Sam Rayburn Museum Hosts Texas Governors Exhibit
October 6, 2009
BONHAM, Texas – The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History announces the opening of Celebration of Texas Governors, a special exhibit at the Sam Rayburn Museum. From Sam Houston to Rick Perry, the event will offer a rare view of priceless documents and artifacts from the governor’s office. The exhibit is open to the public Oct. 8 through Dec. 1, 2009.
Celebration of Texas Governors features selections from the Briscoe Center’s Texas Governors Political History Collection, which has a wealth of documents, photographs, and artifacts that have rarely been exhibited publicly. The exhibit includes items from the papers of Governors Sam Houston, Miriam Ferguson, Oscar Colquitt, William P. Hobby, James S. Hogg, Ann Richards, and Dolph Briscoe, among others.
“Celebration of Texas Governors will offer a glimpse of the Governor’s office that few people ever get to see,” said Dr. Patrick Cox, associate director for Political and Congressional History at the Briscoe Center. “This exhibit pulls together items from Texas Governors from 1860 to the present, from the Ann Richards’s ‘Texas Lottery’ earrings, to invitations to Sam Houston’s Inaugural Ball, to a photograph of Governor James S. Hogg feeding his two pet ostrich on the Capitol lawn.”
A division of the Dolph Briscoe , the Sam Rayburn Museum is open to the public for visitation and tours. It contains exhibits on Sam Rayburn’s life and career, and features an exact replica of the office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives during Rayburn’s tenure in that position. It also houses Rayburn’s personal library and an extensive collection of books that relate to his career or to the people, issues, and events with which he dealt during his years of public service. Admission is free.
For more information contact: Heather Trent, 903-583-2455, e.trent@austin.utexas.edu
