Categories
News

Belo Corp. Donates Historical Papers to Degolyer Library

Belo Corp., owner of WFAA-TV and former parent company of The Dallas Morning News, is donating the Belo Corporate Archives to SMU’s DeGolyer Library.

Belo.jpg

Attending the Belo announcement were (from left) Russell Martin, director of DeGolyer Library; Marian Spitzberg ’85, president and trustee of The Belo Foundation; Gillian McCombs, dean and director, Central University Libraries; and Judith Segura, past president of The Belo Foundation and former historian-archivist for the company.

Belo Corp., owner of WFAA-TV and former parent company of The Dallas Morning News, is donating the Belo Corporate Archives to SMU’s DeGolyer Library. The thousands of documents in the archives also include materials from A. H. Belo Corporation, which was formed to own The Dallas Morning News and other newspapers that were spun off from Belo Corp. in February 2008.
“Since 1985, Belo Corp. has invested in updating its archival collection that traces the history of the company as well as the City of Dallas. We are proud of this collection and believe it is best situated in a permanent curatorial setting such as the DeGolyer Library,” says Robert W. Decherd, chair of Belo Corp.
“As the media industry changes, it will be invaluable to have historical resources showing the evolution of a leading corporation and its impact on print and broadcast outlets,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Belo was established in 1842, making it the oldest continuously operated business institution in Texas. The archives contain operational business papers of the company itself, including internal departmental annual reports to management; annual reports from management to shareholders starting in 1926, when G. B. Dealey acquired the company from the heirs of Col. A. H. Belo; and recordings of important company-related events, beginning with audio recordings from the 1920s.
The DeGolyer Library’s collections also include the papers of Dallas Morning News journalists Blackie Sherrod, Lee Cullum, Lon Tinkle, Rena Pederson and Carolyn Barta, currently a senior journalism lecturer at SMU. In addition, the library has a large collection of Dallas Morning News photographs preserved by the late Homer DeGolyer, who died in 1963, as well as photographs from George McAfee, who worked for The News in the early 20th century.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *