Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1860s: George T. Ruby
Read about George T. Ruby, an African American politician from Texas during Reconstruction.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1860s: Rise of Radical Republicanism
Here is a brief article on the beginning of the Republican political party in Texas in 1867. which soon split into two factions.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: Representation
Read about the political climate in 1870s Texas and two governors elected during this time, Republican Edmund J. Davis and Democrat Richard Coke. Focuses primarily on how African Americans were affected by the leadership of each governor.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: The Constitutional Convention of 1875
A Constitutional Convention was held in Texas in 1875 as a reaction to Reconstruction. See how the gains made by the Republican Party, which included African American legislators, were negated by the Democratic Party when it gained control.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: 19th Century African American Legislators: 1880s Repression
This several page article recounts the black legislators in the Texas Congress and their attempts to address many issues affecting the African Americans in the state. Read about the Ku Klux Klan, convict leases, and segregation on railroads
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1880s: Convict Lease
African American convicts faced physical abuse, were forced to work long hours, and experienced poor living conditions as part of the "Convict Lease" program set up to pay for the prison system. Read about why this program was started...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1890s: Black Codes
Here is a brief description of Black Codes, which were set in place in Texas in 1866 and "outlined a status for African Americans not too much removed from their earlier condition as slaves."
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The 1890s: Voting Rights
Though given the right to vote by 1870, African-American men faced several problems when it came to voting. This is a brief description of what they faced.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1870s: Education
Read about the development of free education for African Americans following the emancipation of this enslaved population. This article focuses on schools in Texas, including what is now known as Texas A&M University. Includes a...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Hazardous Business: Line and Lands of the Texas & Pacific Railway, 1873
Here's a map showing the Texas & Pacific Railway. Click on link to get larger version which shows the route across Texas as well as an inset which shows how the railway connected to other railroads in the U.S.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Aftermath: A Fashionable Woman, Circa 1920
After women were given the right to vote in 1919, other aspects of women's lives began to evolve, one being women's dress. No longer confined by the restrictive fashions of the 19th century, women wore dresses, like the one shown here,...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Mc Ardle Notebooks: Portrait of General Sam Houston
Here is a photo of General Sam Houston, which is part of artist Henry McArdle's notebook of research used in painting "The Battle of San Jacinto." Includes a link to an article on Houston.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Battle of San Jacinto: Portrait of General Mirabeau B. Lamar
Here is a portrait of Mirabeau Lamar, part of artist Henry McArdle's collection of research for his painting, "The Battle of San Jacinto." Includes a link to an article on Lamar, from the "Handbook of Texas."
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Battle of San Jacinto: Portrait of General Santa Anna
Here is a portrait of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna by Paul L'Ouvrier. Part of artist Henry McArdle's collection of research for his painting, "The Battle of San Jacinto." Includes a link to an article on Santa Anna from the "Handbook of...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Native American Relations in Texas: Introduction
How did a Spanish explorer become a "medicine man and the first European trader in Texas"? Who authored the "first ever written description of Texas Indians"? Read this brief article to begin learning about the early relations between...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Joins the Battle: African American Women, 1890s
See photos that are representative of the lives of African-American women at the turn of the century and read about the discrimination black women and men faced: Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, and the "white primary" rule. A brief...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Movement Comes of Age: Falls County Prohibition Committee, July 5, 1915
The Prohibition movement was strong in the early 20th century. Check out this document to learn about the Prohibition Committee formed in Falls County, Texas.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Movement Comes of Age: Carrie Chapman Catt (Portrait)
Here is a portrait of Carrie Chapman Catt, suffragist who briefly served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Movement Comes of Age: Suffrage Plays
Suffragist staged plays to bring attention to the cause of women's suffrage. Here is a brochure listing the various "suffrage plays" that one could order from the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Movement Comes of Age: Women's Tennis Club at University of Texas, 1906
Here's a brief article on the history of women's sports in the U.S. along with photos from the women's tennis club at the University of Texas. Part of a larger exhibit on the history of women's rights and voting.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Battle Lost and Won: Patriotic Rally at Fort Brown
Here is an example of the patriotism that flourished in the United States (this site's example is taken from Texas' history), during the Great War (World War I). See a photo from a rally at Fort Brown, showing both women and men...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Battle Lost and Won: Captain j.j. Farley of the Dallas Police Dept
In the late 19th century, women began to take on roles as police matrons, and in 1917, Holland's magazine profiled Captain J.J. Farley of the Dallas Police Department. She was the "only woman holding the rank of captain" in the U.S. and...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Battle Lost and Won: Travis County Women Register to Vote
Following the passage of the primary suffrage measure in Texas in 1918, women made haste to register to vote, because they only had 17 days to do so before the vote. Here is a group photo of Texas women doing so.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: The Battle Lost and Won: Suffrage Broadside: About Voting
Here is an example of a suffrage broadside that asks "Who will give women their right to vote and when?" Published by the National American Woman Suffrage Association.