Download the full pdf. Vol. 15, No. 1 (Fall 2017) Letter from the Editor by Debbie Z. Harwell 2 Seeing Frost Town from the bottom up: Using Archeology and Archives to Reconstruct a Forgotten Houston Neighborhood By Jason W. Barrett, Douglas K. Boyd, and Louis F. Aulbach 8 The 1947 Texas City Disaster: Changing Lives […]
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Guadalupe Quintanilla: Defying the Odds
This is the story of how Guadalupe Quintanilla, “a first grade drop-out” became an outstanding and influential figure in Houston and the United States, founding a Cross Cultural Communication Program with the Houston Police Department, and recognized by the Department of Justice, President Reagan, and the United Nations.
Coach Bill Yeoman & UH Football
By Ryan Graham The greatest and most successful college football coaches are those who unlock the hidden potential in a program. Not only do they bring out the best in themselves, they also bring out the best in their assistant coaches and, most importantly, their players. From perennial “P5” powerhouses (Power 5 NCAA Division 1 […]
Eldrewey Stearns and Houston’s Student Civil Rights Movement
In the late 1950s and early 1960s young people in Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Tennessee held sit-ins that caught the eye of Texas Southern University (TSU) students in Houston
Building on Intellectual Foundations: Creating the African American Library at the Gregory School
On September 2, 2002 a group of city officials and Houston’s then-mayor, Lee P. Brown, solidified the fate of an abandoned brick building at 1300 Victor Street in Freedmen’s Town Historic District. Through a significant restoration effort, Fourth Ward’s late-1920s-era African-American elementary school, vacant since 1984, was to become a dual-purpose cultural center and research […]
Progressive Programming at KUHT
By Emily Vinson The KUHT television program People are Taught to be Different had the noble aim of improving intercultural understanding, and showing viewers that people are, at their core, much the same. Against a simple stage setting, elegant dancers interpreted moments of joy and sorrow, anger, and love across cultures, as the narrator provided […]
The Turkey Day Classic: Houston’s Biggest Football Rivalry
It has been over 50 years since the last Turkey Day Classic was played, yet still to this day the game is the conversation among Jack Yates and Phyllis Wheatley Alumni alike. The classic initially began as a rotation of holiday games between Yates, Washington, and Wheatley High Schools in 1927. By 1946, the overwhelming […]
Los La Rottas de Houston: A Colombian Family’s Immigration Story
By Alex La Rotta Growing up, my siblings and I occasionally asked our parents how we ended up in Houston. I was particularly interested in trying to find meaning in my dual Colombian-American identity. Here we were, this large Colombian family (forty-plus members and counting) spread across Houston, yet it seemed so happenstance. We did […]
The Growth of the Latter-day Saints Church in Houston and Katy, Texas
By James Thornock The story of the church of Latter-day Saints in Texas began with the founders of the religion as well as the state of Texas. Just before his death in 1844, church organizer Joseph Smith sent a representative to Sam Houston to negotiate for a tract of land where the Latter-day Saints could […]
German Settlers of NW Harris County
By Stephanie Gomez In the northwest corner of Houston sits the Tomball community, known for its safe suburban feel, old town buildings, and superior school districts. On a quick walk through Tomball, the visitor is exposed to a variety of delights that add to the community’s character: small restaurants with the most comforting southern dishes, […]