The Lone Star History of Science Group is pretty much what it sounds like—a loose-knit and very informal organization of historians of science, technology, the environment, and medicine from around the state of Texas. It was founded in Austin in March 1988 and around bluebonnet time in March or April of every year since then (apart from the Covid-19 years of 2020, 2021, and 2022), the group has gathered in one or another Texas city (usually Austin, Houston, or College Station) to hear a talk, enjoy dinner together, and get to know each other a little better. The longevity of the Lone Star Group probably owes a lot to its simplicity: on its founding, its members agreed that the "organization" would have no by-laws, officers, or dues, and it still gets along very well without them.
Our 2024 gathering was a rather more elaborate affair than usual: Luis Campos and Liz Petrick of Rice University, together with Jacob Moses of UTMB in Galveston and Pratik Chakrabarti of the University of Houston, organized a two-day meeting, held in Houston and Galveston on Friday and Saturday, April 26th and 27th. We started with a reception and a lightning round of introductions at Rice starting on Friday afternoon, spent the night at a hotel in Galveston, and then on Saturday morning gathered at UTMB's "Open Gates" conference center for breakfast and a talk on the history of industrial fisheries and social conflict on the Texas coast by Blake Earle of Texas A&M Galveston. It made for a memorable occasion.
For a list of past meetings, with the date, city, site, speaker, topic, and where we went to dinner, click on the "Past Meetings" tab above. Most of the dates also include a link to the account of the meeting published in the History of Science Society Newsletter, often with a photo of the assembled group. We're also gradually adding other photos, which you can find by clicking the "Photographs" tab above.
Anyone wishing to be added to the e-mail list for the Lone Star Group (and that's all it takes to become a member in good standing) should contact Bruce Hunt at the University of Texas: bjhunt@austin.utexas.edu.