Jenna Guinn, practicum student from the University of North Texas, shares research and resources related to her work with the Mydolls Records at the University of Houston Special Collections.

Mydolls exploded onto the Houston punk scene in the late 1970s and have been influencing pop rock ever since. Known for their mainly self taught, eclectic style, they used their influence to help pave the way for other women and minorities to break into the genre. Not known for being quiet, their lyrics often commented on the systematic problems prevalent at the time. Formed in 1978, the group consisted of Linda Younger on guitar and vocals, Dianna Ray on bass and vocals, Trish Herrera on guitar and vocals, and George Reyes on drums and vocals, and was active until 1986. The group reunited in 2008, and has been intermittently touring, creating music, and influencing the next generation of young alternative punk rockers ever since. In 2016 the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston highlighted Mydolls as a part of their 20Hertz music lecture series. The series described Mydolls “as one of the earliest art punk bands in Houston, Mydolls created a DIY sound that was as ethereal, fluid and poetic as it was politically charged and feminist. Throughout their nearly 40-year history, these pioneering musicians have paved a path for women and minorities in the music and arts scenes, and they continue to perform today with their original lineup.” The band released three recordings on Houston’s C.I.A. Records during the 1980s. Mydolls songs were included on compilations: Cottage Cheese from the Lips of Death (Ward-9 Records, 1983), Sub Pop 7 (Sub Pop Records, 1983), and The Dog That Wouldn’t Die (C.I.A., 1986). The album, A World of Her Own, was released by Grand Theft Auto in 2005. In 2015 Mydolls eight-song CD It’s Too Hot for Revolution was released. The band also appeared in a cameo in the award winning film Paris, Texas with their song “A World of Her Own.”

In 2019, Mydolls donated their discography, video performances, photographs, zines and more to the University of Houston Special Collections Department. Many items in the Mydolls Records come straight out of the underground punk rock scene of the 80s. Mydolls’ discography is preserved in vinyl records and various filmed performances are housed in the collection. The collection showcases the fast-paced career of Mydolls memorialized in zines, photographs, and performance ads and can be viewed at the Special Collections Department upon request. 

Alexander Rodriguez, undergraduate student from the University of Chicago, takes a look at records from a reality TV show filmed at the University of Houston.

Still from Freshmen On Campus end credits, showing the five students and series iconography (UH Marketing and Communications, University of Houston Special Collections)

During the 2005 spring term, amongst our Cougar ranks walked five TV stars- well, reality TV stars, at least. As part of an acquisition from the University of Houston’s Division of Marketing and Communications, Special Collections has obtained archival materials relating to a reality TV show called Freshmen On Campus. Filmed by Princess Productions in 2005, the program follows five British students as they study at the University of Houston for a few weeks. Aside from the requisite teen drama, the show provides glimpses of American university life for viewers back in Britain, such as a fraternity pledge ceremony. The stars also check out things to do near Houston, visiting Galveston Beach and the Texas Prison Museum, excursions a UH student could reasonably make. Through participation in the show, these five get a taste of the University of Houston and experience college life in America. The university has tapes for Episodes 11 through 15 in the collection.

From a producer’s email, detailing the planning for the show (UH Marketing and Communications, University of Houston Special Collections)

However, equally exciting are the paper records that accompany the series in the archives. Consisting mostly of correspondence between the production company and the UH administration, these records depict all the planning and permissions needed to make the program happen. The documents include a wealth of information related to the logistics of filming a television series, from crew housing to food costs- even including the parking tickets issued to some of the filming crew for overrunning their parking meters. Reading through emails to UH staff, a sales pitch emerges: producers suggest that the show will put the University of Houston into the awareness of British teens and convince those looking to study in America to choose Houston. (Apparently, it also used to be normal for academic professionals to email each other in all lowercase.)

Viewing the finished episodes alongside the artifacts of its production provides a deeper understanding of the show and the medium in general. By seeing the presented product as well as the private effort that came before, archival research allows us to get past the surface and build a picture of what the experience was like for everyone involved. Reality TV is infamous for the ways it hides the real means of its creation, and in the early 2000s, the format was still unironically claiming to document real life. Now, in an era where we think more critically about reality TV shows and their real-world effects on people, it is fascinating to look back in time and get a peek behind the scenes of one such show that took the format away from Beverly Hills to a place more of us are familiar with.

The videotapes of the episodes, as well as the paper documents, are both in the UH Marketing and Communication Records at Special Collections.

Alexander Rodriguez, undergraduate student from the University of Chicago, takes a look at Professor Paul Chu’s presence in university marketing initiatives.

Paul Chu sitting at a lab desk (UH Photographs Collection, University of Houston Special Collections)

University of Houston (UH) Professor Paul Chu is a known name both on- and off-campus. In 1987, Chu and his team made breakthroughs in the field of superconductivity, developing materials that could conduct electricity with zero resistance at temperatures reachable with liquid nitrogen. This discovery kicked off a wave of excitement in the scientific community and put the university’s Department of Physics at the leading edge of this research.

In the late 1990s, UH’s Division of Marketing and Communications commissioned the production of 30-second television commercials for prospective students, starring university faculty with their work. One of these focuses on Chu, with shots of him with lab equipment demonstrating the materials developed in his lab. With floating magnets and nitrogen plumes aplenty, the clip is an effective counterargument to any high schooler who says physics can’t be cool.

Still from UH commercial featuring Professor Chu (UH Marketing and Communications Records, University of Houston Special Collections)

Elsewhere, Chu and his research team garner mention from voices outside the university. In a compilation of news clips from November 2001, several television and radio stations reported on Dr. Chu’s move to Hong Kong to lead a research department there. True to the era, the reporters excitedly mention that he will continue to lead his UH research department through a technology known as “e-mail.” The similarity of the reporting across different channels indicates the use of a standardized press release, likely crafted by UH Marketing and Communications, to package the facts for news stations to add directly into their report.

These items, part of a Special Collections acquisition of UH Marketing and Communications Records this year, demonstrate the way the university showcases its faculty and their research as an asset for its image. The message for the public is that the work done here is not only research worth continuing but also the knowledge that has an impact on the lives of people outside academia and merits sharing. These outreach efforts establish the University of Houston as an institution on the forefront of science, attracting the next generation of bright minds to enroll and be a part of the spirit of innovation at the university.

Check out the full Marketing and Communications collection in the archival catalog here. More information about Chu and his research can be found elsewhere in Special Collections, including newspaper clippings in the Faculty Vita Records.