A Guide to
the Dick J. Reavis Papers, ca. 1956 - 2007
Complete inventory available in PDF or EAD format.
Check the Ashes of Waco grant project blog for information on the upcoming online exhibit of Reavis' The Ashes of Waco research materials.
Descriptive Summary
Creator: Reavis, Dick J.
Title: Dick J. Reavis Papers
Dates: ca. 1956 - 2007
Abstract: The papers of
journalist, activist and professor, Dick J. Reavis, span the 1950s to the
present, although the majority of the materials regard his journalism career
from the mid-1970s to the end of 2003. The papers are arranged into the
following series: Waco Investigation, The National Tour of Texas, Published
Works, Unpublished Works, Correspondence, Photographs, Financial, Personal,
Audio/Video Materials, and Computer Media.
Identification: Collection 086
Extent: 103 boxes (51 linear feet) plus oversize
Language: Materials are written in English
Repository: Southwestern Writers Collection, Special Collections, Alkek Library,
Texas State University-San Marcos
Biographical Sketch/Historical Sketch
Dick J. Reavis was born in 1945 in Elk City, Oklahoma, the eldest child
of Dick and Kathleen (Johnson) Reavis. The family lived in many small towns
as Reavis grew up—mostly in Texas, but also Oklahoma and South Carolina.
His father managed newspapers in these towns, so Reavis had an early exposure
to the journalism profession, though he preferred the company of the printers
to that of the reporters. From age 13 until he left for college he worked
part-time in the Òback shops,Ó learning a variety of printing skills.
Reavis was attending Panhandle A & M College in Oklahoma when he
came across pamphlets in the student union cafeteria recruiting for civil
rights workers. Reavis had had some experience with civil rights activism by
this time: in high school he and a friend helped integrate a restaurant in
Littlefield, Texas; in college at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he joined
the local chapter of the NAACP and refused to print racist fraternity songs at
the student print shop where he worked, making the incident into a scandal.
Against his parentsÕ wishes, Reavis left for Alabama to join the
Southern Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) project run by
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He spent that summer of
1965 mainly in Demopolis, Alabama, registering black voters, organizing boycotts,
bailing fellow activists out of jail, and pursuing other activities for the
cause. He was one of only two white Southerners in SCOPE, so he was a valuable
resource for the organization as a spy, posing as a local white to get
information out of the courthouse and jailhouse.
Returning to school at the University of Texas at Austin, Reavis soon
joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and recruited other members for
a trip back to Demopolis and more civil rights work in the summer of 1966. He
formed the Demopolis Project Committee, mostly with fellow SDS members. Even
though he was ordered by the authorities not to return to Demopolis, he
preferred this to being relocated by SCLC as part of their ÒLocal Failure,
National SuccessÓ tactics, which brought communities to a crisis point for
media attention, then moved on.
Reavis earned a philosophy bachelorÕs degree from UT-Austin in 1968 and
attended the UT law school for one year following graduation. While at the
university he helped the founders of the infamous, independent student
newspaper, THE RAG, get started, and he contributed cartoon drawings and
about 20 articles over a two year period. He was active in various leftist
causes (i.e., ÒThe MovementÓ) during the late Ô60s and early Ô70s, and by 1974
figured journalism was a profession with potential for adventure as well as
relevance and honesty.
Reavis was hired as a reporter at his fatherÕs newspaper, Moore
County News Press, in Dumas,
Texas, in November 1974. He reported on police, courthouse and civic affairs,
but small-town newspaper work and the atmosphere of Dumas did not suit him for
long. He returned to the University of Texas at Austin in 1976 to pursue a
masterÕs degree in philosophy.
Reavis took advantage of the journalistic outlets and opportunities in
Austin, and on June 3, 1977 wrote a cover story about the Kickapoo Indians for Texas
Observer, which led to freelance work at Texas Monthly. He wrote for
the ÒReporterÓ section of the magazine a number of months before editor Bill
Broyles unexpectedly gave him the opportunity to write a feature, which became
ÒThe Smoldering Fire,Ó about Mexican leftist guerillas, in the March 1978
issue.
By this time Reavis had quit school to focus on reporting and writing.
He worked freelance for Texas Monthly
until 1981, when he was put on staff. He also published his first book, Without
Documents, in 1978, about the experiences of illegal immigrants from Latin
America and the complex issues surrounding their plight.
On October 15, 1978, while riding his motorcycle, Reavis was hit by a
drunk driver and nearly killed. Reavis had been assigned a Texas Monthly
story on the Bandido bikers and had befriended them
and become a biker himself, which he took up again after recovering from the
accident. He tried his hand at fiction and photography for biker magazines
during this period, and worked on an autobiography for Texas Monthly Press that
was never published.
Reavis wrote 37 features for Texas Monthly in 12 years, often
about Mexico or the underclass of Texas. On January 1, 1987 he set out on a
year-long journey to drive every road on the official map of Texas, and report
his experiences in a series for Texas Monthly. It was a chance for him
to escape for a year and see his home state in its entirety. Not long afterwards
he spent 12 months in Veracruz, Mexico to research his book, Conversations
With Moctezuma, a study of and meditation on
Mexican history and culture, published in 1990.
Displeased by changes at Texas Monthly, he resigned as a senior
editor in the summer of 1990. The following year he joined the San Antonio
Light as a Mexico correspondent, stationed in Monterrey, Mexico. For about
18 months between 1992 and 1993 he reported for the independent newspaper, Dallas
Observer. It was during this time that the standoff at Mount Carmel near
Waco happened.
Recognizing the raid, siege and burning of the Branch Davidian center as
a major story that was being covered by the press only from the governmentÕs
perspective, Reavis spent the next two years reporting and investigating the
incident, its players, causes, and immediate implications. Simon and Schuster
published the resulting book, The Ashes of Waco, in 1995, making Reavis
one of the few impartial experts on the subject. That same year he was called
to testify before Congress in renewed hearings about what happened at Mount
Carmel and why.
Thinking he would go into teaching, Reavis enrolled in an English MA
program at University of Texas at Arlington, and received his degree in 1998.
First, however, he found himself returning to journalism, most notably as a
senior investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News, from
2000-2003. He also served as a reporter and senior editor for Texas Parks
and Wildlife. Since the fall of 2004 he has lived with his wife Miriam in
Raleigh, North Carolina, and is an assistant professor of journalism in the
department of English at North Carolina State University.
Dick J. Reavis earned many awards and recognitions for his in-depth
reporting and writing over the years: he was a finalist for a National Magazine
Award and received three Texas HeadlinerÕs Awards and four Katie Awards. He was
also a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University.
Reavis edited and translated two books: Diary of an Undocumented
Immigrant (1991) and Diary of a Guerrilla (1999). He also wrote the
guidebook Texas (1995) and the civil
rights memoir If White Kids Die (2001). He continues to write freelance
for the on-line publication Counterpunch.org,
and occasionally returns to the pages of Texas Monthly, most recently
for a feature on the 2006 election in Mexico.
Sources: Dick J. Reavis Papers (Collection 086); Donor Biography File
(Dick Reavis); Reavis correspondence with Joel Minor
Scope and Content Note
The papers of journalist, activist and professor, Dick J. Reavis, span
the 1950s to the present, although the majority of the materials regard his
journalism career from the mid-1970s to the end of 2003. The papers are
arranged into the following series: Waco Investigation, The National Tour of
Texas, Published Works, Unpublished Works, Correspondence, Photographs,
Financial, Personal, Audio/Video Materials, and Computer Media. Overviews of
each series follow.
Series I: Waco Investigation, 1962-2000,
n.d. (bulk: 1993-2000) Boxes 1-65, 90
The first series documents ReavisÕ research into the raid, siege and
burning of the Branch DavidiansÕ Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the FBI, as well as
background on the Branch Davidian religious sect who lived there. Most
materials arrived in one accession and have been arranged in ReavisÕ original
order.
The main purpose of the investigation was for his book, The Ashes of
Waco, and this series reflects that, although ReavisÕ research went beyond
the bookÕs publication, as his role as an investigator/expert expanded. He also
inter-filed post-publication documents with those for his book research. For
all these reasons a more overarching series title is used.
There are 12 sub-series, described below. Please note: all audio and
video materials and computer disks pertaining to the Waco investigation and
book are in Series IX and X, respectively. Supplemental published materials on
Waco that Reavis donated and that have been cataloged are also available.
Search the Alkek Library on-line catalog or ask an archivist to see the printed
list of these resources.
A. Subject Files (boxes 1-9): These files are titled and arranged
(alphabetically) according to ReavisÕ titles and arrangement. As a result, not
all folder titles are entirely indicative of their contents. This sub-series is
comprised of general subject files whose contents mostly pertain directly to
research for The Ashes of Waco. However, some documents post-date the
book, as Reavis continued his research work in the years that followed. The
sub-series is dated according to when Reavis is likely to have accumulated the
copies, not by the dates of the original documents. The sub-series encompasses
a wide variety of documents, including correspondence, legal documents,
reports, transcripts, clippings and publications.
B. Research Notebooks (boxes 10-17): Also titled and arranged alphabetically by
title, according to how we received them, the research notebooks are
additionally very similar to the subject files in that they pertain directly to
ReavisÕ research for his book. Most files are photocopied books that were bound
with plastic comb binders and plain covers, with the titles written on the
front. This sub-series is dated according to when Reavis is likely to have accumulated
the copies, not by the dates of the original documents.
C. Tape Transcriptions (boxes 18-29): This sub-series spans the duration of the
raid, consisting of official transcriptions of the 911 calls, FBI negotiations,
and government surveillance tapes. The files are arranged chronologically, and
end with a folder of notes Reavis took when researching them. Audio copies of
the negotiations are in Series IX: Audio/Video Materials.
D. Publications (boxes 30-33, 90): The publications
that are originals and not part of the subject files have their own sub-series.
They range from mainstream coverage of the siege to government reports to comic
books to Branch Davidian literature. Some publication dates predate the series,
hence the wider date range of the sub-series.
E. Clippings (boxes 34-37): Starting with photocopies of daily
newspaper articles, this sub-series chronicles the siege day-by-day, as well as
the events following, including the trial in San Antonio, and it ends in June
of 1995. After the chronological files of newspapers articles are alphabetical
files of magazines and magazine articles.
F. Assorted Research Materials (box 38-39): Highlights
include photocopied correspondence between Davidians, studies of the Seven
Seals, and a Fire Development Analysis of the April 19 fire. All documents that
were gathered as research but do not fit into the other sub-series are filed
here. Some publication dates predate the series, hence the wider date range of
the sub-series.
G. Notepads (box 40): Reavis used these
spiral-bound pads to jot down notes during his research. The notepads here are
either numbered, dated or titled, and are filed accordingly. Those notepads not
pertaining to the Waco investigation are filed in either National Tour of Texas
series or the Personal series.
H. Correspondence (box 41): Filed alphabetically, this sub-series
features ReavisÕ personal correspondence with some Mount Carmel survivors and
other Branch Davidians, as well as official Freedom of Information Act requests
with the U.S. Department of Justice.
I. Trials (boxes 42-58): This large sub-series is composed of legal
documents from various trials stemming from the siege. The first trial, when
the federal government prosecuted eleven Branch Davidians in 1994, is well
documented, with over eight boxes of trial transcriptions. Reavis was a
reporter at this trial in San Antonio and wrote about it in his book. Because
of his expertise on Waco, Reavis served on the Timothy McVeigh defense team in
2000, and produced more subject files and gathered other legal documents, all
of which are in the sub-sub-series McVeigh Defense Team. Miscellaneous other
legal documents from additional trials are included in the Trials sub-series as
well.
J. U.S. House Hearings (box 59): In July of 1995, Reavis testified at the
joint hearings of the Oversight Subcommittee on National Security,
International Affairs and Criminal Justice and the Judiciary Committee on
Crime, and drafts of his statement are included here. Other House hearings are
also detailed, with reports and transcriptions from 1993 and 1997 (in book and
microfiche formats, respectively).
K. Gordon M. Novel Subject Files (box 60): Reavis wrote a
feature for the San Antonio
Express-News on Gordon Novel, a man with a mysterious past and an important
figure in the continuing investigations into and conspiracy theories about
Waco. Novel put forth the notion, using FLIR evidence, that FBI agents were
firing into the Mount Carmel Center as the tanks inserted tear gas on the
morning of April 19.
L. The Ashes of Waco (boxes
61-65): Drafts, page proofs, website materials, presentation points,
correspondence, financial documents, reviews, contracts and marketing materials
all chronicle the writing, editing and marketing of ReavisÕ 1995 book.
Series II: The National Tour of Texas,
1985-1988, n.d. Boxes 66-73
In 1987, on assignment from Texas Monthly, Dick Reavis traveled
every highway mile of Texas, according to the official DOT map (he discovered
unmapped roads and stretches of roads during his travels). As a result he wrote
articles about his experience, took slide photographs, gathered postcards and
souvenirs, and kept meticulous notes on his travels. All these records and more
constitute Series II. Reavis divided Texas into 48 regions, and organized almost
all his documentation of the tour by these regions, including his notes,
slides, postcards and maps. This numeric system has been preserved here.
The series is arranged into four sub-series: Documentation of Tour,
which includes postcards, slides, logbooks, maps and notes; Materials About
Tour, with correspondence, a scrapbook, souvenirs, press clips and articles,
and promotional postcards; and Research, containing a book, dissertation and
thesis on Texas.
Just prior to and as the trip got started, newspapers around the state
covered the story. The Press Clips folder contains these clippings, and the
Correspondence folder has letters from readers who want to give advice or
extend invitations before his trip. The logbook, maps and handwritten/typed notebooks
should be consulted for the most detailed documentation of the trip.
The full-size maps of Texas—one showing the regions he assigned
and numbered, one showing the highways he drove—have been separated from
the logbook where they were originally kept so they could be stored flat in an
oversize document case. Two empty three-ring binders Reavis used for his notes
are kept in box 71 as part of the ÒDocumentation of the TourÓ sub-series. The
notes themselves are now kept in folders.
Series III: Published Works, 1967-2007, n.d.
Boxes 74-82, 90
This series details many of the books and articles that Reavis has
published (excepting The Ashes of
Waco and ÒThe National Tour of Texas,Ó which are in Series I and II,
respectively) with drafts, correspondence, scrapbooks, research files,
receipts, etc. The series is dated according to the publication dates of his
pieces, not dates on any research materials he gathered.
The files are titled by title of article and arranged chronologically,
though also according to original order of the files. For instance, the large
ÒAnthology ChoicesÓ sub-series spans 1978-2004 and was compiled by Reavis for a
planned book anthology of his work, so its files are kept together. Although
this anthology remains unpublished, all the stories Reavis gathered were
published in their time, so this sub-series is included in Published Works.
Series IV: Unpublished Works, 1979-1998,
n.d. Boxes 83-84, 90
Highlighted by this series are the unpublished pieces from ReavisÕ
writing career. Drafts of a planned autobiographical book written for Texas
Monthly Press in 1980 is featured. Unlike the previous series, this series is
filed by type of project or title of the publication, rather than title of
piece.
Series V: Correspondence, 1969-2001, n.d.
Boxes 85-86
Submission queries and correspondence with editors or fellow writers
constitute the bulk of this series. One exception of note is a file of letters
between Reavis and Timothy McVeigh and others regarding an idea Reavis had for
a book on the Oklahoma City bombing and the right-wing militia movement.
The first sub-series, Submission Files, preserves the alphabetical
filing order and titles of a file box Reavis used for submissions to editors
and presses, mainly in the mid-1970s. As a result, not all items in these
folders are letters, but they do pertain to submission correspondence.
See the Waco Investigation, The National Tour of Texas or Published
Works series for correspondence related to those topics.
Series VI: Photographs, ca. 1950Õs-2005,
n.d. Box 86
This series offers visual documentation of ReavisÕ life from childhood
to present day. The photographs are arranged by type: ÒOf Reavis,Ó ÒBy Reavis,Ó
ÒGeneralÓ and ÒAssignments,Ó and chronologically within their respective
sub-series.
See the Waco Investigation or The National Tour of Texas series for
photographs related to those topics.
Series VII: Financial, 1976-1995, n.d. Box
87
Receipts and expense records constitute the Financial series. Included
are the complete expense records of ReavisÕ contract work with Harry Hurt and
Fortune magazine in 1994-5. As with Correspondence and Photographs, financial
records directly related to contents in other series are not included here.
Series VIII: Personal Papers, 1965-2006,
n.d. Boxes 87-90
The Personal series chronicles a few of the awards Reavis has won and
some of his civil rights work, among other aspects of his life. Publications
Reavis collected over the years are included in a sub-series. ReavisÕ
curriculum vitae, compiled and donated in 2006, is in this series, and includes
complete lists of his professional experience, awards won, and books and major
articles published.
Series IX: Audio-Video Materials, 1956-2001,
n.d. Boxes 91-100, 103
Most of the tapes in the Audio-Video Materials series are related to the
Waco Investigation series, but also included are audio tapes from ReavisÕ
research for his ÒPolitics of ArmageddonÓ article. A database with item-level
description is available to researchers, located on the SWWC server. Ask an
archivist for details.
Series X: Computer Media, 1994-2007, n.d.
Boxes 101-103
Like the previous series, most computer diskettes and discs are related
to the Waco Investigation series, except for a few with photographs and
correspondence files on them. An item-level descriptive table is included in
the container list. A database with item-level description is available to
researchers, located on the SWWC server. Ask an archivist for details.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Open for
research.
Preferred Citation
Dick J.
Reavis Papers, Southwestern Writers Collection, Texas State University-San
Marcos
Acquisition Information
Donated by
Dick J. Reavis, 1997, 2001-2007
Processing Information
Processed by
Joel Minor and Amy Cockreham, 2006
Notes to Researchers
In addition to the materials detailed in this finding aid, Mr. Reavis
has donated over 100 books, videocassettes, and other items that have been
cataloged and shelved on The Wittliff Collections stacks. Most of these items
are related to the Waco investigation. See the on-line catalog or the printed
list available from the archivist.