William Curry Holden (July 19, 1896 – April 21, 1993) was an American historian and archaeologist. In 1937, he became the first director of the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Early years, education, military

Holden was one of three sons born to Robert Lee Holden and Grace Holden née Davis in Coolidge, Texas. Both families moved west to Colorado City, Texas, and after 1907 the Holdens farmed near Rotan, Texas, where William completed high school in 1914.

In summer 1914 he obtained teacher certification at the now-closed Stamford Junior College in Stamford, Texas. At first refused jobs because he was "too spindly", in 1915 he became the only teacher for 47 students in nine classes at the one-room schoolhouse in Pleasant Valley. He organized a literary club and basketball teams and led the students to victory in the county interscholastic meeting.

On March 26, 1939, Holden married Frances Virginia "Fran" Holden née Mayhugh.

Holden retired from Texas Tech in 1970. During his retirement, he and Frances built the Adobe Row neighborhood of houses in Lubbock, Pueblo-revival style, to serve as inexpensive accommodations for faculty and students at Texas Tech. These buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places and are designated as state and city archaeological and historic landmarks.

Holden died on April 21, 1993, at the age of ninety-six.

William and Frances Holden are interred in the family plot with his parents and first wife at the City of Lubbock Cemetery. Frances's grave is not specifically marked. They were Methodist.

Works

  • A Yaqui Life (coauthored in 1971 with daughter Jane Holden Kelley)
  • Rollie Burns (1932)
  • Spur Ranch (1934)
  • A Ranching Saga: The Lives of William Electious Halsell and Ewing Halsell

References

Further information

  • Ruth Horn Andrews, The First Thirty Years: A History of Texas Technological College, 1925-1955. Lubbock: Texas Tech Press, 1956.
  • "Book Notes", West Texas Historical Association Yearbook 69 (1993).
  • William Holden obituary, Dallas Morning News, April 24, 1993.
  • William Holden obituary, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, April 22, 25, 1993.
  • Jane Gilmore Rushing and Kline A. Knall, Evolution of a University: Texas Tech's First Fifty Years. Austin: Madrona, 1975.
  • "William C. Holden", Who's Who in America, 1962–1963.
  • "William C. Holden", Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Vol. 7.
  • Oral history interviews with William Curry Holden, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University

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  • Papers, 1836-1989, of W. C. and Frances Mayhugh Holden, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
  • Books By or About William Curry Holden, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University
  • William Curry Holden and Frances Mayhugh Holden Collection, Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University