Levi Jordan
Plantation

Hazel Austin

by Carol McDavid

Hazel Austin serves on the Board of Directors of the Levi Jordan Plantation Historical Society, and is active in many, many other community activities. She was the principal of Brazoria High School before her retirement, and holds a Master's Degree in Education. Because of family obligations, she hasn't had an opportunity to write her own biography yet, but I'm hoping that can happen soon!

Hazel gave me a bit of advice early on that has become a sort of "driving force" behind a lot of what we (meaning me and other researchers involved in this) do. She cautioned us to avoid the pitfalls of most academic work. That is, we do our work, publish it, get our own rewards and degrees and so on. Then, all too often, we put the results of our work on a shelf somewhere, out of sight and unused by the community it is supposed to serve. It is fair to say that this advice guides us now, in every aspect of what we try to do. In addition to her ongoing counsel and involvement, she spent many hours helping to write the Levi Jordan Plantation Historical Society's Mission Statement, Long Range Plan and Statement of Beliefs, and was instrumental in helping us to attract other Board members, most notably Julia Mack and Morris Richardson.

Thanks, Hazel, for everything.

Hazel Austin