125th Anniversary Projects

125th Anniversary History Book - Available October 2004

In lively prose Sam Houston State University: An Institutional Memory, 1879-2004 traces the school's development alongside the life of the campus. Through the description of the many fads, traditions, crises, and milestones that marked the ages, a distinct institutional identity emerges in this volume that will be at once both strangely fascinating and warmly familiar to those who have walked the campus as students, professors, staff, or visitors. This oversized, well-illustrated book presents a grand and colorful sweep of Sam Houston's 125-year history and will certainly occupy a prominent place in the homes and offices of all those who have been impacted by its warmth, accessibility, and purpose.

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University History Documentary - Premieres October 2004

Sam Houston State University is the third oldest institution of higher education in Texas, and in 2004 we celebrate our 125th anniversary. Because of the interest sure to be generated by such an achievement, Texas Foundation for the Arts is working with the university to develop a documentary film for PBS that details the rich history of Sam Houston State, from its early role as a respected teachers' college to the dynamic institution it is today.

Texas Foundation for the Arts has contracted with Houston-based Sunset Productions to produce the program, and the film will be part of our ongoing "Texas: Our Land Our People" documentary series. As a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the foundation is the fiscal sponsor and manager of the project.

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New Official University Ring Inaugural Ceremony April 22, 2004

We are pleased to present a lasting reminder of the Sam Houston State University experience: the official SHSU ring. Our ring is designed to evoke special memories of the long history, traditions and images of our university: Austin Hall and our beautiful campus setting; Sam Houston, our namesake; and academic accomplishment. The ring serves as a symbolic, continuous link of recognition between fellow classmates and alumni. Our ring is reserved exclusively for students in good standing who have achieved seventy-five credit hours. Sponsored by the SHSU offices of the Vice President for Student Services and Alumni Relations, the ring will remain unchanged - a tangible connection between past, present and future.

Ring Orders

University Photo Database

The Newton Gresham Library now has hundreds of archival photographs catalogued online with their newly-acquired Hyperion database. A majority of the good history photography available has already been archived. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and local citizens are encouraged to share old pictures celebrating SHSU's and Huntsville's past. If you have a historical photo you would like to donate to the database project, please contact Barbara Kievit-Mason. This photo database will support our history book and documentary projects. Soon we will have a list of missing historical photos we don't have in our archives that you may be able to help us with.

Visit the Photo Database
*If you have a Popup blocking software installed, you might have to disable it to view the images.

Alcalde Yearbook Revived

Sam Houston State University has joined with Taylor Publishing to bring back the Alcalde Yearbook. Their new university "Milestone" program allows SHSU to create a staff, establish an office and develop a program of it's own. Taylor Publishing assists the Alcalde staff in learning how to use new software and the process of collecting information and photographs. Taylor Publishing handles all of the advertising, publishing, sales and collecting data for the SHSU staff.

The theme for the new yearbook is based on its name, Alcalde, which means old mayor or old sheriff. The theme will be "There's a new sheriff in town" and will highlight the new administration, new president, new buildings and all of the other new things around campus. The yearbook will also have a segment on parchment paper that will tell about the past six years missed by the absence of the Alcalde.