Do you know an outstanding archivist, archive, or related organization? Nominate them for the 2024 THRAB Archival Awards!
These annual awards honor archival institutions, programs, and individuals in Texas for their service to the profession. The Texas Historical Records Advisory Board grants awards in the categories of excellence, advocacy, and distinguished service. Nominations will be accepted through June 20. Learn more: www.tsl.texas.gov/archivalaward
TARO April 2024 News and Notes are up on TARO Today! Catch up with TARO, get ready for the TARO Brown Bag at the Society of Southwest Archivists (SSA) Virtual Annual Meeting, and consider volunteering for a committee.
https://sites.utexas.edu/taro/2024/04/23/taro-april-2024-news-and-notes/
TARO (Texas Archival Resources Online) makes descriptions of the rich archival, manuscript, and museum collections in repositories across the state available to the public. The site consists of the collection descriptions or “finding aids” that archives, libraries, and museums create to assist users in locating information in their collections. Explore TARO at https://txarchives.org.
The Society of Southwest Archivists is having a virtual Annual Meeting May 1-3, 2024. For more information and registration: https://societyofsouthwestarchivists.wildapricot.org/annual-meeting-2024.
You are invited to an AHA! exclusive tour of the historic Glenwood Cemetery Archive on Saturday, May 18th with the option of hanging out on the grounds after for a picnic – so please bring your lunchboxes.
The Glenwood Cemetery was established as a private cemetery in 1871 and is located west of Downtown Houston overlooking Buffalo Bayou. The design of this cemetery was special as it broke the typical grid layout of Houston cemeteries and instead was based on the principles of 19th century romantic garden cemeteries. In addition to its use as a resting place for many prominent Texans, Glenwood Cemetery hosted visitors who utilized the space as a park – as public parks didn’t exist back then as they do now. In 2022, Glenwood Cemetery created an Archive (and completed the groundwork on it in 2023), dedicated to the history of the cemetery encompassing over 150 years of history. The Archive collection is composed of 20 collections and 2 special collections.
What to Expect:
Limited Slots for Tour, RSVP Today!
We are limited to 25 people so please RSVP as soon as possible. We have included a waitlist space as well; in case anyone needs to cancel their RSVP as the event gets closer.
Please RSVP via the link below and be sure to include your preferred contact information that you will have access to the day of – in case any changes occur:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UYIyJbFmzNRYGh2KnS5ZjQAg-7VU3J-qUlDITS9C3Is/edit?usp=sharing
While there are limited spots for the indoor tour of the archives, all are welcome to enjoy the grounds and picnic.
Our Spring Meeting took place on Thursday, April 11 at noon. Read below about our guest speaker and the recap of the meeting with links and presentation slides.
Mikaela Selley will share the latest updates from Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage, the archival division of Arte Público Press at the University of Houston. Updates include the forthcoming launch of their new research portal Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border Region, and their bi-annual conference taking place April 25-27, 2024 at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Mikaela Selley is a native Houstonian with ten years of professional experience as an archivist specializing in the preservation of Hispanic and Latina/o heritage records. From 2013 to 2021 she served as the Hispanic Collections Archivist for the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, a special collections branch of the Houston Public Library. Selley works as an Independent Consultant offering research, planning, archival and exhibit design services for cultural heritage projects. She is also Archivist and Program Manager for the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project at Arte Público Press where she oversees the Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border Region, and archival collections.
From Salima Bowaniya, AHA! President 2024:
Here is a copy of the presentation slides from the meeting if anyone missed anything or for those who weren’t able to attend. The presentation slides include some of the links mentioned during the meeting.
We’d really appreciate your feedback on this short survey to help us get a better idea of what y’all would be interested in seeing more of from AHA! as we continue to put together the programming schedule for this year.
Lastly, I’d like to give a shoutout to our guest speaker, Mika! Thank you so much for telling us about Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage and the new research portal being launched. I hope we can come visit y’all soon.
I’ve included the links that were shared during Mika’s presentation below:
- Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage, the archival division of Arte Público Press at the University of Houston
- Periodicals in the US-Mexico Border Region Research Portal
- RSVP for the XVII Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Conference
- Hispanic History Research Center Community Forum (04/13)
Join us for our next Archivist Meetup which on Saturday, April 13th at 12:30 in Katy! Since our Spring Meeting is the same week, we are going to do a social event this time around in Katy Asian Town, which is a shopping center off of Grand Parkway. It boasts a fantastic assortment of restaurants and bars with cuisines from all over east Asia. There is also Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore which not only has manga but all kinds of Japanese stationery (great for paper nerds! 🥸🤓), a cat café called Cat Haven ($20 dollar entry fee but all the kitties), and an H-Mart (so many good snacks!).
We will meet up in front of Tan Tan Wok at 12:30 and have lunch together and then decide where we want to explore. This is just a fun hangout but it can be a great way to network and discuss issues you might be having with your collections or to just vent with fellow archival folks!
You can RSVP via this Google Sheet. I do not think that Tan Tan Wok takes reservations, but I would like to be able to let them know how many might be in our party when we get there. We look forward to seeing y’all then!
Join us for our Spring Meeting, April 11th, @12pm!
Along with a recap of the Archives Bazaar at Old, Weird Houston, we will be discussing our programming schedule, some new updates to the website and social media platforms, our newly established discord server, and an introduction to our new board and committee members. We will also have a guest speaker joining us (more details to come). Hope to see you there!
Link to join the meeting will be provided here at houstonarchivists.org.
We have another exclusive sticker for this year’s Old, Weird Houston event. Visit us at the Houston Archives Bazaar at the annual Old, Weird Houston at The Orange Show on Saturday, March 30th 10am – 6pm. Grab your 2024 exclusive Old, Weird Houston sticker while supplies last!
The archives bazaar represents some of the many diverse repositories and collections around the city. Archivists will be there to showcase their collections. Come and get to know the local area archives and the history they preserve for Houstonians and researchers all over the world.
The Magnolia City sticker features historical symbols from Houston’s past and gives a shout out to The Orange Show, our hosts for the Houston Archives Bazaar for the past two years.
Houston has acquired many nicknames throughout it’s illustrious 188 years of existence. Bayou City, Space City, Clutch City, and H-Town to name a few. Magnolia City was one of the earliest monikers. It harkens back to a growing, bustling town in Southeast Texas where wild magnolia trees flourished on the east side of town, near Harrisburg.
The steam locomotive has been featured on the Seal of the City of Houston since it’s initial adoption in 1840. It symbolizes progress as well as aspirations for the future. From the humble beginnings at the confluence of the White Oak and Buffalo Bayous, Houston became the hub of industry in the Southwest by the end of the 19th century thanks to the railroads. At its peak, Houston was a distributing point for as many as ten railroad companies.
![Map of Houston, The Magnolia City, May 21, 1898. A printed engraving from the "Texas World" newspaper depicting Houston as the hub of manufacturing and distributing for Texas. [University of Houston Libraries Digital Collections, https://id.lib.uh.edu/ark:/84475/do06149p703]](https://houstonarchivists.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/3f462594w_files_38a8bf33-9478-42e9-b8fd-81243c19eaa4.jpg)
The wheels of orange slices on the locomotive honor The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and The Orange Show Monument that they preserve as a celebration for the “Artist in Everyone.” Nothing captures the unique, creative, artistic spirit of Houston and Southeast Texas than The Orange Show. The events and folk art installations that they preserve will inspire Houstonians for generations.
The mossy green background resembles the color of the bayous as well as the pollen that covers the city every Spring, and most especially it represents the majestic live oaks that grow throughout the city. Did you know that live oaks are the most populous tree in Hermann Park? You can find almost 1,800 of them within the 445-acre park. While we can’t say for certain that the live oak is the most populous tree is the Houston metropolitan area, they are definitely ubiquitous and one of the most picturesque features around town.
The annual Old, Weird Houston at The Orange Show is on March 30th. The event flyer is available to download.
This event features an archives bazaar, a day-long schedule of speakers and panels, along with food trucks and vendors. Find all links and details at here on the AHA! website or at on The Orange Show website.
The 2024 programming schedule is available.
We are busy filling out the year with events, professional development opportunities, repository tours, and get-togethers all over the Houston and Southeast TX area. We’ve already had 2 events this year and planning many more. Hope to see y’all soon!
Leave a comment in the spreadsheet if you have any questions or suggestions.