by Debbie Z. Harwell Alumni from Yates and Wheatley came to the unveiling of the historical marker for the Turkey Day Classic, which stands on the University of Houston campus at the site where the Turkey Day Classic was played from 1942 to1966. Photo courtesy of the University of Houston. The nation’s biggest high school rivalry football game took place on Thanksgiving Day in the heart of Houston, […]
By: Jorge Palomo While the Turkey Day Classic dominated Jack Yates High School sports history, other athletes and teams, led by outstanding coaches, made historic runs of their own in boys and girls basketball, baseball, track and field, and other sports. In the early twentieth century, Houston’s segregated public schools competed in the Texas Interscholastic League of Colored Schools formed in 1920, which changed its name in 1923 to Prairie View Interscholastic League (PVIL), under the Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View […]
By Devin Herrera with Cindy Rives Alfaro The 1958-59 team met its challenges head on, as the coaches worked to turn the students into polished athletes. Photo Courtesy of The Buffalo, Milby High School yearbook, 1959. Athletics are the backbone of the school spirit, and without them a school can have no spirit. Nestled in […]
On June 23, 1972, nearly thirty-five years prior to the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or educational program that receives federal funding, there was the Scottish Brigade Drill Team. Beatrice Lytle, the group’s sponsor, organized the Scottish Brigade Drill Team in September of 1937 in conjunction with the newly […]
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.
Beginning in 1981, the University of Houston (UH) basketball team with its ground-breaking style of play drew sold-out crowds and became must-see TV. The team’s performance on January 4, 1983, sparked Houston Post writer Thomas Bonk to give the team a fitting name – Phi Slama Jama – based on its ability to dunk over […]
Jim Nantz was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and relocated multiple times as a young boy. He went to high school in New Jersey prior to attending the University of Houston (UH) where he was recruited as a member of the golf team. Shortly after graduating in 1981 with a degree in radio and television […]
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 […]
This special spring issue of Houston History features five articles for 100 Years of Stories: Documenting a Century at the University of Houston! Click on Buy Magazines to purchase a print copy or subscribe. Houston Public Media tells the behind the scenes stories of the work our students are doing in collaboration with Houston Public Media and […]
By Debbie Z. Harwell “Women like her made women like me.” —Debbie Sokol, award-winning volleyball player, coach, and trainer. Sue Garrison, the University of Houston’s first director of women’s physical education and women’s athletics (1945-1979), was ahead of her time, creating opportunities for women long before Title IX. Photo courtesy of the TWU Libraries Woman’s […]
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