The Women's Museum and the statue that prompted a question.
“There’s something that’s been bugging us Texans. And it’s time that we set the record straight … There ain’t no saguaro in Texas. It’s not the kind of cactus we’ve got.” Rev. Horton Heat
TRAVELS WITH MAGGIE
It’s always been my belief that every question deserves an answer. So today I’m going to answer the one from a reader who commented on the photograph of a statue that went with my Jan. 10th blog about the Women’s Museum in Dallas.
The statue features a woman atop a huge saguaro cactus, and the question was: “Do saguaro cacti grow in Texas?” Honky-Tonk comic singer Rev. Horton Heat says; ”No.” The plant experts agree, but with an addendum: No wild saguaro grow in Texas.
You might be able to forgive Rauol Jossett, the statue’s creator. He was a native Frenchman, who carved the plaster and cement statue in 1935, just two years after immigrating to the United States. Perhaps he got his idea from western movies of the period that featured huge saguaro in their supposedly Texas backdrops. Or maybe he copied the idea from other artists whose work depicts the huge armed cacti in their Texas landscapes.
No wonder Horton Heat wanted to set the record straight.
The Centennial Building and another of Raoul Jossett's giant ladies found at Dallas Fair Park
But now that I’ve answered the reader’s question, let me tell you what else I learned in my research. The Women’s Museum statue is called “Spirit of the Centennial.” It was created as part of the renovations to turn a 1910, double-duty stock coliseum-by-day/music-hall-by-night building into an administration building for Texas’ 1936 Centennial Celebration.
The model for Jossett’s sculpture was Georgia Carroll, the lead singer for the Kay Kyser Band. She later became the band leader’s wife and an actress. She just died earlier this month.
The administration building was converted into the Women’s Museum in 2000, and is located in Dallas’ Fair Park, where a stroll through its Texas sized, 277-acre grounds can turn up six other giant-sized ladies created by Jossett. Let me know if you find them all.
Meanwhile, I love questions. Anybody else with one?
I grew up listening to my mother’s stories about Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge and Ish Kabibble. For a while, I thought she might be making the whole thing up. I wonder whether she knew about Georgia Carroll’s connection to the statue. I wish I could ask her.
My greatest flaw–at least on of them–is that I rarely think of questions until after the Q/A session is long over. But I’ll let you know when one occurs to me.
Nice to meet you Pat. Love the picture. I’ve seen it before but didn’t know the history.
Thank you for your comment on Helen Ginger’s blog today. I’d love it if you read my book, The Treasures of Carmelidrium. Have a wonderful day.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author
Hi, Pat, no question just a prickly comment. As a resident of AZ it has always “bugged” me that the entire southwest likes to use the stately Saguaro as their icon. I have noticed full page ads directed at tourists promising them bliss in New Mexico and featuring – what else – the Saguaro. I wonder if these tourists ever think to ask, “Where are the Saguaros?” once they get to NM?
Thanks for bringing up this issue. However, you did not mention that the only state with native growing Saguaros is AZ. I think I do have to concede to a few growing over the state line into SE California but those Saguaros do not recognize the state line – only the Sonoran Desert ecosystem. 😀 And yes, a few also grow just south of the border but we don’t count that either – different country. LOL!!!
I am the reader who raised the question and am from NM. I also am bugged when a national company thinks that saguaro cactus grows everywhere in the SW. We are often known as the Land of Cactus because of the many varieties that flourish here; however, not the saguaro. I think that it is the cactus that comes to mind for folks not familiar with the different desert ecosystems because of its stately nature. Thanks, Pat, for checking this out and expanding our knowledge about another aspect of Texas.
I enjoyed this post. Very informative (as are the comments). Thank you. 🙂
Great post. Enjoyed it! The info was timely for me since I will be speaking at the Women’s Museum on March 10, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. Hope your readers can come. I’m talking about Writing Strong Women and the impact WWII had on women then and now!
Sylvia