|
The Coleman
County Historical Commission
(From A
History of Coleman County and Its People,
1985
In 1953 the Texas
State Historical Survey Committee was created by the
Texas Legislature as a state agency for the purpose
of providing leadership and coordinating services in
the field of historical preservation and in 1973 was
redesignated as the Texas Historical
Commission. The Texas Commission furnishes
leadership and services to the County Historical
Commissions, which are made up of at least seven
residents of the county for the purpose of
initiating programs for the preservation of the
historical heritage of the county and are appointed
by the Commissioners Court. The county
commissions' purposes are to carry out a continuing
survey of the county to determine the existence of
historical buildings and other historical sites,
private collections of historical memorabilia, and
other historical features of the county; to erect
historical markers, monuments, and medallions; to
purchase objects and collections of objects of any
kind which are historically significant to the
county; and to prepare, publish, and disseminate, by
sale or otherwise, a history of the county.
The Coleman County Historical Survey Committee was organized by County Judge Frank Lewis and had its first meeting on February 16, 1963 in his office. He appointed Doris Miller as chairman, James Padgitt, vice-chairman, and Bex Cox, secretary. The first members were Mrs. J. A. B. Miller, Milton Autry, J. A. Gafford, Dr. M. D. Mann, W. C. Gay, LeRoy Stockard, Jim Robin, W. A. Powell, and Mrs. C. D. Bruce. At the first meeting there was much discussion and research done on Camp Colorado. Lists of other historical places were compiled. During her first two years, Doris created a lot of interest and did a lot of work for the Texas Historical Foundation (a private sister organization of the Texas State Historical Survey Committee which financed the activities of the Survey Committee).
On January 16, 1965, Mrs. Maurine Burroughs was
appointed chairman of the Committee and Ben Cox
remained as secretary. Work continued as
much history was discussed, medallions were sought
for appropriate places and tours to historical
places were held. At the March 17, 1966
meeting, Ben Cox resigned as secretary and La]uan
Sneed was appointed as secretary-treasurer and has
remained so until the present time.
In January 1969, Mrs. C. D. Bruce was appointed chairman. The work of preservation continued under her with her intense interest in the history of the county - she especially wanted to gather material to establish an archive for the county. In January 1974, Hurschell Dunn was appointed chairman. As the county committee continued to work, there were changes in the state program and the name was changed to the Coleman County Historical Commission. Mrs. Bruce was again appointed chairman in February 1975 and served until January 1977 when Doris Miller was again appointed chairman. In the meantime, the new County Judge, Pete Skelton, continued the appointments and interest in the commission. On January 29, 1981, Ralph Terry was appointed chairman and the work continued with the focal point being the writing of a history book of the county and its people. This has been a tedious, challenging project, but Ralph has devoted much time and energy to it as you may well see. Other long time members over the years include: Glynn Mitchell, Jake Miller, Phil Burroughs, Arnold Allcorn, Mrs. John Hunter, Mrs. C. A. Crump, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jameson, Dale Herring, Mrs. Maynard Gaines, Mrs. Bobby McMinn, Mrs. Paul Golson, Onnie Edens, Bob Griffis, R.G. Hollingsworth, Frank Alexander, L. H. Griffith and Walter Gann. Current members include Glynn Mitchell, Mrs. C. D. Bruce, Mrs. Robert See, Doris Miller, Maurine Burroughs, Mrs. John Hunter, Ann Watson, Nan Markland, Steve Autry, Sarah Gardner, Anita Tomlinson, Judia Gaines, Doris Williams and Vena Bob Gates. |
| Coleman County General History Index |