Season three of Texas Originals has launched, and it’s time to test your knowledge! Each of the individuals in this quiz had a profound influence on Texas history and culture. For last-minute studying, refer to the newly released episodes from season three, now available on our website.

Readers who answer the most questions correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a Humanities Texas prize package. Please submit your answers by July 12, 2024, to be eligible.

 
1 Start 2 Complete

1.

Although he failed to find the mythical cities of Cíbola he was seeking, this early explorer became the first European to lead an expedition into the Great Plains, where he and his party recorded encounters with American bison, Palo Duro Canyon, and the land that is now the Texas Panhandle.

2.

Alongside Lady Bird Johnson, this uproarious reporter, press secretary, public speaker, and legendary party host modernized the public image of women in politics.

3.

Each of these artists earned recognition for their innovative methods, but only this sculptor’s work—a larger-than-life mustang in signature bright blue fiberglass—greets travelers at the Denver airport.

4.

This entrepreneur’s inventive boxed cooking mix led to a lucrative deal with American Airlines and friendships with Eleanor Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and boxer Joe Louis. Her great-grandsons opened a Houston restaurant in her honor in 2012.

5.

Many readers know him best for his novels that depict the American West; however, this famous Texas writer also received an Oscar for his coauthored screenplay for Brokeback Mountain.

6.

Nicknamed the "Lark of the Border," this Tejana singer and guitarist was the first Texan to be awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 1982.

7.

As one of Texas’s first Black legislators, this Texas state senator advocated for free, integrated public education and supported legislation that led to the creation of Texas A&M University.

8.

Inducted into the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame in 2001, this Pulitzer Prize winning-journalist is best known for reporting on political corruption in Duval County.

9.

Almost twenty years after becoming the first licensed African American architect in Texas, this civic leader and highly regarded architect cofounded the National Organization of Minority Architects.

10.

This educator, now recognized as Texas’s first Black woman novelist, predicted the contemporary genre of Afrofuturism with her 1916 book Five Generations Hence.

11.

This artist, originally from Taylor, Texas, moved to California after high school to pursue his love of animation. There, he eventually earned a reputation as the “King of Cartoons” for his unique and unconventional characters.

12.

Although she never joined LULAC herself, this activist’s collaboration with the organization was instrumental to the Mexican American civil rights movement, and she lent crucial support to the first class-action lawsuit to end school segregation in Texas.

13.

Before serving as San Antonio's senator in the first Texas Congress, this former Mexican Army officer was one of two native Texan signatories of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Readers who answer the most questions correctly will be entered into a drawing to win a Humanities Texas prize package. Please submit your answers by July 12, 2024, to be eligible.

Please include your email in the field below to receive a summary of your answers:

More about Texas Originals

Texas Originals is developed in partnership with Houston Public Radio and Austin PBS.

All episodes are available at no cost to public and commercial radio stations in Texas.

If you are interested in bringing the series to your community, email txoriginals@humanitiestexas.org.