Dr. Frazier addressing DRT
The Joshua D. Brown Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas announced the speaker for their November 22 meeting will be Dr. Donald S. Frazier, Director of the Texas Center at Schreiner University, who will present a review of the book “Forget the Alamo.”
Dr. Frazier will present a review of the book “Forget the Alamo.”
Dr. Frazier is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Christian University and is the award-winning author of five books on Texans in the Civil War.
His other work includes serving as co-author of “Frontier Texas,” “Historic Abilene” and “The Texas You Expect,” as well as general editor of “The U.S. and Mexico at War” and a collection of letters published as “Love and War:The Civil War Letters and Medicinal Book of August V. Ball.”
The meeting will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 22, at First United Methodist Church, 321 Thompson Drive in Kerrville.
Anyone interested in Texas History is welcome to attend, and assistance is available for those wishing to trace their Texas ancestors’ presence during the Republic of Texas era. For more information, contact President Judy McVay at 830-537-3742 jmcvay@gvtc. com.
The DRT recognizes two Texas Honor Days in November. The first is the birth of Stephen F. Austin.
Austin was imprisoned in Mexico on a charge of attempting to incite insurrection in Texas, and when he returned to Texas he no longer believed there was a possible future for Texas as a part of Mexico. He became the civil leader of Anglo American Texas. After Texas won its independence from Mexico, Austin ran for president of the new republic but lost to Sam Houston, and served as Secretary of State in the new government. His time in prison and overwork took their toll on Austin, who was never a robust man, and after a short battle with pneumonia, he died on December 27, 1836, at the age of 43. In his eulogy for Austin, Sam Houston called him “The Father of Texas.”
The second Honor Day is DRT Founders Day, which commemorates the founding of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas on November 6, 1891, with a vision to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved and maintained the independence of Texas.
Without the efforts of the DRT, the Alamo would have been demolished in 1901, but the DRT saved it and served as its Custodians for 106 years. The French Legation in Austin was restored by the DRT and opened as a museum in 1956. In addition, the organization promotes statewide celebrations of important dates in Texas history, places memorial markers at historic sites, sponsors Texas History Essay Contests, Art Contests, and awards scholarships.