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 […]
Archive | Houstonians
Follow
The Mouse that Roared: Eleanor Tinsley
In the late 1960s Mrs. James Tinsley set a shining example of domesticity in the local press as the “clever hostess,” behind the University of Houston history department’s annual dessert and coffee party. The genteel mother of three rounded out this image teaching Sunday school and offering piano lessons to elementary-aged children at her home […]
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.
Minette Boesel: Houston’s Preservation & Adaptive Reuse Advocate
By Silvia Celeste Martinez What is the current building trend in Houston? Adaptive reuse of buildings has become increasingly popular in an effort to preserve existing structures and simultaneously adapt their function to their communities’ needs. Since preservation activist Minnette Boesel wrote “Historic Preservation in Houston… a History?” which appeared in The Houston Review of […]
Pioneering Houston EMS: Answering the Call
Houston EMS personnel recall stories of an auto accident on a Houston roadway, most likely on Westheimer near its current intersection with Loop 610. Two ambulances arrived at the scene to find one person dead and another badly injured. The two men who worked for separate private companies, believed to be funeral homes, fought over […]
Houston Setting the Standard for Emergency Care
A year before the City of Houston implemented its ambulance program, a nonprofit volunteer ambulance service went to the Houston home of a five-year-old girl only to find her dead on arrival. Earlier in the day after giving the child cursory care for asthma, the staff at a local hospital sent her home, advising the […]
On Call by Choice: Life Stories of Houston EMS
The Houston Fire Department Emergency Medical Services (HFD EMS) has pioneered emergency medical protocols, leading the way for departments across the country, but behind the history are the individuals who stand ready every day of the year
Lives Saved, Heroes Made
When someone calls 9-1-1 in Houston, Houston Fire Department EMTs and paramedics respond quickly – and there is hope. This photo essay depicts just a small portion of the reunions that occur each years with emergency patients, their family, and HFD members.
Dr. James “Red” Duke
The sound of helicopter blades beating overhead draws one’s eyes instinctively to the sky. Is there a traffic problem? Is it a police chase? Or is someone being rushed to the hospital? Spying the familiar red helicopter, whether the words Life Flight are visible on the exterior or not, the viewer immediately knows someone’s life […]
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 […]