Ray Pearl Condry was the niece of Bertha McKee Dobie. Her mother, Emily McKee Wood, was Bertha Dobie’s sister as was Lucile Ray McKee. Bertha Dobie, a naturalist and horticulture writer, was married to the well-known folklorist, J. Frank Dobie. Both were graduated from Southwestern University in 1910.

The Ray Pearl Condry Collection consists of two document cases and a hat box containing the hat that Bertha Dobie wears in a photographic portrait also held by the university. The collection consists of correspondence (handwritten and typed) newspaper articles, postcards, notebooks, travel diaries, photographs, and Bertha Dobie’s diploma from the University of Texas. Most of the collection is correspondence to and from family members, especially J. Frank Dobie, Ray Pearl Condry, and Bertha Dobie’s parents. Also found is one folder of correspondence between Ray Pearl when she was a WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency service) during World War II and a friend who was a WAC (Women’s Army Corps).

Materials related to J. Frank Dobie include correspondence from him to Bertha, correspondence and materials with publishers, notes regarding his assets and writing projects, clippings, a foreign service identity card, and other items. A number of letters are from J. Frank to Bertha while she was traveling in 1948. These discuss his writing, politics, his longhorn cattle project, Texas heat and pollen, Barton Springs, and friends, family, and colleagues. Five travel diaries as well as correspondence belonging to Bertha Dobie describe trips to Mexico, Texas, and Europe. These often include lists and reports of flora and fauna sighted, especially birds. One diary records gardens visited in the southern United States. Also found is the manuscript of an essay Bertha submitted to the San Antonio Express in 1940 titled Tarhumara Indians Untouched by White Man’s Ways. More of her writings are found among her papers, which are also housed in Special Collections at Southwestern University.

Box and Folder

1.1     Miscellaneous Dobie Items - Articles Regarding Dobie; Letters to Dobie; Letters from Dobie; “Tarahumara Indians Untouched by White Man’s Ways” by Bertha Dobie; Correspondence is both personal and business (with publishers); “Current business” 4 page JFD typed manuscript detailing Dobie’s assets and future writing projects; Collection found in Blue Bunny paper bag marked “J. F. Dobie Papers”

1.2     Travel Diaries and Letter, Misc. - J. Frank Dobie “American Expeditionary Forces - Officer’s Identity Card”; 1934 letter from Bertha to her father (Mexico Trip); 
Notebooks (Bertha Dobie): 
     #1-1930 - Gardens Seen Summer 1930 
     #2-1934 - Mexico Travel Diary (plants, animals, birds - all diaries) 
     #3-[1934?] - Mexico Travel Diary (continues previous diary?) 
     #4-1944 - Port Isabel, Texas Travel Diary 
     #5-1948 - Fort Davis, Texas (list of birds seen), Alpine, Texas, Brussels, Belgium, and other European countries

1.3     Miscellaneous Letters - Miscellaneous letters addressed to: McKee, Mrs. Dobie, and J. Frank Dobie; Rand McNally Junior Road Map, Arizona and New Mexico

1.4     Newspaper Clippings - Newspaper articles regarding J. Frank and Bertha Dobie’s deaths; Donation of the Dobie Collection to Southwestern University; Newspaper “The Senior” list of Southwestern University graduates of 1910, including J. Frank Dobie and Bertha McKee

1.5     Articles Relating to Dobie’s Death - Pancho’s Paisano; J. Frank Dobie’s Death

1.6     Miscellaneous Materials Concerning Dobie - Article Clippings; Reprints; Oral History with Dobie, November 5, 1974

1.7     Newspaper Articles Regarding Dobie’s Death - Newspaper articles regarding J. Frank Dobie’s Death and literary legacy

1.8     Miscellaneous Articles Regarding Dobie - Newspaper articles regarding Paisano, J. Frank Dobie’s death, and his legacy as a writer and folklorist

1.9     Miscellaneous Austin, Texas - History - Austin Chamber of Commerce Publications; “Something Made Austin Grow”; The story of Austin’s Tower lights; Speech given by Miss Frances Alexander, president of the American History Club of Austin on the occasion of the club’s 69th birthday; Austin Area Garden Center Show 1960; “The Story of the Empress Carlotta Mirrors” from the Maximillian Room in the Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas

1.10     Miscellaneous Correspondence, Clippings - Various letters addressed to Ray Pearl (from Bertha Dobie); Bertha Dobie Obituary; Letter from J. Frank to Bertha (1944); Paisano; Lady Bird Johnson - Honorary Doctorate, Southwestern - Photocopy of Austin Statesman coverage (photos); Envelope and note card with Rose Elliott linoleum block print of Golden-Cheeked Warbler

1.11     World War II - Correspondence - Correspondence between WACS (Women’s Army Corps) and WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service); Correspondence between Ray Pearl Condry and friends

1.12     Bertha McKee Dobie, Master of Arts - Diploma from the University of Texas, Austin

2.1     2003 Accession - Pictures of Bertha Dobie in 1957, 1973; Letters to and from Bertha Dobie including letters from J. Frank Dobie (1948 European Trip - see diary in “Condry Collection: Travel Diaries and Letter, Misc.” (1.2); Phi Mu recognition, 1938; 1911 Southwestern Photo

2.2     Correspondence - Letters to Bertha Dobie; Letters to J. Frank Dobie; Letters from Ray Pearl Condry; Photos of Bertha and Dobie

2.3     Bertha Dobie - Oral History - Oral Memoir of Bertha McKee Dobie

2.4     Newsletter for the Texas Memorial Museum - “The Mustang” Newsletter; Butterflies

2.5     J. Frank Dobie Schools - J. Frank Dobie High School Dedication; J. Frank Dobie Junior High School Dedication; J. Frank Dobie Senior High School Dedication

2.6     Dobie Exhibit Photographs - Photographs of Dobie Exhibit (8) from the University of Texas

2.7     Waller Creek Photographs - Photographs (4) of J. Frank and Bertha Dobie, and friends

2.8     J. Frank Dobie Post Office Dedication Photographs - Photos (4) at site dedication

2.9     Photographs - Paisano Ranch - Photographs (8) of Paisano Ranch

2.10     Photographs - Photographs (4) of presentation of drawing of ringed kingfisher

2.11     Bertha Dobie at Texas A&M - Photograph of Bertha at A&M’s Dykes Collection of J. Frank Dobie

2.12     Photographs - Miscellaneous #1 - Miscellaneous Photos (8)

2.13     Photographs - Miscellaneous #2 - Miscellaneous Photographs (16); Portrait photo of Lucille McKee (Bertha’s sister - though it might be Bertha, rather Lucille signed it as owner); Negatives (3) of house - now Dobie Center

2.14     Photos - Miscellaneous #3 - Miscellaneous Photographs (20); Arizona (Point of Pines); J. Frank Dobie childhood family ranch; Asa Jones Ranch; Kokernot Springs, Alpine TX; some photos have inscriptions on the back

3     Bertha Dobie’s Hat - Box contains brown felt hat with gold, black, and rhinestone-studded trimming and black birdcage veil from Bernice Charles (Fifth Ave., New York); Smith Library Center has several copies of a photograph of Bertha Dobie wearing this hat