For one of my senior writing in discipline courses for my Poli Sci major. A paper basically on the urban political development in Houston between 1950-1999. I'm looking for any good sources on Houston political shifts, city council historical issues, charts, graphs, books, anything. My goal is to first find some sort of distinct break in pattern, where the city starts becoming more democratic, or more republican. Second goal would be to then explain that shift. I also want to focus on the influence of Houston's oil industry, the overall layout of the city in terms of being such a large city but with a very indistinct downtown (at least last I was there in 2004), and of course the effect of the hispanic/african-american population. Anyone got any good sources? Work at any local Houston colleges in poly sci departments? I've scoured the trusty LexisNexis, jStor, and google and still need more numbers rather then anecdotes. Thanks!
well the key shift from 1945 onwards would be the rise of mccarthism/communist scare. Roy Cullen, among others, led a prominent movement in the city. I don't know if you go to UH or not, bu there are some really good resources there if you want them. Specifically, if you are looking for professors to talk to, Dr. Richard Murray (the "star" of the Poli Sci dept) and Dr. Orson Cook (Houston Historian) are both excellent people to talk to. Dr. Murray has been at UH for over 40 years, and I'm sure he's one of the best people to talk to about this.
http://www.has.rice.edu/ Stephen Klineberg's Houston Area Survey has some information you might find helpful.
A few bullet points I found in a quick search. •1953--KUHT-TV, the nation's first public broadcast TV station, goes on the air. •1955--Houston Grand Opera Association and Houston Ballet founded. •1955--Houston metro area population reaches 1,000,000. •1962--NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center moves to Houston. •1962--Houston voters reject proposed zoning ordinance. •1965--First event held in Astrodome. •1969--Houston Intercontinental Airport begins operations. •1969--"Houston" is the first word spoken from the lunar surface. •1971--Shell Oil Co. relocates corporate headquarters to Houston. More than 200 major firms moved headquarters, subsidiaries, and divisions here in the 1970s. •1973--Arab oil embargo quadruples oil prices in 90 days, fueling Houston's 1973-1981 economic boom. •1978--Voters approve and fund MTA. •1982--Employment peaks at 1,583,400 in Mar. before onset of recession. •1983--155 office buildings completed. •1987--Trough of recession in Jan., with net recession loss of 221,900 jobs. •1990--Houston recovery complete, with May job count above Mar. 1982 level. •1990--Houston hosts 16th annual Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations. •1991--Houston City Council mandates development of first zoning regulations. •1992--Republican National Convention held in Houston. •1993--Voters reject zoning in Houston for a third time (1939, 1962 & 1993) •1994--Houston Rockets win NBA finals, bringing Houston it's first major sports championship. They repeat as champions in 1995. •1997--Lee Brown is elected Houston's first African-American mayor. http://www.texasbest.com/houston/history.html
Sound like good sources, any chance you could email me any contact info on them? I'd love to be able to get ahold of primary sources like that. Unfortunately I'm out here at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and this is part 1 of a two part paper. The second part will consist of picking another city (I was thinking San Antonio, to maintain the same regional focus). So far I've managed to find a good amount of information about turbulent times in Houston's city council, clashes between latino-black voting blocks, clashes between anti-gay/pro-gay groups, but just tryin to find the numbers, stats, and facts to help seperate the BS from the anecdotes. Pouhe, definitely have not, should I look for his columns historically online? Thanks Drake & Deckard for the help!
From UH's website: http://www.polsci.uh.edu/people/people_faculty_listing.html Murray, Richard W. Ph.D., University of Minnesota Professor Political parties and elections, Political interest groups, Urban politics, State and local electoral politics. rmurray@uh.edu • Phone713-743-3909 • Office:404 PGH http://www.polsci.uh.edu/rmurray.asp
I'm currently at work too lol, the firm I work for is over on Jackson & Peoria, a few blocks away. Finishin up this semester in May so I'm tryin not to be TOO half assed about this assignment. I figure it's my one last hurrah paper in college, might as well leave a mark.
I don't know whether this falls under the subject of you paper or not, but one of the most fascinating books on the history of Houston that I've ever read is called "No Color Is My Kind: The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston." You can check it out on Amazon here. The book comprises two stories. One story is of the desegregation movement in Houston in the 1960s. The second story details the disintegrating mental health of one of that movement's engines, Eldrewey Stearns. Both stories are fascinating, but the story of integration in Houston is particularly amazing. At least, I found that to be so! In the mid-60s, rioting over civil rights was occurring all over the country, most notably in Watts, Detroit, Harlem, and elsewhere. That didn't happen in Houston, thanks to a powerful determination by both the city's activists and power brokers to avoid bloodshed. In 1917, Houston had experienced a race riot. More commonly known as the Camp Logan Riots, the Houston Riot of 1917 was a mutiny by one hundred and fifty black soldiers of the Third Battalion of the (black) Twenty-fourth United States Infantry. You can read the wiki here. To cram it into a sentence, rumors spread of Houston police killing a black soldier, and the black battalion marched on the city where they were met by police and armed whites. It was a bloody, traumatic day that Houston's business-first power brokers were determined not to repeat in the 60s. By the early half of the decade, Stearns and his fellows were conducting sit-ins at the segregated cafeteria of City Hall. Segregated Houston was ready to blow. While other southern cities rocked with violence, Houston integrated its public accommodations peacefully. Through a backroom conspiracy involving civic leaders, power brokers, the city's newspaper editors, black clergy, and anti-segregationists, Houston essentially desegregated its public facilities in secret. It was done literally overnight, and it wasn't reported in the papers that Houston was officially desegregated until after the fact, weeks after the sit-ins had accomplished their goal quietly and peacefully. By the time most Houstonians realized they were living in an integrated city, there was nothing left to riot over-- the deed had been done. Obviously, Houston's approach didn't garner any headlines nationwide. It was practically done in total secrecy. Just another historic example of Houston finding its own weirdly effective path while the world pays its attention elsewhere.
It may take some doing! Houston has never been a city much concerned with history. There's not a lot on the Web on the topic. You may have better luck at the university libraries in town.
I think another good contact would be Renee Cross--She's the Associate Director for the Center of Public Policy at UH. She's a great resource and can probably point you in the right direction as far as people and references. http://www.uh.edu/cpp/staff.htm Renée Cross, MLA Associate Director, Center for Public Policy Lecturer, Political Science, University of Houston Lecturer, Political Science, University of Houston-Downtown 104 Heyne Building 713 743 3972 713 743 3978 fax rcross@uh.edu Expertise: Texas and Houston Politics, Politics & the Internet, Civic Engagement & Public Service Contact Renée for matters relating to external relations, internship programs, website information and general research questions. Link to her bio: http://www.uh.edu/cpp/cross.pdf
Thanks once again for the awesome resources guys, appreciate it! Planning on making phone calls this week and who knows, maybe this thing snowballs into something more substantial.
last contact- hes a hist professor. He even teaches a class called the History of Houston. Orson Cook Contact Phone: 713.743.2454 Email: cocook@uh.edu
