In 1993, Governor of Texas Ann Richards appointed Cummins to serve on the Stephen F. Austin Bicentennial Commission.
Cummins has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Humanities Texas, the state based-arm of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Louisiana Historical Association, and the Texas State Historical Association.
Brown, Jr. commissioned Cummins a Kentucky Colonel in honor of his publications dealing with the history of the Mississippi Valley.
[2] Cummins was awarded the Francisco Bouligny Prize for his publications dealing with Spanish colonial Louisiana and is a lifetime fellow of the Texas State Historical Association.
[6] Cummins has written or edited ten books and numerous articles on the history of Texas, Louisiana, and the Southwestern United States.