A Correction

I want to thank Betty Jean Parker Prasatik (SLHS '53) for pointing out my misidentification of her mother, Frankie Park, in the following photo.

I have no excuse.  Mack & Frankie Parker were my grandmother's (Mamie Rachuig's) backyard neighbors on Belknap Ct.  I knew Mr. & Mrs. Parker fairly well.  I've included a couple more photos of Mrs. Parker below.  They come from the '53 Gator yearbook.

News You Can Use

I understand the lone surviving interviewee, Earnest Kubosh who is 100-years old, will attend the event.

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An Online Exhibit at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Forever Free: 19th Century African-American Legislators & Constitutional Convention Delegates of Texas

Click here to view the exhibit.

SLHS Campus Chatter - February 15, 1929

Sugar Land High School published a student newspaper for all of Sugar Land ISD back in the 1920s.  It was called Campus Chatter.  (I've posted copies in the past.)

Here are a couple of short article from the issue circulated on February 15, 1929.  The front page story was the County Basketball Tournament, which was coming up later in the week.  The Sugar Land boys team lost to Richmond earlier in the week, but the paper was confident Sugar Land would do well in the tournament.  (Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from the '28/'29 school year to associate with names in the box score.)

A column on events at the colored school, eventually named M. R. Wood School, featured a fund drive to buy a new piano.  (I don't recognize any of the names.)

Click here to view all four pages of the paper, but note that a small section of the front page has been cut out.  (This copy comes from the Rozelle Collection at the Sugar Land Museum.)

Flights

My thanks go to Lou Payton (SLHS '46) for sending me this link.  It accesses a video of Charles A. Lindbergh's historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927.  The author, Win Perkins, assembled all the existing newsreel footage into a chronological whole to give a comprehensive recounting of the story.  Click here to access the Web site.

I want to thank T. V. Abercrombie, Jr. (DHS '64) for this next video.  An American pilot, who flew a Spitfire on photo reconnaissance over Germany in WWII, sees a film of himself crash landing his plane decades later.  It's a great story and won an award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.  Click here to access the video.

More People of old Sugar Land

An undated photo showing (l-to-r) Emily Neal, Tuta Hightower, Marsha Ferguson, Betty Ann Jenkins, Pam Barolo, and Gail Hull.  Jack Neal took this photo in the family backyard.  (Thanks, Emily.)

A photo showing Mark Schumann's 6th birthday party in 1964.  The location is the Schumann home on Lakeview.  (Thanks, Mark.)

Another photo of Mark Schumann's 6th birthday party as they cut the cake.  (Thanks, Mark.)

This isn't a photo of Sugar Land residents.  As the caption says it was taken in May 1913 and shows Texas legislators and staff on the front porch of the Imperial Sugar Company General Offices.  They were in Sugar Land to investigate prison system finances and reform.

A Little More on Brazoria County History

I want to thank John Walker for letting me link to a couple of Brazosport Archeological Society monographs he has posted to his Web site, "Life On The Brazos River."

This first paper is on the Durazno Plantation, which was located on land Stephen F. Austin owned south of present-day Angleton.  Click here to view the paper.  Austin's nephew, William Joel Bryan, inherited the land through his mother (Austin's sister Emily) and eventually established a plantation there with a sugar mill.  The monograph goes into great detail about this site and includes numerous photos.

The next paper is also from the Brazosport Archeological Society.  Its topic is the Osceola Plantation up-river of Columbia.  This property is connected to the Austin family through James Austin, Stephen's brother.  Click here to view the paper.  The Archeological Society has done extensive research on the plantation - note the modern photos of its ruins included the paper.

A Little Texas History

We are getting close to the 'High Holy Days,' or 'Advent Season' of Texas History.  I thought I'd begin posting items relating to the battle for independence. 

This first item is a photo of William B. Travis's home in Alabama.  It is now located in Claiborne but was originally constructed in Perdue Hill.  I wonder how many people know Travis was 26-years old when he died at the Alamo?

Click here to view a short video about the Alamo on the History Channel's Web site.

Of course, I'm jumping the gun a little bit.  Ben Milam led the capture of San Antonio in November 1835, which resulted in the Texians' occupation of the Alamo.  Click here to read a rather lengthy account of the Battle of Bexar, but worth reading if you have the time.  It was written in 1843 by Herman Ehrenberg, a participant in the conflict.

Photos of old Houston

 
I want to thank Jerry Cooper (SLHS '56) for sending me a link to these photos.  Great stuff. 

Click on the image below to view the album.  I've borrowed captions from Tana's site, but added my own comments in parentheses.
 

If you'd like to view more images from the site, click here.

If you're intrigued by the old photo of Marvin Zindler as a newsman, I've posted some of his early radio programs. Click here to listen to some.  They're a hoot.