TSHM Volunteer

StoryTeller

Joyce Spivey Aldridge

Volunteer Services Coordinator !!!2014-2015

Volunteer Advisory Council !!

Joel Mosier, Chair !Maria Garza-Lubeck

Past Chair

Candy Boyer

Robert Boyer

Leigh Everett

Warren Friedrich

Mary Lou Gibson

Ken Kramer

Stella Pullin

Diane Rogers

Mattie Scheihing

Bill Uhls

!!

Kathi Miller

Ex Officio

StoryTeller editor !

!May-June 2015

Dan Arellano presides over a discussion of the “Texas Rising” version of history

Texas History? Not So Much

Many TSHM volunteers were ea-ger to watch “Texas Rising,” the History channel’s 10-hour mini-series about the Texas Revolution. !Their reaction was a collective groan. !The series was full of historical inaccuracies. One example: Emily West, aka the Yellow Rose of Texas (who may or may not have existed), is portrayed as a survivor of the Alamo who carried on with both Sam Houston and Santa Anna, and had to be rescued by Texas Rangers after trying to kill Santa Anna. !Volunteers lamented the fact that because the series was on the His-tory channel, many viewers will assume it was accurate. Dan Arel-lano was outraged enough to take action. !He organized a forum of historians at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexi-can-American Cultural Center to discuss the inaccuracies and stereotypes in the series, which he said demonized Mexicans, Tejanos and Native Americans. !“This series carries on a tradition of films that dismiss and distort the perspective of people of color,” he said, pointing out that from Mexico’s point of view, it

was defending its sovereign territory from an illegal uprising. !Dan, a TSHM volunteer and historical interpreter since 2014, is a historian and author. He is president of The Bat-tle of Medina Historical Society whose mission is to protect, preserve and promote Tejano History. His testimony before the State Board of Education about the Battle of Medina and the First Texas Republic resulted in lessons taught in Texas schools today. !He is a lecturer specializing in the his-tory of Cortes and the conquistadors dating back to 1836. !Dan is a past commander of the Te-janos in Action veterans organization and has built monuments at Austin high schools to honor service members who lost their lives in service to the country. !Also a professional actor, Dan has been in the re-enactment of the Battle of Medina for nine years. He will be join-ing the VolunteerAdvisory Council in September (see Page 2).

Warren  Friedrich,  a  volunteer  since  _____  and  historical  inter-­‐preter,  was  elected  the  2015-­‐2016  chair  of  the  Volunteer  Advisory  Council  at  the  VAC’s  June  meeting.  !Also  elected  were  four  new  VAC  members:  !

• Dan  Arellano,  a  volunteer  since  2014  and  historical  in-­‐terpreter  on  Saturday  and  Sunday.  

• Cathy  Barnes,  a  volunteer  since  2014  and  cart  conver-­‐sationalist  on  Monday  and  Friday  

• Kris  Martin,  aa  volunteer  since  2013  and  a  greeter,  exhibit  guide,  spot  teacher  and  cart  conversationalist  on  Thurs-­‐days  and  Sunday  

• Kay  Reeves,  a  volunteer  since  2014  and  greeter  and  cart  conversationalist  on  Wednesday.  !

They  will  take  ofSice  at  the  September  meeting.  !Warren,  a  second  generation  German  and  native  Texan,  retired  after  33  years  of  government  and  military  service  with  a  goal  of  researching  his  family  history  and  German  immigration  into  Texas  since  the  1830s.    !He  is  also  a  member  of  the  German/Texan  Heritage  Society,  Save  Austin  Cemeteries  and  the  Susanna  Dickinson  and  Joseph  Hannig  Museum.  !At  the  TSHM,  Warren  brings  Texas  history  and  the  history  of  Ger-­‐mans  in  Texas  alive  and  exciting  to  Texans,  visitors  to  Texas  and  future  generation  of  Texans  by  storytelling,  costumed  presenta-­‐tions  and  German  immigration  talks.  !As  VAC  chair,  Warren  said  he  plans  to  pursue  opportunities  to  provide  additional  education  opportunities  for  all  volunteers.    

New VAC Members, Chair Elected

!

Warren Friedrich!!!Dan!Arellano!!!!!!!!!!!Cathy!Barnes!!!!!!!!!!!!Kris!Martin!!!!!!!!!!!!Kay!Reeves!!!

Interpreting ExhibitsBy Margaret Koch Deputy Director

!Many of our visitors are fascinated by the sto-

ries behind Texas's transi-tion from an independent republic to a state within the U.S.A. and how the borders as we know them today were formed. !As you know, it wasn't a "slam dunk." !

The annexation of Texas to the United States in 1845 came after years of debate in Congress. While acquiring the land would greatly expand U.S. territory, statehood meant almost certain war with Mexico and, because Texas permitted slavery, would significantly alter the power balance between northern and southern states. !Mexico viewed annexation as a direct threat and an act of war, and fighting broke out in 1846, expanding to battles in California and New Mexico. It ended in 1848, with the boundary between Texas and Mexico estab-lished as the Rio Grande and California and New Mexico becoming U.S. territory. !This month updates to the Statehood section on the second floor will highlight the controversy surrounding Texas's statehood and the two most significant documents that set our borders through war and negotiation. !New, larger format maps set between the per-spectives of Mexico, Texas, and the U.S., plus the addition of several artifacts and our regular rotation of the 28-star flag from the Peter Keim collection will give this area a fresh, new look. This straight-forward interpretation is one that we hope visitors will be able to grasp easily.

Volunteers Cathy Barnes, left, and Maria Garzr-Lubeck, preview the And Still We Rise exhibit of quilts commemorating the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, the day in 1865 that African-Americans in Texas learned they were free. !

Volunteer Educational Opportunity !Maria will present a session on the role of slavery in Texas history from its antecedents in Mexico and in New Spain through the 20th century from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, in the classroom. The ses-sion will examine what is true and false about slav-ery, examined in depth in the And Still We Rise and Relections special exhibits.

Dave Denney, director of Special Projects and a TSHM staffer since its opening in 2001, retired in June. Among those joining Dave, 3rd from left, in his retirement party were, from left standing, volunteers Barbara Mjos, Joel Mosier, Jim Harrington, Ken Kramer, Linda Glover, Nan-cy Sawyer and, front, Toni Turner.

Volunteers by the HourStory of Texas Circle - 4,000 Hours

John Nichols !!

Bronze Star Society - 2,000 Hours Pat Bowman !

Star - 1,750 Hours Donald Frawley Janet Frawley !!

Ambassador - 750 Hours Eileen Powell !!

Homestead - 500 Hours Toni Turner !!

Diplomat - 250 Hours Vicki Spencer

Paulette Van Antwerp !!Two Step - 200 Hours

Kay Reeves John Schureman !

!Compadre - 100 Hours

Karen H. Knox Suzette Rahmann !!

Lone Star - 50 Hours Rebekah Bernhoft

Helen Evans Alan Herbert

George Holmgreen Jan Rankin

Frank Tracadas Lynn Tracadas !!

Your Participation Wanted! A reminder that all volunteers are invited to attend meetings of the Volunteer Advisory Council, 9:30 a.m. the second Tuesday each month. Also, your suggestions and comments are always welcome in the Voice of the Volunteer box in the Volunteer Services office.

Tids & BitsThe 2015 peak student field trip season is behind us. This year, the TSHM hosted more than 90,000 stu-dents, teachers and chaperones from almost 100 Texas counties, a record number. School districts served ranged from Brownsville to Dalhart, El Paso to Texarkana and everywhere in between. The top three volunteers who contributed the most hours to helping manage and educate the students were Joel Mosier (216.75 hours), Toni Turner (192) and Bill Derryberry (102.25).

June First Sunday

June First Sunday at-tracted 1,376 visitors to the TSHM. !Helping entertain and educate them were, top, Bob and Candy Boyer, and Rebekah Bernhoft.