Fair Park is one of the country’s finest collections of Art Deco architecture, but it is so much more: the embodiment of Texan swagger; it is a testament to the Texanic task of creating a dazzling spectacle in the darkest days of the Depression. This illustrated lecture by David Bush and Jim Parsons, authors and photographers of Fair Park Deco, tells the story of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and how dozens and local and national architects and artists transformed the state fairgrounds into an Art Deco wonderland. During their talk, Bush and Parsons will discuss the design and construction of the “Magic City” using historic and current photos and archival newsreel footage. They’ll also introduce some of the fair’s most colorful stories and people, including Mademoiselle Corrine, the “Apple Dancer,” whose performances were the talk of Dallas.

Carolyn Brown began photographing ancient architecture while living in Cairo, Egypt, where she did graduate work in art history at the American University of Cairo.  Later traveled throughout Mexico, photographing pre-Hispanic and Vice Regal architecture, nature, and people.  Presently, she is an architectural and fine arts photographer in Dallas, Texas, specializing in preservation projects, flowers, landscapes, and ancient sites.  She has done six books—either in part or the whole book on Dallas.  The new Dallas Book is complimented by several essayists who tell their personal stories about living and working in Dallas.  It was printed by TCU Press.

Brown’s presentation will review past books and show a few works and words from each chapter of the book.  Calvert Collins Bratton will read quotes from the women’s essays, and Willis Cecil Winters will read quotes from the men’s essays.

Her work is regularly shown at Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX, and the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the Dallas Museum of Art and the University of Texas at Dallas.  Her archives are promised to the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History upon her death.

Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, King Kull, and others that defined heroic fantasy, lived and died in the small town of Cross Plains, Texas. While his books remain in print, Howard himself has fallen into obscurity, his life mired in speculation and half-truth. Mark Finn traces the roots of his writings , correcting long-standing misconceptions, and offers a tour of Howard’s world as he saw it: through his own incomparable imagination. The presence of the Texas Hill Country surrounding Cross Plains are apparent in Conan the Barbarian’s world of Hyboria. Author and biographer Mark Finn talks about Robert E. Howard, his life and times, and makes his case for Howard being included in Texas’ rich literary history and tradition.

Author John Neal Phillips, author of Running with Bonnie and Clyde : The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults, discusses the topic of his latest book: Sitting on a Keg of Dynamite: Father Bill, Texas City, and a Disaster Foretold.

John Neal Phillips will discuss the events leading to the Texas City Disaster, 1947, to date, the worst industrial accident in the United States, killing nearly 600 people and causing millions of dollars of damage. One of the victims, a Roman Catholic priest named Father Bill Roach, was part of a group of local citizens seeking to improve living and working conditions in Texas City. That Roach was at the explosion’s epicenter was no surprise to those who knew him –and most everyone in town knew him. Numerous contemporary photographs will support detailed information about Roach, the deadly explosion of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that took his life, and the related industrial fires that burned for weeks.

This event is free to the public, as part of Dallas Historical Society’s evening lecture series.

Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney is Deputy Director and Chief Operations Officer for the Dallas African American Museum. Before joining the Museum in March 2020, he was Associate Professor of History Emeritus, the former Interim Director of the Center for African American Studies, and the former Chair of the Department of History at the University of Texas, Arlington. He is a native of Alliance, Ohio. He serves on the editorial board of Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. He has won numerous awards for his community service, activism, and scholarship.

Dr. Uglow will discuss U.S. and Texas military efforts to defend the Texas frontier against various Native American opponents during the periods before and after the Civil War, with emphasis on forts and posts, long-range defensive patrols, and eventual offensive campaigns.

Loyd Uglow holds a master’s degree in History from the University of West Florida, with some course work from the Naval War College, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of North Texas. He is past chairman of the History Department at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. He is the author of A Military History of Texas, the first general history of the state with a military focus. His previous books include Standing in the Gap, two children’s biographies, and two military historical novels. He is a retired Commander (Surface Warfare) in the United States Naval Reserve.