Asa Owens is a rising junior Nursing major at Prairie View A&M University. Born and raised in the Third Ward of Houston, Texas, Asa was excited to learn more about her hometown through her research this summer. As our Clay Scholar, Asa has been working on the African American Travel Guide Survey Project with Leslie Wolfenden in the History Programs Division.
In my time with the Preservation Scholars Program at the Texas Historical Commission, I have learned that not everything we come to learn about history will come from our classrooms. With a great deal of our learning, we can rely on our institutions, but history is a vast subject full of many different stories and perspectives that are nearly impossible to compile into one moment.
This summer, I have had the pleasure of working under the History Programs Division, helping to develop the ongoing African American Travel Guide project. Excitingly, I have been able to focus my research on Jazz and Blues music throughout Texas, focusing on Houston, where I grew up. During my time here, I have come to understand the importance of people, and not our famous judges or modern-day heroes, but regular people with regular stories. In historic preservation there is a large aspect of public service — whether that be the recognition of a family’s historic land or the protection of a community cemetery — that is a selfless act.
The most important service I’ve learned about in my time here has been the recording of oral histories. Unfortunately, oral histories are often forgotten, leaving gaps where many cultures, traditions, and ideas are erased. I have learned the importance of those stories in the time spent on my project, because they often hold key details of narratives that are otherwise lost to time. In my project, finding details and material on businesses that are no longer extant and stories from people no longer living, has emphasized to me the importance of documenting history as it is happening, so that all stories — big and small — can be preserved.
I come from a family that has documented much of our own heritage. My work at the Texas Historical Commission over this summer has made me reflect on the intricacies of my own family history. I realize more deeply now that I am a courier of history, not only in what I do but the ways in which I choose to express it.
This post is part of our blog series “Scholars Speak,” which features writing from our 2026 cohort of Preservation Scholars. Click the link to learn more about this donor-funded program, which expands the range of perspectives represented in the Texas historical narrative by placing students from historically underrepresented communities in paid, 10-week summer internships with the Texas Historical Commission.