Documenting Disaster: Local History
This guide supports the course, ENGL 309: Documenting Disaster taught by Prof. Lacy M. Johnson described at http://english.rice.edu/academics/courses/202020/23471
Local and Texas History
Texas and Local History
This section guides you to digital resources and collections for Southeast Texas history and cultures.
Reference Collections
- The Portal to Texas HistoryThis public site from UNT lets you explore unique collections from Texas libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, genealogical societies, and private family collections.
- The Handbook of Texas OnlineA large, free online reference for Texas History. Sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association. Includes the Handbook of Houston with over 1250 entries.
- Texas Reference Center This link opens in a new windowTexas Reference Center includes more than 80 full text journals and books about Texas history, ethnic & cultural diversity, gender studies, literature, public health, business as well as home & garden and sports & leisure. The database contains biographies portraying famous historical and contemporary Texans such as George Herbert Walker Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Dan Moody, Susanna Dickinson and Sam Houston. Also available in the Texas Reference Center is the Spanish-language newspaper El Sol de Texas with Texas and national news coverage.
- Kinder Institute: ResearchSociological research examining recent history and consequences of long-term historical inequities, mainly focused on the Houston region. See also the Urban Edge blog at https://kinder.rice.edu/urban-edge.
- Understanding HoustonAimed at nonprofits and corporate philanthropy, Understanding Houston brings together data and background on many topics including environment, health, and disasters at https://www.understandinghouston.org/topic/disasters
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis is a premier journal article database for American history. It will have some overlap with the Texas Reference Center and OneSearch, but is a good place to look for historical studies including all aspects of US history. For a non-US history database, try Historical Abstracts.
Historical Newspapers
The resources below are digitized collections of newspapers with a focus on Texas historical collections.
For more historical newspapers collections including those with a focus on Hispanic and African American newspapers, see our guide for historical newspapers by period.
To search for library newspaper holdings in print, including newspapers not included in the resources below, use WorldCat and try limiting your search to Serials.
To search recent and current news, see the resources in this Newspapers guide.
- The Texas Digital Newspaper ProgramThis public newspaper archive has made over 1500 historical titles fully searchable.
- Texas Newspapers from NewsbankSearch 229 Texas newspapers, including current newspapers like Galveston Country Daily News and the Houston Chronicle.
- Houston Chronicle (1901-2017) (Newsbank) This link opens in a new windowFull text of the newspaper from 1901-2017.
- Houston Post Historical Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Houston Post Historical Archive includes the years 1886 - 4/1995 (The Houston Post ceased publication in April 1995).
- Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new windowThis archive contains tens of millions of newspaper pages from 1607 to present (World Archives).
Local History Magazines
- Houston History Magazine: Hurricane ArchivePublished by the Center for Public History at the University of Houston. This category of the online archive treats hurricanes, but search across the magazine for materials on other topics. Print copies are available at the Woodson Research Center.
- Texas Gulf Historical and Biographical RecordIncluded in the America History and Life database. Print holdings are in the Woodson Research Center. Journal website at http://www.texasgulfrecord.org/
- Cite, from the Rice Design AllianceThis magazine and blog treats Houston architecture and design as forming a sense of place amid environmental, regulatory, political, social and cultural concerns.
Maps and more
- Maps Research GuideThis is the library's guide to digital and print map resources, including government resources, local holdings, and digital mapmaking tools.
- Digital Sanborn Maps (Texas) This link opens in a new windowTexas fire insurance maps from 1867–1970. These maps are valuable historical tools that can be used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures.
- The Perry-Castaneda Library Map CollectionThe University of Texas map collection with thousands of digitized maps, including Texas cities and counties.
- The Red Book of HoustonAccess data and visualizations based on the record of citizens, churches, residences, schools and businesses in Houston's Black community in 1915. See the book itself at https://archive.org/details/redbookofhouston00sote/page/n4/mode/2up
- Texas Studies Research GuideThis guide directs you to both public and library-licensed resources on Texas history including digital newspapers, historical archives and reference resources.
Local Collections
- Houston Metropolitan Research Center"The Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) is a research library and archives that houses materials such as photographs, documents, maps, building plans, journals, oral histories, and books for the study of Houston’s history. "
- Woodson Research CenterRice University's Archives and Special Collections at the Fondren Library. Search digital resources at digitalcollections.rice.edu.
- African American History Research Center at the Gregory School"This History Research Center is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and culture of African Americans in the Houston area and beyond.... The collections provide books, manuscripts, and photographs; the research center hosts events, exhibits, and programs that explore the lives and achievements of African Americans."
- Houston History Archives from UH"Houston History Archives supports research in U.S. history with primary sources on growth and development along the Gulf Coast."
- Houston Public Library's Houston and Texas History Research GuideLinks and guides to HPL's resources in this area. An HPL MyLink library card can be obtained online by any Texas resident.
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