Celebrating the history, the culture, and the people of Texas
Upcoming Events
Kreische Brewery State Historic Site
La Grange / May 17 / 11am– pm
Celebrate the history of the Bluff Schuetzenverein, a German marksmanship and social organization that hosted dances, concerts, picnics, and shooting competitions.
Goodnight's Journey series: Illinois to Texas
Goodnight Ranch
Goodnight / May 24 / 11 am - 12 pm
Get a glimpse into the life of a Texas legend, Charles Goodnight and his upbringing on the Texas frontier, and what shaped him into a renowned cattleman and cowboy.
Demo Days: Battlefield Medicine
San Jacinto Museum
LaPorte / May 24 / 11am – 3 pm
During the Texas Army’s marches, disease was commonplace: measles, flu, whooping cough, mumps and dysentery. Join the San Jacinto monument to learn about the medical techniques used and real 19th century medical equipment!
“…this worst of evils…” Slavery in Brazoria County Exhibition Opening
Levi Jordan Plantation Historic Site
Brazoria / May 31 / 10 am - 12 pm
Partnering with Freeport Historical Museum, the exhibition continues through August 31to bring attention to the impact of chattel slavery on Brazoria County from the arrival of Austin’s original 300 to the American Civil War.
Senate Bill to Alter How Colleges Teach History
Proposals Bring Political Interference to Public Understanding of Texas' Collective Past
Texas senators voted 20-11 to approve a bill that would drastically limit how the state’s public universities teach their students about history, race and inequality. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
As amended, Senate Bill 37 by Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) would require that courses cannot "require or attempt to require a student to adopt a belief that any race, sex, or ethnicity or social, political or religious belief is inherently superior to any other." It would also allow anyone to file complaints that could lead schools to lose funds.
A score of academics have complained that the bill's true intent was to intimidate them from sharing perspectives some lawmakers' disagree with. "If this is enforced, students will learn less about the world," said David Albert, a vice president for the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors. "They will learn a more rose-colored glasses view of the way society operates."
Senate Bill 37 SB 37 would also create a statewide committee to evaluate curricula at public universities. The committee would consist of three appointees from the governor, two from the lieutenant governor and two from the speaker of the House of Representatives. The bill doesn't require that any members of the committee be students, faculty or university administrators. MORE...
South Texas Hotel One of US' Most Endangered Historic Sites
The San Juan Hotel in the Rio Grande Valley has been identified as one of 11 most endangered historic places in the United States by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).
The hotel is a state historic landmark originally built in 1920, and is now slated to be demolished for a conference center next to San Juan City Hall. Locals claim the hotel has ties to what some refer to as the ‘La Matanza’ period of violence from 1910-1920 in the midst of tensions between the United States, Mexico, Anglos, and Mexican rebel forces during the Mexican Revolution.
The hotel was a regional gathering place for local business leaders and land speculators during the "Magic Valley" era, which is approximately the 20s and 30s. And it was meant to draw business to the new downtown area in the city of San Juan and provide a centralized area in the Rio Grande Valley to host land parties coming from up north. MORE...
LATEST TEXAS HISTORY NEWS...
Alamo Exhibition Celebrates Centuries of Women in the Mission's History
The Alamo hosted a special event May 10 highlighting the contributions of women throughout the Alamo's 300-year history. The event presented the seldom told stories of the women who lived at the Alamo from when it was a mission, a hospital, and the memorial for the defenders of the Texas Revolution. The living history included a firing demonstration led by women, and a one-woman show about the widow of the Alamo Battle, Susanna Dickinson. MORE…
Daughters of the Republic of Texas to host Annual Convention May 15-17
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT), one of the state’s oldest heritage organizations, will host its 134th Annual Convention from May 15 to 17 at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. This year’s convention theme, “A River Runs Through It: The Power of the Pecos in Texas,” highlights the cultural and historical significance of the Pecos River and its impact on Texas history. MORE...
GLO pre-sales 'Texas Takes Shape,' a historical map book of Texas history
The University of Texas Press has announced it is pre-selling copies of the book Texas Takes Shape: A History in Maps from the General Land Office, that looks at historical mapping in Texas dating back to the sixteenth century. Compiled buy Mark Lambert, James Harkins, Brian A. Stauffer and Patrick Walsh, this new book, available July 1, 2025, offers an illuminating selection from the GLO archive: over 100 maps that tell—and sometimes obscure—the stories of European colonization, Spanish and Mexican rule, the Republic of Texas, and the modern US state. The two-part, nine chapter collection takes readers on a journey through history that defines and develops Texas through centuries of research and preservation. To order, visit the UT Press website.
Hot Off The Presses
by Rachel Cockrell
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
While primarily a tale of the author's Jewish famiy's refugee immigration in the early twentieth century, a crucial element is how their journey marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when ten thousand Jews fled to Texas in the leadup to World War I. The Guardian says the work provides ".. a thrilling sense of history unfolding in real time."
The Crossing: El Paso, the Southwest, and America’s Forgotten Origin Story
Mariner Books
Journalist Richard Parker has long felt his hometown of El Paso has been unfairly disregarded as an “unacknowledged cradle of American history.”
Instead of the sleepy western backwater on the Mexican border, Parker tells of a rich cross-cultural intersection of of ideas, beliefs, practices, and values.