The Names of Four Scouts: Slavery, Settler Colonialism, and the Limitsof Incorporation at the Texas Capitol Complex since 1983

Authors

• Mark Mallory, Texas A&M University

Abstract

This essay takes the commemorated names of four Seminole Negro Indian Scout Medal of Honor recipients to examine public memory at the Texas Capitol Complex since 1983. Using archival documents, newspapers, exhibits, and monuments, it traces how the Texas State Preservation Board responded to criticism through limited incorporations of Black, Tejano, and women’s histories while preserving narratives that disavow slavery and settler colonialism. It argues that these incorporations reinforce a framework centered on Texas “pioneers,” obscuring Native histories and misrepresenting the complex intersections of Blackness and Indigeneity embodied by Black Seminole history.

Recommended Citation

Mallory, Mark (2026) "The Names of Four Scouts: Slavery, Settler Colonialism, and the Limitsof Incorporation at the Texas Capitol Complex since 1983," Journal of Texas History: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32855/3069-1052.1043
Available at: https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/journaltexashistory/vol2/iss1/4