The Caviel Museum of African American History had its grand opening last week (June 20) in Lubbock. The property was, for 49 years, the location of Caviel’s Pharmacy, owned by Alfred and Billie Caviel who donated the building after their retirement in 2009 to the Roots Historical Arts Council.

The Caviels are thought to be the first African-American couple to own and operate their own pharmacy in the U.S and were also civic leaders in the Lubbock community, and organizers said the museum is the first African-American museum in West Texas.

The walls of the former pharmacy display black-and-white photos of prominent African-American nurses, doctors and dentists.

For now, the museum will only be open on Fridays. (more)

The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin recently opened two exhibits focusing on black history: "And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations," and “Reflections: African American Life from the Myrna Colley-Lee Collection.”

"And Still We Rise" features artists from the Women of Color Quilters Network and charts four centuries of African American history with 69 handcrafted contemporary story quilts. (Click here for more information and video of interviews with quilt artists.)

Arranged in chronological order, the quilts visually tell the stories of events including the first enslaved Africans brought over by Dutch traders in 1619, the 1839 slave revolt on the Spanish ship La Amistad, the 1865 Juneteenth Emancipation Day in Texas and the Civil Rights Movement.

The "Reflections" exhibit includes selections from the private art collection of Myrna Colley-Lee – one of the foremost costume designers in the Black Theatre Movement. The pieces are a gathering of mostly figurative and representational art reflecting the African American experience by noted modern and contemporary artists including Romare Bearden, James Van Der Zee, Elizabeth Catlett and Bettye Saar.

Both exhibits continue through Aug. 30.

A bronze-and-granite monument celebrating more than 400 years of achievements by African-Americans in Texas should be installed outside the Texas Capitol next year, after lawmakers included $1.5 million to complete its construction in the state's $209 billion budget, supporters confirmed this week.

“It’s a grand piece, but it's eloquent and powerful, and it’s a piece that I think everyone will be proud to see it on the Capitol grounds,” said state Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston. As one of the House’s chief negotiators on the budget, Turner was able to insert the rider authorizing funding into the State Preservation Board’s budget in the last weeks of the session.

The surprise funding provides the latest twist in an effort by several lawmakers going back more than 20 years to construct a monument to African-Americans on a “Capitol grounds littered with monuments to the Confederacy,” said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, who began working on the issue in 1993.

Read Texas Tribune story here.

The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston is among the oldest black churches in the South and has played a large role in African-American history from its inception.

Last Wednesday night the historic church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, was the scene of a horrific shooting when a white gunman opened fire during a prayer meeting. Nine people were killed including the pastor, in an assault authorities described as a hate crime.

Reverend Dr. Norvel Goff, a presiding elder who oversees the church told "CBS This Morning," that the church is "a hallmark of African Methodism in the South."

"Mother Emanuel is noted for bringing about change and working together to build bridges, not only in the Charleston community, but across this nation and across this state," he said.

Read CBS News story here.

A vehicle for African-Americans to reconnect with their past was announced on June 19 when the Freedman's Bureau Project, a free online service, was unveiled in Los Angeles. The service will allow tracing family ancestry through the end of slavery.

The project is a partnership of organizations – including FamilySearch International, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) and the California African American Museum.

Located at the website Discoverfreedmen.org, the project has compiled and digitized the 1.5 million handwritten records from the Freedmen’s Bureau, the federal agency established by Congress during Reconstruction to transition to citizenship the 4 million then-newly emancipated former enslaved people in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

The Freedmen’s Bureau established schools, provided food, housing, medical aid and legal assistance and attempted to settle former slaves on land confiscated from the Confederacy. The records maintained by the bureau – which included full names, dates of birth and slave ownership history, as well as church membership, financial and marriage information – will be fully available online in 2016 to coincide with the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington.

“Most African-Americans still think they can’t find their slave ancestors, but they can,” says Kenyatta Berry, a professional genealogist who is president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and host of the PBS show Genealogy Roadshow.

Read more of the Atlanta Blackstar story here.

Published scholarship on black history in Texas is growing and we'd like to share with you some suggested readings, both current and past, from some of the preeminent history scholars in Texas and beyond. We invite you to take a look at our bookshelf page -- including a featured selection -- and check back as the list grows. A different selection will be featured each week. We welcome suggestions and reviews. This week, we offer, Eli Reed's "A Long Walk Home." With over 250 images that span the astonishing range of his subjects and his evolution as a photographer, this is the first career retrospective of Eli Reed, UT Austin photojournalism professor who is one of America’s leading contemporary photojournalists and was the first African American member of Magnum Photos.

21 – Dallas Cowboys' running back Duane Thomas was born on this day in 1947 in Dallas. Thomas had an exceptional career at Lincoln High School, then at West Texas State, where he teamed with another future pro running back, Mercury Morris.  Thomas was the Cowboys' first round pick (23rd overall) in the 1970 draft and was the NFC Rookie of the Year after leading Dallas in rushing (803 yards). He led the league in rushing in 1971 and led the Cowboys with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown in Dallas' first Super Bowl victory, a 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. (more)

21 – On this date in 1955, the El Paso School Board voted to abolish segregation in the city's public schools becoming the first district in Texas to unconditionally favor desegregation. The move came one year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down segregation in public schools in the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The motion took effect with the opening of schools for the 1955 fall semester. (more)

22 – On this date in 1962, basketball great Clyde "The Glide" Drexler was born in New Orleans. Drexler graduated from Sterling High School in Houston then attended the University of Houston where he starred as a member of the teams known as Phi Slama Jama for their fast pace, dunking, high flying style. Drexler was the 14th overall pick of the 1983 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and twice led the team to the NBA Finals (1990, 1992).  However, he played alongside center and former UH teammate Hakeem Olajuwon on the Houston Rockets 1995 NBA title team. Drexler was a 10-time All-Star, a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic dream team, and named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. He was elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. (more)

27 – Ronald "Ron" Kirk, the first black mayor of Dallas, was born on this day in 1954 in Austin. Kirk is the son of Willie Mae Kirk, a school teacher and civil rights activist, and Lee Andrew Kirk Sr., the first black postal clerk in Austin. Ron Kirk served two terms as Dallas mayor, 1995-2001. Prior to becoming mayor, he served as Texas Secretary of State (1994) under Gov. Ann Richards. Kirk graduated from Austin College in Sherman, and earned his law degree from the University of Texas. He served as U.S. Trade Representative from March 2009 until February 2013, and was the first African American to hold that Cabinet position as the president’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues. (more)

Read here, author and Prairie View history professor Ron Goodwin's bi-weekly blog exclusively for TBHPP. Goodwin is a San Antonio native and Air Force veteran. Generally, his column will address contemporary issues in the black community and how they relate to black history. He and the TBHPP staff welcome your comments. In his latest blog, "Juneteenth," Goodwin offers the many reasons we celebrate the holiday.

Historians, scholars, students, lend us your...writings. Help us produce the most comprehensive documentation ever undertaken for the African American experience in Texas. We encourage you to contribute items about people, places, events, issues, politics/legislation, sports, entertainment, religion, etc., as general entries or essays. Our documentation is wide-ranging and diverse, and you may research and write about the subject of your interest or, to start, please consult our list of suggested biographical entries and see submission guidelines. However, all topics must be approved by TBHPP editors before beginning your research/writing.

We welcome your questions or comments via email or telephone – michaelhurd@tbhpp.org, 512-673-0565.

We look forward to hearing from you and working with you as we build this very important and unique project.