The Eyes Of Texans

Once you meet Isaac Bladen, you'll never forget him. "The Eyes of Texans: From Slavery to the Texas Capitol" is a new book by Melvin E. Edwards, an award-winning newspaper reporter/columnist, and a former legislative speechwriter for long-time Texas Lt. Governor and Governor Rick Perry. Edwards' thirty years of genealogy research confirmed family stories that had been told for decades, exposed some that weren't accurate, and discovered details that had long been buried. These "first person" accounts will capture your attention and take you on a drive-by of the past 200 years of American and Texas history. Isaac Bladen was born into slavery on a farm just outside of Washington, D.C., in a town that is named after the family that enslaved him. He and his Virginia-born wife, Elvira, ended up in Texas in 1844 as enslaved farmers in Leon County, where they had a daughter, Louisa, who eventually married Amos Jones. Louisa and Amos became the parents of Walter Jones. Louisa was born 15 years before the Civil War and died four months after the end of World War II at the age of 99. Her son, Walter, and daughter-in-law, Anna Thorn, had a son they named Orlean Jones. Orlean and Alma Logan Jones became the parents of Ella Jones Edwards, the author's mother. The Logans and the Bladens lived in the same county at the same time as early as 1856, though it would take decades before they crossed family lines when Orlean and Alma married in 1923. For more than 100 years, beginning in 1844, their ancestors lived in Leon County, Texas, as farmers and cowboys, before moving to Houston for a "fresh start." Nearly two centuries after Isaac's birth in Bladensburg, Maryland, his great-great-great grandson rose to a key role at the Texas State Capitol just two hours away from where Isaac was enslaved for most of his life in Leona. This is a story of Texas through the eyes of true Texans. From a slave in the 19th century to a governor's speechwriter by the end of the 20th century. It is a creative re-telling based on actual events and family stories.

C.1 ST. AID B & T. 07-05-2007. $13.99.

Texas has it all, from bustling big cities to sleepy small towns, and law enforcement alone can’t solve every crime. That’s where private eyes come in. They take the cases law enforcement can’t—or won’t. Private eyes may walk the mean streets of Dallas and Houston, but they also stroll through small West Texas towns where the secrets are sometimes more dangerous. Whether driving a Mustang or riding a Mustang, a private eye in Texas is unlike any other in the world. The Eyes of Texas features seventeen original tales of Lone Star State private eyes from Trey R. Barker, Chuck Brownman, Michael Chandos, John M. Floyd, Debra H. Goldstein, James A. Hearn, Richard Helms, Robert S. Levinson, Scott Montgomery, Sandra Murphy, Josh Pachter, Michael Pool, Graham Powell, William Dylan Powell, Stephen D. Rogers, Mark Troy, and Bev Vincent.

In this seventh book in the "USA Today"-bestselling series, legendary mountain man Matt Jensen takes on a ruthless gang of cutthroats. Original.

In this adventure from the bestselling authors of Massacre at Powder River, an Old West mountain man must survive Texas’s most dangerous town. Big War In Shady Rest Shady Rest, Texas, has the dubious reputation for being the deadliest town in America. Getting yourself killed is as easy as blinking and twice as quick. Sure enough, Matt Jensen hasn’t swallowed his whisky before the town’s marshal is gunned down before his eyes. Matt defends himself by putting two bullets in the shooter’s chest, unaware that he’s in line for a $5,000 bounty—if he stays in Shady Rest to collect it. And staying gets even more tempting when a red-haired beauty decides to be the next town marshal… Annabel O’Callahan is a dressmaker with a secret weapon—no hard case or gunslinger worth his salt will gun down a lady. Almost overnight, Shady Rest becomes a model of law and order. But the man Matt killed has a whole passel of friends and family—the killing kind, man or woman—headed to Shady Rest for revenge. Now the dressmaker and the mountain man must join forces. Two against a small army. And the deadliest shootout Shady Rest has ever seen.

"This is social history at its very best...The wide selection of firsthand accounts found in this text draw the reader in, and most are absolutely fascinating...This volume will make a significant contribution to the field of Texas women's history, and I predict it will be the one book to which scholars and the reading public turn for information on twentieth-century Texas women."-Elizabeth Hayes Turner, Professor of History, University of North Texas Texas Women broke barriers throughout the twentieth century, winning the right to vote, expanding their access to higher education, entering new professions, participating fully in civic and political life, and planning their families. Yet these major achievements have hardly been recognized in histories of twentieth-century Texas. By contrast, Texas Through Women's Eyes offers a fascinating overview of women's experiences and achievements in the twentieth century, with an inclusive focus on rural women, working-class women, and women of color. Judith N. McArthur and Harold L. Smith trace the history of Texas women through four eras. They discuss how women entered the public sphere to work for social reforms and the right to vote during the Progressive era (1900-1920); how they continued working for reform and social justice and for greater opportunities in education and the workforce during the Great Depression and World War II (1920-1945); how African American and Mexican American women fought for labor and civil rights while Anglo women laid the foundation for two-party politics during the postwar years (1945-1965); and how second-wave feminists (1965-2000) promoted diverse and sometimes competing goals, including passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, reproductive freedom, gender equity in sports, and the rise of the New Right and the Republican party. The authors take particular account of the interactions between genders and the hierarchies of race and ethnicity as they synthesize information from published histories with their own original research into women's lives. They also include a wealth of first-person accountsùwomen's letters, memoirs, and oral histories. This lively combination will appeal to a wide audience.

In 1955, Frank X. Tolbert, a well-known columnist for the Dallas Morning News, circumnavigated Texas with his nine-year-old-son in a Willis Jeep. The column he phoned in to the newspaper about his adventures, "Tolbert's Texas," was a staple of Walt Davis's childhood. Fifty years later, Walt and his wife, Isabel, have re-explored portions of Tolbert’s trek along the boundaries of Texas. The border of Texas is longer than the Amazon River, running through ten distinct ecological zones as it outlines one of the most familiar shapes in geography. According to the Davises, "Driving its every twist and turn would be like driving from Miami to Los Angeles by way of New York." Each of this book’s sixteen chapters opens with an original drawing by Walt, representing a segment of the Texas border where the authors selected a special place—a national park, a stretch of river, a mountain range, or an archeological site. Using a firsthand account of that place written by a previous visitor (artist, explorer, naturalist, or archeologist), they then identified a contemporary voice (whether biologist, rancher, river-runner, or paleontologist) to serve as a modern-day guide for their journey of rediscovery. This dual perspective allows the authors to attach personal stories to the places they visited, to connect the past with the present, and to compare Texas then with Texas now. Whether retracing botanist Charles Wright's 600-mile walk to El Paso in 1849 or paddling Houston's Buffalo Bayou, where John James Audubon saw ivory-billed woodpeckers in 1837, the Davises seek to remind readers that passionate and determined people wrote the state's natural history. Anyone interested in Texas or its rich natural heritage will find deep enjoyment in Exploring the Edges of Texas. Publication of this book is generously supported by a memorial gift in honor of Mary Frances "Chan" Driscoll, a founding member of the Advisory Council of Texas A&M University Press, by her sons Henry B. Paup '70 and T. Edgar Paup '74.

In 1975, a secret organization known as The Eyes of Texas was founded on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The Eyes of Texas quickly gained power over the Student Government, secretly controlling university life. In 2008, Lance Kennedy informed students about corruption at the University. The next year, an email was leaked to the campus newspaper revealing the existence of the society and confirming Kennedy's claims. The email revealed that the Eyes were working to promote the administration's initiatives instead of helping the campus be a better home to the thousands of students called Longhorns. This book is an exciting journey through Kennedy's attempts to thwart the power of The Eyes of Texas and improve the quality of life for the University's students, faculty, and staff. Meticulously researched, this book, The Eyes of Texas, includes excerpts from The Daily Texan and other news sources to highlight the influence of this secretive band of brothers and sisters, and the ongoing attempts to shed light on the activities of The Eyes of Texas and corruption at the University of Texas at Austin.