Saturday, March 7, 2026

This roundtable honors the life and legacy of Jenkins Garrett—lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and one of Texas’s great collectors of history. Panelists will reflect on Garrett’s enduring impact on Texas scholarship, his pivotal role in developing UT Arlington’s Special Collections, and his lifelong dedication to preserving the state’s documentary heritage. Session Chair: Stephen L. Hardin, Texas

This panel introduces researchers to the rich and evolving Texas history resources housed at Southern Methodist University. Presenters from the DeGolyer Library, the SMU Archives, and the Rees-Jones Library of the American West highlight key manuscript, archival, photographic, and printed collections available to scholars, students, and the public. Together, the papers showcase both longstanding and

Join award-winning writer and director Olive Talley for a screening of The Stones Are Speaking, a powerful documentary about the groundbreaking discoveries at the Gault Archaeological Site and the visionary Austin archaeologist who saved it for history. The film follows Mike Collins, who, at great personal risk and expense, preserved 30 acres of looted land

This session brings together three examinations of Dallas’s past that illuminate how the city has grappled with memory, identity, and urban transformation. Stephen Fagin analyzes Dallas’s fraught response to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, tracing the tension between those who sought public commemoration and civic leaders eager to move beyond the city’s association

This session brings together three perspectives on political leadership, public sentiment, and civic culture in twentieth-century Texas. From John Nance Garner’s colorful philosophy of politics and bourbon, to Texas’s right-leaning resilience during the Watergate era, to reflections on past versus present governance, the panel examines how Texans have understood power, policy, and public life across

Session Chair: Alexandra Rhue, National Medal of Honor Museum:

Session Chair: Margaret Hoogstra, Authentic Texas

In 1916, the United States faced escalating unrest along the Texas–Mexico border, prompting one of the largest National Guard mobilizations in the nation’s history. A Border in Crisis explores this pivotal moment through three interrelated presentations that examine how the deployment of the Texas and Illinois National Guards exposed weaknesses, generated innovation, and ultimately strengthened