Tejana Women Who Made History

HOUSTON, Texas (By Barbara Karkabi, Houston Chronicle) August 23, 2004 - There was a time when Texas women's contribution to the state rated little more than a paragraph in a textbook.

That made a lot of people mad, including Ruthe Winegarten, who has spent more than 20 years tracking that history down.

As a researcher for the ground-breaking, early-'80s exhibit Texas Women -- A Celebration of Texas History, she helped put Texas women on the map. That multiethnic exhibit included more than 100 objects and memorabilia of both famous and little-known Texas women, and toured the state for several years.

Winegarten continued to write about Texas women, including several award-winning books, Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph and Capitol Women: Texas Female Legislators, 1923-1999.

Her latest, Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History, co-authored by Teresa Palomo Acosta, who describes herself as a Chicana poet, traces the lives of hundreds of Mexican-American women, from 1700 to 2000. Also included are a timeline and a list of 50 notable Tejana women.

"I feel like it's the last major book of that kind that I wanted to do," said Winegarten, 74. "Part of our motivation was the fact that children of Mexican origin have very little in the curriculum. Since these children are going to be the majority, we felt this book could be a resource for teachers and leaders."

Winegarten and Acosta, 54, worked on the book for two years and proved to be a great match. As a research associate for the Texas State Historical Association, Acosta wrote numerous entries on women for the New Handbook of Texas. She now works for the Texas Legislature.

Here is what they had to say about the book and its making:

How did the two of you divide your work on the book?

Winegarten: I concentrated on researching the material, especially the photographs, while Teresa wrote most of the book. I worked really hard on digging up information on women in the colonial period, because no one knows a lot about that. For instance, the early women ranchers wielded a lot of influence and controlled a lot of money. It sets the stage for all that comes afterward.

Why do you use the term "Tejanas," as opposed to Hispanic or Mexican-American?

Acosta: It made the most sense culturally. I grew up in Texas as a woman of Mexican descendants, and the terms "Tejano" and "Tejana" seemed culturally and historically more encompassing of our experience. I feel personally more friendly about the term "Hispanic" than I did in the past, but it doesn't really define us; we are too much a "mestizo" people. (mestizos are part Spanish or Portuguese and part American Indian.)

Autman Collection, El Paso Public Library. From Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History. In 1913, Tejanas pack cigars at the Kohlberg Cigar Factory in El Paso.

Winegarten: We organized the book chronologically, but after we got to the 20th century, we broke it down into subjects, such as life in rural and urban Texas from 1900 to 1940, education, business, the labor movement, politics, faith and community, and arts and culture.

Acosta: We approached it as researchers and writers on women, and we wanted to tell the story of Tejanas more logically, in our way of thinking. There were some areas like faith and community that touched each generation.

Why did you use a quote from a 20th-century woman, María L. de Hernández to begin the first chapter on Native Women, Mestizas and Colonists?

Acosta: We wanted to tie it to a woman who knew her history. In 1970, Hernández told a state convention of the Raza Unida Party: "Our ancestors were here long before the Anglo-Americans. It is they who are the newcomers."

Then we wanted to begin with the ties to the indigenous tradition and Angelina, a member of the Caddo Nation. She was a guide and translator for the Spanish and French from around 1716 to 1721.

What is the importance of the connection?

Acosta: When you see someone like Angelina and you see the women in the first settlements in Victoria, they already carried with them the steadfastness and self-confidence that Tejanas as a group continued to have. We continue to strive and survive, and that is one of the themes of the book.

What important points does your book make about the role of Tejanas and their contribution to the state?

Winegarten: I think we break a lot of stereotypes. Tejanas are often painted as very passive, and we didn't find that to be true. Even in colonial times, women were filing lawsuits and some were among the richest in the state. A lot of the white men who moved to Texas, including Jim Bowie, married wealthy Tejana women. They had access to property, money and political power that way.

Acosta: Tejanas have been historical actors for a long time in the land that became Texas. It can't be stated enough.

Did you each have favorite chapters or subjects?

Winegarten: I was very interested in Chicana feminism and spent a lot of time on that, as well as on women in politics. I was also interested in women who went on strike, the laundry workers in El Paso in 1919, and the San Antonio pecan shellers in 1938, which was probably the largest walkout in Texas history. We don't find so many white or African-American women going out on strike in Texas, so again it breaks that passive image.

Acosta: I'm from Central Texas, a small town called McGregor close to Waco. So, my favorite part is the chapter on rural life. It contains just a smidgen of the oral history I did with four women. They talked to me about marriage, how they survived and about their courtships. Listening to their stories about work and their voices and laughter gave them a life beyond statistics.

What role did Houston women play?

Acosta: You have women very involved in the business community, who saw the early promise of the city. Eciquia Castro operated a cafe around 1915; and, of course, there is the Ninfa Laurenzo story. In politics, there is former Houston city controller, now a Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia; Gracie Saenz, former city councilwoman, and Jessica Farrar, a state legislator.

What has been the response to Las Tejanas?

Acosta: The great reward for me has been the people who come up to me and tell wonderful stories of their families and people who were in the book. We also wanted people to go on with the work -- it's not just 300 years and stop. There is lots of material for more books and continued study and there is a younger generation coming on.

The symposium "Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History" will be held Oct. 16-18 at the University of Texas, Austin. For information, go to www.utexas.edu/depts/cmas or call 512-471-4557.