The Story of Texas – The Museum

Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island
February 21 - October 11, 2009

Logo for Forgotten Gateway exhibit. Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island, is a first of its kind, multi-faceted exhibition and community outreach program that presents the story of Galveston as an immigrant port of entry into the US during the 19th and early 20th century.

This unique exhibit program will explore the story of Galveston as one of America’s top ten transoceanic ports of entry into Texas and the US from the 19th and early 20th centuries through the lens of individual immigration stories.

Group of Russian Jewish immigrants at North German Lloyd Wharf in Galveston 1907. Courtesy UT Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. For many, the history of immigration into America at the turn of the twentieth century begins and ends at Ellis Island; however, around the nation, lesser known ports of entry including those in California, Louisiana, Maryland, Florida, and Texas provided not only access to America, but also a new way of life for millions of immigrants.

Now, these untold stories of the promises made, kept, and broken in bustling gateways will be told through an array of photographs, film footage, graphics, narratives, hands-on interactive experiences, and historic artifacts brought together for the first time in an exhibition that uses the experience of coming to America through Texas as a lens for public understanding of a shared national history.

This exhibition will premiere in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in February 2009 and will travel around the nation. The traveling exhibition will include outreach toolkits and corollary educational programming. A second, small format version of the exhibit is being developed for smaller venues (e.g. community centers, schools, libraries).

North Bridge Street in Brady, Texas at the conclusion of the immigrant exposition. Ca. 1904. Courtesy UT Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. This exhibit, which has been designated a We the People project by the National Endowment for the Humanities, has been designed and produced by the Texas State History Museum and will travel to other institutions, including Moody Gardens in Galveston and the Ellis Island Museum, a national monument.

The Museum is piloting several Community Outreach initiatives while the exhibit is on display that will travel with the exhibit to the other venues These initiatives include programming geared towards school children, professional development training that will help teachers across multiple grade levels integrate the exhibit content into various subject areas, and adult programming geared at developing community bonds and awareness. The outreach components will provide the tools needed to augment the exhibit with local stories, artifacts, and images; engage local audiences in dialogue about their own immigrant histories; and conduct programs with contemporary immigrants across the nation.

The exhibition is explored in-depth at www.ForgottenGateway.com. The site presents an overview of the themes and issues raised in the exhibit and offers information about associated programming and the exhibit's upcoming national tour.

German Immigrants in a wagon on their way to New Braunfels, Texas. 1844. Courtesy UT Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. Admission to the Museum’s exhibits, including Forgotten Gateway (February 21 - October 11, 2009): $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for seniors/military/college students (with valid ID), $4 for youth ages 5-18, free for ages 4 and under.

Support for this exhibit comes from The National Endowment for the Humanities; Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. & Helen C. Kleberg Foundation; The Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall Fund; Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation; Summerlee Foundation; Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund; Moody Foundation; Scurlock Foundation; and Humanities Texas.