This Week in Texas Methodist History November 28 President Selecman Announces Gift to Build Fondren Library at SMU, December 1, 1935 Minister’s Week and the Fondren Lectures , both held at SMU in Dallas, were once two of the largest events in Texas Methodism. Both events attracted ministers from Texas and surrounding states to listen to to distinguished speakers and authors. Untail fairly recently McFarlin Auditorium was filled to standing room capacity to attend the lectures. President Selecman used the Fondren Lectures of 1935 to announce one of the most significant gifts in SMU history---Walter Fondren of Houston had pledged $400,000 to build a library that would be named in his honor. Walter Fondren (1877-1939) was one of the pioneers of the Texas petroleum industry. He had learned water well drilling in Arkansas, but moved to Corsicana and applied the same skills to oil drilling. He followed that up with drilling at Spindletop and the Humble Oil Field. Along with others he organized the Humble Oil Company (later Exxon USA) and other smaller companies. Meanwhile, Mrs. Fondren was using her financial skills to invest in Texaco, a decisions that resulted in storck ownership worth millions of dollars. Walter and Ella Fondren were loyal members of St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Houston and were very generous with their wealth. When SMU was a fledgling institution, they created the Fondren Lectures at SMU and also scholarships for theological students. On December 1 1935, President Selecman announced the gift of the library to the University which, like other private universities, was reeling from the economic downturn of the Great Depression. The new library was to be built on the east side of the quadrangle facing McFarlin Auditorium. The architecture would be consistent with existing buildings and would cost $400,000. Walter Fondren died in January 1939 while attending a Methodist event in San Antonio. Mrs. Fondren directed the Fondren Foundation for years after that sad event. Major gifts to Rice University, Southwestern University, and the Houston Methodist Hospital under Mrs. Fondren’s leadership continued Walter’s philanthropic legacy.