Born in 1888, Walter Prescott Webb remains one of Texas's most significant and influential scholars. Webb taught at The University of Texas throughout his career. He served as director of the Texas State Historical Association and spearheaded the creation of The Handbook of Texas, the definitive encyclopedia of the state's history. In 1950, a survey of historians identified his 1931 study The Great Plains as the single most important work in U.S. history written since the turn of the century.