SHOWCASING A LEGACY Exhibit showcases history of Waco's African-American high school Image: Items provided by A.J. Moore High School alumni will rotate in and out of the exhibit at the East Waco Library on a regular basis. Staff photo, Rod Aydelotte (Waco Tribune-Herald) What tells a high school’s story? Its building? Student achievements? Successful

Texas will finally teach that slavery was main cause of the Civil War Slavery has been upgraded to the primary cause in the curriculum, however states’ rights and sectionalism will still be taught as “contributing factors” Image: Confederate troops on the Las Moras, Texas (Public Domain) (Smithsonian.com) Last week, the Texas Board of Education voted

The plan to sell Texas to Great Britain Stephen Pearl Andrews, a lawyer, Houston socialite, and abolitionist, concocted a plan to free Texas’ slaves—with a hint of treason. (JSTOR Daily) In 1843, a New England lawyer almost managed to sell Texas to Great Britain. A convinced abolitionist practicing law in what was then the

Documenting The History Of Mob Violence Against African-American Veterans Image, above: A black airman from New York City reads the “Colored Waiting Room” sign in the segregated Terminal Station in Atlanta, Georgia, 1956.. (Bettman/Getty Images.) (NPR) In Montgomery, Ala., earlier this year, social justice advocates unveiled a memorial to thousands of African-Americans murdered by lynch

Historic black neighborhoods disappear all the time. But they don't have to. Houston takes center stage in a movement to preserve communities of color Image: The Whole Foods Market 365 mural reflects Independence Heights' roots. (Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff photographer) (Houston Chronicle) This week, Houston takes center stage in a national movement to preserve communities

'Overcoming': Documentary tells an important Texas tale Image: Collage honoring Almetris Duren Hall inside the dormitory at the University of Texas. (Still image of footage shot by Ben Idom) Almetris Duren accepting an award from the University of Texas. (University of Texas archives) (Texarkana Gazette) Known as Mama D or Mama Duren to

Tulsa to Search for Mass Graves From the Race Massacre of 1921 During the pogrom, a white mob killed an estimated 300 black Tulsans. According to eyewitnesses, the dead are buried in unmarked mass graves in Greenwood Image: Tulsa in flames during 1921 race riots (Smithsonian.com) On May 31, 1921, white men with weapons

Texas barbecue history began with the San Felipe Trail Photo: The Fourth Ward building at 138 W. Gray, where long ago "barbecue baron" Matt Garner once made and sold his barbecue. (Photo by J.C. Reid / For the Chronicle) (Houston Chronicle) In antebellum Texas, the cotton plantations along the Brazos and Colorado were worked by

PVAMU African-American studies initiative awarded $1M in grants and gifts (PVAMU) The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Prairie View A&M University a grant of $500,000 to support its effort to establish an African-­American Studies Initiative which will be housed in its Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences. Inspired by

What should be done with the bodies found in the Sugar Land mass graves? Photo: A mass grave was discovered earlier this year at the construction site of the James Reese Career and Technical Center in Sugar Land. (Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle) (Houston Chronicle) When archaeologists discovered the intact skeletons of