It turns out the Battle of the Alamo — or rather the Battle of the Alamo’s library — is just getting started.
Earlier this month, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush fired the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, longtime managers of the Alamo, effective July 10. In a letter to the group, Bush cited 10 contract violations and said the state would be moving in a new direction. Now, the group is suing the general land office and Bush, claiming they are wrongfully trying to claim the DRT’s library.
The lawsuit, filed in Bexar County on Monday, alleges that shortly after Bush decided to terminate the DRT’s management, the land office told the organization of plans to “transition” the group’s library collection to the state. The suit says this is an “unconstitutional taking” of private property.
The land office declined to comment on the suit.
The lawsuit also says the land office ordered the library, which is located within the Alamo complex, to be closed on the weekends except for one Saturday a month. Then, the DRT says it was warned “the San Antonio Police Department would begin making ‘special patrols’ around the DRT Library premises.”
According to the lawsuit, the library began when it was endowed with a selection of artifacts in 1945 by William E. Howard, a native San Antonio doctor. Since then, the suit says the daughters have accepted many donations of Texas artifacts. The library now has about 38,000 items including books, maps, flags and other items.
Bobby Blanchard is a reporting fellow for
The Texas Tribune and a journalism senior at the University of Texas at Austin. This story
originally published on the Texas Tribune and is reprinted here through a news partnership between the Texas Tribune and Corridor News.