The Texas Right: The Radical Roots of Lone Star Conservatism (Volume 39) (Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest)

210 Pages·2014·12.917 MB·English

by  David O'Donald Cullen (editor), Kyle G. Wilkison (editor)

The Texas Right
number thirty-nine
Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in the West and Southwest
Andrés Tijerina, General Editor
series board
Alwyn Barr
James E. Crisp
Rebecca Sharpless
Eric Van Young
A partial list of titles in the series
may be found at the back of the book.
The
Texas
RiGhT
The Radical Roots of
Lone star Conservatism
edited by David O’Donald Cullen & Kyle G. Wilkison
Texas a&M UniversiTy Press | College sTaTion
Copyright © 2014
by Texas A&M University Press
All rights reserved
First edition
Manufactured in the
United States of America
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Binding materials have been
chosen for durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Texas Right : the radical roots of Lone Star conservatism / edited by
David O’Donald Cullen and Kyle G. Wilkison. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (Elma Dill Russell Spencer series in the West and Southwest ; v. 39)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62349-028-7 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-1-62349-029-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-1-62349-111-6 (e-book)
1. Radicalism—Texas—History. 2. Conservatism—Texas—History.
3. Right-wing extremists—Texas—History. 4. Religious right—Texas—History.
5. Tea Party movement—Texas—History. 6. Social movements—Texas—
History. 7. Texas—Politics and government—1865–1950. 8. Texas—Politics
and government—1951– I. Cullen, David O’Donald, 1951–
II. Wilkison, Kyle Grant, 1960– III. Series: Elma Dill Russell
Spencer series in the West and Southwest ; no. 39.
HN79.T43R383 2014
303.484—dc23
'
2013022038
To Mary Lenn Dixon

Contents
Acknowledgments vii
From “Turn Texas Loose” to the Tea Party: Origins of the
Texas Right
David O’Donald Cullen 1
Texan by Color: The Racialization of the Lone Star State
Michael Phillips 10
“The Evils of Socialism”: The Religious Right in Early
Twentieth-Century Texas
Kyle G. Wilkison 34
“He, Being Dead, Yet Speaketh”: J. Frank Norris and the Texas
Religious Right at Midcentury
Samuel K. Tullock 51
The Far Right in Texas Politics during the Roosevelt Era
Keith Volanto 68
Establishing the Texas Far Right, 1940–1960
George N. Green 87
The Paranoid Style and Its Limits: The Power, Influence,
and Failure of the Postwar Texas Far Right
Sean P. Cunningham 101
Focus on the Family: Twentieth-Century Conservative
Texas Women and the Lone Star Right
Nancy E. Baker 119
Texas Traditions and the Right: Continuity and Change
Michael Lind 155
About the Contributors 173
Index 175

acknowledgments
This work grew out of an East Texas Historical Association meeting
roundtable discussion of a collection of essays titled The Texas Left: The
Radical Roots of Lone Star Liberalism. In conversations about the influence
of radical movements in shaping post–World War II liberalism in the state
of Texas, a question arose if similar influences explained contemporary
conservatism. This is a beginning toward an answer to that question. Just
as recent monographs have moved the origins of the civil rights move-
ment to well before the 1954 Brown decision, in recent years historians
have made similar arguments about contemporary conservatism: that an
understanding of the Reagan era must include movements, organizations,
and individuals that long preceded the 1980s.
We have been fortunate that a group of historians working in this field
joined us for this project. Their efforts reflect a generation’s worth of ar-
chival research and reflection that build upon the work of many scholars
representing a variety of topics. Scholars of every ilk, most especially
historians, cannot do their work without the invaluable help of librarians
and archivists; on behalf of our contributors, we thank all those whose
everyday, unassuming dedication to their craft made this volume possible.
We also must thank Texas A&M University Press’s anonymous reviewers
for their comments and suggestions. Many more thanks are due to Thom
Lemmons and all the outstanding staff at the Press for their dedication to
the discipline of history. We are indebted to copyeditor Lona Dearmont
and indexer Sherrye Young for their careful work on this book.
Lastly, we owe more than we can repay to Mary Lenn Dixon, editor-in-
chief at Texas A&M University Press, whose support and confidence made
this project possible. Her long and fruitful commitment to publishing
new scholarship has forever changed and enriched the practice of Texas
history.