Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Varner-Hogg Volunteers, in partnership with the Brazoria County Historical Museum, the Brazos Historical Museum and the Texas Historical Commission, announce an African-American history symposium to be held in Brazoria County, November 3-5, 2000. Entitled “Viewing the Past Through Different Lenses – The African-American Legacy in the Lower Brazos Valley,” the symposium is a result of efforts over several years to increase awareness of African-American history in Brazoria County, Texas at Varner-Hogg State Historical Park and throughout the state.

The three-day event includes tours of archeological work at two of the nineteenth-century plantation sites along the lower Brazos River, Varner-Hogg and Levi-Jordan, and a full day of formal papers on recent work in historical research, site interpretation, cultural preservation and methods for applying research. Symposium headquarters will be the newly completed Lake Jackson Civic Center in Lake Jackson, Texas.

Keynote speaker will be Bill Gwaltney, Chief of Interpretation at Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado.

Talking Back Living History Theatre will present a special performance of “Cane Cutter Country” as part of the opening evening’s activities.

Speakers during the symposium will include Dianne Swann-Wright from Monticello, Harvey Bakari from Williamsburg, Marquetta L. Goodwine from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and Muriel Crespi from the National Park Service in Washington, DC. Texas historians, including Randolph Campbell, Alwyn Barr, Albert Broussard, Merline Pitre, William Montgomery and T. Lindsay Baker, will be among the participants.

Please visit the symposium website at the link below for complete details.