Ken Bridges/Contributing writer What is the cost of changing the world? For those who dare, it can everything in their life, for good or ill. Heman Sweatt put everything on the line for his bid to desegregate the University of Texas law school, an effort that changed civil rights laws forever. Continue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Houston had long been an important city for Texas. Businessmen like Jesse H. Jones helped make it an international center for commerce. He had arrived in Texas as a young man and worked his way through the ranks of his uncle’s Dallas-based lumber company before coming to Houston where he would soon invest in all sortsContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Success in business is often a combination of timing, determination, and imagination. One Houston businessman, Jesse H. Jones had all these qualities and an innate sense of enterprise to build a fortune that changed the landscape of Texas’s biggest city. Jones became a giant in Houston business circles,Continue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Texas has had 48 governors since statehood was achieved in 1845. Some enjoyed remarkable success and achievements during their terms and have been remembered fondly years later while others left in disgrace. S. W. T. Lanham, who served as governor from 1903 to 1907, was a respectedContinue Reading
Ken Bridges The borders of the United States have expanded considerably since independence was declared. As the nation grew, newer and more detailed maps were needed so the country could plan ahead and utilize the landscape and resources available. Gen. William Emory, an army cartographer, was a vital part ofContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Many Texas musicians have become legendary figures for not only their great talents as musicians but also for their colorful lives. Huddie Ledbetter, known to his fans as “Leadbelly,” was a pioneer blues musician starting in East Texas in the early 1900s, just as rhythm and blues wasContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Once Christmas has passed, the world looks to a new year. Many wonder what the new year will bring while planning their own ways of ringing in 2023. It will be a year marked with war in some nations and peace in others. There will be triumph, andContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Charles M. Schulz created a comic strip that captured the hearts of millions in the nearly 50 years that Peanuts ran in thousands of newspapers around the world. Schulz, an amiable and soft-spoken Minnesota native and World War II veteran, had been drawing the daily strip since 1950. Fifteen years later, heContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer For generations, doctors were often reluctant to perform any type of operation involving the heart. The lack of a clear understanding about the heart made treating many conditions difficult. Texas surgeon Michael DeBakey spent decades researching and developing new techniques that have completely changed the understanding of theContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer The twentieth century transformed the United States from a moderate power only loosely involved in world affairs into a superpower where most questions of foreign relations revolved around American goals and intentions. Much of this transition began taking place during the period just before and just after WorldContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Cartoons have captivated and delighted children – and the young at heart — for generations. As the motion picture industry emerged, cartoons became a staple feature of the matinee. As television later emerged, they became normal fare on Saturday mornings and late afternoons after school. Even inContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer William Barret Travis is perhaps one of the most memorable figures from the Texas Revolution and the siege of the Alamo. His name has since been honored with the naming of TravisCounty, a park in San Antonio, and numerous schools across the state. Like many heroic figures, hisContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Accidents happen. People make wrong turns. Sometimes these end badly, sometimes not. One supposed wrong turn became part of an aviation legend. And with it, Texan Douglas Corrigan became known for one of the most bizarre feats in aviation history–the transatlantic flight going the wrong way. Corrigan wasContinue Reading
By Ken Bridges Two orphaned brothers headed west in search of adventure and a new life. The story is common in the annals of the frontier. In the case of brothers Francis and Thomas Lubbock of South Carolina, their story would play an important role in Texas History. Francis RichardContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer John Ireland lost more political races than he won, but he had an important role in state history. He rose from an impoverished background to become a Civil War officer, judge, and governor. Along the way, he helped create two icons of Texas: the University of Texas andContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 has been studied at length by military minds and academics for decades. The naval officer in charge of the Pacific Fleet in the months before the attack was a Texas native, Admiral James Otto Richardson. As the UnitedContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/ Contributing writer John H. Reagan had risen through the ranks of Texas frontier politics, serving as a local judge and legislator and ultimately a member of Congress. He had fought for Texas secession and later became a member of the Confederate cabinet. But with the end of the CivilContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer It was a cool morning in Gainesville on October 4, 1862. A hushed silence fell as witnesses gazed at the man a lonely tree. They saw the rope tighten and the man fall to his death. He was accused of treason, but there was no evidenceContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer Students begin a new school year with hopes and dreams of better lives. Teachers and administrators similarly have high hopes for their students, trying to create classrooms and schools of the highest quality where these dreams can be nurtured and minds developed, as difficult as this sometimes isContinue Reading
Ken Bridges/Contributing writer The American highway is a unique experience. Americans can travel anywhere at any time connected by a network of tens of thousands of miles of paved highways. Drivers can drive through farmlands, hills, dense forests, towering mountains, and flower-strewn prairies in a matter of hours compared to theContinue Reading