The two articles I read this week had very little in common except for their subject, which were both about Dowling, but the context of each article within the larger newspaper was interesting.
The Houston Chronicle article, “Memory etched in stone,” was interesting to me because it was advertised very prominently: it made an appearance as a box on the front page of the Chronicle, as well as on the front page of the Houston section within the newspaper. The focus of most of the articles within this issue of the Chronicle were also on St. Patrick’s’ day, and both the article and the rest of the paper made very little mention of Dowling’s role as a confederate hero. Instead, they focused on Dowling as a figure in the Irish community. Although there is a sentence indicating the myth of the Sabine Pass battle (essentially 41 men vs. 5,000 Union troops), this is far from the focus of the article. Instead, the article chronicles the way in which citizens have tired to ensure Dowling will never be forgotten because of his importance to and relevance within the Irish community. Dowling is remembered more as an influential figure for his work within the Houston community than as a Confederate hero.
In the larger context of that issue, there would have been ample opportunity to explore Dowling’s Confederate ties, should that have been the wish of the author or editors. There is a great deal of discussion on the front page and farther within the issue of Val Verde, who was newly elected to a district in Texas despite his well-known connections to the Ku Klux Klan. The election of this figure at this time was particularly significant because he was elected within a prominently Hispanic district, which was previously thought to be more sensitive to such issues of race. Therefore, if the Chronicle had wanted to play up Dowling’s confederate roles or anything relating Dowling to the Civil War and the inevitable discussion of racism that comes form that, they very well could have. However, they decided not to, which shows how, by 1997, Dowling was remembered far more as an influential Irishman and far less as a Confederate Hero.
The other article in the Houston Post came at a very interesting era in American history: the heyday of the civil Rights movement. On the front page of this issue, we see LBJ affirming the necessity of Civil Rights, and, throughout the paper, we see discussion of the burgeoning Vietnam war. Of more local interest is the fact that on that same day, Hobby gifted $350,000 worth of property to Rice. We also see Alabama’s governor Wallace reaffirming his commitment to maintaining segregation.
Against the backdrop of all of these events is a series entitled “Report from the Confederacy” which chronicles what happened that day in history in response to the Civil War centennial celebration that is taking place at the time. This article details the events of the battle of Sabine Pass. Once again, it glorifies the role Dowling and his men played in the Sabine Pass battle and discusses the insurmountable odds they were up against: 42 men defeating 5,000 Yankee infantry with minimal Confederate casualties. This article is clearly meant as a morale boost to the Confederacy at this time; it plays up the incredible odds against which these people were fighting and further celebrates their victories. At the same time as the Sabine Pass victories were happening, the Confederacy was suffering huge losses on the astern front in Tennessee and Charleston, and so they very much needed the narrative of Dowling’s story to boost morale among troops at the time.
I found it very interesting that all of this was taking place against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement. The Civil Rights movement did begin and reach its most important peak precisely at the 100-year mark of the Civil War, but it is very interesting to see these two commemorations interaction with each other; on one hand, you have the very progressive battles for Civil Rights in the nation and on the other side, you see the commemoration of a war that was fought with the express purpose of defending slavery. The juxtaposition of these two ideas is striking, and a point that may be worth further exploring.