AUSTIN, Texas—The 104th annual meeting of the Texas State Historical Association, which is based at The University of Texas at Austin, will be held in Austin this March. Since its inception in 1897, the meeting has grown to contain more than 40 sessions on a variety of topics. Panels, auctions, book exhibits, book signings, receptions and banquets provide something for everyone interested in Texas history, geography and culture. The event will be March 2-4 at the Renaissance Hotel.
This year’s program reflects many of the developments that have occurred in Texas history during the past year. There will be sessions on La Salle’s ill-fated colony, black cowboys and continuing interest in Texas politics — including John Nance Garner, Lyndon B. Johnson and others. Panels will discuss what Texas was like in A.D.1000 and what it will be like during the 21st century. Roundtables on Afro-Texan and Tejana history attempt to look toward the future, as do programs on preservation of the documentary record, both traditional and electronic.
The conference includes sessions on Texas and the Civil War, the Mexican War, the Texas Rangers and archaeological finds of the Texas Revolution. A session on Davy Crockett and the de la Peña diary will present excerpts from an upcoming documentary film by Brian Huberman, and will include discussion on the controversial information provided in the diary.
“Folk Music of the Rio Grande Valley,” “Galveston and the 1900 Storm,” “Tejano Land Loss in Texas,” and “Food and Texas History” are additional session topics. Ten sessions are sponsored jointly with other historical organizations including the Texas Catholic Historical Society, Texas Commission on the Arts and the Texas Folklore Society.
The popular annual silent and live auctions will offer rare Texas books, maps, artwork and artifacts. More book exhibitors will be present than ever before — including rare book dealers and the leading publishers of Texana.
Several receptions and banquets will be held throughout the meeting. The Women and Texas History Luncheon will be at noon on Thursday, March 2. It will feature the presentation of the Liz Carpenter Award for Research in the History of Women. In addition, Judith N. McArthur, with the University of Houston-Victoria, will speak about Texas suffragists. That evening, a Presidential Reception honoring the outgoing and incoming presidents, Norman D. Brown and Al Lowman, will be held at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
The Friday luncheon on March 3 will feature the presentation of several awards, as well as a talk by noted Western history author Robert M. Utley about the Texas Rangers.
To register for the conference, call 512-471-1525. Visit the TSHA web site athttp://www.tsha.utexas.edu.
