Kate Rogers, the former president and CEO of the Alamo Trust, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking reinstatement and damages after she says Texas officials pushed her out over her support for a broader, more inclusive interpretation of the Alamo’s history.
Rogers resigned on October 23, 2025, after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick publicly criticized passages from her 2023 doctoral dissertation and urged the Alamo Trust’s board to remove her. The dissertation argued that the Alamo’s story should include Indigenous peoples and other communities often minimized in traditional retellings — an approach that has become a flashpoint in Texas’ wider culture-war battles over museums and public education.
In her lawsuit complaint Rogers alleges Patrick and Buckingham used government power to pressure the nonprofit to oust her in retaliation for views she expressed as a private citizen, violating her First Amendment rights.
The controversy was sparked in early October after official Alamo social media accounts posted a message recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day, prompting Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, whose agency, the General Land Office, oversees the Alamo, to denounce the post as “woke” and move to tighten state oversight of Alamo messaging.
Rogers has said she did not author the post, but the dispute fed accusations from some conservative activists and state leaders that Alamo interpretation is being politicized.
Texas’ redevelopment of Alamo Plaza has shifted into major construction, backed by public money and intended to reshape how visitors experience the state’s best-known historic site. State lawmakers have now committed about $550 million, and recent budget actions plus local and private contributions have pushed overall projected costs above $700 million.
A centerpiece is the 160,000-square-foot Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, meant to consolidate ticketing, exhibitions and visitor services and expand capacity. Project updates say the museum remains on track to open in late 2027, alongside phased plaza work, new pedestrian connections and preservation work on the Alamo Church beginning in 2026. The Texas Cavaliers Education Center is slated to open March 6, 2026.
The state has also purchased the adjacent Menger and Crockett hotels — an acquisition officials describe as protecting the historic setting and creating a revenue stream — though reported prices vary, with documents indicating $62 million and others reporting placing the deals closer to $80 million.
Supporters argue the investment will improve preservation and tourism; critics question escalating costs, transparency and the project’s commercial footprint.
Guest:
Kate Rogers is the former executive director of The Alamo Trust.
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This episode will be recorded on Monday, January 12, 2026, at 12:00 p.m.
