Archive research and professional genealogy
Clients include family historians, authors (print and web), lawyers (including in-depth research and serving as an expert witness), history and nonprofit organizations (including Oakwood Cemetery, the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, Preservation Austin, and Austin Community Foundation), and television and radio productions (including the TLC series “Who Do You Think You Are?” and the KUT Radio projects “Common Ground” and “ATXplained”); 1998-present.
Community histories
• Voices of the Violet Crown: Neighbors Creating Community in Central Austin, Texas; 2003-present. Founder/researcher/writer/exhibit designer/webmaster.
• “The Dazed Group/Austin Edition-Pieces Of The Past” history group, 2016-present. Contributor.
• Grassroots & Violet Crowns, publication by Jean Graham, 2025. Consultant.
• Art-on-the-Corridor Burnet Road project, a collaboration of the City of Austin Corridor Program Office, the City of Austin Art in Public Places program, and the Civic Arts team. Community Advisor, contributing neighborhood history text, videos, and photos to the project’s website, 2020. (Note: Website offline as of 2025.) Also, Community Panelist, helping select artist(s) who would create public art for Burnet Road, 2022-2024.
• ATXplained, KUT Radio, 2023. Contributor of stories, history, and images to help answer the question, “Just What Is a Violet Crown?” “City of the Violet Crown” is a popular moniker for Austin.
• “The History of Brentwood Elementary,” including interviews and a presentation created by fifth-grade students, Brentwood Elementary School, 2021. Consultant.
• Preservation Austin Historic Homes Tour booklet, 2016. Brentwood and Crestview neighborhood history (pages 10-13), and history of Eddie Joseph’s North Austin Drive-in (page 37). Edited versions of these histories were added to the Crestview Neighborhood Association website in 2016 and Brentwood Neighborhood Association website in 2017.
• From Abercrombie to the Violet Crown, 2003-2016. Researcher/writer/designer of history and community exhibits and companion publication, presented in the Violet Crown Festival Community Tent and at other community events.
• Contributor, Crestview neighborhood photographs and history, City of Austin Community Character in a Box, 2014.
Family histories
• “Kenner and Lorenz Families of Perry County” (essay), Heritage 2024, Perry County (Missouri) Historical Society. An updated version is online.
• Hazel Veronica Farmer & Family (publication), prepared for the Eschbacher/Farmer Family Reunion, St. Louis, 2023. An updated version is online.
• Heart of Texas: Life Stories of Richard Davis Hardin With Coleen Grant Hardin (hardbound book), 2019. Researcher/co-writer/editor/designer.
• Mr. Rube: Reuben Henry Grant (hardbound book), 2016. Researcher/co-writer/editor/designer.
• McCall/Hutchins Family Album (publication), 2010-2012. Researcher/editor/designer.
• Allinger Family Album (publication), 2010. Researcher/editor/designer.
• Jim and Cora Dial: From Altamont to Aztec (hardbound book), 2007. Researcher/co-writer/editor/designer.
• Miss Emma: Emma Florence Smith Grant (hardbound book), 2006. Researcher/co-writer/editor/designer.
• Morgan Family Album (publication), 2004.
• Coleen Grant Hardin and Richard Davis Hardin (archival collections and inventories), 1998-2020. Researcher/compiler/coordinator of 34 boxes of family recordings, papers, photographs, and ephemera.
• Haynes, Kenner, and Stout family histories; published in Randolph County, Illinois, Commemorative Edition; 1995; and Campbell, Haynes, Kenner, and Stout family histories; published in Perry County, Illinois, Volume 2; 1998. Researcher and writer.
Oral histories
• Friends of Brentwood Park, 2010-2011. Researcher/interviewer/co-producer/compiler.
• Texas Association of Counties Past Presidents, 2009.
Researcher/interviewer/co-producer.
• Voices of the Violet Crown, 2003-2011. Researcher/interviewer/co-producer/compiler.
• Marjorie Morgan and family, 2003-2004. Researcher/interviewer/recorder/compiler.
• Coleen Grant Hardin and Richard Davis Hardin, 2001-2020. Researcher/interviewer/recorder/compiler.
Films
• Winkel/Schuessler Reunion and Homes Tours, 2011, and Winkel/Schuessler Memories, 2012, both produced in 2021. Co-producer/co-editor.
• We Planted 115 Trees, 2011. Researcher/interviewer/co-producer/co-editor.
• A Community Mosaic, 2010 and 2008. Researcher/scriptwriter/co-producer/co-editor.
• More Voices of the Violet Crown, 2009. Researcher/interviewer/co-producer/co-editor.
• First Night W/ Domino & Friends, 2006. Researcher/co-producer/co-editor.
Selected writings
• Voices of the Violet Crown, 2011-present. Website content.
• Biography of Luther H. “Luke” Soules III, 2024. Co-writer with Andrea M. Soules and Luther H. Soules IV.
• “Voices of the Violet Crown: Fostering Community Through Oral History,” Sound Historian, Texas Oral History Association, 2023. Short-form article.
• “2020: A Year Like No Other,” 2021; “A Green History of Brentwood & Crestview,” 2019; “In Memoriam: Emory Muehlbrad and Mae Waggoner,” 2018; “Esperanza School,” 2016; Brentwood Neighborhood Association newsletter. Feature articles.
• “I Took a Risk When . . . ,” PBS American Portrait: A National Storytelling Project, 2020. Essay.
• A Green History of Brentwood & Crestview, 2019. website article and booklet.
• “Just What is a Violet Crown?“, Austin Genealogical Society Quarterly, Spring 2018. Feature article.
• “Finding Common Ground in Community,” 2017; “Local History: The Farmers’ Market,” 2015; and other articles; Crestview Neighborhood Association newsletter.
• “Great Winds Across the Sky,” Story Circle Journal, Story Circle Network, 2013. Feature article.
• “Voices of the Violet Crown: Neighbors Creating Community in Central Austin, Texas,” Dialogue: The Newsletter of the Oral History Section, Society of American Archivists, 2012. Feature article. Other feature articles about Voices of the Violet Crown were published in 2012 in the OHA Newsletter, Oral History Association, and Stirpes, Texas State Genealogical Society, Inc.
• “Hancock Creek/Arroyo Seco,” 2010. History of a local waterway, submitted with Crestview’s application for a City of Austin Green Neighborhood designation, was published in five installments in the Crestview Neighborhood Association newsletter, and appears on the Voices of the Violet Crown website.
• “A Woman Who Loved Animals Leaves a Legacy in Austin,” Austin American-Statesman, 2009. Essay.
• “Roast of the Century: Mescal and the Mescalero Apache,” by Mark Rosacker and Susan Burneson, Bulletin of Primitive Technology, #8, Fall 1994. Feature article.
Multimedia projects
• “Investing in Each Other,” Mass Mutual Foundation, 2023. Contributor (home selected for commercial shoot).
• “Across Age, Class, and Politics, Susan Burneson Found a Friendship That Lasted Decades“; radio essay for Common Ground, a series focusing on bridging differences and seeing the world from another perspective, coordinated by KUT Radio, Austin Public Library, and Austin Library Foundation; 2020. Writer/narrator/recorder.
• The Art of Oral History; presentation with website text, images, and video; Thomas Baker Slick Memorial Library, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, 2013. Researcher/producer/presenter with Rob Burneson.
• Julius Franklin Howell; presentation with music, voice, and images; 2005.
Researcher/co-writer/designer/audio compiler.
• The Bodacious Women, presentation with music and images, 2003.
Researcher/co-writer/designer/audio compiler.
Recognition
• Writing Award, First Place, Books by a Professional / Family History; Texas State Genealogical Society, 2019.
• Mary Faye Barnes Award for Excellence in Community History Projects (with Rob Burneson), Texas Oral History Association, 2009.
• Master Teacher Award, National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, University of Texas at Austin, 1993.
• Special One-Time Communication, Four-Color Brochure award, International Association of Business Communicators, 1984.
Memberships
• Austin (Texas) Genealogical Society
• Association of Professional Genealogists (national and South Central chapters)
• Perry County (Missouri) Historical Society
• Save Austin’s Cemeteries
• Williamson County (Illinois) Historical Society
Community engagement
• Researcher, Clarence McCullough home at 2514 Wooldridge Drive, Austin, 2025. Conducted in an effort to help save the 1938 home from demolition.
• Reader, The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow, including “My Time” and “Real People, Real Struggles, Real Stories: Writing About Mental Illness” fellowships, 2021; “The Changing American South” fellowship, 2022; and “Imagination” fellowship, 2024.
• Researcher, Oakwood Cemetery African American genealogy project, 2022-2023.
• Contributor, Family History Collections: Archiving Practices project, 2022.
• Contributor, Civil War Photo Sleuth project, 2022.
• Presenter, Gullett Elementary School Virtual Career Fair, 2021.
• Bronze sponsor, Violet Crown Festival, 2019.
• Consultant, Genealogy Intersession, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, 2017.
• National Night Out host (with Rob Burneson), 2015, 2010, and various other years beginning in 1990.
• Webmaster, Friends of Brentwood Park, 2012-2013.
• Member, Leadership Team, Friends of Brentwood Park, 2010-2012.
• Member, Executive Committee, Crestview Neighborhood Association, 2010-2011.
• Judge; Texas History Day Oral History Award; 2009, 2011, and 2012.
• Member, Newsletter Committee, Crestview Neighborhood Association, 2008-2011.
• Founding board member, Project ClayPlay, 2007-2009.
• Member, Review Board, City of Austin Grant for Technology Opportunities Program, 2004.
• Co-founder, Community Tent and publicity coordinator, and event volunteer, Violet Crown Festival, 2003-2010.
• Founding board member, Violet Crown Community Works, 2003-2007.
• Acapella singer, Susan Lincoln’s Hilde Girls, 2001-2008.
• Silent auction volunteer, Empty Bowl Project, 1997-2007.
• Reunion co-organizer; Burneson/Rathert/Rockey/Schuessler/Vaughn/Winkel families, 1995, 1997, and 2000; Campbell/Smith/Stout families, 1998; Pillers/Kenner families, 2000.
• Newsletter layout artist; Useful Wild Plants, Inc.; 1993-1994.
• Brochure and poster designer, Hyde Park Homes Tour (Austin), 1983-1985.
• Newsletter layout artist, Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (Austin), 1982-1985.
• Community dancer, Deborah Hay Dance Company, 1978-1980.
Susan Burneson
Austin, Texas
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