'Marfa and Presidio County, Texas' is Released

In their quest to complete their study and to share a better knowledge and understanding of a part of Texas that is still somewhat a frontier, authors Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson reveal the first volume of their book "Marfa and Presidio County, Texas: A Social, Economic, and Cultural Study 1937 to 2008 Volume One, 1937-1989." In a book that offers a closer look at the past and the present, readers will see how a place known as a tourist area and a center of contemporary art came to be. It returns to the pre-historic era of Far West Texas and bring readers up to the present with yearly reports on the region as well as extensive formal research and personal interviews with present day people who live in Presidio County.

A case study worth reading, this book is an eye-opener for a better understanding of how this small yet historically rich land is what it is now. Packed with the economic, social, and cultural history of Presidio County; this book gives readers, both lay and the historians, a clear and complete picture of the events that lead to the preservation, industrialization, and the improvement of one of the frontiers of the United States of America.

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About the Author
Dr. Cecilia Thompson (1920-2012) is well-known for her historical works on the Big Bend region of Texas. She brings extensive research and keen insight to her narrative, as well as the perspective of a native of the area. Born and raised in Fort Davis, Dr. Thompson pursued her higher education in theater arts at the University of Iowa. Her professional career has included myriad theatrical endeavors and also historical writings on her home territory. Of the latter acheivements, her magnum opus is without a doubt "History of Marfa County, Texas, 1535-1946. Widely acclaimed, Dr. Thompson's narrative received the prestigious T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award in 1985 as best county history.

Louise S. O'Connor was born in Victoria, Texas, a fifth-generation member of the O'Connor family, which has been ranching the Texas Coastal Bend since 1834. She began photographing on her family's ranches in the early 1970s while studying photography and attending colleges and universities in the state. A graduate of Nazareth Academy in Victoria, she attended Loretto Heights College in Denver, Victoria College, and University of Texas at Austin. She majored in History, English, and American Studies. In 1996, the author was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts from Bath University College in Bath, England, for her work in the preservation of Texas history. Her portraits of the people of the Texas Coastal Bend have been exhibited all over the United States. O'Connor lives on her family ranches and continues to deepen her historical research using oral interviews and photographs. She is also preparing a study of the Irish settlement of the Coastal Bend.

Marfa and Presidio County, Texas* by Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson
A Social, Economic, and Cultural Study 1937 to 2008 Volume One, 1937-1989
Publication Date: 3/5/2014
Trade Paperback; $18.99; 524 pages; 9781493126262
Trade Hardback; $26.99; 524 pages; 9781493126279
e-book; $3.99; 9781493126286

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