A history of Dallas' most powerful civic organization, founded in 1937 as an elite membership with membership limited to the chief executives of local businesses. Since its beginning the organization has touched in a significant way virtually every major development in the transformation of Dallas into one of America's leading citizens.
2008 paperback edition. ISBN 978-893451-13-1
In 1841 Dallas was founded on the banks of the Trinity River by a lawyer, John Neely Bryan, and since then the legal profession has played an important role in the development of Dallas. From the beginning there was always a high proportion of lawyers in the city, and before the turn of the century many more attorneys were coming to Dallas because they rightly perceived that it would be one of the leading cities in the state. This history ties together the lawyers, law firms, developments in the practice of law, the role of lawyers in Dallas after the assassination of President Kennedy, and the ways in which the legal profession meshed with the city over the years.
1999. Hardcover. 325 pages. ISBN 1-893451-01-1.
Reporting the Kennedy Assassination relates the word-by-word proceedings of the thirtieth reunion of journalists who covered the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on that fateful weekend of Nov. 22-24, 1963. These fascinating stories give first-person accounts of the journalists' experiences at Dealey Plaza, inside the Schoolbook Depository, at Parkland Hospital, at the Texas Theater where Oswald was captured, and at the Dallas police station. This is an essential document for students of the assassination as well as casual readers who want to know more about what happened behind the scenes. With photographs.
1996. Paper. 174 pages. ISBN 0-9637629-2-3.
Here is a book that explores not only the many triumphs of Dallas but the underlying problems that so often were hidden from view. Many of the episodes and individuals described are surprising: all are important for an understanding of Dallas. They include:
- the much-delayed decision by the city’s ministers to shut down an officially sanctioned “reservation” for prostitutes;
- the rise of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter that was the biggest in the nation and whose members for a while dominated both city and county governments;
- the adoption of a council-manager plan of municipal government that continues today;
- the taming of the Trinity River by building levees;
- the winning of the Texas Centennial Exposition against overwhelming odds;
- the post-World War II years in which the businessmen’s grip on the city became tighter than ever;
- the city’s political climate on the eve of the Kennedy assassination and the ramifications of this tragic event;
- the climb to power by minorities in the city and changes in the way in which city council members are elected;
- and much more.
ISBN 1893451046. rev. ed., 2000. $35. 579 pages. Hardcover. (Now out of print but undergoing revision for a third edition.)
This book won the Texas State Historical Association's Liz Carpenter Award for the best scholarly book on the history of women and Texas for the year 2004. It was a finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters' Carr P. Collins Award for the Best Book of Non-Fiction for 2004.
2004. Hardcover. 467 pages. ISBN 0870744879.
This book won the Texas Institute of Letters' award for the best scholarly book about the state or by a Texas author. Wister was the writer from Philadelphia who wrote The Virginian and other western novels as well as some non-fiction. The Virginian popularized the cowboy hero as the strong, silent type who was tender with women.
1985. Hardcover. 377 pages. ISBN 0870742051.
DFW International Airport is the creation of two cities, Dallas and Fort Worth, located thirty miles apart, who for decades had feuded bitterly over aviation supremacy. In 1964 they were ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration to settle their differences and come together in a combined mid-cities airport. This they did, and despite their long history of rivalry, they were able to build what was then the largest airport in the world.
From Prairie to Planes is also the separate histories of aviation in these two cities from early 20th century to the opening of the new airport in 1974. It describes in colorful detail the inevitable forces that seemed to dictate a powerful airport midway between the two Texas cities.
1999. Hardcover. 317 pages. ISBN 1893451003.
DARWIN PAYNE, a life-long resident of Dallas, is professor emeritus of communications at Southern Methodist University, where he taught journalism for 30 years. He holds a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a master of arts degree from Southern Methodist University, and a PhD in American Civilization from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a former newspaper reporter for the Fort Worth Press and the Dallas Times Herald, and he was a reporter and commentator for "Newsroom," the groundbreaking public television news show on KERA-TV.
Payne has published numerous books, including award-winning biographies of the writer Owen Wister and the federal judge Sarah T. Hughes. His first book was a biography of Frederick Lewis Allen entitled The Man of Only Yesterday, published by Harper & Row in 1975. He has also written extensively on Dallas history, notably his well-received Big D: Triumphs and Troubles of an American Supercity in the 20th Century (now out of print but being revised for a third edition). His other books include From Prairie to Planes: How Dallas and Fort Worth Overcame Politics and Personalities to Build One of the World's Biggest and Busiest Airports (with Kathy Fitzpatrick as co-author); Initiative in Energy: The Story of Dresser Industries, 1880-1978; Dallas: An Illustrated History; Dynamic Dallas: An Illustrated History; Texas Chronicles: The Heritage and Enterprise of the Lone Star State; and (editor) Dissenting Opinion: Carl Brannin's Letters to the Editor, 1933-1976. Most recently, Darwin contributed an essay to Marshall Terry's newly reprinted historical account of Southern Methodist University, "From High on the Hilltop...", describing various aspects of the insitution's history as it approaches its centennial anniversary.
He has been a trustee and member of the Dallas Historical Society, and he was a member of the historical team that researched and gathered archival material for the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture. He resides in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas with his wife Phyllis Schmitz Payne, and is the father of four children.
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