heritagesociety

Music and dancing have been an important part of life in rural Texas since it was first settled, and that tradition lives on today in Texas historic dance halls. In this lecture, historian Steph McDougal examines the design influences and construction technologies found in the unique "round" dance halls of Texas, most of which were built during a 40 year period, in a line along State Highway 36 and the Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad through South and Central Texas' Czech and German farming communities. To r.s.v.p. contact kwolfe@heritagesociety.org This lecture is made possible by a generous grant from the Vivian L. Smith Foundation. The Heritage Society is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Members are free, non-members $5.

Anna Mod will present a lecture on Building Modern Houston. Houston’s early twentieth century economic shift from agriculture to oil fueled a building boom in commercial, residential, and civic architecture that redefined the city and skyline. Modernism was a new and fresh architectural expression, and the perfect complement to the city’s can-do entrepreneurial spirit. Heritage Society board member and author Anna Mod tells the story of Houston’s architectural transformation as it grew from “Bayou City” to “Space City.” Ms. Mod is a historic preservation specialist with SWCA Environmental Consultants in Houston. She is one of the co-founders of Houston Mod and has worked on several significant modern buildings in Houston including the Farnsworth & Chambers building (now Parks and Recreation Department Headquarters), the Sylvan Beach Pavilion, and the Hugo V. Neuhaus, Jr. house. If you would like to reserve a box lunch for this lecture, please contact Elizabeth Martin by 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 The Jerry & Marvy Finger Lecture Series, made possible by the generosity of Mr. Jerry Finger and Mr. Marvy Finger. Members are free, non-members $5. Guests may bring a lunch or purchase one for $10 Complimentary Parking is available behind the Kellum-Noble House; Visitors should enter the lot from the Allen Parkway inbound.

Before America had official National Landmarks or historic districts, we had the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The HABS project began in 1933, putting to work thousands of unemployed architects, draftsmen, and photographers to document America's historic buildings. Two of The Heritage Society's structures, the 1847 Kellum-Noble House and the 1850 Nichols-Rice-Cherry House, were recorded during the earliest days of HABS. In the fall of 2011, three more of The Heritage Society's historic structures were added to the archive. This exhibit features the intricate architectural drawings and photographs from those surveys and shows how the information is used to preserve the structures for the future. The Heritage Society is funded in part by a grant from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Exhibit on view Tuesday, February 21-May 20, 2012. Museum Gallery open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday, 1– 4 p.m.