Ernest Winkler (1875-1960) was a historian and librarian at the University of Texas.

Early life and family history

Ernest Winkler was born on January 21, 1875, the son, and eldest child, of Charles August and Kathrina Louisa Huber Winkler.Utley (2013), p. 68. His birthplace was located in an area of rural Texas along the frontier dividing Bell County and Coryell County known as The Grove. The Winklers maintained a farm in Bell County, where they reared ten children. Charles Winkler and his brother William settled The Grove in the 1870s, and established a German Methodist Church there despite their affiliation with Lutheranism. Their parents, August and Maria Winkler, immigrated to Texas in the 1850s from Prussia. Their ancestors were Wendish people from

Lusatia Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...

, and the Winklers settled with other Wends in Lee County, Texas. Winkler attended a local school established by his own family. He started higher education at

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. Brenham is Blinn's main campus, with dormitories and apartments. History Blinn was established as Mission Institute in 188 ...

in 1892, a liberal arts college in Brenham, Texas, where he studied education. He completed the

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

in two years, and after teaching at a local public school for a year, he briefly attended the University of Texas. His education in Austin was interrupted by a lack of funding, though, and he returned to teaching before earning his baccalaureate in 1899 and master's degree the next year, capped by his thesis, "The History of the Cherokee Indians of Texas.Utley (2013), page 69.

Career

Winkler's academic career began as a history fellow at the University of Texas. In 1899, the university acquired the Bexar Archives, a collection of written artifacts which documented Spanish and Mexican rule in Texas. In the summer of 1900, Lester Bugbee assigned the task of cataloging these documents to Winkler, where he obtained his on-the-job-training on preserving and archiving old papers. He taught history at

for the fall term. In 1902, he studied briefly under

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. He returned to Blinn the next year, while also working for the Texas State Historical Association as a administrator, editor, and writer. During this period, he also expanded his paper on the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

and prepared of version of it for publication.

Death

Winkler died on February 8, 1960, in Austin. He is interred at a cemetery near the line separating

Coryell County, Texas Coryell County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 83,093. The county seat is Gatesville. The county is named for James Coryell, a frontiersman and Texas Ranger ...

, and

McLennan County, Texas McLennan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 260,579 . Its county seat and largest city is Waco. The U.S. census 2021 county population estimate is 263,115. The county is ...

. He was survived by his wife and five children.

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Ernest 1875 births 1960 deaths University of Texas alumni American archivists American librarians Historians from Texas University of Texas faculty People from Bell County, Texas University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American editors Texas State Historical Association