Texas Almanac, 1952-1953 Page: 58
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58 TEXAS ALMANAC. 1952-1953.
began Jan. 11, 1948. and adjourned July 8, a Progress Since 1874.
period of 177 days. In the space between 1874 and 1951 Texas
Following the sudden death of Governor has progressed with an acceleration that has
Jester, July 11, 1949, Lt. Gov. Allan Shivers been matched by few other states in the de-
became the state's chief executive. velopment of the agricultural and manufac-
Governor Shivers was nominated in the turing industries and general commerce,
Democratic primary of 1950 in a race with government and civic institutions, education
six other candidates, receiving 829,730 votes and, latterly, the arts. It still has a "colonial"
out of a total of 1,086,564. The Fifty-second economy in that it is primarily a raw mate-
Legislature, which met in January, 1951, was rials exporter and a consumers' goods im-
faced with the problems of financing an in- porter, but its industrial progress has been
creasing state budget, redistricting the state matched by few states statistically.
for Senate and House legislative districts. Education.
congressional districts and others. (See index In education Texas lagged for many years
for summary of legislation.) The fight for the despite the foresight of the early Texans in
Texas tidelands, together with other states setting aside a large part of the public do-
including California and Louisiana, was an main to endow public school and higher
outstanding issue of this administration with education. In the last few years, however, the
State Attorney General Price Daniel leading public-school system of Texas has been raised
the fight for the state. On June 5, 1950, the from a relatively low to a relative high rank
U.S. Supreme Court decided by a 4-to-3 vote among the states. Its public and private in-
(two members not participating) that the stitutions of higher education have progressed
tidelands had been surrendered by Texas in enrollment, facilities and general standing
when it had been annexed to the Union. Later in the nation.
the court refused a petition for a rehearing, Texas' Cultural Progress.
and thereafter Texas officials renewed a In its cultural and civic development the
fight to have Congress quitclaim the tidelands transition of Texas of the immediate future
to Texas. should be more marked than its economic and
Governor Shivers' administration witnessed political progress. Not until after World War
the renewal of military and naval activity in I was there sufficient surplus wealth, above
Texas with the reactivation of a number of that urgently needed for material purposes.
installations as the national war preparedness greatly to encourage the arts. It has been
program got under way following the out- only during the last fifteen or twenty years
break of war in Korea. that there has been sufficient private wealth
REVIEW AND PROSPECT as a source of endowment, or public wealth
Four and a third centuries have elapsed as a tax source, to encourage greatly the
between the time Pineda explored the Texas higher processes of cultural development
coast and the present. During the first three other than education.
centuries progress was negligible. After so In recent years the library, the museum.
long a time, Texas was a wilderness with not the art gallery, the theater, the lecture fo-
more than 7,000 or 8,000 population, rum, art, music and literature have begun to
With the coming of the Anglo-American play a considerable part in the lives of
settlers, Texas began to find its destiny in Texans.
the development of its natural resources, but The history of Texas, its current progress
a succession of social, political and military and its prospects for continued advancement
crises restrained progress. Hardly had colo- are carried in detail on the following pages
nization got under way before relations with telling of its natural resources, industries.
tne unstable government of Mexico became and civic and cultural institutions.
strained. Then followed the Revolution, the Texas has progressed primarily because it
uneasy era of the Republic, the darkening is a land of diversity-a land of diversity in
clouds of strife over slavery after annexation all things, from the geologic structures be-
to the United States, and disaster brought by neath its surface to the meteorological condi-
the War Between the States. After that came tions of the atmosphere above. That diversity
the devastation of Reconstruction and Carpet- exists today and is multiplied in the varied
bag government. Not until the administration development of its material and human re-
of Gov. Richard Coke beginning in 1874 could sources. In such development lies the bright
the people of Texas look to the future with prospect for its future economic, civic and
any feeling of assurance. cultural progress.
State Flag, Seal, Flower, Motto, Song; Other Designations
State Flag.-The officially adopted flag of "Friendship." The word, Texas. or Tejas.
the state is the Lone Star Flag of the former was the Spanish pronunciation of a Caddo
Republic of Texas. The Texas state flag is Indian word meaning "friends" or "allies."
the only flag of an American commonwealth (Acts of 1930, fourth called session of Forty-
that was originally the flag of a recognized first Legislature, page 105.)
independent country. The flag consists of a State Seal.-The seal of the State of Texas
blue field with a single white star, and white consists of "a star of five points, encircled
and red horizontal stripes, with the white by olive and live-oak branches, and the words
stripe uppermost. The flag of Texas was 'The State of Texas.' " (State Constitution.
adopted by the Third Congress of the Repub- Art. IV, Sec. 19.) The state seal is a slight
lic in session at Houston Jan. 25, 1839. There modification of the Great Seal of the Republic
was no other specification of the Flag of of Texas adopted by the Congress of the
Texas until a statute was passed by the Republic Dec. 10, 1836, and readopted with
Forty-third Legislature (Acts of 1933, p. 186, modifications in 1839.
ch. 87), clarifying, but not changing. the State Tree.-The pecan is the state tree of
original description. Texas. It has long been a popular Texas tree.
State Sobriquet.-Texas is known as the but the sentiment that led to its official adop-
Lone Star State, a designation derived from tion probably grew out of the request of Gov.
the single star in the flag of the state and of James Stephen Hogg that a pecan tree be
the former Republic of Texas. planted at his grave. (Acts of 1919. Thirty-
State Citizenship Designation.-The people sixth Legislature, regular session, page 155,
of Texas usually call themselves Texans. also Acts of 1927, Fortieth Legislature, page
However, the designation, Texian, was gen- 234.)
erally used in the early period of history, and State Flower.-The state flower of Texas
it is still used in some degree, notably in is the bluebonnet, also called buffalo clover.
historical articles, wolf flower, "el conejo" (the rabbit). Scien-
State Motto.-The state motto of Texas is tifically, it is Lupinus texensis. Lupinus sub-
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Texas Almanac, 1952-1953, book, 1951; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117137/m1/60/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.