Robert L. Thornton

For other people with a similar name, see Robert Thornton (disambiguation).

Robert Lee Thornton, Sr. (“Mr. Dallas”; “Uncle Bob”) (August 10, 1880 – February 15, 1964) was an American banker, civic leader, and four-term Mayor of Dallas, Texas.

R.L. Thornton, Mayor of Dallas, photo from Dallas Historical Society

Early years

Robert Lee Thornton, Sr. was born on August 10, 1880, to tenant farmer William Travis and Polly Ann (Weatherby) Thornton in a sod-roofed, half-dugout in Hamilton County, Texas, near Hico. His childhood time was divided by farm labor jobs such as picking cotton and attending school through the eighth grade. He dropped out of school because his family needed him to work full-time farming. Formal business education was limited to an eight-week bookkeeping course at the Metropolitan Business College in Dallas. Later in his life, he jokingly said that he had obtained his diploma in "C. C. M.": “cotton, corn, and mules”. His first view of Dallas was as an eight-year-old with his father and a brother traveling by wagon to visit the State Fair of Texas. His 50 cents to spend lasted all day, and a new world opened to him that made a life-long impression – a love affair with the State Fair and with Dallas that would last for more than 75 years.

Business career

Other than picking cotton, Thornton’s first job was as an $18 a month store clerk in Heelstring (now Bristol) in Ellis County, Texas. Thornton then landed a job as a traveling candy salesman working the Oklahoma Indian Territory. By 1912, Thornton returned to Dallas and became involved in two business ventures – a bookstore and a mortgage banking company – both of which were unsuccessful.

In 1916, at the age of 36 with loans from family and friends, he organized a private bank in Dallas in an 18-foot office that had formerly housed the Blue Goose restaurant. It was his first successful venture from which Thornton launched his four-decade banking career as president of Stiles, Thornton, and Lund,¹⁴ which eventually would become the third-largest bank in Dallas. A year later, the bank reorganized as the Dallas County State Bank.¹⁶

Many of Dallas’ business leaders joined Thornton on the bank’s board of directors. They included former Dallas mayor W. M. Holland, business leaders John W. Carpenter, Jewish business leader Julius Schepps, Catholic-community leader John Vilbig, Jr., and Sanger–Harris department store general manager Charles L. Sanger.¹⁷

By 1923 they had outgrown the name "Dallas County State Bank" and became the "Mercantile Bank and Trust Co.", with a national charter.²⁰ Two years later, the bank’s capital hit the $1 million mark. Thornton served as president from 1916 to 1947, when he became chairman of the board until 1964.

Thornton’s fellow bankers recognized his business talent early in his career when they elected him president of the Texas Bankers Association in 1924-1925.²³

Civic leader

Shortly after Dallas County State Bank opened, Thornton joined the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, serving as president of the Chamber from 1933 to 1936.²⁴

In 1923, he was named to the Dallas Plan Commission and later to the economic development organization, Industrial Dallas, Inc. that toured the Southwest encouraging businesses to move to Dallas.²⁵

He served as a member of the board of directors of a wide range of Dallas organizations.  They included nonprofits: Children’s Development Center, Greater Dallas Council of Churches, Texas Research Foundation, Scottish Rite Hospital, and the Southwestern Medical Foundation, as well as the citizens’ advisory Trinity Improvement Authority, and the Texas Turnpike Authority agency. He volunteered to head the World War II Dallas War Chest to raise money through war bonds, chaired the Big Gifts division for the Dallas County United Fund, and chaired the campaign to approve the Dallas County courthouse complex.

However, his greatest love was Dallas’ Fair Park. He spent more than three decades involved with the [city-owned] park and the State Fair of Texas beginning with his election to the Fair board in 1929.²⁷ From 1945 until 1960 (when he became chairman²⁸) he led the Fair as its president.²⁹

In 1933, while serving as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, he joined with his close friend Fred Florence of Republic Bank and Nathan Adams of First National Bank to pursue hosting the Texas Centennial and Exposition at Fair Park in 1936. The first world’s fair in the Southwest hosted more than six million people including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was credited with cushioning Dallas from the Great Depression.

According to historian Michael V. Hazel, “The man most responsible for securing the central Centennial Exposition for Dallas was Robert L. Thornton, head of the Mercantile Bank.”³³

In his history of the Dallas Citizens Council, author Darwin Payne noted, “Despite financial losses, the Centennial was the crowning event in the city’s history. The public relations value alone was incalculable, and the economic benefits enormous.”³⁴

Payne wrote, “Dallas had become a different city, different in self-awareness as well as in its new national image as a prosperous, sophisticated city. That image was relayed to the nation in glowing articles in such prestigious publications as Fortune and Atlantic Monthly. Dallas almost overnight became ‘Big D.”³⁵

To host the Centennial, Dallas leaders promised to raise millions of dollars for the effort.  According to The New York Times, “The businessmen of the city had worked hard to raise $3.5 million³⁶ for the event, but the experience had shown them how loosely organized their city was.”  Thornton told the Times that committee members “had to report back to their companies before making financial commitments. We needed people who could say 'yes' or 'no' right away to determine if a project could be done quickly and efficiently.

In 1937 this concern drove Thornton to organize the Dallas Citizens Council (not to be confused with the White Citizens Councils in the South” made up of only the chief executive officers and decision-makers in Dallas. Since that time, the Council has put its collective money and expertise into projects deemed important for the city.

In his book, Big D: Triumphs and Troubles of an American Supercity in the 20^th Century, Darwin Payne wrote, “Thornton was widely recognized as ‘Mr. Dallas’ by the 1950s. His folksy, avuncular ways earned him alternately the affectionate title of ‘Uncle Bob,’” as he never forgot his country boy roots.  A banker who was a natural salesman with energy and vision, R. L. Thornton sold Dallas to businesses across the nation and helped build Dallas into a major metropolitan area. “City-building,” he said, “is just a privilege of citizenship.”

Through his leadership at the State Fair of Texas he made Dallas the Southwestern hub of entertainment and helped develop the State Fair of Texas into one of the largest in the world.

During his career, he received awards and honors, including the Linz Award for outstanding civic contributions (1947), the Sales Executive Club's Number 1 Salesman of Dallas award (1948), the Greater Dallas Planning Council's Distinguished Citizen Award (1955), the Press Club's Headliner of the Year award (1955), the Man of Vision Award from the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (1959), and an honorary doctor of humanities degree from the University of Dallas (1963).

Mayor of Dallas

Early in 1953, Dallas Mayor J.B. Adoue, Jr. announced he would not seek reelection.⁴³The city was struggling with rapid economic growth challenges amid a prolonged drought that meant a severe water shortage. City leaders launched an effort to draft the 72-year-old Thornton for mayor.⁴⁴

The city’s business leadership was clearly in Thornton’s corner, and the draft movement gained momentum throughout the city. His support was broad-based, and The Dallas Morning News reported that “Thornton has won wide respect among Dallas Negroes” and quoted the Rev. E. C. Estell, pastor of Dallas’ largest African American church, as saying, “I do not know of any man who can serve our situation better…we must have a man like Thornton to lead us.”⁴⁵

On February 10, Thornton accepted the draft and agreed to run for Mayor of Dallas in the April election.. The Dallas Morning News reported that he had no desire to hold public office, but he had “never turned down a job for my city.”{{sfnp|Dallas Morning News|1953}'

He won the election with 69.5% of the vote,⁴⁸ and at his first Council meeting, he said, “This city government will govern for everyone alike.  Dallas has no second-class citizens.  All are created equal and will be treated equal – the rich, the poor, the high, the low.”⁴⁹ And, he emphasized effective, businesslike, and open government, announcing that all City decisions will be made in public. “He instructed the City Manager to advise all department heads that utmost courtesy be shown all citizens, with positively no exceptions.”⁵⁰

Six months later, Thornton saw the Statler Hotel break ground in downtown Dallas.⁵¹ It would be the largest hotel in the Southwest and kicked off Thornton’s plan of “Keep the Dirt Flyin’.” Major municipal projects completed during his eight years in office included a new downtown library, a new city hall annex, construction of the Memorial Auditorium, and expansion of Love Field with a new passenger terminal. To attack the devastating and prolonged droughts in North Texas, Thornton launched the construction of Lake Tawakoni and Lake Ray Hubbard reservoirs to supply water for Dallas.

Mayor Thornton ran unopposed in 1955 and won over two other candidates in 1957 despite a major tornado that ripped through Oak Cliff and West Dallas the afternoon of election day, April 2, 1957.^53.

By 1959, the 78-year-old Thornton would face his most formidable and last election. Opposed by Earle Cabell of Cabell’s Dairy and the son and grandson of previous mayors of Dallas, Thornton was forced into a runoff since neither candidate received a majority of the votes. Two weeks later, Thornton won by 3,000 votes and began his fourth and last term as Mayor of Dallas.⁵⁴

Controversies

R. L. Thornton addressed many controversial issues during his business, mayoral and civic life: severe water shortages, long-delayed civic projects, need for crime reduction, myriad economic development challenges, and desegregation issues for the city and State Fair. The most difficult challenge was the fight for equal rights under the law for Black citizens during the 1950s and 1960s.

Integration and the State Fair

Black Americans served with distinction during World War II and returned home to seek racial change.⁵⁵ A National Park Service document cited the NAACP, "emboldened by the record of Black servicemen in the war, a new corps of brilliant young lawyers…initiated major attacks against discrimination and segregation.”⁵⁶  In Dallas, the leadership⁵⁷ included A. Maceo Smith, Reverend E.C. Estell, Reverend Rhett James and Juanita Craft, the NAACP Youth Council advisor.

Since 1889 the State Fair in Dallas had been segregated and limited Black citizens attendance to one day each year, initially called Colored People's Day, and later renamed Negro Achievement Day in 1936.⁵⁹ Starting in 1953, Ms. Craft organized years of peaceful protests with her NAACP youth group and others until the Fair was fully desegregated in 1967. Over the years, Thornton, as Mayor and State Fair of Texas president, personally brokered agreements with Ms. Craft, other African American leaders, and opponents in the Anglo community.

In 1954, with the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the City of Dallas (and the Dallas Independent School District) needed to comply with the federal law regarding school and business desegregation and competing State of Texas decrees.

Nearing the end of his last mayoral term, Thornton played a leadership role in Dallas’ peaceful school and business desegregation and motivated the Dallas Citizens Council to mount a successful, peaceful Dallas desegregation effort. The political climate throughout Texas was significantly anti-integration, and Dallas remained one of the largest school systems in the South with a completely segregated school system.

Despite federal court decisions, the 55th Texas legislature passed a law in 1957 that required local communities to vote on school desegregation.⁶³ Without a majority vote, Dallas ISD could lose $2.7 million in state aid, and lose accreditation if they tried to desegregate. The school superintendent and board members could be fined up to $1,000 for the same offense. In Dallas, a referendum was held on August 6, 1960 and resulted in an overwhelming 4 to 1 vote against integration.⁶⁴

Lacking a public mandate, “Mayor Thornton believed the situation to be so critical that the Dallas Citizens Council must exercise its power to assure success.” Citing the loss of reputation and business in other Southern cities that had not successfully desegregated schools, he convinced the Citizens Council of the need to seek peaceful desegregation in schools and businesses for economic self-interest reasons.

Acceding to the mayor’s request, the Citizens Council agreed in 1960 to assume as a special project the successful integration of Dallas schools. The Council developed an extensive education campaign to facilitate the desegregation of Dallas schools by creating a climate to convince citizens of the need to accept desegregation peacefully.

Key steps included organizing a bi-racial Committee of 14 consisting of seven Black and seven white members to serve as a bridge between the two communities.  The Black membership included George Allen, Juanita Craft, Rev. Ernest Estell, and William J. Durham while the white members were predominantly CEOs of Dallas’ largest businesses.⁶⁸

The Citizens Council produced Dallas at the Crossroads, a film narrated by Walter Cronkite that was shown throughout the city more than 1,000 times to community groups with introductions by leading citizens; distributed more than 100,000 booklets through churches; and many companies included inserts in employee paychecks.⁶⁹ On September 6, 1961 racial desegregation came quietly and peacefully in Dallas, as 18 Black children entered first-grade classes in eight historically white elementary schools.⁷⁰

President Kennedy praised Dallas’ peaceful school integration and acclaimed the city’s “responsible, level-headed leadership,” which had led the way.⁷¹ Roy Wilkins, executive director of the national NAACP, asserted, “If this sort of thing had been done throughout the country –people willing to sit down together and talk about the problem – we would have a different picture now.”⁷²

School desegregation progress followed a summer of peaceful business and city desegregation on a large scale without any public announcement. Lunch counters and hotels were successfully desegregated, “White-only” signs came down throughout the city, and at Fair Park open seating was initiated at the Dallas Summer Musicals and all carnival rides were opened to Black citizens.⁷³ The peaceful Dallas school and business desegregation in 1961 was a stark contrast and nearly four years ahead of Gov. George Wallace’s order to break up protests in Selma, AL which led to Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettis Bridge. R.L. Thornton, Mayor of Dallas TX 1953-1961

The Klan

In 1994, in his book Big D: Triumphs and Troubles of an American Supercity in the 20^th Century, Darwin Payne wrote: “The president of Dallas County State Bank, Robert L. Thornton, [...] was a member [of the Ku Klux Klan]".

Following publication, Thornton’s family said the accusation was false. “It was simply untrue,” grandson Robert L. Thornton, III wrote in a 1995 letter to the editor of the Dallas Morning News.⁷⁵ He said that not once in R. L. Thornton’s 84 years of life – including his thoroughly documented roles as a businessman, civic leader, and elected official – was there ever a single mention of a KKK membership. Moreover, for 30 years after his death in 1964, there was no public or private suggestion or evidence that he was ever a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).⁷⁵

According to the book's author, Payne himself, he had a sole source for ascribing KKK membership to Thornton. Payne cites it in a footnote in the revised, 2000 edition of Big D as “an undated document held by the Dallas Historical Society ... given by George B. Dealey in 1942". That document rested in the George B. Dealey archives at the Dallas Historical Society. It had been given to Dealey “by Mr. Albert Brin of 2314 Forest Ave., Dallas” in 1942, ⁷⁷ some 20 years after the purported date of its creation.

The document was undated and unsigned, with no external verification. It was divided into three separate sections, two of which named 115 members of the Executive Committee and Steering Committee of the Klan at the time. There was a third section that listed about 270 businesses, labeled "Ku Klux Klan Business Firms 100 %", under which the Dallas County State Bank was included, noting R.L. Thornton as president. There was no explanation as to what was meant by "business firms 100%.” Dealey, however, in his transmittal letter to the Dallas Historical Society wrote that it was an "impossibility" that "the stores enumerated are said to be Ku Klux Klan 100%." ⁸⁰ The Klan itself noted: “We do not claim that every 100% American is a Klansman.”

In a letter to Dallas real estate executive Henry S. Miller, Jr.⁸² after the publication of the 1994 edition, Payne acknowledged that Thornton was not listed on the individual member list. He further wrote Miller “the mention of Klan membership is a minor detail …Those who read my treatment of the senior Thornton, however, would surely agree that my portrait of him is overwhelmingly positive and that I fully acknowledge, appreciate and applaud his enormous contributions to this city’s growth and progress.”  

There were two public listings of Klan participation. The first was published by the Dallas Dispatch newspaper on May 12, 1922.⁸³ Reporters from the newspaper recorded and vetted the license plates from automobiles parked at Fair Park for attendees of a large regional meeting of the Dallas Klan. The second was the 1923 Klan Day at the State Fair which was billed as “One of the Greatest Gatherings in Klan History” with 160,000 attendees. Support was documented in the Klan Day souvenir program and in a 25-page detailed financial audit ⁸⁵prepared by the Klan auditor, J.F. Collier, and his auditing firm Bell, Collier, & Doyle on June 13, 1924, which listed receipts, vendors, advertisers and individuals who provided support in exhaustive detail. Neither R. L. Thornton nor Dallas County State Bank were named in either listing.

A possible source of confusion may be that a younger brother of R.L. Thornton was indeed a member and leader of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. W. L. Thornton, a Dallas attorney and prominent judge, was active in both the Klan and the Democratic party locally, statewide, and nationally.  

Since the book’s 1994 publication, many authors and journalists have casually repeated and perpetuated the accusation that Thornton was a “member” of the Klan, while citing no original research on their part or from anyone else other than Payne, most without crediting him.

Statue of R.L. Thornton, Hall of State, Dallas, Texas

Family

On June 1, 1905, R. L. Thornton married Mary Metta Stiles (April 13, 1887 - March 25, 1975) of Waxahachie.  They made Dallas their home to raise their family – Robert L. Thornton Jr., Katherine Marie (Mrs. J. Frank Holt), Mary Ann, and Rosemary (Mrs. Ralph Brinegar) – and lived there the rest of their lives.  

Son Robert L. Thornton, Jr. (January 12, 1911 - September 24, 1992) was the founding chairman of the Dallas County Community College District (now Dallas College). He served on numerous boards including Texas Woman's University and Dallas Baptist College as well as a past chairman of the United Negro College Fund. The R.L. Thornton Jr. Building, 701 Elm Street in Dallas, was named in his honor by Dallas College. He was named chairman of Mercantile Bank in 1969.  

Grandson Robert L. Thornton, III (March 15, 1940) is a third-generation banker and retired vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase-Dallas.  As a civic leader, Thornton served as a trustee of The Nature Conservancy of Texas, a member of the University of Texas Press advisory board, a former director of SMU’s Cox School of Business, and past chairman and director emeritus of the Dallas Arboretum. He is an officer of the Dallas College (formerly Dallas County Community College District) Foundation and helped launch the College’s internationally recognized Rising Star scholarship program for Dallas high school graduates of financial need.

All three men were honored with the Linz Award, Dallas’ most distinguished civic award.

Mayor Thornton died at his home on Saturday, February 15, 1964.  He was 83. At his memorial service two days later, Dr. William Dickinson, pastor of the Highland Park United Methodist Church, concluded, “His genius in leadership was seen not only in his limitless energy but in his ability to get other people to do things they did not know they could do. He not only built buildings and improved the appearance of a city, but more importantly, he helped men achieve their true stature.”

Notes

¹⁴ Editor Phil (March 1927) “Robert Lee Thornton: Little Chats about Great Bankers in Texas.” The Texas Bankers Record. p. 25.

¹⁶ Fort Worth Star-Telegram - October 26, 1917   Volume: XXXVII   Issue: 268 p.8.

¹⁷ The Bankers Encyclopedia 1922 55^th Edition Purple Book.

¹⁹ Runnels County Register Ballinger, TX April 1, 2016

²⁰ Moody's Manual of Investments: American and Foreign. (1922). United States: Moody's Investors Service.

²³ “R .L . Thornton to Head Bankers” May 23, 1924 Dallas Morning News. p. 1

²⁴ Bridges, Ken “Texas History Minute: R.L. Thornton a story of success” Runnels County Register P. 1. April 7, 2016. Link: https://www.runnelscountyregister.com/article/20160401/OPINION/160409972

²⁵ Bosse, Paula “Serving the Southwest From Dallas” Flashback: Dallas Copyright © 2017 “July 7, 2017 Link: https://flashbackdallas.com/2017/07/07/serving-the-southwest-from-dallas-1928/

²⁷ “R. L. Thornton on Fair Board” December 11, 1929 Dallas Morning News p. 17. Link:

²⁸ R. L. Thornton Elected Head of State Fair, Dallas Morning News - January 13, 1945 p.1  

²⁹ “Thornton, Tatum Get New Posts” December 18, 1963 Dallas Morning News p. 1. Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A0F99DDB671832188%40EANX-NB-0FFE5D35C9D59B95%402438382-0FFE5D3649E13554%4040-0FFE5D38E9344450%40Thornton%252C%2BTatum%2BGet%2BNew%2BPosts?p=AMNEWS&hlterms=%22Thornton%22%3B%20%22State%20Fair%20of%20Texas%22

³³ Hazel, Michael V. “The Opportunity of a Century: Unlikely Host Dallas Grabbed the Spotlight for 100-year Blast.” (6/27/2010 on the 125^th anniversary of the paper) Dallas Morning News. p19A. Link: https://archives.dallasnews.com/uncategorized/IO_2154f924-32e1-4c16-b820-893f461147be/

³⁴ Payne, Darwin. Dallas Citizens Council: An Obligation of Leadership. Dallas, TX: Dallas Citizens Council, 2008. p. 12.

³⁵ Payne, Darwin. Dallas Citizens Council: An Obligation of Leadership. Dallas, TX: Dallas Citizens Council, 2008. p. 13

³⁶ According to historians, the actual bid number was $7,791,000.

⁴³ Quinn, Allen. (January 31, 1953) “Adoue Leaves Mayor’s Race.” Dallas Morning News. section 1, p.1.

⁴⁴ Quinn, Allen.  Dallas Morning News. Section 1, p. 1. Link https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A0F99DDB671832188%40EANX-NB-1015C67916A97F02%402434410-1015C6792018A221%400-1015C67AABD57C7A%40Boom%2BMounts%2Bfor%2BThornton?p=AMNEWS&hlterms=R.L.Thornton

⁴⁵ “Boom Mounts for Thornton” Dallas Morning News (February 1, 1953) p. 1 Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A0F99DDB671832188%40EANX-NB-1015C67916A97F02%402434410-1015C6792018A'

⁴⁸ Quinn, Allen (April 8, 1953) “Thornton Leads Ticket” Dallas Morning News. section 1, p. 1

⁴⁹ Mayoral Inauguration Tape (5/1/1953). Dallas Historical Society.

⁵⁰ Quinn, Allen. “New Council Inducted in Colorful Ceremony.” (5/2/1953) Dallas Morning News. Part III, pp. 1 and 14.

⁵¹ McGrath, Dorothea. (October 8, 1953) “Good Humor Marks Starts Of Statler.” Dallas Morning News. section 1, p. 1

⁵³ Link: “Devastating Tornado Rips Oak Cliff, Northwest Dallas” (April 3, 1957) Dallas Morning News. Section 1, p. 1.

• Link: Quinn, Allen “Mayor, 7 Teammates Sweep” (April 3, 1957) Dallas Morning News. Section 1, p. 1.

⁵⁴ Raffetto, Francis “Thornton In By 3,000 Votes” (April 22, 1959) Section 1 p. 1 Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A0F99DDB671832188%40EANX-NB-100349EED6DBB1A2%402436681-100349EEE0781EDC%400-100349EFBA13A4F7%40Thornton%2Bin%2Bby%2B3%252C000%2BVotes?p=AMNEWS&hlterms=R.L.Thornton

⁵⁵ McDermott, Annette “Did World War II Launch the Civil Rights Movement?” May 22, 2018 History.com

⁵⁶ Birth of the Civil Rights Movement, 1941-1954 (Last updated: April 7, 2016) National Park Service NPS.gov

⁵⁷ Parker, Jasmine Danielle “(De)Segregation In Post-Brown Dallas, Texas: A Historical Narrative Attributing The Response And Social Activism Efforts Of African American Dallasites, 1950s-1970s” Dissertation 2015 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

⁵⁹ Burrow, Rachel Northington “Juanita Craft: Desegregating the State Fair of Texas” Dallas Historical Society. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 16, Number 1, Spring, 2004, p.19; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35092/

⁶³ “Daniel Signs into Law Bills to Keep School Segregation” Dallas Morning News May 24, 1957 p. 9  Link: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A0F99DDB671832188%40EANX-NB-100F2BDCD5A90196%402435983-100F2BDCF21D3B49%408-100F2BDE0C17CB9A%40Daniel%2BSigns%2Binto%2BLaw%2BBills%2Bto%2BKeep%2BSchool%2BSegregation?p=AMNEWS&hlterms=Segregation

₆₄ “Dallas Rejects Integration.” (8/7/1960) Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Link: https://archives.dallasnews.com/uncategorized/IO_30222e6a-b1d5-4d3e-9417-00f54f042589/

⁶⁸ Cashion, Scott A., ""And So We Moved Quietly": Southern Methodist University and Desegregation, 1950-1970" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. p.43 Link: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1738&context=etd&httpsredir=1&referer=;

• Brophy, “Active Acceptance-Active Containment: The Dallas Story”, 140; “Leader Recalls Evolution of Battle: Smith’s Civil Rights Fight Had Bleak Start”, Dallas Morning News, May 3, 1973, p. 14 (author not given);
• Theodore M. Lawe, “Racial Politics in Dallas in the Twentieth Century”, East Texas Historical Journal Vol. 46, Issue 2 (2008), p. 35.

₆₉ Payne, Darwin. Dallas Citizens Council: An Obligation of Leadership. Dallas, TX: Dallas Citizens Council, 2008. pp. 52 - 53.

⁷⁰ “Dallas District Quietly Desegregates As 18 Negro Students Enter 8 Schools.” (9/7/1961) Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Link: https://archives.dallasnews.com/uncategorized/IO_8050bfd5-a594-4ab0-920e-651d30b905a5/

⁷¹ “President Acclaims Operation.” (9/7/1961) Dallas Morning News. p. 1. https://archives.dallasnews.com/uncategorized/IO_8050bfd5-a594-4ab0-920e-651d30b905a5/

⁷² Cashion, Scott A., ""And So We Moved Quietly": Southern Methodist University and Desegregation, 1950-1970" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. pp.43-44  Link: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1738&context=etd&httpsredir=1&referer=

⁷³ Payne, Darwin. Dallas Citizens Council: An Obligation of Leadership. Dallas, TX: Dallas Citizens Council, 2008. p. 53.

⁷⁵ “No Klan connection” (3/5/1995) Dallas Morning News. Section J, p. 4   https://archives.dallasnews.com/uncategorized/IO_60ccfe41-3556-401b-ad8e-c22202351473/

⁷⁷ Letter from G. B. Dealey to Herbert Gambrell, October 23, 1942, Dallas TX

⁸⁰ Letter from G. B. Dealey to Herbert Gambrell, October 23, 1942, Dallas TX,

⁸² Letter from Darwin Payne to Henry S. Miller, Jr., Dallas TX, March 24, 1995

⁸³  “Klan To Talk Unmasking At Meet Tonight” Dallas Dispatch May 5, 1922 p. 1

⁸⁵ “Special Examination” financial audit prepared by the auditing firm Bell, Collier, & Doyle on June 13, 1924. Dallas Historical Society

References

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• Ritz, David (November 2008). "The Jews Who Built Dallas". D Magazine.
• United States Congress (1963). "Proceedings and Debates of the 88th Congress". Congressional Record: 775–777.
• Dallas Public Library, John F. Worley Directory Company (1915). "Dallas City Directory, 1915". via The Portal to Texas History. Dallas, Texas: University of North Texas Libraries. p. 719. Retrieved December 7, 2020. {{cite magazine}}: |first1= has generic name (help)

News

• Bosse, Paula (30 June 2014). ""Something Like N.Y." — ca. 1904". Flashback: Dallas.
• Callaway, Helen (10 August 1963). "He and Big D Grew Up Together". Dallas Morning News. p. 6. Section 1.
• Dallas Morning News, Staff writer (October 25, 1923). "Klan Activities Feature Fair Day". Dallas Morning News. p. 1 – via infoweb.newsbank.com.
• Dallas Morning News, Staff writer (11 February 1953). "R. L. Thornton Bows to Draft". Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Section 1 – via infoweb.newsbank.com.
• Dallas Morning News, Staff reporter (February 16, 1964). "R. L. 'Mr. Dallas' Thornton Dies". Dallas Morning News. p. 1. Section 1 – via infoweb.newsbank.com.
• Dallas Morning News, Writer (February 16, 1964c). "Tributes Paid to Former Dallas Mayor". Dallas Morning News. pp. 10–12. Section 1.
• New York Times, Reporter (6 July 1924). "Says Klan Suppresses; Texan Asserts Delegates Won't Allow Motion on Mrs. Woodrow Wilson". The New York Times. p. 5.
• New York Times, Staff writer (19 January 1964a). "Group of Businessmen Rules Dallas Without a Mandate From the Voters". The New York Times. p. 58.
• New York Times, Staff reporter (February 16, 1964b). "R.L. Thornton Sr, Ex-Dallas Mayor; City Chief, 1953-61, Is Dead - Helped Build Metropolis". The New York Times. p. 93.

Websites

• Austin, Taylor (8 March 2020). "Celebrating Juanita Craft's Texas-sized Legacy". State Fair of Texas. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
• Linz Award (2021). "Annual Linz Award honorees, 1924-2020". Linz Award. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 1 October 2021. 1947 - R.L. Thornton" ... "1965 - R.L. Thornton Jr." ... "1999 - Robert L. Thornton III