Summer Reading in the Humanities
Mary Cassatt, Nurse Reading to a Little Girl, 1895.
We recently asked Humanities Texas board members, former board members, and various friends of the organization to recommend a book or books for summer reading in the humanities. The result was a remarkably wide-ranging list, encompassing fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry, and works in English and Spanish. We hope you'll enjoy reading the list (and the books on the list) as much as we enjoyed compiling it. Read more. . .
From the Executive Director:
Recalling the Ultimate Bibliophile
Michael L. Gillette
Each May our students come home bearing summer reading lists. As I gaze longingly at some, if not all, of these selections on special display tables in bookstores, I ask myself, "Why should students have all the fun?" So, in offering Humanities Texas's summer reading suggestions, I have invited our board members, former board members, and friends of the organization to share their recommendations. Many of their selections and the insights accompanying them are as interesting as the books themselves. Read more. . .
PSOT Highlights Books and Libraries
Sam Moore, former Humanities Texas board chair and former president of the Philosophical Society of Texas, organized a PSOT program in 2003 on books and libraries. Humanities Texas has chosen to make some of the most interesting of the addresses delivered at that meeting (and later published in the annual Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Texas) available online, in conjunction with our list of recommended reading in the humanities.
Humanities Texas Awards Deadline
The Humanities Texas Awards recognize imaginative leadership in the humanities on a local, regional, or state level. In 2008, two awards will be presented: one for individual achievement, another for organizational achievement. The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2008 award is August 1, 2008. Read more. . .
Pflugerville History Project Honored
Storytellers Clarence Bohls and Ruth (Weiss) Pfennig sign copies of the book Pflugerville: A Heritage to Remember at the book release party at the Pflugerville Community Library in December 2006. Photograph by Mark McCarthy, courtesy of the Friends of the Pflugerville Community Library.
The "Pflugerville: A Heritage to Remember" oral history project, partially supported by a grant from Humanities Texas, won a 2007 Municipal Excellence Award from the Texas Municipal League. Read more. . .
Institutes to Feature Public Lectures
  
Left to right: Heather Cox Richardson, H. W. Brands, and Vernon Burton will deliver free public lectures at the summer teacher institutes in Denton and San Antonio. Richardson photograph courtesy of Cydney Ambrose.
The Humanities Texas teacher institutes, "From Disunion to Empire: The United States, 1850–1900," to be held in Denton on June 8–11 and in San Antonio on June 15–18, will feature four free public lectures by leading scholars of Texas and American history and culture. Read more. . .
El Paso Museum Celebrates New Site
The entrance to the new El Paso Museum of History. Photograph courtesy of the El Paso Museum of History.
In less than a year, more than 30,000 visitors have passed through the doors of the new El Paso Museum of History, which opened on June 16, 2007, in the city's growing downtown cultural district. Read more. . .
In Memoriam: Roy Mersky
Photograph courtesy of The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Roy M. Mersky, who served as chairman of the board of the Texas Council for the Humanities in 1982, died at the age of eighty-two on Tuesday, May 6, in Austin. Mersky was holder of the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and longtime director of the Tarlton Law Library and the Jamail Center for Legal Research at The University of Texas at Austin. He was a decorated World War II veteran and a dedicated defender of civil rights and religious freedom, serving as president of the Austin Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and president-elect of the Human Rights Documentation Exchange in Texas. A memorial page on the UT Austin School of Law website and his obituary in the Austin American-Statesman offer fuller accounts of his long life and many accomplishments. We will miss him.
Fire Hits OLLU in San Antonio
Our thoughts are with the students, faculty, and staff of Our Lady of the Lake University, in San Antonio. The university's Main Building caught fire on May 6, but fortunately no deaths or injuries were reported, and damage to the building's residential wing was minor. The San Antonio Fire Department determined that the fire was accidental, probably caused by an electrical short in the attic. University president Tessa Martinez Pollack is a member of the Humanities Texas Board of Directors. For more information, visit the OLLU website.
"Images of Valor" Recalls Latino Service
Joe Bernal at age 17 in Salinas, California on September 1, 1945. Courtesy of the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project.
In honor of Memorial Day (May 26), we are proud to feature "Images of Valor: U.S. Latinos and Latinas of World War II," a traveling exhibit created by the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project in partnership with the School of Journalism and Center for Mexican American Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. The exhibit, which is currently available for rental, includes images from the Oral History Project archives, contemporary photographs by photojournalist Valentino Mauricio, and quotes from those who served with a focus on individual stories that reveal larger themes such as citizenship and civil rights.
Share This Newsletter!
Clicking the "Forward email" link at the bottom of this issue will take you to a web page where you can quickly and easily enter the names and emails of friends and colleagues, and even add a personal note. We hope you'll help us get the word out about the humanities in Texas, and about Humanities Texas!
Upcoming Deadlines
The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2008 Humanities Texas Award is August 1, 2008. Nomination forms and instructions are available online. Read more. . .
Humanities Events Around Texas
Each month, dozens of organizations around the state host a Humanities Texas exhibit or sponsor an exciting program with the help of a grant from our council. See our online calendar to locate an event or program in your community.
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