The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 483
741 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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"The Story of Texas"?
American Texans the museum clearly reflects post-1950os historiography.
On the first floor was an entertaining temporary exhibit entitled "It Ain't
Braggin' if it's True." Besides an amazing rhinestone Cadillac, the exhibit
included photographs, artifacts, and a brief history of a wide variety of
Texans including black artists, Mexican ranchers, women educators and
civic leaders, and modern-day sports heros. This section included a high-
er percentage of objects created by past humans than the rest of the
museum and until it closed in December offered a good place to begin
your tour.
Another set of exhibits on the first floor is called "Encounters on the
Land." These exhibits cover roughly 1400 to 188o and include relatively
few items that might be termed "museum pieces." Those artifacts includ-
ed in the exhibit are displayed in Neiman Marcus fashion-isolated,
uncluttered, and attractively lighted and laid out. The encounters sec-
tion is mainly interpretive and organized around the idea that "the story
of Texas is one of people and the land." Entertaining five- to seven-
minute videos describe the lifestyle and motives of the Spaniards and
Indians who struggled to control the land. The video on the Comanches
carefully includes the Indian point of view and includes comments from
contemporary descendants of Quanah Parker, the last great Comanche
war chief. Buffalo soldiers and other frontiersman from the United
States also get some attention in this section.
On the second floor designers of the museum tell the story of Anglo
Texans and other migrants from the United States in "Building the
Lone Star Identity, 1821--1936." Again, modern technology and artful
presentations displace artifacts. The years 1821 to 1865 receive the
greatest attention in this area of the museum, but there is an interesting
video and a few photographs and posters from the 1936 Texas
Centennial. This and other videos follow the same five- to seven-minute
format found on the first floor. The video on the Civil War includes
quotes from women; from Santos Benavides, the only Tejano general in
the Confederate army; from slaves; and from Anglo soldiers. Images and
events from the Texas Revolution and the republic visually dominate the
second floor. After entering through a facade patterned after the Alamo
viewers encounter a video on the revolution ostensibly narrated by Juan
N. Seguin, who speaks of his inability to remain both Texan and
Mexican. There is a good eight-panel display on the republic era that
highlights the great questions of the day. One of these is "Who can be
citizens of the Republic?" Here Juan Seguin resurfaces, and the point is
made that "Tejanos found life in Texas increasingly difficult."
In most instances the "Lone Star Identity" section of the museum
assumes a celebratory air. Texans of all types overcame problems to483
2002
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/527/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.