East Texas Archeological Society, Tyler, Texas, 1956-1959

The East Texas Archeological Society (ETAS) was formed in Tyler, Texas, on June 26, 1956. The last record of any activity by that society was in 1959. This article is an attempt to document the brief history of that organization and identify some of the key players associated with it. One of those that played a major role was my late uncle, Sam Whiteside. His family graciously gave permission to study his notes and records, which included the records from the ETAS. Unfortunately, Mr. Whiteside suffered from a debilitating disease that became acute in the summer of 1959, requiring hospitalization, and rendered him incapable of any further productive activity. His notes are not complete, but I will present what information is available. As a teenager, I belonged to the ETAS and attended the 1958 Texas Archeological Society (TAS) annual meeting in Tyler, Texas; the TAS annual meeting was not held in Tyler again until 2012. I was fortunate that Mr. Whiteside included me on some of his visits to area salvage projects that were being conducted in East Texas during this period. His son Jim Whiteside and I also helped him on several of his projects on Caddo sites in East Texas. He inspired me to continue that interest until the present.