Fast Facts

Author, professor, curator, and Baylor grad Eric Ames will present his new book, Waco (Images of Modern America), at the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute on Saturday, April 9th. A book signing will follow the presentation.  The event will take place in the East Wing, immediately next door to the Museum (it’s the building with the neon Dr Pepper sign on the side). Guests can enter through the front door.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event, but quantities are limited. We encourage you to purchase it ahead of time from retailers including Barnes and Noble, Hastings, Walgreens, Arcadia Publishing, and Amazon.  Eric’s other book in this series,Images of America: Waco, will also be available for purchase at the event.

About the Book
The story of Waco’s modern era starts with a disaster and ends with rebirth. In 1953, a record-setting tornado swept through the city’s downtown, killing 114 people and destroying a century’s worth of original buildings. From the devastation came an ambitious Urban Renewal project, an explosion in suburban developments and several cycles of waning and renewal in the downtown area.

Baylor University’s steady growth in academic excellence and national exposure kept the city on the map. The images in the book detail the milestones and memories of a proud city founded in the 1840s, and they highlight achievements both personal and civic.

About the Author
Eric S. Ames is Curator of Digital Collections and an adjunct professor of Museum Studies at Baylor University. He is the author of Images of America: Waco from Arcadia Publishing (2009) and is active in Waco’s cultural heritage preservation community.  This volume features many never-before-seen images drawn from sources like the Bill S. Foster Archives, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and the author’s own collection.

“It was a great honor to be asked to write this book, and it’s a real thrill for me to get to add to the body of fine works about our city’s history that includes books by the likes of Roger Conger, Patricia Ward Wallace and W.S. Foster.”  – Eric S. Ames

About the Dr Pepper Museum
The Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute is located at 300 South 5^th Street in downtown Waco.  Currently the Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am until 4:15 PM when the last ticket to the gallery is sold.  The Museum opens at 12 pm on Sundays.  Visitors can stop by the soda fountain and gift shop until 5 pm; no admission ticket required.  For more information about the Museum, visit us at drpeppermuseum.com.