This entry was posted on October 24, 2016 at 1:29 PM and has received 2268 views. Print this entry.

This week, we're bringing you an excerpt from our permanent exhibit on Santa Anna's chair, located in the northwest corner of the library. In addition to his chair, Santa Anna left behind another relic - his wooden leg.  

 

The story of Santa Anna's wooden leg begins in 1838 with the brief conflict between Mexico and France known as the "Pastry War." Angry about unpaid Mexican debts incurred during the Texas Revolution, French officials demanded compensation from the Mexican government, including 60,000 pesos for damage to a bakery owned by a French pastry chef. Mexico refused to respond to the ultimatum for payment, and the French navy answered with a blockade of key Mexican ports. The "Pastry War" was born.

 

When French marines raided Veracruz, Santa Anna had the opportunity to come out of his disgraced retirement caused by the loss of Texas. He rallied his troops and the French were forced out of the city. Unfortunately for Santa Anna, cannon fire took his horse out from under him and horribly wounded his leg. Doctors amputated the limb and Santa Anna buried it at his hacienda.

 

With his victory against the French, Santa Anna was able to rise again to prominence in Mexico - after all, he had sacrificed a limb for his country. In 1842, his countrymen elevated him to the presidency again. As if to remind his country of his sacrifice, the shriveled leg was exhumed, paraded to Mexico City in an ornate coach, and buried in an elagant state funeral.

 

Sadly, there was no eternal rest for his leg. In 1844, the popular sentiment turned against him again, and rioters dug up his leg and dragged it through the streets shouting, "Death to the cripple!"

 

Santa Anna's story still had several more acts. After another exile, he was called back to the military for service in the Mexican-American War. At the Battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847, Santa Anna was breaking for a lunch of roast chicken and had removed his artificial leg. Surprised by the 4th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, he escaped on a horse, leaving behind his lunch and his cork-and-wooden leg. The Illinois soldiers ate the chicken, gave the gold they found to their superiors, but kept the leg as a prize of war. Today the wooden leg is housed in the Illinois State Military Museum, despite attempts to relocate it to Texas. 

 

Images from "Texas fighting for Santa Anna's leg," Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2014.

This entry was posted on June 28, 2016 at 8:19 AM and has received 3276 views. Print this entry.

The Library invites you to view its newest exhibit, "Legislative 'Desk' of Rep. Charles B. Metcalf - 1918." The exhibit displays what might have been found on the desk of Rep. Charles B. Metcalfe as he witnessed the passage of his historic bill on women's suffrage in primary elections. House Bill 105, 35th Legislature, 4th Called Session, was the first bill on woman's suffrage to pass the Texas Legislature. It was approved by the governor on March 26, 1918.

The display includes reprintings of the original House Bill 105; Metcalf family photographs; postcard scenes from the early decades of the 1900s in Tom Green County, Rep. Metcalfe's home district; and World War I posters, calendars, and a savings certificate. Also displayed are re-creations of stationery used by members of the Texas House of Representatives in 1918; desk supplies invoking the feel of the era; an original Capitol spitoon; an invitation based on a 1917 newspaper ad in the Corsicana Daily Sun, and a calling card utilizing designs from other political officials around the time period.

Photos in the exhibit were provided courtesty of the Tom Green County Historical Society Collection, West Texas Collection, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas, as well as the State Preservation Board, Austin, Texas.

The library invites you to view its latest exhibit: Legislative Desk of Rep. Charles B. Metcalfe.

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The state, nation, and world will commemorate the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22. Here are some related resources in the Legislative Library's collection.

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Schoolchildren at Henrietta Public School in 1913. Photo from the Portal to Texas History

Lower Grape Creek Schoolhouse, near Fredericksburg, was built in 1901. Photo taken in 2011. Photo by Flickr user jimmywayne

McCallum Arts Center, built in 2011, at McCallum High School in Austin. Photo by Addy Sonder

The final entry in a series of posts about the 33rd Legislature, held 100 years ago. Read the previous posts on the general atmosphere, veterans, women’s rights, and drought.

One hundred years ago, the majority of Texas schoolchildren, like the majority of Texans, lived in rural areas (White, p. 18). The schools in these areas were mostly one-teacher schools (75%), and the school term lasted less than three months for more than 2,000 of the schools, with 46% average absentee rates (TEA, p. 53). Texas was one of just six states that did not have a compulsory attendance law (White, p. 20).

The school buildings themselves were often in terrible condition (TEA, p. 53), and it was this particular problem that lawmakers addressed during the 33rd regular session. Governor Colquitt emphasized the Democratic Party's position on school buildings during his state of the state address:

"Our platform promises for better educational facilities and a better system of public education is the most comprehensive utterance ever made by a political party in Texas on that subject."

The Legislature passed HB 24, which, for the first time, set out requirements for school building standards. Across the country, new standards regarding heating, ventilation, and lighting were being implemented (Baker, p. 6). HB 24, for example, states that "thirty cubic feet of fresh, warm air shall be supplied to each pupil in such a manner as not to place any pupil in a disagreeable draft." This measurement of thirty cubic feet had begun in Massachusetts and was, in 1913, becoming a nation-wide standard (Baker, p. 6).

The law also recommended that the windows be placed to the left of students (so that their arms and hands would not block the sunlight when writing, presumably, right-handed (Baker, p. 6)), and that decorative "fluting, turning, or carving" be kept to a minimum so as to not attract "dust and microbes."

School Building Standards Today

The Texas Administrative Code (19 TAC §61.1036) lays out guidelines for school facility construction. Notably, since 1913, the code now includes specifications for computer classrooms and acknowledges that regular classrooms may have technology in them (computers on carts, for example) that necessitates extra space. This webpage on the TEA’s website includes information on design standards, facilities funding, and other relevant information.

You can view current legislation about school facilities by searching with the subject “Education--Primary & Secondary--Facilities (I0241)” using the Texas Legislature Online or, for older bills, the library’s Legislative Archive System.

Texas Education Rankings, among U.S. States, in 1913 and Present

NB: See end of blog post for footnotes.

Learn More about Education in the Early 20th Century

• See a map of all the ISDs created during the 1913 session.
• Read this report on the history of school building standards.
• Some schools of the early 1900s are still around today; come to the library and page through Early Texas Schools: A Photographic History to see these historical buildings.
• A Study of Rural Schools in Texas, published in 1914 by the University of Texas, reviews the plight of rural school communities in Texas; this report is available as part of the library’s collection of higher education documents.

Table Footnotes

Sources

• Baker, L. (2012). A History of School Design and its Indoor Environmental Standards, 1900 to Today. Washington, D.C.: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. Available at http://www.ncef.org/pubs/greenschoolshistory.pdf
• Bush, M., Ryan, M., & Rose, S. (2011, August). Number of Instructional Days/Hours in the School Year. Denver, Colo.: Education Commission of the States. Available at http://www.cga.ct.gov/ed/AchGap/Documents/2012/9505.pdf
• NEA Research (2012). Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2012 and Estimates of School Statistics 2013. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association. Available at http://www.nea.org/assets/img/content/NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates-2013_(2).pdf
• Texas Public Schools Sesquicentennial Handbook. Austin, Tex.: Texas Education Agency.
• United States, Bureau of Education (1917). Report of the Commissioner of Education Made to the Secretary of the Interior for the Year Ended June 30 1916. Volume II. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. Available at http://books.google.com/books?id=iGMWAAAAIAAJ
• White, E.V. and Davis, E.E. (1914, October 10). “A Study of Rural Schools in Texas.” Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 364 (Extension Series No. 62). Available at http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/SIRSI/A%20Study%20of%20Rural%20Schools%20in%20Texas.pdf

This entry was posted on May 21, 2013 at 2:30 PM and has received 4285 views. Print this entry.

Rep. Richard Burges Photo courtesy of the State Preservation Board	Rep. David Glasscock Photo courtesy of the State Preservation Board
Lake Houston, May 2011 Photo by dasroofless via Flickr Creative Commons

Fourth in a series of posts about the 33rd Legislature, held 100 years ago. Read the previous posts on the general atmosphere, veterans, and women’s rights.

"We Will Be Your Rainmakers"

So begins an advertisement in the May 16, 1913 edition of the Hereford Brand for a company offering irrigation and well services. At the time, Texas was coming out of a severe drought period from 1908 to 1912. (View this animated map to see just how severe.) Water management was at the fore of legislators’ minds as they met for the 33rd legislative session.

A patchwork of water laws existed at the time, applying to different parts of Texas and sometimes contradicting each other. The Burges-Glasscock Act, also known as the Irrigation Act of 1913, created the Board of Water Engineers and centralized the procedure for water-rights claims by making those claims go through the Board (in “certified filings").

In an address to the House, Rep. David Glasscock described a reason for the bill:

“In the magnificent sweep of her imperial domain Texas numbers localities where there is little or no rainfall, and others where the rainfall is constant and excessive that rumor reports the inhabitants as web-footed; but the complaint common to her widest region lies in the alternation of superabundance and scarcity.” (p. 952, H.J., 33rd Lege., R.S.)

And as he closed his quite lengthy speech explaining the various aspects and benefits of the bill, he looked towards the future:

“It brings nearer to attainment the promise of the future toward which our people have set their forward faces, when the sleeping resources of Texas shall under the touch of wiser legislation awake in matchless strength to lead the nation.” (p. 955, H.J., 33rd Lege., R.S.)

Drought and Water Law in 2013

The Handbook of Texas Online points out that “Droughts have been recorded as a problem in Texas since Spaniards explored the area.” It’s no surprise, then, that 100 years later, legislators are once again faced with addressing the water needs of a growing population. The state is in the midst of a drought—2011 was the worst single-year drought on record—and new practices such as hydraulic fracturing have altered the water landscape in Texas.

Funding for water development has been a high priority this session, especially funding for the State Water Plan. This library blog post reviews the relevant legislation and provides links to many other legislative resources.

Recently, the House voted to send the first major water bill, HB 4 by Rep. Allan Ritter, to the Senate. According to the HRO analysis, the bill “would create special funds outside of the state treasury to implement the state water plan and provide a prioritization funding system on the regional and state levels, with consideration given to conservation and reuse projects and projects in rural areas," among other things.

Learn more with these library and government resources:

• View a timeline of Texas water law
• Get the highlights of water development legislation this session as well as important background information
• Read the full speech by Rep. Glasscock in House Journal, 33rd Lege., R.S., p. 949
• Search for current bills at TLO or historic bills on the library’s site. Use subjects “Water--Development (I0875)” and/or “Water--General (I0885).”
• Browse through this comprehensive review of Texas water law: Sahs, Mary K. Essentials of Texas Water Resources. State Bar of Texas: Austin, 2012. Call number: B600.8 ES74 2012

This entry was posted on April 15, 2013 at 1:05 PM and has received 2824 views. Print this entry.

Rep. Edith Wilmans was the first woman elected to the Texas Legislature. (Photo courtesy of the State Preservation Board)

An online exhibit with the Austin Public Library focuses on the Austin Suffrage Association, headed by Jane McCallum (pictured above).

The owners and workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 1910.

Texas Women: Then and Now

Third in a series of posts about the 33rd Legislature, held 100 years ago. Read the previous posts here and here.

Suffrage

By 1913, woman's suffrage had already been an issue for more than forty years—it was discussed at the state Constitutional Convention of 1868-69. Many Western states, in fact, had already granted women the right to vote. In 1907, Representative Jess Baker had introduced an unsuccessful resolution to give women the vote (HJR 17).

During the 33rd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, Representative Frank Burmeister introduced HJR 9, giving women the right to vote. While the committee gave it a favorable report, the resolution did not progress any further. The committee minority report states that there was no "popular demand" among women in Texas for the vote, but the very same year, the Texas Woman Suffrage Association was formed (later to become the League of Women Voters of Texas), following the foundation of woman's suffrage clubs in Austin and San Antonio a few years earlier. Five years later, Texas women would gain the right to vote in primaries (1918), and the full right to vote in 1919 with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

"We oppose the effort to reduce the standard of womanhood and we deprecate the effort to dash from the high pedestal upon which Southern manhood has placed them, the wives and daughters of the South and especially of Texas." -Commitee Minority Report

Property Rights and Labor Laws

The legislators of the 33rd Regular Session passed a major milestone for women regarding marital property rights. Houston attorney Hortense S. Ward, one of the first women admitted to the Texas State Bar, worked to help HB 22 by Representative W.B. Goodner become law.

While husbands remained in control of community property, the new law allowed wives to control rent and other income from their own property holdings, as well as income from her stocks and bonds. In addition, wives could now exclusively control  their own bank accounts. Previously, a husband could access a bank account held solely in his wife's name.  Married women in Texas would not see full property and other rights until 1967; the 1913 law was a major step forward.

Female labor laws were also a concern during this time period. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire had occurred just two years prior. In 1913, legislators passed SB 30, by Senator O.S. Lattimore, that limited the number of hours females could work. The hours varied by profession (a maximum of 10 or 11 hours in 24 hours and no more than 54 hours per week). The following session, the hours would be further reduced to nine. In 1918, several protections for females in the workplace would be set in place, just as women were entering the workforce because of World War I.

Texas Women in 2013

Since gaining the right to vote in 1919, Texas women have made their voices heard as voters and as legislators and elected officials. Representative Edith Wilmans became the first woman elected to the Texas Legislature in 1923. Today, women make up 21% of the legislature, with 31 representatives and 7 senators. Women serve in our congressional delegation and in high elected office, such as Comptroller Susan Combs. More than 4.5 million Texas women voted in the 2008 presidential election, accounting for 54% of the state electorate.

• How does Texas compare to other states in terms of number of female legislators? Take a look at this map by the National Conference of State Legislators.
• The Governor's Commission for Women was created in 1967 by Gov. John Connally and has been in continuous existence since 1987. Today, the Commission focuses on four specific areas: increasing female participation in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math); assisting women who are older than 50 with workforce skills and job placement; providing assistance to women in military households; and expanding education about women's health issues.
• March is Women’s History Month, a tradition that began in 1909 with National Women’s Day (now International Women’s Day). Learn more about famous Texas women through the Ruthe Winegarten Foundation.

You can learn more about women's issues in Texas and nationwide through resources in the Legislative Reference Library. Books such as "Women and the Texas Revolution," provide historical perspective. Legislative and agency reports going back to the 1970s, such as an interim committee report from 1988 on women and minority-owned businesses, provide context for legislation.

To find current and historic legislation related to women, use the Legislative Archive System and the Texas Legislature Online and peruse the subject list. There are many applicable subjects, such as "Women's Health Program (S0698,)" "Women's Shelters (S0049)," or “Women (I0925).”

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