Archie Philip McDonald (November 29, 1935–August 16, 2012) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

with a focus on the

history of Texas Native American tribes in Texas, Indigenous people lived in what is now Texas more than 10,000 years ago, as evidenced by the discovery of the remains of prehistoric Leanderthal Lady. In 1519, the arrival of the first Spanish conquistadors in ...

. He served as director of the East Texas Historical Association as well as editor of the ''East Texas Historical Journal'', from 1971 until his 2008 retirement, a 37 year span. For over 40 years of his life, he was faculty at

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

, and during his tenure also served as the university's community liaison. By 1983, he had authored 16 books, largely about Texan history; that number had risen to over 20 by 2003.

Personal life

Archie McDonald was married to Judy McDonald, mayor e''meritus'' of

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specia ...

. Together they won the Ralph W. Steen Memorial East Texan of the Year Award in 2009. Archie died on August 16, 2012, and his

memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

was held August 20.

Education

McDonald graduated from French High School in 1954, received a B.S. from

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

in 1958, an M.A. from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

in 1960, and his Ph.D. from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in 1965.

Recognition

A speaker series, the ''Archie McDonald Speaker Series'', was established in 2010 in honor of his impact. Other awards he received during his lifetime include the Mary Jon and J. P. Bryan Leadership in Education Award from the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

(TSHA) in 2004, following a TSHA Fellowship in 1984. McDonald also served as president of TSHA from 1985 to 1986.

References

External links

Archie P. McDonald
at

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

Archie McDonald
on

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Archie P. People from Beaumont, Texas People from Nacogdoches, Texas Lamar University alumni Rice University alumni Louisiana State University alumni Stephen F. Austin State University faculty 1935 births 2012 deaths American historians Writers from Texas Presidents of the Texas State Historical Association