Texas holds one in every nine U.S. inmates. Behind the Walls is a detailed description of one of the world's largest prison systems by a long-time convict trained as an observer and reporter. It spotlights the day-to-day workings of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-what's good, what's bad, which programs work and which ones do not, and examines if practice really follows official policy. Written to inform about the processes, services, activities, issues, and problems of being incarcerated, this book is invaluable to anyone who has a relative or friend incarcerated in Texas, or for those who want to understand how prisoners live, eat, work, play, and die in a contemporary U.S. prison. Containing a short history of Texas prisons and advice on how to help inmates get out and stay out of prison, this book is the only one of its kind-written by a convict still incarcerated and dedicated to dispelling the ignorance and fear that shroud Texas prisons. Renaud discusses living quarters, food, and clothing, along with how prisoners handle money, mail, visits, and phone calls. He explores the issues of drugs, racism, gangs, and violence as well as what an inmate can learn about his parole, custody …

Death provides us with some of our very best folklore. Some fear it, some embrace it, and most have pretty firm ideas about what happens when we die. Although some people may not want to talk about dying, it’s the only thing that happens to all of us–and there’s no way to get around it. This Publication of the Texas Folklore Society examines the lore of death and whatever happens afterward. The first chapter examines places where people are buried, either permanently or temporarily. Chapter Two features articles about how people die and the rituals associated with funerals and burials. The third chapter explores some of the stranger stories about what happens after we’re gone, and the last chapter offers some philosophical musings about death in general, as well as our connection to those who have gone before.

Louisiana’s Neutral Strip, an area of pine forests, squats between the Calcasieu and Sabine Rivers on the border of East Texas. Originally a lawless buffer zone between Spain and the United States, its hardy residents formed tight-knit communities for protection and developed a reliance on self, kin, and neighbor. In the early 1900s, the timber boom sliced through the forests and disrupted these dense communities. Mill towns sprang up, and the promise of money lured land speculators, timber workers, unionists, and a host of other characters, such as the outlaw Leather Britches Smith. That moment continues to shape the place’s cultural consciousness, and people today fashion a lore connected to this time. In a fascinating exploration of the region, Keagan LeJeune unveils the legend of Leather Britches, paralleling the stages of the outlaw’s life to the Neutral Strip’s formation. LeJeune retells each stage of Smith’s life: his notorious past, his audacious deeds of robbery and even generosity, his rumored connection to a local union strike—the Grabow War—significant in the annals of labor history, and his eventual death. As the outlaw’s life vividly unfolds, Always for the Underdog also reveals the area’s history and cultural landscape. Often using the particulars of …

What would cause someone to withstand freezing temperatures in a cramped wooden box for hours on end, or stand in waist-high rushing waters, flicking a pole back and forth over and over—in many cases with nothing whatsoever to show for his efforts? Why is it that, into the twenty-first century, with the convenience of practically any type of red meat or fish available at the local supermarket, we continue to hunt game and fish on open waters? The answer is that no matter how sophisticated we think we are, no matter how technologically advanced we become, there is still something deep within us that beckons us to “the hunt.” This desire creates the customs, beliefs, and rituals related to hunting—for deer, hogs, and other four-legged critters, as well as fish and snakes, and other things that perhaps aren’t physically alive, but capture our interest as much as the prey mentioned above. These rituals and customs lead to some of our most treasured stories, legends, and practices. This volume of the Publications of the Texas Folklore Society includes serious, introspective articles on hunting and fishing, as well as humorous tall tales and “windies” about the big ones that got away—all lore …

Perhaps no other industrial technology changed the course of Mexican history in the United States—and Mexico—than did the coming of the railroads. Tens of thousands of Mexicans worked for the railroads in the United States, especially in the Southwest and Midwest. Extensive Mexican American settlements appeared throughout the lower and upper Midwest as the result of the railroad. Only agricultural work surpassed railroad work in terms of employment of Mexicans. In Traqueros, Jeffrey Marcos Garcílazo mined numerous archives and other sources to provide the first and only comprehensive history of Mexican railroad workers across the United States, with particular attention to the Midwest. He first explores the origins and process of Mexican labor recruitment and immigration and then describes the areas of work performed. He reconstructs the workers’ daily lives and explores not only what the workers did on the job but also what they did at home and how they accommodated and/or resisted Americanization. Boxcar communities, strike organizations, and “traquero culture” finally receive historical acknowledgment. Integral to his study is the importance of family settlement in shaping working class communities and consciousness throughout the Midwest.

In the nine stories of Let’s Do, various calamities strike ordinary Midwesterners, who cope with a mixture of good intentions and ineptitude. Balancing humor with painful clarity, author Rebecca Meacham pulls readers into the lives of characters who struggle with—and more often against—change. “Rebecca Meacham has one of the freshest voices I've encountered in a long time. Blatantly wise, she creates stories that are deliciously subversive, brave and outrageous, reminiscent of a young Alice Hoffman. As the lives of her characters get derailed, they move with the damaged grace of walking through broken glass on tiptoe. This is a writer whose words speak with emotional resonance about the resilience of the human heart—a beautiful, authentic talent who knows that when you turn life upside down, you get good measures of both trouble and laughter, a lesson the very best writers recognize early.”—Jonis Agee, judge

In 1868, four treasure hunters from San Marcos, Texas, searched for a lost mine on the San Saba River, near today’s Menard. It was popularized as folklore in J. Frank Dobie’s treasure legend classic Coronado’s Children. One hundred and fifty years later, a descendant of one of those four men set out to discover the history behind the legend. This book recounts that search, from the founding of the ill-fated 1757 mission on the San Saba River up to the last attempt, in 1990, to find the treasure in this particular legend. It describes Jim Bowie, a fake treasure map industry, murder trials, a rattlesnake dancer, fortunes lost, a very long Texas cave, and surprising twists to the story popularized by Dobie. The book will not lead anyone to the legendary ten-thousand pounds of silver, but it will open a treasure trove of Texas history and the unique characters who hunted the fabulous riches.

According to Renaissance woman and Pepper Lady Jean Andrews, although food is eaten as a response to hunger, it is much more than filling one's stomach. It also provides emotional fulfillment. This is borne out by the joy many of us feel as a family when we get in the kitchen and cook together and then share in our labors at the dinner table. Food is comfort, yet it is also political and contested because we often are what we eat--meaning what is available and familiar and allowed. Texas is fortunate in having a bountiful supply of ethnic groups influencing its foodways, and Texas food is the perfect metaphor for the blending of diverse cultures and native resources. Food is a symbol of our success and our communion, and whenever possible, Texans tend to do food in a big way. This latest publication from the Texas Folklore Society contains stories and more than 120 recipes, from long ago and just yesterday, organized by the 10 vegetation regions of the state. Herein you'll find Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson's Family Cake, memories of beef jerky and sassafras tea from John Erickson of Hank the Cowdog fame, Sam Houston's barbecue sauce, and stories …

Henry Martyn Lazelle (1832-1917) was the only cadet in the history of the U.S. Military Academy to be suspended and sent back a year (for poor grades and bad behavior) and eventually return as Commandant of the Corps of Cadets. After graduating from West Point in 1855, he scouted with Kit Carson, was wounded by Apaches, and spent nearly a year as a "paroled" prisoner-of-war at the outbreak of the Civil War. Exchanged for a Confederate officer, he took command of a Union cavalry regiment, chasing Mosby's Rangers throughout northern Virginia. Due in part to an ingrained disposition to question the status quo, Lazelle's service as a commander and senior staff officer was punctuated at times with contention and controversy. In charge of the official records of the Civil War in Washington, he was accused of falsifying records, exonerated, but dismissed short of tour. As Commandant of Cadets at West Point, he was a key figure during the infamous court martial of Johnson Whittaker, one of West Point's first African American cadets. Again, he was relieved of duty after a bureaucratic battle with the Academy's Superintendent.

Francis Edward “Ab” Abernethy served as the Secretary-Editor of the Texas Folklore Society for over three decades, managing the organization’s daily operations and helping it grow. He edited two dozen volumes of the PTFS series and wrote the three volumes of the Society’s history. This Publication of the Texas Folklore Society celebrates Ab Abernethy’s years of leadership in collecting, preserving, and presenting the folklore of Texas and the Southwest. The prefaces to some of the more memorable edited volumes are included, along with articles he wrote on music, teaching, anecdotes about historical figures and events, and “cultural” examinations of the things we hold dear. In all, these pieces tell us what was important to Ab. In part, these topics are also what was—and still is—important to the Texas Folklore Society. The contents include: Beginnings: the why and the how -- The way things were -- I'll sing you a song -- Reflections.

Interview with Barbara Darden, a nurse and resident of Hamilton Park from Dallas, Texas. Darden discusses her upbringing and education, nursing, her family, moving to Hamilton Park and the neighborhood's development, school involvement, desegregation and busing, and the Interorganizational Council and the Civic League.

Interview with Marzena Kasiazkiewicz, a immigrant to the Dallas area from Kraków, Poland. Kasiazkiewicz discusses first coming to the United States, caring for her mother, her parents, growing up in communist Poland, deciding to stay in the US, adjusting to the American workplace, moving to Texas, her partner and children, the effect of 9/11 on immigrants, learning English, working in eye-care, and John Paul II.

Interview with Julio Cesar Jo Gallent, an immigrant from Martí, Cuba. Jo discusses his family fleeing Cuba, being rescued by the Coast Guard, staying in a camp at Guanatamo Bay, arriving in Miami, education and daily life in Castro's Cuba, American education, moving to Garland, Texas, visiting Cuba, and Cuba-US relations.

Interview with salesperson Marla Bullard. The interview includes Bullard's personal experiences about the Texas International Pop Festival. Bullard talks about her Mexican-American family values, her use of drugs and alcohol in high school, her attitudes toward the Vietnam War, hippie activities at Allen's Landing in Houston, Texas, conflicts between rednecks and hippies, her attraction to the musical groups of the Sixties, the importance of lyrics in Sixties music, her decision to attend the festival, drug use at the festival, Janis Joplin's performance, and the influence of the festival on her life.

Interview with Randell Fields. The interview includes Fields' personal experiences about attending the Texas International Pop Festival in Lewisville, Texas, early youth in rural Texas, and transferring high schools. Fields also talks about attendance at the "Big D Jamboree," the effects of his parent's divorce and influence of his young stepmother's interest in current music, student challenges to authority at North Texas Mesquite High School, rock 'n roll music of the Sixties, the influence of the radio station KZEW, attending the festival accompanied by his brother, sister, and father, observing the festival from outside the grounds, and the significance of the festival.

Interview with engineer and Army Air Forces veteran Shuford M. Alexander, Jr. The interview includes Alexander's personal experiences about being a fighter pilot in Italy during World War II, basic training, flight training, various assignments and transfers, Operation STRANGLE, being shot down by flak over Piacenza, and being rescued by Italian partisans. Additionally, Alexander talks about his link-up with a British A-4 Mission and his attempt to reach Allied lines, his betrayal by a German agent and his subsequent capture, escaping and continuing his search for Allied lines, his observations and opinions about the partisans, a second encounter with a British A-4 Mission, the Martani family in the village of Tosca, his group's trek through mountain snow to reach Allied lines, meeting with British paratroopers and with African-American soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division, and his reunion with his squadron in Pisa. The interview includes an appendix with a narrative by Alexander.

Interview with Debbie Denmon, local news media personality and third-generation descendant of residents of Quakertown, as part of the Quakertown Oral History Project. The interview includes Denmon's personal experiences about childhood and education in Denton, having a career in broadcast journalism, and reporting on local efforts to capture Quakertown history. Denmon also speaks about memories of her great-grandmother Othella Hill, great-grandfather "Dollar Bill" Hill, and grandmother Norvell Williams Reed.

Interview with Navy veteran Frank L. Dolan. The interview includes Dolan's personal experiences aboard the repair ship USS Vestal during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The interview includes an appendix with a narrative written by Dolan.

Interview with Jack Hill, former employee of the Texas Textile Mill, as part of the Texas Textile Mill Oral History Project. The interview includes Hill's personal experiences about his childhood, working at Wilson's Grocery Store and Cole's Groceries, enlisting in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and serving in the China-Burma-India Theater. Hill also discusses his family's experience in the Great Depression, his lay-off due to new child labor laws, the tornado of 1948, and his career in retail sales.

Interview with Seth Bailey, veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Bailey's personal experiences of childhood and education in Athens, Texas, enlisting in the U.S. Army, basic training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, including experiences in Ranger Indoctrination Program and injuries sustained in "jump school," as well as his combat experiences in Karbala, Ramadi, and Al Asad. Bailey also talks about his family's tradition of military service, his assignment to a unit in Darmstadt, Germany, his deployment to Iraq and performance of long-range surveillance missions, continuing struggles with injury from basic training, with the Army health care system, and with substance abuse. Additionally, Bailey discusses his treatment at the Walter Reed Army Hospital, being discharged from the Army, returning to Arlington, Texas, and gives his opinions regarding the benefits of military service and regarding women in the military.

Interview with electrical engineer and Army veteran Herb Elfering, The interview includes Elfering's personal experiences with a searchlight/radar battery, 251st Coast Artillery Regiment, at camp Malekole during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Elfering also gives brief descriptions of his later experiences at Bougainville and Luzon.

Interview with Navy veteran Elijah Collins Jr. The interview includes Collins' personal experiences while aboard the destroyer USS Blue during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Collins also talks about the Battle of Savo Island and the sinking of the Blue.

Collection of Texas folklore and historical anecdotes split into three main sections: "Legendary" Texans; Texas Folk Song and Dance; and Life in Texas -- As We Remember It. Index starts on page 311.

Book providing.a biographical account of Frank M. Brandstetter, documenting his life and work as a hotelier, corporate executive, and U. S. Army intelligence officer. The text is based on Brandstetter's own recollections and corroborated with source documents and other published accounts. Index starts on page 367.