Public Historians at Work

Celebrating a University: 100 Years of Stories

Center for Public History @ University of Houston Season 3 Episode 1

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In 2027, the University of Houston in Texas will celebrate its centennial anniversary. In honor of that upcoming milestone, the Center for Public History (CPH) partnered with UH Libraries and Houston Public Media to collect, share, and preserve stories related to the university’s legacy across one hundred years. On November 30th, 2023, the three project leaders – Dr. Debbie Harwell (Instructional Assistant Professor of History and Editor of Houston History magazine), Mary Manning (University Archivist in Special Collections, M.D. Anderson Library), and Fujio Watanabe (Manager of Media Production, Houston Public Media) – came together to discuss the collaborative process of training students how to transform archival material and oral histories into magazine articles, television and radio spots, pop-up displays, and ultimately, a public exhibit, "100 Years of Stories: Documenting a Century at the University of Houston." This kind of public history work requires deep research, advanced planning, and flexibility, but the outcome is indispensable in helping a wider community understand the importance and influence of a local institution and its dynamic people.

To learn more about the "100 Years of Stories" project: https://uh.edu/class/ctr-public-history/projects/100-years-of-stories/100-years-home.php

On Houston Public Media's "100 Years of Houston, 1927-2027": https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/100-years-of-houston/

On Houston History magazine: https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/  

To support the Center for Public History: https://uh.edu/class/cph 

The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph