Travis County Commissioners Court
June 3, 2008
Item 6
Number be 6 is to consider and take appropriate action to collaborate with the brochure committee, Travis County historical commission, the Austin bar association and residents by, a, printing the heman marion sweatt Travis County courthouse brochure. B, declaring June 24th, 2008 Travis County history day and issuing a press release. And c, issuing invitations to celebrate Travis County history day. Afternoon.
>> good afternoon. I’m margie stewart alford and I’m a member of the Travis County historical commission. And I have been the chair for the brochure committee, and you have the brochure in front of you about which you just spoke. And we would like your approval to print this. We'd also like to request that you declare Travis County history day for June 24th, and we're planning a celebration in the courthouse, and chose June 24th because the courthouse originally opened in June in 1931. And we've invited the public, and we also need your approval to send an invitation to a large list of people to come and appreciate and enjoy the courthouse and its history.
>> and how many copies of the brochure would you need?
>> we'd like to start with 15,000.
>> it's about 1100, I think.
>> it's very inexpensive the way we designed the brochure. About 15,000 is what we thought would cover us for a year. It's not just for this event.
>> move we authorize the printing of 15,000 brochures.
>> second.
>> discussion? That passes by unanimous all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote with Commissioner Davis out this afternoon handling an emergency that arose over the lunch period. And b just a declaration from the court that June 24th, 2008 is Travis County history day.
>> yes.
>> and authorize irrelevanting a press release -- and authorize issuing a press release saying that and giving a purpose of the history day, the many things we will celebrate that day.
>> yes, sir. We will be bringing back a proclamation to you that day also to be read. There will be at the noon celebration exhibits. And I’m going to have amelia and the judge talk about that.
>> we have uncovered some wonderful historical documents that are court documents. For example, we have a copy of a land dispute between session next Thursday 15 f. Austin and Sam houston. And I want to introduce christie casslow.
>> is she the shy one sitting next to christian smith?
>> yes. She has done all this research and found some wonderful documents dating back to the late 1800's, early 1900's, mid 1900's, which is now historical. But I want to extend an invitation personally to all of you to come and view those records. We will have media, we will have the public there. We will have a display case with a lot of very -- they're very fragile right now because some of them are original. Some of them are copies, but they're very -- obviously you can tell that they are authentic, historical records. We've found receipts from the 1800's when judge joe hart's great grandfather was the district clerk. And you will have an opportunity to see them, to touch them, to feel them, so we want to invite to you come and look at the documents. Thank you.
>> judge?
>> we've had great fun doing this and have -- are really proud of some of the things that we've uncovered. I thought the brochure was a good piece of work by everybody. So I hope to see you there.
>> what floor is it on?
>> two.
>> second floor? And it will be during 12 noon?
>> none to 1, thereabouts.
>> and the original entrance?
>> a little refreshment going on.
>> the Austin bar association will be hosting the refreshments.
>> not the taxpayers?
>> no.
>> and for those listening, to get to the second floor by 12 noon, you need to arrive a little early. There is a security checkpoint that we have to go through.
>> have you to show your boarding pass and your id.
>> [ laughter ]
>> move approval of b.
>> second.
>> discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. That includes the press release. C is issuing invitations.
>> yes.
>> yes, sir. And we also need your approval for the invitation because it will read: Travis County Commissioners court, one of the invitees along with the Travis County historical commission, Austin bar association and Austin black lawyers association are sponsors of the event. The event is being paid for, though, from contributions, private contributions. It will be cake, lemonade, coffee. T.e.a.
>> and a beautiful marble hall.
>> and a lot of interesting displays about the history of Travis County, which is quite interesting and colorful.
>> remember the members of this court, excluding the county judge, are widely recognized as community philanthropists. We mention those contributions, don't forget them.
>> thank you.
>> we might get a v and e lawyer to donate a couple of hours of time.
>> there you go.
>> [ laughter ]
>> I believe it was fulbright & jaworski. We should tap them.
>> where did we go wrong?
>> we give a government rate.
>> move approval of c.
>> second.
>> so those who are listening that need an invitation would contact any of you?
>> yes. Absolutely.
>> they'll receive one in the mail.
>> we'll be posting it on the internet too, so it will be a public invitation for anyone that would like to come. Like I said, the exhibits, displays, will be very, very interesting and just welcome to the courthouse of our community and it will be celebrating 77 years since its doors opened in 1931. And the architecture, the brochure speaks about the tech turnover rate and it also -- the architure, and it also talks about the most famous case tried there and tried by the supreme court justice thurgood marshal was one of the lead attorneys for the painter, for the sweatt versus painter case.
>> we also want to thank the Austin history center for providing a lot of photographs for this brochure and for the exhibit.
>>
>> [ inaudible ].
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. We can hardly wait until June 24th gets here.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank y'all. We'll see you soon.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 12:51 PM