Learn about our diverse projects and see if you can help.

In production
Historic Schools of Harris County - This volume, filled with photographs both old and new, will tell the tale of Harris County's pre-1950 school buildings both extant and not. A collection of vintage and modern photographs and the rich oral history told by former students and faculty will provide a complete human story of these structures which have been the launching pad for many generations of productive Houstonians. We are almost finished with our research and are now looking for financial support to publish this incredible collection of information. Please help support Houston's History.

Houston: A Nation's Capitol - Our next documentary release tours the Houston of 1837-1838 when it was the seat of government for the new Republic of Texas. From our esteemed Presidents to the drunken adventurers who packed the city's saloons, Houston was anything but dull.

Bayou City Noir: The Photography of Marvin Zindler - HAM partners with the Museum of Printing History to present a very special photographic exhibit that runs from March through July of 2011. Through the lens of crime beat photograper, Marvin Zindler, it presents a seemy side of Houston in the early 1950s.

HAM Slices - Tiny little video slices of Houston History. We'll will continue adding new slices, so come hungry for history! And don't forget to get your HAM Slices DVD to savor a high resolution bit of history in front of your own TV.

Houston Preservation Website - HAM was fortunate enough to create virtual preservation walking tours for the new website backed by the City's Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission. Check out the tours from the upper right portion of the home page. We also produced a very nice video that tells the story of preservation in Houston.

What's Your HQ? - An educational game designed to test your knowledge of Houston history, business, sports, people, places, and arts. We have written 3000 questions and have designed the game board, and are looking for corporate underwriting for our manufacturing costs.

Neighbor to Neighbor Oral History Project - The N2N project is citywide effort to gather stories of Houston's neighborhoods as remembered by their long-time residents. These stories will be used to enrich the history in the Houston Neighborhood Series of books including the Historic Schools of Harris County.

Houston Neighborhood Series - This series of books will document Houston's history, up close and personally. Each volume will tell the story of one of the city’s historic neighborhoods including recollections of early residents and generous use of photographs.

History Documentaries - HAM is always working on new ideas to teach important, but lesser understood, aspects of Houston's past. Some of the topics we've been exploring include the Levi Jordan Plantation, Houston's homefront during WWII, the downtown Houston music scene of the 1960s and early 70s and Texas and Texans in the Civil War. A couple of other ideas are outlined below.

Stand Up Story - This documentary film is a history of stand-up comedy in Houston with an emphasis on the heady years of the 1980s when The Comedy Workshop at San Felipe and Shepherd was one of the hottest clubs in the country, producing stars like Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, Janeane Garafalo, Brett Butler and a host of memorable characters who reminisce in what might be one of the funniest true documentaries ever.

Galveston's Trees: Life After Ike - The island suffered enormous damage after Hurrican Ike, with the loss of tens of thousands of trees being among the most noticeable. This documentary takes a look at how those stately oaks came to be in Galveston and how some of the wood salvaged from them will live on.

Houston’s Historic Beer Joints and Saloons - From the watering holes of Sam Houston and Big Foot Wallace to the picnic tables and “church keys” on streets like West Alabama or Navigation, this documentary and its companion book preserve one of the most colorful yet under-reported slices of Houston’s history. In telling the story of where past generations of Houstonians gathered for libation and relaxation, this project brings a rich and much needed humanity to the fabric of our past. HAM is working with professors and students at both Rice and UofH to bring home the lesson that our forefathers were real people with lives not that different than our own.

The History of Frost Town - Houston Arts and Media is working with Art and Environmental Architecture to publish Louis Aulbach's history of Frost Town, Houston's oldest settlement.

The Career Library - A diverse and ever-growing collection of video presentations designed to spark passion in high school students looking for career direction and opportunities. These invaluable DVDs will be distributed free of charge to libraries at high schools and colleges, as well as to career and vocational centers. The Career Library’s own website offers meaningful support for this project.