Preserving the History of Dallas' Mexican Americans



~May 2016 Newsletter ~
 
CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER
Congratulations from DMAHL to FELIX LOZADA upon receiving an Honorary High School diploma from the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas on April 28, 2016, as he is about to turn 94 years young this month. Mr. Lozada is a native Dallasite and a life-long champion for his barrio, La Bajada and West Dallas. He is a well-recognized community activist and served in WWII in the Navy. In attendance were his long-time friends, the Honorable Anita N. Martinez, and the Honorable Trini Garza, both legacy award recipients by the Hispanic Organization for Genealogy and Research, the Latino Cultural Center and DMAHL. Thank you, Mr. Lozada, for all of your contributions to our community and for setting the example.


DMAHL congratulates our board member JANIS BERGMAN-CARTON, PH.D. upon her retirement from SMU, where she was Associate Professor of Art History with the Meadows School of the Arts.  Her retirement reception was held on Wednesday, April 17, 2016 at SMU, and Albert Valtierra, immediate past President, and spouse, Helen, attended on behalf of DMAHL. Janis has been, and continues to be, a great advisor and visionary for DMAHL.  We wish her much continued happiness in her newest stage in life.
 
ROSEMARY HINOJOSA, DMAHL Education Committee, was proud to announce at the April 30, 2016 board meeting that congratulations were in order to the Dallas ISD's Winnetka Elementary School Robotics Club students.  They just returned from National competition in Iowa, where they won first place in Programming, second in coding, and third in Leadership/Teamwork against 143 other teams from throughout the country. Even more remarkable, they competed in the Middle School competition!   DMAHL co-sponsored a bus tour of historical sites significant to Dallas' Mexican Americans for parents of Winnetka School students this past month, and this Oak Cliff school is very near and dear to our hearts!

ACTIVITIES
SAVE PIKE PARK!  Gardening Day at Pike Park on Saturday, April 22, 2016, was well-attended by volunteers planting new gardens. Several DMAHL members showed up to work, and several Parks and Recreation and Park Board officials were present. Planting and beautifying the landscape was Phase I in preparation for a plaque on a garden rock dedicated to SANTOS RODRIGUEZ, the 12-year-old boy killed at the hands of a Dallas policeman in his Little Mexico barrio in 1973 for an alleged robbery of $8.00 from a vending machine. A larger marker is scheduled for later this year, and DMAHL will keep you posted on the dedication date.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Preservation Dallas and  The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture bring together a panel of representatives from different cultural organizations in Dallas to explore their challenges and success stories in preserving their cultural heritage in a time when they no longer live in tight-knit communities in localized areas of the city. Panelists will be JUANITA H. NAÑEZ, President of the Dallas Mexican American Historical League; DEBRA POLSKY, Executive Director of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society; and GEORGE KEATON, Founder of Remembering Black Dallas. The panel will be moderated by LARRY ALLUMS, Director, Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.
 
Register at:   http://dallasinstitute.org/events/dallas-cultural-heritage/ 

Thursday, May 19, 6:30 to 8:00 pm with 6:00 reception
Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture
2719 Routh Street, Dallas 75201
Admission Free; Donations Welcome
 

Free Oral Histories Workshop.  Austin's Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESB-MACC) and the Voces Oral History Project at the University of Texas at Austin will present a training workshop, "Oral History to Document the Latina/o Experience," Saturday, May 28, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, at the ESB-MACC, 600 River St., Austin, TX, 78701.  The workshop is free.  To reserve a spot email your name, phone number and address to: voces@utexas.edu by Monday, May 16.
 
 




Barrio History Activities.  The El Pozo/City Park barrios annual reunion will be held on Saturday, 6/18/2016, at the Golden Corral, , 902 Towne Centre Dr., Mesquite, TX, 75150, 8:00-11:00 am. More information to come. (Pictured at left is Adela Martel in front of Alamo School)

  
To quote Dianne Solis, Dallas Morning News, in her September 16, 2016 article covering DMAHL's 2015 exhibit, The Untold Story: A Tribute to Dallas' Mexican American Veterans and Families, regarding SGT. CANDELARIO GARCIA, a Vietnam veteran and hero: "On that December day in 1968, Sgt. Candelario García braved intense enemy fire when he charged two machine gun bunkers to protect wounded colleagues and then rejoined his company to attack the remaining enemy positions in Vietnam. It was an act of courage worthy of the Medal of Honor - yet García never received that honor. He died in 2013 in his beloved hometown of Corsicana."
  
In 2014, Sgt. García posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor at the White House by President Obama. The Medal was accepted by his younger brother, MANUEL FLORES, of Grand Prairie. President Obama noted that Sgt. García and 23 others should have received the nation's highest honor were it not for prejudice against Latinos, Jews and African-Americans, and the record was now being set straight. Sgt. García was one of five Tejanos receiving the Medal. Sgt. García had received Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross.
  
And now, on Memorial Day, the City of Corsicana extends the following invitation to all:
  
The García Bronze Committee
Requests Your Presence at the Unveiling of
Sgt. Candelario "Spider" García, Jr's. Statuette to Commemorate our
"Corsicana Hometown Hero" Medal of Honor Recipient
  
Monday, May 30, 2016, 4:00 p.m.
Navarro County Courthouse
300 W. 3rd Ave., Veteran's Area (W Corner)
Corsicana, TX 75110
  
For more information, contact the Corsicana Parks and Recreation office at 903-654-4874
  

SPECIAL THANKS
DMAHL extends a special thank you to ALEX MARTINEZ for his outstanding presentation at the April 30, 2016 Board of Directors meeting, "Translating a Grandfather's Storytelling into a Texas State Marker." Sparked by stories he had grown up hearing from his grandfather tell in their hometown of Laredo, Texas, about Las Minas, Alex took us through his personal fascinating journey of obtaining a State of Texas Marker for a region of small forgotten coal mining towns in South Texas.
FEATURED PHOTO
from the DMAHL collection




The home in this c. 1939 photo was located at 2708 Laclede St. (between Worthington and Vine streets - now Uptown) was part of the northern Little Mexico barrio. It was the home of Francisco and Epigmenia Delgado. The Delgados came to Dallas in 1910 fleeing the Mexican Revolution. The home was purchased for them by their son, Pascual "Pat" Delgado, who with his half-brother, Manuel, owned the P&M Shoe Shop at 1600 McKinney Ave. next door to the original El Fenix restaurant. Pat and his spouse, Mary, had two children, Richard and Lydia Delgado Simpson, a DMAHL board member. Their next door neighbors (far right home in this photo) were the Ablon family. Photo Courtesy of Lydia Delgado Simpson

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is launching a new exhibit at the end of May called A Time for Greatness, which was JFK's slogan for his campaign.  The Museum is seeking anyone who might have been a member of the Viva Kennedy clubs in North Texas during Kennedy's 1960 campaign to add to their collections of Mexican-American oral histories and testimonials about this period of local history.    If you, or anyone you know, would be willing to share their memories, experiences and perspectives (even artifacts) as part of their oral history project, please contact:
 
 
Nicola Longford  
Executive Director
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
411 Elm Street, Dallas, TX 75202-3308
Main: 214.747.6660  |
Direct: 214.389.3001 
 

Do you have a photo that you would like to see featured in a future DMAHL Newsletter?  Please email digital photos with information about the photo content and your contact information, to:  susanpvega61@gmail.com.  The photos can be about community life, family, education, civic involvement, business, music, religion, the arts, military or sports.

MEMBERSHIP
For membership information, please email Membership at: fmgonzalez85@yahoo.com 
Our membership dues are $12.00 annually for individuals or $300 lifetime; students $5.00 annually; and corporate memberships are $500.00 annually.
2016 DMAHL BOARD of DIRECTORS
   
          Juanita H. Nañez       Albert González      Sara Quintanilla       Frank Valtierra 
                President              Vice President             Secretary              Treasurer 
 
                        Janis Bergman-Carton, Ph.D.                 Robbie Martinez 
                        Frank Bravo                                             Mike Plattero 
                        Gloria Cantú                                             Lydia Delgado Simpson  
                        Conchita Franco                                      Nellie Tafalla 
                        Richard Franco                                        Delfino Valdez 
                        Trini Garza                                               Jo Ann Valentin 
                        Frances González                                   Albert Valtierra 
                        Rosemary Hinojosa                                 Dorelia Valtierra 
                        Bessie Landin                                          Susan P Vega 
                        Pauline Marceleno. Laws                         Eloy Zamora 
 

2016 COMMITTEE CHAIRS
 
Executive:  Juanita H. Nanez 
Membership:  Frances Gonzalez
Communications:  Susan P Vega
Exhibits & Programs:  Albert Gonzalez
Finance:  Albert Gonzalez
Education:  Frank Bravo
Nominations:  Conchita Franco
2016 Cataloging/Archiving Project: Frank Valtierra
Barrio Historians:  Jo Ann Valentin, Gloria Cantu
Pike Park Preservation:  Albert Valtierra
Eagle Ford Preservation:  Rosemary Hinojosa

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