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H.R. No. 157
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The State of Texas Anniversary Remembrance (STAR)
Day bill, Senate Bill 1656, was passed by the 76th Texas Legislature
and signed into law by Governor George W. Bush on June 18, 1999;
this bill was sponsored by State Representative Craig Eiland and
State Senator Mike Jackson at the request of Galveston County
Dickinson High School ninth-grade student Daniel B. Kulvicki; this
bill states that all Texas public schools and other organizations
shall celebrate the birthday of the State of Texas on February 19
each year with appropriate and patriotic programs to inspire a
greater appreciation for the history of our state; and
WHEREAS, All 254 Texas county judges sponsored county
memorial resolutions in support of the STAR DAY bill, with
Galveston County Judge James D. Yarbrough, Harris County Judge
Robert Eckels, and Loving County Judge Donald C. Creager initially
pioneering and leading the statewide effort to support the founding
of STAR DAY, at the request of Galveston County High School student
Daniel B. Kulvicki; and
WHEREAS, The State of Texas Anniversary Remembrance Day
Foundation was organized in 1998 and chartered in 1999 as a Texas
not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation with the mission
to pioneer and lead a statewide effort to carry out the legislative
intent of the STAR DAY bill by planning, developing, and conducting
appropriate and patriotic programs during the year, in partnership
with all Texas public schools and other organizations, to honor and
remember the life and achievements of the pioneers and leaders of
the State of Texas and to celebrate the birthday of the State of
Texas at all Texas public schools with the volunteer service of
students, parents, and school staff; and
WHEREAS, James Pinckney Henderson (1808-1858), first
Governor of the State of Texas, in 1846 passed away while serving as
a United States senator from the State of Texas, was buried in the
Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., in 1858, and was
returned home to Texas with the support of the State of Texas
Legislature as well as with permission of family descendants, to be
reburied in the Texas State Cemetery on San Jacinto Day, April 21,
1930; and
WHEREAS, Frances Cox Henderson (1820-1897), the first First
Lady of the State of Texas in 1846, never remarried after the death
of her husband and lived a long and fruitful life of service before
she passed away at the home of her daughter in East Orange, Essex
County, New Jersey, on January 25, 1897, and was buried in the
Rosedale Cemetery in East Orange; and
WHEREAS, Students participating in the after-school "STAR
Day School Library Readers are Leaders Program," sponsored by the
STAR DAY Foundation at San Elizario Middle School in El Paso County
under the direction of Ms. Velia B. Duran and supported by Principal
John Tanner, learned that Mrs. Henderson was buried in New Jersey,
but her husband was reburied in Texas, and the students proposed a
statewide effort to bring her home to Texas and rebury her with her
husband in the Texas State Cemetery on a STAR Day, with the support
of the people of Texas, as an appropriate and patriotic birthday
present for our state; and
WHEREAS, The STAR Day Foundation formally announced on STAR
Day, February 19, 2004, at "The Third Annual Spirit of STAR Day
Celebration at the State Capitol" event sponsored by State
Representative Bob Hunter, a STAR Day Founder, to celebrate the
birthday of the State of Texas in the Capitol Rotunda each year with
a music and song program presented by a Texas junior high school as
its school STAR Day birthday present to our state, "The Frances Cox
Henderson Remembrance Project" in partnership with the Texas State
Cemetery Committee, to carry out the suggestion of students of San
Elizario Middle School in El Paso County with the goals to bring
Mrs. Henderson home to Texas to lie in repose in the State Capitol
Rotunda for two days, to be honored and remembered by the people of
the State of Texas as an outstanding pioneer and leader of the State
of Texas and to be buried with her husband in a new joint burial site
approved by the Texas State Cemetery Committee on STAR Day,
February 19, 2007, and to plan, develop, and publish an illustrated
book about her life and achievements to be donated to Texas junior
high schools as a seventh-grade-level book in "The STAR Day School
Library Readers Book Series" sponsored by proceeds of the annual
subscription of "The STAR Day School Library Readers are Leaders"
specialty license plate authorized by the State of Texas
Legislature on behalf of the STAR Day Foundation and other donated
funds; and
WHEREAS, San Augustine County was the home of the Henderson
family for many years; the San Augustine County Commissioners
Court, at the request of the STAR Day Foundation with the support of
County Judge Wayne Holt, a STAR Day Founder, formally designated on
January 10, 2005, the 21st of July each year as "The Frances Cox
Henderson Remembrance Day" throughout San Augustine County, to
encourage all students of the county to study and appreciate the
life and achievements of Mrs. Henderson as a pioneer and leader of
the State of Texas; and
WHEREAS, The STAR Day Foundation formally announced on
February 19, 2005, the successful achievement of the family
genealogy and history research efforts of the internationally known
genealogist, Ms. Pamela S. Eagleson of Maine, to successfully
locate worldwide descendants of Mrs. Henderson in numerous
countries, including Austria, Brazil, Germany, Norway, and the
United States, and their formal legal approval to support the goals
of the project were successfully obtained; and
WHEREAS, Noting that on February 19, 2006, the State of Texas
shall have been the 28th state of the United States for 160 years,
the STAR Day Foundation formally announced in El Paso County on July
21, 2005, the birthday of Mrs. Henderson, the establishment of "The
Great Texas Lincoln Penny Roundup Campaign" to invite people of
Texas to round up their pennies, with the help of volunteer
students, and donate them to the STAR Day Foundation in support of
the goals of "The Frances Cox Henderson Remembrance Project" as an
appropriate and patriotic birthday present for our state; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas
Legislature, 2nd Called Session, hereby recognize February 12-19,
2006, as "The Great Texas Lincoln Penny Roundup Pledge Week" and
encourage all Texans to volunteer and participate in supporting the
achievement of the goals of "The Frances Cox Henderson Remembrance
Project" as an appropriate and patriotic birthday present for our
state.
Hunter
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 157 was adopted by the House on August
8, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House