May 2019
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Newsletter
Sponsored by the City of Waco
Official State Historical Center of the Texas Rangers
Home of Texas Ranger Bicentennial 1823-2023
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On Saturday, June 8th, pack up your family and time travel with the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. The first stop on your adventure is the Texas frontier in the 1870s. What did the early Rangers cook and eat in the field? How did Ranger clothes and gear help them get the job done? The Texas Top Guns will demonstrate skills Rangers needed to survive on the frontier and as early law enforcement officers.
Then, flash forward two centuries to the life of today’s Texas Rangers at a
Texas Ranger Talk!
At 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM a currently serving Texas Ranger will discuss their training and responsibilities, law enforcement in the 21st century, and answer your questions. This is a rare opportunity to meet Rangers from two centuries and make priceless memories.
For more information about
Home on the Range
and to stay updated as things are announced, visit our
Facebook event page
.
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Here is your opportunity to meet an active or retired Texas Ranger, learn about their remarkable service and leave with a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Modeled on the popular
Astronaut Encounter
at the Kennedy Space Center
,
the museum will host a series of informal
Texas Ranger Talks
on select Saturdays throughout the summer. Each presentation will last approximately 30 minutes followed by 15 minutes for Q&A. Presentations are included with regular admission to the museum.
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Texas Ranger Lt. James Thomas speaking at the Texas Ranger Talk during Spring Break Round Up
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New
Discovering the Legend
Episode Up!
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Texas Ranger Lieutenant James Thomas
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Discovering the Legend
is series of nearly 30 programs about Texas Ranger history, artifacts and art, and modern Ranger duties. It is produced in cooperation with the Texas Rangers, City of Waco, historians, and donors.
This episode features an interview with Texas Ranger Lieutenant James Thomas of Company “F” in Waco. He discusses why he became a Texas Ranger and the challenges and challenges and rewards of the profession during his remarkable career.
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If you enjoyed this presentation, you can hear from other Rangers at our upcoming
Texas Ranger Talks!
this summer.
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Education Presentation in Killeen
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In April 25th, Education Programs Manager Audrey spoke with 3rd grade students from Killeen, Texas about Texas Ranger History. Each year our staff assists teachers and students statewide through presentations, lesson plans and research.
To give students an up close look at Ranger history, Audrey brings different objects from the TRHFM Education Collection. The Education Collection includes examples of historic artifacts in the museum that the students can look at up close.
To the left is a life-size picture of retired Texas Ranger and TRHFM board member Sgt. Matt Cawthon showing the regulation dress used in day-to-day duties.
Audrey is holding a compass that rested on a wooden tripod and was used by Rangers working as surveyors in the late 1800s.
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For more information about educational resources, please
visit our website
or contact Audrey, Educational Programs Manager, at 254-750-8631.
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Donald Yena Watercolor Painting Donation
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The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum recently received a generous gift, from the Collection of Dr. J.F. Cadenhead, of a watercolor entitled
Timid Browsers
by famed western artist Donald Yena. At the age of three Yena came to the Lone Star State with his family and lived on a farm near Castroville, southwest of San Antonio. A passion for times gone by was inevitable, for Yena was surrounded by Texas historic sites and landmarks in his youth. This passion for Texas and the Old West is reflected both in his paintings and in his private collection of antique artifacts.
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Timid Browsers by
Donald Yena
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Yena's decision to become an artist started early after graduating from San Antonio's Vocational and Technical High School in 1953. He continued his art education at Hunter School of Commercial Art and through a correspondence course from the Famous Artist’s School, where he received a Certificate of Completion in 1962.
Mastering both oils and watercolors, Yena’s works are prominently exhibited in private homes, businesses, galleries and numerous museums. In an interview for
Texas Parks and Wildlife
, Yena states; “I paint ‘once upon a time in the West’ with authenticity,” and his expressive works convey that truth.
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New Bicentennial Ranger History Book
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The University of Oklahoma Press has released the sixth book in the Texas Ranger Bicentennial™ series
Texas Rangers in Transition: from Gunfighters to Criminal Investigators 1921-1935
by Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler.
During the Prohibition years Texas was awash in booze and oil. The storied Texas Rangers found themselves not only suppressing gambling and bootleggers, but also responsible for everything from catching murderers to preventing circus performances on Sundays.
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Utilizing newly discovered sources,
Texas Rangers in Transition
is the first detailed history of this era of political turmoil, when the largely rural state was rapidly becoming urban and the nation went from Roaring Twenties boom to Depression bust. Law enforcement faced an epidemic of bank robberies, organized crime, the growth of the Ku Klux Klan, and motorized bandits using military-grade weapons. Steeped in tradition and reluctant to change, the Texas Rangers had appropriations slashed by an antagonistic governor and suffered from mediocre political appointments to their ranks.
Rather than fade into history, the Rangers transitioned from frontier law enforcers to criminal investigators. In 1935, the Texas Rangers were moved from the governor’s personal control to the newly created Department of Public Safety. This was a watershed point in the Rangers’ history: marking their transformation into a modern law enforcement agency.
Available by mail from the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame museum store and quality booksellers.
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New Baseball Caps in the Museum Store!
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Summer sun is shining alread
y in Texas and that means it's baseball cap weather! The Museum Shop has a wide assortment of caps. Please call or email to inquire about the various designs. $21.95 + Tax
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A selection of the baseball hats at the TRHFM Store
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To shop more items available for purchase, please visit our
Gift Shop online,
or in person 9am to 4:30pm daily. You never have to pay admission to shop.
Sales from the Gift Shop benefit the preservation and education activities of the Museum. Please call (877) 750-8631 or email
thestore@texasranger.org
to order. We ship worldwide. Thank you!
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Leica Scanner Helping to Rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral
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In November, Leica Geosystems donat
ed a ScanStation C10 Laser Scanner for the Museum collections. It creates a permanent 360° digital photographic image and maps millions of laser data points to millimeter accuracy. In 2011 the Texas Rangers began applying state-of-the-art land surveying technology to criminal investigations, which enables a single Ranger to make a precision 3D map of a crime scene in minutes. Before, a forensics team spent hours or days doing the same work with cameras and tape measures.
Now that very same Leica scanner model is being used in the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
The 850-year-old landmark burned on April 15th. The French government pledged to reconstruct the building within five years. “Having laser scans [of Notre Dame] is critical in shortening the reconstruction time frame,” says John Russo, president and CEO of Architectural Resource Consultants and president of the U.S. Institute of Building Documentation. “If you don’t have that data, where do you go? Laser scans have become a critical way to help document — and potentially save — history."
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To read more about the process in the article "
Laser Scan Data Integral to Fast-Track Rebuild of Notre Dame Cathedral
", please
click here
.
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Texas Ranger Bicentennial
TM
Partners Program
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The Texas Rangers are a Texas Legend and an American Heritage™. They will commemorate their landmark 200th anniversary in 2023.
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We are seeking $100.00 individual and family contributors to help safeguard this Texas and American Heritage™ for future generations. With a $100 contribution, you will receive:
- A limited-edition enameled bronze pin featuring the official Texas Ranger Bicentennial™ seal
- A certificate signed by an active or distinguished retired Texas Ranger
- Your name or family name on the online roster of Bicentennial Partners™
- A one-time-use family admission ticket (admits 4) to the Museum.
$90 of the contribution qualifies as a charitable contribution for Federal Income Tax purposes. The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame is a 170(c) government-owned nonprofit.
Please
click here
to learn more about the program.
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Official Texas Rangers Bicentennial Pin
Trademarked by the Texas Dept. of Public Safety
Designed by the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
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Education Center
The following groups utilized the Education Center for programs in April:
Texas Rangers
Texas DPS Criminal Investigation Division
Texas DPS Highway Patrol
Baylor School of Education
Reserve Officers Association
Texas Kidsafe Child Passenger Safety Program, Baylor Scott & White Health
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Save $1.00 off regular adult admission for up to two adults. Coupon not valid on discounted senior or military admission. No cash value.
The museum is open 9am to 5pm with the last guest admitted at 4:30pm. The museum is located off I-35 and University Parks Drive in Waco, Texas. For more information, call (254) 750-8631 or visit
www.texasranger.org
.
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Newsletter Compiled by Audrey Ladd, Education Programs Manager
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