Elizabeth Hayes Turner

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Elizabeth Hayes Turner

Elizabeth Hayes Turner


Elizabeth Hayes Turner is Associate Professor of History at the University of North Texas. She is the author of Women, Culture, and Community; Religion and Reform in Galveston, 1880-1920 (1997), which won three scholarly awards, and co-author of Galveston and the 1900 Storm: Catastrophe and Catalyst (2000). Professor Turner is the author of several articles and co-editor of Hidden Histories of Women in the New South (1994). Beyond Image and Convention: Explorations in Southern Women's History (1998); Major Problems in the History of the American South (1999); Clio's Southern Sisters: Interviews with Leaders of the Southern Association for Women Historians (2004); and Lone Star Pasts: Memory and History in Texas (2007), which won the T. R. Fehrenbach Award in Texas history. In 2003 she was a Fulbright Lecturer to the University of Genoa, Italy. Her teaching specialties are history of the New South, Southern Autobiography, and Women and Gender in the New South.

Commemorating 250 years of American independence through the stories, people, and places that shaped Texas and the nation.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, Texans have a unique opportunity to reflect on the state’s role in the American story. Through exhibitions, programs, educational initiatives, and community events across Texas, Texas America250 encourages celebration, reflection, and commemoration at both local and statewide levels. At the Texas State Historical Association, we are proud to support this important moment through our mission-driven work in history education and public engagement, including Texas History Day, and we invite students, educators, and communities to explore this milestone in meaningful ways.

On July 4, 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Long may these ideals live in the heart of every Texan and every American. May God bless all who have defended our freedoms that we enjoy each day. And God bless the United States of America.

Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas

Commemorating 250 years of American independence through the stories, people, and places that shaped Texas and the nation.

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, Texans have a unique opportunity to reflect on the state’s role in the American story. Through exhibitions, programs, educational initiatives, and community events across Texas, Texas America250 encourages celebration, reflection, and commemoration at both local and statewide levels. At the Texas State Historical Association, we are proud to support this important moment through our mission-driven work in history education and public engagement, including Texas History Day, and we invite students, educators, and communities to explore this milestone in meaningful ways.

On July 4, 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the greatest nation in the history of the world. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Long may these ideals live in the heart of every Texan and every American. May God bless all who have defended our freedoms that we enjoy each day. And God bless the United States of America.

Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas

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