This week, University of Houston Libraries hosted a stewardship event for friends and supporters to learn about services, resources, and scholarship offered for the advancement of student success, faculty research, and community engagement. 

Interim dean Christina Gola gives welcome remarks at “Books and Bubbly.”

“Books and Bubbly” was a “sparkling” celebration of UH Libraries and the communities we serve. Held at the MD Anderson Library Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, the event featured presentation stations with Libraries leaders discussing current projects and programs. Guests of “Books and Bubbly” were encouraged to visit all stations and gain awareness about the foundation for Reimagined Libraries, a big idea that will drive the development of near-future spaces and services.  

Interim dean Christina H. Gola opened the celebration with thanks, and an invitation for guests to imagine the possibilities and share in the Reimagined Libraries vision as they engaged with librarians and archivists. 

Emily Vinson, preservation coordinator, presented audio/visual archives from the KUHT Film and Video collection and demonstrated preservation and reformatting efforts.  

Vince Lee, archivist of the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection, guided guests through the exhibit Nevertheless, She Persisted! 

Mary Manning, university archivist, and Katy Allred, assistant university archivist, displayed materials from University Archives. As the University approaches its centennial celebration, they are working to help tell the story of our past and its connection to our growing success.  

The Open Education Resources team, Ariana Santiago and Kate Carter, discussed expanding access to course materials and teaching tools that are freely available, customizable, inclusive, and collaborative. Open educational resources (OER) engage students in critical inquiry in ways that traditional textbooks do not, and offer significant cost savings to students.  

Interim head of Teaching and Learning Mea Warren and student success librarian Carolina Hernandez discussed the newly formed peer mentor program, in which undergrads are taught research and teaching skills, and find creative means of teaching their peers across campus through co-curricular engagement. Students from the program were present to talk about how peer mentorship is transforming the way Coogs learn and collaborate. 

Leo Martin, head of Resource Management and Metadata, showed how UH Libraries makes its collections more accessible through reparative cataloging research efforts, in which librarians and archivists undertake a critical reexamination of language, terms, and practices used to describe materials. 

Wenli Gao, head of Collections Strategies and Services, talked about the evaluation of circulating print collections to inform how UH Libraries can transform spaces and make collections more visible.  

Linda Garcia Merchant, director of the Digital Humanities Core Facility, and Taylor Davis Van-Atta, head of Research Services, led guests on a visit to the Digital Research Commons and presented innovative digital humanities initiatives that are flourishing across campus, with students taking a central role in moving DH forward. 

 View photos from “Books and Bubbly.”

Two new exhibits featuring selections from the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection open in September at University of Houston Libraries. 

Houston Comets Memorabilia Collection

Nevertheless, She Persisted! Women as Historic Influencers will be viewable on MD Anderson Library Floor 2, while Leagues of Their Own: Representing 60 Years of Women’s Athletics Achievement will be on display on Floor 1. 

Claire Keck, graduate assistant curator for the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection, selected materials for Nevertheless, She Persisted! depicting influential women in the Houston region who effected changes in society, politics, and artistic expression. 

The process of curating an exhibit involves exploration of what Special Collections preserves through the use of finding aids, and choice of visually appealing items. Selections include a variety of primary source materials, including correspondence, artwork, scrapbooks, photos, certificates, banners, and video footage that illustrate an overarching theme. Keck’s tasks also involve generating social media, designing posters, and helping curate a digital exhibit. 

In choosing materials, Keck’s goal was to engage Gen Z, focusing on historical activism of women’s suffrage and the pro-choice movement, women’s clubs and organizations, women’s art, women of color, and LGBTQ+ women throughout the 20th century.  

Keck encourages other students who are interested in working with archival material to visit exhibits wherever possible. “Whether that means visiting museums when you can (by the way, Houston museums have a student discount on Thursdays), studying digital exhibits, or looking at the several exhibit cases in the MD Anderson Library, you will continue to learn from all of them and gain a greater understanding of history and the use of archival materials,” Keck said. “Be sure you like to work with old things and that you like to read.” 

Stephen F. Austin High School Scottish Brigade

Leagues of Their Own features archives from two collections within the Shuart Women’s Research Collection. Vince Lee, archivist for the Shuart Women’s Research Collection, curated items representing the Stephen F. Austin High School Scottish Brigade, which, founded in 1937, promoted scholarship, discipline, respect, leadership, social skills, and fitness at a time when girls’ sports teams were rare or nonexistent. James Burke, PhD student in US History, selected items from the Houston Comets Memorabilia Collection. The Comets, founded in 1997, set the standard for excellence in the early years of the WNBA and paved the way for future generations of players. 

“These exhibits are components of a year-long engagement generously supported by Carey C. Shuart to promote our research collections which preserve the histories of women’s clubs and organizations in the Houston area,” said Lauren Gottlieb-Miller, associate dean for Special Libraries and Preservation. “In spring 2025, we look forward to hosting a culminating event featuring a multi-generational panel and celebratory program to bring alive the stories related to the materials presented in the exhibits.”

Collaboration among Libraries departments is essential for successful exhibit production. These and all UH Libraries exhibits illustrate the collective effort and expertise of teams in Special Collections, Preservation and Reformatting, Resource Management and Metadata, Technology Services, and Administration. UH Libraries thanks Carey C. Shuart for her wonderful support of the Shuart Women’s Research Collection and related exhibits and programming.

Visitors are welcome to view the exhibits during regular building hours between September 6, 2024 and May 31, 2025. Visit Entering MD Anderson Library for details on quick and secure building access. 

University of Houston Libraries Special Collections archivists attended the recent Old, Weird Houston: A Celebration of Our City’s Hidden Histories event to display iconic, regional primary source materials with an unconventional flair. Hosted by Orange Show Center for Visionary Art in collaboration with Archivists of the Houston Area (AHA!) and UH Center for Public History, Old, Weird Houston is “a local alternative history fair and symposium that preserves, interprets, and shares the hidden histories of unusual and creative people, institutions, and events that have made our city one of the most diverse and livable in the country.” The event brought together history scholars and enthusiasts in an accessible and engaging format.

UH Special Collections hosted a display at “Old, Weird Houston.”

The display reflected the work of archivist Katy Allred, who created hand-drawn signs for the table and helped plan and organize the selections, particularly The Art Guys Records. Other materials represented Houston Gorilla Girls Records, Marvin Zindler Papers, Ima Hogg Symphony Programs Collection, and Texas Music Collection. Attendees experienced distinctively Houston-esque items such as a “Slime in the Ice Machine” t-shirt, a vintage photo of Ima Hogg on a horse-drawn float at a No-Tsu-Oh parade, and mail art sent in the 77008. Photos and ephemera related to the Axiom, the epicenter of Houston’s late 80s, early 90s underground music scene, were included, part of the Julie Grob Axiom Records. (Grob is an archivist and coordinator for instruction at UH Special Collections, and was Axiom’s booking agent and publicist).

These and other items of historical and local significance are available for viewing and research at UH Special Collections. Visiting UH Special Collections

This week, visitors to the University of Houston MD Anderson Library will notice a suite of banners in the atrium and floors 2 and 3. The Banner Project, created by Houston activists Sara Fernandez, JD Doyle, and Kirk Baxter, is a pop-up exhibit featuring pivotal moments in Houston’s LGBT history from the 1930s to present day.

2023 marks the seventh year that UH Libraries has partnered with the creators to host the banners, sparking discussion, reflection, and engagement with the LGBT History Research Collection. The banners will remain on display through October in honor of LGBT History Month and American Archives Month. While The Banner Project comprises 50 banners highlighting individuals, organizations, and events in Houston’s LGBTQ community history, 26 were selected for the pop-up exhibit.

Many archives and publications preserved in UH Libraries Special Collections serve as primary sources for the subjects of the banners and the teaching, learning, research, and programming they inspire. UH collections represented in the banners include Royal Dixon and Chester Snowden, The Diana Foundation, This Week In Texas magazine, former Harris County comptroller Gary Van Ooteghem and the Log Cabin Republicans, Town Meeting I, Lesbians Over Age Fifty (LOAF), Houston mayor Annise Parker, and others.

University of Houston Libraries is hosting the National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibition, Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/Enfrentando La Violencia: mejorando la vida de las mujeres, from September 25 – December 4 at the Health Sciences Library. 

Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/Enfrentando La Violencia: mejorando la vida de las mujeres

The NLM Traveling Exhibitions program lends displays to libraries and cultural institutions focusing on history, society, and medicine. Curated from NLM collections, traveling exhibitions highlight historical and contemporary themes in public health and connect viewers to sources of health information scholarship and literacy. 

The Confronting Violence/Enfrentando La Violencia display comprises twelve vertical banners in English and Spanish that highlight the front-line role of nurses in the 1970s to identify victims of domestic violence and meet their needs. Nurses’ efforts to uplift the voices of survivors led to a national movement of empowerment, advocacy, and education on domestic violence, centering the experiences of survivors and leading to a focus on prevention throughout the latter part of the 20th century. 

Nursing researchers and activists at Denison Memorial Library, University of Colorado, Denver ca. 1990s. From left: Yvonne Ulrich, Laura McKenna, Barbara Parker, Karen Landenburger, Judith McFarlane, Christine King, Josephine Ryan, Doris Campbell, Jacquelyn Campbell, Daniel Sheridan. Courtesy National Library of Medicine.

“NLM has curated the exhibition with amazing resources and great empathy,” said Athena N. Jackson, dean of UH Libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell chair. “I’m honored to host this experience for the UH community, facilitating heightened awareness of a powerful and sobering public health topic.” 

Visitors may view the exhibition at the Health Sciences Library in the Health 2 building. An online exhibit is also available. The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.

In 2027, University of Houston will celebrate its centennial. As this auspicious milestone nears, students, alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters are working together to honor the University’s rich history as a mission-driven institution shaped by forward-thinking stakeholders. An exhibit at MD Anderson Library, opening in September 2023, will feature pivotal points from 100 years of distinction.

“Agents of Change: Celebrating Innovation at the UH Centennial” will open in September 2023 at MD Anderson Library.

Agents of Change: Celebrating Innovation at the UH Centennial is part of a three-year storytelling collaboration between UH Center for Public History, UH Libraries, and Houston Public Media. The 100 Years of Stories project was made possible through a gift from Carey C. Shuart, a Houstonian and supporter of art, education, and women’s causes throughout the region.

The Carey C. Shuart Women’s Research Collection at UH Special Collections contains the records of women’s organizations and the papers of Texas women.

The exhibit is the culmination of a partnership aiming to engage UH students in collecting, sharing, and preserving notable narratives of UH and its people.

Read university archivist Mary Manning’s article about the making of the exhibit and storytelling project at Houston History.

In 1927, Houstonians were eager for higher education that fit the lifestyle of working adults and served the needs of a growing city. Emboldened by a spirit of innovation, students, faculty, and members of the community shaped University of Houston into the trailblazing institution it is today. Over almost 100 years, these agents of change have led UH on its journey from a junior college to a major, urban research university. Along the way, they expanded access to higher education and increased diversity, brought innovative approaches to learning, and created an institution that has had a strong impact on both local and global communities.

Jesus Sanchez, a graduate student in history, was one of the scholars to work on the 100 Years project which included exhibit planning and design, archival research and selection, and metadata writing. In organizing and cataloging historical documents, photos, and artifacts that connected with Agents of Change, Sanchez discovered prevailing themes in the primary source materials.

“University of Houston is a college for the people of Houston, regardless of race, gender, wealth, or religion,” Sanchez noted. “I saw how students impacted UH, and how they became influential figures, like Maria Jimenez, who worked tirelessly to help vulnerable communities decades after her years as an activist at UH during the 1970s.”

The project gave Sanchez, who wants to become a historian, practical insights. “I had no experience, and learning more about the field and seeking guidance from experts in archival work was very helpful,” he said.

Cady Hammer also worked on the project as a student curator during her first semester at UH.

“I was excited when I got the syllabus and saw that we would be formulating the concept and major elements of the 100 Years of Stories exhibit,” Hammer said. “This was the first direct interaction I had with exhibit development, which is something I would love to do in my career.”

The overarching concept that guided the exhibit, the “big idea,” was categorized into three UH eras: its founding, expansion, and contemporary community impact.

“My classmates and I found that this concept worked best for incorporating key stories that the Center for Public History wanted to represent in the exhibit,” Hammer noted. Class members selected items that would fit with the focus of each era and wrote descriptions. The impact of activism and advocacy at UH was a significant theme that emerged from the archives. “So many of the biggest changes at UH were student-driven,” Hammer said. These improvements “signified the power of young people banding together to accomplish an important goal.”

Archives curation offers interesting contextual lines of inquiry. Hammer offers this advice to other students: “Learn how to read between the lines. No matter what you’re researching, there are at least two stories to every document. The first one is the story on the page. You can pull facts, people, and events from it easily. The second is the story hidden in the details of the document and how they connect to other materials. Some of the most important points of a document are the voices that have been left out of the narrative.”

Alec Story noted that talking to librarians and archivists who curate the collections at UH Special Collections is a good first step when working with primary source materials. “Going into your research with a strong line of inquiry and a curious mind will help uncover truly incredible documents,” he said. “As we worked on this project it became clear that University of Houston has an unpretentious and humble legacy. UH challenges the notion of what a university is supposed to look like.”

Agents of Change will be on display at MD Anderson Library from September 2023 through May 2024. The opening will accompany the launch of the fall 2023 issue of Houston History, published by the Center for Public History. The exhibit is being produced collaboratively between UH Libraries Special Collections, UH Libraries Preservation and Reformatting, and UH Center for Public History.

This week, visitors to the University of Houston MD Anderson Library will notice a suite of banners in the atrium. The Banner Project, created by Houston activists Sara Fernandez and JD Doyle, is a pop-up exhibit featuring pivotal moments in Houston’s LGBT history from the 1930s to present day.

The Banner Project at University of Houston Libraries

2022 marks the sixth year that UH Libraries has partnered with the creators to host the banners, sparking discussion, reflection, and awareness across campus and in the community. The banners will remain on display through October in honor of LGBT History Month, and on October 11, National Coming Out Day, staff from Special Collections will host an informational table in the atrium from 11am – 5pm, featuring archival materials from the LGBT History Research Collection. The Banner Project creators Fernandez and Doyle will be attending, as well as representatives from the UH LGBTQ Resource Center.

University of Houston Libraries invites visitors to explore our book display celebrating Pride Month, located in MD Anderson Library. Selections comprise a variety of nonfiction and fiction, with historical and contemporary perspectives.

A book display in MD Anderson Library highlights voices of LGBTQ communities.

Featured books include:

Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television, 1930s to the Present (2000), Steven Capsuto

After Homosexual: The Legacies of Gay Liberation (2014), Carolyn D’Cruz and Mark Pendleton

Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations: Global Perspectives on LGBT Workforce Diversity (2016), Thomas Köllen

Feminism is Queer: The Intimate Connection Between Queer and Feminist Theory (2010), Mimi Marinucci

Not Straight, Not White: Black Gay Men from the March on Washington to the AIDS Crisis (2016), Kevin J. Mumford

University of Houston Libraries invites visitors to explore our book display celebrating women’s history, located in MD Anderson Library. Selections comprise a variety of nonfiction and fiction, with historical and contemporary perspectives.

A book display in MD Anderson Library highlights women’s voices.

Featured books include:

Why I Am Not a Feminist (2017), Jessa Crispin
“…demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression” (Melville House).

This Is Not Chick Lit (2006), ed. Elizabeth Merrick
A collection of original short stories from American women writers (Random House).

Ladies Coupé (2001), Anita Nair
“The story of a woman’s search for strength and independence” (Penguin India).

American Daughter (1986), Era Bell Thompson
‎ In this autobiography, Thompson describes her life in early twentieth-century North Dakota (Minnesota Historical Society Press).

Style & Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975 (2007), Susannah Walker
“This book analyzes an often overlooked facet of twentieth-century consumer society as it explores the political, social, and racial implications of the business devoted to producing and marketing beauty products for African American women” (University Press of Kentucky).

University of Houston Libraries invites visitors to explore our book display honoring African American history, located in MD Anderson Library. Selections comprise both legacy and contemporary perspectives.

A book display in MD Anderson Library highlights African American voices.

Featured books include:

I Can’t Date Jesus (2018), Michael Arceneaux
“…a timely collection of alternately hysterical and soul-searching essays about what it is like to grow up as a creative, sensitive black man in a world that constantly tries to deride and diminish your humanity” (Simon & Schuster).

The Riot Inside Me (2005), Wanda Coleman
Coleman’s second collection of nonfiction prose includes essays, memoirs, interviews, and reports “at the bloody crossroads where art and politics, the personal and the political, and LA and the larger world meet and trade blows before resuming their separate paths” (Godine).

Bone Black (1996), bell hooks
“Stitching together girlhood memories with the finest threads of innocence, feminist intellectual bell hooks presents a powerfully intimate account of growing up in the South” (Henry Holt).

To Write in the Light of Freedom (2015), eds. William Sturkey and Jon Hale
“…offers a glimpse into the hearts of the African American youths who attended the Mississippi Freedom Schools in 1964″ (University Press of Mississippi).

The Chiffon Trenches (2020), André Leon Talley
“Discover what truly happens behind the scenes in the world of high fashion in this detailed, storied memoir from style icon, bestselling author, and former Vogue creative director Andre Leon Talley” (Ballantine).