“In my mind, the history of art and culture is where we find who we are.” So said Dr. Jason Mellard (’00) during an event held on September 26 at the Memorial Student Center.
With the help and support of the Brazos Valley’s community-operated radio station, KEOS 89.1-FM, Mellard, an Aggie alum and Director of the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University, spoke to a mix of students, faculty, and community members gathered to celebrate the Department of History’s 125th birthday.
“This is a place that means a lot to me,” Mellard said, remembering the contributions of retired A&M history professors Dr. Robert Calvert and Dr. David Vaught to his career. “I always felt a little uncomfortable in my Texan skin. And someone like Bob Calvert, who also had deep Texas roots but spoke in all these different voices—he really helped bring me into Texas History.”
The highlight of the evening’s festivities was Mellard’s discussion of his program of radio shorts, This Week in Texas Music History. This Week airs on Austin’s NPR station, KUT/KUTX, and is syndicated across the state on The Texas Standard.
Aggieland’s own NPR station, 90.9 KAMU-FM, recorded Mellard performing scripts for upcoming shows. Mellard spoke about three moments that made Texas music the big tent that it is today. In October 1975, George Strait gave his first concert in San Marcos, while still a college student taking a history class on Country Music. In 1978, Texan rocker Kathy Valentine played her first concert in Los Angeles, California, with her band the Go-Go’s. And in 1948, radio station owner (and future governor) John Connally discovered the first Black radio DJ in Texas, Albert Lavada “Dr. Hepcat” Durst, while attending an Austin Black Senators baseball game.
The Department’s next anniversary event will be 125 Years of Texas & Borderlands History, on Wednesday, October 8, at 3:45pm in GLAS107.