The Spindletop gusher photographed by Frank Trost on January 10, 1901 - one of the most iconic images in oilfield hisotry.
Modern Times Lecture Series
Giant Under the Hill:
A History of the Spindletop Oil Discovery at Beaumont, Texas, in 1901
Judith Linsley and Ellen Rienstra
Sunday, November 3 | 2:30-4:00 PM CST
**Doors at 2:00; Lecture at 2:30
In Person and Online!
Tickets
$10 General Admission | $5 Student | $0 NCHM Member
The story behind the 1901 oil discovery at Spindletop plays like a modern TV adventure series, complete with murder, redemption, betrayal, romance, defying the odds, and an ever-changing cast of genuinely larger-than-life characters.
Historians Ellen Rienstra and Judith Linsley detail how the early search for oil brought innovations in science and technology, but these pioneers, with their daring, drive, and expertise, forged a path that changed the course of history in the new century.
To attend online, register and receive the Zoom meeting link by email ahead of the lecture.
About the Speakers
Judith W. Linsley
Southeast Texas historian Judith W. Linsley was formerly Curator of Interpretation and Education at the McFaddin-Ward House Museum and Director of the Center for History and Culture at Lamar University. A member of numerous historical organizations, she currently serves as an advisor to the Jefferson County Historical Commission. She has authored or co-authored numerous historical works, including the prize-winning Giant Under the Hill: A History of the Spindletop Oil Discovery; Charlton-Pollard: The Story of A Neighborhood, a history of Beaumont’s oldest African American neighborhood; and Lamar University: A Century of Leaders. Interests include 19th- and early 20th-century Texas history with a focus on African American and women’s studies.
Ellen W. Rienstra
Ellen Walker Rienstra is a writer and historical consultant and holds BA and MA degrees from Lamar University. Published works include those co-written with her sister, Judith Walker Linsley: Beaumont: A Chronicle of Promise, several articles for The Handbook of Texas, and Giant Under the Hill, the recipient of Best Book awards from Texas State Historical Association and East Texas Historical Association. Other books include A Pride of Kin and The Long Shadow, co-written with Jo Ann Stiles, which received an AASLH Award of Merit for Leadership in History. Rienstra and Linsley served as co-editors of The Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical Record 1986-89, and their most recent work is Lamar University: A Century of Leaders, a centennial history of Lamar University in Beaumont.
Rienstra was a violinist with the Symphony of Southeast Texas and Louisiana’s Lake Charles and Rapides Symphonies, and established the Ellen Rienstra Scholarship in Music at Lamar University. She is a past president of Lamar’s Alumni Advisory Board and a board member of the Lamar University Foundation, the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, and Lamar’s Center for History and Culture. She belongs to the Authors Guild, the Texas State Historical Association, the East Texas Historical Association, the Texas Gulf Historical Society, the Beaumont Heritage Society, the Magnolia Garden Club, and the National Society of Colonial Dames in Texas.
Rienstra is a recipient of a Garden Club of America Historic Preservation Award, and, with co-authors Linsley and Jo Ann Stiles, the Southeast Texas Arts Council’s 2016 Outstanding Contribution to the Humanities. She was named a 2018 Lamar University Distinguished Alumna.