Beyond the Bytes, February 3, 2026

February 3, 2026   View this email in your browser It's not too late! Apply for The Portal to Texas History Research Fellowships, due February 13th The University of North Texas Libraries is excited to invite applications for the 2026 Portal to Texas History Research Fellowships. These Fellowships are aimed at covering the associated expenses with conducting research and producing scholarship using UNT Libraries' Digital Collections including The Portal to Texas History and the UNT Digital Library. Up to $2000 will be awarded to four or more Portal to Texas History Research Fellows. Applications are due February 13, 2026.   More information can be found here.   Join us for a webinar: Portal Partner Stories The Portal to Texas History's partners each have at least one story, and with over 540 partners, that's a lot of tales to tell! Come hear stories about unique collections and how The Portal to Texas History has helped our partners share those collections with a wider audience.  When: Thursday, February 19, 1 pm CST Cost: Free Register for this meeting: https://tinyurl.com/3d5va6u4 The Roots of the Bermuda Onion in Texas From our Blog: In 1898, T. C. Nye sold his cattle ranch in the humid town of Cotulla, Texas, and bought an irrigated vineyard on the north side of Laredo in Webb County. Despite having a viticultural history reaching back to the late 1600's, at that time, Texas was known for neither its grapes nor its wine. The three highest yield cash crops in 1898 were cotton, oats, and corn. Nevertheless, T. C. Nye approached agriculture with the same bold prospect that a wildcatter approaches a field of untapped oil.  Nye would make his money, not with cotton, oats, corn, or grapes, but with an entirely new crop to the area, the Bermuda onion. Originally taken from the island of Bermuda, the Bermuda onion was tested in Florida, the Carolinas , and Louisiana before finding a home in the silty, calcium rich soil that was shaped ... [See more] Private Collection of Sharon Smith The Private Collection of Sharon Smith focuses on historical family items from her great-grandparents: Lucia "Lucie" Beilharz Busch and Hugo Albert Max Busch. as well as some of their children. Lucia "Lucie" Beilharz of Wuttenberg was the sister of Theodore Beilharz, a prominent German stonemason in Dallas. She married Hugo Albert Max Busch of Berlin, distantly related to Adolphus Busch. Both families (Busch and Beilharz) had emigrated through New York City, both reportedly fleeing  ... [more] Learn more about becoming a Portal Partner.  Hays Free Press When T.F. Harwell founded the Kyle News in 1903, it is not likely that he imagined what newspapers would look like today, but it continues to serve all of Hays County and its many residents. Bob Barton and Moe Johnson grew up as best friends in Buda. Following their time in the Army, they returned home and took a journalism class from what was then known as Southwest Texas State Teachers College, now Texas State University, and fell in love with the profession. In 1953, Moe and Bob purchased the newspaper from Turner Harwell, T.F.'s son. At that time, the paper only covered Kyle news, ... [See more] New Unit Available: Cotton, Cattle & Railroads Texas was greatly impacted by the migration and settlement of Americans from the eastern and southern states in the years following Reconstruction. As settlers migrated west in the years between 1870 and 1900, they interacted with both the human and physical geography of Texas. The establishment of railroads in the state greatly impacted the rate of settlement, development of new industries, and displacement of Native Texans. ... [more] Dallas County leaders right a wrong from city's segregated past From NBC 5 DFW County commissioners declared Wednesday that Tommy Lee Walker, a Black man, was innocent in the rape and murder of a white woman in the 1950s.  ... [follow to the article] The Case That Inspired the Amber Alert Was Never Solved.  From The Barbed Wire Thirty years ago, 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was riding her bike in an Arlington parking lot with her 5-year-old brother Ricky when she was kidnapped by a man in a pickup truck. Four days later, her body was found six miles away in a creek. ... [follow to article] On this day in 1934, The Fort Worth Press reported that a husband and wife duo, suspected of robbing a bank in Coleman were in custody. Explore over 1.1 million newspaper issues on the Portal to Texas History.     SUPPORT US! Please make a monetary donation to support the students and community members using the Portal to Texas History for research and learning.    Donate Now FOLLOW US! Facebook Libraries Website        Our mailing address is: 1155 Union Circle #305190  Denton, TX 76203-5017 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.