Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 1986 Page: 56
383 p. : ill. ; 32 cm.View a full description of this yearbook.
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Although few Texans could say 'sesquicentennial,'
everyone knew it was here. The entire state revelled in
celebration of Texas' independence from Mexico with
-\ ~shindigs and memorabilia when
exas turned 150ost people had
a little celebration
on
their birthday.
A cake, a card or having a
couple of friends over was
the usual affair. But Texans
liked to do things big, and
when Texas hit its 150th
birthday, you could bet it
was a shebang that folks
would be talking about all
year and for years to come.
Texas started celebrating
its 150th year of independence
from Mexico in thefall of 1985 by putting
special red, white and blue
sesquicentennial license
plates on 1986 cars. The
next thing we knew, Texas
folk tales filled the newspapers,
and the sesquicentennial
logo, which
depicted a Texas flag with
the number 150 on it, was
stamped on everything
from party favors to pickup
trucks.
Texas Monthly magazine
devoted an entire issue to
the state's colorful legendsGreg Johnson
At the history fair in Moody Coliseum, onlookers read a student's
project about the problems NASA encountered after the
space shuttle's tragic explosion in January.- the people who made
them and the people who
told the stories. A wagon
train, driven by Texans
who volunteered to take
the time, made a year-long
journey, winding its way
across the second biggest
state in the Union.
With almost every town
in the state making some
kind of hoopla about the
sesquicentennial, Abilene
was not about to be outdone.
The Jaycees sponsored
a "Boomtown" in
the Taylor County Coliseum,
at which young and
old alike displayed their
skill at forgotten arts such
as churning butter, quilting
and spinning wool.
Students from Texas and
students from out-of-state
couldn't help but notice
that Texans were prouder
this year, sometimes even
cocky, about their state.
"Texas has a real interesting
history," said Todd
Shollenbarger, senior from
Amarillo. "I've always
been glad to live in Texas,
because it's a state that's
had a good economy and a
lot of different sites to see."
Charla McCaleb, sophomore
from Abilene, said,
"I've always been a proud
Texan, but all the sesquicentennial
celebration
makes me even more
proud."
ACU's contribution to
the celebration included
sponsoring a history fair
and a seminar titled
"Mexican-Americans in
Texas: Past, Present,
Potential."
Dr. Fred Bailey, associate
professor of history, was in
charge of the Big Country
Regional History Fair onApril 12, in which about
500 junior high and high
school students participated.
All projects,
which were displayed in
Moody Coliseum, related
to "Conflicts and Compromises
in History," the
theme for 1986.
"Their entry can be on
any topic at any time in
history, not just on Texas'
fight for independence,"
said Bailey. "Some of these
projects will be mediocre;
others will be museumquality."The projects in the coliseum
were as diverse as
the people they depicted.
One project about the
American Indian came
complete with an orangefeathered
Indian headress
and feathered spears. On
the same row was a project
about the United Nations
that had a model of the
U.N. building with
miniature flags of all the
member nations in front,
as well as miniature cars
and people.
Other outstanding projects
included intricate
drawings of a Viet Cong
tunnel complex, a shadow
box containing realistic
models of the dueling
pistols used by Andrew
Jackson and Thomas Benton
and a two-foot model
of the space shuttle,
"Challenger."
Tonia Szuewach, an
eighth-grader from
Franklin Middle School in
Abilene, said she had
entered a project in the fair
for two years and was
doing it again as part of a
history class.
"I started on it in
January," she said. "Of56 STUDENT LIFE
I
course, it doesn't matter
how long you work on it;
you're never satisfied."
Bailey said 40 people
from the ACU faculty, area
schools' faculties and interested
public, were
selected as judges. Special
awards were given in
women's history, Texas
history and old world
history. Students who took
first or second place went
to the state competition in
Austin, and those who succeeded
there went on to
the national history fair in
Washington, D.C.
Bailey said the purpose
of the fair was to give
students and the public a
positive image of the study
of history.
"We want to show that
history is not the study of
the dead past, but the
foreshadowing of future
potential," he said.
While the fair was going
on in Moody, a seminarI
was conducted in the Main
Room of the Campus
Center. The seminar,
which dealt with the topic
of Mexican-Americans'
contributions to Texas, had
been planned since I
September 1985, said John
Robinson, professor of
history.
Robinson said the
seminar topic was selected
to present a more accurate
view of the Mexican's role
in history.
"Mexicans constitute a
major sector of the Texas
population, yet their role
as to their contributions to I
Texas is frequently ignored,"
said Robinson.
"Typically, Texans and
non-Texans alike have the
'Alamo Syndrome.' They
I
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Abilene Christian University. Prickly Pear, Yearbook of Abilene Christian University, 1986, yearbook, 1986; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39902/m1/59/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.