Tarleton centennial exhibit open to public through November

STEPHENVILLE (July 24, 2017) — A traveling exhibit featuring historical artifacts from Tarleton State University’s 100 years as a founding member of The Texas A&M University System is open to the public through November at several community and school venues.

An expanded display featuring memorabilia and archival items is on display through the end of October in the Carriage House at the Stephenville Historical House Museum, 525 E. Washington St. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

A second centennial exhibit will be part of the museum’s annual benefit—Sundown on the Square—set from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, in downtown Stephenville. This free, public display will be located in the foyer of the Erath County Courthouse beginning Tuesday, Oct. 10. The courthouse is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Photographs from the collection travel to Tarleton’s Fort Worth academic center at 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd. in August before returning to the Barry B. Thompson Student Center on the university’s Stephenville campus in mid-September. The Dick Smith Library showcases the photos in November.

The exhibit honors the people and events responsible for linking Tarleton’s struggling liberal arts college with The Texas A&M University System. The Texas Legislature approved the partnership on Feb. 20, 1917, following a 3½-year effort by supporters to raise money to purchase 500 acres northeast of Stephenville for use as a college farm and to restore the endowment left by the university’s namesake, John Tarleton, to its original level. The money and land, plus the school’s campus, were donated to the state in exchange for Tarleton’s acceptance by Texas A&M College.

Centennial photographs and artifacts come from library archives, the Cross Timbers Historic Images Project, The Grassburr—Tarleton’s official yearbook—and J-TAC News, the school’s student-run newspaper as well as various university departments.

To learn more about Tarleton’s centennial exhibit, watch Tarleton’s Centennial Exhibit, On the Road. For more centennial happenings, visit Tarleton’s calendar of events at www.tarleton.edu/calendar.