A call to action begins “A Plea for County Historical Societies,” published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) in the July 1923 issue of The Southwestern Historical Quarterly. The people of Harris County were the first to answer, founding the Harris County Historical Society (HCHS) in the fall of 1923. HCHS exemplifies how the […]
Author Archive | Houston History Magazine
Not If, but When – Renu Khator and the Evolution of the University of Houston
By Samantha de León President Khator reacts to being inducted into the UH Athletics Hall of Honor in 2018. Leading up to this recognition, UH had reached the American Athletic Conference Championships in football and basketball, the Elite Eight and Final Four in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and consistently ranked in Top-25 polls in […]
Dr. John Lienhard – An Engine of Our Ingenuity
By Cameron Thompson Lienhard records an episode of the Engines of Our Ingenuity. He provides presenters a document with twenty practices for research, writing, and presentation on the radio, including word choice, speech habits, and staying within the three-minute time limit. Photo courtesy of the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering. One cold October […]
The Legacy of Marguerite Ross Barnett: A Modern Vanguard in Education
By Megan R. Dagnall The Board of Regents unanimously chose Marguerite Ross Barnett as president of the University of Houston in 1990, making her the first Black and female president of the institution. Barnett avoided discussion of her identity; instead, she focused on the community surrounding UH, and the development of the university as a premier research institution. […]
Arte Público Press
By Aileen Mendoza Arte Público Press has become the largest publisher of U.S. Hispanic contemporary and recovered literature in the United States. All photo courtesy of Arte Público Press unless otherwise noted. “As a child, Nicolás Kanellos couldn’t find books that accurately portrayed his Hispanic heritage. As an adult, he sought out and published the […]
Nancy Sims and Katy Caldwell Talk on Political Junkies and Poodle Hair
By Max Ward Katy Caldwell, left, and Nancy Sims, right, celebrate Nancy’s thirtieth birthday together in 1989. The pair met while working on a political campaign in 1984. All photos courtesy of Nancy Sims and Katy Caldwell unless otherwise noted. Katy Caldwell and Nancy Sims both grew up in Houston in the 1960s. One was […]
Establishing the University of Houston
“May We All Cherish This School Always” By Grace Conroy The Roaring Twenties was a time of economic prosperity in Houston. Oil had been discovered around the region, the new deep-water port reached $500 million in import and export volume, and skyscrapers appeared on the skyline. Houston’s population grew by 111 percent, making it the […]
The Spirit of the Houston Shakespeare Festival
By Andrew Tello Dean Coutris played Julius Caesar in the 2019 production. The costumes offer a modern-day take on the classic Shakespeare tale. Photo courtesy of Pin Lim. No writer in the English language can lay claim to the fame of William Shakespeare, who has amassed a global fanbase in the four centuries since his […]
The Store That Does More: H-E-B in Houston, Texas
By Miles Bednorz This Mi Tienda, located in Pasadena, Texas, provides customers in the majority Hispanic area with traditional ingredients not sold at other H-E-B stores. Photo courtesy of Miles Bednorz. Begun as a small grocery, staffed by family members in Kerrville, Texas, H-E-B has grown into a massive company, operating more than four hundred […]
Table of Contents 19.2 Community Engagement
Download the full pdf here 19.2 Letter from the Editor, Debbie Z. Harwell 2Dr. Sue Garrison: The Inspiration Behind Generations of Educators and LeadersBy Debbie Z. Harwell8Latino cARTographies: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Houston’s Latino Visual ArtBy Pamela Anne Quiroz and Juana Guzman14Establishing the University of Houston: “May We All Cherish This School Always” By Grace Conroy17Shakespeare For All: The Spirit of the Houston Shakespeare FestivalBy Andrew Tello22From the ArchivesDr. Richard I. Evans […]