A Resounding Success: The 17th Annual Angelina Eberly Luncheon

The Angelina Eberly Luncheon is AHCA’s signature annual event. It’s our largest fundraiser and the moment when Austin history lovers, longtime supporters and new faces join to celebrate the past year and invest in the one ahead. The Luncheon takes its name from Angelina Belle Peyton Eberly, innkeeper and Archive War cannoneer, daughter of John and Margaret Hamilton Peyton. When Mexican troops captured San Antonio in 1842, President Sam Houston ordered the national archives moved out of Austin for safekeeping. This innkeeper led a group of local citizens to block the removal of the records in an effort to preserve Austin’s capital status.

This past year, funding from the 2025 Eberly Luncheon directly supported our association’s work across three major priorities.

• More free community programming sponsored entirely by our association. We added a new History Hour series alongside our traditional Annual Meeting, Fuller Circle and Austin Museum Day events. These events welcome hundreds of new faces from all demographics and backgrounds into our association.
• Preservation projects at the Austin History Center. Funds supported the restoration of 146 historic 1970s Herman Miller Eames chairs at the Faulk Building and the completion of the restoration and reinstallation of original 1933 light fixtures on the exterior of the old Austin History Center building.
• The History Center’s expansion into the renovated John Henry Faulk Building. Our grand reopening celebration received widespread coverage throughout local media, including the cover of the Austin Chronicle.

Building on that success, we held the 17th Annual Angelina Eberly Luncheon this past February 26, 2026. Co-hosted by Dee Hall and AHCA President Charles Peveto, the event brought together around 200 guests for an afternoon celebrating a historic year for AHCA.

We are thankful to announce that all of our goals for the day came through. The social activity was off the charts, and an expanded registration period featured historical photos, an Austin History Center informational table, Indelible Austin books for sale through Waterloo Press and a full-size cannon.

The program honored a landmark year, most notably the grand reopening of the Austin History Center in the John Henry Faulk Library. Moreover, we raised over $15,000 during the luncheon alone, which, combined with sponsorships and ticket sales, will help power a 2026 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Austin Public Library System.

As AHCA cofounder Martha Hartzog shared with guests during the program, about the story of Angelina Eberly herself:

“By attending the luncheon in her honor today, you, every one of you, can be proud that you are helping preserve the spirit of Austin and its history. You are protecting what has made Austin, Austin!”

Martha Hartzog, AHCA cofounder

That sentiment stays with us and embodies the mission and vision we have for the future of our community.

As I shared during the program, I can’t emphasize enough how critical your support is to our association in this moment. It’s no secret that the entire nonprofit sector is struggling right now, and small nonprofits like ours are getting hit the hardest. Across the nonprofit sector, grant funding and philanthropy continue to tighten across Texas and the country, even as our work keeps growing.

As 2026 continues, please keep our association and the work of the Austin History Center in your heart, and continue to support us. None of what we at AHCA accomplished would have been possible without the support our community showed at last year’s Eberly Luncheon, and much of what’s ahead in 2026 is impossible without every one of you.

As the year continues, please keep the work of the History Center in mind, and consider joining us at one of the upcoming events we have planned at the Austin History Center.