About the Collection
The George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection is an important resource for research in Dallas and Texas history. A native Dallasite, George Cook (1949-2012) was a life-long collector with a focus on Dallas and Texas primary sources. He had a special interest in photographs, postcards, advertising souvenirs, trade cards, badges, family collections, documents, art, postal history, and three-dimensional objects such as signs, regional porcelain and glass, and architectural ornaments. He was also fascinated by the State Fair of Texas, the 1936 Texas Centennial, and the history of aviation.
The strength of Cook’s collection lies in its visual images (over 2,200 photographs and 12,000 postcards), but there are also significant manuscripts, diaries, albums, bank notes, ephemera, books, pamphlets, broadsides, and objects related to the city of Dallas and the state of Texas. Chronologically, the collection ranges from a promissory note signed by Davy Crockett in 1829 to photographs of carhops at Sivil’s drive-in in mid-20th century Dallas. There are approximately 20,000 items altogether: a rich collection with a wide range of materials related to Dallas and Texas history.
Highlights include an album, "," compiled by the Priscilla Art Club, 1932-1941. This photograph album depicts people, homes, businesses, churches, schools, and activities relating to Dallas's Black community. Also of note among the portraits are of the family of prominent businessman and inventor John Milton Oram, who constructed and installed the first telephone in Dallas.
Items from the following series in the finding aids are available online.