2015 August 20 at Carlotta Petrina Museum.

Pre-Back-to-School FUN for you and the kiddoes.

2015 August 15 Brownsville Comes Together for John Lennon Fest

JOHN LENNON REVIVAL ROCK FEST
EVENT INFORMATION
* PUBLIC IS WELCOME TO PICNIC
* ICE CHESTS ARE WELCOME (no alcohol or glass containers please ICE CHESTS WILL BE MONITORED
* SMALL BBQ PITS ARE WELCOMED IN DESIGNATED AREA
* NO COVER FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13 YRS OF AGE
* NO TENTS
* CANOPIES WILL ALSO HAVE A DESIGNATED AREA TO BE SET UP & THEY MUST BE BRACED OR ANCHORED. THIS AS A PRECAUTION DUE TO POSSIBLE HEAVY WINDS. PRIME VIEWING AREA ON TOP OF MOUND IS LIMITED. SO ITS ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS
* LAWN CHAIRS AND BLANKETS ALLOWED IN LOWER AREA. ALSO ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO CONNIE AT 830-538-4823.
Loving The Challenge of Bringing This Event To Light After 20+ plus years.

$5 Admission

 Blitz (Adrien Puente and Jewel Marie Stotts) on stage playing Lennon classics.

 Blitz (Adrien Puente and Jewel Marie Stotts) taking a well-deserved break after the show.

 Revelation getting the Led out hard & heavy.

 Bad Intentions rockin' the stage so hard it shook the earth.

 Putting on a great show on a hot day.

 Stage lighting and sound was great! This wasn't amatuer night.

 Raul Garcia on stage with Sidewinder.

 Fans rush stage to take pics of their favorite band musicians.

High energy rock heard around Lincoln Park.

1906 Brownsville Raid / Brownsville Affray / Brownsville Affair August 13-14

Could this be the "tough element" with bad intentions....

From typewritten interview notes by Ralph Schmeling 

"Letters Exchanged between Joseph W. Parks and Ralph Schmeling concerning Negro Raid"

This photo has appeared in a few books but none have an inkling of who these men were.  They assume they were locals but it appears that they were not.  Just a few good ol' boys looking for live targets they can kill without consequence.

Vintage Bronsbil Estacion ad

The Boys in Company B, C & D 25th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Soldiers

 Company B, C & D 25th Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Soldiers at Fort Reno, Oklahoma

Company A 25th Infantry Regiment U.S. Colored Troops [they were not at Brownsville in 1906]

1968 ~ You're all I Need to Get By

Marvin Gaye with Tammi Terrell

1909 ~ Ft. Brown barracks burn October 15

 Fort Brown Barracks tinted postcard

Brownsville Herald October 15, 1909

Three years after the Brownsville Raid Fred Tate, John Scanlon, R.B. Creagar and Vicente Crixell all came out to help put out the fire engulfing the barracks at Fort Brown.  Mayor Combe got in on the fun too.  If you want to really know what happened without really knowing what happened you can start by trying to read between the scratch lines of these digitized newspaper microfilm scans.  It's a researcher's nightmare or challenge.

Historic First Selfie from Los Laureles Ranch House restroom at Mittie Cultural Park

I didn't get to actually use the restroom since the water closets have yet to be installed but ol' Thomas Crapper would be amazed to know that people take photos in the lavatory these days!  Check back for another update on the renovation of Las Laureles Ranch House coming soon.  Thanks all.

No Niggers or Dogs Allowed cover

Please bear another reference to the "N" word  as Bronsbil Estacion takes a look at the cover of this master's thesis written by Ricardo Malbrew, a college student at the time who visited Brownsville, Texas in 2006.  Let's examine how it came about but first we'll talk about the title.

Here are three samples of signs we might have occasionally seen if we lived during the Jim Crow era mandated laws of racial segregation which were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.  In Brownsville of 1906 whites and Mexicans got along well enough and both some shared bigoted attitudes against African-Americans just like the rest of the country.  In Brownsville some business owners posted signs telling customers "No Niggers or Dogs Allowed" to send a clear message to black soldiers they were unwelcome in their bars or stores.

1949 Corpus Christi, Texas

We'll examine race relations between blacks, whites and browns in a future post.

In 2006 UTB/TSC publications printed the image on invitations for a memorial service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1906 Brownsville Raid also known as the Brownsville Affair or Brownsville Affray.  I was in transition as I resigned my position with the archival wing of the college library to work for a historic museum and working simultaneously with the museum and college for this commemorative event.

Here's a photo of 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers late 1800s found on the internet.

Here's the same image reversed horizontally.

The image almost fits perfectly in the silhouetted shapes of the raiders.

 

Here is the concept.  The image of Buffalo Soldiers was deliberately sought to create a simple ambiguous image to accept the fact we will never know who the raiders were.  To the casual observer the shapes resemble; some with men with rifles but whether their hats are civilian or military is not so clear especially if you are only familiar with hats worn by soldiers like those we see in Robert Runyon photos from the 1910's and 20's which are shaped differently.  

The setting is from a Robert Runyon postcard showing the main entrance to Fort Brown which faced the city and barracks were soldiers were quartered.  It isn't to pinpoint the spot where the raid was launched but rather to illustrate the close proximity the fort and town to each other.

The blood-red sky doesn't symbolize the blood spilled that night as it wasn't a massacre or anything like that.  Only one man was killed and another had to have his arm amputated.  The red represents heat and anger; that's all.  August is one of the hottest months in Brownsville and the kind of environment where tempers can flare up in short-time.  Inserting a blood-red moon would have been a cliche' and the absence of a moon reinforces the fact that no one could have positively identified the raiders which us crucial in this case.

Mr. Malbrew later contacted me and asked if he could use the image for the cover of his thesis.

I haven't read or purchased the book but if it was re-titled as "Brownsville Revisited" to eliminate the "N" word from the controversial title then you can read it here for FREE by clicking on link below:

Brownsville Revisited by Ricardo Malbrew

2015 ~ Border Mexicans with Attitude

NO to LNG

1934 ~ Pan American Airways Aviators

reprinted here from South Padre Parade courtesy of Rene Torres

1962 ~ Aerials of The Star, Charro and Ruenes Drive-ins

The lot of what was once the Star Drive in and Mauldin Airport above it.  The privately owned Star opened in 1946 but sold to Ezell & Associates who opened the Charro in 1949.  Although it underwent upgrades it eventually closed around 1952.  This is where McAllen Rd meets with Morrison Rd and old Hwy 77.  There are several banks there now with Academy Sports close-by.  The screen and lot would be south of the banks.  The original manager Marshall C. Nichols told me the screen tower had been torn down in the mid 1950s and tall poles donated to hold lights for the TSC Baseball field.

The Charro and H-E-B / Gulf Mart (?).  The Buena Vista Cemetery on left and section of McDavitt St. housing on the right.  The screen might have been where the northwest corner of Dollar Tree building is today.  It closed around the late 1970s or early 80's?

The Fiesta Drive was built in 1954 and became the Ruenes Drive-in by 1965; lasting until c1990. Here it was still the Fiesta which showed Spanish and English language movies.  The Southmost 

H-E-B is there today and Cromack Elementary is where it always was.

Download maps if that makes easier to view street names.  This also looks great on your phone. Thanks to Erick Randall Tripp for sending me on this awesome search on Google Earth!