Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Tandy – Posy McMillan Endowment Fund for Holocaust Education


January 2013

The Tandy – Posy McMillan Endowment Fund for Holocaust Education

 

Through the organizing efforts of Posy McMillan and Sandra Freed, many people in the Fort Worth area donated their time and money to fund an endowment to educate people about the Holocaust. The fund was formed in the late 1990s with the initial project of bringing an Anne Frank museum exhibit to the community of Fort Worth. Now the fund has offered communities in the Fort Worth area the ability to learn even more about the Holocaust through their own community libraries by granting a complete Holocaust compendium to these libraries to enhance their collections. These important resources will help local teachers deliver Holocaust curricula in middle and high schools and will enable all persons to learn more about this important event.

This comprehensive collection of nine titles tells the story of the Holocaust from its inception with the first title in the collection, The Holocaust Conspiracy: an International Policy of Genocide, by William R. Perl. The remaining titles cover all aspects of the Holocaust including the many important lessons we can learn from this tragic period in world history. These include:

Ø  The Beasts of Buchenwald           Flint Whitlock.

Ø  Survivor of Buchenwald: my Personal Odyssey through Hell         Louis Gros, Flint Whitlock.

Ø  The Four-front War: from the Holocaust through the Promised Land       William R. Perl.

Ø  Gated Grief: the Daughter of a GI Concentration Camp Liberator Discovers a Legacy of Trauma Leila Levinson.

Ø  History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier              Deborah E. Lipstadt.

Ø  Holocaust Survivor: Mike Jacobs’ Triumph over Tragedy: a Memoir          Mike Jacobs.

Ø  Tomorrow Will Be Better: Surviving Nazi Germany            Walter Meyer.

The compendium concludes with a commentary on Elie Wiesel’s most famous books, God’s Inner Circle: the Radical Devotion of Elie Wiesel to Faith written by Michael Ritzen, a fellow professor at Boston University.

The Haltom City Public Library is grateful to be one of the 30 Texas libraries chosen to receive this informative and inspirational collection.

Ann Gray Rethard, MLS
Assistant Library Director

Monday, January 21, 2013

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo


Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. The Christmas season and all its trimmings are behind us. Valentine’s Day and delicious chocolates are just around the corner. Here in the great state of Texas, it is now time for the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo! YeeHaw! This year’s event runs from Friday, January 18 through Saturday, February 9.

As a child, who grew up here in Haltom City, my family visited the Stock Show every year. I remember the schools closing on the opening day of the event, so that students might attend the parade marching through the streets in Downtown; Beautiful horses, crazy clowns and of course cowboys everywhere.

It almost seemed as though jeans, western shirts, hats and boots were like a uniform we all donned for the event. I suppose most of us would have been dubbed “drug store cowboys”.  Most often, than not, the boots and hats remained in the closet waiting for that particular occasion to take them out, brush them off and hope they still fit. As a little girl, none of that really mattered. It was exciting just the same.

When was the last time you attended a rodeo? My family and I try go at least once each year. Not always was I rooting for the bronco riders and steer wrestlers. There were those moments I found myself cheering for the animals. I felt that the animals were being treated cruelly and did not really want to be in the stands. My opinion changed somewhat when I learned that the rodeo commission kept a veterinarian right on site to check the bulls and horses after each encounter. Like I said, I felt a little better, but secretly still root for the animals.

Visitors have so much to see and do. After walking through each of the livestock barns and admiring all the care and dedication each of the farmers and ranchers have bestowed on their prize animals, you simply must go to each of the exhibit halls. Clothing, food vendors, ranch equipment, new automobiles, candy stores, jewelry, kitchen utensils…you name it, you will see it there.

The Fort Worth Stock Show actually began in 1896. In 1906 was called the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show. If you would like to read more about the history of the Stock Show you can visit the official website at www.fssr.com.

 Books featuring the subject are as follows:

Fort Worth Stockyards by J’Nell L. Pate

Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District: an Illustrated History and Guide by Horace Craig


Submitted by Allison Long