Civil Rights in Texas Group 3 - Abby West, Evan Dupre, and Lillyan Rendon

Exhibition Introduction

Civil rights is an important part of history, especially in the United States. In the United States, several groups have protested and gained more attention in the twentieth century due to the injustices for the government to make a change. These issues stem from the twentieth century, as women didn’t have the right to vote; immigrants that were Latinx didn’t have many rights nor was it talked about; the internment camps made for Japanese people. Civil rights were a hot topic the sixties in the southern part of the U.S.

However, not all the communities’ stories that were discriminated against was told throughout history, for example, how come civil rights wasn’t a topic discussed in Texas history? African Americans, women, Latinx Immigrants, and Japanese people that were internment camps were never talked about in Texas and even less in San Antonio.

Civil rights in Texas or much less San Antonio is told in Texas or U.S history for generations to learn about. The civil rights for African Americans was a major problem throughout history, but the turning point was during the twentieth century; the African American civil rights remains an issue in present times, as society continues to see hate crimes and violence for this community throughout the media. However, civil rights in Texas for other groups is long forgotten because no one is speaking about the history of the people that went through discrimination in Texas.

Discrimination was a huge issue throughout the world, but for certain people it was even harder because of the hatred by other people based on religion, gender, color etc.; this applied to women, whom were restricted for many things like being paid less and voting, Latinx immigrants, who suffered the same when their rights for voting and fair wages were infringed upon, and internment camps meant for Japanese people that were treated highly unfairly and heavily discriminated against.

Civil rights are the “rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality” (Merriam-Webster, pg. 1). The United States guaranteed people their rights in the Bill of Rights within the constitution, so this managed to gain the attention of other people that wanted the freedom that these civil rights guaranteed for the people. However, the people didn’t know that the rights were meant for those that conformed to American ideals; this was essentially meant for White Americans, who most of the time were men.

It wasn’t explicitly stated by the United States, but it was showcased through the injustices of all types of communities throughout the world. The women were paid less than men because during the twentieth century, women were supposed to be the caregivers that nurtured the next generation and were denied the right to vote because of their gender. Latinx immigrants came to America for a better life in the belief that the United States would guarantee them rights, but it never happened. Therefore, they too fought for higher wages and the right to vote. The internment camps that were made for descendants of Japanese, Italian, and German groups; these people were denied water, paid less for work, threatened for not conforming to American ideals, and various of things that aren’t talked about in U.S or Texas History.

The exhibition is showcasing the struggles and horrors that other communities went through that had to fight for their civil rights. The exhibition is a digital exhibition that showcase the communities that fought for their rights against the unfair treatment and threats against them by other people. The communities involve women, who fought for their right to vote, right to be paid more, as women were still considered unimportant unless it was for motherhood.

It includes Latinx immigrants, who came to the United States under the guise that the country included freedom; it only meant freedom to those that conformed to American ideals, as Latinx immigrants fought for their right to vote, higher wages, and other laws that prevented them from their guaranteed rights. The exhibition also includes something that not many people know about, as internment camps were made for immigrants such as Japanese people; the Japanese people amongst others were put into internment camps, who faced horrors like threats for not conforming to American ideals, dehydration due to insufficient water, and unfair treatment within the camps.

The digital exhibition has pictures that showcase the real events that people went through during movements, strikes, and protests for civil rights. This were actual events that occurred and had people fighting for their rights, which was supposed to be protected by the United States government. The purpose of this topic was to showcase that infringed rights overlap with other issues like injustices and poverty for women, Latinx immigrants, and Japanese people in the internment camps. The exhibition is showcasing events that isn’t talked about enough, so we want to showcase this history of injustice and teach the older and newer generations that civil rights was an issue throughout the entirety of the United States. The exhibition will continue to showcase the audience that communities of minority groups struggle throughout the twentieth century.

Here we see a female picketer during the San Antonian laundry protest against the San Antonio Laundry Co. The predominantly female workforce began striking on August 7, 1937, protesting for higher wages and a nine-hour workday (down from as high as fourteen).

This strike was fought until mid-winter, when the dispute was amended amicably by San Antonio Laundry Co.. This win for the female workers was the first along the long path for the future civil rights movements for women.

Fig.1

(University of Texas at San Antonio)

This is the event of The Texas Suffrage Movement. The 19th amendment was ratified to allow American women the right to vote. This movement was around the time Woodrow Wilson was the President of the U.S. which is around the 20th century (1913-1921).

This picture depicts the Suffrage movement, as Texas was the ninth state along with being the first state in the south that ratified the 19th amendment.

Fig. 3

Photo courtesy of Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: Dallas Historical Society presents "Women’s Suffrage in Texas" opening day - CultureMap Dallas

This is an image of a meeting between President Lyndon B. Johnson, numerous civil rights leaders, and certain Texas State University alumni in January, 1964. Being the largest southern state, Texas has had a large impact on the fight for equal rights in the colored communities.

Martin Luther King Jr. met with these fellow civil rights activists to assert their position to these Texans in an effort to expand the reach of their message, equality for all.

Fig. 9

(Hudgins)

This is a map taken of Texas before its integration into the United States. This exemplifies that before we were Americans, our great state was largely a part of Mexico. Many people of Mexican descent who live in Texas have had to overcome challenges in the name of equality even though they originated from this land like anyone else had at the time.

Fig. 11

(Unknown UTSA Special Collections)

In 1968, Willie Velasquez had been an activist for Mexican-American civil rights. This image of Willie and several San Antonio High School students sharing stories of injustice before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission shows their dedication towards equality.

They worked with the Mexican-American Civil Rights Institute, taking back their time to be heard. San Antonio’s deep roots in civil rights have been monumental towards our fights for equality.

Fig. 13

(Salazar)

Hospital inside the Crystal City Internment Camp. Built in 1943, this 70-bed hospital was not equipped with the proper medicine and equipment similar to its counterpart outside the walls. During the harsh winters, snow, slush, and mud piled up to surround the building. Workers had to keep separate socks and shoes to change into after wading through whatever effects of the weather there were.

In the summers, rashes and sunburns were quite common with prisoners. There were also frequent rattlesnake, scorpion, and bug bites that were uncommon to these prisoners, for they had been bussed to these camps from different terrain and climate around the country.

Fig 15

(UTSA Special Collections)

Another Dorothea Lange photograph captured in 1942 at an internment camp in Manzanar – one of the several camps located in California. The American flag is raised high as a couple of people in the distance flee to take cover from the dust storm. The American flag remained a prominent symbol in these camps to remind their prisoners that they needed to conform to the American lifestyle, and respect American values.

Guards at these camps reinforced that idea by tearing down any non-American cultural ideals circulating through the camp, and forced the prisoners to sing ‘God Bless America’ while there were innocent people surrounded by no way out.

Fig 19

(U.S. National Park Service)

These were schoolchildren with their teacher at Crystal City Internment Camp. There was a Japanese, German, and American school set up within the premises of the camp. Bilingual teachers were brought in to help students that did not speak English.

Creating a sufficient school system was a challenge. Acquiring the resources such as desks and pencils was not an easy task for the hundreds of children that became educated in Crystal City. As the population grew, so did the need for teachers and more teaching equipment. School created a sense of normalcy for these children, and kept them in a routine within the walls.

Did You Know...?

Crystal City's dates of operation were 1942 - 1945

The number of interns at the Crystal City camp were 4,751 (this included 153 people born in the camp).

Fig 21

Courtesy of Texas Historical