LIBERTY October 4, 2018 - Bill O’Neal, State Historian of Texas will be the guest speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Liberty County Historical Commission, Monday, October 15th, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. in the Hartel Building, 318 San Jacinto Street in Liberty, Texas.  Mr. O’Neal’s program will be “MUSICAL TRADITIONS OF TEXAS.” 

Bill O’Neal has served as State Historian of Texas for the past 6 years, since being sworn in by Gov. Rick Perry in 2012.  He is the author of 50 books and more than 300 articles and book reviews about the history of Texas.  He has received numerous awards including the A.C. Greene Distinguished Author Award at the West Texas Book Festival in 2015 and Lifetime Achievement Award of the Weld West History Association in 2012.  He was selected by True West Magazine in 2007 as the Best Living Non-Fiction Writer.  Mr. O’Neal has appeared in T.V. documentaries on the History Channel, The Learning Channel, TBS, A&E, CMT and the American Heroes Channel.

O’Neal taught history at Panola College in Carthage from 1970 until 2011.  His teaching awards include a Piper Professorship, a statewide honor awarded in 2000.  He was named Panola County Citizen of the Year in 1988 and again in 2014.  In 2013, he was presented an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from Texas A&M University in Commerce and that same year, Panola College’s newest dormitory was named “Bill O’Neal Hall.”

Bill O’Neal is a much sought-after speaker in Texas and most recently presented “Musical Traditions of Texas” at the state convention of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas last May in Dallas. 

For more information concerning the Liberty County Historical Commission or Mr. O’Neal’s program, please email County Chair, Linda Jamison at lchc318@gmail.com or call 936-334-5813.