June marks several momentous occasions, including the 50th anniversary of the outdoor musical “Texas” and the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth. Flag Day is also this month. Do you know the proper way to display the Stars and Stripes?
“Texas” Turns 50
This summer marks the 50th season of the Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation’s production of “Texas.” The outdoor musical drama is performed at the Pioneer Amphitheatre at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
The family-friendly show depicts the struggles and triumphs of settlers in the Panhandle in the 1800s and includes singing, dancing, fireworks and humor.
Juneteenth Proclaimed End to Slavery
June 19, 1865, is historic for Texans. That day 150 years ago is when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston carrying General Order Number 3, which proclaimed that the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas were free. This momentous occasion, which came 2 ½ years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, became known as Juneteenth, marked by ceremonies and celebrations.
In March, plans were announced to build a memorial at the Capitol commemorating African-American history in Texas, including Juneteenth. Bill Jones, an Austin lawyer-lobbyist and former general counsel to Gov. Rick Perry, is leading the effort to raise the $2.6 million needed to erect the monument. About $750,000 has been raised to create the 30-foot-wide, two-sided African-American Texas History Memorial.
“This is part of my history,” Jones, whose great-great-grandfather was brought to Texas as a slave, told the Houston Chronicle. “But it’s the state’s history.”
State Rep. Sylvester Turner agreed. “This will be a powerful depiction of history that I think will speak powerfully to every Texan,” Turner said in the Houston Chronicle.
Celebrate Flag Day the Right Way
Flag Day, June 14, commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag on that date in 1777.
Flag etiquette should be followed when displaying the Stars and Stripes, so consider these guidelines:
• When displayed from a staff projecting from a window, balcony or a building, the union (the blue field with the stars) should be at the peak of the staff.
• Display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in the open, but when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated in the dark.
• It should not be displayed outdoors in inclement weather except when an all-weather flag is used.
• No other flag should be placed above the American flag.
• When displayed from a staff in a church or auditorium, it should occupy the position of honor and be placed at the speaker’s right as he faces the audience.
• The flag should never touch anything beneath it.
By the Numbers: 464
That is the percent by which the population of Hays County, just south of Austin, is expected to grow by 2050—from a 2010 population of 157,107 to 824,070—making it the fastest-growing county in the state, according to the Austin Business Journal.
At the other end of the spectrum, Loving County, bordering New Mexico in West Texas and already the least populous county in the U.S., is projected to lose 51 percent of its population by 2050. Only 82 people lived there in 2010.
