III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 267 

Honoring the life of renowned painter and writer Tom Lea on the 100th 

anniversary of his birth and commending the City of El Paso for recognizing July 2007 as ‘‘Tom Lea Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2007 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. BINGAMAN) submitted 

the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life of renowned painter and writer Tom Lea 

on the 100th anniversary of his birth and commending 

the City of El Paso for recognizing July 2007 as ‘‘Tom 

Lea Month’’. 

Whereas Tom Lea was born on July 11, 1907 in El Paso, 

Texas; 

Whereas Tom Lea attended El Paso public schools before 

continuing his education at the Art Institute of Chicago 

and working as an apprentice to muralist John Warner 

Norton; 

Whereas Tom Lea painted Texas Centennial murals at the 

Dallas State Fairgrounds Hall of State in 1936; 

Whereas Tom Lea won many commissions for murals from 

the Section of Fine Arts of the Department of the TreasVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:13 Jul 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR267.ATS SR267

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•SRES 267 ATS 

ury, including commissions for ‘‘The Nesters’’ at the 

Benjamin Franklin Post Office in Washington, D.C.; 

‘‘Pass of the North’’ at the Federal Courthouse in El 

Paso, Texas; ‘‘Stampede’’ at the Post Office in Odessa, 

Texas; ‘‘Comancheros’’ at the Post Office in Seymour, 

Texas; and ‘‘Back Home, April 1865’’ at the Post Office 

in Pleasant Hill, Missouri; 

Whereas Tom Lea was an accredited World War II artist 

correspondent for Life magazine who traveled over 

100,000 miles with United States military forces and reported from places such as the North Atlantic, China, 

and on board the Hornet in the South Pacific; 

Whereas Tom Lea landed with the First Marines at Peleliu; 

Whereas many of the war paintings of Tom Lea are displayed 

at the United States Army Center for Military History 

in Washington, D.C. and others have been loaned to exhibitions worldwide; 

Whereas Texas A&M University Press plans to publish the 

war diaries of Tom Lea in 2008; 

Whereas Tom Lea wrote and illustrated 4 novels and 2 nonfiction works, including The Brave Bulls (1948) and The 

Wonderful Country (1952), both of which were adapted 

as screenplays for motion pictures, and a 2-volume annotated history of the King Ranch; 

Whereas Tom Lea excelled at painting portraits for public 

buildings in Washington, D.C. and at capturing the 

likenesses of individuals as diverse as Sam Rayburn, Benito Juarez, Claire Chennault, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, 

and the bullfighter Manolete; 

Whereas Tom Lea was honored with numerous awards, including the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, 


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•SRES 267 ATS 

the United States Marine Corps’ Colonel John W. 

Thomason, Jr. Award, and the National Cowboy and 

Western Heritage Museum’s Great Westerners Award; 

Whereas the paintings of Tom Lea hang in the Oval Office 

of the White House, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the United States Army Center for Military History, the Dallas Museum of Art, the El Paso Museum of 

Art, the University of Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M 

University, and the University of Texas at Austin; 

Whereas Tom Lea enjoyed living on the east side of Mount 

Franklin in El Paso because it was the ‘‘side to see the 

day that is coming, not the side to see the day that is 

gone’’; and 

Whereas Tom Lea lived on the east side of Mount Franklin 

with his wife, Sarah, until he died on January 29, 2001: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the life and accomplishments of Tom 

3 Lea on the 100th anniversary of his birth; and 

4 (2) commends the City of El Paso, Texas for 

5 recognizing July 2007 as ‘‘Tom Lea Month’’. 

Æ 


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