The Texas Capitol and Visitors Center are worth a visit while you’re in Austin for SAA. The Capitol, built in the Renaissance Revival style, was completed in 1888, and the dome is taller than the national capitol in Washington, D.C. It is the largest state capitol building (360,000 square feet) with approximately 400 rooms and 900 windows.
The Capitol was constructed of “Sunset Red” granite that was quarried in Marble Falls, Texas. Construction was not paid for in cash, but in the exchange of 3,000,000 acres of land in the Texas Panhandle that later became the famed XIT Ranch.
The lush Capitol grounds include, among others, statues to the Heroes of the Alamo, volunteer firemen and Texas Rangers. The Visitors Center is located in the southeast corner of the grounds and has both permanent and rotating exhibits, including Voices from San Jacinto, covering the final battle of the Texas Revolution.
How to get there from the SAA meeting hotel (Hilton; 500 East 4th St):
The distance from the Hilton is close to a mile, but easily navigable on foot or by public transportation, and the process is similar– so if you walk there, but want a ride back, you can take the ‘Dillo. Keep in mind that the ‘Dillo runs from 7am-7pm on weekdays only. The ‘Dillo is 50¢ for a two-hour pass.
Historical Society spokeswoman Rachel Schoening says it’s important to maintain the library and to allow researchers to use it.
Rachel Schoening: “It’s extremely important and if you’re trying to write anything that is historically significant and accurate regarding the state, you have to have access to something in our library.”
Schoening says the two new hires may not restore the hours the library had before. But she says a schedule should take shape by the end of the month.
The Oregon Historical Society announced Wednesday evening that it slashed 15 of 45 full-time staff equivalents because of a combination of decreased state funding, a shrinking endowment and a hostile foundation and individual giving environment.
The staff cut lowers the historical society’s $4 million budget by $1 million, says executive director George Vogt.
The cutbacks, however, may be just the beginning: Vogt anticipates further cuts if the state slashes funds next year, all of which may affect the outcome of numerous foundation grant applications the historical society has pending.
“Lovers of history need to call legislators and be very vocal about this,” Vogt says. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
The cuts approved by the historical society’s board were made across the institution, including the museum and development staff. Salaries for management-level employees also were reduced by 10 percent.
The majority of the cuts affected the society’s most vital connection to the community, its research library. The research library, visited by historians, archivists, history buffs, photographers and the plainly curious, contains a encyclopedic collection of documents on Oregon history as well as a comprehensive photography collection numbering more than 2 million prints. There are also countless books and other materials in the library archives.
The archives closure was perhaps the most notable cost-cutting move by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records department. Other divisions are operating on reduced hours, said GladysAnn Wells, the agency’s director.
Until the cuts, the library department had $2 million in operating funds, expected to carry it until June 30, the fiscal year’s end. In January, however, the Legislature reduced that by nearly $1.5 million, she said.
There was one place to cut, Wells said.
“All we had left, really, was salaries,” she said.
Making the cuts meant layoffs, furloughs and reducing employee hours to half-time or quarter-time.
The agency had about 115 full-time employees, she said. She didn’t have a figure on the number of people laid off.
“We’re still doing it, so I don’t have a final count,” she said. “Dozens.”
The budget for the next fiscal year will likely lead to even bigger cuts.
The surplus property division of the S.C. Budget and Control Board has listed the Civil War-era money for sale on eBay. For instance, the starting bid for a canceled $4 bank note — issued from the Bank of the State of South Carolina, which collapsed during the Civil War — starts at $150.
The Bank of the State of South Carolina was one of the few banks of the era operated by a state; it was founded in 1812.
“With the state budget cuts, we’ve lost about one-third of our budget in recent years,” said Charles Lesser, senior archivist for the department. “We’re in very dire budgetary times. This is one way, an imaginative way, of keeping our heads above water. And we’re making space (in the vault). Every little bit helps.”
Should any history buffs be offended by the sale, Lesser was quick to reassure that the state is not selling off any original, precious or last-remaining items from the department’s vault.
He estimated that, at one point, the department had some 1 million sheets of canceled banknotes, if not more.
“We would not sell unique documents,” he said. “What we’re doing in this process, we’re keeping two perfect sets of everything for ourselves and giving one set to the state museum.”
