Texas Civil War Museum

Last updated

The Texas Civil War Museum, located in White Settlement, a suburb of Fort Worth, opened in 2006. It is the largest American Civil War museum west of the Mississippi River. The museum announced it will close on October 31, 2024. [1]

Contents

It consists of three separate galleries. The first displays a Civil War militaria collection, emphasizing flags. The second displays a Victorian dress collection. The third is a Confederate collection from the Texas United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), which controls one of three seats on the museum's board. The museum's collection includes the former Texas Confederate Museum in Austin, which the UDC owned. [2] The remainder was acquired by Ray Richey, an oil company executive who built the museum and is its president and curator. [3] "Experts say [it] is the finest private collection in existence." [4] Richey's collection was primarily militaria. Also on display are Victorian dresses collected by Judy Richey, curator of the dress collection. [5]

The museum has attracted criticism for being "an advocate and apologist for the Confederacy." According to John Fullinwider, a "Dallas educator and activist", [2] the museum presents the Lost Cause of the Confederacy mythos of the American Civil War; the museum's movie, "Our Honor, Our Rights: Texas and Texans in the Civil War" is "romanticized", "a lovely bit of 'Lost Cause' propaganda". [2] In it, the "sectional crisis" is presented as a contest over states' rights rather than slavery. [2] The author of the text of the movie, McMurry University professor Donald S. Frazier, said that it needed to be updated because "the conversation has changed". [6] The facility sometimes refers to the Civil War as the War Between the States, the name preferred by Confederate sympathizers. [7] The Museum's Web site links to book reviews signed by its "Resident Historian", "Johnny Reb". [8] [9]

Dallas, wishing to dispose of its Robert E. Lee statue, considered lending it to the museum, the only local institution willing to accept it. The city decided not to lend it because it would not be displayed in its proper context, according to the city. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Worth, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly 350 square miles (910 km2) into Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise counties. According to the 2023 United States census estimate, Fort Worth's population was 978,468, making it the fifth-most populous city in the state and the 12th-most populous in the United States. Fort Worth is the second-largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, which is the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S., and the most populous in Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Daughters of the Confederacy</span> American hereditary association

The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, and the promotion of the pseudohistorical Lost Cause ideology and corresponding white supremacy.

Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common soldiers who fought in the Civil War in the 1860s. The symbolic image of Johnny Reb in Southern culture has been represented in its novels, poems, art, public statuary, photography, and written history. According to the historian Bell I. Wiley, who wrote about the common soldiers of the Northern and the Southern armies, the name appears to have its origins in the habit of Union soldiers calling out, "Hello, Johnny" or "Howdy, Reb" to Confederate soldiers on the other side of the picket line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Lewis Cabell</span> 14th, 16th and 20th mayor of Dallas

William Lewis Cabell was an American engineer, lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 14th, 16th and 20th mayor of Dallas. Prior to that, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost Cause of the Confederacy</span> Negationist myth of the American Civil War

The Lost Cause of the Confederacy is an American pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. First enunciated in 1866, it has continued to influence racism, gender roles, and religious attitudes in the Southern United States into the 21st century. Historians have dismantled many parts of the Lost Cause mythos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Civil War Museum</span> History museum in Appomattox, Virginia

The American Civil War Museum is a multi-site museum in the Greater Richmond Region of central Virginia, dedicated to the history of the American Civil War. The museum operates three sites: The White House of the Confederacy, the American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar in Richmond, and the American Civil War Museum at Appomattox. It maintains a comprehensive collection of artifacts, manuscripts, Confederate books and pamphlets, and photographs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard W. Dowling</span> Confederate States Army officer

Richard William Dowling was an Irish-born artillery officer of the Confederate States Army who achieved distinction as commander at the battle of Sabine Pass (1863), the most one-sided Confederate victory during the American Civil War. It is considered the "Thermopylae of the Confederacy" and prevented Texas from being conquered by the Union. For his actions, Dowling received the "thanks of Congress", Davis Guards Medal, Southern Cross of Honor, and Confederate Medal of Honor. Over a dozen other memorials have also been dedicated in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth</span> Art museum in Texas, United States

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the city's cultural district in a building designed by architect Tadao Ando which opened to the public in 2002. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and holds a permanent collection with more than 3,000 works of art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Cross of Honor</span> United Daughters of the Confederacy commemorative medal awarded to the United Confederate Veterans

The Southern Cross of Honor was a commemorative medal established in 1899 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to honor Confederate veterans.

<i>Confederate War Memorial</i> (Dallas) Confederate monument previously displayed in Dallas, Texas, United States

The Confederate War Memorial was a 65 foot (20 m)-high monument that pays tribute to soldiers and sailors from Texas who served with the Confederate States of America (CSA) during the American Civil War. The monument was dedicated in 1897, following the laying of its cornerstone the previous year. Originally located in Sullivan Park near downtown Dallas, Texas, United States, the monument was relocated in 1961 to the nearby Pioneer Park Cemetery in the Convention Center District, next to the Dallas Convention Center and Pioneer Plaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarrant County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Tarrant County Courthouse is part of the Tarrant County government campus in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.

Confederate monuments and memorials in the United States include public displays and symbols of the Confederate States of America (CSA), Confederate leaders, or Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War. Many monuments and memorials have been or will be removed under great controversy. Part of the commemoration of the American Civil War, these symbols include monuments and statues, flags, holidays and other observances, and the names of schools, roads, parks, bridges, buildings, counties, cities, lakes, dams, military bases, and other public structures. In a December 2018 special report, Smithsonian Magazine stated, "over the past ten years, taxpayers have directed at least $40 million to Confederate monuments—statues, homes, parks, museums, libraries, and cemeteries—and to Confederate heritage organizations."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials</span> Ongoing development in the United States

There are more than 160 Confederate monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America and associated figures that have been removed from public spaces in the United States, all but five of which have been since 2015. Some have been removed by state and local governments; others have been torn down by protestors.

The Texas Confederate Museum was a museum in Austin, Texas, in the United States. The United Daughters of the Confederacy opened it in 1903 in a room on the ground floor of the Texas Capitol and closed it in 1988. From 1919 to 1988, it was housed on the ground floor of the Old Land Office Building, while the second floor housed a separate museum for the collections of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. These museums occupied the structure even longer than the Texas Land Office did. In 1990, the Old Land Office Building reopened after closing for renovations as the Capitol Visitors Center and the museum closed. The paper portion of its collection was donated to the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library in Midland, Texas, the artifacts to the Texas Civil War Museum near Fort Worth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenora Rolla</span> African-American activist and historian

Lenora Rolla was an activist, businesswoman, educator, and historian. The granddaughter of former slaves who grew up in poverty, Rolla became a civil rights leader and community activist in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. In 1977, she founded the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society, whose history museum is named in honor of Rolla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlington Museum of Art</span> Art museum in Texas, United States

The Arlington Museum of Art is a non-collecting art museum located in Arlington, Texas. It hosts art exhibitions and also offers art-related adult workshops, children's classes, film screenings, and lectures. A not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization managed by a board of directors, it showcases internationally-renowned collections in partnership with museums and private collectors from around the world. In 2024, the AMA moved from its previous location in downtown Arlington to the Arlington Expo Center in the city's Entertainment District.

References

  1. ↑ Malcolm, Timothy (September 7, 2024). "Texas Civil War Museum to close after 17 years in White Settlement". Chron.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilonsky, Robert (April 24, 2018). "Trip to Texas Civil War Museum shows why Dallas should never send its Robert E. Lee statue there". Dallas News . Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  3. ↑ Curry, Matt (January 26, 2006). "Oilman Opens Massive Civil War Museum". Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas). p. 19. Archived from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  4. ↑ Campbell, Steve (February 2, 2014). "Prolific Fort Worth Civil War collector scoops up rare Robert E. Lee items". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ "About Us. Meet the staff". Texas Civil War Museum. 10 April 2011. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  6. ↑ Kennedy, Bud (April 24, 2018). "Dallas saw too much Rebel in Texas Civil War Museum". Fort Worth Star-Telegram . Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  7. ↑ Texas Civil War Museum (2013). "Exhibits currently on display". Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Education". Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Resident Reviewer Johnny Reb Recommends" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.

Further reading

32°46′21″N97°28′27″W / 32.772384°N 97.474193°W / 32.772384; -97.474193

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.