History
114 stories
A Q&A With Michael Hall »
The senior editor on following the paper trail of Texas history, learning about Jack Johnson sparring with “Chrysanthemum Joe” Choynski, and researching his own family roots.
February 2012 Interview by Alexandra Scoptur
History Lesson
A slide show of ancient court records that tell the story of Texas. Text by Michael Hall. Photographs by Randal Ford.
February 2012
The Paper Chase »
Two old law school buddies (one of whom happens to be the chief justice of the state Supreme Court) are on a mission to rescue thousands of crumbling, fading, and fascinating legal documents from district and county clerks’ offices all over the state. Can they save Texas history before it’s too late?
February 2012 by Michael Hall
Enron Ever After »
Ten years ago this month, the company that once dominated Houston collapsed in a cloud of debt. But its ghost still haunts the city—and America.
December 2011 by Mimi Swartz
Farmers Flight! »
Texas A&M’s announcement that it was bolting the Big 12 for the SEC signaled the end of a passionate rivalry with the University of Texas that has defined the two schools for more than a century. But what does the end of Aggies versus Longhorns mean for the rest of us?
November 2011 by Paul Burka
Common Threads »
Karey Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes have finally completed their life’s work, a massive three-volume history of the quilts of Texas, from 1836 to the present. Here are ten that tell the story of quilting—and our state.
September 2011 by Katharyn Rodemann
A Stitch in Time
A slide show of images of quilts from the archives of experts Karey Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes.
September 2011
The Skirmish Will Be Followed by a Ladies’ Tea »
The Civil War may be 150 years old, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still stir up a fuss (Confederate license plate, anyone?). Just ask one of the hundreds of very accurately uniformed reenactors who descend on Jefferson every year to die for the cause.
August 2011 by Katy Vine
A Q&A With Katy Vine »
The senior editor on attending a Civil War reenactment, preserving history, and standing inside the Globe of Death.
August 2011 Interview by Evan McMurry
North vs. South
Scenes from the largest Civil War reenactment in the state. Photographs by Jeff Wilson.
August 2011 Produced by Patricia Busa McConnico
My Tío, the Saint »
Meet Toribio Romo, the patron saint of immigrants.
November 2010 by David Dorado Romo
City of Dreams »
Searching for the legendary past—and the cosmic future—in my old river city, San Antonio de Béjar.
June 2010 by John Phillip Santos
A River Runs Through It »
At the port of entry in El Paso, I always tell the agents, “American,” but what I really want to say is “fronterizo”—I’m from both sides.
June 2010 by David Romo
Last Days of the Comanches »
In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Empire of the Summer Moon, special correspondent S. C. Gwynne re-creates in thrilling detail the bloody 1871 battle that marked the beginning of the end for the most fearsome tribe to ever ride the plains and its mysterious, magnificent chief, Quanah Parker.
May 2010 by S. C. Gwynne
Texas Nuggets
The secret history of garage rock in the Lone Star State.
March 2010 Produced by Pamela Hastings
Sentimental Journey
The story of the Commemorative Air Force and the Yellow Rose, a WWII B-25 bomber.
January 2010
Dance, Dance, Dance
Senior editor John Spong talks with Sengelmann Hall owner Dana Harper and musician James Hand. Produced by Texas Public Radio.
January 2010
Kick Up Your Heels
A slide show of images featuring our state’s classic dance halls, from the John T. Floore Country Store, in Helotes, to the Stampede, in Big Spring. Photographs by Jeff Wilson.
December 2009
Ring of Fire »
On November 18, 1999, at 2:42 a.m., the most passionately observed collegiate tradition in Texas—if not the world—came crashing down. Nearly sixty people were on top of the Texas A&M Bonfire when the million-pound structure collapsed, killing twelve, wounding dozens more, and eventually leading to the suspension of the ninety-year-old ritual. Now, ten years later, on what would have been Bonfire’s centennial, the Aggies celebrate the history, relive the tragedy, and wrestle over what happens next.
November 2009 by Pamela Colloff
Revolutionary Kind »
Daniel Miller, the president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, is a proud secessionist. And the tea parties were just the beginning for this true believer.
September 2009 by Nate Blakeslee
Theodore Tex »
Teddy Roosevelt acquired a number of skills during his time in Texas, but the most important may have been the ability to brag.
July 2009 by Douglas Brinkley
Walking on the Moon »
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first humans to set foot on the surface of the moon. Forty years later, the researchers, astronauts, engineers, scientists, and NASA officials who made the voyage possible remember the day the Eagle landed.
July 2009 by Katy Vine
Ghosts Of War »
The battlegrounds of Texas tell an incredible story of struggle, sorrow, triumph, and terror that is far more complex and surprising than anything I learned in school. All I had to do was get in my car and go see them.
April 2009 by Gary Cartwright
Remains of the Day »
The Texas State Cemetery, home to the final resting places of the celebrated and the notorious, is a walk through time, revealing all that is great, courageous, tragic, pompous, and absurd about Texas.
May 2008 by Gary Cartwright
Here Lies Texas
A video tour of the Texas State Cemetery.
May 2008
My Library
