remembering camp logan

Gripping new exhibition casting light on one of Houston's darkest days takes root in Memorial Park

One of the darkest events in Houston history is the spotlight of a new exhibit by the Memorial Park Conservancy in partnership with the Buffalo Soldiers Museum.

“Park Conversations: Remembering the 1917 Houston Mutiny and Riots” will feature six onsite audio experiences situated throughout Memorial Park’s 100-acre Clay Family Eastern Glades (552 East Memorial Loop Dr.).

The exhibit kicks off Wednesday, August 23 with an an opening reception from 5 pm to 8 pm in Live Oak Court. The free public event features refreshments, live entertainment by world-renowned saxophonist Kyle Turner, and the chance to be among the first to see the exhibit, which runs through September 26.

Memorial Park sits on the site of the former Camp Logan, a World War I training camp. On August 23, 1917, after several hostilities from Houston's all-white police force against the city's Black population and Black soldiers at Camp Logan, members of the U.S. Army's all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment mutinied.

In the resulting melee, five soldiers, five policemen and 11 civilians were killed. Those involved in the mutiny were tried via court martial; 13 Black men were found guilty and hanged. Another 41 were sentenced to life in prison.

No white defendants were brought to trial.

“What happened on August 23, 1917 and the subsequent tragedies are part of not only Memorial Park’s and Houston’s history, but the nation’s," Shellye Arnold, president & CEO, Memorial Park Conservancy, tells CultureMap. “This body of knowledge continues to evolve. By learning from our past we can create a better tomorrow for all of us.”

This self-guided exhibit commemorates the 106th anniversary of the event, and includes audio selections featuring the words of decedents and community members whose reflections humanize this tragedy. Exhibit attendees should note that due to the sensitive nature within the audio, parental discretion is advised.

Camp Logan — itself — boasts a long military history. Some 70,000 soldiers trained there, with construction on the camp beginning in the spring of 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany.

Members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the country's four "Buffalo Soldiers" (read: Black soldiers) regiments, were ordered to Houston to guard the construction. They had previously fought in Mexico, under the command of Black Jack Pershing in the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa.

When they arrived in Houston, they were met with the city's Jim Crow restrictions. Therefore, after the riot, none of the soldiers who were executed were allowed reviews on their sentences. A small light in the darkness: Faced with national outrage at the unreviewed executions of the original 13 soldiers, the Army implemented the first appellate review process for military courts-martial in the 1920 Articles of War.

While the new exhibit is indeed dark, it's somewhat fitting that it's set in our beloved green space. Houston, like Memorial Park, has grown and bloomed since that regrettable period.

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Both the opening reception and the exhibit of “Park Conversations: Remembering the 1917 Houston Mutiny and Riots” are free to attend. The exhibit runs Wednesday, August 23 through September 26 at Memorial Park’s Clay Family Eastern Glades. More information can be found here.

Three African American soldier at Camp Logan, now Memorial Park

Image via Fred Vermillion: Camp Logan Collection, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.

The exhibit commemorates a mutiny and riot following racial tensions at Camp Logan, which is now Memorial Park

income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home