Texas changed enormously in the twentieth century, and much of that transformation was a direct product of social and cultural events. Standard histories of Texas traditionally focus on political, military, and economic topics, with emphasis on the nineteenth century. In Twentieth-Century Texas: A Social and Cultural History editors John W. Storey and Mary L. Kelley offer a much-needed corrective.

Written with both general and academic audiences in mind, the fourteen essays herein cover Indians, Mexican Americans, African Americans, women, religion, war on the homefront, music, literature, film, art, sports, philanthropy, education, the environment, and science and technology in twentieth-century Texas. Each essay is able to stand alone, supplemented with appropriate photographs, notes, and a selected bibliography.

In spite of its ongoing mythic image of rugged ranchers, cowboys, and longhorns, Texas today is a major urban, industrial society with all that brings, both good and bad. For example, first-rate medical centers and academic institutions exist alongside pollution and environment degradation. These topics, and more, are carefully explored in this anthology. It will appeal to anyone interested in the social and cultural development of the state. It will also prove useful in the college classroom, especially for Texas history courses.

Twentieth-Century Texas features the following contributors and essays:

Gerald Betty, “Manifestations of the Lone Star: The Search for Indian Sovereignty”

Anthony Quiroz, “The Quest by Mexican Americans for Identity and Citizenship”

Cary D. Wintz, “The Struggle for Dignity: African Americans in the Twentieth Century”

Angela Boswell, “From Farm to Future: Women’s Journey through Twentieth-Century Texas”

John W. Storey, “Pagodas amid the Steeples: The Changing Religious Landscape”

Ralph A. Wooster, “Over Here: War on the Homefront”

Gary Hartman, “From Yellow Roses to Dixie Chicks: Women and Gender in Texas Music”

Mark Busby, “Goodbye Ol’ Paint, Hello Rapid Transit: Literature in the Twentieth Century”

Don Graham, “Lone Star Cinema: A Century of Texas in the Movies”

Michael Grauer, “Wider Than the Limits of Our State: Texas Art in the Twentieth Century”

Bill O’Neal, “The Games Texans Play”

Mary L. Kelley, “Private Wealth, Public Good: Texans and Philanthropy”

Gene Preuss, “Public Education Comes of Age”

Tai Kreidler, “Lone Star Landscape: Texans and the Environment”

Kenneth E. Hendrickson and Glenn M. Sanford, “The Second Texas Revolution: From Cotton and Oil to Genetics and the Information Age”

JOHN W. STOREY is a regents professor of history at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. He is the author of Texas Baptist Leadership and Social Christianity and coauthor of Southern Baptists of Southeast Texas, The Religious Right , and Religion and Politics .

MARY L. KELLEY is an associate professor of history at Lamar University and a Fulbright Scholar. She has published The Foundations of Texan Philanthropy and numerous scholarly articles. She is currently working on a volume about Texas women in the twentieth century.