Baker Printing Company Records

Collection

Identifier: B-0045

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of job work records and printing samples, mostly yearbooks and programs of various East Texas religious, civic, and cultural organizations.

Some particularly interesting items include:

The collection includes two phone directories for Nacogdoches in 1919 and 1920. These directories can be used to determine which individuals and businesses used telephones in Nacogdoches and also how far telephone services reached out into the rural areas. The business advertisements also provide insight to which goods and services Nacogdoches citizens enjoyed in the early twentieth-century.

The Stephen F. Austin’s Woman’s Athletic Association’s handbook and the Texas Athletic Federation of College Women convention program illustrates the importance of female enrollment to the University during the 1930s and some recreation opportunities college women participated in.

“The fundamental Faith and Doctrine of those called Missionary Baptists” allows researchers to understand the Missionary Baptist faith in the early-twentieth-century. Using this source, individuals can also compare the doctrine and organization of Missionary Baptists in the 1900s to the present.

The “Hello Buddy” comic book educated children about World War II and service men’s actions during the conflict. After the War, many veterans could not find work, and unemployed and disabled veterans distributed these comic books to earn money until they found full-time jobs.

The Fields Brothers Song Sheet includes the lyrics to six songs that reflect on the Great Depression and soldiers’ experiences in World War II. These songs illustrate aspects of popular culture, specifically for men, during the 1940s and how Americans reacted to the pressures of the Great Depression and World War II.

Dates

Creation: 1925-1986

Language of Materials

The collection is in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Biographical or Historical Information

Starks William Baker and his father, George Washington Baker, operated a mill for grinding corn, sawing lumber, and making cane syrup at Emilee, Texas in Trinity County. His son, William Clifton Baker, was born there on July 2, 1902. S. W. Baker and his wife, Eugenia Hopkins Baker, also had an older daughter, Emaline Philokely Baker, who eventually became Mrs. Juston P. O'Connor of Bridge City, Texas. After the birth of Clifton, the Bakers moved first to Woodville, Texas, where S. W. Baker ran a variety of businesses including a mercantile store, a print shop, and a newspaper. In 1922 they moved to Rusk, TX, where the family published a newspaper, and Clifton graduated from Rusk College in 1924. They next moved to Cushing, Texas, where they again took on a newspaper, but began to look for a job printing shop. They found one at Nacogdoches. Giles Haltom, the editor of The Daily Sentinel, had his hands full managing the newspaper. The Bakers bought his print shop in 1927 and established the Baker Printing Company. While attending classes at Stephen F. Austin State University, Clifton met Azzie Polk, and they were married in 1934. S. W. Baker died on November 10, 1956, and Clifton continued to operate the business until he retired about 1983. Clifton Baker died in Nacogdoches on April 19, 1986.

As a job printer, the Baker Printing Company printed wedding and graduation invitations; movie and theater tickets, business forms, advertisements, ribbons, bumper stickers, and many other things.

Extent

1.50 Cubic Feet

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is described in 67 folders and was originally housed in 5 clamshell boxes. All the boxes were consolidated into a single banker's box. the original box and folder numbering remains in place.