As the City of 足交视频 celebrates its bicentennial anniversary, the University of Houston-足交视频 and 足交视频 College are partnering to offer a symposium that will look at the history of the South Texas community, from the region鈥檚 first inhabitants, all the way to the space race.

鈥溩憬皇悠's bicentennial is the perfect time for the city to reflect on its history,鈥 said Joseph Locke, UHV associate professor of history and the event organizer. 鈥淭here are few moments when people's attentions are turned to the city's past, and this is one of them. If colleges and universities are meant to be places of learning and reflection, we thought the symposium would be a worthwhile contribution to the bicentennial.鈥

The 足交视频 Bicentennial History Symposium will include a variety of events on April 11 and 12 at UHV and VC. All of the events are free and open to the public. Each session is organized to focus on a different era in 足交视频’s history and will include time to answer attendee questions. For more information about the symposium, go to . The event is funded by the UHV College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, the university’s history program, the City of 足交视频, Humanities Texas, VC’s Museum of the Coastal Bend and the DeLeón Club of 足交视频.

The symposium will open with a keynote address at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in UHV University North鈥檚 Walker Auditorium, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The presentation will be delivered by Carolina Castillo Crimm, a history professor emeritus from Sam Houston State University and will focus on the De Le贸n family and the founding of 足交视频. After Crimm鈥檚 address, there will be an open reception in the UHV University North Multi-Purpose Room.

The second day of the symposium will begin with breakfast snacks at 9 a.m. in the Borchers Leon Exhibit Hall at VC鈥檚 Museum of the Coastal Bend, 2200 E. Red River St. At 9:30, the first panel of the day will focus on archaeology and prehistoric 足交视频 as well as the Mission Espiritu Santo in Mission Valley. The panelists will discuss archaeological finds dating back 13,000 years in the area and what they tell us about the people who used to call the Coastal Bend home. Attendees also are welcome to walk through the museum and view the exhibits.

鈥淎rchaeology is a rich pursuit here because there are so many sites to investigate,鈥 said Sue Prudhomme, executive director of cultural affairs for VC and director of the museum. 鈥淓xtensive materials have been discovered, and we鈥檝e been able to learn about a culture that didn鈥檛 leave a written record to tell us what their life was like. One of the difficulties we face is the humidity of South Texas, which quickly breaks down anything organic. But even so, we鈥檝e been able to learn so much.鈥

After the panel discussion, attendees can either walk or drive over to the rest of the day鈥檚 events, which will be held in the UHV University Commons Multi-Purpose Room, 3006 N. Ben Wilson St. The next section will begin with a group of presentations about 足交视频鈥檚 early history at 11:15 a.m. Topics will include the Karankawa Tribe, the Jewish community in 19th-century 足交视频, and 足交视频 in 1873.

At 2:30 p.m., the next section will shift to a more modern time, specifically 足交视频 after World War II. There will be three presentations that focus on topics including the impact of World War II airfields on small towns in Texas, 足交视频 and the selection of NASA鈥檚 space center in 1961, and Civil Rights activist Casey Hayden.

The final panel of the day will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature discussions about preservation efforts in 足交视频, specifically historical buildings, monuments and architecture. There also will be a presentation about statues and monuments in 足交视频 and how they influence the public鈥檚 memory of 足交视频.

The symposium will end with a closing keynote presentation by Karl Jacoby, the Allan Nevins Professor of American History at Columbia University, will look at 足交视频's history through the viewpoint of William Ellis, a 足交视频 man who was born enslaved but carved a remarkable, identity-crossing life out of America's Gilded Age. There will be a short reception following the closing presentation.

Reaching a 200-year milestone is an exciting time for a community, and UHV and VC hope the symposium will offer an opportunity for community members and scholars to come together and learn about the town they call home, Locke said.

鈥淚f we want to understand our city, we have to understand its past,鈥 Locke said. 鈥溩憬皇悠 has a long, varied, and complicated history. But it's our history that defines us. We hope the symposium reminds us not only that we are all products of that history, but that it's up to all of us to carry these historical conversations forward.鈥