Bonham, Texas -- The Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation has made a generous $1.1 million gift to support the Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin, which in turn will use this gift to support capital improvements critical preservation needs, including foundation repairs, upgrades to both the main and accessible entrances, enhanced landscaping, and more at the Sam Rayburn Museum. While some exterior areas may be temporarily affected during construction, the museum’s exhibits will remain open and accessible to visitors.  

“In addition to being one of most influential political figures of the 20th century, Sam Rayburn was an important friend and mentor to Gov. Dolph Briscoe,” notes Don Carleton, executive director of the Briscoe Center. “Rayburn and Briscoe were both outstanding Texans who shared a deep love for their state and its people. This gift allows us to honor Rayburn and the museum he created. We are grateful to the Marmion Foundation for their generous support, which will make it possible to preserve Mr. Sam’s legacy for future generations.” 

The Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation was established to honor the memory of Janey Katherine “Kate” Marmion by her mother, Janey Briscoe Marmion, and her grandfather, Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. The mission of the Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation is to encourage, support and promote people, places and programs, particularly in Uvalde and South Texas, that were important to Kate and her family, specifically children's interests, education, agriculture, and southwestern American history, culture, art, and literature.

In the 1950s, Speaker Rayburn established the Sam Rayburn Library in Bonham to provide a place of learning as a reflection of his love of Texas, and particularly his love for his Fannin County constituents. Today, the museum interprets Rayburn’s legacy as a congressman and the longest-serving Speaker of the House through exhibits, interactive displays, and a recreation of his office in Washington, DC. 

About the Sam Rayburn Museum

The Sam Rayburn Museum documents the life and career of Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (1882–1961). Rayburn’s tenure as a US congressman, from 1913 to 1961, spanned 48 years, nearly 25 terms, and eight presidents. He remains the longest-serving House Speaker in American history. Rayburn played a key role in the passage of New Deal legislation and was instrumental in the World War II military effort and era-defining postwar foreign aid programs. 

Mr. Sam, as he was affectionately called, used a $10,000 gift for his distinguished service as seed money to build the museum. Designed to evoke the aesthetic of our nation’s capital, the museum is a gathering place for students, families, and visitors to learn about the early- to mid-twentieth century Congress.  

The Museum opened to the public in 1957. Architect Roscoe DeWitt, one of Dallas’s earliest modernists, was chosen to design the library, although Rayburn had extensive input into all aspects of the building’s design. The building is approximately 6,000 square feet, and most of the building’s materials were produced in the state of Texas, reflecting Rayburn’s love of his home state. The centerpiece of the Sam Rayburn Museum is a replica of the formal office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, which “Mr. Sam” used as a meeting place when he was in Bonham. The Sam Rayburn Museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2008. 

About the Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation 

Kate Marmion grew up in Uvalde, the only child of Janey Briscoe Marmion and a grandchild of the late Texas governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife, Janey and attended the University of Texas at Austin. Dolph Briscoe IV, the foundation’s president, said, “My key goal with the foundation has been to keep my cousin Kate’s memory alive, as Janey and my grandfather hoped when they established it after her passing.”  

In 2024, the Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation established the Janey Briscoe Marmion and Kate Marmion Endowment for the Briscoe-Garner Museum, another of the Briscoe Center’s historic sites, to further the Briscoe-Garner Museum’s educational impact and service to the Uvalde community.