On Friday morning, November 18, I appeared as
State Historian at O.C. Taylor Elementary School in Colleyville. Three of my
grandchildren are students at O.C. Taylor: second-grader Addie Gormley and first-grade
twins Reagan and Nolan Gormley. Last year I delivered a program at O.C. Taylor
to the combined fourth- and fifth-grade History classes. This year I was asked
by the fourth- grade teachers to return with a program on Texas cowboys, cattle
drives, cattle ranches – the entire cowboy culture. Learning that I would be on-campus, the second-grade teachers asked me to talk with their combined classes
about a number of subjects pertaining to Texas heritage. I was delighted to
comply, because this appearance included an overnight stay beforehand with my
three youngest grandchildren and their parents, Drew Gormley and Berri O’Neal Gormley.
Indeed, that evening a school activity was scheduled for O.C. Taylor students
in a gymnasium setting so I enjoyed the bonus pleasure of watching my grandkids
cavort around a gym with their teachers, administrators, and fellow students.
The O.C. Taylor school day opens with a closed circuit TV
newscast, directed by two youngsters manning the news desk. A weather girl clad in a
rain coat gave the weather forecast, followed by a young lady announcing the
lunch room menu. Afterward, I was introduced on camera, clad in cowboy attire
and standing proudly with my grandchildren, as a special guest for the morning.
Shortly afterward the fourth-grade classes were brought into the library where
they were highly attentive to my props and posters and stories about Texas
cowboys and longhorn cattle. The last few minutes were devoted to a lively Q
and A session which proved that this iconic Texas subject had connected with
the latest generation of students.
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With the fourth graders at O.C. Taylor Elementary School
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Another set of props and posters were set up in a vacant
classroom and a few minutes after I arrived, the second-grade students were
conducted in by their teachers. The topics requested of me by their teachers
worked with these students, and the Q and A which followed underscored the
preparation which the teachers had already accomplished in their classrooms. I
was strongly impressed by the students, teachers and administrators of O.C. Taylor
Elementary, and I was reassured about the future of Texas History instruction
in such schools.
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Mrs. Archer's second graders and their State Historian autographs
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Introduced by Addison Gormley, in the Abraham Lincoln costume I gave for her recent birthday
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A few days earlier I had another gratifying State Historian
experience with granddaughter Jessie L. Martinez, who is a seventh-grade Texas
History student at Danny Jones Middle School in Mansfield. Jessie is named
after my mother, Jessie L. Standard O’Neal. Mother was named for her
grandfather, Jessie L. Standard, who rode as a trail driver during the 1870s
and 1880s out of Lampasas County. Jessie’s father, Rudy Martinez, is a federal
banker in Irving, but his Martinez family makes their home in Corpus Christi
and Brownsville. Jessie has deeply embraced her Tejano heritage, and she is
looking forward to her Quinceañera in a couple of years. Jessie was present at
the State Capitol when I was sworn in as State Historian by Governor Perry. With such a deep-rooted Lone Star heritage, Jessie
has thrown herself into her Texas History studies this year. Her mother is my
oldest daughter, Lynn O’Neal Martinez, an award-winning teacher of Social
Studies and Language Arts in the Mansfield ISD. Recently she spoke to me about
Jessie’s growing fascination with Texas History, and suggested that I plan a
weekend field trip with my granddaughter. Of course I was thrilled, and on
Friday evening, November 11 I met Jessie and Lynn in Corsicana, and by 8:00, we had
driven to a Huntsville hotel.
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Jessie standing with Big Sam's face
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The next morning we visited Sam Houston’s impressive
gravesite, then we drove by the State Penitentiary on our way to the Sam
Houston Memorial Museum. It was still early so we walked over to the campus of
Sam Houston State University to see the oldest college building in continual
use in Texas, the handsome ante-bellum structure which opened at Austin College
in 1851 and which, since Austin’s transfer to Sherman, has served SHSU in
various uses. I also walked them past the ruins of Old Main, burned during the
centennial year of 1979. Of course, I had a running commentary of stories. (They
asked
me, after all!) By then the remarkable Sam Houston Memorial Museum was
open, and we took our time. Outside we toured Sam’s beloved Woodland Home and
the Steamboat House, where he died in 1863. Next we drove to the towering 67
foot statue of Big Sam, and there Jessie eagerly visited the gift shop.
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Jessie and Lynn at Woodland Home
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After a quick lunch, we drove to Washington-on-the-Brazos,
first touring The Star of Texas Museum, with its student-friendly exhibits.
Next we explored Barrington, the plantation of Dr. Anson B. Jones before going
to Independence Hall, which Jessie recently had studied. We took the
well-marked walking path around the historic old town site and had a stop at
the ferry site, before finishing at the excellent Visitor Center and Gift Shop.
As we returned toward Corsicana, we made brief stops in Navasota, including the
statue of young City Marshal Frank Hamer, and the picturesque 1894 Grimes
County Court House in Anderson. We reached Corsicana in time for Lynn and
Jessie to drive home.
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Jessie and Lynn at the Barrington barn
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I spent the night in Corsicana, before driving into the Hill
Country for a Sunday visit with my sister in Lampasas. Early in the week I made
State Historian appearances at the TACRAO Annual Conference in Marble Falls and
at a TSHA Texas History Teachers Conference in Dallas (as described in the
previous blog). But I finished the week at O.C. Taylor Elementary in Colleyville.
A couple of days later I received from granddaughter Jessie a color brochure
that she and her father put together as a memento of our Texas history field
trip. Nothing could be more deeply gratifying to a State Historian.
