*
The Hervey A. Priddy Collection of American Presidential and Political
Memorabilia is now held at Southern Methodist University’s DeGolyer Library.
IN RECOGNITION OF THE OPENING OF THE GEORGE W. BUSH
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, BRIDWELL LIBRARY PRESENTS
letters and White House invitations sent to American Methodists by
ten men who were, had once been, or would become President of
the United States. These documents and supporting images from the
Special Collections and Archives range in date from 1854 to 1957.
Bridwell Library’s interest in presidential documents and campaign
materials goes back at least as far as 1956 when Mr. and Mrs. Dan
Ferguson donated their large Americana collection. That same year
Bishop Frederick Deland Leete donated his Methodist Historical
Library including several pieces of correspondence between Presidents
of the United States and Methodist leaders. In 2001 Hervey A.
Priddy donated a significant collection of presidential and political
memorabilia to Bridwell Library.* In addition former Library Director
Decherd H. Turner, Jr., added his own Americana collection.
These rich historical resources have led to three public exhibitions of
presidential materials at Bridwell Library. The first was “Presidential
Autographs: An Exhibition in Honor of Provost Ruth Morgan on
the Occasion of Her Twenty-fifth Year with Southern Methodist
University” in 1992, featuring items from the Ferguson Collection.
In 2004
–
2005 Bridwell Library presented “From George to George:
Presidential Elections in the United States from 1789 to the Present,”
drawing heavily on the Priddy Collection. “Presidential Documents at
Bridwell Library” (December 20, 2013–May 9, 2014) presents rarely-
seen documents from the Leete Collection and other archival holdings
revealing personal and professional connections between our nation’s
presidents and the people called Methodists.
