Kate Rogers, the former president of the Alamo Trust, joins the TribCast this week to talk about her decision to step down from running the Texas’ most beloved historic site amid political pressure from Republican state leaders.
Rogers walks Eleanor and guest host Alejandro Serrano through the unexpected controversy over a social media post celebrating Indigenous People’s Day, and her surprise when state leaders started sharing excerpts of her 2023 doctoral dissertation. In the paper, which she had to go back and read herself when it began circulating, she’d written that she wanted the Alamo to “become a beacon for historical reconciliation … but politically that may not be possible at this time.”
Rogers was in the midst of overseeing a politically fraught overhaul of the Alamo Historic Site, which has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debates over how to tell the story of Texas’ history. While she maintains there was nothing particularly controversial in her dissertation, she acknowledged that some parts could be read as critical of the Texas Legislature, which is the project’s largest funder.
“I could see how we can’t have someone running this project who sounds ungrateful or critical of the largest donor to the project,” she said.
The restoration and expansion of the Alamo is set to include a new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum featuring eight galleries that trace the history of the site from its Indigenous context through the 1836 Battle of the Alamo and its contemporary legacy in Texas.
In calling for her resignation, Patrick said he would “defend the Alamo today against a rewrite of history,” and that the site’s “overriding emphasis” should be on the battle. Rogers said that was always the plan, with the largest galleries dedicated to the 13-day siege, but that other exhibits, like those on the Indigenous people and history of slavery that played a role in the conflict should also be reflected.
“They were men of their time. They were flawed. We’re all flawed,” Rogers said. “But that doesn’t diminish the contributions that they made and I feel very strongly about that.”
The Alamo Trust board announced last week that former Secretary of State Hope Andrade would be the organization’s next president and chief executive.
Rogers said the whole experience felt like a “witch hunt,” and connected her being pushed out to recent firings at Texas universities over the teaching of topics deemed controversial by state leaders.
“I think it’s interesting that politicians who publicly support the right to free speech and actually argue for the right to free speech are saying, ‘well, but not when you write something that is potentially critical of something we believe.’”
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Great Job Texas Tribune, Eleanor Klibanoff And Alejandro Serrano & the Team @ KSAT San Antonio for sharing this story.
