Center for Texas Studies

Fort Worth Horror: The Great South Side Fire of 1909
2022-12-03 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Many of the great cities of the world, including Rome, London, Lisbon, Chicago, and San Francisco, have endured devastating peacetime fires. Fort Worth joined that tragic company on April 3, 1909, when two boys experimenting with cigarettes on a windy spring day led to a barn catching fire. By the time the conflagration was under control with the help of companies from Dallas, Weatherford and elsewhere, more than twenty blocks of businesses, homes, and churches just south of downtown were destroyed. Join us as historian Carol Roark explains how the fire not only changed the landscape of Fort Worth, but also how it prepared for disasters.
Carol Roark has spent many years researching and writing about historic buildings. After twenty years as the Archivist and Manager of the Special Collections Division at the Dallas Public Library, she is now working on a number of freelance history and historic preservation projects. She has published four books related to those topics, served as editor for the Tarrant County Historic Resources Survey volumes, and contributed to works on African American and women’s history. She and her husband live in a 1919 Arts & Crafts bungalow in Fort Worth’s Fairmount/South Side National Register Historic District.
Click here to register for Zoom!

Trinity River Groove: The Story of the Cowtown Sound
2022-11-05 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
What’s your favorite? Jazz, western swing, big band, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, all of the above? Gene Fowler and William Williams explore the contributions of musicians in these genres and more in their story of music in Fort Worth and Dallas from the 19th century to the 1960s. This program, drawn from their book, Metro Music, will take you back to the groovy sounds and the legendary venues including the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion, the Longhorn Ballroom, the Blue Bird, and so many more. Don’t miss it!
GENE FOWLER is a writer and performer. His work has been published in Oxford American, San Francisco Chronicle, True West, Journal of Texas Music History, and more. His books include Border Radio, Crazy Water, and Mavericks. WILLIAM WILLIAMS is a songwriter, guitarist, and music historian. In 2003 he cofounded an internet group to “research and archive the history of North Texas Music, especially the ’60s,” which has provided material for this publication.
This program will be in person and over Zoom. Register for Zoom here!

At the Edge of Space and Time: The Last Kiowa Raid in Tarrant County (Extended Education Course)
2022-10-04 18:30 - 20:30
Using the last Kiowa Raid as a touchstone, students will be immersed in the lives and history of the Kiowa, learn how they differed from the Comanche, and discover the secret life of a Kiowa captive taken as a baby girl from the family farm on the West Fork of the Trinity River in 1867 and honored by the Kiowa for her bravery and tenacity to this day.
Course instructor: Dawn Youngblood
Course dates
October 4 & October 11, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Course fee
$74
Click here to register!

Exploring Two Iconic DFW-Founded Food Companies: Fletcher’s Original State Fair Corny Dogs and Mrs. Renfro's Salsa
2022-10-01 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
It’s State Fair time, folks! There couldn’t be a better time to talk about Texas food. This month we welcome two speakers whose roots run deep in the DFW food scene, Fletcher’s Corny Dogs and Mrs. Renfro’s Salsa. They will discuss the history behind their family businesses and give us some insights into the production of their famous foods
Amber Fletcher is the head of marketing for the multi-million dollar Texas staple, Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs. The granddaughter of Dallas’ famous corn dog inventor Neil Fletcher, and daughter of the late Skip “The Corny Dog King” Fletcher, Amber is the third generation of Fletcher’s at the helm of the iconic brand, along with her brother, Aaron, and cousin, W.C. From a young age Amber could be found behind the counter at the State Fair of Texas getting to know customers as well as keenly observing her father as he built the empire. Amber assumes a dual focus: preserving her family’s deep legacy in the state, while also expanding Fletcher’s reach nationally through events operations, a strong digital footprint and most importantly, top-notch quality control. Amber is a born and raised Texan who spent her life working in the family business at State Fair of Texas. She is passionate about her family, her dogs, and public speaking.
The son of second-generation owner John “Jack” Renfro, Doug learned the family business from the bottom up, starting on the factory floor as a teenager and weighing spices through college. After graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas, Doug proved his salt outside the company, working seven years for Electronic Data Systems (later purchased by General Motors), where he was promoted to divisional finance manager. At the same time, he earned his master’s degree from Southern Methodist University and qualified for his Certified Management Accountant designation. Doug returned to Renfro Foods in 1992.
This program will be in person and over Zoom. Register for Zoom here!

Fort Worth 1895-1945 (Extended Education Course)
2022-09-20 18:30 - 20:30
This second in a three-part survey course of Fort Worth history explores the city’s transition from frontier town to 20th century industrial center, and includes discussion of the development of the Stockyards, labor and social challenges, the Depression, Frontier Centennial, and the World War Two years The class is divided into two evenings of lecture and discussion and two field study walking tour sessions led by course instructor Quentin McGown.
Course dates
Lecture: September 20 & September 27, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Walking tours: October 4 & October 11, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Course fee
$126
Click here to register!

The People's Revolt: Texas Populists and the Roots of American Liberalism
2022-09-10 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Who were the original Populists and how did they shape American politics? Gregg Cantrell, author of The People’s Revolt and the Roots of American Liberalism, will explore the historical roots of Texas populism and the hallmarks of the movement. He will contrast historic populists’ contribution to the development of American liberalism with the identity of populists in politics today.
Gregg Cantrell holds the Erma and Ralph Lowe Chair in Texas History at Texas Christian University. He received his B.B.A., M.B.A., and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Cantrell received the Summerlee Research Fellowship from the William H. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University. In addition to his recent book, The People’s Revolt: Texas Populists and the Roots of American Liberalism, he is the author of Stephen F. Austin, Empresario of Texas; Feeding the Wolf: John B. Rayner and the Politics of Race, 1850-1918; and Kenneth and John B. Rayner and the Limits of Southern Dissent. He also co-edited Lone Star Pasts: Memory and History in Texas.
This program will be in-person and over Zoom. Register for Zoom here!

Hidden Gardens of BRIT: A Showcase of the Herbaria & Library Collections
2022-05-07 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Want to learn about the Botanic Research Institute of Texas (BRIT)? It’s more than just a beautiful garden! Barney L. Lipscomb, Director of the BRIT Press and Library and the Leonhardt Chair of Texas Botany joins us to discuss the Herbarium and Library, two research collections at BRIT that are the cornerstones of the BRIT mission to Explore, Discover, and Engage. The researchers at the institute explore the critically important world of plants, collaborate to discover the roles they play in our cultural and natural environments, and engage people to conserve nature and improve the human experience. BRIT shares knowledge about the plant world to enhance life for people and all living things through research, education, and publishing. This talk will discuss the history of these foundational resources and how they are used today, including by members of the public.
Barney L. Lipscomb is the Director of the BRIT Press and Library and the Leonhardt Chair of Texas Botany. He received his Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Cameron University and his Master’s from the University of Arkansas. In addition to the publications program, Barney is one of the authors of Shinners and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas, Illustrated Flora of East Texas, and Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas. Barney serves on the Board of Consultants for the North Texas Poison Center in Dallas and has research interests in the application of botany to forensic science. As Editor-in-Chief of Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (formerly Sida, Contributions to Botany) as well as the Sida, Botanical Miscellany Series, Barney plays an integral role in disseminating some of the results of the BRIT research staff in our internationally distributed, peer-refereed journals. Barney’s personal taxonomic specialty is the family Cyperaceae, and he has carried out fieldwork in various parts of the U.S., Mexico, and Central America. Barney is an active member of the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Flora of North America Association, as well as serving as their Treasurer.
Click here to register for Zoom!

Wall Street of the West: How Fort Worth Became the Livestock Center of the Southwest (Extended Education Course)
2022-04-28 18:30 - 20:30
Through an evening lecture and accompanying a six-hour bus tour led by Quentin McGown, the class will explore the roots of the livestock industry in Cowtown along with some of the places and personalities associated with the rise and eventual decline of the massive local market that came to define the city for much of its history. Delicious Central Market box lunch included on the Saturday bus tour.
Course dates
Lecture: April 28th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Bus Tour: April 30th, 9:00am – 3:00pm (lunch included!)
Course fee
$158. Discounts available for seniors and TCU faculty, staff, and students.
Your participation helps support future TCU Extended Education/Center for Texas Studies programming.
** Click here to register! **

Finding Smeltertown: Uncovering Family and Community History
2022-04-02 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Dr. Monica Perales will join us to discuss the challenges and strategies she used to uncover the history of a vibrant community from the early 20th century that had all but disappeared from the historical record but lived in the memories of its former residents. Using the example of her paternal grandmother, she will share how her journey started in family archives — photographs, recipes, oral histories, ephemera — and show how her grandmother’s story helped Perales to understand larger historical processes. Using family history in this way, history isn’t just the story of famous and powerful people, but it something that lives in our families and communities.
Dr. Monica Perales is an associate professor of history and Director of the Center for Public History at UH. Her research and teaching interests include US-Mexico borderlands, Mexican American, Texas, labor, foodways, and public history. Her first book, Smeltertown: Making and Remembering a Southwest Border Community received the 2010 Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book from the Urban History Association, and her current research examines Mexican women, labor, and food in the US Southwest in the 20th century. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, grants, and awards, including the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award for her community engaged teaching, and the Ruth A. Allen Pioneer in Working Class Studies Award. Dr. Perales has served on the boards of Humanities Texas (the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities), Foodways Texas, the Texas State Historical Association, the Urban History Association, and the Labor and Working Class History Association. She received a B.A. in Journalism and M.A. in History from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her Ph.D. in history from Stanford University.
Click here to register for Zoom!

Prostitution and Power: The Madams of San Antonio’s Red-Light District, 1877-1920
2022-03-05 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Join us for the sequel to our most popular program of all time! Dr. Jessica Webb will examine San Antonio’s red-light district, one of the largest west of the Mississippi, and the women who lived and worked there from the 1870s to the 1920s. Specifically, it will focus on the madams, the women who ran the brothels, and the influence they wielded in the city of San Antonio. Webb will also detail the power they had in the political sphere, the economic sphere, and in their own social sphere.
Jessica Webb works as a Program Coordinator for semester study abroad programs in the Center for International Studies at Texas Christian University. She received her Master’s and PhD in History from Texas Christian University. She wrote her dissertation on the red-light districts of Fort Worth and San Antonio at the turn-of-the-century. Her interest in Texas history stems from being born and raised here, and she hopes to continue researching and telling the stories of the Lone Star State.
Click here to register for Zoom!

Black Seminoles and the Seminole Indian Scouts
2022-02-05 10:30 - 12:00
Join us this month to learn about a distinct ethnic group in Texas—the Black Seminoles. Windy Goodloe, a member of the Black Seminole community, will explain the group’s migration to Oklahoma, Mexico, and Texas after a long history in Florida. She will focus particularly on those who the US Army recruited to become Indian scouts and fighters in West Texas who became known as Seminole Negro Indian Scouts. First based at Fort Duncan at Eagle Pass, the unit was stationed at Fort Clark when disbanded. As a result, many scouts and their descendants found a permanent home in nearby Brackettville where the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery is located today.
Windy Goodloe is a native of Brackettville, Texas. She has owned Nzadi Amistad Editing and Writing Services since 2017, but worked as an independent contractor since 2007. While Goodloe’s day job is copyediting and writing, her passion is Black Seminole history. Acknowledging her own special connection to her family heritage, she strives to preserve her ancestors’ legacy—including their rapidly disappearing Afro-Seminole Creole language—and to educate others about this little-known American story. Goodloe is currently secretary of the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association.
Due to inclement weather, this program will be Zoom only.
Click here to register for Zoom!

Texas Rangers, Ranchers, and Realtors: James Hughes Callahan and the Day Family in the Guadalupe River Basin
2022-01-08 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Does your family’s history tell a larger story about Texas history? Join us for Thomas McDonald’s talk on his book, Texas Rangers, Ranchers, and Realtors: James Hughes Callahan and the Day Family in the Guadalupe River Basin. McDonald’s book is the product of research into his ancestors James Callahan and Sarah Day. The Callahan and Day stories reflect Texas’s immigration history, its revolution and later statehood, ranching, and land development in the Guadalupe River Basin. This program is a must for anyone who wants to provide larger historical context to their own family history.
Thomas O. McDonald is a retired R&D pharmaceutical executive, an independent scholar of Texas history, and a seventh generation Texan. He retired from Alcon Laboratories, an American Pharmaceutical company specializing in eye care products, in 2004. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science, as well as a Master of Science in Biology from Texas Christian University. He also earned his PhD in Cell Biology from Tulane University and completed the International Senior Managers Program at Harvard Business School. His family, community, teachers, and Alcon experience shaped Thomas’s firm commitment to education.
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Untapped: Another Round of Fort Worth Beer History
2021-12-04 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Although Fort Worth brewing history is a tale that’s been told well by others, join us as we venture off the beaten path. Librarian Gaby Kienitz explores stories of how hardships, handshake deals, and backstabbing–along with a whole lot of gumption and good luck shaped the ups and downs of more than 150 years of beer brewing and drinking in Fort Worth.
Gaby Kienitz is a librarian in the Genealogy, Local History, and Archives Unit at the Fort Worth Public Library. She has been a librarian specializing in genealogy, history, and archives for the past 6 years, but not all of them in Fort Worth. Previously, she was a museum conservator for 20 years for a variety of history museums across Canada and the US, with brief stints at an archaeological museum in Bodrum, Turkey, conserving items recovered from a Bronze Age shipwreck. In short, she has spent her entire working life in public institutions preserving history and striving to make it accessible.
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The Grape Man of Texas: Thomas Volney Munson
2021-11-06 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
If you take a winery tour in France today, you are likely to hear about Denison resident Thomas Volney Munson (1843 – 1913). Sherrie McLeRoy, co-author of Grape Man of Texas: Thomas Volney Munson and the Origins of American Viticulture, joins us this month to discuss Munson’s contribution to our body of knowledge about Texas and American grapes in general, and specifically how his work enabled him to help save the European grape and wine industry from devastating blights in the late 19th century. Though he received numerous awards from both French and American institutions for his work, his achievements were largely lost or ignored by the mid-20th century. Don’t miss this opportunity to brush up on the history of Texas wine and the man who may have saved the entire industry worldwide.
Sherrie McLeRoy is currently the archivist at the Woman’s Club of Fort Worth and is writing a new history of the Club for its 2023 Centennial. Having spent much of her career in museums, McLeRoy has since written, contributed to, or co-authored twenty-four books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles. Her latest publications are Texas Adoption Activist Edna Gladney: A Life and Legacy of Love and Texas Women First: Leading Ladies of Lone Star History, both from The History Press.
This program will be offered both in person and over Zoom. Click here to register for Zoom!

The French Presence in Texas: 1878 to Today (Extended Education Course)
2021-10-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Texas Christian University, 3015 Merida Ave., Fort Worth, TX, 76109, United States
From the ranches of West Texas at the turn of the 20th century to today’s aerospace industry, the French in Texas have contributed and continue to impact the economic, diplomatic, educational, and cultural landscape of the Lone Star State. This two-part course explores the enduring Franco-Texan relations of then and now and reveals unexpected connections. Taught by Dr. Marie Schein.
This class meets on Thursday, October 21 and 28, 2021, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.
Course fee: $74.00
Register here! (Second class listed)

The History of Baseball in Fort Worth
2021-10-02 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
With baseball season coming to a close, let’s look back on the history of the game in Fort Worth. Author Mark Presswood will discuss the trajectory of baseball in the city from its beginnings in the 1870s through the formation of the more recent Fort Worth Cats team and all the fun and drama in between. As part of the Texas League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the Fort Worth Panthers became one of the most famous minor league teams in history winning six straight championships in the 1920s. After World War II, the Brooklyn Dodgers purchased the Panthers which meant that many star Dodgers of the 1950s had once passed through the city. Join us to learn all about how the game has been played in Fort Worth.
Mark Presswood is President of Panther Real Estate Solutions. His community involvement includes service on the Fort Worth Housing Solutions Board, the Near Southside Board, and as past Chairman of Fort Worth’s Development Advisory Council in addition to other Fort Worth Committees. His passion, however, is baseball and in particular the history of the Fort Worth Cats. Presswood co-authored two books on the Fort Worth and Dallas minor league baseball teams and was instrumental in producing When Panthers Roared, a history of the Fort Worth Cats.
This program will be offered both in person and over Zoom. Click here to register for Zoom.

Fort Worth to 1895 (Extended Education Course)
2021-09-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Texas Christian University, 3015 Merida Ave., Fort Worth, TX, 76109, United States
The first of a three part series on Fort Worth history given by Quentin McGown, the course focuses on the city’s growth and development to 1895, including a discussion of the area’s prehistory and the events leading to the establishment of the 1849 military post. Highlights of the covered time period include the development of the livestock industry, the arrival of the railroad and the challenges of a frontier town growing into a major city. The class meets on campus for two evening lectures supplemented by two evenings of walking tours to significant locations identified with Fort Worth’s early years.
Meets every Tuesday from 6:30pm – 8:30pm, September 21, 2021 to October 12, 2021.
Course fee: $126.00
Register here!

George T. Ruby: Champion of Equal Rights in Reconstruction Texas
2021-09-11 10:30 - 12:00
We’re kicking off the new season with a discussion of an early civil rights leader in Texas, George T. Ruby. While his name may not be familiar now, Ruby was the most widely known of the first generation of Black politicians in the state during the Reconstruction era. In this talk based on his recent contribution to the Center’s Texas Biography Series, author Carl Moneyhon explores Ruby’s journey from his childhood in New York and Maine to his work in Haiti and Louisiana, before coming Texas in 1867. While teaching school and working for the freedman’s bureau, he became active in politics by organizing African Americans to vote, assisting with campaigns, and successfully running for state senate himself. Anyone with an interest in political history, civil rights, or Reconstruction in Texas won’t want to miss this one!
CARL H. MONEYHON is professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A scholar of Civil War and Reconstruction history, his publications on Texas include Edmund J. Davis: Civil War General, Republican Leader, Reconstruction Governor; Texas after the Civil War: The Struggle of Reconstruction; and Republicanism in Reconstruction Texas. He holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Texas and a PhD from the University of Chicago.
Due to COVID concerns, this program will be over Zoom. All future programming will be decided on a case by case basis.
Click here to register!

TCU Explores Its Past to Expand Its Future
2021-06-05 10:30 - 12:00
Starting in August 2020, TCU began its multi-year Race and Reconciliation Initiative (RRI). This effort seeks to understand TCU’s past in regard to racism and people of color through research revealing important untold stories. The first year of the initiative focused on Black Americans and TCU’s relationship with racism, slavery, and the Confederacy. Dr. Frederick Gooding, Jr., chair of the Race and Reconciliation Initiative, will join us to discuss the results of the first year of the RRI and share key facts that have recently been uncovered. Gooding will also outline both the recommendations for the future submitted to the TCU Board of Trustees and changes already made.
Frederick W. Gooding, Jr. (PhD, Georgetown University) is an Associate Professor within the Honors College at Texas Christian University. Gooding critically analyzes race within mainstream media. Gooding’s best-known work is You Mean, There’s RACE in My Movie? The Complete Guide to Understanding Race in Mainstream Hollywood, which has been utilized in high schools and universities nationwide. His latest book, Black Oscar, expands his reach into cultural studies by analyzing African American Academy Award winners and how their narratives reflect and reinforce larger American history.
Click here to register for this free virtual program!

Saving a Great Neighborhood: Oakhurst and its History, Architecture, and Sense of Place
2021-05-01 10:30 - 12:00
Start National Preservation Month off right! Preservation consultant Libby Willis is joining us to discuss her experience saving her own neighborhood. Oakhurst, a 1920s-era development located on the northeast side of Fort Worth, is now a National Register Historic District with an active association of residents. Willis will explain the steps required to become a historic district and the art of maintaining the integrity of the neighborhood and its landscapes after designation. This is a great opportunity to learn from someone who has spent decades in the trenches working to preserve Fort Worth history. Don’t miss it!
Libby Willis is a historic preservation consultant, author and Fort Worth community leader. She was the first Texas area administrator for the National Trust for Historic Preservation regional office and the first executive director of Preservation Texas. In addition to her current civic involvement with Fort Worth ISD, she is a past president of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhood Associations and the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association. Willis is the author of Fort Worth’s Oakhurst Neighborhood (2014).
** Click here to register – it’s free! **

How to Research the History of a Building (Extended Education Course)
2021-04-12 18:30 - 20:00
Would you like to know the story behind your historic home? Or maybe there’s a historic building that you believe deserves to be documented and preserved? Well then, you need to join us for this two-night course with local author, historian, and preservationist Carol Roark. Combining her own research experience with over 20 years as an archivist at the Dallas Public Library, Roark is well positioned to teach you the basic skills necessary to uncover the history of any historic structure. In the first session, you’ll learn about the techniques and historic resources needed to start your own research. Return for a “research check” in session two to review your project and get help with challenges you encountered.
Course dates: April 12 and April 19
Course fee: $25.00
** Click here to register for this virtual course! **

The Bass Reeves Trilogy: The Rememory of a Legend
2021-04-03 10:30 - 12:00
Have you ever wondered how historical fiction writers are able to stay period-accurate while creating an engaging story? Then join us for Sidney Thompson’s virtual program “The Bass Reeves Trilogy: The Rememory of a Legend.” Thompson is the author of two (eventually to be three!) novels about real-life figure Bass Reeves, the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Thompson will discuss reconstructing the past with a fictional bent and the line between fact and fiction. He will talk about how historical research allows him to piece together the Reeves’s life and patch those with ideas from the present. For anyone who has ever been curious about the process of writing a story about a real-life figure or how to include realistic details in period pieces, this program is for you!

Dr. Sidney Thompson teaches creative writing and African-American literature at Texas Christian University, where he also serves as a writing consultant for the William L. Adams Center for Writing. He holds a Ph.D. in American literature, with a specialization in African-American narratives, and an M.F.A. in creative writing (fiction). He is the author of Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book One (Bison Books, 2020), historical fiction about the legendary African-American lawman Bass Reeves. Hell on the Border, Book Two is due out April 2021. Thompson’s other books include You/Wee: Poems from a Father (Prolific Press, 2018) and Sideshow, winner of Foreword Magazine’s Silver Award for Short Story Collection of the Year (River City, 2006).
** Click here to register – it’s free!**

Imperfect Vision?: A Review of the Elections of 2020 (Extended Education Course)
2021-03-31 19:00 - 20:30
In this follow up to his popular pre-vote lecture last fall, “Perfect Vision?: Evaluating the Elections of 2020,” Dr. Riddlesperger returns to provide his expert analysis of the electoral outcome. Drawing on over 35 years of experience, he will discuss the historic 2020 election and its lingering impact. Bring your questions and come prepared for a fascinating discussion during this one-night-only course.
Course fee: $10.00
** Click here to register for this virtual course! **

The Texas Ranch Sisterhood: Portraits of Women Working the Land
2021-03-06 10:30 - 12:00
Join us for Women’s History Month as Alyssa Banta talks about her book, The Texas Ranch Sisterhood: Portraits of Women Working in Land. Most think of ranchers as exclusively men, but Banta’s photographs tell a different story. She will present the experiences of multiple women ranchers throughout Texas–some of whom are part of a long family legacy on the land. To truly understand ranch work, Banta spent more than a year with these women, living in their homes, and working with them in the field. The result is a terrific example of how to document the present for the future. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear her unique insights into the lives of women ranchers across the Lone Star State.

Alyssa Banta is an award-winning photojournalist and writer. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree of Austin College and a Master of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. She has photographed for publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and Harper’s Magazine, and for the aid agencies United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Red Cross.

** Click here to register – it’s free! **

Expanding the Archive: Hidden Histories of Race in Houston
2021-02-06 10:30 - 12:00
In honor of African American History Month, please joins us for a presentation by Dr. Tyina Steptoe. Steptoe will discuss the research process for her book, Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City. Houston Bound focuses on the Creoles of Color, Black, and Brown communities in the Bayou City in the early twentieth century. Her talk will address the limitations of traditional archival research in histories of race, as well as how she used oral histories and music as a historical source in her book. This program is a must for anyone interested in researching communities that did not leave many written records behind.
Tyina Steptoe is a Houston native who currently works as an associate professor of history at the University of Arizona. Her book, Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City (University of California Press, 2016), has received several awards, including the Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book (North American) from the Urban History Association and the W. Turrentine Jackson Book Prize from the Western History Association. Her writing has appeared in publications like the American Quarterly, Journal of African American History, TIME, Houston Chronicle, and the Oxford American. She also hosts Soul Stories, a weekly radio program that explores the history of rhythm and blues music, on 91.3 KXCI in Tucson.
** Click here to register! **

Trammel's Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North
2021-01-09 10:30 - 12:00
This month author Gary Pinkerton will join us to discuss his book, Trammel’s Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North. The trace initially served as a smugglers’ route in the early 1800s, but it later became an important road for immigration into Texas from Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. In fact, many well-known historical figures traveled to Texas along this route including Sam Houston and David Crockett. The story of Trammel’s Trace is rowdy enough, but Pinkerton will also introduce you to Nicholas Trammell, the trail’s namesake, a man whose legacy is clouded in myth as a smuggler, gambler, and alleged outlaw.
Gary Pinkerton has been an independent researcher of East Texas since his childhood. He has authored two books, Trammel’s Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North and True Believers: Treasure Hunters at Hendricks Lake. Additionally, his work has been included in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, the Handbook of Texas, and the Journal of Diving History, a publication of the Historical Diving Society. He also serves on the Editorial Board for the East Texas Historical Association.
**Click here to register!**

Cowtown Strategy: Planner James Toal's Urban Designs for Fort Worth
2020-12-05 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
With over 40 years of experience in landscape architecture, urban planning, and economic development, James Toal shaped much of today’s Fort Worth. Join us as Librarian Linda Barrett reviews his career, beginning with his role at the Fort Worth Planning Department in the early 1970s, where much of his work involved parks and the Trinity River. He left the City in 1985 to work for a private firm and continued to influence the Fort Worth cityscape as a consultant on several projects until his death in 2013. To tell the story of James Toal is to tell the story of Fort Worth during those years. So don’t miss this chance to take a deep dive into how our modern city took shape.
Linda Barrett is a certified archivist who manages the Genealogy, Local History, and Archives unit of the Fort Worth Public Library. She unofficially began her career in the preservation field as a volunteer with an archaeological project at the site of a 19th century pottery kiln in Denton County before spending a year working at the Courthouse on the Square Museum in Denton while completing her undergraduate degree. She came to work for the Fort Worth Public Library in 2013 and was promoted to Archivist after she completed her Master of Library and Information Science the next year. Linda lives in a 95-year-old house in a historic district, so you could say she lives and breathes history. Her work at the library leads her to discover many fascinating people who lived and worked in Fort Worth.
This program will be conducted via Zoom. Click here to register!

The Deadly Weapon Laws of Texas
2020-11-07 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
How do you envision Texas during the late nineteenth century? Contrary to popular stereotypes, Texas had some of the strictest weapon regulations in the country during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this period, Texas enacted a series of regulations commonly referred to as deadly weapon laws. These laws prohibited the carrying in public of concealable weapons such as pistols, bowie knives, and brass knuckles. Drawing from a wealth of county criminal records, Rivas will discuss why the laws were put in place, how the laws were enforced, and what happened to people who violated these laws.
Brennan Gardner Rivas is currently the Clements Fellow for the Study of Southwestern America at the Clements Center for Southwest Studies. She received her Ph.D. from TCU in 2019. Her article “An Unequal Right to Bear Arms: State Weapons Laws and White Supremacy in Texas, 1836-1900” was published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in January 2018. She recently received the Bill & Rita Clements Fellowship for the Study of Southwestern America for the 2020-2021 academic year.
This program will be conducted via Zoom. Click here to register!

Amon Carter: A Lone Star Life
2020-10-10 10:30 - 12:00 | Fort Worth Library, 500 W. Third St., Fort Worth, TX, 76102-7305, United States
Have you ever wanted to know more about the man behind the museum? Join us for a virtual presentation on Amon G. Carter by Brian Cervantez, who recently published the very first scholarly biography of the Fort Worth giant. After growing up in a one-room log cabin, Carter rose to become a philanthropist and enthusiastic promoter of Fort Worth. He founded the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, established Fort Worth’s first radio station, lobbied for the American Airlines to headquarter in Fort Worth, and secured government funding for an aircraft factory that would later become Lockheed Martin. Carter also funded or helped support various schools, churches, museums, and parks. Drawing from the Amon G. Carter papers at Texas Christian University, Cervantez will detail not only Carter’s life but his continuing influence in Fort Worth and the Southwest. Book signing will follow lecture!
Brian Cervantez is an associate professor of history and an assistant divisional dean at Tarrant County College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Texas in 2011. He has published numerous book reviews in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and Military History of the West. His first book, Amon Carter: A Lone Star Life, recently won the Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas History from the Texas State Historical Association.
This event will be conducted via Zoom. Click here to register!

Food as Cultural Identity: European, African and Indigenous Foods and Crops in America
2020-09-12 10:30 - 12:00
Register today to join us for our first VIRTUAL Community History Workshop program on ZOOM: Food as Cultural Identity: European, African, and Indigenous Foods and Crops in America with Dr. Peter Martínez! In honor of Hispanic American Heritage Month, Dr. Martínez’s will discuss how crops and foods in the Pre-Columbian Americas impacted European and Asian countries through the Columbian Exchange beginning in the sixteenth century. You will hear how Europeans and Mexican elites viewed indigenous American foods and learn how the relationship between food and cultural identity evolved as European, African, and Indigenous foods and crops to combine to give us foods that are common to us today.

Dr. Peter Martínez serves as an Associate Professor of History at Tarrant County College – Northeast Campus. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History from the University of Texas at Arlington and his Doctorate in History from the University of North Texas in 2017. Dr. Martínez’s dissertation, “Ready to Run: Fort Worth’s Mexicans in Search of Representation, 1960-2000,” was awarded Best Dissertation in Tejano/a Studies by the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies – Tejas Foco in 2018. He is an active Board Member for the Fort Worth Latino History Group.

Click here to register!!
