Jake and Nancy Hamon Papers

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About the Collection

The Jake and Nancy Hamon Papers contain the personal papers of Jake and Nancy Hamon. Jake Hamon was a legendary Dallas independent wildcatter and Nancy was a celebrated hostess and philanthropist. The collection offers insights into Dallas social and cultural history and consists primarily of correspondence, photographs and scrapbooks, dated from 1940 to 2000. The collection also contains artwork, clippings, documents, ephemera, manuscripts, published works, scrapbooks, photographs and three-dimensional objects. The bulk of the materials originate from Dallas, Texas.

This digital collection contains fashion design sketches by Nancy Hamon, as well as photographs and ephemera relating to themed parties she hosted. Mrs. Hamon’s fashion design sketches were completed while she was in her late teens and early twenties. The vibrant sketches were made using tempera, watercolor, pen and pencil on paper. These wonderfully executed sketches demonstrate Mrs. Hamon’s remarkable talent and lifelong passion for the arts and fashion.

Mrs. Hamon was a legendary philanthropist and Dallas benefited from her enormous generosity, particularly to the arts, education and medicine. She contributed millions of dollars to such causes as the Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library at SMU, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas Museum of Art, and numerous other causes.