Tag: Dallas

  • Feeling Appreciated

    Last month, a surprising email landed in my inbox. It read, in part: As the year comes to a close, we’ve been reflecting on the incredible community that sustains our work—and as a Subscriber, you have been an essential part of that story. We’d like to personally invite you to our State of DTC Luncheon taking place on…

  • Local Museum Adventures

    Though museums are always a centerpiece of trips, I’m generally terrible about making time to visit museums when I’m at home. There’s no good reason, other than what we all know is our biggest competition: the couch. But this summer, there were two exhibits at local museums that I wanted to make an effort to…

  • A challenge to my fellow historians

    A challenge to my fellow historians

    When was the last time you hung out as a historian with a whole bunch of non-historians? Maybe it’s time.

  • Outsider History

    Outsider History

    I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed live theater until I was standing in a field on a hot, steamy July night. I was there for Family Dollar, an immersive play about a rapidly changing neighborhood in West Dallas. The play itself was excellent, but it’s the story behind the play that really got me…

  • But if all the educators are gone?

    If we’re lucky, we all have particular moments in our career that we can point to and say “I’m really proud of this. If this is my legacy, it’s enough.” Earlier this week, Facebook reminded me that it had been 10 years since one of those moments–the founding of the Informal Educators of Dallas County.…

  • Best year ever?

    Last night, while catching up with a fellow nonprofit friend, she said to me: “All that shit you’ve gone through over the last few years is turning into manure!” Now, she works for a garden, so these kind of metaphors are natural for her. But I do love it, and it may be a new…

  • Me and Lady Mary

    A few weeks ago, I joined a friend to see an eagerly anticipated movie–Downton Abbey. It was exactly what I thought it would be–a soapy drama with fabulous clothes and British accents. But there was this one moment that caught me totally off guard, and it had me stifling back sobs and wanting to cheer…

  • Credit where it’s due

    This past summer, I was asked to join a City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs task force regarding contextualizing the Confederate symbols scattered around Fair Park. We would also be discussing a memorial to Allan Brooks, victim of Dallas’ most notorious lynching. And then I went into panic mode. Like any good public historian,…

  • It’s not just about us

    Somehow, two big projects I’ve been working on for eons landed at City Hall for big votes on the same day. In truth, I found this highly annoying. Seriously, what are the odds? And who wants to spend all morning at City Hall? Spoiler alert: both projects passed unanimously. And though on the surface, the…

  • Sometimes, the answer is “not great”

    Next week should be one of my favorite weeks of the year–the annual meeting of the American Association of State and Local History. It’s a time to start growing new ideas, catch up with old friends, and make connections. But if I’m being perfectly honest with myself, I’m actually really dreading it. At a professional…