Public Historians at Work

Send us Fan Mail A history of sports can be a history of the United States. So says Dr. Frank Guridy, an American historian at Columbia University and author of the book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics (University of Texas Press, 2021). In his conversation with Dr. Mark Goldberg on April 13, 2021, Dr. Guridy explains how issues of race, labor, gender, an...

Send us Fan Mail For journalist and oral historian Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, her mission is clear: to record the experiences and contributions of Latinas and Latinos within the United States. As she explains to Dr. Josiah Rector during their conversation on March 2nd, 2021, for too long have her people been underrepresented within primary sources and scholarship. After noticing this lacuna in hi...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Rebecca Archer - a UH graduate student in Art History - tells the story of the Eldorado Ballroom, Houston’s “Home of Happy Feet.” Established in 1939 by Anna Dupree, this historic, black-owned music venue in the Third Ward launched the careers of many entertainers and featured some of the greatest acts of the 20th century.  This episode was researched, rec...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Sheri Schrader – a UH graduate student in Art History – details the life of Dr. John T. Biggers, a prominent African-American artist centered in the Third Ward. Learn about his career as an influential muralist and educator while serving as the founding chairman of the art department at Texas Southern University.  This episode was researched and recorded b...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Ana Girard - a UH graduate student in Art History - relays her interview with Houstonian artist Maya Imani Watson. A prolific artist in multiple mediums, Watson specifically discusses her two mini murals beautifying Third Ward.  This episode was researched and recorded by Ana Girard for the Center for Public History at the University of Houston.  For more...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Allison Anderson - a UH graduate student in U.S. history - tells the story of five African American female physicians who served the Third Ward community. This episode also provides the history of the Houston Negro Hospital (now Riverside General), which was established on June 19th, 1926, as the first non-profit hospital for black Houstonians. This episod...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Brandy Black - a UH graduate student in anthropology - tells the story of the Texas Southern University women who organized and participated in Houston’s Student Civil Rights Movement. Although many of these women remain unknown, Black highlights three preserved in the archives: Holly Adrienne Hogrobrooks, Deanna Lot Burrell, and Halcyon Sadberry Watkins....

Send us Fan Mail When filmmaker Carla Ulrich talks about her work, the word that emerges over and over again is “community.” A director, writer, and producer based out of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories of Canada, Ulrich has over ten years of experience making independent films which tell indigenous stories. In her conversation with Dr. Kairn Klieman recorded on December 11, 2020, Ulrich e...

Send us Fan Mail ***WINNER OF THE JOSEPH A. PRATT HOUSTON HISTORY PRIZE (CENTER FOR PUBLIC HISTORY), 2022*** In this special episode, Caitlyn Jones - a UH graduate student in public history - tells the story of Emancipation Park in Houston's historic Third Ward. Founded in 1872 by formerly enslaved people to host Juneteenth celebrations, the park remains a pillar of the community, a symbol of...

Send us Fan Mail The past contains stories that are complex and messy, heavy and painful. Nevertheless, it is the obligation of the historian to talk about these crucial topics and make them accessible to people far beyond the university.   This is the driving mantra of Dr. Richard Mizelle, Associate Professor of History at the University of Houston and scholar of race, medicine, and disasters, bo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Public Historians at Work, Dr. Monica Perales sits down with Amy C. Evans, a Houston-based artist and oral historian, to talk about her work documenting people’s diverse stories over good food and art. In their conversation recorded on December 4, 2020, Amy describes the organic process through which she came to identify as a public historian, first working as a...

Send us Fan Mail Historians “are an essential core, an essential thread of the world of ideas, of meaning, of insight and more. The question is how to make that manifest.”   So says Dr. Martha Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. In her conversation with Dr. Leandra Zarnow recorded on October 16, 2020, Dr. Jones discusses the o...

Send us Fan Mail Whether asked in class or on Twitter, public historian Dr. Brian Behnken has gotten used to hearing one question, “Why didn’t I know this before?”  In this episode, Dr. Behnken, Associate Professor of African American and Mexican-American civil rights activism at Iowa State University, talks with Dr. Monica Perales about the hunger of public audiences for more contextualization of...