FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 15, 2019
STEPHENVILLE, Texas —Tarleton State University’s W.K. Gordon Center hosts it first conference on the state’s industrial history Friday and Saturday, April 26-27, with events in Thurber and on the Stephenville campus.
The conference is free and open to the public; however, registration is required. Saturday lunch is included. Visit http://tarletonstate.us/ConferenceRegistrationto sign up by end of day April 19.
The event opens with Friday evening reception at the Gordon Center in Thurber. Three sessions highlighting the region’s industrial past take place Saturday in Stephenville in Room 125 of the Math Building.
Schedule:
Friday, April 26, Thurber
6 p.m. – Reception at the W. K. Gordon Center
Saturday, April 27, Stephenville
8–9 a.m. – Registration
9:15–10:30 a.m. – Session 1
Workings of a Company Town: The Industries of Thurber, Texas – Shae Adams, W.K. Gordon Center assistant curator
Grain Milling in Texas – Rebecca Sharpless, TCU history professor
Texas and the Livestock Industry – Deborah Liles, W.K. Gordon Endowed Chair in Texas History
10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. – Session 2
Clearing Away the Fog: Industry in Antebellum Texas on the Eve of the Civil War –Michael Frawley, UT Permian Basin history professor
Temple-Inland Welcomes You to Diboll: Company Towns in the Postwar Years – Meredith May
Banking and Democracy: Balancing Market Demands and Equal Access to Capital –Walter Buenger, UT history professor
12:15-1p.m. – Lunch
1–2:30 p.m. – Session 3
Texas Airlines, Deregulation, and the Dawn of a New Industry – Scott Sosebee, Stephen F. Austin State University history professor
Railroads of Texas – Steve Goen, railroad historian
The Record Rat Race: A History of the Recording Industry in Texas – Kevin Fontenot, author and scholar of the American South
The W.K. Gordon Center, located in historic Thurber, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Exit 367 on Interstate 20 between Fort Worth and Abilene. For more information, visit www.tarleton.edu/gordoncenteror the museum’s Facebook page.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 13,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.
Contact: Phil Riddle, News and Information Specialist
817-484-4415
[email protected]