罗伯特。米. 瓦格斯塔夫

Attorney/Legislator, BA 1913

罗伯特•瓦格斯塔夫, 律师, 立法委员, 保育人士, 牧场主, and historian was an influential force 在阿比林 life for more than six decades, following a tradition of community service established by his father.

罗伯特。米cAlpine 瓦格斯塔夫 was born on September 2, 1892, 在阿比林, 德州, to John Miles and Bessie (McAlpine) 瓦格斯塔夫. 他的父亲, former president of Buffalo Gap Presbyterian College, started practicing law 在阿比林 in 1890, establishing the law firm that Robert would later lead.

Robert attended Abilene public schools and graduated from Simmons College Academy in 1913 with a bachelor of arts degree. While a student at Simmons in 1912, he became scoutmaster of the first organized Boy Scout troop 在阿比林.

In 1913, Robert began law school at the University of 德州. 在奥斯汀的时候, 他加入了德克萨斯旅, 在1916年, a month before he was to graduate from law school, he was called to active duty on the border during the raids of Pancho Villa. He received his law degree in absentia and was admitted to the bar in 1916.

瓦格斯塔夫 is credited with initially advancing and pushing the idea that Abilene seek a military base. As World War I neared, this idea grew into the establishment of Camp Barkeley. He later worked on the project that produced Dyess Air Force Base.

当第一次世界大战爆发时, 瓦格斯塔夫, 当时是陆军上尉, was sent home to Abilene to organize Company I, 第七德州步兵团, the forerunner of the local National Guard. 瓦格斯塔夫 commanded the unit during training and while overseas until he was transferred to other combat duty.

在欧洲服役后, 瓦格斯塔夫 retired as a major and returned to Abilene to join his father in law practice.

瓦格斯塔夫 married 德州 Orms on February 14, 1931, and the couple had two children, Marnie and John.

He served in the legislature for two consecutive terms from 1931 to 1935. During the East 德州 oil boom he helped write conservation statutes that brought stability to the oil and gas industry. 他写作并赞助, along with Senator Walter Woodward of Coleman, the 瓦格斯塔夫-Woodward water priority act, 哪一个仍然有效.

瓦格斯塔夫 also authored the legislation that set up the state assumption of local road bonds, laying a foundation for the modern highway system.

He also sponsored a bill setting aside land in Big Bend for a state park, an action that made possible the present Big Bend National Park. He was a leader in water development projects, and was an ardent booster of the proposal to import water from the Mississippi for dry West 德州. He was honored for his pioneering efforts to reclaim sandy “shinnery” wasteland by replacing the natural shin oak with grasses sown from airplanes.

一个非专业的历史学家, he wrote articles on West 德州 history for publications and delivered papers to such groups as the West 德州 Historical Association. He was a prime mover in the effort to identify historical sites through the local Historical Survey Committee.

瓦格斯塔夫 taught business administration at Hardin-Simmons from 1947 to 1951, writing a textbook for the course.

A reserved man, 瓦格斯塔夫 quietly made three unsuccessful bids for Congress in 1944, 1946, and 1960. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in Chicago in 1952 and represented the 24th Senatorial District on the state Democratic executive committee from 1954 to 1956. As a conservative, he joined Governor Allan Shivers in support of Republican Dwight D. 艾森豪威尔.

Professionally, he held offices which placed him in Who’s Who of America. He was a member of the 德州 Civil Judicial Council from 1953 to 1959. He served on the Import Policy Committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America from 1954 to 1957 and the Legal Committee of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association from 1955 to 1958. He was a fellow in the American College of Probate Counsel, president of the Taylor County Bar Association, and director of the West Central 德州 Oil and Gas Association.

作为一个牧场主, 瓦格斯塔夫 served on the 德州 and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, and the American Farm Bureau.

He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, 一个梅森, 圣殿骑士, 和一个朝圣者.

瓦格斯塔夫 died 在阿比林 on April 9, 1973, having left a legacy of civic involvement that shaped his community.

It is the high honor of Hardin-Simmons大学 to recognize one of her own and to formally induct 罗伯特。米cAlpine 瓦格斯塔夫 into the HSU 领袖堂.