Heritage, Volume 18, Number 1, Winter 2000 Page: 23
39 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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In 1917, though, the state experienced
growing pains, and the UDC was asked to
move to the Old Land Office next door.
Governor Miriam Ferguson, who was a
proud UDC member, proclaimed that the
Old Land Office would be the home of the
UDC's Texas Confederate Museum in perpetuity.
Although this was reaffirmed in the
1960s by Governor John Connally, when
the State Preservation Project came into
being in 1988, the UDC was asked once
again to gather its possessions and either
leave the state property or donate the artifacts
to the state. The UDC carefully contemplated
this choice and decided that if
the donors of the artifacts had wanted the
state to have the items originally, they
would have given them to the archives instead
of to the Daughters. So with this in
mind, the UDC lost its Austin home.
The group moved a bit further north,
operating for a short while at the Taylor
Museum of Waco History. No formal contact
was realized however, and after a
change of officers, the UDC was forced to
move its collection into storage. With no
money, no plan, and no home, the Daughters,
as custodians for this public trust, were
asked by the Attorney General's office to
find a solution to the dilemma.
It is said those who triumph believe that
they can, and this was certainly the attitude
of Sherry Davis of Houston, who became
the president of the Daughters in
1992. Under her leadership, President
Davis brought the UDC from operating in
the red to a much healthier financial situation.
She unified the organization's members
in a campaign to save the museum,
working tirelessly on that effort. Davis appointed
Cindy Harriman as museum director,
and the pair worked hand-in-hand to
spearhead the group's effort, even though
one woman lived in Houston and the other
in suburban Fort Worth. Monthly phone
bills for each often exceeded $500, but with
eyes focused on preserving the UDC collection,
the pair began, with the help of a
small committee, to develop a plan to conserve
the collection and find a suitable
home for the items. Collectively the committee
members visited 35 sites and traveled
50,0000 miles all at personal expense.
Since that time preservation of the UDC
collection has come a long way.
One of the most valuable and historic
parts of the UDC artifacts is its collection
of historic flags. After examination of the
textile collection by Fonda Thomsen ofTextile Preservation Association Inc. of
Sharpsburg, Maryland, UDC members
realized many emblems were in grave need
of conservation and that quick action was
imperative. This meant raising moneythat would be used to conserve the collection.
The Daughters turned back to their own
history and launched a campaign that employed
some of the same approaches thatHERITAGE * 23 * WINTER 2000
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 18, Number 1, Winter 2000, periodical, Winter 2000; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45388/m1/23/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.