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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2001)
The Guitar Store • Over 100 Guitars in stock • New Guitars from $ 99.99 •Used Amps, Guitars, & Bass’s Buy, Sell, Trade, & Consignment’s Located on University behind the Golden Coral 260-7262 gnadtutU Bryan & College Station’s Goodwill It all started in Houston in 1945... And, we’ve been serving Bryan & College Station since 1988! SHOP GOODWILL GREAT VALUES IT’S NEW! (979) 823-2083 www.goodwillhouston.org Hey current students... NEED MONEY...CIT A JOB!! HIED A fCHOIARfHIP...CET TO A COMPUTER!!! The Academic Excellence/Academic Incentive Scholarship Applications will be available online beginning February 1 st!! http://faid.tamu.edu/ AEAIintro.cfm Deadline is March 1,2001 at 5:00 PM! For more information, please contact: Department of Student Financial Aid Scholarship Office PO Box 30016 Room 220, The Pavilion College Station TX 77842 19791845-3982 Page 4A AGGIELIFE Thursday, February 1,; THE BATTALION New book tells female 'Inn Mia role in Houston’s history HOUSTON — On Jan. 2, 1839, the Rufus Putnam landed at the foot of Houston’s Main Street after a haz ardous journey up Buffalo Bayou. Among the passengers were Mil lie Gray and her six children, travel ing from the more civilized state of Virginia to a small, primitive town. Gray was not happy. This is how the pioneer woman recorded her feelings in her diary that day: “Although everything looks better than I had expected, my heart feels oppressed and it requires an effort to wear the appearance of cheerfulness: I could (if 1 were a weeping character) sit down and fairly weep. ...” Luckily, Gray was not the weepy type, according to historian Betty Trapp Chapman. In Houston Women: Invisible Threads in the Tapestry, Chapman writes that Gray went on to become a mainstay of the young community. Her diary, according to Chapman, is a treasure trove of life in early Houston, from the perspective of wife, mother, neighbor, church- woman and citizen. Gray is one of more than 300 women and groups whose lives Chapman documents in her latest book. She looks at the famous and not so famous who helped make Hous ton the city it is today — known for its oil and business successes, but also for its rich arts scene. The book is divided into chap ters: settling Texas, defining women’s sphere, building commu nity institutions, going to work, ex panding education, cultivating the arts, enriching the community and opening new doors. It’s not a comprehensive survey, but it is a fascinating look at a side of Houston history that has been largely ignored. The 275 pictures that illustrate the book are particu larly special. Chapman begins with the first women believed to be indigenous to ‘ the area — the Karankawas. Though j the individual lives and names of! these American Indian women havie been lost to history, their roles wer imith’s survey, and Smith’s descen- lants still live in Houston. Outside home, churches were the only other places of activity for women, but the Civil War got them Bodyguard Puffy did not have gui not. A Spanish explorer describe^ involved in nursing and fund-raising their strictly defined, gender-related activities. division of labor, Chapman said. “Their women toil incessantly,” noted Alvar Munez Cabeza de Vaca, the earliest of the Spanish explorers to interact with the Karankawas. Most land grants were given to men, but exceptions were made by Stephen F. Austin to women who were heads of households. One was Although every thing looks better than I had expected, my heart feels op pressed and, it re quires an effort to wear the appearance of cheerfulness. ” Millie Gray Jane Wilkins, who owned land where the George R. Brown Convention Center is now located. Pioneer women had no sdhools or churches to support them. Household duties, including family health, rest ed on their shoulders and was time- consuming. It took two weeks of steady labor to spin enough thread for a dress. What women did was not deemed worthy enough to document, Chap man said. One of her favorite women from that time is Obedience Fort Smith, a 64-year-old widow who immigrated to Texas in 1835. She was granted 3,370 acres of land in Houston that encompasses much of the present- day Fourth Ward, Montrose and Rice University. It’s still called Obedience . XL» 2001 Texas A&M Baseball Ap Aggie Alley GET YOUR RESERVED PARKING SPACE IN AGGIE /VL.L.EY FOR THE 200 1 BASEBALL SEASON $50 for Texas A&M Students $100 for non-students Lottery drawing will take place Thursday evening, Feb. 1, at 6:30 inside G, Rollie White Coliseum. Applications may be picked up at the G. Rollie White ticket office and must be returned by the start of the lottery drawing on Thursday. 2001 Texas A&M Baseball W The Civil War, Chapman writes, radically changed the lives of African-American women by giving them freedom and legalizing their marriages. After the Civil War, more women began teaching, the only profession open to black women at that time. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Houston women started clubs such as the Ladies Reading Club (still in existence). Kezia De- pelchin founded a home for chil dren in need. When she died in 1893, club women, friends and church members got together and continued her work. The board was all-female for 40 years. In 1904, women’s efforts resulted in Houston’s first public library. In 1900, the Public School Art League was founded, and artist Emma Richardson Cherry provided strong leadership. Its mission was complet ed in 1924, when the Museum of Fine Arts opened. This was also a time when many women got involved in the fight for suffrage. A local leader was Annette Finnigan, who graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1894, a time when only two per cent of the country’s women attend ed college. When she returned to Houston, Finnigan and her sisters founded the Houston Equal Suffrage League and later the Women’s Political Union. She became state president of both organizations. Chapman tried to make her book as diverse as possible — including photos of well-known local African- American women like pianist Jessie Covington, whose mother, Jennie, founded an all-woman orchestra. NEW YORK (AP)—Afon: corrections officer who moe lighted as a bodyguard for St “Puffy” Combs testified Wedr: day that he had never once seen > rap impresario carrying a weap, Prosecution witness Leon. Curtis Howard said he w never have associated hin with Combs if the defendantL carried a firearm. . a “If he is going to carry an: a pres gal firearm, there is no reason j rL , ev me to be there,” Howard said. " der cross-examination. Tm: cinc going to put my job in jeopard). „ h Mr. Combs.” ' T . The rapper and hip-hop L nessman was arrested on Dei 11 11 1999, after he fled a nighic i _ near Times Square with his; ' triend, actress-singer Jenn: Lopez. Combs, 31, was chan with gun possession and bn: lor allegedly offering hisdr $50,000 to take the rap fork ing a gun found in their vet:. He faces up to 15 years in pr it convicted of bribery. Earlier Wednesday, defense torney Benjamin Brafraan moved unsuccessfully for trial because he was upset hi - distant District Attorney Mate Bogdanos' use of Howard’s;:. Unlik a nu la ai jury testimony to contradicth: Use ( ll al testimony. anim . Howard told the grand jury. ■ J he had never seen Combs scant Dr. in.K,. •. • and a m that situation an important: % •• tinction, since prosecutorsclainiE u u Grammy-winning rappercarriei f | gun into the nightclub audfired w ^ shot on the night of his arret 1 “When a witness lies as eg? giously as Mr. Howard d/M is if. c . 1,1 cumbent upon the (questioning^ 111 ^! attorney to point that i 0m ^ jury,” Bogdanos said (' rA’AAwi i I I ! THE DEPARTMENT OF RESIDENCE LIFE 1 Invites all students to An Open Forum Topic: Residence hall rental rates for academic year 2001-2002. When: Monday, January 29, 2001 & Thursday, February 1, 2001 Time: 6:30-8:00pm Where: Room 146 in the MSC eotofRi*^ <5^ ro * ^'l&M VSo*' ,c ’ C "Bringing People and Housing Together" ^.rclier Daniels Midland ADM will be hosting an information night to discuss internships and career opportunities! Careers Highlighted: Commodity Trading Majors Welcome: Agricultural Business, Agricutural Economics Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors are all welcome! Refreshments will be served - Door prizes will be given Dress: Casual ADM Tuesday, February 6th at 7:00PM Harrington Education Center (HECC) Room 200 Mays College of Business Spring Career Fair Feb. 20-22 Mandatory Meeting If you are hosting a company, you MUST attend one of the meetings: Tuesday, Feb. 6 7:00-7:30 p.m. Wehner 132 Wednesday, Feb 7 9:00-9:30 p.m. Wehner 130 W Career Fair Website: http://wehner.tamu.edu/bsc