The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 311
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Signing of Texas' Declaration of Independence
Later, many file through the restored home of Anson Jones, last
president of the Texas Republic. The house has been moved to the
park from its original setting on the nearby Jones plantation,
"Barrington."4
On the campus of the University of Texas, a group of students
fire a pair of cannon and someone makes a speech. Throughout
the country, alumni of the University hold their annual Inde-
pendence Day meetings, devoted primarily to discussions of pros-
pects in football and appropriations and a report on current aca-
demic progress at their alma mater.
It is customary, when the legislature is in session, for a stirring
speech to be made in each house on the glories of Texas' inde-
pendence. In hundreds of 'Texas schoolrooms, where March 2 is a
holiday only when it happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday,
history teachers remind their pupils that "on this day, in 1836,
the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed at Washington-
on-the-Brazos." The teachers may be forgiven the inaccuracy of
this statement; they probably took it directly from the Texas
history text, used, with state approval, in their school. Or, if they
have visited the shrine of Texas liberty, they may have acquired
a part of their misinformation from the official road marker
erected by the State Highway Department at the point where the
road to the town of Washington turns off the Navasota-Brenham
highway. The sign reads:
WASHINGTON STATE PARK
SITE OF THE SIGNING OF THE
TEXAS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
March 2, 1836
Less easily forgiven is the fact that most teachers, many speak-
ers at the annual Washington State Park ceremonies, legislators,
and even some who speak at the University celebrations, continue
to repeat the most inaccurate and most popular fiction concern-
ing the happenings at Washington in March of 1836. This is the
The Texas Ranger, a weekly newspaper, at Washington in 1848. A copy of The
Texas Ranger, J. Lancaster, Publisher, February 7, 1863, XIII, No. 7, in the posses-
sion of Dick Mgebroff, Brenham, carries the legend: "Established 1849."
4The structure was moved from its original location, four miles away, in 1936,
and restored by the Washington County unit of the Texas Independence Day Or-
ganization.31x
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/351/?rotate=90: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.