Views From the Hill | Session 1

Light Townsend Cummins

Introduction Part 1

Light Townsend Cummins is the Guy M. Bryan, Jr. Professor of History at Austin College. He received a B.S. in Ed. and an M.A. (1972) from Texas State University, and a Ph.D. from Tulane University. He was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor in 2006. He has been a Fulbright Scholar to Spain. Cummins is the author or editor of twelve academic books and several dozen scholarly articles dealing with Texas and Gulf Coast history along with two best-selling college textbooks, popular-oriented essays, and numerous book reviews.

 

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Mary Scheer Play Video

Mary Scheer

Introduction Part 2

Mary L. Scheer is professor of History and chair of the History department at Lamar University. She received a B.A. and M.A. (1975) from Texas State University, later earning a Ph.D. from Texas Christian University. She has authored The Foundations of Texan Philanthropy (Texas A&M University Press, 2004), co-edited Twentieth-Century Texas: A Social and Cultural History (University of North Texas Press, 2008), and edited the award winning Women and the Texas Revolution (University of North Texas Press, 2012).  Scheer was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Potsdam, Germany, in 2004.

Stephen L. Hardin

Myth and the Alamo

Myth has so enshrouded every aspect of the Alamo story that it becomes difficult—not impossible, but difficult—to separate the factual from the fanciful.  A parochial chauvinism generated traditional myths, a desire to extol the doomed defenders beyond the point that evidence merited.  Yet, newer myths also evolved, generated by politically correct trends that sought to undermine time-honored traditions.  Like older myths, these were also unsupported by documentation. Dr. Hardin examines the origins of the myths surrounding the Alamo and set them into their historical context.

Stephen L. Hardin an Associate Professor of History at McMurry University. Hardin is a specialist in Texas, military, and social history. He received a B.A. and M.A. (1980) from Texas State University and a Ph.D. in History from Texas Christian University. His numerous publications range from the award-winning Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution to the Texian Macabre: The Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston, a fascinating study of early Houston society. In addition to his writing and teaching activities, Hardin has also provided specialist commentary on the A&E Network, the History Channel, the Discovery Network, and NBC’s TODAY show.

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