Certificates

Abstract Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) originated in 1883 with Beaumont High School. By 1948, the district had absorbed French High School and established a high school for black students, Charlton-Pollard High School. In 1983, the original Beaumont ISD board voted to dissolve the district and officially merged with South Park ISD in 1984, forming the current Beaumont Independent School District. This collection is an artificial collection of community materials that consists of...

Abstract American National Bank of Beaumont was formed on May 4, 1901. It quickly grew as a financial institution and in 1972 was merged with the name changed in 1981 to Texas Commerce Bank. This was followed in 1987 with the bank becoming an owned subsidiary of Chemical Bank Corporation of New York and in 1996 the name of the bank was changed to Chase Bank of Texas. Then in 1999 the bank was purchased and the name changed to Hibernia National Bank. And finally, in March of 2006 the bank was...

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Emmett A. Fletcher was a Beaumont businessman and elected official. He was elected as mayor of Beaumont in 1906 and served two terms over 12 years. He was involved in the creation of Beaumont's infrastructure, business, and city development. This is a small collection consisting of photographs, newspaper clippings, funeral remarks, and licenses for steamboat inspection and operation belonging to Emmett A. Fletcher.

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This collection contains photographs, professional documents, plaques and memorabilia pertaining to the life and career of Judge Al Gerson, who presided over the Jefferson County Court of Law Number One for twenty-seven years, from 1984 until his retirement in 2011.

Abstract Betty Lamont Maloney Leaf was born in 1922 in St. Augustine, Florida. She came to serve both as president of the Magnolia Garden Club of Beaumont and then as director of the Garden Club of America. She also received the Medal of Merit from the Garden Club of America. This collection consists primarily of publications, certificates, and awards from the Garden Club of America and the many other Beaumont community organizations Betty Leaf was involved with. It also features photographs and...

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Lynn H. and Frances Katherine Shaw Gilbert were long-time residents of Beaumont, Texas. Prior to their marriage in 1966, they had both been previously married. This collection consists of family photo albums, loose photographs, and a patent certificate with accompanying correspondence for an extended family member. Also included in the photographs are items related to friends, vacations, and events that occurred in the course of their lives.

Abstract Mayor Becky (Benoit) Ames served as Mayor of Beaumont from 2007 to 2021. She was the longest-running mayor of the city, serving for 14 years across 7 terms. In total, she spent 27 years on City Council. Mayor Ames recieved many awards and recognition from organizations both locally and nationally. This collection consists of memorabilia, correspondence, artifacts, photographs, plaques, awards, and framed items from Mayor Becky Ames' office. The materials represent the many organizations and...

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The Melody Maids were a girls' choir which traveled the United States and the world to perform for military bases from 1942 to 1972. Led by Eloise Rush Milam, the Melody Maids learned not just music, but also decorum and manners. This collection holds almost 200 scrapbooks made by Ms. Milam and the Maids during the group's thirty years of existence and the decades of celebrations and reunions that followed..

Abstract Morris Cloninger graduated from the University of Texas in Austin and taught English at both Conroe and South Park High Schools. Concetta (nee Mazzagatti) Cloninger became interested in theatre while a student at South Park High School and then attended Lamar Junior College, where she studied under Irene Arnett. She later won a scholarship and did post graduate work at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts in Pasadena, California. Upon leaving California, Concetta took the stage...

Abstract Pierre Ferdinand Patureau (1800-1860) was born in LaRoche, France. He married Anne Rose Machet (1801-1843) in 1820. The couple immigrated to Louisiana with their four children in 1840. One of their grandchildren, Marie Victorine Patureau (1873-1937), married William Cropper (1870-1918) in 1892 and began to collect traces of her family's history. Marie and William moved at some point in the early 1900s from Louisana to Beaumont, Texas. This collection consists of genealogy, correspondence,...