Texas Originals | Houston Public Media

ALAN LOMAX January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002 Alan Lomax believed every culture has a “right ... to equal time on the air and equal time in the classroom.”  As director of the Library of Congress, Archive of American Folk-Song and as a radio and television host, Lomax introduced folksong to popular audiences and promoted it among students and scholars.His interest in traditional song started when Lomax was a teenager.  In the 1930s, Alan accompanied his... Read More

WILLIAM BARRET TRAVIS (1809–1836) William Barret Travis was only twenty-six years old when he died defending the Alamo.  He came from Alabama just five years before, in 1831, leaving behind a failed career and marriage.  Texas, a land he came to love, gave Travis a new life—and an early death.Travis clashed with authorities in Anahuac shortly after arriving in Texas, feuding over Mexico’s antislavery laws.  He spent two months in prison, and earned a reputation as... Read More

Susanna Dickinson ca. 1814-1883 On a cold March dawn in 1836, Mexican officers escorted a shaken young woman and her infant daughter past the heaps of dead in the Alamo courtyard to Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  The woman, Susanna Dickinson, was the wife of Alamo defender Almaron Dickinson.  She and her baby were hiding in the Alamo’s chapel when Mexican troops bayoneted her husband and took the mission.Dickinson had come to Texas with... Read More

HENRY ALLEN BULLOCK May 2, 1906–February 8, 1973Henry Allen Bullock devoted his life to advancing African American education in Texas—and made history in the process.Bullock was born in North Carolina in 1906. He earned a doctorate in sociology at the University of Michigan. In 1930, he moved to Texas for an academic career spent largely at Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern University.In 1967 Bullock published a history of African American education in the South.... Read More

Américo Paredes Sept. 3, 1915–May 5, 1999The writer and folklorist Américo Paredes was born in Brownsville in 1915. Even as a youth, he saw that a distinct culture had emerged in the Rio Grande Valley—not just Mexican or American, but a blend of both.After serving as an Army journalist during World War II, Paredes returned to his home state to train as a scholar. In 1956, he became the first Mexican American to receive a... Read More

AMÉRICO PAREDESSept. 3, 1915–May 5, 1999 The writer and folklorist Américo Paredes was born in Brownsville in 1915. Even as a youth, he saw that a distinct culture had emerged in the Rio Grande Valley—not just Mexican or American, but a blend of both. After serving as an Army journalist during World War II, Paredes returned to his home state to train as a scholar. In 1956, he became the first Mexican American to receive... Read More

TOMÁS RIVERA(December 22, 1935–May 16, 1984)   Tomás Rivera’s career as a writer and educator was shaped by the struggles of his family. Rivera was born in 1935. His parents were farm laborers who followed the annual harvests from Texas to the Midwest. Rivera traveled and worked with his family throughout his education. Ultimately, he earned a Ph.D. and became a university professor. Rivera’s 1971 novel .....

Roughly 27,000 people across Texas work for subsidiaries of German-based companies, ranging from industrial giants like Siemens to grocery store chains like Trader Joe’s. This week, News 88.7 has been taking an extended look at Houston’s trading relationship with Germany in our series, “A Tale of Two Ports.” We wrap up our coverage with a conversation with Hans-Jürgen Zachrau. He serves on the board of the German-American Chamber of Commerce South and is a vice... Read More

When it comes to trade, much of America’s attention this year has focused on a pact with Pacific Rim nations. But there’s another big treaty under negotiation with Europe – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. It’s proving just as divisive in Germany as the Asia-Pacific trade deal is here. Just a short walk from Hamburg’s historic town square stands a neo-classical building that, for more than a century, housed the city’s stock... Read More

Imagine that the Port of Houston was located not to the east of the city but at Allen’s Landing, where it stood before the construction of the Houston Ship Channel. That’s what Hamburg is dealing with right now. “We have the challenge in Hamburg actually to get all the ships in and out,” says Axel Mattern, CEO of the Port of Hamburg Marketing Association. “Because we have this river navigation of 100 kilometers, of about... Read More