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RHGS News
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Posted Friday, June 29, 2023
This past week, RHGS President Steven Butler, who also serves as the society's webmaster, has been busy transferring files, and ownership, of his website, "A Guide to the History of Richardson, Texas", to the Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society. Butler originally created the site to help with the marketing of his two-volume work, A Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas: How a Tiny Railroad Town Became One of the Biggest Small Cities in the Lone Star State. After he was elected President of the RHGS last November, he vowed to transfer ownership of his website to the organization and now, he has kept that promise. He has also volunteered to donate all the royalities from the sales of his two volumes for the month of June 2023, to the RHGS. As of this morning, the amount raised is: $130.91. Anyone who would like to help the society by buying a copy of Butler's books still has two days to do so: Today (June 29) and tomorrow (June 30). Volume One can be purchased online at Amazon.com and also Volume Two. The price per volume is $20.23 plus tax and shipping. Next year, the price is going up to $25 per volume.
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Posted Monday, June 26, 2023
On Saturday, June 24, 2023, three officers of the Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society--President Steven Butler, Executive Secretary Ginger Mayo, and Assistant Secretary Elaine Zweig--two of them dressed in period costume and the third wearing a RHGS Sesqicentennial tee-shirt, were present at the Richardson 150th Celebration in Historic Downtown Richardson, where they greeted hundreds of people who stopped by the RHGS tent, where a genuine Houston & Texas Central Railway Gold Bond, issued in 1873 and signed by the city's namesake, A. S. Richardson, was on display. Our three intrepid officers also handed out complimentary maps of Historic Downtown Richardson and RHGS information leaflets with a membership application inside. All three agree that the celebration, which was held on the exact site of the 1873 Houston & Texas Central Railway depot, was a rousing success.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE 150th CELEBRATION!!!
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Posted Monday, June 26, 2023
The Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society has just published a book entitled Historic Richardson, Texas: A Sesquicentennial Souvenir Guide Book, which is now available for sale on Amazon.com for $20.23 plus tax and shipping. The 110-page book, which features historic sites all over Richardson, is illustrated with historic photos courtesy the Richardson Public Library and also contemporary photos by RHGS President Steven Butler, with extracts from his 2-volume set: A Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas: How a Tiny Railroad Town Became One of the Biggest Small Cities in the Lone Star State.
In addition to this, shortly before the 150th Celebration, our President, Dr. Steven Butler, announced that he will be donating all his royalties from June 2023 sales of his book, A Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas: How a Tiny Railroad Town Became One of the Biggest Small Cities in the Lone Star State, Volume One, Rural Roots to the Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society, also available on Amazon.com for $20.23 plus tax and shipping, and also Volume Two, Remarkable Rise, same price.
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Posted Thursday, June 22, 2023
What: Richardson's 150th Birthday Celebration, hosted by the City of Richardson. The Richardson Historical and Genealogical Society will have a tent where we will be handing out complimentary maps of Historic Downtown Richardson and displaying a genuine H.&T.C. Gold Bond, issued in 1873 and signed by the city's namesake, A. S. Richardson.
When: Saturday, June 24, 10 AM to 2 PM
Where: Main Street Plaza in Historic Downtown Richardson, on the very spot where Richardson was founded in 1873 by the Houston & Texas Central Railway, next to the DART tracks south of East Main Street, between Texas Street and Interurban Street.
LOCATION MAP
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Posted Thursday, June 1, 2023
What: To help commemorate Richardson's 150th Anniversary, the Core Theatre will present a historical play, written by Core Theatre founder James Hansen Prince, which "explores the people and relationships that helped build Richardson into one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas." Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society President Steven Butler, whose 2 volume Sesquicentennial History of Richardson can be ordered through Amazon.com, was an unpaid advisor on this project.
When: June 16-July 16, 2023 (showtimes vary)
Where: The Core Theatre, 518 West Arapaho Road, Ste. 115, Richardson
LOCATION MAP
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Posted Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Well, RHGS President Steven Butler has been pretty busy lately! Yesterday, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, he delivered a lunchtime lecture at the Richardson Public Library entitled "How Richardson Helped Win the 1960s Space Race." Forty-six people, in addition to two library employees, attended. The day before, May 8, he intervewed Art Roberts, former Collins Radio engineer and MCI Vice-President, for the RHGS Oral History Project. Prior to that, on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, he delivered the "Space Race" lecture to the members of the RHGS at the society's monthly meeting, which was held at Richland College, one of the schools where Dr. Butler taught History lessons before retiring from Richland in 2019 and Collin College in 2021. Unlike the Richardson Senior Center, Richland College allows the RHGS, which is a recognized non-profit organization, to meet for free. Earlier, on April 4th, Dr. Butler toured the Allen Heritage Guild's replica train depot, complete with restored locomotive and caboose, an effort that Dr. Butler has stated he would like to see Richardson replicate, and on April 1, 2023, the second volume of Dr. Butler's "Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas" was published and made available for sale on Amazon.com. Photos of these activities are posted below.
Dr. Butler lecturing at the Richardson Public Library, May 9, 2023.
Dr. Butler interviewing Art Roberts, May 8, 2023.
Dr. Butler addressing the RHGS Monthly Meeting at Richland College, May 2, 2023.
Dr. Butler with host Debra Arledge, Allen Heritage Guild volunteer, at the replica Allen Depot, April 4, 2023.
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Dateline Tuesday, April 25, 2023: A Welcoming New Venue (belatedly posted June 26, 2023)
On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, the RHGS received approval from the Richland Campus of Dallas College (formerly known as Richland College) for our future meetings to be held there.
In order to qualify, the society had to obtain a million dollar liability insurance policy, which it was able to do thanks to the generosity of RHGS Executive Secretary Ginger Mayo, who volunteered to underwrite the cost of premiums for a year, until the society can get back on its feet financially.
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Posted Thursday, April 6, 2023: Another Broken Promise
Late yesterday afternoon, on the eve of our scheduled meeting, which was supposed to be held this evening, we were told in effect, by Parks & Recreation Director Lori Smeby, that even though we were promised more than two weeks ago that we could hold our monthly meetings, for free, at the Senior Center, the Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society, one of the oldest civic organizations in the city (founded 1970) is not welcome there after all, unless we are willing to pay a rental fee.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. Last month, Ms. Smeby gave us permission, by email, to set up a membership information table in one of Richardson's public parks (the parks that our taxpayer dollars pay for) and then, an hour later, wrote back to withdraw permission, saying that we could set up a table only if we paid for the rental of a picnic pavilion, which with our small treasury, we cannot afford. Ms. Smeby also wrote at that time that the free use of the parks by organizations was "limited to...activities that are of a religious, political or other protected free speech of which this activity is not."
Hopefully, by the time the May meeting is scheduled to take place, we will have found a more welcoming venue. Check back from time-to-time for more news.
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Posted Monday, March 20, 2023 THIS NEWS IS NOW REDUNDANT. SEE ITEM DIRECTLY ABOVE.
Meet our new "home" (for now)! Starting in April, the Richardson Historical and Genealogical Society will be holding its regular monthly meetings at the Richardson Senior Center, 820 West Arapaho Road, No. 100, Richardson, Texas 75080.
In order to fit in with the center's operating times and days, RHGS meetings will continue to be held during the first week of each month but on Thursdays nights at 6:30 p.m. instead of Tuesdays at 7 p.m. as we did at the Library. The Senior Center is located directly across East Arapaho Road from the Arapaho Village Shopping (where there is a Tom Thumb grocery store, the Arapaho Pharmacy, Dutch Brother paint store, and other businesses). The entrance and parking lot are in the back of the building, which recently underwent a complete renovation. See the CALENDAR for meeting information.
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Posted Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Yesterday evening (Tuesday, March 7), the RHGS held its monthly meeting at the Interurban Railway Museum in Plano, where we were treated to a lecture and tour of the museum and an actual Interurban car by museum docent Harold Larson.
Unlike Richardson, which allowed its historic Interurban depot to be demolished in the late 1960s, Plano's depot not only still stands, but houses the wonderful museum we had the pleasure of visiting.
The Interurban, which also served Richardson and several other towns between Dallas and Denison, started operations in North Central Texas in 1908. It ceased on the last day of 1948. Unlike the steam-powered railroads, the Interurban ran on direct current electricity generated by the Texas Electric Railways's own power plants.
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Posted Thursday, February 23, 2023
Today, after more than 50 years of meeting regularly in the Richardson Public Library (see photo, left), the RHGS was told by Library Director Jennifer Davidson that we will no longer be allowed to do so. The reason given was that the partnership between the Library and the society had expired when the RHGS became inactive in 2019. Director Davidson also hinted that a recent remark by Dr. Butler at a scheduled library lecture on February 12, in which he criticized the reluctance of certain city officials to label old downtown Richardson as "historic" played a part in her decision to cut the library's longheld ties with the RHGS, miscasting Dr. Butler's comment as, "anti-city." Naturally, this news came as a bit of a surprise, in view of the fact that since October 2022, when the RHGS reactivated, we have been regularly meeting at the Library without any mention of the partnership being expired. We were also told that after the Library moves to its temporary quarters later this year, there won't be meeting spaces available. Consequently, all future meetings will have to be held at some other venue, but rest assured that your officers are working diligently to find a suitable spot.
As might be imagined, this was startling news and completely unexpected, especially with the Sesquicentennial of the city occurring this spring, and also in light of the long history of the RHGS partnering with the Library to preserve the even longer history of Richardson. Ironically, only a little more than a week ago, RHGS President Steven Butler told an audience who'd come to hear him deliver a lunchtime lecture presentation on Historic Downtown Richardson, "I just have to say, of all the friends of the Richardson Historical and Genealogical Society, the Library is by far, I think, our best friend! They are really good to us here, and we appreciate it."
Once a new venue is located, members will be informed by email, Next Door, Facebook, and the calendar on this website.
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Dateline Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Two Broken Promises (belatedly posted June 26, 2023)
On Friday, February 17, 2023, in the late afternoon, Library Director Jennifer Davidson phoned our President, Dr. Steven Butler, to inform him that permission to set up an RHGS membership recruiting table on the first floor of the library on Saturday, February 18, which had been approved some three weeks earlier, was being withdrawn after consultation with the city lawyer. Dr. Butler was told that as an alternative, the RHGS could set up a table outside the library, to one side or the other of the front door, but since the weather was predicted to be rather chilly, the RHGS decided against it.
On Monday, February 20, 2023, Dr. Butler received permission from Parks Department Director Lori Smeby for permission to set up an RHGS membership recruiting table in one or more of Richardson's city parks, sometime in the spring when warmer weather arrived. But only an hour later, Director Smeby withdrew permission, upon consultation with the city lawyer, saying that free use of the parks was limited to "political, religious or other free speech groups." If the RHGS wanted to go ahead, she said, the group would have to pay for rental of a pavilion. With very little money in our treasury, the idea was abandoned.
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Posted Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Last week, on Wednesday, February 15, as part of the Richardson Public Library's lunchtime lecture series, RHGS President Steven Butler, wearing an RHGS Sesquicentennial tee-shirt, presented a "A Virtual Tour of Historic Downtown Richardson" to an audience that numbered more than 50 people, a group that included a former city councilman, and several older residents who could remember the boom times of the 1950s. From all appearances, Dr. Butler was well received, although in light of subsequent events, he inadvertently ruffled a few feathers when he made a remark about the city's reluctance to apply the label "historic" to old downtown Richardson.
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Dateline Tuesday, February 14, 2023: A Disappointing Meeting (belatedly posted June 26, 2023)
On Monday, February 13, 2023, RHGS officers Steven Butler, Kim Emig, Ginger Mayo, and Elaine Zweig met with City Manager Don Magner and City Councilman (Place 4) Joe Corcoran, to discuss the RHGS proposals for the preservation and enhancement of Historic Downtown Richardson. By and large, from the RHGS perspective, the meeting was disappointing. Although Councilman Corcoran seemed sympathetic to the society's ideas, City Manager Magner was much less so. He seemed particularly resistant to the idea of labeling the downtown area "historic," as many other cities have done to the older parts of their communities, often with great economic success.
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Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2023
There's good news to report today!
Yesterday (Mon., February 13, 2023), the RHGS received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service informing us that our application to have our non-profit status restored had been approved. That means that we can finally open a bank account that doesn't charge a monthly fee, open a PayPal account, and also, receive donations from generous patrons who can be confident that their gifts to the RHGS will be tax-deductible!
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Posted Wednesday, January 24, 2023
Today, RHGS President Steven Butler loaned the Richardson Public Library a collection of 1973 Richardson Centennial Buttons that he recently acquired, to be displayed in the basement Reference Section during the run of the Richardson Sesquicentennial this year (2023). Here is a photo of Dr. Butler and Librarian Stacey Davis examining the buttons.
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Posted Thursday, January 19, 2023
In December 2022, shortly before the winter holiday season began, RHGS President Steven R. Butler sat down with Isis Long of the City of Richardson Communications Department, to discuss volume one of his book, A Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas. Recently, the approximately hour-long interview, whittled down to a more manageable three minutes and twenty-nine seconds, was placed on Vimeo by the City. Click on the following link if you would like to view the clip, entitled Steven Butler - Richardson 150th.
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Posted Friday, November 18, 2022:
On Wednesday evening, November 16, 2022, the officers of the RHGS met to discuss a variety of topics, not the least of which was a "wish list" proposal, drawn up in priority order by RHGS President Steven Butler, of things that the society could do to preserve and enhance the historic charactor of Old Downtown Richardson, in a cooperative effort with the City of Richardson and downtown property-owners. President Butler reported that the City is interested in these proposals and have shown interest in holding a Roundtable where they could be discussed. A copy of these proposals is AVAILABLE HERE AS A PDF. RHGS officers also approved support for a proposed HUFFHINES STREET HISTORIC DISTRICT.
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Posted Thursday, November 10, 2022:
On Sunday afternoon, November 6, 2022, the second meeting of the reactivated Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society took place in the basement training room of the Richardson, Public Library. After the meeting was called to order, City of Richardson Communications Director Greg Sowell (seen in photo, left) informed members about the City's plans for the forthcoming 150th anniversary of the founding of Richardson and invited the RHGS to take an active role in helping COR (City of Richardson) celebrate and commemorate this important milestone. Afterward, following Secretary Ginger Mayo's reading of the minutes of the previous meeting and an unsuccessful attempt to find a replacement for the society's recently-resigned treasurer, President Steven Butler presented "A Brief Overview of the History of Richardson," AVAILABLE HERE AS A PDF.This was followed by a group discussion of ways by which the society could help preserve historic buildings and call attention to Richardson's history. The meeting adjourned at 4 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Sun., Dec. 4, 2022.
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Posted Sunday, November 6, 2022:
Pictured left is a prototype cover for the RHGS Sesquicentennial Souvenir Book, planned for publication sometime in the spring of 2023. Featuring both historic and contemporary photos, maps and documents, the book will tell the story of Richardson's growth and progress over the course of the past 150 years.
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Posted Wednesday, October 26, 2022:
Today, Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society President Dr. Steven R. Butler visited the Richardson Public Library, at 900 Civic Center Drive, where RHGS library liaison Stacey Davis accepted, on behalf of the library, a 150-year-old Houston & Texas Central Railway gold bond, that Dr. Butler recently acquired and is loaning the library for the duration of the 2023 Richardson Sesquicentennial year. It is now on display in the basement Reference Library. What makes this document special is: 1.) it was issued by the railroad that created Richardson; 2.) is was issued in 1873, the year that Richardson was founded; and 3.) it bears the signature of Richardson's namesake, A. S. (Alfred Stephen) Richardson.
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Posted Wednesday, October 19, 2022:
Recently, a single issue of a vintage RHGS publication, The Richardson Recorder, was found in the RHGS archives in the Richardson Public Library. Click on the image (left) to read it (PDF).
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Posted Sunday, October 2, 2022:
On Sunday afternoon, October 2, 2022, following a more-than-three-years-long period of inactivity, the Richardson Historical and Genealogical Society was revived by a concerned group of citizens who gathered at the Richardson Public Library's basement meeting room to hear Dr. Steven R. Butler, author of A Sesquicentennial History of Richardson, Texas (2 vols.), who called the meeting, present a list of reasons why he thought the organization should be reactivated, not the least of which was the city's anticipated Sesquicentennial in 2023. Approximately twenty persons attended the meeting, including Richardson City Councilman (Place 4) Joe Corcoran, library liaison Stacey Davis, and former RHGS president Frances Long. At the conclusion of Dr. Butler's remarks, a resolution to reactivate the society was passed by acclamation and signed by sixteen of those present, who also elected, by acclamation, the following new officers: President, Steven R. Butler; Vice-President, Kim Emig; Executive Secretary Ginger Mayo, Assistant Secretary, Elaine Zweig, and Treasurer, Sue Roberts.
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