The exhibit will be on view from September 16, 2024 – October 31, 2024
at the Northwest Vista College Library - Redbud Learning Center (RLC)
Campus map: Redbud Learning Center (RLC)
Free and open to the public.
History - This guide will provide general historical information on the the matanzas (massacres) and the response from the Mexican American community along the Texas-Mexico border.
About the Refusing to Forget Project (RTF)
Connection to NVC: The significance of the Refusing to Forget (RTF) Public History Project to Northwest Vista College.
NVC Library Reading List: A list of circulating items related to the topic.
Resources: Suggested links and sources for further research.
Exhibit Bibliography: - complete list of items displayed in the exhibit artefact room.
The exhibit tells the story of the historical period in Texas known as La Matanza ("The Massacre" or "the Slaughter") and the resilient spirit of the Mexican American community that endured state-sanctioned violence along the Texas-Mexico border. Historians have called it one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Calls for justice helped launch a civil rights movement.
This exhibition, originally produced by the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in partnership with the nonprofit Refusing to Forget, contains photographs, court documents, letters, and special collection artifacts. This traveling exhibition has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Sustaining Humanities through the American Rescue Plan in partnership with the American Historical Association. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the American Historical Association or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Within the last few decades there has been a active response from scholars researching this topic. The Refusing To Forget project is just one example of recent efforts to research and teach about this forgotten history of the Texas border region. Refusing to Forget is an award-winning education non-profit that hopes to bring public awareness to this often forgotten period, and raise the profile of a struggle for justice and civil rights that continues to influence social relationships today.
NVC played a role in the creation of this award-winning project "Life and Death on the Border: 1910-1920." In 2014, NVC MAS hosted the Tejas Foco Conference, which is a regional association of the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies, or NAACS. Conference Co-organizers were Dr. June Pedraza and Corina Gonzalez-Stout. Over 300 scholars, artists, students, faculty, and community members attended the conference that weekend. At the conference, a group of historians collaborated and decided to form the RTF project. Many of the old-time MAS committee members are so proud of this event and the founding members of RTF bear a special affinity for our college as a result.
Conference Committee: Anival Gonzalez Yalitza Guerra Yndalecio Hinojosa Natalia Trevino Arturo Vazquez Tommy Vela James Puente Carlos Acosta Neil Lewis Hector Trevino Diane DeLaGarza Dr. Homer Guevara Mike Munoz Sabrina Carey Lynne Dean Eli Tarin Dom C Dr. Teresita Aguilar (OLLU) Dr. Liliana Saldana (UTSA) Dr. Keta Miranda (UTSA) Dr. Josie Mendez-Negrete (UTSA) Leo Trevino (UTSA) Sonya Hernandez (UTSA) Juan Tejeda (Palo Alto).
Border Renaissance by
The Texas Centennial of 1936, commemorated by statewide celebrations of independence from Mexico, proved to be a powerful catalyst for the formation of a distinctly Mexican American identity. Confronted by a media frenzy that vilified "Meskins" as the antithesis of Texan liberty, Mexican Americans created literary responses that critiqued these racialized representations while forging a new bilingual, bicultural community within the United States. The development of a modern Tejana identity, controversies surrounding bicultural nationalism, and other conflictual aspects of the transformation from mexicano to Mexican American are explored in this study. Capturing this fascinating aesthetic and political rebirth, Border Renaissance presents innovative readings of important novels by María Elena Zamora O'Shea, Américo Paredes, and Jovita González. In addition, the previously overlooked literary texts by members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are given their first detailed consideration in this compelling work of intellectual and literary history. Drawing on extensive archival research in the English and Spanish languages, John Morán González revisits the 1930s as a crucial decade for the vibrant Mexican American reclamation of Texas history. Border Renaissance pays tribute to this vital turning point in the Mexican American struggle for civil rights.
Herencia : the Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States by
Herencia (meaning "inheritance" or "heritage") is the first anthology to bring together literature spanning the entire history of Hispanic writing in the United States, from the age of exploration to the present. The product of a ten-year project involving hundreds of scholars nationwide, Herencia is the most comprehensive literary collection available, covering over three centuries and including writers from all the major Hispanic ethnic communities as well as a broad sample of writing from diverse genres. Here is the voice of the conqueror and the conquered, the revolutionary and the reactionary, the native and the uprooted or landless. Of course, readers will find pieces by such leading writers as Piri Thomas, Luis Valdez, Isabel Allende, Oscar Hijuelos, and Reinaldo Arenas. But what truly distinguish this anthology are its historical depth and its rich, complex portrait of Hispanic literature in the United States. Beginning with Cabeza de Vaca's account of his explorations in the New World, the anthology includes a passage from La Florida, a narrative historical poem of 22,000 verses, written by Franciscan friar Alonso de Escobedo. It also features an attack on Mexican stereotypes in the nascent movie industry written by Nicasio Idar, editor of Laredo's La Cronica; and an essay about Coney Island written by revolutionary Jose Marti. Embracing Chicano, Nuyorican, Cuban American, and Latino writings, the voices of immigrants and the voices of exiles, Herencia makes a vital contribution to our understanding not only of Hispanic writing in the United States, but also of the great contribution Hispanics have made to the United States.
The Injustice Never Leaves You by
Winner of the Caughey Western History Prize Winner of the Robert G. Athearn Award Winner of the Lawrence W. Levine Award Winner of the TCU Texas Book Award Winner of the NACCS Tejas Foco Nonfiction Book Award Winner of the María Elena Martínez Prize Frederick Jackson Turner Award Finalist "A page-turner...Haunting...Bravely and convincingly urges us to think differently about Texas's past." --Texas Monthly Between 1910 and 1920, self-appointed protectors of the Texas-Mexico border--including members of the famed Texas Rangers--murdered hundreds of ethnic Mexicans living in Texas, many of whom were American citizens. Operating in remote rural areas, officers and vigilantes knew they could hang, shoot, burn, and beat victims to death without scrutiny. A culture of impunity prevailed. The abuses were so pervasive that in 1919 the Texas legislature investigated the charges and uncovered a clear pattern of state crime. Records of the proceedings were soon filed away as the Ranger myth flourished. A groundbreaking work of historical reconstruction, The Injustice Never Leaves You has upended Texas's sense of its own history. A timely reminder of the dark side of American justice, it is a riveting story of race, power, and prejudice on the border. "It's an apt moment for this book's hard lessons...to go mainstream." --Texas Observer "A reminder that government brutality on the border is nothing new." --Los Angeles Review of Books
The Lynching of Mexicans in the Texas Borderlands by
More than just a civil war, the Mexican Revolution in 1910 triggered hostilities along the border between Mexico and the United States. In particular, the decade following the revolution saw a dramatic rise in the lynching of ethnic Mexicans in Texas. This book argues that ethnic and racial tension brought on by the fighting in the borderland made Anglo-Texans feel justified in their violent actions against Mexicans. They were able to use the legal system to their advantage, and their actions often went unpunished. Villanueva's work further differentiates the borderland lynching of ethnic Mexicans from the Southern lynching of African Americans by asserting that the former was about citizenship and sovereignty, as many victims' families had resources to investigate the crimes and thereby place the incidents on an international stage.
The Plan de San Diego by
The Plan of San Diego, a rebellion proposed in 1915 to overthrow the U.S. government in the Southwest and establish a Hispanic republic in its stead, remains one of the most tantalizing documents of the Mexican Revolution. The plan called for an insurrection of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans in support of the Mexican Revolution and the waging of a genocidal war against Anglos. The resulting violence approached a race war and has usually been portrayed as a Hispanic struggle for liberation brutally crushed by the Texas Rangers, among others. The Plan de San Diego: Tejano Rebellion, Mexican Intrigue, based on newly available archival documents, is a revisionist interpretation focusing on both south Texas and Mexico. Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler argue convincingly that the insurrection in Texas was made possible by support from Mexico when it suited the regime of President Venustiano Carranza, who co-opted and manipulated the plan and its supporters for his own political and diplomatic purposes in support of the Mexican Revolution. The study examines the papers of Augustine Garza, a leading promoter of the plan, as well as recently released and hitherto unexamined archival material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation documenting the day-to-day events of the conflict.
Reverberations of racial violence : critical reflections on the history of the border by
"The edited collection examines violence against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas between 1910 and 1920, perpetrated by strangers, neighbors, vigilantes, and especially law enforcement officers. It also chronicles the efforts of José Tomas Canales, who called for an investigation into the violence committed by Texas Rangers, inspiring a new era of Mexican-American civil rights activism in Texas"-- Provided by publisher.
Revolution in Texas by
In Revolution in Texas, Benjamin Johnson tells the little-known story of one of the most intense and protracted episodes of racial violence in United States history. In 1915, against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the uprising that would become known as the Plan de San Diego began with a series of raids by ethnic Mexicans on ranches and railroads. Local violence quickly erupted into a regional rebellion. In response, vigilante groups and the Texas Rangers staged an even bloodier counterinsurgency, culminating in forcible relocations and mass executions. eventually collapsed. But, as Johnson demonstrates, the rebellion resonated for decades in American history. Convinced of the futility of using force to protect themselves against racial discrimination and economic oppression, many Mexican Americans elected to seek protection as American citizens with equal access to rights and protections under the US Constitution.
War along the Border by 
Working Women into the Borderlands by
In"Working Women into the Borderlands," author Sonia Hernandez sheds light on how women s labor was shaped by US capital in the northeast region of Mexico and how women s labor activism simultaneously shaped the nature of foreign investment and relations between Mexicans and Americans. As capital investments fueled the growth of heavy industries in cities and ports such as Monterrey and Tampico, women s work complemented and strengthened their male counterparts labor in industries which were historically male-dominated.As Hernandez reveals, women laborers were expected to maintain their proper place in society, and work environments were in fact gendered and class-based. Yet, these prescribed notions of class and gender were frequently challenged as women sought to improve their livelihoods by using everyday forms of negotiation including collective organizing, labor arbitration boards, letter writing, creating unions, assuming positions of"confianza"( trustworthiness ), and by migrating to urban centers and/or crossing into Texas.Drawing extensively on bi-national archival sources, newspapers, and published records, "Working Women into the Borderlands"demonstrates convincingly how women s labor contributions shaped the development of one of the most dynamic and contentious borderlands in the globe."
Refusing to Forget: In the Press, a collection of articles and stories. 2016-present.
Life and Death – List of Names
Kelly Lytle Hernández's book, Bad Mexicans, tells the story of the rebels who fled from Mexico to the U.S. to publish an oppositional newspaper that would help spark revolution in Mexico.
Texans had divergent reactions to revolution in Mexico.
It’s better late than never that Texas is fully acknowledging state-sanctioned violence that took place along the Mexican border a century ago.
The traveling panel exhibit, Life and Death on the Border: 1910-1920, highlights the matanza, or massacre — a period of state-sanctioned violence that some historians estimate killed anywhere from 500 to 5,000 ethnic Mexicans in Texas in the early 20th century.
For more resources visit the "Additional Resources" page.
