Past Matters, Fall 2024, Published 10/25/24
Greetings for the fall, y’all!
This year seems to have gone by faster than usual, but that’s what happens when we are having fun! It has been a busy few months for us here at the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (FTHC), with a lot of activity above and beyond the normal of continuing to build philanthropic support for the programs and projects of the Texas Historical Commission (THC).
The FTHC continues to steadily grow and expand its role as a partner to the THC in more out-of-the-box ways than before. Even as we continue our traditional fundraising efforts, we have also stepped up to secure critical additions to THC’s portfolio of historic sites. In August of this year, the FTHC completed its sixth transaction of real property for the THC, acquiring a circa 1950s house adjacent to the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site. This property, once transferred to the THC, will create a protective buffer between the critical historic resources at the stie and the adjacent active neighborhood, while also providing additional operational space for the site.
Earlier, in July and August, the Friends transferred two properties, totaling 33+ archeologically sensitive acres adjacent to the Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight Ranch State Historic Site to the THC as an addition to the historic site. This acreage is part of the original Goodnight/JA Ranch and will provide critical programming areas for the site to showcase the history of ranching in Texas.
The Texas Historical Commission is a leader in creating innovative solutions to challenges in preservation. One of these solutions, which addresses the issue of economic development in historic downtowns, is DowntownTX – a program and associated proprietary software platform developed by the THC and the FTHC, with support from the Still Water Foundation. This program and the platform, which allows local communities to market their historic downtowns to investors and buyers, has been lauded by State Historic Preservation Offices across the country.
To be responsive to requests from other state agencies, over two years ago the Commission authorized FTHC to engage with the State of Georgia on a pilot project – that of licensing the proprietary DowntownTX software to the State of Georgia. The Friends, in partnership with our THC colleagues, worked through the process and in September of this year the State of Georgia launched DowntownGA. The GA team is now working with their Main Street and Certified Local Government communities to populate the platform with data from their historic downtowns to energize economic activity. We look forward to bringing you more information about how this project progresses over the next several months.
And, as I mentioned at the beginning, in addition to all these unconventional projects, our work to build private philanthropic support for our historic sites and programs continues. We are honored to receive incredibly generous support from the T. L. L. Temple Foundation, the Joan and Herb Kelleher Charitable Foundation, and The Summerlee Foundation for the development of the Education and Activity Center at the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. While this capital campaign continues, the FTHC has also stepped up as an implementation partner on this project, working with the design and engineering team as well as our colleagues at the THC Historic Sites Division, to take this second phase of the Caddo Cultural Center to completion.
On October 9th, the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission was honored to host many of our supporters and friends for the Tastes of Texas Gala. The event was a celebration of a unique aspect of history and preservation – our Texas culinary heritage. Through the evening the event offered guests a curated experience of the vast variety of culinary traditions of the Lone Star State – from the food and drink served to the programming presented. We are thrilled to share this gala video which provides a brief glimpse of the theme. We are incredibly grateful to our sponsors and underwriters for this event, for their support in making the evening a success.
And finally, it is my privilege to share with you all the news of an incredibly generous gift, made by the Presidio La Bahia Foundation to the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, in support of the Presidio La Bahia State Historic Site. In September the Foundation signed a gift agreement that would transfer $1,075 million in assets to the FTHC, to create an endowment for the Presidio La Bahia. The assets were received by the FTHC in October. We are humbled by the faith shown by the Foundation in the Friends, and look forward to working with them on ensuring the appropriate use of these funds.
In all of this, it is an honor to work in partnership and with support from the incredibly committed leadership and staff at the Texas Historical Commission. And we are deeply grateful to you, our friends, for your support. Your gifts help us preserve the stories and histories of all Texans, so we can continue to build community through storytelling. We look forward to your continued support!
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the staff of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission—warm regards and best wishes for the upcoming holiday season!
Anjali Zutshi, Executive Director