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| Vicki Cummins, Gabriela Gonzalez, and Light Cummins |
The Texas State Historical Association held its annual meeting in
Corpus Christi last week from February 28th until March 2nd.
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
