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Letter from the Vice President Project Updates Fundraising Hello HAM Readers, Thank you so much for taking an interest in our work here at Houston Arts and Media. We have only been incorporated for a little over a year, but already we are chin-deep in projects that seem to spark the imaginations of everyone we talk to. We'd like to take a little time and a little email bandwidth to tell you about them, and ask for any volunteer help you can offer. We are aiming to make this newsletter a quarterly project, but given a small staff of two, and about a half dozen active projects, I'm not counting on them coming out at precise 3 month intervals. So, until we dig up buried treasure in my back yard, buy the winning lottery ticket, or unearth a group of earnest interns, we're going to call it the Roughly Quarterly Newsletter. We are nothing if not honest. Please take the time to read about the many projects we're working on and our recent fundraising efforts. As a non-profit organization, we are of course always looking for financial support, but we are also looking for volunteers for whom education and Houston history are labors of love. If this is you, or someone you know, please send us an email. Our Neighbor to Neighbor Oral History Project, in particular, is time sensitive, and we need volunteers now to help us record the stories from long-time Houstonians before they're gone. To keep the size of the newsletter to a minimum, you're only going to get teasers in your mailbox, but please follow the "read more" links to get the full stories on our website. And please, pass it on to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks again for reading, Laurie Feinswog Projects We're playing a game of Beat the Clock. We have long lists of people that simply must be interviewed soon, and limited resources at our disposal. We have been working to build a team of interviewers, but we need more help. We have reached out to civic and church leaders to help us spread the word to their organizations, and the responses are trickling in, but not fast enough. We are working with the Woodland Heights Centennial Committee, who are gathering oral histories for their upcoming centennial celebration. We are also helping the Descendents of Olivewood Cemetery who are using neighborhood students to gather stories at an upcoming Oral Narrative Day. But we need more dedicated volunteers who truly enjoy listening to the stories our long-time Houstonians can tell. As part of our oral history collection process, we are also asking if our interview subjects have saved neighborhood photographs or memorabilia, such as old matchbooks or menus, or theater programs or sporting event ticket stubs. Because we know these items are precious, we are making use of our portable technology by traveling to their homes with a laptop and scanner, and archiving these documents without them ever having to leave the home. This is a time-consuming process, but it is inspiring to listen to the stories that come when people look through their old photographs. As our schedules get fuller, we will be needing volunteers to help with this process as well. Another issue we have encountered and are likely to face more as we progress
is that we have several volunteers who want to help with interviews, but
who don't have adequate recording equipment, and can't afford to make
the investment. So, aside from volunteers, we are looking for donations
of new or used digital recorders with the capacity to transfer files directly
to PC. Houston Neighborhood Series Because these books will be hardbound, full-color, artistic treasures, we are also looking for contemporary high quality photography to complement the vivid stories we are collecting. To that end, we are spending as many sunny afternoons as possible photographing the current landscape of Houston's historic buildings. While much of Houston's popular architecture has been well documented in the last few decades, there is a large assortment of less iconic, but still historically interesting and valuable buildings that are at risk of being torn down before we can capture them for posterity. Already, in the year we have been working on our projects, we have lost an entire corridor of historic industrial buildings near Center Street in the West End. The AutoChlor building, with its simple art deco touches, and the row of metal shops along the railroad tracks are all gone, replaced by repetitive rows of anonymous townhomes. In dozens of pre-1970 neighborhoods, old strip malls are being replaced by new, trendy facades are covering up less fashionable ones, and old bungalows with yards and gardens are being scraped to make room for three story residences whose footprints fall just a few feet shy of their lot lines. Before more of our city's lesser known architectural gems, or otherwise historically important buildings are lost to development, we are looking for volunteer professional photographers with an interest in Houston's history to help us capture these images. Although remuneration is not possible at this time, full photographic credit will be given. Historic Schools of Harris County The books are not intended to be comprehensive and authoritative histories of every school in the county. However, each school will be represented with basic information, such as location and dates of operation, and if available old or modern photographs. As much as possible, though, we will be telling stories about the schools. Why they changed names, or moved locations. What team rivalries have survived generations. How changes in culture were reflected in changes in education. While we admit that we're probably too late to hear first hand stories about the Houston Academy as it existed in the 1860s, we would love to find people with first- or second-hand stories about their schools (or their parents' schools) in the 30s, 40s and 50s. We are particularly excited with memorabilia that we can photograph or scan. Old yearbooks, class photos, and school newspapers all offer valuable historical information. We have been making excellent contacts and visiting with administrators and public relations personnel in the County school districts. Humble, Pasadena, Deer Park, and Klein ISD have all eagerly opened their doors to us. We have many more school districts to visit, and of course, we are working to scratch the surface of the history of HISD. We are very grateful to have been welcomed by the knowledgeable librarians developing HISD's new archive where we have found a trove of information. However HISD is a sprawling, almost organic entity, and we know we will likely need to go in school by school to collect histories from the individuals who have been passionate about saving it. As always, volunteers are welcome, and anyone who knows people who are
already in the system and might have access to some of this information,
please let us know. History of Houston Beer Joints and Saloons Stand Up Story Before the September event, we took the plunge and purchased a video
camera which nearly paid for itself just in what we would have had to
pay an outside production company to tape the event and subsequent interviews.
We also acquired two lavalier microphones, but to be even more self-reliant,
we are looking for donations of used (or new!) lighting equipment and
a video tripod. Fundraising DonorHouston Amazon HAM Store Call to Action
Our interviewers have thoroughly enjoyed their experiences meeting new people and hearing their stories. In the words of one of our volunteers, Rebecca Estrada, "Interviewing for the HAM Houston Neighborhood Series has been a wonderful experience of service. It has been a privilege to sit and talk with these fascinating people. They have taught me more about the strength of the human spirit than I could have ever anticipated." We also need donations of:
Thank you for your support and your interest in Houston Arts and Media… |
News, if unreported, has no impact. It might as
well have not happened at all.
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