SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-1 WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Texas is especially
1-2 proud to honor the O. Henry Museum in Austin for providing cultural
1-3 and educational programs for the citizens of Texas; and
1-4 WHEREAS, The O. Henry Museum sponsors "Opportunity-For-Youth
1-5 Writing Clubs," an excellent educational program for inner-city
1-6 youth, to stimulate creativity in writing for aspiring young
1-7 students, over 2,500 of whom have benefitted from these workshops;
1-8 these writing clubs offer the talents of many accomplished and
1-9 published authors as teachers to students who learn a variety of
1-10 literary styles including poetry, biography, scriptwriting, and
1-11 playwriting as well as cartoon drawing; and
1-12 WHEREAS, In recognition of its outstanding achievement and
1-13 its commitment to education in providing the O. Henry
1-14 Opportunity-For-Youth Writing Clubs, the O. Henry Museum received a
1-15 Texas Historical Commission Museum Award; the museum was also
1-16 recognized with the National Dorothy Mullen Arts and Humanities
1-17 Award from the National Recreation and Park Association and, in
1-18 addition, has received three graphic arts awards for excellence in
1-19 publication design: The Sheila Y. Fox Award from the Texas Arts
1-20 Council and two Mitchell A. Wilder Awards from the Texas
1-21 Association of Museums; and
1-22 WHEREAS, The O. Henry Museum World Championship Pun-Off will
1-23 celebrate its 20th anniversary in 1997 as the museum's oldest
2-1 event; it is held on the first Sunday of May each year and has
2-2 grown (or groan) to host an audience of 2,000 attendees and
2-3 participants, gaining national and international recognition; it
2-4 was featured on ABC's World News Tonight in 1993 and also in
2-5 National Geographic Traveler and Chase's Calendar of National
2-6 Events, as well as other magazines and newspapers and is often
2-7 broadcast on national and international radio; and
2-8 WHEREAS, The Pun-Off, sponsored by the Friends of the O.
2-9 Henry Museum (Muse-M) and the City of Austin Parks and Recreation
2-10 Department, and cosponsored by P.U.N.Y. (Punsters United Nearly
2-11 Yearly), starts at noon on May 4, 1997, with music by Bill Rowan
2-12 and the High Rollers; and
2-13 WHEREAS, The museum is housed in the Victorian home of
2-14 William Sidney Porter, a turn-of-the-century writer of short
2-15 stories that have become American classics; known by his pen name,
2-16 O. Henry, Mr. Porter lived in Austin from 1885 to 1895 and worked
2-17 as a draftsman at the Old General Land Office; he married an Austin
2-18 girl, Athol Estes, and the young couple lived in the small cottage
2-19 with their children; and
2-20 WHEREAS, Listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
2-21 the house escaped demolition in 1934 and was moved to Brush Square,
2-22 where it opened as the O. Henry Museum; operated under the City of
2-23 Austin Parks and Recreation Department, the museum houses nearly
2-24 800 artifacts of which one-third are directly related to O. Henry;
2-25 and
3-1 WHEREAS, While living in the house, William Sidney Porter
3-2 published a weekly newspaper, the Rolling Stone, which featured
3-3 short stories depicting life in Austin during the late 1800s; an
3-4 original publication of the newspaper, first editions of O. Henry
3-5 books, family photographs, original documents, textiles, and other
3-6 family memorabilia are among the museum's collections; now,
3-7 therefore, be it
3-8 RESOLVED, That the 75th Legislature of the State of Texas
3-9 hereby commend the O. Henry Museum for its Opportunity-For-Youth
3-10 Writing Clubs for Austin's inner-city youth and congratulate it on
3-11 its 20th Annual World Championship Pun-Off; and, be it further
3-12 RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
3-13 prepared for the museum as an expression of highest esteem from the
3-14 Texas Legislature.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 87 was adopted by the Senate
on May 9, 1997.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 87 was adopted by the House
on May 16, 1997.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor