Texas Map Exhibit to Open at the Museum

Calling all history buffs, cartographers and map enthusiasts!

San Jacinto's latest exhibit is literally drawn from Texas history.

The map exhibit entitled Drawn from Experience: Landmark Maps of Texas at the San Jacinto Museum of History will open Saturday, March 31, 2007, and will run one year at the San Jacinto Museum of History, located in the San Jacinto Monument.  The exhibit will feature more than fifty important maps depicting Texas and the Gulf Coast region that date from the 16th century to the present.  The exhibit originally was displayed at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin - and proved to be one of its most popular.

Festivities will mark the opening day of the exhibit at the Museum.  Children's activities will be available, provided by teachers from the Deer Park Independent School District.  There will also be live music, and Paul G. Bell, Jr., will speak on collecting Texas maps.  Bell is a descendant of Moses Austin Bryan and is a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas.  Additionally, children 11 and younger are admitted free to the exhibit on March 31.

These beautiful maps - some hand drawn, many produced from copper engraving and lithographic processes - will appear alongside their modern counterparts that include geologic maps of the Houston Ship Channel and views of the state from space.

"These maps reflect the advancement of scientific knowledge, the power and conquest of nations, the skill and artistry of famous mapmakers, and the technical mapping innovations that have unfolded over the centuries," says Museum President Larry Spasic.  All of the big names in Texas mapmaking will be there: Abraham Ortelius, Girolamo Ruscelli, Guillaume Delisle, Alexander von Humboldt, Zebulon Pike, John Arrowsmith, Stephen F. Austin, Jacob de Cordova, David Burr, George Woolworth Colton, Charles Pressler and William H. Emory.

This exhibit will also feature the debut of the recently conserved James Washington Winters, Jr., map of the San Jacinto Battleground.  In 1901, he assisted the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in identifying prominent locations on the San Jacinto Battleground for the purpose of erecting historic markers.  This map has been unavailable to the public since its acquisition due to its poor condition.  Conservation funding provided by the Summerlee Foundation allowed the Museum to conserve both this map and a spectacular eighteenth century map engraved by Herman Moll, also included in the show.

The exhibit was originally developed by the Bullock Museum in conjunction with the Virginia Garrett Cartographic History Library, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library.  Using UTA's research along with many complimentary and unique maps from the museum's extensive collections, Drawn from Experience will continue the legacy of the Bob Bullock show while displaying new and exciting materials, including 35 maps from the San Jacinto Museum's spectacular collection of more than 500 maps.

Just as the San Jacinto Museum offers teacher curriculum guides to help make a visit to the museum a meaningful educational experience, there will be a curriculum guide specific to this exhibit.  Additional information on the curriculum guide and related educational opportunites are available online at www.sanjacinto-museum.org.

School field trips: Thousands of school children visit the San Jacinto Museum of History and Monument each year at a nominal fee to learn about Texas history.  In addition to viewing the map exhibit, a field trip to the 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site can include several educational opportunities:

• touring the San Jacinto Museum exhibits, which showcase the history of Texas and the Spanish Southwest;
• riding the elevator to the top of the 567-foot monument with its views of the Houston skyline, the Ship Channel and looking down across the sacred battlefield;
• watching the award-winning 35-minute presentation, Texas Forever!! The Battle of San Jacinto housed in the 160-seat Jesse H. Jones Theatre for Texas Studies.  The presentation tells the Texas story from the Spanish colonial period through the Battle of San Jacinto to the westward expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean;
• exploring the 573-foot long Battleship TEXAS with its 12-mile firing range.

Tickets for Drawn from Experience: Landmark Maps of Texas at the San Jacinto Museum of History  are $5 for adults, $3 for children 11 and younger, $4.50 for senior citizens 65 and older, and $2 for school groups.  There is free admission to the exhibit on opening day for children 11 and younger.  Combo tickets are available and include admission to the theater, elevator ride to the top of the monument and admission to the exhibit.  Combo tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for children, $10.50 for seniors, and $4 for school groups.

The San Jacinto Monument is located on the 1,200-acre San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site near Houston in the Pasadena/Deer Park/La Porte area.  For more information, call the museum at 281.479.2421 or visit www.sanjacinto-museum.org

The state park includes the historic battleground, the monument and museum, the marsh boardwalk and the Battleship TEXAS.  Admission to the park is $1 per adult and free for children ages 12 and under.  Tours of the battleship can be booked at 281.479.2431.  For additional information, visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/sanjac.