ARLINGTON, Texas—Coming from Florida, Amy Schultz was familiar with the practice of wearing chrysanthemums pinned to one’s clothes during homecoming, but she became fascinated by the time, money, dedication and pageantry of Texas homecoming mums.

Not having children of her own, Schultz first learned about to this tradition from parent friends speaking about the woes of purchasing or creating homecoming mums for their children. As they described the extravagance and costliness of homecoming mums in Texas, Schultz found herself stricken with curiosity. From the moment she saw the long, ribbony, glittery, floral mums dangle from the necks of Texas high school students, she had to know how this tradition came to be.

The first thing Schultz did was search for yearbooks and archived images of students wearing these large arrangements. Having luck with thrift stores and secondhand shops, Schultz was able to find photos but very little information about how this phenomenon became concentrated in Texas. Through research, interviews and a lot of time spent in high schools, Schultz was able to compile all her research and write a book on the history of homecoming mums in Texas.

Schultz took all her own photos, with the exception of a few she found in the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections archive and old yearbooks. From 2016 to 2023, Schultz devoted time to answering questions many Texans cannot answer. All of Schultz’s love, labor and the information she found was published in her book, “Mumentous: Original Photos and Mostly-true Stories about Football, Glue Guns, Moms, and a Supersized High School Tradition that was Born Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

Schultz owns Unplain Jane Studio, where she pursues her passion for photography and writing.