial Inherit the Wind after New York producers turned it down.



JERRY BYWATERS

1906-1989

THE WAY WE LOOK In the 1930s, a group of artists later known as the Dallas Nine drew on what they knew of their city and state to produce art that was regional in style but national in impact. Among them was ferry Bywaters, who influenced Dallas’ sensibilities on several fronts. In the Thirties, he (along with Alexander Hogue) produced murals for Dallas’ old city hall, as well as for numerous Texas post offices. He headed the Dallas Museum of Fine Art from 1943 to 1964 and SMU’s fine arts division from 1965 to 1970. SMU’s fine arts library now houses his collection of Southwestern art.

Families that made Dallas

The Carpenters The dynasty that built Las Colinas started with John Carpenter (1881-1959), a farm boy who worked his way up to the presidency of Texas Power and Light and who founded Southland Life Insurance Company. Son Ben (b. 1942) planned and developed Las Colinas on ranch land bought by his father. In the Eighties the Carpenters’ Southland Financial Corporation fell into financial trouble. John III (b. 1952) sold off most of the company but managed to save Las Colinas for the family.



THE CARUTHS At its peak, the Caruth Plantation stretched from near downtown north to Forest Lane, and from Preston Road east past White Rock Lake. William Barr Caruth (1826-1885) acquired the land; William Walter Caruth Sr. (1877-1949) farmed it and raised cattle on its pastures. Will Jr. (1912-1990) carried on a family dynasty that has been worth more than $300 million to Dallas charities in gifts of land and cash.



THE CUELLARS Three generations of this family have run the hugely successful El Chico restaurant chain since Adelaida (1874-1969) and Macario (1868-1965) opened the first one in 1940. After selling the chain in 1977, the family bought it back in 1982, and now has restaurants in more than 70 cities. The Cuellars are often cited by Dallas Hispanics as a model in terms of their commitment to the community and education.



THE GREENS Another of the legendary founders of TI, Cecil Green (b. 1900), and wife Ida (1903-1986), have given away millions of dollars, much of it to educational institutions. They founded what was to become UT-Dallas and have funded facilities at the Health Science Center, SMU and St. Mark’s and at Children’s Hospital. They have been major arts supporters.



THE HUNTS Nelson Bunker (b. 1926) and William Herbert (b. 1929) share patriarch H.L.’s political views but no longer share his wealth, having lost about (2 billion in a vain attempt to corner the world silver market in the early Eighties. Both are now in bankruptcy, as is brother Lamar (b. 1932) who brought World Championship Tennis to Dallas. Caroline Rose Hunt (b. 1923) remains a trendsetter in the hotel industry. Ray Hunt (b. 1943), head of Hunt Oil and the most prominent member of Hunt’s second family, is the leading behind-the-scenes power broker in Dallas today.



THE McDERMOTTS One of TI’s founders, and one of the city’s biggest philanthropists, was Eugene McDermott (1899-1973). Several buildings at St. Mark’s School were funded by McDermott and his wife Margaret (b. 1912). Eugene was also one of the three founders of UT-Dallas, while Margaret was a member of the founding board of the Dallas County Community College District. She was also the first woman elected to the board of directors of Republic Bank of Dallas.



THE MURCHISONS The elder Clint (1895-1969) made millions in oil, railroads and other businesses. After Clint Jr. (1923-1987) and brother John (1921-1979) took over the Murchison companies, Clint Jr. started the Dallas Cowboys and built Texas Stadium for them. During the good years, the Murchisons owned Centex Corporation, the largest residential developer in the nation.



The Thompsons Jodie Thompson (1901-1961) worked his way up from loading delivery wagons to running the Southland Ice Company in 1931. Southland, founded in Oak Cliff in 1927, became The Southland Corp. in 1945. The next year the company established the first chain of convenience stores, 7-Eleven, and forever changed the way Americans shop. Son John (b. 1925) turned 600 stores into almost 12,000 by 1985, when brother Jere (b. 1932) took the helm. The company was restructured this year when Ito-Yokado Co. Ltd. and 7-Eleven Japan became the majority owners.

Parti Time: Where and How To Celebrate dallas’ birthday

Jubilee Dallas Opening Ceremony: Friday, nov. 1 ThanksGiving Square (Ervay, Bryan and Pacific Streets), noon. Canned food will be collected for the North Texas Food Bank. 508-8350.



LECTURE SERIES: SUNDAY, NOV. 3 Jubilee Dallas, in conjunction with the Junior Black Academy of Arts & Letters and the Museum of African-American Life and Culture, presents a speech on education by Dr. Charles Vert Willie of Harvard University’s graduate school of education. Dallas Convention Center Theatre, 650 S. Griffin Street, 2:30 p.m. Free. 508-8350.



LECTURE SERIES: THURSDAY, NOV. 7 Jubilee Dallas, in conjunction with the Dallas Historical Society and the Communities Foundation of Texas, presents A.C. Greene, Dallas historian and writer. Hall of State, Fair Park, 7 p.m. Free. 508-8350.



DEEP ELLUM BLUES: FRIDAY & SATURDAY, NOV.. 8-9 A tribute to the music and dance born in Deep Ellum in the Twenties and Thirties. Presented by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Friday, 8:15 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The Majestic Theatre. Tickets $5-$25. 871-2376.



THE MAGIC OF CHILDREN: SATURDAY, NOV. 9 a fund-raiser and family celebration; activities include continuous stage entertainment for children and games for all ages. Sponsored by Save the Children/Dallas in conjunction with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department. Automobile Building. Fair Park, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. $3 for adults; children 12 and under free when accompanied by an adult. 824-8800.



DALLAS VIDEO FESTIVAL: THURSDAY-SUNDAY, NOV. 14-17

The 1991 Dallas Video Festival, presented by the Video Association and Dallas Museum of Art. The DMA, 1717 Harwood. All-festival pass, $22; day passes available. 651-8888.



DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MEMORIAL CONCERT: THURSDAY, NOV. 14 The DSO will be joined by members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the Symphonic Choir of the Junior Black Academy of Arts & Letters and others. Foyer events before the concert will feature local children’s choirs and dancers. Meyerson Symphony Center, 8:15 p.m. Free, but ticket needed; for ticket, send self-addressed, stamped envelope to Jubilee Dallas, P.O. Box 836, Dallas, Texas 75221. For more information, call 508-8350.



RED NATIONS POW.WOW: FRIDAY & SATURDAY. NOV. 15-16 The Dallas Intertribal Center presents a pow-wow to provide Indian people the opportunity to practice, teach and exchange tribal traditions, and to enlighten the non- Indian about Native American history and culture. Loos Stadium, 3915 Spring Valley. Best time to watch dancing: Friday, 7 p.m.-midnight; Saturday, 1 p.m.-midnight. 941-1050.



DALLAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL GARDENS ANNIVER-SARY/JUBILEE FOOD CAMPAIGN: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, NOV. 16-17 Free admission and cake for all who come with three cans of food to celebrate these two birthdays. CAN paign donations go to the North Texas Food Bank. 8617 Garland Road. 327-8263.



LECTURE SERIES: MONDAY, NOV. 18 Jubilee Dallas, in conjunction with the McDermott Lecture Series, presents Wieming Lu, former Dallas city planner and current executive director of St. Paul Lowertown Redevelopment Corp. Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 Harwood, 7 p.m. Free. 508-8350.