J. P. Bryan discusses his collecting efforts, what inspired his love for history, and his dreams for the new Bryan Museum.
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Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of the Cullen Rifles
The sound of hands clasping the wooden stocks of 1903 Springfield rifles echoed loudly across the field as a crowd of Houston Cougars football fans watched. Thirty young men, all dressed in their pink and green military dress uniforms, were executing the Queen Anne’s Drill—a complex rifle maneuver that required high levels of discipline and […]
The University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program, 1979-1989
The UH English Department, with John McNamara as chair, shaped its creative writing program in the late 1970s, when such programs were sprouting up across the country, as a way to draw students at a time of “steadily declining graduate enrollment in the Department.” In 1978, the department asked poet Cynthia Macdonald, then at Johns […]
North America Taiwanese Women’s Association
Not content with the status quo and lacking an organization to represent them, a small group of thirty Taiwanese women from the United States and Canada formed what became the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association (NATWA) in March of 1988. A non-profit run primarily by volunteers, NATWA created a nongovernmental organization to address major issues […]
The Peter Beste and Lance Scott Walker Houston Rap Collection
From hip-hop music’s earliest days, Houston has contributed greatly to the genre’s development. In the 1990s Houston icon DJ Screw gave us “chopped and screwed,” arguably the city’s most notable contribution, but Houston can claim many others. A handful of Houston-area rappers, like Geto Boys, Bun B and Pimp C of UGK, and Paul Wall, […]
Donald Barthelme and the Adams Petroleum Center
One of Houston’s most important literary figures was the late writer and novelist Donald Barthelme (1931–1989). But for many years Barthelme labored in the shadow of his better-known father, Donald Barthelme, Sr. (1907–1996), a nationally prominent architect.
Working the Houston Ship Channel: “Tote that barge! Lift that bale!”
By Debbie Z. Harwell The success of the Houston Ship Channel and the Port of Houston is built on more than the determination of businessmen, however. Since its earliest days the city has acted as a magnet for people coming here to look for work, particularly in jobs associated with the ship channel and the […]
Hermann Park Conservancy Exhibit
Hermann Park Conservancy has partnered with the Julia Ideson Library downtown and the Houston Public Library to present an exhibition that runs until July 26th honoring Hermann Park’s centennial. Objects on display from the Park’s history include original planning documents, maps, renderings, and photos that have come from the archives of Hermann Park Conservancy, the […]
Frontier Fiesta: “The Greatest College Show on Earth”
A University of Houston tradition, Frontier Fiesta began seventy-three years ago as an amalgamation of musical and theatrical performances, cook-offs, carnival booths, and concessions. Each spring, Fiesta volunteers transform a piece of vacant land or a parking lot on campus into a western frontier-style town called Fiesta City to accommodate the festival, which has had […]
From the Archives – Gorilla Girls
“With Love and Bananas”: Houston Gorilla Girls Seek Equality for Female Artists By Vince Lee At a time when female artists continued to lack the full recognition they deserved, four Houston women banded together as the Houston Gorilla Girls in protest against the status quo. The group organized in May of 1987 as the local […]