Greetings! It is wonderful to connect with you after what has been a history-making summer by way of temperatures! While trying to stay cool, we at the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (FTHC) also wrapped up our fiscal year on August 31, continuing critical ongoing projects while also flexing our outside-of-the-box thinking (a post-pandemic reality for most nonprofits) to take on and address new projects. In all this, we continue to be a strong and ever-present partner to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) in its preservation and education mission.????
But none of what we do would be possible without YOUR support! I want to take this opportunity to share some of the impact you made on Texas history over the last 12 months, and the real places and real people whose stories you helped preserve through your support of the FTHC.?
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By Rachel Galan, Assistant Site Manager, Caddo Mounds State Historic Site
Nestled in the heart of East Texas, Caddo Mounds State Historic Site (CMSHS) invites visitors to engage with an ancient part of Texas history, one rich in cultural heritage and resilience. The Caddo's story begins with the moon leading the first Caddo man and woman from the Earth, carrying a drum, fire, pumpkins, and corn. Behind them emerged many others who settled and thrived in present-day Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. CMSHS sits within this ancestral homeland and tells the continuing story of the Caddo people. This compelling site reflects the spiral of Caddo history. Visitors to CMSHS can glimpse Caddo life by visiting a traditional Caddo grass house and the Snake Woman?s Garden and by walking the ancestral Caddo homeland.
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Each October, Texas Archeology Month provides an opportunity for Texans to appreciate the depth and richness of our heritage through the lens of archeology. Across the state, the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and partners provide hands-on activities and host commemorative events such as archeology fairs, demonstrations, presentations, museum exhibits, and walking tours.?
The THC coordinates the statewide celebration and encourages partners in archeology and historic preservation to organize Texas Archeology Month events and programming. Partners include archeological societies, county historical commissions, museums, state agencies, and other groups?with support from a legion of volunteers, many of them members of the THC?s archeological stewardship program, a statewide network of avocational archeologists who assist the THC?s small staff of archeologists. The THC also relies on its partners in the Texas Archeological Society and Council of Texas Archeologists as Texas Archeology Month co-sponsors.?
Photo Credit: Michelson Museum of Art
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 Applications for the 2024 Preservation Scholars Program open on November 1. This program provides internships at the Texas Historical Commission for students from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in exploring the field of historic preservation. Scholars will have the opportunity to grow skills in key areas conducive to career success, develop relationships with professionals working in and around the field, and gain experience with and exposure to a range of ideas, projects, and people in the real-world environment of historic preservation. We invite you to click the link below to learn more about this exciting opportunity!
 The Texas Historical Commission?s eighth annual Real Places conference, presented in partnership with our title partner,?Phoenix I Restoration and Construction LLC,?is scheduled for April 3 ? 5, 2024 in Austin.
This conference will once again bring together professionals and volunteers, from diverse disciplines and organizations, who make historic preservation happen in Texas. Enjoy the opportunity to network with and learn from county historical commissions, Main Street managers and board members, historic preservation officers, design review boards, architects, engineers, historians, archeologists, curators, interpreters, educators, nonprofit staff and volunteers, THC staff, Texas Heritage Trail Regions, and many more.
Attendees return to their communities with renewed energy, ideas, and resources for enhancing their historic preservation and heritage tourism programs. We hope you will join us! Stay tuned to Real Places for announcements and updates.
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