Deep East Texas is a place where you can not only walk where your ancestors walked, but the odds are that the people you are walking with are descendants of your ancestors’ companions as well. Standing on a sun-dappled clearing, church grounds, or even in your own yard, you could time travel back 100 years and it all would be very recognizable. While I have been creating art around my community and family history for the past five months or so (and even longer in a less defined way,) it’s… Read more Once upon a time in the Deep East Texas Pines →
Each year for as long as I can remember, the holiday season in Lufkin has included “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Pumping Unit,” modified from oil equipment. It has evolved a little… Read more Lufkin Rudolph →
This week, I discovered a few new online resources to help my research: The JStor academic database, which has a free tier during the pandemic The SFASU East Texas Research Center online libraries The Texas Historical Commission library AND, yesterday, I received my copy of “They Left No Monuments,” a volume of East Texas human interest stories by the late historian Bob Bowman. I’m just scratching the surface of these resources, but I have already learned so much! It’s really exciting to read this information, find archival images, and think… Read more Researching East Texas History →
In rural East Texas, your first best friends are your cousins and your neighbors. And often, your cousin IS your neighbor! In my case, my cousin spent lots of time visiting my grandmother, who lived just one stop sign and few houses away. So, almost a neighbor.I’m an only child, and people often ask “Weren’t you lonely growing up?” Because of my cousin and my neighbor, I really can’t relate to that question. How could I be lonely when one bestie lived at the far end of my driveway and… Read more Besties →
Stephanie Khattak 