The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 485
741 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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"The Story of Texas"?
This divorce between reality and image turns out to be the major
theme of one of the most interesting sections of the museum, the video
and other visual images that deal with Hollywood's creation of an alter-
native picture of Texas. Narrated by Fred Whitfield, a black cowboy and
world champion roper, this seven-minute video highlights both changes
in how movies depicted Texas and how the movies simplified the story
of Texas in order to convey morality lessons. What emerges from this
process is "two histories, one made in Texas and the other made in
Hollywood." Movie buffs will especially enjoy the scenes from their
favorites-including Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb down to its tar-
get from Dr. Strangelove.
On the whole the third-floor exhibits are the least coherent part of the
museum. All the exhibits on the floor allegedly fit under the rubric of
"Creating Opportunity," but it is difficult to tell just how Hollywood creat-
ed opportunity for the citizens of the state. Hollywood created identity or
better yet blurred identity. Exhibits on Texas between 1920o and 1960 also
do not easily fit under the umbrella of creating opportunity. Interesting
treatments of sports and music stand alongside those on World War II and
"Texans on the National Stage." There is also an exhibit depicting all the
places to learn more about the state's history (and in the process spend
tourist dollars to create economic opportunity around the state).
Among these diverse exhibits the most thought-provoking and the one
that best encapsulates the entire museum is "Texans on the National
Stage, 1930-1960." Five prominent white male Texans are deemed wor-
thy of inclusion on this list: Morris Sheppard, Sam Rayburn, Lyndon B.
Johnson, John Nance Garner, and Jesse H. Jones. All held elective office
except for Jones, the appointed head of the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation and Secretary of Commerce. In keeping with a top-down
approach to the past, creators of this exhibit sum up Jones's contribution
by saying, "Because of his considerable influence Texas expanded its
industries and built a modern infrastructure to support economic
growth." This unqualified attribution of credit for prosperity to the elite
few is bound to raise questions among historians.
As I left the museum after that first visit I pondered how it does and
does not reflect the historiographic trends of the past fifty years.
Creators of the museum carefully included prominent Tejanos, blacks,
and women. Yet their approach to the Texas past is just as much from
the top down and just as simplistic and celebratory as fifty years ago.
The consensus approach looks different on the surface because it
includes minorities and women, but in key areas it remains the same.
Over time everything grew bigger and better. Texans increasingly lived
happily together.485
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/m1/529/: accessed May 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.