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78R17107 MMS-D

By:  Dawson                                                       H.R. No. 1469



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Mary Belle Ingram of Bay City has received the Ruth 
Lester Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Historical 
Commission for her exceptional contributions to historic 
preservation in the Lone Star State; and
	WHEREAS, Ms. Ingram has been a driving force in historic 
preservation at the city and county levels for more than three 
decades, and the impact of her work is evident throughout Matagorda 
County; notable among the fruits of her labors are the Matagorda 
County Museum and its archives, which she played an instrumental 
role in establishing; currently a regular volunteer at the museum, 
she is also chair emeritus of the Matagorda County Museum 
Association; and
	WHEREAS, A member of the Matagorda County Historical 
Commission since 1967, Ms. Ingram has served as its vice chair, 
preservation chair, and marker chair, and in the latter capacity 
researched and wrote nearly 20 historical marker narratives; and
	WHEREAS, In 2000 she initiated the effort to have Matagorda 
County approved as a Certified Local Government (CLG); furthermore, 
she rendered invaluable assistance to a survey of the county's 
historic resources by writing a successful CLG grant application to 
support the work and by volunteering untold hours of research and 
expertise; and
	WHEREAS, Ms. Ingram also drafted Bay City's historic 
preservation ordinance, helped launch the town's historic plaque 
program, and today chairs its landmark commission; she has 
researched more than 200 structures within the square mile that 
constituted the original part of the city, and she chaired the 
design committee of the town's Main Street program when it 
established a 22-block historic district; and
	WHEREAS, This esteemed Texan formed a Junior Historian 
chapter at McAllister Junior High School in the late 1960s, and 
during her outstanding 30-year teaching career she tutored numerous 
students in the craft of writing local history; her own articles 
appear frequently in the Bay City Tribune, and she has both written 
and contributed research to several other publications, including a 
multivolume history of Matagorda County, a newspaper series marking 
the county's sesquicentennial, and a history of Bay City's First 
United Methodist Church; and
	WHEREAS, Ms. Ingram has served as president of both the 
Matagorda County Historical Society and the Matagorda County 
Genealogical Society; among the accolades she has garnered have 
been an award for her church history and tributes from the State 
Genealogical Society, the Matagorda County Museum, and the Bay City 
Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture; and
	WHEREAS, Through her dynamic leadership and tireless 
commitment to preserving the heritage of her city and county, Mary 
Belle Ingram has bequeathed a legacy of immeasurable richness to 
all Texans; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas 
Legislature hereby congratulate Mary Belle Ingram on her receipt of 
the Ruth Lester Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas 
Historical Commission and extend to her sincere best wishes for 
continued success in all her endeavors; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for Ms. Ingram as an expression of high regard by the Texas 
House of Representatives.