Exploring Cartographic Frontiers at the 2024 Save Texas History Symposium

Texas General Land Office

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Save Texas History

5 min readJul 9, 2024

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The Texas General Land Office is excited to announce its fourteenth Save Texas History Symposium, scheduled to take place from September 6–7 at UT-Austin’s AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center. The annual event serves as a space for attendees to learn from notable scholars who discuss the rich history of our state. This year’s symposium, Cartographic Frontiers: Putting Texas on the Map, will focus on ways in which maps and mapmakers shaped the social, political, and economic history of Texas.

The GLO’s Senior Deputy Director of Heritage, Mark Lambert, speaks during the opening reception of the 2023 Symposium.

The two-day symposium will begin with the Save Texas History Student Research Showcase, where undergraduate and graduate students will present original research related to Texas and borderlands history. Since its inception in 2019, the showcase has provided a platform for numerous up-and-coming scholars to discuss their scholarship and establish connections with other professionals in their field. This year, symposium attendees will have the opportunity to hear from the following students: Sergio Arribas Jiménez (University of Texas-El Paso), Sean Bogan (Texas A&M Commerce), Noah F. Crawford (Texas A&M University), Joaquín Dávila (University of Houston), Meagan Fitzpatrick (University of Houston-Clear Lake), Miguel Hernández (University of Texas-El Paso), Dion Kauffman (University of Texas-Austin, and Leonel Rodriguez (Texas Christian University).

2023 Student Research Showcase presenters, from left to right: Timothy R. Reed (Texas Christian University), William V. Scott (Texas Tech University), Clinton McKenzie (University of Texas-San Antonio), S. Shine Trabucco (University of Houston), Madeline Wheeler (Stephen F. Austin State University), Jadyn Evans (St. Mary’s University), Madeleine Miller (University of Texas-Arlington).

The following day, the GLO will have the honor of hosting several notable scholars, including Dr. Mylynka Kilgore Cardona (Texas A&M-Commerce), Dr. Alex Hidalgo (Texas Christian University), Dr. Deborah M. Liles (Tarleton State University), Dr. Alida Metcalf (Rice University), Dr. Lila Rakoczy (Texas General Land Office), Dr. Gene Rhea Tucker (Temple College), and Dr. Ron Tyler (University of Texas-Austin). Presentations will cover an assortment of topics, such as early French exploration in the Americas, cartographic displays of cannibalism, the mapping of cattle transactions in Antebellum Texas, women explorers in the Atlantic World, cartography as a commodity, the history of bird’s-eye view maps, and the current state of the GLO’s public history projects.

Chet Garner, host of PBS’s *The Daytripper.* Image courtesy of RSX Studios.

In addition, the symposium will also feature Chet Garner, the creator, executive producer, writer, and host of PBS’s Emmy-Award-winning The Daytripper, as a special guest of honor during an evening reception on Friday, September 6, at the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Through his travels across the Lone Star State, Garner has provided insightful entertainment about Texas’ culturally rich history for over a decade. For Garner, The Daytripper was created to “inspire folks to get out and explore their own backyard.” Those in attendance will have an opportunity to hear about Garner’s travels and his commitment to preserving Texas history.

For over a decade, the Save Texas History Program has served as a statewide initiative to conserve and promote the GLO’s rich collection of maps and historical documents. The annual symposium exemplifies these goals in action, as it serves as a platform to discuss and display items from the GLO’s archival collection, as well as serving as the program’s largest public education event of the year.