Houston Arts and Media’s Birth of Texas Docs to Air on Houston's KUHT-TV Channel 8 in March
Houston, TX – March 11, 2013 – The two completed titles from Houston Arts and Media's Birth of Texas Series, including their latest release, will air on Houston's KUHT-TV Channel 8 in prime time on Tuesday, March 19. Houston: A Nation's Capitol will start at 7 PM to be followed immediately by the brand new Spanish Texas. There will be an encore showing of each at 10 PM on March 26 and March 27.
The folks at Houston Arts and Media are very excited about this opportunity and hope that other PBS outlets around Texas will follow suit in airing these compelling documentaries about the state. HAM's Executive Director Mike Vance said, "Channel 8's support of Texas history is a terrific development for us. We are constantly working on great titles about Texas, and we hope to see all of them on PBS affiliates around the state."
Spanish Texas is the chronologically first title in the Birth of Texas Series. It is the story of the missions, presidios and villas in this most remote part of New Spain. It is Texas Indians, some of whom converted to a life with the Spaniards, and some who most decidedly did not. The settlers in this often hostile outpost would become known as Tejanos, and they would alternately battle and cooperate with the Anglos sneaking into Texas from the east. There are filibusters and pirates, vast Texas ranchos, battles for survival and revolution against Royal Spain.
The Birth of Texas Documentary Series is a multi-part series of feature length documentaries that chronicle the journey from Spanish Texas, along the road to Revolution, through the days of the Republic and on to statehood. The videos not only explore the complete stories of the famous military actions at the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto including recent breakthroughs in scholarship and archaeology, but also the roles played by Tejanos, American settlers, filibusterers, enslaved African-Americans, European immigrants and foreign governments in shaping the story of our state.
These documentaries educate adults and students about the early history of our great State of Texas. They also serve as a powerful vehicle for history tourism, motivating people to visit these hallowed locations for themselves.
In addition to Spanish Texas, other documentaries in the Birth of Texas Series revolve around San Felipe de Austin, Washington-on-the-Brazos, San Antonio and the Alamo, Goliad, San Jacinto, Houston and Austin. Each follows the same pattern of telling not only the stories of what happened there, but exploring the broader themes that existed in Texas of the early nineteenth century and grounding them in solid and recognizable historical context.
Spanish Texas and Houston: A Nation's Capitol are available on DVD through HAM. Public viewings will continue to be scheduled. DVDs may be obtained here http://www.houstonartsandmedia.org/spanish%20texas.html
Houston Arts and Media continues to work on several other projects such as the award-winning HAM Slices of History which are reachable through HAM's homepage. Documentaries are in the works on other state and area history subjects including Home Front: Texas in WWII and Stand Up Story, a history of standup comedy in Houston. They also continue with Neighborhood to Neighbor, an ongoing oral history gathering project that has already placed the stories of scores of Houstonians in the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Research Center and Rice University’s Woodson Research Center. Parties interested in supporting these efforts through donations or volunteerism should contact Houston Arts and Media via e-mail at info@houstonartsandmedia.org.
About Houston Arts and Media:
Houston Arts and Media’s purpose is to produce educational and historical film, video and books. The work will be done by members of Houston’s creative, educational, research and production communities. Houston Arts and Media is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization.
For information: http://www.houstonartsandmedia.org or
Contact: info@houstonartsandmedia.org
Phone: 713-686-9244
