AUSTIN, Texas—Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. will speak about John Nance Garner during the April 26 opening of a new exhibit in the Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin.
Briscoe’s informal talk at 7 p.m. in Bass Lecture Hall will be a sharing of his memories of the former vice president, friend and fellow Uvalde, Texas resident. The lecture and opening of the exhibit, Cactus Jack of Texas: The Life and Career of John Nance Garner, are free and open to the public.
Bass Lecture Hall is on the lower level of the Sid Richardson Hall/LBJ Library complex. The Garner exhibit is in the Lomax Exhibit Gallery of the center’s Research and Collections Division in Sid Richardson Hall. Free parking is available on the LBJ Library parking lot near Red River Street.
The exhibit documents Garner’s political career as well as his personal life. It features the original artwork for political cartoons documenting the political skill and power of the man from a rural Texas congressional district who emerged as one of the most significant political figures of the 20th century. More than 200 items include documents and books, photographs of Garner and his family and oil paintings relating to Garner and his wife, Ettie. A bronze bust of Garner and artifacts from Garner’s life, including his famous gavel collection from his days as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, also are displayed.
Garner, who lived from 1868-1967, served 15 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he rose to become speaker during President Herbert Hoover’s administration. He became the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1932 and served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the first two terms of the Roosevelt administration. As vice president, Garner championed and steered through Congress critical New Deal legislation that reshaped the relationship of the federal government with the states and the American people.
The John Nance Garner Museum in Uvalde is a division of the Center for American History. All items in the exhibit are from the collections at the Garner Museum and from collections at the center’s Research and Collections Division in Austin. This new exhibit is part of the long-term renewal and renovation program that has begun at the Garner Museum.
For more information, contact David Dettmer at (512) 495-4369 or by e-mail.
