Stupid elitism…
This past weekend we visited Goliad and Presidio La Bahia. I had wanted to go there for years as an ancestor of mine, James Walker Fannin, led troops in the Texas Revolution that were massacred at that site. It was a very interesting and informative. We visited the Fannin Memorial Monument while there also. I’m waiting on my photos to get developed and will post them later this week.
Seeing all this piqued my curiosity about the archeology of the area and other parts of Texas. My son also seemed interested in the history of Texas. I took a bit of archeology in college and thought it might be a good learning experience for my son. I found the Texas Archeological Society online and saw that they had a mailing list. I tried to subscribe to the list to see what kinds of people were in the group, what they discussed, and to find out if I might want to join. I was asked if I was a member of the Society. I said, ‘no, do I need to be to join the list?’. I was told that to join the mailing list I needed to be a member. So, let me get this straight. I have to pay $40 to become a member so I can join your mailing list to find out if I want to spend $40 to become a member? I wanted to find out what kinds of activities they did because their website lacks info on those things.
They claim as part of their charter they are to ‘inform Texans of their rich archeological heritage’. Only if you give them $40 I guess. I was very interested in their digs around La Bahia and wanted to ask some questions. I also thought it’d be good for my son to see a working dig. I was probably going to join their group but this kind of exclusionary elitism really put me off. Way to ‘educate the public to the aims of archeology’. I guess next time I find a site of interest I’ll keep it to myself. That seems to be the way things work in archeology around here.
: Upside Down from the album “Everything To Everyone” by Barenaked Ladies