The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park
1100 Bagby Street
Houston, TX 77002
Tel: 713 655 1912
E-Mail: info@heritagesociety.org
Big Move In Place for The Heritage Society
Effective 10/01/2016, two vital forces of service to Houston and Texas historical preservation came together for the sake of enhancing the efforts of each group. On that date, The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park absorbed Houston Arts and Media into their auspices, forging their operations into a newer, and a more dynamic and assertively active and visible program of historical preservation and public education about the history of Houston and Texas .
Alice Collette of the Heritage Society remains on board under accountability to the Board of Directors as Executive Director, and Mike Vance, the former capable leader of Houston Arts and Media is now engaged as the Heritage Society Program Director.
We do not know Alice Collette, but we are given to understand that she is a passionately committed warrior for historical preservation and a person of the highest integrity that is always needed for a position of this nature. Mike Vance, on the other hand, we know very well as a colleague in the local Larry Dierker Chapter of SABR, aka, The Society for American Baseball Research. Mike, yours truly (Bill McCurdy), and several other SABR members (Bob Dorrill, Joe Thompson, Marsha Franty) and one independent contributor (Steve Bertone), were the researchers and co-authors of Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961, Bright Sky Press, 2014. Mike Vance did a beautiful job for us also as editor of the 367 page coffee table sized hard cover book – and the only history ever recorded about the long expanding life of baseball in the Greater Houston area.
Mike Vance is an intelligent and passionate person about all things historical – and he does his work with a thorough dedication to exhaustive research for the nearest primary source documentation before he allows anything to go to print as truth – or probable truth. He also isn’t afraid to challenge historical legends that have been passed down as factual events without any documentation to validate their reality. He also is an assertive searcher for those artifacts of history that either need to be saved or memorialized – and – once he sees them – he organizes plans with others on the best ways to intervene in their behalf. Mike Vance was the prime mover behind the two memorial plaques in Houston that now commemorate the sites of Houston’s first two professional baseball parks in the near downtown area. In brief, the future of Houston’s history is in the best hands available with Mike Vance. We can think of no one who could make a better Program Director for this worthy organizational upgrade in the now viral battle to destroy Houston’s ancient and sad older reputation afar as the city that turns history into strip malls and parking lots. It’s no longer a just conclusion in all cases – as evidenced too by the Mike Vance-supported effort to halt the demolition of the Astrodome and the conversion of that space into a very large parking lot. So. far, it’s beginning to look like Houston will get to keep its architectural equivalent to the Eiffel Tower. Houston has a legion of Mike Vances on that issue – and we also are one of the thousands of happy Houstonians to claim membership in that club. We also appreciate Mike’s efforts in behalf of us all.
The View from Sam Houston Park
To Downtown Houston
Before you miss out on what’s coming up in November and December 2016 – please check out The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park website to find out about the many exciting events coming up before the new year – and – if you have a fire for history too – to learn more about how you may become involved as a volunteer in this ongoing effort to preserve Houston and Texas history.
https://www.heritagesociety.org/
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Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Texas
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 25, 2016 at 5:26 pm |
Bill: I agree with you that this is terrific news. Mike Vance’s dedication to preserving and enhancing the history of Houston is legendary, and I think we can count ourselves as very fortunate that he has been such a very good friend to all of us,and indeed to everyone in South Texas.