[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 173 (Tuesday, October 23, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MEMORIAL PARK: 600 ACRES OF HISTORY

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 23, 2018

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, what's in a name? Shakespeare would 
have us believe that we should not assign so much meaning to a name. A 
rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, would it not? Well, 
for us southerners, a name is something we hold near and dear to our 
hearts--and our heritage. We name our children after mother's maiden 
names, double ``first names'' often include their daddy's or 
granddaddy's names. Heck, even our dogs' names have personal and 
historical significance.
  I say this, because I want to talk about a particular place that is 
near and dear to me and many Houstonians, but its namesake has lost its 
rightful place in our history. Each day, over 10,000 people use 
Memorial Park. The park is Houston's largest public space; almost 
double the size of New York's Central Park and larger than Chicago's 
Lincoln Park, and London's Hyde Park. It is Texas, so naturally it's 
bigger. The park's 600-acre urban wilderness is one of the largest 
centrally located urban forests in the country.
  But long before it was packed with Lululemon clad joggers, it was 
Camp Logan, one of sixteen military training camps during World War I. 
The 7,600 acres of forested land on Buffalo Bayou housed and trained 
nearly 30,000 soldiers. Its massive size equaled over half the size of 
Manhattan with over 1,300 buildings. Nearly 1,000 Camp Logan soldiers 
lost their lives during the war and over 6,200 were wounded.
  The Camp's place in history is also marked by the Houston Riots of 
1917, which broke out after a series of troubling events between 
Houston police and African-American soldiers, leaving 20 dead. It was 
the site of one of only two African-American training camps. Of those 
soldiers trained at Camp Logan, over 75 were awarded France's Croix de 
Guerre.
  As early as the 1820's, the ``pinery'' of Memorial Park appeared in 
our history books, when Jane Long, the ``Mother of Texas'' recounts 
camping there after fleeing Fort Las Casas on her way to San Antonio 
after her husband, Capt. James Long's death in his quest to conquer 
Spanish Texas. In 1912, Mayor Horace Rice Baldwin, another significant 
``name'' in Houston's history, pursued the idea of acquiring a large 
park along Buffalo Bayou ``that will for all time be of sufficient 
magnitude for our people.''
  When the United States entered the War to End All Wars, the War 
Department leased 7,600 acres of land on Buffalo Bayou to establish a 
training base named Camp Logan. In 1923, when the camp is deserted, 
local resident, Catherine Mary Emmott wrote to the Houston Chronicle 
suggesting that ``the city buy some of the land and turn it into a park 
in memory of the boys.'' Enter another notable ``name'' in Houston 
history, the Hogg Family.
  In 1924, Will and Mike Hogg, with minority owner Henry Stude, bought 
two tracts of former Camp Logan land and sold the acreage to the city 
at cost. In May of that year, the City of Houston officially 
established Memorial Park in memory of the soldiers who trained there.
  The Hogg's sister, Miss Ima Hogg, assumed the role of guardian of the 
Park, safeguarding it from numerous encroachments over the years. Under 
her guidance, landscape architects were hired to develop a long-term 
vision plan for the park which included an 18-hole golf course, scenic 
drives, trails for hikers and ``nature students,'' bridle paths, and an 
amphitheater.
  Over the next 30 years, the park became home to architect John 
Bredemus' ``greatest golf course ever,'' added a popular archery range 
and set the stage for the arrival in the 1950's of the trail riders on 
the Salt Grass Trail as they make their way into the Houston Livestock 
and Rodeo--still a favorite tradition to this day.
  In the 1970's, Houstonian Seymour Leiberman, dubbed the ``Father of 
Jogging,'' started coaching runners for area high-school cross country 
meets, spearheading the popularity of jogging in the park. When I was 
judge in Houston, I took to these same trails every day, as later did 
my kids. I can't tell you how many miles I've run in Memorial Park. 
Running was so much a part of my life, Runner's World magazine even 
featured me in the 1980's.
  The park has seen its fair share of challenges, including the 
devastating drought in 2011 that claimed nearly 80 percent of its 
trees. But just like Miss Ima Hogg's good stewardship of the past, 
another benefactor stepped forward to ensure future generations of 
Houstonians can enjoy Memorial Park and preserve the namesake of those 
that served in the Great World War.
  Houston's Kinder Foundation granted $70 million to underscore the 
need to fast-track Memorial Park's Master Plan to create the best urban 
park in America. As a result, this energized the park's public and 
private partners to invest up to $205 million more.
  These efforts will take the Master Plan from proposal to reality in 
just 10 years and enhance and protect Memorial Park for countless years 
to come. These efforts have set new standards in green space planning 
and public-private funding partnerships. Kinder Foundation's inspiring 
public-private partnerships have changed Houston's color palette from 
gray to green.
  I hope that as you run the three-mile loop or drive down Memorial 
Drive from downtown to the Galleria, that you take a minute to 
appreciate not just the beauty and the short escape from the city, but 
really appreciate the history of Memorial Park, those that gave their 
lives for our freedom, and those who have made it a priority to 
preserve it.
  And that's just the way it is.

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