1. In chapter 3, we are introduced to Gatsby's parties. What do these parties tell us about the social hierarchy of 1920s New York City and the difference between West Egg and East Egg? Use textual evidence to support your position.

          Gatsby's parties are extravagant and amazing to anyone, Gatsby while obviously wealthy and famous has lots of suspicion and questions regarding his background. People make rumors of his past and current life. They question his role in the War and his family history. Gatsby is living in West Egg as he is new wealth, however he is not subtle about his wealth in anyway. He has a Rolls-Royce, a large house and his expensive and exclusive parties are famous for their displays of wealth and pride. Gatsby is very charming but not very open, he will talk to someone but not too much, just enough to leave that person interested in Gatsby. Gatsby's parties shows his wealth and influence and his brash nature that may seem out if place in West Egg.

Downtown

     Downtown Houston is the heart of Houston and one of the most interesting parts of the city. It has maintained a mix of buildings from the early 1900s and brand new skyscrapers. Buildings like 609 Main merge nicely with the small brick apartments, giving the area a vibe of a city that is modern while valuing their history. Downtown Houston is a center for business and has been since it's founding. In 1836, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen promoted what they described as perfect and what would be a city of commerce and business, which it is. However these advertising points were just hopes for Houston, and not a guarantee.

     We started the day out by heading to the Houston Public Library, where we met our tour guide, Betty Chapman. We started the tour by talking about the architecture downtown and the history of the buildings that you wouldn't usually notice. Many of the buildings that are just regular hotels or clothes stores have very rich histories and are very fortunate to be maintained.

We spent most of our time walking North on Main Street, which has many beautiful original buildings from the historical Houston downtown.

     Northern main street is mostly comprised of classic Houston buildings that are still being used today mostly as bars and restaurants. I think that this is a good use of the buildings as it gives downtown more night life which is crucial to having a community which feels alive.
We continued our tour, passing by the Islamic Da'wah center and eventually making our way down to Buffalo Bayou, which was the main selling point that the Allen Brothers used. They advertised that the Buffalo and other bayous were large rivers, large enough for large ships, and what would make Houston rich.
     Some of that is true, the Houston ship channel is an enormous economic force. But at the time the ship channel was nothing like it is now. But people came, and Houston began slowly growing. At the time, Houston was very small, and insignificant compared to Galveston, which was a major city and the biggest city in Texas. However, after the Hurricane of 1900 wiped out almost the entire city, people moved inland to the city of Houston. Houston then began dredging the ship channel in a massive project to establish Houston as a huge port and soon the biggest city in Texas.

East End and Magnolia Park

   
     Today we toured around East End and Magnolia park. We walked around the park area of the East End and saw many interesting buildings. What's interesting about the town is that it is very diverse but more than half of the population is Hispanic. The town in the 1930's was known as German Town due to the high German population in the area. We also saw the industrial part of the East End which turned into Magnolia Park.

     Magnolia Park is an area at the east side of Houston Texas near the ship channel. The East end town is one of the oldest hispanic towns in Houston and was known as the City of Magnolia. The Magnolia Park Community was established in 1909.  It's original inhabitance consisted of none-Hispanic White Americans, but soon Mexican Americans from south Texas started to settle in the park area in 1911. The start of the construction of the Houston Ship Channel and other industries around it in the 1920's  drew Mexicans to work. Even Mexican soldiers fled the Mexican revolution to work on the Ship Channel. In 1926 Magnolia Park was added as a part of Houston. In the 1960's most Mexicans in Magnolia grew very poor and the middle class was expanded due to programs made by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Today historic buildings can still be seen on all of Harrisburg and Canal st.

source:

Magnolia Park, Houston." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_Park,_Houston

Third Ward

The third ward is a deeply historic part of Houston whose legacy is not only apparent in the city, but throughout the country as well. Serving as a social hub for black Houstonians from as early as the 1800s, the third ward reflects the culture and struggle of the black community. The third ward’s musical scene has produced household names in such as Beyoncé and Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins, while its roots in slavery-era America produced “Juneteenth”, a celebration on June nineteenth that commemorates the freeing of slaves in the south after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. 

One of the places in third ward that we learn about on our tour was Dowling Street, a main street that runs through third ward that used to be a hub for entertainment and commerce. Over the years, Dowling Street has made some bad and good changes, as it no longer contains many businesses and entertainment centers like it used to. On the other hand, the Houston government recently approved the name Dowling Street be changed to Emancipation Avenue, as Dowling was a confederate general. Another significant place in third ward is the Eldorado Ballroom, which used to be a dancing club and event center that was wildly popular among black Houstonians. 

Just outside of third ward is Sugarhill Studios, a famous recording studio that many iconic Houstonians, such as Destiny’s Child, Willie Nelson, and Lightnin’ Hopkins recorded in. It continues to play a huge role in the Houston music scene as the oldest recording studio still in use. We were able to see the bigger one of their two studios, learn about machinery and techniques they use for recording and manipulating sound. 

Our experience in the third ward was not only informative, but it also broke many stereotypes we had about the area. Often, the third ward is talked about as a “ghetto” or “sketchy” area, its history and contribution to Houston being overlooked. Being one of the oldest parts of the city, third ward not only has a rich history but has also produced iconic events and people not only well known in Houston, but across the world.

Students with Sandra Scott of the Houston Blues Museum

Historical Marker of the Eldorado Ballroom

Students Checking out a Recording Studio in Sugarhill Studios

Learning about Equipment at Sugarhill Studios

Exploring The Heights

The Heights is an area just three miles from downtown, and is a part of Houston that I— in my near-lifetime spent in the city— have barely touched. It is a colorful, pleasant, and historic part of Houston that has been left relatively untouched by giant apartment complexes and fast-food chains, and I quickly found myself enjoying it just by touring the main thoroughfare for a few hours. We were graced with the opportunity to talk to Melvaline Cohen and her son, Kevin; both are longtime residents of The Heights who have borne witness to many significant events and goings-on there. Melvaline was a founding member of the Houston Heights Women's Club, and has been dedicated to preserving the most valuable parts of The Heights for much of her life. She shared a great deal with us about how things have changed in her neighborhood over the years, for better and for worse. Anne Sloan, another Heights native, was there to show us around and provide a comprehensive background of the place. We also got a taste of opera from some local musicians, pictured below. 

Through a mixture of creative reinventing and strict zoning laws, The Heights has managed to capture a sliver of a bygone era, featuring many original houses and buildings from around a century ago. If you’re a sucker for quaint Victorian architecture, matte paint, and manicured lawns, then you’d fit right in to this suburbia-in-the-city. The background on the area, however, is more interesting than any old houses could manage. After starting as an escape from busy city life in the late 1890s and prospering for a while, The Heights began a downturn (economically and socially) that lasted until the 1990s. Post-WWII, it became known as a dying, low-income area, a reputation which took decades of efforts from concerned citizens to erase. It wasn’t helped by an astonishing number of serial killings in the early 1970s ( all done by one man over the course of three years) which rocked the small community. The Houston Heights Association, founded in 1973, served as a nexus of positive change, and its events and contributions would attract thriving young people into the area for decades to follow. In the present, The Heights’ community still has some concerns, but things certainly do seem to be looking up.