Hidalgo County Historical Commission

09/05/2026

🎬 A big thank-you to the Medrano Family for supporting Los Tejanos: A 500-Year History as a sponsor! ❤️

Join us September 16 for a special film premiere celebrating five centuries of Tejano history and heritage.

📍 Historic Alonso Building | 510 E. Saint Charles St.
🕕 Doors: 6 PM | 🎥 Film: 7 PM
🎟️ FREE admission — limited seating! Tickets required.

🎟️ Reserve your tickets:
https://form.jotform.com/261805560016148

09/04/2026

2027 Annual Conference | May 26-28, 2027
South Texas College| McAllen, TX
A Call for Papers
ww.w.atxh.org | [email protected] | 832.409.3321

The Program Committee, chaired by Stephanie Cole and Sonia Hernández,
announces a call for proposals on all topics and periods of Texas history, as well as
the preservation, archiving, teaching, and public presentation of that history. We
hope to include sessions that reflect the breadth of Texas history and the many
ways it can be studied and shared, including social and cultural history, biography,
pedagogical innovation, public history, and historiography. We seek to showcase
the many peoples, places, and experiences that have shaped Texas. We welcome
proposals bringing new perspectives to familiar stories or illuminating histories that have received less attention.

The Alliance encourages proposals from individuals with a wide range of
backgrounds and perspectives, including academic historians, archivists,
educators, graduate students, independent scholars, and museum professionals,
as well as scholars from other disciplines whose work offers new perspectives on
the Texas past. Whether your work focuses on the Native peoples who lived in what
would become Texas, twenty-first-century society and politics, or anything in
between, we look forward to hearing your ideas.

Proposals must be submitted using the form found at www.atxh.org/2026-
conference. The submission deadline is November 1, 2026.

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

EnslavedTexas.org

An interactive visualization tracing enslaved people forcibly migrated from U.S. states into Texas between 1800 and 1870 — reconstructed from the voter registration records of 1867–1870, in which more than 50,000 of the 140,073 Texans who registered are identified as freedmen.

Project Information:
Enslaved Texas is a digital humanities project, headed by researcher Dr. Deborah Linsley Liles, that provides interactive visualizations and searchable records of the forced migration of enslaved people into Texas between 1800 and 1870, based on Freedmen's voter registration records of 1867–1870. The Website is provided for educational, research, and historical purposes.

Visit EnslavedTexas.org to explore the Interactive Map that visualizes migration flows from origin states to Texas counties, and use a name search for individuals by name, county destination, origin state and year of arrival.

09/02/2026

South Texas Publicly Engaged Humanities Conference
Registration and Call for Proposals

November 12, 2026, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. & November 13, 2026, from 8 a.m. to Noon at the McAllen Public Library

The last two years the South Texas History, Culture, Heritage, Archives and Museums Summit held presentations by Texas Historical Commission, Texas Commission on the Arts, Texas Historical Foundation and Humanities Texas. In the first year the National Archives provided a presentation with a closing from the American Historical Association executive director. During last year’s summit participants requested a shift from a summit to a conference to allow for local and regional museums, arts organizations and humanities-based nonprofits an opportunity to present their work and future plans.

We are seeking proposals from South Texas publicly engaged humanities organizations and institutions that can provide to a general audience and stakeholders aspects of their current projects and future plans. Session proposals may include, but not limited to, exhibit development, grant writing, oral history production, museum updates, literary and artistic events or programing. Sessions will be one hour and twenty minutes.

The conference is free to attend, but please register if you plan on attending.
Deadline for proposals is Oct. 1, 2026.

Registration: South Texas Publicly Engaged Humanities Conference – Fill out form here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAANAAZQWb-xUQlNCUTE4TUlJREY1NFpSV01YTEg2QzhZMC4u&route=shorturl

Session Proposals: South Texas Publicly Engaged Humanities Conference – Fill out form here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAANAAZQWb-xURTRSNjQ0UlVNS0dUVlpFUENYVjQ1UEZSSy4u&route=shorturl

09/01/2026

Scholarship opportunity for international research

Silvia Hector Webber Scholarship applications to open in September! See flyer for more details!

08/31/2026

This week! History on display in Pharr.

🍊📜 Pharr Packed with History is happening THIS WEEK!

Join us Wednesday, September 2nd at 6 PM at the Pharr Memorial Library for the opening of this special exhibit celebrating Pharr’s agricultural roots.

Discover rare citrus-related artifacts, historic crate labels, and stories that helped shape our community and the Rio Grande Valley.

✨Admission is FREE, don’t miss this one-of-a-kind experience!

08/31/2026

Text from marker: "Apparently this is an ancient ford. First recorded usage was by Spanish explorers and colonists under Jose de Escandon in 1740s on the Rio Grande. A salt trail led from here to El Sal del Rey (40 miles northeast). The ford was used by Mexican war troops, 1846; by Texas Rangers chasing cattle rustlers, 1874; by smugglers in many eras, especially during the American prohibition years, 1920s and '30s. The ferry and inspection station were established in 1950. Named for the ebony trees here, this is known as the only government-licensed, hand-pulled ferry on any boundary of the United States." Placed in 1974

08/29/2026

ATTENTION ARTISTS OF ALL AGES!! We are looking for you submit some samples of your work for a Hispanic heritage month celebration 🥳 stop or email us! At [email protected] or [email protected]