Presentations
by Steven Fenberg
Houston Endowment Legacy Room
HOUSTON ENDOWMENT - April 5, 2023
Legacy Room
Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones established Houston Endowment in 1937 to increase access to opportunity for the people of greater Houston. The room celebrates the Joneses through a comprehensive timeline with corresponding artifacts, six screens with rotating images on walls covered in iconic photographic murals and a touchscreen that displays historic images and information. The room shows how the Joneses’ contributions and accomplishments inform the culture of Houston Endowment today. EXPLORE HERE
1950s Houston, Texas
PRESERVATION HOUSTON - March 6, 2021
Mr. Houston: Jesse H. Jones' Enduring Legacy
Recorded live as part of Preservation Houston’s Bart Truxillo Program Series, with rare photographs Fenberg describes how Jesse Jones—Houston’s preeminent developer during the first half of the 20th century—built the city’s first skyscrapers, raised half of the funds to develop the Port of Houston, owned the town’s largest bank and newspaper and during the Great Depression and World War II became the most powerful person in the nation next to President Franklin Roosevelt. WATCH HERE
Amedeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Leopold Zborowski in the Beck’s living room
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON - October 18, 2018
Audrey Jones Beck: A Preeminent Benefactor of the Visual Arts in Houston
As part of the Tales of Houston Women series, Fenberg describes the life of Audrey Jones Beck and how she and her husband John assembled an encyclopedic collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces and donated them to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and to the people of Houston. LISTEN HERE
Dr. Ann Frohbieter at Congregation Emanu El’s Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ
CONGREGATION EMANU EL - August 30, 2015
Hidden Treasures: An exploration of Emanu El’s classical music
As Jewish synagogues turn to more contemporary music, Fenberg explores the beauty of the congregation’s 1966 Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ and presents renowned organist and longtime choir director Dr. Ann Frohbieter with Congregation Emanu El’s professional choir. Together they showcase the glorious and vanishing music composed in the 19th- and early 20th- centuries for cantor, choir and organ. Kurt Weill’s elegant Kiddush is presented and composer Dr. Michael Horvit conducts his Even When G-d is Silent as part of the program. WATCH HERE
Jesse Jones appeared frequently on major magazine covers in the 1930s and 1940s
HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA - April 7, 2015
Archive of Jesse Jones set to open at Rice University
Fenberg and architectural historian and author Barrie Scardino assembled an enormous collection of Jesse Jones’s business and personal papers and hundreds of rare photographs, which were donated by Houston Endowment to Rice University’s Woodson Research Center at the Fondren Library. Fenberg describes how the collection offers a comprehensive and unique look into Houston’s early business history. A collection of Fenberg’s papers are also available at the Woodson Research Center. LISTEN HERE
Under Secretary Timothy Massad introduces Fenberg before his speech to the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY - January 10, 2012
Speech to the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Timothy Massad, who oversaw the Troubled Asset Relief Fund (TARP) during the 2008 Great Recession, provides a compelling introduction to Fenberg’s remarks to the staff of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Fenberg describes the Reconstruction Finance Corporation’s Depression-era bank rescue effort, which was duplicated in 2008 by TARP. WATCH HERE
Jesse Jones’s 1929 Gulf Building under construction
HOUSTON CHRONICLE - January 8, 2004
Chase Building Celebrates 75th anniversary
The 1929 Gulf Building remained Houston’s tallest skyscraper until the forty-four floor Humble Oil Company Building opened in 1963. A commemorative book celebrating the opening of the building proclaimed, “The Gulf Building is more than an office structure. … It is, in intent and fact, a monument. A towering pillar of inspired architecture which expresses the true importance of the new south.” READ HERE
Fenberg’s 1988 volunteer certification
AIDS FOUNDATION HOUSTON - 1988 - 2006
AIDS: JUST SAY KNOW
Fenberg wrote and produced AIDS: Just Say Know, a short educational play that was performed throughout greater Houston in theaters, community centers, workplaces, religious centers and as in-service training for teachers and law enforcement officials when the lethal disease was just emerging. The play shows through the interactions of four characters how to prevent HIV/AIDS. It requires two chairs, a box and four actors. Paper and a pencil are at each audience member’s seat so anonymous questions can be collected at the end of the play and answered by a qualified cast member.
Presentations
by Steven Fenberg
- 2020 Democratic National Convention
- Assistance League of Houston
- Bellaire Historical Society
- Charter 100 Houston
- Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
- Congregation Emanu El
- Coronado Club
- Daughters of the Republic of Texas,
San Jacinto Chapter - Discovery Green
- Federal Reserve Bank, Houston Branch
- Financial Executives International
- Friends of the Texas Room
- Friendswood Chamber of Commerce
- Harris County Historical Commission
- The Heritage Society
- Houston Chronicle
- The Houston Club
- Houston History Book Fair
- Houston Marine Insurance Seminar
- Houston Public Library
- Humanities Texas
- Jewish Book and Arts Fair
- The Jung Center
- Kiwanis Club of Houston
- Leadership Houston
- Lone Star College
- Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Political Science Junior Fellows
- Preservation Houston
- Retired Physicians Organization of
Harris County - Rice University
- River Oaks Luncheon Club
- Rotary Club of Houston
- San Jacinto Museum of History Association
- South Texas College of Law
- St. Paul’s Methodist Church
- Texas Book Festival
- Texas Library Association
- Texas Southern University
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.
- World Affairs Council of Greater Houston
Presentations
by Steven Fenberg
- 2020 Democratic National Convention
- Assistance League of Houston
- Bellaire Historical Society
- Charter 100 Houston
- Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
- Congregation Emanu El
- Coronado Club
- Daughters of the Republic of Texas,
San Jacinto Chapter - Discovery Green
- Federal Reserve Bank, Houston Branch
- Financial Executives International
- Friends of the Texas Room
- Friendswood Chamber of Commerce
- Harris County Historical Commission
- The Heritage Society
- Houston Chronicle
- The Houston Club
- Houston History Book Fair
- Houston Marine Insurance Seminar
- Houston Public Library
- Humanities Texas
- Jewish Book and Arts Fair
- The Jung Center
- Kiwanis Club of Houston
- Leadership Houston
- Lone Star College
- Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Political Science Junior Fellows
- Preservation Houston
- Retired Physicians Organization of
Harris County - Rice University
- River Oaks Luncheon Club
- Rotary Club of Houston
- San Jacinto Museum of History Association
- South Texas College of Law
- St. Paul’s Methodist Church
- Texas Book Festival
- Texas Library Association
- Texas Southern University
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.
- World Affairs Council of Greater Houston
Interviews
with Steven Fenberg
PUBLIC BANKING INSTITUTE - April 27, 2023
It’s Our Money with Ellen Brown: FDR’s Power Player
Watch an interview with Public Banking Institute’s Ellen Brown and Walt McRee about building infrastructure, increasing manufacturing and creating a green economy through a new national infrastructure bank modeled on the successes of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation during the Great Depression and World War II.
Ellen Brown offers a unique view behind the curtain of global finance
COBOUW BOUWBERICHTEN - December 13, 2022
Kan een Infrastructuurbank de Verwaarloosde Amerikanse Infra Oppeppen (Can an Infrastructure Bank Spruce Up the Neglected U.S. Infrastructure?)
Read an interview by Dutch journalist Edo Beerda about the history and potential of a national infrastructure bank. (Dutch Version) (English Version)
President Joe Biden inspecting a collapsed bridge in the United States
HOBBY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS - September 19, 2022
The Hobby Hour: Jesse Jones, Capitalism and the Common Good
Watch an interview with University of Houston’s Dean Jim Granato about how the federal government’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation expanded the U.S. economy during the Great Depression, transformed industry in time to fight and win World War II and how those strategies can be adapted to address today’s challenges.
CONGREGATION EMANU EL - February 7, 2021
Ever Open
Watch an interview with Senior Rabbi Oren Hayon about the creation of Ever Open, a 15-minute documentary film commemorating Congregation Emanu El’s 75th anniversary. The program begins at 4:30 and the interview begins at 24:02 after Ever Open.
Rabbi Oren Hayon at Temple Emanu El in Houston, Texas
HOUSTON LIFESTYLES & HOMES - October 28, 2018
A Chat with Author and Filmmaker Steven Fenberg
Read a conversation with writer Melanie Saxton about Fenberg’s personal and professional lives.
Steven Fenberg (center) with his partner Harry De Jonge and his mother Lenore Fenberg
HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA - October 10 & 12 , 2016
Jones Hall: Past, Present and Future
Listen to a conversation with reporter Amy Bishop about the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts’ 50th anniversary and its impact on Houston.
Part I
Part II
TEXAS OBSERVER - December 30, 2011
Jesse Jones and the Making of Houston
Read a conversation with writer Cecily Sailer about Jesse Jones’s profound impact on the development of Houston, Texas.
Jesse Jones’s downtown Houston buildings shown in red
HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA - May 11, 2011
Red, White and Blue
Watch a televised conversation about the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Jesse Jones and Unprecedented Power from conservative and liberal perspectives.
Houston PBS’s Red, White and Blue program
HOUSTON HISTORY MAGAZINE - July 25, 2004
Jesse Jones: A Conversation about “Mr. Houston”
Read an interview with former University of Houston history professor and department chair Joseph Pratt about Jesse Jones’s influence on Houston and the nation.
Downtown Houston’s 1930s Main Street
Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank
A government bank requiring no new taxes or debt can rebuild the nation and create millions of new jobs.
The National Infrastructure Bank Will Rebuild American Industry
March 11, 2021
Fenberg describes how President Franklin Roosevelt used a government bank—the Reconstruction Finance Corporation—to save the United States economy during the Great Depression and to militarize industry to win World War II. Other webinar speakers describe how President George Washington created a bank to build the burgeoning nation’s roads, canals and ports, how President Abraham Lincoln used a bank to build the transcontinental railroad and how today’s leaders can create a bank to rebuild infrastructure, respond to the impacts of the coronavirus and climate change, reinvigorate manufacturing and create millions of new jobs. Watch Fenberg from 26:29 to 33:58.
Nothing to Fear: What the Biden Administration Must Learn from FDR’s first 100 Days
January 7, 2021
By looking at past successes for strategies today, Fenberg, professor of history Dr. June Hopkins (the granddaughter of New Deal administrator Harry Hopkins) and former International Monetary Fund macroeconomist Alphecca Muttardy discuss how President Biden can create an infrastructure bank to help pay for programs that address today’s daunting challenges. The presentation about the power of good government was made the day after the January 6 assault on the nation’s Capitol. Watch Fenberg from 5:24 to 21:32.
Veterans Day, The RFC and FDR’s WWII Economic Mobilization
November 11, 2020
Fenberg describes how eighteen months before the Pearl Harbor attacks the Reconstruction Finance Corporation began to proactively build massive factories and lease them to corporations to manufacture the planes, tanks, trucks and ships required to fight and win World War II. See how a similar agency today can comprehensively address the impacts of dilapidated infrastructure, the coronavirus and more frequent intense weather events. Before the RFC’s intervention, the United States military ranked 17th in the world. Today it is number one.
Watch Fenberg from 2:12 to 15:08.
The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2020 Will Unite the Nation
October 7, 2020
Fenberg shows why the RFC and its extensive interventions and consequential contributions were embraced by Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals.
Watch Fenberg from :19 to 7:56.
Visit www.nibcoalition.com for more information about the Coalition for a National Infrastructure Bank.
