The Honors College

Debbie Harwell received her doctorate in U.S. history from the University of Houston where, since 2009, she has served as the managing editor/editor of Houston History magazine, published by the UH Center for Public History. A native Houstonian, she incorporates personal knowledge with historical research in teaching, writing for the magazine, and training the staff.

Since 2012, Harwell has taught a Houston history and public history methods classes in the Honors College where her students conduct oral histories, writing articles for the magazine, and create short films and other creative works. Over 125 student articles have been published as of 2023. Additionally, she teaches U.S. History Since 1877 in the History Department at UH.

In addition to writing for Houston History, Harwell has published her research on women’s activism during the civil rights movement in The Journal of Southern History and her book, Wednesdays in Mississippi: Proper Ladies Working for Radical Change, Freedom Summer 1964, which won the 2015 Julia Cherry Spruill Prize for the best book in southern women’s history. She currently serves on the Harris County Historical Commission.