The Houston Oral History Project, Houston, Texas

Yesterday Mayor Bill White and Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, director of the Houston Public Library, launched the Houston Oral History Project (HOHP), a web-based archive that celebrates the many voices of Houston’s past.

Last summer Mayor White commissioned 100 initial interviews through the Houston Public Library. Well known civic, political and business leaders as well as witnesses to the historical events that shaped Houston were invited to visit libraries throughout the city to record their own brief recollections about life in Houston. There are currently 86 interviews out of an initially intended 100 available on the HOHP’s website. This website will provide easy access to students, historians and academics and all interviews will be transcribed and entered into the digital archives of the Houston Public Library System. Mayor White will be the final 100th oral history to complete this stage of this project.

“We wanted to capture these fascinating, eyewitness bits of our city’s history from those who helped make it what it is today,” said Mayor Bill White. “This is a project that, like the city itself, will only grow in value over time.”
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