Dec
7
5:30 PM17:30
Calendar List of Events & Current Exhibits
Exhibit: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo History Exhibit
Exhibit: UH Latino cARTographies Interactive Board Exhibit
New Exhibit: The Karankawa: An Enduring Culture of Texas
Karankawa Exhibit: Speaker Dirk Van Tuerenhout of HMNS - Friday, March 21, 2025, 6:00 PM
Closed for Bayou City Arts Festival, VIP Lounge in Plaza, and Retail Booth - Sunday, March 30, 2025
History on Tap: Dr. Steven Sewell “The History of Beer: From its Sumerian origins to today’s microbreweries” - Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 6:00 PM
Closed for new park event “Big Blanket Super Picnic” - Saturday, April 19
Visit Houston Elevated Black History Tour - Saturday, April 26, 2025, 10:00 AM
Houston Heritage Luncheon - Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 11:00 AM
Made Possible By: The Heritage Society’s exhibits, tours, events, and programs are funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Funding for these grants has been provided by Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal ARP Act.
Filtering by: houston
Dec
6
5:30 PM17:30
Mar
26
4:00 PM16:00
AIAH Preservation Tour with David Bucek - Kellum-Noble House
Click Here for Tickets: AIAH - Historic Resources Committee Kellum-Noble Tour (open to the public) Tuesday, March 26
Join Preservation On-Site with the HRC tour for a comprehensive restoration discussion of one of Houston’s oldest surviving buildings: the Kellum-Noble House (1847) in Sam Houston Park.
Tuesday, March 26
4 p.m.-5 p.m.
AIA Credit: 1.0 HSW
Kellum-Noble House Tour
Join David Bucek, FAIA, Stern and Bucek Architects, Emily Ardoin, Preservation Houston and Minnette Boesel, Board President, Heritage Society for a tour of the restored and rehabilitated Kellum-Noble House. The Kellum-Noble House is the oldest surviving building constructed in Houston. Even more remarkable, it stands on its original foundation and retains its original brick walls made with mud from Nathaniel Kellum’s brickyard on the banks of nearby Buffalo Bayou. From its location on the edge of what is now a major downtown business district, Kellum-Noble has witnessed the phenomenal growth of our city for more than a century.
The house was built in 1847 by Nathaniel Kellum, who had arrived in the young city of Houston, Republic of Texas, in 1839. It later was home to the Noble family, and during this time Zerviah Noble and her daughter Catherine operated one of the areas earliest schools in the house.
In 1899, the City of Houston purchased the house as part of the property for Houston’s first municipal park. The house served as a showpiece and a residence for the park keeper. For a short time, its grounds were the site of Houston’s first zoo. The Heritage Society was founded in 1954 to save Kellum-Noble, and its place in history, for future generations.
The tour will discuss the recent rehabilitation work undertaken and how this historic home was made energy efficient while maintaining its integrity.
Apr
21
6:30 PM18:30
Legendary Houston, 1960s Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine
The Heritage Society presents Legendary Houston, 1960s Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine, on Friday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. in The Ballroom at Bayou Place. Jillian Jopling and Peter McGillivray are the Gala Chairs and past gala honorees. C. C. and Duke Ensell are Honorary Chairs for this year’s event. Brandon Weinbrenner, Master of Ceremonies is Associate Producer & Casting Director at Alley Theatre.
1960s Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine Gala is a night to celebrate a decade that brought about radical change. Innovative changes in clothing styles, changes in music, changes in culture, and most important to this night is the change in nightclub styles. Love Street Light Circus Feel Good Machine quickly became a hot spot for psychedelic nightlife in Houston and remained so for many years and transformed Allen’s Landing/Market Square. It was famous for bands such as 13th Floor Elevators, Moving Sidewalks, and ZZ Top made their debut there in 1969. Guests will enter our lounge, reminiscent of the legendary “Zonk Out Room”, to the sounds of a Psychedelic Trio while feasting on themed hors d’oeuvres and colorful beverages. There will be a brilliantly curated Art Gallery Auction with selections donated from the collection of Christy and Lou Cushman. The main event will relive the era with hit songs by the David Caceres Band. A dance contest will be featured, and a Dancing King and Dancing Queen will be crowned. Wear your best interpretation of the 1960s psychedelic era clothing!
Your support of the gala provides support for The Heritage Society’s programming such as school tours, exhibits, lectures, educational videos, and fun-filled family events. We operate ten historic houses, museum gallery, and a collection of more than 23,000 historical items. Help us bring Houston history to life!
The Heritage Society aims to create The Legendary Houston Series, continuing celebrations of our history, culture, enterprise, and spirit. You may view the enclosed reply form or go to heritagesociety.org/gala or contact Laura Woods at 713.655.1912, lwoods@heritagesociety.org with any questions. We are looking forward to seeing you at the 2023 Legendary Houston Gala!
Oct
6
11:00 AM11:00
Houston Heritage Luncheon 2022 with Author Stephen Harrigan
Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas
Join author Stephen Harrigan in an interview by the Honorable Ken Wise of the popular podcast “Wise About Texas”.
Co-Chairs: Gwen and Ed Emmett & Angela and Will Cannady
Master of Ceremonies: Frank Billingsley
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
THE BRIAR CLUB, 2603 TIMMONS LANE
Heritage Award Recipients: To Be Announced Soon
Stephen Harrigan was born in Oklahoma City in 1948 and has lived in Texas since the age of five, growing up in Abilene and Corpus Christi. He is a longtime writer for Texas Monthly, and his articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of other publications as well, including The Atlantic, Outside, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Conde Nast Traveler, Audubon, Travel Holiday, Life, American History, National Geographic and Slate.
Harrigan is the author of twelve books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Gates of the Alamo, which became a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book, and received a number of awards, including the TCU Texas Book Award, the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
Big Wonderful Thing, a sweeping narrative of Texas from prehistory to the present, was published in 2019 by the University of Texas Press. In a review for The Wall Street Journal, Willard Spiegelman noted that the book is “brimming with sass, intelligence, trenchant analysis, literary acumen and juicy details. . . It is popular history at its best.” And Michael Schaub, in his review for NPR, wrote that “It’s hard to think of another writer with as much Lone Star credibility as Stephen Harrigan. . . Harrigan, essentially, is to Texas literature what Willie Nelson is to Texas music.”
Sep
20
to Jan 11
Exhibit: Photographer Basil Clemons: Witness to a West Texas Boomtown
Photographer Basil Clemons: Witness to a West Texas Boomtown
In conjunction with Fotofest 2022, the Heritage Society is pleased to present an exhibition of 61 photographs by Basil Clemons (1887- 1964), taken in Breckenridge, Texas from the 1920s to the 1940s. When Clemons arrived in Breckenridge after working in the Yukon and joining a traveling circus, the town's oil boom was in full swing. Soon, the Breckenridge field was producing 50 million gallons a year—more than the entire state of Louisiana — and a gusher of wealth boosted the town's original population of 1,500 nearly twenty-fold by the mid-1920s. Clemons' images, as arresting and eccentric as the photographer himself, are a bohemian chronicle of a lively, free-wheeling era. A true original in every sense of the word, Clemons was largely self-taught and lived for decades in a converted chuckwagon without electricity or running water. His photographic legacy, quirky, informal and affectionate, offers an intimate view of the social history of small-town Texas and the cycle of boom and bust that characterizes the oil industry to this day.
EXHIBIT INFORMATION:
September 20, 2022 to February 2023
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Museum Gallery
1100 Bagby Street, Houston, TX 77002
Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Free parking, Tickets only $5. Purchase online HERE or in person.
For Group Tours, please call 713-655-1912 or email us at info@heritagesociety.org.
Sep
5
to Feb 28
Outdoor Exhibit: Faces of the Other by Joe C. Aker
This exhibition of large portrait photographs, entitled Faces of the other: Encounters in the midst of the city, shows that people in our world—those we walk past daily—can be approached and understood. It demonstrates our similarities rather than our differences. Each portrait brings viewers into its space in an intimate and loving way and, in this highly technological age, portrays our humanity in an analog medium. The subjects in these photos, while all different, are brought together in this exhibition to help us understand that we are alike in many ways. The photographs in this exhibition, 3 feet x 5 feet, are mounted on the fences that surround Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston until December 1, 2022. The people in the images are portrayed as larger than life, and we can see them up close. Their eyes look directly at us in a non-threatening way. They say we mean you no harm.
About the Artist
Joe C. Aker is an internationally recognized Architectural Photographer and Artist. His architectural work has appeared in all the major architectural magazines, and he has photographed projects for major architects and developers. He was recognized as Artist of the Year by the Houston AIA chapter in 2007. He grew up in Oklahoma City and has a degree in Marketing and Economics from Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma, and a degree in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. He opened his own photography studio in 1978 and continues to operate it today as Aker Imaging. In 2005, Joe began to exhibit his own fine artwork. His work has appeared in numerous museum group shows and is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. He has lectured on photography worldwide. More info at www.facesoftheother.com.
Aug
3
7:00 PM19:00
Facebook Live! Returns with Mister McKinney of Historic Houston and Authors of Old Houston
Join us at 7 PM, Wednesday, August 3 and THS board member Mister McKinney of Historic Houston as he interviews authors of Oldest Houston —Lydia Schrandt & Biju Sukumaran. Their book creatively walks through some of the oldest attractions found in Houston. The author shows the city's diverse culture by taking readers on a journey through the oldest buildings, businesses, and neighborhoods.
Chance to win prizes from The Heritage Society and learn about the exciting exhibits coming to The Heritage Society from Executive Director Alison Bell. This program is free, thanks to our donors.
Jun
11
10:00 AM10:00
Special Juneteenth Program on June 11 - From Plantation to Emancipation
“FROM PLANTATION TO EMANCIPATION”
PROGRAM AGENDA FOR SATURDAY, JUNE 11
This is an exclusive, educational day dedicated to Juneteenth and Black Houston History. Book a Black History tour purchase at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, or 2:30 PM, and you will receive free admission to a Red Punch and Tea Cake Reception and an empowering Speaker Series from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
11:00 AM - 11:14 AM Reception
11:00 AM Teacake and Red Punch
11:00 AM Poem by Dr. Don Williams
11:05 AM Music/Songs by National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses
11:15 AM - 1:00 PM Children’s Event
Children's Coloring activity of Reverend Jack Yates and Downtown Black Businesses Map by Sandra Lord, in the General Duncan Store.
11:15 AM - 1:00 PM Speaker Series
11:15 AM Welcome and Juneteenth Introduction by Martha Whiting-Goddard
11:30 AM Reverend Jack Yates House by Devaron Yates
12 Noon Pilgrim Temple and Downtown's Black-Owned Businesses by Cheryl Cavitt
12:30 PM African American Women Suffrage by Rae Bryant
