Wish You Were Here: Postcards from the Texas State Archives

Postcards are gloriously enticing—intended to generate fond memories with beauty, grandeur, and humor. The Texas State Library and Archives in Austin explores the topic in Wish You Were Here: Postcards from the Texas State Archives. Open April 4–September 16, the exhibit features about 55 postcards (40 on display at a time) from 20th-Century Texas. The cards bear historical drawings and photos of attractions like the Hotel Galvez and Galveston Seawall and the Beaumont oilfields at night, as well as accompanying photos and documents, including a 1927 menu from the still-popular Camino Real Hotel in El Paso.

45th Annual Bob Wills Day

Western Swing musicians and fans will flock to Turkey on the last weekend of April for the 45th annual Bob Wills Day. The tribute to the “Father of Western Swing,” who honed his chops in the area, features dances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights (April 28–30) and afternoon shows at the Bob Wills Museum. On Saturday, the event culminates with a parade, barbecue cook-off, fiddlers contest, and free outdoor concert. The acts on stage—among them Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Mata, Jason Roberts, and Jody Nix—all specialize in Wills’ innovative blend of jazz, blues, and hillbilly music.

Honoring Olivewood

Incorporated as Houston’s first African American graveyard in 1875, Olivewood Cemetery is the final resting place of roughly 4,000 Houstonians who helped build the city, from slaves to ministers, teachers, and dentists. Houston’s National Museum of Funeral History showcases the cemetery in Honoring Olivewood, a collection of contemporary photographs taken by Kasey French, now a college student. Sales of a book compiling the photographs benefit the nonprofit Descendants of Olivewood, a group formed in 2003 to restore the cemetery after it was abandoned and choked with vegetation over the previous three decades. Honoring Olivewood runs until May 29.

1836 Chuck Wagon Race

Race announcers may belabor the phrase “hold onto your hats,” but the exhortation rings true at the 1836 Chuck Wagon Race at the Diamond B Ranch near Palestine. The races (April 22–24) pit chuck-wagon teams pulled by horses and mules, hurtling perilously through an open-field course, kicking up dirt and careening around barrels. The event, which runs April 15–25, commemorates Texas Independence and also includes camping, live music, trail rides, mounted shooting, horse clinics, horse auctions, and other events.

Photos: (from top) courtesy TSLAC; courtesy Estate of Bob Wills/OKPOP Museum; courtesy Kasey French; © Julia Robinson