29 Feb 2024

Melissa Hield

“I co-founded People’s History in Texas in 1976 to bring to life stories of ordinary people and significant social and political movements.“ Melissa Hield is PHIT’s executive director. A founding member of PHIT, she also serves on the board. In 2019 she retired as an executive at a Texas state agency where she specialized in strategic, business, and project planning. […]

Gallery of Stars
25 Jan 2024

Richard Croxdale

“(N)othing much happened in Texas until Jim Hightower was elected in 1983. He roared into office with a goal of improving family farmer’s opportunities to make a living. Farmers Market was seen as a tool to provide more of the value of the produce to the farmers and less to the dreaded middleman. It also provided healthier, tastier, and more […]

Gallery of Stars
30 Aug 2015

The Stand-Ins (2013)

In 1960, a group of civil rights activists in Austin staged a “stand-in” at the movie theater on Guadalupe Street to protest segregation. This is their history. 7th Grade Lesson Plan 11th Grade Lesson Plan

Project
2 Mar 2013

Law Firm for the Poor (2008)

This is the story of Legal Aid of Austin, celebrating forty years of battling for for social justice. Perfect for the classroom. In 1966, the Austin Legal Aid Society was established. It was one of the first in the country that took advantage of that vital section of the War on Poverty laws passed during the Johnson Presidency. The Austin […]

Project
2 Mar 2013

The Rag: Austin Underground Press 1966-1977

A three-part documentary featuring interviews and photography from members of The Rag collective. Rag staffers published an influential Underground Press newspaper in Austin, Texas from 1966-1977. Their activism and writings propelled the local anti-war, pro-Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, and countercultural movements of the sixties and seventies. Individuals who participated in producing and distributing The Rag revolutionized Austin politics and local media. […]

Project
25 Feb 2013

Archives 1976-1993

“Faulk for Congress” (1983, 20 mins., video) and “Where the Lucky Kids Stay” (1983, 15 mins., video), for public access television.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sqysf4D5wMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_oxWMwUpOU   “Peace in the Garden” (1990, 20 mins., video), documentary on Isamu Taniguchi, master gardener and creator of the Zilker Oriental Garden, funded by Austin Parks and Recreation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46J2Reb26dU  Additional Projects Please Contact Us if you would like access to […]

Documentary
Building Hope: The New Deal and Texas Farms (2007)
25 Feb 2013

Building Hope: The New Deal and Texas Farms (2007)

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the U.S. Government created many programs to help unemployed Americans. The Building Hope video documentary tells the story of three different communities that were built in Texas through support from President Roosevelt’s administration to address widespread poverty among tenant farmers and sharecroppers. In “Ropesville”, original settlers tell the story of building a farm […]

Project