‘Earth Has No Sorrow’: Visions of a Caldwell County Long Gone
The Observer resurfaces a 50-year-old collection of fine arts photography and unique oral history.
Culture
Moments From the Reopening of Balmorhea Pool
The popular West Texas swimming spot has been closed since 2019 for repairs.
Austin Performer p1nkstar Is Creating New Worlds as a Trans Musician
The groundbreaking musician presents pop music that centers trans women and femmes.
A Feminist Rewrite of Lot
Set in Hope, Texas, God Spare the Girls subverts the biblical story, in which a man escapes while women perish.
‘Forget the Alamo’ Unravels a Texas History Made of Myths, or Rather, Lies
Three Texan authors build on a long tradition of dissent from patriotic accounts of Texas history in a new book on the racism baked into our story of the Alamo.
The Next Trans Griot
Few publications covered Black trans communities. After the death of Monica Roberts, TransGriot’s founder, the people she empowered grieve and begin to chart a new era.
The Western’s Long Glorification of Oppression
A quintessentially American, and Texan, film genre, the Western has mistold Texas history since its beginnings.
How the Alabama-Coushatta Use Fire to Save the Longleaf Pine
In an ecosystem that needs fire to flourish, the actions of the tribe could decide the future of the longleaf pine.
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Botched COVID-19 Precautions
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston was one of the first major American art museums to reopen its doors to the public after a month long closure due to the pandemic. As the art world lavished praise on the institution for its bold plans, employees tell a very different story.
‘On Juneteenth’ Refuses Easy Answers About the Importance of People of Color to Texas History
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed offers a historical primer on the conditions that made Juneteenth a holiday and its importance to the nation.