By Bethany ScottThe Houstonian yearbook highlighted the need for financial aid as a major reason for the University’s bid to become a state school. Houstonian yearbook, 1961. Despite its current status as one of the country’s most diverse universities, the University of Houston, like numerous institutions of higher education, was founded in an era of […]
Archive | Preservation
Discovering Greens Bayou
By Teresa Tomkins-Walsh Greens Bayou watershed imposed on rendering of Harris County. Photo courtesy of Bayou Preservation Association. Greens Bayou watershed is contained wholly within Harris County, in contrast to some regional watersheds that tap into adjoining counties. Comprising 212 square miles of drainage and including 308 miles of open streams, Greens Bayou watershed sprawls […]
Latino cARTographies: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Houston’s Latino Visual Art
“A 21ST Century Mode of Accessing Art and Experiencing Culture”By Dr. Pamela Anne Quiroz and Juana GuzmánUnder the leadership of Dr. Pamela Anne Quiroz, Director of the University of Houston’s (UH) Center for Mexican American and Latino Studies (CMALS), plans are underway to launch the groundbreaking digital board, Latino cARTographies: Mapping the Past, Present, and […]
From Dumpster Diving to Dallas Buyers Club: Gulf Coast Archive and Museum of GLBT History
A conversation with Judy Reeves, Vince Lee, and Leandra ZarnowJudy Reeves, Vince Lee, and Leandra Zarnow discuss the history of GCAM’s origins.Judy Reeves—the lead curator who cofounded the Gulf Coast Archive and Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender History (GCAM) in 1999—is a longtime Houston activist. Retired from the medical and banking industries, she […]
Now Available: Evolution of a Community
This issue looks at ways our community has evolved in its attitudes, politics, neighborhoods, and culture. In the 1920s or 1930s, an unknown artist painted this futuristic vision of Houston in 1980 that is at once fantasy and truth. Houston has evolved to include elevated freeways that encircle downtown as the artist anticipated, although they […]
A Look At Fourth Ward Houston Texas
Houston’s Fourth Ward as seen through the lens of Roxanne Quezada Chartouni’s camera in 1987.
Houston’s Oldest House Gets a New Life
Those familiar with Houston history may be able to tell you that the oldest house in the city still standing on its original property is the 1847 Kellum-Noble House in Sam Houston Park. Although owned by the City, The Heritage Society (THS), a non-profit organization, has maintained the home for the past sixty-five years. Recently, […]
Gravestones Tell Stories: San Isidro Cemetery
By Marie-Theresa Hernandez Photo by Myra de la Garza, Tree as ProtectorLong before Sugar Land was an affluent suburb of Houston, it was known as the home of Imperial Sugar. The company produced and imported sugar cane and processed it in a red brick, six-story building that still stands alongside U.S. Highway 90. Imperial Sugar initially used […]
Houston Area Rainbow Collective History Community-led Archives
Just over a decade ago Houston Public Library’s Jo Collier brought together a group of local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community historians,archivists, and scholars as part of the library’s LGBT speaker series. Recognizing commonalities and opportunities in their diverse organizations and programs, the group formed Houston Area Rainbow Collective History (ARCH) as a […]
Seeing Houston 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 Houston is a dynamic city with an amazing history. The stories written about its past, however, generally focus on the important people and big events that transformed the wilderness along Buffalo Bayou into a modern metropolis. The Allen brothers, steamship and railroad commerce, […]