“It was a life-changing thing to meet her. It was like she had a magic bubble of enthusiasm around her, and you could not walk by without getting some of it on you,” said Judy Jones, a former student of Patsy Swayze. The two met after Jones won the Miss Houston Pageant in 1959, and […]
Tag Archives | Houston History
Preserving History: The Importance of Independence Heights
I remember the first time I saw the sign that read “Independence Heights: Historic Houston Community.” It piqued my curiosity, and that interest stayed with me. As the years went by, townhomes that reigned on the other side of the 610 Loop began creeping into the historic neighborhood. As the landscape changed and the old […]
A Place of Reinvention
By Marie-Theresa Hernández Pierced Heart by Daniel Galvez-Zuniga. The stained glass at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church carries intense symbolism with a heart pierced by a sword, bringing to mind church members and visitors who lived through enslavement, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. In 2022, when University of Houston photography students from my World Cultures and Anthropology […]
20.1 Innovative Thinkers: Letter from the Editor
Debbie Z. Harwell, Editor Do you ever wonder when you see a new product, “Why didn’t I think of that?” (Sometimes followed by, “I’d be rich!”). As Google search for the question, “how do we get ideas?” returned 4.4 billion responses. (That’s billion with a “B”!). So, I did what most of us do and […]
Table of Contents 19.2 Community Engagement
Download the full pdf here 19.2 Letter from the Editor, Debbie Z. Harwell 2Dr. Sue Garrison: The Inspiration Behind Generations of Educators and LeadersBy Debbie Z. Harwell8Latino cARTographies: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Houston’s Latino Visual ArtBy Pamela Anne Quiroz and Juana Guzman14Establishing the University of Houston: “May We All Cherish This School Always” By Grace Conroy17Shakespeare For All: The Spirit of the Houston Shakespeare FestivalBy Andrew Tello22From the ArchivesDr. Richard I. Evans […]
Houston History Launch Events
Click here to link to our past launch events sponsored by the UH Center for Public History Lecture Series.
Beyond Social Justice: Black Lives Matter and Houston Relief Efforts
By Christopher Kessinger Brandi Holmes and Secunda Joseph spoke to Houston History about what motivated them to help those in need during Hurricane Harvey. Photo courtesy of Resilient Houston: Documenting Hurricane Harvey. Activists with Black Lives Matter-Houston and Project Curate, Brandi Holmes and Secunda Joseph formulated their own responses to Hurricane Harvey. The two began […]
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, […]