Events

Daniel Rudge, is the Executive Director of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization (BCSMPO). Daniel, or Dan as he prefers to be called, has over 25 years of experience in the Transportation Planning profession and worked in six different states primarily in Virginia and Florida.

Prior to joining the BCSMPO, Dan was the Director of Planning for Lee County, Florida Transit Department, also known as LeeTran, involved in integrating transit into the local governments Comprehensive Plan. While at the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Daniel served as the Chief of Planning/Manager of Mobility Programs and was responsible for statewide and local transportation planning initiatives across DRPT’s transit, transportation demand management and rail programs. Daniel also worked closely with Virginia’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO’s) serving as DRPT’s MPO liaison, with the Virginia General Assembly as DRPT’s Legislative Services Director, and developed and taught grantee training. Prior to joining DRPT, Daniel was the Executive Director for the Springfield, Missouri MPO. Prior to being an Executive Director, Daniel worked with three other MPO’s and has written longrange transportation plans, congestion management process plans, coordinated human service agency plans, transit development plans, and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plans. In addition to his MPO work, Daniel was a Research Associate with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) in Florida where he was involved in planning and implementation of transportation demand management programs, technical assistance to municipalities integrating alternative transportation/transit into local growth management initiatives, developing citizen participation programs, and developing strategic plans for public and private sector organizations. Daniel’s other activities included serving as a project planner for the State Transportation Policy Initiative, Land Use Regulations That Support Access Management, and various transit Development plans. Daniel also received national recognition for developing and conducting 16-40 hour transportation training seminars in nine states, co-authoring two award-winning transportation handbooks, and editing an international newsletter. Daniel holds a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Virginia Tech.

Stephanie Cooper
Master Gardener | Landscape Design Enthusiast

Stephanie Cooper is a certified Master Gardener and a proud Texas Aggie, holding a degree in Horticulture with a specialization in Landscape Design. With a passion for plants and sustainable gardening, she is dedicated to helping others create beautiful, functional outdoor spaces grounded in research-based knowledge. Outside of sharing her passion for plants, Stephanie enjoys volunteering in her church’s children’s ministry, spending time in her own garden, and most of all, she loves time with her husband and their three children.

Rachael Altman
Carnegie Library
Rachael Altman will be speaking to us about the Carnegie Library in Downtown Bryan.

For those interested in learning more about the Carnegie Library:

It’s one of the most distinctive buildings in Downtown Bryan. With its neoclassical-revival-style red brick, tall windows, white exterior finishes, and four tall columns climbing the height of the two-story building, it’s certainly the most distinguished looking.

Just inside the double-door entrance are two narrow wooden stairways—one to the right, the other to the left. About ten steps ahead is the central help desk, the heart of the first floor. The space surrounding it is cozy in the best possible sense of the word. Except for a couple of large study tables and some chairs, the entire floor is packed wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling with books, photos, art, and historical artifacts, many relating to real estate in the region. Upstairs is more of the same. The building smells pleasantly of old wood and even older books. The atmosphere is conducive to the building’s intended purpose: historical research.

Welcome to the Carnegie History Center.

Originally the Carnegie Public Library, the building is now a repository for rare historical materials (although the name on the structure has not changed). The center’s holdings are astonishing. They include family Bibles, old court records and school records, countless photos and maps spanning the early 19th century through the 20th century, and collections of documents donated by some of the city’s founding families. Some materials document aspects of the area’s history that are unpleasant but no less important. For example, the center has a zoning map from the ’50s showing how schools were segregated and original bills of sale from the slave trade (one written on what appears to be stationary from a London hotel).

Armed with such a rich treasure trove of documents (plus a little time and a lot of patience), even the most amateur history buff could piece together a respectably detailed history of the Brazos Valley, its real estate, and its people. That’s why the library’s resources are used largely for genealogical research.

Learn more about the Carnegie Library here!