TEXAS SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Letter from theOutgoing PresidentMarie R. YeatesDear Members,The past year at the Society has been an extremely productive and memorable one. I leave the presidencywith a new appreciation for the scope and impact of our programs and for the people who make them successful.In my final message to the membership, I would like to offer a brief summary of these initiatives and thank someof those who have devoted time and energy to moving them forward over the past year.• JournalIn its fourth year of publication, the Society’s e-journal continued to flourish under the leadership of LynneLiberato and the executive team, David Furlow, Dylan Drummond, Marilyn Duncan, and David Kroll. Not onlydoes each issue offer a treasure trove of scholarly articles, but the special features on Society events, includinggreat photos, add even more color and interest. Each issue seems better than the previous one, and yet lookingback, all four issues published in this volume year are equally remarkable. My hat goes off to the entire team.• SymposiumThe second biannual Society-sponsored symposium on the history of Texas jurisprudence was held inMay, and all of us who attended were treated to a fascinating and varied day of panel discussions and paperpresentations (see the story on p. 108). As was the case two years ago, the symposium was the brainchild of LynneLiberato and Richard Orsinger, with essential support from Warren Harris and Pat Nester. This is exactly the kindof program the Society was established to sponsor, and I know I am not the only board member who appreciatesboth the quality of the program and the efforts of those who made it happen.• Texas State Historical Association Joint SessionThis year’s joint session at the annual meeting of the Texas State Historical Association was another eventthat is directly tied to the Society’s educational mission. I have to admit that I might not have attended if I hadn’tbeen on the program, but I was tremendously grateful to have been a part of it. Special thanks go to David Furlow,who not only took the lead in organizing the session, but who put together a highly informative PowerPointpresentation on school prayer cases (see Pat Nester’s column, pp. 5-6).• Texas Judicial Civics and Education CenterThe judicial civics center and museum project undertaken during Doug Alexander’s tenure is wellunderway. Our partners in this initiative are the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, Office of CourtAdministration, and all fourteen Courts of Appeals. Doug reported at our last board meeting that a prominentWashington, D.C. architectural firm has been hired to produce the design for the center, which will be located inthe Tom Clark Building.1