Texas_Highways_-_October_2019

20 texashighways.com

DRIVE | FAMILY

E

very May, after the bluebonnets

had faded from the hills around

Marble Falls, my classmates

and I would pack sack lunches,

board a diesel-powered school bus, and

hit the road. The annual field trip was the

last major educational event before the

school year ended. Or was it?

I’m not quite sure what I actually

learned from these trips. When we vis-

ited living-history farms, where we were

supposed to learn about pioneer life, I

spent the day wondering why the inter-

preters wanted to dress up in bonnets

and ankle-length skirts in the scorching

heat. When our school bus drove through

the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park in

Stonewall, my classmates and I glanced

at the historic buildings but we were far

more excited about swapping CDs to play

on our Discmans. At the LBJ Presiden-

tial Library in Austin, I marveled at the

endless rows of crimson boxes contain-

ing the president’s papers but took only a

superficial look at the exhibits about his

life. The trips left me with vivid images

but few real insights.

Still, these visits made an impression:

They taught me that LBJ was a local hero

who happened to grow up just down the

road from me and went on to become

president. As a teenager, I developed a

reflexive sense of pride in the president’s

Central Texas roots. But as an adult, I

have realized President Johnson was a

far more complex character. The field

trips introduced me to the man, but as a

lifelong Texan, I’ve felt obligated to get to

know him better.

In the past few years I’ve watched the

movies Selma and All the Way, which

offer starkly contrasting depictions of

LBJ’s attitude toward civil rights. I’ve

also read excerpts from biographer

Robert Caro’s book Working that por-

tray Johnson as a political genius who

sometimes played fast and loose with

the rules. I’ve learned that Johnson was

Photo: Kenny Braun

Road Scholar

An LBJ enthusiast retraces the route of her school field trips

in search of history—and herself

By Robyn Ross

THE PRESI-

DENTIAL

LIMOUSINE in

the lobby of the

LBJ Library.