[U.T. Center for American History]
Before there was a Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, and before there was a Sam Houston Coliseum or Music Hall, there was Sam Houston Hall. Sam Houston Hall stood on the same ground later occupied by the Coliseum, Music Hall, and (now) Hobby Center, but stood for less than a decade. The 20,000-person hall was built in a hurry for the 1928 Democratic National Convention – it took only 64 days to complete. (The Democratic presidential candidate in 1928 was Alfred Smith, who lost to Herbert Hoover.) The “official photograph” of the 1928 Democratic National Convention shows thousands of attendees. At the time, the plot of land on which Sam Houston Hall was built was directly adjacent to Houston’s Fire Station Number 2, as shown in some of the photos above. The hall was razed in 1936.
A marker outside the Hobby Center commemorates the building that once stood there.
Sadly, a lynching occurred in Houston during the convention – an event that TIME Magazine referred to as “Houston’s Shame”.
More information:
TIME Magazine, “To Houston”, Jan. 23, 1928
TIME Magazine, “The Democracy”, July 2, 1928
TIME Magazine, “Conventionale”, July 9, 1928
2 responses so far ↓
laanba // February 14, 2007 at 7:09 pm |
The 1928 Democratic Convention is one of my favorite Jesse Jones stories. I’m definitely going to look for the marker next time I’m at the Hobby.
Sarah Peel Mabry // February 20, 2008 at 7:40 pm |
Didn’t Franklin Roosevelt give the nominating speech for Al Smith?
My father, T. J. Peel attended the convention with his father, Lester Peel of Montgomery, Texas, and Dad always talked about the event.