The CEO of the Alamo's historic site has resigned after a top Texas
Republican criticized her
[October 25, 2025]
By JOHN HANNA
The CEO of the nonprofit managing the Alamo resigned after a powerful
Republican state official criticized her publicly, suggesting that her
views aren't compatible with the history of the Texas shrine.
Kate Rogers said in a statement Friday that she had resigned the day
before, after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote a letter to the Alamo Trust's
Board of Directors suggesting that she either resign or be removed.
Patrick criticized her over an academic paper questioning the
GOP-controlled Legislature's education policies and suggesting she
wanted the historic site in Texas to have a broader focus.
“It was with mixed emotions that I resigned my post as President and CEO
at the Alamo Trust yesterday," Rogers said in a statement texted to The
Associated Press. "It became evident through recent events that it was
time for me to move on.”
Several trust officials did not immediately respond to email or
cellphone messages Friday seeking comment.
Patrick had posted a letter to the board Thursday on X, calling her
paper “shocking.” She wrote it in 2023 for a doctorate in global
education from the University of Southern California. Patrick posted a
portion online.
“I believe her judgment is now placed in serious question," Patrick
wrote. "She has a totally different view of how the history of the Alamo
should be told.”
It is the latest episode in an ongoing conflict over how the U.S. tells
its history. Patrick’s call for Rogers’ ouster follows President Donald
Trump’s pressure to get Smithsonian museums in Washington to put less
emphasis on slavery and other darker parts of America's past.
The Alamo, known as “the Shrine of Texas Liberty,” draws more than 1.6
million visitors a year. The trust operates it under a contract with the
Texas General Land Office, and the state plans to spend $400 million on
a renovation with a new museum and visitor center set to open in 2027.
Patrick presides over the Texas Senate.
In San Antonio, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, the county's elected top
administrator, decried Patrick's “gross political interference.”
"We need to get politics out of our teaching of history. Period,” he
said in a statement Friday.
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The Texas flag waves in front of the Alamo during a
reenactment of the delivery of William B. Travis' "Victory or Death"
letter, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric
Gay, File)
In the excerpt from her paper, Rogers noted the Texas Legislature's
“conservative agenda" in 2023, including bills to limit what could
be taught about race and slavery in history courses.
“Philosophically, I do not believe it is the role of politicians to
determine what professional educators can or should teach in the
classroom,” she wrote.
Her paper also mentioned a 2021 book, “Forget the Alamo,” which
challenges traditional historical narratives surrounding the 13-day
siege of the Alamo during Texas' fight for independence from Mexico
in 1836.
Rogers noted that the book argues that a central cause of the war
was Anglo settlers' determination to keep slaves in bondage after
Mexico largely abolished it. Texas won the war and was an
independent republic until the U.S. annexed it in 1845.
Rogers also wrote that a city advisory council wanted to tell the
site's “full story,” including its history as a home to Indigenous
people — something the state's Republican leaders oppose. She said
she would love the Alamo to be “a place that brings people together
versus tearing them apart.”
“But,” she added, “politically that may not be possible at this
time.”
Traditional narratives obscure the role slavery might have played in
Texas' drive for independence and portray the Alamo's defenders as
freedom fighters. Patrick's letter called the siege "13 Days of
Glory.”
The Mexican Army attacked and overran the Texas defenses. But
“Remember the Alamo” became a rallying cry for Texas forces.
“We must ensure that future generations never forget the sacrifice
for freedom that was made,” Patrick wrote in his letter to the
trust’s board. “I will continue to defend the Alamo today against a
rewrite of history.”
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