Heritage, Volume 14, Number 4, Fall 1996 Page: 22

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Institute Hosts New Deal
Post Office Murals Exhibit
From 1934 to 1943, the federal government
launched an art patronage program
to decorate the walls of newly built public
buildings across the United States. The
program was meant to inspire a sense of
pride in the past and hope for the future
during economically difficult times.
In Texas, artists created murals for the
New Deal program, all of which can still be
enjoyed in more than 60 post offices and
federal buildings in small towns and cities
in Texas. Photographs of a representative
selection of these murals can be seen in
"Texas Post Office Murals of the New Deal",
a traveling exhibit on display at the Upper
Gallery of the Institute of Texan Cultures
in San Antonio through February 24.
For more information on the exhibit,
call the Institute at (210) 458-2257.
Dallas Museum Acquires
and Moves Railroad Tower
On August 14, 1996, motorists travelling
on Highway 175 in Dallas were treated
to a towering view of Santa Fe Railroad
interlock tower 19 being moved to its new

home at the Age of Steam Railroad Museum
in Fair Park.
The three-mile trip from its old location
at the crossing of the Santa Fe East Dallas
yard line and the Union Pacific Belt line to
the museum grounds took about eight-anda-half
hours. The move was the result of
several years of waiting and negotiating
with Dallas Area Rapid Transit going back
to late 1990.
The rail tower was used at its original
site from 1924 through 1993.
Foundation Approves Two
Grants at July Meeting
The Board of Directors of the Texas
Historical Foundation approved funds for
two grants promoting preservation projects
in the state.
Money from the J.P. Bryan Preservation
Trust was allocated to the Lubbock Heritage
Society for restoration of Old St. Paul's
on the Plains Episcopal Church to its 1914
configuration.
Funds from the same trust were used also
to assist the Museum of Abilene for acoustical
work needed at The Grace Cultural
Center. The Grace was an old Abilene
hotel that was restored in 1992 and now
houses three separate museums.
The Foundation Board reminds the public
that the focus of the grants program
currently is rural preservation projects.
Donations Still Being
Accepted for Foundation
Matching Grant
The Texas Historical Foundation is more
than three-quarters of the way toward
achieving its $20,000 goal in donations,
which will then be matched with a grant
from Charlie and Sarah Meadows Seay of
Dallas. The Dallas couple, philanthropists
and long-time Texans, issued the challenge
grant to the Foundation in January.
According to a proposal agreed upon by
the Foundation Board of Directors, only
the income generated from the grant prin

cipal will be used for funding preservation
projects, so that the Sarah Meadows and
Charles E. Seay Grant will become a perpetual
fund of the THF.
Members are reminded that gifts to the
Texas Historical Foundation are tax deductible
and that each donation will be
matched dollar-for-dollar.
Pledges to this fundraising effort should
be earmarked appropriately and sent to:
Texas Historical Foundation, Sarah Meadows
and Charles E. Seay Fund, P.O. Box
50314, Austin, Texas 78763.
Nominations Being
Accepted for Book Award
Nominations for the Texas Historical
Commission's T.R. Fehrenbach Book
Awards are now being accepted.
The Fehrenbach Book Award encourages
the original research and publication
of material that preserves, records, and
recounts the prehistory and history of Texas.
The competition is open to any publication
on Texas history, provided that it is a
scholarly work based on original research
of historic documents, interviews, and other
related sources.
Up to three awards, each consisting of a
$1,000 cash prize and plaque, will be presented
to the winners at the Commission's
annual preservation conference. For a
nomination form and guidelines, contact
the THC Publications Division, P.O. Box
12276, Austin, Texas 78711-2276, or call
(512) 475-4960.
History Teaching Aids
Available from Park Service
"Teaching with Historic Places", published
by Jackdaw Publications and the
National Park Service, contains 54 lesson
plan booklets for enriching history, geography,
social studies, literature, and other
subjects for students with primary sources,
maps, charts, photographs, and historical
documents.
To obtain more information about the

22 HERITAGE *FALL 1996