a speaker series moving through time

The Neill-Cochran House Museum inaugurated its speaker series four years ago, naming it Modern Times because when Abner Cook built this Greek Revival residence, it was a state-of-the-art gem. The families for whom the House is named updated the structure when conveniences became available – gas, indoor plumbing, electricity, and more – keeping it “modern.”  For presenters, these informal talks, or conversations, have drawn on a talented pool of experts throughout Texas.   Audience members began the series by stepping back into the middle of the 19^th century to 1855 when the Neill-Cochran House was constructed.

Talks are presented by the Friends of the Neill-Cochran House Museum and are free to members.  Individual and corporate sponsorships make this benefit possible and keep the price low for new participants.  At only $10 per person per program, the ticket price is one of the state’s best bargains – especially since refreshments are included!

Topics for the current season are directly below followed by a glimpse at past series topics and speakers. For the current schedule, please visit the calendar section of our website.

Modern Times: 1870s

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Naming an Era: The Gilded Age — There’s Millions In It! with Kevin MacDonnell

In 1873, Mark Twain and his neighbor Charles Dudley Warner coauthored a novel based on their perceptions of greed and corruption in the American scene.  Their title turned into a moniker that’s lasted over a hundred years.  Rare book dealer and Twain scholar Kevin MacDonnell will talk about the author and the odd circumstances that led to the book and subsequent play.  MacDonnell’s show and tell will include pieces from his own collection – including Twain’s own original manuscript!  No homework is required, but if you would like to read the book, Mr. MacDonnell (and, indeed, English professors on the “Q-T”) recommend the first 12 and last 6 chapters of the Oxford edition.  SOLD OUT!

Deep in the Art of Texas with James Baker

Retired Texas A&M professor, James Graham Baker’s love is Texas art.  Originally an anthropologist, Baker developed the Information Services and Technology Department for A&M’s School of Architecture.  Since retiring he and his wife have collected early Texas art that represents every area of the state.  In addition, Mr. Baker created the Virtual Texas Art Museum, as website with over 12,000 images of Texas art along with reference texts and biographical entries.  His enthusiasm is infectious, and participants will leave with true appreciation of what led to Texas art in the 1870s.

The Iron Horse Gallops In with Ken Fitzgerald

The faux oysters that are part of the NCHM Dining Room vignette would not have graced the Neill’s table without the train’s arrival in Texas.  With the state connected by rail, modern life could really begin.  Award-winning Fort Worth rail photographer and author Ken Fitzgerald will walk us through the history of the steam train and the arrival or the Iron Horse in various parts of Texas.  This conversation and the refreshment hour will take place in a vintage excursion car at the Austin Steam Train Association.  For directions and details, please see Calendar page.

It’s What’s for Dinner with M M Pack

In the 1870s, a cook at the Neill-Cochran House still would have worked in a separate building – possibly near the existing gift shop.  But, an important addition to the domestic landscape came into its own in that decade – the stove.  M M Pack is a food-ways expert and writer based in Austin whose lively writing appears weekly in “Food for Thought” in the Chronicle.  She will put us all on a historic diet and place our local meals in the broader national context.  Expect some freshly prepared refreshments with an old-time twist.

Invention: The Mother of Necessity with Bruce J. Hunt

The marketplace is flooded by gadgets loaded with bells and whistles that we absolutely “need.”  University of Texas history professor Bruce J. Hunt, whose specialty is the history of science, will introduce us to the period that saw more scientific and technological creativity since cavemen put fire to good use.  With his research focusing on the development of electrical science and technology in the 19^th century, Dr. Hunt is the author of The Maxwellians (Cornell University Press) on three men whose lives were changed by James Clerk Maxwell’s groundbreaking work on electromagnetism and the soon-to-be-published Pursuing Power and Light:  Technology and Physics from James Watt to Albert Einstein (Johns Hopkins University Press). 

Modern Times: 1865-1870

War Is Over:  The Picture Changes with David Coleman

War does much to disrupt and end lives.  But as we saw in “Doctoring a Wounded Nation,” war can also serve to advance science and technology, sometimes for the good of its survivors.  In this conversation, David Coleman, PhD, Curator of Photography at the Harry Ransom Center, will discuss the development of picture-taking up to and beyond the War Between the States when photography became an art form.  Dr. Coleman most recently mounted a show of Victorian photography from the HRC’s vast collection that includes the first photograph ever made.

Arms and the Men — and Women: Instruments of War and Peace with Bob Corwin

Firearms have been a part of the American conversation since before the Revolution was won.  They continue to frighten and fascinate, and Waco physician, historian, and collector Bob Corwin will take the Modern Times audience back to the Texas Revolution through Reconstruction to look at changes in technology and attitudes surrounding small firearms.  Dr. Corwin has made a lifelong study of both the Civil War and antique guns and has spoken to groups as diverse as the DAR, Texas Archeological Society, and Boy Scouts of America.  This is a pistol-packing event with real examples from Dr. Corwin’s collection, so come prepared to be entertained and enlightened.

Austin’s Coldest Case: The Great Treasury Raid of 1865 with Mike Cox

With his latest book under his belt – The Texas Rangers:  Wearing the Cinco Peso – Mike Cox will speak about the Reconstruction-era lawlessness that set the stage for a robbery that remains unsolved to this day.  A group of about 25 desperados depleted the State Treasury of its gold, which, in today’s dollars would amount to a king’s ransom.  Mr. Cox’s research traces the most likely perpetrator to St. Louis, but all participants will be deputized for this ongoing manhunt.

Custer’s Penultimate Stand: Reconstructing Texas with James Donovan

Literary agent and author James Donovan has the latest and best biography of George Armstrong Custer available.  His book was deemed “the last word on the Last Stand” in a Los Angeles Times book review.

Custer, a strong and controversial character, spent time in Austin during Reconstruction along with his wife Libbie.  Since the Neill-Cochran House was leased to the government as a hospital for the Federal troops stationed in the Hill Country, we can be pretty sure that the Civil War general graced our building with his lively presence!  Join us for a lively talk and book signing.

Free At Last: The Texas African-American Experience in Song & Narrative with Gloria Quinlan & Voices From the Huston-Tillotson Choir

The final topic for Modern Times: 1865-1870 — War Is Over will continue to address the unique situation in Texas during Reconstruction and focus on the surprisingly prominent role of slavery in Austin. Freedman had a lot to say and sing about. Please join us to hear their song. Dr. Gloria Quinlan and her choral ensemble, including singers from the Huston-Tillotson University Choir, perform Free At Last: Texas African-American Experience in Song & Narrative.

Modern Times: 1860-1865

Antebellum Austin in Black & White: The Servants and the Served with Kenneth Hafertepe

Museum Studies professor at Baylor University in Waco, author of Abner Cook: Master Builder on the Texas Frontier, and former resident of the Neill-Cochran House, Dr. Hafertepe has researched carefully the issues surrounding slavery in Central Texas.  His book on the Spanish governor’s palace received awards from the Texas State Historical Association and the Southeaster Society of Architectural Historians.

Mary Lincoln’s Salon: A Southern Heart in a Union White House with Mary Margaret Buss and Felicity Coltman

Acclaimed pianist and founder of the Austin Chamber Music Center, Ms. Coltman returns to Modern Times with Galveston monologist Mary Margaret Buss to portray the much-misunderstood Kentuckian – Mary Todd Lincoln.  With a scrupulously researched script and period music, Ms. Buss puts you in the room with one of history’s most interesting first ladies.

Whistling “Dixie” All Over the Map: An Anthem Divided with Coleman Hutchison

Dr. Huthison, University of Texas professor of English, is not just whistling “Dixie” – he’s an authority on the subject.  The anthem of the South had its own turf war.  As a specialist in the cultural memory and artistic artifacts of the conflict between the North and the South, Dr. Hutchison examines the war and its multi-layered repercussions.

Doctoring A Wounded Nation: Civil War Medicine with Thomas McMasters

War is often the mother of medical invention, and Director of Fort Sam Houston’s Army Medical Department Museum Tom McMasters will shed light on hospital care, field medicine, the new role of nurses, and the quiet enemy – disease.

War Stories: The Wounded Soul Speaks with Pamela Christian and Ev Lunning, Jr.

Memory speaks through stories, letters, and debates.  Dr. Christian, professor in the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance, and Mr. Lunning, director of the Mary Moody Northen Theatre at St. Edwards University, partner again in a staged reading guaranteed to move and enlighten.

Modern Times: 1855

Antebellum Austin: Our World Before the Civil War with Mike Cox

Author of 12 books, including Texas Ranger Tales: Stories That Need Telling, Mike Cox is a recognized authority on Texas in its wild and wooly youth. He is an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters and an award-winning journalist who currently serves as communications manager for the Texas Department of Transportation.

A Whale of a Good Time: The 1855 Bookshelf with Anthony Hilfer

University of Texas at Austin Iris Howard Regents Professor in English Literature, Tony Hilfer is a lively speaker on music, popular culture, and, of course, literature. Although his most recent book is American Fiction Since 1940, he will take the Modern Times audience back to the world created by Herman Melville in Benito Cereno, which appears in Piazza Tales and is available at local bookstores.

The Chambered Musician: A Little 1855 Music with Felicity Coltman

Austinites know Felicity Coltman as the founding director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, which she built from 1983 to 2006. Mrs. Coltman began her performing career as a teenager on the radio in her native South Africa and has taught piano most of her adult life. Modern Times participants will hear a chamber trio perform the new music of the day in the appropriate setting — an 1855 parlor!

A Domestic Cover-Up: Textiles & Fashions in 1855 with Michaele Haynes

Michaele Haynes, Curator of Anthropology at San Antonio’s Witte Museum, will talk about what was hanging in your closet and on your windows in the middle 19th century. Author of Dressing Up Debutantes: Pageantry and Glitz in Texas, her most recent exhibition is A Wild & Vivid Land: Stories of South Texas.

The Graveyard Shift: Dying in 1855 with Ed Van De Vort

Recipient of the 2006 Katherine Drake Hart Preservation Award from the Austin History Center Association, Ed Van De Vort is currently a staff member of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau in the Heritage Marketing department. Mr. Van De Vort conducts historic walking tours of downtown, the Bremond Block, the Capitol, and the State and Oakwood cemeteries. He was recently featured on the highly acclaimed documentary series Downtown, produced by Austin’s PBS network KLRU.