News & Events - March 2022 | Museum of North Texas History

March 2022

News and Events from

The Museum of North Texas History

MUSEUM OF NORTH TEXAS HISTORY

DIRECTOR'S LETTER

Dear Members,

We are so excited to host The Legends Project: Charlye Ola Farris Exhibit at the Museum, March 10 through March 26. The Wichita Falls Alliance for Arts and Culture and MoNTH worked together on this exhibit. It was displayed at the Clark Student Center at Midwestern State University, Martin Luther King Center, and finally, the Museum of North Texas History. Charlye Farris was an incredible person and I hope that y’all are able to come out and learn more about her contributions to our community.

Have you renewed your membership yet? Don’t forget! Becoming a member of the Museum of North Texas History is one of the best ways to show support!

Due to the winter weather last week, the Heart of Downtown Model Train Exhibit will be open one more week. This is your last chance to see it!

Thank you for your continued support!

Madeleine

HEART OF DOWNTOWN MODEL TRAIN EXHIBIT

The Heart of Downtown Model Train is going to be open one more week! Since the Museum was closed all of last week due to winter weather, we are extending the Heart of Downtown Exhibit for one week!

The Museum is open Thursday-Friday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

LEGENDS PROJECT

Women of Wichita County, Texas

On April 2nd at 1:30 pm, MoNTH will sponsor a second book signing for Women of Wichita County Texas at the Museum. People asked for a hardback versus paperback book and these are now available.

Current C.D.C. Mask Guidelines

FEBRUARY SNOW

Wow, snow again! MoNTH closed a number of days due to the weather. Let's hope spring is soon!

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME

Membership for the Museum of North Texas History extends from January to December. Now is the time to renew your membership. You should have received your membership envelop in the mail-out of the January newsletter. If you didn’t receive your newsletter, please let us know!!

You can renew your membership in multiple ways. You can return your check in the membership envelope. Memberships can be dropped off at the Museum during regular business hours. The easiest way to renew is through the links provided at the Museum of North Texas History website.

Your membership is the “energy” we need to keep the Museum “running.” Thanks for keeping us on the move!!

Renew your membership online.

Bit of History

Each month we will highlight "bits" of North Texas history.

ALMETA GANNON JOHNSON

"Nurse Johnson"

Almeta Gannon Johnson*

Almeta Gannon Johnson and her husband, Rev. John L. Johnson, arrived in Wichita Falls in 1916. Rev. Johnson served as pastor of Anderson Chapel A.M.E. church. Almeta, the daughter of Frank and Mattie Ricks Gannon, was born in Dallas, Texas on June 20,189l.

Almeta had attended the Kansas City, Missouri Nursing School and was the first African-American nurse in Wichita Falls. She was known in the community as "Nurse Johnson". Almeta was greatly respected as a nurse in the late 1920s. She was a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and was employed by Wichita General Hospital and Public Health Service. Almeta was also an active and successful midwife who provided private nursing services to many families.

"Nurse Johnson" taught classes for the state department of education for African-American employees in child care and home nursing. She also taught classes in her home on the human body and care. Almeta taught these classes through the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Almeta also worked with the Wichita County Tuberculosis Association to provide services to the east side community and was one of the coordinators of the yearly “Negro Health Week” sponsored by the Wichita County Tuberculosis Association.

Almeta passed away on April 3, 1956, and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery. Her husband, John, passed away in 1954 and is also buried in Lakeview Cemetery.

*Photo and story of Almeta Johnson courtesy of Becky Trammell and Elizabeth Hawley, editors of "Women Of Wichita County, Texas."

The Nat's Hat Project

The Museum of North Texas History is excited to announce our latest effort to preserve our area’s history, The Nat’s Hats Project. When the Cow Lot Western Wear closed in 2006, owner Nat Fleming donated the over 500 “used” hats that had decorated the walls of the Cow Lot to the Museum of North Texas History. Thanks to the work of many board members, the hats have been displayed in Heritage Hall in the Museum since 2007. Executive Director of the Museum, Madeleine Calcote says “Nat’s Hats is the heart of the Museum’s collection, and we can’t wait to learn more about the amazing people represented in this collection of hats.”

Along with the North Texas Genealogy Association and the Wichita County Archives, the Museum of North Texas History wants to tell the stories of these hats and further preserve the history of our area. If you, a family member, friend, or neighbor has a hat in the exhibit, we would like to talk to you. Please contact the Wichita County Archives ator email Archives@co.wichita.tx.us for more information.

UPCOMING EXHIBITS

“Rural Texas Women at Work” pays tribute to our rural grandmothers and their families in the middle third of the 20th century. Industrious and enterprising, rural Texas women performed the common tasks of housewives everywhere—cooking, housekeeping, and doing laundry. In addition, they raised large gardens, tended flocks of poultry, canned and preserved foods for their families, made and repaired furnishings, picked cotton, drove tractors, and took over the men’s work during World War II.

(Photo and text from Humanities, Texas)

100^th Anniversary of MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY-TEXAS

Wichita Falls Junior College opened in September 1922, the second municipal junior college in Texas. It was operated by the Wichita Falls Independent School District and superintendent Randolph Lee Clark. Its liberal arts curriculum drew fifty-five freshmen that fall. Classes met in the high school on Broad Street. What a change 100 years brings!

(Photo from MSU Texas; Text from Texas State History Online)

German-Texas Settlers

The largest ethnic group in Texas derived directly from Europe was persons of German birth or descent. As early as 1850, they constituted more than 5 percent of the total Texas population, a proportion that remained constant through the remainder of the nineteenth century.

From their first immigration to Texas in the 1830s, the Germans tended to cluster in ethnic enclaves. A majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south-central part of the state.

(From Texas State History Online)