Texas Travel - End of Course Summary

This marks the end of my journey involving the Directed Independent Study in Library Science class.  I have visited several great museums and libraries over the course of a month.  The best part about the class was that I was able to involve my family in my travels.  I hope they had as much fun as I did.

I originally planned to visit several more places, but time did not allow for it.  These are the places I visited:

• Children's Museum of Houston
• Houston Museum of Natural Science
• Houston Public Libraries -- Smith Neighborhood Library and Central Library
• Bryan Public Libraries -- Clara B. Mounce Library and Carnegie History Center
• Children's Museum of Brazos Valley
• Texas Energy Museum
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum
• Tyrrell Historic Library

These are the places I visited using a virtual tour of their website:

• McFaddin-Ward House Museum
• Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum
• The Library of Congress
• The British Museum

It is amazing to find so many educational and historical venues that are available to the public, many with free or very low admission fees.  With the help of the Internet, it's easy to locate places that you probably didn't even know existed.  Websites share information about hours of operation, admission fees, and directions as well background information to prepare you for your visit.

This has been a great experience.  I have been wanting to visit the Beaumont area for the longest time, hoping to learn more about Spindletop and perhaps even learn more about my grandfather.  By walking through the exhibits at the Gladys City Boomtown Museum, I got a feel for what life may have been like for him over 110 years ago.  The visit has sparked a desire in me to learn even more about my father's family, eventually creating a family tree for his side of the family.

Even though this class is over, I plan to continue to locate and visit libraries and museums around Texas.  And, I plan to write about them here.  So, there is more to come!

Virtual Tour - The British Museum

The British Museum
 http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx

For a little overseas adventure, I thought I would check out The British Museum's website.  The British Museum is located in London, and is open daily with free admission.  For those of us who don't live in London, a virtual tour of the website can be used to explore their collections.

The homepage for the museum is neatly organized and inviting.  Links to information about membership, exhibits, and events are among others.  A toolbar across the top of the website offers the same information with easy to find buttons.

When trying to decide where I should start first, I was drawn to a link called "Young Explorers."  The link took me to a page designed for children, so I called over Peyton to take a look at it.  There is a "Play," "Discover," and "Create" button along the top of the page.  She decided to click on the "Play" button.  She found several games that use artifacts from the museum.  She played one game where she put in her height, then tried to guess the height of three artifacts.  After getting the correct height for the artifact, information about the artifact popped up.  She concluded that it was a very cool website.

Another link on the home page that I like is the "School and Teachers" link towards the bottom of the page.  Resources, grouped by grade level, are shared here.  You can download Word documents, pdf files, and PowerPoints that provide lessons and activities that you can use in the classroom.  Some activities can be used by students as they independently explore the site.

Overall, this is an excellent website that can be used for educational purposes or personal enjoyment.  You can keep up with museum news and events on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr.  The British Museum also has a blog where you can follow museum happenings. 

Virtual Tour - Library of Congress

The website for the Library of Congress is LOADED with information, so much so that I keep getting sidetracked as I click away, looking to see what kinds of information I can find.  The "Digital Collection" that can be accessed by a link near the top of the page, leads you to online resources that everyone can use...for free!  One of those digital collections is called "Historic Newspapers."  This is where I found digital copies of the Houston Post during the time of Spindletop.  I searched for my grandfather's name and found one result.  On June 3, 1901, Shelby Goodman (highlighted in pink) of Corsicana is listed under hotel arrivals at The Lawlor.  How cool is that?!  Can you imagine all the work that goes in to making all the words, of all those newspapers, searchable?  I want to dig more, but I need to finish this assignment.  I can not wait to see what else I can find!

More about the website....

The home page for the Library of Congress has a section called "Collection Highlights."  I've already mentioned one part of the collection, but here are all of them...

• American Memory
• Prints and Photographs
• Historic Newspapers
• Performing Arts
• Veterans History
• Sound Recordings
• Films
• Maps
• Manuscripts

"Featured Webcasts" are listed directly under the featured collections.  And, directly below the webcasts is an Explore and Discover section.  In this section, I clicked on the "Today in History" link which led to two stories linked to today's date.  Within each story were MANY links to other information.  I'm telling you, the information NEVER stops coming on this website!

Going back to the homepage, I clicked on a link that is located on the left-hand tool bar titled, "More About the Library."  An interesting fact I found was that since the library's establishment in 1800, there have only been 13 librarians, and they have all been males.

The right toolbar offers links to "Resources and Programs" as well as "Services."  One service that I may find useful as a librarian is the "Cataloging Services."  The amount of information provided is overwhelming, but it's good to know it's there.

I could go on about all the cool things you can find on the LOC website, but everyone should just experience it for themselves.  Classroom and personal use possibilities are endless.  I know there are too many people out there that have no idea that all these resources are available to them.  Until I began the MLS program, I didn't know it existed either.  So, if you haven't already, click on this link to the Library of Congress's website...but, don't do it unless you have a lot of time to play, because you will want to play!

Virtual Tour - Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum

Ocean Star Drilling Rig Museum
(borrowed from http://www.oceanstaroec.com/index.htm)

The Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum is located in Galveston.  I've been to the museum before, but it has been a long time since my visit.  The museum is actually on a retired offshore drilling rig situated over the water at Pier 19 near The Strand.  The museum's website has a 360 degree virtual tour that users can manipulate as they explore each floor of the museum.  It would be easy to pull this website up in a classroom, either as a guided class activity or an individual activity, giving students an offshore experience. 

Virtual Tour - McFaddin-Ward House Museum

McFaddin-Ward House
(picture borrowed from http://www.mcfaddin-ward.org/)

One thing I would have loved to have done while in Beaumont is visit some of the historic homes in the area.  Since I didn't have time to visit the homes in person, I paid them a visit online instead.  One home that has a really good website with a virtual tour is the McFaddin-Ward House, Historic House Museum.  The website gives the history of the house, along with a virtual tour of the buildings and gardens.  A short video can be viewed to learn more about the family who lived in the home.  Educational programs are described and artifacts are highlighted.  The museum also has a reserve library that may be visited by appointment only. 

Visiting the McFaddin-Ward House via a virtual tour only made me want to visit it more.  I love the floor plan used on the virtual tour.  I think I'll save a copy of the floor plan so that I can build me one just like it some day!

Tyrell Historical Library

The Tyrrell Historical Library is located in the museum district of downtown Beaumont.  The building that houses the library was originally a church, built in 1903.  It is beautiful!  The stained glass windows are incredible.  I would have never guesses that it was a library.  Luckily, Ms. Vicki, who works at the Texas Energy Museum, told me about the library and recommended that I check it out.  I'm so glad that I did.

 

 

 

The Tyrell Historical Library specializes in Texas history and genealogy.  The Texas history collection contains biographies of Texans as well as fiction written by Texans.  Among other things, you can find city directories and yearbooks, bound periodicals about Texas history and genealogy, and an impressive art book collection.  The library offers free use of genealogy websites such as Ancestry and Heritage Quest.  Microfilm   The library also has a new digital collection that can be accessed via the Internet. 

I was hoping to be able to see some of the Spindletop documents that Ms. Vicki said was housed on the second floor, but when I asked the lady at the front desk about them she told me the library was about to close and didn't offer to tell me where to find what I wanted.  We had an hour until closing time, but I guess she thought I wanted to start some deep research or something.  ???  So, I spent the hour snooping around the genealogy section, which is located in a new building attached to the main building.  Jarrod played around on one of the genealogy websites and my mom looked around the collection in the main building.  When it was time to go, I found Peyton laying on big leather couch.  She said this library was boring to her, and wanted to stop at another one that had a children's books.  It had been a long day, so I promised to take her to our local library soon.

I would love to go back to Beaumont some day when I have more time to devote to genealogy research.  I want to learn more about my grandfather and Beaumont seems like a good place to start.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping their genealogy databases are available for off-campus use.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Gladys City Boomtown Museum pictures

Gladys City Boomtown Museum Pics on Flickr.

I have so many pictures from the Gladys City Boomtown Museum that it was too hard trying to decide which ones to share. So, I put them on Flickr so that anyone who wanted to see them, could. It's almost like a virtual tour! Just click on a picture or the link above.  You'll be directed to my photo album.

Gladys City Boomtown Museum

After visiting the Texas Energy Museum in Beaumont, we drove over the Gladys City Boomtown Museum.  Located near Lamar University, the Gladys City Boomtown Museum is a little treasure chest full of artifacts from the early 1900's, when oil was discovered under a hill called Spindletop.  The replica buildings that make up Gladys City Boomtown were built using photos taken during that time period as a reference.  Except for air conditioning in a few of the buildings (thank goodness!), each building takes you back in time, giving a glimpse of what life was like in Gladys City.  Gladys City got its name from Patillo Higgins, naming it after a young girl in his Sunday School class.  The town never lived up to what Higgins had hoped it would become, an industrial city much like those he had visited in Pennsylvania.

Oil Derrick



Spindletop Monument



 



 

Museum Entrance



Before starting the tour of Gladys City, it is recommended that you watch a 6-minute video that give you a little history about the town.  We watched the video and then began our self-tour.  The buildings are set up like a small town with a boardwalk leading from one building to another. In the center of the "town" is a large oil derrick, sitting on a platform.  Each building has a plaque attached near its entrance, giving information about the building.  Artifacts from the early 1900's, most of which have been donated, fill each building.  My daughter was amazed with all the "weird stuff" we came across.  And, my mother enjoyed sharing stories about items that brought back memories of her childhood.  Exhibits included a saloon, a barber shop, a dry goods store, an oil exchange, a photo studio, a general store, a drug store with a soda shop and doctor's office, and a stable. 

The building that amused us all the most was the Barber's Shop.  Not only could you get a haircut, you could also have your teeth pulled or get your hair singed.  Peyton really liked the drug store because of the soda shop, but found it strange that there was a doctor's office in the same building.  Jarrod liked all the old cameras in the photo studio.  He said he saw a Kodak 1, which would have been the first Kodak camera.  My mom enjoyed all the gadgets in the general store, and I liked the home above the general store the best.

After our self-tour through all of the exhibits, we spent some time chatting with Mark Osborne, the new director of the Gladys City Boomtown Museum.  He explained that the museum is on Lamar University's campus and shared more information about Spindletop and Gladys City with us.  I shared pictures of my grandfather at Spindletop with him.  He told me that I was the second grad student from SHSU to stop by that day.  He had offered the other student a free Gladys City Coloring Book, so he said I could have one too.  Yea!  I've had a hard time finding any picture books that have to do with Spindletop, so I plan to count the coloring book as my picture book!  The drawings in the book are by Steve Cooper.  The first page gives a brief story of Spindletop and Gladys City Boomtown, and every page that follows contains pictures with short descriptions. 

There is no technology used with the exhibits, but I think technology would throw off the feel of being back in time.  The video shown before the tour is shown on a flat-screen television with a DVD.  When we were leaving, Jarrod spotted a bar code like we saw at the Houston Children's Museum posted in the gift shop.  The barcode leads you to the museum's Facebook page.

The Gladys City Boomtown Museum in Beaumont is a must see for all of those interested in Texas history.  The museum offers a glimpse of life in a bustling Texas oil boom town during the early 1900's.  Fun and educational!

Texas Energy Museum

Jarrod, Peyton and my mom were my travel buddies for my latest excursion.  I wanted to hit some museums in Beaumont, which is about a 2-hour trip from Spring.  The Texas Energy Museum was our first stop in Beaumont.  The museum shares information about petroleum science and the geology involved with it.  It also shares the history of oil discovery, production and refinery.

The Texas Energy Museum is a located in Beaumont's downtown museum district.  As we entered the museum, we were greeted by a friendly lady who was working at the front desk, Ms. Vicki.  I sparked a conversation with her about Spindletop, expressing my interests in learning more about it.  She told me that I would see a lot about Spindletop on the second floor of the museum.  I told her that we also planned to go to the Gladys City Boomtown Museum, and she said it was a really neat place.  She also suggested that I check out the Tyrrell Historical Library which was located right next to the Texas Energy Museum.  She explained that they held a lot of documents pertaining to Spindletop and the city of Beaumont.  I asked if she knew how to get to the Gladys City Boomtown Museum because we had planned to go there next.  She had some maps and told me she would mark a route for us while we walked around the museum.  Ms. Vicki then explained to us where to start on our tour and we set off to learn more.



Checking viscosity of different oils



Beginning of the Tour










Steering a tanker down
the Neches River

  

"Texas Christmas Tree"
(on its side)

Example of an oil bit

The first floor of the museum shares information about the formation and exploration of oil.  The mechanics of oil drilling is explored and refining methods are also shared.  The second floor shares more history about Spindletop.  Displays with life-size mannequins, are used for sharing the story of early oil drilling.  At first, I couldn't figure out why all the mannequins had bright-white faces until we found one that worked.  A face is projected onto the mannequin which gives it a very life-like appearance.  My mom was fascinated with how real it looked.  We sat and listened to Mr. Patillo Higgins share his story about his role in the discovery of oil at Spindletop.

 



Patillo Higgins - you can just
barely see his face



The Texas Energy Museum is great place to learn about the petroleum industry.  They offer a virtual tour of the museum on their website, along with activities for grades K-5 that have been correlated to the TEKS.  Admission is only $2 for adults, $1 for children and $1 for seniors.  If you're ever in the Beaumont area, make sure you put this on your list of things to do.  If Ms. Vicki is there, tell her I said, "Howdy!"