Special to the Register
SHERMAN —Light T. Cummins, Austin College professor of history, received the Liz Carpenter Award for Research in the History of Women at the annual meeting of the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) in Dallas on March 5.
The award is presented annually for the best scholarly book on the history of women and Texas that is published during the previous calendar year. Cummins was recognized for Emily Austin of Texas, 1795-1851, published by Texas Christian University Press.
Cummins is one of the first historians to sort through Emily Austin’s personal papers, while researching and writing the first biography of her life. His research unveils a depth of character in Emily Austin, sole heir to her famous brother Stephen F. Austin and his Texas land holdings after his death in 1836. The biography details the political, business, and social life of this unique frontier woman, who defied 1800s-era societal norms for women and put her own stamp on history.
Named Texas State Historian in 2009, Cummins has been a member of the Austin College history faculty since 1978 and holds the Guy M. Bryan, Jr., Chair in American History. He is director of the Austin College Center for Southwestern and Mexican Studies, a program that provides outreach, internships, and community service activities that educate students about issues facing Texas and Mexico.
Cummins, a Fulbright Scholar to Spain earlier in his career, serves as an Associate of the Danforth Foundation, is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Historical Association, and is a former chair of the Grayson County Historical Commission. He served two terms as a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Council for the Humanities, now known as Humanities Texas. He is a lifetime Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and the Louisiana Historical Association Company of Fellows, is a former president of the Southwestern Historical Association, is a life member of the Louisiana Historical Association, and has been active in a number of other historical organizations. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Sons of the Republic of Texas, William B. Travis Chapter.
