Scope and Contents

Series I: Ledgers, 1904-1977
The ledgers series consists of bound departmental records of the Fort Worth Fire Department. The salary records include pay schedules for men from different companies. The fire records provide details about fire calls, including the location, cause of the fire and owner and occupant of the property. Station and pumper records detail the particulars of certain departments, such as personnel members’ vacation days. Shift records list the personnel working during particular shifts. The hose records contain information about the fire hoses, particularly damages, as well some of the firefighters’ clothing. The Firemen’s Relief Association contains the association’s financial records, including receipts and disbursements. District 2 Interdivisional Reports includes reports such as fire trucks at several stations and school inspections. The ledger titled “District Chief District 1 South Side” is a daily logbook, mostly likely of one or more of the district chiefs.

Series II: Books, Mementos and Media, undated, 1962-1999
The Books and Mementos series consists of published books, most of which are either on firefighting or on Fort Worth, Texas, and a photo album from the Fort Worth Fire Department from 1971. It also includes one box containing memorabilia related to the City of Fort Worth, the fire department, Jim Noah and three video tapes.
    
Series III: Photographs, 1872-2000
The Photographs series has three subseries: Departmental, Community and Public Relations and Operational. The Departmental subseries consists of general photographs taken around the fire stations while not performing fire department tasks, as well as group photos, portraits and pictures from departmental functions like retirement parties. It also includes a few personal photos of Jim Noah and other firefighters. The Community and Public Relations subseries includes pictures of the fire department’s interaction with the public, politicians, news outlets, the fire department’s sponsored beauty pageant, “Miss Flame,” as well as pictures of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.  It also includes negatives and slides of photographs and labels missing from photographs. The Operational subseries contains pictures taken while fighting fires, supplying medical attention, conducting trainings and other occupational tasks.

Several of the pictures in the Photographs series were taken by photographers from news outlets, particularly the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

View the Jim Noah image gallery.

Series IV: Business Records, 1873-2008
The Business Records series contains a variety of materials relating to Fort Worth Fire Department and consists of five subseries. The Written History subseries contains several different histories of the Fort Worth Fire Department, possibly compiled or written in large part by people within or connected to the fire department. The Newsletters subseries primarily consists of newsletters produced by the Fort Worth Fire Department, the City of Fort Worth or the National League of Cities. The Municipal Documents subseries includes plans, documents and historical accounts of the City of Fort Worth. The Departmental Documents subseries includes general documents pertaining to the Fort Worth Fire Department, such as firefighters’ personnel information, cartoons drawn by Jim Noah and others and records of the Fort Worth Firefighters Association. It also contains a few of Jim Noah’s personal documents. The Intradepartmental Communication subseries contains memorandums, bulletins and manuals published within the Fort Worth Fire Department. Several of these communications include revisions on previous orders. Some intradepartmental correspondence is in the Departmental subseries.

Series V: Oversized, undated, 1841-1987
The Oversized series consists of two boxes, the first of which includes bumper stickers, oversized photographs, maps and other large documents. The second box primarily consists of cartoons, mostly drawn by Jim Noah, and oversized photographs, most likely entries for the White Helmet Awards.

Some documents within this series contain nudity.