April 24, 1989
1989!
Do you remember your 1989 hairstyle? The car you were driving?
Perhaps it was your prom year. Or your first year of Little League.
Perhaps you were a baby – or not even born.
33 years ago today, Texas Adult Literacy Laubach officially came into being – the organization now known as Literacy Texas. A small group of dedicated volunteers in Travis County decided that literacy in Texas needed more attention – and the rest is history.
For a little time travel back to the 1980s, look directly below this letter.
But in the meantime, the best possible birthday present you could give us is –
– more of the same.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
Keep shining that literacy light in your part of Texas.
Keep caring for your neighbors through classes and conversation.
Keep going.
And invite others! The more people on board, the more we can do together. So share this message; invite someone to the annual conference; tweet at us. Keep raising your voice for literacy. You make so much possible, and we are overwhelmingly grateful.
Here’s to the next 33 years!
Steve Banta
Executive Director
Literacy Texas
Ready to travel back in time?
Volunteer tutor-learner pair Josephine Weatherford and Geraldine Thompson meet in the Dallas Library for reading classes. In this video from October 1989, they talk about why the classes are important to them.
Click on the picture above to see the video (1 min 45 seconds).
SOURCE: KXAS-TV (Television station : Fort Worth, Tex.). [News Clip: Portrait J. Weatherford], video, October 14, 1989; Fort Worth, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc904976/: accessed April 22, 2022), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections
Special issue of a weekly newsletter (c. 1988) published for employees of the Fort Worth Division of General Dynamics describing volunteer adult literacy tutors in the Fort Worth area.
Click on the picture above to see the whole newsletter.
SOURCE: General Dynamics Corporation. Fort Worth Division. GDFW This Week, Special Issue, periodical, 1988~; Fort Worth, Texas. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1092008/: accessed April 22, 2022), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.
