Museum of North Texas History

720 Indiana St.

Wichita Falls, Texas

Jenny to Jet

Wichita Falls Municipal Airport

4000 Armstrong Drive

Wichita Falls, Texas 76305

April 2023

Director's Corner

Dear Members,

Spring or not spring, in Texas we aren't sure what the season is until we walk outside. If the sneezing starts, it must be Spring!

Speaking of outside, I hope everyone gets out to enjoy the first After Hours Art Walk of the season on Thursday, April 6th. The Museum will host an ensemble from the Wichita Falls Symphony, celebrating the Symphony's Diamond Anniversary. Be sure to come by and hear the music. Also during After Hours Art Walk, the Heart of Downtown Model Train exhibit rolls through the Ralph Harvey Exhibit Area.

While you are there, check out the new Faces and Place of Eastside exhibit. We are proud to showcase the history of the Eastside of Wichita Falls.

Coming mid-April, the Museum presents Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy, a photographic exhibit from Humanities Texas.

Here at the Museum, we look forward to the remainder of 2023 and we are "percolating" plans. Stay tuned!

Becky Trammell

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Trains Continue in the Museum

Thanks to the generosity of MoNTH volunteer, Ron Mauch, the Heart of Downtown Model Train Exhibit will continue at the Museum. The exhibit opens on the second Saturday of the month, through the end of the year.

The next special Saturday is April 8th.

After Hours Artwalk

During the first After Hours Artwalk of the 2023 season on Thursday, April 6th, the Museum of North Texas History partners with the Wichita Falls Symphony to provide live music. Let's all hope for nice weather!!

Trains Roll!!

The Heart of Downtown Model Train exhibit opens for After Hours Artwalk, Thursday, April 6th. Stop by and enjoy the trains!

Vaquero Comes to MoNTH

In the early 1970s, noted Texas historian Joe Frantz offered Bill Wittliff a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—to visit a ranch in northern Mexico where the vaqueros still worked cattle in traditional ways. Wittliff photographed the vaqueros as they went about daily chores that had changed little since the first Mexican cowherders learned to work cattle from a horse's back. Wittliff captured a way of life that now exists only in memory and in the photographs included in this exhibition.

Features photographs with bilingual narrative text, Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy reveals the muscle, sweat, and drama that went into roping a calf in thick brush or breaking a wild horse in the saddle.

Vaquero is an exhibition created by the Wittliff Collections at the Alkek Library, Texas State University, presented in partnership with Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Vaquero is made possible in part by a We the People grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Coming to the Museum of North Texas History thanks to a grant from Humanities Texas, the exhibit opens mid-April.

Bit of History

Born in 1879, Lucy Grace O’Neill learned to read at a very early age, graduated school at fifteen, and began a teaching career in Indian Territory, Electra, and Wichita Falls. After marrying John R. Saunders of New York in 1908, the couple moved to Texas and began exploring and working the oil fields around North Texas. The Saunders later became major players in the oil business. Lucy died of the Spanish Flu in Wichita Falls in 1918

Lucy and John’s daughter, Frances, was born in 1909. Following John’s death, Frances’ aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Witcher adopted her. After graduating from high school, Frances continued her education in Hockaday and Wellesley. After her marriage to Charles C. Dickinson in 1930, they relocated to Charleston, West Virginia. Despite the move, Charles and Frances gave generously to causes in North Texas. In 1964, Francis donated 150 acres to Wichita Falls to establish a city park and named the park after her mother, Lucy. In 1987, Frances was the only woman serving on the North Texas Oil and Gas Board of Directors. The Cardiac Care Unit of Bethania was dedicated to the memory of her aunt who raised her, Annie Laurie O’Neill Witcher. The institutions of Presbyterian Manor and the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas also received her support.*

*Lucy and Frances' stories can be found in Women of Wichita County, Texas.

African-American Exhibit

The Museum of North Texas History opened an exhibit honoring the history, people, and events of the African-American community of Wichita Falls in March. Faces and Places of Eastside present photos and artifacts provided by members of the Eastside community, Wichita County Archives, and the Museum.

Many of our photos have names, some don't.

Help Us Find the Names!