Part of Houston History Alliance’s Tales of Houston Women initiative with nonprofits and educational institutions
Pictured are the late Terry Hershey, co-founder of the Bayou Preservation Association with Robert Rayburn, current Bayou Preservation Association Board Chair. Photo courtesy of Bayou Preservation Association.
HOUSTON, October 17, 2018 – The Bayou Preservation Association is leading a collaboration called Houston Women in the Environment with several other environmental groups as part of the Tales of Houston Women initiative, under the auspices of the Houston History Alliance. A series of events produced for Tales of Houston Women take place from Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 and will explore how women have made, and are making, their marks on Houston’s environment. Other participating organizations include Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, Houston Audubon Society, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Memorial Park Conservancy and University of Houston Libraries.
Houston Women in the Environment: Inspiring Future Leaders with Stories from the Past, will be presented by Bayou Preservation Association on Nov. 5 at the Heritage Society Tearoom at Sam Houston Park at 6 p.m. and is described as “an evening of inspiration from women environmental leaders sharing information and stories about the women pioneers in Houston’s environmental history, and moving through today into the future.” The event includes a panel discussion and networking opportunity.
“We are excited that the Houston History Alliance involved environmental groups in its ambitious two-month retrospective and celebration, Tales of Houston Women, which shines a light on the many ways Houston’s women have shaped history and continue to effect change,” says Linda Shead, Vice Chair of the Board for Bayou Preservation Association and one of the primary organizers of Houston Women in the Environment. “As many people know, our own organization was co-founded by the late Terry Hershey, who was a catalyst for change in preserving and protecting our bayous and streams, as well as our public lands. I think Terry would be thrilled to see this female-driven collaboration, as she spent her entire adult life as a champion of environmental causes.”
Starting in September, the Houston History Alliance kicked off Tales of Houston Women, which included multiple events around the City of Houston with nonprofit institutions in health, education, the arts, social services and religion. The Houston Women in the Environment events are all within nine days of each other and most are free to the public. They include:
October 27, 1 – 4 p.m. (Free)
Houston Audubon
Cabin History Tour and Meet “Edith L. Moore”
Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary, 440 Wilchester Blvd., Houston, TX 77079
Join Houston Audubon at the Edith Moore cabin, where a professional actress will be portraying Edith, followed by a Houston Audubon-led nature walk at 2:00 p.m. (Event is open house format.)
October 28, 9 – 10:30 a.m. ($15)
Buffalo Bayou Partnership
The Women of Houston’s Bayous: A History Tour on Buffalo Bayou
Depart: Allen’s Landing, 1001 Commerce St., Houston, TX 77002
Join current women environmental leaders on a boat tour of Buffalo Bayou into the East End to learn about the historical women and current women leaders who have and are shaping our city’s environment.
November 3, 1 – 3 p.m. (Free)
Memorial Park Conservancy
The Women of Memorial Park: A Guided Stroll
Memorial Park, Cullen Running Trails Center, 7575 N. Picnic Ln., Houston, TX 77007
Gather in the Cullen Running Trails Center to learn about the influential women of Memorial Park, including Ima Hogg, Sara Emmott, Terry Hershey, and Sadie Gwin Blackburn; then join Memorial Park Conservancy’s women leaders for a guided stroll in the park.
November 5, 6 – 7:30 p.m. (Free)
Bayou Preservation Association
The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park, Tea Room, 1100 Bagby St., Houston, TX 77002
Houston Women in the Environment: Inspiring Future Leaders with Stories from the Past
An evening of inspiration from women environmental leaders sharing information and stories about the women pioneers in Houston’s environmental history, and moving through today into the future Event will include a panel discussion and networking opportunity.
Registration for the Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 events may be found at: http://www.bayoupreservation.org/News-Events/In-the-News/Houston-Women-in-the-Environment
About Bayou Preservation Association
The mission of the Bayou Preservation Association is to celebrate, protect and restore the natural richness of all our bayous and streams, with a vision of a network of healthy bayous, streams and watersheds. It works to Increase understanding of area bayous and creeks and their watersheds by providing educational programs and opportunities, activities and events to engage all the region’s demographics. Bayou Preservation Association also strives to expand stewardship and stewardship opportunities to improve the health of our watersheds, creeks, and bayous. For information, go to bayoupreservation.org or call 713-529-6443.
About Tales of Houston Women
The Tales of Houston Women Collaboration is a 2-month retrospective and celebration displaying the many ways Houston’s women have, are, and will put their mark on local, national and global history.
Captained by the Houston History Alliance (HHA) as part of our mission to serve as a connection point and a catalyst between the public and the city’s many history-focused organizations, the Collaboration features many of Houston humanities and arts nonprofit organizations, each of which will provide their own angle on how Houston’s women rock the world.
This collaboration has no political intent, although some of the partnering organizations are taking a political stance. HHA is merely providing an opportunity for a variety of voices to be heard regarding women’s roles in the past, present, and future of Houston and Texas. HHA is not funding any portion of our partner’s programming, and it is therefore not our place to tell our collaborators what their programming should be or how their mission should be expressed. The collaboration offers a chance to collectively market our programs as a single, temporary entity celebrating diverse women’s experiences.
About Houston History Alliance
We are a percolator of Houston’s history. We facilitate our community members in telling the stories of Houston’s past themselves rather than having us determine the narrative for them. We are a connection point and catalyst between the general public and Houston’s history-centric organizations whose mission it is to tell a particular part of the city’s history. We recognize that the relationship between historian and community must not be a one-way relationship; every person is in their own way a curator, genealogist and historian, and collectively our community is a vast repository of the city’s history since its founding in 1836.