New Gallery Exhibit Opening in March

JANUARY 2010
Member Lunch
Date Set for
February 13
T
he San Jacinto
Museum will host its
second member
New Gallery Exhibit Opening in March
Designed in Response to Visitors’ Questions
S
ometimes an exhibit can
well as the
be a learning experience
desire to show
for both the public and
more of the
the museum staff. When we
interesting
lunch on Saturday, February
opened Developing Houston:
photos and
13. A benefit offered to
Photographic Treasures from the Cecil related
members of the San Jacinto
Thomson Collection in 2008, we
Museum of History at the
were excited to share a sampling museum’s
Museum Circle level or above,
of images that highlight the
collections,
this year members at a lower
history of the region in the first
has inspired
artifacts in the
level may purchase a ticket for
half of the
$25.00 to attend. The lunch
that show has been up (it will
Exhibit: Cecil
will be held at the Monument
close on February 25, 2010),
Thomson
Inn and will feature updates
thousands of visitors came
Revealed. In
on the plans and activities of
through and many responded to this exhibit,
the museum, including
the exhibit by writing to the
opening on
forthcoming exhibits and the
museum to reminisce about the
March 12, the
April events that surround
city they knew. Teachers had
biographical
San Jacinto Day. Members
their students e-mail questions
data (revealed
will have the opportunity to
about photography, the people
in the January 2009 issue of the
ask questions of the Curator,
in the photos, and Thomson
San Jacinto News) and new images newest acquisition, a large scale
Liz Appleby, and Library
himself. City dwellers asked if
that were obtained from
model (over six-feet long) of the
Director, Lisa Struthers, as
the building they were currently
Thomson’s descendents along
USS Cruiser Houston (CA 30),
well as museum President
living in really was once a
with the answers to select
the "Galloping Ghost of the
Larry Spasic.
famous department store.
questions from the public will be Java Coast". This ship, lost in
Save the Date
20th
century. While
Reflections of an
A still by Thomson of Jack Holt portraying the indomitable Don
McMasters in the 1924 silent film North of 36. If Holt’s jawline
looks familiar, come see the exhibit to find out why.
also feature the Museum’s
The number of questions,
presented. Photos of early
the Pacific Theatre of World
over 300 unique inquiries, as
Galveston, the film set of
War II at the Battle of Sunda
January 27: Old West Hardware exhibit opens in museum lobby
February 13: Member lunch
March 12: Exhibit opening:Reflections of an Exhibit: Cecil Thomson Revealed
April 14: San Jacinto Dinner
North of 36—a 1924
Strait, was featured in several of
Western shot in and
Cecil Thomson’s photos of
around Harris County—
ships in the Houston Ship
the Marks LH7 Ranch, and Channel. Come join us in the
April 17: San Jacinto Symposium
other landmarks of early
spring for the exhibit whose
April 21: San Jacinto Day; Official Commemoration of the Battle of San Jacinto
Houston will also be
script was co-written by our
April 24: San Jacinto Day Festival and Battle Reenactment
displayed. The show will
guests.
Elegant Evenin
Letter from the President
Dear Friends,
As 2009 has drawn to a close and the start of a new decade leads to
reflection about our past and our future, one of the many things for which
our museum can be grateful is its volunteers.
From its founding, a vital and important asset to the San Jacinto
Museum of History has always been an impressive group of individuals
serving on the Board of Trustees. The founding trustees included
historian and engineer L. W. Kemp; Houston attorney, banker, and
founder of the University of Houston W. B. Bates; architect of the
Monument as well as other major Houston buildings Alfred C. Finn; and
Madge Hearne, granddaughter of Sam Houston and President of the
Daughters of the Republic of Texas, an organization that had been
instrumental in the founding of the park and the commemoration of the
Battle of San Jacinto. Oilman George A. Hill, Jr., whose large collection
of books, manuscripts, and artifacts were the basis of the museum’s
Honoree Sylvia Garcia with Bailey Dalton and Greg Binion of Kirby Corp.
collection, and whose love of the Battlefield and vision for a museum to
share the history of Texas and promote understanding among the nations
that played a role in the founding of Texas, was the first leader of the
original board. These first trustees, as well as early contributors toward
funding the museum like Gus Wortham, Jesse H. Jones, James A. Elkins,
and H. R. Cullen, were the leaders in the establishment of Houston as a
significant city for industry, trade, medicine, education, and culture. The
history of the San Jacinto Museum parallels and is an integral part of the
history of Houston.
Because this season is when board members rotate off of the board
and new trustees come on, the volunteer service of the trustees has been
prominent in my thoughts. Like the first trustees, the recent members of
the board of Trustees have followed the tradition of its founders as
leaders in the business, social, charitable and educational fields in
Houston, as well as Texas as a whole. They serve without financial
Ro
Cordell Guillory and Nichole Moffett of Bank of America.
compensation to fulfill the public trust placed upon them to govern the
museum and carry out its mission.
Supporters of the Elegant Evening with History
This coming year, we will certainly miss the presence of David Scoular
Kirby Corporation
who served as a trustee from January, 2006 until his passing on
November 22, 2009. He represented and exemplified the finest
Strake Foundation
characteristics of those who have served this organization so well.
Other volunteers also play a significant role in the museum’s activities
and events. In 2009, six volunteers provided over 600 hours of work in
the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library; four of these volunteers were
Mr. and Mrs. Risher Randall
Port of H
Bank of America
ExxonMobil
Office Systems of Texas
Mr. Thomas D. Barrow
San Jaci
Mr. A
Apache Corporation
Mr. Obie O’Brien
Mr. and M
Mr. Robert and Dr. Elizabeth Woolfolk Gulf Winds International, Inc. Mr. and Mrs
Residential Volunteers on loan from Texas Parks and Wildlife. Without
volunteer help, it would not be possible to hold the San Jacinto Day
Festival and Battle Reenactment. Volunteers from San Jacinto College,
Bayer MaterialScience
Mrs. Dorothy Knox Houghton
Mrs. Edw
Mr. and Mrs. William P. Conner
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Keeton
Mr. and Mrs
the Pasadena Strawberry Festival and Deer Park ISD helped with the
festival in 2009, while the success of the reenactment is due to the
volunteer Texas Army.
On behalf of Chairman Risher Randall and the museum staff, I would
like to thank all of the volunteers who impact events at San Jacinto,
including the Trustees, for another year of service to the museum and so
to Texas.
Larry Spasic
President, San Jacinto Museum of History Association
Gail and Charles Grant of Economic Alliance Houston Port Region.
JANUARY 2010
SAN J ACINTO NEWS
2
ng with History
Today’s Heroes of San Jacinto
New
and
Renewing
Members
Sam Houston Society
Intercontinental Terminals Co.
Monument Society
Mr. and Mrs. A. Leslie Ballard
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Barrow
Hon. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.
Mrs. Helen K. Groves
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brooks Hixon
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Horne
Mr. and Mrs. William R. Lummis
Museum Circle
The San Jacinto College Chamber Singers under the direction of Paul Busselberg.
Ms. Mary Patricia S. Atkins
Dr. John Kirk
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Bentsen
Mr. and Mrs. J. Philip McCormick
Mr. and Mrs. Lan C. Bentsen
Mr. and Mrs. W. Walter Negley
Dr. and Mrs. Marvin E. Chernosky
Mr. and Mrs. William D. Noel
Ms. Marion S. Hargrove
Mr. and Mrs. George A. Peterkin, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Edd C. Hendee
Mr. and Mrs. T. R. Reckling, III
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Keeton
Mr. and Mrs. Eliot P. Tucker
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Kelsey
Independence Society
obert Murray, Mary Blake, Townes Pressler, Kay Bruce, Jerry Michon, and Risher Randall.
Ms. Barbara K. Chiles
Ms. Joan H. Lyons
Mr. Charles Gossett
Mr. and Mrs. Mark S. Powell
Hon. Gene Green
Mrs. John L. Welsh, Jr.
Ms. Olive M. Jenney
Mr. and Mrs. Milton H. West, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Koch
Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Wright
Mr. and Mrs. Tim Lomax
Family Freedom Society
y
Houston Authority
Alfred Davis IV
into Descendants
Mrs. John Manlove
s. Thomas R. Kelsey
ward Blackburn, Jr.
s. Stephen C. Dillard
Barry Beasley, Mayor of La Porte, views the special exhibits.
Mr. Daniel W. Harris
Mrs. W. Buck Arnold
Mr. and Mrs. William L. Hixon
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gervais Bell
Mrs. Thomas W. Houghton
Mr. Thomas G. Binig
Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Blades
Mr. and Mrs. William Kelsey
Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Blakely, III
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Kiatta
Mr and Mrs. Francis X. Bostick
Mr. and Mrs. David Marold
Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Boykin, Jr.
Ms. Kay Kimball Martin
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Brem
Mr. and Mrs. Ed Marston
Mr. and Mrs. John B. Brent
Mrs. Rosemary McBride
Mr. and Mrs. Thurman S. Clements
Mr. and Mrs. Alec Mize
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert V. Cooke, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Hilmar G. Moore
Dr. and Mrs. Denton A. Cooley
Mr. and Mrs. William C. Parrish
Mr. and Mrs. John L. DeVault
Mr. and Mrs. Karl Rove
Cdr. and Mrs. Markham Dossett USNR (ret.)
Dr. and Mrs. Don E. Sanders
Dr. and Mrs. C. William Doubleday
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Seeligson, III
Ms. Anita Holt Eisenhauer
Hon. and Mrs. Wayne Smith
Thanks to Other Special Donors
The Fondren Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Allen, III
The Brown Foundation
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation
M.D. Anderson Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. L. Clay Fisher
Dr. Bob E. Stout
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. Fossler
Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Terry
Mr. and Mrs. William S. Haddock, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. James G. Ulmer
Mr. Evetts Haley, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Peter S. Wareing
Dr. and Mrs. Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr.
Ms. Rosine McFaddin Wilson
JANUARY 2010
SAN J ACINTO NEWS
3
San Jacinto
Museum of History
Board of Trustees 2009
Hardware of the Old West
Lobby Exhibit Takes Aim at Fact and Fiction
Hon. Frank W. Calhoun
"I
Tom M. Davis, Jr.
West shortly before he was shot
Dr. J. Frank de la Teja
to death in a gunfight in
Robert B. Hixon
Arkansas.
Risher Randall, Chair
Hon. Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.
Nancy T. Burch
Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton
Susan Booth Keeton
love it. It is wild
with adventure" –
Henry Starr
describing his life in the Old
The American Old West
(sometimes referred to as the
Mike Lamb
Wild West) is comprised of the
Jan Lawler
Douglas McLeod
history, geography, peoples,
Chad Muir
lore, and culture of the people
Urban O’Brien
living in the Western United States during the
the nation grew from an agrarian society to an
James A. Reeder, Jr.
period of the latter half of the 19th century,
industrialized nation, the U.S. government greatly
Hon. Mark White
between the American Civil War and the turn of
expanded its powers. As the American Old West
Brass and copper powder flask used by Henry McCulloch,
Texas Ranger, U.S. Senator, and C.S.A. General.
the century. However, the culture that inspired the passed into history, the myths of the West took
CONTACT INFORMATION:
time more broadly stretched from the early 19th
firm hold in the imagination of Americans and
of History Association
century to the end of the Mexican Revolution in
foreigners alike. The history of Texas is an integral
One Monument Circle
1920.
part of the culture and mythology of the Old West.
San Jacinto Museum
La Porte (Houston), TX 77571-9585
Through treaties with foreign nations and
The lobby exhibit opening on January 27th
Phone: 281/479-2421
native peoples, political compromise, technological looks at the “hardware” (guns, rifles, bullets, spurs,
Fax: 281/479-2428
innovation, military conquest, the establishment of etc.) and imagery (art and literature) of the era to
E-mail: sjm@sanjacinto-museum.org
law and (relative) order, and the great migrations of see how fact was depicted in fiction. The
Web: www.sanjacinto-museum.org
The San Jacinto Museum of History
Association was chartered in 1938 to preserve
and revisualize the early history of Texas.
foreigners, the United States expanded from coast
paintings, books and artifacts of that time period
to coast, fulfilling its belief in Manifest
make up a significant portion of the holdings of
Destiny. In securing and managing the West as
the San Jacinto Museum.
© 2010 San Jacinto Museum of History
SAN J ACINTO NEWS
JANUARY 2010
4
San Jacinto Museum of History
Association
One Monument Circle
La Porte, TX 77571-9585