VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 3 • SUMMER 2014 Southeast Houston: From Pastures to South Park to MLK CENTER FOR PUBLIC HISTORY Published by Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative From Pastures to South Park to MLK Pasture photo courtesy of the Library of Congress; South Park and MLK photos courtesy of Katharine Shilcutt and the Houston Press. n the 1970s some Houstonians greeted and METRO’s Purple Line opening reflect Iintegration’s promise of greater access to “Home: A place the ethnic footprints left to us by the ar- educational equality with enthusiasm. This that provides ea’s residents. These articles also illustrate reaction was in part because integration the many ways that the different ethnic also meant improved employment and hous- access to every groups have searched for home, place, and ing opportunities for African Americans, opportunity community. Latinos, and women. As better-equipped America has These stories enable us to understand schools, higher paying jobs, and housing on a personal level how race, income, and became available, Third Ward’s boundaries to offer.” geography have shaped neighborhoods. expanded east, west, and south. Some call —Anita Hill, We have also posted additional articles on this larger area Southeast Houston, others Reimagining Equality: the website that deepen our understand- claim it as the Greater Third Ward, and still Stories of Gender, Race, and ing of what is happening in Houston’s un- others declare the Third Ward’s boundaries Finding Home, epigram. derserved communities today. The mix of to be wherever you see colored people. To- personal and local histories within the con- day this ever-growing land base has over 22,000 ethnical- text of academic research and community activism help ly diverse residents, nine active civic clubs, and multiple us comprehend how gentrification and demographic in- community names like Old Spanish Trail / South Union, version have happened in the past and are still happening Palm Center, Super Neighborhood 68, South Park, Scott in Houston through massive residential and commercial Terrace, Foster Place, MacGregor Trails, and Riverside construction and community displacement. Terrace. Houston History now publishes two printed issues Some say this area stretches south from Wheeler Street and one digital issue each year. The digital format pro- bordering Texas Southern University and the University vides expanded content through online articles, videos, of Houston, east to Spur 5, west to Highway 288, and photographs, and streamed and transcribed interviews. south to Loop 610. The borders overlap, spreading south Please visit www.houstonhistorymagazine.org and enter into Sunnyside, a semi-rural African American commu- the subscriber password to take advantage of this addi- nity; west to the ever-expanding Medical Center; and east tional material. into Wayside. Today, Latino families, the newest arrivals, As guest editor of this issue, I gained much knowledge are displacing the now aging African Americans who set- from Houston History’s back issues, which provided valu- tled into the area’s modest homes with spacious yards left able insights into how we can use our changing views of behind by whites fleeing integration. home, community, and place to help facilitate Houston’s The University of Houston’s Center for Public History, ongoing metamorphosis into a twenty-first-century global which includes the Welcome Wilson Houston History city. The Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative Collaborative, has a long-term commitment to local stud- is a storehouse of knowledge about our region and its past. ies. For almost thirty-five years,Houston History and its Through the articles in Houston History and the oral his- predecessor the Houston Review of History and Culture of tories and archives from which these articles were written, the Gulf Coast have published articles that reveal the im- I have gained a better appreciation of pact of urbanization, with its constant shifting of living public history’s role within history’s patterns over time. academic traditions and hope to share The articles in this issue illustrate the process of change these findings with you, our readers. over 175 years from the 1840s to the present. The reveal- ing stories about Palm Center, the Kuhlmann Family, Carroll Parrott Blue, MFA, Guest Editor Kuhlman Gully, MacGregor Park and its Homer T. Ford UH Center for Public History Research Tennis Center, prominent minister Overseer R. L. Braziel, Professor Table of Contents FEATURES Palm Center: A Window VOLUME 11 • NUMBER 3 • SUMMER 2014 into Southeast Houston Southeast Houston: 2 By Zachary Smith From Pastures to The Kulhmann Family: Planting South Park to MLK Roots for Future Generations 8 By Betty Trapp Chapman EDITORIAL STAFF Joseph A. Pratt, Editor Debbie Z. Harwell, Managing Editor Neglected Gully Gets Some Lindsay Scovil Dove, Associate Editor Love, and a Benchmark Wyndham Bailey, Program Coordinator 13 By Tony Freemantle Marsha Van Horn, Art Director Jon Fairchild, Intern Aaron P. Goffney, Intern/Social Media Sidonie Sturrock, Intern MacGregor Park, A Gift to Houston 15 By Jon Fairchild, Debbie Harwell, ADVISORY BOARD and Steph McDougal Susan Bischoff Fred Korge Betty Trapp Chapman Martin Melosi Barbara Eaves Yolanda Black Navarro Steven Fenberg Jim Saye Paper Bag of Nails and Oscar Gutiérrez Anne Sloan a Hammer in her Hand: William Kellar 20 The Life and Legacy of Overseer R. L. Braziel EDITORIAL POLICY By Travis Braziel Houston History is published three times a year by the Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative in the Center for Public History at the University of Houston. We welcome Stories Along the Line: manuscripts, interviews, photographic essays, and ideas for topical issues on the history and Local History culture of the Houston region, broadly defined. 24 on METRO’s New Please send correspondence to Houston History, Southeast Light Rail University of Houston, Center for Public History, By Lindsay Scovil Dove 337 McElhinney Hall, Houston, TX 77204-3007 (713-743-3123), or email [email protected]. © 2014 by the Center for Public History. All DEPARTMENTS rights reserved. Reproduction of this issue or MUSEUM any portion of it is expressly prohibited without Buffalo Soldiers: A Nation’s History written permission of the publisher. The Center By Jessica Denise Mitchell for Public History disclaims responsibility for 30 statements of fact and opinions of contributors. FROM THE ARCHIVE POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Remembering Foley’s University of Houston 31 By Teresa Tomkins-Walsh Center for Public History 337 McElhinney Hall ECLECTIC HOUSTONIANS Houston, TX 77204-3007 Lt. Gen. Andrew Davis Bruce: Mixing 36 Military and Education By Jesse Nagelberg NEWS UPDATES AND BOOKS COVER PHOTO: Palms Center, shown here in 1967, offered shoppers national department stores, local By Barbara Eaves retailers, and a grocery store for one-stop shopping. 41 Photo ©The Houston Chronicle. Used with permission. HOUSTON HISTORY Vol. 11 • No.3 1 Palm Center: The original Palms Center sign as it appeared in 1965 served as a beacon to shoppers in Southeast Houston. The mall was home to Walgreens and J.C. Penney’s, as well as popular local favorites Oshman’s Sporting Goods and Walter Pye’s, among others. Unless otherwise noted, all photos © The Houston Chronicle. Used with permission. 2 HOUSTON HISTORY Vol. 11 • No.3 A Window into Southeast Houston By Zachary Smith ith the recent addition of the Southeast line to the METRORail network, Southeast WHouston is geared for revitalizing changes. The new line extends from downtown to Palm Center,* a former shopping center located at the intersection of Griggs Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Created to meet the needs of middle-class white suburbanites, Palm Center has adapted to the racial and economic transformations of the surrounding neighbor- hoods over a span of sixty years, and today it serves a very different purpose than it did in the past. Understanding the history of Palm Center is vital to understanding the struggle to combat community deterioration and the importance of revitalization in Southeast Houston. Houston expanded rapidly in the post-World War II economic boom. The Houston Ship Channel invited economic growth in the form of new refineries, petrochemical plants, and other industrial businesses. In 1949, the Houston area encompassed roughly 160 square miles; and from 1950 to 1960, Houston’s population grew from approximately 596,000 to just over 938,000.1 As more and more land was annexed to accommodate outward growth, many Houstonians moved into newly constructed neighborhoods outside of the city center. Following the influx of wealth along Brays Bayou, white middle-class neighborhoods developed in the areas south of Texas Southern University (TSU) and the University of Houston (UH) and several blocks past Griggs Road and 610 South Loop. Some of these neighborhoods, including MacGregor Terrace, * The name changed from Palms Center to Palm Center in 1993. This article uses the correct name for the time period discussed. HOUSTON HISTORY Vol. 11 • No.3 3 MacGregor Palms, MacGregor Place, MacGregor The Houston Chronicle featured numerous articles that Park Estates, Southern Village, Grand Park, and South celebrated the center and drummed up excitement. On Park, were developed either before or shortly after September 1, 1955, Palms Center opened to the public Palms Center opened.2 Developers had set their eyes on after much anticipation, and it was quite the spectacle Southeast Houston in response to this outward expansion for many weeks afterwards. U.S. Representative Albert of middle-class white Houstonians. Former mayor Oscar Thomas cut the ribbon at the grand opening event, and Holcombe and developer Sterling T. Hogan saw a poten- festivities included balloons containing gift certificates tial for profit in the area and envisioned a shopping center being released from the roof of the center, a trolley, a that would service the needs of the many new white resi- merry-go-round, and a drawing for three automobiles dents of Southeast Houston who lived far from downtown and $1,000 cash.5 With forty-one stores opening, includ- stores.