"Un problema serio y trascendente": Mexican American Community Activism for Access to Public Education in Austin, Texas, 1916–1917

• In Event: 29.038 - Activism in Urban Spaces

Abstract

This paper discusses the Austin public school board of education’s establishment of West Avenue Ward Elementary School as a school for non-English speaking students to segregate Mexican American students in separate schools. I investigate the school board’s pedagogical reasons to separate Mexican children from their neighborhood schools and from their White peers as articulated in board meeting minutes and the local English language press. I provide a counterstory to this decision by referencing a series of articles published in La Prensa, a Spanish language newspaper based in San Antonio, Texas, titled, “Un problema serio y trascendente: Los niños mexicanos y las escuelas de Texas,” that opposed the decision to separate Mexican students and advocated for pedagogical and curricular reforms.

Author

• Jose Garcia, University of Texas - Austin