The subtitle of “Austin’s Mexico,” the small historical show organized by Mexic-Arte Museum and the Austin History Center, includes the phrase “forgotten downtown neighborhood.” Indeed, a poll of Austinites would likely show that few today remember that the southwestern quadrant of downtown was the place where hundreds of Mexicans settled from the late 19th century through about the 1920s.
Marina Sifuentes and Lia Davis
Yet I prefer to think of the spot as distantly recalled. Evidence of the Mexico district is everywhere, from transplanted churches and businesses to the families whose ancestors lived around Republic Square Park and still tell its stories. The same is true, for instance, of the Scottish, Swedish and other settlers whose former homes in East Austin evolved into the next Latino hub.
Jose Fracisco Treviño and Glenn Martin Rosales
Cities change constantly. The two Austin groups behind the exhibit have done a lovely job of mapping out what actually was in the area — a similar map down the hall at the History Center does a similar job for Austin’s many freedman’s zones. Yet what interested me most during the reception led by Mexic-Arte’s Sylvia Orozco were the concretely personal stories told by Austinites whose grandparents or great-grandparents lived in our Mexico.
Delia Sifuentes and Mary Esther Ruiz
We promise to follow up with several of those witnesses for future Out & About columns. Among the most interesting tidbits came from a Sifuentes family member whose grandfather was delighted to leave his spot on West Fifth Street when he “moved up to the east side.” History is full of those delightful ambiguities.