The Linden Heck Howell Outstanding Teaching Award in Texas History

l. to r., Light Cummins, State Representative Julie Johnson,
Awardee Terri Truong,
and Polk Middle School Principal Kelly O'Sullivan

Today I had the pleasure of participating in the ceremony marking the 2019 presentation of the Linden Heck Howell Award for the outstanding teacher of Texas history. This state-wide annual award is made by Humanities Texas to recognize an outstanding teacher of Texas history. It is named for the late Linden Heck Howell of Portland, Texas who served as a board member of Humanities Texas from 1996 until 1999. Ms. Howell was a passionate supporter of Texas history who did much to encourage its teaching in schools across the Lone Start state. 

The recipient is Terri Truong, a seventh grade Texas history at Ted Polk Middle School in Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. Ms. Truong holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of North Texas, having served on the Polk Middle School faculty for the last four years. She regularly engages her students in a variety of innovative activities and simulations which make history enjoyable and memorable for them. One of the most popular is "Longhorn Day." This involves bringing a live longhorn cow to the campus for the day as a centerpiece to her teaching about the ranching heritage of Texas. Ms. Truong has also rewritten the seventh grade Texas history curriculum for the entire Carrollton-Farmer's Branch Independent School District. 

My part in the program today centered on explaining the programs offered by Humanities Texas in support of teaching, which include an annual series of teacher education workshops along with a number of public programs advancing the cause of history. I also gave Polk Middle School Principal Kelly O'Sullivan a letter of congratulations and a check whose funds will be used to purchase instructional materials. State Representative Julie Johnson of House District 115 for Dallas County presented the award to Ms. Truong, consisting of a plaque and a cash prize.  Representative Johnson also read and gave to the awardee a formal, embossed legislative resolution commending her for the important work she is doing with her students at Polk Middle School. 

Congratulations to Terri Truong!

Stephen Harrigan's "Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas"

Austin College students interested in Texas History should be aware a new survey book about Texas has just been published by the University of Texas Press, Stephen Harrigan's "Big Wonderful Thing." The title comes from a quotation about the state made by the artist  Georgia O'Keefe. This book is a masterful synthesis of the state's history from Native American times to the present. It is designed to replace in the literature the landmark book published by T. R. Fehrenback in 1968, "Lone Star." That it will do. Harrigan's book is well-suited for students to read in a number of ways. It is written for the general reader, not academic specialists. The author is an accomplished writer and journalist who has published novels, magazine articles, written screen plays, and been a member of the writing staff at Texas Monthly. The book concentrates on presenting stories about people and their experiences as Texans. Each chapter has an emphasis on a particular person around which the larger contexts of history revolve.  It provides admirable coverage of women, racial minorities, and the sometimes less-than praiseworthy events of Texas history, all of which add solid historical perspective to the self-congratulatory and glory-filled narrative sometimes found in some popular books about the state written for general readers.

Last night I attended the formal book launch held at the Bob Bullock Museum in Austin. Several hundred guests enjoyed a reception at which Stephen Harrigan circulated and visited with the attendees, many of whom represented people from the literary world, the University Texas Press, the University, and supporters of the State Museum. I enjoyed talking to a number of people I have known for many years, and who I don't often get to see.

Stephen Harrigan and Dan Rather

A highlight of the evening was an interview of Stephen Harrigan by Dan Rather, who is himself a Texan. I found their conversation most enlightening. In particular, Harrigan noted that he wrote this volume to be fun to read, with each chapter having many of the attributes of a non-fiction magazine article. Having already read this book, I agree. It is, in many respects, a fine example of long form journalism. Austin College students will thus find it a very comfortable book. Harrigan also explained that in the six years he researched and wrote this volume, he traveled the state and personally saw most of it.  He also gave a bit a writing advice all undergraduates should heed: start writing right away. That is important, since so many student writers delay in the hopes of mastering all and every last bit of their research before setting their ideas on paper.

All in all, this book will be an important one for readers of Texas history. It should be noted that this is not a volume of academic history. It does not have burdensome footnotes or address the array of historiographical questions which form the bedrock of college-level courses in Texas history. That is a good thing, because undergraduates already have access to a large and voluminous number of academic books about Texas history. Instead, this book fills an important niche which has been needed for many decades.

Addendum: Since this entry was originally posted, Judge Ken Wise has devoted one of his Texas history podcasts (episode 75) to an interview he conduced with Stephen Harrigan on the afternoon of this book launch. Judge Wise is a passionate devotee of Texas history who regularly podcasts about items of interest relating to the Lone Star state and its colorful past. Click here to visit that podcast site, which is entitled "Wise About Texas."

Stephen Harrigan signing his new book

Oscar Page Gives the Carlson Memorial Lecture

A.  J. Carlson

Vicki and I attended the A. J. Carlson Lecture at Austin College on September 10th. The speaker was Austin College President Emeritus Oscar Page, who is also a historian. During the time of his presidency at the college, he also held the rank of Professor of History. Dr. Page's topic was The Changing Nature of the Liberal Arts: The Impact on the Traditional Liberal Arts Colleges." In so doing, he explored the various models of liberal arts colleges, especially the broad-based reliance on the humanities as a central core. The traditional liberal arts college may be a model no longer relevant. In 1950, he noted, 50% of American college students attended a liberal arts college. Today, 4%. That figure does take into account the tremendous expansion of public universities and junior colleges over the last 60 years, while liberal arts colleges have shrunk in number. Nonetheless, Dr. Page issued a clarion call for change. All must center about what is "necessary." Liberal arts colleges should not debate what constitutes the liberal arts. Instead, they should concentrate of what is necessary to know and fine innovative ways to deliver it. He reviewed innovative programs at about half dozen liberal arts colleges that are doing this. 

This lecture honors the late A. J. Carlson, our colleague in the history department. He joined the Austin College faculty in 1962 and retired in 1994. He was active in the campus community until his death in 2014.

Lonn Taylor

Lonn and me at Fort Davis

Lonn Taylor passed away on June 26th. Lonn was a distinguished historian, accomplished writer, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of Texas and Texans. His friend Joe Nick Patoski wrote a fine piece about Lonn's career for the Texas Monthly. Click here. There were a number of memorials and articles written about Lonn in the weeks after his passing. Marfa Public Radio, where Lonn regularly broadcast his Rambling Boy vignettes, sponsored a special show featuring memories of him. It was my honor to be one of the people who spoke during that program. Click here.  This is the article about Lonn's passing from the Big Bend Sentinel: click here. The Washington Post also carried an article about Lonn: Click here. 

The Texas New Deal Conference at Texas Wesleyan University

left to right: George Cooper, Light Cummins, Victoria Cummins, and Cynthia Brandimarte

Vicki and I had the pleasure of participating this year in the Annual Texas New Deal Symposium which has met annually for the last seven years. This active group of scholars was organized and is spearheaded by George Cooper. It draws several dozen scholars together each summer, each of whom are actively researching and publishing on some aspect of the New Deal in Texas. I recall very fondly giving the keynote address at the first meeting of this symposium back when it first met at the Audie Murphy Museum in Greenville.  This year Texas Wesleyan University hosted the group, thanks largely to the efforts of Dr. Brenda Matthews of the TWU History Department. Dr. Matthews has been a stalwart member of the group since its founding. Click Here for a TWU press release about this event. Vicki and I, as seen above, participated as panelists in a session dealing with New Deal art and Federal support for art in Texas. The Texas New Deal Symposium is sponsored by the East Texas Historical Association. Pictured below is Dr. Scott Sosebee, executive director of the ETHA, welcoming the participants to the symposium. 

250 Years of Art for Texas History

On May 3 and 4, I participated in the 2019 Conference on Texas History at San Antonio's Witte Museum. This large event highlighted publication of a new book edited by Dr. Ron Tyler entitled The Art of Texas: 250 Years. This volume consists of essays by historians, curators, art historians, and other scholars dealing with the visual arts in Texas during the course of its history as a state. I am the author of the chapter dealing with Texas Sculpture. Two days of presentations highlighted various topics, with speakers focused on a number of aspects of art in Texas. I spoke on Texas women in the early years of the twentieth century who promoted the cause of art in the state. In particular, I considered the careers of Francis B. Fisk, Ethel Tunstall Drought, and Allie Victoria Tennant as representatives of the many women who advanced the cause of Texas art during its earlier periods of development. Click here for a YouTube recording of my presentation. The symposium also marked the opening of a large exhibit of Texas art assembled by Ron Tyler and Michael Duty. A highlight for me was the inclusion of the smaller-sized version of Allie Tennant's "Tejas Warrior" which Brookgreen Gardens in South Caroline loaned to the Witte for this exhibition. Below is a picture of me with this iconic Tennant sculpture as presented in the Witte exhibition

Dr. Ty Cashion is inducted into the Austin College chapter, Phi Beta Kappa

Dr. Ty Cashion delivering the Phi Beta Kappa address

On April 12, 2019, Austin College alumnus Dr. Ty Cashion was inducted into the college's Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The rules and regulations of Phi Beta Kappa provide a procedure whereby each year a chapter may induct an alumnus as a member. By tradition, that person also delivers the formal address at the induction ceremony. Ty Cashion is an accomplished regional author and Professor of History at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. “Dr. C,” as he is known to his students, has enjoyed teaching at Sam Houston State University since 1999, specializing in courses on American history. He received the PhD from Texas Christian University in 1993. Texas Monthly magazine included Cashion in a short list of “a new breed of scholars” that is “changing the way contemporary Texans look at their state.” He is an occasional contributor to newspapers and periodicals and speaks regularly to civic groups on topics related to Texas and American western history. 

An Alice Naylor Print at Foltz Fine Art

"San Pedro Park" by Alice Naylor

CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, met in Austin, March 29-31. A highlight of this annual meeting is the Texas Art Exhibit which features items for sale by commercial galleries from across the state. Each year sees a remarkable selection of early Texas art offered by as many as a dozen dealers. I was pleasantly surprised to find a serigraph by Alice Stephenson Naylor, a San Antonio artist, in the CASETA booth belonging to Foltz Fine Art of Houston. Foltz Fine Art is one of the state’s leading galleries promoting Texas art. The gallery was founded by William E. Reaves, preeminent authority on Texas art and artists. He partnered awhile back with Sarah Foltz in operating the gallery, which has now been renamed for her.  I was overjoyed to find this piece by Alice Stephenson Naylor because she was a family member of mine who I knew growing up in San Antonio. I have many memories of  her.

Alice Naylor, 1892-1974

She was a member of my father's generation. I always called her Aunt Alice, but her relationship to me was a bit more complicated than that. In a nutshell of confusing family genealogy, Alice Naylor’s grandfather, Light Townsend, was the brother of my great-grandmother Sarah Townsend Cummins and I carry his name. As well, on the other side of the Townsend-Cummins family, Alice Naylor’s mother was the daughter of my great-grandfather, J. M. Cummins. Alice Naylor became a double relative of mine starting with my grandfather, Light Townsend Cummins as I am thus related to her through two different family lines. I also note that Alice’s brother was named Light Townsend Stephenson. This means Alice Naylor personally knew in her lifetime, including my father Light Townsend Cummins, Jr. and our Texas Ranger distant cousin Asa Light Townsend, six men to whom she was related -- each with the name “Light Townsend.”

Alice Naylor had a long career in Texas art, both as a practicing artist and as a teacher. Born in Columbus, Texas in 1892, she studied at S.M.U. and at the University of New Mexico. As a young woman, she went to Taos where she studied with Andrew Dasburg, Ernest Blumenschein, and Millard Sheets. She became friends with Mabel Dodge Lujan. On her marriage to James Naylor, the couple moved to San Antonio in 1934 where many of her relatives were already living. Alice immediately became involved in the San Antonio Art League. She often worked on projects with Eleanor Onderdonk at the Witte Museum. The Witte named her San Antonio Artist of the Year in 1945. Alice also befriended Marion Koogler McNay and advised her on acquiring art. Alice had a long career as an art teacher, welcoming private students for many decades. She taught at the San Antonio Art Institute, located at the McNay, from 1942 until 1958. She served thereafter as the chair of the art department at Incarnate Word University. Alice was predominately known for her watercolors. She was a founder of the Texas Watercolor Society. Alice Naylor passed away in 1974 and lies buried at San Antonio’s Sunset Memorial Park near my own parents and other family members. 

The print above is a scene from San Pedro Park, located near both Alice Naylor’s house on Magnolia Street and my childhood home on King's Highway. I recall from my youth many mesquite trees in the park which could be the one in her print. It is very rare to find a serigraph by Alice Naylor because watercolor was her preferred medium. I was absolutely overjoyed to find Foltz Fine Art had this piece by Alice Naylor. Naturally, I carried it home with me from the CASETA meeting as a welcome addition to several of her watercolors currently hanging in our living room. Below is one of our  family's favorite watercolors by Alice Naylor, "Balcones Creek."

Vicki Cummins, Gabriela Gonzalez, and Light Cummins

The Texas State Historical Association held its annual meeting in Corpus Christi last week from February 28^th until March 2^nd. Both Vicki and I attended the meeting, which proved a busy one for both of us. Vicki served as a member of the Women’s History Luncheon planning committee.  That event featured a presentation by Professor Nancy Baker of Sam Houston State University dealing with the career of pioneering Texas attorney Hermine Tobolowsky.  The luncheon also featured the awarding of the Liz Carpenter Award for the best book dealing with the history of Texas women. This year’s winner was Professor Gabriela Gonzalez of the University of Texas at San Antonio for his fine book Redeeming La Raza: Transborder Modernity, Race, Respectability, and Rights, published by the Oxford University Press. As chair of the selection for that committee, it was my pleasure to present that award to Professor Gonzalez. My new book, To the Vast and Beautiful Land, made its debut in the book exhibits at the Texas A&M University Press exhibition. 

Signing my book for Mike Collins

I greatly enjoyed signing copies of my book for those who purchased a copy. An additional highlight of the meeting came for me when Fran Vick and I served as the auctioneers at the Saturday evening banquet.  

Fran Vick and Light Cummins

We auctioned about a dozen items as a fund-raising activity for the association. Fran and I found it a very enjoyable time, and I very much enjoyed working with her. Finally, on Saturday morning, I served as a commentator in a session dealing the monuments and markers of the Texas Centennial of 1936. The Texas Historical Commission served as a sponsor of this session, which included a full report on the application made by the TCH for national register status. The papers were: Monuments from Hell to Breakfast: Commemorative Planning for 1936 Texas Centennial, Bonnie Tipton Wilson, Texas Historical Commission; Not Even Good for Sparrows to Roost On: Centennial Property Types and Inscription Analysis, Gregory Smith, Texas Historical Commission. Lila Rakoczy of the TCH presided at the session. It drew a large group, many of whom participated in an engaging question and answer session thereafter.

 

Philosophical Society of Texas

I enjoyed attending the annual meeting of the Philosophical Society of Texas, a group to which I belong. The annual meeting was held this last weekend, February 15-17, in Dallas. Meeting sites alternated between the Anatole Hotel, the Southwestern Medical School, and the Bush Library at SMU. Chaired by Kay Bailey Hutchinson, with the assistance of Dan Branch as program supervisor, this year’s theme centered around research with special emphasis on medical advancements. Friday night’s induction of new members took place on the premises of the historic buildings in Oak Lawn which once served as Parkland Hospital, today the corporate offices of Crow Holdings. The members enjoyed a gala dinner hosted by Harlan Crow. Much of Saturday’s meetings took place at the Southwestern Medical School, including a memorable panel in which each member had won a Nobel Prize. Additional sessions dealt with recent breakthroughs in medical science. Saturday evening’s festivities included a banquet at the George W. Bush Library on the campus of SMU. Former President Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush welcomed all of us to the library in a rousing appearance at the podium. This meeting was memorable for me because my daughter Katherine Cummins Schmitz attended all of the sessions and dinners as my guest. She had the chance to meet a number of my friends who are members of this group. The weekend was particularly enjoyable for me because I had the chance to have several long chats with old friends from the Big Bend area who I had not seen recently.

My New Book Has Arrived.

Click on Cover Below

Waldine Tauch

Waldine Tauch (1892-1986) of San Antonio emerged as an important artist in Texas during her lifetime. As a student and protégé of Pompeo Coppini, Tauch had become by the 1930s one the state’s most promising sculptors. In 1935, in preparation for Centennial celebration of the following year, the State of Texas earmarked funds to underwrite a statue commemorating the role woman had played in the state’s history. Given the name “Pioneer Woman,” this statue would be placed on the campus of the College of Industrial Arts in Denton, today’s Texas Woman’s University. Waldine Tauch felt strongly this sculpture should be the work of a female artist and certainly not that of a male sculptor. She wanted badly to be person who sculpted it. Accordingly, she undertook a campaign designed to award her this commission. She contacted leading politicians, cultural figures, civic leaders, and educators across the state in her attempt to secure this contract, even to the point of attempting to enlist the support of J. Frank Dobie.  Tauch wrote a long memorial to the Centennial Commission outlining her views about the history of women in Texas and detailing why a female sculptor ought to receive this commission, pointing out in some detail why she should be the person selected to do it. This rather lengthy document represents an interesting expression of how one significant female artist of the 1930s saw the history of women in Texas. In the end, a male sculptor, William Zorach, received the commission. Tauch and her supporters thereupon embarked on a campaign of criticism and public complaint against his plans for the sculpture. They loudly objected because the model proposed by Zorach was highly stylized and abstract to the point, they said, it depicted a women without visible clothing – a statue of a nude women. This thus provoked a state-wide barrage of negative publicity and strident vituperation against the proposed Zorach statue planned for female college in Denton. The State of Texas accordingly pulled Zorach’s commission and gave it to a male sculptor from New York, who made the fully-clothed statue that still stands today on the TWU campus. This “nude women controversy” and Waldine Tauch’s role in it says for the historian much about how women were perceived in that era, and how one female sculptor attempted – albeit unsuccessfully – to express her viewpoints about the historical role of women in Texas and its history. This paper is based on research in the Coppini-Tauch Papers at the Briscoe Center at the University of Texas, the Evaline Sellors Papers at the Old Jail Art Center and Archives, and the Women’s Collection at TWU.