FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2008
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier
Director of Marketing and Public Relations,
409-765-7834

Galveston's Dr. Grace Jameson Named GHF's 2008 Steel Oleander Recipient

Grace K. Jameson, M.D., will be honored as Galveston Historical Foundation’s (GHF)’s 15th annual “Steel Oleander.” The award, a cast oleander blossom sculpted by the late Galveston sculptor David Moore, will be given at a luncheon on Friday, May 23. The event, sponsored by GHF, will be held at the 1880 Garten Verein Pavilion, 2704 Avenue O in Galveston. It will begin at 11:30 a.m. and is open to the public. Tickets cost $45 each. To make reservations, call 409-765-7834.

“In accepting this award, Dr. Jameson joins an impressive roster of preservationists, philanthropists, social activists and educators,” said Beth Shriner, Assistant Director and Director of Historic Properties at GHF. “These women have all had a strong and positive impact on our island, and we feel Dr. Jameson’s contributions and leadership entitle her to be counted among them.”

“Grace has touched the lives of thousands of children and families and has been an active leader in her community, state and nation,” said Shriner.

The Steel Oleander Award is given each year to salute an outstanding Galveston woman whose community service reflects the ideals and independent spirit of Miss Bettie Brown of Ashton Villa. Frost Bank is the major sponsor of the event, with additional contributions by Stewart Title. Proceeds from the event benefit the 1859 Ashton Villa.

Grace Klein was born in Austin, Texas in 1924. Her father was a psychology professor at the University of Texas in Austin. Her mother was a social worker. She graduated from high school and pursued an undergraduate degree in journalism. Grace married Hank Jameson, a veterinarian, in the 1940s, and settled in Galveston. She attended the University of Texas Medical Branch and was recruited into the psychiatry program by then Chairman Dr. Titus Harris.

Grace and Hank had four children, all of whom have been extremely successfully with their own professional careers. Hank and son David are deceased.

Jameson had a distinguished career in child psychiatry spanning more than four decades. She served as clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and was a partner in the Titus Harris Clinic, providing outpatient and inpatient psychiatric services to children and youth in the Galveston area. She provided psychiatric treatment for youth at the Galveston County Juvenile Probation Department, and served as an expert witness in numerous courts in Texas on competency and custody cases.

Dr. Jameson has served in numerous distinguished capacities including as a governor-appointed board member of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. She was a Board Member of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians. She and her husband were politically very active in Galveston and served as delegates to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Jimmy Carter as President. In May 2005, the Gulf Coast Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill honored Dr Jameson as “a pioneer in the treatment of children and adolescents.”

Now in her 80s, Dr. Jameson continues to be an active and contributing member of the Galveston community, serving on the Galveston Parks Advisory Board, the Family Service Center Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of The Children’s Center, Inc.