Past Matters: The Heart of the Friends

Warm greetings for a beautiful fall! As we pick up speed on a new fiscal year, we are excited to be back with another issue of Past Matters.

As you know, we usually use the precious real estate of Past Matters to celebrate the impact you, our supporters and friends, make on Texas history with your support. We highlight the work of our colleagues at the Texas Historical Commission and showcase the project and programs of THC and the FTHC. We talk about the new and innovative ways we have used to further the mission and work of the Commission. This issue will certainly do all of this and more. However, I want to take the opportunity, in my little portion of real estate in this issue, to highlight something that is critically important and that I have not spoken about before.

Many of you have heard us talk about, or have seen me write about, our “small but mighty” team at the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission. As the Development Office of the Texas Historical Commission, we have the benefit of the entire THC as our “programming” staff – all 350-plus of them. As the team that supports the entire agency with philanthropic support, we have a unique vantage point, and a huge responsibility. And when I say that the Friends team comes through consistently for the THC, I cannot overstate it. This has been especially true for a good part of 2026, and I want to take this opportunity to recognize the wonderful colleagues that I get to work with every day so you may see them as the Friends Board and I do – as the strength of the organization and the folks that quietly but impactfully “make it happen!”

Traci Anderson, Finance and Operations Manager for the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, joined the Friends in April of 2024, before which she was on staff of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine for over a decade. According to Traci, her position at the Friends is the perfect confluence of her academic background, her professional experience, and her enduring interest in Texas history. According to me, the Friends of the THC is lucky to have Traci’s experience, her creativity (in writing and graphic design), her humor, her patience, and her ability to remember and share the most random and incredibly interesting tidbits of Texas history.

And then, in April of 2026, we had our newest member of the team, Olivia Green, join us as the Friends’ Development Associate. Olivia comes to the Friends following her work at Texas Rural Funders where she assisted with building capacity for rural organizations across the state, gaining a deep appreciation for the cultural landscape of Texas. Beyond this experience, Olivia brings a “go-getter” attitude to her position, a dry wit that she shares generously, an ability to hit the ground running on most any task she is given, and a happy energy that she applies to every aspect of her role.

I also want to recognize our colleague, Lorelei Gonzalez, who has recently moved from the Friends to a position within the Historic Sites Division at the THC. While we were sad to see Lorelei go, we are glad she just moved to the other side of the table and will continue to work with us on the Friends Alliance Program.

I am truly grateful to be able to work with colleagues that see their role at the Friends as part of the much larger picture – that of preserving and sharing all aspects of Texas history in a thoughtful, responsible, and respectful manner. With Lorelei’s move, and with a new development director position open at the Friends, it is hiring season for us. I hope that as we build our “small but mighty” team to its full capacity of five (!!), we are able to build on the characteristics that made this team special. We look forward to introducing you to our new team members as they come on board.

Coming back to where I started – this issue of Past Matters will include a site spotlight from the San Jacinto State Battleground Historic Site, information about upcoming workshops and virtual events, and a feature about the 2026 Preservation Scholars Program. Speaking of which, I want to congratulate the 2026 Preservation Scholars cohort for successfully completing their 10-week internship at THC. We are excited to see the annual program feature, highlighting the scholars and their work, in the latest issue of The Medallion.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued generosity and partnership. Your support, at any level, impacts Texas history in deep and profound ways every day, for which we are so very grateful. We have more work to do to make sure that Texas history and the varied and complex stories of our great state continue to be shared across the state and beyond. We hope you will continue to help us with this ambitious endeavor with an annual or a recurring monthly gift, so we can continue to build community through storytelling.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the staff of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission—warm regards and best wishes!

Anjali Zutshi, Executive Director