Louis Wiltz Kemp

Born in Cameron, Texas, on September 4, 1881, he studied engineering at the University of Texas from 1901 to 1903 and later worked for the Texas Company, later known as Texaco. Even while building a career outside academia, he dedicated himself to the study of Texas history and became known as one of the state's best-informed historical researchers.

He played an important role in preserving historic memory in Texas. Sources credit him with helping bring attention to the Texas State Cemetery, assisting with the reburial of notable Texans there, helping locate the massacre site and burial place of James W. Fannin's men, and pushing for the construction and accessibility of the San Jacinto Monument and Museum. He also served on the board of the Texas State Library, chaired the board of Texas historians for the Texas Centennial, and was president of the Texas State Historical Association from 1942 to 1946.

As an author and coauthor, he is especially associated with The Heroes of San Jacinto (1932), written with Sam Houston Dixon, and The Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence (1944). He died in Houston on November 15, 1956. His collection of Texana was later acquired for the University of Texas, a fitting legacy for someone who spent so much of his life preserving the stories of early Texas.