Past Institutes

Texas History: Cotton, Cattle and Railroads (Spring 2024 Webinar Series)

In the spring of 2024, Humanities Texas held a webinar series for social studies teachers on the transformative era of "cotton, cattle and railroads” in Texas history, from the 1870s through the 1890s.

Curriculum

Team-taught by a historian and two master teachers, the series offered new assessments of the era and provided a collection of curriculum materials geared toward bringing innovative perspectives into the classroom. Sessions explored the demise of American Indians in the aftermath of the Civil War; the simultaneous rise of the cattle industry; the role of the railroad in ending cattle drives and driving down cotton prices across the state; and how Texas farmers led one of the largest political revolts in American history during the 1890s. Content was aligned with the TEKS.

Like all Humanities Texas teacher programs, the webinar series was content-based and teacher-centered, with an emphasis on teaching with primary sources and developing effective pedagogical strategies.

Faculty

The program was led by Andrew Torget (University of North Texas), Jay Ferguson (Round Rock ISD), and Chassidy Olainu-Alade (Fort Bend ISD).

Schedule

The webinar series took place over Zoom on January 22 and 29 and February 5 and 12. The schedule is available here.

Sponsors

The webinars were made possible with major funding from the State of Texas with ongoing support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.