UTRGV professor to discuss the impact of this historic event
In 1968, more than 100 students walked out of a high school run by the Edcouch-Elsa School District. The students were seeking better education tools but felt their concerns were not being addressed by the school administration. The events leading up to the walkout and its impact will be discussed during the Sunday Speaker Series presentation, “A Dialogue on the 50-year Retrospective of the Edcouch-Elsa High School Walkout,” featuring Francisco Guajardo on Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Museum of South Texas History.
Guajardo, an Edcouch-Elsa native, founded the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development, a school and community nonprofit. With this organization, Guajardo has empowered students from the Edcouch-Elsa School District to further their education after high school. With the help of the organization he founded and its students, Guajardo has preserved the perspectives of the walkout by conducting research and oral histories. Following the presentation, community members who were involved in or impacted by the walkout will have the opportunity to tell their side of the story.
Guajardo, who earned his doctorate degree at UT Austin, is the executive director of the B3 Institute. He was born in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, and raised in Elsa, on 302 West 3rd Street in the Federal Housing Projects. Guajardo is also a founding member of the Center for Bilingual Studies at UTRGV.
Sunday Speaker Series is included in the fee for regular museum admission. FRIENDS of MOSTHistory are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDship and verify their FRIENDship with a FRIENDship card upon entrance.
This program is made possible with generous support from the Carmen C. Guerra Endowment. Mrs. Guerra was deeply committed to supporting educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley. This named endowment was created at the museum by her family to honor her memory and to continue her commitment to providing opportunities for education to the community.
About Museum of South Texas History
The Museum of South Texas History is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is located in downtown Edinburg at 200 North Closner Boulevard on the Hidalgo County Courthouse square. Hours of operation are from 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. Founded in 1967 as the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in the 1910 Hidalgo County Jail, the museum has grown over the decades through a series of expansions to occupy a full city block. In 2003, following the completion of a 22,500 square foot expansion, the museum was renamed the Museum of South Texas History to better reflect its regional scope. Today, the museum preserves and presents the borderland heritage of South Texas and Northeastern Mexico through its permanent collection and the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives and exhibits spanning prehistory through the 20th century. For more information about MOSTHistory, including becoming a FRIEND, visit MOSTHistory.org, like us on Facebook, follow on Twitter, find on Google+ or call +1-956-383-6911.