Camp Logan: A World War I Training Camp in Houston. Saboteurs, Strikes, and Surveillance: Texas Shipbuilding during the Great War. WWI Shipwreck Archaeology: Abandonment of the U.S. Shipping Board Vessels in East Texas.
Born in the late 1700s, Jean Lafitte created a profitable smuggling operation in the Gulf of Mexico with his brother, Pierre. The pair then moved to Galveston Island where they developed the colony of Campeche. For such an enigmatic character, much is still unknown, or misinterpreted, about his life.
The presentation will discuss the parallel developments in the commercial oil industry and related chartering models. It begins with the colonization of producer nations (mainly by the British and Dutch) to Independence movements in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It then follows the corresponding change in oil trading from a strictly term-driven process to a spot market emerging in the early 1970’s to the commoditization of oil in the following decade and beyond.
Tanker surfing has been practiced in Texas for the last 50 years. In the 60’s and 70’s, the sport occurred not in open waters like today, but along the shorelines of two islands in Galveston Bay: Redfish Island and Atkinson Island. During this time, ships were less frequent and much smaller, but they still created waves.
Doris Miller, the son of an impoverished sharecropper, was born in McLennan County, Texas. During the Depression, he took the only job that he could find: the Navy. There, in common with all black recruits, he was assigned to the messman branch, making the beds, shining the shoes, and serving the meals of white officers.
The Seabed 2030 initiative is being facilitated by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) project in partnership with The Nippon Foundation (NF) as a means to inform global policy, improve sustainable use and advance scientific research.
Oyster reefs are important components of healthy ecosystems within U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries. Oysters filter and clean bay waters, create fish habitats, and protect shorelines from erosion. They also provide recreational fishing opportunities and support a robust seafood industry, generating over $19 million in Texas in 2014.
The Japanese surrender in World War II occurred on August 14, 1945. On that afternoon, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took to the streets of New York City to capture the country’s jubilation. He shot the iconic V-J Day in Times Square scene that appeared in Life Magazine and forever became a favorite snapshot of victory.
In a city that is visually dominated by automobiles and freeways, very few Houstonians realize that the reason for their city’s existence and prosperity is the waterway of Buffalo Bayou. Houston truly is “the town which built the port which built the city.” We live at a time when Houstonians are actively developing an appreciation of the bayou upon which their city was founded, an appreciation that can be greatly enhanced by looking at Buffalo Bayou in a historical context.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939 to provide a uniformed volunteer force to support the United States Coast Guard. During World War II, Auxiliarists used their own boats to protect our ports and patrol our coasts from the German submarine threat.
