Interview with Billie Joyce Towles, longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas, as part of the Weatherford Oral History Project. The interview includes Towles' personal experiences of childhood and education in Weatherford, Depression-era struggles, and living in Weatherford during World War II. Towles also discusses her father's work with the Works Progress Administration, marriage to Norman Towles, her family's switch from Democratic loyalty to Republican, her personal evolution on race issues, and religious devotion.

Interview with Louise Young and Vivienne Armstrong, longtime activists in the Dallas lesbian community. The interview includes Armstrong's personal experiences of childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee, New Jersey, and California, as well as her decision to study nursing and settle in Denver, Colorado, and her coming out narrative. The interview also includes Young's personal experiences of childhood in Ada, Oklahoma, her education at East Central State University and the University of Colorado, and her coming out narrative. They talk about their meeting and early relationship, give descriptions of Denver's gay and lesbian communities, their involvement with various groups such as the Daughters of Bilitis and Gay Liberation Front, their decision to move to Dallas, their involvement with groups such as the National Organization for Women and Dallas Gay Political Caucus/Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance in various political campaigns, and Young's career at Texas Instruments and Raytheon and efforts to create more equitable human resources policies from within the corporations. Additionally, Armstrong and Young talk about the effects of the HIV-AIDS crisis on Dallas's gay and lesbian communities, their 2008 marriage, relationships with family members, and secrets to a long relationship.

Interview with Wendoyln Stroud, a longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas. Stroud discusses her family background, growing up, her own family, presidents, the civil rights movement, and thoughts on living in Weatherford.

In the 1840s an organization of German noblemen, the Mainzner Adelsverein, attempted to settle thousands of German emigrants on the Texas frontier. Nassau Plantation, located near modern-day Round Top, Texas, in northern Fayette County, was a significant part of this story. James C. Kearney has studied a wealth of original source material (much of it in German) to illuminate the history of the plantation and the larger goals and motivation of the Adelsverein. This new study highlights the problematic relationship of German emigrants to slavery. Few today realize that the society’s original colonization plan included ownership and operation of slave plantations. Ironically, the German settlements the society later established became hotbeds of anti-slavery and anti-secessionist sentiment. Several notable personalities graced the plantation, including Carl Prince of Solms-Braunfels, Johann Otto Freiherr von Meusebach, botanist F. Lindheimer, and the renowned naturalist Dr. Ferdinand Roemer. Dramatic events also occurred at the plantation, including a deadly shootout, a successful escape by two slaves (documented in an unprecedented way), and litigation over ownership that wound its way to both the Texas Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Interview with Roy J. Grogan, longtime Weatherford resident and elected official, as part of the Weatherford Oral History Project. The interview includes Grogan's personal experiences of childhood and education in Weatherford, Depression-era struggles, enlisting in the U.S. Navy, and World War II. Additionally, Grogan talks about his studies at Weatherford College, Duke University, and Duke Law, his legal career with the FBI and as a land developer, his political career on the Weatherford City Council and Weatherford College Board of Regents, the integration of Weatherford schools, and his involvement in state party politics. The interview includes an appendix with Grogan's resume.

Interview with Bob Glenn, longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas, as part of the Weatherford Oral History Project. The interview includes Glenn's personal experiences of childhood and education in Weatherford, his 1961 enlistment in the U.S. Army, service at various stateside bases, and his career in the banking industry. Glenn also discusses changes in the Weatherford economy.

Transcript of an interview with Donald Davis who shares his childhood memories growing up in a family of eight children on a farm in Weatherford, Texas during the Great Depression, career, and family life with wife and four children.

Américo Paredes (1915-1999) was a folklorist, scholar, and professor at the University of Texas at Austin who is widely acknowledged as one of the founding scholars of Chicano Studies. Born in Brownsville, Texas, along the southern U.S.-Mexico Border, Paredes grew up between two worlds—one written about in books, the other sung about in ballads and narrated in folktales. After service in World War II, Paredes entered the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1956. With the publication of his dissertation, “With His Pistol in His Hand”: A Border Ballad and Its Hero in 1958, Paredes soon emerged as a challenger to the status quo. His book questioned the mythic nature of the Texas Rangers and provided an alternative counter-cultural narrative to the existing traditional narratives of Walter Prescott Webb and J. Frank Dobie. For the next forty years Paredes was a brilliant teacher and prolific writer who championed the preservation of border culture and history. He was a soft-spoken, at times temperamental, yet fearless professor. In 1970 he co-founded the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is credited with introducing the concept of Greater Mexico, decades before its …

The subantarctic forests of South America are the world’s southernmost forested ecosystems. The birds have sung in these austral forests for millions of years; the Yahgan and Mapuche peoples have handed down their bird stories from generation to generation for hundreds of years. In Multi-ethnic Bird Guide of the Subantarctic Forests of South America, Ricardo Rozzi and his collaborators present a unique combination of bird guide and cultural ethnography. The book includes entries on fifty bird species of southern Chile and Argentina, among them the Magellanic Woodpecker, Rufous-Legged Owl, Ringed Kingfisher, Buff-Necked Ibis, Giant Hummingbird, and Andean Condor. Each bird is named in Yahgan, Mapudungun, Spanish, English, and scientific nomenclature, followed by a description, full color photographs, the bird’s distribution map, habitat and lifestyle, and its history in the region. Each entry is augmented further with indigenous accounts of the bird in history and folklore. “Highly original in its approach of combining information on natural history and biodiversity with information on the region’s human cultural and linguistic diversity.”—Chris Elphick, coauthor of The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior

With poems that combine the self-scrutiny of Philip Larkin with the measure of Elizabeth Bishop, Amy M. Clark burnishes her first collection, Stray Home, with exquisite understatement and formal control. Sweeter than Larkin and more intimate than Bishop, these poems address the suppressed pain and shame of living as a childless woman in a world of mothers, the dissociation attendant on depression and fraught family relationships, and the search for a sense of belonging in the face of dislocation. Stray Home cuts deeply to discover the buried emotions and insights universal to all suffering and compassionate human beings. “Clark is able to imbue our small, usually overlooked moments with unexpected grandeur. A quiet humor is employed in service of her twin gifts, imagination and metaphor. This is an accomplished, deft, and important debut.”—Beth Ann Fennelly, author of Tender Hooks and judge

Interview with Raymond Curtis, longtime resident and school administrator of Weatherford, Texas, as part of the Weatherford Oral History Project. The interview includes Curtis' personal experiences of farm life in the Great Depression, childhood in Collin County, Texas, and education at the University of North Texas under the GI Bill. Additionally, Curtis discusses his family history, his career as a teacher, administrator, and coach in various public school districts, the integration of Weatherford schools, the school-building program, and his career as CEO of the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce.

Interview with Weatherford resident Joe Tison, school administrator and mayor, as part of the Weatherford Oral History Project. The interview includes Tison's personal experiences of childhood, education in Weatherford public schools, Weatherford College, and North Texas State College, as well as his career as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in Aledo and Weatherford ISDs. Tison also discusses the racial integration of Weatherford schools, his career as interim superintendent at various North Texas ISDs, and his experience as mayor. The interview includes an appendix with photographs and articles about Tison.

Stan Kenton (1911–1979) formed his first full orchestra in 1940 and soon drew record-breaking crowds to hear and dance to his exciting sound. He continued to tour and record unrelentingly for the next four decades. Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! sums up the mesmerizing bandleader at the height of his powers, arms waving energetically, his face a study of concentration as he cajoled, coaxed, strained, and obtained the last ounce of energy from every musician under his control. Michael Sparke’s narrative captures that enthusiasm in words: a lucid account of the evolution of the Kenton Sound, and the first book to offer a critical evaluation of the role that Stan played in its creation. “Michael Sparke’s book, the first general history of the Kenton Orchestra, is the best evaluation yet of Kenton’s 40-year musical development.”—The Wall Street Journal

In Cataclysm, Herman S. Wolk examines the thinking and leadership of General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, Commanding General, Army Air Forces (AAF), during World War II. Specifically, Wolk concentrates on Arnold’s role in crafting the weapons, organization, and command of the strategic bombing offensive against Japan. The B-29 long-range bombing campaign against the Japanese home islands dictated unprecedented organization and command; hence, Arnold established the Twentieth Air Force, commanded by himself from Washington and reporting directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Arnold excelled in his command of the AAF, relieving a long-time colleague (Hansell) in favor of a hard-nosed operator (LeMay). This crucial move was a turning point in the Pacific War. In the spring and summer of 1945, Arnold was a driven leader, almost willing the B-29 campaign and the air and sea blockade to collapse Japan before the scheduled massive invasion of Kyushu on November 1st. Arnold agreed that politically the atomic bomb shocked the Japanese to capitulation, but as the architect of the bombing offensive, he emphasized that Japan was already defeated in the summer of 1945 by the bombing and blockade, and that it was not militarily necessary to drop the atomic bomb. Wolk brings …

Stan Kenton (1911–1979) formed his first full orchestra in 1940 and soon drew record-breaking crowds to hear and dance to his exciting sound. He continued to tour and record unrelentingly for the next four decades. Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! sums up the mesmerizing bandleader at the height of his powers, arms waving energetically, his face a study of concentration as he cajoled, coaxed, strained, and obtained the last ounce of energy from every musician under his control. Michael Sparke’s narrative captures that enthusiasm in words: a lucid account of the evolution of the Kenton Sound, and the first book to offer a critical evaluation of the role that Stan played in its creation. “Michael Sparke’s book, the first general history of the Kenton Orchestra, is the best evaluation yet of Kenton’s 40-year musical development.”—The Wall Street Journal

Transcript of an interview with Merle Timblin, Civilian Conservation Corps worker and U.S. Army WWII Veteran. Timblin discusses his childhood in western Pennsylvania; father’s work as a farmer, coal miner, and WPA blacksmith; life on farms and in mining towns during the Great Depression; decision to enroll in CCC before eighteenth birthday; experiences at CCC camps in Arizona and Pennsylvania; lessons learned from the CCC experience; experiences in the European Theater of World War II as radio operator in the U.S. Army Fourth Armored Division, including fighting in the Battle of the Bulge; lessons learned from experience in the Army; decision to relocate to Niagara Falls, N.Y., and thence to North Texas; career as a machinist and mechanic.

Interview with Opal Bowden, a resident of Weathorford, Texas. Bowden, born in 1908, discusses her family history, various experiences growing up, the 1918 Influenza pandemic, school, working in a beauty shop, her first husband, having a family, the Depression, dogs, World War Two, and her neighbors.

Interview with John Connolly, veteran of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The interview includes Connolly's personal experiences of childhood in Whitney and Amarillo, Texas, Civilian Conservation Corps camps in Cleburne and Hillsboro, Texas, and Grand Junction, Colorado, as well as his World War II-era experience in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Additionally, Connolly discusses his family's difficulties in the Great Depression, his decision to enroll in the Civilian Conservation Corps, his work as a tool and dye manufacturer, and Republican Party politics in Dallas County.

Transcript of an interview with Coy Carter, longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas, discussing his childhood in Weatherford and Spring Creek, Texas; farming in Spring Creek; memories of the Great Depression; ranching; tenure as sheriff.

Interview with J. Brown, a teacher, rancher, stagecoach-builder, and longtime resident of Weatherford, Texas. Brown discusses his family history, his education and family, working the Wild West Show at Six Flags, building stagecoaches, the history of the stagecoach, and a tour of his shop.

Interview with J. W. Stoker, a cowboy from Weatherford, Texas. Stoker discusses his family and growing up, getting involved in the rodeo, traveling shows, being drafted into the Army and serving in Korea, celebrities he has worked with, the Six Flags Wild West Show, induction into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, contemporary rodeos, his favorite acts, and reflections on his career. In appendix are two promotional photos of Stoker and his horse, and three of him performing.

Birthing a Better Way: 12 Secrets for Natural Childbirth presents a fresh, proactive, and positive approach to why you may want to consider the safest and most satisfying kind of birth—natural childbirth—especially in these times of overused medical interventions. Kalena Cook, a mother who experienced natural childbirth, and Margaret Christensen, M.D., a board certified obstetrician-gynecologist, have written this much-needed book for expectant mothers and their caregivers, imparting proven safe or “evidence-based” information with compelling narratives. Think of What to Expect in Natural Childbirth meets Chicken Soup for the Natural Birthing Soul! Unlike other books that overwhelm with data, Birthing a Better Way simplifies the best key points. Going beyond actual birth accounts, the authors reveal 12 Secrets which bring confidence in the normal process of birth and inspire you to believe in what your body is beautifully designed to do—a far cry from what is portrayed in the media or from some fear-based conventional medical practices. More than fifty powerful testimonials include healthy mainstream women who answer why they chose natural birth (instead of Pitocin, inductions, epidurals and C-sections), what it was like, and even how it compared to a medicated birth. Six physicians share why they birthed their own …

In the early 1900s, two families in Scurry and Kent counties in West Texas united in a marriage of fourteen-year-old Gladys Johnson to twenty-one-year-old Ed Sims. Billy Johnson, the father, set up Gladys and Ed on a ranch, and the young couple had two daughters. But Gladys was headstrong and willful, and Ed drank too much, and both sought affection outside their marriage. A nasty divorce ensued, and Gladys moved with her girls to her father’s luxurious ranch house, where she soon fell in love with famed Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. When Ed tried to take his daughters for a prearranged Christmas visit in 1916, Gladys and her brother Sid shot him dead on the Snyder square teeming with shoppers. One of the best lawyers in West Texas, Judge Cullen Higgins (son of the old feudist Pink Higgins) managed to win acquittal for both Gladys and Sid. In the tradition of Texas feudists since the 1840s, the Sims family sought revenge. Sims’ son-in-law, Gee McMeans, led an attack in Sweetwater and shot Billy Johnson’s bodyguard, Frank Hamer, twice, while Gladys—by now Mrs. Hamer—fired at another assassin. Hamer shot back, killed McMeans, and was no-billed on the spot by a grand …

From Jane Roberts Wood comes a quietly riveting novel revealing the banal faces of evil in a small East Texas town. In 1946 a young couple is brutally murdered in Cold Springs. And, now, thirty-four years later, the rumor is that Jackson Morris, who had been the only person of interest in the murders, has come home. Or has he? When the four women of the Tuesday bridge club hear this rumor, their responses range from a reckless excitement to a shaky uneasiness. There’s Isabel, compelling and passionate, who foolishly and inexplicably longs to see Jackson, her first love, again while the seemingly innocent Mary Martha prays that the sheriff will put Jackson’s head in a noose. Although the eternally optimistic Sarah looks to the law to determine Jackson’s fate, the fourth woman, an Irish immigrant and a misfit in Cold Springs, is guided by the spirit world, including a cat, in deciding his guilt or innocence. When a second murder occurs after Jackson’s return, Cold Springs reacts with fear and paranoia while the women struggle to protect their friend’s reputation and desperately try to find a murderer.