San Marcos — The exhibit entitled “LBJ Country: Through the Camera Lens of Norman Dietel” has been extended until early April at the LBJ Museum of San Marcos.
The Dietel exhibit contains five panels of mounted photographs taken by the late Norman J. Dietel, son of the founder and himself the long-time editor and publisher of the Fredericksburg Radio Post newspaper.
An old time newspaperman and photographer, Dietel became friends with Lyndon Johnson in the course of his meticulous coverage of the Texas Hill Country while Johnson was a senator.
The prints on display are from a collection of some 1,200 photographs and negatives donated to the LBJ Museum of San Marcos by Dietel's daughter, Rosemarie “Pixie” Dietel Hageman of San Marcos.
The exhibit reflects a wide range of LBJ related subject matter - from the President's entertainment at the Texas Whitehouse of such distinguished guests as Conrad Adenauer and Van Cleburne to scenes in Stonewall and Fredericksburg churches.
The massive photo collection has been converted to digital format, thanks to the Portals of Texas History program at the University of North Texas.
Funded by the Summerlee Foundation, the program helps small museums and entities preserve archival materials.
Norman Dietel's father, William Dietel, was an educator who traveled from school to school around the Hill Country (with one diversion to the South Texas town of Mercedes) during the course of his career as a teacher and school administrator.
The LBJ Museum of San Marcos is located at 131 N. Guadalupe Street on the courthouse square. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free. For more information, contact Museum Manger Bill Cunningham at 353-3300 or Museum Board President Pat Murdock at 353-1943.
