The history of the Alamo has been under public attack by the revisionist Left for some time, but on Friday the Texas Historical Commission will consider a proposal to let inaccurate modern history intrude on the Shrine of Texas Liberty.
At issue is the so-called “Woolworth Building,” situated inside the historic fortifications of the Alamo. Currently home to a disgraceful horror show amusement that will soon be closed, the 20th-century building has had numerous lives, including a stint as a department store. It has been falsely and variously described as the first desegregated lunch counter south of the Mason-Dixon line (it wasn’t), in the old confederacy (it wasn’t), or in Texas (it wasn’t).
The question of what buildings to preserve comes down to the fact that not all historical events are equally important. Definitionally, something happened everywhere since the beginning of time. But not everything is as important as everything else.
The important story of desegregation in the Lone Star State can be told at several sites around Texas as well as in San Antonio – and many with truer historic significance.
The 13-days of the 1836 siege, battle, and massacre is the most important history in the several block radius around the old mission. It is the only place in the world to tell the story of the Battle of the Alamo, it’s the only place where William Travis wrote the stirring “Victory or Death” letter. The heroic battle of 1836 sits at the very the heart of what it means to be a Texan.
Having thus far been unsuccessful at turning the Alamo into a meaningless mishmash of 10,000 years of non-history – with 1836 as a footnote – the San Antonio Conservation Society wants the Texas Historical Commission to officially protect the Woolworth Building from being altered in a way fitting to restore the dignity of the battlefield.
Don’t buy the race card being played. The San Antonio Conservation Society was never bothered by having a horror-show-themed amusement ride housed in the building. It’s only now, in the 11th hour, that they have found a spacious reason intrude upon efforts to more faithfully and completely tell and preserve the real story of the Alamo.
The CEO of the Alamo Trust isn’t impressed with plans to water down the history of the Alamo, as noted in the Rivard Report earlier this week:
Alamo CEO Douglass McDonald called the Conservation Society’s proposal disrespectful to the historic site. While there are plenty of places in San Antonio that could honor the city’s role in the civil rights movement, he said, interpretation of the Alamo is site-specific.
The Alamo has been central to the story of Texas liberty. That men were willing to face certain death with honor rather than sacrifice their position to a numerically superior enemy speaks to commitment that should be celebrated and elevated. It is a story that can be told only at the Alamo.
It is up to the Texas Historical Commission chairman, John Nau, and his colleagues to see through the charade of revisionist politics and keep the history of the Alamo front and center.
It is our sacred duty to Remember the Alamo!
