Nearly 100 years ago, on Nov. 10, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson presided over the opening of the Houston Ship Channel. According to the Port Authority, each year the 52-mile channel serves around 8,000 vessels and more than 200 million tons of cargo that move through the Port of Houston. Needless to say, the Ship Channel is one of the major drivers of the Greater Houston economy.
As the channel celebrates its centennial, Houston Arts Alliance â along with the Houston Public Library â has created a new art exhibit telling the stories of the workers who built the ship channel, the people who continue to work there, and the communities surrounding it. Itâs called âStories of a Workforce: Celebrating the Centennial of the Houston Ship Channel,â and itâs on display now through Jan. 31Â at the libraryâs Ideson Building downtown.
The multimedia exhibit features oral histories from ship channel workers, photographs, interactive audio and video installations and a collection of shipping objects and memorabilia.
To give us a better idea of the history and culture the exhibit attempts to capture we hear now from its curator and someone whose family makes a living on the ship channel.
Listen
You can learn more about the exhibit on Arts InSight, tonight at 7 on Houston Public Media, TV 8.
