Freedmen's Town as Houston's Wakanda

The Houston Chronicle recently published a piece on the significance of Freedmen's Town as a beacon of Black cultural and economic ingenuity. Check it out: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Houston-s-Freedmen-s-Town-affirms-the-culture-12725812.php

VW

Black Women Mathematicians at NASA

Dear Gregory Staff,

Ms. Tracey King has located a feature in Smithsonian Magazine about the upcoming film, Hidden Figures, which tells the inspiring story of the Black female NASA mathematicians who helped astronauts get to space in the 1960s. Check it out below.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/forgotten-black-women-mathematicians-who-helped-win-wars-and-send-astronauts-space-180960393/?no-ist

The movie is based on Margot Lee Shetterly's book of the same title.

For a related archival perspective, you might want to check out Executive Order 8802 from NARA's "Our Documents" online project here: https://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=72

Hidden Figures is set to premiere in January, right in time for MLK Day. Might be a good opportunity for a team-building excursion, hmm? :-)

Have a great week!

VW

Austin Revealed - Civil Rights Stories

Dear Gregory Staff,

Ms. Ingrid Grant found this very relevant documentary about civil rights in Austin's history. It's an interesting perspective on the history of one of our neighbor cities. What are some commonalities & differences you see with Houston's civil rights history?

http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/austin-texas-civil-rights/

VW