2025 Speakers

Mike Vance

Mike Vance is an accomplished author, historian, and storyteller with three novels and 11 non-fiction books focusing on Texas and Houston history, true crime, sports, and comedy. Known for his engaging historical fiction and essays, his work has appeared in publications like Texas Heritage and the Houston Chronicle. Vance began his creative career at 17 as a stand-up comedian, performing globally for 16 years before transitioning to media. He hosted regional history TV shows, co-hosted sports and talk radio programs in Houston, and earned accolades for voiceover work, scripts, and humorous writing. He also fronted a band performing original music in Texas, the UK, and Mexico, and contributed scripts for a BBC sitcom.  As founder of Houston Arts and Media (now Night Heron Media), Vance has produced eight feature documentaries and over 150 educational videos, many aired on PBS, along with books and digital content. Night Heron Media's Texas History Initiative develops innovative resources for 7th-grade classrooms, while its Postcards from Texas series explores historical stories. He also operates Dos Dogs Productions and Press, known for his award-winning work. An authority on Texas history, Vance has served on county historical commissions, taught Texas history courses at Rice University since 2010, and co-hosts the irreverent history podcast Prick the Balloon.

Mary Margaret McAllen

M. M. McAllen was raised on a storied South Texas ranch and writes about the history of the Southwest and Mexico. Her three books include the award-winning and best-selling I Would Rather Sleep in Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2003); A Brave Boy and a Good Soldier: John C. C. Hill and the Texas Expedition to Mier (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2006); and Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico (San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 2014), soon to be a television film series. She has written book introductions, contributed to anthologies, appeared on the PBS series History Detectives and contributed to Henry Louis Gate’s Faces of America. After earning her M.A., she taught as a professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio and currently serves as Director of Humanities at the Witte Museum.

Dr. Richard Bruce Winders

Dr. Richard Bruce Winders is a lifelong student of history. His career has included a decade of public school teaching as well as serving as the Historian and Curator at the Alamo from 1996-2019. He describes himself as an educator who happens to specialize in history. He earned his PhD in 1994 at Texas Christian University. His published works include Mr. Polk’s Army: The American Military Experience in the Mexican War; Crisis in the Southwest; The United Staes, Mexico, and the Struggle over Texas; Sacrificed at the Alamo: Tragedy and Triumph in the Texas Revolution; Panting for Glory: The Mississippi Volunteers in the Mexican War; and Queen of the West: A Documentary History of San Antonio, 1718-1900. The recipient of numerous writing awards, he was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame in 2020. Dr. Winders believed that the love of history is hereditary: it starts with parents and grandparents as your first teachers. Raised in Kentucky, Winders developed an interest in the American Southwest. He and his wife, Sharon, moved to Texas in 1978. He was involved in historical reenacting and living history for many years. Sadly, Sharon, his partner in marriage for forty-five years, passed away in 2023. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, where he continues to write and consult on historical projects.

Gregg J. Dimmick

Dr. Gregg Dimmick, M.D., is a retired pediatrician who dedicated 37 years of service at South Texas Medical Clinics in Wharton, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1974 and earned his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical School in 1977. Beyond his medical career, Dr. Dimmick is an avocational archaeologist with a deep passion for Texas history. He has coauthored two archaeological reports on the retreating Mexican army of 1836 and participated in excavations at the Fannin battle site, the Alamo, and the San Jacinto battlefield. In 2004, Dr. Dimmick published Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army After San Jacinto, An Archaeological Investigation through the Texas State Historical Association. Additionally, he edited a book originally written by Mexican General Vicente Filisola in 1838, which was translated into English by John Wheat and published as General Vicente Filisola’s Analysis of José Urrea’s Military Diary: A Forgotten 1838 Publication by an Eyewitness to the Texas Revolution. His contributions to historical preservation have earned him significant recognition, including induction as a national honorary member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas in January 2011 and the Daughters of the American Revolution award for history preservation in February 2020. Dr. Dimmick has shared his expertise on Texas history through appearances on the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, as well as at conferences such as the San Jacinto Conference, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas' conference at the Alamo, the Alamo Society, and the Texas Philosophical Society. He has also served for several years on the board of directors and as chairman of the archaeology committee for the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy. His latest work is a three-volume book titled Santa Anna’s Army in the Texas Revolution, with Volume 1 set to be released soon by Texas A&M University Press.

2024 Speakers

James E. Crisp

James E. Crisp, a native Texan, is a Rice University graduate who received his doctorate in History from Yale University. He retired as Professor Emeritus from North Carolina State University in 2017 after forty-five years of teaching the history of the American West and Antebellum South – both of which happen to include Texas. He has won multiple awards for teaching and writing, including the prize from the Philosophical Society of Texas for the best non-fiction book about Texas published in 2021: Inside the Texas Revolution: The Enigmatic Memoir of Herman Ehrenberg. His most well-known work is Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2004). He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife Lynn, a native of Houston.

Linda English

Linda English received her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Oklahoma in May 2005. She taught as a lecturer at OU and the University of Northern Colorado before her current position: Associate Professor of History at UTRGV (previously UTPA)). Her research and publications focus primarily on race, class, and gender during the late nineteenth century, specifically Texas and Indian Territory. Her articles include “Revealing Accounts: Women’s Lives and General Stores” (The Historian 2002), “Inside the General Store, Inside the Past: A Cultural Analysis of McAlester’s General Store” (The Chronicles of Oklahoma 2003), and “Recording Race: General Stores and Race in the Late Nineteenth‐ Century Southwest” (Southwestern Historical Quarterly 2006). She also contributed a biographical chapter on Oscar James Dunn in Before Obama: A Reappraisal of Black Reconstruction Era Politicians, titled “’ That is All We Ask for—An Equal Chance:’ Oscar James Dunn, Louisiana’s First Black Lieutenant Governor,” ed. Matthew Lynch (Praeger 2012). Her most recent article is “Southern Reflections: Evolving Attitudes on Race and Region in Indian Territory” (Great Plains Quarterly 2014). In 2013, the University of Oklahoma Press published her book, By All Accounts: General Stores and Community Life in Texas and Indian Territory. Her current research examines the “Runaway Scrape” and other aspects of the Texas Revolution through the lens of gender. Her new book, "Run for Your Life! Gender and the Runaway Scrape," is scheduled for publication in May 2024.

2024 Confirmed Speakers

Andy Hall

Andy Hall holds a bachelor's degree in Historical Studies from the University of Houston - Clear Lake, and a master's degree in Museum Science from Texas Tech University. Since 1990 Hall has volunteered with the office of the State Marine Archaeologist at the Texas Historical Commission to help document historic shipwrecks in Texas waters. Hall was part of the inaugural group of volunteer marine archaeological stewards appointed by the Texas Historical Commission, the first group of its kind in the nation. From 1997 to 2002, Hall served as Co-Principal Investigator for the Denbigh Project, the most extensive archaeological investigation of a Civil War blockade runner to date in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2009 Hall helped identify the wreck of Will-o’-the-Wisp, one of the most famous blockade runners of the war. Hall has written two books on Texas maritime history, The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou and Civil War Blockade Running on the Texas Coast, both published by the History Press of Charleston, South Carolina. Hall writes and speaks frequently on the subjects of Texas' maritime history and its military conflicts in the 19th century. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Navy Association, a non-profit educational organization that promotes the history and legacy of the naval forces of the Republic of Texas.

Eron Tynes

Eron Brimberry Tynes is a Past President of the San Jacinto Chapter, DRT having served two terms from 2007-2011. She is also an Honorary Member of the Lone Star Chapter, SRT and the Sidney Sherman Chapter, SRT. As a seventh generation Texan, she has a deep passion for Texas history and has given several presentations about Texas and its illustrious heritage to various historical groups. Some of her presentation include “The Treacherous Road to Victory; So, you think you know San Jacinto and the Treaty and (Secret) Treaty of Velasco. Currently for the San Jacinto Chapter she chairs the San Jacinto Battleground Committee and the Historic Sites Committee. In addition she serves on the San Jacinto Planning Day Committee and is a member of the America250/Texas200 Focus Group.

Sally Anne Schmidt

Sally Anne Schmidt is the Curator of the Nau Civil War Collection. For almost 20 years Sally Anne has been responsible for the care, organization, and exhibition of one of the largest private Civil War collections in the country. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and her master’s degree and PhD from Rice University. While at Rice, she held the Jameson Fellowship at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in 2003 – 2004. A seventh generation Texan raised in Austin and Dallas, Sally Anne lives in Houston and is a committed community volunteer. She is the Board Chair of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission and a current board member of Preservation Houston and Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS). Sally Anne is also a proud member of the Junior League of Houston, having served in a number of leadership positions including the board of directors, and she was the 2021 recipient of the League’s Sara Houston Lindsey Award.

2023 Speakers

Lora-Marie Bernard

Lora-Marie Bernard is a journalist and author. She has an undergraduate degree from the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas and a master's in liberal arts extension studies from Harvard University. As a Washington D.C. field correspondent, she served as an international radio commentator, journalist, and photographer for the 2017 Trump presidential campaign, the 2018 Texas U.S. Senate Race, the Washington D.C. Women's March, and Hurricane Harvey. She is the author of The Yellow Rose of Texas: The Song, the Legend & Emily D. West and the vice president of the Southeast Texas Museum Association.

Dave Dyer

Dave Dyer is a writer, investor, and part-time radio talk show host on a financial show. He previously taught philosophy at the University of Michigan before moving to Houston. Dyer has published widely on historical topics, social issues, and investment, including two peer-reviewed books: Steel's: A Forgotten Stock Market Scandal from the 1920s and The Road to San Jacinto: Retracing the Route of Sam Houston's Army.

Dr. Stephen Harding

Dr. Stephen Hardin is one of the leading experts in Texas military and social history. He received his Ph.D. in history from Texas Christian University and currently teaches at McMurry University in Abilene. He has published widely on Texas history, including Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution; Lust for Glory: An Epic Story of Early Texas and the Sacrifice that Defined a Nation; and Texian Macabre: The Melancholy Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston.

Jim Parsons

Jim Parsons, a native of Baytown, puts a passion for the state’s history and architecture to work coordinating programs and educational outreach as Programs Director for Preservation Houston. In addition to his preservation work, Jim has written about and photographed cities across the United States as a freelance author, editor, and photographer. Jim is co-author with David Bush of several books about Art Deco architecture in Texas, including DFW Deco: Modernistic Architecture of North Texas (2017, TCU Press).