Sessions

Explore the German Texan experience and Texas’s multilingual roots in this rich, three-part session. From Ferdinand Lindheimer’s on-the-ground journalism in the 1850s, to an intimate immigrant memoir by Heinrich von Struve, to a sweeping look at Texas’s trilingual legal and educational past, attendees will gain fresh insight into how language, identity, and community shaped 19th-century Texas.

Explore how the authors of Texas: Crossroads of North America navigated political, cultural, and technological challenges—including AI, the Yawp project, and the digital humanities—while revising their textbook for today’s turbulent times.

Step into the lives of three Texans whose wartime experiences left an indelible mark on history. From Harlon Block’s iconic role at Iwo Jima, to Jane Weir Phillips Scott’s firsthand witness to Nazi atrocities as a Red Cross Clubmobile worker, to Albert “Pappy” DeHart’s harrowing missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this session offers a powerful, human perspective on pivotal moments of the Second World War.

This presentation examines the extraordinary life of Francis Asbury Vaughan, a Texan who chose to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Drawing on Vaughan’s own writings and family records, it explores his wartime service, political career, and legacy as a symbol of Texas Unionism in a deeply divided era.

This session highlights new research into Washington County’s freedom colonies—communities founded by formerly enslaved Texans after emancipation. Presenters will explore how churches, schools, cemeteries, and cultural traditions helped shape these settlements, with case studies of Camptown and other colonies, and how recent projects are preserving their stories for future generations

This session, chaired by Lily Norman of the Spindletop Boomtown Museum, explores the transformative history and enduring legacy of Texas’s oil boom. Presentations will highlight the 1901 Spindletop gusher that launched the modern petroleum industry, the museums that preserve and interpret this pivotal history, and the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field that reshaped the region during the Great Depression. Together, these talks examine how oil shaped Texas’s economy, identity, and global influence.

This session examines Texas’s past, present, and future relationship with water—its most vital and contested natural resource. Presenters will explore the current condition of Texas’s surface and groundwater systems, the pressures of population growth and industrial demand, and the innovative planning strategies shaping the state’s water future. Topics include the management of existing water resources, challenges of quality and supply, and emerging solutions such as water reuse, desalination, and aquifer storage.

This luncheon celebrates the achievements of women in Texas history and features guest speaker Sharon Sandle of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society. The event includes the presentation of the Liz Carpenter Award, Kay Bailey Hutchison Award, and Lynna Kay Shuffield Memorial Award, along with a three-course plated meal.

This session brings together historians to reflect on the life, scholarship, and enduring influence of Robert S. Weddle, long regarded as the “Dean of Spanish Colonial Historians.” Participants will discuss Weddle’s pioneering research on Spanish Texas, his contributions to historical methodology, and the ways his work continues to shape interpretations of colonial history and the Gulf of Mexico borderlands.

This session explores how personal narratives—memoirs and oral histories—bring humanity and depth to historical study. Kenneth Taylor examines the use of survivor accounts in Holocaust research and education, while Laurie Bricker shares her grandmother’s story as the last survivor of the 1900 Galveston Storm. Together, they reveal how lived experience preserves memory, connects generations, and transforms the way we understand the past.

This session highlights the leadership and civic impact of women who helped shape Texas communities through education and activism. Dr. Erika Arredondo-Haskins explores the lives of Vicenta Yturri Edmunds and Ernestine E. Edmunds, Hispanic Catholic women whose family legacy advanced education in San Antonio. Kendall Ferguson examines the remarkable life of Juanita Craft, the Dallas civil rights pioneer who championed voter rights, desegregation, and youth activism. Together, these papers offer powerful insights into women’s enduring influence in shaping Texas history.

Join TSHA in welcoming incoming president Wes Perry at this special evening event featuring a buffet dinner, hosted bar, and live entertainment by musician and storyteller John Lomax III.

Join fellow book lovers and Texana enthusiasts for a morning celebrating Texas history and storytelling. Guest speaker Julie DeWees Sparks will discuss her new book, Under Texas Skies: Oil, Ranches, and Dreams That Shaped a State, an engaging exploration of the people, industries, and bold ambitions that forged modern Texas. A full Texas-style breakfast buffet will be served.

This session explores the intertwined natural and cultural histories of Mexico and Texas through two studies of animals that helped shape the borderlands. José Roberto Campos Cordero examines the rise of wild horses and cattle—mesteñas and mostrencos—as agents of ecological and social change, while Matthew Butler traces artist and novelist Tom Lea’s search for Mexico’s toros bravos and their symbolic link to Texan identity. Together, these papers illuminate how animal life bridged landscapes, mythologies, and histories across the border.

This session explores the rediscovery and reinterpretation of Texas’s Centennial legacy—from the 1930s revival of the Texas Declaration of Independence to the monuments, maps, and memorabilia that shaped public memory. Presenters examine how educators, artists, and historians of the era transformed commemoration into education, identity, and civic pride.

This session features four archeologists whose work reveals how archeology complements and challenges written history. Through studies spanning missions, frontier forts, forgotten cemeteries, and early settlements, the panel demonstrates how material evidence enriches our understanding of Texas’s past and deepens public engagement with its stories.

This session highlights the achievements of Texas women in aviation, from trailblazing pilot Edith Whatley McKanna to the pioneering Women Airforce Service Pilots. Through stories of flight, leadership, and legacy, presenters explore how Texas women reshaped history both in the air and on the ground.

This panel examines the lives, leadership, and legacies of three often-overlooked Texas governors—Richard Coke, James Webb Throckmorton, and Oran Roberts—each of whom navigated the state through turbulent political eras. From Reconstruction challenges to constitutional change and the founding of major educational institutions, these governors left indelible marks on Texas history.

This session explores Texans’ pivotal role in shaping and fighting within Confederate Indian Territory during the Civil War. Presenters examine the formation of Confederate Indian policy, the collaboration between Texans and Native forces, and the personal stories that illuminate this complex frontier conflict.

This session examines how religion and science have shaped cultural identity and knowledge exchange across the Texas–Mexico borderlands. Adam T. Hogan explores the many “gods” of Big Bend National Park, tracing the spiritual significance of its landscapes, while Miguel Hernández Vásquez recovers the forgotten legacy of Rómulo Escobar, a Ciudad Juárez scientist who used agronomy and education to advance peace and progress during Mexico’s revolutionary era.

A long-standing Annual Meeting tradition, the TSHA Fellows and Awards Luncheon honors outstanding Texas history researchers, authors, and educators. The program includes the presentation of new Fellows, fellowships, and annual book and education awards, accompanied by a three-course plated meal.

Travel through Texas legal history in this session examining the evolution of law from the early days of Mexican Texas to the enduring framework of the state’s 1876 Constitution. From the bustling alcalde court of San Felipe de Austin to the foundational principles that still govern Texas today, this panel offers unique perspectives on the state’s judicial and constitutional heritage.

From frontier towns to Depression-era racetracks, this session explores the evolution of horse racing in Texas. Presenters trace how the sport reflected broader cultural and economic shifts—from informal quarter races of the nineteenth century to the rise and fall of Arlington Downs in the early twentieth century.

This session explores the layered histories of Chinese migration, identity, and representation in Texas through a transnational and interdisciplinary lens. Presenters examine the evolution of Chinese and Taiwanese diasporic communities and their cultural landscapes—from historic Chinatowns to contemporary global networks—revealing how movement, memory, and place continue to shape the Texas experience.

This session explores the lives and legacies of two Catholic priests whose careers intersected with pivotal moments in Texas history. From colonial San Antonio to the Republic of Texas, these figures offer unique windows into the cultural, religious, and literary life of the region.

This session examines the 1916 deployment of National Guard forces to the Texas–Mexico border and how this critical operation reshaped U.S. military readiness. Through case studies of the Texas and Illinois National Guards, presenters reveal how the border crisis prepared the nation for World War I and transformed logistical and policy planning for future conflicts.

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 decades. Together, the papers offer a sharp, engaging look at Texas politics in both historical and contemporary relief.

This session explores three pivotal stories in Dallas history: how the city memorialized the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, how it navigated more than a century of urban planning challenges, and how a hometown airline put Dallas on the aviation map. Presenters examine Dallas’s conflicted journey toward public remembrance—from early grassroots tributes to the contentious creation of the JFK Memorial and The Sixth Floor exhibit—and trace the city’s evolving planning efforts from its frontier origins through the City Beautiful movement and postwar suburbanization, along with the transformation of aviation in Dallas by Braniff Airways as the city has grown. Together, these papers shed new light on how Dallas has shaped—and reshaped—its identity in response to tragedy, growth, and change.

A discussion celebrating Jenkins Garrett’s remarkable legacy as a lawyer, philanthropist, and passionate collector whose vision helped shape Texas historical preservation and scholarship.

Writer and director Olive Talley presents a 56-minute version of her documentary The Stones Are Speaking, which tells the remarkable story of Austin archaeologist Mike Collins and his efforts to preserve the Gault Archaeological Site—one of the most significant prehistoric discoveries in the Americas. The film reveals how Collins and his team uncovered evidence of human life in Central Texas dating back 20,000 years, rewriting the timeline of human arrival in North America. A Q&A with the filmmaker follows the screening.