What We Were Promoting at State Historical Sites

We mentioned in our August update that a conversation we began in December 2022 about particular books being sold at sites run by the Texas Historical Commission appeared to be resolved. This prompted inquiries from some folks who were late to the party: some who wondered just how bad the oversight truly was and some who wondered why we’d ever discourage the sale of books by Ibram X. Kendi at state historic sites.

Our initial video (December 2022) on the subject mentioned just a couple of the titles we saw for sale at Brazoria County sites on 2022 visits. Subsequent visits in 2023 showed that the catalog continued to expand. We attended THC quarterly committee meetings and saw that the subject was discussed, yet the catalog continued to grow.

So, we sent a list every book on offer at the Brazoria sites to the full commission, along with the publisher’s description of each (no editorializing) and asked if the commissioners thought most of these books were appropriate to present to the visiting public. Many are fiction set in places far removed from Texas. Others are modern activist memoirs. Still others treat the subject of violence as the surest means to decolonization. A few were relevant to the history of the area.

The list is inclusive of all the titles we saw in April 2023. Here’s the list we sent, regrettably not alphabetized.

We received no response from THC regarding the full list and, frankly, none was expected. Deliberative bodies move in mysterious, often slow ways. What we do know is that it was again discussed publicly in committee meetings. We were there, prepared to give public testimony, list in hand but found it was already a topic of discussion. The understanding we came away with was that, in conjunction with retail updates across all THC-run sites, a standardized purchasing policy was being developed. A core group of books will be offered for sale at all sites, with site-specific titles subject to approval.

What the core group of books is, I have no idea yet. We’ll visit some sites and see what emerges. I doubt it will include Ibram X. Kendi and other politicized tomes. I hope the Texas WPA slave narratives will continue to be sold at sites where those narratives track with the history. Time will tell. And then we’ll tell you.