See the Sites - THC - Blogging for Historical Sites

Recently the Texas Historical Commission began a blog "See the Sites."  The postings' focus on particular historical sites, with some attention to current events at those.  The narrative is supplmented with colorful photos.  And there's a touch of experimentation with embedding video.  Over a dozen postings so far.   See the Sites:  telling the real stories at the real places of Texas: From western forts to Victorian mansions and pivotal battlegrounds, the Texas Historical Commission's 20 state historic sites exemplify a breadth of Texas history. Come explore the real stories at the real places. See more at http://seethesites.blogspot.com/

Light Cummins - Texas State Historian

Dr. Light T. Cummins will succeed Dr. Frank Jesus de la Teja as the official Texas State Historian.  The term is two years.   Congratulations! Cummins holds the Guy M. Bryan Chair of American History at Austin College, where he is a Professor of History and has been a member of the faculty since 1978. A 1946 native Texan reared in San Antonio, he received his Ph.D. from Tulane University. He is a Borderlands specialist.  He has been a Fulbright Scholar to Spain and is the author of several books, including: A Guide to the History of Louisiana (1982) A Guide to the History of Texas (1988) Texas: A Political History (1990) Spanish Observers and the American Revolution (1992) Louisiana: A History 4th Edition (2001) Austin College: A Sesquicentennial History (1999) Emily Austin of Texas: Sister to an Empire (2008) United States History to 1877 (2006)   Other awards have included Appointment to the Stephen F. Austin Bicentennial Committee Appointment as director of the Center for Southwestern and Mexican Studies Becoming an Associate of the Danforth Foundation Becoming a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association Becoming a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor. Receiving the Premio de España y America by King Juan Carlos I of Spain for his scholarly research dealing with the history of Spain and the United States Becoming a Kentucky Colonel for his work on the Mississippi Valley Receiving the Francisco Bouligny Prize for his publications dealing with Spanish colonial Louisiana  See More at http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/history/lcummins/Light%20Cummins%20Vita%20Oct%202006.htm

Blessed Bud Shrake Died

It's an odd phrase, "Bud Shrake Died."  Seems so out of context.  Life is steaming all around us, Bud should be here.  But, Bud Shrake died, at age 77 in Austin on Friday May 8.  Born in Fort Worth in 1931, beginning as a writer for his high school newspaper and getting educated at TCU, Edwin went from being Fort Worth Press police beat writer to a remarkable career in sports journalism (Texas newpapers and Sports Illustrated), novels (9 of his 10 set in Texas), co-authoring a best-selling book on golf (Harvey Penick's Little Red Book), co-biographer (Willie Nelson and Barry Switzer), magazine essays (e.g., Texas Monthly, Harpers), screenwriter (one being Tom Horn, 1981) and all sorts of other paperwork. I first read Shrake's Strange Peaches while in Library School in the 1970's and subsequently fell under the spell of Blessed McGill.  His early literary companions were often Gary Cartwright, Billy Lee Brammer, Dan Jenkins, and Peter Gent with whom he stirred the pot and drank at the well of Texas literature.  But his influence was broad.  He will be buried in the Texas State Cemetery near Ann Richards. Shrake's partial bibliography includes Blood Reckoning (1962) But Not For Love (1964) Blessed McGill (1968) Strange Peaches (1972) Peter Arbiter (1973) Limo (1976, with Dan Jenkins) Night Never Falls (1987) Willie: An Autobiography (1988) Bootlegger's Boy (1990) (the Switzer biography) Harvey Penick's Little Red Book (1992) The Borderland: A Novel of Texas (2000) Billy Boy (2001) Custer's Brother's Horse (2007)   An anthology, Land of the Permanent Wave, An Edwin "Bud" Shrake Reader, was published in 2008 by UT Press.  Shrake introduces himself there in an introduction - revealingly as usual. His papers are at Texas State University in the Southwestern Writers Collection http://alkek.library.txstate.edu/swwc/archives/writers/shrake.html View a Texas Monthly Talks interview collected in Will's Texana Channel Playlist of "Authors" at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FEDACCD3C2E25DAA

Secession and Division Questions

The fascinating secession question and its often corollary division question are decidedly interesting to Texans.  The recent discussion followed Rick Perry's reviving the "issue" of Texas secession at the time of annexation.  See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5xTxcFA398 The following two blogs begin with opposite views by the blog hosts, but the truly invigorating numerous Comments in both lead you through a remarkable discussion of Texas AND American history, philosophy, politics, constitutional law - and in some cases international law.  There are some cogencies, some pot-shots, some outright misleadings, some sublime observations - much of which is historially backed up by the various authors.  If you are not completely hide-bound to ignorance (and hence stupid by definiton) both trains of discussions will teach you something, even if you're reluctant.       Ed Darrell - Millard Fillmore's Bathtub http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/no-texas-cannot-secede-no-texas-cant-split-itself/      Professor Bernardo de la Paz - I Am Simon Jester http://simon-jester.org/2009/04/the-texas-question/       And you have views expressed in a Bryan-College Station newpaper and an Austin newspaper.                http://www.theeagle.com/columnists/Perry-was-wrong--but-why-would-Texas-ever-secede-   http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2009/04/16/could_texas_secede_scholar_say.html        Having begun this posting with Gov. Perry, you may wish to consider another view from an up-coming issue in the Texas Observer.

North Texas Book Festival Book Awards

http://www.ntbf.org/NTBFBookAward09.html   2009 NTBF BOOK AWARD FINALISTS General Trade Book (Fiction) Brooklyn and Braden by Keri Diane Fry Evacuation Plan by Joe M. O'Connell Magnolia Moon, Texas Sage by Janice Rose General Trade Book (Non-Fiction) One Day As A Lion by Ronnie D. Foster A Place to Be Someone by Shirley Gordon Jackson From Guns to Gavels by Bill Neal Children's Book (Fiction/Nonfiction) My Dog Don't Bite by R. Wayne Edwards ill. R. Wayne Edwards Birth of the Fifth Sun by Jo Harper, ill. Irma Martinez Sizer Arrowhead's Lost Hoard by Hazel Spire And the winners are listed at Mike Merschal's Book Blog at the Dallas Morning News.  Those journalists get informaltion before its posted sometimes. http://booksblog.guidelive.com/archives/2009/04/the-north-texas-book-festival.html

Western Writers Spur Awards

Western Writers of American announces its 2009 awards. See Mike Merschal's Texas Books at http://booksblog.guidelive.com/archives/2009/04/press-release-for-immediate-re.html or WWA at http://www.westernwriters.org/awards.htm

Texas Tech University Press Awards

http://today.ttu.edu/2009/04/texas-tech-university-press-garners-national-recognition/

Mike Kearby and Hypocrisy of Culture

Texana Mike Kearby, Spur winning novelist of the Free Parks trilogy, offers an insightful article on the "Hypocrisy of Culture" at Isnare.  Kearby's novels' plots are set in Texas' multi-cultural frontier times after the Civil War. http://www.isnare.com/?aid=373250&ca=Culture

East & West Texas History

The East is East and the West is West and the twain shall meet.

The West Texas Historical Association will meet jointly with the East Texas Historical Association February 26-27, 2010 in Fort Worth.

Américo Paredes Literature & Letters Award

UT's Center for Mexican American Studes awards Ana Castillo, a Chicago native, the first quadrennial Américo Paredes Literature and Letters Award for her contribution as "an individual whose creative and scholarly contributions have had a significant impact in the field of Mexican American studies."  Castillo is a poet, novelist, essayist, and short story writer.  Arte Publico in Houston published one of her many books, Women Are Not Roses, 1984  Read more at http://anacastillo.com/a/   and http://www.utexas.edu/depts/cmas/

Story Corps - National Day of Listening Nov 27

Story Corps http://www.storycorps.org/ states its purpose "Our mission is to honor and celebrate one another's lives through listening. Since 2003, over 45,000 everyday people have shared life stories with family and friends in our StoryBooths. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our broadcasts on public radio and the web. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind." Some of its stories from Texas are online in their  blog "StoryCorps Facilitator Weblog," http://www.storycorps.org/blog/  .  Listen to some Texas entries:   A picture show: the West Texas frontier, posted on May 1, 2008, from Abilene, Texas Southern sisters from Brazil, posted on April 18, 2008, from San Antonio, Texas Women leading Texas, posted on March 26, 2008, from San Antonio, Texas A Walk in the Clouds, posted on February 28, 2008, from San Antonio, Texas From the open road, posted on February 10, 2008, from San Antonio, Texas The Shiloh Community: A Landmark School and a Deadly Study, posted on January 27, 2008, from Tuskegee, Alabama Austin, TX, posted on October 15, 2007, from Fort Worth, Texas

Texas in World Cat

World Cat http://www.worldcat.org   World Cat is an online database of over 10,000  library catalogs – books and other things.  Older librarians may recall the OCLC (Ohio College Library Center) catalog operation; well, World Cat is its descendant.   Its content is beyond enormous.  It is not a substitute for checking your local library for various reasons, but it's an interesting place.   SEARCHING   For instance, at the homepage, a simple search for the word "Texas" brought 794,604 entries in 2.29 seconds.  Remember that the searched word does not automatically bring entries on the subject, but all sorts of contexts.  A typical entry is Texas by James A Michener  Book : Fiction - Language: English   Publisher: New York : Random House, 1985. View all editions and formats An advanced search allows you to control for keyword, author, title, subject, ISBN, format, publication date, content, audience, and language.  A search for < keyword: Texas; format: book; Content: fiction; Audience: juvenile; and Language: Spanish >, finds 10 entries, e.g. El Llanero Solitario : historia de un rural de Texas.  Book : Fiction : Juvenile audience Language: Spanish   Publisher: Bilbao, España : Editorial Fher ; Racine, Wis. : Wrather Corp., published by arrangement with Western Pub. Co., 1967.   Click that title and you find UT-Pan American has the book.  (Other titles have scads of holding libraries.  If you have an account, the libraries nearest you will be at the top of the list.)   BUILDING A BIBLIOGRAPHY   There are many other search options, but it is useful to know that you can build and save bibliographies of your selections.  You can create a World Cat account.  It is free and easy.  Once you have performed a search, you can click each title you wish on your list, save it to a list which you can name yourself, and, voila, those titles are saved, as in an account I opened to keep titles on African Texana for children and teenagers.  That account is at http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/WillHoward48/lists where you can see several sub-categories and that I have copied them into a single list called Skywriting.

National Poetry Month

Larry Thomas 2008 Poet Laureate http://www.larrydthomas.com/ TSLAC's Laureate roster http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/poets.html   Poetry Society of Texas http://www.poetrysocietyoftexas.org/ Sol Magazine's http://texaspoetryevents.info/ Sol Magazine http://www.ampersand-poetry.org/ Ampersand Poetry Journal http://www.sol-magazine-projects.org/apj/nav.html Borderlands: Texas Poetry Journal http://www.borderlands.org/ Descant: Fort Worth's Journal of Poetry and Fiction http://www.descant.tcu.edu/ Concho River Review http://www.angelo.edu/dept/english/conchoriverreview.html REAL: Regarding Arts & Letters http://real.sfasu.edu/ Texas Review http://www.shsu.edu/~www_trp/ Southwestern American Literature http://swrhc.txstate.edu/cssw/publications/sal.php Oak Bend Review http://www.oakbendreview.com/ Pecan Grove Press http://library.stmarytx.edu/pgpress/

Newspaper staff cuts

In March and April, Belo (Dallas Morning News) and Hearst (regarding the San Antonio Express- News and the Houston Chronicle) announced staff cuts of 12-15 % of their respective employees.

Lou H. Rodenberger Rests

Dr. Lou H. Rodenberger passed April 9.  Her presence in Texas letters is widely recognized.  She was one of the frist woman to receive a Ph.D. in English at TAMU.  She became regent at TWU.  I most recently read her biography of Jane Gilmore Rushing a remarkable inquiry.   The posting at Molcie's Literary Corner carries her obituary.  It begins "Dr. Lou H. Rodenberger died peacefully April 9 at her home north of Cross Plains. Her funeral is scheduled at 2 p.m. Saturday April 11 at the First United Methodist Church in Cross Plains. The service will be conducted by Rev. Dr. Robert Monk and Rev. John Woody. Dr. Molcie Lou Halsell Rodenberger was born September 21, 1926 in Okra, TX to Austin Carl and Mabel Falls Halsell. She attended schools at the many schools where her parents taught in West Central Texas. She started high school in Cross Plains but graduated from Anson as Valedictorian. At age 16 she entered Texas State College for Women graduating with a BS degree in Journalism in 1943. She worked for the Kerrville Times before becoming the English and Journalism teacher at Levelland High School in 1947. There she met and married Charles A. Rodenberger Sept. 3, 1949."  Read more of Charles' elegant statement: http://molcielou.blogspot.com/2009/04/lous-death-obituary-dr.html

Hubbing Texas with Murrah

Hmmm,  Hubpages is new to me.  Apparently, after establishing a free account, you write articles on just about anything and then you add it or upload it to the Hubpages.com website.  Each individual posting or uploading is called a "Hub."Aside from the joy of being in print you can get paid some amount if visitors to your Hubs click on the advertisements. Searching for the word < Texas history > brought 870 entries, both words appearing in diverse settings.  Search for "Texas history" (i.e., within the quotation marks) brought 56 enties. J. D. Murrah, author of some Texas history books, has over a hundred Hubs and most are Texas history.  The first one I stumbled upon was on Texas history and home schooling.   http://hubpages.com/profile/J+D+Murrah

UNT Texas History Symposium - Native Americans

Texas History Symposium at UNT to focus on state's Native Americans What: "Enduring Frontiers: Indians in Texas" -- The 2009 Texas History Symposium at the University of North Texas. Featuring addresses by Dr. David L. La Vere, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and Dr. Rodney Stapp, chief executive officer of the Urban Inter-Tribal Center of Texas. When: 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. April 18 (Saturday) Where:   Room 122 of Wooten Hall, located one block west of Welch and Highland streets (1121 Union Circle) Cost: $25, or $35 after April 13 (Monday). Registration forms are available in the symposium brochure at http://www.hist.unt.edu/THS09_color.pdf. No registration will be available on the day of the conference. Contact: UNT Department of History at 940-565-2288 or history@unt.edu. Read more: http://web3.unt.edu/news/story.cfm?story=11408

Western Nature Essay

Texas Christian University Press' Literary History of the American West has wonderful 10 pages on "The Western Nature Essay since 1970."  It begins "1970, the year of the first Earth Day and of several important pieces of environmental legislation, makes a logical starting date for a summary of recent trends in the western nature essay. In truth, though, the "Environmental Decade" saw no startlingly new developments in western nature writing; what happened was that the theme and concerns of the genre, as they had evolved for almost a century, now became public themes and national concerns. Indeed, as Paul Brooks has argued in Speaking for Nature (1980), the work of such writers as John Muir, Mary Austin, Enos Mills, and Joseph Wood Krutch may have been a major impetus to the environmental awakening."  Read more (the whole book's online) at http://www2.tcu.edu/depts/prs/amwest/pdf/wl1246.pdf

Dobie and Others Museum Exhibit

The Brazos Valley Museum, over College Station way, mounts an exhibit on Texas Writers and J. Frank Dobie, circulated from Humanities Texas.   http://www.brazosvalleymuseum.org/exhibits/texas-writers-and-j-frank-dobie-texan-legend

Texas Nature Project

The Texas Nature Project, at Northpoint Ranch out around Mason, self-describes itself "Texas Nature Project offers one-semester, for-credit internships for qualified students of all majors enrolled in one of Texas' accredited four-year colleges or universities. This integrated learning experience is especially suited to students who are seeking ways to live their lives with meaning and make a positive contribution to the world. Texas Nature Project students are enthusiastic learners and find joy and inspiration in the camaraderie that comes with being a member of a community of scholars."  Read more at  http://www.texasnatureproject.org/overview.html Seems attractive in idea and goal.

Bump's Nature Writing at UT

Over to the Forty Acres on the Colorado, there's a Jerome Bump who taught a course in Nature Writing back a few years ago, maybe still is.  The course is described at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/E309K/  Although some of the links are dead some lead to interesting options, including a tour of outdoor sculptures on the campus     E309K Nature Writing / Spring, 2000 / Jerome Bump Course Description Course Schedule Course Anthology Class Contacts Local Sights/Sites Examples of Student Nature Sites Texas Nature Writing (summary) Dobie, Bedichek, and Webb Harry Ransom Tom Lea Local Nature Writing in U.T. Library Roger Rouland's Course on the Nature Essay Eric Lupfer's Course on the Nature Essay FORUMS HRC SYCAMORE LITTLEFIELD PINE WALLER CREEK 1 PROJECT 1 DOBIE BIOLOGY PONDS 1 WALLER CREEK 2 TANIGUCHI ORIENTAL GARDEN BIOLOGY PONDS 2 PROJECT 2

Southern Nature Project

The Southern Nature Project's writers of note can be arranged by state, see Texas at http://www.southernnature.org/writers_list.php?case=state&State=Texas The Texans who write and think about the Southern landscape include Bass, Rick Bedichek, Roy Clark, Gary Cullar, Carol Gonzales, Ray Graves, John Gunter, Pete Haddad, Marian Harrigan, Stephen Meinzer, Wyman Nelson, Barbara "Barney" Nye, Naomi Shihab Patoski, Joe Nick Taylor, David Thurmond, Gerald Williams, Burr

Austin Postcards - Weaver

Casey Weaver and his friends have hundreds of historical Austin postcards and some photograhs and essays.  He's mounted them on his website http://www.austinpostcard.com/

Dorman Winfrey Rests

Dorman Winfrey died March 27, 2009 at the age of 84.  Winfrey served, among his many contributions, as State Librarian for over twenty years.  See the Austin American Statesman article " Longtime state librarian called devoted historian: Winfrey authored several articles and books about Texas history" by Joshunda Sanders at http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/02/0402winfrey.html and the Henderson Daily News at http://www.hendersondailynews.com/articles/2009/04/02/obituaries/01winfrey.txt  As a minor footnote to is remarkable career and life, Winfrey was important to the Texas Parlor's host during the 1970s.  My first job at TSLAC was in the Genealogy Dept. on Saturdays.  Thereafter he eased my transferral to several different posts through which I became aware of the broader view of Texas bibliography.  While this writer was still a student at UT, Winfrey offered essential encouragement to me toward the UT Library School "Indexing and Abstracting" class project of indexing of the TSLAC's "Texas State Documents" monthly checklist.  Then he then saw to it that it was permanently funded by the Legislature at the next biennial budget of TSLAC.  Winfrey was a fellow of graceful vision and practicality.  He left behind him a legacy of Texas history, Texas archives, and classical music.  Winfrey is now buried in the Welch Cemetery at Henderson, not far, he pointed out to me, from my hometown of Marshall.  I'll stop by there on my next trip home.  In the meantime I'll listen to and watch Toscanini conduct Verdi's "Hymn of the Nations" on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9B70Ku5qSg

International Association of Business Communicators History

Downs Matthews begins his history (A GENEALOGY FOR IABC/HOUSTON) with " The place is Houston, Texas. The year, 1946. A young man named Walter Beach, editor of The Humble Way, published by the Humble Oil and Refining Company of Houston, has just returned from a business meeting of the Southwestern Association of Industrial Editors (SAIE) held in Little Rock, AK. He is inspired to start a chapter of SAIE for industrial editors of Houston."  Includes a list of presidents.  Read more at http://www.iabchouston.com/en/cms/2764/

Austin is for Archivists

Austin is for Archivists self-describes itself as "This blog is an attempt at a comprehensive, grassroots-level compendium of things to do in Austin while you are here for the 2009 Joint Meeting of the Society of American Archivists and the Council of State Achivists."  "This blog and its contributors would like to thank the Ischool of the University of Texas at Austin for hosting this blog." I'm wishing they would continue the blog past the convention and focus on Austin area archives - collections, news, events, practices, etc. Read more at http://www.archives2009.org/

Video of map conservation

Watch a brief video of delicate, professional map conservation of a Pecos County map at the General Land Office, courtesy ABC news, KTRK http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=6724012

Postcards from Texas - TV 55 documentaries

Postcards from Texas, is a new television program about Texas 19th and 20th century history, currently focusing on the greater Houston area.  It is broadcast by Channel 55 on Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. and repeated the next Saturday at 7:00 p.m.  Most segments are about 5 minutes, but some approach 10 minutes.  Each segment splices together interviews from 2 or several historians or other informed folks and many historical photographs using the "Ken Burns" pan-and-zoom technique to elicit a dynamism from the photos.  The interviewee's comments or each photo last on the screen for a couple of seconds to at most 10 seconds, so the viewers are kept entertained as well as informed.  The audio on my computer system leaves the sound occasionally a bit blurry, but still communicable.  Each segment is accompanied by an edited version of the narration.  Music often plays in the background.  The segments are archived on the channel's website.  A companion blog gives occasional extra details.  All rather well done by Mike Vance, producer. Read more about it www.houstons55.com/postcards-from-texas/ or jump right in and see how Houstonian "Jesse Jones Saved the Houston Banks" back in the depressed 1930's.  Jones was the principal financial architect of Roosevelt's national economic recovery.  Jones had been earlier recommended to President Herbert Hoover by the powerhouse Texan John Nance Garner who went on to become FDR's veep.  Jones even set salaries for some bankers! Did they have bonuses in those days? http://www.houstons55.com/postcards-from-texas/stories/2009-03-08-jesse-jones.jsp

San Jacinto Symposium

The Battle of San Jacinto Symposium meets Saturday, April 18, 2009, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  Hilton Hotel and Conference Center, University of Houston under the title of "New Light on Old Stories.  The Battle of San Jacinto Symposium is sponsored by the Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground as a forum for promoting public awareness of the events of the Texas Revolution era.  Read more at http://www.friendsofsanjacinto.com/site/   The five panelists are: Roger Moore, founder ofMoore Archeological Consulting, a group which studies sites and deposits in the complex context of modern cities. In work ongoing since 2003, he has led the first systematic, methodologically appropriate investigation of the Battle of San Jacinto; Gregg Dimmick, author of Sea ofMud: the Retreat of theMexican Army after San Jacinto and editor of General Vicente Filisola's Analysis of Jose Urrea'sMilitary Diary, translated by John R.Wheat.  Dimmick, a pediatrician, works closely with the HoustonArcheological Society in tracing theMexicanArmy's retreat in the 1836 campaign; Douglas D. Scott, a professor in anthropology at the University of Nebraska, has a special interest in 19th century military sites and forensic archeology. The innovative research he started at the Little Big Horn Battlefield NationalMonument won the U.S. Department of Interior's Distinguished ServiceAward in 2002; Douglas Mangum co-manages the San Jacinto Battleground field work and developed and manages the GIS database of maps for the project. Mangum worked on sites in Scotland, England,Mississippi, NewMexico and Texas before joining MooreArcheological Consulting; Manuel Hinojosa is an architect, artist, avocational historian and acknowledged authority on theMexicanArmy of the nineteenth century. His research of the "Mexican Soldado" at the PaloAlto Battlefield won the battleground's 2006 MeritAward. Speakers on specific topics are: H.W. Brands will emphasize the importance of interpreting battlefields and set their meanings in modern context.  Brands is the DicksonAllenAnderson Centennial Professor of History at the University of Texas atAustin and author of more than 20 books, including the awardwinning Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story for Texas Independence. Sam W. Haynes will compare Texas with other post-colonial societies in their struggles to define themselves after winning independence. Aprofessor of history at UTArlington, Haynes' focus of study is the western expansion of the U.S. in the 19th century. He is the author of James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse. James P. Bevill will discuss his new book, The Paper Republic: The Struggle for Money, Credit and Independence in the Republic of Texas, and the San Jacinto soldiers who helped structure these finances. Bevill is past president of the Texas NumismaticAssociation. James E. Crisp, North Carolina State University, will moderate the symposium for the seventh year. His book, Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett's Last Stand and otherMysteries of the Texas Revolution, won theT.R.FehrenbachBookAward in 2006

Texas Map Society Spring Meeting

Texas Map Society http://libraries.uta.edu/txmapsociety/ spring meeting this year is in San Antonio, April 3-5. The principal sessions on the 4th include   John Hébert, Chief of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress Topic: "Cartographic Reflections of the Urrutia Map"   David Buisseret, formerly Garrett Chair Holder, UT at Arlington Topic: "Another Perspective on the Urrutia Map"   Richard Kagan, Professor of Early Modern History, John Hopkins University Topic: "Urban Images in Hispanic Maps"   Ricardo Padrón, Associate Professor of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, University of Virginia Topic: "The Spacious World of Spanish America"   John Miller Morris, Associate Professor of Geography, UT at San Antonio Topic: "Colonial Cartography on the Far Frontier"   John Wheat, Center for American Studies, UT at Austin Topic: "From Old Maps to Modern Books; Jack Jackson's Colonial Cartography"

State of Texas Publishing - Parsons

Noel Parsons, former director of the Texas Tech University Press and recently retired with family in Florida, in 2005 had some excellent comments for the folks in Conroe and you.    The State of Texas Publishing Parsons begins:  "In his book The Ornamental Hermit, which Texas Tech Press published in 2004, essayist Robert Murray Davis, long-time professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, includes an essay on the state of Oklahoma writing and publishing. In doing so, he must compare Oklahoma, and every other state, to Texas. He notes that no other state except New York, of course, and perhaps California (and I would include Mississippi) has a literary culture to compare to that of Texas." Further down he askes the questions "Why is this? Why, except perhaps for Mississippi, does no other state away from the great publishing centers of the northeast have anything approaching the literary tradition of Texas?" From a presentation at the conference "The State of Publishing," Montgomery College, Conroe, Texas, November 19, 2005. Read more about Texas literature at http://www.ttup.ttu.edu/fromthedirector.html In February 2008 Texas Tech announced "Texas Tech Press Director Elected to State Literary Group: Noel R. Parsons will be inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his work in advancing Texas literature."         Read more of Sally Post's article at  http://www.depts.ttu.edu/communications/news/stories/08/02-parsons-til.php

E-book Week

Apparently, it's Read an e-book week.  Booksforabuck has a special offer and some are Texana.   http://www.booksforabuck.com/general/read-an-ebook-week.html

Texas Intercollegiate Press Assn Hall of Fame

The TIPA Hall of Fame has several entries for each year.  The first year, 2002,  includes older historical persons.  The TIPA began in 1909, yes, a century ago!   http://www.texasipa.org/

State Bibliographic Guidelines

BIBLIOGRAPHIC GUIDELINES FOR PUBLICATIONS OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT   Oh!  The Joy!  Inquiring minds may wish to peruse at their leisure the reading of the 2004  6-page clarifications from the Texas State Library to Texas government publishers.   It begins  "Identifying a publication accurately ensures its usefulness and accessibility to people who may start out with no knowledge of the publishing agency or institution, of the material's history or of the environment that produced the document.   Approach the identification of your publication as if you are solving a mystery. Let the publication's audience know the who, what, when, where and how (and sometimes the why) of its creation and distribution. Always place this information on a title page that immediately follows the cover of the publication. By using a title page with appropriate identifying information on it, you guarantee that in the future your own organization's staff, as well as researchers in general, will be able to understand the context in which it was produced."   Continue at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/statepubs/docs/Bibliographic_Guidelines.2004.rtf

West Texas Collection - Angelo State U

The Angelo State University Porter Henderson Library in San Angelo has a Dr. Ralph R. Chase West Texas Collection. http://www.angelo.edu/services/library/wtcoll/ Their mission statement is "The mission of the West Texas Collection is to collect, store, preserve and make accessible for scholarly research selected historical and genealogical manuscripts, records, books, pictorial and other related materials. The primary focus of the Collection is West Texas. The Collection also serves as the primary depository for documents and records related to the history, development and operations of Angelo State University. The Collection also participates in the Texas State Library's Regional Historical Depository Program serving twenty-two West Texas counties."   Suzanne Campbell is the Collection Head.   Portions include

Texas Centennial Markers

Sarah Reveley, Ferdinand Lindheimer Chapter DRT, New Braunfels, has embarked on a broad project to identify and preserve the Texas Centennial landmarks throughout the state.  She provides this report: "Most of us are familiar with those big granite markers with the bronze Texas star, but have no idea what a phenomenal project they represent. Back in 1936 the State of Texas decided to hold a Centennial celebration, and like everything else Texas does, it was the biggest and best celebration of a Centennial the world has ever seen. The Exposition was held in Dallas, but the celebration itself involved another exposition in Fort Worth, and statewide celebrations including construction of  9 memorial museums, 5 community centers, 16 restorations of historical structures, 2 park improvements, 20 statues of  important Texans, and over 1,000 historical markers, grave markers, and highway markers. TexasEscapes offered to create a space for the Centennial on their popular site, and I got started photographing, and soon others began to help. Sadly, many of the markers have been vandalized, damaged by weed-eaters and mowers, or discolored by algae. Some have disappeared when a roadway was widened, or made inaccessible by landowners. Others have been forgotten in neglected cemeteries.   Half of the markers have been photographed, and 25% of those have some form of neglect.   When the THC said they had neither the manpower nor the funding to maintain the markers, and few County Historical Commissions have made any efforts to save them, I decided to do something. A grassroots effort, by volunteers brought together via the internet with a mutual interest in Texas history, got underway to locate and photograph all of the markers, and when the DRT became aware of the problem, they volunteered to help state-wide..  A mailing list now spreads the news, and two websites are documenting the Centennial." Read more about it at http://www.texasescapes.com/Centennial/Texas-Centennial.htm - Centennial overall and http://www.picturetrail.com/neglected_tx_centennial

The Onion and Texas Humor

Texans wishing to laugh at themselves can go the infamous "The Onion" newspaper and search their database for "Texas" at http://www.theonion.com/content/index . Sample articles include Texas Penguin Truck Accident Last week, a truck carrying exotic fish, penguins, and an octopus overturned on a Texas highway, spilling its cargo. What do you think? August 14, 2006 | Issue 42•32 American Voices Texas Governor's Mansion Burned A fire that severely damaged the Texas governor's mansion was intentionally set. What do you think? June 10, 2008 | Issue 44•24 American Voices

Moving Vince's Bridge?

The Heritage Society (in Houston) presents "A Strange Case for Moving Vince's Bridge" by C. David Pomeroy, Jr., Thursday, March 19, 12-1 P.M.   News release: "Occasionally we need to review our history to make sure that the facts and their interpretation are accurate. If appropriate, corrections must be made to insure a meaningful understanding of our history. Unfortunately some revisionist history is based on a predetermined conclusion and often without confi rmation by the facts. Local historian C. David Pomeroy, Jr. will discuss an attempted high jacking of the location of Vince's Bridge and a few other incorrect historical matters associated with the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1936."  Read more at www.heritagesociety.org   David's own website  http://www.earlytexashistory.com/

Western Heritage Awards

Western Heritage Awards National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum April 17 - 18, 2009 http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/   Awards are self-described as:  "First presented in 1961, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Awards were established to honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. The awards program also recognizes inductees into the prestigious Hall of Great Westerners and the Hall of Great Western Performers as well as the recipient of the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award, named in honor of the Museum's founder. Each honoree receives a Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture of a cowboy on horseback."   The recent awards include Juvenile Book  Journey to Gonzales  Author: Melodie A. Cuate  Publisher: Texas Tech University Press   Magazine Article  Bringing Home All the Pretty Horses  Author: Dan Flores  Publisher: Montana, The Magazine of Western History   Hall of Great Westerners Inductees   Anne W. Marion    Texas   1938 –   Chester A Reynolds Memorial Award Recipient  Nolan Ryan Jr.  Texas    1947 –

Poster images

All Posters . com offers over 2,000 images of Texas, via the search box for "Texas."  Many are old postcards, many are recent photographs (lotsa urban and rural shots), some painted images.  You can browse by locale.  Most cost in the $20.00's range.  Seems as though libraries across the state could use a similar system for their photos display and potential reproduction.   Austin Big Bend National Park Dallas El Paso Greetings from Texas Houston San Antonio Texas State Flag

East Texas Histoical Awards

The East Texas Historical Association presents a variety of awards http://www.easttexashistorical.org/ Self-described as C. K. Chamberlain Award honors the article judged (by a panel of peers) the best to appear in the East Texas Historical Journal within a year Ralph W. Steen Award honors those who have served the Association through activities primarily other than writing Lucille Terry Historical Preservation Award, also sponsored by the Texas Forestry Museum, honors outstanding works of historical preservation of landmarks in East Texas Ottis Lock Endowment Awards honors outstanding teaching, the best book on East Texas each year and research grants for those who study East Texas historical topics; A number of research grant awards are made annually, usually in amounts of $500 to $1000. Best of East Texas Award is awarded for one-of-a-kind and best-there-is promotion of East Texas and its historic importance. The Best of East Texas Award is endowed by Bob and Doris Bowman of Lufkin, owners of Best of East Texas Publishers and Bob Bowman & Associates, Inc.

Drought Monitor

So, you've notice a dry spell?  Well, see it graphically. http://drought.unl.edu/DM/DM_state.htm?TX,S

Southwestern Historical Quarterly online

The Southwestern Historical Quarterly's first 100 volumes are online at http://www.tshaonline.org/shqonline/     Self-described as: "The Texas State Historical Association is pleased to present the first 100 volumes of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly, the oldest continuously published (since 1897) scholarly journal in Texas. This service will remain online free for an extended period, but will eventually become a benefit of membership in the Texas State Historical Association. About the Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online The Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online consists of more than 57,000 images of the pages of the first 100 years of the Quarterly as well as volume tables of contents and volume indices. The process of publishing the Quarterly Online involved locating printed copies of the 100 Volumes presented, unbinding them, scanning the 57,000 pages with a high resolution scanner, generating text via Optical Character Recognition or "OCR" software, encapsulating the document structure and text in approximately 2500 XML files used to produce the Tables of Contents and Indices, and compressing the 25MB page image files. "

Bowie Mine Literature

During these economic times, readers may wish to chuck their volumes and grab their spades, going in search of buried treasure.  Townsley takes you on a tour of the literature.   The Bowie Mine A Literature Review by Bill Townsley http://www.texfiles.com/texashistory/bowiemine.htm

Libri Vox

Free audio recordings are available to hear at LibriVox http://librivox.org/ for copyright free works.  The search box, which does NOT allow for subject searches, returned only one title item for "Texas," see Lafferty below, a short story.  Other Texana may be there.  A glance at the top of their alphabetical list showed Andy Adams "Cattle Brands."     Lafferty, Raphael Aloysius. "Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas" (in "Short Science Fiction Collection 004") · (readers) Adams, Andy. "Cattle Brands" · (readers) and there's some Robert E. Howard

Declaration of Independence

March 2, 1836 - Texas Declaration of Independence from the Convention of 1836.  Take a digital tour, chase a few rabbits, learn a little.   Texas State Library http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/declare-01.html   Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/mjtce.html   Texas Almanac http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/declaration/   UT Tarleton Law Library http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/1836dindex.html   Yale University's Avalon Project http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/texdec.asp   Humanities Texas traveling and online exhibit http://www.humanitiestexas.org/exhibits/list/signers/overview.php   Portal to Texas History lesson plan http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/notebook/Declaration/index.shtml Dawn Bishop's lesson plan http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/notebook/Declaration/lesson.doc Texas Tides lesson plan http://tides.sfasu.edu/Teachers/Tides/docs/LessonPlans/MiddleSchool/social/MurphreyIndependence.html   Texas State Cemetery http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/signers.asp   Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Weblog http://drtlibrary.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/texas-independence-day-march-2/   Lone Star Junction commentary http://www.lsjunction.com/docs/tdoi.htm   Wkipedia, of all places http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Declaration_of_Independence   Books Greatness to Spare: The Heroic Sacrifices of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence  by T.R. Fehrenbach Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence  by Benson J. Lossing  The Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence by Louis Kemp The Texas Declaration of Indepedence in Exact Facsimile by Anson Jones Press Articles Greer, James K. "The Committee on the Texas Declaration of Independence," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 30 and 31 (April and July 1927), 239-251, 33-49. Shuffler, R. Henderson. "The Ark of the Covenant of the Texas Declaration of Independence." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 65 (July 1961), 87-100. Shuffler, R. Henderson. "The Signing of Texas' Declaration of Independence: Myth and Record." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 65 (Jan. 1962), 310-332.