Welcome to the Friends of the Texas Room

Stephen FoxOur Mission: The Friends of the Texas Room (FTxR) seeks to support the collections of the Texas and Local History Department, the Archives and Manuscripts Department, and the Special Collections Department of the Houston History Research Center (HHRC) of the Houston Public Library.

The HHRC, the primary resource for the history of Houston, is housed in the Julia Ideson Building of the downtown Houston Public Library across from City Hall. The beautiful Spanish-Renaissance style building holds one of the largest collections of Texas history in the state.

Visit the Julia Ideson Building (Chapter 1 from the FTxR DVD In Search of Houston's History).

The FTxR qualifies under Section 501 (c) (3) IRS revenue service code.

The Monday evening meeting dates for 2023 are January 30th, April 24th, July 24th, and October 23rd.

Stephen Fox to Speak at July 24th Meeting

Join Friends of the Texas Room for an evening with architectural historian Stephen Fox as he discusses his new book The Architecture of Birdsall P. Briscoe, which examines Briscoe's country houses, offering a glimpse into the architect's methods and analyzing how Briscoe built a "social architecture" to frame his clientele during periods of economic expansion and contraction. Fox will showcase how Briscoe cultivated and managed elements of taste, style and fashion to embody class identity and solidarity, and the ways Briscoe and his peers interpreted and reflected early 20th-century Progressive Era ideals to realize the vision of local and civic leaders.

Here is the Zoom link to join us for this free event on Monday, July 24th, at 7pm:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84115509758?pwd=VzlIbHJzS3NVRmNHSlpDWnVyd2Z4dz09

2022 Board of Directors:
President - Mister McKinney
Vice President - Susan Teich
Secretary - (Open Position)
Treasurer - Frank Jones
Directors:
Jim Bailey
Nancy Burch
Anthony Cavender (Julia Ideson Award)
J.J. Gonzalez (Membership Chair)
Carol Haddock
Rebecca Harris
Jeff Lindemann (Dispatch Editor)
George Slaughter