Articles about History
Ghosts of Dallas: MLK Community Center, 1982
“Elsie Faye Heggins at the podium during the celebration that renames Forest Avenue Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.,” June 1982.
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Ghosts of Dallas: City Hall Beach Party, 1984
This madness is explained in the June edition of D Magazine:
Since I.M. Pei’s upside-down cake of a modernist building first opened in 1978, people have complained about Dallas City Hall. Much of the decades-long jeremiad has centered on the vast, mostly useless—or, at least, underutilized—expanse in front of the building. The 6-acre plaza was part of Pei’s design, even though it’s more a shrug than an actual plan. To its credit, the city realized this early on and commissioned author and urban sociology professor William H. Whyte to study the plaza and recommend a fix. On June 15, 1983, Whyte delivered his presentation to the City Council. His idea: a pavilion with a food kiosk at its center and trees all around it, something that would provide sustenance and shade, somewhere to sit. He wanted to “bring down the scale of the plaza to the individual dimensions”—to make it “a place” (emphasis his). Apparently, the City Council was made up entirely of Alpha Betas from Revenge of the Nerds, because Whyte eloquently put forth all of these ideas, and all anyone heard was “BEACH PARTY!” A year later, in June 1984, the city trucked in tons of sand, and everyone put on their OP shorts. Lynn Lennon, who was working on a project about public spaces for the Dallas Public Library, captured the event for posterity. Lennon, whose work is in the permanent collection of SMU’s DeGolyer Library, was kind enough to dig up some of those photos for us.
Buy the issue, on newsstands now, and you’ll have your very own copies of Lennon’s original photos. Take the jump to see two more Ghosts of Dallas images of this scene.
Ghosts of Dallas: Lovers Lane, 1947
“Inwood Shopping Center in its embryonic stage, with only the Inwood Theater erected. Also known as the Miracle Mile,” 1947.
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Leading Off (5/17/13)
West Explosion Still Possibly the Result of a Criminal Act. Authorities believe the deadly incident at West Fertilizer Co. occurred when a fire inside the seed building caused 28 to 34 tons of stored ammonium nitrate to explode. What they haven’t determined is what started that fire, though they’ve narrowed the list of possibilities: “a problem with one of the plant’s electrical systems, a battery-powered golf cart, and a criminal act. They ruled out a wide number of others, from a rail car on site loaded with fertilizer to someone smoking.”
Help Pouring Into Cleburne and Granbury, Even From West. The National Weather Service now says that 16 tornadoes touched down in North Texas on Wednesday night. Volunteers and rescue workers have poured into the hardest-hit communities. Some of that help has come from West, even as that town continues to deal with its own disaster recovery: “The Church of Christ in West, which has been feeding volunteers and victims since the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion, bagged up 200 lunches — pulled pork sandwiches, chips and cake — and sent them to storm-struck Cleburne in Johnson County.”
Dallas to Get a Maritime Museum. No, our city isn’t any closer to the ocean today than it was the last time you checked (about 250 miles away). And yet an $80 million maritime museum, with the soon-to-be decommissioned nuclear submarine USS Dallas as its headlining attraction, is being planned for a 3.5 acre site near the Trinity River, along Riverfront Boulevard in the Rock Island area. I suppose the proposal is no stranger than the fact that the town of Fredericksburg is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War.
Morning News Publishes Reporters’ JFK Notes
This is a really smart idea. The Dallas Morning News has released an 80-page ebook containing its reporters’ notes as they worked the JFK assassination. Here’s how they describe it:
Based on first-person accounts from Dallas Morning News journalists who witnessed the assassination, this gripping story chronicles President John F. Kennedy’s fatal visit to Dallas hour-by-hour, offering a fresh look at history.
Days after the assassination, reporters, photographers and editors assigned to the story wrote down their experience in a collection of notes that have been hidden from public view for decades. Now, you’ll experience the stories of staffers as they rode in the president’s motorcade, talked with Abraham Zapruder on the grassy knoll in Dealy Plaza, waited for updates at Parkland Hospital, covered the scene at the Trade Mart, followed police to the Texas Theatre and chronicled Oswald’s shooting in the basement of the police station.
This one-of-a-kind volume includes copies of the original typewritten, hand-edited notes, giving readers behind-the-scenes access to the first draft of history.
The project came from the squeezings of Will Pry‘s mind grapes. He is the mobile editor for the DMN.
Ghosts of Dallas: Commerce Street, 1949
“Commerce Street looking west at St. Paul,” circa 1949
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Ghosts of Dallas: Majestic Theater, 1956
“Opening night of Giant at the Majestic Theater, as crowds wait to enter the theater,” November 1956.
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The Reviews Are in For the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
A sampling of what’s being written about the exhibits you’ll find in the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s museum:
Not surprisingly, Bush media adviser Mark McKinnon gives the place high marks, calling it an “impressive return” to the national stage for the former president. His words for the Daily Beast:
I suppose the best one could ask of a presidential library and museum is that it accurately reflects the work of the administration and personality of its namesake. On this count, score a 10. The library is bold, honest, gracious, respectful and humble. Those were all strong characteristics of George W. Bush.
McKinnon praises the much-discussed “Decision Points Theater,” in which visitors are challenged to consider what they would have done in Bush’s shoes:
The bottom line is that even if you don’t like Bush, if you are willing to put yourself in his position with the facts that he had at the time, you will likely come away with a much greater appreciation and understanding for how and why the decision were made. The museum does a magnificent job of making that point—no matter how much you might disagree with the outcome of the decisions.
Ghosts of Dallas: Holiday Parade, Elm Street, 1969
“Elephant balloon at the Holiday Balloon parade in front of the Majestic Theater on Elm Street,” 1969.
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Ghosts of Dallas: Lucas B&B, Oak Lawn, 1980
“Lucas B&B Restaurant; office building construction in background,” 1980.
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Mayoral Marriage Scandal in Fort Worth
Cycling blog Hometown by Handlebar over in Fort Worth has the delicious details. The action begins in early April, 1890, as progressive William S. Pendelton takes office as mayor. He lasted about four months. Pendleton turned out to be a little too progressive, especially when it came to comely telephone operator Miss Addie Cullen, described by a Houston newspaper as “a second Venus.” He said he had obtained a “secret divorce” in Chicago from his wife before marrying Miss Cullen in New Orleans. The Chicago divorce, alas, was soon pronounced a forgery.
What intrigues me about the story is how easily people seem to have scooted around the country in 1890. A mayor of Fort Worth gets a phony divorce in Chicago and marries in New Orleans. Who needs airplanes?
Leading Off (4/1/13)
Kaufman County DA and Wife Gunned Down: We’re only beginning to scratch the surface on this one. But some, such as Forney Mayor Darren Rozell, are already drawing connections between the killing of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, and the murder of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse two months ago on the day the U.S. Department of Justice released a statement saying Hasse was involved in a racketeering case against the Aryan Brotherhood.
DMN Lauds Don Williams’ Speech, Still Mum of Golf Course: Late last week, Glenn was quick to point out that Rudy Bush’s piece (paywall) on former Trammel Crow CEO Don Williams’ chiding of the Dallas elite at the Dallas Country Club was missing some choice words about plans to build a golf club in South Dallas (namely, that Williams at first thought the course was the “worst use of $12 million that the city could possibly spend” before taking a step back and saying that a golf course doesn’t equal jobs or development). Well, over the weekend, this Dallas Morning News editorial offered formal support to Williams’ tough talk, but still nothing about the golf course, which this DMN editorial endorsed back in November, saying that:
We know there will be naysayers and cynics. But when a corporation of AT&T’s size recognizes that it’s time to focus on southern Dallas — and then uses its substantial leadership powers to rally major backing — that’s a marker worth applauding. This golf course plan is a game changer.
So, DMN, tell us: Is Williams a naysayer or a cynic?
First Baptist Opens New $130 Million Campus For Easter: Those chewy, sugary gummy ducks in your kids’ Easter baskets? They weren’t the only tacky treats to arrive in Dallas yesterday morning.
Ghosts of Dallas: Fair Park, 1936
“Eleven people related to the Texas and Pacific Railroad pose at Fair Park,” 1936.
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Ghosts of Dallas: SMU Protest, 1972
“Student protesters demonstrate in support of sit-in participants who were evicted from an SMU building,” 1972.
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Van Cliburn Once Forgot His Tuxedo on a Plane, So Lyndon Johnson Let Him Borrow His
Source: The Oct. 17, 1967 edition of the St. Petersburg Times
After reading about and listening to Van Cliburn all day yesterday, I stumbled across — other than all that Cold War bluster — my favorite story. I’ll let the Lyndon Johnson library take it from here, via LBJ assistant Paul Glynn’s diary:
October 14, 1967
Around 6:00 p, I got a call from the White House operators. They were looking for one of us — and they said that Ken had told them that the President had given him the rest of the day off to go to the football game.
The President came on the telephone, and said, ‘Paul, I sure need some help. I gave Ken the afternoon off, and Van Cliburn has lost his black tie, he left it on the airplane. Can we do something? What size am I?”
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