RECENT RESEARCH
from
THE INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND COLLECTIONS
VOL. 1 #1 JANUARY, 1991'
1
. j
RECENT RESEARCH
from
THE INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES
DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND COLLECTIONS
VOL. 1 #1 JANUARY, 1991·
The lInlvenlyoi Texas
InStitut~
of Texan
Cultures
at San Antonio
"1991
}
CONTENTS
GETTING TO KNOW US 7
by Leah Hill Lewis
CARL G. VON IWONSKI AND THE NEW BRAUNFELS AMATEUR THEATRE, 11
1854-1858
by James Patrick McGuire
EARLY SAN ANTONIO THEATERS 25
AN EDITED ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH TANO LUCCHESE
by Esther MacMillan
AN EXAMINATION AND APPRAISAL OF MALAKOFF HEADS #1 AND #3 35
by Thomas H. Guderjan, Ph.D.
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BROTHER 43
by Laurie Gudzkowski
WOMEN'S AND MEN'S REALITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH 47
by Phyllis McKenzie
Introduction
The simplest component of research is asking questions and getting
answers. Unfortunately answers frequently require explanations, and
sometimes raise the possibility that the questioner's head is not
screwed down. For example:
"What time is it?"
"Five o'clock."
"You mean we're late?"
"I didn't say we were late."
"Well if it's fi~ o'clock, then we're late."
"If you were worried about being late, why didn't you ask?"
At this level Abbott and Costello bid fair to outdo Herodotus.
But research also requires a good deal of attention to formulating
the questions and a great deal of restraint in expounding the
answers. All of which makes research seem rather slow and ineffi­cient,
particularly when the researchers do not view the answers as
ends in themselves and the results,especially exhibits, and
programs, may last only a-few weeks or even hours.
Fortunately, however, the distillations of the research
process have benefits both tangible and intangible which become
valuable things in themselves. The Library at the Institute of
Texan Cultures provides ample demonstration of this. Begun
primarily as a straightforward repository for information collected
in producing exhibits, it now attracts people from allover the
world who use its special resources. Ultimately the primary
benefits of research, whatever its tangible ends, are the comprehen­sion
and understanding of the problems the researcher addresses.
The reports included here are another valuable component of
Institute research. They embody the ongoing inquiry that is
critical to the research process. But they also stand as solid
individual contributions to the sum total of Institute research. As
such, the department will issue them on a regular basis to other
departments, researchers, or members of the university community who
request them.
Finally, these reports collectively represent an excellent
picture of the range and scope that Institute research projects can
take . Leah Lewis's inquiry addresses the philosophical background
of our perspectives on artifacts; James Patrick McGuire, Esther
MacMillan, and Tom Guderjan range through newspaper archives, oral
interviews, and archaeological laboratories to illuminate particular
facets of Texas history; Laurie Gudzikowski shows how the process of
research is never quite finished; and Phyllis McKenzie applies a
specific historical orientation to the problem of conve~ting
research into an exhibit. They can each take pride in the accom­plishment.
I also wish to thank Laurie Gudzikowski for her tireless
work in assembling the reports and wrestling t~m onto paper.
James C. McNutt, Ph.D.
Director
Research and Collections
Don Juan de onate encountering
Plains Apache Indians in the Texas Panhandle.
Pen and ink drawing by Jack Jaxon.
1
1
1
GETTING TO KNOW US
by Leah Hill Lewis
In one of the last scenes of Danc­es
with Wolves the Sioux council is
meeting with their elderly chief. The
chief is slowly unwrapping something
round and metal. Finally it is reveal­ed
to be a Spanish conquistador's
helmet. He explains that this was
taken by his grandfather's grandfather
from the first white men who invaded
their land. The incongruity of this
artifact in the setting of the plains
Indian tipi gives the threat of the
encroaching whites an ominous, other­worldly
quality. The man who wore
this helmet was literally from another
time and space. And we know the Indi­ans
are running out of time and space.
I have been doing a lot of think­ing
lately about the significance of
artifacts. Coming from a fine art
museum background to the Institute has
required some mental gear shifting in
regard to the objects with which I
daily work. A rusty corn sheller used
"with gusto" during Folklife Festival
is quite a different collection item
than, say, a Winslow Homer watercolor.
Or is it?
In many ways working in an "art
museum" was a lot simpler. We mostly
dealt with one kind of artifact, Man's
highest level of self-actualization,
creativity and imagination, also know
as " art" • And as far as the touch
question was concerned there was only
one answere -- "don't."
The Institute, with it's schizo­phrenic
self-description as a univer­sity
and a museum, has broadened my
consciousness of artifacts consider-
7
ably. Not only was the helmet, an
artifact, used as an integral part of
the plot of Dances with Wolves, it was
an artifact within an artifact. The
film itself is an artifact.
One definition ' of artifact is a
thing from which we discover informa­tion
about culture. Culture is ideas
alone, ideas that men and women pos­sess
and use - to understand their
world.
Artifacts therefore are the tangi­ble
symbols of ideas . A surprisingly
similar definition to the theological
definition of a sacrament, "the out­ward
and visible manifestation of an
inner truth."
To carry the theological motif a
step further, had it not been for
Adam's wrong choice in the garden of
Eden, we wouldn't be in need of arti­facts
at all. We would be natural
animals with our needs provided to us .
But thanks to Adam (who would like to
credit Eve) we are in need of clothes,
shelter, tools , and a value system to
try to "make sense" out of our agoniz­ing
privilege of choice. Some would
say that from Eden on the "history of
mankind is marked and measured by his
artifacts. They are the tangible
evidence of man's ingenuity, crafts­manship
and art.,,1
Artifacts are produced (for exam­ple,
a computer is wholly produced) ,
reduced (a gold ingot is reduced from
ore), or reassociated (as stones ar­ranged
in a fire circle, or Stone-
henge) bl men acting in a purposeful
fashion.
There are various ways to approach
the study of artifacts; the formal way
(what the heck is this?), the func­tional
way (what do you do with it?),
the spatial way (where did it come
from?) and the temporal way (when was
i t made?).
In deciding how to exhibit arti­facts
these ways can be taken into
account and arranged in various reci­pes.
A temporal/spatial exhibit would
look at a single point in time in a
particular place, such as a history of
a particular settlement or biographies
of individuals , genealogies of fami­lies
. It is specific as to who, what,
and when . The Poles of Panna Maria fit
this bill .
A formal/functional exhibit is
non-specific. It deals with forms or
classes of events, for example, an
exhibit of the different types of
storage vessels found in our collec­tion
or the uses of cotton .
A temporal/functional exhibit is a
combination of the first two . It
follows the progress of forms or
events through time. The evolution of
the oil industry in Texas would be a
good subject for this type o f exhibit .
With these basic i ngredi ent s, his­tory
museum scholars attempt to create
exhibits that i lluminate humani ty's
ideas , that is , culture . Regardless
o f generat ion, gender , e t hnic group or
social status we are all interested i n
ourselves . Stephen Beckow compares
the museum scholar to a therapist who
works not with the individual but with
the community to give it a sense of
well-being and social relatedness. He
touches the collective consciousness
and gives the community a sense of
shared identity, reassuring it with an
awareness of its history and poten­tia1.
3
8
Larry McMurtry's antique scout,
Cadillac Jack, philosophizes, " I want
to look at people, but their objects
jump in front of them demanding my at­tention
. Sometimes I tell myself that
the best way to get to know people is
to first study the objects among which
they place themselves , but for al l I
know that may be pure bullshit . ,,4
At risk of sounding like Jack,
wouldn't i t be interesting to set up a
standard cube case somewhere and put
up the employee of the month show
(this could be anonymous which would
make it even more interesting). Think
about curating an exhibit about your­self.
What artifacts would you in­clude
that tell your story i lluminate
your ideas? Would you use just ob­jects
or perhaps a video of your fa­vorite
activity, some music , an oral
history? What artifacts reflect your
values , your art? Would you l ike to
do a demonstration or interpretation
for a tour?
We could probably do a sampl e one
for Winslow Homer ; h i s hat , his br us­hes,
a Civil War edition of "Harper ' s
Weekly", love letters , pictures , cor­respondence
with his dealers , a pipe,
a shell collection. Over in one cor­ner
would be a watercolor painting of
a man in a boat, framed with UV plex,
gently l i ghted to seven foot candles
and a little "Do Not Touch" sign at
the side.
}
}
1
}
t
I
t
t
t
t
t
t
Notes
1. William B. Hesseltine, "The Chal­lenge
of the Artifact", Material Cul­ture
Studies in America, Thomas J.
Shlereth, ed., (Nashville: AASLH,
1982) p.94.
2. Stephen M. Beckow,"CUlture, Histo­ry
and Artifact", Shlereth, Material
Culture,(Nashville: AASLH, 1982)
p.1l7.
3. Beckow, p.119~
4 . Larry McMurtry, Cadillac Jack (NY:
Simon & Schuster, 1982), p.46.
9
II
from ~D~ie~~~=-__ _
von Iwonski
performed Ju 1 y 5 , 1858
10
\;' \
\ \
, \ \
I »
)
)
CARL G. VOH IWOHSKI AND THE NEW BRAUHFELS AMATEUR THEATRE
1854-1858
by James Patrick McGuire
The author wishes to thank Irene scharf, San Antonio and the
late Frederic Oheim, New Braunfels, for translations from
German sources.
Local historians have long known
from editorial reviews of plays in the
local German paper, the Neu-Braun­felser
Zeituna (established 1852),
that the pioneer German colony of New
Braunfels supported a pre-Civil War
amateur theatre which dedicated its
initial proceeds to a public school
fund. Less known, however, was the
fact that a local artist, Carl G. von
Iwonski (1830-1912), rendered drawings
in pencil and ink of scenes from vari­ous
plays produced by the public-spir­ited
immigrants on Texas' frontier.
Those drawings provide a unique and
rare glimpse of social life and commu­nity
effort which developed within a
decade after the founding of the Ger­man
town. Moreover, the artist's work
was part of a body of fine arts pro­duced
by highly educated German immi­grant
artists which marked the begin­ning
of cultural development in a raw
frontier state.
Prior to 1972 only three theat­rical
scenes attributed to Iwonski
were known. The New Braunfels Herald
published a reproduction of an un­signed,
undated woodcut titled "Der
Unvermeidliche" in its April 17, 1962
issue.5 Even earlier, in 1888, the
Magazine of American History had pub­lished
another of Iwonski' s drawings
which it titled "New Braunfels Dramat­ic
Club, 1850."2 And, a third render­ing,
in oil, "Theater at the Old Casi­no
Club, San Antonio, Texas," by the
11
artist was published in 1967. This
rare artistic document recorded a play
produced by amateurs of the large
German community in the neighboring
Alamo City's famous German club about
the time of the Civil War. 3
Although other art, mainly por­traits
and genre scenes, by Iwonski
was known, in October, 1972, the au­thor
and the retired editor of the New
Braunfels Herald and Zeitung, the late
Frederic Oheim, found and authenticat­ed
a framed pencil drawing and two
small sketchbooks which contained
seventeen theatrical scenes of the New
Braunfels theatre's performances,
1854-58. For a generation or more
they had gone unnoticed in an old
wardrobe in New Braunfels' Sophienburg
Museum and were thought to have been
the work of Hermann See Ie (1832-1902),
a leading Texas German community lead­er.
4
Fortunately many of the sketches
were identified by title, had inscrip­tions,
and were signed (or initialed)
and dated by Iwonski in his tiny, fine
handwriting which Oheim was able to
decipher. It soon became apparent
that Seele was not the artist respon­sible
for the single framed scene and
the seventeen renderings in the two
sketchbooks. Where dated, most proved
to have been done between late 1855
and the spring of 1857. Some lacked
any identifying titles or inscriptions
altogether. The sketchbooks also
contained several landscape, building
and portrait studies. Loosely insert­ed
were also two small watercolors
titled "Die Einfalt vom Lande" and
"Final Scene," and may have recorded
plays at San Antonio' s Casino Hall
rather than in New Braunfels . One was
dated 1860 , two years after the
artist moved to the Alamo City.5
Who was the artist? Carl G. von
Iwonski came to Texas in 1845 as a
youth of fifteen with his parents,
Leopold and Marie von Iwonski, and a
younger brother, Adolph, on the Johann
oethardt.6 The family originated in
Rueckers, Prussian Silesia, and were
descended from the ancient Polish
gentry in that province. 7 Thereafter,
the family farmed and maintained a
stage stop and saloon on their farm
where the San Antonio-to-Austin stage
road passed New Braunfels and crossed
the Guadalupe River. Their place in
the hamlet of Hortontown also served
at various times as a picnic grounds
for holiday and club meetings . 8
Knowledge of Iwonski • s art
training is shadowy. Allusions have
been made to an early eduction in
drawing and painting in his native
Germany, possibly in Breslau (now
Wroc1aw, Poland), prior to emigrat­ing.
9 Mention has also been made that
he continued his studies with unnamed
artists, probably Hermann Lungkwitz
(1813-1891) and Richard Petri (1830-
1857), in his new homeland where he
"then worked by himself, his being a
natural talent." 10
Other evidence points to a
youthful interest and talent in art.
Iwonski' s earliest Texas drawing,
found in the Sophienburg sketchbooks,
was dated May 26, 1846. About the
same time he completed an ink and wash
portrait of a fellow immigrant, Fer­dinand
Scholing, and signed it
"Iwansky." And, the ledger of a New
Braunfels gunsmith contained an entry
for two drafting pens in July 19, 1848
12
in the account of "Herr v. Ewansky."11
Many years later, in 1871, when he
went to Berlin to study painting and
sculpting, a San Antonio editor said
the "His talent • • . is natural with
him, no lessons even in drawing or
outline sketching ever having been
given him." The friendly newspaperman
reported that Iwonski • s art had re­ceived
high compliments from "those
who are capable of judging" and that
the European trip would serve only to
give "finishing touches to a genius
inherent with the artist."12
Iwonski appears to have estab­lished
his studio in New Braunfels by
the mid-1850's. In a critical review
by editor Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801-
1879) of the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung
in 1856 of the amateur production of
"Oas Gaenschen von Buchenau," it was
recorded that the stage decorations
had been painted by "Iwonsky," who was
described as a "member of the company"
who had "presently~ opened his studio
in the town. 13 Again, almost a year
later, Lindheimer mentioned Iwonski' s
work when he drew the attention of the
public to an "excellent portrait of
old Sam Houston" which the artist had
drawn from memory. The editor then
promised "every art lover that a visit
to Iwonski will not be a disappoint­ment.
,,14
Iwonski's New Braunfels studio was
open for a couple of years before he
relocated to the better market of San
Antonio, one of Texas' la~gest cities .
His last dated piece of art in New
Braunfels was on February 22, 1857,
and he later declared when registering
to vote that he had been a resident of
Bexar County (San Antonio) since that
year. Thereafter he worked in a vari­ety
of careers, including art, photog­raphy,
teaching and collecting city
taxes, for fifteen years before re­turning
to his native Germany in 1873.
There he died at Breslau (Wroclaw,
Poland) in 1912. 15
}
fA.
..
-
From 1857 until mentioned in a San
Antonio newspaper in 1859 as an em­ployee
of German immigrant William
DeRyee (1825-1903), a pioneer chemist
and photographer, nothing definite is
known of the young artist's career.
Then DeRyee invited the public to his
photographic "rooms" to view a picture
completed with the assistance of "Mr.
C.G.Iwanski, a young German artist of
much promise in our city." The local
gossip column also reported that some
of Iwonski' s art had been sent to
Europe where it had "been hi~hly com­plimented
by Judges of art."'
Iwonski's childhood talent and
skill in drawing caricatures, por­traits
and scenes of his surroundings
in early New Braunfels were responsi­ble
for his choice of a career. Al­though
his family possessed substan­tial
means, his career can by no means
be termed that of a dilettante. His
careful drawings of scenes from the
New Braunfels dramatic Society's
plays, which sought to perpetuate
German culture on the Texas frontier,
appeared to have been made to record
highlights of the theatricals.
Herman Seele, H. Schultz, and H.
Rennert founded the amateur theatre in
New Braunfels on October 21, 1854. 17
Editor Lindheimer of the Zeitung, our
only source of commentary about the
productions, said that they were to
give benefit performances to raise
money for a school house for the town.
He warned, however, that; "It is hoped
that this noble undertaking will draw
a full house of kindly disposed people
whose compulsion to criticize the
actors and their art ••• " would not
overwhelm the players whose in~entions
were directed towards providing the
community with a district school. 18
Proceeds from the first perfor­mances
were pledged by the society's
founder~ to the school building fund.
Ultimately, $117.28 was raised for
that purpose. The six performances
included "Die Deutsche Gesellschaft,"
"Einer muss Heirathen," "Der Nach­waechter,"
"Der Reisende Student,"
"Das Intermezzo," and "Die Organe des
Gehirns." [Table 1, compiled from
advertisements and reviews in the
Zeitung, includes essentially the same
listings. 19]
The first two performanqes . were
given in Korn's tavern, the third in
the lokal (tavern of saloon) of a Mr.
R.oggenbach, and the rel'\lainder in Her­man
Seele's newll-built ' Saengerhalle
(singers' hall).2
. Seele' s Halle was made of brick,
80 .feet by 30 feet, with stages for
musicians and singers and a c·Q.vered
gallery running along one entire wall.
Constructed ' on his property on ' the
Guadalupe in 1855, it hosted ~he 3rd
Texas Saengerfest (singidg festival),
May 28-30, 1855. Described .' as
"roomy," the hall was large enough to
accommodate the public for plays and
for the usual dances held after­wards.
21 Admission for both events
was usually fifty cents.
13
The theatre's amateurs were ex­posed
to their , first non-local audi­ence
during the 3rd Saengerfest when
they performed two short plays, "Die
Deutsche Gesellschaft" and "Rock und
Juste," on May 30, 1855."22 The Zei­tung
said that "many friends who were
present spoke very favorably about the
achievements of the local theatre
company. "23 Afterwards, ' a grand ball
was held. During the rem~inder of
1855 the troupe gave five plays, aver­aging
one per month. "Freien nach
Vorschrift," a four act comedy by
Toepfer, was presented during Weih­nachtsfeiertage
(the Christmas holi­days)
• 24
Just when Iwonski joined the the­atre
group is unknown. Perhaps he was
a charter member. But, his first
signed, dated character sketch of two
actors in profile was made on October
14, 1855 of "Er muss aufs Lande," a
-,..'
/,
//
~~~
, / / C:> ...
/ ./ /
./
. II '
~~~-- -~ .- / .~.. -< '' ... _ ;..
~ 2:
, -.
Theatrical sketch by Carl G. von Iwanski
from Kabale und Liebe, performed June 15, 1856
14
I
I
I
\ ;,
\
\ '
i'
".
.....
-
~
three act comedy by Mendelsohn. A
marginal inscription identifies the
sketch as "Forke as Consistorial Coun­sel"
in the play. From a later edito­rial
comment it is known that the play
was rained out and rescheduled for the
following sunday.25
Six Iwonski sketches are of four
plays given during 1856. In all the
amateurs gave nine performances that
season, averaging nearly one each
month (see Table 1). Iwonski ' s
sketches included the final scene from
Toepfer's "Oer Beste Ton," which after
being rained out, was f i nally per­formed
on May 18, 18560 Lindheimer,
the perpetual and faithful reviewer,
wrote that this was one of the most
successful performances given so far.
He admonished the audience that it
should appreciate the "consistently
sound memories the actors showed" and
concluded with perhaps the best, suc­cinct
summary available of the trans­planted
Germans' view of their culture
in 'Texas (until 1917): "May the the­ater
group continue to prosper and
give us many performances of like
quality which provide cultures enter­tainment
and give witness to the
heights attained by the civilized
pursuits of German border towns of
Texas. "26
Schiller's five act tragedy "Kab­ale
und Liebe," performed on June 15,
1856, merited three sketches by Iwon­ski.
On the amateurs' first attempt
at high drama, Lindhelmer had consid­erable
thought:
When the choice of this drama
["Kabale und Liebe"] was announ­ced,
almost everybody qualified to
judge the matter had declared it
to be a poor choice. Our small
troupe, however, by great efforts
offered their best and particular­ly
at the climaxes (where only a
finger's breadth separated tragedy
from the ridiculous) managed to
bring the performances to a suc­cessful
conclusion.
It is indeed a daring undertaking
for an amateur group to attempt
the highest tragedy as their maid­en
effort, to essay the most pow­erful
emotions that trouble the
heart as found in Schiller's "Ka­bale
und Liebe,"
Lindheimer then tore into the audience
for its behavior, saying that "certain
gentlemen" tried several times to
"make their criticism known by loud
words clearly audible to the actors on
the stage . " Defending the actors, the
editor reminded the public that the ·
amateurs could not guarantee perfec­tion
in acting, "nor should people
expect it." He concluded by saying
that: "After all, these people sacri­fice
their spare time and in most
cases the money to cover their ward­robe
expenses; their appearance on the
stage can only be considered to be due
to their desire to entertain the pub­lic.
"27 But, the amateurs apparently
learned their lesson, for they revert­ed
to their usual fare of farces and
comedies .
15
When the 4th Texas Saenger fest met
at New Braunfels in October, 1856, the
society staged Toepfer's "Rosenmueller
und Finke oder Abgemacht" on the 14th
(Iwonski ' s record of this play was
dated a month later, in November). 28
The local paper began preparing the
public early in October, urging all
friends of theatre and patrons of
education to attend. Apparently the
effort was successful, for $125.00 was
collected from a full house . Lind­helmer,
who apparently attended all
the plays, reported that the club
"extended itself to the utmost," that
the audience was delighted, and that
he had heard only "generous praise and
surprise that the theatre group had
been able to accomplish so much."~
To conclude its 1856 season, the
theatre group gave two comedies "Oer
Wildfang" and "Oas Gaenschen von Buch­enau,"
Iwonski' s sketch of another
play, "Oas neue Jahrhundert," for
Table 1 - New Braunfels Dramatic Society, 1854-1858
Date of Name of Play Ref. in Neu-
Performance Braunfe1ser Zei­tung
1t Performance sketched by IwC>l1ski · I A\... .ii<:>i
· la54 ···· .. . .. .... .:. . •••......•....> </' <... ..•.• ... ...••... >. ·)· 1: ..: · '·: ....... )., ..... .
December 16 Deutsche Einwanderer und Deutsche Dec. 15, 22 ,
Gesellschaft 3 act biography by H.
Bornstein
•••,.. . } ....•• ~• . ;:;.;;.;;. •.••••• >••• •{( ::.: ... <••• } ........... i··.·.·.·.·.·\.·.···.·:·:··.··.} ··.... ................. ·.· .... ·\.;<i?·· ••: : •. ·•• .•• •. · ·. ·: .•• •/ .:) •..... ... ........ ... . ~. ...... .. ....•....• :.. .... <... ..... i: ........ ' .L.O ;)~ •• : •••: • •••.• :• ••••.•••••..•. )';.- ... . •.•..• <. ••• ••.. :. •, •••• , .: •..•.. :• • :.. .... :;..:.<., .... ? ........: . .. ... :.:....• .•• •..• ....:• •• \(.:()• • /: •.. :;..?............. ..: .....: ..: ... ......: .. ... .
January 6 Einer Muss Heirathen 1 act comedy Jan. 6
January 6 Der Nachwachter Feb. 1, 1856
February Der Reisende Student, Oder das Feb. 16
Donnerwetter 2 act musical medly
March 25 Das Intermezzo Oder der Landiunker Zum Mar. 23, 30
Ersten Male in der Residenz 6 act
comedy by A. v Kotzebue
May 30 Die Deutsche Gesellschaft Rock und May 18
Juste (given during 3rd Texas June 1
Sangerfest)
July 5 Die Organe des Gehirns 3 act comedy by July 5
A. v Kotzebue
September 9 Der Wirrwarr Oder der Muthwillege 5 act Sept. 7, 14
comedy by A. v Kotzebue
* Er Muss Aufs Land 3 act comedy by Oct. 5
October 14 Mendelsohn (rained out)
* Die Einfalt vom Lande 4 act comedy by Nov. 9, 23
November 18 Karl Topfer
December 21 Freien Nach Vorschrift 4 act comedy by Dec. 21
Karl Topfer (given during
Weihanchtsfeiertagel
·:: • • :. . ·0·, .•.••• ..: } •.•. •• <. .., • ••.•.•• :.,: .......... :. ·. •·· ··\i ... ))}.·.· •...•.• ·. . : .• ··{:.:.. ••· >,:::: ii/U t.'······· ..............•...... ·•••... /:::·;tt'-5.o.·•• •. :· •..• ·,......:... ..• .: .. .........: . •.•• :.,.,.,.\ ••. <• ••.••.•.•• : ••.••....••.••••..••• :. ............................. ?. ....... : .• " •...•..••••••••••< .. .............. :. ........ ,• •• ; ••• :, ••• //. ................ :. ........? : ••••••••••••••• i ••·· :·.·.·.· •• ·••· ,,":'
February 17 Der Krieg mit dem Onkel 5 act comedy by Feb. 15, 22
Karl Topfer
April 13 Onkel Quaker 2 act comedy by P. F. ApI. 11, 18
Trautmann
April 13 Die Zerstreuten 1 act comedy by A. v Apl. 11. 18
Kotzebue
* Der Beste Ton 4 act comedy by Karl Top- May 2, 16, 23
May 18 fer (rained out - May 15 performed -
May 18)
* Kabale und Liebe 5 act drama by June 6, 20
June 15 Friederich Schiller ____ '--_________ _
16
'--
-
-
July 5 Der Gerade Weg der Beste 1 act comedy June 27
by A. v Kotzebue July 11
July 5 Drei Vater auf Einmal 1 act comedy by June 27
A. v Kotzebue July 11
August 31 Verlegenheit und Lift 3 act comedy from Aug. 29
the French sept. 5
August 31 Das Billet Zum Maskenball 1 act Aug. 29
Schneider ballet arranged by ballet sept. 5
master Drueger -
* Rosenmueller und Finke Oder Abaemacht 5 Oct. 3, 10, 17
October 15 act comedy by Karl Topfer (given during
4th Texas Sangerfest) -
September 7 Der Al~nrosel Oder das Letzte Fenstrel Sept. 5
Prize operetta by Geidel, music by
Lachner - December 19 der Wildfang 3 act comedy Dec. 19
1"'* * December 19 Das Neue Jahrhundert Dec. 19
December 19 Das Ganschen von Buchenau Dec • 19
! • .!!§3W±illilt::::::,:::::::· . j:;::.:::::::::.:: .. ,::: .... ::.::,> : .. :: .. !" ... :- ..... 1:':::.::'·:::,·.:",:·. ::" ('
* Aufgeschoben 1st Nicht Aufgehoben Jan 16, 30
January 25 comedy by Gorner
* Humoristische Studien 2 act comedy by Feb. 13, 26
February 22 C. Lebrun
* Eine Mobl i terte Wohnung 1 act comedy by Feb. 13, 26
,
".. February 22 Gorner
May 31 Die Reise auf Gemeinschaftliche Kosten May 29
5 act comedy by Louis Angely June 5 - July 4 Der Nachbar in Omnibus 1 act comedy by June 26
Friedrich July 3, 10
July 4 Familienzwist und Frieden Oder der Aus June 26
;;.. America Zuruckgekehrte ReRublikaner 2 July 3
act comedy by G. zu Putlitz
December 18 Der Vetter 3 act comedy by Roderich Dec. 18
Benedix
,·/::::: 'iji'iiEt ::: :}::,··
lill' ::Y .~~·::::'::=:::":':
~:;,,.:.,.:
::'::':':::'-:: . .. ' :.): . . :.: :
.... :... ;":.' .; .. :;: ...... ::.</}:
. :.:., .... : . .. ,.::: .::':::.:: . . '::.;:::((:: I:;::':··:',:·;·,i:;::
- February 16 Der Wirrwarr Oder der Muthwilliae 5 act Feb . 12, 19 comedy by A. v Kotzebue
July 5 Die Sonntagsiager 3 act comedy by R. July 2, 9
- Benedix October 19 Die Reise auf Gemeinschaftliche Kosten October 8, 22
5 act comedy by Louis Angley -
- 17
December 19th, suggested that this
play may have been added to, or sub­stituted,
by the actors. 30 To mark
the end of the second anniversary of
the amateur theatre special invita­tions
were extended to patrons. Lind­heimer,
always a loyal supporter,
reviewed the history and accomplish­ments
of the group, pointing out in
the Local column of his paper that the
group was formed to raise funds for a
school and had remained faithful to
its purpose. 31
Only f our identified drawings by
Iwonski documented the 1857 theatrical
season in New Braunfels. One, of the
portly innkeeper in "Aufgeschoben ist
nicht Aufgehoben" which was presented
on January 25, 1857, was poorly at­tended.
In the opinion of Lindheimer,
public interest had not matched the
progressive improvement in acting and
stage decoration. 32 Likewise, the
next two productions , "Humoristiche
Studien" and "Eine Moblierte Wohnug,"
drew sparse audiences, although rain~
weather was blamed this time.
Iwonski's two illustrations for these
plays were among his best, and, unfor­tunately,
also were the last to be
identified and dated by the artist.
Although the amateurs continued
their efforts until the end of 1858,
the artist's record ended. The Zei­tung
observed of a later play that the
"players were no longer green dilet­tantes,"
and that the theatre and ball
(on July 3, a1857) ~attracted numerous
visitors from our neighboring cities."
But, the number and frequency of pre­sentations
declined rapid1y.~ One
play was given at Christmastime, 1857,
and only three during all of 1858.35
Lindheimer's review of the last
play of 1858, "Die Reise auf Gemein­schaftliche
Kosten," may have given a
clue to this trend. He reported that
the cast included several novices, but
that the performance went off Wwithout
a hitch and drew applause from the
audience." The only fault he found
was in the length of the play, a come­dy
in five acts, which delayed the
beginning of the ball I In addition
to, or perhaps because o f its length
which delayed the dance, the stagehand
apparently lowered the curtain too
soon, creating puzzlement at the lack
of a proper ending of the play. But
Lindheimer gallantly reported that
visitors from San Antonio and Seguin,
"with their bouquets of feminine beau­ty,"
later occupied the two dance
floors 136
The amateur actors and actresses
of New Braunfels gave a total of 33
plays in 28 performances between 1854
and 1858. Of these three were repeat
performances in Seele's Halle with the
greatest activity being in 1856 and
1857 . Ferdinand Lindheimer's editori­al
comments gave constant encourage­ment
with rare criticism during those
years. As he remarked in the begin­ning
of the theatre , "it is expecting
much of a German to show himself as a
dilettante actor on a public stage."
But then as if to admonish the pro­spective
audience, he reminded it that
the amateurs offered the community
much more "cultured and nobler enter­tainment
than gawking at tightrope
walkers, circus equestrians, clowns,
blackface coon shows, and fantastic
lantern slide shows" which he point­edly
reminded the citizenry had "car­ried
over $500 out of the town, a sum
which we could now very well use for
building our school house."37
18
Perhaps this study should have
been about Lindheimer. Certainly his
honest, straightforward reviews, when
matched with the drawings of the art­ist,
gave substance to a rare combina­tion
of evidence for the historian,
both verbal and visual. He reminded
his readership that "we really must
marvel that there is so much talent in
our little city."38 In addition to
his astonishment that New Braunfels
could sustain a repertoire theatre
-.
-
,..
--
....
,....
---
. '\..
-
-
-
...
•
Theatrical sketch by Carl G. von Iwonski
from Kabale und Liebe performed June 15, 1856
19
group was the fact that "ten different
ladies have taken parts in these per­formances.
"39
No other evidence survi ves to
indicate that Iwonski did anything
other than sketch scenes and paint
backdrops. The artist's penchant for
exact detail and portrai ture border ing
on caricature assure the viewer of
accuracy in artistic reporting . Even
information on costumes, staging,
lighting, scenery and furniture (prob­ably
borrowed from the actors them­selves;
perhaps the first illustra­tions
of New Braunfels ' cabinetmakers '
fine handmade furniture) can be
gleaned . From inscriptions on some of
the sketches the artist identified
Hermann Seele and a Mr. and Mrs . Forke
among the participants .
Because Iwonski's sketches are
availabl e for viewing and apprecia­tion
, fairness calls for· Lindheimer ,
whose Lokal columns in the German
language Zeituna have gone largely
untr anslated for a modern Ameri can
readi ng public , to have the last com­ment
(September, 1856):
Last Sunday our Theatre Club per­formed
a short comedy and a ballet
in Seele ' sHal l , f ollowed by a
public dance. As usual , t he en­tire
eveni ng was given over to
good cheer and good humor i n genu­ine
German style , sustained by the
traditional German refreshments of
beer and Rhine wine, wi thout a­rousing
in our Texan heart s a
yearning for our German Father­land.
40
Hotes
1. New Braunfels Herald, April 17,
1962. Oscar Haas , local historian of
Comal County, identified the group of
five men as (1. to r.) Albert Dreiss,
Heinrich Guenther, Gustave Dreiss,
Julius von Bose, Louis Saracin, and
Carl G. von Iwonski. This is t he
first known self-portrait of the art­ist.
The p i cture was discovered be­hind
a f ramed print belonging to the
late Winifred D' Albi ni McKee of New
Braunfels. The play has not been
identifi ed from contemporary sources.
2. Lee C. Harby, "The City of a
Prince," Magazine of American Histo­ll,
XX (1888), 277. The sketch is
signed " Zeus," but is obviously the
work of Iwonski .
20
3 . Pauline A. Pinckney, Painting in
Texas: The Ni neteenth Century (Austin:
University o f Texas Press for the Amon
Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort
Worth, 1967), p . 123 . H. Sti r l ing Wat­lington
of New Yor k Ci t y, the owner ,
identi f i ed . h i s grandfather, Carl Fred­erick
von Griesenbec k p as the third
figur,e on s t age from the left. The
seated l ady in dotted dress i s also
identi f i ed as a Mrs. Elmendorf. They
and other members of the cast and
audi ence wer e members and guests o f
t he Casi no Club , San Antonio ' s German
social center which was founded i n the
late 1850s. See Wal ter Prescott Webb
and H. Bailey Carroll, eds. , Handbook
of Texas (Austin : Texas State Histori­cal
Association, 1952) , I, 306 .
4. For the Sophienburg Museum, see
Webb and Carroll, Handbook of Texas,
I I : 638 . For Hermann Seele , see
ibid ., I I : 589.
5. Iwonski again painted a self
portrait , this time as a spectator i n
"Di e Einfalt vorn Lande . " See Note 1 .
6. Chester William and Ethel Hander
Geue, comp, and eds., A New Land Beck-
.....
-
-
-
-
--
,...
-
,...
oned: German Immigration to Texas,
1844-1847 (Waco : Texian Press, 1966),
p . 156.
7. For general biographical infor­mation
on Iwanski, see James Patrick
McGuire, Iwonski in Texas: Painter
and Citizen (San Antonio: San Anto­nio
Museum Association, 1976); Pinck­ney,
Painting in Texas, pp. 122-37;
Webb and Carroll, Handbook of Texas,
I: 898; Esse Forrester-O' Brien, Art
and Artists of Texas (Dallas: Tardy
Printing Company, 1935), pp.17-19;
Martha utterback, comp. , Early Texas
Art in the Witte Museum (San Antonio:
Witte Museum, 1968), pp.28-31.
8 . Pinckney, Painting in Texas,
pp.122-23; Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung,
June 22, 1847; New Braunfels Herald,
February 8, 1973. The Lovej oy Li­brary'
Southern Illinois University at
Edwardsville, Edwardsvil le, Illinois
owns an 1855 sketch of the farm house
of Leopold von Iwonski, made from a
1935 negative taken in the Stuttgart
Wuertembergische Landsbi bliotek from
original journals of Duke Paul of
Wuerttemberg. The original collection
was destroyed by bombing during World
War II.
9. Forrester-O'Brien, Art and Art­ists,
pp.17-19; George C. Groce and
David H. Wallace, The New York Histor­ical
Society's Dictionary of Artists
in America, 1564-1860 (New Haven:
1957), p.342.
10. Yanaguana Soci ety, Catalog of a
Loan Exhibition of Old San Antonio
Paintings Held in the Witte Memorial
Museum, December Second and Third,
Nineteen Hundred Thirty-Three , (san
Antonio : 1933) , p.11. The Yanaguana
Society Papers are housed at the
Daughters of the Republic of Texas
Library at the Alamo, San Antonio,
Texas.
11. Ledger of an Unidentified Gun­smith,
New Braunfels, c. 1847-1872,
courtesy Eric Steinfeldt, San Antonio,
Texas .
12. San Antonio Daily Express, March
9 , 1871. It is probable that Iwonski
had been given drawing instructions in
his German school. He later taught
drawing lessons in San Antonio's Ger­man-
English School during the 1860's.
See the German-English School Papers,
DRT Library at the Alamo, San Antonio,
Texas.
13 . Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, Decem­ber
19, 1856. For Lindheimer, see
Webb and Carroll, Handbook of Texas ,
II: 59 .
21
14. Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, October
2, 1857 . The location of the original
is unknown. Photocopies exist in the
DRT Library at the Alamo and in the
Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio.
15 . List of Registered Voters, Bexar
County, July 12, 1867 , p.248, Archives
Division , State of Texas Library,
Austin, Texas . Iwonski became a natu­ralized
citizen on october 26, 1854.
See District Court Records, Comal
County Courthouse, New Braunfels,
Texas .
16 . San Antonio Daily Herald, Feb­ruar
y 9, 1859 . For DeRyee see Webb
and Carroll, Handbook of Texas, I:
493. DeRyee's first advertisement
appeared on April 3, 1858. In Novem­ber
he stated that he had employed two
excellent painters t o assist in order
"to execute o i l , crayon, pastel, and
watercolored paintings of all sizes . "
See San Antonio Daily Herald, November
26 , 1858.
17. Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, Feb­ruary
1, 1856 . Lindheimer reported
that the society was formed in Novem­ber,
1854. H. Rennert was listed
there as "H. Remer." See also Albert
Schuetze, ed., Jahrbuch fuer Texas und
Emigrantenfuehrer fuer 1882, (Austin:
1881), p.221. Rennert sold tickets
for the plays from his store as re-
ported on January 6, 1855 in the Zei­tung.
18. Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, Decem­ber
8, 1854.
19. Ibid., February 1, 1856. The
first six plays were named along with
a tally sheet of expenses, receipts
and profits by the society. Edgar
Robert Dabney in "The Settlement of
New Braunfels and the History of Its
Earlier Schools," (M.A. Thesis, The
University of Texas at Austin, 1927),
64, 70, reported proceeds of $292.00
for 1856, and a total of $346.10
turned over to the school fund through
September, 1857.
20. Carl and Louis Jacob Korn, sin­gle
men, came to Texas on the York,
one of the Adelsverein ships, in 1846,
and were listed as living in Comal
County in 1848. See Geue and Geue, ~
New Land Beckoned, p.144.
21. An oil painting of See1e's log
residence and the Saengerhalle, at­tributed
to Julius Ploetze, c o 1862,
hangs in New Braunfels's Sophienburg
Museum. See Oscar Haas , History of
New Braunfels and Comal County, 1844-
1946 (Austin: 1968), p.107.
22. Oscar Haas, A Chronological
History of the Singers of German Sonas
in Texas, (New Braunfels: 1948), 14.
23. Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, June 1,
1855.
24. Ibid., September 7, 14; October
5; November 9, 23; December 21, 1855.
25. Ibid., October 19, 1855.
26. Ibid., May 16, 23, 1856.
27. Ibid., June 20, 1856.
28 . Haas, Singers of German Songs,
15.
29. Neu-Branfelser Zeitung, October
3, 17, 1856.
30. Ibid., December 19, 1856.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid., January 30, 1857.
33. Ibid., February 26, 1857 .
34. Ibid., June 5; July 10, 1857.
35. Ibid., December 18, 1857; Febru­ary
19, July 9, October 22, 1858.
36. Ibid., October 22, 1858.
37. Ibid., December 8, 1854.
38. Ibid., March 30, 1855.
39. Ibid., November 23, 1855.
40. Ibid., September 5, 1856.
22
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
,...
-
-
-
"'"'
--
Theatrical sketch by Carl von Iwanski
from Rosenmueller und Finke Oder Abgemacht
performed October 15, 1856
23
Plaza Theater
Photographed in 1938
24
I .~
\
-
,...
-
,..
-
--
-
EARLY SAN ANTONIO THEATERS
AD Edited Oral History Interview with Tano Lucchese
by Esther MacMillan
When I interviewed Tano Lucchese about his famous boot-making
family, he mentioned San Antonio theaters. So on August 19, 1982, I
came back and interviewed him on that subject.
In view of today's on-going improvement of down-town San Antonio, I
thought it might be interesting to read about the town in the early
20th century.
EM=Esther MacMillan
TL=Tano Lucchese
TL: The first theater the Lucchese
family owned was the Dixie The -
ater. On East Houston Street.
EN: What was the date of that?
TL: About 1915.
EM: Where was it?
TL: On East Houston Street where
Franklin's is today. Franklin's is
in the block between Walgreens and
Presa Street.
EM: Oh, yes, on the south side of
the street. There was a movie
there? The Dixie?
TL: There was a movie there and next
to the movie was a Bon Ton restaurant
'and next to the Bon Ton restaurant
was E.T. Thomas, a jeweler, and next
to the jeweler there was an alley.
EM: Are you going west? Or east?
TL: Going east. There was an alley
that the workers and carriages
could come through. And across the
alley was the Maverick House .•• a two
25
story hotel.
there.
Stockmen used to stop
EM: Now that's across .•• was that on
Houston Street?
TL: On Houston Street.
EM: Was it on the corner?
TL: Later on, they widened and
that's where Presa Street came
through. You couldn't get to Houston
Street from Commerce Street. Unless
you had a buggy.
EM: No cross streets?
TL: No cross streets.
EM: Is this quote right: "Several
theaters were operated by the son of
Sam Lucchese, also known as Tano."
[Tano is also referred to as Gaetano
in this interview. He was the cousin
of the interviewee, Tano Lucchese.]
TLg Yes. Uncle Sam was still living
when they opened the first west side
theater which was the Zaragoza The­ater.
And they bought that property
from Dr. Adolph Herff and Dr. W. M.
Wolf, father of the present Dr. W. M.
Wolf.
EM: When you say on the west side,
how far on the west side?
TL: In that block between Laredo
street and Santa Rosa.
EM: You say they bought the proper-ty
••••
TL: Sam Lucchese, he was the man
that had control of the money and he
taught that boy that business.
Incidentally, this is interesting.
My wife's father [Arturo Raschio] was
a theater man. Before the Dreamland
he had a small movie theater next to
my father's boot shop at 314 E. Hous­ton.
He had the Dreamland Theater on.
East Commerce Street for the Negroes.
Gaetano Lucchese, who was working
with his father with the Dixie. They
didn't have the money for these films
so he'd run over to the Dreamland,
pick up the film, show it, and bring
it back on his bicycle.
EM: Where did he pick them up from?
TL: From the old Dreamland.
father-in-law .
My
EM: Getting back to the Zaragoza,
you say they bought the property.
Did they build the building for the
theater?
TL: They bought the Lone Star build­ing
and they made all the necessary
remodelings and additions to make it
a theater. It was "L" shaped like
this and the stage was back at the
end of the "L". [west] There were
three stores in there. It was 85
feet frontage. Then later they ob­tained
the Joske's property where El
Nacional Theater was.
EM: Where Joske's sits now?
26
TL: No , no . Joske's had a store on
the northeast corner of Santa Rosa
and Commerce Street. They bought
that. And they outgrew it. Before
my Uncle Sam died, they had to make
an addition. I bought 50 feet in
back of that and they made this big
addition. That is, Gaetano did. I
arranged the loan for $250,000 at 4
1/2 percent , to make that. It was a
beautiful theater.
EM: I'm a little lost here. Joske ' s
was on the northeast corner of Santa
Rosa and Commerce. Did that become a
theater?
TL: Yes.
EMs Was it called National or
Nacional?
TL: Nacional.
EM: Di d Joske's move over to where
they are now?
TLI They were there already. That
was jus t another stor e •••
EM: Oh , another store.
TL: I don't recall when we bought it
if it was still operating as a store.
EM: I'm still confused by this Zara­goza
Theater. Joske' s had another
store on that corner .
TL: For many years. I don ' t recall
when we bought it; I think they had
already closed the store.
EM: Was that converted to a theater,
then?
TLI Yes .
1!3h Ah, that's what I wanted to
know. These theaters that you're
talking about ••• did they show movies
and vaudeville?
-
,...
-
--
,...
-
-
----
-
-
TLt Vaudeville, Josephine [Jose­phine
Lucchese, famous San Antonio
singer] made her debut in EI Nacional
Theater.
EM: She did!
TL: That's where she made her debut.
EM: Isn't that interesting.
These are theaters that your family
owned.
TL: And then later, the business
expanded so fast and before we
could get the 50 feet, Gaetano went
and leased a storeroom where sugar­man
Brothers used to be on the west
end of that building. And he ran the
Progreso there.
EM: Where on the street was that?
TL: On the north side of Houston
Street ••• sugarman's is at the
corner of Flores. This was on the
west end of that building.
EM: You wouldn't think a town of
this size, in those days, could
accommodate so many theaters.
TL: They made money. They kept
growing and he put one in on Mata­moros
Street, across from Don
Domingo's El Nuevo Mundo Dry Goods
Store.
EM: On Matamoros, between what two
streets?
TLt Between Santa Rosa and Concho.
And they went out and they built the
Azteca out on El Paso Street . And
they were all making money ; everyone
of them. They kept growing and they
kept growing and then one day .•. he
had so many people, he built the
Follies, part of the Zaragoza Amuse­ment
Company. And you had to bring
your own chair to sit there. Only
charged ten cents.
EMt Where was the Follies?
27
TLI You can still see the sign there
yet. Between Guadalupe and El Paso
Streets ••• on the west side of the
street. Then he kept growing and
kept growing. He closed the Progreso
and the Azteca and then sound came
in • •• I sold him the property in 1941
where the Guadalupe Theater is today
which is at the northwest corner of
Guadalupe Street and Brazos.
EM& In the beginning there was si­lent
film, wasn't it? Then you said
when sound came in, he closed some of
the theaters. Did that mean that
business fell off when sound came in?
TL: That ' s correct.
EM: It didl
TL: And Mr . Karl Hoblitzelle con-trolled
the sound.
EM: Hoblitzelle built the Texas
Theater?
TLt The Texas Theater, the one
they're tearing down now. He ap­pointed
W. J . Lytle, Nelson Lytle's
brother, as manager. Nelson Lytle
was a judge. Very good man. Mr.
John T. Wilson, who owned the Westend
Lumber Company and built the Uptown
Theater on Fredericksburg Road, the
Sam Houston Theater out there at Ft.
Sam Houston, the Harlandale out there
on Flores • • •
EMs Mr. Wilson built those?
TLI He owned those properties.
Hoblitzelle got control of sound in
eleven states. And they couldn ' t get
sound . Gaetano couldn ' t get sound .
Neither could Wilson. They were
forced to go into a contract with Mr.
Hoblitzelle and they took half the
profits and paid .•• do you know how
much they paid Tano? Forty dollars a
week! To run El Nacional and the
Zaragoza. They were operating then.
Interior of the Empire Theater
Photographed ca. 1915
28
-
--
..-
-
--
--
-
-
DI: Did they finally get their EDlIXl
without having to pay through the
nose?
TL: They got the sound, yes.
EM: The thing that started me off on
this was the clipping of Ed
Castillo's when he said that somebody
at the library had wondered where the
Orpheum was and Castillo went to you
and you said right away where it was.
TL: That ' s right.
EM: It was at the ••• what?
TL: Southwest corner of Alamo Plaza
and Blum. Across from the Menger
Hotel. Right there at that corner;
where Joske's store extended out from
there.
EM: Blum is that little street be­tween
Joske' s and the Menger. That's
where the Orpheum was.
TL: Of course there were many the­aters.
The Greeks, Nick Marosis,
they started the Palace theater .
EM: Who did the Orpheum?
TL: It was owned by Lytel, himself.
EM: Lytle. Was everybody using
sound by then?
TL: No. Mr. Wilson then ••• he paid
some consideration and everyone
got sound in those three theaters and
my cousin got it in his theater. He
kept going until ••. he wanted to then
expand and he built the Guadalupe. I
sold him that property.
EM: Was there a building on it?
TL: No.
EM: They built that from the ground
up . Is that a beautiful theater?
I've never been in it.
29
~: Yes it is . After the drive-ins
came, they began •.. he was forced
to •••
EM: Oh, the drive-ins hurt the ...
TL: The drive-ins hurt the theaters.
You couldn't park, you know.
EM: That's right. When did the
drive-in theaters start? Can you
remember?
~I
less .
Started after 1943 - more or
EMg During all this time we're talk­ing
about now, they had movies:
first it was silent, then it was
sound, but did they always have vaud­eville
acts along with it or were
some of them just movie houses?
TL: El Nacional had vaudeville; the
Zaragoza didn't; the Majestic started
with vaudeville and movies. Mr. R.
J. Boyle opened that place up. (Ma­jestic)
EM: How did Hoblitzelle get all his
money?
TL: I don't know.
up in New York.
money.
He owned theaters
He had a lot of
EM: He was a theater man.
TLs Loaded with money. Came in here
secretly and my cousin didn't know
it. And neither did Mr. Wilson.
EMs He wasn't a San Antonian?
TL: No . He was a New Yorker.
EMs Did you say he built the Majes­tic?
TLs Oh, yes.
EM: Hoblitzelle built the Majestic.
TLI He built that, too. And he
appointed Mr. Lytle, J. W. Lytle,
to manage it. But Lytle made a mis­take.
EMI I have 1912 for the Orpheum. Is
that about right?
TL: Yeah .
EM: What about the Palace? That was
the Greek one.
TLI Marosis opened that one.
EMI And where was that?
TL: Between Houston Street and Croc­kett
Street on the west side of Alamo
Plaza. there's a parking place there
now. They tore it down.
EM: What about the Plaza?
TLI The Plaza was another theater.
The Plaza was torn down.
EM: Where was that?
TL: The Orpheum and the Plaza was
the same theater.
EM: Oh, they were?
called the Plaza?
TL: Yes.
Later it was
EM: The State Theater, what about
that?
TL: The State Theater was on Houston
Street in the block between Navar ro
and st. Mary's. And the Empire The­ater
was on the corner of st. Mary's
and Houston Street. The Pr incess was
where Frost Brothers is today. That
was vaudeville theater with silent
movies. Had wonderful shows there.
EM: My word 1 There • s just no end to
these theaters .
TLi They all made money.
30
EMI They all did?
The Princess had vaudeville basically
and then showed silent films?
TL: That's right.
ville .
Mostly vaude-
The Majestic started on Main Avenue.
I remember going to see the Four Marx
Brothers when they first came .
EM: On Main Avenue. About where on
Main Avenue?
TL 8 Right there in back of the Stow­ers
Bui lding that was just torn down.
Tacked on to that building. Between
that and Wright Sporting Goods place.
EMx What about the Alameda? .
TL: The Alameda ••• that's a sad sto­ry.
I sold all that property
from Cameron all the way over to
Laredo. Tano bought all of it from
Cameron up to where the west wall is
o f the Alameda. I said, "Don ' t build
now because you ' re going to pay black
market prices for raw materials.~
This was 1945.
EM~ After the war?
TL I The war had not ended and you
couldn't get materials for a while.
Strauss Nayfach was the architect.
Victor Prassel was the contractor.
I t 's a beautiful theater. It's more
beautiful than any theater in San
Antonio. You ought to see it. The
opening had the Mexican General Con­sul
there. I said, "Wait a year
and this black market ••• " He put a
ten percent plus for architect ' s
fees, contractor's fees, materials
and everything. So the job sat for
about six months.
EMI He had made a start.
TL 8 Yeah. He didn't want to come to
me. Finally came to me and I'll
never forget what he said, "You've
-
..
-
-
-
-
----
-
-
...
-
been a wonderful friend and a wonder­ful
cousin and you can help me. I've
got a bonded contract here; I can
finish it for $290,000." He 0 wed
$800,000 already on the first mort­gage.
And the building was started
and he couldn't finish it.
So I went to Robert Barcley, Sr. and
got that loan, $290,000 loan, second
mortgage at 5%.
EM: My word 1 It cost him over
$1,000,000 to build that theater.
ToL: $1,600,000. With the equipment
and the land. Beautiful inside. He
had a beautiful auditorium upstairs.
EM: Was it always intended for the
Mexican people? Spanish speaking
people?
ToL: Yes. He felt that that was a
kind of a ••. something where they
could meet. He said the auditorium,
they all could use it. They didn't
appreciate it.
EM: Did they always use Spanish
language movies there?
ToL:· Yes. They had vaudeville, too.
In fact, Cantinflas came there.
EM: This was in the forties; about
'46, '47, along in there?
ToL: It was in '46. It started in
the early part of '45 and I said
"Wait a year and you'll save money."
EM: And he did?
ToL: He did not.
EM: Did it make money for him? Did
he pay all that debt back?
ToL: Oh, he had a time. I had to •.. I
was sweating all the time with him.
I didn't have a nickel then; I had
one thing: character.
31
EM: But good business sensei That
makes a lot of difference.
ToL: Today I'm not doing anything; I
don't care.
EM: Yes , you do.
busy .
You're keeping
ToL: Life is short. The only thing
you take from this world are the
good deeds you have performed.
EMl You're absolutely right.
Have I forgotten any theaters? You
don't think the Guadalupe has a
chance of being restored and used? I
haven't been in that one.
ToL: Not the plans of Father Salazar.
They had in mind •.• I sold the proper­ty
immediately north of the theater
about five years ago. I sold the
corner of El Paso and Brazos, I sold
the corner across the street and I
made a lease with HEB for thirty
years on the corner across the
street.
EM: Across the street from •.• ?
ToL: Across the street from the El
Paso Panaderia. So I handled all
four of those corners. Likewise, I
sold and handled the sale of Casa
Grande Cafe, northeast corner of
Brazos and Guadalupe. I sold more
property on the west side than all
the real estate men in San Antonio
put together.
EM: We've talked about all this
movie theater business .•• what
about stage shows? I've read about
fine New York shows coming to San
Antonio. Where did they go?
ToL: The old Grand Opera House, where
the H.L. Green store is today (now
Wax Museum).
EM: That's the old Opera House. And
that's where the legitimate theater
was? Was that the only one in town?
TL: Well, the Majestic for a while
had stage shows. Earl Abel was the
organist. He was very good.
EM: But the Opera House was the one
that had most of the legitimate the­ater.
TL: We had fine operas come there.
Frances Alda, the great soprano, came
there, Scotti came there , the great
baritone. We ' ve had some great
stage shows here in San Antonio.
EM: I've read, in doing research,
about all the great theater that
came here. It was wonderful.
TL: Emma Bunting had a company of
her own. In the old Empire Theater.
The old two-storey building .
EM: That would be what you call
repertory . They stayed right here
in San Antonio.
Wasn't there a theater ••. before your
time • •• over there by Main Plaza ••• ei­ther
Main or Military Plaza • • • do you
have any remembrance or have you read
about that?
There was a theater over there a nd
there was always a lot of trouble
over there. Apparently in the early
history of San Antonio there was a
good deal of theater going on.
TLI Tano had seven theaters all
together.
EM: How did he wind up?
poor?
TL: Poor.
Rich or
EM: Did he have to close them al l
out?
32
TL: No.
EM: Did he sell some of them?
TL: He had a wife who just threw
money away faster than he made
it. He made plenty of money.
EM: Oh , he did make money.
TL: If I could have got Robert, his
son, to listen to me, the family
would still own them.
EM: There's no theater in the family
now.
TL: Nor in the boot business, ei­ther
.
EM: But there's one Lucchese still
selli ng real estate like crazy!
Who is Robert?
TLI Lucchese. Tano's boy .
EM: Have we got everything you want
on this tape?
TL: Yes .
EM: I do thank you so very much -for
taking the time to talk to me
about the early theaters of San Anto­nio
.
-
,.....
-
-
--
-
~
-
-
-
Early San Antonio Theaters
Located from Interview with Tano Luchese
and San Antonio Telephone Directories 1922-27
1. Alameda - Commerce between Cameron and Laredo
2. Aztec - W. Commerce and St. Mary's
3. Beethoven Hall - 41B S. Alamo between Arciniega and Durango
4. Dixie - Houston between Navarro and Presa
S. Dreamland - E. Commerce (?)
6. E1 National - B17 W. Commerce, N.E. corner of Santa Rosa and W. Commerce
7. Empire - corner of st. Mary's and Houston (Brady Building)
B. Follies - between Guadalupe and El Paso Streets
9. Guadalupe Theater - 1300 Guadalupe, corner of Guadalupe and South Brazos
10. Majestic - 212 E. Houston, be.tween st. Mary's and Navarro
11. Majestic - 207 Main (1st location)
12. Opera House - Alamo Plaza
13. Orpheum - (later the Plaza) S.W. corner of Alamo Plaza
14. Palace - W. side of Alamo Plaza - between Houston and Crockett
II
0
N
<0
\./
III
.c:
~
:l
15. Princess - 219 E. Houston
16. Progresso - N. side of Houston, corner of Flores
17. State - Houston between Navarro ansd st. Mary's
lB. Texas - 107 E. Houston
19. Zaragosa - between Laredo and Santa Rosa
~I III -0" /I ;:-t II .:! II
~~ 21 Peso 11/ II II II
~
I I ~-- V;IJ I J I // " I I
33
, •.• • • >­,
~ $.t
\ ." 1 'X
\ ,
\ , \ ,
\ \
\ 1
I,
\, ,I
" ,I , I
I,
"
."' • J J
'/
o
\./
\./
<0
>
<0 :z:
~
.-.
-
-
-
-
-
.-.
-
-
-
-
AN EXAMINATION AND APPRAISAL OF MALAKOFF HEADS #1 AND #3.
by Thomas H. Guderjan, Ph.D •
Introduction
The "Malakoff Heads" or "Malakoff
Man" have been enigmatic since their
discovery over 50 years ago. These
three boulders were found in gravel
quarries near Malakoff, Texas, in
Henderson County, along Cedar Creek
in the Trinity River basin. Inter­pretations
of the carved anthropomor­phic
images have ranged from evidence
of pre-Clovis man to outright frauds.
Though the finds might have faded
into obscurity as a small footnote to
archaeology, publications claiming
them as authentic persist in non-pro­fessional
journals (Agogino 1987) as
well as Texas newspapers (Greene
1986) •
This paper is an examination of
the evidence regarding the Malakoff
Heads and similar reported finds. In
addition,a macro-inspection of 2 of
the heads has revealed new informa­tion
relevant to their authenticity.
History and context of the finds
The first of the three Malakoff
Heads was found on November 2, 1929,
by workers in Pit No. 1 of the Texas
Clay Products Company's quarries five
miles from Malakoff. On November 4,
1929, Head 1 was moved to the com­pany's
offices in Malakoff . Five
days later it was reported to E. H.
Sellards at the University of Texas,
who visited the site on November 26,
1929 (Athens Daily Review 1967).
Sellards was apparently convinced of
the authenticity of the find and
prepared an article for American
Antiquity which he later withdrew,
expecting that more and better evi-
35
dence would soon surface (Sellards
1941). Sellards determined that Head
#1 had come from an Eocene formation
underlying the Trinity gravels dating
to 50,000-100,000 years (Athens Week­ly
Review 1930). As the head was
friable, a gum arabic solution was
used to arrest its decay on January
4, 1930. Malakoff Head #1 is a cal­careous,
ferruginous sandstone con­cretion
measuring 41 x 36 cms and
weighing 44.5 kgs (Sellards 1941).
Head #1 is the most distinct of the
three with the eyes, ears, mouth,
nose and eyebrows of a human carved
in the stone (Figure 1).
As Sellards expected, a second
head was found in September, 1935 in
Texas Clay Products Pit #2, very near
the first find. Head #2 measures 38
x 31 cms and weighs 28 kgs. This
image is not as distinct, having only
carved eyes and mouth (Figure 2a).
Head #2 was also found by workmen and
reported to Sellards who was again
believed it to be authentic.
WPA excavations were then under­taken
by Glen Evans of the University
of Texas from April to August, 1938
and by George Shafer from May, 1939
to July, 1940. In November, 1939 Head
#3 was found in situ at Texas Clay
Products Pit 1 at a depth of 6.5
meters . This boulder has a 51 cms
diameter and weighs 61 kgs (Figure
2b). However, no cultural remains
were found either in association or
in the vicinity. Despite the ex­tremely
crude appearance of Head #3,
Sellards was again convinced that it
was authentically the work of prehis­toric
man (1941).
Despite newspaper reports, Sel­lards
did not specify a chronological
date for the finds. However, based
upon his analysis of the terraces and
fauna from the excavations, he placed
the gravels in the Pleistocene
(1941). The redating of the Trinity
River terraces to the Late Pleisto­cene
or Quaternary (Slaughter 1962),
has led s ome archaeologists to con­sider
that a Paleo-Indian date for
the heads is feasible (Parker Nunley,
personal communication).
other Similar Finds
Since 1935, no new evidence for
related materials has come from the
Malakoff region, despite intensive
archaeological work (Story 1965,
Richner and Lee 1974, 1976,1977,
Richner and Bagot 1978, Guderjan
1981) . However , a smaller carved
stone effigy is in the possession of
Mary Ann Perryman of Athens, Texas
(personal communication). It has not
been examined, but, her oral descrip­tions
do not sound as though this is
anything other than an ecofacto
Although no other confirming evidence
has been found regionally, several
other similar finds have been report­ed
from other areas.
other similar finds have come from
other regions. In 1987 a human effi­gy
was brought to the attention of
Larry Pete at San Jacinto College
South by Bebe Morgan, which had been
found near Cross Plains in Callahan
County. It was purportedly given to
an uncle of hers by an "old Indian"
who had originally found it. This
sandstone sculpture is much smaller
than the Malakoff Heads. It measures
30cmx18cm and weighs 10 kgs (Larry
Pete and Bebe Morgan, personal commu­nications)
• The Morgan Head has
Negroid features which are much more
distinct than the Malakoff Heads.
other than being a carved human
effigy, no relationship is assumed
between the Morgan and Malakoff
36
Heads. However, A.C. Greene reported
that "In 1928 what was termed 'a
finely sculptured sandstone head,
wearing a conical shaped cap' was
found near a gravel pit south of
Cross Plains in Callahan County, the
head having similarly shaped eyes (to
a Xipe-Toltec figurine) and a patina
indicating 'some age'" (Greene 1986).
It would seem that both of the Cal­lahan
County heads bear a general
relationship to Olmec heads from
Veracruz .
George Agogino reports that two
other carved effigies have been found
in south Texas and northern Mexico.
One, which he states is very similar
to Malakoff Head #1, was found during
dredging o f the Rio Grande floodplain
in 1963. It weighed 41 kgs, and
measured 31 cms across (Agogino
1987) 0 Another was found in 1965,
30 kms south of Juarez, Mexico, from
a "deep earth deposit" (Agogino
1987). This one was smaller, only
18cmsx1Scms and weighed 14. kgs.
Supporters and Detractors
Opinions regarding the validity of
Malakoff Man range greatly. While
Sellards believed them to be evidence
of Pleistocene Man (1941), it must be
remembered how different the view of
early Ameri cans was at the time. Only
recently had the Folsom site been
authenticated, and resistance to the
concept of a great antiquity for
American Indians was being vehemently
fought. Yet, Slaughter ' s restudy of
the Trinity terraces has led some to
believe that Malakoff Man may be
related to early Paleo-Indians.
Agogino considers them a "pale copy"
of the Olmec heads and places them in
an Archaic context (1987) • Glen
Evans, who interviewed the discover­ers
of Heads #1 and #2, was convinced
of the authenticity and antiquity 0
Recent investigators in the Cedar
Creek-Trinity River region have been
less positive. Jeff Richner choose
,..
-
-
,..
-
~
-
,..
,..
,..
-
-
,..
a
Fig.2a Malakoff Head #2 Fig.2b Malakoff Head #3
Photo courtesy of Texas Memorial Museum
37
b
to sirrply avoid discussID;J the topic
(Richner and Lee 1977, Richner and
Bagot 1978), and I once termed Mala­koff
Man "a likely fraud", though I
had not yet examined the actual heads
(Guderjan 1981). Dee Ann story has
recently taken the most diplomatic of
all approaches , saying that it "re­mains
a matter of opinion" (ms.,
5-52) ), but she clearly doubts the
man-made nature of Head #3 (ms.,
5-51).
An Examination and Appraisal of Heads
#1 and #3
The issues in evaluating the au­thenticity
of Malakoff Man are clear.
First, are the heads man-made? Sec­ond,
if so, then by whom and when?
Finally, if they are authentic, then
what meaning do they have? There is
a consensus that Heads #1 and #2 are
man-made . So, the first co~cern in
these cases may be considered to be
satisfied. Head #3, however, is not
nearly as accepted.
In May, 1989, I was able to exam­ine
the Malakoff Heads #1 and #3 at
the Texas Memorial Museum. Head #2
is stored in Corsicana, Texas and was
not examined.
Head #3
There are several indications that
Head #3 is not man-made. Only two
areas of Head #3 are potentially
man-made: the mouth and right eye.
In the mouth area there are vague
marks which may have resulted from a
back and forth cutting action. Cal­careous
material has formed in the
eye. Further, orthoquartzite or
similar deposits have formed in a
crack in the "eye" and have enlarged
to the degree that they protrude into
the "eye". A clear shovel mark has
produced a spall extending to the
"eye" which has not oxidized. All of
this tends to indicate that the marks
on Head #3 are extremely ancient. If
oxidation has not occured at the
38
spall mark, then it is extremely
unlikely that it is, or was, chemi­cally
active enough for the ortho­quartzite
to have f ormed in the"eye"
since any reasonable (Quaternary)
time of manufacture.
Given the extreme crudeness of
this speci men , it is quite unlikely
that it would have ever been believed
to be man-made if not for the tanta­lizing
possibilities offered by the
first two specimens. Given the al­most
irrefutable evidence presented
by the orthoquartzite of the very
great antiquity of the mark which has
been termed an "eyeN
, it can only be
assessed as an ecofact without any
archaeological meaning.
Head #1
Malakoff Head #1 was examined to
determine whether evidence existed
regarding the technology used in its
manufacture. Several facts indicate
that the manufacture was quite recent
and accomplished with modern metal
tools. First, the nose was formed by
abrading the areas on either side.
The nose is much more heavily oxi­dized
than either side. In fact very
little oxidation has occurred in
these areas . This would tend to
indicate that the abrading was fairly
recently done.
The eyes, mouth and ears of Head
#1 were made by a chiseling action.
A very thin, sharp, hard object was
jabbed into the sandstone, then
twisted to remove material from the
stone . It is very unlikely that a
stone or bone tool could be success­fully
used as a gouge in this manner
without shattering. Two marks of a
pointed gouge used in this manner are
found in the left eye, 10-13 such
marks are found in the mouth and one
more in the right eye. More impor­tantly,
there is also a rectangular
gouge mark in the left eye which
measures 9/32"x 5/32" (Figure 3).
The length of the mark, then, is
--
-
...
--
---
.-
--
-
,-
-
-
,..
-
,. • ' Ii!" '~'- " l0~Q,\ 'J'"' . • ,- ~ ; -;\- 'f " ;I.; ... " lJ.li.. ~' '~'''''''~'';~. "
).V,!I' l~". \ • ',"',
• .. -- ~.,~ \0 ...... I.. ~ •
. 'or :.';.;c.,;~':~'r.k~ '"
~ '-, ");i! ...-. r",'L. lL • ' ~'''., , \ '1Y~H ,'~.' '~"
'''.-1 .·"~)...)H~. ~ '-.
' 0< • • ~ ':::.!I.!~ .J ..... ~~ .. I ", ' ' .. ~; .:.,.' . "" ,,~. ~, .. 'i. 1·
~"~l'.' " .... w. r4l .t
\ 'I~ • . . .. '.
~'-'"
Fig.3 Macro photograph of left eye of Head #1,
showing metal tool gouge marks
39
",
1/32" larger than a a::mn::n 1/4" steel
chisel. Finally the left eye has
been stained darker than the sur­rounding
oxidized surface in an ap­parent
attempt to disguise the work
of the contemporary maker . The only
conclusion which may be reasonably
drawn from this examinati on is that
Head #1 was made with metal tools,
probably at the time of the discov­ery.
I can only conclude that Head
#1 is a forgery.
Summary
Despite subsequent finds simil ar
to the Malakoff Heads, no other con­firming
evidence for their authentic­ity
exists from the Cedar Creek-­Trinity
River area in which they were
found . The only possible exception
is the Perryman speeiman which has
not been examined . The case for the
authenticity of the Heads has rested
upon the clear man-made nature and
faith in the information given by the
"discoverers" of Heads #1 and #2.
The case for the provenience of
Head #3 is strong, given the well
controlled nature of its discovery .
However, it is almost certainly an
ecofact without archaeological sig­nificance.
The case against the
great antiquity which has been
claimed for Head #1 is as strong.
The use of metal tools in the English
system of measurement indicates that
it is not likely that Head #1 is much
older than November, 1929.
40
References Cited
Athens Daily Review, August 12, 1967.
"Malakoff Man Described as One of
Oldest Art in America."
Athens Weekly Review, February 20 ,
1930, Page 1. "1930 Image Found at
Malakoff Thousands of Years Old."
Agogino, George C. 1987. The Large
Stone Heads from Malakoff Texas!
Their Age and Cultural Origins.
The Thesopian, 25:2- 6.
Greene, A.C. 1986. The Mystery of
Texas ' Sculptured Heads. Houston
Chronicle, October 26, 1986, pgs.
10-11 .
Guderjan, Thomas H. 1981. Archaeo­logical
Investigations in the
Forest Grove/Big Rock Areas;
North-Central Texas.Archaeology
Research Program, Southern Method­ist
University, Dallas.
Ri chner , Jeffery and Joe T. Bagot.
1978. A Reconnaissance Survey of
the Trinity River Basin. Archae­ology
Research Program, Southern
Methodist University , Dallas.
Richner , Jeffery and Reed Lee .
1977. Archaeological and Ethno­historical
Survey at Tennessee
Colony Lake 1975. Archaeology Re­search
Program, Southern Methodist
University, Dallas.
Sellards , E.H. 1941. Stone Images
from Henderson County, Texas.
American Antiquity 7:1:29-38.
Slaughter, Robert, et al . 1962. Re­port
#48. Bureau of Economic Geol­ogy,
University of Texas.
Story, Dee Ann. 1965. Archaeology of
Cedar Creek Reservoir. Bulletinof
the Texas Archeological Society.
36: 163-251.
-
---
.-
--
,..
--
ms. An Archaeological Overview of the
Gulf Coastal Plain (tentative
title). southwest Division, U .. S .
Army Corps of Engineers.
Acknowledgements
Elaine Sullivan of the Texas Memo­rial
Museum facilitated and joined
the examination and photography of
Malakoff Heads#1 and #3. A.C.
Greene, Roberta McGregor, Bebe Mor­gan,
Mary Ann Perryman, Larry Pete
and Dee Ann Story graciously shared
information with me.
41
--
-
-
-
--
-
-
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BROTHER
by Laurie Gudzikowski
The Mystery
On the Jewish exhibit area at the ITC
there is a panel that reads:
1857 SANGER BROTHERS
The five Sanger brothers came to
Texas and began their mercantile
empire in 1857. They opened their
first store in McKinney in 1857,
following that with a store in
Weatherford in 1859. In 1861, the
brothers fought in the Civil War.
They returned and opened stores in
Millican in 1865, in Bryan in 1867,
in Calvert in 1868, in Groesbeck in
1870, " in Corisicana in 1871, and in
Dallas in 1872. Although their smal­ler
stores are no longer in existen­ce,
the Dallas store still stands as
a memorial to their early mercantile
empire.
Above the text are photos of four
distinguished looking middle aged men
who are identified as:
The founding brothers, Alex, I .L.,
Samuel, and Eli.
-Who was brother number five?
-Where is his photograph?
As a matter of fact, judging from
the styles of hair and clothing, one
would conclude that two of the men in
the four pictures must be of a dif­ferent
generation from the other two.
This produces a new list of ques­tions:
-How many Sanger brothers
were there?
43
-If two of these men are not
brothers, then who are they?
-How did they get on the wall
in the first place?
-Has no one noticed this
discrepancy?
-Why are they still there?
-How can we get this
resolved?
I first got involved in the Mys­tery
of the Missing Brothers, when
Jim McNutt gave me a very thick file
titled Sanger Family. "This project
has been around for an awfully long
time. There's a problem here that
is more complex than it seems at
first. Why don't you try to clear it
up?"
The file contained lots of materi­al.
Copies of photographs, newspaper
clippings , family trees, even a type­script
of a wonderful memoir titled
"To My Grandchildren" by Ben Lee
Ettelson. There was also a letter
dated August 1980 to Mrs. Josephine
Corman" thanking her for the picture
of her grandfather and promising that
the pictures on the histowall would
be replaced, soon .
Apparently the discrepancies on
the histowall had been noted. But
since they remained, it seems that
nothing had ever been done about
them. I needed to learn more about
the Sanger family if I was to solve
the mystery.
The History of the Mystery
, In the beginning there were seven
Sanger brothers, Isaac, Lehman, Samu­el,
Phillip, Alexander, David, and
Jacob . There were also three sis­ters,
Ada, Bertha, and Sophia. They
lived in Obenbreit, Germany. In 1851
the family began to emigrate to Amer­ica.
starting with Isaac, they came
first to the East coast and later to
Texas. As each brother became estab­lished,
he sent money home to enable
another to emigrate. Lehman arrived
in 1853 and Phillip in 1856. The
American Civil War delayed the arriv­al
of Alex and Jake until 1865 . The
rest of the family emigrated in 1866:
parents, sisters and the two remain­ing
brothers, David and Sam. Sam had
just completed his studies in the
ministry at Berlin University.
The elder brothers, like many
immigrant young men, lived with rela­tives
when possible and tried their
hands at most any kind of work. They
endured a great deal of hardship in
order to establish themselves, help
their families , and save for the
future . Lehman worked in a cigar
factory, and a mercantile establish­ment
and even "went peddling a basket
of notions around New Haven."*
Isaac Sanger came to Texas and
opened a store in McKinney in 1857.
Lehman followed in 1859 and, together
with Issac, opened a new store in
Weatherford. Phillip, at this time
was clerking in a store in Savannah,
Georgia. At the onset of the Civil
War the three Sanger brothers joined
the Army of the Confederacy. Lehman
"Participated in the recapture of
Galveston. . • and the rest of the
three years' service, if not fighting
Yankees, fighting mosquitoes at Gal­veston
and Sabine Pass 0" Phillip
"had enlisted in Company ' G', Thirty­second
Georgia regiment, and engaged
in several important battles,
escaping with only a slight wound at
the battle of Ocean Pond, Florida. "
Isaac joined the Frontier Regiment
and "was later appointed District
Clerk of Parker County by Judge Fer­ris,
which position he occupied until
the close of the war."
44
At the close of the war Lehman was
mustered out of the army. With no
funds, he walked to Weatherford to
reclaim his savings. "The total I
possessed was $300 in gold pieces.
This sum I had entrusted before en­tering
the army with a very dear
friend, one Dr. Desmuth who kept a
retail drug store and in whom I had
the utmost conf idence - so much so
that I gave him my money to take care
o f without exacting from him the
scratch of a pen. Upon my arrival in
Weatherford I sought out my old
friend and told him that since the
war was over I would have to earn a
living and in consequence would need
my savings. Dr. Desmuth gave me the
$300 just exactly as I had left it
with him, coin for coin."
Lehman, Isaac and a third partner,
Mr. Baum, went into business together
in Millican under the name of "Sanger
and Baum." They were soon joined by
Phillip. Isaac proved to be a shrewd
buyer and "spent most of his time
between Galveston and New Orleans"
while Phillip and Lehman ran the
retail end of things. Business pros­pered
and they were soon able to
bring the rest of the family to Amer­ica.
In 1867 the railroad extended its
lines to Bryan where the brothers
opened a branch store. Bryan proved
such a good location that the Mil­lican
business was abandoned. The
same year brought grief to the family
when the young brothers Dave and Jake
died in the yellow fever epidemic.
The epidemic also claimed the life of
Mr. Baum, and the name of the store
became "Sanger Brothers."
The business continued to follow
the railhead. Sanger Brothers opened
stores in Calvert, Groesbeck, Bre­mond,
Corsicana and, in 1872, Dallas.
Brother Alex, who had been in busi­ness
in Cincinnati, joined his broth­ers
in Dallas. In 1873, Sam followed
his brothers to Texas and joined
-
-
,....
-
-
~
-
to-
"""
their new store in Waco (which re­placed
the Bryan operation).
The Solution to The Mystery
Isaac, Lehman, Phillip, Alex, and
Sam were the five founders of Sanger
Brothers. Their Dallas and Waco
stores pioneered merchandising inno­vations
in Texas . The brothers and
their families became civic and cul­tural
leaders in their communities.
These are the five brothers whose
pictures should be on the Jewish
histowall.
-So who are Eli and I.L. ?
Eli Sanger was Phillip's son. At
the time of his death in 1951, he was
vice-president of Sanger Brothers
Inc. Isaac ~ehman was Lehman's son, I
could find no information about I.L.
except that he lived in Dallas. The
archival files give no clue as to why
these pictures ended up on the wall.
-Where are Lehman, Isaac and
Phillip?
Lehman was the grandfather of Mrs.
Corman. She gave ITC his picture in
1980. Her persistence in attempting
to get his picture on the wall
brought about this whole report. The
Institute does not have pictures of
Isaac and Phillip, which is a likely
reason that the exhibit has never
been corrected.
The mystery of the missing broth­ers
is solved . but the problem of
correcting the display continues. I
am trying to locate the missing pic­tures
of Phillip and Isaac . Failing
that, I will remove the images of Eli
and I.L., add the picture of Lehman,
and rewr i te the text. Mrs. Corman
has been patient but persistent for a
long time. I hope that I can be a
persistent as she isl
45
Note
*All the quotes in this report are
from " A Brief History of the Firm of
Sanger Brothers" by Lehman Sanger.
Bibliography
The material in this report comes
from the ITC Library research files,
including unpublished memoirs from
the Sanger family, Sanger family
genealogical material, newsclippings
and a memorial tribute.
"Alexander Sanger 75th Birthday,"
Dallas Morning News, May 10, 1922.
"Eli sanger obituary," Dallas News,
May 22, 1951.
Ettelson, Ben Lee, "To my Grandchil­dren"
"In Memory of Sam Sanger: A Record of
Telegrams, Letters, Resolutions,
Press Comments, Together with Some of
the Events of His Life and Those of
His Brothers."
"Sam Sanger Golden Wedding,"
News , April 14, 1917.
Waco
Sanger, Lehman, "A Brief History of
The Firm of Sanger Brothers"
In the remote European past,
before waves of invasion commencing 2000 B.C.,
women seem to have enjoyed considerable influence and freedom.
In this seal impression from Minoan Crete, ca. 1500 B.C.,
a goddess or priestess performs a healing ritual.
46
-
-
" ..
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
--
....
-
-
-
WOMEN'S AND MEN'S REALITIESz
IMPLICATIONS FOR HISTORICAL RESEARCH
by Phyllis McKenzie
Do women and men experience sepa­rate
realities? Several lines of
investigation suggest that they do.
If so, we must reevaluate our ap­proach
to history in order to ade­quately
portray the experience of
both genders. Identifying "famous
women" who achieved according to male
norms is not enough, if most women
led lives dissimilar from this. Such
are the concerns of this paper.
This paper will be divided into
three parts. The first considers
the issue of separate reality, i.e.,
the question of whether women have
had not only separate experiences,
but different perceptions and values
than their male contemporaries. The
second section posits routes of in­vestigation
and methods to uncover
women ' s hidden history and restore it
to equal prominance with the history
of men. Finally, principles devel­oped
in the first two sections are
applied to a portion of the new Te­jano
exhibi~, which will open at The
Institute of Texan Cultures in Octo­ber
1990.
I. Women' . Reality
While living side by side with men
in parallel lives, women face a dif­ferent
scope and sphere of action.
Every culture defines gender appro­priate
roles, but the behaviors con­sidered
appropriate vary widely. For
at least three thousand years in
Western culture, women's primary
responsibility has been childrearing
and care of the home~ 1 Sometimes
one gender (usually women) is prohib­ited
by law from entering the sphere
47
of the other. For instance, Hopi
women may not enter the underground
kiva to participate in religious
ceremonies. Women in Saudi Arabia
may not drive cars. For hundreds of
years, European women were denied
admission to universities (and hence ,
admission to professions) . Women
still may not be Catholic priests.
other times the prohibitions are
social disapproval rather than out­right
prohibition. When women first
became rulers in sixteenth-century
scotland and England, they were
greeted by John Knox's First Blast of
the Trumpet Against the Monstrous
Regiment of Women (1558). Modern
women who achieve a position of power
in their employment sometimes exhibit
a hesitancy counselors call "fear of
success." Women perceive (correctly)
that preeminence at work may under­mine
their social desirability. For
a man, a position of power enhances
his social desirability.
Facing sanctions for noncompli­ance
v both subtle and overt, most
women have applied themselves to
childreari ng and housekeeping and
proven themselves in this sphere. Of
course, women do many other things as
well. Through history they have
hunted and gathered, labored in
fields, taken in ironing, cleaned
others ' homes, made wares to sell,
sewn clothes for their family, creat­ed
stories, fabricated objects of
beauty, been nurses and midwives,
maintained their husbands' account
books, worked in factories. But paid
or unpaid, in the home or outside of
it, women's work has consistently
been valued as less important than
the work men do. 2 Their contribu­tions
are cast in a "support" or
lesser role, while men do "signifi­cant"
work. Thus, maintaining a home
is considered easier than being a
merchant, though both require manage­rial
skills. Occupational fields
dominated by men, like being a doctor
or college professor, confer more
prestige than occupations where women
predominate, like nursing and elemen­tary
school teaching. with their
lives fragmented by domestic respon­sibilites,
women rarely create monu­mental
works . They simply do not
have years of uninterrupted concen­tration
to devote to designing a
building, writing a multi-volumed
tome or painting the Sistine Chapel.
Women 's creative efforts are most
often smaller projects that require
little expense or equipment, can be
put down at will. and picked up be­twee~
interruptions: such things as
poetry, embroidery, watercolor, bas­ketry,
food . Although these pieces
may exhibit great skill and artistic
insight, they receive scant attention
compared to large monumental "art."
In a society that undervalues
them, women turn to other women for
validation and recognition. Thus ,
women find support in such things as
quilting bees and mothers ' groups .
These are actually a separate subcul­ture
which values what women are
doing . Women judge each other by how
well one adheres to the (oft-unspo­ken)
rules of women 's culture, such
as writing thank-you notes on time or
bringing food to a funeral.
In a male- dominated society, the
vast majority of women have little
access to education or public forums .
In such a situation women often turn
to work of their hands as a means of
self-expression and communication.
The ethnologist Donald Cordry report­ed
that when he took a textile from
one Mexican Indian village to anoth-
48
er, women gathered round to examine
and evaluate its workmanship and
weave.~ Elements of style identi­fied
the maker's village. In addi­t
ion, by incorporating personal
touches of color and design , the
maker could communicate something of
her viewpoint and life story . Other
women were able to "read" the textile
in a way their male partners could
not have fathomed. Handwork can.
become a special language among women
initiated into its symbolism and
skill.
Psychologists find differences in
male and female behavior and reason­ing.
Still unanswered are whether
such differences are inborn or
learned, the result of nature or
nurture. Nancy Chodorow recognized
that women universally are responsi­ble
for early child care. She con­cluded
that "in any given society,
feminine personality comes to define
itself in relation and connection to
other people more than masculine
personality does.-4 Janet Lever,
observing elementary children at
playu found that boys prefer competi­tive
team sports. Girls are more
likely to engage in cooperati ve play,
in smaller, more intimate groups.
When girls do play games, it is games
like hopscotch and jump rope where
the success of one person does not
require the failure o f another. When
disputes broke out among the boys,
they adjudicated the claim by appeals
to l ogic , fairness and rules, then
resumed play. When disputes broke
out among the girls, they ended the
game. For girls, continuation of
relationships was more important than
continuation of the game. 5
Carol Gilligan, in a ground­breaking
work, concluded that women
and men have different moral systems.
Women, she says, are guided by an
ethic of care, men by an ethic of
abstract justice. When faced with a
moral dilemma, men cast the problem
as one of competing rights, while
-
.....
-
--
-
-
-
--
-
p!A
-
--
women see a problem of conflicting
responsibilities. "Male and female
voices typically speak o f the impor­tance
of different truths, the former
of the role of separation as it de­fines
and empowers self, the latter
of the ongoing process o f attachment
that creates and sustains the human
community. "6
Such studies suggest that women
not only have different experiences
than men, they also evaluate experi­ences
differently, set different
goals for themselves, and consider
different characteristics to be
strengths. Women heed the values of
a different reality.
II. Women'. History
"History is defined as the deeds
of men."7 Traditional history con­centrates
on the written record and
is a compendium of wars, political
struggles and legal contracts. Women
fall through the cracks in such a
history, because in most times and
places women were effectively exclud­ed
from political and mi litary are­nas.
Yet women have always been
present, forming half or more of a
society, sustaining its infrastruc­ture
through their nurture and chores
and expressing themselves through
whatever channels they find open.
Any history worth its name must rec­ognize
and encompass women ' s experi­ence.
This requires f i rst of all a
broadening of sources. The written
record disproportionately favors men.
Denied knowledge of writing or time
to write, women recorded what they
found meaningful through other means.
One of the most common ways is work
of their hands, such as the Mexican
Indian textiles mentioned earlier.
On close examination, both utilitari­an
and artistic wares can reveal such
secrets as the maker's distinctive
mark, cultural or religious symbols,
playfulness, personal history, adap-
49
t i ve reuse, incorporation of heir­looms
. Sadly, much of women's cul­ture
has been evanescent--s~cial
dinners, spontaneous lullabyes, wil­low
baskets. But much survives.
Some awaits only proper decipherment.
Women's stories and oral tradi­tions
are another resource. One fine
example is Anne Cameron's Daughters
of Copper Woman, which recounts
Northwest Coast legends handed down
for generations by initiates of a
female secret society. These are
empowering stories indeed of female
strength , wisdom and sharing, such as
an account of native women ' s resis­tance
to 'Spanish soldiers who raped
them. 8 That oral histories can con­tain
a germ of truth was proven by
antiquarian Heinrich Schliemann, who
insisted the Homeric epics reflected
history even though they were handed
down orally for several hundred years
~efore being committed to writing.
His discovery of the ancient cities
Troy and Mycenae proved this thesis
at least partially correct.
Archaeology can illuminate women's
experience in several ways . It sub­stantiates
changes in architecture of
houses and in domestic implements,
certainly elements in women's daily
lives . Archaeology can identity
foodstuffs in the diet. Excavation
of bodies can provide direct evidence
for epidemics, massacres and infanti­cide.
The written record can be read
between the lines to yield glimpses
of unnot i ced women. Census documents
tell age, occupation and gender o f
household members . Estate inventories
identify women's prized possessions.
Account ledgers indicate types of
textiles purchased or supplies needed
for a special entertainment. Of
course some women were literate and
have left firsthand accounts of their
feelings and achievements. Such
accounts are more often letters,
diaries and poems than they are books
or scientific treatises.
Written records also tell us what
men thought of women. They indicate
the intellectual milieu of the time.
What , for instance, do we make of
sixteenth/seventeenth-century dia­tribes
against women like the follow­ing?
"Whilst [a woman] is so old a
crone • .• a mere carcass, a witch,
and scarce feel, she caterwauls and
must have a stallion. "9 "In the
same number we reckon all good witch­es
, which do no hurt but good, which
do not spoil and destroy, but save
and deliver ••• It were a thousand
times better for the land i f all
wi tches, but especially the blessing
witch, might suffer death. "10 The
Age of Witch-Hunts corresponds to the
Age of Exploration, often considered
an exciting time to be alive . It was
an adventurous time for some men but
a frightening t ime for women. Att i ­tudes
toward women and nature were
changing dramatically : both were
something to be controll ed and domi­nated
. 11 Columbus' voyage in 1492
was just six years after publi cation
of what became the definitive manual
for witch-hunters , Malleus
Maleficarum (Hammer of the Witches).
The traditional time periods of
Western history- -for instance Renais ­sance,
Reformation, En lightenment-­describe
men ' s activities and view­point
. Joan Kelly says , "There was
no renaissance for women--at least,
not during the Renaissance. " 12 The
centuries forming the early moder n
era, from 1500 to 1700 , were a time
of expansion of men's opportunities
but corresponding contraction of
women ' s options . New laws denied
women control over their property ,
gave authority in the family to t he
husband alone , barred women from
higher education, guilds and profes ­sions.
The change from a subsistence
agricultural economy, where women
functioned a s equal partners, to a
capitalist moneyed economy made women
dependent on the wages of men. The
early l800s, which followed a century
50
called "Enlightenment" by men, was
the absolut e nadir of women's options
and possibilities. 13 Women would
have characterized these centuries
far differently.
Women's history requires more than
addit i onal resources. What we need
is a change in the way we view histo­ry
i tself . What is an adequate
framework? Which experiences are
considered impor tant enough for in­c
l usi on? Events in men's lives tra­diti
onally incorporated into history,
such a s e l ecti on to public office,
voyages of exploration or embarkation
on mi litary campaigns, do affect
women . But they affect women differ­ently
than men. The wife of a newly­elected
magistrate must purchase a
war drobe and plan social entertain­ing.
When forests are cut down to
build armadas, women can no longer
find firewood for their hearths. 14
Women caught in the crossfire of war
are more likely to be concerned about
protecting their children and pre­serving
themselves from rape than
t hey are about medals , weapons tech­nology,
or l i nes of authority. Which
story do we tell? Developments which
a f fect women deeply--changes in food,
clothing, shelter, family structure,
religious rituals, childbirth, dis­ease
, healing- -ar e often treated as
insigni f i cant in tradit i onal histo­ries
(or not treated at a l l ) 0 But
they are the very fabric of women's
lives .
Despite all the forces consigning
women i nto invisibility, some women
do make the pages of conventional
history : the Joan of Arcs, the Marie
Curies , the Amelia Earharts . These
are women who succeeded in a male
world, due to sheer force of person­ality,
intelligence, determination, a
perceptive mentor, class advantages,
the luck of the roll in place and
time . Certainly we should continue
to study exceptional women, for they
show us the boundaries between con­straints
and possibilities. We must
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
--
---
-
.....
When new laws forbade unlicensed persons from practicing healing arts,
women herbalists became targets. Here "three notorious witches"
are hanged for "devilish practices"at
Chelmsford, Essex, UK, in 1589.
51
keep seeking to uncover other indi­viduals
among their contemporaries,
for women have not been mere victims
of their time. In all periods women
have sought to better their lives,
taking risks, allying with men as
perceived necessary, supporting caus­es
, nurturing each other, preserving
culture, persisting, adapti ng, sur­viving
. There are many stories yet
untold.
III. The Tejano Exhibit
The new Tejano exhibit , scheduled
to open at the ITC in October of
1992, will trace the process of cul­tural
identity and community forma­tion
from the time when Spanish sol­diers
and settlers f irst entered
Texas until the present day . I t
explores such questions as: What
causes a new culture to emerge?
Which traits change and which persist
across time? The exhibit is commit­ted
to portraying women's experience
equally with men's , for women were
always present and contributed might­i
l y to Tej ano history and culture.
This section of the paper will apply
principles from the preceding sec­tions
to the one part of the Tejano
exhibi t, Texas in the pre­revolutionary
(pre-1836) era .
The first Spani sh soldi ers perma­nently
stationed in San Antonio ar­r
i ved in 1718 . They came from the
Coahuila area in northern Mexico ,
were largely mestizo (Spanish-Indian )
stock, and some brought their fami­lies.
Many chose to settle i n San
Antonio after their tour o f duty
ended. 15
What attitudes toward women did
these first European set tlers have?
They were products of their era,
whose evolving ideologies included
witch hunts , women's evil nature ,
capitalism, mercantilism, and permis­sion
to exploit nature and weaker
beings. They also reflected Spain's
particular history, which had inc lud-
52
ed occupation by Moors in the Middle
Ages. Due to its peninsular geogra­phy,
Spain remained insulated (for a
time) from the currents which were
wracking Central Europe in the early
modern era. Spain remained Catholic
during the Reformation . Despite the
misogyny o f some early Church wri t ­ers,
women could find more female
affirmation within Catholi c i sm than
withi n most new Protestant sects .
Catholi cism offered veneration of the
Virgin Mary, the opportunity, as a
nun, t o be a "Bride of Chri s t ," and
the concept of divine grace , which
coul d be r eceived by women as well as
men.
But these early soldiers were
mest izo. They were products of a
physi cal and cultural meldi ng that
had been taking place in the New
Worl d for t wo centuries i ndependent
of events i n Europe. This melding
absorbed Native American a s wel l as
Christi an ideas. Tracing this heri­tage
i s not easy, for Native American
groups varied enormously among them­sel
ves . Aztecs, the dominant group
in Mexi co at the time of the Con­quest,
had a cosmology that included
powerful female dieties such as Xo­chiquetzal,
goddess of fertility,
weavi ng and a r t. Aztec women burned
themsel ves in sacrifice to her . 16
Aztecs were , in fact , a warrior soci ­ety.
As in all warrior societies,
women were subject to the vicissi­tudes
and vulnerabilities of war.
It i s doubtful that these mestizo
soldiers pondered in depth Azt ec or
Christi an theology. Research remains
to be done about attitudes toward
women of early mestizo society a s it
. emerged in Mexico, as well as about
the degree to which philosophical
cur rents seep into popular conscious­ness
. We do know that these early
soldi er- settlers brought a capitali st
orientation. They had had experience
with mi ni ng and ranching in northern
Mexico, and received wages for their
--
-
--
- Quartering of the moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui, at the hands of her brother, Huitzilopochtli, the war god.
Aztec stone relief, Tenochtitlan, early sixteenth century. -
,..
- 53
-
military duties. 17 As the eighteen­th
century wore on, San Antonio
changed from a tentative farming
region to an urban center based on
ranching and commerce--changes which
very likely reduced women 's opportu­nities.
In a peasant agricultural
economy, women work as partners
alongside men and can support them­selves
and children if their husband
dies. In a moneyed urban society ,
especially if they lack land, women
become dependent on the earnings of
men. 18
When they first arrived in the
Bexar area, the soldier- settler fami­lies
built jacales, thatched mud-and­pole
structures that were cheap and
quick to erect. Later , as their
situation allowed, they replaced the
jacales with stone houses. 19 Arch­aeology
indicates that women set up
housekeeping with a mixture of Euro­pean
import and local Indian-made
wares. 20
San Antonio de Bexar experienced
recurrent immigration throughout the
eighteenth century. Most dramatic
was the arrival of fifty-five Canary
Islanders in 1731. These settlers
had been specially recruited by the
Spani sh government and received ex­clusive
privileges including a monop­oly
of the town council and title to
irrigable lands--land which the sol­dier-
settlers had cleared and provid­ed
with irrigation canals during the
preceeding decade. 21 After many
years of protest , families of the
original soldiers finally received
representation in the local govern­ment
in 1741 and title to irrigable
land in 1778. 22 other merchants and
craftsmen filtered into San Antonio
throughout the century, and a large
contingent of refugees arrived when
Spain closed the presidio Los Adaes
in 1772. Immigrants found one of the
surest routes to social and politi­cal
advancement in Bexar was a good
marriage--ideally to a daughter of a
Canary Islander, but a relative of
54
one of the original soldier-settlers
was also an advantageous match. 23
Scholars quantifying the social mo­bility
of males found it a good
thing . 24 No one asks how women felt
about being chattels in the advance­ment
schemes of others. At no time
were women considered for eligibility
in the t own council .
Documents sometimes allow us to
peer into the lives of eighteenth
century women, as this affi davit by
Anttonia Lusgardia Ernandes. Her
petition makes abundantly clear the
absolute power of men and a woman's
perceived need for male protection-­be
it benefactor, magistrate, or son.
M. Governor and Captain General:
I, Anttonia Lusgardia Ernandes,
a free mulatto residing in this
presidio, do hereby appear before
your Lordship in the best form
according to law and my own in­terests
and state that about eight
or nine years ago I entered the
home of Don Miguel Nunes, taking a
daughter of mine with me. I en­tered
the said home without any
salary whatever, and while I was
working in the said home of Don
Miguel Nunes Morillo I suffered so
much from lack of clothing and
from mistreatment of my humble
person that I left the said house
and went to the home of Alberto
Lopez, taking two children with
me, one of whom I had when I en
tered the home of the said Don
Miguel and another which I gave
birth to in his home . Just for
this reason, and because his wife
baptized the said creature , he,
exercising absolute power,
snatched away from me my son--the
only man I have and the one who I
hope will eventually support me .
He t ook him from the house where I
live and carried him to his own, I
being a poor helpless ·woman whose
only protection is a good adminis­tration
and a good judicial sys-
-
--
--
-
-
-
----
,..
---
tem. Your Lordship will please
demand that the said Don Miguel
Nunes, without the least delay,
shall proceed to deliver my son to
me without making any excuses. I
wish to make use of all laws in my
favor and of Your Lordship, as a
father and protector of the poor
and helpless, as well as anything
else which might be in my favor. I
beg and entreat Your Lordship,
with all due humility and venera
tion, to be so good as I have re
quested, thus I shall be benefit­ted
and receive justice and mercy.
I swear to this writ in due form
and whatever else is necessary,
etc.
At the request of Anttonia Lus­gardia
Ernandez, August 9,
1735.~
This document reveals that the
wife of Don Miguel Nunes had baptized
the child of Anttonia Ernandes and
that the family wished to retain him.
Archives show a number of instances
in which Tejano families took Indian
children into their homes and adopted
them. Sometimes the motive may have
been slavery, but at times strong
affection is clear. In 1830 soldiers
who overran an Indian camp found four
abandoned baby boys amid the debris.
They took the babies--three infants,
one epileptic toddler--back to San
Antonio, coaxing and feeding them
gruel along the way . One infant
succumbed on the journey, but the
others found homes among San Antonio
families . Compassionate nursing
mothers saved the lives of the two
suckling infants. Several months
later, when the Mexican government
ordered the captive children deliv­ered
to Monterrey, the families pro­tested
vigorously. They pleaded
their great love for the children as
a result of having cared for them. 26
Women were named in a number of
adoptive and godparent relationships.
We see women working behind the
55
scenes to sustain family and communi­ty.
Municipal efforts to provide for
the poor were practically nonexis­tent.
The needy and unprotected were
simply taken into the homes of those
who could afford to receive them.27
Documents unveil details of fes­tivities
which brightened the lives
of women in the Spanish/Mexican era.
San Antonio de Bexar's elite orga­nized
public feasts and dances for
holidays. Food stalls lined the
plaza at Christmastime. The city
council in 1823 decided to tax dances
and serenades, indicating that these
were popular diversions. Such basic
necessities as blankets, hats and
shoes lacked local manufacturers and
had to be imported; they would have
been prized possessions indeed. 28
How can such data be incorporated
into the Tejano exhibit in order to
give women's experience equal promi­nence
with men's? A thread linking
the entire exhibit is the concept of
public and private spheres as comple­mentary
parts of culture. In both
settings culture is defined and elab­orated.
Women have dominated the
private sphere of activity (the
home), while men have dominated the
public sphere (plaza, business, gov­ernment)
•
Centerpiece of the pre-revolu­tionary
section of the exhibit will
be two small dioramas of San Antonio
ca. 1800. One is a house interior
with women erigaged in domestic chores
like caring for children, hanging
food to dry, sweeping. Their efforts
to brighten the environment will be
evident in the mixture of imports and
locally produced wares. The second
scene will show a busy plaza with
merchants, oxcarts, vendors, magis­trates,
Indians, children at play,
and~. These dioramas are a
slice of daily life with accurate
details like apparel styles, family
size, and food.
Spain's efforts to consolidate her
claim to the northern frontier con­sisted
of three elements: military
(forts), religious (missions) and
civilian (towns). The dioramas give
a taste of civilian settlements in
Texas. Interpretation of the other
two elements will be focused on life­size
mannequins: a Franciscan friar
in a n~che with religious parapher­nalia,
a soldado de cuera (leather­vested
soldier) on a parapet . These
are traditional figures of a male­dominated
history. Women 's integral
presence in society will be evidenced
by female mannequins. The soldier ' s
wi fe will stand nearby, both husband
and wife will have mestizo features,
and labels will emphasize that most
soldiers were settlers who brought or
created families. In the religious
nitche the friar will be bending to
explain a rosary to two plainly
dressed Indian children, boy and
girl. Of course, as a label will
explain, only boys were eligible for
detailed religious apprenticeship.
The exhibit will contain military
and political history as well as
social history. Visitors will find a
map of Spanish expeditions and set­tlements
in Texas, an explanation of
the Crown's geopolitical agenda p and
legal documents like deeds . But
there will also be eyewitness quotes
and documents like the petition of
Anttonia Ernandes that reveal women' s
constricted reality and their at­tempts
to be actors in their fates .
Only by digging into the (oft-hidden)
traces of women's presence and by
considering how events must have
appeared through women's eyes can we
hope to arrive at an integrated view
of our human past.
56
-
J
MOTES
1. Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P.
Zinsser, A History of Their Own:
Women in Europe from Prehistory to
the Present, Vol. 1 (New York, Harper
& Row, 1988), p. xvi. There is
strong evidence from archaeology and
mythology that in a preliterate stage
of Western history, sex roles were
much more fluid, society was non­hierarchical,
and the most important
~ was a generative Earth Mother .
~xcellent books in this regard
are Marija Gimbutas, The Gods and
Goddesses of Old Europe (London:
Thames and Hudson, " 1984) and Riane
Eisler, The Chalice and the Blade
(San Francisco, Harper and Row,
1987) •
2. Anderson and Zinsser, p. xvi.
3 . Donald and Dorothy Cordry, Mexi­can
Indian Costumes (Austin: Univer­sity
of Texas Press, 1968), p . 11.
4. Nancy Chodorow, "Family Structure
and Feminine Personality" (1974),
cited in Carol Gilligan, In a Differ­ent
Voice : Psychological Theory and
Women's Develooment (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1982) , p. 7.
5 . Janet Lever, "Sex Differences in
the Games Children Play" (1976),
cited in Gilli~an, pp. 9-11 .
6 . Gil l i gan, pp. 19 , 156.
7. Anderson and Zinsser, p. xviii.
8. Anne Cameron, Daughters of Copper
Woman (Vancouver, B. C.: Press Gang
Publishers, 1981), pp. 66-81.
9. Robert Burton, Anatomv of Melan­choly
(1621) , quoted in Carolyn Mer­chant,
The Death of Nature: Women,
Ecology and the Scientific Revolution
(New York: Harper & Row, 1980), p.
132.
57
10. S i xteenth- century English offi­cial
quoted in Barbara Ehrenreich and
Deirdre English, Witches, Midwives,
and Nurses: A History of Women Heal­ers
(New York: The Feminist Press,
1973), pp. 12-13.
11. Merchant, pp. 144-48. Mer­chant
' s book deals with the intellec­tual
background of the early modern
"era. She sees a change from an or­ganic
view of nature and society to a
mechanical model . Her work traces
the implications of this model for
women.
12. J oan Kelly , Women. History and
Theory (1984), quoted in Anderson and
Zinsser, p. xviii .
13. Anderson and Zinsser, p. xxii.
14. Decimation of forests to build
fleets had, in fact , caused a short­age
of timber in Europe by the six­teenth
century . In this period laws
were passed to prohibit access to
forest commons . See Merchant, pp.
65-67 .
15 . Jesus F . de 1a Teja, "Forgotten
Founders: The Military Settlers of
Eighteenth Century San Antonio de
Bexar," in Tejano Origins in Eioh­teenth
century San Antonio , ed. Ger­ald
E . Poyo and Gi1berto M. Hinojosa
(Austin: University of Texas Press &
lTC, forthcoming) .
16. Cordry, p. 5.
17. De la Teja, "Forgotten Found­ers."
18. Merchant, Death of Nature, p .
151.
19 . De 1a Teja, "Forgotten Found­ers."
20. Gilberto M. Hinojosa and Anne A.
FOX, "Indians and Their Culture in
San Antonio de Bexar," in Tej ana
Origins in Eighteenth century San
Antonio, ed. Gerald E. Poyo and Gil­berto
M. Hinojosa (Austin: University
of Texas Press & lTC, forthcoming).,
forthcoming) •
21. De la Teja, "Forgotten Found-ers."
22. Ibid.; Gerald E. Poyo, "The
Canary Islands Immigrants of San
Antonio: From Ethnic Exclusivity to
Community in Eighteenth Century
Bexar," in Tejano Origins in Eigh­teenth
century San Antonio, ed. Ger­ald
E. Poyo and Gilberto M. Hinojosa
(Austin: University of Texas Press &
lTC, forthcoming).
23. Poyo, "Canary Island Immi­grants";
Gerald E. Poyo, "Immigrants
and Integration in Late Eighteenth
Century Bexar," in Tejano Origins in
Eighteenth Century San Antonio, ed.
Gerald E. Poyo and Gilberto M. Hi­nojosa
(Austin: University of Texas
Press & lTC, forthcoming).
24. For extensive discussion of
mobility and community creation, see
both articles by Poyo, "Canary Island
Immigrants" and "Integration in Late
Eighteenth Century Bexar."
25. Petition in translation from
Anttonia Ernandes to Don Miguel de
Sandoval, Governor of Bexar, Bexar
Archives, August 9, 1735.
26. Elizabeth A. H. John, "Indepen­dent
Indians and the San Antonio
Community," in Tejano Origins in
Eighteenth Century San Antonio, ed.
Gerald E. Poyo and Gilberto M. Hi­nojosa
(Austin: University of Texas
Press & lTC, forthcoming).
27. Jesus de la Teja and John Wheat,
"Bexar: Profile of a Tejano Communi­ty,
1820-1832," in Tejano Origins in
Eighteenth Century San Antonio, ed ••
Gerald E. Poyo and Gilberto M. Hi­nojosa
(Austin: University of Texas
Press & lTC, forthcoming).
58
28. Ibid.
REFERENCES CITED
Anderson, Bonnie S., and Zinsser,
Judith P. A History of Their OWn:
Women in Europe from Prehistory to
the Present. New York: Harper
& Row, 1988.
Cameron, Anne. Daughters of Cop
Der Woman. Vancouver, B.C.: Press
Gang Publishers, 1981.
Cordry, Donald, and Cordry, Dorothy,
Mexican Indian Costumes.
Austin: University of Texas Press,
1968.
De la Teja, Jesus. "Forgotten Found­ers:
The Military Settlers of
Eighteenth Century San Antonio de
Bexar.~ In Tejano Origins in
Eighteenth Century San Antonio.
Edited by Gerald E. Poyo and Gil­berto
M. Hinojosa. Austin: Uni­versity
of Texas Press & lTC,
forthcoming .
De la Teja, Jesus, and Wheat, John.
"Bexar: Profile of a Tejano Commu­nity,
1820-1832. In Tejano Ori­gins
in Eighteenth Century San
Antonio. Edited by Gerald E. Poyo
and Gilberto M. Hinojosa. Austin:
University of Texas Press & lTC,
forthcoming.
Ehrenreich, Barbara, and English,
Deirdre. Witches, Midwives and
Nurses: A History of Women Heal
ers. New York: Feminist Press at
the City University of New York,
1973.
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different
Voice: Psychological Theory and
Women's
bridge:
1982.
Development. Cam-
Harvard University Press,
Hinojosa, Gilberto M., and Fox, Anne
A. "Indians and their CUlture in
San Antonio de Bexar." In Tejano
I
.1 Origins in Eighteenth century San
Antonio. Edited by Gerald E. Po yo
and Gilberto M. Hinojosa. Austin:
University of Texas Press & lTC,
forthcoming.
John, Elizabeth A. H. "Independent
Indians and the San Antonio Commu­nity."
In Tejano Origins in Eigh­teenth
Century San Antonio. Edit­ed
by Gerald E. Poyo and Gilberta
M. Hinojosa. Austin: University
of Texas Press & lTC, forthcoming.
Merchant, Carolyn. The Death of
-Nature: Women, Ecology and the
Scientific Revolution. New York:
Harper & Row, 1980.
Poyo, Gerald E. "The Canary Islands
Immigrants of San Antonio: From
Ethnic Exclusivity to Community
in Eighteenth Century Bexar." In
Tejano Origins in Eighteenth Cen­tury
San Antonio. Edited by Ger­ald
E. Poyo and Gilberto M. Hi­nojosa.
Austin: University of
Texas Press & lTC, forthcoming.
Poyo, Gerald E. "Immigrants and
Integration in Late Eighteenth
Century Bexar." In Tejano Origins
in Eighteenth Century San Antonio.
Edited by Gerald E. Poyo and Gil­berto
M. Hinojosa. Austin: Uni­versity
of Texas Press & lTC,
forthcoming.
59