Women and Activism in the Westside: Community Staples Highlighted in Latest Exhibit

December 9, 2020 - Westside San Antonio

By Valeria Torrealba, Staff Intern, San Antonio Sentinel

The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center will host a plática showcasing the Museo del Westside and its inaugural online exhibit titled, “Women and Activism in the Westside.” The exhibit can be viewed here. As an exhibit that demonstrates the impact of women activists on the Westside, co-curators Laurie Hernandez and Donna Guerra have put together the stories of women who marched, boycotted and rallied for social change in the Westside. The event will take place on Thursday, Dec. 10 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

The exhibit is the story of the women who circulated petitions and spoke at city council meetings, an homage to the women who stood out throughout history and maintained a strong activist image that remains alive in the spirit and community of the Westside. The Museo is currently in development at the historic Ruben's Ice House, located at the Rinconcito de Esperanza at 816 S Colorado St., in the heart of San Antonio's Westside.

“In a year, year-and-a-half time, we will actually have a functioning community museum,” said Graciela Sánchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. “This will be the first community museum that will talk about the history of the diverse ethnic groups that were [in the Westside] historically.”

Sánchez hopes to highlight the stories and labor of women throughout history on the Westside, with co-curators gathering stories from the community and building the exhibit. 

“We want to tell the true stories, and that’s how Museo del Westside gets formulated. We wanted to empower women by them telling their stories,” said Sánchez. “Especially in the neighborhood that I grew up in, that my mother — who’s 97 — grew up in.”

Speakers for the event include co-curators Donna Guerra and Laura Hernández-Ehrisman, who will give a brief guided tour of highlights from the virtual exhibit, and then will facilitate a conversation  with four distinguished guests: 

• Community activist María Berriozábal, who was the first Latina to serve on the  San Antonio city council and who is profiled in the exhibit along with her  abuela, community and church activist Sebastiana Ramírez Rodríguez:  

• Writer, performance artist and professor Dr. Carmen Tafolla, who has written over  thirty books and was named State Poet Laureate of Texas, who is also profiled in the  exhibit; 

• Archeologist Dr. Mary Jo Galindo, owner of Galindo Environmental Consulting,  LLC based in Austin, Texas, who shared the story of her abuela, radio announcer and  civil rights activist María Rebecca Latigo de Hernández. 

• Community activist Ramón Vasquez, Executive Director of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions and a member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, who shares his memories of his abuela, labor activist Olivia Sánchez Zamarripa.

RELATED: West Side History and Architecture Explored in Upcoming Symposium

“I’ve written and researched a lot of the narrative of the exhibit,” said Hernández-Ehrisman. I’ve recorded some brief oral histories, things like that. I am a historian by training, so this was a wonderful opportunity.”

With a social and political climate that has sparked activism across San Antonio recently, the importance of where that drive was born and nurtured within is exemplified through the Women in Activism exhibit.

“It was really important to us that people have a more comprehensive understanding of activism in the Westside — part of it is highlighting the women who have come from the Westside, not as well known broadly, or even in San Antonio,” said Hernández-Ehrisman. “We want to highlight the contributions that they’ve made to their community.”

Although some more well-known women, such as Jovita Idár, are undoubtedly a staple of the exhibit, Hernández-Ehrisman and Guerra sought to put the lesser-known women in the spotlight; in other words, those who were beloved within the Westside community, whose stories are told by the remaining family relatives. 

“Some of the women profiled have become more well-known, but a number of the other women were women that we just knew because members of the community said that “Oh, this is my abuela! Let me tell you about what they did!” — They were PTA leaders, church community leaders — They were a lot of things that don’t get widely recognized but are important to the Westside, so we wanted to highlight lesser-known stories.” said Hernández-Ehrisman. “We keep building [on the exhibit] and there’s so many women that aren’t on there [yet], so we keep building on those stories.”

The Museo del Westside undoubtedly is an upcoming monolith for the Westside community. With such a pillar detailing the story and history of the Westside, the hopes to continue telling the stories of the women that shaped the community remain, with Hernández-Ehrisman and the Esperanza Center updating the profiles every few weeks online. 

“We talk a lot about what makes the Museo and this exhibit distinct, and it really is about place and community,” said Hernández-Ehrisman. “We are in an incredibly momentous election season, and one of the things I found inspiring about these women’s stories is how much they did. Working one, two, three jobs — raising kids — and yet, not letting that stop them from going to city council meetings and circulating petitions, challenging the city to meet the needs of Westside citizens. How much energy and time they devoted to Westside and making it better.”

Valeria Torrealba is an opinions columnist and public relations assistant at the University Star, a student publication of Texas State University. Email her at reporter@sasentinel.com