February 28, 2022
THE WITTE MUSEUM
308 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209
“The Witte Museum was established in 1926 and is located in Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, Texas. It is dedicated to telling the stories of Texas, from prehistory to the present.” – Wikipedia
I would categorize the Witte Museum as an all-purpose museum telling the story of Texas, from prehistoric times until today. A quote in the museum’s map brochure says, “If it happened on Texas land, you can experience it here!” While that may be a little exaggerated, the museum does encompass a lot. There are dinosaurs, there’s a room dedicated to “People of the Pecos,” showing the lives of these prehistoric hunter-gatherers, a gallery with exhibits showing the wild animals and the flora and fauna from each of the different ecoregions of the state, and a center dedicated to life in southern Texas. I particularly enjoyed perusing the Black Cowboys exhibit with its profiles of men and women whose stories have been neglected or white-washed over time. An exhibit of Noe Perez paintings entitled, “King Ranch: A Legacy in Art” introduced me to the largest ranch in the Unite States. I may have to add the ranch to my list of things to see in Texas.
The museum has several hands-on exhibits, making it a place school-age children would really enjoy. One large exhibit, the H-E-B Body Adventure, had several, fun, stations for people to examine their fitness. I chose to take pictures, but I could see where a group of middle school students would really enjoy themselves.