Honors Northeast to premiere new historical film

January 7, 2016
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The Northeast Texas Community College Webb Society and Honors Northeast Present will premiere their new original film†Two for One: The Story of Ma and Pa Ferguson on†Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in the†Whatley Center for the Performing Arts.


Jim ?Pa" Ferguson came to power by backing tenant farmers and avoiding the issue of alcohol. †Voters in Camp, Franklin, Morris, and Titus counties gave him large majorities, and he won re-election as Texas Governor in 1916.††Then he became the only Texas governor to be impeached and removed from office for a variety of offenses, including accepting a large loan from German-American brewers.††He seemed finished politically and financially.


But his wife, Miriam, (?Ma?) ran in his place instead in 1924, and won.††In 1932, she won again. The Fergusons became the most powerful couple in Texas History ? and also the most corrupt?


What began as financial fraud in Ferguson?s Temple bank moved on to graft and the selling of justice while in office.††But did Jim?s corruption extend to Miriam, one of the first female governors in the United States? This is where the Webb Society?s film attempts to break new scholarly ground, while also being the first feature film, ever on the Fergusons.


Admission to the premiere event is free, and a short discussion and free dessert will follow the one-hour feature-length film.††Members of the Cast and Honors Northeast will be available afterwards for comments and questions.


The film filters many of our region?s contemporary concerns with the local status of alcohol, our state government?s favoritism toward big cities and universities, and social values such as marriage back 100 years. Researched and written as a dramatic reenactment rather than a documentary by NTCC scholars last summer, the filming was completed by the Webb/Honors Northeast group last August in Salado, Texas.††It is the fourth feature-length film of the group premiered locally in as many years.††The trailer for the film can be viewed at ntcc.edu/honors.

†

The production staff of the film includes: Cruz Gallegos, Producer/ Assistant Director; Jessica Velazquez, Director; and Isaac Burris and William Jones, Cinematographers. The cast includes: Nathan Johnson as Jim Ferguson; Cassia Rose as Miriam Ferguson (also Prop Director/ Research Team); Elizabeth Griffin as Ouida Ferguson (also Scriptwriter/ Research Team); Morgan Capps as Dorrace Ferguson (also Research Team); Hector Zuniga as William Hobby (also Research Team); Steven Vaught as William Hogg; William Jones as Dan Moody (also Prop Director/ Research Team); Dr. Andrew Yox as Hosea Poe (also research Team/ Webb Director); Isaac Burris as Dr. Robert Vincent; Emmalea Shaw as Minnie Fisher Cunningham; Laney Jordan as Eliza Ferguson (also Costume Director); Presley McClendon as Annie Blanton; Melody Mott as Dr. May Paulissen; Alecia Spurlin as Oveta Culp Hobby; Kelli Knepp as Nola Wood; and Cruz Gallegos as Farmer.

 
We Thank the Following:

 
For Financial Contributions:

 
†Jerald and Mary Lou Mowery of Scroggins
Mark Lesher Esq. of Mount Pleasant
The Friends of Honors Northeast
Rod and Cheryl Russell of the Baines House in Salado

 
For Administrative, Logistical Support:

 
†NTCC Vice President, Ron Clinton
Dr. Melissa and Scott Fulgham
Mr. Hudson Old, The East Texas Journal
Jo?s Coffee Shop, Mount Pleasant
NTCC Secretary, Delbra Anthony
Salado Historical Society President, Bill Kinneson

 
For Consultation and Guidance

 
Carol O?Keefe Wilson, author of: In the Governor?s Shadow:††The True Story of Ma and Pa Ferguson (Denton:††University of North Texas Press, 2014).
Professor Chuck Hamilton, Professor of English, NTCC.
Morgan Capps, NTCC Presidential Scholar, and author of the Caldwell Prize-winning essay, Political Pa and Mindful Ma Ferguson: The Charismatic Commensal Couple of Texas Governorship

†