< Previous60 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 GALVESTON 222 Kempner 409-763-4641 GALVESTON - WEST END 13680 FM 3005 409-737-1488 TEXAS CITY 905 Logan 409-948-1771 SANTA FE 13227 FM 1764 409-925-3800 LEAGUE CITY 2225 Phillips Road, Suite 100 281-332-3521 Emergencies happen. We’re right here when they do. A health emergency is something most of us would rather prevent than plan for. But when you need medical care fast, the closest emergency room is a smart thing to know. As your community partner, St. Luke's Health is your direct path from feeling scared or uncomfortable to feeling better. Get to know more about our ERs before an emergency strikes. Find your nearest location at StLukesHealth.org/Emergency . COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 61 EXPERIENCEMATTERS! www.SouthLandTitle.net 409.744.0727-6710StewartRd.,Ste200,Galveston,TX77551 BESTTITLECOMPANY 2023|2022|2021|2020 BESTLAWFIRM 2023|2022|2021|2020 BESTATTORNEY 2023|2022 CHEERSTOANEWYEARWITH SOUTHLANDTITLECOMPANY! CelebratetheNewYearwithconfidenceand securityinyourrealestatetransactions. SouthLandTitleCompany,the#1ratedtitle companyinGalvestonCounty,isproudto haveservedourcommunityforover25 years.Asalocallyownedandoperated business,weunderstandtheimportanceof yourpropertyinvestments. T ravel with us in 2024 As a group travel specialist, Premier World Discovery specializes in traditional escorted tours, unique rail tours, “one hotel/unpack once” tours and river cruise charters. FOR MORE INFORMATION SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT: https://galvestonthedaily newstravel.convertri.com The Galveston County Daily News is pleased to partner with Premier World Discovery to offer opportunities for our readers and friends to travel together on journeys around the globe. 62 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 CURRENTS | ART PAGE TURNER Islander creates art from discarded or outdated books story by BARBARA CANETTI photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS R hiannon Windham judges books by their covers. And the number of pages. She doesn’t read most of the books, which are discard- ed or outdated. She creates art with them. Windham is an artistic page folder. She imagines an image and is able to fold the pages to create the design. “I was home alone and bored when I found out about this,” Windham said. “We were getting rid of a bunch of books, so I just tried it.” She watched some videos and attempted to recreate art on the pages of the books, mostly by trial and error. “It was mostly error, but it was fun,” she said. “I was teaching myself that art is my passion.” Windham, who lives in Galveston, grew up in Pasadena. She always enjoyed painting and learned how to make floral bouquets with paper. But learning to fold entire books to reflect an image on the edges of its pages was a new experience. Folded book art requires a few things: a book with at least 400 pages — old text- books, law books and medical reference books work well — a pencil and a ruler and lots of patience. Once she envisions the design, Windham recreates it on her computer and prints it (Right) For Rhiannon Windham, an artistic page folder, a good book is one she can turn into art with a lot of measuring, page folding and cutting. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 6364 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 CURRENTS | ART out. She then marks the book pages according to the design, noting where the folds will be. More than one de- sign can be created on a page. Then she starts folding. Measure, mark, cut and fold. The end result looks harder than the process actually is. Intricate lines and curves in the pattern indicate multiple folds. Words, designs, messages or pictures can be embedded on the edg- es of the pages. And once Windham completes the folding, which entails three or four hours of intense work — the outline is evident. To add contrast, she can paint the borders of the pages to define the form. Soft-cover books and those with thin pages aren’t good candidates for fold- ing art. But thick, outdated, underap- preciated books destined for a landfill are perfect. And those with colorful images can add to the final product. A typical design can be created with a 400-page book. But a really intricate layout requires up to 900 pages, which means there would be at least 450 folds. The folds define the pattern. If you can fold paper, you can create the art form, Windham said. But you must have patience and perseverance. “It came easier to me after a few tries,” she said. “I am experimenting with some other ideas. But I would rather enjoy what I am doing for a living than just working. And I am enjoying this.” tkccreations.com rhiannon Windham carefully folds a page in a book as she works on a new piece at her home in Galveston. I would rather enjoy what I am doing for a living than just working. And I am enjoying this.” RHIANNON WINDHAM COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 65 Favorites Buy it now! Easy Cooking, Texas Gulf Style COASTMONTHLY.COM/ COOKBOOK66 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 67 HOMEPORT ‘SUCH GREAT COURAGE’ The people who lived here made this house a city of Galveston landmark story by MICHELLE LEIGH SMITH | photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS T he Smith Dickerson House on Ursuline Street in Galveston offers glimpses into the extraordinary lives of the residents from several generations who did their part to change attitudes before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Gen. Gordon Granger made several stops in Southern ports previously held by the Confederacy, before he arrived in Galveston in June 1865. Galveston wasn’t the first point in the South where Granger shared news of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, but Galveston was the only Texas port where Granger stopped, and here he issued five General Orders on June 19, 1865. General Orders No. 3 informed the enslaved people of Texas they were free, which is why Gal- veston is known as the home of Juneteenth. So, in many ways, Galveston was the birthplace of free- dom in the South. Among the residents who lived their lives to preserve that spirit were residents of the Smith Dickerson House, recently designated as a city landmark. The Smith Dickerson House received the 1900 Storm Sur- vivor Plaque separate from the landmark status. Galveston Historical Foundation began the 1900 Storm Survivor plaque program in 1999. Contractor James G. Burke acquired this two-story frame house in 1894 for use as tenant property for African Ameri- cans. The building’s insurance record, dated Nov. 22, 1894, noted the house existed in some form in 1886 when nota- tions indicate it was “repaired and enlarged.” At the time, the majority of Galveston’s buildings weren’t designed by archi- tects but built by experienced carpenters who used builders’ pattern books for floor plans. Burke likely moved the house to Avenue M from another site. The house finally shows up at 3205 Ursuline St. on the 1899 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. (Opposite) Sara Salzman and Chris Tucker’s house on Avenue N in Galveston, known as the Smith Dickerson House, has a rich history in the island’s African-American community. (Above) Galveston Landmark and 1900 Storm Survivor plaques are displayed next to the front door.68 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 “As a result, it is difficult to date the con- struction of the house,” said Jami Durham, property research and cultural history his- torian for the Galveston Historical Founda- tion. “Therefore, I have dated it a circa 1894 building, based on the insurance record.” Ursuline Street is so named because the grand and imposing Ursuline Convent and Academy fronted Avenue N between 25th and 27th streets, completed in 1895 and de- signed by architect Nicholas J. Clayton. Bettie Smith was the second owner, recorded officially as Mrs. Dow Smith. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was married to Dow Smith, an African American island resident who worked as a cotton weigher. The first time he appears in the Galveston City Directories is 1882, listed as a labor- er, born in Alabama in 1850. In 1913, the Smiths added a rear, two-story structure at 2617 Ave. M to be used as a tenant dwelling. Bettie was born in Jackson, Mississippi and moved to Galveston from Crockett, Texas. She was a member of the House of Ruth No. 178, Southern Beauty No. 62 and the Queen of Sheba No. 6, all popular COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2024 69 HOMEPORT (Clockwise from far left) The living room in Sara Salzman and Chris Tucker’s historic Galveston home features lattice-paned front windows; Tucker watches Salzman spin yarn on her walking spinning wheel; an arrow points to the Smith Dickerson Home, which originally was located next to Central High School, the oldest African-American high school in Texas. The house later was moved to Avenue N. women’s service organizations. After Dow died in 1916, Bettie maintained ownership of the two properties. In 1921, the city direc- tory recorded Bettie residing in the house with her daughter, Anona Elizabeth Smith, a teacher at Central High School, the oldest African-American high school in the state of Texas. Designed by storied Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton in 1875, Central High School was on the eastern side of 2600 block of Avenue M. Anona later became dean of students at Central High School, remarkable at a time when women were underestimated and often regarded as invisible. New dresses were ad- vertised at $4.95 in 1914 and photos found in vintage Galveston papers portray Anona as a striking woman of both style and stature.Next >