Gainesville, Texas, is a patriotic small town. It’s also the site of one of the nation’s worst acts of mob violence. Check out reporter Abby Rapoport’s piece about a town whose history some citizens would like to forget.
(The above depiction, from the Feb. 20, 1864, issue of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, is apocryphal—the victims were actually hanged one or two at a time.)
Meet Celia Hughes, The Texas Observer’s Direct Quote for our November issue. Since 1999, 63-year-old Celia Hughes has served as executive director of VSA Texas, a statewide program dedicated to making the arts accessible to people with disabilities. She is also a cofounder of the Audio Description Coalition and trains people in the art of audio description—descriptions of action, characters, costumes, scenery and other visual information inserted into natural pauses in the dialogue or narration of film, theater, opera and jazz concerts for the benefit of blind attendees.
In this episode of Observer Radio, our staff discusses the big Republican victory on election night and what it means for the upcoming legislative session.
The tiny South Texas town of Nordheim is reaping the costs of fracking in the Eagle Ford Shale, but few of its profits. In the first of an occasional series on the social costs of the oil boom, “Fractured State,” Alex Hannaford examines how open-air waste disposal pits are threatening to tear the town apart.
Photos by Jen Reel
Texas governor-elect Greg Abbott shakes hands with one of his constituents at his campaign headquarters in Austin, TX on Election Night.
Photo by Jen Reel
Dan Patrick’s victory press release.
For more on Election Night 2014, read the Observer’s analysis.