It’s a tad bit ironic that Alamo collector Phil Collins played his last concert Saturday night and Tuesday one of his favorite subjects will start a whole new life at the Dallas Historical Society. While Phil has spent decades collecting more than 400 objects associated with the siege of the Alamo, a former barkeep by the name of Thomas J. “Tom” Feely Jr. was literally recreating the final historic day with Santa Anna’s 1,500 soldiers climbing the walls and overcoming the 500 200 settlers and frontiersman.
Unlike Phil’s donation that has met with a quagmire of controversy in San Antonio, Tom’s reproduction has avoided such political challenges due to the fact it doesn’t address the “politics” of why the battle took place. Rather, it simply is a “snapshot” of the final 90-minute assault that took place on the morning of Sunday, March 6, 1836.
Over the years, Tom worked on his project in a building on his property in Jackson, Pennsylvania. According to the San Antonio Express in 2015, Tom said he had asked some museums in Texas if they would display the diorama, but none of them had room.
The problem was while the Alamo Mission itself was more than five 2.5 acres, Tom had managed to recreate the more than five-acre original Alamo and surrounding battlefield into a diorama at 1/54 of the actual size, resulting in a 24’ by 15’ tableau, or more than 336 square feet. Still, that was a lot of property for a museum to host. Even so, Tom Felt the size was needed to “capture the chaos and intensity of the battle.”
Taking nearly 20 years to finish, it was artwork that made Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel look like a quick paint job. Each of the pewter figures is hand painted down to their faces. Such moments as Mexican Colonel Jose Maria Romero’s charge on the cattle corral, defenders atop the Alamo Chapel, the Mexican troops scaling the northeast wall, and knots used to tie down horses were locked down in time.

And speaking of time, changes were made over the years as more research proved and disproved legends that had become chapter and verse thanks to movies, music and hand-me-down stories. With each new development, Tom adjusted this historic artwork to reflect the most accurate version possible of an event that took place more than 183 186years ago.
It was just as Tom was inching toward his mid-70s that negotiations got underway for such a museum to be the home for his epic undertaking.

DHS Executive Director Karl Chiao learned of the possibility and knew he had the perfect place for it in the Hall of State, which also housed Sam Houston’s handwritten account of the Battle of San Jacinto, James Fannin’s watch, the only known original Juneteenth document and Santa Anna’s spurs among its 3 million historical artifacts.
Through painstaking negotiations that included Tom’s flying east to see the site, overcoming the infamous Winter Storm Uri that damaged the Hall of State and the pandemic, the diorama’s four sections were carefully crated and shipped to their new home where they will be on permanent display as “Texas Liberty Forever! – An Interactive Diorama of The Battle Of The Alamo” in the South Texas Room, thanks to lead sponsors Stanley V. Graff and Reed Graff, plus the Scovell Family Foundation at The Dallas Foundation, Patrick and Kristy Sands and the Sands Foundation, the Hillcrest Foundation, The Summerfield G. Roberts Foundation, The Summerlee Foundation and Phoenix I Restoration and Construction LLC.
Whether you’re a newcomer to these parts or a multi-generation resident, you’ll be fascinated by the detail and craftsmanship of North Texas’ latest treasure.

While the diorama is on exhibit Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., there is no hands-on availability. Instead the interactive availability allows guests to get an up-close look at the people, animals and actions of the day. Talk about today’s technology bringing the past alive!
And just for fun, try to pick out the Easter eggs in the landscape like the one and only cat among the 2,000+ figures. Rumor has it that Tom painted a couple of familiar faces on the figurines — his boyhood hero Fess Parker, who portrayed Davy Crockett on the 1950s TV serial, and John Wayne, who played Crockett in the 1960 movie “The Alamo.”
* Photo credit: Danny Campbell
Jeanne Prejean says
To the person who sent a comment questioning the KDFW report on the diorama, a confirmation email was sent to you to confirm that you wished to have it posted. Unfortunately, the email address that you provided resulted in the following message: “It could not be delivered.”
Had it been delivered, the message would have read the following: Thank you for your comment. While I appreciate your concern, I think the comment should be directed to KDFW since MySweetCharity did not mention the color of the figurines’ skin nor KDFW. We have earnestly tried to make our website one that is positive without controversy.
However, if you do want your comment to be posted, we need to confirm that you wrote the comment and agree to having it published.
-Jeanne
FYI: We are not picking on this commenter. A confirmation email is always sent to first-time commenters to assure that they are genuine.
Tom Hunter says
My wife and I had the opportunity to visit the Hall of State today. The diorama is absolutely incredible.
You can spend a great deal of time scoping the 336 square feet and continue to be impressed.
The interactive app downloaded to our smartphones was an added plus to the scope of the project.
Thank you fellow Pennsylvanian Thomas J. “Tom” Feely Jr., for the masterful effort.