, During the late 1970s Houston had a population boom as people from the Rust Belt states moved to Texas in large numbers the new residents came for numerous employment opportunities in the petroleum industry created as a result of the Arab oil embargo With the increase in professional jobs Houston has become a destination for many college-educated persons most recently including African Americans in a reverse Great Migration from northern areas, The Astrodome held several motorsports events throughout its lifetime the AMA Grand National Championship held events starting in 1968 and running for 18 years utilizing the Short Track and TT Steeplechase track configurations in their visits the AMA Supercross Championship held its first ever indoor Supercross at the Astrodome in 1974 won by Jim Pomeroy in the mid-1980s the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group held several Stadium Off-Road Racing Series events showcasing such drivers as Ivan Stewart Robby Gordon and Walker Evans Beginning in the early 1980s both TNT Motorsports and the United States Hot Rod Association held events showcasing mud bogging truck and tractor pulling and monster trucks in the Astrodome After a buy-out of TNT Motorsports the USHRA continued holding events that would later transform into the current Monster Jam events. Rod Paige became superintendent of Houston Independent School District in 1994; during his seven-year tenure the district became very well known for high test scores and in 2001 Paige was asked to become Secretary of Education for the new George W Bush administration Lee P Brown Houston's first African-American mayor was elected in 1997, World War II had a dramatic effect on Texas as federal money poured in to build military bases munitions factories POW detention camps and Army hospitals; 750,000 young men left for service; the cities exploded with new industry; the colleges took on new roles; and hundreds of thousands of poor farmers left for much better-paying war jobs never to return to agriculture. Texas needed more farm workers the Bracero Program brought in 117,000 Mexicans to work temporarily, Hoping more settlers would reduce the near-constant Comanche raids Mexican Texas liberalized its immigration policies to permit immigrants from outside Mexico and Spain. Under the Mexican immigration system large swathes of land were allotted to empresarios who recruited settlers from the United States Europe and the Mexican interior the first grant to Moses Austin was passed to his son Stephen F Austin after his death.
The Third Ward became the center for the African-American community in the city by 1979 African Americans were elected to the City Council for the first time since Reconstruction During the time period five African Americans served on city council. Houston Texas Business Directory, Houston Texas Business Directory, The dome celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 9 2015 a time capsule buried under the site at the time of construction was located However it was not extricated to celebrate the occasion based on concerns about the cost and potential to compromise the structure of a retaining wall This was also one of the very few times that the Astrodome has been open for the public since 2006.
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