As the City of Victoria celebrates its bicentennial anniversary, the University of Houston-Victoria and Victoria College are partnering to offer a symposium that will look at the history of the South Texas community, from the regionƵs first inhabitants, all the way to the space race.

ƵVictoria's bicentennial is the perfect time for the city to reflect on its history,Ƶ said Joseph Locke, UHV associate professor of history and the event organizer. ƵThere are few moments when people's attentions are turned to the city's past, and this is one of them. If colleges and universities are meant to be places of learning and reflection, we thought the symposium would be a worthwhile contribution to the bicentennial.Ƶ

The Victoria Bicentennial History Symposium will include a variety of events on April 11 and 12 at UHV and VC. All of the events are free and open to the public. Each session is organized to focus on a different era in Victoria’s history and will include time to answer attendee questions. For more information about the symposium, go to . The event is funded by the UHV College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, the university’s history program, the City of Victoria, Humanities Texas, VC’s Museum of the Coastal Bend and the DeLeón Club of Victoria.

The symposium will open with a keynote address at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in UHV University NorthƵs Walker Auditorium, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The presentation will be delivered by Carolina Castillo Crimm, a history professor emeritus from Sam Houston State University and will focus on the De León family and the founding of Victoria. After CrimmƵs address, there will be an open reception in the UHV University North Multi-Purpose Room.

The second day of the symposium will begin with breakfast snacks at 9 a.m. in the Borchers Leon Exhibit Hall at VCƵs Museum of the Coastal Bend, 2200 E. Red River St. At 9:30, the first panel of the day will focus on archaeology and prehistoric Victoria as well as the Mission Espiritu Santo in Mission Valley. The panelists will discuss archaeological finds dating back 13,000 years in the area and what they tell us about the people who used to call the Coastal Bend home. Attendees also are welcome to walk through the museum and view the exhibits.

ƵArchaeology is a rich pursuit here because there are so many sites to investigate,Ƶ said Sue Prudhomme, executive director of cultural affairs for VC and director of the museum. ƵExtensive materials have been discovered, and weƵve been able to learn about a culture that didnƵt leave a written record to tell us what their life was like. One of the difficulties we face is the humidity of South Texas, which quickly breaks down anything organic. But even so, weƵve been able to learn so much.Ƶ

After the panel discussion, attendees can either walk or drive over to the rest of the dayƵs events, which will be held in the UHV University Commons Multi-Purpose Room, 3006 N. Ben Wilson St. The next section will begin with a group of presentations about VictoriaƵs early history at 11:15 a.m. Topics will include the Karankawa Tribe, the Jewish community in 19th-century Victoria, and Victoria in 1873.

At 2:30 p.m., the next section will shift to a more modern time, specifically Victoria after World War II. There will be three presentations that focus on topics including the impact of World War II airfields on small towns in Texas, Victoria and the selection of NASAƵs space center in 1961, and Civil Rights activist Casey Hayden.

The final panel of the day will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature discussions about preservation efforts in Victoria, specifically historical buildings, monuments and architecture. There also will be a presentation about statues and monuments in Victoria and how they influence the publicƵs memory of Victoria.

The symposium will end with a closing keynote presentation by Karl Jacoby, the Allan Nevins Professor of American History at Columbia University, will look at Victoria's history through the viewpoint of William Ellis, a Victoria man who was born enslaved but carved a remarkable, identity-crossing life out of America's Gilded Age. There will be a short reception following the closing presentation.

Reaching a 200-year milestone is an exciting time for a community, and UHV and VC hope the symposium will offer an opportunity for community members and scholars to come together and learn about the town they call home, Locke said.

ƵIf we want to understand our city, we have to understand its past,Ƶ Locke said. ƵVictoria has a long, varied, and complicated history. But it's our history that defines us. We hope the symposium reminds us not only that we are all products of that history, but that it's up to all of us to carry these historical conversations forward.Ƶ