Overview
| Repository | Office of the City Secretary Dallas Municipal Archives 1500 Marilla Street, 5D South Dallas, Texas 75201 |
| Creator | Earl Hart, Mary Jane Hart, Patricia Wray Vassilaros
|
| Title | Earl Hart Family—White Rock Lake Collection
|
| Dates | 1926-1948
|
| Quantity | 2 linear inches |
| Abstract | Correspondence, business records, newspaper clippings, and ephemera concerning the Earl Hart Family of Dallas, Texas.
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| Identification | 2008-002 |
| Language | Records are in English |
Scope and Content
Collection documents the life and career of Earl R. Hart, superintendent of White Rock Lake 1933-1943, his wife Mary Jane Hart, their children, and White Rock Lake. Hart was superintendent during the Lake's greatest period of development, when the Civilian Conservation Corps completed extensive landscaping and building projects between 1937 and 1941. Hart also served as the lake's park police and the family lived in the caretaker's residence at the lake. Upon Earl Hart's death in 1943, his widow operated the park's Sunset Inn concession and cafe until financial hardship forced its closure in 1948.
The images in this collection include Hart Family photographs, mostly taken at White Rock, revealing many details about the lake prior to the 1950s. Textual materials include records of Earl and Mary Jane Hart, biographical and genealogical information on the Hart Family, personal recollections of daughters Jackie Hart and Lillian Hart Wray, and newspaper clippings regarding White Rock Lake. Ephemera includes menus for the Sunset Inn.
Collection donated by Pat Wray Vassilaros and descendants of the Earl Hart Family.
Organization
The collection is arranged in chronological order.
Access
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Citation
Earl Hart Family—White Rock Lake Collection, 1926-1948 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives
Related Materials
None
Index Terms
Dallas -- Texas -- History
Hart, Earl Richard
Hart Family (Dallas, Tex.)
Hart, Mary Jane McClure
Parks -- Texas -- History
Container List
| 1 | 1 | Earl R. Hart correspondence and work credentials, 1939-1943
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| | 2 | Hart Family biographical and genealogical data, 1929, 1943, and undated |
| | 3 | Sunset Inn records, 1944-1948
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| | 4 | Photographs, 1926-1944 and undated |
| | 5 | Newspaper clippings, 1941
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