Sally Anne Schmidt is the Curator of the Nau Civil War Collection. For over twenty years Sally Anne has been responsible for the care, organization, and exhibition of one of the largest private Civil War collections in the country. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and her master’s degree and PhD from Rice University. While at Rice, she held the Jameson Fellowship at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in 2003 – 2004.
A seventh-generation Texan raised in Austin and Dallas, Sally Anne lives in Houston with her husband, Marc Tabolsky, and two young daughters. She is a current trustee and past board chair of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission and serves on The Alamo’s Collections Committee. She has also served as a board member for Preservation Houston, Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS), and a President of the Houston Alumnae Panhellenic Association. Sally Anne is a proud member of the Junior League of Houston, having served in a number of leadership positions including the board of directors, and she was the 2021 recipient of the League’s Sara Houston Lindsey Award.
As a child, Sally Anne was told countless stories of the Astros and the Astrodome. Her great-uncle, Dr. Hatch W. Cummings, Jr. served as team doctor for the Colt .45s and later the Astros. Some of her grandmother and mother’s fondest memories include attending games with him at the Astrodome when it was new. Once Sally Anne moved to Houston in 2000, she attended several Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo shows at the Dome and became fascinated with the structure, its history, and its legacy as a historical landmark. As a historian and a historic preservationist, she is excited to be named a new board member of the Conservancy and looks forward to advocating for its restoration.