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 […]
Archive | Race & Ethnicity
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 […]
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
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 […]
The Tatcho Mindiola Jr. Collection
In May 2015, Houston native Dr. Tatcho Mindiola, Jr., the long time Chicano activist, sociology professor, and director for the Center for Mexican American Studies, retired from the University of Houston (UH) after forty years of service. Months later he donated his papers, over sixty boxes, to the Hispanic Collections at the University of Houston […]
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 […]