presented by Archivists of the Houston Area!
Photo by Ai-Ha Do
Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019
10 a.m.–2 p.m.
White Oak Music Hall
2915 N Main St.
Houston, TX 77009
Experience the diverse cultural heritage resources available to the public across the Houston area! Visit with representatives from local archives, allied historical and preservation organizations, and explore the history of our region through hands-on interaction with historical manuscripts, photographs, maps, and other unique materials. A full list of participating repositories and organizations may be found on the Archives page.
Are you concerned about losing your precious family photographs, documents, scrapbooks and ephemera because of Houston’s humid and volatile climate? Would you like to share these documents and memories with your family and future generations without the risk of loss, damage, or destruction?
Join us at the Digital Memories Booth where we will teach you how to digitize your important family documents, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper articles, and ephemera! Visitors are encouraged to bring important family documents to the HAB digitization booth for scanning and a demonstration of basic techniques for digital preservation. Once items have been digitized they will be returned to their owners along with a free flash drive (USB) containing their digital memories or a link to download the files.
To participate, please bring up to five (5) items that can lay flat on a 13×17 inch surface.
Digital Memories Booth presented in partnership with the Moore Memorial Public Library.
Pick up a Passport to Houston Archives and document your journey into Houston history! Visitors will receive passport stamps for visiting exhibitors and taking part in activities at the Bazaar, qualify for giveaways, prizes and Bazaar swag!
Add your voice to the archives! Bring a photograph or document or write a letter on-site to contribute to the 2019 Houston Archives Bazaar Time Capsule. Visitors will learn about archival preservation firsthand as their materials are properly housed, stored, and “buried” under a 50 year access restriction as a snapshot of 2019 Houston for future generations.
Share your Houston story! The Houston Archives Bazaar Oral History Storytelling Booth offers participants an opportunity to record a 15-minute interview about an interesting Houston experience or story. Interviews may involve two friends having a conversation, a family member interviewing a family member, or an individual being interviewed by our professional oral history staff. Register to share your story here!
Have questions about archives, cultural heritage institutions in the Houston area, or about preserving your personal or family papers? Visit the Ask-an-Archivist station! Professional archivists will be on hand to answer all these questions and more.
The Menil Archives is the institutional repository for the Menil Foundation, a non-profit charitable corporation founded by John and Dominique de Menil in 1954. Established in 2000, Menil Archives is responsible for the acquisition, organization, preservation, and access to The Menil Collection records and special collections including exhibition history records, building projects, publications, administration, the personal papers of John and Dominique de Menil, and a small number of artist’s and collector’s papers. Menil Archives is open to the public by appointment Monday-Thursday.
A component of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center serves as the official regional historical resource depository for the 10 Southeast Texas counties of Chambers, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, and Tyler. The Center houses local government records, rare books, manuscripts, archival materials, photographs and other media formats covering a wide range of the area’s past. In addition to the archives and museum, four historic buildings and the Jean and Price Daniel Home and Archives are located on the Center’s grounds.
The Cushing Memorial Library and Archives is the manuscripts, archival, rare books, special collections repository for Texas A&M University Libraries. The collections of the Cushing Library reflect the comprehensive nature of the educational and research enterprise at A&M as well as the wide diversity of interests found among current and former students, faculty, staff and friends.
Houston Genealogical Forum is more than just looking for and finding ancestors. Today’s Genealogist understands the importance of preserving stories and supporting family documentation for future generations and by extension, the larger community. Protecting photos, documents, letters and other ephemera for future generations enables families to revisit and understand the past. Individual family documents and photos can become important in understanding our larger culture. At the Houston Genealogical Forum, we educate our members on the best way to organize and preserve our family histories. Of course, visitors are always welcome.
The Harris County Archives preserves, protects and provides access to the permanent and historical records documenting the government of Harris County and its citizens.
The McGovern Historical Center at The Texas Medical Center (TMC) Library has notable historical collections on the foundations of the medical specialties, Texas medicine, rheumatology and North American public health. The archival collections focus on the development of the institutions and hospitals in the TMC in Houston, the careers of Houston physicians and biographical information on Texas physicians.
Created by the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this freely-searchable online archive documents the lives, work, and products of Texas artisans and artists through 1900. The archive is intended to facilitate research, understanding, and appreciation of Texas decorative arts, as well as painting, photography, and other media. It includes images of objects and art works, as well as census records, city directory entries, newspaper articles, and other primary source materials of the 19th century.
Archives of Houston families and organizations, Jewish history, Asian American history, paranormal studies, Houston folk and blues music, Rice University history, rare books – and much more!
University of Houston Special Collections preserves, safeguards, organizes, and describes materials in our collecting areas, making them available for current and future generations. We support the teaching and research activities of the University of Houston, and serves as a resource for the scholarly community and the general public. The University of Houston Libraries Special Collections includes eleven collecting areas.
HMRC: We were created in 1976 with the mission to locate, preserve, and make available to researchers the documentary evidence of Houston’s history. HMRC resides in the historic Julia Ideson Building (JIB) in downtown Houston that is named after Houston’s first librarian. Librarians and archivists are responsible for collecting, arranging, preserving, describing and indexing the contents of these invaluable collections. Gregory: As the first library of its kind in Houston and one of the few African American libraries in the country, the Gregory School serves as a resource to preserve, promote, and celebrate the rich history and culture of African Americans in Houston, the surrounding region, and the African Diaspora. Clayton: As one of the Houston Public Library System’s special collections, the Clayton Library is recognized as one of the nation’s top genealogical research collections. It received this mark of distinction for its extensive collections covering the entire United States, as well as international sources for identifying immigrant origins in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. In addition, Clayton has 100% of its books in open stacks for public access.
Collection of materials from Jewish communities in Houston, Galveston, and across South Texas.
The HCC Fashion Archive is a physical & digital collection of historical and contemporary clothing and accessories illustrating important trends in the past two hundred and eighty years of fashion history maintained by the Fashion Department located at Houston Community College, Central Campus.
The Rothko Chapel is a nonprofit interfaith chapel featuring artwork of Mark Rothko. Our archive is composed of materials related to the inception, founding, and ongoing work of the Chapel in its mission to explore the intersection of arts, spirituality and human rights. We mainly host academic and historical researchers.
Prairie View A&M University is a Land-Grant institution. Historically, land grant colleges and universities have focused on the teaching of scientific agriculture, engineering, and home economics. From the beginning, they developed strong programs designed to benefit the public in a variety of ways. They are also identified as institutions that have “democratized” education, offering higher education to the working classes. While it is difficult to determine the extent to which university archives are documenting the activities uniquely associated with land-grant institutions, our Special Collections / Archives Department has identifiable records that reflect these activities.
Moore Memorial Library is a public library located in Texas City. Our library hosts a physical archive consisting of maps, documents, yearbooks, scrapbooks, telephone directories, personal artifacts, oral histories, photographs and more related to Texas City history. Through a grant provided by the Portal of Texas History, the library has curated over 550 photographs, documenting the historic past of Texas City. Looking for ways to contribute to Texas City’s narrative, The Moore Memorial Library’s Archive team will soon digitize and make available online The 1947 Texas City Disaster Oral History tapes, to be hosted on the OMEKA digital platform.
The nine-member Texas Historical Records Advisory Board (THRAB) was established in 1976 by Governor Dolph Briscoe to fulfill two objectives. First, it enables the state to receive monies from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) in support of archival and records management programs. Second, it serves as a catalyst for improving archival and records storage conditions within the state. Board members, appointed in accordance with federal and state requirements, have experience or interest in the collection, management, administration and accessibility of historical records. They are dedicated to the preservation and use of Texas’ documentary heritage. The State Archivist (Director of the Archives and Information Services Division) serves as coordinator for the Board, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission provides staff support.
The Rosenberg Library, which opened in 1904, is the oldest continuously operating public library in the state of Texas. The Galveston and Texas History Center is located within the library and maintains manuscripts, maps, photographs, architectural drawings, and other materials relating to Texas from the colonial era up to the Civil War and Galveston from its founding to the present. Items include letters from Stephen F. Austin, Storm of 1900 photographs, and a document signed by the pirate Jean Lafitte.
Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage (“Recovery”) is an international program to locate, preserve and disseminate Hispanic culture of the United States in its written form since colonial times until 1960. The program has compiled a comprehensive bibliography of books, pamphlets, manuscripts and ephemera produced by Latinos. The holdings available at the project include thousands of original books, manuscripts, archival items and ephemera, a microfilm collection of approximately 1,400 historical newspapers, hundreds of thousands of microfilmed and digitized items, a vast collection of photographs, an extensive authority list, and personal papers.
The University of Houston-Clear Lake Archives & Special Collections, established in 1989, support research, access, and preservation of their collections. The Archives serve as the repository of non-current records of University of Houston-Clear Lake. They include the Johnson Space Center (JSC) History Collection, and materials relating to human space flight and Clear Lake area history. These materials are open for research to UHCL students, alumni, faculty, staff and the general public.
Please contact the HAB planning committee with any questions at houstonarchives@gmail.com.
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