Menard Reads . . . Together
In October 2007, the Library Club of Menard, Inc., sponsored "Menard Reads . . . Together," an annual community-wide reading program that in 2007 turned its focus to immigration and the experiences of Menard citizens who serve, or have served, as migrant workers. Among the participants was children’s author Diane Gonzales Bertrand, who asked to return to Menard when she discovered that 250 children came to the library on one day to hear her books read in English and Spanish. Read more. . .

Children participating in Menard's Head Start program display the books they received through "Menard Reads . . . Together." Photograph by Jane Vaughan.

From the Executive Director:
Elspeth Davies Rostow Remembered
Michael L. Gillette
How extraordinary it must have been for a woman without a doctorate to teach at the college level fifty or sixty years ago. Not only did the academic guild resist opening its ranks to anyone without a terminal degree, but women scholars were historically underrepresented on university faculties, comprising fewer than 22 percent as recently as the mid-1970s. Imagine a woman armed only with two master’s degrees holding consecutive teaching positions at seven prestigious institutions, including Barnard, Sarah Lawrence, MIT, Georgetown, the University of Cambridge, and The University of Texas. Early in her career in the late 1930s, she helped found the field of American Studies. Almost six decades later, she continued to teach at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, where she had served as dean from 1977 to 1983.

Everyone who knew Elspeth Davies Rostow, who died on December 9, 2007, realized that she was indeed extraordinary. At her memorial service on December 14, a number of those who knew her best shared their eloquent remembrances of a remarkable humanities teacher and colleague. Read more. . .

Humanities Texas Exhibit Recalls MLK
Civil rights leader and Nobel laureate Martin Luther King Jr., born on January 15, 1929, remains a towering figure today, almost thirty years after his assassination on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Martin Luther King Day is celebrated annually on the third Monday in January (January 21 this year), and "The Road to the Promised Land," which focuses on King and the civil rights movement, remains one of Humanities Texas’s most popular traveling exhibits. Read more. . .

Staff News
We are delighted to welcome Melissa Huber to Humanities Texas as our new exhibits coordinator. Melissa holds a B.A. in art history from Arizona State University and will complete an M.S. in historic preservation at The University of Texas at Austin this spring. Prior to joining Humanities Texas, she worked as a technician at the Blanton Museum of Art and as a graduate assistant in UT's Architectural Conservation Lab.

Upcoming Deadlines
Applications for Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching Awards are due January 14, 2008. Read more. . .

Developing materials or resources focused on teaching Texas history? Humanities Texas is seeking proposals for the Linden Heck Howell Texas History Initiative. Preliminary letters are due February 15, 2008. Read more. . .

Humanities Events Around Texas
Each month, dozens of organizations around the state host a Humanities Texas exhibit or sponsor an exciting program with the help of a grant from our council. See our online calendar to locate an event or program in your community.

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Humanities Texas · 1410 Rio Grande Street · Austin, Texas 78701 · Tel 512 440 1991