Boyhood site on the event Saturday
The culmination of a nine-year project will be complete Saturday when the Moody Museum unveils a statue of hometown hero and Texas’ youngest governor, Dan Moody.
The life-size bronze statue, created by Texas sculptor Joe Kenney, will be unveiled on the east lawn with the ceremony beginning at 2 p.m. Jan. 6 at 114 W. Ninth St.
Guests are then invited inside the museum — Dan Moody’s childhood home — for a reception with light refreshments.
“The date (of the event) was carefully chosen to coincide with the founding of the city of Taylor 150 years ago,” said museum board Chairwoman Susan Komandosky.
Moody’s father, Daniel, was the city’s first mayor, serving from 1882 to 1900.
Young Dan Moody changed not only Texas history but U.S history when he successfully prosecuted and convicted members of the Ku Klux Klan, which was a first in the nation, officials said. Klan membership in Texas saw a rapid drop after the 1923-24 trials, according to historians.
“For too many years, Dan Moody’s achievements went unrecognized in his hometown and his state,” Komandosky said. “Our goal at the museum is to change that.”
Komandosky added the museum’s intent with the statue is to lift up the history of Taylor and its people. The museum is still selling personalized bricks for $75 each to be installed on a sidewalk leading from the house to the sculpture.
“We wanted to honor our hometown governor and also make the museum more attractive to visitors,” Komandosky said.
The museum’s next fundraising project will make access to the Moody statue easier for people with disabilities.
Moody was born in Taylor in 1893, attended law school, served in the Army and became the district attorney when the office covered both Travis and Williamson counties.
During the landmark KKK trials held in the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown, he obtained convictions against four members accused of beating and tarring a White traveling salesman.
His political rise afterward has been described as “meteoric.”
In 1927, Moody became Texas’s youngest governor at age 33. He held the governor’s office for four years before returning to private practice in Austin. He died in 1966 at 72 years old.
Moody’s story is shared at the museum. The house was donated to the city by his sister, Mary, in the 1980s, specifically for use as the Moody Museum.
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“We wanted to honor our hometown governor.”
— Susan Komandosky, Moody Museum
