Traditions in Transition ― Change and Material Culture in 19th-century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest

At the sixth biennial David B. Warren Symposium, five scholars examined the theme of change and continuity in nineteenth-century Texas, the Lower South, and the Southwest. The resulting papers are published in this volume. Extensively illustrated and footnoted, they contribute important new scholarship to the field of American material culture.

Noted scholar Ken Hafertepe’s opening address uses the iconic paintings of immigrant artist Hermann Lungkwitz to provide an introduction and contacts for the conference’s premise of “traditions in transition.” Rowena Houghton Dasch builds her thesis on the changing face of Texas around the architecture of a nineteenth-century Austin landmark. Serena Newmark provides an intriguing international link to Texas material culture, proposing a connection between Central European furniture traditions and the objects made by immigrants from those areas to Texas. Bruce Shackelford offers another international connection in his paper, discussing the impact of the Hispanic tradition on ranching and cowboy culture in Texas. Jennifer Van Horn provides new insights into early Southern portraiture, focusing on the images of slaves, and reminding us that the symposium’s parameters extend beyond the Texas border.