Texas in Transition
Railroads, Oil, and the Rise of Urban Texas
Lesson Plans | Project Information | Related Web Exhibits
W.D. Hornaday Collection, Prints and Photographs Collection, Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. 1975/70-3617.Lesson Plans
Texas in Transition: Railroads, Oil, and the Rise of Urban Texas is intended for middle school Texas history teachers. The lesson plans
and activities here will introduce students to the practice of using historical archival materials on the web, and help students learn to use documents to reach conclusions about the past. This website focuses on the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period of intense change which transformed Texas from a predominantly rural state into a modern industrial power.
Railroads
Did nature help or hinder the building of railroads in Texas?
How did railroads change cities in Texas forever? Case Study: El Paso
How did the growth of railroads impact population growth?
How could a “doubleheader” create unsafe working conditions on the
railroad?
Why would the people of Texas want more government control of railroads?
Why did farmers rally around Governor Hogg and the Texas Railroad Commission?
Oil
How did oil spark an economic makeover in towns across Texas?
Did the oil “boom” bust the environment in Texas?
How did Spindletop spark a Texas industry that impacted the nation?
Was martial law effective in the oil war in Texas?
Urbanization
How did Texas grow one city at a time?
Case Study: Austin
Case Study: Dallas
Case Study: Fort Worth
Case Study: Galveston
Case Study: Houston
Case Study: San Antonio
Project Information
Texas in Transition: Railroads, Oil, and the Rise of Urban Texas was made possible by a Linden Heck Howell Texas History Grant in the amount of $5000 from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Humanities Texas conducts and supports public programs in history, literature, philosophy, and other humanities disciplines. These programs strengthen Texas communities and ultimately help sustain representative democracy by cultivating informed, educated citizens.
The goal of this project was to provide teachers with inquiry-based model lesson plans that combine TSLAC’s unique primary source material with exercises based specifically on TEKS curriculum (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies for Grade 7). The grant money was used to contract with the curriculum services staff at Education Service Center, Region 20, to develop the lesson plans. TSLAC matched the grant in-kind 1:1 by coordinating the topic selection; researching, selecting, and scanning the primary source documents from the archives; coordinating the scholarly review process; and building and mounting this website.
Related Web Exhibits
TSLAC creates and mounts in-depth online history exhibits on a regular basis. Though aimed at a general audience rather than specifically at teachers and students, these exhibits are used regularly by teachers seeking materials to complement the TEKS curriculum. Exhibits related to the theme of this project include:
Hazardous Business: Industry, Regulation, and the Texas Railroad Commission