1950
Ship arrivals numbered 3,721, with a combined barge and ship freight of 40,825,048 tonsThe city's population was 596,163, a jump of 55.5 percent over 1940. Houston's black population was 150,452, 19 percent of the total
The city included 1,174 manufacturing establishments producing goods annually valued at $781,600,000. Chief among the products were foods, chemicals, petroleum, iron and metal goods, and heavy machinery
Bank deposits since 1940 increased 282 percent
Automobile registrations in Harris County stood at 322,000, an increase of 89.4 percent over 1940
In a vote to test public sentiment, organizations such as the Council for Free Enterprise helped defeat public housing
January 24
Five blacks filed suit to gain access to the Municipal Golf CourseFebruary
George R. Brown, Vice President of Brown & Root, Inc., is named chairman of the board of Trustees at Rice Institute
May 27
The Pasadena Tunnel was opened under the ship channel. This, and another tunnel opened three years later, alleviated traffic congestion and eliminated the need for ferry service on the channelJuly
Staff Sgt. Nyle S. Mickley, Jr. of Houston is credited with shooting down the first North Korean plane of the Korean War
October
Ground is broken for the 18 story Prudential Insurance Company building to be located near the Medical Center
December 25
Ground was broken for a hospital for cancer researchRice Institute completes the 70,000 seat Rice Stadium
William Goyan of Houston publishes House of Breath
Houston Westbury baseball team wins world Little League
title
1951
Construction was begun on the Houston International Airport (William P. Hobby Airport as of 1967)
Texas State University for Negroes became Texas Southern University
With the slogan, "Guarding the Land We Love," the Minute Women were formed. A local branch of a national anticommunist group, they watch dogged government and school officials, especially teachers
FebruaryHouston, already crippled by sleet, snow, and freezing rain, has a low of 15 degrees and all schools are closed
February 24
The University of Houston cancelled a speech by Dr. B. Kumarappa, India's representative to the United Nations, because of the man's anti-American views
May 27W. F. Heavey outlined plans for $21,000,000 worth of channel improvements
JulyA gang riot erupts near Playland Park and 36 youths are jailed
October
Mrs. George L. Downs purchases the 100,000th television set to be sold in Houston
October 13
Rice Institute was presented with a Van de Graff accelerator (atom-smasher) by the Atomic Energy Commission
1952
Ship arrivals at Houston's Port numbered 3,769, and tonnage freighted on the channel stood at 46,608,420 tons. For the first time, tonnage was valued at over $2,000,000,000
The University of Houston and the Independent School District were given the old facilities of KPRC-TV by the Hobby family. The resulting KUHT-TV became the worlds first educational TV station in May 1953
This year marked the high point for the Minute Women, who now claimed 1,000 members. They elected Mrs. F. G. Dyer to the school board on an anti-UNESCO platform and were in the vanguard of the attack on deputy school superintendent George W. Ebay
A black man became the foreman of a Houston jury for the first time since Reconstruction
Houston recorded 134 murders
FebruarySheriff C. V. (Buster) Kern and Ranger Johnny Klevenhagen physically assault lawyer Percy Foreman after Diego Carleno is found not guilty of murder
March
On land donated by Will and Susan Clayton, the city opened its first housing project since World War II. The 348-unit project was mainly for Latin Americans
JuneBilly Graham announced, "Most Houstonians will spend an eternity in hell."when he preaches to 60,000 people in Rice Institute Stadium
August 1
The Gulf Freeway between Houston and Galveston was completed. State and federal governments funded 86 percent of it
"Shivercrats" bolt the national Democratic Party to support Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower elected president
October
Judge Roy Hofheinz, boy wonder of Harris County, announces he will run for Mayor
1953
Roy M. Hofheinz became mayor of Houston
The NAACP protested segregation in the cafeteria of the new County Courthouse
The Baytown-LaPorte tunnel under the ship channel was opened
At a school board meeting, an attorney, John P. Rogge, accused of being a "Commie." The FBI declared him "clean as a whistle." and a 348-page report by the General Research Company found no communist connections
January
Frank Lloyd Wright, 83, is in Houston for a speaking engagement
April
The home of Jack Ceasar is rocked by a dynamite explosion in the first episode of open violence to make Ceasar move out of the white neighborhood
September
After a bitter fight, Houston voters rejected an $18 million bond issue to purchase private docks in Long Reach and construct new facilities
The 11th annual Harris County Fair is held
October 11- 21Journalist Ralph O'Leary wrote an award winning series of articles for the Houston Post on the Minute Women. Putting together names, dates, and facts, the series drained the movement of much of its venom
KUHT, the first education television station in the U.S. begins broadcasting from the campus of the University of Houston
Lyndon B. Johnson elected minority leader of U.S. Senate
Oveta Culp Hobby of Houston named U.S. Secretary of
Health, Education, and Welfare
1954
Ship arrivals at the Port numbered 3,574, and combined barge and ship freight on the channel totaled 43,244,841 tons
The Rehabilitation Committee of Downtown Houston was founded as yet another effort to revive the area between Buffalo Bayou and Texas Avenue
Segregation on city buses was ended
Houston's water supply was increased with water from a reservoir created by a dam on the San Jacinto River
KPRC-TV made Houston's first color broadcast
March
U.S. Representative Albert Thomas is almost hit by gunfire in the House of Chamber
April 21
Senator Joe McCarthy spoke on San Jacinto Day. An anticipated crowd of 40,000 failed to materialize; only about 4,200 heard the senator
May
Plans are announced by former Mayor Oscar Holcombe to build a $4,000,000 shopping center at South Park Blvd. and Griggs Road
July
The Chamber of Commerce held "M Day" to celebrate the addition of the metropolitan area's (Harris County) millionth citizen
September
Mrs. Annie Battlestien, 81, wife of the founder of Battlestien's Department Store, dies in Houston.
October 29
Houston International Airport was opened
DecemberThe University of Houston was granted full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
Valerie Bettis of Houston choreographs A Streetcar Named Desire for American Ballet Theatre and dance the lead role with Scott Douglas of El Paso
1955
The Nation's twelfth largest city ranked fifty-seventh in support of public libraries
Houston's Port dropped to fourth nationally in terms of tonnage handled
A biracial school committee suggested desegregation immediately "if the superintendent finds it possible, under existing circumstances"
Private cars and traffic congestion continued to mount. A test showed that one mile at 5:30 P.M. downtown took seven minutes and forty seconds
January
If present trends continue, Houston babies born this year will have a life expectancy of 137 years
May
Sugar is selling in the stores for 35 cents a five pound bag
July 25Mayor Hofheinz offered to stand trial in the face of an impeachment move by the council. The mayor and council were embroiled in a dispute over proposed charter amendments that would have affected the power balance in city government
August 17Voters approved a charter amendment to shorten city council terms by a year, and they approved new municipal elections for November. They defeated eighteen proposed amendments, backed by councilmen, which would have curbed the mayor's power and strengthened their own
August 27City councilmen dropped their impeachment move against Mayor Hofheinz
October 17The new Texas National Bank opened with its fifteen-foot weather ball on top
A group of citizens founds the Houston Ballet, which is the states first
November
Oscar Holcombe is elected Mayor of Houston again when he defeats Roy Hofheinz, the incumbent
YEARS OF EXPANSION
By Marvin Hurley
HE
mid-century period found all systems
"go" in Houston as well as throughout the state and nation. Post-war
readjustment had been largely accomplished, and by the beginning of 1951 a normal flow of
supplies and equipment was being recorded. Business expenditures in new plant and
equipment, corporate profits, construction contracts (both public and private), and the
gross national product were setting new records.
This was a period of expansion
throughout the Houston area. The index of industrial activity as measured by the
non-residential consumption of electric current in Harris County went from 146 in 1951 to
270 in 1955, while the index for the non-residential consumption of natural gas climbed
from 149 in 1951 to 192 in 1955. During the same period, department store sales moved from
an index of 127 to 153, and bank debits to individual accounts from 146 to 194. Automobile
and truck registrations in the county increased from 333,462 in 1951 to 475,212 in 1955,
while bank deposits increased from $1,411,901,000 to $1,899,855,000. During this five-year
period, 88,091 residential units were completed in Harris County at a cost of
$737,982,000.
It was during this five-year period that the Galveston freeway was opened as the first unit of the Houston area’s master freeway system, the new Houston International Airport terminal building was dedicated, and metropolitan Houston or Harris County passed the magic million mark in population. Under the leadership of Governor Allan Shivers, Texas had an unprecedented period of prosperity, and the skyline of Houston was changing with the addition of the following buildings: Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, Great Southern Life Insurance Company, Prudential Insurance Company, Bank of Commerce, Harris County Courthouse, San Jacinto, Melrose, Gulf Interstate, 1114 Texas Avenue, Old National Life, Houston Club, Texas National Bank, and J. Robert Neal Building.
This was a period of many records in the achievements of mankind. Dr. Wernher von Braun predicted that a doughnut-shaped space station would orbit the earth 1,075 miles out. Direct long-distance dialing was introduced, and mass trials of the Salk polio vaccine were made. Five primates were dropped in a weightless state for three minutes and it was found that no significant blood change resulted. The electronic computer was demonstrated, and for the first time the general public had the privilege of seeing the national party conventions on television. Peaceful uses of the atom were being explored.
But there were also shadows over the earth. The Korean war began to take on the appearance of a stalemate, and the problem of economic mobilization forced all other issues into low priority positions. The cold war assumed a different hue with the death of Joseph Stalin, and Communist propaganda shifted from social revolution and international class war to a peace propaganda designed to exploit the world’s natural and legitimate desire for peace and economic reconstruction. France accepted a hard and humiliating peace in Indochina, and the U. S. Congress authorized the president to use armed forces in the defense of Formosa.
In Texas, the issue of state ownership of submerged coastal lands was finally settled, a state land scandal made headlines, and prolonged drought conditions in some sections of the state created serious water shortages both in farm and municipal supplies.
Following World War II, with the Soviet Union fostering a Communist government north of the 38th Parallel in Korea and the United Nations sponsoring a Western-oriented government south of that line, Korea became both a political and a military problem for the United States. The day after North Korea invaded the Republic of Korea, on June 26, 1950, United Nations members were called upon to aid the Republic of Korea. The United States provided a disproportionate share of troops for this action, and the strain was soon felt throughout the country.
Steps were taken nationally to curb inflation as the Korean campaign brought the United States to the brink of World War III, and the year saw a marked intensification of the atomic armament race. President Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of all his commands, and General Dwight Eisenhower was put in command of the Supreme Allied Headquarters in Europe. There he saw Berliners rigged out in "space suits" and helmets to advertise a motion picture made in this country entitled "Destination Moon".
During 1951 the crime investigation by a Senate committee headed by Estes Kefauver attracted wide attention. The nation experienced the most damaging flood in its history with the Midwest suffering one billion dollars in losses. Paper-bound books soared to popularity, while universities and colleges were concerned over a sharp drop in enrollment as the armed-force strength reached 2,900,000, and employment of women in American industry surpassed the World War II peak. The year also saw the first electricity generated from atomic energy, and the first transcontinental television broadcast.
The Korean emergency soon brought back into production the rubber plants in the Houston area which had been in mothball status since shortly after the close of World War II. Aluminum firms were active in new plant-location studies, spurred by the government’s stockpiling agreements, and production was already coming from the Point Comfort works of the Aluminum Company of America. The important gains registered by the chemical industry in the Texas Gulf Coast area during 1950 continued through the new year, with new and expanded facilities being announced.
ecognizing the possible impact of the
war threat, W. N. Blanton on resigning late in January, 1951, after 22 years as executive
vice president of the Houston Chamber of Commerce (to become president of the Starworth
Drilling Company) said: "I feel strongly that Houston and the entire Gulf Coast area
are on the threshold of another great period of industrial growth and expansion which will
be influenced to a great measure by the present national emergency."
For more than two decades, Mr. Blanton had made the development of Houston’s welfare through the channels of the Chamber of Commerce his prime objective in life; and because of his unceasing and efficient endeavors, the Chamber of Commerce had a major role in practically every important business, civic and cultural undertaking during his tenure. When I succeeded him on March 1, 1951, my statement was brief. I said: "Houston offers a tremendous challenge. The past progress of this city is evidence of its future potentialities. Throughout the life span of the city, the Houston Chamber of Commerce has been in the forefront of its development. We expect Houston’s development to continue, and for the Chamber of Commerce to continue to provide the leadership for this development."
With the tidelands oil controversy still undecided, a concerted effort was being made in some quarters to deny the oil industry the essential relief provided by the depletion allowance. Speaking in opposition to this effort, Lieut. Gen. Ernest O. Thompson of the Texas Railroad Commission said: "Our men are fighting in Korea, and our national security is in peril. Every possible incentive should be offered to the petroleum industry to find more oil, rather than to weaken the tax structure which has enabled it to fuel two World Wars and at the same time to take care of essential civilian requirements."
In its April, 1951, issue, the "Houston Magazine" reviewed the first half of the 20
th Century in Houston in the light of current developments, seeing progress and promise, with a citizenship possessed of a united desire and intention to see that it developed into a still greater city. In 1900, when Houston had a population of 45,000, oil was still undiscovered at Spindletop and a deepwater port was still a dream. When the new century opened, the city limits included only nine square miles. It had five national and two private banks with an aggregate capital of $3,000,000 and with total deposits of $5,265,981.Residential construction was at a low ebb in 1900, in comparison to the record-setting pace a half century later. As late as 1935, only 1,342 family units a year were built in Houston, and the rate climbed steadily until 5,075 were built in 1940. During the war years, the total dropped under 2,000 annually; but once war-short materials became available, residential construction in Houston began to keep pace with the growth of the city. From 5,709 in 1946 and 5,881 in 1947, the annual number of family units reached 11,908 in 1950.
During the five post-war years through 1950, over $27,000,000 had been spent by the Houston Independent School District on public school buildings; and a survey of building needs for the next five years showed that funds should be provided for 22 elementary schools, six junior high schools, four senior high schools, and expansion of several existing buildings. By 1951, the University of Houston had completed a $10,500,000 post-war building program. Another $10,000,000 in construction was under way at the Texas Medical Center. The City of Houston was projecting a $56,000,000 construction program, while Harris County planned $21,000,000 in work including a new courthouse and jail. The Flood Control District had a $5,000,000 program, and the Texas Highway Department had $37,000,000 in road construction under way in the county.
Work was progressing on the Gulf Freeway in 1951 at a cost of $1,500,000 a mile, and it was being hailed as the outstanding highway engineering development since World War II as well as a model for the nation. Construction had been started in 1946, and about six miles had been completed, with four additional miles under construction. When the first section was opened, it was estimated that the freeway would reach a capacity of 70,000 vehicles by 1957, but by early in 1951, the total use had already surpassed that estimate. Travel-time studies indicated that a freeway of this type would save its users enough in a relatively few years to equal the total cost. A freeway system for the entire Houston area was being planned under the watchful eye of the Highway Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, and steps were being taken by the city and county to reserve rights-of-way for this program.
Some additional statistical comparisons reflect Houston’s growth rate for the first half of the 20
th Century. Population had increased from 45,000 in metropolitan Houston to about 600,000. The number of school children in the Houston district had grown from 12,000 to 96,000. Bank deposits had zoomed from five and one-quarter millions to $1,333,053,602. Building permits had increased from $1,165,000 to $176,932,000 for the year, and postal receipts from $118,180 to $8,323,999.Col. W. B. Bates, president of the Chamber of Commerce, reviewed progress of the Texas Medical Center in an address to the Kiwanis Club in 1951. He recalled that just five years before, Dr. E. W. Bertner, Center president, had addressed the club on plans for the Medical Center. At that time, there were no streets in the area and no buildings other than the original Hermann Hospital. Colonel Bates said that during this five-year period, more than a half-million dollars had been spent paving streets, installing storm and sanitary sewers, installing street lights and making other site improvements. He said the new Hermann Hospital had been completed, as had the 14-story Hermann Professional Building; that the Baylor University College of Medicine was in operation, and that the new Methodist Hospital would be opened in October, with the Arabia Temple Crippled Children’s Hospital to open the following month; and that construction was under way on the Texas Children’s Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, and the M. D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research.
During the prior four years, more hospital beds had been added in Houston than in any other city in the state, with a further large number to be added during the balance of 1951 as well as during 1952 and 1953. In 1941, when Houston was pushing 400,000 in population, it had only 1,720 hospital beds; but by mid-1951, it had 4,368, or an increase of 154 percent, which was about three times the rate of population increase. With projects already announced, the total number of hospital beds was expected to pass 6,000 by the end of 1953.
Other events in Houston during 1953 included recognition as the nation’s most air-conditioned city, the beginning of the Armed Forces Center with the opening of the Organized Reserve Corps Armory, and a visit to Houston by General Douglas MacArthur with his wife and son. After a city-wide competition, the Chamber of Commerce adopted as a new slogan: "Houston—America’s Industrial Frontier."
In his comments at the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in December, Colonel Bates said: "The Chamber of Commerce revitalized interest in a United Fund Campaign to consolidate local and national charitable appeals. Plans for such a drive, started in 1948 upon recommendation of the Chamber of Commerce, had been dormant for more than a year when community leaders were encouraged to get it off of dead-center. In establishing the foundation for the successful United Fund Drive, the first in the Southwest, the Lifetime Roundup Club members (of the Chamber of Commerce) assumed the responsibility of contacting the heads of several hundred larger firms to secure their cooperation and to extend payroll deduction privileges to their employees.
When the United Fund raised $3,817,589 against a goal of $3,625,623 in the fall of 1951, it brought to realization the dream of several years to combine all fund-raising campaigns for welfare and health agencies in a single annual drive. Hines H. Baker was the first Board Chairman of the United Fund, with C. E. Naylor as President, and Howard T. Tellepsen as Campaign Chairman.
"The United Fund is a response to the demand from those who support local and national welfare agencies that the number of individual solicitations be reduced," Mr. Baker said. "It is the hope of the United Fund board that the purposes of these welfare agencies may be carried forward with increasing support and effectiveness while at the same time their funds may be secured with more efficiency and less demands of time and energy on the part of those who give and solicit."
he problems
involved in campaigns to raise funds for welfare and health agencies had led several years
before to the creation of an Appeals Review Board. T. A. Swigart, chairman of this board,
told the Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee early in 1950 that further steps would
have to be taken and that W. A. Smith, as head of the Community Chest, had named a
committee to explore four possibilities: the strengthening of the Appeals Review Board, a
federated spring drive for the appeals of national health groups, expansion of the
Community Chest, or a United Fund drive of the type that had proven successful in
Michigan. When W. M. Wheless, chairman of this special committee, met with the Chamber of
Commerce Board later in the year, he was urged to give serious consideration to the United
Fund type of drive.
At the request of Colonel Bates early in 1951, I attended a conference in Kansas City at which the Michigan Plan of a United Fund was explained. After returning, Colonel Bates and I met with Mr. Swigart and other members of the Appeals Review Board to discuss a resumption of activity to find a solution to the local problem. Colonel Bates reported this to the Executive Committee on February 20, 1951, and Mr. Wheless explained that the matter had been dropped the year before since it was feared it might be hurtful to the Community Chest drive. With the support of the Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Merchants Association, the newspapers and the major givers, however, he said his committee was ready to go ahead with efforts for a united drive. Assured of Chamber of Commerce and newspaper support, the committee called a conference of major givers on May 10
th, to hear Mr. William F. Hufstader, chairman of the Detroit United Fund, explain how successful their two united drives had been. With the enthusiastic endorsement of this group, the United Fund was organized without further delay.Early in 1951, disturbed by trends in national and international affairs and by an apathetic attitude on the part of the general public toward traditional standards of citizenship, Colonel Bates got Chamber of Commerce concurrence in asking D. A. Simmons to head a committee which would prepare for the Chamber of Commerce a statement of policy on citizenship responsibility. Mr. Simmons was ideally endowed to accept such an assignment. As past president of the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society, and the Texas Bar Association, as well as a leader in civic and religious activities, he had long been an outstanding leader in efforts for sound government and strong citizenship.
Anticipating the formation of the committee, Mr. Simmons drafted a resolution for submission to such a committee and delivered it to Colonel Bates for review. While returning to his home not many hours later, Mr. Simmons suffered a heart attack which claimed his life the following morning. His statement, adopted by the Houston Chamber of Commerce, was hailed nationally and internationally, being reprinted and repeated time after time throughout the country, and being recognized by a top award from the Freedoms Foundation. His "Resolution for Adoption by the People of America" follows:
"If the principles of this great democratic republic are based on Christianity, as they are; if freedom is preferable to slavery, as it must be; if our leaders—local, state and national—are the servants of the people and not their masters; then the people are entitled to demand of them honesty in their personal conduct; loyalty to the people and to the principles of decency and constitutional government; faithfulness to their trust—not mere absence of illegality—in their conduct of governmental affairs; and, above all, an example of competence in the handling of our affairs, domestic and foreign, and frugality in the handling of the people’s money, so as to inspire the people to be competent and frugal in the handling of their own.
"The responsibility of leaders is to furnish leadership. Our so-called Asiatic ‘policy’ of indecision and confusion is being paid for in blood in Korea and tears at home; and we, in our pain, engaged in ‘Operation Killer,’ are wreaking a bloody vengeance on little people who have had the misfortune to fall victims of a criminal leadership which has forced them into slavery. Where is the voice of a Woodrow Wilson to proclaim the principles of right and justice to oppressed peoples and to arouse them to throw off their yoke?
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The Downtown skyline shows the Travis entrance of the first library, the domed Lyceum. |
"Jefferson’s ‘Equal rights for all; special privilege for none’ has been thrown out the window. ‘Special privileges for all’ gets
more votes. "We are sick unto death of the scrambling for power of little men in high office; of the influence peddlers; of the traitors and fellow travelers; of whitewashing of friend and Party; of the appointment to office of men without merit but with pull; of gamblers and crooks, politicians and fixers. The stench rises as high as an atom bomb’s smoke. "What we need is Men—men who are worthy of...the offices they fill,
....the country they serve,
......the boys who fight and die on the bloody fields of ‘police action’,
...the principles to which we pay lip service, and
...our forefathers, those unknown men who became great by their dreams and hopes for a great people, a great country, a great world.
"For men are not born great. They are born with a capacity to become great. If, in periods of emergency, their every decision is selfless and each vote they cast is for the good of our Country, they will be good men and great patriots.
"A people become great by following great leadership.
"A world will become great by following a great nation.
"The time is NOW.
"What are we waiting for?
"All we need is for men, big or little, to make selfless decisions, and to vote always: ‘For the Good of our Country’, whether it leaves one in or out of office, or makes one rich or poor.
"In this great emergency, we beg every one in office or out of office to adopt this Resolution."
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Responding to such a challenge, and with the build-up of the national defense overshadowing all other interests during 1951, the Houston Chamber of Commerce gave support to the defense program in many ways. It supervised local arrangements for the two-week Field Economic Mobilization meeting, held to familiarize selected military reservists and civilian leaders with the details and responsibilities of total mobilization. It supported local civilian defense activities, assisted with the formal opening of the ORC Armory as the first unit in the Armed Forces Center, which itself was planned by the Military Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Commerce; and served as a center of information on mobilization and regulations, assisting in governmental procurement efforts and starting a long-range scrap-mobilization drive to help relieve the critical steel shortage.
