Jeff Bearden

Board Chairman and

President

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Jeff Bearden, joined The Alamo Society in 1986. He's portrayed David Crockett at the Alamo, in TV documentaries and around the state at Crockett family reunions, school programs, and other living history events. He holds a BA in History and Master of Science and Social Work (MSSW), and is a retired forensic mental health administrator and former mayor of Vernon, Texas, and is the author of a young readers’ book on Davy Crockett.  Jeff and his wife have 2 children and 4 grandchildren. 

Doug McDonald

Secretary
Fundraising & Public Relations

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Douglass W. McDonald is former CEO of the Alamo and a longtime museum executive who led major governance, financial, and preservation initiatives in Texas and nationally. Before the Alamo, he served as CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Now based on a farm in Ohio, Doug and his wife, Kay, raise Texas Longhorn and Angus cattle while he continues consulting with museums, nonprofits, and communities on strategy, finance, governance, and complex historic preservation projects

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Rhonda Holley

Treasurer
Membership Director
Symposium Operations Coordinator
 

Rhonda Holley is a lifelong Texan and Dallas entrepreneur who spent 25 years running a successful dog care business, following a dedicated career leading an animal rights non-profit. Driven by a childhood passion for Lone Star history and the Alamo, she is deeply grateful to collaborate with others in preserving Texas’ heritage. Rhonda is committed to breathing new life into our most precious shrine, ensuring its historic legacy endures for future generations.

Gary Foreman

Symposium Committee Chair
Venue Liaison
 

Gary L. Foreman is an Award-winning documentary filmmaker & Alamo historian. As a producer and director, he helped start the History Channel in 1994 with acclaimed historical documentaries, and is the CEO/Owner of Native Sun Productions and EpicArt Murals. Gary created the Alamo Plaza Project in 1982 and initiated the Dawn at the Alamo Ceremony in 1986. Gary and his wife Laurie (a David Crockett descendant) live in Granbury, Texas.
 

Rebekah Marks

Webmaster

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Rebekah Marks is the Webmaster and General Website Administrator for the Alamo Historical Society. She has been passionate about all things related to the Alamo since age 12, and credits her love of the Alamo as the reason she studied history in college. Though not a professional historian, she continues to be involved with historical research as a hobby, in addition to website administration and management. She currently lives in South Carolina.

Glenn Effler

Editor-in-Chief, The Alamo Dispatch
Past Board Chair (2022-23)

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Glenn Effler is a retired Air Force Master Sergeant with a lifelong passion for the Alamo story and Texas history. He joined The Alamo Society in 2004 and co-authored the book, 13-The Alamo Book of Days in 2011. He created the highly acclaimed publication, The Alamo Dispatch in 2018, for which he is managing editor. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of the Alamo Historical Society from 2022-2023. Glenn currently resides in Denver, Colorado.

Jerry A. Laing

Technical Editor, The Alamo Dispatch

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Jerry Laing has been a member of the Alamo Historical Society (formerly, The Alamo Society) for 40 years, and a member of the Texas State Historical Association since 1985.  He participated in several Alamo living history events, three Alamo movies, and the huge Alamo battle reenactment in the UK in 2017, portraying cavalry Capt. John H. Forsyth.  Following his career as a professional Technical Writer and Editor, he became Technical Editor of The Alamo Dispatch in 2018.
 

Jack Edmondson

Past President (2022-23)

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Retired history teacher J. R. (Jack) Edmondson is a highly regarded historian and the author of several books and magazine articles on Texas history. An avid “Living Historian,” the Fort Worth native has portrayed such iconic characters as James Bowie and Sam Houston in presentations for Texas schools, organizations, historical sites, and documentaries for the History and Discovery channels. In appreciation of his historical contributions, Gov. Rick Perry commissioned him an Admiral in the Texas Navy.

Forrest Byas

San Antonio Liaison

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Forrest Byas has been a member of the AHS Board of Directors since 2022 and is a descendent of Alamo defender Andrew Kent, a member of the Immortal 32. He has served on the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee for the Alamo Master Plan since 2018 and has served on the Museum Planning Committee since 2023. Forrest is retired from the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) industry and resides in San Antonio, TX with his lovely wife, Maria

Gregg Dimmick

Board Member

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Dr. Gregg Dimmick, M.D, is a retired pediatrician who dedicated 37 years of service at South Texas Medical Clinics in Wharton, Texas. He is the author of Sea of Mud: The Retreat of the Mexican Army After San Jacinto, An Archaeological Investigation (2007), and Santa Anna’s Army in the Texas Revolution, 1835. An avocational archaeologist and independent scholar, he served for several years on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the archaeological committee of the San Jacinto Battleground Association.