1315 21st Street
Galveston, Texas 77550
info@thebryanmuseum.org
(409) 632-7685
501(c)(3) Non-Profit
Sponsored By
Hard Won Freedoms in America is a three-part public lecture series to be presented from September through November 2026 in conjunction with America 250.
The series will explore pivotal moments in history when individuals and communities confronted injustice and organized to secure civil, educational, and political rights. Through lectures by nationally respected scholars and community members, the program will highlight the fight for civil rights in South Texas, the unlikely heroes of the American Revolution and the stories of Jewish immigration to America.
The Forgotten War for Independence in the American Borderlands
How does Galveston’s namesake, Bernardo de Galvez, fit into the story of the American Revolution? Dr. Hemmis, a professor of history at Texas A&M Central Texas, will speak on his research on society in early American borderlands during the American Revolution which includes connecting the stories of revolutionary George Morgan, the Willing Expedition, and Bernardo de Galvez. Dr. Hemmis will present case studies of backcountry diplomacy which are frequntly overlooked in the broader narrative of the American War for Independence.