Reconstruction

Women and the Rangers: Mothers, Wives, & Daughters. The words “Texas Ranger” do not usually call to mind the picture of a woman, yet women have played an important part in the history of the Rangers. They have been mothers and grandmothers, sisters and daughters, sweethearts and wives, aunts and nieces, friends and foes. Women were also commissioned as Special Rangers in the 1920s – 1940s, with one even commissioned to serve as a Mansion Guard at the governor’s mansion, a task often performed by Regular Rangers at that time.

The lumber industry has played a key role in the economic development of Texas since the end of the Civil War. Timber production in East Texas was partially responsible for the rapid growth of railroads in the state, as well as the development of the Texas paper industry and the rise of both residential and commercial building. However, jobs in the lumber industry have been considered as some of the most hazardous occupations, and numerous problems with pollution and deforestation have led to some people speaking out against commercial lumber production.

This Texas Talk aired on Monday August 15, 2016 by the Texas State Historical Association. Fort McKavett was established in 1852 by the 8th US Infantry. The fort closed briefly in 1859, but reopened in 1869 and has been designated a Texas historic site since May 17, 1968. The fort is considered one of the most intact and preserved examples of Texas-Indian Wars military post. The fort has restored structures that include officers’ quarters, barracks, hospital, school house, dead house, sink, and post headquarters.

This is a primary source found at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. In this exhibit, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission presents its collection of historic flags -- forty in all -- for the first time. Information on each flag includes a high-resolution image and the documentation held by this institution. Many of these flags are too large and too endangered to be exhibited or handled. This digital exhibit makes possible the most extensive exploration yet of these rare treasures of Texas history. Flags are among the world's most powerful symbols.

This is a database for Texas Newspapers that date back to the early 19th century. The Texas Digital Newspaper Program (TDNP) partners with communities, publishers, and institutions to promote standards-based digitization of Texas newspapers and to make them freely accessible via The Portal to Texas History. Through continual outreach visits across Texas combined with advanced technological infrastructure and multiple funding sources, TDNP has become a state and national leader in newspaper preservation.

This is an online exhibit featured by the Austin History Center and the Austin Public Library and highlights Austin history through views of its Capitol. The current capitol, built in 1888, is the fourth building in Austin to house the offices of the Texas government. It is a story of an engineering and construction feat to equal few others of its time, of financial and political maneuvering, of struggle and compromise, and of people who planned and worked for its completion.

This is an online exhibit featured by the Austin History Center and the Austin Public Library. Austin's street history truly begins in 1839, just prior to the city's founding, when Mirabeau B. Lamar, President of the Republic of Texas, commissioned his old war-time friend Edwin Waller to survey the site for the new capital city and to oversee its planning and construction. Waller, who had participated in the signing of the Declaration of Independence and was well-acquainted with pioneering work, accepted the task.

This is a newspaper article highlighting how the Dayton Historical Society has began research on the history of the rice industry in Liberty County Texas. The Dayton Historical Society took a look Monday night at the rice industry in Liberty County through the eyes of one of the few remaining connections to the grain in the area. Eileen Stoesser told 46 members and guests about the history of rice in America and southeast Texas, but especially the background of how Liberty County went from more than 100 rice farmers in the 1970s to just four today.