History of Society

The follow news story appeared in the Brownwood Bulletin on February 19, 1967.

Charter membership in Brown County Historical Society will remain open until March 31, it was voted at an organizational meeting of the group Friday afternoon.

Membership is open to anyone interested in the county's history, whether they are members of a pioneer Brown County family or not.  Dues are $1 per year. 

There were 32 persons present for the organizational session and 52 charter members were signed.  F. A. Carpenter was elected chairman with James C. Capps as vice chairman and Miss Estelle Duren as secretary-treasuer.

Gardner Thomas was appointed chairman of a committee to secure a charter and write bylaws for the society.

Other committees to be appointed include membership, historical markers, research and historical material, scrapbook and history recording of material acquired, publicity, program and liaison with all groups interested in Brown County history.

At Friday's session Dr. T. R. Havins and Jene Wagner made brief reports about importance of preserving family material, records, letters and other items, and their value to future generations was often let such valuable historical material be lost through lack of interest.

It was pointed out almost every family as valuable material which could be duplicated for preservation in the association's historical records.

Also at the meeting was general discussion on placement of historical markers in the county.  Cited as a prime example was the building between the auditorium and the Academy of Freedom on the Daniel Baker campus.

That building, erected in the 1880's was Coggin High School and in 1887 had 217 students.  It was mentioned as a possible site for a historical marker soon.