Alamo Resources Revisited

 by Phil Rosenthal

A Tribute…

     Previously I wrote a column on those resources I thought were indispensable for anyone doing research on the Alamo. In the article, I stated outright that I was probably going to leave out a lot of deserving authors and works and that after 1989, my research was pretty much ended.

     Normally, I wouldn’t be revisiting this matter, leaving further discussion up to the readers of this site. However, with the advent of the sad passing of one of the Alamo’s most competent researchers, and the realization after I submitted the article that I had left out some major resources that I had used, I felt I needed to address that now.

     First of all, from the pages of The Alamo Journal, which I did mention as one of those indispensable sources, the late Tom Lindley’s work, especially on ordinance and other military aspects of the Siege, has to be included in any list of important works. Unfortunately, I knew neither Tom nor the other Alamo enthusiast who recently passed, Jerry Hadley, and I am the lesser for it. I will, in the future, be making a concerted effort to reach out to Alamo enthusiasts with whose name or work I am familiar, but have never either corresponded with nor personally met.

     Then there is Mark Lemon, who I believe practically lives in my backyard here in Georgia, but have never met. I put him right up there with Tom Feely, the master of dioramas, on his knowledge of the Alamo compound and its accompanying military elements.

     There is Philip Haythornthwaite, an Alamo International alumni, who has had published a number of expert works on the uniforms and equipment of all sorts of armies during all eras, especially the Alamo.

     There are others expert on the different aspects of the Alamo, be it the historical Alamo or the films of the Alamo, like Craig Covner, Kaj Andersen, Ashley Ward, Paul Anderson, Don Clark, Gary Zaboly, Gary Foreman, Joe Musso, etc. The list goes on and on. Craig, along with wife Nina Rosenstand, Denmark’s Kaj, and Tulsa Don Clark, I am proud to say, like Bill Chemerka, Mike Boldt, Tony Pasqua, William “Bill” Groneman III, Alan Kude, Dr. Murray Weissman and not the least, “Nefarious” Ned Huthmacher, are all Alamo International alumni. Much kudos again, to “Wild Bill” Chemerka, or as I call him, “The Genr’l” for doing such an amazing job keeping these people together through his Alamo Society.

Other works that you need to know about and are an incredible help are:

The Papers of the Texas Revolution, John Holmes Jenkins, Presidial Press, 1973 – This work has actual correspondence of the period. An invaluable resource.

Official Correspondence of the Texan Revolution 1835-1836, William Binkley, D. Appleton – Century Co., 1936

Ditto above.

     There will doubtless be more remembered and realized over the next months. However, with people like Bill Chemerka, Wade Dillon, Frank Thompson, the Alamo Library, and some of the people I mentioned above that you might personally know, you would fare much better picking their brains since they are much more current on the Alamo than I am by a long shot. Look at the bibliographies and references in their books and that should suffice very well.

     In closing, my sincerest condolences to Tom and Jerry’s loved ones and I KNOW some of our readers have been very personally affected by the passing of these two men. Death, unfortunately, is a part of life and the Good Lord knows I’ve seen more than my share of it – especially premature death – and the best thing we can do when friends, colleagues and loved ones pass is to remember them, and never forget. After all, isn’t that what we have done with the Alamo and its defenders?

Godspeed to you all.