The Austin College community honored me with a special day of festivities as Texas State Historian. Friends, former students, collegaues, and members of the public came to the campus to hear two presentations by me. My first talk, at which I was introduced by my former student Dallas Cothrum, was entitled “Travels with the State Historian of Texas. It recounted highlights of my experiences as the State Historian. Later in the day, I gave a class session, “Teaching and Writing the History of Austin College.” Ty Cashion, a former student and distinguished alumnus of the college, introduced me. I talked about the project my students and I undertook to research and write a history of Austin College. In the late afternoon, I went to the Johnson Gallery of Wright Campus Center where I signed copies of two recent books:
Emily Austin of Texas and
Austin College: A History. The day concluded with a reception and dinner. John Crain, Ron Tyler, and Kent Calder all spoke, saying very nice things about my activities as State Historian. My former students Robin Tippett, Jay Dew, and Meg Hacker also talked about me. All in all, it was a very memorable day for me.
