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Hana Ginzbarg Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 2010-014

Materials in this collection represent Hana Ginzbarg’s working files for Armand Bayou. To make the files accessible to the public, they were organized into three series. Series 1 includes materials related to Ginzbarg’s initial campaign to prevent development in the Armand Bayou area. Papers in Series 2 cover the subsequent efforts to preserve Armand Bayou as a nature education center and protect the area from proposed encroachments. Papers in Series 3 include maps and oversized documents.

It should be noted that this collection represents only a portion of Hana Ginzbarg’s papers. She retains her papers related to other campaigns and issues, particularly regarding her exhaustive work on the Bellaire Nature Discovery Center. More of Ginzbarg’s papers will come to the Houston History Archives at a later date.

Dates

  • 1962-1991
  • Majority of material found within 1970-1985

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

19.0 linear feet

Biographical Information

Starting in 1970, Hana Ginzbarg spearheaded the campaign to rename and preserve Middle Bayou. Later renamed Armand Bayou to memorialize Armand Yramategui, a conservationist beloved by Houston’s environmental community. Ginzbarg devoted herself to the campaign to preserve Armand Bayou as “a small urban wilderness reserve” and protect it from impending residential development. Ginzbarg sent letters, made phone calls, photographed the bayou, attended political meetings, and wrote press releases and newsletter columns. It should be noted that Ginzbarg became acquainted with the bayou systems in Houston through her participation in the “Save Buffalo Bayou” campaign mounted by the Bayou Preservation Association in whose records also are preserved in the Houston History Archives.

As preserved by the campaign, Armand Bayou Nature Center includes 500 acres of the natural wetlands forest, prairie, and marsh habitats once abundant in the Houston/Galveston area. It offers habitat for 370 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and offers hiking trails, exhibits, field trips, Scout programs, birding, and a farm, and it an effective natural flood management system. Money, land, and development were the triggers in the Armand Bayou preservation campaign, rather than local government action.

Sources:

Tomkins-Walsh, T. L., “’To Combine Many and Varied Forces:’ The Hope of Houston’s Environmental Activism, 1923-1999.” In Martin V. Melosi and Joseph A. Pratt, Energy Metropolis: An Environmental History of Houston and the Gulf Coast. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007, 241-259

Custodial History

The Hana Ginzbarg Papers were acquired for the University of Houston Libraries in partnership with the Houston History Archives initiative of the UH Center for Public History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Hana Ginzbarg on October 1, 2010.

Related Materials

Bayou Preservation Association (BPA)

Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC)

The Park People

Title
Guide to the Hana Ginzbarg Papers
Author
David Brown, Trinh Nguyen
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2021-07-15: As a part of the 2021 Special Collections reparative description project, Brooks Whittaker revised this finding aid’s biographical note for relevance and brevity per current best practices.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750