J. Frank Dobie
J. Frank Dobie was a notable American author and educator, born on September 26, 1888, in Texas. He grew up in a ranching environment, which deeply influenced his writing and perspective on the Southwest. After earning his B.A. from Southwestern University and an M.A. in English literature from Columbia University, Dobie began his teaching career and later joined the faculty at the University of Texas in Austin. His liberal views often clashed with the institution's policies, leading to conflicts throughout his career. Dobie's literary contributions include celebrated works like "A Vaquero of the Brush Country" and "The Longhorns," where he skillfully interwove stories of ranching, folklore, and regional history. He was also known for his populist stance, notably leaving works uncopyrighted to encourage sharing. Throughout his life, Dobie contributed extensively to local newspapers and national magazines, establishing himself as a prominent voice of Texas and the Southwest. He passed away on September 18, 1964, leaving a significant legacy in American literature and cultural history.
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J. Frank Dobie
- Born: September 26, 1888
- Birthplace: Live Oak County, Texas
- Died: September 18, 1964
- Place of death: Austin, Texas
Biography
James Frank Dobie was born on September 26, 1888, on a ranch south of San Antonio, Texas, the eldest of six children of Richard J. and Ella (née Byler) Dobie. As a child he enjoyed listening to his parents read to him, and he began his formal education in a tiny school that his father and friends built on the family ranch. He later went to live with his grandparents in Alice, Texas, where he finished high school. Dobie received a B.A. degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in 1910. Three years later, he enrolled at Columbia University in New York City and received a M.A. degree in English literature in 1914.
Dobie worked as a high school teacher in the west Texas town of Alpine in 1910, and returned to Georgetown the following year to teach at Southwestern Preparatory School. He joined the faculty of the University of Texas in Austin in 1914, but his liberal political outlook and his refusal to conform to the school’s rigid academic policies were to be bones of contention, leading to several breaches over the years. Dobie served in France with the U.S. Army field artillery during World War I.
Dobie married Bertha KcKee, whom he had met at Southwestern University, on September 20, 1916. He would later credit her with being his best critic. In the early 1920’s, he managed his uncle’s enormous cattle ranch. During and after World War II, he taught and lectured throughout Europe, but was finally dismissed from his position at the University of Texas in 1947, ostensibly because he had overstayed his leave.
Dobie had worked two summers as a reporter, and published his first academic article in 1920. It was only while managing his uncle’s ranch, however, that he found the means to meld his love of literature with the life of his native Southwest. The result was A Vaquero of the Brush Country (1929), a celebration of open range cattle ranching based largely on the reminiscences of vaquero (cowboy) John Duncan Young. Animals and animal husbandry also provided the subjects for The Longhorns (1941), The Voice of the Coyote (1949), The Mustangs (1952), and Cow People (1964). In Coronado’s Children (1930), and Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver (1939), Dobie collected stories of the region’s lost mines and buried treasure. His populist tendencies led Dobie to leave his Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest (1943) uncopyrighted, and he encouraged anyone so inclined to borrow from it.
Besides his many books, Dobie wrote regularly and lucratively for local newspapers and such popular magazines as the Saturday Evening Post. A member of the Texas Folklore Society, he edited the society’s journal from 1922 to 1943. By the time of his death in Austin on September 18, 1964, Dobie had put his native region on the literary map and was known to readers throughout the country as Mr. Texas and Mr. Southwest.