A legal battle playing out in a Galveston County courtroom this week could have major implications for the teaching of history in Texas. The case involves the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), a non-profit that publishes the Handbook of Texas and the biennial Texas Almanac. The TSHA's executive director, J.P. Bryan, is seeking a court order to protect his seat on the organization's board amidst an effort to oust him.
At the heart of the conflict is politics, as Bryan has tried to keep a conservative influence on the board amidst growing left-wing influence. Case in point: the TSHA's chief historian Walter Buenger caused a stir in 2021 when he dismissed the Alamo as "insignificant," and said it has been misused to "commemorate whiteness."
"The TSHA has gone woke over the last few years, and it is losing support among its member base and its donor base," says Roy Maynard, writer and reporter with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, who is covering the case.
Maynard tells KTRH that Bryan is trying to protect the organization and uphold its rules. "The TSHA bylaws state that the board should be balanced between academics and non-academics, and the imbalance of mostly academics is what's pulling the organization leftward," he says. "So all that Mr. Bryan is asking for is a restoration of that balance."
Restoring balance on the TSHA board is the stated goal of Bryan's legal action, but the outcome of the case will have an impact far beyond the doors of the TSHA. "The TSHA also has a big influence on how Texas history is taught in Texas schools," says Maynard. "It plays a role in the adoption of curriculum for Texas history classes."
That sets up this case as the latest frontier in the fight to keep wokeness out of Texas K-12 education. "What's at stake is the way our children are taught to view Texas," Maynard continues. "Is it a wonderful land of opportunity, or is it an irredeemable basket of deplorables?"