Texas history buff J.P. Bryan’s lawsuit against the Texas State Historical Association won’t go to trial; the two parties have come to an agreement on the TSHA’s leftward lurch and the composition of its board.
TSHA President Nancy Baker Jones agreed to step down, along with the board secretary. The board will now be rebalanced with about half academic members, and about half non-academic members (in keeping with its bylaws). Bryan’s lawsuit pointed out that the imbalance on the board, which favored academics, was the reason for the wokeness that has seeped into the organization in recent years.
J.P. Bryan is a retired Texas oilman who agreed to step into the executive director position at TSHA last fall to help get it back on track. He paid its bills from his own pocket, as well as restarted fundraising and development efforts. Despite his efforts, the organization’s board called a May 1 meeting, in which it seemed clear that Bryan would be fired. He filed this lawsuit to prevent the meeting.
The TSHA is a nonprofit that publishes academic journals, holds conferences and puts out both the Handbook of Texas and the Texas Almanac. It plays a role in how the history of Texas is taught to the Lone Star State’s schoolchildren, but Bryan and other observers believe the TSHA has drifted to the left, presenting a critical “woke” view of Texas history.
For more on J.P. Bryan and woke history, read this.