By Samantha Herber, Mikaela Selley, Sara Follin, Craig Childs, Teresa Tomkins-Walsh, and Bobby Marlin
Title: Joseph S. Cullinan Papers, 1893-1939
ID: 07/2006-009
Primary Creator: Cullinan, J. S. (Joseph Stephen), 1860-1937
Extent: 70.0 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 00/00/2006
Subjects: African Americans - Segregation - Texas - Houston, Autry, James L., Business, Cullinan, J. S. (Joseph Stephen), 1860-1937, Hospitals - Texas - Houston - History, Magnolia Petroleum Company, Petroleum industry and trade - United States - Texas, Political participation, Shadyside (Houston, Tex.), Texas Company
Forms of Material: Correspondence, Inventories, Photographs, Records (documents)
Languages: English
Aside from its obvious use as a significant source for those persons interested in the petroleum industry, this collection covers a wide range of other research topics. Business and economic historians will be interested in the extensive financial records and correspondence of such companies as the Petroleum Iron Works Co., Producers Oil Co., the Texas Company, Farmer's Petroleum Co., and the American Republics Corporation. The collection includes records of the land division of the Shadyside subdivision, accounts of the construction of Cullinan's Shadyside residence and of the building and maintenance of his Pasadena farm. These particular documents provide a wealth of information for architectural and agricultural historians. Finally, historians of the City of Houston will be able to make use of the records of Cullinan's integral involvement with the improvement of the city through such efforts as the Houston Negro Hospital, the Northside Belt Railway, and the founding of the Museum of Fine Arts. Political scientists will find his participation in politics on the local, state, and national level as well as his involvement in Irish affairs and other international issue of particular interest.
Related Materials:
Houston Negro Hospital digital collection (http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/hnh)
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange electronic resource (http://library.uh.edu/record=b6880512~S11)
Oil magnate Joseph Stephen Cullinan was born on December 31, 1860 in western Pennsylvania, the second eldest among eight siblings. In 1891, Cullinan married Lucy Halm, with whom he had five children.
Cullinan began working in the Pennsylvania oilfields at age 14 and joined Standard Oil in 1882. After rising to management positions at Standard Oil, Cullinan left to establish his own company, Petroleum Iron Works, in 1895. With the discovery of oil in Corsicana, TX, Cullinan moved his operations there and founded the J.S. Cullinan Company (later renamed the Magnolia Petroleum Company) in 1898 – the first pipeline and refining company in the state. He further contributed to the Corsicana oil industry by introducing ways to increase oil consumption in the days before widespread use of the automobile: oil as fuel for locomotives and as an agent to tamp down the dust on city streets.
Soon after the Spindletop oil discovery in 1901, Cullinan moved to nearby Beaumont, TX and founded the Texas Company (later named Texaco) for storing and transporting oil. He helped establish Houston as the epicenter of the oil industry in the southwestern United States by moving his Texaco headquarters to the city in 1905. In the ensuing years, he acquired new oil field leases in the area; built refineries at Port Neches and Port Arthur; and founded ten more companies that focused on exploring, producing, refining, and marketing Texas oil.
As president of the Houston Chamber of Commerce from 1913-1919, Cullinan threw his support behind the continued development of the Houston Ship Channel, and later built the city’s North Side Belt Railway in 1922. He donated $25,000 towards the construction of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 1926, as well as $80,000 to help the Houston Negro Hospital build its new facility, which opened to the public in 1927. Cullinan died on March 11, 1937.
Sources:
Cullinan, Joseph Stephen, Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcu07
Great Citizens, Joseph Stephen Cullinan, Houston History http://www.houstonhistory.com/citizens/houstonians/history8q.htm
Chronology, Museum of Fine Arts Houston http://prv.mfah.org/archives/pdf/mfah_chronology.pdf
To Bear Fruit for Our Race, UH Center for Public History and the Houston Medical Forum http://www.history.uh.edu/cph/tobearfruit/story_1900-1926_section09.html
African Americans - Segregation - Texas - Houston
Autry, James L.
Business
Cullinan, J. S. (Joseph Stephen), 1860-1937
Hospitals - Texas - Houston - History
Magnolia Petroleum Company
Petroleum industry and trade - United States - Texas
Political participation
Shadyside (Houston, Tex.)
Texas Company
Repository: University of Houston Libraries
Access Restrictions: Open for research.
Use Restrictions:
Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian.
Photocopy decisions will be made by Special Collection staff on a case-by-case basis. Patrons are responsible for obtaining permission to publish from copyrights holders.
Related Materials:
Houston Negro Hospital digital collection (http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/hnh)
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange electronic resource (http://library.uh.edu/record=b6880512~S11)
Preferred Citation: Joseph S. Cullinan Papers. Courtesy of Special Collection, University of Houston Libraries.
