Treasures of the Texas Collection
Dr. A. J. Armstrong
Hi! I’m Robert Darden, your host for Treasures of the Texas
Collection.
The star in Baylor’s architectural crown, and perhaps one of the
most amazing buildings in the entire state of Texas, is the Armstrong
Browning Library. This stunning Italian renaissance style building,
with its incomparable collection of stained glass windows, parquet
floors, and cathedral like rooms, is home to the largest collection of
books, letters, manuscripts, and memorabilia pertaining to 19thcentury English poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This
amazing building and the collections housed within it represent the
life work of Baylor Professor Andrew Joseph Armstrong, who lived
from 1873 until 1954.
Baylor University was little more than 60 years old when A.J.
Armstrong arrived as head of the English Department in 1912. He
had taught at Baylor four years earlier as an interim professor for
one year, but his arrival in 1912 marked the beginning of one of the
greatest eras in Baylor’s history. Armstrong was a native
Kentuckian, but he was no stranger to Texas as he had also
previously taught at the East Texas Baptist Institute in Rusk, Texas.
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It was there that he first met Baylor President Samuel Palmer
Brooks, and the rest, as they say, is history.
With us today to share some highlights from the remarkable life of
“Dr. A.,” as he was affectionately known, is Dr. Scott Lewis. Dr.
Lewis, who is editor of The Brownings’ Correspondence and currently
serves as president of the London Browning Society is a 1983
graduate of Baylor and worked in the Armstrong Browning Library
all four years he was at Baylor. He is currently preparing a
biography of Armstrong to commemorate the centenary of
Armstrong’s arrival at Baylor in 1912.
Welcome, Scott.
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here.
To begin, perhaps you can tell us how Dr. Armstrong came to Baylor.
As you mentioned in the introduction, Dr. Armstrong first came to Baylor
in 1908 as an interim professor. He had just received his PhD from the
University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation was The Opera in
England Before Handel—next to literature, music and drama were his
favorite subjects. But the focus of his professional career was always the
poet Robert Browning and in that first year at Baylor he taught a
Browning course. The class numbered 115 students, the largest Browning
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class ever taught by Armstrong. However, later that summer he accepted
the post as head of the English department at Georgetown College in
Georgetown, Kentucky where he remained until his return to Baylor in
1912 as head of the English Department.
What are some highlights of his early days at Baylor?
One thing that will be of special interest to you, Bob, is that during his
first year as head of the English department at Baylor, Dr. Armstrong
oversaw the development of the first journalism class ever taught in
Texas. He didn’t teach the course, but he was instrumental in seeing that
it got off the ground. And during that first year, he began a tradition that
would continue for the rest of his 40-year career at Baylor of bringing
leading scholars, poets, actors, singers, and dignitaries to the Baylor
campus. In the spring of 1913, Baylor was host to Dr. Lyman Kittridge of
Harvard College, who lectured on Shakespeare.
Of course, this period was a troublesome time in the world. Only a few
years later America would declare war on Germany, and the United
States would officially enter World War I. A few weeks after the
declaration of war in April 1917, Dr. Armstrong called on students during
chapel to give ten cents each toward the purchase of a flag pole and a
flag, so that Baylor could join other Texas institutions in showing its
patriotism and support for the war cause. It may seem a small matter now
when many suburban homes fly flags, but at that time a flag pole was an
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expensive proposition, eventually costing $500—a princely sum in
1917—but Dr. Armstrong’s influence was such that less than two months
after the initial call—on June 1st 1917— the 101-ft pole had been erected
and a flag-raising ceremony was held in front of the Carroll Science
Building.
You mentioned Dr. Armstrong bringing great names to Baylor. Who
were some of the famous people he brought to Baylor?
Bob, I know you are interested in gospel music, particularly its influence
on civil rights, so you’ll find it especially noteworthy that the renowned
African American contralto, Marian Anderson, sang in Waco on 27
March 1939. By this time in her career she had achieved international
acclaim, and her fees had risen from $400 to as much as $2,000 for most
performances. Nevertheless, her appearance at Baylor netted Dr.
Armstrong a little more than $400 profit for his Browning projects. The
performance in Waco was one of several stops in Texas as she made her
way back east from Oregon.
While she was in Waco, she received a telegram informing her that two
weeks later, on Easter Sunday, she was to sing in an open-air concert
from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This historic concert before an
audience of more than 75,000 was organized in part by Eleanor
Roosevelt, who was infuriated by the Daughters of the American
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Revolution having refused permission for Anderson to sing in
Constitution Hall.
But the DAR weren’t the only ones who objected to Anderson’s singing.
One of Dr. Armstrong’s regular patrons wrote to say that she was sorry
that Anderson was to appear in Waco Hall. And referring to Toscanini’s
comment in the promotional material that “Marian Anderson’s is the most
glorious voice on the earth today,” the good lady stated that “it would
have met with a visit from the Ku Klux Klan in years gone by.”
That didn’t deter Armstrong – or Baylor!
Marian Anderson was only one of many exceptional women Dr.
Armstrong brought to Baylor. For Baylor’s Diamond Jubilee in 1920, Dr.
Armstrong organized a “Browning Symposium” that included two
women poets—Harriet Monroe and Amy Lowell—however, Amy Lowell
stands out most prominently—if for no other reason, simply for the stark
contrast of her peculiar New England personality with the conservative
Baptist atmosphere of Baylor. Then, as now, Baylor maintained a strict
no smoking policy, so Amy Lowell’s notorious cigar smoking could have
been problematic if she had not flattered the university with her restraint.
However, Dr. Armstrong was unable to meet her rather extravagant
request for an entire floor of Waco’s Raleigh Hotel for her entourage. For
the event, he could only secure two suites due to the scarcity of rooms in
Waco during the festivities. Lowell’s eccentricities even extended to
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excluding herself from the formal reception, during which she held court
in a lawn chair across campus. As part of the celebrations, Baylor
awarded Lowell an honorary doctorate—one of 56 given on the occasion.
Lowell wrote a friend a few days later: “I wish you could have seen us,
fifty-eight strong [she added two] lined up on the platform of a Billy
Sunday sort of tabernacle, receiving our degrees with the perspiration
rolling in streams off our faces, all wound up in silk gowns, velvet hoods,
and generally rumpled finery!”
I’ve read that the temperature that day in Waco was 106! Amazing!
That’s right! As Lowell explained in a letter to Armstrong a few years
later, it was her visit to Baylor that inspired her poem “Texas”: “I wrote it
in the train on leaving Waco. Its genesis was a motor drive which one of
the kind ladies of Waco took us on. When we got far out on the prairie, in
the direction of what I believe is your Country Club, I looked back. Waco
had disappeared from view and its one skyscraper was hull down on the
horizon with all its windows gleaming and twinkling in the sunset light. It
was a day or so after Mr. Lomax had been reading us his cowboy songs,
and you will recognize the cowboy refrain.”
Robert Frost once told Dr. Armstrong, “You are indeed the friend of
wandering poets.”
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Dr. Armstrong seems to have been ahead of his time in recognizing
great talent and knowledge regardless of gender, race or creed.
Yes. It’s interesting to note that he was asked to represent the white
community of Waco at the funeral of Jules Bledsoe, the great African
American baritone of “Old Man River” fame.
I know that Dr. Armstrong was able to raise funds by charging for
cultural events and he used the profits for his Browning cause, but he
had other ways of making money as well. Can you tell us about
those?
Dr. and Mrs. Armstrong owned a travel agency—at one time the largest
private agency in North America. He established this agency both to
satisfy his own desire to see the world and to raise money toward his
goals. Baylor President Samuel Palmer Brooks once introduced
Armstrong as “the man who makes his living directing a travel bureau so
that he can afford to be a college professor.” And by turning their tours
into “Browning Pilgrimages,” the Armstrongs were able to bring attention
to the poets as well as raise interest in—and funds for—their Browning
collection.
It is no coincidence that President Brooks made the statement he did
about Dr. Armstrong directing a travel bureau. In the summer of 1930,
President Brooks and his wife joined forces with the Armstrongs on the
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Armstrong Educational Tour to Europe. During their negotiations
regarding the trip, there was discussion between President Brooks and
Mrs. Armstrong concerning the possibility of Baylor musicians travelling
with their groups and playing on board the ocean liners. Mrs. Armstrong
wrote to President Brooks, offering a possible answer to the musicians
playing jazz or dance music:
She said: “They are not in any sense to be known as a jazz orchestra. Mr.
McCracken” -- the Baylor Orchestra conductor -- “himself refuses to
play ordinary jazz and if they are called upon to play dance music it will
be music of a high order. It would be foolish to pretend that they would
not be called upon to play dance music but if they do not go as an official
Baylor University Orchestra but simply as a group of Baylor folks
earning their way across the ocean, I am wondering if there would be any
question whatever in anybody’s mind. If you prefer it, we shall keep it an
entirely private matter and not label it the Baylor Orchestra.”
Brooks replied: “I believe you have hit upon a proper plan. It will be a
group of boys going on their own hook for the summer and Baylor will of
course waive all responsibility therefore. And I think you are wise in
allowing them to go without carrying the official name of Baylor.”
Nevertheless, Brooks—and Mrs. Armstrong—were aware of the
advertising potential for Baylor, as Brooks went on to explain: “It is
plain, however, that the publicity given to the announcement will spread
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widely in the papers over the state and Baylor’s name will be inseparably
connected with their going. The University will get all the gain that might
come there from and at the same time waive any personal responsibility
for the care and conduct of the boys. Mr. McCracken himself would go as
an individual exactly as Dr. Armstrong goes, free to do what he pleases as
any gentleman might on a journey of that kind.”
As you mentioned earlier, Dr. Armstrong’s main focus in life was the
poet Robert Browning. His own Browning collection was fairly
significant by the time he arrived at Baylor, and I know he gave his
collection to the university in 1918. But how did the building come
about?
The collection was first housed on the open shelves in Carroll Library—
where the Texas Collection is now housed—but after the fire in 1922, a
separate Browning Room within the Carroll Library was created and
formally opened in December 1923. Fortunately, none of the Browning
items were lost in the 1922 fire, but as the collection had grown quite
large and valuable, it was obvious that a safe and suitable space for it
must be provided.
In February of 1936, Dr. Armstrong wrote to Baylor president Pat Neff
and said “My dream is a Browning Library, and dreams very frequently
come true. My dream is to have something as rich in its architecture,
beauty and delicacy as the famous Taj Mahal in India, which is said to be
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the most beautiful building in the world.” He went on to describe
elements he envisioned, and added that he hoped “to get $100,000 to
$150,000 for a Memorial Browning Library, which will probably be the
most exquisite building in Texas—not the showiest or largest, but when it
comes to artistic beauty, I do not believe it will be equaled in Texas, and
perhaps not in the United States.”
You can tell he was a firm believer in Browning’s philosophy that “a
man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for?”! What
do you think his main purpose for the building was?
At the laying of the cornerstone he said “The thing I leave with you is
that in this building—from this building I wish to emanate, I wish to
radiate a spirituality that shall reach the ends of the world.” This was
especially true of the Foyer of Meditation. His vision was that it would
last for a thousand years and would eventually inspire another Dante,
Shakespeare or Browning.
How did he make his dream come true?
Pat Neff had long been a friend and supporter of Dr. Armstrong’s
enterprises, and he felt that Baylor needed to improve its physical plant in
order for it to move to the next level, so in 1943 he offered Dr. Armstrong
$100,000 if Armstrong could match the amount. Dr A did better than that.
In the midst of a wartime economy, he was able to raise more than double
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that amount. He solicited funds from everyone, including fellow faculty
members. In early 1944, Monroe S. Carroll, Chairman of the Business
School sent a note with his contribution, saying “I am making the check
for twenty-six dollars, instead of twenty-five as you suggested, because it
was twenty-six years ago last month when I first saw you crossing the
Baylor campus in the spirited gait of a thoroughbred.”
Because of the war, construction of the building was delayed, but the
groundbreaking ceremony was held on Browning’s birthday, May 7th, in
1948; the cornerstone was laid on February 25th, 1950; and elaborate
dedication ceremonies were held December 1st – 3rd 1951. Total cost of
the building was estimated at nearly $2 million.
Is it true that he was shameless in his fundraising efforts?
Absolutely. He would write people and tell them that he knew they had
already given however much, but perhaps they could give another $10 or
whatever amount—maybe, he would say, it could come out of their
tithes! He once asked Pat Neff to return a book he had given him so he
could sell it and get $10 for the Browning building!
But ultimately it is as a teacher, particularly of Browning, that he is
remembered. Is that his greatest legacy?
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He would certainly want it to be. From the time he was a boy, he wanted
to be a teacher. His mother once found written on a blackboard she had
given him when he was 7: “Jo Armstrong, Professor of Latin and Greek.”
Years later, he jokingly recalled, “I don’t think I even knew what a
professor was and I certainly didn’t know what Greek was.”
And aren’t there many stories about how difficult he was as a
professor?
Too many to count. He once wrote a friend “I am so frank and it is so
often misunderstood.” He was known to give negative grades, and there
is little doubt that he favored certain students over others to the point of
hurting feelings. I recently met a 94-year-old lady who was a student of
Dr. Armstrong in the 1930s. She said she once received a grade of -25
with “not worthy” for a paper on which she had worked very hard. She
said if you didn’t get a negative grade, you knew he didn’t think much of
you or your potential. I think this aspect of his personality is summed up
perfectly by the late Anne Miller in some lines from her poem on his
portrait:
The face we see there has the
Same gruff, craggy grace that bruised and
Beguiled us all at once. The eyes that
Shot commands, or even scorn at times.
Come back to tenderness, the lips to
Laughter breaking out.
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What do you think he would want the final word about himself to be?
I think the Browning quotation he chose to place above the entrance to
the Armstrong Browning Library says it best: “Would you have your
songs endure, build on the human heart.”
Thank you, Scott, for a great story on a remarkable man. The Texas
Collection at Baylor University has one of the largest collections of
Texana in the world – rare books, diaries, newspapers, photographs,
maps and, of course, information on Dr. A.J. Armstrong.
For more information, go to http://www.baylor.edu/lib/texas/
I’m Robert Darden, Associate Professor of Journalism at
Baylor University. I hope you’ll join us again next time on
Treasures of the Texas Collection.
Treasures of the Texas Collection was made possible by
generous grants from the Wardlaw Fellowship Fund for Texas
Studies and by the Guy B. Harrison, Jr. Endowment Fund.
This has been a production of KWBU-FM 103.3, public radio
for Central Texas.
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