The Influence of Two

Nwlanews.com shares the history of the First United Methodist Church of Minden, Louisiana that was founded in 1839 (meaning they’re celebrating their 170th year). John Agan’s December 26 article focuses on the “careers and legacies of George Washington Bains, pastor of the church from 1845 until 1850 and William Carey Crane, pastor during 1861-62.” Each has some interesting Huntsville connections:

In 1850, the Bains family moved to Huntsville, Texas, where he preached and began a lifelong friendship with Sam Houston. It was after crossing the Sabine River and becoming a Texan that he added the “e” to his last name, for reasons unknown. From that point forward he was known as George Washington Baines. During his ministry in Texas he was the pastor of churches at Huntsville, Independence, Anderson, Fairfield, Springfield, Butler, Florence, and Salado.

Elsewhere:

William Carey Crane served as pastor of the Independence Baptist Church for eighteen years and was active in the Texas Baptist State Convention. He was a prolific author and wrote a classic biography of Sam Houston. Crane was the first president of the Texas State Teachers Association and was chairman of the committee that recommended the founding of Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University). He was a leader in the reorganization of the Texas public school system after Reconstruction.

Item: Winter lock-in planned at library

From the January 27 issue of the Item:

The Huntsville Public Library, in collaboration with the Walker County Genealogical Society, will host its annual Winter Genealogy Lock-In February 8 from 12:30-6 p.m. at the library.

The event is open to the public and free of charge, and is geared toward giving amateur genealogists a chance to consult with and gain information from members of the genealogical society, who will be on hand throughout the event.

People attending the event will have the opportunity to research using the full resources of the library and the Johnnie Jo Sowell Dickenson Genealogy Room, which contains hundreds of books, microfilms and maps from Walker County, the State of Texas and beyond.

Writing on the Wall #1

Not too long ago we received an email from a visitor who had enjoyed reading about the history of the buildings, but was a bit miffed at being unable to "find" all the letters from the website’s masthead on campus. We gave her a clue as to where she could find the letter if she wanted to track it down for herself. And that pretty much gave us the idea for this “game.”

Think of it as a scavenger hunt: can you identify the building or location where we took the photos that make up the buildingshsu masthead? How observant are you? How well do you know the SHSU campus? Want to earn the admiration of your friends or family? Want to win absolutely nothing from the buildingshsu webmaster? See if you can figure what writing is on the wall...or some other part of a building (whatever).

Here’s the first letter and your first haiklu:

It’s staring at the sun
Remember one man's ceiling
Another man's floor

Video: Campus Timelapse

SHSU Campus Timelapse from Brian Nietfeld on Vimeo.

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building opens

The newest (and fifth) “academic building” has opened on campus. The completion of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building – originally referred to as Academic Building V – means a number of departments (and Dean de Castro) will be starting off the new year in a new home. Moving to the CHSS building are:

• CHSS dean’s suite;
• Departments of sociology, psychology and philosophy;
• The Student Advising and Mentoring (SAM) Center relocates from Academic Building IV (that area will later be filled by Career Services);
• The Political Science department move over from Academic Building One;
• The Accounts Payable and Business offices hop over from the Administration Building;
• Human Resources, Payroll, and Purchasing jump over from the Estill Building;

Today@Sam points out that the vacated offices will obviously cause future moves within other buildings, which Today@Sam goes over in more detail if you’re into that sort of thing. Of note is that the clinical psychology program will move into the Career Services building in February 2009.

According to Meagan Ellsworth’s January 13th Houstonian article, “students were in classes [Monday] morning and accessing faculty offices as well. The fourth floor is still having last things done to it.” And they have a computer lab.

Construction on the 150,000 square foot building began in the summer of 2007.

'Sam Houston' Project Launches Website

A website developed as a companion piece to a documentary on the life of Samuel Houston, featuring commentary by two Sam Houston Memorial Museum staff members, has been launched by The Sam Houston Project. Among its features are a chronological time line of the general's life, GPS-coordinated maps of important Houston sites, and resources for teachers.

The soon-to-be-completed documentary, “Sam Houston,” is a comprehensive chronicle of Houston’s life from his birth in Virginia through his time in Tennessee, in the U.S. Senate and beyond.

While the film, the first video biography of the general, is still incomplete, Texas history buffs from around the world and educators can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what’s to come through the launch of its companion website Samhoustonmovie.com.