New UH podcast that deals with the history and the items behind it.
Come give it a listen, and keep an eye out for episode #2.
Let me know what you think.
LETS GO COOGS!
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Jason, great initial podcast - just listened.
I have a similar relationship when I was at UH in '03-05. My Dad bought me a historical pendant that I wear for games, despite being an Aggie. We seem to be kindred spirits in the pursuit of positive exposure for the school.
It would be great to take some high resolution images of your collection. Organize them by type of items (e.g. Football programs, by years and game, figurines, etc) and create a living museum on Coogfans. Attaching the program cover images inside the Wikipedia season pages would be an incredible project to do. No school on wikipedia has that.
In my offtime, I’m researching the Houston Junior College years. I think UH should acknowledge the sporting seasons from 1927-1934 that were active against other teams (e.g. Sam Houston Teachers College Reserves, Rice Institute Freshmen, St. Mary’s Seminary, etc). One of the flagpoles raised at the campus opening was named for Pearl C. Bender, the widow of John Bender - UH’s first AD and football coach who tragically passed away one year after teaching as the PhysEd lecturer. Mr. Bender was a legendary player from the University of Nebraska and coach at Kentucky (and later years Texas A&M’s freshman coach). Mrs. Bender became the Dean of Women after multiple years as the school’s registrar. She seems to be have been well loved as a defacto mother figure for the students during that era.
I’m interested in the evolution of the logos, the crests and the apparel design for sports. Going from HJC to UofH to U.H. to overlapped designs. I’m intrigued to find out why football was banned in 1931 with ice hockey and basketball being the primary sports. In my initial findings there are several artifacts that aren’t known like the school phrases/poetry that precede the Alma Mater or the Cougar Fight Song.
I also think that there is a great story to be resarched on the history of Jesse H Jones vs Hugh Roy Cullen as they were somewhat rivals in the city and through their supported institutions (Rice vs Houston). I also want to look into Cullen’s motivation to have the school’s mission be for the working class students that (I think) appears to have made a foundational driver in it being the antithesis of Rice. HJC had a mission to teach students who couldn’t get into the overcrowded schools at the time, but by 1934-1936, UH could have altered course from being like Temple, City College of New York, UCLA, or Wayne State to being a traditional school like Rice, Texas, Michigan, or California Berkeley.
After reintroducing myself to the coogfans website, out of distaste, I’ve also started collecting newspaper assets of how Texas Longhorns tattled on UH during the 80s for NCAA violations. Especially how they used their power brokers to help get them out of trouble in the 70s. I think it would be good to eventually get into the Independent years and the SWC drama. I believe there are quite a few passionate fans/alums on this board to help you in that podcast “mini” series.
I think it’s such a lost opportunity that these facts aren’t written, recorded, or placqued for easy access to incoming students or passionate alums to hear, read, or see.
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A story doesn’t exist unless it is told. A story is not remembered unless it is told well. (A quotation from my story telling book which should be published by the end of this year. It does have some history and background about our law school in it).
There is such a wealth of interesting information about our beloved university and its athletic program for anyone willing and able to take on the project. The only book of which I am aware is Jerry Wizig’s 1977 “Eat Em Up Cougars” hardcover published by The Strode Publishers, Inc
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A story doesn’t exist unless it is told. A story is not remembered unless it is told well.
Well said.
These are the current book offerings I have found for UH:
- Eat 'em up - Jerry Wizig - 1977
- In time: An anecdotal history of the first fifty years of the University of Houston - Patrick James Nicholson - 1977
- The University of Houston: Our Time : Celebrating 75 Years of Learning and Leading - Wendy Adair - 2001
- Cougars of any Color: The Integration of University of Houston Athletics, 1964-1968 - Dr. Katherine Lopez - 2008
- Houston Cougars in the 1960s: Death Threats, the Veer Offense, and the Game of the Century - Robert D. Jacobus - 2015
- On Site: 50 Years of Public Art of the University of Houston System - Maria C. Gaztambide - 2019
I’ve recently found one about alumni, like:
- The Art Guys - “The Art Guys : Think Twice 1983 - 1995” - Lynn M. Herbert - 1996
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Jacobus was (and maybe still is) a poster on here. He contacted me and several others to interview for material for his book. We have so much colorful and significant athletic history that it seems so few of our fans, alums and supporters know.
I no longer take the Chronicle but my son was telling me this weekend they have been running a series on coach and our players. I wish someone could post them or otherwise get us a link.
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Jacobus also interviewed me, as I attended the 1967 football game in Oxford, Miss.
First time a black player(Warren McVea) had ever set foot on their field.
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