History exhibitions at The Grace Museum are dedicated to telling the story of the evolving cultural and social history of Abilene and West Texas. The history galleries present changing exhibitions of artifacts curated from both The Grace Museum’s history collection and historically significant objects on temporary loan. In addition, permanent period rooms from 1910, 1928, and 1948 bring the bygone eras to life through recreated parlors, living rooms, and kitchens from each time period.

Now On View

Full Steam Ahead: The Texas & Pacific Railway

Full Steam Ahead: The Texas & Pacific Railway

July 13 – August 9, 2025
Exhibition Reception | Thursday, September 5, 2024 | 6-8 pmGuest Speaker: Tony Privett, Slaton Harvey House The Texas & Pacific Railway Company (T&P Railway) began plans to build a railroad line from Shreveport, Louisiana all the way to San Diego, California, creating a southern route that would help with winter climate complications. The T&P Railway began construction in 1872 and the … History
EXPLORE
Early Downtown Abilene: 1880s-1910s

Early Downtown Abilene: 1880s-1910s

August 24 – August 9, 2025
The city of Abilene grew around the Texas & Pacific Railway tracks, especially what we know as downtown, during the 1880s to the 1910s. New hotels, churches, shops, liveries, doctors’ offices and pharmacies, houses, and schools were all built within a thirty-year time span. By 1910, the town’s population reached 9,204 and its dynamic was rapidly changing. The introduction of … History
EXPLORE
Asian American and Pacific Islander Month 2025

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month 2025

May 1 – May 31, 2025
The story of Japanese Internment during World War II is integral to the understanding of American sentiment of otherwise innocent Japanese people during the war. Learn about the untold story of Japanese Americans that either escaped internment on the west coast or served in the military during the war.
EXPLORE

Upcoming Exhibitions

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month 2025

Asian American and Pacific Islander Month 2025

May 1 – May 31
United States Office Of War Information. Chinese-Americans get officer rank. Camp Barkeley, Texas, United States Office Of War Information. The first Chinese-Americans to be commissioned second lieutenants in the Medical Administrative Corps Officer Candidate School have received their bars at…
Immigrant Heritage Month 2025

Immigrant Heritage Month 2025

Jun 3 – Jun 28
Immigrant Heritage Month honors immigrants and their positive impact on communities across the country, including those who have greatly contributed to the success of Abilene. This exhibition recognizes two such individuals who have demonstrated strong dedication to our community through…
National Back to School Month 2025

National Back to School Month 2025

Aug 1 – Aug 30
National Back to School Month celebrates education, students, teachers, and families as they get ready for a new school year. This exhibition also honors the struggles and triumphs our community members have endured throughout history. The month of August has…
Beginnings: Early History of Abilene High School and Lincoln Middle School

Beginnings: Early History of Abilene High School and Lincoln Middle School

Aug 23 – Jul 4
Join The Grace Museum in an exhibition highlighting the early history of Abilene High School and Lincoln Middle School. Built on South 1st at Peach Street in 1889, the first Abilene High School was constructed to stand out on the…
We've Got Spirit: School Pride

We've Got Spirit: School Pride

Aug 23 – Jul 4
In continuation with the celebration of the opening of Abilene Heritage Square, The Grace will open an exhibition that highlights clothing and ephemera from Abilene area junior high and high schools, colleges, and universities. The school letter jacket, a cheerleading…
Hispanic Heritage Month 2025

Hispanic Heritage Month 2025

Sep 2 – Oct 31
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the histories, cultures, traditions, and many contributions of those individuals of Latinx and Hispanic ancestry in the United States. The establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month was the first Cultural Heritage Month in the United States. The…
Native American Heritage Month 2025

Native American Heritage Month 2025

Nov 1 – Nov 29
Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribal Dancers, 1973-09-07, University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections George Catlin, Indian Encampment, Comanche (or Kiowa) Dressing Skins, Red River, 1846-1848, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum,…
Universal Human Rights Month 2025

Universal Human Rights Month 2025

Dec 2 – Dec 27
International Rescue Committee Refugee Family in the Community Sponsorship Program, International Rescue Committee Facebook Page December is Universal Human Rights Month Universal Human Rights Month celebrates the landmark document that “enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as…

Past Exhibitions

2025

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 2-31, 2025)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Black History Month (February 1-28, 2025)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Women’s History Month (March 1-29, 2025)

2024

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 2-31, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Black History Month (February 1-29, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Women’s History Month (March 1-30, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Earth Month (April 2-30, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (May 1-31, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Immigrant Heritage Month (June 1-29, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Independence Day (July 1-August 14, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Back to School Month (August 15-September 7, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Hispanic Heritage Month (September 10-October 31, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Native American Heritage Month (November 1-30, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Universal Human Rights Month (December 3-31, 2024)

2023

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 3-31, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Black History Month (February 1-28, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Women’s History Month (March 1-31, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Earth Month (April 4-29, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (May 2-31, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Immigrant Heritage Month (June 6-28, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Independence Day (June 28 – July 15, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Hispanic Heritage Month (September 12 – October 31, 2023)

Abilene in the 1920s (September 12, 2023 – July 3, 2024)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Native American Heritage Month (November 1-30, 2023)

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Human Rights Month (December 1-23, 2023)

2022

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Asian American and Pacific Islander Month

Cooling Off with Style: Hand Fans from the Collection

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Independence Day

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Hispanic Heritage Month

Cultural Heritage Exhibition – Native American Heritage Month

Smith’s Station on the Butterfield

2021

Creating a Community: The State Epileptic Colony in Abilene

Abilene’s Hispanic Heritage Display Committee presents: Entretenimientos: Música, Baile y Radio

From This Day Forward: Wedding Dresses, 1870s-1950s

Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964

A Larger View: Historic Panoramic Photographs

Downtown Abilene: At the Crossroads of Rugged and Refined

2020

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence

2019

Women’s Fashion Evolution: 1900s – 1920s, from the Permanent Collection

Citizens at Last: The Woman Suffrage Movement in Texas

Downtown Revitalization Beginnings: Part II

Early Photographic Portraits from the Permanent Collection

2018

History of Cameras Before the iPhone

Skyline Maker: The Architecture of David S. Castle

2017

At Play: Children’s Clothing and Toys

Remembering Roy Helen

Downtown Revitalization Beginnings: The Grace 25 Years

2016

Spanish Legacy in Abilene

Always On View

The 3rd floor history galleries are dedicated to displaying permanent and temporary exhibitions of historically significant objects that tell the story of the evolving cultural and social history of Abilene and west Texas. The history galleries also strive to present exhibitions of artifacts curated from The Grace Museum’s permanent history collection. On permanent view are period parlor and kitchen rooms that depict life in Abilene in 1910, 1928, and 1948.

Historic Period Rooms

Evidence remained of the life of the homesteader, but Abilene was beginning to urbanize. An electric streetcar system had just begun service. The state-run Epileptic Colony was celebrating its seventh birthday and was the city’s largest employer. Following drought-breaking rains,…

EXPLORE

Spark

Spark a history connection in our new exploratory space located on the second floor! See objects on display from our permanent history collection and enjoy learning stations that tell the stories of Abilene, the T&P Railway, and other significant things that shaped our West Texas history.

EXPLORE

History of the Building

History of the Grace Museum

History Collections

The focus of the history collection is historically significant objects that tell the story of the evolving cultural and social history of late 19th and early 20th century Abilene and West Texas. The history collection is composed of over 12,000 objects including textiles, scrapbooks, yearbooks, vintage photographs, furniture, ephemera, personal correspondence, maps, Hotel Grace archives and an extensive Texas and Pacific Railway archive.
Abilene Fine Arts Museum

Abilene Fine Arts Museum

EXPLORE
Hotel Grace

Hotel Grace

EXPLORE
Abilene Womens Clubs

Abilene Womens Clubs

EXPLORE
Garments and Fashion

Garments and Fashion

EXPLORE
Folding Fans

Folding Fans

EXPLORE
T&P Collection

T&P Collection

EXPLORE
Household Tools

Household Tools

EXPLORE
Historic Photographs

Historic Photographs

EXPLORE

SEARCH THE COLLECTION ON THE PORTAL TO TEXAS HISTORY

The West Texas Digital Archives was a collaborative project spearheaded by the Abilene Library Consortium in partnership with 14 libraries, museums, and other institutions around the region to make available over 150,000 unique historical documents, images, and other items to users around the world on the Portal to Texas History.

Searchable Collections:

• Scrapbooks of the Abilene Fine Arts Museum

• Camp Barkeley News 1942-1945

• Texas & Pacific Railway Collection Photographs

• The Crutch newsletters, the Reconditioning and Training Service of the Regional Hospital at Camp Barkeley 1944-1945

Visit Site