NEW EXHIBIT and NEW CONTEST!

Issue 13...........June 2021

The Lake Jackson Historical Association provides Education relative to the

History and Culture of Lake Jackson, Texas.

The History Museum and Plantation Site

continue to mix the OLD with the NEW

NEW ...............................EXHIBIT AND CONTEST

June 16-August 11, 2021

Tuesday-Saturday

10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Apron Strings: Ties to the Past, features fifty-one vintage and contemporary examples that review the apron’s role as an emotionally charged vehicle for expression with a rich and varied craft history that is still viable today.

Don your favorite apron!! Take a selfie, etc., etc., etc. Submit it (or a picture of a relative clad in a festive apron) to marketingdirector@ljhistory.org by JUNE 30. Your photo will be added to the Apron Strings Exhibit. At the end of June, Autumn Barrier, owner of WINE REVUE, located at 219 Parking Way, will judge the most creative/fascinating apron. The winner will receive a complimentary wine-tasting for four at her local wine bar.

A Program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance with Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information on the exhibit Click Here

NEW....LJHA's Gift Shop comes to the

Farmers Market!

Are you looking for Lake Jackson souvenirs or books chronicling the city's history? Items from the LJHA's gift shop will be for sale Saturday, June 12, at the Alden B. Dow Office Museum from

9 am-1 pm. Come visit us!

CURIOUS COLLECTION....LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!!

Lake Jackson's city planner and first architect, Alden B. Dow, had a passion for filmmaking. For 50 years, he shot footage of his architectural projects, personal interests, and travels. Always on a quest for innovation, he experimented with time lapse photography, animation, and dream sequencing. His film of choice was 16mm Kodachrome. In fact, over 300 16mm films are archived at his Home and Studio in Midland, Michigan, and most are viewable in Mr. Dow's personal movie theater there.

Revere Model 88 movie camera

As a reminder of Mr. Dow's hobby, a Revere Model 88 movie camera was displayed in his office at the Alden B. Dow Office Museum. Its use was popular during Mr. Dow's residency in LJ. An anonymous donor gifted the camera to the LJHA in 1988. Its many features are touted in the following advertisement, which appeared in 1941.

“The Revere Model 88 camera takes the clearest and steadiest home movies

you have ever seen. Its advanced design (pocket size), its exclusive automatic film-threading sprocket, five speeds (including slow motion), precision

construction, and many other proven features make Revere the outstanding

value of 8mm movie cameras.”

Click below to see footage of early LJ, some of which was shot by Mr. Dow himself in and around 1941-42.

Old............................................Scan Day Treasure

On Saturday, May 8, LJHA held its first Scan Day. Among numerous donated photos was this picture dating back to 1955. That year a much sought after piano teacher (standing right) hosted a graduation tea for one of her pupils. Seated to the right of the honoree is her younger sister who grew up to be a popular BISD high school English teacher. Enjoy identifying these personalities!!!

NEW………………………………FLAG DEPOT

The History Museum will accept your worn out, tattered, or faded American flags. They will be held in safekeeping until the Boy Scouts conduct another retirement ceremony.

Drop off Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

BUY A BRICK!

Leave your lasting imprint AND support the LJHA at the same time. Honor a friend. Memorialize a relative.

Pave the walkway to the museum or the Jackson Plantation Historic Site with a personalized brick.Order a Brick here.

A Word from the Executive Director

I am pleased to bring you an exciting announcement this month. LJHA is in the process of expanding one of the primary permanent exhibits at the museum! The Karankawa Exhibit now has an addition of seven arrowheads, including prehistoric Perdiz points! In the coming weeks, pottery sherds will also be added and used to provide education on materials and methods used in pottery making. These arrowheads and pottery are part of the permanent museum collection and some will be going on display for the first time at the museum, following analysis.

The biggest development is a brand-new addition, acquired from the transfer of numerous Native artifacts from The Heritage Society of Houston to the Lake Jackson Historical Association. This transfer includes significant pieces which will dramatically elevate the Karankawa exhibit. The highlight of the collection is a bronze bust of a young coastal native woman. She would have been 18 to 20 years old at the time of her death. The bronze is not an artistic interpretation but rather the result of a partnership between Betty Pat Gatliff, a forensic sculptor, and Rebecca Storey, an anthropologist and professor at the University of Houston. This bust allows viewers a look at the appearance of a Gulf Coast resident of the 1500’s, as she would have been. An additional collection of arrowheads and pottery, discovered at the same site as the woman represented by the bronze, complements the display. Last but not least, a fabulous Comanche parfleche, or saddlebag, will provide a tangible connection to one of the Karankawa’s enemies as well as demonstrate a potential trade good they might have acquired.

Stay tuned for updates regarding the opening of the exhibit with these wonderful new artifacts. LJHA has a goal of opening the new exhibit this summer.

David Thomas

LJHA Executive Director