Daughters of the Republic of Texas

DAUGHTERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

ANNUAL AWARDS 2008

2008 WINNER, THE JUNE FRANKLIN NAYLOR AWARD

Award presented to Paul Robert Walker

for his book, Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos and Mexicans Tell Their Stories.

Historian General Laura Beavers (center)

Paul Robert Walker (front right)

PRESS RELEASE

San Antonio, TX: The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Committee is pleased to announce that the 2007 June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History is awarded to Paul Robert Walker for his book Remember the Alamo: Texians, Tejanos, and Mexicans Tell their Stories, published in 2007 by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C., as part of National Geographic's Remember series on pivotal events in American history.

The announcement was made Friday evening, May 16, by Nancy Marion, Chairman of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library Committee, at the 117^th Annual Convention of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

A three-member panel of judges comprised of historians, educators, and librarians judge the entries. The 2007 committee included its chairman Dr. Barbara Immroth, professor in the School of Information, the University of Texas at Austin, and committee members Dr. Viki Ash, Coordinator of Children's Services, San Antonio Public Library, and Linda Plevak, Library Director, Bulverde/Spring Branch Public Library.

The committee noted that Mr. Walker brings his journalistic credentials to bear in this balanced account of the battle of the Alamo. Placing the conflict within its broader political and historical context, he paints a detailed picture of the many personalities and perspectives involved.

The book, which includes a forward by Alamo Curator and Historian Richard Bruce Winders, features archival photos and period paintings as well as maps and timelines that provide the reader with additional historical detail. These same features lend the volume considerable value as a reference tool for those looking for specific facts and figures. The 2007 Naylor Award Committee recommends the book as an engaging and informative read that should appeal to children and adults alike.

The June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children on Texas History, endowed by the family of June Franklin Naylor and sponsored by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, is given annually to the author/illustrator of the most distinguished book for children and young adults, grades K-12, that accurately portrays the history of Texas, whether fiction or nonfiction. Mrs. Naylor, for whom the award is named, was a former schoolteacher and long-time resident of Odessa. She served as President General of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Inc., from 1989-1991.

2008 WINNER, THE CLARA DRISCOLL FELLOWSHIP FOR RESEARCH IN TEXAS HISTORY

AND THE TEXAS SESQUICENTENNIAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

Photo (left to right)
Historian General Laura Beavers, Cristina Salinas, and her mother,
Delia Salinas.

The Clara Driscoll Fellowship for Research in Texas History and the Texas Sesquicentennial Fellowship Awards are presented each year to the most promising graduate student conducting research in Texas history at the University of Texas at Austin.

This year’s winner is Cristina Salinas who is at work on a dissertation whose working title is "A Border in the Making: The INS and Agricultural Relations in South Texas During the Mid-Twentieth Century." It traces the emergence of big business agriculture in southern Texas, and the simultaneous institutionalization of the U.S. Border Patrol in the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the first half of the twentieth century.

2008 WINNER, MAMIE WYNNE COX AWARD FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH

(left to right): Cynthia Brunson, DRT Historic Committee;
Laura Beavers, DRT Historian General;

Mary Gail Cowan Leming and Samuel Leming.

(left to right): Mary Gail Cowan Leming,

DRT Historian
General Laura Beavers and

DRT District IV Representative K. Jenschke

The Mamie Wynne Cox Award for Historical Research is an award given to one of our own. The award was created to encourage our members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to research Texas history. Non-member judges are appointed to judge unpublished monographs or essays of merit in the field of Texas history, preferably during or before the period of the Republic. The winning essays are placed at the DRT Library at the Alamo.

The winner of the 2008 award is Mary Gail Cowan Leming whose essay is titled “Gabriel Smith, Soldier of Mier”.

The judges were impressed wit the thorough research, that was beautifully documented with footnotes, as well as the bibliography containing source material. They felt that documenting the life of a survivor of the Mier Expedition told part of the story of that ill fated Expedition and that such a survivor living a happy, productive and full life was a testament to the " courage and determination of the lives of our ancestors"