110th Anniversary of Brownsville Raid at Historic Alonso Building

The Brownsville Historical Association (BHA) hosted a book signing for Harry Lembeck and invited three panelists to discuss mystery of shooting up of town 110 years ago.

 Executive Director for BHA Tara Putegnat introduced Jim Mills who served as moderator for the panel speakers.

Dr. Antonio Zavaleta, James Lieker and Joseph Chance exchanged views and theories surrounding the shooting which was blamed on Fort Brown soldiers of the 25th Infantry.

 Harry Lembeck, who sat with his wife Emily, joined the discussion when called upon add his 2¢

The Historic Alonso Building was the perfect setting for this fascinating discussion.

 We enjoyed a dish of what someone named as a chicken "Tamalateca" served with rice and beans followed by a sweet dessert before Mr. Lembeck began his presentation.

Mr. Lembeck used this map included in his book to illustrate the route taken by raiders the night of August 13th, 1906.  The maps arrows indicate that shots were fired from area where town and fort met and alleys and streets raiders traversed on before splitting into two groups.

Harry's book focuses on the Brownsville incident and aftermath in which Senator Joseph Foraker challenges the authority of Roosevelt to discharge without honor 167 soldiers without a hearing.  His book does not aim to uncover the truth of what happned but rather how the incident changed politics and direction African-American minority civil rights advocates would take.

A small display at the Historic Alonso Building gave a good account of the excitement created by the incident after the shooting in 1906.

This was the kind of testimony which was rejected when investigators asked questions to townspeople after the raid.  With several investigations private and secret and lengthy Senate reviews into the matter to discover who the guilty persons were, no hard evidence or incriminating statements could ever be secured.  According to Lembeck, Roosevelt acted in haste out of frustration with the townspeople and government people assigned to get to the bottom of the matter when he made the decision to punish the soldiers for their alleged "conspiracy of silence."

Folks who purchased a book stayed to have it signed after the presentation.

There are a limited amount of copies still available in the gift shop at the Brownsville Heritage Museum gift shop.

Leanne Barreda and her husband Mark getting their autographed copy of the book.  

BHA President Dr. Eric Valle, BHA Director Tara Putegnat, author Dr. Harry Lembeck, UT-RGV Professor and BHA Vice-President Dr. James Mills, author of Racial Borders:  Black Soldiers Along the Rio Grande (2002) Dr. James Lieker and BHA Board member Gilberto Velasquez who also did all the graphic work for advertisements.

Harry Lembeck with BHA Education and Program Director Craig Stone with poster and listing of sponsors who made the two-day event possible.  

The three panelists did an excellent job of presenting their "points" on the matter and it would be great to see Dr. Tony Zavaleta, Dr. Joe Chance and Dr. James Lieker come together for an extended amount of time to hear all they could have on the matter had there been more time.  Thanks to all these gentlemen for agreeing to participate.  We missed seeing long-time Brownsville historian Dr. Tony Knopp who would have also been on the panel but is he is on vacation with his wife Alma.  Next time Dr. Knopp!

Thanks to all who attended either event and showed their support for the work our local historical association does for our benefit.  We may never know who shot up the town but talking about it brings up more interesting questions about the case which make this one of Brownsville's most controversial and until recently, least talked about subjects.  At the end of the discussion there was talk about taking steps to place a marker in the former Fort Brown property (perhaps near or on Jacob Brown Memorial Center lawn facing International Blvd where army barracks once stood) to acknowledge the incident happened.  I hope to report on that in the near future.

TAKING ON THEODORE ROOSEVELT Webpage here!

Racial Borders: Black Soldiers along the Rio Grande Amazon link here!

2016 Taken on the Brownsville Raid Tour

James Mills gives vantage point from International Blvd. where city was once divided by Fort Brown by a dirt road and 4-5 ft high wall.

 There were four infantry barracks with rears toward wall which divided town from fort.

 The main entry to Fort Brown was where E Elizabeth St intersects with International Blvd today and becomes Universal Blvd today.

 About fifty-four attendees sat for a brief overview of what has become Brownsville's greatest and most controversial topic which was seldom spoken about until a century after.

James Mills gave a slide-show presentation to prepare us for the tour and answered questions afterward.,

It was a thrill to get to meet Harry Lembeck, author of Taking on Roosevelt:  How One Senator Defied the President on Brownsville and Shook American Politics and James Leiker, author of Racial Borders:  Black Soldiers Along the Rio Grande.

The tour made its way down Washington St toward Market Square with Mr. Mills pointing out locations where several details of incident were recorded and are now parts of the mystery of the raid.

 Market Square was where our City Police department was in 1906.

 "Several ear-witness say they heard shots fired by black soldiers right over there" 

 On E Elizabeth St was where several bars and saloons were located.  Weller's Saloon allowed soldiers to drink in an area at the back of the saloon.  Other saloons did not welcome black soldiers.

 Here's a view from 1906 of E Elizabeth St.

 This is another view of E Elizabeth taken nearly a decade later.

Lieutenant Dominguez was shot in the arm around the corner from this location where the Miller Hotel once stood.

That's the Miller Hotel as it was on the corner of E Elizabeth and 13th St.

This spot was once 15th St between E Elizabeth and Washington St where a house owned by the Cowan family was shot into not long after a children's party had ended.  

 That might be the Cowan house that was shot into on the left which standing on 15th St which is now a paseo after the street was closed and paved for pedestrian traffic.

Another view looking down Cown Alley with house on right.  Streets were numbered or had American presidents named after them while some alleys were named families whose homes did not face main streets downtown.

 At Jefferson and International we got another perspective of the close distance from town to fort.

 Here is the vantage point 110 years before.

 E Elizabeth Street with Miller Hotel on left.  The main entry gate to Fort Brown in distance.

1950 Brownsville Music Company - Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz

Gilbert Pineda and Dan Alaniz ~ Brownsville Music Company (BMC) sent by Gil Tatar Pineda last January.  The original appears at bottom of this post.  This is the colorized version with photos found online to help with the coloring process.  The Wurlitzer 1250 was introduced in 1950.

The photo appears to be taken at a trade show convention with a display the latest Wurlitzer music boxes on the market.  The BMC store was located in the San Fernando complex building facing Market Square from the side of 11th St.  Sorry, no photo of that.

Gilbert Pineda was a teenager when he started working for the Brownsville Music Company prior to World War II.  He enlisting in the army in 1943 and took part in the D-Day Invasion operating heavy artillery and returned home in December 1945.  He returned to work for his uncle Bernadino ("Tio Nino") who owned BMC.  After Tio Nino passed on Gilbert and Dan took over the business and leased jukeboxes, pool tables and pinball machines throughout Brownsville, Port Isabel and Los Fresnos areas well into the 1990s.

This is an early Robert Runyon photo of Frenchman John B. Viano (standing) and parade float.  He was the proprietor of the "Diamond Loop Brownsville Music Company" and displayed the United States of America and French flags on his flower decorated float for a parade popular with Brownsvillites who owned vehicles in the early 1900's.  Viano probably sold pianos and phonographs and other musical instruments popular at the time.

1911 Flower Parade in Brownsville, Texas (Brownsville Historical Association)

 July 28, 1938 obituary for John B. Viano

 May 4, 1952 Cinco de Mayo ad from Brownsville Music Company

 The Wurlitzer Model 1250 jukebox showcased a visible record changer and could play (both sides) of  24 -  10" or 7" records.  It weighed about 380 lbs and stood 59" high, 36" wide and 27" deep.  

 Wurlitzer Model 4007 oval wall-mount auxiliary speaker featured a silver grille cloth and mirrored rim which was the top-of-the-line.  The 12" speaker gave increased output.  The unit was about 30" high, 22 wide and 11" deep.  Another attractive feature was the "revolving colored light cylinder behind Musical Note."

The Wurlitzer 3020 wall box accepted 5¢ 10¢ & 25¢ to play up to 24 selections of music from the Wurlitzer 1250.  It was nickel-plated with red push buttons.

Thanks to Gil Tatar Pineda for allowing me the privilege to colorize this piece of Brownsville history.  This was a difficult photo to work with and I did not achieve the desired realistic colors I wanted but that's alright.

Colorized photo of JC Penny party in 1951 in Brownsville, Texas with 1941 Wurlitzer 750 jukebox. Photo loaned by Nora Vasquez at Junk -N- Treasure in Brownsville, Texas (my first experience colorizing a jukebox).
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(photo & comments added 3/2017

San Fernando building complex at Market Square early 1970s 

"Love these photos side, by side. My father, Alfredo Serna, Sr., owned The Victory Place until he passed away in August 1970. It was a beer joint and the address was 1108 East Adams. It was the only bar that opened to both Adams and Market Square St. (The beer trucks lined up there, made me smile.) Looking at this picture I can't tell if my dad's bar was in the building next to the park or was torndown for the park. This is a clipping from a Mother's Day advertisement in the '50's I believe. My mom, Maria Teresa Serna, was the switchboard operator at City Hall just across the street, for many, many years, retiring a few years after he passed away. So, this photo and the recent photo of City Hall you posted hold so many memories for me and my family."

~ Lali Serna Castillo (via Facebook page)

"My dad Benito F Garcia owned the bar at the corner " El Caballo Blanco " all his life. He had an ajointed door to the Jukebox company owned by my cousins the Pinedas that faced the market. These pictures bring me back to those days of my dads good old days. People knew my dad as El Venado."  

~  Nago Garcia