The Texas State Historical Association will move to Denton, Texas, and a new association with the powerful history department at the University of North Texas, after 110 years in Austin in a home on the campus of the University of Texas.
Holly K. Hacker wrote the details for a story in The Dallas Morning News for January 12, 2008:
The association’s president said UNT is a logical choice. Among its selling points, UNT has the state’s biggest program in Texas history and a university press that publishes many books on Texas subjects. The association also has four fellows and a former president from UNT.
“We felt that UNT not only made the best offer in terms of what it could give us, but it was also the best fit on a day-in, day-out basis,” said Frank de la Teja, president of the association.
The group publishes a scholarly journal called Southwestern Historical Quarterly. And anyone who’s ever Googled the Battle of the Alamo, Juneteenth or some other Texas subject is probably familiar with the association’s Handbook of Texas Online, a comprehensive encyclopedia that averages 4 million page views a month.
Details are still being worked out, but UNT hopes the association will move to campus in the fall, said Michael Monticino, associate dean of UNT’s College of Arts and Sciences. He said the university is poised to pay for renovations, worth about half a million dollars, and to contribute about $200,000 a year for other expenses.
The move may be good news for history teachers closer to Denton, including those in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Tyler and Abilene. Chiefly the move indicates how Texas’s higher education quality has spread out well beyond Austin and College Station, homes of the first branches of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, respectively.
Full story below the fold (as insurance against the whims of electronic archivists at the Dallas Morning News).
TSHA’s annual meeting will be in Corpus Christi, March 5 through 8, 2008. Educators can register for as little as $35.00.
Texas State Historical Association moving to University of North Texas
Denton: Group pulls up stakes after more than a century in Austin
11:51 PM CST on Friday, January 11, 2008
[Page 7B]
The Texas State Historical Association’s long-running tenure in Austin is, well, history. The nonprofit education and research group is moving to the University of North Texas in Denton, officials said Friday.
The association’s president said UNT is a logical choice. Among its selling points, UNT has the state’s biggest program in Texas history and a university press that publishes many books on Texas subjects. The association also has four fellows and a former president from UNT.
“We felt that UNT not only made the best offer in terms of what it could give us, but it was also the best fit on a day-in, day-out basis,” said Frank de la Teja, president of the association.
The group publishes a scholarly journal called Southwestern Historical Quarterly. And anyone who’s ever Googled the Battle of the Alamo, Juneteenth or some other Texas subject is probably familiar with the association’s Handbook of Texas Online, a comprehensive encyclopedia that averages 4 million page views a month.
Details are still being worked out, but UNT hopes the association will move to campus in the fall, said Michael Monticino, associate dean of UNT’s College of Arts and Sciences. He said the university is poised to pay for renovations, worth about half a million dollars, and to contribute about $200,000 a year for other expenses.
Dr. Monticino said the arrangement brings together “two major Texas history powerhouses.” He said the association probably will work with UNT’s College of Education to develop materials and lesson plans for history teachers. There should also be opportunities for graduate students to do research, he said.
The association already sponsors institutes and summer workshops for history teachers and hosts an annual history fair for students in grades six through 12. At UNT, the group plans to continue and expand those efforts, Dr. de la Teja said. There’s also talk of adding pictures, video and audio to the online handbook, making it an even better reference tool.
The historical association started at the University of Texas at Austin in 1897 and stayed there until November, when it relocated to an office park while it sought a new home. Stories vary over the reason for the split – some said UT ran out of space, others cited UT’s growing concern about a public campus hosting a private organization.
Dr. de la Teja said, “UT and the association just kind of drifted apart in terms of how they could accomplish their goals.”
The association has more than 2,000 members, from seasoned historians to amateur history buffs.
“UNT students, the North Texas communities and the entire state will benefit from this new collaboration, as together UNT and the association continue the work of preserving and strengthening Texas’ heritage,” Gayle W. Strange, chairwoman of the UNT System’s board of regents, said in a statement.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
As a former Dallas resident, I am excited by this. I spent a bit of time up in Decatur and Denton; and even a little bit of time on campus. UNT is one of the schools to which I would gladly send my kids.
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