Saturday, February 22, 2014

ETHA in Emory

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce. 

Thursday board meeting
The 2014 Spring Meeting of the East Texas Historical Association was held on Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21, in Emory. Emory is the seat of Rains County, which is the fourth smallest of the 254 counties of the Lone Star State. But this small town (population 1231) boasts a three-story Best Western Inn, numerous historical attractions - and Ted and Gwen Lawe. Ted is a past president of the ETHA, and he and his wife Gwen made all manner of arrangements to bring the ETHA to her home town. 
First Baptist Church
Panel: L to R: Michael Collins, Mary Scheer
Dan Utley, and Light Cummins
We were welcomed with gracious hospitality by Emory's citizens. On Friday morning the spacious First Baptist Church provided meeting rooms for our sessions. The first session I attended was "Writing the Story of Texas," titled after a book recently published by the University of Texas Press. Each of the 14 chapters explores such early Texas historians as Eugene C. Barker, J. Frank Dobie, and Walter Prescott Webb. The session was chaired by Patrick Cox (who served as editor and contributed the chapter on Barker), and included presentations by chapter authors Michael Collins (W.P. Webb), Mary Scheer (Robert Cotner), Dan Utley (Ernest W. Winkler), and former State Historian Light Cummins (Charles W. Ramsdell). I immediately bought an autographed copy of the book - even before I lined up for refreshments! 

After lunch we gathered in the handsome 1909 courthouse, recently restored through the Texas Historical Commission courthouse program. Inside the courtroom we were regaled with a delightful history program about Rains County by Cay House, former mayor of Emory and a descendant of Emory Rains. We toured the nearby A.C. McMillan African American Museum, under the guidance of Ted And Gwen Lawe (McMillan was Gwen's father and a longtime principal).On the outskirts of town we toured the Rains County Heritage Center, a collection of historic buildings from the area. On Friday evening we enjoyed a reception and banquet at our hotel. ETHA Vice President Mary Scheer presided, and Ted Lawe provided the address. 
We met in the handsome courtroom.
On Saturday morning there was a Women's History Breakfast in the hotel banquet room. We assembled for morning sessions at the Emory City Centre building. As vice president of the West Texas Historical Association, I chaired the WTHA session. The first presenter was WTHA board member Robert Hall, who handles the arrangements for each annual WTHA meeting. Robert now lives in Pittsburg, and he spoke on: "The First in Aviation - The Pittsburg Airship" (a replica of which is housed in the local museum). Tai Kreidler, Executive Director of the WTHA, has researched and written on oil and gas history, and he presented a program on an East Texas giant: "The Inventive Genius of R.G. LeTourneau." 

The final event of our meeting was the Spring Awards Luncheon, held at the Emory Civic Centre. ETHA President Gene Preuss presided, and the Lucille Terry Award for historical architectural preservation was given to Grant and Faith Harris, proprietors of the Liberty Bell Wine Bar in downtown Nacogdoches. We departed Emory with memories of an especially delightful Spring Meeting. 
Part of the doll collection at the
A.C. McMillan Museum
Farm house at the Heritage Center
Point cotton gin scales building at the Heritage Center
Ted Lawe speaking at the Friday Night Banquet
Baytown Lee College Webb Society presented a
Saturday session.
The WTHA session was presented by Tai Kreidler,
and Robert Hall, while I presided.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Winnsboro

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

On Saturday, February 15, my wife Karon and I drove to Winnsboro for an event sponsored by the Winnsboro Preservation Commission and the Gilbreath Memorial Library.  Librarian Vickie Martin invited me months ago, and served as my contact person throughout the planning stages. I was asked to present a program on “The History of the Texas Cowboy.” Karon and I came in costume, and so did a number of our hosts and attendees. 
 

The event was held at Winnsboro’s historic downtown railroad depot. The meeting room of the picturesque old structure was decorated for a Western setting, and a table was provided for my props: saddle, branding irons, spurs, sombreros, and other items. I was asked to bring books, and Karon decorated the book table with a cover she created that incorporates images of my dust jackets, now numbering 42. We were assisted in setting up by Vickie Martin, her husband Morris, and Pam Dumse, assistant librarian and, in 2000, the Ladies’ State Champion of the Texas Mounted Shooting Association. Pam had agreed to provide a saddle, which relieved me from bringing one from Carthage. 

After we completed our preparations, Vickie and Morris took Karon and me to lunch a block away at the Double C Restaurant. I was shown around by proprietor Karen Cason, who graciously comped our meal. Everywhere we walked downtown there were color posters advertising our event. In addition to placing these posters, Vickie had arranged publicity with newspapers, radio, and TV news. The result of her PR efforts was a standing-room-only crowd. The room was filled with history buffs, and I tried to meet everyone. The Legends of the Crossroads, a reenactment group (Winnsboro was originally called “Crossroads”) who arrived in period attire and weapons. I was interviewed by Randy Lindsey of KWNS 104.7, and the program was broadcast live to the listening audience. 

Guitarist Joe Dan Boyd entertained the arriving crowd with cowboy ballads. A color guard posted the flags of the United States and Texas. Mayor John Pflug welcomed everyone, then presented me a handsome proclamation honoring the participation of the State Historian in this event. Vickie Martin provided a generous introduction, and I expressed gratitude to her, Mayor Plug, and to the audience for coming out on a Saturday afternoon. This large crowd of history buffs was primed for a State Historian’s program on the iconic Texas cowboy and the popular cowboy culture. The audience responded warmly and often with laughter throughout my presentation. Afterward I autographed a great many books and posters, and I posed for photos with a number of new friends. During our drive back to Carthage, Karon and I agreed that our day in Winnsboro had been one of the most exceptional experiences of my tenure as State Historian. 
Reenactor Zane Hartman with Karon
With Randy Lindsey of KWNS

The Legends of Crossroads reenactor group
L to R: Pam Dumse, Bill, Vickie Martin


For more information:
http://www.winnsborotexas.com/
http://www.winnsborolibrary.org/
http://www.thelegendsofcrossroads.com/

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Black History Month

"Lone Star Historian 2" is a blog about the travels and activities of the State Historian of Texas during his second year. Bill O'Neal was appointed to a two-year term by Gov. Rick Perry on August 22, 2012, at an impressive ceremony in the State Capitol. Bill is headquartered at Panola College (www.panola.edu) in Carthage, where he has taught since 1970. For more than 20 years Bill conducted the state's first Traveling Texas History class, a three-hour credit course which featured a 2,100-mile itinerary. In 2000 he was awarded a Piper Professorship, and in 2012 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association. Bill has published over 40 books, almost half about Texas history subjects, and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by his alma mater, Texas A&M University - Commerce.

Black History Gallery Exhibit
The celebration of Black History Month on the campus of Panola College is led each year by librarians Cristie Nutt and Sherri Baker. The library's gallery is arranged to celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans, especially men and women from Texas. And a "Lunch Box Special" is staged each February, with the library staff providing a delicious lunch with an appropriate program. As State Historian with an office on the Panola College campus, I was invited to provide a program at noon on Tuesday, February 4, in the Murphy Payne Community Room of the M.P. Baker Library.

Librarian Cristie Ferguson welcomes the crowd.
Lunch Box Specials are open to the public, and we had a standing-room-only crowd made up of citizens from the community, college students, and Panola faculty and staff members. The focus of my program, was Doris Miller,. an African-American from Waco who was a decorated hero of Pearl Harbor. A strapping farm boy at 6'3" and 225 pounds, Miller was a high school football star known as "Raging Bull." In 1939, 19-year-old Doris Miller enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Assigned to the battleship U.S.S. West Virginia, Miller was a mess attendant - and the ship's heavyweight boxing champ. 

On December 7, 1941, a surprise attack by Japanese warplanes focused on the big ships. The West Virginia was struck by seven torpedoes and two bombs, killing the captain and more than 100 crew members. While his ship was sinking beneath him, Doris carried his mortally wounded captain to cover. Although he had no gunnery training, Miller manned a machine gun and blazed away at attacking Japanese planes until ordered to abandon ship. Six months later Doris Miller became the first African-American to win the Navy Cross, which was presented by a fellow Texan, Admiral Chester Nimitz of Fredericksburg. Sadly, in 1943 Miller went down with the escort carrier Liscombe Bay during the battle of Makin Island. I was privileged to write a short biography of Miller at the request of Eakin Press, and the Lunch Box crowd seemed captivated by his story. 

I had enough time left to spend a few minutes on another notable African-American Texan, Bulldoggin' Bill Pickett. Born about 1870 near Taylor, young Pickett grew up fascinated by the cowboy culture around him. At that time bulldogs were trained to throw steers by biting the upper lip of the beasts. As a boy the irrepressible Pickett darted to a calf, grabbed his ears, bit his upper lip, and tossed the animal with a move of his head. A cowboy looking on shouted that the boy had to put bulldogs out of business when "he bulldogged that calf!" Pickett began cowboying at seventeen, and when trying to build a loop in brushy country, he often rode alongside a longhorn steer. Leaping off his horse, he seized the horns and bit the beast's upper lip. Soon he began to demonstrate his unique prowess at county fairs and early rodeos. Later he joined Oklahoma's 101 Ranch Wild West Show, a cowboy exhibition that performed throughout the nation and abroad. Pickett headlined the show and performed before millions, winning widespread acceptance in a time of open racial divide. The only performer known to have invented a rodeo event, Bulldoggin' Bill Pickett was the first African-American elected to the National Rodeo Hall of Fame, in 1972. 
Bulldoggin' Bill Pickett

Later in the week I was on the Panola College campus again, to emcee and provide a brief program at an induction ceremony for the Panola Athletic Hall of Fame. When I joined the faculty in 1970, I had spent the previous several yeas as a high school football and basketball coach, and I immediately became involved in Panola's athletic program. During my first year I was assigned by the president to coach the basketball team during the conference schedule, after the Pony coach was felled by illness and surgery at mid-season. For years I scouted for the team (there were no assistant coaches), and I was the scorekeeper for many years. For 35 years I was the voice of Pony Baseball over KGAS Radio in Carthage. And most enjoyably, I interacted with Pony and Fillie athletes for decades in my classroom. 
2014 Inductees:
Bottom L to R: Don Bounds, Mildred Hodge Griffith,
Todd Haney, above, Jim Gray and Steve Winfield

During the first three years of its existence, Panola County Junior College had a football team which won back-to-back state championships and a bowl game. The baseball team won a national championship in 1969, and Fillie basketball squads were back-to-back national champs in 1977 and 1978. Panola's first Hall of Fame induction was in 2002, and through the years inductees have included All-Americans in football, baseball, and men's and women's basketball. There have been two-time All-Americans, as well as athletes who have been conference or national tournament MVPs, and who have led the nation in scoring or home runs. Panola athletes have gone on to play not only at leading universities, but also in the NBA, the WNBA, the NFL, and major league baseball. Panola Hall of Famers also are in the NJCAA Hall of Fame, the WNBA Hall of Fame, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. 
Panola A.D. Don Clinton

Added to our impressive Hall of Fame lineup in 2014 are: Jim Gray of Beckville, All State quarterback of the 1949 and 1950 football State Champs; Don Bounds of Joaquin, a power-hitting All-American catcher; Mildred Hodge Griffith of Carthage, an All-American basketball player who was MVP of the NJCAA National Tournament as a sophomore, during the first Fillies' National Championship; Steve Winfield of San Augustine, two-time NJCAA All-American and a member of the USA Team in the World Games in Japan, along with a nine-year professional career; and Todd Haney of Waco, an NJCAA All-American, a star at the University of Texas, and a 13-year pro who spent five seasons in the National League. The largest crowd of the four Hall of Fame inductions attended the ceremony and banquet - and a lively afternoon and evening of reminiscence and laughter. 
Todd Haney receives his plaque and an inscribed copy
of my 125-year history of The International League,
containing his photo as the 1998 Batting Champ
and his coach's photo, Jacke Davis, as an I.L.
player during the 1960s.

L to R:  Todd Haney, Steve Winfield, Mildred Hodge
Griffith, Jim Gray, Don Bounds