H. Bailey Carroll
H.B. Carroll and Llerena B. Friend's Outline
Dr. Horace Bailey Carroll was one of the more noted Texas historians of the mid-twentieth century. He was the son of Joe Speed Carroll who served as Superintendent of the De Leon ISD.
Carroll was born near Gatesville, Texas April 29, 1903 to Joe Speed and Lena O. (Russell) Carroll. Had the family remained in De Leon, he would have been in the distinguished DHS Class of 1919 which also included John Arch White and Byron Short, but his father developed a terminal illness and the family returned to Gatesville to be close to family. His father became superintendent in De Leon in 1909 and resigned in early August 1914. Bailey graduated from Gatesville High School.
He first attended S.M.U. and then McMurry College before earning his B.A. and M.A. from Texas Tech College in 1928. In June 1935 he received his Ph.D from the University of Texas.
As an undergraduate he was a member of three national scholarship societies, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Alpha Theta and Alpha Chi which included only the highest 5% of upper classmen. He was also a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas.
Bailey then taught at Hillsboro College, West Texas State, Eastern New Mexico College, and North Texas Agricultural College (now the University of Texas at Arlington) before returning to the University of Texas at Austin during 1940-1941 as the Assistant Director of Research in Texas History and Associate Director of the Texas State Historical Association. In 1942 he returned permanently to The University as an Associate Professor of History and Acting Director of the Texas State Historical Association. In 1946 he was was made a Professor of History and Director of Research in Texas History for the University of Texas. H. Bailey Carroll and Walter Prescott Webb were the principal Texas History instructors at the University of Texas for many years.
On June 3, 1935 he married Mary Jo Durning. They had one son Joe Speed Carroll.
Carroll edited Gaudal P’a, The Journal of Lieutenant J.W. Abert in 1941; Three New Mexico Chronicles in 1942; Texas County Histories, A Bibliography in 1943; and The Texan-Santa Fe Expedition in 1951 which was a revision and enlargement of his dissertation.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Managing Editor of the Handbook of Texas in 1952. He co-authored The Story of Texas for public schools in 1963 and the last chapter “Davy Crockett” in Heroes of Texas in 1964.
Carroll started the Junior Historian movement in 1947 and edited the Junior Historian magazine.
It was said of him “In his deliberate fashion, with careful choice of descriptive words… graphic lectures… he personalized Texas History. …with his Stetson hat and old cigar [he was] a combination of Gary Cooper and John Knott’s ‘Old Man Texas’. He was so much like Texas that we always wanted to look out the window to see if his horse was tied nearby, for anyone so Texan as Dr. Carroll had to come to class on a horse.”–George P. Isbell, Texas Historical Quarterly July 1966.
In 1961, Dr. Carroll suffered a cerebral stroke followed in subsequent years by several heart attacks. He resigned his position at the University of Texas only two weeks before his death on May 12, 1966. Shortly after his stroke, fire destroyed his home and his extensive collection of rare Texas books. He suffered burns and shock as a result of the fire.
About the time of his death, two publications, Outlines and Readings in Texas History To 1845 and Outlines and Readings in Texas History 1845-1920 were printed as a reading supplements for students taking Texas History at the University of Texas. They were expansions of list prepared earlier by Carroll for his students. The supplements were apparently completed just before his resignation by he and his fellow Professor of Texas History, Llerena B. Friend who was born just down the road in Dublin in 1903.