Billboard in Deaf Smith County This is the first post on PHIT’s oral interviews with Texas Department of Agriculture Hightower years( 1983-1991). The goal of the TDA was to create an agricultural economic environment that would deliver food that was safe for the consumer, safe for the farmworker, safe for the planet, and would allow the family farmer and family […]
Hightower Campaign Poster The Hightower Years Farms on Fire The Texas Camelot PHIT is beginning a new oral history project. The project title is still a work in progress, but the subject matter is pretty solid. We are collecting participant stories on the impact that the Texas Department of Agriculture made on state and national policies during the years […]
Some may be surprised that there was an Underground Railroad network in Texas. By Steve Rossignol | The Rag Blog | February 13, 2020 We are all familiar with the tales of the Underground Railroad, how enslaved people in the South risked life and limb to escape to the Northern States before and during the Civil War. Some of us may be surprised […]
Austin Chronicle illustration by Nick Derington The Day of Election is upon us. For the People’s History in Texas followers who are Democrats, election time was, until 2015, an exercise in mathematics and mythic storytelling. Understanding the TEXAS TWO-STEP PRIMARY was a mind-bending dissertation on how to accumulate delegates. No one, except a few hoary party activists, knew how it […]
Bastrop County Museum The Bastrop County Museum has a wonderful exhibit on a series of previously unrecognized Freedom Colonies in Bastrop County. This exhibit has now been moved to the Elgin Depot Museum and will be there until February. People interested in Texas History should most definitely plan to visit this exhibit. On June 17th, 1865 (Juneteenth) General Granger landed […]
The Last of the Little Breweries, a documentary on Shiner Beer, is an absolutely wonderful piece of history. It was produced in 1975 by Frank Binney. Please take some time and watch it. It is only 20 minutes long. It is well worth the time. The documentary tells the story of Kosmos Spoetzl and his journey through Egypt, Canada, and […]
Steven Harrigan’s New Book on Texas Steven Harrigan published an excerpt from his new and highly anticipated book, Big Wonderful Thing, in the Literary Hub. In it, he tells a story about the Pecan Shellers Strike in 1938, and mentions Emma Tenayuca, and Latane Lambert. He tells the story quickly and well. Further material on the Pecan Shellers Strike […]
Jesse Billingsley Meditations at the Museum PHIT’s new project is to visit small Texas museums and tell stories of peculiar and little known episodes in Texas History. It is modeled somewhat on the Mysteries of the Museum, but we don’t want to get sued, so we changed the name to Meditations at the Museum. The Bastrop County Museum is a […]
Barton CreekEd CrowellPhotos by Alberto Martinez Who doesn’t love Barton Springs? Home of the ice cold swimming hole. Home of philosopher’s rock. Home of the hippest place in town. Turns out so many people want to be associated with Barton Springs that many, way too many, want to live on Barton Creek. And they want pavement and they want their manicured lawns and they want […]
Once this was Kristenbad Wrapped around the de Cordova bend in the Brazos River, just south of Granbury, Texas, lies the small gated community of Pecan Plantation. Once upon a time, that site was originally the home of Kristenbad, which was often labeled as a Socialist Utopia. Established in 1928 by John Christensen, a Danish-American, it was envisioned as a […]