Mike Tells the Stories of Houston & Texas 

​With decades of experience as a TV and radio personality, actor, and stand up comedian, you can rest assured that Mike Vance is a master storyteller, not a dry academic. He has been lecturing about history topics for well over a dozen years. From Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies to heritage organizations, from Caesar's Palace in Vegas to independent living communities, audiences enjoy learning and laughing. A list of current lecture topics is below. Most lectures are designed to run 45 minutes to an hour, but some have shorter versions. The ones marked run slightly more than an hour long, sometimes up to 80 minutes. Mike is happy to come speak to your group in person or via Zoom. A fee will apply. Use the form below to discuss scheduling and speaker honorarium. Check Mike's public appearance calendar to see where he is appearing.

True Crime

• Getting Away with Bloody Murder
• Bonnie & Clyde
• Historic Houston True Crime

Texas History

• The Alamo- slightly over 1 hour
• Goliad- slightly over 1 hour
• San Jacinto- slightly over 1 hour
• Spanish Texas- slightly over 1 hour
• San Felipe and American Settlement- slightly over 1 hour
• Washington-on-the-Brazos and the Politics of Revolution- slightly over 1 hour
• Forced to Form a Government- slightly over 1 hour
• The Tenuous Republic - slightly over 1 hour
• Texas in WWII
• Texas Women in WWII
• Undertold Texas: West Texas - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Metroplex & North Texas - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Central Texas - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Edwards Aquifer - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: South Texas - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Gulf Coast - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Houston - slightly over 1 hour
• Undertold Texas: Deep East Texas - slightly over 1 hour

Sports History

• Race After Jackie: Baseball and Civil Rights
• Batter Up: History of Texas Semi-Pro Baseball - 1 hour
• Segregated Baseball in Southeast Texas
• Early Houston Baseball History
• Houston Sports from 1900-1950

General History

• Teaching History Through Biography
• Watch the Birdie: Researching History Through Photographs
• Turning Texas History into Film

Houston History

• Houston History 101 - slightly over 1 hour
• The History of the Port of Houston
• Houston Before 1930
• Houston's Founders
• Vice, Murder & Infamy in Houston
• Houston in the 1920s - slightly over 1 hour
• Houston in the 1930s - slightly over 1 hour
• Houston in the 1940s - slightly over 1 hour
• Houston in the 1950s - slightly over 1 hour
• Houston in the 1960s - slightly over 1 hour
• Houston in the 1970s - slightly over 1 hour