The 1836 Project has completed the first initiative in its mission to inform Texans about the state’s history, and the organization is searching for a new executive director as it moves forward.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the 1836 Project is an advisory committee signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott more than two years ago. The project aims to “promote patriotic education and increase awareness of the Texas values that continue to stimulate boundless prosperity across this state.”
The committee’s first project was to create a short pamphlet telling the story of Texas history. During a meeting of the 1836 Project Advisory Committee on November 28, subcommittee chairman Don Frazier, a Texas historian, confirmed the pamphlet had been completed, as reported by The Texan.
The pamphlet is geared toward new residents moving to Texas and will be offered to anyone receiving a Texas driver’s license. Under its current budget, the state has allocated $150,000 for printing and distributing the pamphlets to Department of Public Safety offices.
Frazier said condensing the entire history of Texas into a mere 13 pages was a “Herculean task.”
The outcome was praised by Texas Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), an author of the 2021 bill that established the 1836 Project.
“I thought the content you all put together that encapsulated, if you will, the history of Texas was exceptional,” he said.
However, others have argued the pamphlet’s content conceals elements of the state’s history.
“The traditional mythic version of Texas history, it’s about the heroes of the Alamo having pure intentions of liberty and freedom in the abstract rather than the liberty to conquer Indigenous and Mexican lands and freedom to own enslaved people,” said Raúl A. Ramos, a history professor at the University of Houston, per The Texas Tribune.
“It’s that abstract idea that is attractive and powerful, and [that’s what] people gravitate towards, and I think that’s what people associate with patriotism,” he said.
Moving forward, the 1836 Project is now searching for an executive director. Parker told the committee that the Texas Legislature approved the hiring of an executive director under the Texas Education Agency’s budget.
Parker said he hopes a hire can be found within the next two months. The committee is creating a subcommittee to compose a job description so the search can begin.
Parker added that once hired, one of the first responsibilities of the executive director will be to work alongside the committee to create mobile exhibits that will travel throughout Texas and “make history come alive for the public at large.”
“We’ll be a stronger and healthier Texas when more people understand our history [and] what makes us special,” he said.
