A Fun Twist on the Owners of Austin's Most Famous Home

The historic Pease Mansion, or Woodlawn, was the subject of a lengthy front-page story in the Austin American-Statesman with the headline “Who Bought Historic Pease Mansion? One Year After Property Changed Hands, New Owner Still Hasn’t Revealed Identity.”

Pease Mansion (photo: wikipedia)

What makes this home so important? Well, first and foremost, it was the home of two Texas governors. And therein lies this fun story told to me by one of the governors, Allan Shivers.

The 8,000 square foot mansion, on almost 4 acres at 1606 Niles Road in West Austin, was designed by Abner Cook, the architect of the Governor’s Mansion near the State Capitol. It was completed in 1853 and has been classified as a historic landmark. In 1857, it was acquired by Governor Elisha Pease.

The American-Statesman’s crack reporter Ryan Autullo delved deeply in a well-researched piece on the history of the mansion, ending up with today’s still-unanswered question – who now owns this bit of Austin real estate? But how the home became the property of Governor Allan Shivers in 1957 was not mentioned. It was probably not mentioned because this little story was told to me by Governor Shivers and later recounted every time I asked the governor in private meetings to tell this story again and again. Let me fill in the gap.

Woodlawn Mansion (Photo: Library of Congress)

Woodlawn had remained in the Pease family for about a century when Allan and Marialice Shivers bought it. It was a historic moment. A Pease descendent, well-known in West Austin real estate circles, understood the significance and got Governor Shivers to agree to sign the closing documents on Woodlawn’s front porch in the last hours before Shivers presided over the inauguration of his successor. When Shivers showed up, dressed in his inaugural finery, he found the Pease descendent sitting at a card table with two folding chairs on Woodlawn’s porch. On the card table alongside the documents was a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Caught up in the emotion of the historic moment, the descendent was teary-eyed and, well, snockered. Yep, he was drunk. And he kept pouring whiskey into the two glasses and urging the governor to share a toast to the occasion. Again. And again.

By this time, the Pease descendent was practically blubbering and babbling. The governor told me he also was beginning to feel the effects a bit as well. Hey, this was just before noon and Shivers’ term as governor was ending at noon when his successor took the oath of office blocks away on the steps of the State Capitol. The governor kept politely urging him to move along and sign the papers. At the last minute, the papers were signed and the outgoing Texas governor showed up for the ceremony a bit tipsy.

Inauguration of Governor Allan Shivers (Photo: Portal to Texas History)

But at least, Governor Shivers had a new home in Austin. They lived there for about twenty years. Whoever the new occupants of the Pease Mansion will be, they will have a lot to do to live up to the stories played out over the 170-year history of The Pease Mansion, Woodlawn.

To receive updates for With the Bark Off please Join My List.

#nealspelce #withthebarkoff

The Inspiration for a Book Title from Long Ago

It was 51 years ago, actually May 22, 1971, when the title of my current memoir, “With The Bark Off,” was first uttered publicly, and on national television at that. It happened at an event unlike any other at the time, or since then, in Austin’s history. And the occasion has been rarely duplicated anywhere else in the US for that matter during the ensuing half century.

Let me explain. The occasion was the official opening and dedication ceremony of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of the University of Texas. President Johnson and UT System Chair of the Board of Regents Frank Erwin had retained me six months prior to chair and manage the mammoth undertaking. (The university built the facility on UT land before turning it over to the National Archives to operate.)

These were the words uttered by LBJ describing what was included in the Library and Museum:

“It’s all here: the story of our time – with the bark off….I do not know how this period will be regarded in years to come. But that is not the point. This library will show the facts – not just the joy and triumphs, but the sorrow and failures, too.”

So, decades later, as I wrote my memoir (that included fun and interesting facts about that event) it only seemed fitting to name the book, With The Bark Off, A Journalist’s Memories of LBJ and a Life in the News Media. Because I share true tidbits, including some embarrassing moments:

--like when LBJ chewed my butt out

--like when Chairman Erwin broke a state law by surprisingly serving mid-day alcoholic drinks to the guests (that he may have paid for personally or hid somewhere in the UT budget)

--like when I lied to President Nixon

--like when a miscalculation led to the VIP guests getting sprayed with a mist of water when we turned on the towering fountain.

You get the picture. Speaking of pictures, let me share a picture of historical significance.

The ceremony took place on an open platform outside during a time of Vietnam War protests. Four out of the top five officials in line to become president in case something happened to the president were side-by-side on the platform. Talk about security concerns! Look closely at this photo.

The Dedication of the LBJ Library May 22, 1971

With demonstrations being held nearby, in addition to President Nixon, “P”, four of the five presidential successors stood in the open on the platform. “1” first in line is Vice President Spiro Agnew (partially obscured by LBJ), “2” is Speaker of the House Carl Albert, “4” is Secretary of State William Rogers, and “5” is Treasury Secretary former Texas governor John Connally. The President Pro Tem of the Senate, #3 in succession, (not pictured) because he stayed in Washington.

Luckily protests were peaceful and safely away from the stage. But we had national guard troops hidden beneath the stadium, and a cadre of Secret Service and ATF agents were out of sight in the nearby law school building, just in case.

Oh yeah, one final example of how we really do share these memories "with the bark off" in our memoir: I recount how LBJ asked me to follow along as he read his dedication remarks to me. He led me into the men’s room, reading aloud, holding his speech in one hand and guiding his stream with the other.

This Super-8 home movie of the dedication was filmed by HR Haldeman and Dwight Chapin via Jeff Kreines YouTube

To receive updates for With the Bark Off please Join My List.

#nealspelce #withthebarkoff

Memories of Mother: Through the Eyes of a Memory Painter

As I was preparing these thoughts about my remarkable mother, I was reminded of what I consider to be the very best Mother’s Day TV commercial. It was also the shortest and most powerful. The gruff, tough legendary football coach Bear Bryant looked straight into the camera and said:

“Have you called your Mama today?” /pause/swallowing/blinking back tears/

“I sure wish I could call mine.” /fade to black/end.

Fannie Lou Spelce

This story, though, is about an amazing woman born 114 years ago on a farm in a tiny Arkansas backwoods hamlet of around 300 people. Gumption? Fannie Lou Spelce showed it early when as a teenager she went to a nearby Big City to study to become a Registered Nurse. And upon getting her RN, she and a fellow nurse answered an ad for nurses in the biggest city of all, New York City. From all accounts, these two attractive southern ladies were “the belles of the ball.”

After a short stint in NYC, she moved back to her home state, married, and gave birth to two boys, Neal and Bennett. Her career as a nurse was amazing all by itself. If for no other reason, she excelled as a nurse while ultimately raising two boys as a single mom, and moving us to Texas.

Just how amazing was she as a nurse? As an Operating Room Nurse she assisted two of Texas’ most famous heart surgeons at the time Drs. Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey pioneered Open Heart Surgery in Houston.

Fast forward. She moved to Austin as the school nurse at St. Stephens Episcopal School. She wanted to be near my brother and me who were attending the University of Texas. Saying she “always wanted to draw,” she started oil painting during her spare time. Now this is where Mother’s memories become the focal point of this story.

Video: Fannie Lou Spelce, Institute of Texan Cultures Interview

(Please note: To increase the volume in this 35-minute interview with Fannie Lou Spelce, click the speaker icon at the bottom of the video in the footer.)

---

“I want to paint Momma and Daddy, Neal and Bennett, the Home Place farm where I grew up and the Arkansas town where I raised my two sons,” she told us. And her very first paintings, without lessons, were widely acclaimed.

Let me show you what I mean. Art critics have called her work Folk Art, or Primitive, or Naïve. She’s compared to Grandma Moses. But I think the best description is Memory Painter.

Fannie Lou Spelce Mother and Child Self Portrait

This is a self-portrait. Mother holding me as her first-born baby. How important is this painting? It was chosen as the cover for the catalog for her major “discovery” exhibit at this nation’s foremost gallery for American artists, the Kennedy Galleries in New York City. What an accomplishment for a self-taught artist. And to be recognized in the best city in the US for art and artists.

Fannie Lou Spelce Peach Season

Even before she gained national acclaim in NYC she had this painting, Arkansas Peach Season, selected by a jury for inclusion in an exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. It was also shown at UT’s Blanton Museum of Art. And exhibited in many other museums. Quite an honor.

But, for me, this painting is a “historical record,” in effect, of our growing-up years. Take a look at the lower left. You can see Mother teaching me a life lesson. There she is standing over me as I am leaning over placing peanuts back in the burlap bag where I had sneaked a handful to take home and eat. And she had me go into the general store and tell Mr. Fancher that I “stole” some of his peanuts. Talk about learning right from wrong!

Other scenes: on the upper left is where she placed Bennett and me in a one-room Catholic school so the nuns would “baby sit” us after school until she got off work and walked us home (we didn’t have a car). Mother, Bennett and I are all through this painting. The background shows the peach orchards in the area and on the right is a peach shed where we would get peaches that were too ripe to ship. By the way, this painting is featured with the largest image of any work in the Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century American Folk Art and Artists published by the Museum of American Folk Art.

Fannie Lou Spelce Haunted House

Little did my brother and I know that the stories we used to tell Mother about what we thought we saw when we walked by a nearby vacant house (that we swore was a real haunted house) would end up in one of her paintings. She captured how we were so scared we held hands as we walked by. Ah, youth.

Fannie Lou Spelce Bare Bottom Boys

Why is it that mothers are so fascinated by the bare bottoms of babies? How many family albums contain variations of such images? I guess it’s because mothers were continually patting (or was it, paddling?) those bottoms. Thank goodness Bennett and I were adults when she decided to reveal our bottoms in a painting that will last forever. By then we were beyond embarrassment.

So, Mother, we forgive you for the bare bottoms, at the same time we forget all the deserved paddlings we got.

And to you, as you recall your memories, Happy Mother’s Day.

Fannie Lou Spelce Obituary New York Times

To receive updates for With the Bark Off please Join My List.

#nealspelce #withthebarkoff #happymothersday