Follow

• 

  "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.

• 

  A Letter From Roma: African American Soldiers on the Rio Grande 1864-1867

  The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS)

  During the US Civil War, US Colored Troop regiments were stationed along the international border between the United States and Mexico. Arriving toward the end of the conflict along the Rio Grande in 1864, US Colored Troops not only played a part in the last land battle of the US Civil War at Palmito Ranch outside of Brownsville, Texas on May 12-13, 1865, but their regiments remained in the region once the war was over during ‘Reconstruction’ with the specific purpose of rebuilding or reconstructing the US Military forts along the river such as Fort Brown in Brownsville, Ringgold Barracks in Rio Grande City/Roma and Fort McIntosh in Laredo to name a few. A letter from Roma, Texas, written by Sgt. Major Thomas Boswell from the 116th US Colored Infantry was sent to tell his family in Kentucky and described what life was like for them in the village of Roma. The troops of the US Colored Infantry fought the closing battles of the Civil War along the Texas Mexico border and later protected that boundary line against lawlessness. Some of these soldiers remained in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and married into the local culture. The presence of the US Colored Infantry helped build and define our South Texas spirit.

• 

  And Then The Soldiers Were Gone: Fort Ringgold and Rio Grande City

  The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS)

  And Then The Soldiers Were Gone” is about the military base at Fort Ringgold that was established before the Civil War to protect the people of South Texas. It served as a military base for many years, until the 1940s, when the fort closed and the soldiers left Rio Grande City. The question that circulated within the city was what to do with the vacant base. Friction arose between those who wanted it to be a tuberculosis hospital and others who wanted it to be used as a center for education. Eventually, in 1949, the Rio Grande City Consolidated School District bought Fort Ringgold and it served as a school for decades for all students to attend. However, the divide between the people of Rio Grande City lingered. Then, in 2010, a project to research Fort Ringgold was created under then University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS). And in 2016, the idea for the documentary was born. It has earned spots in several film festivals and won awards such as The Award of Excellence in Research from the WRPN Short, Tight and Loose film Global Film Festival in 2018 and was a finalist: Best Domestic Feature, Documentary in the Fort Worth Indie Film Festival in 2018 and finalist: Best in Show, Documentary in the 2018 CARE Awards.

• 

  Atwood acres: a porción of Edinburg

  , Margaret E. Dorsey, Janette Garcia, and Roseann Bacha-Garza

  This is the UTPA CHAPS Program's third book telling the story of the origins of Edinburg and the beginnings of the institution that is The University of Texas-Pan American.

• 

  Bair Farms: a porción of Edinburg

  The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS), Juan L. Gonzalez, Ismael Aleman, and Roseann Bacha-Garza

  Among the early arrivals to the town of Edinburg was the Bair family of College Springs, Iowa. In 1920 they joined others, including the Heacocks who had arrived in 1913 and made the Rio Grande Valley their home. The families who were bonded together in the marriage of Dorothy Heacock and Lee Martin Bair were entrepreneurs in retail hardware and agriculture. They experienced droughts, hurricanes, and freezes with their attendant economic shortcomings which changed and often shortened lives. Their son Dwayne Bair would lead a life that included farming, citrus production, and banking. This is his story but also one of many others that called the Rio Grande Valley home.

• 

  Bicentennial Calendar of Brownsville, Texas: 1976

  A calendar containing photographs taken by Robert Runyon with brief accompanying histories.

• 

  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.) [1920s in review]

  Brownsville Herald Publishing Co.

  Newspapers clippings from the special issue of the Brownsville Herald. It highlights major events that occurred in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the world from 1922-1929.

• 

  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, Mark Gipson, University of Texas at Brownsville, Texas Southmost College, and University of Texas at Austin

  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.

• 

  Celaya Family Memories, 1927-1949

  Frederick J. Celaya and Marjorie M. Celaya

  Video recording of Frederick J. Celaya and Marjorie M. Celaya describing and identifying recorded pioneer family memories. The beginning reels are filmed primarily in downtown Brownsville and the vicinity by Jose (Joe) Celaya. The later reels were filmed by Charlie Celaya and feature daily life scenes in Brownsville, and some in Rio Grande City.

• 

  CHARACTERISTICS AND GENESIS OF EL SAUZ CHERT, AN IMPORTANT PREHISTORIC LITHIC RESOURCE IN SOUTH TEXAS

  Juan L. Gonzalez, James R. Hinthorne, Russell K. Skowronek, Thomas Eubanks, and Don Kumpe

  Stone tools ranging in age from Early Archaic (3500–6000 B.C.) to Late Prehistoric (A.D. 700 to historic times), made of a distinctive light gray but sometimes colorful chert, have been identified in private collections in south Texas for at least 50 years. The source of this stone, known in the archeological literature as “El Sauz chert,” are two small bedrock outcrops in Starr County associated with altered rhyolitic ash of the Catahoula Formation. Physical characteristics, field evidence and major element chemical composition are used to infer an in situ origin of the chert associated with the devitrification of the volcanic ash and the remobilization of silica by ground and meteoric water. Distinctive characteristics of El Sauz chert include abundant vugs, opalized veins, smeared colorations, high aluminum content, and pale yellowish-green fluorescence under short-wave ultraviolet light. These geologically distinctive characteristics distinguish this material from other cherts and, as a result, have important implications for archaeologists interested in prehistoric exchange and resource procurement.

• 

  Charro Days, 1938 February 24–27

  Charro Days, Inc.

  Booklet that serves as an invitation to and program schedule for the first annual Charro Days fiesta in Brownsville, February 24–27, 1938. The booklet also outlines traditions, including costumes, dance, and more.

  It includes a program of events and lists the Board of Directors and Committee Chairmen/women. Many local business are featured as advertisers and supporters of the Charro Days fiesta.

  CONTENT WARNING: This booklet contains language that is potentially harmful, including racist, outdated, biased, and other potentially offensive views that do not reflect the opinions or positions of UTRGV University Library.

• 

  Charro Days, 1941 February 20–23

  Charro Days, Inc.

  Booklet inviting attendees to the 4th Annual Gala Celebration of Charro Days, February 20–23, 1941 at Brownsville, Texas. The booklet describes the traditions surrounding the event, including dress, history, and culture.

  It includes a program of events and lists the Board of Directors and Committee Chairmen/women.

  Booklet published by Shelton Bros. Artwork by Genevieve Armstrong.

  CONTENT WARNING: This booklet contains language that is potentially harmful, including racist, outdated, biased, and other potentially offensive views that do not reflect the opinions or positions of UTRGV University Library.

• 

  Charro Days Brochure

  Charro Days, Inc.

  Brochure advertising Charro Days activities and events in Brownsville

• 

  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.

• 

  Cotton Times: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail

  The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS)

  The Rio Grande Valley of Texas played an important role in global economic trade during the US Civil War. Once the Rio Grande became the natural and international border between the US and Mexico at the end of the Mexican American War in 1848, it became an international waterway and therefore neutral territory during the US Civil War in 1861 – 1865. When President Lincoln put his blockade on the Confederacy, the only way Texans and people from states such as Louisiana and Arkansas could get their cotton to market was to take their cotton across the Rio Grande into Mexico and take their bales of cotton down the river either by steamboat or by wagon to Bagdad at the mouth of the river where ships from all over the world were waited to purchase this cotton. Citizens of the region viewed these times as “Los Algodones” or “Cotton Times.” Not only did this trade allowed the Confederacy to continue funding its operations but several regional merchants were able to get rich from this trade.

• 

  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.

• 

  De las porciones a las colonias: La fuerza del aprendizaje con enfoque local y comunitario dentro de la educación desde el preescolar hasta la preparatoria - Un estudio de caso desde El Valle del Río Grande de Texas

  University of Texas--Pan American. Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools Program (CHAPS), Edna C. Alfaro, Roseann Bacha-Garza, Margaret E. Dorsey, Sonia Hernández, and Russell K. Skowronek

  El proyecto titulado De las porciones a las colonias: la fuerza del aprendizaje con enfoque local y comunitario dentro de la educación desde el preescolar hasta la preparatoria es una iniciativa que redefine la importancia del aprendizaje con relevancia cultural en las aulas escolares de la actualidad, cada vez más diversas en la composición de su alumnado. Mediante la integración de un enfoque interdisciplinar que incluye la Antropología, la Arqueología, la Biología, la Geología y la Historia, el programa CHAPS presenta un método eficiente para brindar apoyo a los profesores de El Valle del Río Grande a la hora de elaborar currículos escolares con relevancia cultural, a la par que se satisfacen los requisitos educativos establecidos a nivel estatal y federal.

  Patrocinador: The National Endowment for the Humanities

• 

  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