http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/chapter-7-the-many-dimensions-of-hispanic-racial-identity/ 
Sent by Rafael Ojeda rsnojeda@aol.com 

Mimi:  Extensive study with lots of dimensions to the information accumulated. Do read the plans with an eye to the formalization of a new government census form.

This is good timing with the on-going discussion of starting a national Anti-Defamation collaboration to respond to the demeaning, incorrect, slanderous, biased, hateful, false, defamatory, denigratory, disparaging, libelous, pejorative, cruel, misrepresentative, uninformed, scurrilous, scandalous, malicious, abusive, insulting; and the constant informal and intentional mudslinging of all things with a Spanish root. . . . hum m m m  . .

Did I leave any adjectives out?
 

There's no Álamo in the Álamo City
by Jose Antonio Lopez
Rio Grande Guardian
June 7, 2015

One of the favorite descriptions used by advertising and news media to define San Antonio is “The Álamo City”.  

Also, the popular Spanish Mexican colonial church silhouette is a universal logo used by a variety of businesses in town to market their products and services.  

It may be that this all refers to San Antonio’s predominant Spanish Mexican heritage, right? Well, not exactly. Actually, the catchphrase is a tourism tactic whose aim is to remind everyone of the Álamo’s status as the “Shrine of Texas Liberty”.  

The Álamo is so designated because, as taught even today in Texas classrooms, it is there that a group of mostly Anglo expatriates from the U.S. died at the hands of what is described as a ruthless army led by General Santa Anna. Thus, the “Álamo” symbolizes the still simmering animosity that U.S. public opinion has toward him and the Mexican Army. That’s in spite of the fact they were only protecting their sovereignty from armed Anglo trespassers.  

Albeit, to reach its location, tourist brochures and road signs around town direct visitors to an area where the Álamo “used” to be. That’s because Presidio San Antonio de Béxar (El Álamo) doesn’t exist anymore. Instead, the instructions lead to a nearby surrogate structure, Mission San Antonio De Valero.  

At first, visitors don’t seem to mind, mainly because they aren’t aware of the switch. That usually changes rapidly for many first-time, out-of-town tourists. Upon entering the small stone church, most wonder, “Did the famous battle really take place inside this little building?”  

Basically, it’s hard to understand that the actual 1836 battle action happened outside on the presidio grounds, now occupied by gaudy, commercial businesses and heavy traffic. In short, the conflict took place away from the religious sanctuary, not within it.  

Still, sightseers walk through quickly and end up at the gift shop. Soon afterwards, they leave with a sense of confusion and a not very encouraging “Is that all there is?” ho hum impression. Thus, the Álamo may be the most popular travel destination in Texas, but at the same time, it’s one of the most disappointing.  

As described in a previous article I wrote entitled “Of Missions and Presidios”, the fact is that presidios and missions are two separate Spanish Mexican institutions, serving distinct purposes. San Antonio de Béxar Presidio was a military compound affectionately called “El Álamo” by local Bexareños, in honor of the soldados (soldiers) and their families stationed there from Álamo de Parras, Coahuila. On the other hand, Mission San Antonio de Valero is non-military and served Native Americans as their religious instruction sanctuary.  

Though, why has the deceiving of the public continued for so long? While it’s a subject rarely discussed, a more important question is why did early 1900s city officials choose to intentionally destroy Presidio San Antonio de Béxar (El Álamo) supposedly to “modernize” downtown?  

To try to answer that question, I offer a mini time capsule below that touches on a very thorny human relations era in San Antonio’s history.  

Motivation for this mother of all Texas blunders may have been Anglo Saxon-descent city leaders’ intent to wipe out the Spanish Mexican legacy in downtown San Antonio. Thus, they proceeded to deliberately demolish Presidio “El Álamo”, bulldozing away its grounds including the sanctified graves of the mission camposanto (cemetery), leveling them to make room for “progress”. As a result, the actual combat sites are now under building concrete slabs. Likewise, the hallowed camposanto is now beneath the asphalt of the busy street by the mission.  

Given the post-1836 Anglophile intensity recently revived by “Texas Rising”, it’s very odd that early 1900s elder Anglo civic leaders leading the wrecking-ball urban-renewal project forgot to “Remember the Álamo” when it meant the most.  

Interestingly, even though it was part of the razing project, Mission San Antonio de Valero was saved from destruction. Unfortunately, it was then that the Mission began to be wrongly branded as the “Álamo”. It was also then that the dominant society translated the demolition into discrimination against Spanish Mexican and Native American citizens until the 1964 Civil Rights Act ended officially sanctioned, colonial-style prejudice.  

Yes, we must “Remember the Álamo” by remembering that city leaders themselves tore it down. Short sighted? Yes. Ill advised? Absolutely. Hispanophobia? Most definitely!  

That’s my own judgement. However, weighing the systematic bigotry existing then on this side of the border, there is no other realistic reason to explain it.  

Getting back to the awkward “Is that all there is?” question, fortunately, the City of San Antonio’s Álamo Plaza Advisory Committee is working to propose ways to enhance Álamo Plaza. The objective is to make the area more “historically” versus “commercially” stimulating and more inclusive.  

In all candor, Álamo Plaza is in need of an extreme makeover. The challenge for the Álamo Plaza Advisory Committee is to use visionary, out-of-the-box thinking and planning. It’s with that thought in mind that I offer the following additional proposals for consideration:  

(l)  As the other missions, Mission San Antonio de Valero was built for area Native Americans. It’s only fitting to return the sanctuary to the descendants of the original residents. The Mission is not the Álamo. It is not a military facility. Once and for all, the Texas General Land Office must develop a new presentation not of battle, but of peace. All war displays, flags, and related paraphernalia should be removed.  

San Antonio de Valero must be rededicated as a Native American history museum. Allow local Indian Nations to select appropriate displays promoting awareness of their past. Equally important, use Native American tribe members as volunteers and museum docents so that they can finally get to tell their story in their own words.  

(2) If a believable presentation based on historical authenticity is desired, facts must win over fiction. Thus, information markers within the historic zone must explain that in 1836, Texas was still part of the sovereign Republic of Mexico. While post-1836 Anglo Saxon Texas history promoters will find that chronological reality hard to accept, it’s the truth!  

(3) Preserve with dignity and respect all remaining relics of San Antonio’s founding. Display and fund the Spanish Governors Palace, Plaza de Armas, missions, and other similar Spanish Mexican historic buildings and sites on an equal level as that extended to Álamo Plaza structures.  

In summary, it’s time for the City of San Antonio to turn the page and look past the 1836 Battle of the Álamo. To put it bluntly, (a) Texas is no longer independent, and (b) the Álamo outlived its tag as the “Shrine of Texas Liberty” long ago. The designation only applied for nine years, since in 1845 the Anglos traded their independence and liberty to join the U.S. as a slave state.  

After over one hundred years of hiding its long-ago demolition, accept the fact that Presidio “El Álamo” no longer exists. Simply stated, there is no Álamo in the Álamo City.  In truth, San Antonio is and always has been “The Missions City”.  

A 1907 postcard rallying Texans to "Save the Alamo."

Hugo & Schmeltzer building/chapel at Alamo. (Credit: University of Houston Digital Library)

Jose Antonio Lopez comments on above article.

(l) First, I mention Adina de Zavala’s efforts briefly in my article, although I didn’t use her name. The Anglo version of Texas history loves to bring her up at least once a year, solely as a token and to validate that Mission San Antonio de Valero is the “Álamo”.  What mainstream Texas history doesn’t tell you is that Ms. De Zavala was fighting for far more than bricks and mortar.  She was fighting for the dignity and respect of the Mexican-descent citizens of San Antonio. 

(2) The only reason the “Álamo” matters to Anglophiles is not the building’s “historical” value, but rather, it’s emotional appeal.  It’s as if racist Anglo and Northern European-descent Texans still hold what I call an “Álamo” grudge against Mexicans, even though it was the Anglos who were trespassing on Mexico’s sovereign land (and they were armed intruders).  

(3) Ms. De Zavala was forced to get involved, because although she had respect among the Anglo blue-blood gentry in town, her heritage meant little to them. She had to do something.  

(4) There are two outcomes resulting from her involvement: (a) she was somewhat ostracized for standing up for dignity and kindly asked to leave the DRT, simply because her inclusive vision was not acceptable to the organization’s leaders (Clara Driscoll), who on paper trumps Adina as the so called savior of the Álamo;, and (b) the other “historically significant” structures (Spanish Governors Palace) were put on a lower tier than the “Álamo”.  Just during the last few years, has that brick wall been cracking and continues to crack.   

Lastly, it’s sufficient to say that we’re on an uphill path and every step is being watched very closely by post-1836 history adherents because they refuse to abandon their version.  In other words, if it doesn’t fit the Sam Houston model, it’s not part of Texas history. Therein, lies the dilemma.  Although, in our favor, the Tejano Monument has become one of the most visited memorial in Austin.  It’s the first ever in our state’s capital that honors the Spanish Mexican roots of Texas.  There will be more…  

Saludos, Joe López

Texas Rising The Mexican-American Response
Dan Arellano 

Sent by Sylvia Gonzalez sgonzalez@savingplaces.org 
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Team USA Wins Four Gold Medals in the 2015 
Junior and Youth World Championships

The Anthem Veterans Memorial
Anthem, Arizona 
Text and Photos by Renee Palmer-Jones
Each YEAR AT 11:11 AM

ILLUSION OF CHOICE
There are 1,500 Newspapers
1,100 Magazines
9,000 Radio Stations
1,500 TV Stations
2,400 Publishers

Owned by 6 Corporations
and 272 Executives
That control 90% of what
 277 million Americans, 
SEE, HEAR & READ
Sent by Howard Shorr

Producer of Selena & Director of La Bamba Aren't Waiting for Pendejos 
to Greenlight their stories. 

Two Chicano filmmaking pioneers,  Moctesuma Esparza and Luis Valdez took the stage together in L.A. week to share their experiences in the movie industry.   Hear what Luis Valdez says about the power of the cell phone

http://remezcla.com/features/producer-of-selena-director
-of-la-bamba-arent-waiting-for-pendejos-
to-greenlight-their-stories/ 

At times the panel drifted from the “What it Takes to Film the Mexican-American Story” theme, nonetheless, it was always entertaining. I could listen to Luis’ tangential anecdotes all day: the time his Frida movie with Raul Julia got fucked because he cast Laura San Giacomo as Frida and Latinas caused such an uproar causing New Line to axe it, his childhood growing up 5 miles from McFarland, Texas and the time he went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still at the ‘ol Mac, which changed his life. We learned that Esparza’s legacy doesn’t stop at the iconic films he’s produced. He is the founder of charter school Los Angeles Academy of Arts & Enterprise in the Pico Union area, and is successfully expanding Maya Cinemas, providing state of the art sound and projection theater experiences to decentralized Latino communities in Salinas, Bakersfield, Pittsburg and now in Fresno.What’s most illuminating about listening to these pioneers is understanding the political context as well as their unique trajectories. By pointing out social precedents that factor into the Hollywood culture, a greater understanding emerges of what led to their glorious era of iconic Mexican-American representation in films like La Bamba, Mi Familia, Zoot Suit, Stand and Deliver. What isn’t understandable is why these universally appealing yet culturally specific storylines have not reigned since, let alone continue to be seen widely in TV and film. The closest we can gather is the status quo shakeup theory that the sheer size of a remarkably growing population of Latinos threatens, or perhaps is being unconsciously resisted by a media gatekeeper culture scared of changing to reflect the cultural fusion that dominates our reality… until they figure out how to easily exploit the money-making value.What does legalizing interracial marriage have to do with the subject at hand? Luis mentioned the 1967 anti-miscegenation law in response to a woman who asked ‘When will the change of gatekeeper guard happen’. The Supreme Court decision was the result of decades of protest before then that took place against this reinforcement of segregation. It takes a while but if we identify the problem of disparity and engage in personal and social activism to change it, like petitioning government to put in place a law protecting equality, it will happen. This comment reminded me of the currentACLU drive to mobilize the government to investigate the studios/networks’ embedded discrimination against women directors through biased hiring practices.

Esparza mentioned stars that he looked up to growing up like Ricardo Montalban, Anthony Quinn, Katy Jurado, Jose Ferrer were allowed to emerge as stars because of the national interests during WWII. The U.S. was courting Mexico as an ally, afraid of the tentacle reach of Stalin and Hitler. I never thought about it that way. Esparza noted there is nothing comparable on television today representing heroic Latino culture from the past referencing I Love Lucy, Cisco Kid, Zorro, The High Chapparal. When it came to addressing the distorted representation in the years after WWII and short lived 80s/90s heyday, Moctesuma intelligently observed the ‘aspirational representation’ malady; the persistence of mass media to perpetuate a so called perfect but homogenized image and story stream. Mainstream has long re-appropriated other cultures for the hip factor, and after decades of interracial lovemaking our millennial generation finally, perhaps unwittingly, disrupts this one perfect image, owning their multicultural identity on a whole new (digital) level.I asked about writing what you know without fear of being criticized by your own community of perpetuating stereotypes, Luis answered to be ready to defend yourself. “You’re not any good if you aren’t being criticized.” Moctesuma referred to the backlash he got for casting a Puerto Rican (J-Lo) as Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican American. After months of open call auditions he decided Jennifer Lopez was the best one for the role. Or as to why he chose Robert Young to direct The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, he answered that he wanted Eddie Olmos to star in it, and Eddie wanted to be directed by Young. Makes sense to me. Spreading cultural sensitivity is necessary but lets be weary of firing displaced attacks without thorough consideration. We have no right to demand how artists realize their vision. Wanting to work with the best actor, director, cinematographer etc. is valid. But when systemically marginalized minorities don’t have the opportunity to access creative, entrepreneurial mentorship and funding they are at a deficit and hence scarcity. Only thing you can do is invest your time, sacrificing your livelihood at times, to practice your artistic craft. As Luis pointed out he writes plays all the time. That’s how he got into the movies. Plays are scripts for movies. So write. I want to point out here that this advice is for every single filmmaker regardless of color.

WATCH: Luis Valdez’s 1969 short documentary, I am Joaquin, which Moctesuma Esparza credits as being the reason he got into film. I Am Joaquin (1969)  1969) by Lost_Shangri_La_Horizon  

Maybe there aren’t more power producers like Moctesuma Esparza passionately fighting for producing Mexican American stories because the traditional social and business infrastructure that he broke through is kaput. Its the accelerated acculturation and proliferation of new media that makes this recurring “Why aren’t there more Latino stories in film and TV” an unproductive and tired framework. The real work is developing talent and distribution pipelines. Latino content creators are out there telling their stories on their own terms through multimedia channels they own. In the end, its about confidently voicing your personal perspective, honing your signature craft, and being open to new channels that directly connects with audiences.

What hit home for me personally was Luis talking about immigration being two ways. He expressed his honor of having the National Theater Academy of Mexico Bellas Artes perform his play “Zoot Suit” (noting the hilarity of teaching Chilangos to be Chicanos). For him to be embraced that way by his origin and to know that he can work in Mexico and be appreciated as an uncompromising artist representing his distinct American identity is something he takes great pride in, as he should. To inhabit both worlds completely yet define my own bicultural American identity (and nurture storytellers by helping them find a platform) has been my journey, and in the last few years more so as I’ve collaborated with my Mexican colleagues in the Morelia International Film Festival and now Ambulante. Ultimately, I think that’s what being American is all about. #MasAmericanThis article originally appeared on Christine Davila’s blog Chicana from Chicago. 

http://remezcla.com/features/producer-of-selena-director-of-la-bamba-arent-
waiting-for-pendejos-to-greenlight-their-stories/ 

Sent by Mercy Bautista Olvera scarlett_mbo@yahoo.com 
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HERITAGE PROJECTS

In May, 2015, Santiago Hernandez visited Three River’s Texas to confirm that the Texas Historical Marker was gone.  You may recall Santiago was instrumental in getting the marker approved by the State Historical Commission for the Kennedy Funeral Home.  The marker was indeed gone and this devastated Santiago. 

This was the second blow to preserving the history of the “Longoria Affair” event and an important part of our Hispanic History.. The first blow occurred on August 3 2014. Santiago was having lunch with John Valadez in Corpus Christi, Texas and advised John that the funeral home made infamous by the documentary “The Longoria Affair” had been demolished.  John Valadez was so distraught that he drove to Three Rivers, Texas to confirm that indeed the funeral home was gone…As a small consolation the historical marker remained as a lone testament to the event that sparked the Hispanic Civil Rights movement.  For those who do not remember the funeral home director Tom Kennedy denied the Longoria family the use of the only funeral home in Three Rivers to inter the body of Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria, a war hero killed at the Battle of the Luzon in the Philippines. The excuse Kennedy offered the wife of Pvt. Longoria, Beatriz Longoria was “the whites would not like it” as the reason she was not allowed to use the funeral home. At the request of Sara Poses, the sister in law, Dr. Hector P. Garcia contacted U.S. Senator Lyndon Johnson. Senator Johnson arranged for Pvt. Longoria’s body to be buried in Arlington VA at the National Cemetery.

In the ensuing decades little discussion was made about this event until John Valadez produced the PBS documentary “The Longoria Affair”.  Some inhabitants of Three Rivers were in denial that the incident every occurred and/or that it was not the way it happened.

So, when I learned from John that the funeral home was demolished my thoughts were that the building should have been protected as a historical site, but at least we had the marker to memorialize the spot where the funeral home stood.

Not so.  In an email forwarded to Santiago by the Texas Historical Commission, Richard Hudson, Marker Chair and Live Oak County Historical Commission (OCHC) wrote to Bob Brinkman, Texas Historical Commission about the removal of the marker.  According to Hudson, the new owner Richard Dockery had purchased the site to put a parking lot to accommodate all the traffic for the local business; someone had backed into the marker and damaged the post.  So Dockery removed the marker and put it into safe storage, location is unknown, but did not want the marker replaced on his parking lot.

So, my questions are:  Where is the marker being stored, and where is the future location of the marker if not the original site?

If it is placed on a site other than the original site, then a companion marker should be created that states where the original location of now demolished funeral home was. Probably the individual damaging the marker should pay the cost of replacing the post. 

Photo: John Valadez, August 3rd, 2014

Photo: Santiago Hernandez, March 30, 2015

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, 
a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America's historic places.
2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20037 
P 202.588.6000 T 800.944.6847 F 202.588.6038

http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/index.html#gid-7

Franciscan priest Junipero Serra 
 1713-1784   Photo: Corbis 

The Political Assault on California’s Saint
By Allysia Finley 
Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2015 
The pope will canonize Junipero Serra this year, 
but liberals want him purged from the Capitol.

Sent by Maria Angeles O'Donnell Olson,
Honorary Consul of Spain, San Diego  
conhon.espana.sd@gmail.com
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Historical Preservation efforts must start with respect

March 19, 2011
Laredo Morning Times
Letters to the Editor 
111 Esperanza Drive
Laredo, TX 78041

Dear Editor

Yesterday, March 18th, my wife Cordy and I visited family in San Ygnacio. The trip was wonderfully rewarding, as always. However, we were terribly disappointed and deeply saddened when we saw the still damaged historic Treviño Uribe Ranch House, our ancestral home. Your readers may recall that over a year ago, a careless paving contractor sprayed black tar on the wall facing Uribe Street. The sloppy over-spray on the historical markers themselves displays a level of ignorance (see photo). In hindsight, it seems that the contractor’s project manager didn’t know what the marker signs stood for. As we often ask in Spanish, “¿En que Cabeza cabe?” Regardless, as a born optimist, I had honestly hoped to see preservation experts putting their finishing touches on the serious and difficult restoration work. Sadly, that was not to be. That the problem has not yet been solved is a clear case of adding insult to injury. 

As a direct descendant of the Treviño Uribe family, all that I expect is for the contractor to be held responsible (and accountable) for the damage – no ifs, ands, or buts. In short, the paving company must cut the bureaucratic tape now and show some leadership in fixing their goof immediately! 

I am hoping that those of you who live in the Laredo, Zapata, Hebbronville area will do all they can to help us spread the word – our Spanish Mexican history in Texas does matter. Specifically, those of you who live in Zapata County should contact your county commissioners and remind them that the damage must be fixed without delay. Thank you.

Very Respectfully,
José Antonio López
Former (& frequent visitor) Laredoan

From: MIMILOZANO@aol.com [mailto:MIMILOZANO@aol.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 11:49 AM
To: jlopez8182@satx.rr.com
Subject: Re: FW: 2015 Texas State Historical Association & Latinos

It is pathetic because their children are the ones who are losing out in proper inclusion and respect. Visibility is what we are after, but your incident is shameless. Powerful example of what we are facing in trying to hold on to evidence of our historic presence.

Were there any newspaper articles on the over-night demolish? Did anyone take photos? 
We should promote it . . now that some doors are being opened.

God bless our efforts for inclusion. Mimi

In a message dated 5/19/2015 9:01:22 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, jlopez8182@satx.rr.com writes:

Mimi, thank you. Allow me to use my 2-cents’ worth of comments to the discussion. Unless we stay together and speak with one voice, we’ll have a tough time having the general public accept Hispanics’ (Mexican-descent) ownership of U.S. history, including the saving (preserving) of historical structures that (as aptly stated by Dr. Orozco) are disappearing at a fast rate. Why? 

The answer is that sadly, too many folks associate all Spanish-surnamed U.S. citizens as being recent immigrants, with no claim to our bi-cultural, bilingual heritage “on this side of the U.S. Mexico border”. In my humble opinion, changing that perception is our biggest challenge!

FYI, a few years ago, I engaged in discussing an incident that took place in Laredo (my hometown). A new arrival in Laredo with lots of investment $$$ bought a downtown building. The gentleman was not happy when informed that he had to preserve the building due to its roots going back to the founding of Laredo (1755). Mysteriously, a wrecking crew showed up one evening and leveled the home to the ground. The crew then disappeared into the night. Of course, the new property owner pled ignorance. 

The reason I share the above story is that the majority of the city council were of Mexican-descent. However, when told of the incident, they were generally unconcerned. Worse, they made a conscious ruling not to pursue charges against the businessman. Shamelessly, they approved his permit to build the old proverbial parking lot! (Yes, a parking lot. If it wasn’t so serious, it’d be funny, right?) Bottom line? Many of our own folks simply don’t seem to care for the preservation of Texas’ pre-1836 history. Thanks for listening.

Saludos, Joe López 
www.TejanosUnidos.org

From: Cynthia.Orozco@enmu.edu
To: MIMILOZANO@aol.com
Sent: 5/6/2015 9:27:57 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: RE: FW: 2015 Texas State Historical Association & Latinos

Mimi:

Morning. The key person is a young woman named Sehila Casper. She is a Tejana from Grapevine near Dallas. She is living in Houston and I believe has completed an MA degree. I believe she is the only Latina working inside of the National Conservation organization and gets paid to do this work.

She is doing Tejano civil rights right now. She is working on the Primer Congresso Mexicanista site; no good LULAC sites in Corpus; I connected her to Bastrop folks; I suggested Chicana conference in Houston in the 1970s; and she is working on Dr. Garcia too. Key LULAC buildings are gone. Numerous SAntonio buildings are gone.

She and others have organized the first Latinos and Nat. Conservation conference in Tucson in late May. For some reason they are keeping it small.

Have a nice day. Cyn  
Cynthia.Orozco@enmu.edu 
Chair, History, Humanities & Social Sciences
Fellow, Texas State Historical Association
New Mexico LULAC Educator of the Year, 2012    

From: Mimi Lozano 
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 
To: Orozco, Cynthia
2015 Texas State Historical Association & Latinos

Dear Cynthia . . thank you for the article, and thank you too for the really good news that you are collaborating with someone concerning the preservation of Latino Civil Rights sites. 

Our contributions have been completely ignored and overshadowed. Meanwhile important physical evidence and sites are being demolished and overlooked.

How are things progressing? Are you accumulating a list of potential sites? I note that you are in New Mexico, but working a Texas connection. That is great. Are you getting input from all over?

I have been supporting Wanda Garcia, Dr. Hector P. Garcia's daughter in her efforts to get her Dad's clinic recognized and preserved. I believe twice she sent an application to the National Preservation office. The building in Corpus Christi played a really important role in the early Civil Rights movement of the late 1940s. There was absolutely no interest from the Conservation staff. So far, the Civil Rights movement appears to the general public to have been entirely African-American lead which is far from the historic facts. 

When you are ready, please do send an article on your activities so I can promote what you are doing in Somos Primos. It is SO needed. 

God bless your efforts . . . Mimi

Mimi, below is the site link of at least one article that ran at the time (concerning historic preservation).  Please note that it says that it’s not the only historic Laredo home that has been destroyed in the name of (ugh) “Progress”.     (The somewhat risqué title “que fr..” shows you the frustration that some folks had (and still do) about the "dissing" of pre-1836 Texas history.  Saludos, Joe López  

https://quefregados.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/lamar-bruni-vergaras-childhood-bricks/https://
quefregados.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/lamar-bruni-vergaras-childhood-bricks/  

Some of you may not be familiar with the Bruni Vergara’s foundation giving, but just to give you an example. Their 990’s for 2008 are as follows:

Boys & Girls Club of Laredo $62,000
United Way of Laredo $20,000
Texas A&M International University $700,000
United Day School $30,000
First Baptist Church $295,344
KLRN Television $20,000
Diocese of Laredo $956,017
Sacred Heart Children’s Home $75,000
Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund $5,000
United Independent School District $15,000
Laredo Independent School District $825,459
Casa de Misericordia $300,000
St. Mary’s University $1,000,000
Laredo Center for the Arts $50,000
Junior Achievement of Laredo $10,000
The Burke Center $11,000
Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra $35,000
Bethany House $25,000
Knights of Columbus $45,000
San Luis Rey Church $14,000
City of Laredo $330,500

In total, they invested $4,819,320 into this area.

Before anyone starts asking why did so-and-so get more than such-and-such, this only represents ONE year of their giving and every “ask” is different. The trustees (now just 1 trustee after Judge Casseb passed away not long ago) can give to who they want – but you can’t deny that Lamar Bruni Vergara’s name is an important one for Laredo and the surrounding communities. Why not preserve her home? Why not preserve Laredo history? And most importantly, why are the Khaledi’s still allowed to get away with what they did?
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Each one of us can help to clarify history, here is an example:
 "Viva Laredo!"

At the end of my email you will note a copy of his reply that I received on Wednesday afternoon, May 26.   Gilberto  
jgilbertoquezada@yahoo.com

On Wednesday, May 27, 2015  mimilozano@aol.com wrote:

WOW . . . DOUBLE WOW . . . GOOD JOB!!!

Gilberto, thank you so much for sharing and also including your background as a historian. If it is OK . . I would like to include your letter and his response under heritage projects, as an example of one man/one task to clarify history. . done so beautifully.

It is always an encouragement to me to keep on going . . . . when I see others, also in the fight for positive Hispanic visibility and a correct history of our contributions. 
Warm regards, Mimi

Hi Mimi,

It is definitely OK with me, and it was so nice to hear from you and thank you for your thoughtful and insightful comments. Your support means a lot to me, it encourages me to continue with my task on this earth and to walk the extra mile por nuestra gente.

Gilberto 

"Dear Mr. Rhodes,

My name is J. Gilberto Quezada, and as a former Laredoan, I wholeheartedly congratulate you on an attractive and informative article, Viva Laredo! that appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of The Medallion. The photographs are superb. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it brought back many fond memories of my years growing up and living in Laredo during the 1940s to the 1960s. 

I was born and reared in the historic barrio de la Azteca. And then, in 1958, we moved to a very old sandstone house at 801 Zaragoza Street, at the corner of Zaragoza and Santa Ursula, adjacent to the American Legion, Post 59, and across the street from the Montemayor family house, which is now the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum. The original rectangular house, built around the early or mid-1800s, consisted of four small rooms, all in a row, with very high ceilings and the walls were about two feet thick, with double wooden doors eight feet high and fronted Zaragoza Street. One of the doors was remodeled into a modern door in the 1930s, along with the addition of a bathroom, kitchen, and the screen porch, and the floor. And, to the rear of the house was a small backyard on a very high cliff overlooking the Río Grande and Nuevo Laredo. Regrettably, in the mid-1970s, the house was demolished to make room for a parking lot. Otherwise, the house would still be standing and it would have been included as an important part of the Villa de San Agustín Historic District.

However, I do question a couple of comments made by Edward García for their historical accuracy. On page 8, he stated, "that the Spanish arrived here in the 1500s..." In the next paragraph, he commented that, "By the mid-1700s, a settlement was developed and named Laredo, likely by South Texas colonizer José de Escandón for a village of the same name in his native northern Spain."

On the first point of question and from my own research, the Spaniards did not reach Laredo in the 1500s. In a book by Rolena Adorno and Patrick Charles Pautz, entilted, Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: His Account, His Life, and the Expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez (University of Nebraska Press, 1999), which I reviewed for the Southwestern Historical Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, several historians have proposed that Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions crossed the Río Grande somewhere in the area of the Falcon Lake reservoir between Zapata and Roma in the 1530s. The authors, however, disagree with this hypothesis because, "it would have placed the men so far west upon crossing the river...." Therefore, according to the most plausible interpretation, the four men crossed the Río Grande at a point nearer the coast. As you can see, Cabeza de Vaca and his men were not even close to Laredo, if this is what Mr. García is alluding to. I am not aware of other Spaniards coming to Laredo before the episode of Cabeza de Vaca in South Texas.

On the second point, Laredo was not developed by José de Escandón, however, Mr. García does state correctly that he named the little settlement Laredo. According to the Handbook of Texas, vol. 4, p. 75, "Laredo was established in 1755, when Tomás Sánchez de la Barrera y Garza was granted permission by José de Escandón to form a new settlement....The initial settlement of Laredo was made by Sánchez and three families from Dolores." Mr. García does not even mention the name of don Tomás Sánchez.

By profession I am a historian, having received an M.A. degree in American history from St. Mary's University in 1972. During my graduate studies, I worked with Miss Carmen Perry for two years cataloguing the Spanish Archives of Laredo, which are housed on the third floor, in the Brother Joseph William Schmitz Special Collections Room, at the Father Blume Academic Library. I was a member of the Texas State Historical Association for many years and served on its executive council. I was also the chairman of the oral history committee for the Bexar County Historical Commission for several years. For two years, I served as president of the San Antonio Historical Association. In addition, I have written articles for the Journal of South Texas, the East Texas Historical Journal, the Confederate Veteran Magazine, and the Journal of Texas Catholic History and Culture. And, in 1999, Texas A&M University Press published my award-winning political biography, Border Boss: Manuel B. Bravo and Zapata County. The paperback edition came out two years later.
Nonetheless, the two historical inaccuracies are minor compared to the overall high quality of your literary work.

Kudos to you for writing and putting together such a wonderful journalistic essay.
Cordially yours,

J. Gilberto Quezada"

Dear Mr. Quezada-

Thank you very much for your thoughtful and informative letter regarding the Laredo article in the current issue of The Medallion. I genuinely appreciate your positive feedback about my writing, and your historical credentials provide added weight to your compliments.

I also appreciate you providing detailed information clarifying the statements we attributed to Edwardo Garcia. In fact, since you've offered reliable historical sources as background, I plan to forward the information to Mr. Garcia with a note explaining that the motivation behind sharing this information is a genuine attempt to encourage historical accuracy. I enjoyed a comfortable rapport with him, so I imagine he will be open to receiving the information you provided.

It's interesting that you also mentioned Laredo's American Legion Post 59. Just this morning I worked on an article about our agency's new commissioners, including Anna Benavides Galo who helped with the building's restoration.

Again, I appreciate your correspondence and insight about the fascinating city of Laredo.

Kind regards,  Andy Rhodes

Andy Rhodes
Managing Editor,The Medallion
Public Information & Education Department
Texas Historical Commission
P.O. Box 12276
Austin, TX 78711
512-936-2400
Texas Historical Commission
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Canal Street mural 'Rebirth of Our Nationality
Restoration project

REBIRTH ! is an effort to guide the mural towards and through restoration, 

You can learn about this and join us, our first meeting is Thursday, 6/25/15, 6:30 pm, at the METRO community room at 5880 Texas Ave in the heart of? ?Second Ward. Come and learn about our collective past, present and future, as we discuss the REBIRTH of our Nationality, and build community along the way…

WHAT: Community Meeting to discuss the restoration of the Leo Tanguma mural on Canal Street, ‘Rebirth of Our Nationality’
WHEN: Thursday, 6/24/15, 6:30-9PM
WHERE: Community Room, METRO –Service and Inspection Facility
5880 Texas Avenue
Houston, Texas 77011
WHY: The objective of this gathering would be to develop a small group of advisory muralists and artists to assist and shepherd this mural project to fruition, in any manner deemed appropriate by the engineering staff of Harris County.

Another outcome of this gathering would be to develop a small group of advisory muralists and artists to assist and shepherd this mural project to fruition, in any manner deemed appropriate by Harris County and the engineering staff of Harris County, working with HC Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman.

This gathering on 6/25/15, 6:30PM will be sponsored by a new action group, "REBIRTH East End Art Coalition', an ad hoc group composed of the following individuals:
Mr. Lorenzo Cano, Associate Director, Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Houston.
Mr. Kirk Farris, Founder/Director of Art & Environmental Architecture Inc., an established arts non-profit with a long history of working for art and art projects in the East End of Houston and elsewhere.
Mr. Joe Rodriguez of San Jose, CA is a nationally recognized authority on mural art and restoration. He worked on this mural in various capacities since its inception in the mid-1970’s.
Ms. Mary M. Lampe, a film and fine arts consultant who is currently working with the Houston Film Commission on the Houston Filmmaker Grant 2015.
Carlos Calbillo, East End political and cultural arts activist. Chair, SAVE Second WARD !
(please visit our fB community page: “SAVE Second WARD”)

This event should be successful in answering as many questions related to the mural re-creation, the processes and timelines involved. Thanks for your interest and collaboration. Do not hesitate in calling me for further clarification or questions.

Please dissemnate as widely as possible, want to reach as many of the generations, old and young, of Meshica Muralism Power, as possible. Get updates on our fB community page 'REBIRTH East End Arts Coalition'.

Si se puede ! Meshica Tiuhui !

Carlos Calbillo
laszlomurdock@hotmail.com
(832) 758-8640 cell

Sent by Dorinda Moreno  pueblosenmovimientonorte@gmail.com

ABOUT MURALIST LEO TANGUMA

A young Leo Tanguma

Ven. Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda

                                    Madre Agreda reading Proclamation with Native America guests

I look forward to meeting Archbishop Walker.

Paz y bien, Jerry Luján, Chairman
Margil Sor María Initiative
jerry_javier_lujan@hotmail.com  

Jerry Lujan, Fr. Rafael, and Enrique Madrid

 Frank Lujan standing, Isleta Governor Paul Torres

TRADICION REVISTA December 2005 Volume X, No.3

The Mystical "Lady in Blue" of the American Southwest
Apparitions of Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda in colonial New Mexico, Texas and Arizona
by Marilyn H. Fedewa  

Maria de Agreda - a cloistered 17th century abbess who never set foot outside her birthplace of Agreda, Spain - will soon be featured in Grolier Encyclopedia's upcoming biography series on 1,000 influential Hispanic Americans, alongside Joan Baez, Carlos E. Castaqeda, and Cisar Chavez. At the same time, historians at the Smithsonian Institution describe Mara de Agreda as a "key cultural phenomenon in the American Southwest," and have explored the acquisition of a life-sized portrait of her to exhibit in one of its galleries.

How does a Spanish nun who never physically visited the New World earn such acclaim? The answer lies in her legendary appearances between 1620 - 1631 as the "Lady in Blue," through which she mystically "bilocated" to New Mexico, Texas and Arizona, to preach Christianity to Jumano Native Americans. At the same time, nuns in her convent testified that she never physically left the premises, while Jumano Indians described her in detail and petitioned for baptism at the Isleta mission outside Albuquerque, following her instructions.

Padre Alonso de Benavides, head of the Inquisition and missions in the New Mexico territory, documented his investigation of the incidents. Born Maria Coronel y Arana in 1602, the beautiful young nun had taken the name of Sor Maria de Jesus in 1618, when she donned the veil of the Catholic order of the Conceptionists.

There her fellow nuns witnessed her levitating in ecstatic prayer, as had St. Teresa de Avila. Sor Maria also told her confessors that beginning in 1620 she experienced traveling to another country while in prayer at the convent. The unusual phenomena soon became common knowledge around the village and beyond. Suddenly the nun who thought she had entered the quiet isolated life of the cloister became a cause cilhbre throughout the land. In later years she explained the progression of these events.

Sor Maria told of a play she saw at age seven, based on "The New World Unveiled by Christopher Columbus," by playwright Lope de Vega. From then on, she felt a great missionary zeal to journey to the New World to preach. As a girl, however, she was not permitted to travel. Instead, she decided to devote her life to Christ as a nun. Bishop Don Diego de Yepes - Teresa de Avila's first biographer and last confessor - advised Maria's parents to set aside a private oratory for her, where they encouraged her to engage in contemplative prayer.

"It was like placing a little girl at the start of an exceedingly straight road and path," she wrote in 1650, "and saying to me, "Here you are to walk without deviating or turning aside. . . . Ever since . . . I found that when I focused my attention within, I would enter a state of exceedingly quiet prayer."

In these states of quiet prayer, Maria de Agreda's long-standing missionary zeal emerged in an unusual way. Inexplicably, she found herself in another land, encountering the very people she had longed to visit and evangelize, noting specific details of the terrain, weather, and a people she identified as the Jumanos. She said there was no language barrier between her and the Jumanos, and described a particular Jumano named Capitan Tuerto, a fearsome chieftain, so named because he was "one-eyed," from the Spanish word "tuerto."

In 1622 the Franciscan Minister General met her during a visit to Agreda. She impressed him with her detailed descriptions of the New World and its people, and her sincerity and spiritual acumen. With the Minister Generals blessing, Padre Sebastian Marcillaone of Sor Marias confessorswrote in 1626 to the Archbishop of Mexico, Don Francisco de Manso y Zuniga.

"It is very probable," he wrote, "that in the course of the discovery of New Mexico and the conversion of those souls, [including] the Chillescas, Jumanos and Carbucos, there will soon be found a kingdom . . . more than four hundred leagues from the city of Mexico to the west and north, between New Mexico and la Quivira. . . . It will be of assistance to [learn if] there is any knowledge of our holy faith, and in what manner our Lord has manifested it."

Archbishop Manso had followed the stories of the explorations of the Southwest, since Coronados expedition in the early 1540s. Of the three Native American groups Marcilla mentioned, he was familiar only with the Jumanos. He also knew that many explorers had searched for a legendary place of riches Coronado had called "Quivira."* As Manso had heard it reported, Quivira's distance from Mexico City was about 400 leagues to the northwest, the same approximate location the Spanish nun identified to her confessor.

Manso was keen to investigate this. In 1628, he appointed Padre Esteban de Perea to head the New Mexico mission work, a post most recently filled by Alonso de Benavides. Archbishop Manso prepared a letter of inquiry to Benavides, dated May 18, 1628.

In it, Manso ordered Benavides and the missionaries to inquire among the natives from Texas, which Sor Maria had pronounced as "Tixtlas," to see if they showed previous knowledge of the faith, and if so, to research these claims. He must ask, Manso wrote, how they acquired such knowledge, and then inform him of the results, for the "great spiritual and temporal advancement to the glory and service of our Lord."

Perea hand-carried this letter to Benavides in New Mexico, in the supply caravan of 1628-1629. The caravan, including 30 priests, military escort, and 36 oxcarts of provisions, left Mexico City on September 4, 1628 and arrived at Isleta on June 3, 1629. Upon arrival, the new recruits would help the 16 surviving priests and three lay brothers working out of Isleta with Benavides. Perea would take over as head of the New Mexico missions, and present the letter of inquiry to Benavides.

Ironically, Benavides was familiar with the Jumanos from the Plains to the east. Each year he had been in Isleta, they had presented themselves at St. Anthony's mission - rebuilt in later years as St. Augustine's - requesting baptism and the establishment of a mission at their encampment many days' journey away.

"I didn't have enough clerics, and so I continued to put off the Jumanos . . . until God should send me more workers," Benavides reported later to his superiors.

On July 22, 1629, a band of fifty Jumanos arrived at the mission, to again make their request. Although Benavides had not yet left, Perea - as the new custodian - received them this time. Informed by the archbishop's inquiry, he was now very intent on knowing what had prompted their repeated attempts. Why had they come, and at whose instruction? Perea asked them, in a combination of Spanish and sign language. For baptism, they replied similarly, at the urging of a woman in religious dress.

No doubt awash with excitement, Perea immediately sent for Benavides, and the two continued to engage the Jumanos. Capitan Tuerto led the Jumano delegation, along with eleven other Indian captains representing neighboring tribes and allies.

"We called them [in]to the convent," Benavides wrote. "Gazing at a portrait of Mother Luisa, Capitan Tuerto said, 'A woman in similar garb wanders among us . . . preaching'."

The priests pointed to the same picture of the famous elderly nun wearing the blue cape of the Conceptionist nuns, and asked the Jumanos if that was the same woman. The Jumanos shook their heads and said their Lady in Blue was much younger and far more beautiful. When the priests asked why the Jumanos had not mentioned this before, they replied that they were not asked, and that they thought she was known at the mission.

"Immediately we decided to send . . . priests," Benavides wrote. "With these same Indians as guides, they departed on their apostolic mission. After traveling more than one hundred leagues . . . to the east, they reached the Jumano nation, who came out to receive them in procession, carrying a large cross and garlands of flowers. They learned from the Indians that the same nun had instructed them as to how they should come out in procession to receive them, and she had helped them to decorate the cross."

Conservative estimates peg the congregation of Jumanos at about two thousand, while Benavides points to ten thousand, with the neighboring tribes in attendance. All this and more, Benavides described in his landmark document entitled the Memorial of 1630. In it, he recorded detailed new observations about the people, terrain, and resources of the Southwest. The 111-page document described over 60,000 Christianized Native Americans residing in 90 pueblos, divided into 25 mission districts. In it, he also included the story of the Lady in Blue, and her miraculous conversion of the Jumano Native Americans. The report was written to church officials, for ultimate delivery to the king of Spain.

Archbishop Manso was so taken with the report, that he soon dispatched Benavides in person to Madrid "to inform his Majesty . . . and our father general" of the "notable and unusual things that were happening in their holy custodia." The report, featuring new information on Native American tribal affiliations and invaluable geographic data, was immediately translated into Latin, French, Dutch, and German and reprinted to meet popular demand. To this day, Benavides' report provides historians with valuable population statistics and classifications within New Mexico at the time, although many scholars suggest that his numbers were inflated.

When the Franciscan Minister General met with Benavides, he informed him that the Lady in Blue was undoubtedly an abbess in northeastern Spain. In the spring of 1631, Benavides visited Maria de Jesus in Agreda and identified her, both from the Jumanos' description of her, and hers of them. As a result, he updated his report in 1634, describing Madre Maria de Jesus as "handsome of face, very fair in color, with a slight rosy tinge and large black eyes." He described the white habit she wore over the brown Franciscan robe, and the blue outercape and black veil of the Conceptionists.

"She knows Capitan Tuerto very well," Benavides added, "giving a detailed description of him, and of the others." As a result, Maria de Agreda inspired every new missionary called to serve in Spains territory in the New World, and her name became linked in perpetuity with the historical record of the colonization of the Southwest.

The Spanish Inquisition began tracking Maria de Agreda soon after Benavides' revised report was published. In 1635 they held their first inquiry, with four witnesses staffed by one of the abbess' loyal confessors. The bilocations were made light of by her proponents - strategically - with the intent of clearing her. While temporarily effective, an on-going investigation had been opened. She endeavored, to little avail, to maintain a low profile, embarking on a lengthy biography of Mary, mother of Jesus, entitled Mystical City of God.

King Felipe IV of Spain learned of the amazing author, and arranged to meet her on his way to battle at the Spanish frontier. Their ensuing friendship is documented in over 600 letters between them over a 22-year period, in which she advised him - at his request - both politically and spiritually. Many historians claim her as a wise and steadying influence on the beleaguered king.

Royal connections notwithstanding, the Inquisition sprang a surprise interrogation of the pious nun, arriving in Agreda in secret on January 18, 1650. They questioned her for 11 days with 80 questions prepared in advance, covering the gamut of her New World apparitions, her writings, and also erroneous implications that she had been instrumental in a plot against the king. The potential punishment for convicted offenders was serious, including death or banishment from the church.

Ultimately, the Inquisitors dismissed the case in Maria de Agreda's favor, praising her great virtue, charity, and intelligence, and expressing admiration for all that she had accomplished through prayer. In the remaining years of her life, she continued advising the king, helped to accomplish the Peace of the Pyrenees between France and Spain, and completed her manuscript of Mystical City of God. While accolades and miraculous healing cures are attributed to her after her death, her path to sainthood within the Catholic Church has been stormy.

Five years after her death, Mystical City of God was published in Madrid. In 1673, Maria de Agreda was named a "Venerable" of the church - for her "heroic life of virtue" - a first step in the church's process of declaring saints. Meanwhile in America, the legend of the Lady in Blue multiplied.

In 1699 elder Indians at Gia River, New Mexico, recalled for Captain Juan Mateo Mange and Padre Eusebio Kino the story of a beautiful white woman dressed in blue with a black covering on her head, who had spoken to them and went off through the air. They heard similar accounts of Maria de Agreda's apparitions from Indians in Sonoita, Arizona.

Between 1710-1740, Indians near present day Nacogdoches, Texas, asked the French explorer Louis St. Denise for blue cloth to bury their dead. When asked why, they said it was in memory of the Lady in Blue who came to them years ago, teaching baptism and the Christian ways.

On August 18, 1772, Padre Junipero Serra wrote to his biographer - Francisco Palou - that Sor Maria's missionary work in the New World would be fulfilled in California. As founder of the California missions, he was an avid reader of Mystical City of God, bringing only that and one other book with him to California - the Bible.

Yet unlike her countrywoman, Teresa de Avila, Maria de Agreda has not yet been named a saint. As a part of that cause, Mystical City of God has proven controversial, at first shocking French theologians who reviewed a faulty translation that temporarily earmarked the book for the church's draconian Index of Forbidden Books, then selling over 210,000 copies in the U.S. alone since 1978. Paradoxically, her cause for sainthood is most currently stalled following a 1990s ruling that her biography of Mary is too much in contrast with the Mariology of Vatican II. That, however, has not hindered popular opinion.

Radio-television Espanole in 1995 named her as one of the nine most influential women in Spanish history. Over 12,000 pilgrims flocked to her grave in 2002, in honor of the 400th anniversary of her birth. Mel Gibson read Mystical City of God in preparation for making his 2004 blockbuster film Passion of the Christ. Then late 2006 marked the publication date of Groliers' new encyclopedia set on influential Hispanic Americans, in which Sor Maria was highlighted for her missionary work among the Jumano Native Americans and for her influence on colonial missionaries in Texas, New Mexico, and California.

Perhaps Maria de Agreda's mystical journey into the minds and hearts of devotees everywhere has just begun.


Marilyn H. Fedewa is a published author and communications consultant residing in Lansing, Michigan. She serves as the American Correspondent for the Convent of the Conception in Agreda, Spain. For information on her upcoming biography of Maria de Agreda, visit her website at www.cambridgeconnections.net/Maria.html  

Primary ReferencesAgreda, Sor Maria de, Mistica Ciudad de Dios y Biografma de su Autora, Vol. V. Heredos de Juan Gili, Editores: Barcelona, 1914; Reimpresion: Madrid, 1985 [pp. 15-77].

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of the Pacific States of North America (AZ, NM 1530-1888), Volume XII. History Co. Pub: San Francisco, 1888 [pp. 159-163].

Castaqeda, Carlos, E., Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936, Vol. I. Von Boeckmann-Jones Co: Austin, 1936 [pp. 103, 195-215; 341-342].

Colahan, Clark A., The Visions of Sor Maria de Agreda: Writing Knowledge and Power. Univ. of Arizona Press: Tuscon & London, 1994 [pp. 102-103, 108, 115-116].

Hickerson, Nancy Parrott, The Jumanos: Hunters and Traders of the South Plains. Univ. of Texas Press: Austin, 1994 [pp. 21-22, 24, 90-97, 101].

Hodge, Frederick Webb, The Jumano Indians (for the American Antiquarian Soc.). The Davis Press: Worcester, MA., 1910 [pp. 4-10]. Also: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part I. Pageant Books, Inc.: NY, 1959 [p. 636].

Morrow, Baker H. A Harvest of Reluctant Souls: The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides, 1630. (Univ. Press of Colorado: Niwot, CO, 1996) [pp. xxiv, 79-83].

Please note that two post-publication-date errors have been corrected from the original article as published in Tradicion Revista. The earlier version projected the actual unveiling of a portrait of Sor Maria at the Smithsonian in July 2006, based upon information that was accurate at the time. It is still possible that something might come to pass in this regard, but the circumstances have changed, and there are no updated projections as of yet.

Copyright 2005 Marilyn H. Fedewa  
Return to Maria de Agreda in the News  
Return to Maria de Agreda MainPage  

HISTORIC TIDBITS

Which came first: the Spanish conquistadors or the British colonists? 
Jamestown or St. Augustine? 
The Spanish language or the English language? 
Hernando De Soto or Lewis and Clark?

http://www.hiddenhispanicheritage.com/2-a-tale-of-two-cities.html 
COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

Apologies to whoever sent this to me.  
I got so involved in exploring it, I forgot who copy  it. 

How LULAC was founded: In 1945, a California LULAC Council successfully sued to integrate the Orange County School System, which had been segregated on the grounds that Mexican children were “more poorly clothed and mentally inferior to white children.” Additionally, in 1954, LULAC brought another landmark case, Hernandez vs. the State of Texas, to protest the fact that a Mexican American had never been called to jury duty in the state of Texas. The Supreme Court ruled this exclusion unconstitutional. 

Since then, LULAC has fought for full access to the political process and equal educational opportunity for all Hispanics. LULAC’s continues to play an active role in these efforts. LULAC councils across the United States hold voter registration drives, citizenship awareness sessions, sponsor health fairs and tutorial programs, and raise scholarship money for the LULAC National Scholarship Fund. This fund, in conjunction with LNESC (LULAC National Educational Service Centers), has assisted almost 10 percent of the 1.1 million Hispanic students who have gone to college. 

LULAC Councils have also responded to an alarming increase in xenophobia and anti-Hispanic sentiment. They have held seminars and public symposiums on language and immigration issues. In addition, LULAC officers have used television and radio to protest against the “English Only” movement, which seeks to limit the public (and in some cases, private) use of minority languages. 

Below is an account of the struggles that LULAC and its members have had to endure in order to improve the status of employment, housing, health care, and education for all Hispanics in the United States of America.

Reasons That Lead To The Formation of LULAC: When the United States of North America annexed a third of Mexico’s territory following the Mexican War, nearly 77,000 Mexicans became U.S. citizens. For generations, these citizens were to be plagued by prejudice that would result in overt acts of discrimination and segregation. This prejudice led to the curtailment of many civil rights. The sign, “No Mexicans Allowed” was found everywhere. 

In Texas, prejudice and acts of discrimination had reached such extreme proportions that Mexican Americans began organizaing to defend themselves. There were three main organizations: The Order of the Sons of America with councils in Somerset, Pearsall, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio; The Knights of America in San Antonio; and The League of Latin American Citizens with councils in Harlingen, Brownsville, Laredo, Penitas, La Grulla, McAllen, and Gulf.

For more on the history of LULAC, go to http://lulac.org/about/history/pdf

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

Danny Villanueva Sr. dies at 77; 
NFL kicker, 
Spanish-language TV pioneer
by 
Victoria Kim 

November 5, 1937 - June 18, 2015

I, Gilbert I. Patiño born on June 2, 1940, 
in San Antonio, Texas to wonderful parents,
 Gilbert A. Patiño and Olga B. Garza, 
died on Thursday, May 28, 2015.

Photo by Helen L. Montoya/San Antonio Express-News
Photo:  March 23, 2005

Sent by Tom Saenz saenztomas@sbcglobal.net 
From: Margaret Garcia margaretgarcia161@yahoo.com 
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EDUCATION

Georgetown University 
May 14, 2015 Commencement Speech 

Opening Borders by Building Bridges by 
Citlalli Alvarez

https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=ave4G3fSZq0  

Sent by Mercy Bautista Olvera
scarlett_mbo@yahoo.com 

NBCUniversal/LNESC Scholarship Program 

 
Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics 

President George H.W. Bush signed Executive Order 12729, establishing the Initiative and 
President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (Commission). 

The Initiative was Established in 1990 to address the alarming dropout rate in the Hispanic It has helped ensure Hispanics reach their full potential the past quarter century. Hispanic students have shown tremendous progress over the past two decades and their success is inextricably linked to that of the nation's. 

Learn more about Hispanic educational progress since 1990. http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/hispanic-initiative/files/2015/03/WHIEEH-Timeline_Comp_REV-3-508.pdf 
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Today's New Survey: Five Facts About Latinos And Education
by Jens Manuel Krogstad 

Former fruit vendor-turned-UCLA-graduate trades selling for science
Rebecca Kendall | June 08, 2015

Walter Mancia, who came to this country alone as a teenager from Honduras, sold fruit on the street to survive. But a chance meeting with Alphons Smit and Clifford Lee gave him a supportive family and helped him build a new life. Alphons Smit remembers well the day when he first met his son Walter.

It was 2005, and Walter Mancia, then 17, was selling fruit at the corner of 42nd Avenue and York Street in L.A.’s Eagle Rock neighborhood. The boy didn’t speak a word of English, so Smit and his husband, Clifford Lee, who were taking a walk through their neighborhood, communicated with him in his native language, Spanish. Day by day, they learned about Mancia’s former life in Honduras and how he arrived in Los Angeles on his own, determined to go to school and be successful.

“Walter’s outlook has since changed from that of a recent immigrant with lots of hope to one that comes as the result of a string of real accomplishments,” said Smit. “The constant, through these changes, has been his clear focus to make something of himself and to be a burden to no one. Trust me, it is laser-sharp and honed through his fight to survive in his early years.”

The couple will attend the departmental commencement ceremony on June 13 to see the man they call their son walk into Ackerman Ballroom in his cap and gown and graduate with a bachelor’s degree and honors.

“That will be a wonderful moment,” said Smit. And his American parents will also be cheering Mancia on this fall as he starts a Ph.D. program in cancer biology and cell signaling at UC San Francisco on a privately funded, full five-year scholarship.

Fulfilling a dream: For years, Mancia dreamed of going to school and earning a decent living. But as the child of a single mother of four in rural Honduras, he had to quit school after the seventh grade because his mother couldn’t pay the $100 required for books and school supplies.

He then worked 12-hour days to help support his family, earning just $1 or $2 a day while he watched his friends go to school. He knew that without a high school education, his future was limited.

“I was nothing in my hometown,” said Mancia. “If I had stayed there I would have had to work in the fields cultivating corn or coffee or maybe become part of organized crime. There just isn’t a lot of opportunity.”

So at 16, he left home to trek throughout Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico in search of work before making his way to Los Angeles in search of his father. “I heard that he was in L.A., so I thought I’d come to the U.S. and look for him, and maybe he could help me. But that didn’t happen. He wasn’t here anymore.”

Finding a home — and two fathers: His third attempt at crossing the border into the U.S. was successful, but the only job he could find in L.A. was selling fruit for 60-70 hours a week, with almost all of his $125 salary going toward paying off the coyote who helped him get into the country.                                    

Sent by  LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET 
Source:  Alvaro Huerta  alvarohuerta6@GMAIL.COM 
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Nissan and LULAC National Scholarship Fund 
Award More Than $95,000 in Scholarships

Excelencia in Education reveals the Top 25 colleges 
producing Latino graduates in science, technology, engineering, 
and math fields in 2012-13

CULTURE

Don Juan Felipe Herrera 
"The Pit" Extract from book: "The Jelly Jar"      by Richard Sanchez
La Raza Silkscreen Center/La Raza Graphics Center and Mission Gráfica
Academia Cuauhtli Works to Bridge History with Language 
PLACAS: Family, Roots and Loyalty by Alejandra Enciso Guzmán

Don Juan Felipe Herrera 
California’s Poet Laureate

For those of you who are interested in seeing what themes and topics are covered by some of the books by Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, I have downloaded some descriptions for some of his books.  The descriptions and/or reviews shown herein can be found at the Amazon.com link shown below:
http://www.amazon.com/Juan-Felipe-Herrera/e/B001HORJ3Y  

I hope this information is of help to those of you interested in reading some of Herrera's works.  Please know that the list of titles below is not exhaustive of all of his works.  Enjoy.

Margarito J. Garcia III, Ph.D.
Aicragjm1205@aol.com
(517)894-2881

Extract from book:

 "The Jelly Jar" by Richard Sanchez

Edinburg, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, 1960

Se Habla Spanglish Gil Chavez 
barrioguy@yahoo.com 

It's not the King's English. Neither is it the Spanish Royal Academy's gate keeper standard of castizo-purity teminology Spanish. It's Spanglish,

Instead, it's something more akin to a salsa of borderland Tex-Mex on a U.S. urban barrio burrito to maybe vex and perplex those who don't quite get stuff like the jargon of Chicano calo.

It's the Newyorican sounds of the Lloisaida and locales like Florida's Ybor City or where the younger generation causes consternation for their elders with their concatenation of el inglespanol.

It’s heard where the deluge of Centro and Latino Americanos find refuge in comunidades not the same,but similar enough to those of their padres.

The children hear el espanol at home but are influenced everywhere with Norte Americano style ingles at school and la plaza which has become the public square
From the Tele they watchar they learn chant the jingles and mantras of commercials whose information promises alleviation if they learn to yearn to buy and own what will to keep their smiles white, their clothes bright, beer that's lite, and pills to help one to keep it up and be cheerful when they're feeling down when they can't go and suffer from constipation
Adios to calling a father Papi, but at least Mama in espanol is close enough to it in ingles and they began to call their hermano bro because in the USA the word for an American does not end with an O!

However,tradiciones endure throughout the generations to varying degrees, intensities and variations.

Quinces fiestas might give way to a sweet sixteen debutante ball but la comida traditional, that food which nourishes the soul to form and strengthens ties usually endures as the norm and no happy gathering would be complete without perhaps a romantic serenata, and of course dulces sweet falling from a pinata.

Call it a cultural blend with admiration or linguistic bastardization of English broken if you hear Spanglish spoken but it will be of no use to be in such misery and consternation or decry such as a boy in a Charro suit with a Spanish surname sing of our Star Spangled Banner at the start of a game, and wish we had had language police and a Royal Academy in this nation to notify about such an infraction if the crowd cheers arriba and viva!
For if you recall, no matter your wish for each of us in this home of the brave we have freedom of speech for one and all even if it is in Spanglish and not the King's English.

Rompiendo el Silencio

La Raza Silkscreen Center/La Raza Graphics Center and Mission Gráfica

Academia Cuauhtli Works to Bridge History with Language 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Join LARED-L, the fastest growing Latino/Hispanic Listserv Network in the country. It's Free and Easy to join. Just fill out the simple form below, and become part of our Cyber Community: (( La Voz del Pueblo))  http://listserv.cyberlatina.net/SCRIPTS/WA-CYBERL.EXE?SUBED1=lared-l&A=1 

PLACAS: Family, Roots and Loyalty
June 10, 2015 by Alejandra Enciso Guzmán Leave a Comment 

By Alejandro Enciso Guzmán

Ric Salinas as Placas in San Jose (Photo Credit: Myra Mejia)

It had always been difficult for me to watch a Chicano/Chicano-type play in San Diego. I always feel that they present a stereotype instead of an authentic story. Looking at it another way, I guess those past productions achieved their goal on the most basic level of using the art of theater to provoke thought and analysis.

My feelings about this subject of theater changed this past April when I saw “PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo,” a play written by Paul S. Flores, developed with and directed by Michael John Garcés. The play screamed “This is it! This is the way it is.” The Lincoln High School Performing Arts Center hosted the piece and it was a perfect space to voice passion, oppression and inherited vices.

The piece takes a detailed look at life in a notorious Salvadoran gang, La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, which started in Los Angeles in the 1980’s, and documents one man’s efforts to leave that life and reunite with his family. Fausto Carbajal, aka “Placas,” (Ric Salinas) is a former gang member, Salvadoran immigrant and father. ‘Placas’ is slang in Salvadorian Spanish for tattoo. In Mexican Spanish for example, tattoos are called ‘rayas’. The tattoos symbolize loyalty to your gang.

After facing deportation and time in prison, Fausto is looking to change his ways, including tattoo removal via laser sessions in order to get a job and set an example for his son Edgar (Xavi Moreno) and former baby mama Claudia (Caro Zeller) who also came from a gang. Claudia is determined to raise teenage Edgar and her recently born daughter far from her own upbringing. But it seems a bit late; Edgar has already fallen into the hands of a counterpart gang in US.

The other thread in the play is the search for identity. Fausto tries to inculcate his son Edgar with their Salvadorian roots and heritage through language, food and visits to his grandmother (Sarita Ocon). Edgar does not absorb these echos of the past, something that is sadly common. When I spoke to a tour guide recently, he mentioned that the native language of immigrants is the first thing to disappear by the third generation. This point is well addressed in “PLACAS” as well as the situation with MS-13.

Caro Zeller’s emotionally raw performance communicates the pain Claudia has gone through in her life and the anger that has built up because of it. Sarita Ocon’s portrayal of three characters: Mama Nieves the grandmother, Bugsy the gang girl and Liz the therapist was incredible.

The weight of the already dense plot was very well balanced by Salinas and cast members Edgar Barbosa as one of the homeboys, Luis “Xango” Juarez as both ‘Scooby’ and “largo”, Fidel Gomez as Fausto’s brother ‘Nelson’, his nemesis ‘Sgt. Orozco’ and a homeboy. It was a fantastic ensemble.

This play totally changed my perspective on things. My grandmother’s brothers are Salvadorian; I remember as a little girl seeing my grandma cry because one of her brothers was held for ransom. “PLACAS” made sense of the people who are a part of the puzzle that goes from El Salvador to the States.

I applaud “PLACAS” as a wonderfully written piece that resonated with its audience. Hopefully we will see more artistic expressions of this story.

“PLACAS” was developed as a pro-active community response to the issue of transnational community violence and the current anti-immigration environment. It has toured nationally to 10 US cities including Washington, DC, New York, Sacramento, CA and Los Angeles, CA.

More on “PLACAS” here.
http://sandiegofreepress.org/2015/04/playwright-paul-s-flores-brings-placas-to-san-diego/ 

Alejandra Enciso Guzmán hails from Tijuana, Baja California. She’s 100% a border being; since elementary school she has frequently gone back and forth across the Tijuana-San Diego border. She has a Bachelor’s in Communication from UABC Campus Tijuana; a Master’s Degree in Management of Cultural Resources from the University of Deusto, Campus San Sebastián, in Spain; as well as a Certificate of Business for the Arts from the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. She is a fierce consumer of culture, be it museums, theater, musical theatre or dance. Since 2012 she has headed her own binational consulting firm, “Enciso Consulting”specializing in theater and musical theater.

Sent by Dorinda Moreno 
pueblosenmovimientonorte@gmail.com
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BOOKS & PRINT MEDIA

Galvez/ Spain - Our Forgotten Ally  
by Judge Edward Butler

For fear of an attack from Spain and France, England kept the bulk of its army and naval fleet at home, diluting the strength of its forces in North America.

Comments by Reviewers of Galvez/ Spain - Our Forgotten Ally
   

Never has a more important book been written that confirms what has been silent in our American History books.  Our students identify closely with Mexico and now through Judge Butler’s scholarly work, they can, as Americans, be proud of their ancestors important role in the birth of our beloved nation.  Every student of American history can now know “the rest of the story”. Thank you Judge Butler for your passion and commitment to our history and for making all of us with Spanish sir names proud.

~Dr. Maria Hernandez Ferrier, President
Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Wonderful book!  You have done a great, great service here.  Thank you!

~Lila Guzman, Ph.D., is the award-winning author of Lorenzo and the Pirate (Blooming Tree Press), the 4th novel in the Lorenzo series about Spanish participation in the American Revolution.

With this book, Judge Ed Butler tells “the rest of the story” that most people never knew about the American Revolution.

~Judge Robert H. Thonhoff, author, The Texas Connection With the American Revolution.

The research and explanation provided in this book should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the substantial aid, and the vast extent of that aid, provided by Spain to the American colonists before and during the American Revolution. A must read.

~Joe D. Perez, Governor General, Order of the Granaderos y Damas de Galvez.

[S]hould be on the shelf of every school library.

and

There are many fine books of recent publication out on General Bernardo de Gálvez, but, Gálvez/ Spain Our Forgotten Ally in the American Revolutionary War is a tidy, quick-read, quick-reference book, handy to have on hand to convince any sincere truth seeker, that in fact, the Spanish did play an important, very major role in winning the American Revolution.

~Mimi Lozano, educator and activist for Hispanic rights who co-founded the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research, and is the editor and publisher of Somos Primos, an online monthly publication dedicated to Hispanic heritage. She was named the 2006 Woman of the Year by the Costa Mesa, California Assembly.

This book is the first book written on the involvement of Spain in the American Revolution that ties in all the intricate ingredients necessary to understand the full scope of the War. It is superbly written and documented and will no doubt find its way beside other notable authors such as Chavez, Loya, Jackson and Chipman to mention a few. If there were one book that should be listed as required reading for history majors, Galvez/ Spain – Our Forgotten Ally In The American Revolutionary Way: A Concise Summary Of Spain’s Assistance should be that book.

~Jack V. Cowan, Founder and President of The Texas Connection To the American Revolution

Copies of book ($29.00 each)  
Copies of above book in Color on Searchable CD ($15.00 each)   
Copies of both book and Color CD ($39.00 each)       
Postage & Handling ($6.50 each) 
Make Check Payable and Mail to:  Southwest Historic Press
PO Box 170  24165 IH-10 West Suite 217-170   
San Antonio, TX 78257     

Please include name, address, and email or telephone   
                                          

Sent by Ruben Alvarez stayconnected2004@yahoo.com 

San Francisco Latino Authors Day: June 27th

Sent by Kirk Whisler 
kirk@whisler.com 
Latino Print Network | 3445 Catalina Dr. | Carlsbad | CA | 92010

Front Cover from original 1932 oil painting by Humberto Cavazos Sr. Owned by Edelmira Sáenz.

The World War I Diary 
of 
José de la Luz Sáenz

Review 
by Albert Vela, Ph.D.

Mimi, My memoir is now out and can be found in the following link, plus by going to that link and putting in the promotion code UP30AUTH15 the purchaser can get a 30% discount.

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781611478181/Chicano-
While-Mormon-Activism-War-and-Keeping-the-Faith

Sorry for the self-promotion but I just wanted to let you all know that with a promo code you can get a 30 % discount on my memoir "Chicano while Mormon: Activism, War and Keeping the Faith" (Fairleigh Dickinson Press) which I think would be of interest to those who study the Chicano movement, Chicanos/Latino issues, Latino religiosity and people whose faith has informed their activism and work on behalf of others.

Thanks for including the information on your online magazine.  Ignacio

 2015 Américo Paredes Book Award Recipient
Dr. Felipe Hinojosa
"Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture"

Source:  historia-l@mail.cas.unt.edu 

National Endowment for the Arts Award Received by 
 National Association of Latino Independent Producers 
Program will be launched at NALIP Media Summit 2015.

Latino soldiers
 Cebu, Phillipines, WW II

LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

Website has been up for 13 years.  Lots of good information. Do check it out.
http://www.defense.gov/specials/hispanic02/medal.html

Tomas Saenz To Hope Barrera May 30 
 
Hi Ana and Hope, 
Thanks so much for sharing that moving story on Primo Manuel! Great story and he looked so well in his uniform -very proud and patriotic soldier! It stated that he learned English while in the army but he also learned some French while on duty! During that time when he lived with us in Michigan he would share his stories and experiences. It was then when he would say some French expressions to us He truly enriched our lives! 
 
He loved his wife and children and to him they were numero uno! He certainly left a living legacy for his children, grandchildren and future generations! May God always bless his soul! 
 
If it is okay with you, I would like to forward your story over to Mimi Lozano, editor of "Somos Primos" , an on line Hispanic Magazine, for inclusion on the July 2015 issue. 
 
Best wishes and God bless you and the entire family! 
Primo Tom Saenz  

Hope Barrera To Tomas Saenz May 30 
 
Dear Primo Tomas,
We are so glad that you enjoyed the article in the Alice Echo News, Primo Tomas. He often spoke fondly about the time he spent in Michigan with your family. Dad always enjoyed sharing his adventures in the Army with us since we were small children.  I'm glad that he shared them with you and our Michigan family, also. And yes, Dad could speak a bit of French! Thanks for reminding me of that.
 
Please do share the article with "Somos Primos." I know Dad would have been honored to share his story with a wider audience. Dad was very patriotic and wanted his children to benefit from the advantages that this country provided; such as a good education and every freedom that he so bravely fought as a soldier.
 
We hope you and your family are well.  It is always great to hear from you. May God bless all of our Primos! 
 
Anna Maria and Hope Barrera
  

Manuel Garcia Barrera: Keeping his memory alive 
By Monica Lopez 
mlopez@aliceechonews.com
Alice Echo-News Journal: News
Posted: Friday, May 22,2015 

Borinqueneers Express Solidarity 
With ‘Toughest Chicano Soldiers’ Of WWII

Photo: latinopia.com  Bill Sarno
CTLatinoNews.com

Father and Son Reunited in Afghanistan 
by Ms Karla Marshall (USACE)
US Army News Archive

EARLY LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

"The Order of Granaderos y Damas de Galvez San Antonio Chapter conducted their monthly meeting on June 3, 2015 and welcomed Jesses O. Villarreal, Sr. as their guest speaker.  Mr. Villarreal gave a presentation on his latest book, "Rosters of Tejano Patriots of the American Revolution". 

May 8, 2015, Concert Honoring Bernardo de Galvez
 Santa Iglesia Catedral, Malaga, Spain
 "la tierra de Bernardo de Gálvez" 

En el mes de agosto de 1779 Bernardo de Gálvez era coronel del regimiento fijo de
Luisiana y gobernador de dicha provincia española, con capital en Nueva Orleans,
situada junto al río Misisipí, entonces como hoy columna vertebral del tercio central
de Norteamérica.

Dominar el río era fundamental para la defensa del virreinato de Nueva España y
también para el abastecimiento a las tropas de las Trece Colonias, alzadas contra el
dominio inglés en 1776, y a las que España y Francia estaban ayudando con todo
tipo de suministros.

En el tramo final del río existían varios establecimientos británicos que amenazaban
seriamente el dominio español, por lo que, tras superar los efectos de un fuerte huracán,
con una tropa compuesta por unos 1.500 hombres y formada por soldados españoles,
milicianos blancos y de color, auxiliares indios y algunos patriotas norteamericanos,
Bernardo de Gálvez inició una campaña contra el enemigo logrando vencerlo
al ocupar Manchac, Baton Rouge y Natchez, consiguiendo así un gran triunfo para
España y para la joven nación norteamericana, nacida el 4 de julio de 1776.
Posteriormente alcanzó nuevos y resonantes triunfos con la conquista de Mobila el
14 de marzo de 1780 y de Panzacola el 8 de mayo de 1781, que resultaron decisivos
para que los Estados Unidos alcanzaran su Independencia.

Desde que fuera fundada el 1º de mayo del año 2008 la Asociación Bernardo de
Gálvez y Gallardo, Conde de Gálvez, ha venido desarrollando una intensa labor para
recuperar la biografía de tan extraordinaria figura de nuestra Historia, que hemos
venido divulgando con numerosas publicaciones y actividades, que pueden conocerse
visitando nuestra web: www.yosolo.org.

La Asociación consiguió el pasado 9 de diciembre que un retrato de Bernardo de Gálvez
fuera colgado en el Capitolio norteamericano. Una semana después el Presidente
Obama firmó el nombramiento de Bernardo de Gálvez como Ciudadano Honorario
de los Estados Unidos.

Tras los triunfos alcanzados en el Misisipí, el primer poeta de Luisiana, Julien Poydras
(1746-1824), compuso una obra épica-bucólica glosando tan decisiva victoria, que
fue impresa en Nueva Orleans el mismo año 1779 por Antoine Boudousquieu con el
título de La prise du morne du Baton Rouge par Monseigneur de Galvez.
Casi doscientos años después, para conmemorar el segundo centenario de la Independencia
de Estados Unidos, el compositor norteamericano de origen griego Dinos
Constantinides, catedrático de Música en la Universidad estatal de Luisiana, compuso
en 1976 una obra en honor de Bernardo de Gálvez utilizando como libreto los
versos de Poydras. Para celebrar los singulares acontecimientos que han quedado
reseñados la Asociación Bernardo de Gálvez ha organizado el estreno en España de
la Cantata a Gálvez.

Este estreno coincide con un aniversario más de la gran victoria de Panzacola, que
resultó clave para el triunfo de España y para la Independencia norteamericana.

PROGRAMA DEL CONCIERTO
I PARTE. ENTORNO MUSICAL DE UNA EPOPEYA

solista Adalberto Martínez Solaesa
Organista Titular de la Catedral de Málaga
II PARTE. CANTATA A BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ
DINOS CONSTANTINIDES. La prise du morne du Baton Rouge par Monseigneur de Galvez
(basado en la obra del poeta Julien Poydras)
Prelude
Epic Song
Narrative
Batle
Noble Dreams
Finale
Alicia Molina, Soprano. Alicia Naranjo, Mezzosoprano.
Luis Mª Pacetti, Tenor. Juan Manuel Corado, Bajo.
Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Málaga
Coro de la Universidad de Sevilla
dirigidos por José Carlos Carmona

Adalberto Martínez Solaesa
solista órgano

Son de destacar sus conciertos en ciudades de Japón y Europa: París, Roma, Ravenna,
Nápoles, Berlín, Hannover, Copenhague, Helsinki, Luxemburgo, Dublín, Londres, Bruselas,
Varsovia, Praga, Munich, Bucarest…

Licenciado en Filosofía y Letras (Literatura Hispánica) por la Universidad Complutense
y Doctor en Musicología por la Universidad de Granada.
Ha sido Organista Titular, por oposición, de la Catedral de Madrid y Profesor del Real
Conservatorio de Música. Cruz de Alfonso X. Académico Correspondiente de la Real
Academia de Bellas Artes de Granada y Organista Titular de la Catedral de Málaga.

Orquesta Sinfónica Provincial de Málaga
dirección José Carlos Carmona

Coro de la Universidad de Sevilla
dirección José Carlos Carmona

Bernardo de Galvez, Little –Known Hero of the American Revolution 
by Maria Rieger
lareina250@att.net 

He was intelligent and modest, he was good looking and brave, the Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez, was a Spanish military leader and colonial administrator who served as Governor of Louisiana, as Governor of Cuba and as Viceroy of New Spain (now Mexico).

Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786) was born in the province of Málaga, Spain on July 23, 1746. He attended the Military Academy of Avila and. at the age of 16, took part in the Spanish invasion of Portugal. During this conflict he was promoted to Lieutenant.  He then went to New Spain (Mexico) in 1762. There he was promoted to Captain and he fought the Apaches, with his Opata Indian allies.  He received many wounds, some serious and in 1770 he was promoted to Commandant of Arms.  

He returned to Spain in 1772 in company of his uncle José de Gálvez. He was later sent to Pau, France with his regiment, where he learned French language, which was very useful to him when he became Governor of Louisiana. He then went on an expedition to Algiers and after capturing the fortress that guarded the city he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, after which he became a professor at the Avila Military Academy.  

In 1777, he was sent to Louisiana as a Colonel and Interim Governor of the province. This was the territory that was later to become the Louisiana Purchase. It had been ceded by France to Spain in 1763. as a compensation for the loss of Florida to Britain, during the seven years war in which Spain participated on the French side.  In 1779, Gálvez was promoted to Brigadier.  

He married Marie Felice de Sait-Maxent D’Estrehan  in 1777. She was a young widow whose first husband had been a son of Jean Baptiste D’Estrehan.  Bernardo and Marie had three children, Miguel, Matilde and Guadalupe.  

As governor, he practiced an anti-British policy, stopping British smuggling and promoting trade with France instead. Trading with Cuba and Yucatan was encouraged and, in 1779, he founded Galvez Town.  

Gálvez instituted smuggling operations to supply the North American rebels in early 1777, under Royal Orders from Charles III of Spain. When the British forces blockaded the Eastern colonial ports, he established a route from New Orleans up the Mississippi River to send provisions that way. He worked with Oliver Pollock, a North American patriot, to ship gunpowder, muskets, uniforms, medicines and other supplies. He also let an American force go through New Orleans to join the war, even before Spain joined the cause.

He then was sent to Florida, at the head of an expedition of colonial Spanish troops to aid American colonists in their rebellion against Britain. Spain was motivated by the chance to recover territories lost to the British, principally Florida, and also to remove the British expansion.

Spain finally declared war on Britain, on June 21, 1779. On June 25, 1779 a letter from London marked Secret and Confidential, was sent from King George III and Lord George Germain to British General John Campbell in Pensacola, Florida. Campbell was instructed that it was of great importance to organize an attack upon New Orleans, trying to reduce the Spanish fort there. If Campbell thought this possible, he was ordered to proceed immediately to make preparations, These preparations included: 1) Obtain from Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker as many armed vessels as possible from Jamaica; 2) collect all forces that could be available in the province; 3) take as many faithful Indians as could be supplied and 4) draw on the British Treasury for all expenses.  

Unfortunately for John Campbell (his career was for ever destroyed) this secret letter fell into the hands of Governor Gálvez, then Governor of Louisiana, who immediately organized Louisiana and New Orleans for war. He carried out a “masterful military campaign” and defeated the British forces at Manchac, Baton Rouge and Natchez in 1779.

The battle of Baton Rouge, on September 21, 1779 freed the lower Mississippi Valley of British forces and relieved the threat to New Orleans. In 1780 he captured Mobile from the British at the battle of Fort Charlotte.  

His greatest military victory came in May 9, 1781 when he attacked by land and sea Pensacola, the former Spanish capital of Florida, defeating British General John Campbell. This left the British with no bases in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1782 his forces also took the British base in New Providence in the Bahamas.  

Gálvez received may honors from Spain due to his military victories against the British: promotion to Lieutenant General and Field Marshal, Governor and Captain General of Louisiana and Florida and the titles of Viscount of Galveztown and Count of Gálvez.

He was amongst those who drafted the terms of the Peace of Paris (1783) that ended the Revolutionary War and gave back to Spain all of Florida.  

Gálvez returned to Spain in 1783 and when his father Matias de Gálvez y Gallardo (then the Viceroy of New Spain) died, Bernardo was nominated to replace him. He arrived in Veracruz on May 26, 1785 and made his formal entry into Mexico City in June.

During his tenure he did many important works. He reconstructed Chapultepec Castle that had been unoccupied. He began the installation of streetlights in Mexico City and the construction of the towers in the Cathedral. He continued with the construction of a highway to Acapulco and took measures to reduce the abuse of Indian labor on that project. He advanced science in the Colony by sponsoring the expedition of Martin Sessé y Lacasta, which sent to Spain a comprehensive catalog of diverse species of plants, birds and fish found in Mexico.  

According to legend he was simple, amiable, gallant and frank. He traveled in the city in an open carriage, was present in bullfights, pilgrimages and public fiestas, and was often welcomed with applause. However the Audience was not as favorable to him. They feared that he would follow the North American example and declare independence from Spain, but there is no proof of that.

Eventually he became ill and was confined to bed. On November 8, 1786, he turned over all his duties to the Audience and died on November 30, 1786 in Mexico City at the early age of 40.  He was interred on the cemetery of San Fernando in Mexico city.  

Gálvez Street in New Orleans is named for him. Galveston Bay, Galveston, Texas, Galveston County, Texas, Gálvez, Louisiana and St.Bernard Parish, Louisiana were named after him. The Louisiana Parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana were named for his wife Marie Felice.  

In recognition of his work and help to the American cause, George Washington took him to his right in the parade of July 4, and the American Congress cited Gálvez for his aid during the revolution.  

There is an equestrian statue of him near the State Department Building in Washington D.C A portrait of his hangs in a Senate compact but ornate room decorated in rich golds and reds that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee uses to mark up bills and to host official coffees with heads of state.  

 Excerpted and summarized by Maria Rieger from Internet postings which were based on

1)    Caughey, John Walton (1998) Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana 1776-1783 (Pelican) and

2) Chávez, Thomas (2002) Spain and the Independence of the United States: An intrinsic gift.  University of New Mexico Press.

Source: Manuel Olmedo Checa m.olmedo@realsantelmo.org
Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@msu.edu


 

DNA

How a few Bronze Age forefathers 
gave rise to most of Europe's men
By Joseph Dussault, 
Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, MAY 22, 2015

New genetic research suggests that widespread population growth occurred in Europe 3,300 years ago – far more recently than previously thought. And according to a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, only a small number of men contributed to that growth.

As part of an international research collaboration, University of Leicester researcher Chiara Batini extracted DNA from the saliva and blood of 334 male participants. The men were all unrelated, and came from 17 different populations in Europe and the Middle East. Utilizing a process called next-generation sequencing, Dr. Batini and colleagues were able to organize large segments of DNA to highlight variations between the samples.

From there, researchers narrowed in on the sex-determining Y chromosome. The presence of the Y chromosome means a person is genetically male; by sequencing over 3.7 million base-pairs, researchers were able to reconstruct patrilineal (father to son) genealogies.

The origins of Europeans – and the extent to which “modern” European ancestries can be traced back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras – is widely debated. Batini and her colleagues found that 13 of the 17 populations studied underwent “very similar” expansions at roughly the same time, about 3,300 years ago.

“The [previous estimate] was that the Y chromosomes observed today were brought into Europe during the diffusion of agriculture between 10 and five thousand years ago,” Batini says. “Here, however, we observe a ubiquitous demographic expansion across Europe dating back only to the Bronze Age, thus much more recent than previously thought.”

But as populations grew in Bronze Age Europe, genetic diversity declined. In Batini’s genealogies, only some Y chromosomes were passed on. In other words, a shrinking pool of men were reproducing with a stable number of women.

“Yes, most European populations grew in number since 3,300 years ago,” Batini says, “but what we see is that only some Y chromosomes, or men, were involved in these expansions. This does not mean there were fewer men than women in terms of numbers, but that fewer men than women contributed to the following generation [by reproducing]. This might be due to social factors, such as power, resources, and wealth being more easily accessible to only some men at around 3,300 years ago.”

In a separate study published by Genome Research, scientists found a bottleneck in the genetic diversity of male lineages across five continents. That decline occurred somewhere between four and eight thousand years ago. Researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Cambridge attributed the shift to cultural changes – wealth and power became more important than biological fitness in matters of reproduction. As a result, roughly 17 women reproduced for every one man.

In some ways, these findings aren’t so surprising. Agricultural societies center around land and property. The more land and property you have, the more wealthy and powerful you can become. Batini and her colleagues are slowly unraveling a complex and intertwining genetic history in Europe, but their work also touches on loftier human concepts, namely, social stratification and human attraction to power.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0522/How-a-few-Bronze-Age-forefathers-gave-rise-
to-most-of-Europe-s-men  

Sent by John Inclan fromgalveston@yahoo.com 

SPANISH SURNAMES

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

The Great Family Reunion 

World’s Largest Family Reunion Event was Held in Salt Lake City, Utah June 6th
Downtown festival included free activities for the entire family 

Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico

Heroica Matamoro, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila 

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

The Great Family Reunion Wrap Up
June 18, 2015 By Deborah S. Gurtler

To satisfy attendees’ culinary tastes, there was an assortment of food trucks including Korean BBQ, crepes, hamburgers, Brazilian tacos, Korean tacos, Gourmet French Toast, and what every summer celebration needs – snow cones!H

 5 Strategies for Locating Your Ancestor's Immigration Record

Discovering an ancestor's name on a passenger list not only provides a vital link to the old country, but also brings to mind the uncertain journey and many sacrifices our ancestors must have made as they left their home, possessions, friends, and family for a new life in a new land. However, poor handwriting, misspelled or changed names, and a lack of information, can often make this a daunting task. Try one or more of these five expert strategies to locate your immigrant ancestor's arrival record. 

1. Narrow Down the Arrival Date
A variety of records available in the United States may make it possible to narrow down your ancestor's arrival date, if not the actual date of immigration or arrival. The 1930, 1920, 1910 and 1900 U.S. federal census, for example, recorded the year of immigration, when applicable. For earlier census records, the place of birth may prove useful in narrowing down the date of immigration in situations where some children were born in the United States and others in the old country. Obituaries may detail when an immigrant ancestor arrived in this country, or at least how many years they have lived here. Naturalization records created after Sept 1906 provide an immigrant's arrival details, including both the date and port of arrival.

Some immigrants also entered the U.S. more than once. It was common for men to arrive in the country to find work and get settled for a year or two prior to the arrival of their wife and children. Many immigrants (this was especially common for Italian emigrants, for example) came to the U.S. for work and then went home for a time—repeating this cycle multiple times.  Group of immigrants arriving in New York City - SuperStock / Getty SuperStock / Getty

3. Check out the Relatives
When you can't find the person you're really hoping to find, search for parents, siblings, children, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors—they may have either traveled with your ancestor, or their records may provide important clues to his origins. Relatives or neighbors who didn't travel with your ancestor may also be named on their passenger arrival manifest. U.S. passenger lists after early 1892 often include a column for final destination in the United States, which typically includes the name of a relative or friend living there. After 1907, passenger manifests also record the name and address of the nearest friend or relative in the old country. If you are unable to find an immigrant ancestor by searching for their name, use the advanced search tools available at stevemorse.org to search by the town of origin, or the name of the friend or relative they were joining. 

Still can't find them? Many immigrants traveled in groups or settled among friends from their town back in the old country. Looking for arrival records of close family friends and neighbors from your immigrant ancestor's new community may reveal his place of origin, or lead you to his arrival record.



Bob Hope arrived in New York City on March 29, 1908, aboard the American Line’s SS Philadelphia from Southampton, England. He came with his mother Avis and five brothers and sisters. You can find him on line 13 as Leslie Hope, the name he was born with.

National Archives and Records Administration


4. Play the Name Game
It's a myth that officials at Ellis Island "changed" immigrants’ names, but it wasn't uncommon for newly-arrived Americans to adopt an Americanized name upon arrival or shortly thereafter. When searching for your immigrant ancestor, consider ethnic equivalents of your ancestor's first name (e.g. Heinrich for Henry, Lorenz for Lawrence or Erzsébet for Elizabeth). New Americanized surnames are equally common (see Tips for Finding Alternate Surname Spellings and Variations). Sometimes married females may be found traveling under their maiden name.

To get past handwriting and spelling variations, try a wildcard search in which you use asterisks to replace one or more letters in a name. One popular strategy is to use a wildcard in place of each vowel. For Eastern European names, wildcards can be effective for replacing certain consonant clusters. Or forego the surname and search using other known details about your ancestor, such as birthplace, age, gender, and occupation. 

5. Go to the Source
Immigrant records were created at both ends of the journey, so when you can't find your ancestor coming into the U.S., it still may be possible to find them leaving the old country. 

 A group of immigrant boys standing outdoors
 in caps and coats, 1921. FPG/Getty Images

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

The Society of Hispanic Historical & Ancestral Research (SHHAR) invites the public to their July 11, 2015 meeting featuring speaker Irene Foster  who will present “From Humble Roots to Mars”, the story of the 1st five missions in Baja, California, Mexico and the families who worked and maintained them.

 Irene Foster has travel extensively in Baja and has a wealth of experiences to share on her subject.  She has an Associate Degree in Science in Geology from Cypress College and a B.A. and Masters Degrees from California State University Fullerton.  Her Master Thesis was titled:  “Early California Missions of  Baja, California, Mexico and the People that Settled Them”.  In her spare time she devotes to researching her family genealogy and history.

The free program, sponsored by SHHAR will be held at the Orange Family History Center, 674 S. Yorba Street, Orange, CA.

Genealogical research assistance will be available from 9 -10 a.m., and  Foster will speak from 10 -11:30 a.m.

For additional information, contact  Letty Rodella at lettyr@sbcglobal.net.

Eight high school students from Santa Ana 
have the right stuff for summer JPL internship
 by ihanigan

My Uncle David Torres, Orange High of Class of 1956 
by Bob Torres 

Santa Ana History Room Seeks community leaders 
to record Oral histories

Dear Community Member,

Everybody has a story to tell. As people pass on each year, we lose access to the stories that define who we are as a community. The Santa Ana History Room (SAHR) aims to document and preserve a record of the unsung heroes who work tirelessly to make the Santa Ana a better place to live and work. Oral histories are a way in which we can preserve these memories before it is too late.

Essentially, oral histories are extended interviews that attempt to record and preserve the lives and memories of individuals in their own words. It is a way in which daily experiences that would otherwise have been lost to history are preserved for future generations.

The SAHR is currently celebrating the 10 year anniversary of its first Community Oral History Project by conducting a City-Wide follow up. Ten years ago, community members shared their memories and helped to preserve a vital part of our City’s past. Because of their efforts, history that would have otherwise been lost is instead being preserved for future generations. We would like to cordially invite you and your organization to continue this tradition by preserving your memories of Santa Ana and the experiences that have shaped your lives.

The SAHR believes that history is a means by which we can all better understand ourselves and the world around us. Moreover we are excited to announce that our Teen Community Historians program will train a group of Teen and Young Adult volunteers to conduct oral histories. These young volunteers will learn from the experiences of interviewees as they set about creating their own memories in our community.

Please consider setting aside some time for an interview with our program & feel free to contact me regarding any questions about the project.

Sincerely, 
Manuel J. Escamilla
Archivist
Santa Ana History Room
Santa Ana Public Library 
mescamilla@santa-ana.org  
714-647-5280

Orange County Latinos in WWI, 
David Cantú Barkley, El Gran Capitán, don Alfredo Robinson, 
don Tomás Yorba, and don Juan de la Guerra

© Copyright Albert V Vela, Ph.D.

June 16, 2015

                                                            Introduction  

Monument honoring David Cantú Barkley, Laredo, Texas. Standing, José A Ramírez,  
Author, To the Line of Fire: Mexican Texans in World War I  

OC Author, Leo J Friis / Juan de la Guerra / Kleinigkeiten

Don José Antonio Julián de la Guerra y Noriega (1779-1858)  

Alfred Robinson, New England Merchant, ca. 1829

        “founded in the year 1776. . .the largest in the country, yet now in a dilapidated state, and the Indians are  much neglected. There yet remain the ruins of an immense church . . . destroyed by an earthquake in 1812,  when many Indians were buried in its fall. It still bears the appearance of having been one of the best  structures of the country, and the workmanship displayed in the sculpture upon its walls and its vaulted roof would command admiration in our country” (p 20),  

In the Robinson party are G, his compadre don Manuel and Chulo, don Manuel’s servant, “a kind of Sancho Panza to his master” leading the way (15). They continue their journey to Mission San Gabriel, “distant 20 leagues” (pp 20-21). He seems charmed by “Chulo” (literally means handsome but most likely not) who was “elated with the prospect of soon reaching the habitation of his “‘ladye-love’” (author’s quotes), resumed his whistling and shouting; and dashing forward among the animals furiously along the track.” This jaunt got the party to don Tomás Yorba’s rancho in a couple hours (p 21).  

         He describes the ranchero as “a tall, lean personage, dressed in all the extravagance of his country’s costume, received us at the door of his house. . .took me cordially by the hand. . .” (p 21). After dinner Robinson left the table to a spot in the corridor where he studied, unobserved, “the character and appearance of our host” (p 21).  

        “Upon his head he wore a black silk handkerchief, the four corners of which hung down his neck behind.  An embroidered shirt, a cravat of white jaconet tastefully tied, a blue damask vest, short clothes of crimson  velvet, a bright green cloth jack, with large silver buttons, and shoes of embroidered deer skin, comprised his dress. I was afterwards informed by don Manuel, that on some occasions, such as some particular feast day or festival, his entire display often exceeded in value a thousand dollars” (p 21). 
 

Don Antonio Lugo, baptized June 1778 Mission San Antonio  

El Pueblo de Los Angeles in 1857, 29 years after don Alfredo Robinson’s visit  

ávila adobe courtyard off Olvera St, El Pueblo Encarnación

Olivera St Square looking west toward Pico House / L.A. City Hall  
 

Painting of a California vaquero,circa 1850

Gentleman, circa 1850

De la Guerra Rancho 1890s Santa Barbara
  

Orange County’s World War I Veterans Roster

http://ocarchives.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=4270 

Sent by Al Vela, Ph.D. With special Thanks to Chris Jepsen, OC Archivist. .cristorey38@comcast.net 

This list of 93 Latino WWI Vets has been extrapolated from one forwarded to Al Vela by Chris Jepsen on June 03, 2015: "Orange County's World War I Veterans Roster." For the most part the names of towns are identified. It is highly possible that "Bolsa Precinct" includes Westminster. Interestingly, Bolsa is the most frequently cited at 19. 

The description provided mentions that "[T]he information was mainly collected in 1919, in anticipation of the Sept. 9, 1919 gathering of veterans at Orange County Park (now Irvine Regional Park). About 30,000 people attended the celebration." The list includes 1,649 service men and women. 

Some served "over there;" others in the U.S. At least 55 died in the field of battle. Index cards hold much information of some of the veterans: birthplace, residence, next of kin, and service record. Many cards contain "little more than a name." 

Tomás Sáenz and Al Vela chose Chicano names based on three criteria: surname, first name and intuition. Chris Jepsen emailed Al the list after reading an email commiserating that there is little or no information of Orange County Latinos having served en la Gran Guerra. In the meantime there are at least two books of Mexican American tejanos who fought in WWI: The World War I Diary of José de la Luz Sáenz, and To the Line of Fire: Mexican Texans and World War I by José A Rámirez. A forerunner of the two publications is the article by Carole E Christian: "Joining the American mainstream: Texas's Mexican Americans during World War I." It appeared in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. XCII, no. 4, (April 1988), pp 559-595. 

The list below is of servicemen from Orange County who served in WWI. . .
Thanks to Chris Jepsen, OC Archivist. . .much obliged, Chris.

LOS ANGELES, CA