MAYOR BILL WHITE LAUNCHES THE HOUSTON ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Houston Voices its Past
September 29, 2009 -- Mayor Bill White and Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, director of the Houston Public Library, today launched the Houston Oral History Project (HOHP), unveiling the project's Web-based resources and inviting Houstonians to join in celebrating and preserving the history of the city through the words of its residents. As part of the launch, attendees were treated to a preview of the irreplaceable oral histories that have been compiled and digitized to preserve Houston’s past. The HOHP histories can be viewed at www.houstonoralhistory.org.
The HOHP is a multi-year effort to record and protect the dynamic history of Houston through the stories and experiences of its residents. Through the HOHP, the existing Oral History Collection at the Houston Public Library's Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) is being digitized and new interviews are being added. The HOHP is a collaborative effort among the City of Houston, the Houston Public Library, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the University of Houston (UH); the UH participation was directed by Dr. Joe Pratt, History Department.
“We wanted to capture these fascinating, eyewitness bits of our city’s history from those who helped make it what it is today,” said Mayor Bill White. “This is a project that, like the city itself, will only grow in value over time.”
“We are grateful to Mayor White for having the vision for this important project. Through the Houston Oral History Project we are now able to preserve hundreds of hours of oral histories collected years ago and add recently obtained oral histories of key Houstonians who have contributed to making Houston the great city it is today. The oral histories will strengthen the Library's historical collections and I am sure they will delight researchers as well as the general public. They will be easily and globally accessible to everyone through the new Houston Oral History Web Site. This is truly an exciting and valuable resource for everyone.”
The HOHP consists of several parts: The Mayor Bill White Collection, the Neighborhood Voices tapes, and the HMRC Oral Histories.
The Mayor Bill White Collection
Mayor White commissioned 100 initial interviews for this collection, directing that it include well-known civic, political, business, and civic leaders as well as witnesses to the events that shaped our city. Historians from the University of Houston, Texas Southern University, and Rice University offered guidance and helped develop the initial list of interviewees. Extensive research was done for each interview, professional recording equipment was used and, in many cases, renowned community members acted as interviewers.
Mayor White also wanted to make these living histories more useful and accessible to students, academics, and historians, so searchable transcripts have been included. All of the interviews have been entered into the digital archives of the Houston Public Library System, under the direction of Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, and copies will also reside with the University of Houston. The Houston Public Library thanks David Goldstein, consultant with Diagnostic Marketing Group, who managed this project.
Interviews in the Mayor Bill White Collection include Martha Wong, Kathy Whitmire, Louie Welch, Robert Sakowitz, Yolanda Navarro, Gene Locke, Stephen Klineberg, Nicolas Kanellos, Gerald Hines, Felix Fraga, Archbishop Fiorenza, Robert Eckels, Leonel Castillo, and Lee Brown.
The Neighborhood Voices tapes
In the summer of 2008 the Houston Public Library invited citizens to visit library locations throughout the city to record their own brief recollections about life in Houston. The 56 completed video interviews include Houstonians from different parts of the city, sharing their stories on Houston and its history. The interviews are now available on the HOHP Web site.
HMRC Oral Histories
The HMRC recently digitized more than 240 oral histories compiled in the 1970's and 1980's for the Houston Public Library’s Oral History collection, which are being transcribed and added to the web-based collection. All of these histories are available at the HMRC and are in the process of being made available online with fully searchable transcripts. Created under the direction of Louis Marchiafava, the collection contains interviews with artists, musicians, civil rights activists, politicians, and civic leaders who helped define the growth and history of the city. Approximately 300 additional hours of oral histories are expected to be digitized within the next year, all providing searchable transcripts for the collection and included in the fully searchable online archive.
About the Sponsors
The Houston Oral History Project was funded from the City of Houston’s Library Special Revenue Funds, with $275,000 secured by Mayor Bill White (and approved by Houston City Council) for the new oral history component. This funding created the Houston Oral History Project and ensured the completion of Phase I of the project, which included 100 new interviews, their digitization and their transcripts, and the creation of a web site to provide access to all the oral histories.
Phase II of the project, digitization of the HMRC collection, was funded by a TexTreasures grant from U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. In addition, the project received matching grants from the Friends of the Texas Room, the Houston Public Library Foundation Cullinan Endowment, and the Houston Oral History Project for the digitization of the HMRC collection.
About the Houston Public Library
The Houston Public Library (HPL) operates 35 neighborhood libraries, three HPL Express Libraries, a Central Library, the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, and the Parent Resource Library located in the Children’s Museum of Houston. Serving more than 4 million customers per year, HPL is committed to excellent customer service and equitable access to information and programs by providing library customers with free use of a diverse collection of printed materials and electronic resources, Internet, laptop and computer use, and a variety of database and reference resources with live assistance online 24/7.
For further information, visit the Houston Public Library at www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832-393-1313.
