Somos Tejas – We Are Texas

by Alex Garza

Somos Tejas – We Are Texas. This was the theme for the 44th annual Texas Hispanic Genealogy and History Conference hosted by Dallas branch of the Hispanic Organization for Genealogy and Research (HOGAR) this last weekend, and throughout 36 different presentations attendees got the chance to learn just how true that statement is.

I am grateful for the opportunity I was given in attending this event, not just to learn more about my and other families’ heritage in Texas and Mexico, but to meet many knowledgeable and experienced researchers in this field. Unfortunately, there was only enough time to attend a dozen of the presentations during the conference; and while I won’t enumerate each and every one, I will give a few of the highlights.

Up first on Friday was Arturo Cuellar presenting “Unveiling Ancestral Paths: Navigating Mexican Genealogy Records and Repositories,” which was a great primer for anyone searching to find documents on their ancestors in Mexico and South Texas. Included in his presentation was information and advice on accessing the Family Search wikis, the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico, and even Genetic Primos, a site for genetic research into family lines in South Texas run by another presenter at the conference Crispin Rendon (who’s talk on “Discovering your Native American Ancestors in Northeastern Mexico” I attended the following day.)

Later that same afternoon Prof. Raúl Coronado led an interesting deep dive into “The History of Tejano/a Writing as a Way to Leave Traces of our Souls” by examining the 1850 notebook of Florencia Leal, a fifteen-year-old Mexican American girl attending the Catholic Ursuline Academy in San Antonio, one of the first girls’ school in Texas. This notebook offers a unique glimpse into her life, her dreams and desires, as well as showcasing how her life transformed from being a young woman attending school, to being a wife and mother raising children.

On Saturday I attended two similar lectures–one by Dr. Amy Porter and one by Dr. Carolina C. Crimm–on the lives and legal rights of women in Spanish Texas. Both of these fantastic lectures gave insight into how women were viewed not just in society, but by the legal systems in place under both Spanish rule, and later as Mexico and Texas gained their respective Independance. They discussed what life was like for women, and how circumstances and status could cause drastic changes in their lives and what records they left behind for us to find.

The keynote speaker for the conference–Andres Tijerina, PhD–concluded the event with “Tejano Genealogy: Our Past is Our Future,” a speech that could best be called a rallying cry to attendees, whom he urged to get their children and grand children interested in their own families’ histories. “You cannot build a future if you do not have a past” he said, insisting that “The greatness of Texas is what your families did, and still do today.” Throughout the talk his message was clear: “When you teach Texas history to Mexicanos, you’re teaching genealogy.”