Houston History celebrates its twentieth anniversary with its fiftieth issue in the fall of 2023. The issue also marks the culmination of the three-year grant project: 100 Years of Stories – Documenting a Century at the University of Houston highlighting the way the university, its programs, and individuals have impacted the community.
Archive | Education
Twenty Years: Houston History
By Debbie Z. Harwell Shown left to right are Joe Pratt (Houston History magazine founder); Buffalo Soldiers Museum founder, Captain Paul Matthews; and donor Welcome Wilson, Sr. Our goal … is to make our region more aware of its history and more respectful of its past; we hope to contribute to the development of a […]
Philip G. Hoffman Leading UH
By Megan R. Dagnall President Philip G. Hoffman oversaw critical reforms, most significantly the start of campus desegregation. Photo courtesy of Houstonian, 1975, University of Houston Libraries, Digital Collections. As one of the most ethnically diverse major research university in the United States, the University of Houston’s identity is intertwined with its varied, multicultural student […]
Blaffer’s Education Programs
By Katherine Veneman Katherine Veneman and YAAP participant Jessica Flores accept the Coming Up Taller award from First Lady Michelle Obama, November 4, 2009. Photo courtesy of Steven E. Purcell. The Blaffer has a particular energy, sparked by intellectual freedom and curiosity that motivates the best programs. Programs often begin with a simple query, “What […]
Sports Commentator Jim Nantz
By Steven Miller Jim Nantz is recognized as a major voice for the sports world and the University of Houston family. A multi-Emmy-award winner, he was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and the Pro Football and Naismith Memorial Basketball Halls of Fame. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters and the […]
Agents of Change
Discover the latest issue of Houston History exploring people who have impacted the Houston community and beyond.
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 […]
Burdette Keeland, Jr.: “The Bird” Who Built a Better Houston
By Robert Perla Ventura Known by his friends as ”Bird,” Keeland became one of Houston’s premier architects. Burdette Keeland, Jr. was a man as busy as they come. As an architect, professor, and chairperson of the Houston Planning Commission, Keeland was always working to better our city. A graduate of the University of Houston (UH) […]
Public Art of the University of Houston
By Mercedes Del Riego Benches by Scott Burton, pink granite (1985). Best known for blurring the boundary between utilitarian objects and art, Burton was a minimalist sculptor inspired by the Bauhaus and abstract movements. This set of two benches sit nondescriptly in front of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. All photos […]
A Surprise Discovery: Making Art History Public Art
By Mercedes Del Riego 22 February 1916 “Sunday Evening in a Village in the Ardennes.” Says “Dear Irma, many heartfelt thanks and greetings, your Otto. Have had no mail from you for days.” All photos courtesy of Irene Guenther. Peter Guenther and his wife, Andrea, died a few short months apart. “I should not have […]