A fifteen-year-old high school cheerleader is killed while driving on a dangerous curve one afternoon. By that night, her classmates have erected a roadside cross decorated with silk flowers, not as a grim warning, but as a loving memorial. In this study of roadside crosses, the first of its kind, Holly Everett presents the history of these unique commemoratives and their relationship to contemporary memorial culture. The meaning of these markers is presented in the words of grieving parents, high school students, public officials, and private individuals whom the author interviewed during her fieldwork in Texas. Everett documents over thirty-five memorial sites with twenty-five photographs representing the wide range of creativity. Examining the complex interplay of politics, culture, and belief, she emphasizes the importance of religious expression in everyday life and analyzes responses to death that this tradition. Roadside crosses are a meeting place for communication, remembrance, and reflection, embodying on-going relationships between the living and the dead. They are a bridge between personal and communal pain–and one of the oldest forms of memorial culture. Scholars in folklore, American studies, cultural geography, cultural/social history, and material culture studies will be especially interested in this study.

Interview with Michael Hurd, a journalist and member of the Texas Black History Preservation Project from Houston, Texas. Hurd discusses growing up in Texarkana and Houston, his education and service in the Air Force, work with the Houston Post and USA Today, Juneteenth, researching black history, the Texas Black History Preservation Project and related efforts, being an historian, the history of Juneteenth and emancipation in Texas, and civil rights. In appendix are photographs of Hurd, clippings of his reporting, and URLs to videos he was involved in.

Interview with jazz musician Robert "Bob" Stewart. In the interview, Steward speaks about his early interest in music, his first drum set, first professional job with the Shorty Clements Band, attending college, his employment as a disk jockey, his definition of jazz, playing with the Charles Scott Band in fort Worth, after-hours clubs in Fort Worth, jazz's role in bringing together black and white musicians, various jazz clubs and venues in Fort Worth, musicians unions, the lack of full-time employment opportunities for jazz musicians in Fort Worth, the Fort Worth jazz scene, and peculiarities of Texas jazz and the "Texas Sound." The interview includes an appendix with photographs.

Interview with Wilhelmina R. Fitzgerald Delco, former member of the Texas House of Representatives (D-Austin). The interview includes Delco's personal experiences about childhood and education, marriage to Exalton A. Delco, Jr., being involved in community issues, running for the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees, her 1974 election to the Texas House of Representatives seat representing Travis County, and serving as Speaker Pro Tem of the House. Additionally, Delco speaks about her family's involvement in Chicago politics, the difficulty of desegregating Austin schools in a manner that shared resources equitably with all groups, serving on the Committee on Public Education and Committee on Higher Education, being involved in the National Conference of State Legislatures, including efforts to encourage divestiture from apartheid-South Africa, as well as her involvement in efforts to reform the Texas higher education funding system and her commitment to education as her life's work.

Interview with James Blocklinger, a Navy veteran, concerning his experiences aboard the heavy minelayer USS Oglala during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Interview with Sergeant Major Strimple C. ("Jim") Coyle, a Marine Corps veteran, concerning his experiences Ewa Field with VMF-211 (Marine Fighter Squadron 211) during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Interview with Richard Schultz, a United States Navy veteran from Saint Louis, Missouri, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the cruiser USS New Orleans.

Interview with Robert H. "Hal" Jackson regarding his experiences as a Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. It details his experiences with different aircraft and on carriers and in land-based squadrons in the Pacific.

Interview with Martin L. Allday, an Army WWII veteran from Austin, Texas. Allday discusses his experiences at the Battle of Okinawa, including being drafted and basic training, transiting the Pacific, assignment to the 96th Infantry Division and arrival on Okinawa, events of the fighting on the Shuri Line at Zebra Hill, being wounded, evacuation and recovery, returning to Okinawa, clean-up operations, souvenirs, and adjustment to civilian life. An appendix includes a letter typed by Allday for a panel discussion of the battle, a map of the battle from "The Second World War: a Complete History" by Martin Gilbert, a veteran's questionnaire from the Admiral Nimitz Museum he filled out, and a one-page biography.

Interviews with Tex Roberts, executive director of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association from Fort Worth, Texas. Roberts discusses his early career in journalism, joining TOMA, his duties as executive director, issues with the California Medical Association and Texas Medical Association, work with the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and establishing a school, related Texas state legislation, various figures he worked with, and the Medical Practice Act.

Interview with Larry Leathers, former Visual Manager at Neiman Marcus from Dallas, Texas. Leathers describes his background in theater and dance, fascination with the "frozen theater" of display mannequins, entry into the fashion industry, promotion from display creator to manager of a department to manager of a whole store, stories about working with clients, family, change over time, and the importance of remembering the heart of the fashion industry.

Interview with J. T. Jackson, a United States Navy veteran from San Antonio, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the cruiser the USS Raleigh.

Interview with Albert Kamenicky, a United States Navy veteran from Rogers, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the cruiser USS Phoenix.

Interview with Albert B. Block, a United States Navy veteran from Yorktown, Texas, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while aboard the battleship USS West Virginia.

Transcript of an interview with Evilu Pridgeon, educator and longtime Dallas LGBT activist, for the Dallas LGBT Oral History Project. Pridgeon discusses her childhood in Austin, Texas; education; work history; coming out; Dallas LGBT history; AIDS crisis in Dallas; LGBT activism; The Dallas Way; diversity in the gay community.

Interview with John Munn, a United States Army Air Force veteran from North Carolina, regarding his experiences and memories of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941 while stationed at Wheeler Field.

Interview with Reby Cary, a professor, Texas State legislator, and civil rights activist from Fort Worth, Texas. Cary discusses attending Prairie View A&M, WWII service in the Coast Guard, segregation, his authorship, teaching at Dunbar HS, being the first black member of a schoolboard and the first black professor at UT Arlington, his tenure as a Texas State Congressman, experiences of discrimination, his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement, and his thoughts on Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, and other black leaders. In appendix are photographs of Cary's various awards and the program for a Baptist service celebrated in his honor.

Video footage from the Tommie L. Wyatt Collection. The video is from Michael Lofton's talk show where Tommie L. Wyatt was a guest. Topics discussed include the history of the Villager newspaper, the history of the Black registry, the importance of Black media, and the importance of the Black vote.

Video footage from the Tommie L. Wyatt Collection. The video is from Michael Lofton's talk show where Tommie L. Wyatt and A. Evans were guests. Topics discussed include the importance of Black media and the importance of the Black vote in American politics.

Audio log for a recording of an interview with Alma Clark regarding her experiences with the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship. She discusses her childhood and background, living in a segregated neighborhood in Austin, interracial relationships, moving to Denton and Quakertown history, and her involvement with the Denton Women's Interracial Fellowship.

Interview with Alma Clark, first-generation descendant through marriage of Quakertown residents, as part of the Quakertown Oral History Project. The interview includes Clark's personal experiences about childhood and education, marrying Rev. "Willie" Clark, moving to Denton, and participating in Denton Christian Women's Fellowship. Clark also discusses her family's experience in Denton as well as her husband's feelings regarding Denton's Civic Center Park, on the site of Quakertown. The interview includes an appendix with photographs.

Interview with Zan W. Holmes, Jr., a clergyman and community leader, concerning his experiences as a resident of Hamilton Park, Texas during the 1950s and 1960s. Holmes discusses his youth and adolescent years in Waco, segregated education, college at Huston-Tillotson (1952-1956), entry to Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (1956), organizing the Hamilton Park Methodist Church and his partnership there, his home in Hamilton Park, his political activities, church youth programs, zoning problems, and Hamilton Park School and desegregation.

Interview with Zan Holmes Jr., a Methodist pastor and resident of Hamilton Park from Waco, Texas. Holmes discusses his family background, education, seminary, moving to Hamilton Park, building a church, political activity, local development and related issues, youth activities, the schools, and desegregation.