SHSU Alumna Preserves Huntsville History Through New Publication

SHSU Alumna Preserves Huntsville History Through New Publication

On June 13, Elaine Sharp Smith (’71, ’84) celebrated the release of her new book, “Time Etched in Stone,” at the Samuel Walker Houston Museum and Cultural Center, concluding five years of research into the community members commemorated in one of Huntsville’s cultural heritage landmarks.

“Wall of Faces: The Dreamers” is a 1995 sculpture by Larry Zink and Monica Taylor featuring 69 cast concrete faces, located in front of the Samuel Walker Houston Museum and Cultural Center at 1604 10^th Street. Smith’s book expands on the stories behind those faces, serving as a companion to a brochure she previously developed for the center.

The art piece spans multiple generations of African American community members, arranged in three rows: the pioneers (ages 66 to 96) featured on the top row, the middle ages (20 to 73) in the center and the hope (13 to 31) along the bottom. The top row includes a cast likeness of Samuel Walker Houston, the African American educational leader for whom the museum is named.

Smith, a Huntsville resident of 56 years and two-time SHSU graduate, began the project after conversations with LaJuana Glaze, then-director of the museum and president of the National Alumni Association of Samuel Walker Houston High School. When Smith learned the center needed a brochure for tourism that would highlight those featured in the sculpture for visitors, her project took shape. What started as a brochure quickly grew into something much larger.

“I was just inspired by it because for our culture to have a building like this, to represent and come to see and have activities going, it was just amazing,” Smith said at her book launch event. “Glaze and her staff were always involved in collecting and preserving memorabilia related to Sam Houston High School. They were preserving the legacy of a community, and I respected and appreciated that effort.”

Smith researched 29 deceased participants and interviewed 40 surviving ones, drawing on the research skills she developed at SHSU and refined through years of social and victim services work. The book details the individual stories behind each face, her own journey in uncovering them and the community collaborations that brought the original sculpture to life. When it came time to pull it all together, Smith reached out to SHSU’s Center for Community Engagement, whose staff helped bring the project to print. In talking to so many people across Huntsville, she found the project uncovered personal connections she hadn’t anticipated.

“Once you become involved with learning about people and how they connect, how families connect, it’s the most interesting story,” Smith said.

Several individuals whose faces appear on the wall were present at the book launch event on June 13. Jemelle Johnson Spivey was 20 at the time of the sculpture’s unveiling and described the book as a reminder of the project’s enduring significance.

“It’s truly a blessing and an honor to still see the history of ‘The Dreamers’ being carried on. It’s just amazing,” Spivey said.

Shuntala Thomas-Cuthbert was among the young adults featured in the hope, the bottom row of the sculpture. She has since brought her children to the museum to find her face on the wall.

“It was just a blessing and honor to be chosen amongst all of the people who are up here,” she said. “There are some legacies, some trailblazers and some true legends.”

In her book launch remarks, Smith noted that June 17, 2026 would mark 31 years since the sculpture was presented to the community.

“My journey of discovery began in 2021, and it has ended today,” she said. “Its legacy is well preserved here at this center.”

“Time Etched in Stone” reflects a lifelong pattern of public service for Smith. Her career in victim services at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice earned national recognition for her work establishing a crisis response program that responded directly to staff victimization. Smith carries that same instinct into her work with young people, from founding a mentoring program for junior high-age girls, to her current summer reading and school support programs across Huntsville. In 2024, the Roxie Douglas Scholarship Foundation recognized her contributions to the community with the Huntsville Living Legend Award. With “Time Etched in Stone,” Smith has continued to live out the Bearkat motto, “The measure of a Life is its Service.”