Lower Rio Grande Valley

Historical photographs, letters, documents, books, pamphlets, and other publications concerning southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

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"A Bunch of Tough Hombres": Police Brutality, Municipal Politics, and Racism in South Texas

Brent M. S. Campney

“Everybody knew the McAllen police were a bunch of tough hombres, especially the Boys on C shift,” reported the Dallas Morning News on March 29, 1981. “Working the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift along the border is like being at war, the cops said. You have to be tough. The Boys on C shift worked at being tough.” Many of the “Boys” wore black T-shirts with gold letters bearing “the legend, ‘C Shift Animals.’ They even had their own slogan: ‘Kick…and Ask Questions Later.’ ” Only days earlier, the public had become aware of their misdeeds, revealed in six years of booking room videos recorded by the McAllen Police Department (MPD) and subpoenaed by a civil rights attorney. On these videos Anglo and Mexican American officers alike confirmed suspicions that they had beaten, kicked, and abused prisoners—in virtually all cases, working-class Mexican Americans.
Additional studies in Rio Grande Valley history

Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, and Antonio Zavaleta

Border birding, a poem / Chip Dameron -- The curse, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- River boundaries of Texas : the Louisiana-Texas borderland and Lower Rio Grande Valley in comparative perspective 1700-1850 / Francis X. Galan -- Testamentos de Reynosa 1770-1820 / Pedro Antonio Campos Rodriguez -- La Guerra de 1847 y la inevitibilidad ‘retorica’ de la derrota / Arturo Zarate Ruiz -- The dead man’s bride, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- Emmanuel Domenech in the Rio Grande Valley, 1851-1853 / Santiago Escobedo -- Don Juan Jose de Solis, Albert Champion, the border cattle raids, and the birth of the cattle kingdom / Frank Champion Murphy -- Two shots in the dark : the murder of Michael Schodts / Bill Young -- The life and times of Robert Kane : miner, soldier, fireman, barber and family man / Don Clifford -- The ghost car, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- Jose Esparza : a worthy son of a worthy father / Milo Kearney & Tony Pineda -- The R.B. Creager and Carlos G. Watson papers come to the Hunter Room / John Hawthorne -- Henry Gordon : a life devoted to law enforcement in Brownsville / Elizandro Munoz Jr. -- An interview with Antonio M. Ramirez / Rolando L. Garza -- Rolando Hinojosa : Tejano writer / Manuel Medrano -- A brief look at the political career of Ygnacio ‘Nacho’ Garza / James W. Mills -- The lady and her daughter in white, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- Living with Brownsville’s Resacas / Mimosa Stephenson -- Personajes e instituciones en la salud publica de Matamoros / Rosaura Davila de Cuella -- Reptile stories and myths along the Lower Rio Grande (Rio Bravo) / Norman L. Richard -- Morality and gender in Reynosa in the 1920s and 1930s / Sonia Hernandez -- Short stories and sound bites from the UTB Hunter Room’s Brownsville Chamber of Commerce files / Robin Robinson -- Sand, sun, set, and match: the story of beach volleyball on South Padre Island / Helmut Langerbein -- A history of the Texas Tropical Trail Heritage Tourism program in the Rio Grande Valley / Kimberlee D. Garza -- The medic, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- The Protestant presence in Cameron Country, Texas: 1850-1870: an examination of census data / J. Steven Rice -- Benedictine education and monasticism in the Rio Grande Valley / Cipriano A. Cardenas -- How reconstruction changed the meaning of red and blue in Brownsville / Lyon Rathbun -- El gobierno municipal de la Heroica Matamoros, Tamaulipas, en 1897 / Andres F. Cuellar -- The Brownsville Historical Association’s first sixty years / Anthony Knopp -- Los dos niños, a folktale / Peter Gawenda -- Remembering the Tandy’s / James W. Mills -- Tell them who you are : honoring pioneer families of el Rio Brave del Norte / Anthony Noe Zavaleta -- Hurricane season, a poem / Chip Dameron.
Birdsongs

Jan Seale and Carl Seale

Chamber music (vocal and instrumental). Voice, piano and flute, six songs. Also on CD: 4 and 4a. Text by: Jan Epton Seale.

Mourning Dove -- Roadrunner -- Drinking a cardinal -- Gold-fronted woodpecker -- A prayer concerning chachalaca -- In late day.
Brief history of Brownsville and Matamoros

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College

A list of major historical events that have occured in Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
Brownsville herald (Brownsville, Tex.) 50th Anniversary Edition

Brownsville Herald Publishing Co.

A year by year chronology of Valley history from 1892 to 1942, published by The Brownsville Herald on December 6, 1942. (Note: pages from this edition not related to the topic have been intentionally omitted)
Brownsville, Texas, Fort Brown & Matamoros, Mexico - Original souvenir albums of all American & Canadian cities & sceneries

W. H. Chatfield and Chisolm Bros.

General view of Brownsville -- Elizabeth st. south end -- Twelfth st. looking east -- Mexican jacales -- Steamboat landing, Rio Grande River -- Rio Grande Railroad depot and repair shots -- Grammar school building -- Brothers college -- Convent school -- Corner of Market Square -- Episcopal church and rectory -- Presbyterian church -- Catholic cathedral -- City market and plaza -- Convent -- General view of Fort Brown -- Summer uniform -- Headquarters -- Cathedral and Custom house -- United States Consulate -- Headquarters of 4th Military Zone -- A corner of the plaza -- Street scene: Abasolo & 7th sts. -- Opera house -- Old Spanish church -- City market -- Ferries over Rio Grande and Custom offices -- County court house -- Water carts -- H. E. Woodhouse home, Thomas Carson home -- S. W. Brooks home -- Emilio C. Forto home -- William Kelly home -- View west from court house -- Antonio Yznaga residence -- Residence of Robert Dalzell -- View from north court house.
Cameron County/Matamoros at the Crossroads: Assets and Challenges for Accelerated Regional and Binational Development

David V. Gibson, Pablo Rhi-Perez, Margaret Cotrofeld, Oralia De Los Reyes, and Mark Gipson

Study of assets and challenges for knowledge-based economic development in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Includes demographic, economic, and education data for the region, as well as results of a survey of government and business leaders concerning economic development strategy.

© 2003 by UTB-CBIRD and IC² Institute.
Collection of works by faculty and staff - 2009

University of Texas at Brownsville

This annual publication provides a listing of books, journals, videocassettes, compact discs, and software produced by various faculty and staff of the former University of Texas at Brownsville.
Continuing studies in Rio Grande Valley history

Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, and Antonio Zavaleta

Coming to the Valley, a poem / Vivian Kearney -- The ghosts of historic Palmito Hill Ranch / Antonio N. Zavaleta -- Against the odds : Dr. Juliet V. García, border educator / Manuel F. Medrano -- Lucile Champion's Brownsville : remembrances of another time / Frank Champion Murphy -- The restored courthouse and Judge Oscar Dancy / Anthony Knopp -- Francesco Voltaggio and the Port Isabel shrimp industry / Virginia Voltaggio Wood -- Mario Barrera : a border success story / Milo Kearney -- Selected figures from the Sierra/Valerio family history / Luciano Valerio Sierra and Amy Sierra Frazier -- The Cisneros family in the history of Raymondville / Ruby Cisneros Casteel -- Historia de la Aduana de Matamoros / V.A. Javier Huerta Castañeda -- The interconnected newspapers of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas / John Hawthorne and Jessica Guzmán -- The Brownsville city cemetery / Eugene Fernandez -- Arte y cultura en Matamoros / María Luisa Pacheco -- The last battle of the Mexican American War : the United States of America versus the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College / Antonio N. Zavaleta -- A critique of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the border wall in the Rio Grande Valley / Terence M. Garrett -- The feminization of political office in Brownsville : the Brownsville City Commission election of 2009 / Gabriela Sosa Zavaleta -- Lost but not found : accommodation in Oscar Casares' Brownsville / Mimosa Stephenson -- Leaving the Valley, a poem / Vivian Kearney.
Daily review (Edinburg, Tex.) [Centennial Edition] 100 Years of History Hidalgo County_Part 01

The Daily Review and Allan Engleman

Faithful Falcons / Aida Barrera -- Fathers of the Valley–1800 / Dorothy McWhorter -- Hidalgo's Two Musketeers-1905 / Shirley Ann Wallace -- Royal Salt Mine-1730 / Dorothy Burnett -- Citrus King Of Texas-1892 / Jackie Lee Carter -- Edinburg Gets County Seat-1908 / Vilma Gorena -- Legend Of Juan Grande-1820 / Frances Garza -- Valley Terminology-1802 / Joyce Jean Turner -- Martyr of Hidalgo-1854 / Sara S. Weaver -- El Mesquite-1528 / Mary K. Elliott -- First Commissioners' Meeting-1852 / Morgan Groves -- Texas Mustang-1785 / Wanda Davis -- Oil In The Valley-1910 / Otto Woods -- Early Hidalgo Transportation / Dora Mae Kelley -- Better Roads Worst Need-1852 / Morgan Groves -- County Land Grants-1798 -- White Gold Of Bagdad-1840 / Margaret Looney -- A Trip To La Coma Ranch-1903 / Hidalgo Advance -- First Commissioner's Meeting-1852 -- Edinburgh-Circa 1893 / W. H. Chatfield -- A. Y. Baker, Political Ruler-1920 / Allan Engleman -- Border Patrol-1924 -- Battle of Ojo De Agua [Ojo de Agua Raid]-1915 / Louis Consler -- Vegetable and Citrus-1902 / W. H. Friend -- County Agriculture Statistics-1890 / W. H. Chatfield.
Daily review (Edinburg, Tex.) [Centennial Edition] 100 Years of History Hidalgo County_Part 02

The Daily Review and Allan Engleman

William Jennings Bryan-1909 / Jon Dee Lawrence – Lea H. McNelly, Texas Ranger-1870 / E. Neil Fesler -- Laguna Seca Ranch-1870 / Robbie Wolfe -- Panama Canal Aids Valley-1911 / E. G. Manning -- John Closner, Hidalgo lawman-1890 / Dora Mae Kelley -- Indians In The Valley-1000 / Robert Hodges -- Dr. J. M. McMillan, Pioneer-1904 / Early Hidalgo Ranches-1893 / W. H. Chatfield -- Nathaniel Jackson-1858 / Mary Alice Ramirez -- Tales of Monte Christo [Montecristo]-1910 / Otto Woods -- The Wonderful Valley-1952 -- Colonization of Hidalgo-1747 / History of Monte Christo [Montecristo]-1860 -- Rio Grande Entertainment-1800 / Alma Nelda Barrera -- La Coma Ranch-1903 / Hidalgo Advance -- The Rio Grande-1860 / Wanda Davis -- Last Battle of Civil War-1865 / Betty Jean Silver -- Irrigation Enters Valley-1847 / Jim Farmer -- La Sierrita Treasures-1860 / Kathleen Heaton -- Hidalgo Cattle Brands-1852 -- Orange Comes To Texas-1873 / Henry Hall, Jr. -- Peace Maker of The Valley-1860 / Jack Alexander – Karankawa Indians-1800 / Doris Jeanne Foutz -- John McAllen, 'Scotsman Invader'-1852 / John Preston -- First Land Grant-1768 / John Dee Lawrence -- The County's Father-1753 / Shirley Sampson.
Extra studies in Rio Grande Valley history

Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta, and Thomas Daniel Knight

Vaqueros del Valle, a poem / Manuel Medrano – Matamoros and the Tejanos of Victoria and Goliad in the Texas Revolution: conflicting loyalties and ‘Assiduous Collaborators’ / Craig H. Roell – Antonio Canales Rosillo / James Mills – The origins of Salome Balli McAllen / Thomas Daniel Knight – Sally Skull: the legend / Sondra Shands – The Kawahata Family comes to the Valley / Randall Sakai – The Battle of Reynosa / Jesus Ramos – Los dias siguientes a la toma de Matamoros por los Constitucionalistas / Andres Cuellar – H-E-B: an American and Valley success story / Norman Rozeff – Algunas revistas culturales de Matamoros de 1940 a 1951 / Rosaura Alicia Davila – Valerio Longoria --- for a quarter a song / Manuel Medrano – Hometown hero: technical Sergeant Noe R. Gonzales, B-17 flying fortress radio operator / Noe E. Perez – Hidalgo County jury duty, 1954-1960 / Rene Rios – Little steps by giants: a story of two minority groups working together for racial equality in Edinburg, Texas / Marissa Marmolejo and Thomas De La Cruz – Timeless chaos: Hurricane Beulah’s march through the Lower Rio Grande Valley, September 1967 / Fernando Ortiz Jr. – This one is for the masses: a (re)telling of South Texas and its people / Topacio Santivañez – Migrant children and safe houses in the Tamaulipas-Texas border region / Oscar Misael Hernandez-Hernandez – The inception of the idea of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley / Peter Gawenda – Ephemeral Valley unity and the legislative creation of UTRGV / Anthony Knopp and Alma Ortiz Knopp – The newest university in the 21st Century: the challenges of creating UT-RGV / Michael L. Faubion – Attitudes toward immigration policy partisanship and ethnorace: a view from La Frontera / Jessica Lavariega Monforti and Adam McGlynn – Interview with Patricia Cisneros Young about South Texas tales: stories my father told me / Mimosa Stephenson – The transmigration of popular religion: praxis and renewal of syncretic faith across the U.S.-Texas frontier / Antonio Noe Zavaleta – Creating the Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail / Roseann Bacha-Garza, Christopher L. Miller, and Russel K. Skrowonek – “Raspa man” a poem / Manuel Medrano -- Contributors
Fresh studies in Rio Grande Valley history

Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta, and Thomas Daniel Knight

Jim Wells, George Parr, Pepe Martin, and Gene Falcón: the spirit of ‘’El Patrón’’ along the Rio Grande of South Texas / Billy Hathorn -- The other underground railroad / Rolando Avila -- Frank Ellis Ferree, humanitarian / Norman Rozeff -- Chip Dameron's Rio Grande Valley: center of a narrowing universe / Ronny Noor -- Historia de la education superior en la ciudad de H. Matamoros, Tamaulipas / Miguel Sesis Botti y Maria Elena Flores Montalvo -- The quest for a public library for Brownsville / Anthony K. Knopp and Alma Ortiz Knopp -- Las Palomas Wildlife management area: a hidden natural jewel of the Rio Grande Valley / Noe E. Perez -- La Beulah: remembering the eye of the storm / Manuel F. Medrano -- Migracion en Matamoros: un laboratorio de la complejdad migratoria en la frontra Mexico-Estados Unidos / Cirila Quintero Ramirez -- Coyotes en accion: relatos de traficantes de migrantes en Reynosa / Oscar Misael Hernandez-Hernandez -- Border Walls, DREAMers and Trump: politics, policy and banality of evil / Terence M. Garrett and Paul J. Pope -- The social, political, and environmental forces contributing to the immigration crisis at the Texas-Mexico border / Mitchell A. Kaplan -- Las violencias sociales y la imparticion de la justicia en Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas / Arturo Zarate Ruiz -- U.S.-Mexico border spillover violence 2010-2019 / Antonio N. Zavaleta -- La fiebre polca, a poem / Susana Nevarez Marquez.
Further studies in Rio Grande Valley history

Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, and Antonio Zavaleta

Salt: basis of wealth in South Texas / David J. Mycue -- The Zavaleta Family : a legacy of public service / Antonio N. Zavaleta and James E. Zavaleta with Theresa Zavaleta -- Carnaval y fiestas Mexicanas de Matamoros / Rosaura Alicia Davila -- A history of the development of Brazos Santiago Pass / Carl Chilton -- El Retraso espanol y su interes final por la colonizacion del Bajo Bravo / Arturo Zarate Ruiz - Fugitive slaves and free Blacks in South Texas / Alberto Rodriguez -- reporting from the Rio Grande : how the press saw the Brownsville area before, during, and after the Civil War / Bill Young -- The international entanglements at the Battles of Palmito Ranch / Lyon Rathbun -- The secret mission of Lew Wallace / Sondra Shands -- The legacy of the Texas Rangers on the Texas-Mexico border in light of the emergence of the Texas Minutemen / Joseph E. Chance and Milo Kearney -- The Brownsville Herald and the changing views of local German Americans and Mexican Americans during World War 1 / Gerhard Grytz -- Promoting Valley tourism in the 1920s : a case of competition and ambivalence / Robin Robinson -- Conflicto del Municipio con la Compania de Luz y Fuerza / Andres F. Cuellar -- A history of the Los Fresnos Chamber of Commerce / James A. Keillor -- Adios Harlingen A.F.B.! : a look at a community's response to the closing of Harlingen Air Force Base, 1962-1970 / Thomas Britten -- Coping with obstacles to development in the Rio Grande Valley : competitive issues in Brownsville and Matamoros / Anthony Knopp -- a brief history of the architecture of Port Isabel and the Laguna Madre area / Edward P. Meza -- The muse of art in the Brownsville Region / Milo Kearney and Carlos G. Gomez -- Street names of Brownsville / Mimosa Stephenson -- From terror in Eastern Europe to Southern Texas : Holocaust survivors in Brownsville / Helmut Langerbein -- Marshall C. Nichols, manager of the Charro Drive-in, 1950-1961 / Milo and Vivian Kearney -- A memoire of the Brownsville Alliance Francaise / Milo and Vivian Kearney -- Tombside tales / Chula T. Griffin -- Culture pioneers of the Valley : Narciso Martinez and Americo Paredes / Manuel Medrano -- Filemon B. Vela : justice on the border / Roman R. Perez -- Yolanda Gonzalez Zuniga : una mujer de accion / Elia Garcia Cruz.
Hidalgo Irrigation Pumphouse : Preserving Hidalgo Heritage

Lauraine Miller and Hidalgo Chamber of Commerce
Historical Landmarks of Brownsville Part 1

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
Historical Landmarks of Brownsville Part 2

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
Historical Landmarks of Brownsville Part 3

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
Historical Landmarks of Brownsville Part 4

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
Historical Landmarks of Brownsville Part 5

University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
Imagining more : strategic plan 2008-2012

University of Texas at Brownsville
In Rio Grande Valley Paradise : Sharyland : where nature produces the world's sweetest citrus fruits

Southwestern Land Company (Mission, Tex.)

Hand-colored promotional booklet highlighting the Southwestern Land Company in Mission, Texas.
Kraigher house by Richard Neutra, Brownsville, Texas

University of Texas at Brownsville

In 2005, The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College entered into an agreement with the city of Brownsville to restore the nearby, endangered Kraigher House, a gem designed by renowned architect Richard Neutra.
Lloyd's magazine - The story of the Rio Grande Valley and other big features

Everett Lloyd

Black and white magazine. Story pertaining to the Rio Grande Valley: "The truth about the Rio Grande Valley and its builders".
Los Del Valle Oral History Project

Manuel F. Medrano

The Los del Valle Oral History Project began in 1992 with the objectives of collecting and preserving the historical recollections of people in South Texas researched by scholars and underdocumented in archives and publlshed research. Some interviewees have received national acclaim, such as folklorist and scholar Americo Paredes, conjunto pioneers Narciso Martinez and Eva Ybarra, writer Carmen Tafolla and Medal of Honor recipient Jose M. Lopez. Also included are Benito Trevino, ethnobotanist from Rio Grande City and Mary Helen Berlanga, educational proponent from Corpus Christi. This is one of the first oral history collections about Mexican Americans in Texas to be preserved on videotape. Thirty edited volumes and numerous unedited profiles are on loan at the Latin American Studies Collection in the Nettie Benson Library at the University of Texas at Austin.