Origin of Family Names’ 20th Year

            Twenty years ago four friends, their two families, and one graduate student had fun implementing the Origin of Family Names booth at the Texas Folklife Festival, in San Antonio.  I call this and the following two years the Porta-Potty Years, because for three years we met down by Bowie Street, the last booth before the portapotties.

            Our guests, however, increased to the point that for the next eight or so years we met under a big tent, under the trees along the west campus.  I call these the Cajun Years, because of the never-ceasing, always loud Cajun music from our friends across the lane from our tent.  The emphasis of the Origin booth switched from two families and friend having fun to, lots of families and lots of friends and lots of Trinity library staff volunteering to provide a service to a relentless number of guests.  (I discovered, in the process, that these guests provided invaluable leads for my linguistic research; they still do.)

            Then six or seven years ago, the Folklife staff moved our booth to a cooler spot, on the eastern balcony of the ITC building.  (I call these the Balcony Years.)  For a couple of years, our booth processed about 3,000 guests per years.  We had to recruit non-family and non-Trinity people to help with the work load.  In all, about 75 people per year have worked at the booth.  Then for six years, we had corporate sponsors.  The number of people we processed basically halved – to about 1,500 guests. (Still a considerable and impressive number.).  I think corporate sponsorship contributed to some of that decrease; I think, also, that we also had researched names for the majority of people who regularly attend the Festival.)

            This year we started what I shall call the Trinity Year(s). This year I was, for the first time, the only director of the booth (Fred Tarpley, my co-director could not attend this year).  To add to the extra load, I also became the point person for our sponsor, Trinity.   The work is too much for one person – especially for one scheduled to retire in two years.

            A second reason is budget.  This year the Public Relations budget paid for the unexpected expense of this sponsorship (aside from some last minute expenses which came out of my pocket).  It was an experimental response, which deserves serious rethinking.

            Many thanks to all of you for making this, perhaps, my most enjoyable year since that first one.

            -Scott

Scott J. Baird, Ph.D.
English and Linguistics
Trinity University
One Trinity Place
San Antonio, TX, 78212-7200
Work: (210) 999 7579
Fax: (210) 999 7578
Cell: (210) 857 3272