Striking it rich: How Texas’s oil boom shaped DeGolyer Library
Texas’s first successful oil well was drilled by the Melrose Petroleum Oil Company in Nacogdoches County in 1866, but the monumental 1901 discovery of Spindletop in Jefferson County kickstarted the Texas oil industry. The success of Spindletop led to boomtowns all over Texas where wildcatters, oil scouts, roughnecks, and landmen hoped to drill the next big well and make their fortune.
The DeGolyer Library originated from the personal collection of one of these successful oilmen, Everette Lee DeGolyer Sr. “Mr. De” was a geologist and businessman whose interests still influence the collections of DeGolyer Library today. Researchers interested in the Texas petroleum industry will find primary source materials in the papers of Everette Lee DeGolyer Sr., Robert T. Hill (geologist), Orley Hosmer Truman (gravimeter inventor), and Sabine Royalty Corporation (a Texas oil and gas company).
Selling the dream of a Texas oil fortune
DeGolyer Library also collects petroleum industry promotional materials designed to lure investors. One collection of oil investment correspondence contains materials from all over the United States, but there are many items advertising opportunities in Texas through form letters, brochures, maps of oil fields, stock subscription forms, and certificates. Ben Banner in Fort Worth is an example of early twentieth century oil promotion:
In addition to dozens of biographies of roughnecks, wildcatters, and successful oilmen, DeGolyer Library also collects novels inspired by the oil industry:
This post was written by Cynthia Franco, librarian at DeGolyer Library. For questions about collections, please contact degolyer@smu.edu.