Sunday Speaker Series Online presentation: The Escuelitas of South Texas – An Educational History

Join the Museum of South Texas History in the next the Sunday Speaker Series Online presentation, “The Escuelitas of South Texas: An Educational History,” with Dr. Philis M. Barragán Goetz on Facebook Live.

This presentation puts escuelitas, or primary schools for Mexican American children, at the center of the educational history of South Texas, discussing their connection to progressivism, modernization, the expansion of the public school system and the Mexican Revolution. Looking at the rise and fall of these little schools in the context of these historical developments illustrates the role of education in the creation of a Mexican American identity.

Philis M. Barragán Goetz received a doctorate’s in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She teaches classes in Mexican American history, women’s history, Texas history, and United States social and cultural history at Texas A&M San Antonio, where she also serves as community liaison to the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum. Her published book, “Reading, Writing, and Revolution: Escuelitas and the Emergence of a Mexican American Identity in Texas,” is in print with the University of Texas Press.

The presentation will be streamed at facebook.com/MOSTHistory/live. Guests are encouraged to interact with the presenter by posting questions and comments on the live chat. The video will also be recorded and posted for public access on the Museum’s website at www.mosthistory.org.

This program is made possible by the generous support from the Carmen C. Guerra Endowment. Mrs. Guerra was committed to educational causes in the Rio Grande Valley. This named endowment was created by her family to honor her memory and to continue providing educational opportunities for the community.