The Battle of Palo Alto: The Texas Battlefield That Opened the Mexican-American War
On May 8, 1846, American and Mexican forces met on a broad coastal plain near present-day Brownsville, Texas. The clash became the first major battle … Read more
Texas Culture
Dealey Plaza and the Memory of JFK’s Assassination
Dealey Plaza is one of the most historically significant places in Dallas. Located at the western edge of downtown, the public square is best known … Read more
From Houston to the Moon: Texas’ Role in Apollo 11
When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in July 1969, the mission depended on far more than the three astronauts traveling through space. Thousands of … Read more
How Major Legal Shifts Helped Build Modern Texas
Modern Texas was not built by population growth or economic expansion alone. It was also shaped by a series of legal changes that altered who … Read more
The Texas Laws That Left a Lasting Mark on the State
Texas has enacted thousands of laws since the days of the republic, but only a small number changed the state’s direction for generations. Some protected … Read more
A Timeline of the Most Important Legal Changes in Texas
Texas law did not develop in a straight line. The territory passed through Mexican rule, an independent republic, United States statehood, the Confederacy, Reconstruction, and … Read more
What the TV Show Friday Night Lights Got Right About Texas Football Culture
The Dillon Panthers were not a real Texas high school football team. Dillon was fictional, its players were invented, and many of its games ended … Read more
The History Behind Texas’s Friday Night Football Obsession
Long before Texas high school football became associated with packed stadiums, large video boards, and the phrase Friday Night Lights, teams played on basic school … Read more
Sweatt v. Painter: The Texas Case That Helped Break Segregation in Higher Education
Years before Brown v. Board of Education challenged segregation in public schools, a Texas postal worker named Heman Marion Sweatt took on the University of … Read more
The Texas City Disaster of 1947: The Explosion That Shook the Gulf Coast
On the morning of April 16, 1947, the port of Texas City became the site of the deadliest industrial disaster in United States history. A … Read more