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, 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