Annie Webb Blanton got her education career off to an early start, taking a job as a teacher in a one-room rural schoolhouse as soon as she graduated from high school at the age of seventeen. While earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas, she continued to support herself by teaching elementary… Read more »
For decades, the Handbook of Texas—produced by the Texas State Historical Association in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin—has been one of the most popular sources of information about Texas history, geography, and culture. Its online incarnation has grown into the largest digital state encyclopedia in the country. As with many popular historical and… Read more »
Our national parks have partially reopened after being temporarily closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions. This reopening comes just in time to celebrate the 100th birthday of Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. Hot Springs was officially designated a national park on March 4, but its history goes back thousands of years. Over… Read more »
Many of us take a day off from work or classes on the third Monday in January to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This day has been designated a national holiday since 1983, but since 1994 it has also been designated a national day of service. The MLK Day of Service… Read more »
It’s been a tragic and tumultuous few weeks for national politics and the United States. As a result of national goings-on, it might be easy to forget that today is the start of the 87th Texas Legislative session. The 87th Texas Legislative convenes today, January 21 and ends on May 31, 2021. In light of… Read more »
The U.S. federal government response in recent years to matters related to transgender rights has skewed against recognition, dignity, and equality. 2016 started with an onslaught of proposed legislation and public policy measures aimed at negating the basic civil rights of transgender individuals in the United States. These developments have endangered both the physical health… Read more »
The second Monday of October traditionally marks the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in America. This tradition, however, is a fairly new one, and it isn’t officially recognized nationwide by that name. [Update: Joe Biden was the first U.S. President to officially recognize Indigenous People’s Day with a Presidential Proclamation in 2021.] Most… Read more »
During the hot, muggy summer of 1787, a Grand Convention was called together at the Pennsylvania State House (now called Independence Hall) in Philadelphia for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, which had proved a highly unsatisfactory document for holding the United States together during the first 13 years of the young nation’s existence. While waiting… Read more »
One hundred years ago today, at 8:00 a.m. on August 26, 1920, without fanfare, in the privacy of his own home and unseen by the press or the public, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby formally certified Tennessee’s ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, bringing to a culmination a 72-year, non-violent campaign to… Read more »
There is no doubt that 2020 has been a bumpy year. Current conditions, including the ongoing pandemic and an election looming on the horizon, ensure the year will go out with a bang. It is an opportune moment to pause and observe August 25th as National Kiss and Make Up Day. When relationships hit a… Read more »
