General Correspondence and other materials, 1970-1979
Scope and Contents
This material details the personal and professional activities of Oscar L. Betts, Jr. and, to a lesser extent, Oscar L. Betts, III (known as Buster), as well as R. H. Taliaferro, the father of Buster's wife, Sue Malone Taliaferro. These papers are arranged in three two series: Series 1 – The Betts Family; Series 2 – The Taliaferro Family and Series 3 – The Crawford Family. Within each series items are generally arranged chronologically, with Betts, Jr. and Betts III materials filed together. Within the Betts series there are three sub-divisions: Association of the United States Army (AUSA); Rotary Club; Spirit of Fort Benning Award.
Among the Betts' areas of interest are such subjects as the Ralston Hotel, the Columbus Airport (also known as the Muscogee County Airport and the Municipal Airport), the Highway 27 Association, Fort Benning, World War II, the Rotary Club, the AUSA (Association of the U.S. Army), the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, The Jordan Company, Tom's Foods, etc.
Among the Taliaferros' areas of interest are Jordan Vocational High School, Taliaferro's retirement in 1967, his fundraising for Brookstone (Trinity) School, other Columbus civic organizations and the genealogies of the Crawford family of R. H Taliaferro's wife, Harriet Crawford.
The scrapbooks kept by both Oscar Betts, Jr. and R. H. Taliaferro are in very poor physical condition.
Dates
- Other: 1970-1979
Extent
From the Collection: 2 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
General
Letter to Betts from Dr. C. Bruce Morton, Department of Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, recalling when he met Betts when he had charge of building the new Medical School Building of the University of Virginia in the 1930s, July 26, 1970 Letter from Betts to Dr. Morton recalling the building project in Charlottesville and telling Dr. Morton about what the Betts had done over the intervening 40 years, undated but obviously shortly after the letter above, ca. August 1, 1970 Newspaper clipping from the Columbus Ledger of August 5, 1970 announcing the birth of Richard T. Betts on July 31, 1970 Letter to Buster Betts from T. M. Forbes thanking him for a check from Tom's Foods to the Southern Industrial Relations Conference, with a postscript about a friendship of many years with Oscar Betts at the Ralston Hotel, December 17, 1970 Letter from Buster Betts to T. M. Forbes acknowledging his letter and saying that the Oscar Betts he knew is his father and passing on his best wishes to Forbes, February 4, 1971 Letter from Betts to Theodore M. Forbes catching him up on the various Betts activities, including the sale of the Ralston Hotel, May 12, 1971 Letter to Betts from Theodore M. Forbes, discussing changes in Columbus, especially the textile mills, May 24, 1971 Letter to Betts from John G. Alston regarding an invitation to go hunting with Betts, January 6, 1972 Letter to Betts from John G. Alston of Cummings & Aston accepting Betts invitation to go hunting at Mercer Mills Plantation, January 11, 1972 Letter from the D.A.R. to Sue Taliaferro Betts informing her that her application for membership has been approved, January 3, 1973 Photograph of the Pound table at the Ralston Hotel. Left to right are; John Kinnett, Oscar Betts, Jr., Victor Kiralfy, Mark Rosenberg (?), unidentified; seated are: Maynard Ashworth, Frank Lumpkin and Dr. Brent Fox, July 22, 1974 Citizens Advisory Committee, Columbus-Phenix City North Bypass Study, Meeting No. 6 – Minutes, July 23, 1974 Letter to Betts from W.R. Giddens, Airport Manager, giving Betts a courtesy parking card in recognition of the time and effort he had given to the Columbus Metropolitan Airport, July 29, 1974 Letter from Betts to W.R. Giddens (airport manager) accepting the V.I.P. parking card, August 2, 1974 Letter to Betts from Philip H. Alston Jr. thanking Betts for the day's hunting at Mercer Mill, February 18, 1975 Letter to Betts from Ronnie Reid, thanking Betts for the day's hunting, February, 1975 Letter to Betts from Jack Allen Bell, thanking Betts for the photographs he sent, presumably of the hunting at Mercer Mill the month before, March 3, 1975 Letter to Betts from "Bill" [J. W. Feighner] president of Tom's Foods, inviting him to be one of the honorees at a party to be held at the Big Eddy Club later in the month, April 3, 1975 Letter to Betts from Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Tarpley, thanking him "for the many courtesies and kindnesses you have shown not only to me and Trudy but to the entire fort Benning Community", August 19, 1975 Handwritten letter by Oscar L. Betts Jr. to the Mayor and council concerning widening of 13th Street, September, 1975 Letter to Betts from "Bill" [J. W. Feighner] president of Tom's Foods giving Betts a memento on the occasion of Tom's shipping $100,000.000 of Tom's merchandise, April 27, 1976 Speech at the dedication of Jordan Hall at Columbus College, April 17, 1977 State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers Newsletter, with list of members attached, July, 1977 Letter to Betts from Gardiner Garrard, President of the Jordan Company, on the occasion of Betts' having been with the company for 15 years, August 8, 1977 Handwritten note to Betts from Jordan on the occasion of Betts' having been with the company for 15 years, August 8, 1977 Letter to Howard A. Gudell, Project Director, Department of Community Development, Columbus, from Betts concerning the widening of 13th Street, with a resolution from the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers attached, August 11, 1977 Letter form Howard A. Gudell, project director to Betts, acknowledging receipt of his letter, August 12, 1977 Newspaper clipping, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, "Ralston Hosted Real Life Drama", May 7, 1978 Letter to Betts from Gordon E. Bondurant, thanking him for his gift to Bondurant on the occasion of his retiring from the Board of Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, May 6, 1979 Letter to Cpt. Dana L. Jones from Betts asking him to consider Captain Charlie Frank Riley for a job with Delta Air Lines, January 24, 1979 Letter to David C. Garrett, Jr. from Betts recalling his early flights from Atlanta to Birmingham, on Travelair, taking off from the red clay runway of Candler Airport, July 11, 1979 Letter to Betts from David C. Garrett, Jr., president of Delta Air Lines replying to Betts letter about his flights on Travelair, July 16, 1979 The Jordan Company – 75th Anniversary: A Brief History, 1979
Repository Details
Part of the Columbus State University Archives and Special Collections Repository
4225 University Ave
Columbus Georgia 31907 United States