Hi:
I spotted the article below in this week's Dick Eastman Online gen.
newsletter. His newsletter is available for $10. a year - well worth it -
has great gen. articles each week.
He gave permission to forward this article.
Regards,
Nan
71532.734(a)compuserve.com
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- Texas State Historical Association Threatened with Budget Cut
The following was written by Beth M. Bow of the Texas State
Historical Association and is republished here with permission:
It is with great concern that I contact you regarding the
plight of the Texas State Historical Association. We are the
oldest learned society in the state of Texas. Our mission is
to foster the appreciation, understanding, and teaching of
the rich and unique history of Texas and by example and
through programs and activities encourage and promote
research, preservation, and publication of historical
material affecting the state of Texas.
Soon after our inception in 1897, the University of Texas
invited the Association to establish our headquarters on the
university campus. We have remained here ever since. In
1940, the University enhanced this relationship when it
established a research center in Texas history as a part of
the College of Liberal Arts and named Professor Walter
Prescott Webb, a member of the Department of History and the
director of the Association, as the director of Research in
Texas History (now known as the Center for Studies in Texas
History) as well. The Association works in conjunction with
the Center for Studies in Texas History in developing its
programs and, for all practical purposes, the Association
and the Center are synonymous. The Association is an
educational organization, designated 501 (c) (3) by the
Internal Revenue Service.
The Association's activities are organized into four major
programs: Publications, Research and Information Services,
Public Programs, and Educational Services. The Southwestern
Historical Quarterly is now in its 107th volume of
publication. It is a quarterly journal of history related to
Texas. Each issue of the Quarterly is a treasure trove of
primary and secondary sources on all aspects of Texas and
Southwestern history and contains many articles of interest
to genealogists in their research. The Association is the
oldest publisher of scholarly books in the state.
The New Handbook of Texas is a six-volume multi-disciplinary
encyclopedia of Texas history, culture, and geography that
provides a ready reference source for almost any historical
question relating to Texas. Maintenance of the information
base is the program's foremost objective. That database of
information is updated, corrected, and expanded on a
continuing basis so that subsequent editions of the Handbook
may be produced in a timely and effective manner to meet the
changing needs of society's students and educators.
The Handbook of Texas Online is a program priority. With
support from the Perry-Castendada Library and the College of
Liberal Arts at UT Austin, we have developed a fully
searchable electronic edition of the Handbook. It is an
invaluable resource for genealogists that must not be taken
away.
We organized and established the Junior Historians of Texas
(an extracurricular organization for students in grades six
through twelve) in 1939. It is still going strong. he Walter
Prescott Webb Historical Society is the counterpart of the
Junior Historians on the college level. Both organizations
work through established school instructional programs to
encourage students to discover, research, write, and publish
the history of Texas as they find it where they live.
Texas History Day (a part of the National History Day) is
another one of our educational programs. It is a
competition that provides an opportunity for Texas, U.S.,
and world history students in grades six through twelve to
demonstrate their interest in and knowledge of history
through papers, projects, performances, and media
activities.
These are just a few of our activities. We do much more. I
am passionate about this because I know first hand about the
good that the Texas State Historical Association does,
especially the educational programs. I am a former member of
the Junior Historian Program and of the Walter Prescott Webb
Historical Society. I have been tracing my family tree for
over twenty-five years now. I started when I was thirteen
years old. I know the value of the Southwestern Historical
Quarterly and of the Handbook of Texas first hand in my
genealogical research. Please help us to keep this
organization in existence.
I don't know if you've seen any of the news coverage
regarding our plight. You can access the articles by doing a
search on Google News. This is a serious threat to our
organization and I am appealing to you all for help. I'm
hoping that we will be able to get a major grass-roots
campaign to keep the Texas State Historical Association from
going under. I'm hoping that the UT-Austin and state
officials will be contacted by ordinary citizens, not just
historians. I think that the decision makers need to know
that there is a demand for our organization by ordinary
citizens and historians alike.
I am quoting a recent memo that our Director, Dr. Ron Tyler,
received from the Dean of the Liberal Arts,
Dear Ron,
I write to confirm what I described in our
conversation: the current fiscal challenges facing the
University have forced us to entertain odious ideas
that would otherwise be unthinkable. One of these
objectionable options is the closure of the Center for
Texas History. The value of the Center's work goes
without saying. Faced with an inability to fulfill our
teaching obligations, however, we would have to close
enterprises like the Center rather than fail to be able
to deliver in the classroom.
It is my fervent hope that the outcome of the
legislative session provides us with some form of
relief so that a worst case scenario involving the
closure of the Center can be avoided. Still, it would
be irresponsible of me not to let you know that things
have reached such a state that we are talking about
this option. I hope that we will not have to close the
Center, but we would do so if forced by shortage of
funds for teaching to do so.
I will keep you informed as things become clearer. Rest
assured that we will do our level best to keep the
Center as it is, but the possibility of closure is real
and it is on the table.
Richard W. Lariviere, Dean College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station G6000
Austin, TX 78712
Thus, you can see that the threat is real. We need your
help.
Sincerely, Beth M. Bow
TSHA Publications Department and Concerned Genealogist
Texas State Historical Association
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D0901
Austin, Texas 78712-0332
Phone: (512) 232-1513
Fax: (512) 471-1551
Email: bethbow(a)utxvms.cc.utexas.edu
You can find a lot more information about this threat online. One
interesting article can be found at:
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=apwire&xlc=1004067
To discuss this story further, please visit the newsletter
Discussion Board at
http://www.RootsForum.com and click on
"Discussion Board."