The Business of Mexican Culture in Post-World War II Houston

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Deal with Us: The Business of Mexican Culture in Post-World War II Houston

Item Type Electronic Dissertation; text

Authors Pit, Chrystel

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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DEAL WITH US: THE BUSINESS OF MEXICAN CULTURE IN POST-WORLD WAR II HOUSTON

Chrystel Pit

______

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2011

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Chrystel Pit entitled Deal with Us: The Business of Mexican Culture in Post-World War II Houston and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

______Date: 04/13/2011 Oscar J. Martínez

______Date: 04/13/2011 Juan R. García

______Date: 04/13/2011 Michael Schaller

______Date:

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate‟s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement.

______Date: 04/13/2011 Dissertation Director: Oscar J. Martínez

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.

SIGNED: Chrystel Pit

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Along my journey towards a Ph.D. in History, I have benefited from the advice and assistance from many individuals. As my advisor and dissertation director, Dr. Oscar Martínez provided guidance and support that helped me tremendously. I have greatly appreciated his editorial comments and advice. For his counsel and encouragement throughout my graduate career, I am grateful to Dr. Juan García. Dr. Michael Schaller also provided helpful feedback on the manuscript. Other faculty members of the History Department at the University of Arizona who have offered valuable professional advice over the years include Bert Barickman, Julia Clancy-Smith, Richard Eaton, Benjamin Irvin, Amanda Spieler, Paul Milliman, Katherine Morrissey, Roger Nichols, David Ortiz, and Laura Tabili. Many thanks also go to Houston‟s archivists who worked with me and made the writing of this dissertation a rewarding experience. Dr. Thomas Kreneck receives my greatest gratitude for his labors as the founder of the Mexican American Component at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC). His scholarly experience, insight, and help securing important materials made the completion of this dissertation much easier. I also wish to thank the HMRC staff for their help and support. Kemo Curry and Amber Seely went out of their way to accommodate my needs, as did archivists Marguerite Radhakrishnan and Erin Norris. Dr. Mark E. Young at the Hospitality Industry Archives at the Conrad N. Hilton College provided me with access to all of the library‟s collections even though the building was about to close down for summertime construction. At the University of Houston‟s Special Collections, Dr. Terry Tomkins- Walsh gave me full access to the newly-processed Ninfa Laurenzo Collection, which proved invaluable for the fifth chapter of this dissertation. For their moral and intellectual support, I wish to thank Kathleen Powers, Joseph Dickinson, Amie Kiddle, Jonathan Jucker, Catherine Belshaw, Craig Calhoun, Julia Hudson-Richards, Dylan Richards, Gretchen Raup-Pierce, James Lockhart, Ziad Fahmy, Jane Haigh, Matthew and Veronica Furlong, Ziad Abi-Chakra, Kathryn Jasper, and Ryan Alexander. Last but not least, I wish to thank my families. To say that my parents, André and Colette, supported me throughout my doctoral project barely begins to suggest their role. They have always believed in me and have never ceased to encourage me to push myself to my limits throughout my educational journey. I am also grateful for the encouragement and love that I received from my husband‟s family. Finally, my husband, Benjamin Kulas, contributed editorial help and research assistance. To all, thank you.

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, André and Colette Pit, and to my husband,

Benjamin Kulas. Their love and support have sustained me throughout this research project and so much more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………7

INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………. 9

CHAPTER 1 CELEBRATING MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY: THE INCEPTION OF THE MODERN FIESTAS PATRIAS IN HOUSTON, 1965-1972 …..………..……. 25

CHAPTER 2 HISPANIDAD FLIRTS WITH THE DOLLAR SIGN: THE BROADENING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEPTEMBER FIESTAS PATRIAS, 1972-1980s ………...…78

CHAPTER 3 “THE SPIRIT OF OUR PUEBLO”: FELIX AND ANGELINA MORALES AND THE FIRST SPANISH-LANGUAGE RADIO STATION ON THE GULF COAST, 1950-1980s …………………………………….……………………. 122

CHAPTER 4 “THEIR FIRST TASTE OF MEXICAN FOOD, THEIR FIRST WORDS OF SPANISH AND THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH MEXICAN-AMERICANS”: FELIX TIJERINA AND THE FELIX MEXICAN RESTAURANT CHAIN, 1930s-2008 ………………………………..…………………………………………………..……. 173

CHAPTER 5 “HOUSTON‟S FIRST LADY OF MEXICAN COOKING”: NINFA LAURENZO AND THE REDEFINITION OF MEXICAN CUISINE, 1970s-1990s ………………………………………………………….……………………………… 221

CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….. 267

REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………...…273

ABSTRACT

This dissertation is an in-depth examination of cultural interactions between Mexican

Americans and Anglos in post-World War II Houston. Today, Houston‟s Mexican

American community ranks as the third largest in the United States. This thriving metropolis offers an urban platform through which one can understand how acceptance and celebration of ethnic cultural ways have come to form an intrinsic part of American culture. While much of the past and current literature on Mexican American history in the postwar period focuses on conflicts over desegregation and fights for equal treatment under the law, my research offers a new perspective on less confrontational cultural exchanges between Anglos and Mexican Americans. Ethnic festivals, Spanish-language radio programming, and the Mexican restaurant industry in Houston illuminate how

Mexican American businessmen and women introduced aspects of Mexican culture to a large array of Houstonians and, as a consequence, how Houstonians came to accept these cultural manifestations as a natural part of the city‟s life. My use of English- and

Spanish-language newspapers, oral histories, personal papers, business records, advertisements, photographs, and municipal, state, and federal documents allows me to explore the regular cultural exchanges and syntheses of Anglo and Mexican cultures in

Texas, even during ongoing struggles for racial equality. Additionally, the surge in celebrations of Mexican ethnicity in the postwar era led to a heightened interest from national corporations in attracting and profiting from the Hispanic dollar. Ethnic festivals, radio broadcasts, and the Mexican food industry gradually opened the way for a repackaging of ethnicity as something to be consumed. By the 1980s, these cultural 8

manifestations remained emblematic of the Mexican heritage but had also become highly marketable commodities; traditions that used to be associated solely with the Mexican

American community in Houston now pointed to their increased level of incorporation into the city‟s cultural life. I conclude that this greater acceptance of certain aspects of

Mexican culture signaled the gradual penetration of Mexican American ethnicity into

American cultural ways.

INTRODUCTION

On 17 August 1978, Ninfa Laurenzo, one of Houston‟s most prominent Mexican

American business and civic leaders, wrote a letter to the city‟s mayor. In it, she celebrated the recent victory of a citywide referendum that targeted many of the public transportation needs of residents of Mexican descent. She reiterated that the Mexican

Americans for Better Transit committee, composed of local middle-class entrepreneurs and civic leaders, had worked towards “organizing and mobilizing support for a concept

[Houston] vitally need[ed].”1 Ninfa also reminded the mayor that Mexican-origin voters had “played a significant role” in bringing about a revamping of the city‟s public transportation system.2 She closed her letter by bluntly stating her opinion of the current social and political status of Mexican-origin voters in the city: “We are a force and no longer a flock.”3 Ninfa Laurenzo‟s sentiments about the newfound strength of the

Mexican-origin electorate resonate with the bulk of the scholarship that has been produced about the gains made by minorities, especially African Americans and

Chicanos, in the latter half of the twentieth century.4 Historians‟ analyses of these

1 Ninfa Laurenzo to Mayor Jim McConn, 17 August 1978, Mexican Americans for Better Transit Collection, Box 1, Folder 1, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC), Houston Public Library, Houston.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 The scholarship on the African American and Chicano fights for civil rights is obviously rather extensive. Some important works on the Chicano Movement include Ignacio M. García, United We Win: The Rise and Fall of the Raza Unida Party (Tucson: MASRC, the University of Arizona, 1989); Juan Gomez-Quiñonez, Chicano Politics: Reality and Promise, 1940-1990 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990); Armando Navarro, Mexican American Youth Organization: Avant-Garde of the Chicano Movement in Texas (Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1995); Richard Griswold del Castillo 10

struggles and confrontations remain fundamental to our understanding of changing race relations. This dissertation, however, approaches that era differently. It explores how a gradual process of acculturation and exchange between the Anglo and Mexican communities of Houston in the second half of the twentieth century helped to shape a new identity for an American city.

Houston‟s History

Founded by Anglos in 1836, Houston grew steadily until the 1940s.5 Already at the beginning of the twentieth century, it had become an important hub for the newly

and Richard A. García, César Chávez: A Triumph of Spirit, The Oklahoma Western Biographies Series, no. 2 (Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995); Francisco A. Rosales, Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (Houston: Arte Público Press, 1996); Alma M. García, Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings (New York: Routledge, 1997); Ignacio M. García, Chicanismo: The Forging of a Militant Ethos among Mexican Americans (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997); Rodolpho Gonzales, Message to Aztlán: Selected Writings of Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales (Houston: Arte Público Press, 2001); Carlos Francisco Jackson, Chicana and Chicano Art: ProtestArte (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2009); Mario T. García and Sal Castro, Blowout! Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2011). Regarding the African American civil rights movement, see, among others, Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (New York: Dial Press, 1968); David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (New York: W. Murrow, 1986); John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994); William H. Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980); Charles M. Payne, I‟ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995); Samuel C. Hyde, Sunbelt Revolution: The Historical Progression of the Civil Rights Struggle in the Gulf South, 1866-2000 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003); Taylor Branch, At Canaan‟s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006); Thomas J. Sugrue, Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North (New York: Random House, 2008); Harvard Sitkoff, King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop (New York: Hill and Wang, 2008).

5 Works on Houston history include Marilyn McAdams Sibley, The Port of Houston: A History (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968); David G. McComb, Houston: The Bayou City (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1969); George Fuermann, Houston: The Once and Future City (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1971); Chandler Davidson, Biracial Politics: Conflict and Coalition in the Metropolitan South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972); Richard Murray, “Houston: Politics of a Boomtown,” Dissent 27 (Fall 1980): 500-504; Cary D. Wintz, Blacks in Houston (Houston: Houston Center of the Humanities, 1982); Barry Kaplan, “Houston: The Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt,” in Sunbelt Cities: Politics and Growth Since World War II, Richard M. Bernard and Bradley R. Rice, eds. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983), 196-212; Susan A. MacManus, Federal Aid to Houston (Washington, 11

emerging petroleum industry after oil was discovered at Spindletop, ninety miles outside of the city, in 1901.6 Aided by a generous grant from the federal government in 1910, it deepened its ship channel, which attracted many oil-related industries to the area.7 That investment ensured Houston‟s future as a port city of vital importance both to the United

States and, later, the world economy.

D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1983); Joe R. Feagin and Beth Anne Shelton, “Community Organizing in Houston: Social Problems and Community Response,” Community Development Journal 20, no.2 (April 1985): 99-105; Joe R. Feagin, “The Global Context of Metropolitan Growth: Houston and the Oil Industry,” The American Journal of Sociology 90, no. 6 (May 1985): 1204-1230; Joseph A. Pratt, But Also Good Business: Texas Commerce Banks and the Financing of Houston and Texas, 1886-1986 (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1986); Robert D. Bullard, Invisible Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1987); Joe R. Feagin, Free Enterprise City: Houston in Political-Economic Perspective (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1988); Beth Anne Shelton, Nestor Rodriguez, et al., eds. Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, Comparative American Cities Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989); Robert Fisher, “The Urban Sunbelt in Comparative Perspective: Houston in Context,” in Essays on Sunbelt Cities and Recent Urban America, R. Fairbanks and K. Underwood, eds. (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1990), 33-58; Robert D. Thomas and Richard W. Murray, Progrowth Politics: Change and Governance in Houston (Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies Press, 1991); Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz, eds. Black Dixie: Afro-Texan History and Culture in Houston, The Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University, no. 41 (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M Press, 1992); Chandler Davidson, Quiet Revolution in the South: The Impact of the Voting Rights Act, 1965-1990 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994); Joseph A. Pratt and Jeffrey Share, eds. The Oil Makers: Insiders Look at the Petroleum Industry (Houston: Rice University Press, 1995); Thomas R. Coles, No Color Is My Kind: The Life of Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997); William Henry Kellar, Make Haste Slowly: Moderates, Conservatives, and School Desegregation in Houston (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1999); Barrie Scardino, William F. Stern, and Bruce C. Webb, eds. Ephemeral City: Cite Looks at Houston (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003); Alan Cockrell, Drilling Ahead: The Quest for Oil in the Deep South, 1945-2005 (Jackson, Miss.: Published for the Mississippi Geological Society by the University Press of Mississippi, 2005); Dwight Watson, Race and the Houston Police Department, 1930-1990: A Change Did Come (College Station, Tex.: Texas A. & M. University Press, 2005); Joseph A. Pratt and Martin V. Melosi, Energy Metropolis: An Environmental History of Houston and the Gulf Coast (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007).

6 Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, 5-8. Since its rival port city, Galveston, had been devastated by the biggest hurricane disaster in American history in 1900, Houston stood as the leading port facility in the Gulf Coast region. For further examination of the Houston-Galveston competition, see David McComb, “The Houston-Galveston Rivalry,” in Houston: A Twentieth Century Urban Frontier, Francisco A. Rosales and Barry J. Kaplan, eds. (Port Washington, N.Y.: National University Publications, 1983), 7-21.

7 This 1.25 million dollar-grant represented the largest subsidy from the federal government to a city at the time. Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, 11-12.

The 1920s and 1930s witnessed an expansion of the city‟s economic and demographic base, as gas- and oil-related industrial facilities established themselves along the ship channel. Houston doubled to almost 300,000 residents during the 1920s, while the population of Harris County reached close to half a million, making Houston the largest city in the state.8 The Great Depression brought difficult times, but the discovery of new oil fields in Texas along with the influx of New Deal dollars expanding the city‟s infrastructure helped it weather the crisis.9 During World War II, Houston‟s oil and petrochemical industries proved crucial, especially in the domains of aviation and synthetic rubber supplies. Moreover, the area boasted vast reserves of oil, gas, and sulfur.10 This bounty of resources ensured that Houston would become a major provider of items in high demand both during wartime and after, as the American economy grew increasingly dependent on a wide variety of petrochemical products, such as asphalt, jet fuel, plastics, and synthetic consumer goods.11

The period from the end of World War II until the 1980s earned Houston the nickname of “Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt.”12 Its booming economy propelled it to the

8 Ibid, 14.

9 Ibid, 12-16. Houston was abided by a well-entrenched “growth coalition,” composed of local bankers, businessmen, developers, and state politicians with ties both to the Texas legislature and Washington, D.C. These influential men had ensured that Houston received sustained state and federal subsidies since the early years of the twentieth century and worked towards expanding the local economy. By doing so, the local elite built a city that became a national hub for the oil and gas industries and whose economic success relied on state and federal monies.

10 Ibid, 16.

11 Ibid, 17.

12 Stephen L. Klineberg, Houston‟s Economic and Demographic Transformations: Findings from the Expanded 2002 Survey of Houston‟s Ethnic Communities, Rice University: The Houston Area Survey (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002), 4. 13

status of global city, both financially and with respect to its increasingly multicultural population. Petrochemical industries attracted a flurry of companies in the sectors of banking, construction, transportation, and the production of steel, aluminum, and other metals. In the 1950s alone, Houston‟s population grew by fifty-seven percent, and by the

1970s 1,300 new residents arrived each week. Between 1970 and 1982, almost one million newcomers settled in the metropolitan area.13 These numbers included an unprecedented influx of immigrants, making the city truly cosmopolitan by the early

1980s.14

Houston‟s Growing Multiculturalism in the Post-World War II Era

Houston‟s Mexican-origin community first began to increase during the Mexican

Revolution of the 1910s.15 Nevertheless, by the 1950s, this ethnic group represented only about seven percent of the city‟s population, or 65,000 residents.16 Immigration from

13 Ibid. Home of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and a major “technology-distribution center for the world‟s oil and gas market system,” the city comfortably established itself as a major player in the world economy. Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, 24.

14 Ibid. Unlike other cities in the United States, Houston actually profited from the oil crisis of 1973-1975. Indeed, because OPEC countries acquired control over their crude oil in 1973, they immediately engaged into exploration and drilling operations. As their main supplier of petroleum-related engineering and equipment services, Houston‟s economy greatly benefited from a crisis that otherwise sent the rest of the country into a recession. U.S. petroleum companies lost money on oil originating from the Middle East, but the sharp rise in prices on the global market otherwise presented them with incredible profits from oil fields in other places in the world. Shelton et al. also note that prior to the 1973 OPEC crisis, local businesses were attempting to diversify Houston‟s economy by investing into non petroleum- related ventures, especially real estate. The 1973 crisis, along with a second surge in oil prices in the late 1970s, proved such a financial boon, however, that local industries continued to pour money in oil-related industries. The local economy would therefore be ill-prepared to face the recession of the early 1980s.

15 There were 2,000 Mexican-origin residents in Houston in 1910. By 1930, 15,000 had settled in the city. Arnoldo De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt: Mexican Americans in Houston, 2nd edition, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 4 (Houston: Texas A&M University Press, 2001), 7, 23.

16 Ibid, 147. 14

Mexico over the next three decades, however, reflected a change in Houston‟s linguistic and cultural makeup. In the 1960s and 1970s, the number of residents of Mexican descent doubled, and by the 1980s, about 100,000 Central Americans, mostly refugees fleeing political instability and violence in their native countries, joined the ranks.

Overall, the Hispanic population again expanded by seventy-five percent in the 1980s.17

Among Asians, Vietnamese refugees led a wave of immigration from Asia that started in the mid-1970s and continued into the 1980s. Indeed, in the 1980s, the Asian population grew by 129 percent.18 By 1990, Harris County numbered 90,000 Asians, most of whom hailed from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Vietnam; non-Anglo residents constituted

17 Nestor Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” in In the Barrios: Latinos and the Underclass Debate, Joan W. Moore and Raquel Pinderhughes, eds. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993), 103; Stephen L. Klineberg, Houston‟s Economic and Demographic Transformations: Findings from the Expanded 2002 Survey of Houston‟s Ethnic Communities, 7; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” in Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptation in Immigrant Congregations, Helen Rose Ebaugh and Janet Saltzman Chafetz, eds. (Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 2000), 29-42.

18 Stephen L. Klineberg, Houston‟s Economic and Demographic Transformations: Findings from the Expanded 2002 Survey of Houston‟s Ethnic Communities, 7; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” 37. New immigrants kept coming to Houston in the 1980s, even though that decade presented the city with its first real economic challenge. Its oil-based economy survived the 1980s with difficulty as the country suffered a recession, and OPEC nations dropped their oil prices sharply. Moreover, the combined effect of lower domestic consumption of petroleum combined with a severe reduction in oil supplies in Texas reserves to plunge the state into a “double dip” recession in 1981-1983, and then again from 1984 until 1987. This led to a 9.7 percent unemployment rate throughout the city in 1983; that number would reach almost fifteen percent by 1986. This time around, Houston experienced the national recession in a much more extended fashion than any other state. The depressed economy, however, did not keep Hispanic and Asian immigrants from coming, as their numbers grew steadily in the 1980s. Instead of finding employment in petroleum-related industries, they took service jobs and other low-paying tasks with little guaranteed stability. By 1990, the local economy had recovered and re-oriented itself towards “a knowledge-based, high-technology, truly worldwide economic system.” Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, 25; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” 34; Stephen L. Klineberg, Houston‟s Economic and Demographic Transformations: Findings from the Expanded 2002 Survey of Houston‟s Ethnic Communities, 4.

forty-six percent of the county‟s population.19 The city had thus achieved a remarkable ethnic diversity in only a few decades. This influx of new cultures fashioned Houston into a metropolis of multilingual signage, with restaurants and groceries representing ethnicities from around the world. Amidst this change, Mexican culture stood at the forefront of the redefinition of the city‟s identity.

State of the Literature

This is a story about the role of an ethnic group and its culture in reshaping a modern American city‟s sense of self. Since the early 1970s, historians studying

Mexican-origin communities have examined their interactions with Anglo American culture. These scholars have exposed the complex processes by which life in an Anglo

American environment presented Mexican-origin people with the challenges of acculturating to a foreign culture while preserving elements of their own ethnicity.

George J. Sánchez and others have looked at Americanization programs and campaigns that sought to strip Mexican-origin immigrants of their most salient ethnic and religious characteristics.20 By analyzing how Mexican-origin groups refused to shed the aspects of their culture that mattered the most to them, scholars have demonstrated how life in an

American setting transformed these communities over time, as the younger generations developed bicultural identities. These sons, daughters, and grandchildren became deeply

19 Houston also welcomed a growing number of Filipino, Indian, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Lebanese, Cambodian, and Korean immigrants in the 1980s. Stephen L. Klineberg, Houston‟s Economic and Demographic Transformations: Findings from the Expanded 2002 Survey of Houston‟s Ethnic Communities, 7-8; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” 37.

20 George J. Sánchez, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).

loyal to the United States over time, and in the process, managed to retain their own ethnic identity. This scholarship provides us with a rich understanding of the complexities of acculturation and identity formation among Mexican-origin people.

These studies also stress the role of continued immigration from Mexico in keeping the

Mexican American identity in a fluid state.21

Unlike cities that have received the most focus from historians of Mexican

Americans, Houston was never under Spanish rule. Moreover, it did not witness large- scale Mexican immigration until the early 1900s. Consequently, immigrants and their descendants engaged in the process of community-building in circumstances that contrasted significantly from their counterparts in places such as San Antonio or Los

Angeles, where the cultural and social networks established during Spanish control helped ease newcomers into their new surroundings. The scholars who have studied

Houston‟s Mexican-origin population have therefore started to examine how this group

21 Some of these works include Arnoldo De Leόn, Las Fiestas Patrias: Biographic Notes on the Hispanic Presence in San Angelo, Texas, The Caravel Series on Fiestas Patrias (San Antonio, TX: Caravel Press, 1978); Felix Padilla, Latino Ethnic Consciousness: The Case of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in Chicago (Notre Dame, Ind.: Notre Dame University Press, 1985); Lawrence Douglas Taylor Hansen, “Las fiestas patrias y la preservación de la identidad cultural mexicana en California: una visión histόrica,” Frontera Norte, 9, no. 18 (Julio-Diciembre de 1997): 29-44; Judith Berg Sobré, San Antonio on Parade: Six Historic Festivals, Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities, no. 15 (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2003); Jeffrey Pilcher, “Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, New Mex, or Whose Mex? Notes on the Historical Geography of Southwestern Cuisine,” in On the Border: Society and Culture between the United States and Mexico, Andrew Grant Wood, ed., Latin American Silhouettes (Landham, MD: SR Books, 2004), 199-219; Richard Buitron, The Quest for Tejano Identity in San Antonio, Texas, 1913-2000 (New York: Routledge Press, 2004); Albert Camarillo, Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern California, 1848- 1930 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1979; reprint, Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2005); Anthony Quiroz, Claiming Citizenship: Mexican Americans in Victoria, Texas, Fronteras Series, no. 3 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005); José Alamillo, Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1900-1960, Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial series (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006); Anthony F. Macías, Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles, 1935-1968 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2008). 17

juggled cultural adjustments and affirmation of their ethnic heritage in a modern

American metropolis.

Scholars of Houston‟s Mexican-origin community have investigated the role that an urban, Anglo-dominated environment played in shaping the Mexican experience in that city. These historians have examined how Mexican-origin residents faced a series of cultural adjustments. Their research has also shed light on this group‟s struggles to achieve civic and social equality throughout the twentieth century. In an extensive survey of the history of Houston‟s Mexican-origin community, Arnoldo De León has documented its settlement patterns and the seminal role of the barrios‟ social and cultural institutions in maintaining cultural ties to the homeland while also aiding adaptation to

American urban life. De León also has exposed the importance of a continuous flow of

Mexican immigrants in helping maintain the existence of Mexican culture in the city.22

Other historians have analyzed how Mexican-origin residents overcame racial discrimination and second-class citizenship in Houston. A biography of Felix Tijerina, the city‟s most prominent Mexican businessman in the pre-civil rights era, traces the rise and successes of an immigrant who carefully straddled Anglo and Mexican cultures in ways that did not upset the prevailing racial status quo.23 Finally, two other studies have shown how ethnic identity, cultural pride, and grassroots organizations helped

Houstonians of Mexican descent to attain educational equality and recognition of their

22 Arnoldo De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt: Mexican Americans in Houston.

23 Thomas Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey: Felix Tijerina, Entrepreneur and Civic Leader, 1905-1965, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 2 (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 2001).

particular brand of Catholicism.24 Taken together, these findings give us an understanding of the experience of a twentieth-century Mexican-origin community.25

A subset of the historiography on Mexican-origin people has explored how public manifestations of Mexican heritage and culture reinforced a sense of community for immigrants and their children in the face of challenges and discrimination from Anglo

Americans. For instance, historians such as José Alamillo, Arnoldo De León, and Judith

Berg-Sobré have examined how the celebrations of Mexican patriotic holidays in towns

24 Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., Brown, Not White: School Integration and the Chicano Movement in Houston, 2nd edition, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 3 (Houston: Texas A&M University Press, 2001); Roberto Treviño, The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno- Catholicism in Houston (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006).

25 Kreneck also published Del Pueblo: A Pictorial History of Houston‟s Hispanic Community, which was designed as a public history and was aimed at non-academic readers. Del Pueblo: A Pictorial History of Houston‟s Hispanic Community (Houston: Houston International University, 1989). Other scholars who have written about the Mexican-origin community in Houston include Mary Ellen Goodman and Don Des Jarlais, Houstonians of Mexican Ancestry (Houston: Center for Research and Social Change and Economic Development, Rice University, 1968); Mary Ellen Goodman and Alma Beman, The Mexican American Population of Houston: A Survey in the Field, 1965-1970 (Houston: Houston Marsh Rice University, 1971); Francisco Arturo Rosales, “Mexican Americans in Houston: The Boomtown‟s Stepchild Society,” in Invisible in Houston: City! Our Urban Past, Present, and Future, Thomas H. Kreneck, ed. (Houston: Houston Public Library, 1978), 7-15; Carlos B. Gil, “Lydia Mendoza: Houstonian and First Lady of Mexican American Song,” The Houston Review: History and Culture of the Gulf Coast 3, no. 2 (Summer 1981): 249-260; Francisco Arturo Rosales, "Mexicans in Houston: The Struggle to Survive, 1908-1975," The Houston Review: History and Culture of the Gulf Coast 3, no. 2 (Summer 1981): 224-48; Francisco Arturo Rosales, “The Mexican Immigrant Experience in Chicago, Houston, and Tucson: Comparisons and Contrasts,” in Houston: A Twentieth Century Urban Frontier, Francisco Arturo Rosales and Barry J. Kaplan, eds. (Port Washington: Associated Faculty Press, Inc., 1983), 58-77; Francisco Arturo Rosales, “Shifting Self-Perceptions and Ethnic Consciousness Among Mexicans in Houston, 1908-1946,” Aztlán 16, no. 1-2 (1987): 71-94; Francisco Arturo Rosales, “La musica en Houston,” Americas Review 16, no. 1 (Spring 1988): 12-25; Nestor Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” in In the Barrios: Latinos and the Underclass Debate, Joan Moore and Raquel Pinderhughes, eds. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993), 101-128; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” in Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptation in Immigrant Congregations, Helen Rose Ebaugh and Janet Saltzman Chafetz, eds. (Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 2000), 29-42; Maria Cristina García, “Agents of Americanization: Rusk Settlement and the Houston Mexicano Community, 1907-1950,” in Mexican Americans in Texas History: Selected Essays, Emilio Zamora, Cynthia Orozco, and Rodolfo Rocha, eds. (Austin: Texas State Historical Society, 2000), 127-137.

across Texas and California served as both a tool for cultural resistance to and collaboration with the Anglo establishment before the 1950s.26 These studies emphasize how the festivities presented the Mexican heritage in a favorable light and acted as powerful means for community-building within Mexican-origin neighborhoods. This scholarship concludes, however, that cultural events did not result in a lessening of strident racial discrimination. Dolores Inés Casillas considers another form of cultural expression, radio programming.27 By analyzing the role of Spanish-language radio stations in the contemporary U.S. ethnic media landscape, Casillas has highlighted the dual function of this medium in exposing its Latino audience to mainstream corporations through advertising and in serving as a site nurturing a sense of belonging and cultural familiarity to Latinos. Studies such as these have contributed to our understanding of how Mexican-origin and other Hispanic communities have defined their ethnic identity and projected it to themselves and other ethnic groups. As well, these works offer important insights into the role of Mexican culture in sustaining communities that otherwise faced, and still experience, an environment mostly dominated by Anglo-

American norms.

Finally, historians and other social scientists have investigated how minority entrepreneurs have played a historically significant role in the cultural, economic, and

26 Arnoldo De Leόn, Las Fiestas Patrias: Biographic Notes on the Hispanic Presence in San Angelo,Texas; Judith Berg Sobré, San Antonio on Parade: Six Historic Festivals; José Alamillo, “More Than a Fiesta: Ethnic Identity, Cultural Politics, and Cinco de Mayo Festivals in Corona, California, 1930- 1950,” Aztlán 28, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 57-85.

27 Dolores Inés Casillas, “„¡Puuurrrooo MÉXICO!‟ Listening to Transnationalism in U.S. Spanish- Language Radio,” in Beyond El Barrio: Everyday Life in Latina/o America, Gina M. Pérez, Frank A. Guridy, and Adrian Burgos, Jr., eds. (New York: New York University Press, 2010), 44-62. 20

social lives of ethnic communities across the country. These scholars have emphasized how self-employment gave agency to ethnic groups that otherwise faced discrimination in the mainstream market economy. These studies also shed light on how partaking in ethnic capitalism provided minority businesspeople with opportunities to achieve social mobility and stability within their own ethnic and commercial niches. Moreover, the literature on minority entrepreneurship informs our understanding of the role that businesspeople played in the process of community-building and identity formations within their own neighborhoods. This scholarship therefore emphasizes how by going into business for themselves, minority entrepreneurs have provided for their own families, catered to the special needs of ethnic markets, and played an essential part in the

U.S. economy. Finally, historians have started to uncover how minority entrepreneurs used their middle-class status to engage in social and political activism in order to secure greater civil rights for members of their own ethnic group.28 As a whole, the literature

28 Some important works on minority entrepreneurship in the United States include Roger D. Waldinger, Through the Eye of the Needle: Immigrants and Enterprise in New York‟s Garment Trades ((New York: New York University Press, 1986); Ivan Light and Edna Bonacich, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965-1982 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988); Roger Waldinger, “Structural Opportunity or Ethnic Advantage? Immigrant Business Development in New York,” International Migration Review 23, no. 1 (Spring, 1989): 48-72; Richard A. García, Rise of the Mexican American Middle Class: San Antonio, 1929-1941 (College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, 1991); Nicolás Pineda Pablos, “Vincente Ortiz, Nineteenth-Century Alamos Entrepreneur,” Journal of the Southwest 35, no. 3 (Autumn, 1993): 341-356; Robert Mark Silverman, “Ethnic Solidarity and Black Business: The Case of Ethnic Beauty Aids Distributors in Chicago,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 58, no. 4 (October, 1999): 829-841; Rebeca Raijman and Marta Tienda, “Training Functions of Ethnic Economies: Mexican Entrepreneurs in Chicago,” Sociological Perspectives 43, no. 3 (Autumn, 2000): 439-456; John Sibley Butler and George Kozmetsky, eds. Immigrant and Minority Entrepreneurship: The Continuous Rebirth of American Communities (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2004); Robert W. Fairlie, “Recent Trends in Ethnic and Racial Business Ownership,” Small Business Economics 23, no. 3 (October, 2004): 203-218; Bárbara J. Robles and Héctor Cordero-Guzmán, “Latino Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship in the United States: An Overview of the Literature and Data Sources,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science613, Advancing Research on Minority Entrepreneurship (September, 2007): 18-31; Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb, Race and Entrepreneurial Success: Black-, Asian-, and White-Owned Businesses in the United States (Cambridge, 21

examining minority entrepreneurship illustrates the role that these businessmen and women have played in U.S. racial, social, and economic history.

A Tale of Exchanges

My dissertation builds on the existing scholarship to consider the role of Mexican culture itself in molding American culture. It argues that, while racial discrimination and acculturation to Anglo ways over the generations have played a significant role in informing Mexican-Anglo relations, historians have neglected to study how these interactions and the presence of Mexican-origin people have also participated in shaping that blurry concept, American identity. The second half of the twentieth century, which witnessed a surge in immigration from Mexico, offers a convenient timeframe to undertake such a study. By examining the commemorations of an important Mexican patriotic holiday, Spanish-language radio programming, and the evolution of Mexican food in Houston, this dissertation adds a new dimension to the study of Mexican

American history. More pointedly, it explores the importance of exchanges between

Mexican and Anglo cultures and highlights how local history helps understand broader national trends.

The emphasis here is on the efforts of middle-class civic leaders and entrepreneurs to bring the Mexican heritage to the Anglo community in Houston in the post-1945 era. These leaders cooperated with Anglos, shared their ethnic pride, and used the city‟s public spaces to showcase aspects of Mexican heritage. The subjects of this

Mass.: The MIT Press, 2008); Hernán Ramírez and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, “Mexican Immigrant Gardeners: Entrepreneurs or Exploited Workers?” Social Problems 56, no. 1 (February, 2009): 70-88; Suzanne E. Smith, To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors and the African American Way of Death (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 2010); Tiffany M. Gill, Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women‟s Activism in the Beauty Industry (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010). 22

dissertation infused Houston with a sense of the role that Mexican people and Mexican culture had played in the city‟s history. The sources consulted for this study stress the fact that these civic and business leaders not only boasted a strong bicultural identity, but also actively sought to find common ground with the city‟s Anglo population. The

Mexican-origin community‟s main bilingual newspaper from the 1960s through the

1980s, El Sol, reflected this attitude in its editorials, most of which asked for or celebrated collaboration between the Anglo and Mexican-origin communities.

Additionally, the personal papers of Mexican-origin Houstonians and oral histories also emphasize cooperation with the city‟s political leadership and, more broadly, its Anglo population. By focusing on avenues of cultural interactions and mutual understanding, this dissertation explains Anglo Houstonians‟ increasing embrace of Mexican culture.

These encounters offer new ways to examine how the post-World War II era presented opportunities not only for a vibrant and multi-ethnic civil rights movement, but also for more subtle cultural exchanges between Anglos and Hispanics. Additionally, these exchanges reveal how Mexican ethnicity itself became commercialized in the postwar era. The commodification of Mexican culture led to its repackaging for consumption by people with no Mexican heritage. The people behind the process built bridges that proved essential to the incorporation of Mexican culture into the modern American sense of identity.

This dissertation addresses three themes in five chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 document the evolution of the Fiestas Patrias (patriotic holidays) commemorations of

Mexican Independence Day in the streets and parks of Houston from the 1960s through 23

the 1980s. These two chapters chronicle how Mexican-origin civic leaders organized festivities that exalted both the Mexican and American heritage of the city‟s Mexican- origin residents. As the events quickly gained wide popularity among both Anglos and

Houstonians of Mexican descent, activities expanded in size. By the 1980s, the Fiestas

Patrias had become an integral part of Houston‟s cultural calendar and attracted national corporations that perceived the celebrations as a platform for courting Hispanic consumers. Within two decades, the Fiestas Patrias festivities developed into an annual commemoration of the independence of Mexico that at the same time affirmed the loyalty of the Mexican-origin community toward the United States.

Chapter 3 details the birth and rise of KLVL, the first Spanish-language radio station in the Houston metropolitan area. The chapter describes the station‟s difficult beginnings and the strategies that its founders, Felix and Angelina Morales, employed to build a vibrant business that catered both to Spanish-speakers and Anglo listeners. By examining the content of the station‟s programming and the Moraleses‟ vision of

KLVL‟s role in the city‟s life, this chapter shows how the radio station built bridges between two communities of listeners who otherwise would unlikely have been aware of one another‟s interests and cultural views.

Finally, Chapters 4 and 5 explain the role of food in exposing Anglo Houstonians to Mexican culture. The chapters retrace the culinary approaches of two restaurateurs of

Mexican origin whose menu selections epitomized the evolving tastes and culinary preferences of two generations of diners. While Felix Tijerina‟s establishments offered a mild, accommodationist version of what Anglos perceived as Mexican food in the pre- 24

civil rights era, Ninfa Laurenzo‟s kitchen served spicier dishes by the 1970s. These two entrepreneurs made millions of dollars by understanding and appealing to Anglo patrons‟ increasing appetite for foreign flavors. The growing hunger for an ethnically diverse cuisine reflects Houston‟s gradual redefinition as a modern multicultural American city.

CHAPTER 1

CELEBRATING MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY: THE INCEPTION OF THE MODERN FIESTAS PATRIAS IN HOUSTON, 1965-1972

In the 1990s, Houston Chronicle articles about the September Fiestas Patrias1 regularly celebrated the event as “a part of Houston‟s fabric” and as an observance, no longer simply of Mexican Independence Day, but rather of the role of Mexican culture in

Houston.2 The organizers chose the theme “Hispanics and the 21st Century” for the 1990

Fiestas Patrias to “point out that the Latino community … [was] no longer a small minority of the population but a sizable voting and buying force that … [was] shaping the growth of the city.”3 By the last decade of the twentieth century, Houston‟s ethnic communities came together every September to celebrate the cultural, economic, and political influence of Central and Latin American immigrants on the city and used the festivities as a platform to laud Houston‟s multicultural makeup. The commemoration of

Mexico‟s history and of the Mexican American legacy, however, had not always thrust

Houston‟s ethnic groups together in the streets and city parks. It was not until the early

1970s that the Fiestas Patrias festivities became a means to build a good relationship between Houston‟s Mexican Americans and the city‟s Anglo population.

This chapter traces the evolution of this civic holiday from a relatively isolated

1 In Mexico, the Fiestas Patrias encompass several civic holidays throughout the year. In the United States, however, only Mexican Independence Day and 5 May (the defeat of French forces at the battle of Puebla in 1862) are celebrated. This chapter examines solely the September commemorations in Houston.

2 “Fiestas Patrias/Independence Celebration Is Part of Houston‟s Fabric,” Houston Chronicle, 10 September 1994, 22 (A); “Fiestas Patrias Festivities Start,” Houston Chronicle, 7 September 1990, 1 (Weekend Preview).

3 Ibid.

event in the mid-1960s to a full-blown, citywide fiesta by the early 1970s. It examines the strategies that some Mexican American community leaders adopted to mobilize their own people and to reach out to Houstonians who were not of Mexican extraction. It also seeks to gauge the extent to which these civic rituals acted as vehicles for the expression of cultural pride and acculturation for the Mexican-origin community in Houston during a tumultuous period in American history. Finally, this chapter describes how community leaders produced the blueprint for future, even bigger Fiestas Patrias celebrations in

Houston, while unwittingly exposing the events to the risks of corporate influence.

Historiographical Review of the Celebrations of the Fiestas Patrias in the United States

The Fiestas Patrias held throughout Mexico and in many Mexican American communities commemorate the momentous events that began the movement for independence in Mexico. On the night of 15 September 1810 some Mexican patriots rode to the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato, to warn Father Don Miguel Hidalgo y

Costilla that their plan to overthrow the Spanish government had been discovered. Close to midnight, Hidalgo gathered his parishioners and exhorted them to fight to end Spanish rule in Mexico. After an impassioned speech denouncing three centuries of Spanish tyranny and oppression, he issued the famous Grito de Dolores, or call to independence.

The Spaniards apprehended and executed Hidalgo the following year, and the struggle lasted for another decade. Yet, 16 September 1810 is honored as Independence Day in

Mexico, and Hidalgo is recognized as a national hero.4

4 Américo Paredes, “Meaning of El Diez y Seis,” (Houston) Papel Chicano, 16 September 1971, 27

Much of the history of these celebrations in Mexican American communities remains to be explored, especially for the post-World War II period. The dearth of scholarship proves especially problematic for the 1960s and afterwards, as this is when

American society underwent a strong revival of ethnic pride among its immigrant communities. Civic holidays provide a helpful lens through which to understand those broader currents. The case of Houston shows that Mexican American leaders sensed the need for activities that would foster peaceful community-building and rally Anglos to join the effort to make the Mexican American heritage a vital feature of Texan history and identity. This endeavor proved successful in making Anglo businesses and prominent politicians acknowledge gradually that the September festivities not only served to recognize Mexican heritage but also represented an opportunity to enhance the

Anglo‟s image of an ethnic group with growing economic and political power in Texas and the Southwest.

A few studies have described the commemoration of the September Fiestas

Patrias in several Mexican American communities in the United States. Lawrence

Douglas Taylor Hansen documented such festivities in California from the time of

American annexation of the Southwest after the Mexican-American War until the Second

World War.5 He chronicled how Californios celebrated Mexico‟s independence despite the residential segregation and political and economic displacement that Anglo-

n.p.; Judith Berg Sobré, San Antonio on Parade: Six Historic Festivals, Tarleton State University Southwestern Studies in the Humanities, no. 15 (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2003), 73.

5 Lawrence Douglas Taylor Hansen, “Las fiestas patrias y la preservación de la identidad cultural mexicana en California: una visión histόrica,” Frontera Norte, 9, no. 18 (Julio-Diciembre de 1997): 29-44. 28

Americans imposed on them in the decades after 1848. Taylor Hansen explained that physical concentration in barrios, coupled with a steady influx of immigrants, especially during the Mexican Revolution, enabled Californios to preserve their cultural heritage through activities such as Fiestas Patrias celebrations. The Spanish-language press that emerged between the mid-nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth also helped promote ethnic pride and heavily advertised the Fiestas to the whole community.

The festivities, which the Mexican consul from Los Angeles attended, targeted the youth and families, whom the author considered the guardians of Mexican traditions.6 By the

1870s, important Anglo officials participated in the Fiestas Patrias, fully aware that their involvement served to enhance economic relationships with Mexico, where the

Porfiriato‟s policies proved most welcoming to American business interests. Taylor

Hansen indicated that by the 1920s, the increased flow of Mexican immigrants to Los

Angeles led to the creation of new neighborhoods that lay further away from the older barrios; as Californios scattered across several sections of the city, the celebrations became decentralized.7 By the 1940s, the Mexican consulate was receiving many complaints that Anglo corporations had taken control of the commemorations and had thereby crippled the authenticity of the festivities. Taylor Hansen concluded that the

Fiestas Patrias in California had increasingly lost their genuine character after World

War II because of Anglo commercial takeover.8

6 Ibid, 39.

7 Ibid, 41.

8 Ibid, 43-44.

Arnoldo De Leόn reported a similar trajectory for the Fiestas Patrias in San

Angelo, Texas.9 He traced the first celebrations back to the first decade of the twentieth century and documented their evolution until the early 1970s. The festivities expanded in the 1920s and reached their apex in the mid-1950s, when many dignitaries from surrounding towns attended an activities-filled three-day event. By the end of the 1950s, however, the spirit and community enthusiasm guiding the Fiestas began to fade significantly.10 By the 1970s, the celebrations were commemorated outside the barrio with much less patriotic fervor. De Leόn attributed this steady decline in San Angelo to several factors. First, the forces of assimilation combined with the rise of new leisure activities to decrease the interest of third- and fourth-generation Mexican Americans in their forebears‟ history. Second, the construction of a new freeway fragmented the old barrio and caused the Mexican-origin population to disperse throughout the city, thereby decentralizing the Fiestas Patrias festivities. And finally, the old guard of event organizers failed to ensure that younger heirs would rise up and sustain the half-century- old Fiestas traditions in San Angelo.11

Margarita Melville, on the other hand, found evidence of a resurgence of celebrations of Mexican Independence Day in most cities with a sizeable Mexican-origin population by the late 1960s.12 She asserted that the Chicano Movement, whose

9 Arnoldo De Leόn, Las Fiestas Patrias: Biographic Notes on the Hispanic Presence in San Angelo, Texas, The Caravel Series on Fiestas Patrias (San Antonio, TX: Caravel Press, 1978).

10 Ibid, 7-19.

11 Ibid, 25.

12 Margarita B. Melville, “The Mexican American and the Celebration of Fiestas Patrias: An 30

participants strove to reclaim pride in their indigenous heritage, coincided with an expansion of the Fiestas Patrias in the Southwest. In San Antonio, Texas, for instance,

Mexican Americans disliked the fact that the city‟s biggest festival, the Battle of the

Flowers Parade, which was held each April, actually commemorated the Texan victory over Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April 1836. They decided to boycott the event and organized a three-day festival of their own in September for Mexican

Independence Day. They named it La Feria del Rio and successfully encouraged Anglo participation in the parade and in the Mexican-themed entertainment that followed it.13

The extant scholarship thus has established the existence of fluctuating levels of activity among Mexican-origin people with regard to celebrations of Mexican

Independence Day throughout the Southwest. These studies also highlight the importance of local conditions in enabling communities to garner sufficient support and cohesion to sustain such efforts for long periods of time. Houston in the mid-1960s offered such a favorable environment. Indeed, while the city‟s Chicano activists focused their attention on local politics and school desegregation within the Houston Independent

School District, Mexican American community leaders took steps to formalize the

Fiestas Patrias celebrations and keep militancy at bay.

The Celebrations of Mexican Independence Day in Houston, 1900s-1965

Houston had been witness to Mexican festivities since the first decade of the

Ethno-Historical Analysis,” Grito Del Sol 3, no. 1 (1978): 107-116.

13 Ibid, 111. Melville does not provide a specific date for this.

twentieth century. Arnoldo De Leόn traced the first 16 September commemoration back to 1907. The Mexican consul, then based in Galveston, attended the occasion one year later.14 By the 1920s, the larger number of immigrants, social clubs, and mutual aid societies conduced to greater enthusiasm for the local celebration of Mexican independence, and organizers had little difficulty receiving the support of Mayor

Holcombe and permission to hold the festivities at the City Auditorium.15 The 1925 gathering, for instance, featured a downtown parade, and four thousand people participated in the events.16

The Great Depression years did not hinder the celebratory spirits of the Fiestas

Patrias. The downtown parade, with its floats and brand new cars, disappeared, but a

Comité Patriόtico Mexicano (Mexican patriotic committee) brought together the various social clubs under the aegis of the Mexican consulate.17 Each group, in turn, held special events in the months leading up to September in order to raise the necessary funds to pay for the venues‟ rentals.18 The Grito ceremony united all Mexicans, rich and poor, under a

14 Arnoldo De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt: Mexican Americans in Houston, 2nd edition, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 4 (Houston, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2001), 10.

15 Mexicans were allowed access to the City Auditorium thanks to the support of the Mexican Consulate that would file the rental application on their behalf. In the 1920s and 1930s, Mexicans were not permitted to rent most of Houston‟s social facilities. John J. Herrera Oral History, 27 December 1983, HMRC.

16 De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 38.

17 De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 65.

18 It was not uncommon for the Mexican consul to attend these events in order to increase the number of admissions, thus collecting further funds. The members of the respectable Comité Patriόtico Mexicano (CPM) also participated. See “Mexicans to Hold Kermesse to Raise Funds for Fête,” Houston Chronicle, 18 August 1935, 4.

common cultural heritage, but associations also organized different activities according to the socio-economic status of their members. In 1933, for instance, Mexican businessmen could choose to celebrate at the upscale City Auditorium, Rice Roof, or the Brazos Hotel, while those of more humble means attended the two-day festival held at Magnolia Park

Settlement in a mostly lower-class barrio. That year, more than three thousand celebrated

Mexico‟s independence in Houston.19

The September festivities remained under the leadership of the Mexican consul‟s committee throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The two-day events continued to draw large crowds, and the members of the Comité Patriótico Mexicano (CPM) enlisted the cooperation of social and cultural clubs. In 1948, for instance, the CPM collaborated with the Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello; the organizers rented the City

Auditorium and drew two thousand people.20 In 1954, the CPM and KLVL, the only

Spanish-language radio station in the Houston area, worked together to present a two-day celebration at the Rusk Settlement House in the Second Ward and on KLVL airwaves.21

19 “Mexicans Observe Independence Day,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 15 September 1933, Melesio Gómez Family Collection, Box 1, Folder 18, HMRC, 23.

20 A group of ten Mexican men formed The Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello, to which it will be referred as (Club) México Bello for the rest of this work, in Houston in 1924. Its emblem boasted the green, red, and white colors of Mexico and its motto, Raza-Patria-Idioma (Race, Country, Language), conveyed the club‟s aspirations to perpetuate love and allegiance to the Mexican nation and culture. México Bello sought not only to provide a recreational outlet for its members, but also to present a positive image of Mexicans to Anglo Houstonians so as to combat the rampant prejudice and racism of the time. The Club is still active today. See Richard Vara, “Social Club Has Helped Battle Discrimination,” Houston Post, 21 January 1979, 8 (D); Thomas Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey: Felix Tijerina, Entrepreneur and Civic Leader, 1905-1965, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 2 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001), 62, 98-99; De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 33-34, 98-99.

21 The Second Ward, also known as El Segundo Barrio, became the “heart of the Mexican community” in Houston during the 1910s and 1920s, according to De León. It stretched from the Buffalo Bayou to Congress Avenue. De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 12. For social programs offered by the Rusk Settlement House during those decades, see De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 12-13. KLVL radio 33

Rusk Settlement offered patriotic speeches, delivery of the traditional Grito de Dolores, and performances by local school students in the evenings. KLVL entertained its audience for two days with presentations on the history of the Mexican flag and the national anthem; the Mexican consul also hosted a special program honoring Mexico‟s war dead.22 Between the Great Depression years and the early 1960s, the CPM thus stood in charge of the celebrations of Mexican Independence Day in Houston and succeeded in drawing large crowds to its various events.

The Decentralization of the Celebrations in Individual Barrios after the Demise of the CPM, Mid-1960s

By the mid-1960s, however, the CPM had disintegrated. Along with its demise, the traditional ceremonies that sought to uphold memories of the motherland by means of patriotic speeches and historical re-enactments had disappeared.23 Various organizations ensured that the Fiestas Patrias continued, but solely on a neighborhood level. It would take several years and a few dedicated Mexican American leaders to rebuild and expand the community‟s enthusiasm. By the last years of the decade, Houston‟s Mexican

Americans would come together to organize the September Fiestas Patrias again in order to celebrate a bicultural identity that reflected the levels of acculturation that most of will be the subject of Chapter 3. It remained the only Spanish-language radio station in the Houston metropolitan area until the late 1970s.

22 Ann Hodges, “Mexicans Observe Independence Day,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1954, 14 (A).

23 The reasons for its dismantling are unknown. The last event on record for the CPM is a performance at the Houston Music Hall on 15 September 1965. Club México Bello to Luis Orcí, Mexican consul, 27 July 1965, Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 12, HMRC; De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 153-154.

them shared.

After the disintegration of the CPM, several social clubs planned their own commemorations in individual barrios. In 1966, for instance, the neighborhood of El

Dorado, situated northeast of Houston, celebrated its 9th annual Fiestas Patrias on the grounds of San Felipe Church. Bishop John L. Morkovsky, a white Catholic leader deeply supportive of the spiritual and cultural needs of the Mexican-origin community, attended the festivities for the first time and crowned the elected queen on 15

September.24 El Dorado had its own Fiestas committee, and its chairwoman read the traditional Grito de Dolores. Additional attractions included the presence of a popular local television personality, Carlos García, who acted as master of ceremonies for the three-day event, and a thirty-foot-high replica of the front of the Church of Dolores, where Father Hidalgo had given his famous Grito in 1810. Sponsored by the local Men‟s

Social Club, the commemorations attracted great crowds and generated revenue for the

Church Building Fund.25 The mostly working-class neighborhood beamed with pride at such a high turnout but did not seem intent on including other clubs and barrios in its celebrations.

Simultaneously, the thirty-four-year-old mutual aid society Sociedad Mutualista

Obrera Mexicana organized a Grito ceremony of its own in one of its branches in northwestern Houston, which Mayor Louie Welch and the Mexican consul, Luis F. Orcí,

24 Roberto R. Treviño, The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006), 41, 99, 173.

25 “El Dorado Plans Annual Fiestas,” El Sol clipping, 16 September 1966, J.A. „Tony‟ Alvarez Collection, Box 1, Folder 1, HMRC, 1.

attended.26 A special representative of Mexico‟s president, Under Secretary of Labor

Tristan Canales Valverde, delivered the Grito, and members of some popular social clubs, such as México Bello, were there as well.27 While the presence of high dignitaries at an occasion hosted by a mostly working-class Mexican American club should have enhanced the repute of the event, one Mexican journalist who witnessed the celebration wrote about it in a Mexico City newspaper in negative terms. According to Houston‟s bilingual newspaper El Sol, a journalist from Mexico City‟s Últimas Noticias “bravely sounded the drums of battle against Houston Mexican Americans who dared to celebrate

Mexican Independence Day in such drab surroundings.”28 The article in Últimas

Noticias “described the club as an „old, filthy, smelly and badly lit wooden shack on a back street in the Negro district that looked like a honky-tonk in a red light zone.‟”29 The

El Sol reporter countered that the father of Mexican independence would have been thankful for the Sociedad‟s building and its convenient electrical light, air conditioning, and sturdy roof and floor. Moreover, the building was not in a black neighborhood, but rather on the edges of it. The El Sol writer later claimed that this nuance did not matter

26 Sociedad Mutualista Obrera Mexicana to Club Cultural México Bello, 31 August 1966, Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 15.

27 While Tristan Canales Valverde gave the Grito at the Sociedad Mutualista Obrera Mexicana at 8 in the evening that day, he performed the same ceremony, also in the presence of Houston‟s mayor and the Mexican consul, at the Sembradores de Amistad club at one o‟ clock that same afternoon. Mexican American clubs around Houston clearly did not unify in their efforts to hold celebrations together by the mid-1960s. See “Bishop to Crown Queen of Mexican Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1966, 2 (1); Sociedad Mutualista Obrera Mexicana to Club Cultural México Bello, 31 August 1966, Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 15.

28 “Newsman Blasts Houston‟s Latins for Ceremony in „Filthy Shacks,‟” El Sol clipping, 30 September 1966, J.A. „Tony‟ Alvarez Collection, Box 1, Folder 1, 1.

29 Ibid.

whatsoever, reflecting his sensitivity towards the subject of racism and segregated neighborhoods. Finally, the El Sol reporter added that “the club … [was] not designed for reading, but for dancing and drinking and relaxing.”30 The one hundred and eighty members of the Sociedad were hard-working people with mostly blue-collar jobs and kept the premises as well as they could.31 According to the El Sol journalist, the Mexico

City reporter did not have a good understanding of the social and living conditions of

Houston‟s Mexican-origin residents.

While there is no evidence of a reply from the Últimas Noticias reporter to El Sol, the articles suggest a clash of interpretations of the meaning of the Fiestas Patrias. By emphasizing the physical aspects of the celebration, namely hygiene and the geographical location of the facility, the Mexican journalist stressed the importance of the appearances of the event. As an outsider, he felt that the poor conditions of the site conveyed a negative image of Houston‟s Mexican community and, by extension, of the Mexican civic holiday. To El Sol, on the contrary, festivities on the premises of a locally respected

Mexican mutual aid society with basic amenities sufficed to provide a convivial atmosphere and allowed the community to focus on the meaning of the commemoration itself. Mexican expatriates and their children felt that residence in the United States did not preclude their right to hold such rituals. In fact, to many of them, doing so allowed them to honor their bicultural identity.32 The celebration of ethnic heritage for a few days

30 Ibid.

31 Ibid. Many page numbers for El Sol clippings or articles taken from the newspaper itself are not available, especially until the mid-1970s. Page references are given when available.

32 Incidentally, an article in Últimas Noticias reported that fifty thousand Mexican nationals were 37

out of the year, after all, was a quintessentially American thing to do.33

El Sol also published an editorial on 16 September 1966 echoing the level of biculturalism that many in the Mexican American community had reached.34 The

September celebrations served as a means to rekindle pride in ethnic heritage more than to mourn the absence of prospects of going back to Mexico, as they had in the pre-World

War II period.35 The editorial started with a reminder of the importance of the 156th year of Mexican independence, equating Mexico‟s long-fought battle against Spanish colonial rule with the American colonies‟ revolution against Great Britain. The bulk of the column, however, emphasized the loyalty of Americans of Mexican descent to the United

States and stressed their noted record of wartime service and military decorations. It also celebrated the great cultural legacy of Mexican Americans to the Southwest and declared:

We are indeed American Citizens [sic], but we must never forget our past. Because our ancestors gave us a number of things for which we can be proud. They gave us a beautiful language which we should not forget, they gave us a tremendous culture which we should know more about, they gave us surnames expected to visit the United States on Mexico‟s independence day. The main destinations were New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Galveston. This suggests that many Mexicans visited their family members who lived in the United States during this holiday. “50,000 Mexicans Plan U.S. Visits,” Houston Chronicle, 13 September 1966, 9 (1).

33 For discussions of Saint Patrick‟s Day in Irish-American communities, see Kenneth Moss, “Saint Patrick‟s Day Celebrations and the Formation of Irish-American Identity, 1845-1875,” Journal of Social History 29, no. 1 (Autumn 1995): 125-148, and Jane Gladden Kelton, “New York City‟s Saint Patrick‟s Day Parade: Invention of Contention and Consensus,” The Drama Review: TDR 29, no. 3, Processional Performance (Autumn 1995): 93-105. For festivals celebrating Nisei children (second generation) among Japanese American communities, see Lon Kurashige, “The Problem of Biculturalism: Japanese American Identity and Festival before World War II,” The Journal of American History 86, no. 4 (March 2000): 1632-1654.

34 “Editorial,” El Sol clipping, 16 September 1966, J.A. „Tony‟ Alvarez Collection, Box 1, Folder 1, 3.

35 De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 153, 163.

which we should be proud to say and spell correctly, and they gave us the spirit to protect the dignity and freedom of the individual. This 16th of September remember the courage and spirit of our ancestors. We are proud to be Americans, but we should be equally proud of something no man can buy. HIS HERITAGE [sic].36

The need to acknowledge the importance of Mexican influences to the cultural makeup of the United States echoed both the tone of the civil rights era, when minority groups endeavored to raise public awareness of their contributions to American history, and the demographic realities in Houston in the mid 1960s. Indeed, new immigrants from

Mexico increased the colonia‟s ranks every month. Between 1960 and 1970, the city‟s

Mexican American population doubled in size and increased from 7 percent of Houston‟s total population in 1960 to 12 percent in 1970.37 Two-thirds of all Houstonians of

Mexican extraction lived in several barrios in the inner city, where “the compactness … allowed for cultural values and traditions rooted in the Mexican past to be transmitted to younger generations.”38 Yet, as Arnoldo De Leόn has demonstrated, “The community itself preferred the notion of bilingualism and a way of life combining „lo mexicano‟ and

„lo americano.‟”39 During the second half of the 1960s, local Mexican American leaders endeavored to unite the barrios by tapping into this strong bicultural spirit. The Fiestas

Patrias represented the perfect opportunity to organize public festivities that honored the

36 “Editorial,” El Sol clipping, 16 September 1966, 3.

37 The 1960 United States Census recorded 75,000 residents of Mexican extraction in Houston. Their numbers stood at 150,000 a decade later. Such figures do not include undocumented immigrants whom the census typically did not count. Houston‟s total population grew from 938,000 in 1960 to 1.2 million people in 1970. De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 147, 150.

38 Ibid, 150.

39 Ibid.

Mexican heritage but also strongly asserted the group‟s sense of belonging in American society.

John Coronado, the Downtown Parade, and the Mobilization of Mexican American Unity: Laying the Foundations for the Modern Day Fiestas Patrias, 1965-1968

In 1965, John Coronado, editor of another local bilingual newspaper, El

Observatorio Latino, noted the absence of coordination for the celebrations of Mexican

Independence Day among the various barrios and social clubs and set out to organize a parade through downtown Houston. His efforts were met with great resistance at first.

He later analogized the prevailing atmosphere that year to crabs in a bucket: as one tries to get out, the others ensure that it does not.40 Looking back twenty years later, he explained that he “had much opposition with the first parade; the Mexican Consul [sic] and many other [sic] turned their back on … [him], but [he] … did not give up.”41 He also recalled struggling to attract people to march in the procession.42 Yet, Coronado persevered and chose Macario García as parade Grand Marshal in 1965.43

The selection of Macario García served as a conspicuous reminder of Mexican

Americans‟ courage and patriotism. García, one of twelve Mexican Americans to receive

40 John Coronado, “¡Fiestas Patrias! Historia del primer desfile de las Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 15 September 1977, 7. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

41 John Coronado, “A Salute and Toast to the History of the Mexican-American in Houston,” speech given at the “Hispanics in Houston/Harris County: Symposium,” 1 February 1986, Mexican American Small Collection, Box 4, Folder 22, HMRC, 2.

42 Ibid. For instance, Coronado recalled having trouble finding volunteers to ride horses in the parade.

43 John Coronado, “¡Fiestas Patrias!” El Sol, 15 September 1977, 7.

the Congressional Medal of Honor for valorous service during World War II, epitomized the picture-perfect immigrant story: Mexican by birth, but a naturalized American citizen, his bravery and loyalty to his adopted country earned him the highest military reward in the land.44 As head of the parade, he embodied the non-threatening and courageous immigrant of Mexican descent who espoused American values. He thus fulfilled El Sol‟s

September 1966 editorial call for Mexican Americans to nurture their love for both nations.45

The parade slowly gained momentum. While other Mexican American social clubs continued to hold separate functions, groups and associations from the Mexican

American community gradually saw participation in the downtown procession as a rewarding experience that offered public exposure and a sense of cultural unity. In 1966, members of high school Spanish clubs took part in the parade, applying their knowledge of the Spanish language and the history of Mexico as they participated in the construction of floats.46 Local Mexican American businesses, such as Merinos Lounge, displayed

American and Mexican flags on their floats, which they also decorated with advertising signs. Women, men, and children of Mexican extraction dressed in traditional costumes rode on the floats. The crowd greatly enjoyed such sights.47

44 “Parade Celebrates Mexico‟s Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 16 September 1966, 1 (1); De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 93; Lorena Oropeza, ¡Raza si!¡ guerra no!: Chicano Protest and Patriotism during the Vietnam War Era (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 42.

45 This editorial is analyzed in further detail earlier in this chapter. See footnote 36.

46 “Parade Celebrates Mexico‟s Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 16 September 1966, 1 (1).

47 “Recuerdo del DESFILE DEL [sic] 16 de Septiembre, Merinos Lounge fueron los mas aplaudidos,” El Observatorio Latino clipping, 30 October 1966, John Coronado Collection, El Observatorio, vol. 2, no. 55, 30 October 1966, HMRC, n.p. 41

By 1967, the parade started to attract attention from important local organizations.

John Coronado, who then served as secretary of the Houston Mexican Chamber of

Commerce, persuaded that association to sponsor the event that year.48 Macario García served as Grand Marshal for the third time in a row, and the University of Nuevo Leόn‟s team and the former Texas champions, “Club Mexico,” played a much-anticipated soccer game that highlighted the three-day festivities.49 Coronado‟s drive had started to pay off.

A Houston Chronicle column published on the day of the parade put a damper on the event by highlighting some problems, however. Houston‟s most widely read newspaper decried the city‟s loose permit policy regarding downtown parades.50 It stated that, at the request of Mayor Louie Welch, the Houston Police Department (HPD) had submitted a review of the frequent processions that wound their way through downtown and their cost to the city taxpayers. Overtime pay for police officers needed to supervise the streets was estimated in the thousands of dollars per event. The report did not account for other city departments‟ expenditures or the money lost from taking HPD officers off from other duties, such as issuing citations in other neighborhoods. Parades also created great inconveniences for motorists and downtown businesses. It was therefore reasonable for the Houston City Council to ask sponsors to help with the fees incurred for police services and post-parade cleaning.51 The Chronicle urged the

48 “Parade Will Mark Mexico‟s Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1967, n. p. (7).

49 “Cheers Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 17 September 1967, 18 (1).

50 “We Love a Parade, but…” Houston Chronicle, 16 September 1967, 12 (1).

51 Coronado and his successors received no corporate sponsorship for the first six years. Two local beer companies, La Jax and Lone Star Brewery, offered early support, but contributed no money. 42

Houston City Council to give attention to the issue:

We love a parade! And we agree that the populace is entitled to a certain number of “circuses” along with its “bread.” But in view of the over-all cost to hard- pressed taxpayers, in a city whose police department already is woefully undermanned, perhaps more judgment should be exercised in granting parade permits.52

This column‟s timing and choice of words raise questions regarding the Chronicle‟s views towards the Mexican-origin community. In light of John Coronado‟s expressed difficulties rallying prominent local personalities and businesses in the first years of the downtown parade, which had started to attract a few thousand by 1967, such an article might indicate some establishment resistance to the event.53 Moreover, the words

“populace,” “circuses,” and “bread” connote the writer‟s condescending attitude towards the nature of the parade, at least in its first few years of existence. Notwithstanding reservations on the part of many Houstonians, Coronado‟s downtown event gained momentum in September 1968, when forty Mexican American organizations participated in the parade.54 Macario García agreed to act as Grand Marshal for the fourth year in a row, and Coronado also encouraged all Mexican American social clubs to invite their respective elected queens to ride in the downtown parade.55

John Coronado, “A Salute and Toast to the History of the Mexican-American in Houston,” 2.

52 “We Love a Parade, but…” Houston Chronicle, 16 September 1967, 12 (1).

53 This assertion remains purely speculative at this point, despite the timing of the column‟s publication. Further research is needed to clarify the position of the Houston Chronicle on the impact of the Fiestas Patrias parade on downtown Houston and its strain on HPD forces, at Houston taxpayers‟ account.

54 Richard Vara, “Mexican Freedom to Be Celebrated,” Houston Post, 2 September 1973, 8 (B).

55 Ibid.

In light of the resistance that Coronado initially encountered, the 1965-1968 stretch represented significant progress in the engagement of Houston‟s Mexican

Americans towards community-building activities. From a trickle of support in 1965,

Coronado‟s parade had attracted more than three dozen Mexican American organizations and several thousand spectators three years later. Moreover, one must not overlook the symbolic nature of the event. While decorated World War II veteran Macario García‟s assigned role in the procession lent credence and probity to the event, the itinerary also held symbolic value. As some architecture scholars have suggested, parade organizers choose routes that convey specific messages—the selected streets and neighborhoods through which crowds wind their way bear cultural meanings embedded in the city‟s history.56 In the case of the Fiestas Patrias, the itinerary has not changed since 1965, save for some minor alterations. Each year, Houstonians celebrate Mexico not in the old barrios as one might expect, but in the center of the city. Coronado‟s choice of downtown suggests that he sought to root Mexican Americans symbolically in the city‟s heart and financial soul.57 As the hub of the energy and banking industries that gave

Houston its “Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt” nickname, the downtown district represented post-World War II capitalistic strength. There, commoners had turned millionaires in short periods of time. There lay the epitome of the American Dream. More importantly

56 Sarah Bonnemaison, “City Policies and Cyclical Events,” Design Quarterly, Celebrations: Urban Spaces Transformed, no. 147 (1990), 24-32.

57 The specific route of the 1965 parade is unknown. The 1966, 1967, and 1968 itineraries originated from Main Street and ended either at Fannin Street or Bell Street. “Parade Celebrates Mexico‟s Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1966, 2 (1); “Parade Will Mark Mexico‟s Independence,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1967, n. p. (7); “Parade in Downtown Houston,” El Sol, 13 September 1968, 1. 44

for Coronado‟s project, downtown Houston moved Mexican-origin residents out of the decrepit barrios and anchored them instead in a narrative of success. After all, Mexican immigrants had been among the prime builders of Houston‟s financial accomplishments, working for its railroad companies and in industries along the ship channel, and they had provided the bulk of cheap manual labor throughout the city since the second decade of the twentieth century. Perhaps as unmistakable, downtown Houston and its soaring skyscrapers represented Anglo wealth and power. By choosing to hold a parade that celebrated Mexico‟s heroes in such a strategic place, Coronado effectively linked the city‟s Mexican-origin population to a narrative of success and pride. It provided a powerful and peaceful means to use a public space to symbolically re-place them into the

American urban landscape.

John Coronado can therefore be credited for laying the foundations of the modern-day Fiestas Patrias in Houston. His hard work, resilience, and faith in the need for Mexican Americans to display their pride in their ethnic heritage fueled the desires of the community to show a united, yet non-confrontational front to a city that had welcomed them and their forebears. School and residential segregation were undeniably still rampant in Houston as well as the rest of Texas, and Mexican Americans‟ political weight still went largely unrecognized by the late 1960s. But Coronado had tapped into a civic, joyful, and bicultural enthusiasm that had been waiting to be channeled.

The Birth of the Fiestas Patrias Committee, 1969

The year 1969 represented a fundamental turning point for the Fiestas Patrias 45

festivities in the city. Building on Coronado‟s groundwork, Justice of the Peace

Armando V. Rodriguez created an organization, appropriately named the Fiestas Patrias

Committee (FPC), after Juanita Vera, a social worker, pleaded for a community-wide commemoration of Mexican Independence Day.58 Why Vera made the request at a time when Coronado‟s event had been gaining momentum remains unclear. The result, however, was the emergence of Armando Rodriguez and a handful of other middle-class

Mexican Americans as leaders of the celebrations.59

Rodriguez formed the FPC with the goal of improving the image that the

Mexican-origin community was projecting to itself and to the rest of Houston. He saw the creation of the organization as the answer to a lack of unity among Mexican-origin residents. His sister, Dolores Gallegos (born Rodriguez), who also took an active part in the festivities, later explained their intentions:

We wanted to take the true meaning of the word barrio … and project it through our activities. … They say the Hispanic community is in the barrio. Well, we think the barrio is in the whole darn county, the whole darn state. My brother‟s idea was to gather and unite not only the Mexican people but all Houston. By celebrating this important event in our history with us, they would get to know us better, instead of having them turn away from us because they did not understand our culture. It was also good for the community. The younger generation was growing up without knowledge of their cultural heritage and this was the cause for their identity problems.60

The FPC thus intended to bring the barrio culture and heritage to Houston‟s streets and

58 Richard Vara, “Mexican Freedom to Be Celebrated,” Houston Post, 2 September 1973, 8 (B).

59 As of September 2010, Rodriguez was still participating in the parade. He may be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8NRu5BV4vM, accessed on 10 February 2011.

60 Carole Juarez, “Fiestas Patrias Embraces Celebration of Independence for All Hispanics,” Houston Post clipping, 11 September 1992, Viva Magazine, supplement of the Houston Post, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1992,” HMRC, 1-2. 46

parks. The organization‟s ultimate goal, however, sought to make the city aware of the important legacy of residents of Mexican origin to its history. This desire to conduct a public and inclusive celebration of Mexican American identity in the late 1960s contrasted with the prevalent mood in many other American cities, where the youth,

Vietnam War protesters, and African American and Chicano militants clashed with the political and social establishment, either rhetorically or physically.61 While Houston did witness Chicano activism, expressing one‟s ethnic pride did not necessarily have to equate with confrontation to the majority of its Mexican American population.62

John Coronado joined Rodriguez‟s project for two years. His involvement with the FPC disappears from the public record after the 1970 celebrations, however. He nonetheless worked closely with the members of the organization to broaden the Fiestas events in 1969. That year, he created the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award by asking his newspaper‟s readers to vote for the person whom they thought had

61 The Fiestas Patrias in East Los Angeles on 16 September 1970, for instance, started peacefully, with many spectators spontaneously joining the parade. Yet, as the march came to its end and wound towards Belvedere Park for further celebrations, some participants decided to go to East Los Angeles College Stadium instead. They intended to protest the “police riot” that had occurred two weeks earlier and during which a beloved local Mexican American television reporter, Rubén Salazar, had been killed. Tempers flared and a riot erupted. As Margarita Melville asserted, “It was the period of the Vietnam War and civil rights struggles. The Fiestas Patrias parade, on this occasion, became a vehicle for the expression of militancy as well as ethnic pride.” Melville, 111; “Deputy, Civilian Shot, in Mêlée, at East L.A.: Violence Follows Mexican Day Parade; 33 Hurt, 41 Arrested,” Los Angeles Times, 17 September 1970, 1, 3, 26; Jeff Perlman, “Deputies Opened Fire, Wounded Monitor Says,” Los Angeles Times, 18 September 1970, 30; Robert Young, “Board‟s Battle over Use of Stadium for Parade Rally Told,” Los Angeles Times, 19 September 1970, 1 (B).

62 The Chicano Movement came to Houston in 1967 and reached its peak in the early years of the 1970s over school desegregation. The most militant group in Houston was the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), which splintered into two organizations. The community-oriented MAYO chapter functioned out of the University of Houston campus, while the activist “Barrio MAYO” held protests and ran its own militant newspaper, the politically oriented Papel Chicano. These groups also opposed the Vietnam War and held rallies in barrio parks, condemning the conflict as a “gringo‟s war.” De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 178-181.

contributed the most to the welfare of the Mexican-origin community of Houston.

Attorney Alfred J. Hernández received the honor.63 Born in Mexico, Hernández came to

Houston in 1917 and fought in the African and European theaters during World War II.

He obtained a law degree in the 1950s and became the first Mexican American appointed as a municipal court judge in Houston in 1960.64 He also served as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) from 1965 to 1967.65 A prominent civil rights activist throughout the Southwest, Hernández, like Macario García, extolled the virtues of biculturalism: he defended and respected the United States, yet he fought arduously for Mexican Americans‟ advancement and equal rights.66

The efforts of the FPC members at rallying the whole Mexican-origin community led to a successful weeklong celebration around town. While the organization supervised

63 John Coronado, “¡Fiestas Patrias!” El Sol, 15 September 1977, 7; John Coronado, “A Salute and Toast to the History of the Mexican-American in Houston,” 3; “Week-Long [sic] Mexican Fiesta Starts Today,” Houston Chronicle, September 14, 1969, 6 (4).

64 De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 170-174.

65 John Coronado supported Hernández‟s election to LULAC‟s national presidency in his newspaper. He ran a column reading, in capital letters, “ Houston the Only City in Texas without Latin American Leaders?” Soon afterwards, Hernández won the election. Coronado felt elated by the victory and gained confidence that Houston could produce leaders and role models for its Mexican American community. Hernández became LULAC national president, incidentally, the same year as Coronado organized the first downtown parade. John Coronado, “A Salute and Toast to the History of the Mexican- American in Houston,” 3.

66 In a 1970 article in Papel Chicano, Armando Rodriguez, chief organizer of the Fiestas Patrias, reported that the 1969 Most Distinguished Mexican American Award went to himself. Other longer established newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle and El Sol reported that Alfred Hernández was the first recipient of the award in 1969, and so claimed other Fiestas Patrias Committee (FPC) members in later interviews. Judge Rodriguez may have tallied the second highest number of votes from Coronado‟s readers, and he may have received a similar, if slightly less prestigious, award that year. Such became the case in the 1970s for other meritorious Mexican American community leaders, when two or three personalities received plaques at the same time, with only one Most Distinguished Mexican American Award winner. “Revolución en 1810-Fiestas Patrias en 1970,” Papel Chicano, 26 September-October 9, 1970, 8-9.

the much-advertised parade and the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award ceremony following it, Mexican American neighborhoods, associations, and businesses organized a flurry of events of their own that week, to which all Houstonians were invited. On 15 September, the Mexican consul, Luis F. Orcí, held the traditional Grito ceremony at the Club Sevilla in downtown Houston and hosted a dance afterwards.67

Additionally, two Mexican restaurants, Las Posadas and Las Cazuelas, offered a

“Mexican Night” for six days at Allen‟s Landing, also near downtown. Patrons could enjoy traditional Mexican food and dance to baile ranchero (ranch-style Mexican music) every evening. El Dorado barrio, an early supporter of Coronado‟s parade, continued its own tradition with a two-day event on 15 and 16 September at San Felipe de Jesus

Church and in Zavala Park.68 Denver Harbor, another Mexican barrio northeast of downtown Houston, also joined in the festive spirits by presenting a historical pageant at

Miller Theater in Hermann Park, just a few miles south of downtown. Mary Ellen

Goodman, a Rice University anthropology professor and scholar of Mexican culture, wrote a dramatic presentation that children from the Denver Harbor area performed in

67 Dolores Gallegos, Armando Rodriguez‟s sister, claimed in a 1992 interview with the Houston Post that when the FPC came to life in 1969, the Grito ceremony was “dormant,” and that the organization reinvigorated the event that same year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Primary evidence, however, suggests that the Mexican consul held the Grito ceremony every year prior to 1969, even though it is unknown how many attended, and that Our Lady of Guadalupe Church hosted the event in 1970, not 1969. Carole Juarez, “Fiestas Patrias Embraces Celebration of Independence for All Hispanics,” Houston Post, 11 September 1992, 2; “Week-Long [sic] Mexican Fiesta Starts Today,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1969, 6 (4); “Fiesta Mexicana Will Begin Monday,” El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1; Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23; Ludivina Salazar, “Se comenta de ustedes,” El Sol, 4 September 1970, 4.

68 El Dorado barrio cooperated with John Coronado as early as 1965, especially with his endeavor to elect a queen for the Fiestas Patrias. “Viva Mary Ellen,” Houston Chronicle, 17 September 1965, 7 (1); “Festival Queen in Parade,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1968, n.p.

beautiful native costumes.69

Rodriguez and Coronado also worked to maintain the involvement of the forty organizations that had joined the 1968 parade and to enlist the official support of the City of Houston. As a result, Mayor Louie Welch issued an official proclamation on the behalf of the city, declaring the week of the fifteenth to the twentieth of September

“Fiestas Mexicanas Festival Week.”70 On 16 September 1969 the local press attended the signing of the document at City Hall, and the mayor showed Houston‟s enthusiasm for the significance of Mexican Independence Day by wearing a charro (cowboy) jacket and a sombrero. John Coronado and Armando Rodriguez, also donning the traditional

Mexican hat, proudly posed with Welch for photographs of the memorable, if only symbolic, event.71

The proclamation emphasized the friendship between Houston and Mexico. It equated 16 September with America‟s Fourth of July, stressing both nations‟ birth from

European colonies, love of freedom, and patriotism. It then mentioned the various celebrations around the city that week, which would conclude with the parade through the downtown commercial district on 20 September. The text closed with Mayor Welch

“join[ing] with leaders of the Mexican American communities of the city in urging full participation of all Houstonians in the festivities.”72 The official support of the city,

69 “Fiesta Mexicana Will Begin Monday,” El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1; “Week-Long [sic] Mexican Fiesta Starts Today,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1969, 6 (4).

70 Louie Welch, “Proclamation,” El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1.

71 Photograph captions, El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1.

72 Louie Welch, “Proclamation,” El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1. 50

complete with a proclamation declaring that a week of Houston‟s cultural calendar would be dedicated to the commemoration of Mexican heritage, thus lent credence to the endeavor of the FPC.

As planned, the parade held on Saturday morning of 20 September in downtown

Houston brought the celebration to its highest point. While John Coronado had attracted an unprecedented two thousand people just a year prior, fifty thousand attended in

1969.73 Macario García served as the Grand Marshal yet again, and Judge Alfred J.

Hernández, the first recipient of the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award, rode at the front of the parade in a car titled “El Indio” (The Indian), celebrating the indigenous heritage of the Mexican American. Mariachi bands and prominent members of the local Mexican American community also participated in the joyous procession.74

Attorney Angel Fraga, one of several activist brothers in the city, Maria Reyna, a successful florist and prominent community member, and Reverend James Novarro, editor of El Sol newspaper and social activist, all gaily waved to the crowds from their floats and decorated cars.75 Local Mexican American clubs also sent their elected queens to represent them, thereby gaining citywide visibility. After the parade, crowds gathered at Moody Park to watch Mayor Louie Welch present Alfred J. Hernández with his award for service to the community and to enjoy cold drinks and sandwiches.76

73 Photograph caption, El Sol, 26 September 1969, 1.

74 Ibid.

75 Ibid; “Cherloc Holmes, El Detective Amistoso,” El Sol, 26 September 1969, 4; Photograph caption, El Sol, 17 October 1969, 1.

76 Richard Vara, “Mexican Freedom to Be Celebrated,” Houston Post, 2 September 1973, 8 (B). 51

The 1969 celebrations of Mexican Independence in Houston had never been so encompassing. Armando Rodriguez and John Coronado successfully attracted the official support and participation of Houston‟s mayor and more than three dozen Mexican

American social clubs. Rodriguez and Coronado also obtained the cooperation of sixty- five volunteers to help coordinate the parade and the Moody Park festivities.77

Additionally, the newspaper El Sol heavily advertised the FPC‟s activities and ran extensive columns on the history of Mexican independence, complete with the Mexican national hymn on its front page.78 El Sol also openly invited the non-Mexican community to participate by claiming, “If you don‟t have a sombrero, get one if you want to be an amigo to Houston‟s Mexican-American community during their big independence celebration September 15-20.”79 Mayor Louie Welch himself donned a sombrero at the signing of “Fiestas Mexicanas Festival Week” proclamation.80

The participation of the United States Marine Corps in the parade also signaled that American institutions had started to take note of the growing significance of the event. Reu Aguilar, a recruiting officer, rode in a car in the procession in 1969 and

77 Ibid.

78 El Sol and other publications aimed at the Mexican American readership of Houston ran articles on the history of Mexican independence every September, while no such columns appeared near 4 July. This suggests that the majority of their readers showed strong familiarity with the meaning of American Independence Day, but might have lacked basic knowledge of Mexican history. These articles, along with the work of the Fiestas Patrias organizers, helped educate the Mexican American population and reinforced their biculturalism.

79 “You Need Sombreros!” El Sol, 29 August 1969, 3.

80 Photograph caption, El Sol, 19 September 1969, 1.

1970.81 The FPC never made any public statement in support of or against the Vietnam

War. Nonetheless, the presence of one of America‟s most symbolic organizations, admired for its courage and patriotism, but also highly emblematic of the United States‟ controversial involvement in Vietnam, highlighted the importance of the parade itself.

The Marine Corps might have deemed the presence of a Mexican American officer a positive gesture that might entice enlistment. Or perhaps the Corps grasped the opportunity to thank the Mexican American community for its service among its ranks, thus recognizing their loyalty to the United States. While the intent of the Marine Corps is not known, their presence shows that American institutions acknowledged that the celebrations of the Fiestas Patrias in Houston‟s streets bore both symbolic and political weight. As the next decade unfolded, more and more institutions and corporations would take notice of the growing public presence of Mexican Americans on a local, regional, and national level.

The Fiestas Patrias Celebrations Expand and Become an Integral Part of Houston‟s Cultural Calendar, 1970

Community Events and the Parade

In 1970, the FPC wished to organize an even bigger celebration and started planning in the late winter. John Coronado, in charge of the parade, published a column on the front page of El Sol announcing an organizational meeting for 7 March at Martin‟s

Café, a popular place among community leaders. He asked all civic and social

81 The American Legion also sponsored a float in 1970. “Cherloc Holmes, El Detective Amistoso,” El Sol, 26 September 1969, 4; photograph caption, El Sol, 25 September 1970, 1.

organizations to send representatives to the gathering in order to “make arrangements, enter floats, and formulate policies for the Gigantic [sic] 16th of September Parade.”82

Later that spring, Dolores Rodriguez, president of the Fiestas Patrias organization, sent out a letter to Mexican American clubs that explained the committee‟s mission and planned activities. In the missive, she thanked those associations for their united efforts in September 1969 and declared that the committee had “been working for several months in planning events to create one celebration” with the hopes of “uniting all organizations‟ events to have a week long [sic] celebration for the whole community of

Houston.”83 She indicated that the Fiestas Patrias of 1970 would revolve around three core events: the downtown parade and the “Moody Park Fiesta” afterwards, the traditional Grito ceremony, and a newly instituted beauty pageant. In the closing paragraph, she mustered up enthusiasm by declaring, “„We are proud to be Mexican-

Americans.‟ This we tell ourselves and we tell each other. NOW [sic] let us tell everyone else and prove it by having a magnificent celebration.”84

Coronado‟s and Rodriguez‟s efforts at early planning paid off. Sixty-nine organizations came together to coordinate the festivities under the year‟s theme, mexicano de corazόn (Mexican at heart). For the first time, the FPC also collaborated with the Mexican consulate to give the traditional Grito on 15 September, Mexico‟s

82 “Juan Coronado Founder of Fiestas Patrias, Calls Meeting [sic],” El Sol, 20 February 1970, 1.

83 Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23. While this item of correspondence bears no date, the specific schedule of activities that Mrs. Rodriguez presented suggests that the letter was written after Coronado‟s organizational meeting at Martin‟s Café in March. The August 1st deadline for entering candidates in the beauty pageant hints that the FPC sent this letter some time between March and July of 1970.

84 Ibid.

160th birthday. Mayor Louie Welch and Consul Luis Orcí performed the ceremony at

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, nestled in the heart of the Second Ward. Armando

Rodriguez had worked closely with Welch to ensure that the event could take place in a public site, where people would not have to pay an entrance fee. It attracted a large crowd and united the efforts of City Hall, the Mexican consulate, and the FPC for the first time.85 On 19 September 1970 Mayor Louie Welch, whose staff had collaborated with the FPC, also participated in the parade, and Armando Rodriguez acted as honorary marshal.86 Afterwards, crowds gathered at Moody Park, where the organization allowed non-profit organizations to sponsor a booth selling refreshments, food, or games.87 While enjoying Mexican cuisine and drinks, people could watch the awards ceremony for best floats and for the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award. The mayor presented the latter to John E. Castillo, one of the founders of the FPC, a prominent local political activist in the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO), and a previous board member of the Houston/Harris County Economic Opportunity

Organization.88 Three of the parade‟s twenty-two floats also received prizes for

85 Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23; Ludivina Salazar, “Se comenta de ustedes,” El Sol, 4 September 1970, 4.

86 Ludivina Salazar, “Se comenta de ustedes,” El Sol, 4 September 1970, 4.

87 Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

88 John Castillo‟s lifelong accomplishments also included director of LULAC‟s Council Number 60, judge of Houston‟s forty sixth district, president of Senate district number fifteen, member of the executive board of Governor Dolph Briscoe‟s Good Neighbor Commission, coordinator of the Bicentennial Anniversary of the United States for Houston‟s Northside, and recipient of the Benito Juárez medal of merit from the Mexican government. “Sensible fallecimiento del líder Hispano JOHN E. CASTILLO [sic],” El Sol, 12 March 1986, 1-2. The translation is mine. For his earlier achievements, see Thomas Kreneck, Del Pueblo: A Pictorial History of Houston‟s Hispanic Community (Houston: Houston International University, 55

originality and festiveness.89

Just a year after its creation, the FPC had gained enough traction to develop a strong organizational strategy capable of garnering the support of over sixty local

Mexican American associations to create a successful eight-day celebration. The 1970 parade continued to rally prominent local Anglos and Mexican Americans and registered an increasing number of Mexican-themed floats. The committee also successfully collaborated with the Mexican consulate, an association that had theretofore worked on its own and adhered to more Mexican-oriented celebrations. The cooperation between the two organizations for the Grito ceremony thus represented the increasing acceptance of biculturalism among a growing number of Houstonians of Mexican descent. As importantly, the FPC managed to support itself financially and only allowed non-profit organizations to participate in its festivities. Local Mexican American social and civic clubs could thus sustain the Fiestas Patrias without the intervention of commercial sponsorship, at least in their current size. This seclusion from corporate monies allowed the committee to establish firmly the format of the celebrations for years to come.

The Miss Fiestas Patrias Beauty Pageant

One momentous decision on the part of the Fiestas Patrias organization resided in the creation of the Miss Fiestas Patrias beauty pageant in 1970.90 The contest rivaled the

1989), 155.

89 Armando and Dolores Rodriguez, “Revolución en 1810-Fiestas Patrias en 1970,” Papel Chicano, 26 September-October 9, 1970, 8-9; “Gran „Parade‟ con motivo independencia de México,” El Sol, 11 September 1970, 1; “Mexican-Americans Kick Off 8-Day Festival Saturday,” El Sol, 18 September 1970, 1.

90 The FPC built upon a long tradition among Houston‟s Mexican-origin community. As early as 56

parade in popularity early on and still enjoyed great success through 2009.91 Dolores

Rodriguez presented the project to Mexican American clubs in the spring 1970. She urged them to sponsor their respective queens for this contest and added that the organization would help locate a benefactor among all the contributing associations if a young lady who wished to participate could not find one. The committee would also sponsor the winner in the Miss Houston contest and, should she win that title, in the Miss

Texas pageant as well. Rodriguez indicated that, “This would be of pride to not only the young lady fortunate to be the winner and to the organizations involved but also and of more value to the whole Mexican American community.”92 The contestants had to be

Mexican American, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, have never wed, speak

Spanish, and have resided in Houston or within a fifty-mile radius for the preceding six months.93 Such requirements ensured that the queen of the Mexican-origin community

the 1920s, most Mexican social clubs elected queens for Cinco de Mayo celebrations or during Mexican Independence Day festivities and developed their own rituals. One consisted of inviting the elected young lady to plant her feet in fresh concrete on barrio sidewalks. This specific custom did not prevail after World War II, however. John Coronado used his own newspaper to advertise the election of the first Fiestas Patrias queen in 1965, and continued to do so until at least 1968. The FPC thus adopted an otherwise well-established barrio tradition and used it to highlight the community‟s bicultural identity. Barbara Flanagan, “Fiesta Queen Recalls,” Minneapolis Star clipping, 15 July 1966, Melesio Gómez Family Collection, Box 1, Folder 23, HMRC, 1 (B); F. Arturo Rosales, “Mexicans in Houston: The Struggle to Survive,” The Houston Review: History and Culture of the Gulf Coast 3, no. 2 (1981): 224-249, 236; John Coronado, “A Salute and Toast to the History of the Mexican-American in Houston,” 2; “Viva Mary Ellen!” Houston Chronicle, 17 September 1965, 7 (1); John Coronado, “¡Fiestas Patrias!” El Sol, 15 September 1977, 7; “El desfile de las fiestas patrias,” El Observatorio Latino clipping, 4 July 1965, J.A. „Tony‟ Alvarez Collection, Box 1, Folder 2, n.p.; “Festival Queen in Parade,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1968, n.p.; “Concurso festival Miss México,” El Observatorio Latino clipping, 4 August 1968, John Coronado Collection, “Unspecified, 1968,” n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

91 “Fiestas Patrias: She‟ll Put on a Happy Face,” Houston Chronicle, 7 September 2009, 1 (B).

92 Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

93 Ibid.

would embody bicultural attributes through her American citizenship and mastery of the

Spanish language. By registering the Miss Fiestas Patrias winner in the Miss Houston beauty pageant, in which most candidates were likely of Anglo extraction, the FPC indicated that the Mexican American community had a stake in Houston‟s growing multicultural makeup. A potential win or a place near the top would represent a symbolic recognition of Mexican Americans‟ legitimate place in Houston‟s identity and self- image.

The pageant attracted much enthusiastic support from the Mexican American community. Twenty-two clubs enrolled their respective queens, all hailed as “very respected in social circles, and especially in the Mexican colony.”94 El Sol‟s social column declared, “Get ready because we will have a Queen [sic] who will represent

Mexican Americans.”95 The ten finalists competed on 12 September 1970, a week before the scheduled parade downtown, so that the new Miss Fiestas Patrias could reign over the procession. The young ladies were judged on their poise, grace, beauty of face and figure, and talent at a well-attended event.96 Mexican consul Luis F. Orcí crowned Sylvia

Salazar, who would go on to make Mexican Americans proud in the Miss Houston pageant by tying the winner and earning “recognition for the Mexicano” in the spring of

94 “Gran Parade con motivo independencia de México,” El Sol, 11 September 1970, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

95 Ludivina Salazar, “Se comenta de ustedes,” El Sol, 4 September 1970, 4. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

96 “Mexican-Americans Kick Off 8-Day Festival Sunday,” El Sol, 18 September 1970, 1.

1971.97

The beauty pageant gained instant popularity because, like the parade, it served as a unifying act for the city‟s Mexican-origin residents. The elected queen represented all

Mexican-origin people for one year and, as such, had to project a positive image of the community to all its members and to Anglo Houstonians as well. The pageant represented an arena where the dynamics of social class, race, and gender intersected. As the literal and figurative head of people of Mexican heritage, the queen embodied a commitment to middle-class values, chief among them aspirations to civic mindedness, educational achievement, and upward mobility. Every year, El Sol emphasized the contestants‟ educational background and stressed their forthcoming or current college attendance and major. Moreover, the candidates‟ biographies, also published in El Sol, always included their professional occupations. When the women were no longer students, their jobs usually placed them firmly in the middle class. While Sarah Banet-

Weiser, a scholar of the Miss America pageant, asserted that only after the feminist movement of the 1970s could the candidates present themselves as women who proudly chose to place their career before traditional homemaking, the same did not hold true for

Houston‟s Miss Fiestas Patrias contest.98 Since its inception in 1965 and with its formalization under the aegis of the FPC in 1970, the pageant strove to emphasize the candidates‟ drive for educational and professional achievement.

97 Ibid; John A. Castillo/FPC to Club México Bello, 1971 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

98 Sarah Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 25.

JoAnna Villone found a similar trend among the Mexican American community in post World War II Minnesota, where one of the goals of a pageant was to:

Mobilize their members to pursue scant resources and power in society. A ritual celebration represents not only the cultural traditions to be incorporated into the new society but also statements and symbols about how each immigrant group identifies itself and seeks to relate to the wider society.99

By emphasizing the aspirations to, or achievements of, middle-class status of the candidates, the pageant organizers and the participants themselves projected an image of ambition and accomplishment, characteristics ascribed to a successful assimilation.

Additionally, the image of social mobility acted as a powerful symbol and stimulant to adopt American ways for the newly arrived Mexican immigrants. In Villone‟s words,

“The vision of a festival queen in tiara, robes and scepter among a community of primarily poor Mexican-American immigrants was a very powerful image.”100 The pageant therefore conveyed a bicultural identity. On the one hand, the candidates upheld

Mexican cultural traditions by speaking Spanish and often performing Mexican-inspired numbers for the talent part of the contest. On the other hand, the event served as a public platform to extol the values of education and upward mobility, both to newer and older immigrants, their children, and to the city at large.

The pageant also acted as a place where gender turned into cultural performance in a highly public space. In the same vein that the celebrations for Mexican

Independence Day in the United States have not received much scholarly attention,

99 JoAnna Villone, “The Construction of Ethnic Identity Among Mexican Americans in St. Paul, Minnesota in the Post-WWII Era,” JSRI Working Paper #xx, The Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1997, 13.

100 Ibid, 17.

however, Miss Fiestas Patrias pageants have benefited from little academic analysis.

Sarah Banet-Weiser explained academia‟s initial reaction to her desire to study beauty contests and the Miss America competition in particular:

[They] are often and easily dismissed as frivolous, meaningless, or carnivalesque and therefore unworthy of serious and sustained intellectual scrutiny—or, at the other end of the spectrum, pageants and other forms of mass commodified culture are seen as simply reiterating and reproducing dominant ideology.101

While the Miss America pageant bears its own controversial dynamics with regards to race, class, and gender on a national scale, Banet-Weiser‟s comment on the perceived frivolity of the event and its commodification of the female body brings up important elements of reflection for the study of the Mexican-origin community in Houston. The pageant in Houston gained popularity and support from neighborhood Mexican American social clubs and the general public right away because of a perceived need for a positive image on the part of the community. While the parade treated Houston to a joyous display of themed floats, processions of high school bands and prominent Mexican

Americans, the event may have conveyed a somewhat diffused image of the community to the spectators. The queen, however, acted as their unique public representative. She projected the image of a people that aspired to use education to achieve economic success and to assimilate into society by setting its goal towards a middle-class status.

Besides intelligence, the queen also possessed the traditional feminine attributes of poise, grace, and beauty, which enhanced her culturally syncretistic image to newly arrived Mexican immigrants, Mexican Americans, and Anglos alike. A noteworthy point, moreover, lies in the lack of sexualization of the Miss Fiestas Patrias contestants.

101 Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 4. 61

Most of the press accounts, whether from the Houston Post, the Houston Chronicle, El

Sol, or the more militant Papel Chicano, did not commodify the Mexican American female body, except for occasionally publishing pictures of candidates in shorts or bathing suits, and only listing their name, occupation and their sponsor. A 1973 El Sol coverage of the pageant, showing the contestants in their long flowing white gowns at the crowning of the queen, exemplified the public interpretation of the event:

She was chosen from a galaxy of Mexican American beauties that could compete at any level in the state. Houston and the surrounding area is [sic] beginning to show the academic, cultural, economic and sophisticated escalation of the Mexican people at all levels. One day from Houston will come a Miss America, USA, or a Miss Universe.102

This emphasis on personal and social refinement shows that the organizers‟ original intent remained intact as the years unfolded. Indeed, when Dolores Rodriguez announced the FPC‟s schedule of events in the spring of 1970, she specified that the pageant was not a bathing beauty contest, unlike the Miss Houston and Miss Texas competitions.103 She thus indicated that the Miss Fiestas Patrias event sought not to commodify Mexican

American females. Feminist groups or members of the Houston Mexican American community did not accuse the Miss Fiestas Patrias competition of objectifying Mexican

American women, which attests to its popularity and deep cultural meaning.

The Success of the Fiestas Patrias Draws Political Attention

In fact, by 1970, almost sixty percent of the Mexican-origin population reported

102 Photograph caption, El Sol, 28 September 1973, 1.

103 Dolores Rodriguez/FPC to Club México Bello, 1970 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

participating in the Fiestas Patrias in Houston.104 This again bears witness to the organizers‟ skills at rallying Mexican American social clubs to the planning and implementation of activities. State politicians started to take notice of the burgeoning civic enthusiasm among Houston‟s Mexican Americans, too. For instance, George H. W.

Bush, who decided to run for a seat in the United States Senate that year, ran a full page advertisement in the 18 September issue of El Sol. The headline, written in Spanish, read:

“One hundred and sixty years of freedom and sovereignty, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the Mexican hero, left us this heritage.” For this reason, our candidate for Texas Senator, George Bush, who understands Mexican Americans, congratulates very warmly the Mexican colonia of Houston and its surrounding area.105

The central part of the advertisement also stated in Spanish, “Onwards with Bush,” and five photographs depicting him at work as a member of the United States House of

Representatives framed the page.106 The two-column text, however, did not carry the politics-as-usual rhetoric that one might have expected from such a campaign ad.

Instead, Bush selected his address to the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary

Conference held on 5 May 1970 in Washington, D.C., in which he praised the meaning and legacy of the Mexican defeat of invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla in

104 Melville, “The Mexican American and the Celebration of Fiestas Patrias: An Ethno-Historical Analysis,” 110.

105 “Adelante con BUSH [sic]-Congratulations to Mexican-Americans!” El Sol, 18 September 1970, 10. The translation is mine.

106 One photograph captured George H. W. Bush decorating Mexican American Lanier High School Cadets for outstanding services, while another showed him standing in a San Antonio classroom, looking on as students followed a bilingual lesson, which his sponsorship of the Bilingual Bill in the United States House of Representatives made possible.

1862. In his speech to the chairman of the Mexican delegation, Bush reiterated his support for strong cooperation between Mexico and the United States and declared that

“the spirit of pride and independence which resulted from that event is even greater in the people of Mexico today.”107 The former Chairman of the Republican Party for Harris

County had perceived the growing presence of the Fiestas Patrias in the Houston calendar and decided to engage with the Mexican American voters during the celebrations of Mexican Independence Day.

1970, therefore, deserves particular scrutiny because of its central role in defining the modern Fiestas Patrias in Houston. The consolidation of the FPC‟s activities brought popular events, such as the parade, the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award, and the beauty pageant, to the city‟s residents in a most orchestrated fashion, and they remained central occasions through 2009. But the organization also substantially changed how some of the more conservative, Mexico-oriented social clubs perceived the celebrations of Mexican Independence Day. Club México Bello stands as a case in point.108 In 1970, it held a Gran Baile de Noche Mexicana (Mexican Night Grand Ball)

107 Ibid.

108 Between 1967 and 1969, Club México Bello, Club Familias Unidas, and Club Verde Mar pooled their resources to organize a Gran Baile (Grand Ball) at the Shamrock-Hilton Hotel on the Saturday closest to 16 September. The black-tie event attracted many dignitaries and proved successful. The three clubs seized their cooperation in the summer of 1970, however, because of financial and organizational disputes. Club México Bello then set out to hold its own Gran Baile de Noche Mexicana at the Knights of Columbus. See meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 1967-1970, Box 3, Folders 17, 18, 21, 23; Betty Ewing, “Lively Fiesta and Calm Surf,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1967, 2 (6); “Three Clubs Cooperate to Celebrate,” El Sol, 6 September 1968, 1, 2; Club Familias Unidas, Club México Bello, and Club Verde Mar to Mariano Rosales Y Piña, invitation to the third Gran Baile, 3 September 1969, Mariano Rosales Y Piña Collection, Box 2, Folder 1.

at the Knights of Columbus hall, featuring the locally famous Eloy Pérez band.109 The entrance fee of $3.50 per person ensured that the occasion was affordable even to those of humble means.110 México Bello departed from its usual black-tie dress code and instead requested that guests wear traditional Mexican dress. This switch exemplifies the embrace of biculturalism that the FPC had insufflated into the public celebrations of

Mexican Independence Day. Indeed, since its inception in 1924, Club México Bello had striven to “display … proper deportment in all its functions and endeavors [and] … wanted to improve the image of the Mexican in the minds of Anglo Houstonians.” 111

Such “proper deportment” meant the shunning of ethnic garb and the adoption of the business suit or tuxedo, attires usually associated with white middle-class professional status. That a social club so self-conscious about its image felt confident to abandon its strict formal dress code for an event honoring a Mexican civic holiday reflected the level of acceptance for public displays of Mexican ethnic pride in Houston by the early

1970s.112

The Fiestas Patrias Shun Chicano Militancy

Because the FPC was formed with the intent to “gather and unite not only the

109 Invitation to Gran Baile de Noche Mexicana, 11 September 1970, Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

110 Ibid; meeting minutes of Club Familias Unidas, n.d., Mariano Rosales Y Piña Collection, Box 1, Folder 6.

111 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 62.

112 Club México Bello continued to hold its meetings and record its minutes in Spanish until the late 1970s. The last available club records housed at the HMRC date back to 1978.

Mexican people but all Houston,” the organization shunned involvement with the local

Chicano militancy that had sprung up in 1970. 113 In the winter and spring of 1970, one of the main militant Chicano groups in Houston, the Mexican American Youth

Organization (MAYO), staged the occupation of two Presbyterian churches to protest the lack of community services to the barrios‟ poor and the absence of Spanish-language worship. The activists also demonstrated at the ceremonies held at the San Jacinto

Battleground on 21 April, denouncing the Texas War for Independence as an act of aggression by outside gringo invaders,” and proceeded to interrupt a conference on

Mexican American affairs a day later.114

The most contentious issue to rally the Mexican American community, however, revolved around school desegregation. In August 1970, the United States Fifth Court of

Appeals declared that Mexican Americans could not claim the status of a minority group, thereby allowing the Houston Independent School District (HISD) to desegregate African

Americans with Mexican American children, while leaving Anglo schools unaffected.115

Community organizations and barrio residents quickly formed the Mexican American

Education Council (MAEC) to protest the decision and organized huelga (strike) schools for two weeks with volunteers offering substitute classes.116 The dispute came to a

113 Carole Juarez, “Fiestas Patrias Embraces Celebration of Independence for All Hispanics,” Houston Post clipping, 11 September 1992, Viva Magazine, supplement of the Houston Post, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1992,” HMRC, 1-2.

114 De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 178-180.

115 Guadalupe San Miguel, Brown, Not White: School Segregation and the Chicano Movement in Houston, 2nd edition, University of Houston Series in Mexican American Studies, no. 3 (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2005), 84-87; De Leόn, 185-187.

116 Arnoldo De León points out that Leonel Castillo, the leader of MAEC, translated huelga 66

temporary halt at the end of September but would not be resolved until 1973, when the

United States Supreme Court acknowledged the separate legal status of Mexican

Americans, thus forcing the school district to design plans for racial integration.117

The Fiestas Patrias celebrations resisted politicization in 1970. Several prominent Mexican Americans actively participated in the school boycott and could have chosen to use the parade or the Moody Park events to give speeches or display placards decrying HISD‟s blatant segregation. Instead, the festivities remained peaceful and apolitical, and all united around the themes of Mexican history, ethnic pride, and the contributions of Mexican-origin people to Houston‟s identity.

While the records of the Fiestas Patrias organization are not available, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which its members actively sought to ensure that the celebrations transcend local racial problems. Historical records indicate, however, that the conciliatory tone of some Fiestas Patrias events occasionally drew strong criticism from local militants. Papel Chicano, the journalistic arm of Houston‟s Chicano activists, derided the Fiestas Patrias organization as a “little committee [that] behaved badly” because, the author declared, “the fiestas are … [for] the humble people.”118 The writer,

Eduardo López, accused the members of Fiestas Patrias of spending their time in

schools to “freedom schools” for the English-speaking media. He worked as the community relations director of the Galveston-Houston Roman Catholic Diocese at the time of these protests. De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 187-189.

117 For a full analysis of the 1970-1971 school boycott, see San Miguel, chapter 6; De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 188-189, 207-209. School desegregation in Houston remained a contentious issue well into the 1980s.

118 Eduardo López, “Comité Fiestas Patrias: La vuelve a regar,” Papel Chicano, 20 December-5 January 1972-1973, n.p.

“aristocratic salons, drinking champagne and kissing the Gringos on the cheek.” 119

López also disapproved of the appearance of the parade, which, according to him,

“look[ed] more like a 4th of July parade [because] there were more gringos than

Mexicans.”120 Furthermore, López saw the fact that the governor of Texas rode in a car with Armando Rodriguez at the front of the procession while Ramsey Muñiz, a local politician, followed further behind in the forty-second vehicle as “barbaric.”121 López illustrated his disapproval of the presence of Anglos in the Fiestas Patrias activities with the photograph of a car that had participated in the parade with a rather distasteful decoration: atop its hood lay an overweight figure napping against the windshield, a sombrero tipped over its head; the caption read, “This is the gringos idea [sic] of a

Chicano.”122 While such a photograph and the writer‟s accusations might have cast a shadow over the growing popularity of the work of the FPC, the success of its members in placing the celebration of Mexican heritage firmly in the city‟s cultural calendar could not be denied.

The Bicultural Message of the Fiestas Patrias Attracts Corporate Monies and Continued Success, 1971-1972

In 1971, the FPC formalized its status by obtaining a state charter thanks to the leadership of Rita and Armando Rodriguez, John Castillo, Johnny Mata, and Rita

119 Ibid.

120 Ibid.

121 Ibid.

122 Ibid.

Villanueva.123 The organization also opened its own headquarters in the Second Ward in

July. At the ceremony, a representative of the Mexican Tourist Department cut the ribbon alongside Miss Fiestas Patrias 1970, Sylvia Salazar.124 More significantly, the committee changed its three-year-old policy of preventing corporate sponsorship of its events. Fiestas Patrias founders had made that decision out of a fear that such financial support “would obligate them in some way.”125 By 1971, however, they had successfully established a sturdy blueprint for the festivities that they felt could prevent too strong an influence from large companies. Armando Rodriguez later recalled laughingly that the committee “allowed” big businesses to “participate in a supportive and equal manner, not as the dominant factor.”126 John Castillo, president of the committee that year, explained the organizers‟ reasoning as follows: “For years Mexican Americans have helped big business by buying their products and not getting anything in return. … The business community says it has never been asked for help by Chicanos.”127 The Houston Post further indicated that “large corporations and institutions” had been invited to “participate by sponsoring floats in the parade or a contestant in a beauty pageant….”128 By late

123 “Grandes preparativos para el desfile Fiestas Patria [sic],” El Sol, 23 July 1971, 1; Kreneck, Del Pueblo, 164.

124 Photograph caption, El Sol, 23 July 1971, 1. As Chapter Two will examine, officials of the Mexican Tourist Bureau would clash with the FPC members over the celebrations of Mexican Independence Day in the city in 1973.

125 Carole Juarez, “Fiestas Patrias Embraces Celebration of Independence for All Hispanics,” Houston Post clipping, 11 September 1992, Viva Magazine, supplement of the Houston Post, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1992,” HMRC, 1-2.

126 Ibid.

127 Richard Vara, “Mexican Independence Fête Set,” Houston Post, 30 August 1971, n. p.

128 Ibid. 69

August 1971, “several companies … [had already] stepped forward and through contributions … [were] helping to offset some expenses such as the $2500 parade permit fee.”129 Because parade floats cost up to approximately one hundred dollars and the expenses for one candidate to the Miss Fiestas Patrias pageant amounted to two hundred and fifty dollars, the committee hoped that large corporations would help cover the expenditures.130 Recognizing the public exposure that these events offered, businesses such as Sears-Roebuck and Humble Oil Company jumped on the wagon early on and were among the first sponsors of Miss Fiestas Patrias candidates.131 An El Sol article in

August 1971 asserted that corporate sponsorship of the pageant provided “organizations and businesses [with] a fine opportunity to project a positive image before a growing target market and cilentele [sic] of more than 175,000 Mexican Americans in metropolitan Houston.”132 Judge Rodriguez liked to point out that the cooperation of business and industry proved so helpful in raising awareness of Mexican heritage that some local companies gave their employees the day of 15 September off so that they

129 Ibid.

130 These figures are those charged for the 1973 events. Most of the fees that the FPC charged for 1971 are not available. However, it is not unreasonable to speculate that they changed very little for the first few years of the 1970s. For instance, while an organization paid ten dollars for a car to ride in the parade in 1973, México Bello records show that the club paid twenty dollars for their queen to represent them in an unspecified vehicle in the 1971 parade. Moreover, the FPC charged the following in 1973: Entry in the beauty pageant cost one hundred and fifty dollars, the bathing suit and talent portions each cost twenty five dollars, and the gown cost fifty dollars, amounting to a total of two hundred and fifty dollars for each candidate. As for the parade, the FPC asked that big businesses pay one hundred dollars, small business fifty dollars, non-profit organizations were asked to give fifteen dollars, and single cars cost ten dollars. Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 1971 (unspecified day and month), Box 4, Folder 1; price list for sponsorship of the beauty pageant, parade, and booth at park festivities, 1973 (unspecified day and month), Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 5.

131 “Fiestas Patrias Plans Presentation,” El Sol, 20 August 1971, 1.

132 Ibid.

might enjoy the festivities.133 Moreover, corporate sponsorship enabled the FPC to print out a brochure for the first time since the organization had come to life in 1969.134 Such booklets circulated among Mexican-origin residents, informing them of upcoming events and exposing them to the new corporate advertisements that specifically targeted their ethnic group.

The celebrations had thus expanded beyond the barrios not only to include Anglo

Houstonians but also powerful symbols of American capitalism. By allowing national companies to sponsor parts of the Fiestas Patrias events, the organizers explicitly sought to present the Mexican-origin community as a full participant in American society.

Moreover, casting themselves as prominent consumers gave Mexican Americans strong leverage to claim equal treatment in American society.

The 1971 celebrations proved felicitous again. The FPC ran advertisements of their scheduled events on television and radio stations, ensuring a broad public awareness.135 In a formal ceremony at City Hall, Mayor Louie Welch proclaimed

“Fiestas Patrias Week”:

Urging all citizens to join with [him] in paying tribute to this important celebration and in commending its participants for the vital role they hold in

133 Richard Vara, “Mexican Freedom to Be Celebrated,” Houston Post, 2 September 1973, 8 (B).

134 “Fiestas Patrias of Houston,” El Sol, 17 September 1971, 1. The earliest FPC brochure available in archival records dates from 1978. The brochures that have been preserved for the late 1970s and 1980s celebrations of Mexican Independence Day featured a schedule of events, brief biographies and/or messages from FPC members, and a majority of advertisements from local politicians and local and national businesses congratulating the Mexican American community for its celebration of Mexican Independence Day. The following chapter examines these brochures in further detail.

135 John A. Castillo/FPC to Club México Bello, 1971 (day and month unspecified), Club México Bello Collection, Box 3, Folder 23.

making this city a better place in which to live for persons of all heritage.136

The FPC collaborated with the mayor, the newly appointed General Consul of Mexico in

Houston, Mario Romero Lopetegui, and Ripley House community center to hold the grito de independencia (cry for independence) on 15 September with traditional Mexican songs and dances and the presentation of the new Miss Fiestas Patrias and her court to the public. The downtown parade remained one of the central events and boasted twenty floats and eight high school bands. Moody Park hosted trophy-awarding ceremonies and a Mexican-themed bazaar, while charreadas (Mexican rodeo) acts and an international soccer game between Houston and Monterrey, Mexico, closed the festive week.137

The 1972 celebrations extended over eleven days and proved so successful at rallying crowds that the city‟s events were “the largest outside of Mexico running ahead of San Antonio and even California,” as Judge Rodriguez later recalled with pride.138

Club México Bello collaborated with the FPC to host the traditional Grito ceremony at the University of Houston Cullen Auditorium.139 Mexico‟s president, Luis Echeverría,

136 Louie Welch, “Proclamation,” El Sol, 17 September 1971, 1.

137 “Grandes preparativos para el desfile Fiestas Patria [sic],” El Sol, 23 July 1971, 1; “Beauty Pageant Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 6 August 1971, 1; “Houston Fiestas Patrias Beauty Pageant-Parade Shaping Up,” El Sol, 13 August 1971, 3, 5; “Fiestas Patrias of Houston,” El Sol, 17 September 1971, 1, 5; “Fiestas Patrias Schedule,” El Sol, 17 September 1971, 5; “Cynthia Tellez Crowned Queen,” Papel Chicano, 16 September 1971, 1.

138 Richard Vara, “Mexican Freedom to Be Celebrated,” Houston Post, 2 September 1973, 8 (B).

139 The Club had originally planned to hold an event of its own on 14 September at the Civic Hall. After some reconsideration throughout the months of April and May, however, the members decided that the FPC would present much “competition” and proceeded to cooperate with the association in a joint event at Cullen Auditorium. Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 15 February 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 18 April 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 15 May 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 20 June 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 1 August 1972, Club México Bello 72

sent Under Secretary of the Treasury, Mario Ramón Beteta, to represent him at the event.

Mayor Welch and the Mexican consul attended as well, as had become customary.140

Club México Bello committed $3,000 of its coffers to sponsor the event and coordinated most of the program.141 The Ballet Folklorico entertained an audience of five hundred invited guests with an almost hour-long show of traditional Mexican dances. Mario

Ramón Beteta then gave the Grito, and the American and Mexican national hymns closed the evening.142 Club México Bello also allotted the FPC a thirty-minute segment in which Gabriel Jiménez, a local musical and television personality, acted as master of ceremonies.143 He presented the Miss Fiestas Patrias candidates and then announced the

Most Distinguished Mexican American Award winner of the year: Leonel Castillo, the first Mexican American to be elected City Comptroller in 1971.144

The 1972 parade boasted the presence of political figures such as the Houston mayor, the Mexican consul, Mexico‟s Under Secretary of Treasury Mario Ramón Beteta,

Collection, Box 4, Folder 3.

140 “Mexican Treasury Official to Represent President Luis Echeverría in Houston,” El Sol, 15 September 1972, 1; “Mexican Independence Is Celebrated,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 13 September 1972, Vertical file “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics 1989,” HMRC, n.p.

141 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 15 February 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3.

142 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 18 July 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 1 August 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 15 August 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3; Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 5 September 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3.

143 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 5 September 1972, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 3.

144 Photograph caption, El Sol, 22 September 1972, 1. Castillo also became the first Mexican American to be appointed as head of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Services in 1977. De Leόn, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 216.

and Democratic candidate for Texas governor Dolph Briscoe. In fact, Dolph Briscoe was the first state-level political aspirant to attest to the importance of the Mexican American population of Houston by using the parade as a public platform to rally voters to his side in his gubernatorial race. A beloved Mexican American religious leader, Bishop Patricio

Flores, also served as Grand Marshal of the procession, helping to make the event an important venue to court the Mexican American public for prominent state personalities.145

The popularity of the Miss Fiestas Patrias beauty pageant continued to expand as well. The contest, which had moved to the Albert Thomas Convention Center in order to accommodate the increasing number of spectators, attracted twenty-five candidates and now offered a $1,000 scholarship fund, among other awards.146 The new scholarship prize helped reinforce the importance of education for the betterment of the Mexican- origin community and fostered awareness that educational achievement translated into upward social mobility.

In many ways, 20 September 1972 culminated the Fiestas Patrias celebrations of the year thanks to the achievements of a native Texan and long-time Houston resident,

Carlos Conde. Mayor Louie Welch issued an official City of Houston proclamation declaring that date “Carlos Conde Day” and commended his recent nomination as the first Mexican American to serve as a staff assistant in the Office of Communications for

145 Photograph caption, El Sol, 22 September 1972, 1.

146 “Fiestas Patrias Plans Big,” El Sol, 11 August 1972, 2; photograph caption, El Sol, 22 September, 1972, 1. 74

the Hispanic Affairs Department at the White House.147 El Sol announced that a special banquet in Conde‟s honor would be held at the Houston Oaks Hotel on 20 September.148

Carlos Conde Day was declared a “non-partisan and non-political” occasion in order to present a “unified, constructive and inspirational image of the potential for leadership and accomplishment inherent in all Mexican-Americans [sic].”149 To El Sol, partisanship worked to the detriment of the community because the “destiny and wellbeing [sic] of all

Mexican Americans” depended upon no particular political party, but rather on a national consensus.150

A week later, a telegram addressed to Reverend James Novarro greeted the readers on the front page of El Sol. President Richard Nixon sought to congratulate the

City of Houston for honoring Carlos Conde as “a fine example of the dedicated American we have sought to attract to positions of responsibility in this administration.”151 The message praised the political role of the Mexican American community in the life of the nation:

In singling out one man for such a tribute, we intend also to honor the many

147 The proclamation appeared on the front page of El Sol. Louie Welch, “Proclamation,” El Sol, 15 September 1972, 1. For Carlos Conde‟s work experience, see his personal message to students at the San Benito High School, which he himself attended, at: http://www.sanbenito.k12.tx.us/schools/bertacabaza/hssb/famous_san_benitians_8th/Carlos_Conde.html., accessed on 29 November 2009. Very little is otherwise available about Carlos Conde‟s role in President Richard Nixon‟s White House. He still contributed journalistic pieces to well-respected newspapers such as the New York Times through 2009.

148 El Sol did not mention the names of the specific individuals and associations responsible for organizing this banquet.

149 “Carlos Conde Day,” El Sol, 15 September 1972, 1.

150 Ibid.

151 Richard Nixon, telegram, El Sol, 22 September 1972, 1.

outstanding Mexican-Americans [sic] who have joined this administration eager to take up the challenge of making government responsive to the needs of all Americans and at the same time to represent minority viewpoints within the counsels of government. Their good work increases our determination to open new opportunities to the Spanish-speaking so that all may share the exciting challenge of making this good land even better.152

President Nixon‟s outreach to the Houston community through its main Mexican

American newspaper demonstrated a growing awareness of the political role of this ethnic group on a national level. Echoing concern for an inclusive government, Nixon alluded to their bicultural identity by referring to Americans of Mexican descent as

“Spanish-speaking.” Such a gesture on the part of the president of the United States gave

“Carlos Conde Day” political overtones despite its organizers‟ intent. Perhaps for this reason, or because President Nixon was unpopular with Houston‟s Mexican Americans, less than half of the expected guests attended the banquet in Conde‟s honor at the

Houston Oaks Hotel.153

Conclusion

The lack of enthusiasm for Carlos Conde Day and its potential political ramifications notwithstanding, the years spanning from 1965 to the early 1970s represented a significant switch in Houston‟s racial identity politics. The early efforts of

152 Ibid.

153 Besides this document, El Sol did not cover the banquet nor publish any explanation for the reasons behind the lack of success of the reception dinner. This suggests that the regular events of Fiestas Patrias week had gathered unprecedented amounts of public support but that the Mexican American community, however proud of Carlos Conde‟s symbolic achievements, may have felt divided over displaying public support for the Nixon administration. Moreover, one may only speculate about the timing of such a missive since President Nixon‟s role in the Watergate scandal had already started to transpire. “Carlos Conde Day Banquet Report,” El Sol, 7 October 1972, 1.

John Coronado, and later of the FPC members, succeeded in involving most strata of local society in the celebration of a Mexican civic holiday. The Fiestas Patrias festivities joined together the youth, local Mexican American leaders and social clubs, state politicians, government officials of both nations, and local and national businesses in an annual weeklong series of public events. The emphasis on biculturalism conveyed a reassuring message of syncretism and allowed Mexican-origin residents to claim public space in a non-antagonistic fashion. Thanks to this approach, the Fiestas Patrias organizers ensured that they could secure a platform for cultural exchange between the city‟s Anglo and Mexican-origin population.

The September celebrations did not constitute an expedient for racial equality in the city, as lingering civil rights issues would continue to come to the fore for the next decade or so. Yet, those few days during the year represented an opportunity for residents to come together and acknowledge Houston‟s Mexican heritage. The parade, award ceremony, beauty pageant, and community gatherings in parks and theaters throughout the city helped Houston‟s Mexican-origin people gain public acceptance in a harmonious fashion. As Chapter Two will examine, however, the invitation of corporate sponsorship altered the genuinely reconciliatory spirit of the Fiestas Patrias and challenged their original goal of bringing Mexican heritage to the fore of Houston‟s consciousness. Instead, commercial interests capitalized on the celebrations‟ potential for financial gain and occasionally created tensions within the Mexican American community. The irony nevertheless lies in the fact that such commercialization of an ethnic event both reinforced the public presence of Hispanics in Houston and the state of 77

Texas and furthered the festivities‟ popularity.

CHAPTER 2

HISPANIDAD FLIRTS WITH THE DOLLAR SIGN: THE BROADENING SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SEPTEMBER FIESTAS PATRIAS, 1972-1980s

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Fiestas Patrias expanded both in size and meaning.

Thanks to a booming economy throughout the 1970s and a simultaneous demographic explosion, Houston became a truly multicultural city during that period. The organizers of Mexican Independence Day festivities adapted to this new local dynamic by inviting increased corporate sponsorship and by broadening the significance of the Fiestas

Patrias, first to include all Hispanic groups, then to celebrate Houston‟s cosmopolitan makeup. Leaders accomplished this shift towards a progressively inclusive definition of the commemorations relatively easily, but the intrusion of commercial interests proved quite contentious at first. This chapter examines the changing significance of Mexican

Independence Day in Houston and the emerging role of corporations at the heart of the celebrations of this ethnic holiday.

The 1973 Rift between the FPC and the Comité Patriótico Mexicano: Negotiating the Meaning of Mexican Independence Day and the Role of Corporate Influence

Antagonistic Relations between the FPC and the Comité Patriótico Mexicano

Houston‟s Mexican-origin community divided into two camps in 1973: the supporters of the FPC, who wished for bicultural festivities, and those who sided with the

Comité Patriótico Mexicano (CPM) for events celebrating the culture and arts of Mexico.

Whereas the FPC had theretofore managed to prevent American corporations from taking over the programming and character of its festivities, the Mexican consulate set out to 79

revive the CPM by obtaining sponsorship from the Mexican Government Tourist Bureau and Mexican commercial firms. This decision not only deeply offended the FPC members and frustrated their efforts, but it also upset the cultural calendar of Houston‟s

Mexican Americans.

On 13 April 1973 Ramón Meade, the Mexican consul in Houston, sent out a letter composed in English and Spanish inviting all the Mexican American social clubs to join him at a meeting in the World Trade Building Auditorium in order to form “El Comité

Civico Patriótico de Houston” (Mexican Civic Patriotic Committee of Houston).1 The members in attendance elected as its first president Gabriel Jiménez, a prominent local television and music celebrity, and granted the consul honorary membership.2 The

Comité Patriótico Mexicano, as it became known, formally announced its founding to the mayor of Houston, Louie Welch, in July.3 El Sol promptly reported that this “special committee of distinguished citizens representing the Houston Mexican-American community” would work with City Hall to plan “all activities during the [September] week-long [sic] celebration, which … [would] include a visit by leading government officials representing Luis Echeverría, president [sic] of Mexico.” 4 The CPM quickly recruited many Mexican American organizations. For instance, Club México Bello, which had been cooperating with the FPC for the previous several years, decided to

1 Consul Ramón Meade to Club México Bello, 13 April 1973, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 5.

2 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 15 May 1973, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 7. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

3 “Mexico Independence Day Celebration Committee Formed,” El Sol, 27 July 1973, n.p.

4 Ibid. 80

decline the invitation of the FPC to participate in their September festivities because of the association‟s prior engagement with the consul‟s organization.5 By the summer of

1973, the Mexican-origin community stood divided about which group deserved allegiance for the continuing success of the September Fiestas Patrias.

The FPC went on the offensive as soon as they sensed this new competition. On

11 June, John Castillo, Johnny Mata, and Armando Rodriguez, chairman and co- chairman of the organization and chairman of the festivities, respectively, sent a missive to Mexican American social clubs and invited them to an upcoming organizational meeting on 20 June.6 The message boasted that the Fiestas Patrias celebrations in

Houston ranked as the largest in the State of Texas, and that, “With events such as the

Fiestas Patrias parade, the … Beauty Pageant, … the Distinguished Mexican American

Award, and the Fiestas Patrias Park Festivities [sic], … [they] were rated number one in the nation for this type of celebration.”7 Moreover, the letter also explained that a volunteer would be in charge of approving float proposals before the committee accepted registration forms that year.8 The Fiestas Patrias organization might have implemented this new policy in order to ensure that its message would stay on course in light of its competitor‟s interference. The two organizations spent the next two-and-a-half months vying for the Mexican-origin community‟s attention and support.

5 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 19 June 1973, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 7. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

6 FPC members to social clubs, 11 June 1973, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 5. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid. 81

The antagonism between the FPC and the CPM soon grew into bitter animosity and spread into the local press. Both El Sol‟s coverage and the Houston Post‟s regular column on local Mexican American issues reported on this escalating hostility and sometimes took sides. In his Houston Post column, “Espejo” (Mirror), Richard Vara wrote on 6 August that, “The annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day may find local officials declaring „independence‟ from [the] Mexican Consulate and tourist officials.”9 Vara conveyed Armando Rodriguez‟s allegations against the consul and the

Mexican National Tourist Council director, Oscar Villareal Jones. The founder of the

FPC “charg[ed] that Mexican government officials … [were] simply taking advantage of a well established [sic] community project and … [were] trying to take over its activities for the benefit of Mexican commercial enterprises.”10 Rodriguez added that the CPM was competing with the Fiestas Patrias organization by soliciting the same city parks, misleading some major sponsors into supporting their endeavor, and “asking for advertisement revenue from the same companies, organizations, and persons that [had] patronized Fiestas Patrias without stating that they … [were] not Fiestas Patrias officials.”11 Rodriguez also asserted that the FPC‟s main purpose was to “promote

Mexican American unity and not necessarily Mexico.”12 Consul Meade and Tourist

Council Director Jones denied Rodriguez‟s claim that the Mexican government had

9 Richard Vara, “Mexican Independence Day Sparks Controversy,” Houston Post, 6 August 1973, 4 (C).

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid. 82

ordered the Tourist Council and the consulate to organize “Mexico Week” during the same time as the Fiestas Patrias events. Moreover, Jones stated that some corporate sponsors had joined the CPM because they preferred being under the “guidance of the

Mexican [tourist] council.”13 According to him, the CPM had not attempted to rent some city parks, and its sole intention was to conduct the Grito ceremony. He insisted that,

“From the very beginning when they (Fiestas Patrias) started, we stated that in no way were we competing with them.”14 While conciliatory in tone, this statement proved inaccurate because the CPM did not exist at the time of the creation of the FPC, in

1969.15 Moreover, the absence of the officers of the CPM in this exchange in the press suggests that, as members of the Mexican-origin community themselves, they might have felt uneasy with the tensions that arose within their ranks. The fact that Mexican officials decided to steer away from the calendar of events of the FPC in order to focus on

Mexico‟s heritage divided the local community over the meaning of the patriotic holiday in the United States.

Vara‟s article informed the Post readers about the hostile climate surrounding the

1973 Fiestas Patrias and exposed the risks that outside forces could pose to the unity of the Mexican-origin community. In fact, a day after the publication of this column, Club

México Bello convened and decided neither to donate money for the CPM‟s brochure nor

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 As Chapter One argued, the previous Comité Patriótico Mexicano (CPM) became defunct by the mid-1960s.

to participate in their September events so as to remain “unnoticed.”16 México Bello members also rescinded an earlier decision not to join the FPC‟s celebrations and voted for the club to pay the $10 fee for their queen to ride in the parade.17 Archival records do not indicate whether the CPM had misled the club into believing that they acted as the official organizer of the Mexican independence festivities that year. Club México Bello‟s change of schedule, however, suggests that several well-respected social clubs might have felt uncertain about the CPM‟s intentions, and that supporting either side bore important implications for the public image of those associations.

Armando Rodriguez did not limit his public denunciation of the CPM‟s agenda to

Richard Vara‟s column. On 10 August, he penned a statement on behalf of the FPC in an open letter that ran a full page in El Sol.18 He reiterated that the Mexican Tourist Council and the Mexican consulate, acting under the orders of the Mexican government, had attempted to book venues that the Fiestas Patrias organization normally used, and that the CPM had solicited monies from companies and social clubs that had theretofore cooperated with Fiestas Patrias. But he went further, recounting parts of a conversation he had held with Meade and Jones earlier that spring. According to Rodriguez, when he asked Jones about the motives behind the creation of a new organization to orchestrate

16 Meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 7 August 1973, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 7. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. The 1973 CPM‟s brochure may be found in the Mexican American Small Collection, Box 6 of 5, HMRC. The 1973 Fiestas Patrias brochure is not available. Yet, should Club México Bello have decided to place an advertisement in its brochure, the club‟s meeting minutes would indicate such an endeavor because its members had to vote on such issues. The CPM‟s and FPC‟s brochures will be discussed later in this chapter.

17 Ibid.

18 FPC chairmen, “Fiestas Patrias Statement,” El Sol, 10 August 1973, 4.

the September celebrations:

He answered that not all 69 organizations that participated last year were happy with the festivities of Fiestas Patrias and with Fiestas Patrias. When asked how many organizations he was talking about, he named one. Upon request to name or state in number the others, if any, he could not. He stated that he knew no others—just one out of approximately 69 organizations that participated and have participated over the last five years.19

According to Rodriguez, Jones then indicated that the CPM sought to unite “all of the people and all of the organizations,” which had been the primary incentive for the creation of the FPC in the first place.20 Rodriguez pointed out that the CPM‟s actions had actually achieved the opposite results. He also recounted another part of the conversation, which proved equally contentious:

Then the question was asked what criticism they had of Fiestas Patrias, the organization that engineered and co-ordinated [sic] that celebration. The answer was—“There are too many barrio people.” I was astonished so I paused and asked again, “Too many what?” And the answer was repeated. I stated at that time— “Mr. Jones, do you realize that this is exactly what Fiestas Patrias is all about? To allow the barrio and all people to work hand in hand with industry, large companies, and corporations on an equal basis, to show the positive in the Mexican American culture instead of the negative.”21

Richard Vara‟s column had also quoted the remark about the prevalence of “too many barrio people,” but did not elaborate.22 In the same manner, Rodriguez refrained from making a comment on the declaration in his El Sol address, perhaps speculating that it conveyed enough condescension to turn people away from the CPM‟s events. After all,

19 Ibid.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Richard Vara, “Mexican Independence Day Sparks Controversy,” Houston Post, 6 August 1973, 4 (C).

if the CPM represented Mexican business interests, its members could not identify with

Houston‟s Mexican-origin community and claim to represent it since these corporations were outsiders to the colonia. In order to emphasize this point, Rodriguez put great emphasis on the themes of unity and inclusiveness in his statement. He presented the motivations of the CPM as a threat to the city‟s Mexican-origin community and to the good image of Mexico as well. He wrote:

Let me state here in all fairness to the President of Mexico, Sr. Luis Echeverría and to the Mexican Government, that I and all people of Fiestas Patrias believe that the officials in Mexico are not aware of the animosity and ill will that a hand full [sic] of individuals have created here in the name of the Government of Mexico. It is my belief that there is a certain faction with commercial interests that are dominating the activities of the Mexican Government locally without the Mexican Government in Mexico being aware of what is happening. … … In at least one of last week‟s papers it was stated that this Comité Patriótico represents the Mexican American community although the majority, if not all, of the officers of their committee are Mexican nationals, Mexican government officials, or Mexican businessmen.23

Rodriguez then clarified that the FPC did not oppose the involvement of Mexican companies or public servants. Its organizers felt, however, that the “American people and the Mexican American communities” needed to be aware that the CPM, because of the nationality and professional occupation of its members and sponsors, prioritized

Mexican, rather than American interests.24 As such, they threatened the bicultural nature of the Fiestas Patrias festivities.

In order to emphasize the solid relationship that the FPC had developed with city officials, Rodriguez also published an open letter to the mayor and city council on the

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

same page as his statement. In his missive, he thanked them for their support over the years and informed them of the FPC‟s request, on behalf of the Mexican-origin community, for a parade permit and two city parks.25 His closing paragraph extended a formal invitation to the mayor and councilmen to “be on a receiving line … at a public reception to be held … at the Rice Hotel [after the parade] so that the public … [could] personally and informally meet and shake the hand of each of … [them].” 26 The FPC had never published such a document in the local press before, which suggests that the chairmen felt anxious to show El Sol‟s readers that Mexican independence festivities directly involved city officials, and that such was the result of the FPC‟s work.

Furthermore, the invitation to meet the public in a casual setting offered another opportunity to strengthen ties between Anglos and Mexican Americans and reasserted the importance of this constituency to local and state politicians.

Not all Mexican-origin residents concurred with Rodriguez‟s accusations about the CPM‟s intentions towards the Fiestas Patrias celebrations. In the same El Sol edition as Rodriguez‟s statement, the weekly column “La voz del pueblo” (The Voice of the

People) declared as “unnecessary demagogy” his assertions about the role of the Mexican government in the creation of the CPM and expressed concern that he had stirred

“antagonistic polemics.”27 The author explained that Mexicans who settled in the United

States belonged to the “México de afuera” (Mexico abroad) community, and that it was a

25 FPC chairmen, “Honorable Mayor and City Councilmen,” El Sol, 10 August 1973, 4.

26 Ibid.

27 Guillermo Aguayo, “La voz de pueblo [sic],” El Sol, 10 August 1973, 2. The translation from Spanish to English is mine

right, and indeed an obligation, for the Mexican government to create Comités

Patrióticos wherever a diaspora had established itself.28 The responsibility for finding local Mexican residents to lead those Comités customarily fell on the consul. Such had been the tradition for decades, and so Houston‟s CPM proved a legitimate endeavor.29

The author concluded that ascribing another meaning to the formation of the CPM distorted the goals of good-willed Mexican nationals who sought to preserve Mexican history and heritage for future generations in the Houston area.30

This column thus conveyed the feelings of the CPM‟s supporters and exposed how its agenda spoke to their vision of the Fiestas Patrias. Two aspects of the author‟s argument especially stand out. First, he voiced deep discontent with the fact that the FPC so forcefully expressed a sense of betrayal from local Mexican government officials. In the view of the Fiestas Patrias organizers, the CPM‟s planned events threatened to outdo their hard work since the late 1960s. To the columnist, however, the tradition of Comités

Patrióticos and the importance of celebrating Mexican heritage in settlements outside of

Mexico remained a prerogative to which nobody should object. The fact that the Fiestas

Patrias organization had claimed that right several years before and had used the

September holiday to build a bridge between Houston‟s Anglo and Mexican-origin population seemed of minor importance to him. Secondly, while Rodriguez had

28 Ibid.

29 For an examination of the relationship of Mexican consuls with Mexican nationals living in the United States before World War II, see F. Arturo Rosales, ¡Pobre Raza! Violence, Justice, and Mobilization among “México Lindo” Immigrants, 1900-1936 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999), especially chapter three.

30 Guillermo Aguayo, “La voz de pueblo [sic],” El Sol, 10 August 1973, 2. 88

forcefully argued that one of the FPC‟s biggest contentions with the CPM was its strong relationship with Mexican business interests, the columnist did not address that issue at all. This suggests that he might have welcomed such sponsorship because it benefited

Mexican firms or perhaps that he did not perceive this commercial agenda as a threat to the authenticity of the celebrations.

Yet, the CPM‟s ties to corporate powers proved quite significant. For instance, in the form that local associations were asked to fill out in order to participate in its festivities, the CPM announced that it enjoyed financial support from a substantial number of Mexican and international companies. The application stated that:

We are being sponsored by the Mexican Government Tourist Bureau, the State of Jalisco, several hotels and also by the following airline companies: Aero México, Air France, Braniff, Mexicana, Pan America and Texas International. … “Mexico Week” is a unique and grand opportunity for all Mexican-American organizations to unite as ONE [sic] and express to Houston our mutual civicism [sic] and our feelings of patriotism. … Let us unite and be acknowledged! Honor must be given those deserving honor! Viva México! Viva México!31

The themes of unity among Mexican-origin residents and love for their Mexican heritage were strongly reminiscent of the FPC‟s message. The CPM thus adopted the FPC‟s public relations strategy because the FPC had successfully rallied most Mexican

American social clubs and had attracted an increasing number of Anglo companies and politicians thus far. With business interests in tow, the CPM hoped to capture a similar momentum. Because it claimed that paying homage to the mother country remained its

31 “Mexico Week in Houston” application form, n.d., Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 5. While the CPM was composed mostly of Mexican nationals and received financial support from Mexican companies, the form was composed in English, not Spanish. This suggests that the CPM recognized the level of acculturation of the Mexican American population in Houston.

primary function, as it had been a traditional role for Comités Patrióticos throughout the

United States for decades, Houston‟s new CPM seemed confident that the September activities could accommodate two versions of the holiday. The 1973 Mexican

Independence Day celebrations therefore served as a gauge of the level of assimilation of

Houston‟s residents of Mexican descent: if the CPM‟s festivities attracted great crowds, then, perhaps the Fiestas Patrias organization had overestimated the community‟s desire for a celebration of bicultural identity.

The Two Organizations’ Festivities in September 1973

The CPM‟s events ran for six days. A “Fiesta Mexicana” at Miller Outdoor

Theater in Hermann Park featured folkloric dancers from the states of Jalisco and

Yucatán for three consecutive evenings.32 CPM members also appeared on two local television shows with special Mexican themes, hosted several cocktail receptions, organized two softball tournaments, and cooperated with the Comité Patriótico Mexicano of Galveston for a community event and the Grito ceremony on the island.33 The CPM also hosted the representative of President Echeverría in Houston, the Under Secretary of

Environmental Improvement, Francisco Vizcaíno Murray. The latter attended the Grito ceremony in Jones Hall on 15 September as well as a reception at the World Trade Club, at which mayor Louie Welch and several Mexican officials and executives of Mexican companies were present.34 The participation of the latter, along with the fact that the

32 “Fiestas Mexicana [sic] Highlights Mexico Week in Houston,” El Sol, 7 September 1973, 4.

33 “Comité Patriótico México,” El Sol, 14 September 1973, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

34 Guillermo Aguayo, “Candilejas,” El Sol, 21 September 1973, 3. The translation from Spanish 90

CPM replaced the FPC as the host of the Mexican president‟s representative, showed that the consulate‟s goal to bolster interest in Mexico‟s culture, arts, and business proved successful in 1973.

The diversion of advertising dollars could have shrunk the extent of the FPC‟s festivities that year. Indeed, the CPM had taken ownership of the traditional Grito ceremony and hosting the representative of the Mexican president. Apart from these two important symbolic occasions, however, none of the FPC‟s past activities was cancelled, save for the traditional soccer games. The FPC‟s schedule of events stretched only for three days, perhaps to ensure that the Mexican-origin community would not lose enthusiasm in the face of the competing calendar of the CPM. The Fiestas Patrias organization participated in the taping of two of the popular “Dialing for Dollars” television morning shows at Ripley House and Saint Patrick‟s Catholic Church on 13 and

14 September, both of which charged no admission fee and entertained the public with mariachi music.35 The Moody Park Fiesta featured homemade Mexican food, music, and the Distinguished Mexican American of the Year Award. In 1973, the honors went to two of the most respected Second Ward community leaders: Felix Fraga and María

Torres Reyna. Fraga was the director of Ripley House, a community center catering to the needs of Mexican-origin residents, and “was cited for his work with Mexican-

to English is mine. This article also indicated that the Mexican officials who attended the reception at the World Trade Club belonged to the Mexican Tourist Council and the Health Department of the state of Nuevo León. A member of the Mexican Baseball League, along with a representative of Mexicana Airlines, were also in attendance.

35 “Fiestas Patrias 1973,” El Sol, 14 September 1973, 1.

American children.”36 Together with her husband, the florist María Reyna had “boosted civic, social, and religious causes in the Magnolia area of Houston‟s East End” for the previous forty years.37 The popular beauty pageant attracted seventeen candidates and tremendous crowds again. The elected queen that year hailed from Galveston, which showed the growing appeal of the contest to Mexican-origin communities outside of

Houston‟s metropolitan area.38 The FPC‟s flagship event, the parade in downtown

Houston, drew the most enthusiasm. Despite a competing CPM festivity with mariachi music and folkloric dancers at Sharpstown shopping center, located southwest of downtown Houston, the procession drew one hundred thousand spectators.39 The newly elected Texas governor, Dolph Briscoe, acted as parade Grand Marshal, testifying once more to the importance of the Mexican independence celebrations in Houston for state politicians.40 In spite of the many challenges that the CPM had presented to the FPC, the latter had thus succeeded in maintaining the momentum it had worked so hard to build up for the previous five years.

36 “Fiestas Award Winners,” La Vida Latina en Houston, November 1973, n.p.; Kim Jackson, “East End Activists Overhaul Youth Baseball Field: Felix Fraga Spearheads Campaign to Renovate Space,” Houston Chronicle, 29 January 2009, 2 (This Week). Fraga worked at Ripley House, a member of Neighborhood Centers Inc., through 2009.

37 Shirley Pfister, “For a Change, the Bouquet Goes to Mary Torres Reyna,” Houston Chronicle, 23 September 1973, 8 (6). María Reyna also became the first female president of the CPM in 1979. See “Nombran a María Reyna presidenta del Comité Patriótico Mexicano,” El Sol, 27 June 1979, n.p.

38 “Candidatas en pro de Srta. Fiestas Patrias 1973,” El Sol, 7 September 1973, n.p.; photograph caption, El Sol, 28 September 1973, 1. Candidates to the pageant could live up to fifty miles away from Houston. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

39 “Comité Patriótico México,” El Sol, 14 September 1973, 1; photograph captions, El Sol, 21 September 1973, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

40 Ibid.

As stated above, the splintering of the September patriotic calendar between the two organizations had created confusion and, in some cases, anger among Houston‟s

Mexican-origin people. Articles in El Sol and the Houston Post, however, indicated that these intense feelings gave way to calmer interpretations as the month of September progressed. On 14 September El Sol announced the schedule of both committees on its first page and presented the flurry of upcoming events as a positive development for the

Mexican-origin community. The newspaper sought a reconciliatory tone by stating that

“the rich cultural heritage and the great spirit of the Mexican people in Mexico” and

Americans of Mexican descent deserved “the recognition and the concentrated efforts of both groups to lift high with pride and dignity the origin and identity of a great people.” 41

El Sol concluded that, as a result of the hard work of the two groups, “Houston citizens

… [had] been exposed to one of the most concentrated, extensive, intensive” Fiestas

Patrias in Houston‟s history, and that “the people of Houston and surrounding areas …

[would] be the beneficiaries of the impact of all these efforts and festivities.”42 As the main bilingual newspaper of the city, El Sol thus conveyed the hopes of the Mexican- origin community that the antagonism expressed by the FPC would abate and that the definition of Mexican independence could indeed accommodate both groups.

Reconciling Different Meanings of the Fiestas Patrias

Richard Vara again used his Houston Post column to summarize the divisive effect of the emergence of the CPM, but he also sought to heal wounds and to look

41 “Houston Fiestas Celebrate Mexico Independence [sic],” El Sol, 14 September 1973, 1.

42 Ibid.

forward to the future of the community‟s cultural life. He explained that some “headon

[sic] clashes particularly in the scheduling of events” had created unnecessary friction.43

Because the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award and the preliminaries for the beauty pageant happened at the same time as the Miller Outdoor Theater festivities, and the Miss Fiestas Patrias‟ final competition was held during the CPM‟s Grito ceremony,

Vara concluded that “the loser in the long run … [would] surely by [sic] the Mexican

American community.”44 Moreover, he reasoned that while “it … [was his] first thought to fault the [CPM] and the Mexican consulate, saying they … [were] Johnny-Come-

Latelies, who recognize[d] a good thing and want[ed] to horn in on the action,” he also felt that the promotion of Mexican tourism and industry could not “be described as lowly or undesirable goals.”45 Instead, Vara urged all parties involved to recognize that:

… The promotion of the Mexican-American, his culture and heritage are the goals of the Fiestas Patrias, and it would be foolish to downgrade or impede their attainment. In between, there are a lot of common goals such as the history, the heritage, the language, and other indivisible bonds that will always keep Mexican in front of American. We may never go home again but we can remember.46

Vara expressed concern that the past efforts of the FPC to use the September patriotic festivities as a means to foster unity might have been jeopardized, but he concluded with a plea for future cooperation between the CPM and the Fiestas Patrias organization.

Nonetheless, the emergence of a more traditional, Mexico-oriented CPM in 1973

43 Richard Vara, “Conflicting Events, Groups Produce Confusion, Division,” Houston Post, 30 September 1973, 4 (DD).

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid.

46 Ibid. 94

prompted distress among some Mexican-origin community members who had grown accustomed to citywide celebrations of Mexican Independence Day that favored a bicultural identity. The CPM revived nationalistic feelings with which the more U.S.- acculturated residents of Mexican descent might not have felt strongly associated. The

1973 rift between the two organizations thus showed a Mexican-origin community fragmented by differing levels of acculturation to U.S. culture. The cooperation between the two committees, however, did not materialize until the early 1980s, and even then, they worked together on a rather limited scale.47

The CPM after 1973

Over the next decade and a half, the activities of the CPM remained successful, but the organization gradually decreased the number of festivities it hosted. In 1974, it organized at least seven events during “Fiestas Patrias Week.”48 Despite the Mexican consul‟s assurances that the CPM only existed to ensure that Mexican independence would be celebrated with “dignity, brilliance, and enthusiasm,” it still benefited from the sponsorship of the Mexican National Tourist Council and numerous private corporations

47 The evidence for cooperation between the two organizations is slim, but two copies of El Sol show that members of both committees had established some level of communication by the early 1980s. In 1982, the FPC advertised its schedule of events and included the Grito ceremony as part of its nine-day calendar of events for the first time. And in 1984, El Sol published an article that reported on the CPM‟s recent activities. One of them included a meeting, which the president of the FPC, Salvador Esparza, attended with his wife. Esparza extended his best wishes to the board members of the CPM and declared that the union between the two organizations “must prevail because both … [had] the same goal, the celebration of Mexican independence.” He then congratulated the CPM for their enthusiasm and hard work. No other evidence is available, but this does suggest that the two organizations came to reconcile their common interests and agreed that they catered to the cultural needs of different subgroups among Houston‟s residents of Mexican origin. “Fiestas Patrias 1982 Schedule of Events,” El Sol, 25 August 1982, 16; “El Comité Patriótico Mexicano,” El Sol, 15 August 1984, 2. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

48 “Mexico Independence Week,” El Sol, 13 September 1974, 1; “Comité Patriótico Mexicano,” El Sol, 6 September 1974, 3. 95

that year.49 After the mid-1970s, the CPM still played an important part in the September celebrations, but it scaled down its activities to two specific events. The CPM sponsored a few popular evenings featuring folkloric dancers and mariachi performers from both

Houston and various states in Mexico at the Miller Outdoor Theater in Hermann Park and hosted a representative from the Mexican government for the Grito ceremony on 15

September at the Music Hall. Both occasions attracted large crowds through 2009.50

While the CPM was made up of Mexican nationals, it nevertheless drew occasional criticism from other Mexicans regarding the nature of its festivities. In 1981, for instance, a Mexican who was visiting Houston during the September Fiestas Patrias

49 Ramón Meade, “A todos los mexicanos, estadounidenses de origen mexicano, ciudadanos de países latino-americanos, y amigos de México en general,” La Vida Latina en Houston, September 1974, n.p.; “Comité Patriótico Mexicano,” El Sol, 6 September 1974, 3. The latter article mentions the sponsors as follows: “Aeroméxico Airlines, Texas International Airlines, Mexican Airlines, the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Post, El Sol, Texas Catholic Harold [sic], La Crónica, and many other organizations, all of which in one way or another have helped make this week possible.”

50 For the CPM‟s schedule of events between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s, see Gabylyn McGee, “Fiesta Marks Mexican Fight for Freedom,” Houston Post, 9 September 1976, 2 (B); “El Comité Patriótico Mexicano celebra el 15 y 16 de Septiembre,” El Sol, 8 September 1977, n.p.; “Independencia de México,” La Voz Del Barrio, September 1977, 4; “Fiestas Patrias Celebration,” El Sol, 8 September 1977, 1; Photograph caption, “Nuestra ciudad al día,” El Sol, 21 September 1978, 11; “Grito de la Independencia en el Music Hall,” El Sol, 21 September 1978, 12; José Ortiz, “ Celebrando el 15 y 16 de Septiembre,” El Sol, 12 September 1979, 5; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 19 September 1979, 5; José Ortiz, “Houston conmemora,” El Sol, 19 September 1979, 10; “Fiestas Patrias 1981 Calendar of Events,” El Sol, 16 September 1981, 1; Pamela Lewis, “Fiestas Patrias: Wide Variety of Events—From Pageant to Parades—Slated,” Houston Post, 14 September 1981, 3 (B); Juan Vega, “Comité pro-Fiestas Patrias anuncia calendario de actividades,” El Sol, 25 August 1982, 16; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: cine, radio y televisión,” El Sol, 15 September 1982, 5; “El Comité Patriótico Mexicano,” El Sol, 15 August 1984, 2; METRO, “Vamos con Metro a nuestras Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 4 September 1985, n.p.; “El Comité de Fiestas Patrias ‟85,” El Sol, 11 September 1985, 16; “Fiestas Patrias horario de eventos,” El Sol, 3 September 1986, 3. The CPM organized the Grito ceremony at Miller Outdoor Theater through 2009. It should be noted that it held it at the Music Hall from 1974 to 1985 but continued to host an evening of folkloric dances at Miller Outdoor Theater during that time period as well. The CPM switched the Grito ceremony back to Miller Outdoor Theater in 1986 and has held it there ever since. For instance, the schedule of the 2007 Grito ceremony at Miller Outdoor Theater may be found here: http://www.milleroutdoortheatre.com/schedule/calendar.asp?Mode=CalendarViewDetails&date=9/1/2007 &ID=323, accessed 18 January 2010. For the 2010 bicentennial Grito ceremony, see: http://www.houstoncelebratesmexico2010.com/index.php/ceremonies/155-el-grito-festival-del- bicentenario-de-la-independencia-200th-anniversary-of-mexicos-independence, accessed 18 January 2010.

sent a vitriolic open letter to the CPM members via El Sol.51 Attorney Joaquín Gómez de la Cortina listed a series of grievances with the form and content of some of the CPM‟s activities. He decried the “total lack of the most elementary knowledge of the history of

Mexico” on the part of the CPM‟s president, María Reyna, who had appeared on a

Spanish-language radio show.52 The Grito ceremony at Miller Theater received the brunt of his criticism. He called the event “a fiasco” and “a disaster” and the presentation of the Mexican flag to the representative of the Mexican president a “SHAME [sic],” adding that, “in any shantytown in Mexico, this act would have been done as the canons of respect” towards Mexico demanded it.53 The author also expressed “anger,”

“disillusion,” and “fury” at the fact that most of the night‟s events looked like “circus numbers” to him.54 He proceeded to chide the CPM members for having a rudimentary knowledge of Mexican history and urged the Mexican consul in Houston to provide them with “a few little classes on Mexican history” so that, “when they talk[ed], they … [did not] sound so ridiculous.”55 Before signing his name, an angry De la Cortina added, “For the love of our country, for Mexico, and for yourselves: Don‟t put us in more shame! Do something!”56 This letter does not offer enough substantial evidence to support the

51 Joaquín Gómez de la Cortina, “Carta abierta a los miembros del Comité Patriótico Mexicano, Houston, Texas,” El Sol, 23 September 1981, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid.

54 Ibid.

55 Ibid.

56 Ibid.

charges regarding the historical inaccuracies in the historical events that the CPM presented that year. Nonetheless, De la Cortina‟s impressions suggest two possible interpretations. First, his frustrations might have stemmed from the fact that he lived in

Mexico City, the nation‟s capital, where the Fiestas Patrias were cloaked in a much more official atmosphere. Or perhaps this letter might indicate that the members of Houston‟s

CPM, while seeking to celebrate Mexico‟s history and heritage, might have lived in the

United States long enough to have become closer than they perceived to the bicultural identity that the FPC extolled.57

Criticism from Mexican visitors notwithstanding, Houston‟s Mexican-origin residents developed a fairly keen understanding of the role that both committees played in showcasing the community‟s varying levels of acculturation over the years. An El Sol editorial summarized both organizations‟ views of the proper ways to celebrate Mexican heritage in the city in 1975:

Each group is made up of a different set of personalities around whom a cluster … of organizations revolve … Each organization … fills a vital need at different levels … that no one single organization could do. The one draws the older generation and the newly arrived immigrants with yet strong emotional ties to the nation of their origin; while the other organization involves the first, second, and third generation of Mexican-Americans who‟s [sic] principal emotional roots are in this country but who pay tribute to Mexico as the origin of their ancestry, cultural and linguistic background.58

The definition of the September activities therefore spanned broadly enough to accommodate both the Mexican consulate‟s traditional Mexican approach and the FPC‟s

57 For instance, María Reyna, the 1973 recipient of the Most Distinguished Mexican American Award and the president of the CPM, had lived in Houston for over forty years.

58 Editorial, “Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 26 September 1975, 2.

promotion of a bicultural identity. Yet, American commercial interests further defined the meaning of the Mexican independence celebrations in Houston. As the following section of this chapter will show, American corporations, like their Mexican counterparts before them, saw the Fiestas Patrias as a lucrative avenue and a convenient platform to advertise their products. Sponsorship of these events joined together Mexican immigrants, Americans of Mexican descent, and recently arrived Central Americans into a newly found market and encouraged them to seek the utmost American value: consumerism. Such corporate involvement helped make the celebrations even more popular but also ran the risk of altering the genuine character of the patriotic festivities by commercializing them.

The Consumer Power of Hispanics and the Commercialization of Mexican Independence Day

National Corporations’ Lack of a Marketing Strategy and the Hispanic Demographic Boom

As Nestor Rodriguez and Barry Kaplan have shown, the 1970s were Houston‟s

“Golden Economic Age.”59 The city remained one of the few places in the United States that managed to stay aloof of the nationwide recession because of its reliance on the oil, gas, and petrochemicals industries; Houston actually enjoyed great economic prosperity while most other cities and states sank into deep deficits.60 Indeed, as the price of oil shot

59 Nestor Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” in In The Barrios: Latinos and the Underclass Debate, Joan W. Moore and Raquel Pinderhughes, eds. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993), 101-127, 109; Barry Kaplan, “Houston: The Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt,” in Sunbelt Cities: Politics and Growth Since World War II, Richard M. Bernard and Bradley R. Rice, eds. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983), 196-212.

upward in a drastic fashion after 1973, the city‟s corporations made large profits and in turn stimulated local growth. Houston‟s long history of minimal taxes, small local government, low unionization rates, and moderate cost of living combined with the absence of state taxation of personal or corporate income to turn the city into a haven for capitalistic gains.61 Kaplan shows that Houston‟s private sector led the local economy forward in the 1970s and helped propel the metropolis “from the seventy-sixth to sixteenth place in national per-capita income ranking.”62 Furthermore, over 200 corporations moved their headquarters to Houston, and an average of one thousand people arrived in the city every week in hopes of finding employment.63

Along with the injection of new economic opportunities that anchored Houston in a growing global economy, the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors fulfilled the needs of new residents and attracted cheap labor. Mexican immigrants and lesser- educated Mexican Americans supplied the bulk of this workforce. The 1970 and 1980 censuses showed that 50 percent of Latinos in Houston held blue-collar jobs, and an additional 22 percent worked in sales or clerical positions.64 While the black population in the city only increased from 21 percent to 27.6 percent between 1950 and 1980, the bulk of low-skilled workers needed to sustain this economic boom came either from

60 Kaplan, “Houston: The Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt,” 196.

61 Ibid, 198.

62 Ibid, 201.

63 Ibid.

64 Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” 110-111. 100

Houston‟s barrios or Mexico.65 In contrast, the Hispanic population in Houston grew by anywhere between 87.9 percent to 100 percent between 1970 and 1980—estimates vary because of the uncertain number of undocumented immigrants, who were typically difficult to count exactly.66

Whereas Mexican-origin residents constituted a significant proportion of

Houston‟s population, few corporations targeted them as a specific group of customers by the early 1970s. A 1972 editorial in El Sol commended Sears Roebuck Company for its local efforts to hire more Mexican Americans and for recognizing their importance as a pool of consumers. The article also chided the city‟s businesses for not courting Mexican

American customers enough:

On the local scene Sears has projected a positive image with the Mexican American community in the employment of Mexican Americans in its various stores throughout the area and in its own effort to use channels of communication to definitely project itself … [to] the growing Mexican-American market in Houston … Many other business enterprises in Houston need to become aware of the potential growing dollar of the Mexican-American community of Houston of more than 175,000. The Mexican-American community is growing in numbers and in dollar power and is becoming more sophisticated and discriminating in its buying and trading.67

That same year, city officials partnered with the Houston Regional Minority Council, a non-profit organization, to host a “Minority Purchasing Day” at the Albert Thomas

65 Kaplan, “Houston: The Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt,” 202.

66 Rodriguez estimates that Houston‟s Hispanic population grew by 100 percent whereas Kaplan assesses that the growth rate stood at 87.9 percent. Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” 110; Kaplan, “Houston: The Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt,” 202. Kaplan explains that the Hispanic population accounted for 7 percent of Houston‟s population in 1960, 12 percent in 1970, and jumped to at least 17 percent in 1980, again, not taking into account undocumented residents. Rodriguez gives the following figures for Houston‟s Latino population: 149,727 in 1970, 281,331 in 1980, and 450,483 in 1990. Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” 103.

67 Editorial, “Positive Image,” El Sol, 18 February 1972, 2. 101

Convention Center.68 The event sought to help minority entrepreneurs in the metropolitan area to establish professional relationships with executives of major corporations in order to expand their business activities beyond the traditional ethnic markets to which they had theretofore catered.69 Between 1973 and 1974, this initiative helped boost the business of Houston corporations with minority-owned companies from almost $4 million to $17 million.70 Major firms recognized the lucrative promises of such businesses, but it took them somewhat longer to reach out to Hispanic customers and to learn how to craft a message that would ensure their loyalty.71

By the late 1970s, Houston‟s Mexican-origin residents had grown fully aware that large corporations still did not court their dollars. For instance, an opinion column in La

68 Photograph caption, El Sol, 24 October 1975, n.p. The Houston Regional Minority Council was renamed the Houston Minority Business Council at an unknown later date. See http://www.hmbc.org/DynamicPage.aspx?Id=30 and http://www.hmbc.org/DynamicPage.aspx?Id=31 (under “Houston Business Council,”) accessed 23 January 2010.

69 Ibid.

70 Ibid.

71 For instance, Adolph Coors Company started an advertising campaign targeting Hispanics as a specific group as late as 1980. The company acknowledged that, “In the past, many Coors critics tried to convince Hispanics to have negative feelings about our company. And, in many respects, we aided them by not publicizing our many programs which support the Hispanic community and by not specifically recognizing this important consuming group in our advertising.” In “Major Corporation Starts Campaign on „Decade of the Hispanic‟ Theme,” LULAC: A Magazine for Today‟s Latino, January-February 1980, Joe Orlando/LULAC Collection, Box 1, Folder 24, HMRC, n.p. The Mexican American community also conducted boycott campaigns against prominent national corporations in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. Among the most famous boycotts were the national protests against the “Frito Bandito” advertisement character and Coors‟ discriminatory hiring practices. See “Coors Beer Boycott on,” (San José, California) Forumeer (Official Publication of the American G.I. Forum), April 1969, Alfonso Vásquez Collection, Box 1, Folder 24, HMRC, 2-3; “‟Frito Bandito Not So Funny:‟ Grocer Refuses to Buy Products,” Forumeer (Official Publication of the American G.I. Forum), April 1969, Alfonso Vásquez, Box 1, Folder 24, 1, 4; “Frito-Lay Letters Get No Action,” Forumeer (Official Publication of the American G.I. Forum), April 1969, Alfonso Vásquez Collection, Box 1, Folder 24, n.p.; “Forum Escalates Coors Beer Boycott: Pickets at Golden Plant,” Forumeer (Official Publication of the American G.I. Forum), June 1969, Alfonso Vásquez Collection, Box 1, Folder 24, 1, 4; “Coors Brewing Co. Boycott,” Papel Chicano, 7-20 November 1970, n.p.; “ABC-TV: No More Frito Bandito,” Papel Chicano, 21 November-11 December 1970, n.p.

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Vida Latina en Houston magazine decried the lack of Hispanic models in local advertisements. The author denounced this dismissal of the Hispanic market as discriminatory, asserting that the models portrayed were only of Anglo or African

American extraction, and felt prompted to ask:

What is going on with merchants? They want to sell to the Latin Americans but they do not fill their advertisements with models of our race. Man or woman. Does it mean that the Hispanic clientele matters very little to them? 72

Nationwide, however, corporations and marketing firms started to take notice of this untapped market and sought to devise strategies to target Hispanics. It was widely understood that this group of consumers would not respond to advertising campaigns aimed at other Americans. Businesses needed to use Hispanics‟ history and culture in order to appeal to them as customers.73 Well into the 1980s, local and national marketing agencies struggled with the best way to reach Mexican-origin people and other Hispanic groups. A good number of advertisements floundered with literal translations that conveyed messages with unintended meanings in Spanish while others transposed

American gender norms that did not appeal to Hispanics.74 This market, with a majority

72 Julio Fonseca, “Comentarios de aquí y de allá,” La Vida Latina en Houston, December 1978, 26. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

73 George Dickstein, “Growing Latin Population Strengthens Its Identity,” Television/Radio Age, 29 September 1975, Luis Cano Collection, Box 8, Folder 6, HMRC, A1-A10; Felipe Cantú, “Effective Hispanic Marketing,” Hispanic Business: A Monthly Publication of Business and Professional Life, June 1980, Luis Cano Collection, Box 9, Folder 11, 7; Olivia Carmichael, “La lealtad latina hacia su cultura no es siempre apreciada,” Houston Chronicle, 2 May 1985, 2-3; Jim Barlow, “Hispanic Market Not Easy to Reach,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 11 May 1981, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1989,” HMRC, n.p.; Jo Ann Zunica, “Marketers Woo Hispanic Dollars,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 12 July 1990,Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1990,” HMRC, 18 (A).

74 For instance, George Dickstein warned that advertisements that used a voiceover to command Hispanic viewers or listeners to “go out now and buy” their products did not fare well with male Hispanics because “any lessening of [the] macho [figure]” ran against the prevailing “idealized images of manhood.” In the same vein, the author argued that advertisements that showed a Hispanic man with a lack of self- 103

who hailed from Mexico or were of Mexican descent, required a different approach.75

The CPM’s and FPC’s Brochures as a Marketing Platform

The Fiestas Patrias provided a unique and convenient opportunity for local and national companies to acknowledge the importance of Mexican heritage to a growing portion of Houstonians and to advertise their products at the same time. The FPC and the

CPM each issued a brochure that was distributed broadly throughout the Mexican-origin community every year and thus offered politicians and businesses a broad platform to court the attention of the Mexican American public.76 Each committee‟s brochure featured articles that put Mexican heritage to the fore and presented the celebration of

Mexican culture and history as an asset to Houston and the State of Texas. Businesses and politicians also sent congratulatory messages to the Mexican-origin community. For instance, Governor Briscoe, who had acted as parade Grand Marshal in 1973, wrote in confidence failed to attract Latino consumers in the 1970s. Moreover, Dickstein points out that advertisements depicting “the frazzled housewife so often found in commercials made for the Anglo market” also were not successful because the popular image of Hispanic housewives showed them “always glamorous and in control of [their] household” in the 1970s, according to Dickstein. As for the dangers of a literal translation of an English-language slogan into Spanish, Braniff Airlines counted among those who made such mistakes: the company thought that it was inviting Spanish-speaking consumers to enjoy its planes and their new leather seats but instead prompted them to fly nude. See George Dickstein, “Growing Latin Population Strengthens Its Identity,” Television/Radio Age, 29 September 1975, Luis Cano Collection, Box 8, Folder 6, A1-A10; Felipe Cantú, “Effective Hispanic Marketing,” Hispanic Business: A Monthly Publication of Business and Professional Life, June 1980, Luis Cano Collection, Box 9, Folder 11, 7; Jim Barlow, “Hispanic Market Not Easy to Reach,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 11 May 1981, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1989,” n.p.; Jo Ann Zunica, “Marketers Woo Hispanic Dollars,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 12 July 1990, Vertical File, “H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics-1990,” 18 (A).

75 In the early 1980s, Mexican-origin people accounted for 88.5 percent of Houston‟s Hispanics. Nestor Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” 103, 118.

76 The first FPC brochure available in archival records dates from 1978, and the CPM issued its first brochure in 1973. The HMRC possesses brochures from each of these organizations through 1987. More specifically, the 1973, 1982, and 1987 brochures for the CPM are located in the Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5. The 1975 and 1980 brochures may be found in the María T. Reyna Collection, Box 1, Folder 13, HMRC. The 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, and 1987 Fiestas Patrias brochures may be found in the Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5. The 1980 brochure is located in the Luis Cano Collection, Box 9, Folder 6. 104

the 1978 FPC‟s brochure that he declared “Fiestas Patrias Week” throughout Texas because:

The Mexican-American citizens of this great State have made and continue to make valuable contributions to the State and Nation as well. The Tenth Annual Fiestas Patrias Celebration [sic] emphasizes the Mexican-American heritage and its impact on our society. The history of our great State is an indelible part of the history of our good neighbor Mexico, to the South. It is fitting and appropriate that recognition be paid to all Mexican-American citizens of Texas for their important and lasting contributions to the development of our State.77

The fact that Houston‟s Fiestas Patrias celebrations served as the blueprint for a statewide holiday showed the extent to which the festivities in the city had provided a model for the manner in which Mexican Independence Day should be commemorated throughout the state. By the mid- and late-1970s, national businesses also started to recognize that this important patriotic holiday attracted greater attention than ever before and sought to use its growing popularity to their advantage.

Over the years, the change in the size of the CPM‟s and the FPC‟s brochures reflected the growing biculturalism of Houston‟s Hispanic community. The CPM‟s publication, which had originally attracted a flurry of corporate advertisements in 1973 and continued to do so for the next few years, slowly grew thinner and lost the support of

Mexican and American corporations. These companies flocked to the FPC instead.78

The CPM‟s brochures from 1973 through 1987 reveal this gradual decrease in

77 Official Memorandum by Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas, 22 August 1978, 1978 Fiestas Patrias brochure, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “1978 Fiestas Patrias” Folder, n.p.

78 Archival records hold little evidence about the fees that both organizations charged for advertisements. Club México Bello‟s meeting minutes from August 1977 mention once that the club purchased a half-page advertisement in the CPM‟s brochure for $60. One may assume that the FPC charged roughly the same price since both associations were competing for advertising monies at that time. See meeting minutes of Club México Bello, 16 August 1977, Club México Bello Collection, Box 4, Folder 13. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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advertising. Indeed, the CPM benefited from a variety of corporate sponsors from 1973 to 1980, with the backup of several international airlines and American beer and petroleum companies. By 1982, however, the majority of advertisements came from local businesses, and only four American corporations appeared in the CPM‟s brochure.79

By 1987, the Mexican consulate‟s organization enjoyed the sponsorship of Miller

Outdoor Theater and of the City of Houston‟s Parks and Recreation Department but received no corporate support at all. The reasons for the gradual deflection of Mexican corporate monies are unclear. One might speculate that the economic crisis that Mexico faced in the early 1980s combined with the growing enthusiasm for the activities of the

Fiestas Patrias organization to diminish incentives for companies to publish in the

CPM‟s brochure. The FPC, on the other hand, distributed 60,000 copies of its brochure across Houston, and the publication had become a “keep-sake [sic]” by the mid-1980s.80

The popularity of the organization‟s festivities attracted an increasing variety of local and national businesses, chief amongst them beer and petroleum companies.81

National Corporations and Fiestas Patrias Festivities

The late 1970s and the early 1980s thus constituted another important moment for

79 These were Coca-Cola, Coors, Exxon Petroleum, and Schlitz beer. Comité Patriótico Mexicano 1982 brochure, 1982, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “Comité Patriótico Mexicano 1982” Folder.

80 “Fiestas Patrias History,” 1985 Fiestas Patrias brochure, 1985, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “1985 Fiestas Patrias” Folder., n.p.

81 The 1981 Fiestas Patrias brochure, for instance, featured advertisements from the following national corporations: Holiday Inn, Miller Lite, Schlitz beer, Texas International airlines, Budweiser, Ford automobiles, Coca-Cola, Firestone tires, Coors, and the National Beverage Company (distributor of Tecate, Bohemia, and Carta Blanca beers). See 1981 Fiestas Patrias brochure, 1981, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “1981 Fiestas Patrias” Folder, n.p.

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Mexican Independence Day in Houston because the increased flow of corporate dollars led to changes that suggested that the FPC became subject to the influence of these large companies.82 For instance, the FPC brochure listed the names of the members of its advisory board every year and, according to the publications that are available in archival records, executives from national companies comprised anywhere between one-third to slightly over one-half of the board between the late 1970s and the mid-1980s.83 In fact, the committee chose as its theme “Salute to Corporate America” in 1981, a year when over half of its board members belonged to national commercial firms.84 This celebration of corporate support, along with the companies‟ growing involvement in the Fiestas

Patrias calendar, signified the increasing grip of large businesses on occasions for which, just a decade before, community leaders had struggled to garner citywide support.

The commercialization of the Fiestas Patrias thus signaled that the FPC and the participants to its festivities gradually accepted the presence of corporate America in public festivities that celebrated ethnic identity. Indeed, the organization let beer companies lead the way and patronize its flagship events. Budweiser started sponsoring

82 It should be noted here that while the FPC started to allow corporate sponsorship in 1971, as stated in Chapter One, the presence of large national firms in the committee‟s festivities did not become strongly apparent until the late 1970s.

83 The national corporations operated in the following industries: television, petroleum, electronics, banking, railroad, and fast-food. I did not count as members of corporations individuals with the following professional occupations: manager or president of local companies, attorney, psychologist, Houston city council member, or Houston Independent School District superintendent. Accordingly, the proportion of corporate interests on the FPC‟s advisory board breaks down as follows: 36 percent in 1978, 47 percent in 1979, 48 percent in 1980, 54 percent in 1981, 46 percent in 1982, 44 percent in 1985, and 33 percent in 1986.

84 1981 Fiestas Patrias brochure, 1981, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “1981 Fiestas Patrias” Folder, n.p.

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the downtown parade in 1980 and did so for at least the next four years.85 This financial support ensured that non-profit organizations would not have to pay a fee to register a float. The gesture showed the brewery‟s respect for the FPC‟s history of favoring such local groups, the majority of which counted among the major social clubs of, and benefactors to, the Mexican-origin community.86 Budweiser‟s sponsorship led to an unprecedented number of entries in the procession. In 1980, for instance, Emil Karam, the parade director, announced that the parade would boast the largest number of units in its history: “„This is the first time that we have had so many self-propelled floats. All together there are 65 floats, 27 bands, and 25 marching units.‟”87 Three years later, the procession drew 250,000 spectators and 125 entries, “including floats, marching bands and drill teams.”88 The Miss Fiestas Patrias beauty pageant, the second most popular event, also attracted corporate dollars. In 1980, Coors Beer and Texas International airlines partnered to deliver a $1,000 scholarship and a round-trip to Mexico City to the winner, and Coca-Cola sponsored the 1982 competition.89 These corporations‟ public

85 The press records consulted for this dissertation do not indicate which corporation(s) sponsored the downtown parade in 1985 and 1986. It should be noted, however, that while Budweiser acted as the sole sponsor of the parade from 1980 to 1983, it united with Coca-Cola and Miller Lite for the sponsorship of the 1984 procession. See “Desfile de Fiestas Patrias: tradición y colorido entre los participantes,” El Sol, 19 September 1984, 1.

86 “Fiestas Patrias Memorandum,” El Sol, 10 August 1983, n.p.

87 “Festive Weekend of Activities on Tap,” Houston Post, 19 September 1980, 4 (E).

88 Vic Edmonson, “Fiestas Patrias Concludes with Downtown Parade,” Houston Post, 15 September 1983, 3 (E); Leslie Linthicum, “Celebration Mixes Cultural Pride and Fun,” Houston Post, 14 September 1984, 1 (E), 12 (E).

89 “Por noctámbulo,” (Houston) El Mexica, 4 September 1980, n.p, HMRC; “Mireya Gonzalez, Miss Fiestas Patrias 1982-1983: la patrocinó el comité pro-becas de „El Sol of Houston,‟” El Sol, 22 September 1982, 14. Note that Texas International airlines was an early sponsor of the CPM and that it had deflected to the FPC by the early 1980s as well. 108

support for a contest that sought to promote social mobility through education helped boost their image as companies attentive to the needs and aspirations of the Mexican- origin community and displayed good corporate citizenry.90 National companies also sponsored many candidates to the title.91 Doing so offered the firms public exposure since each young woman and her benefactor appeared in El Sol editions, in the FPC‟s brochure, and were presented to the public at the various stages of the contest.92

Corporate sponsorship of these events was therefore most beneficial to these large businesses since the festivities enjoyed popularity and reached a big audience.

Local Radio Stations Capitalize on the Fiestas Patrias

By the early 1980s, local Spanish-language radio stations also took notice of the potential benefits that the celebrations of Mexican independence offered to their industry to make a profit and dovetailed with the FPC‟s activities. In 1980, two of the three

Spanish-language stations in the city started competing against each other for sponsorship of the grandest Fiestas Patrias festivities.93 KLAT, also known as “La Tremenda” (The

90 By the mid-1980s, McDonald‟s also promoted education by advertising that its restaurant on Almeda street would offer an opportunity for graduating Hispanic high-school students to receive help (and a free soda) filling out an application for a $1,000 college scholarship from the company‟s HACER foundation (Hispanic American Commitment to Education Resources). “McDonald‟s Celebrates Fiestas Patrias with HACER Foundation College Scholarships,” El Sol, 18 September 1985, n.p. For a brief summary of HACER‟s activities in 2010, see: http://www.mcdonaldsnymetro.com/html/rmhc_hacer.php., accessed 26 January 2010.

91 The proportion of candidates sponsored by national firms of the likes of Coca-Cola or Budweiser varied over the years, from roughly a quarter to almost one half.

92 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986 Fiestas Patrias brochures, Box 6 of 5, Mexican American Small Collections; 1980 Fiestas Patrias brochure, Luis Cano Collection, Box 9, Folder 6.

93 The third, and much older Spanish-language radio station, was KLVL. It did not organize events during the Fiestas Patrias to the extent that its two rivals did. Felix and Angelina Morales started operating the station in 1950, and until 1979, KLVL was the sole provider of Spanish-language news, entertainment, and music in the Houston metropolitan area. The 109

Tremendous One), organized a two-day “Gran Fiesta” at the Albert Thomas Convention

Center, a place already familiar to most Mexican-origin residents since it had been the venue for the final stage of the Miss Fiestas Patrias beauty pageant for many years.94

Scheduled on the final weekend of the FPC‟s activities, the “Gran Fiesta” promised to be

“a greatly entertaining cultural event, [which would be] free for all.”95 Heralded as the

“culmination of the 12th annual parade,” the occasion offered Latin music from local and regional bands, performances by folkloric dance groups, Mexican food and beverages, and a “giant cake” in honor of KLAT‟s first birthday.96 But the real entertainers of the weekend revealed further the event‟s commercial purposes. Indeed, the “Gran Fiesta” advertisements announced that non-profit organizations would line up booths alongside commercial firms “to distribute information about their activities for the improvement of our communities.”97 Moreover, the flyers promised the public that it would enjoy the

impact of the radio station on the city‟s Mexican American community as well as the life of its founders will be the full subject of the following chapter.

94 KLAT, originally known as KODA, an English-language radio station, started broadcasting in Spanish on 15 August 1979, whereas its competitor, KEYH, had undergone the same transition a few months earlier, on 24 February 1979. Two years later, yet another competitor to the already existing three Spanish-language broadcasters switched from English-language broadcast to Spanish: in November of 1981, KXYZ switched to “Radio 13.” The implications of these changes will be further examined in chapter 3. For the inception of these radio stations, see “Congratulations! Keyh Radio Station Will Start Full Spanish Broadcasting on Feb. 24th,” El Sol, 22 February 1979, 1; “Llega a Houston la primera emisora de radio en español de dueños y operada por hispanos,” El Sol, 25 July 1979, n.p; “KLAT „La Tremenda,‟ la emisora de los hispanos inició hoy sus programaciónes en español,” El Sol, 15 August 1979, 1; “Hot Gossip,” Houston City Magazine, August 1981, 4; “Logical Change,” El Sol, 2 December 1981, 2.

95 “Fiestas Patrias y La Tremenda presentan LA GRAN FIESTA en el Albert Thomas Convention Center,” El Sol, 27 August 1980, 15. The FPC only co-sponsored this event with KLAT radio in 1980. The reasons for the organization‟s withdrawal from the “Gran Fiesta” in later years are unknown.

96 Ibid.

97 Ibid. It should be noted that while the radio station spent a significant amount of money advertising the “Gran Fiesta” in El Sol, the non-profit organizations and commercial firms that set up informational booths at the event never advertised about their activities to enhance the well-being of the 110

opportunity to purchase “a great quantity of Mexican artifacts, such as jewelry, leather goods, blacksmith products, spices, … piñatas, … clothing, stereo equipment, cookware, cars, … and a lot more.”98 This two-day event offered KLAT radio an avenue to present itself as a prime entertainer for the Mexican-origin community during the September festivities and served the interests of local and national businesses by providing them with a large platform to advertise and sell their goods and services. The commercial aspect of the “Gran Fiesta” did not deter attendance, however. By 1986, it attracted nearly 20,000 people and boasted the presence of one hundred corporate booths.99 The public received free samples and enjoyed performances by well-known singers of norteño [accordion- and bajo sexto-based (sixth bass) music from northern Mexico] and ranchera music (ranch-style Mexican music).100 The size of the crowds indicated that the public easily accepted the presence of commercial interests at such events and did not question the mingling of American-style consumerism with occasions originally meant to foster ethnic pride and heritage.

Radio 13 joined KLAT and Radio KEYH on the Spanish-language airwaves of

Houston in 1981, and all three radio stations rivaled one another sponsoring Mexican

Mexican American community. Indeed, El Sol published reports about the corporations that were present at the event, such as Tecate beer or television stations, but the newspaper did not give information about the presence of non-profit organizations at such events.

98 Ibid.

99 “Gran celebración de la independencia de México de La Tremenda: llenó el centro de convenciónes Albert Thomas,” El Sol, 17 September 1986, 7.

100 Ibid.

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independence festivities for the following years.101 Each advertised its activities as an opportunity to celebrate the patriotic holiday, gave away items, and held free concerts to attract their Mexican-origin audiences. In addition to its “Gran Fiesta” at the convention center, KLAT partnered with Schlitz Beer and LULAC to host festivities in Mason

Park.102 KEYH cooperated with local Mexican-origin merchants to give away jewelry as well as movie tickets to Spanish-language theaters and sponsored two free nights of dancing at local nightclubs that featured popular Mexican music.103 As for Radio 13, it offered free concerts at the Pasadena Convention Center and Fairgrounds that attracted great crowds from Houston and the surrounding neighborhoods of Pasadena.104 Because they advertised these events in the Spanish language on their own airwaves as well as in

101 “Fiestas Patrias y La Tremenda presentan La Gran Fiesta en el Albert Thomas Convention Center,” El Sol, 27 August 1980, 25; José Ortis, “Dos semanas de fiestas patrias mexicanas,” El Sol, 1 October 1980, 11; “Radio Keyh, la voz official de „Fiestas Patrias,‟” El Sol, 9 September 1981, 8; “La voz official de Fiestas Patrias presenta „La Fiesta de la Amistad,‟” El Sol, 16 September 1981, 8; “Radio 85 da la bienvenida al mes de las fiestas patrias,” El Sol, 1 September 1982, 10; “Gran fiesta de Radio 85 para celebrar el mes de las fiestas patrias,” El Sol, 8 September 1982, 8; “La „X‟ de Houston, Radio 13, saluda a la colonia mexicana en el anniversario de su independencia y le invita a festejar las fiestas patrias en el parque Moody,” El Sol, 8 September 1982, 13; “Radio mil diez „La Tremenda‟ y la cerveza Schlitz celebran con un fantástico festival,” El Sol, 8 September 1982, 8; “Gran éxito el festival de „La Tremenda,‟ Schlitz, y LULAC en el parque Mason,” El Sol, 15 September 1982, n.p.; “Radio Keyh: así celebró el mes de las fiestas patrias,” El Sol, 6 October 1982, 8; “‟La Tremenda‟ le invita a la celebración de Fiestas Patrias después del desfile,” El Sol, 14 September 1983, n.p.; “‟La Tremenda‟& Carnicerías Matamoros presentan concierto,” El Sol, 14 September 1983, n.p.; “Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 12 September 1984, n.p.; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, ciné y televisión,” El Sol, 12 September 1984, n.p.; “Grandioso festival artístico,” El Sol, 19 September 1984, 9; “Venga a celebrar con toda su familia: día de la independencia mexicana,” El Sol, 4 September 1985, n.p.; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, ciné y televisión,” El Sol, 3 September 1986, n.p.; “9,228 personas en el concierto de Juan Gabriel y Aida Cuevas,” El Sol, 10 September 1986, n.p.; “Gran celebración de la independencia de México, de La Tremenda: llenó el centro de convenciónes Albert Thomas,” El Sol, 17 September 1986, 7.

102 “Radio mil diez „La Tremenda‟ y la cerveza Schlitz celebran las fiestas patrias por lo grande con un fantástico festival,” El Sol, 8 September 1982, 4; “Gran éxito el festival de La Tremenda, Schlitz y LULAC en el Parque Mason,” El Sol, 15 September 1982, 10.

103 “Dos semanas de fiestas patrias mexicanas,” El Sol, 1 October 1980, 11.

104 Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, ciné y televisión,” El Sol, 3 September 1986, n.p.; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, ciné y televisión,” El Sol, 17 September 1986, n.p.

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press advertisements and only showcased singers and bands that sang in Spanish and performed Mexican or Tejano musical styles, the radio stations did not seek to attract many residents of other ethnic affiliation. Contrary to the FPC‟s goal to use its calendar of events to build a bridge between Houston‟s Mexican-origin community and other ethnic groups, these radio stations only sought to use the September Fiestas Patrias as a means to entertain their Spanish-speaking audiences and to make a profit.

These radio-sponsored festivities attracted spectators in the thousands and drew criticism from local booking agents and smaller nightclub owners for unfair competition.

Gaby Jiménez, El Sol‟s regular columnist on local and regional musical news, complained in 1986 that only radio stations could afford to foot the bill for the high prices that popular performers charged and for large concerts.105 Because smaller local businesses had felt the brunt of the economic recession and the low employment rate that had hit Houston especially harshly in the early 1980s, they could not match radio stations‟ sponsorships.106 Radio managers might have heard such complaints but they continued to organize extravaganzas every year nonetheless. These events proved extremely lucrative since they provided a perfect avenue to secure the allegiance of listeners by offering them free entertainment and performers from a variety of musical styles that celebrated Hispanic rhythms and culture. The radio stations, together with other national corporations working with or alongside the activities of the FPC, took the opportunity to use the celebration of Mexican Independence Day to inscribe their name

105 Ibid.

106 Ibid.

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and products into the cultural and public space of the Mexican-origin community and thus courted the Hispanic dollar with the message of ethnic pride.

The Broadening Meaning of the Fiestas Patrias

Corporate involvement, along with a significant increase in immigration from

Central America, led the FPC to broaden its purported raison d‟être in the early 1980s.

Indeed, while the 1980 census indicated that Houston‟s Hispanic population was 88.5 percent of Mexican origin, the early years of that decade saw a substantial surge in migrants and refugees from Central America, most of whom were fleeing war and political violence in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala.107 Many of these immigrants did not have legal status in the United States and were therefore difficult to count, but social workers estimated that the total number of Central

Americans who settled in Houston in the early years of the 1980s amounted to about

100,000.108 This influx of Spanish-speaking and mostly poor newcomers not only reshuffled local economic, political, and social conditions, but it also prompted the FPC to expand its message, which had theretofore focused on soliciting mostly the attention of

Mexican-origin residents and Anglos.109

107 Nestor Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,” 103, 118.

108 Arnoldo De León provides the following breakdown for Central Americans in Houston: the city welcomed 50,000 Salvadorans, 10,000 to 15,000 Guatemalans, and 5,000 to 10,000 Hondurans. These statistics placed Houston only second to Los Angeles for Central American immigrants or refugees. De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 225. Moreover, the city hosted an estimated 75,000 Central Americans and 80,000 Mexicans who were undocumented in 1986. Kreneck, Del Pueblo, 202.

109 Rodriguez explains that Central Americans settled mostly on Houston‟s west side, miles away from the traditional Mexican barrios. White middle-class occupants had vacated the apartment complexes on the west side during the local recession that hit Houston in the early 1980s. Moreover, Central 114

Dubbed “the Decade of the Hispanic,” the 1980s led the Fiestas Patrias to craft a self-image that now encompassed not just Mexican heritage, but that of all Hispanics as well. The increased visibility of a handful of new associations patterned after the image of local Mexican American social clubs and the FPC reflected the growing importance of

Central Americans. By the mid-1980s, the activities of the Ecuadorian Cultural

Association of Houston and the Fraternidad Guatemalteca de Houston (Guatemalan

Fraternity of Houston) appeared in El Sol newspaper.110 Moreover, the seminal role that the Fiestas Patrias association had come to play in Houston‟s cultural calendar inspired the creation in 1984 of the Comité Centro Americano de Fiestas Patrias (Central

American Committee of the Fiestas Patrias).111 Its goal was to celebrate the independence of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica on 15

September. To that end, its members organized a “Night of Civic-Cultural Gala” in Alley

Theater on 10 September and held a ball on the evening of 15 September.112 Though not as well organized as the FPC, the Comité Centro Americano now could also stake a claim

Americans “politicized immigration issues in ways that Mexican immigration had not” and lived in ethnically diverse neighborhoods on that part of town. Finally, because Central Americans moved to Houston at the time of a severe local economic downturn, they faced lesser employment opportunities than other ethnic minorities. Most of them found employment in service jobs that paid minimal incomes. Rodriguez, “Economic Restructuring and Latino Growth in Houston,”119-122. Yet, these dire conditions did not prevent Central Americans from building up a relationship with the Mexican American community, at least through the September Fiestas Patrias.

110 “La Fraternidad Guatemalteca de Houston eligió su directiva,” El Sol, 21 August 1985, n.p.; “Primer Grito de Independencia del Ecuador en Houston,” El Sol, 13 August 1986, 1-2.

111 Julio E. García, “Fundaron Comité Centro Americano de Fiestas Patrias,” El Sol, 8 August 1984, 1, 4.

112 Ibid.

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in the commemoration of Central American heritage in Houston.113

1984 represented yet another turning point for the Fiestas Patrias because it marked the beginning of a truly inclusive downtown parade. That year, the FPC showed that it understood the importance of embracing a broader Hispanic identity by adopting the theme of “Buena Voluntad Internacional” (International Goodwill). The festivities intended to celebrate Mexican Independence Day but also “to embrace the Hispanic nations that … [were] represented in …[the] city and in the Golf Coast region.” 114 A

Houston Post article explained that “each of Houston‟s Hispanic groups [would] be represented in the fiesta [sic] parade for the first time” and quoted FPC‟s spokeswoman,

Dolores Gallegos, on the association‟s take on Hispanic unity: “„Let‟s face it… we all speak Spanish. We might have different accents, we might cook different, we might add different spices, but we‟re from the same culture. We should be one people.‟”115 On the morning of 15 September 1984 the Comité Centro Americano de Fiestas Patrias participated in the FPC‟s downtown parade with marchers and floats proudly proclaiming their Central American heritage.116 For the first time, a Central American group partook

113 Prior to the formation of the Comité Centro Americano, Central American nationals had celebrated 15 September with exclusive receptions in Houston. For instance, in September 1967, the consuls of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua organized a black-tie cocktail party at the Mayfair Hotel. The Comité Centro Americano broadened access to these festivities and offered an opportunity for every member of the local Central American community to participate in the celebrations of patriotic holidays. Betty Ewing, “Lively Fiestas and Calm Surf,” Houston Chronicle, 14 September 1967, 2 (6).

114 “Fiestas Patrias 1984-1985,” El Sol, 8 August 1984, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

115 Leslie Linthicum, “Celebration Mixes Cultural Pride and Fun,” Houston Post, 14 September 1984, 1 (E), 12 (E).

116 Ibid.

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in the downtown procession. The fact that the Comité Centro Americano decided to join the downtown parade illustrated both the willingness of the organizers to broaden their message in order to commemorate a widely defined Hispanic identity and the clout that the procession itself had come to bear citywide. Central American clubs recognized the importance of the Fiestas Patrias festivities as avenues to affirm their newly found place in Houston‟s cultural fabric.

Corporate sponsorship and a surge in immigration from Central America had thus convinced the FPC to expand the purposes of Mexican Independence Day celebrations in the 1980s so that the celebrations became increasingly multicultural. By the middle of the decade, the FPC declared in the “History” column of its yearly brochure that:

The main emphasis in 1969 was to commemorate Mexican Independence Day. The emphasis is now placed on education, unity, community pride and understanding of the rich diversity of cultures in todays [sic] society. …Sponsors such as Coca-Cola, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, McDonald‟s, Miller Lite, Budweiser, … Yellow Cab, Atlantic Richfield and others provide the partnership necessary to enhance the quality of the events. All in all, Fiestas Patrias is a community based [sic] effort to promote good-will [sic], pride, unity, education and responsible citizenship at all levels of society.117

After 1984, the downtown parade would come to represent Houston‟s cosmopolitan identity by showcasing all of its ethnic residents. For instance, the 1987 procession featured Hispanic groups, high school bands and street dancers, and for the first time,

“Native Americans in costumes representing eight tribes from throughout the United

States.”118 Two years later, the event was renamed the “Fiestas Patrias International

117 1985 Fiestas Patrias brochure, 1985, Mexican American Small Collections, Box 6 of 5, “1985 Fiestas Patrias” Folder, n.p.

118 Rock Meckel, “Fiestas Patrias: Don‟t Let the Procession Pass You By,” Houston Post clipping, 18 September 1987, Vertical File, “H-Events-Mexican Americans,” HMRC, n.p. 117

Parade.”119 Its exhibition of the city‟s multiculturalism appealed to a growing number of participants and spectators. One woman interviewed in 1990 explained that she enjoyed taking her children to the two-hour long procession because she wanted them to see

“what this day meant for Hispanics,” but also because, “more importantly, … the

…annual parade included a racial mix of people with blacks, whites, Asians, and

Hispanics marching and watching.”120 The procession, a simple yet powerful symbol of

Houston‟s cultural makeup, had grown from the celebration of a Mexican patriotic holiday into a well-respected, established event that praised not only “the neighbor to the

South” and all Latin American nations, but the truly multicultural makeup of the fourth largest city in the United States.

As the second most popular event of the Fiestas Patrias, the beauty pageant also underwent a similar transformation, though early on it fell short of admitting candidates from non-Hispanic background. In 1981, members of the pageant committee received grievances from community members for accepting candidates who were not of Mexican origin. An El Sol commentator explained the ire one year later, when the Fiestas Patrias organizers ensured no such mishap happened again:

The organization indicates that it has received strong criticism for including young ladies who are not of Mexican extraction. This time, it seems that they [the candidates] are only from “amongst us” so that severe criticism may be avoided this time around. These criticisms are not far from the truth since the people who are organizing the event are Mexicans and must remain dedicated to Mexicans.121

119 “Around Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 26 May 1989, 7.

120 “Thousands Applaud Floats, Bands at Fiestas Patrias Parade,” Houston Chronicle, 16 September 1990, 2 (C).

121 Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: cine, radio y televisión,” El Sol, 15 September 1982, 5. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. 118

Just like the FPC extended a warm invitation to other Hispanic groups to join them in the

1984 parade, however, the pageant rules soon widened to accept all Hispanic candidates.

The earliest evidence of more liberal requirements appeared in a 1988 Houston Chronicle that stated that all Hispanic women, ages 18 to 26, were invited to apply to the pageant.122

From that point on, the queen of the Fiestas Patrias would hail from one of the many

Hispanic communities that had helped contribute to the making of Houston into a “Mecca for the Hispanic.”123 The FPC‟s original goal of uniting all Mexican-origin residents and of building a bridge between that community and Anglos had come full circle by the late

1980s. While it remained primarily a celebration of Mexico‟s struggle for independence and its people‟s culture, the Fiestas Patrias had grown to honor both Hispanic culture and the multicultural character of Houston in a most public fashion.

Conclusion

By and large, the trajectory of the Fiestas Patrias in Houston proved incredibly successful. As Chapter One has described, the early days of organizing the community around a citywide celebration of Mexican Independence Day proved tedious. Yet, the efforts of several dedicated leaders resulted in the creation of the FPC, which quickly built a series of festivities that rallied both Mexican-origin residents and Anglos throughout the city and the state of Texas. As years went by, Houston grew into a cosmopolitan metropolis that played host to a wide variety of Hispanic and non-Hispanic

122 “Around Houston,” Houston Chronicle, 4 July 1988, 4.

123 Editorial, El Sol, 15 September 1977, 2. 119

immigrants, and so the Fiestas Patrias adapted to this changing landscape. The holiday successfully maintained the focus on the celebration of Mexican heritage but did so by inviting all ethnic groups to partake in the occasion and broadly celebrate ethnic pride.

The growing involvement of commercial interests in these festivities also played a strong role in the changing nature of the September events. The FPC invited corporations to sponsor its activities in 1971 with the confidence that it had established blueprints sturdy enough to avoid a commercial takeover of Mexican Independence Day celebrations. 1973 proved yet another turning point because it showed that even though the committee itself had managed to keep control of the extent to which large businesses would capitalize on its calendar of activities, outside forces could create new festivities on which to make a profit. The newly formed CPM exhibited good intentions by organizing events and striking a tone that sought to resonate with less acculturated

Mexican-origin people, as had been the tradition with Comités Patrióticos in the United

States for generations. Yet, the CPM‟s financial patronage by large Mexican firms demonstrated that the September festivities offered ripe opportunities for financial gains that the FPC organizers seemed not to have foreseen entirely. The Mexican-origin community stood divided between the two committees for a while, and surely, tempers flared. Over the years, however, each association found its own niche of festivities, catering to various tastes and understandings about the meaning of the celebration of an important Mexican patriotic holiday in the United States. In the end, each nestled in the city‟s cultural calendar. The continued existence of the FPC and the CPM through 2009 speaks of the needs they have both come to fulfill for Hispanic groups with various levels 120

of acculturation in Houston.

As this chapter has demonstrated, by the late 1970s, American corporations also noticed that celebrations of ethnic holidays proved a good platform to engage a growing

Hispanic market that they had theretofore either neglected or not managed to reach efficiently. National commercial firms sponsored the beauty pageant and the downtown parade and lavished organizers with money, bigger venues, and larger advertising platforms. By doing so, they allowed the FPC to expand the scope of its festivities.

These companies also provided much-needed monetary support at a time when Houston‟s economy started to slip into a recession and local businesses might have been too vulnerable to offer enough financial backup to sustain the events alone. More importantly, the Fiestas Patrias festivities offered a convenient avenue to advertise commercial products. By providing sponsorship, these corporations portrayed themselves as supportive of Hispanic culture and therefore worthy of receiving the

Hispanic dollar. Product placement became entangled with the celebration of an ethnic holiday that had become so important to Houston‟s calendar in a way that made every side feel that they had benefited from this relationship.

Local radio stations also profited from the September festivities in tremendous fashion. While they did not play such a central role in the FPC‟s activities, probably because other corporations had already capitalized on them and the radios could not compete with the spending powers of the likes of Budweiser or Coca-Cola, Spanish- language stations found a lucrative niche in musical events themed around the celebration of the Fiestas Patrias. They used their own airwaves and the newspaper El Sol to 121

advertise the festivities in Spanish. They provided entertainment to Hispanics who had either recently settled in the city and welcomed opportunities to listen to free Spanish- language music or the Mexican American audiences who enjoyed Spanish-language music. These radio stations therefore catered to a crowd that either completely embraced its bicultural identity or to newer immigrants from Latin America. Like their corporate counterparts with the FPC‟s calendar of events, these radio stations benefited from the

Mexican independence holiday and expanded their market by placing themselves at the heart of a community that thirsted for recognition of its ethnic heritage.

As Chapter Three will examine, not all local successful businessmen and women closely associated with Houston‟s Mexican-origin community reached out to large corporations at the risk of letting those companies‟ marketing strategies alter their original mission. Felix and Angelina Morales, the owners of the first Spanish-language radio station in Houston, primarily used their station to cater to the needs and social welfare of their fellow Mexican-origin brethren and played an important role in the community‟s cultural life by combining good-heartedness with shrew business ethics.

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CHAPTER 3

“THE SPIRIT OF OUR PUEBLO”1: FELIX AND ANGELINA MORALES AND THE FIRST SPANISH-LANGUAGE RADIO STATION ON THE GULF COAST, 1950-1980s

This chapter examines the role of the first Spanish-language radio station in the cultural life of Houston. Its founders, Felix and Angelina Morales, were among the city‟s most prominent Mexican Americans whose entrepreneurship helped expose Houstonians to the values and language of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants. Felix and

Angie, as they were fondly known, fought hard to bring KLVL, La voz latina (The Latin

Voice), to life in order to serve the Mexican-origin community whose needs as a radio audience had remained ignored until the 1950s. This chapter traces the Moraleses‟ professional journey prior to World War II, describes how their funeral home and social activism placed them at the heart of Houston‟s Mexican-origin community, recounts their struggles to acquire a radio station, and highlights their resolve to give Spanish speakers a broadcasting voice. This chapter further explains how Felix and Angie envisioned KLVL as a tool to promote goodwill and solidarity among the city‟s Spanish-speaking people.

To this end, they entertained their listeners with Mexican music, delivered news in

Spanish, and publicized social services that were not readily known in the city at the time. Finally, this chapter examines how the Moraleses used their radio station to build a bridge between Houston‟s Hispanics and Anglos in a manner that earned them respect from Houstonians of many stripes. Like John Coronado, the founder of the modern parade in downtown Houston, and the Fiestas Patrias committee, Felix and Angie

1 Lumiers, “Usted y otros más,” El Sol, 20 November 1985, 9. 123

Morales exemplified the desire of Americans of Mexican descent to foster pride in their cultural heritage and to make the lives of their Houston brethren happier with music, games, and celebrations.

Felix and Angie‟s Early Days in San Antonio

The story of the Moraleses began in San Antonio. Angelina Vera was born there in 1907 and grew up in a Mexican American middle-class neighborhood. Even though she only learned English at the age of twelve she graduated from high school and enrolled for a degree in Business Administration at the Alamo Business College. She attended that institution for only one year, however, and found employment at a

Chevrolet dealership in town.2 Felix Hessbrook Morales and his siblings grew up in poverty despite the fact that his family traced its ancestry to the German prince who had founded New Braunfels, where Felix was born in 1907. The youngest of ten children,

Felix faced a difficult childhood because his father died when he was five years old. He completed elementary school and set out to hold a variety of jobs. As early as five years of age, he hunted rabbits and set up his own shoeshine stand in the streets of New

Braunfels, giving the money to his mother so that she could support her children. He later worked as a water boy and for a construction company.3 Felix‟s mother used to call

2 From the Alamo Business College, Angie transferred to the University of Texas in Austin from 1926 to 1927 but she did not finish her studies there, for unknown reasons. Mrs. Felix H. Morales, interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 5 February 1979, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC); Mrs. Felix H. Morales, résumé, n.d., Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2, HMRC.

3 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Mr. Felix H. Morales, résumé, n.d., Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2; Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It 124

him hormiga, or “ant,” because he always remained productive.4 As a teenager, he moved to San Antonio where his brother Andrew ran a funeral home.5 Felix first delivered a local newspaper, then managed his own taxicab company while also working for Andrew.6 These activities did not allow him to save any money but they trained him for his future position as a funeral home owner in Houston.

Moving to San Antonio enabled Felix to encounter the three great loves of his life. There, he discovered his passion for radio broadcasting, met his future wife, and found a professional calling and a sense of personal fulfillment providing mortuary services. In 1925, Felix felt that Mexican-origin people had no broadcasting voice in San

Antonio. He later recalled that there used to be only one weekly Spanish radio program in town, and that he “couldn‟t believe that there were so many Mexican people there and no entertainment.”7 He proceeded to start his own daily show on a local station, selling advertising time to sponsors, singing, and playing his guitar.8 Also in 1925, Felix and

Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

4 Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10.

5 Two other Morales brothers owned funeral homes in New Braunfels and Austin, and several more of Felix‟s cousins and nephews also worked as embalmers and funeral home owners. See “Former Light Carrier „Makes Good‟,” San Antonio Light clipping, 27 May 1957, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

6 Ibid; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

7 Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

8 Ibid; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979. The show only lasted “a couple of hours daily,” as Felix later told the Houston Post. See Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to 125

Angie started dating. They were married in 1928.9 By the mid-1920s, Felix clearly nurtured a great love for traditional Mexican music and played with a group of friends, often “serenading” Angie at her home.10 His musical inclinations, however, seemed to always feed his desire for a radio station of his own. Indeed, Angie often liked to recount a particular moment during their courtship when Felix‟s determination to possess a station appeared quite strong. During a conversation about their respective ambitions for the future, Felix burst out that he knew he would own a radio station one day. Angie, taken aback, responded by asking, “You are … a boy with maybe fifty dollars in his pocket… Would that cost a lot of money?”11 A confident Felix retorted that, “Money … should never be an object in anything that you want to do in life. You have to plan for it and you will acquire it if you have the ability to go on with what you want.” 12 To a surprised Angie, he summarized what would turn out to be his approach to business throughout his life: “I‟ll get the money somehow, that‟s a side issue. The issue is, where would I get … [the station] and when will it start?”13 Felix later inquired about his brother‟s interest in radio broadcasting, but Andrew quickly “pointed out that it was an

Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

9 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Carlos A. Novoa, “Entrevista de la semana,” El Sol, 16 September 1981, 3, 5 (2). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

10 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

126

expensive venture and [that] they did not have the necessary capital.”14 Felix thus decided that his dream of owning a Spanish-language station would have to be postponed. He borrowed one hundred and fifty dollars from his brother in order to start his own funeral home in Houston, which seemed a safer undertaking at the time.

Life in Houston and the Morales Funeral Home, 1930s and 1940s

The Morales Funeral Home

Felix and his wife arrived in Houston in 1931. They quickly used the one hundred and fifty dollars to purchase a hearse and equipment, established credit with a local casket company and a furniture store, and rented a seven-room house on Navigation

Boulevard in the Second Ward, then the heart of Houston‟s Mexican-origin community.15

The Morales Funeral Home became the first Hispanic-owned business for mortuary services in the city.16 The Second Ward welcomed Felix and Angie with open arms because the other funeral homes refused to cater to Mexicans.17 The first six years of

14 Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

15 Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

16 Ibid; Mr. Felix H. Morales, résumé, n.d., Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2. It should be noted that another funeral home director, Manuel Crespo, is often misquoted as the first provider of funeral services of Latin American descent in Houston. Crespo, however, was a native of Spain and moved to Houston in 1920. He was very active in the city‟s social and political life, especially within the Mexican American community. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Arnoldo De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 74, 83; Thomas Kreneck, Del Pueblo, 81-82, 120, 153.

17 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979. Angie also explained that when she and her husband arrived in Houston, it was customary for Mexican-origin people to turn their garages into chapels for funerals. Moreover, throughout the 1930s and 1940s, it was customary for the city‟s Catholic cemeteries to deny them burial unless they were granted a special permit. 127

operation of the funeral home, however, were lean because of the Great Depression.

Moreover, Houston‟s 5,000 Mexican-origin residents lived in poverty, and most could not save money for their funeral.18 Consequently, Felix and Angie provided their services almost free of charge, accepting whatever people could pay them in kind. Angie later explained that, because she and her husband were struggling financially themselves, they did not question their assistance to the indigent.19 In fact, one of her favorite sayings claimed that, “The years of the poor man who appreciates his poverty are richer than the many of the rich one who was born without the opportunity to know that environment.” 20

Throughout the better part of the Depression years, Felix often had to make caskets by hand while Angie sewed the clothes for the poor she helped inter.21 The Moraleses thus mixed business with charity.

They quickly established a reputation for their kindheartedness throughout the

Mexican-origin community of Houston, and their charitable endeavors generated more business. Angie became a certified notary public in 1936 and used her command of

English and Spanish to act as the voice of those who did not speak English and the

18 Ibid; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

19 Their most received form of payment was food, especially eggs and fruit. Ibid; Mrs. Felix H. Morales, “Autobiografía de Felix H. y Angelina V. Morales,” (Laredo, TX) La Crónica de Texas clipping, 24 February 1974, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 1, 11. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

20 Mrs. Felix H. Morales, “Autobiografía de Felix H. y Angelina V. Morales,” La Crónica de Texas clipping, 24 February 1974, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 1, 11. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

21 Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; “KLVL 1480 AM Radio: A History of Service to the Hispanic Community,” KLVL radio website, http://klvl1480.com/5.html, accessed 17 March 2010. 128

illiterate in cases before various city and immigration authorities.22 She assisted her brethren with their affidavits and immigration papers and worked as a translator in the city‟s courts.23 In doing so, Angie met influential judges and officials throughout the city, which made the Moraleses “an asset to the Latin American community,” as she later remarked.24 During World War II, she helped mothers learn about the well-being of their sons who were serving abroad by soliciting assistance from Houston‟s United States

Congressman Albert Thomas, who obliged whenever possible and became an acquaintance of Felix‟s and Angie‟s.25 In return for her services, Angie charged a nominal fee that barely covered her own expenses but asked for another compensation instead:

I would tell the people, “Look, I‟m going to do all this and I‟m not going to charge you very much, but when you die, don‟t you forget, you come over to me because I am an undertaker.” … So, it was sort of a standing joke: I‟m going to do this for you, but when you can rub my back, you‟d better rub my back. … We started getting so much business that way, through our community involvement. And then, too, it was a job for me to be able to help different people.26

Moreover, Angie used her gender to appeal to many Mexican-origin women who might have otherwise hesitated to receive embalming services from a male professional. A

1945 advertisement for the funeral home reminded Angie‟s “female friends” that she was

“the only Mexican female embalmer licensed by the State of Texas [in Harris County]”

22 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

23 Ibid; Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10.

24 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

129

and that “her extended experience deserve[d] that they trust that she [would] personally attend to women and children.”27 Felix‟s and Angie‟s public image as trustworthy, respectful, and generous Mexican Americans greatly helped their business.

The Morales Funeral Home survived the Great Depression‟s lean years despite some difficulties paying for the most basic expenses.28 By the early 1940s, the business started generating a profit, and the Moraleses used their increased income to buy a ten- acre piece of land off Aldine Road, north of Houston, for a cemetery. As Angie later explained, Felix had decided that he wanted one for Mexican-origin people because “the other cemeteries were so expensive that people couldn‟t afford it. ... The Mexican people

… wanted something of their own instead.”29 For five dollars, any Mexican-origin person in Houston could purchase a plot in the “cemetery of the poor mexicanos,” as

Angie liked to call it.30 In 1941, the Moraleses also created an organization that ensured that indigent Mexican-origin people could plan for and afford their burial services. The

Sociedad Unión Fraternal, which welcomed both Mexican immigrants and Mexican

Americans, asked for a monthly subscription fee of fifty cents per adult and twenty-five

27 Sociedad “Unión Fraternal” flyer, 1945, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 1, unlabeled folder. Felix received his embalming license in 1935. Angie passed her examination for the license of funeral director in 1935, that for professional embalmer in 1942, and became a licensed mortician (after two years of apprenticeship) in 1944. See Texas State Board of Embalming, certificate, 13 September 1935, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 7; Texas State Board of Embalming to Mrs. Morales, 10 September 1935, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 7; Texas State Board of Embalming to Mrs. Morales, 24 November 1942, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 7; “Houston History: Mortician Family Has Two New Recruits,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 December 1964, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 3, 9 (4).

28 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

29 Ibid.

30 Felix, Angie, and their son Joe are all buried at the Morales Cemetery. More details about Joe Morales may be found in footnotes 98, 111, and 118. 130

cents per child and guaranteed free burial services in the Morales cemetery.31 While self- help groups and mutual aid organizations had sprung up in the Mexican community in the

1920s and continued to come to life in the 1930s, the Moraleses‟ endeavor to provide assistance for mortuary services and a place to inter family members proved unique for

Houston‟s Mexican-origin community.32

Gaining Social Prominence in Houston’s Mexican-Origin Community

Yet, it took some time for Felix and Angie especially, to adapt to their new environment. While Felix grew up in a poor household and was certainly acquainted with lower-class Mexican-origin people with little education, Angie, who had been raised in a better-off neighborhood in San Antonio, found the transition more difficult.33

Indeed, she held a twofold view of the poverty-stricken Mexican community in the

Second Ward. On the one hand, as a deeply committed Catholic, she felt it her duty to help the indigent and committed herself and the funeral home to that goal. On the other hand, she thought that “the laboring class” of the East End did not strive for better education and self-improvement, which she first interpreted as a lack of motivation to achieve social mobility.34 Angie later admitted to unfairly comparing the mostly blue- collar residents of the Second Ward to her previous middle-class neighbors in San

31 Carlos A. Novoa, “Entrevista de la semana,” El Sol, 16 September 1981, 3, 5 (2); Sociedad “Unión Fraternal” flyer, 1945, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 1, unlabeled folder; De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 69.

32 For the various mutual aid organizations and self-help groups that sprang up in Houston‟s Mexican-origin community in the 1920s and 1930s, see De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 31-34, 56-57, 66-76.

33 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

34 Ibid.

131

Antonio. She eventually recognized that the needs of the poor for social services remained significant, and that they had little means available to better themselves.35 She thus sought to dedicate herself to their cause by providing them with funerary and notary services and by socializing with many Second Ward residents.36 Angie might therefore have held middle-class values herself but she never stopped caring for the betterment of her poverty-stricken brethren.

Because Angie and Felix had grown up in a bicultural environment, they proved quite adept at using their familiarity with both Mexican and American cultures to their advantage. Although their association with prominent Anglos would become much more pronounced during and after the 1950s, they remained popular within the city‟s Mexican- origin community. They navigated comfortably the worlds and cultures of working- and middle-class social clubs around the Second Ward. Indeed, Angie joined as many organizations as she could in order to meet people as soon as they arrived in Houston.37

The Moraleses benefited greatly from such interactions because it afforded them acquaintances and business contacts as well as new ways to have an impact on the cultural and social life of their community.

Felix and Angie, in fact, played pivotal roles in the history of several prominent

Mexican American social clubs in Houston. Felix joined Club México Bello in his first few years of residence in the city. As an association that “clearly represented the most

35 Ibid.

36 Ibid.

37 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Mrs. Felix H. Morales, interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 24 March 1989, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, HMRC. 132

popular organization in the colonia, a who‟s who of young, aspiring Hispanic Houston,”

México Bello enabled him to meet the future leaders.38 He also counted among the original founders of LULAC Council #60, established in Houston in 1934. Like its other

LULAC branches in the Southwest at the time, the organization encouraged Mexican

Americans to pay their poll tax, to seek better educational and social opportunities, and for those who were Mexican nationals living in the United States, to become naturalized.39 Because those clubs did not offer membership to women, Angie could not become a full participant in their affairs. She thus helped create several women‟s branches so that members‟ wives might socialize and plan activities of their own.40 She assisted with the formation of the ladies‟ group of the Woodmen of the World and of the

Sociedad Mutualista Obrera Mexicana in the early 1930s and acted as the first president of Houston‟s Ladies‟ LULAC Council #14 in 1935.41 To Angie and Felix, affiliation and work with clubs as prominent as LULAC served to “create the proper political climate for

38 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 62. Among the members of México Bello were Felix Tijerina, a successful businessman and future national president of LULAC, and John J. Herrera, also a future national president of LULAC as well as an attorney and civil rights activist. Among his many accomplishments, Herrera acted as counsel in the landmark case Pete Hernández v. the State of Texas in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that Mexican Americans could not be rejected from juries in 1954. The victory in this case created a precedent for the broader-reaching Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. For more information about Herrera, see De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 93, 130-133, 137-141, 166; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 92, 102-103, 130, 205-207; Kreneck, Del Pueblo, 81, 85, 116, 119-120, 125, 153-154, 163. Felix Tijerina will be the subject of the next chapter.

39 De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 84.

40 Angie explained that Council # 14 had few members at first. Yet, the eight or so ladies, who were mostly in their twenties, met regularly at the funeral home and volunteered their time in the Mexican community, mostly towards educational purposes. One popular program, for instance, consisted of reading sessions of the United States Constitution to children at the Rusk Settlement Association. The members of Council #14 also helped organize the various activities of Council #60. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 24 March 1989.

41 According to Angie, the women‟s branch of the Woodmen of the World was called the “Bosque Women Circle.” See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 24 March 1989. 133

future political force for the community,” as she later formulated it.42 Between 1931 and

World War II, Felix and Angie therefore became intensely involved with the Mexican- origin community of Houston and built a business from the ground up that survived the

Great Depression. They also became prosperous within a decade and enjoyed a solid reputation among Mexican immigrants, Mexican Americans, and many prominent

Anglos. Felix could now seek to fulfill his dream of owning a Spanish-language radio station.

The Birth of KLVL, La Voz Latina

The Long Struggle with the Federal Communications Commission

Moving to Houston and struggling to keep his business afloat during the 1930s did not hamper Felix‟s affections for radio broadcasting. In fact, he ran his own show on

KXYZ in Houston, starting in the early 1930s.43 Felix used the same strategy in Houston as in San Antonio and bought airtime from a local station, which he then sold back to advertisers.44 His Spanish-language program featured local musicians, but Felix also played his guitar and sang, especially when artists arrived late or cancelled their performances. The show started as a modest affair, airing from eleven to twelve each

Saturday night, but it became so popular that he expanded it to a nightly event of news

42 Ibid.

43 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD); Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10.

44 One hour of airtime on KXYZ in the early 1930s cost fifty dollars. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

134

and music.45 In 1936, however, the FCC ruled that radio stations were no longer allowed to sell their airtime to outside buyers, so Felix had to discontinue his activities.46 Yet, his ambitions lived on.

Felix did not serve abroad during World War II because his embalming skills were deemed necessary for the City of Houston. As a result, he spent the war years working at the funeral home, which he and Angie had relocated to larger facilities two blocks down Navigation Boulevard.47 By 1945, the funeral home was a steady business, and the Moraleses had several employees.48 In the late summer of that year, they took their first vacation at Lake McQueeney, near New Braunfels. Upon their return, Felix wrote a letter to their friend, United States Congressman Albert Thomas, soliciting his opinion regarding the viability of a Spanish-language radio station in Houston and the chances of obtaining a license.49 In his missive, Felix explained that he and Angie had spent six weeks by the lake, listening to many radio programs, especially of Mexican

45 Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; “KLVL 1480 AM Radio: A History of Service to the Hispanic Community,” KLVL radio website, http://klvl1480.com/5.html, accessed 17 March 2010.

46 Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

47 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

48 Angie mentioned that they had eight employees by the 1940s, but she did not provide an exact date. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

49 The Moraleses became good friends with Albert Thomas through Angie‟s notary work, as she often solicited his assistance in the 1930s and during World War II. Felix and Angie also helped with his 1936 campaign, in which Thomas faced a difficult primary against the popular former (and future) Houston mayor, Oscar Holcombe. Thomas won his bid for the United States House of Representatives that year. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

135

music.50 Felix expressed his opinion that a Mexican-owned Spanish-language radio station would benefit Mexican-origin people in Houston. He and Angie felt that such an enterprise would demonstrate that “some Mexican people … [could] and … [would] do things to better themselves and the community in which they live[d].” 51 Moreover, the

Moraleses thought that such a station would “afford wonderful opportunities for the betterment of … [their] class” and would demonstrate that Mexican-origin people were

“an asset and not a liability.”52 At first, Angie did not feel comfortable with the idea of venturing into an industry about which they knew very little. She had thought that

Felix‟s comment, twenty years earlier, that he would one day own a radio station was just

“boy talk.”53 By the mid-1940s, the Moraleses had saved a significant amount of money, which Angie had hoped to keep for their retirement, so they struggled to come to the decision about acquiring a station. Angie explained their ambivalence at the time in an interview decades later:

Why should we take our money and gamble it away on something that we don‟t even know we‟ll get …being that, at that time, anyone owning a radio station had to be somebody because there had to be a lot of money in it … Felix said there ha[d] to be a voice. There … [was] no Mexican newspaper…There was really nothing that was educational or uplifting … Felix said the Mexican people had no exposure … and we had to have a voice … to let it be known that there … [were] Mexican people that … [were] worth looking up to.54

Felix‟s insistence on the role of a Spanish-language radio station in improving the public

50 Felix Morales to Albert Thomas, 8 October 1945, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12.

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

54 Ibid. 136

image of Mexican-origin Houstonians eventually won Angie‟s approval because she, too, sensed that this medium presented an opportunity to foster better racial relations throughout the Houston metropolitan area.

In 1946, prepared to face potentially high financial costs, Felix and a still hesitant

Angie thus initiated what would turn into a three-year battle to obtain their radio station.

Felix benefited from the advice of his friend in San Antonio, Raúl Cortez, owner of the station KCOR, who recommended a Washington, D.C. lawyer specializing in broadcasting and a radio engineer, both of whom Felix hired right away.55 They submitted the first application for a clear channel frequency in Houston with the FCC, and Felix secured a ten-year lease for a broadcasting studio in the Auditorium Hotel.56

Requests for a new license also required letters of support from prominent citizens who could testify to their community‟s need for such a station. Thus, the Moraleses presented written statements from local and state politicians who attested that their project would both serve as a useful tool to implement the Good Neighbor Policy and to help assimilate

Houston‟s Mexican-origin residents into American society.57 Albert Thomas offered his

55 Ibid.

56 T.C. Guseman to Felix H. Morales, 18 September 1846, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12. The lease also included four and one-half acres of land east of Houston, where the broadcasting towers would have been placed. It should also be noted that Felix first decided to apply for a radio station during World War II. The biographical article in the Texas Catholic Herald claimed that he decided to apply in 1942 but did not file his petition until 1946. A document in the Morales Collection, however, shows evidence of one application in 1944, which the FCC‟s Budget Bureau approved. What specifically happened to this petition is unknown, but obviously, it did not result in a radio station for Felix at that time. See KMOR application with the FCC, 25 April 1945, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 2; Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10.

57 Franklin Delano Roosevelt articulated the Good Neighbor Policy in his 1933 inaugural speech, when he announced that the United States would seek a less interventionist role in Latin American affairs. The Good Neighbor Policy led to other forms of interaction with Latin American countries, such as Pan- 137

support and assured the FCC that Felix‟s radio station would “meet with immediate public approval due to the close relationship that ha[d] existed between the Houston area and the Latin American countries.”58 R.E. Smith, chairman of the Good Neighbor

Commission of Texas, stated that his office was “doing everything possible to

Americanize those who … [were] not citizens in addition to encouraging those who …

[were] citizens to not remain apart, in their thinking, from other citizens,” and expressed great hopes that the Moraleses‟ radio station would help implement the Good Neighbor

Policy. 59 John J. Herrera, a Houston lawyer whom Felix had hired as a liaison between all the parties involved in the petition, also believed strongly that a Spanish-language radio station in Houston was urgently needed to help assuage the “discrimination and racial prejudice against Latin Americans of Mexican descent.”60 Finally, Otis Massey,

Houston‟s mayor at the time, wrote that “such a station … [could] do invaluable work in presenting the American way of life to new citizens among the Latin-Americans,” and that “the good neighbor policy [sic] could be promoted by a properly operated station.”61

Americanism and diplomatic and economic relationships. For a comprehensive examination of the Good Neighbor Policy, see Fredrick B. Pike, FDR‟s Good Neighbor Policy: Sixty Years of Generally Gentle Chaos (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995).

58 Albert Thomas to the Federal Communications Commission, 9 September 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12. A Houston Chronicle article also announced Felix‟s application with the FCC in 1946. It stated that the station would “advance Houston another step towards becoming a cosmopolitan aerial gateway to Latin America.” See “Radio Station Is Planned Here for Latin Americans,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 November 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

59 R. E. Smith to the Federal Communications Commission, 4 September 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12.

60 John J. Herrera to Manuel C. Gonzales, 13 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1, HMRC.

61 Otis Massey to the Federal Communications Commission, 26 August 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12. 138

Indeed, the Moraleses‟ FCC application proposed that the station would not only provide educational and religious programs but that it would also offer thirteen hours each week for “cooperation with government and charitable institutions,” thus promising to help educate the public about important political and social issues.62

Felix‟s first application lingered for a year because, as Angie later explained, clear channels “had become a hot potato in the [U.S.] Senate,” where a legislative battle had erupted around the opening up of a greater number of clear channel radio stations, which boasted more power.63 The existing licensees of such stations argued that making more airwaves available for clear channel frequencies would interfere with their own daytime skywaves and lobbied members of Congress intensely, thus stalling all petitions for new clear channel stations filed with the FCC.64

Upon advice from Albert Thomas and his lawyer, both of whom had been in contact with FCC commissioners in Washington, D.C., on his behalf, Felix decided to seek a frequency that had already received a license. He found, and applied for, the 1510

AM frequency and proceeded to amend his petition in 1947. But some entrepreneurs in

Mexia, a small town one hundred and fifty miles to the north of Houston that did not have a radio station of its own, also coveted that airwave.65 After several months of

62 Felix H. Morales to the Federal Communications Commission, deposition, 19 September 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 2.

63 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

64 Ibid; Paul Walkey to Albert Thomas, 26 September 1947, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12.

65 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 17 February 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; Felix H. Morales to D.F. Prince, 18 February 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; Felix H. Morales to D.F. Prince, 19 139

consultation with his lawyers and engineers, Felix withdrew his request for the frequency and asked that the applicants in Mexia help him pay half of his amending costs, arguing that doing so would avoid them a hearing with the FCC.66 They agreed, and Felix briefly investigated another frequency in Galveston, but engineering problems prevented him from pursuing that possibility.67 Finally, the 1480 AM airwave for an original channel opened in 1949, and Felix felt that he might have a good chance of acquiring it.

After briefly facing a potential competitor for that frequency, Felix took the next step, which consisted of finding a town in the Houston metropolitan area with few established radio stations and a site to place the emitting towers where they would present a nuisance to as few residents as possible.68 Pasadena, which lies about ten miles to the

February 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 7 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; John J. Herrera to D.F. Prince, 13 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 19 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

66 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; John J. Herrera to D.F. Prince, 9 May 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 30 June 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; Charles Belfi to Felix H. Morales, 4 July 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

67 The archival records do not state whether the frequency available in Galveston was also a clear channel or not. See John Barron to John J. Herrera, 28 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 31 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 17 April 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 3 June 1947, John J. Herrera, Box 4, Folder 1; Paul Walker to Albert Thomas, 26 September 1947, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12. It should also be noted that Felix‟s inquiries in Galveston concerned the purchase of a pre-existing radio station, KGBC. His engineers determined, however, that the transmission towers would not have the capacity to project their signal both to Galveston and Houston, so Felix decided to search for a frequency, or a pre-existing station, that would reach the Houston area. See especially D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 4 August 1948, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 24 August 1948, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

68 As the Moraleses and their legal and engineering teams started to gather the necessary documents to file an amendment for that new frequency, one last challenge arose. John Cooke, the general manager of a radio station in Bay City, also applied for 1480 AM in order to broadcast from Houston. Felix‟s lawyer advised him that Cooke might have filed “just to block … [Felix‟s] application” and that he had little money and might retract easily. He recommended that Felix contact Cooke and that he be 140

southeast, offered what Felix called a “choice spot.”69 Because by 1949 the Moraleses wanted their station to broadcast both in English and Spanish, the Pasadena community, which had no radio station of its own, offered its support wholeheartedly. The mayor, chief of police, manager of the city‟s Chamber of Commerce, as well as prominent citizens and religious leaders all agreed to testify in affidavits that their town needed this new medium.70 Their two most recurrent arguments stressed that Pasadena‟s businesses had no medium to advertise their services to residents, and that there existed no means to warn people in case of emergencies, such as providing the population with hurricane- tracking information.71 A few magazines and newspapers served the town, but because they only appeared weekly, the possibility of a local radio station seduced many city cautious not to offer him any financial compensation because such an incentive would have broken FCC rules. Within a few days, Felix met with Cooke, who asked for five thousand dollars to withdraw his application. After Felix threatened to sue him, Cooke backed down. Felix nonetheless had to pay off the expenses that Cooke incurred for his application, which ran between two thousand and three thousand dollars. It seems that this sort of compensation did not break the FCC‟s ethical rules. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; John F. Cooke, financial statement, 15 April 1949, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 18 April 1949, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

69 Ibid. Pasadena had about 30,000 residents in 1949.

70 Sam Hoover, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Eddie Miller, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Stanley Wynn, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; E.L. Ball, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Judge Thomas Decker, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Ted Jensen, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; N.F. Reed, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Bob Harris, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; J.C. Thomas, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Father A.L. O‟Conell, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Rev. D.D. McEughly, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; José Medellin, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1.

71 Several testimonies also mentioned the 1947 Texas City industrial disaster and the need for a medium to inform the public about such accidents since Pasadena was home to many oil refineries. See Sam Hoover, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; Eddie Miller, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1; J.C. Thomas, deposition, 22 August 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 1.

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officials and residents.72 Armed with a strong case, Felix amended his petition to the

FCC for the second time since 1946 and hoped that his dream of owning and operating a radio station stood within reach this time.73

By November 1949, the Moraleses had been waiting for a decision from the FCC for four months and had grown weary.74 Indeed, the sixty thousand dollars that Felix and

Angie had saved by 1946 had not proved sufficient to cover the three-year period during which they had to pay for the various legal and engineering fees incurred for each inquiry and amendments for a new frequency. Thus, they had to borrow a significant amount of money from banks in order to follow through with the petition, since the funeral home did not generate enough income to that end, and the overall cost of acquiring the station had run between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand dollars.75 One morning,

72 Ibid; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

73 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, telegram, 29 July 1949, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

74 The Moraleses continued to work at the funeral home, especially because the costs of acquiring a station had forced them to contract significant debt. Angie grew quite desperate about the FCC petition and turned to her Catholic faith for support. During her oral history interview, she described at length how she went to church and addressed God and her two personal favorite saints, Saint Jude and Saint Theresa a few weeks before they learned that the FCC had granted them the right to operate KLVL. She liked to tell the story of her decision to pray and invoke the Lord, saying, “Lord, I want you to help me because it is frustrating that we work so hard for the little money we have and here is this … husband of mine throwing it away like it was so much peanuts [sic].” She then implored Saint Jude to let her and Felix understand what was best for them. She asked the saint to “open the way for … [them]” if their radio station could “do some good” for themselves and the community. Angie then pledged 33 days of communion and confession and promised that she would plant a row of 10 red rose bushes on each side of the future KLVL building in honor of Saint Jude and Saint Theresa. The Moraleses received the good news about their petition as Angie was undergoing her 20th day of communion and confession. She completed her pledged 33 days and had the two rows of roses planted at the future site of KLVL right away. Angie often liked to tell this story, especially in biographical articles in the local press. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

75 The one hundred thousand dollar-figure is my own estimate, which is based on the accumulated bills that may be found in the John J. Herrera Collection and the Felix H. Morales Collection as well as Angie‟s explanation of the various costs in her oral history interview. See especially Box 4, Folder 1 in the 142

however, a telegram informed a tearful Felix that the 1480 AM frequency belonged to him, and that his construction permit for the emission towers had been granted for a

Pasadena radio station.76 After this taxing and expensive three-year wait, the Moraleses were eager to give the Mexican-origin residents of the Houston metropolitan area their first broadcasting voice.

KLVL’s Lean Years: 1950-1954

KLVL, La voz latina, first went on the air for testing on 5 May 1950, both an important Mexican civic holiday and Angie‟s birthday.77 For the next three weeks, Felix and his team tried out their equipment for a few hours every day.78 The Pasadena Citizen ran a full-page advertisement on 25 May 1950, announcing that the town‟s “new and only radio station” would hold an “official dedication and open house” on the weekend of 27 and 28 May.79 KLVL inaugurated its main offices, located on the second floor of the

Pasadena State Bank building, that Saturday, and its Latin American quarters, in

Houston‟s Second Ward, on the following day. Indeed, many businesses based in

Houston wished to advertise on KLVL airwaves but found the trip to Pasadena to place

John J. Herrera Collection and Box 5, Folder 7 in the Felix H. Morales Collection; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

76 Marie Ball to Felix H. Morales, 18 November 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12.

77 The FCC approved the assignment of the “KLVL” call letters a month after it granted Felix‟s petition. See D.F. Prince to Felix H. Morales, 22 December 1949, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 12.

78 “KLVL Pasadena: Official Dedication and Open House,” Pasadena Citizen clipping, 25 May 1950, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

79 Ibid.

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their orders troublesome. For this reason, Felix and Angie acquired approval from the

FCC to open a secondary location in Houston dedicated to the Spanish-language programming of the station. 80 A successful real-estate investor, Felix had purchased land on Canal Street, also in the Second Ward, in 1947, and he and Angie quickly built a studio, several control rooms, and offices there.81 The Pasadena Citizen article pointed out that while the central office was decorated “in modern trend,” the Houston site boasted a “Latin American theme.”82 In this way, the Moraleses established a clear bicultural identity for the station. They were able to link KLVL both to Pasadena‟s community and to its exponentially bigger neighbor, thereby ensuring that their business network had the potential to cover the entire metropolitan area.

From the very beginning, the Moraleses sought to market KLVL as a medium that would tend to Houstonians‟ needs. As early as 1946, when Felix first applied for a license with the FCC, a Houston Chronicle article quoted him promising that his radio station would serve the Houston community by helping lower the rates of delinquency among Mexican-origin residents.83 Felix argued that that portion of the population had

80 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

81 Ibid. Under FCC rules, KLVL could broadcast 51 to 52% of its programming from Pasadena and the rest from Houston. Moreover, Felix and Angie lived at 2901 Canal Street and purchased land at 2903 Canal Street, where the KLVL studios were located. See H. Catchman to Felix H. Morales, 27 January 1947, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 7.

82 Ibid.

83 Felix cited his friend Raúl Cortez‟s station in San Antonio, KCOR, as an example of a radio station that could act as a powerful bridge between Anglos and Mexican-origin people and that successfully contributed to lower rates of delinquency among San Antonio‟s Mexican-origin residents. See “Houstonian Seeking Spanish Radio Station,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 November 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; “Radio Station Is Planned Here for Latin Americans,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 November 1946, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

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been deprived of a recreational and news outlet, which fueled racial tensions and misunderstanding between Anglos and them. A Spanish-language station offering

“lessons in English and in citizenship,” he hoped, would help Anglo-Mexican relations in

Houston and would uplift the city‟s Mexican-origin population as a whole.84 Four years later, on its first official airing date, KLVL cast itself as a friend and supporter of the local economy as well. A much-anticipated tunnel running beneath the ship channel between Houston and Pasadena opened on 27 May 1950. KLVL covered the event in its first remote broadcast from the Pasadena end of the tunnel, where several local and state personalities gave speeches.85 From its very first day, the station thus anchored itself in

Houston‟s and Pasadena‟s economic and cultural lives.

Nonetheless, the early years proved challenging for Felix and Angie. While

Felix‟s passion for his station never abated, his and Angie‟s lack of experience running such a business led to some difficulties, primarily with generating advertising income. In fact, the first month on the air might have been the most trying time because their two most important employees betrayed their trust. A. Brooke Carroll, a former program director and production manager of KPRC, a well-known radio station in Houston, had joined KLVL to act as its program manager. Charles Belfi, who hailed from San

Antonio, became the station‟s general manager and was also in charge of selling

84 “Radio Station Is Planned Here for Latin Americans,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 November 1946.

85 A remote broadcast is conducted away from a radio station‟s regular studios. It is also called a remote-control broadcast. “ KLVL Pasadena: Official Dedication and Open House,” Pasadena Citizen clipping, 25 May 1950, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; “KLVL 10 Years Old; Has Birthday Party,” unspecified newspaper clipping, May 1960 (no day specified), Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

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advertisement slots. Both men had extensive experience with the broadcasting business and held pivotal roles in helping turn KLVL into a profitable business.86 By 1950, Felix had developed what he deemed an especially strong relationship with Belfi, whom he had hired for the position as early as 1947, despite the reservations of one of his lawyers. 87

Moreover, Belfi had shown deep enthusiasm for Felix‟s mission to use the station as a means to “cement Latin-American relations in Houston,” as he had expressed to Felix in one letter in 1947.88 Felix and Angie, however, averted a major disaster by discovering the true intentions of the two men as early as the summer of 1950.

Angie saved KLVL from bankruptcy by happenstance. Indeed, she recounted that she was fond of her tape recorder and inadvertently left it running in a drawer of her dining room table one Sunday morning. As Belfi and Carroll both visited the Moraleses‟ home that day, they found themselves alone in the room and openly expressed their confidence that their strategy of not selling airtime to advertisers would lead Felix to, in

86 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; “KLVL Pasadena: Official Dedication and Open House,” Pasadena Citizen clipping, 25 May 1950, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

87 Charles Belfi to Felix H. Morales, 28 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; John J. Herrera to D.F. Prince, 31 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 1 April 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; John J. Herrera to D.F. Prince, 4 April 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; Charles Belfi‟s employment contract, 10 May 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1. D.F. Prince, the Washington D.C. lawyer who oversaw Felix‟s dealings with the FCC, once asked in a letter discussing Belfi‟s qualifications, “If this man is a top-notch radio executive, why is he available now?” John J. Herrera explained that Felix had fully investigated Belfi and found him strongly qualified to be his general manager. Yet, by 1947, Belfi was not employed at a radio station and held a temporary job at the War Surplus Board in San Antonio. Belfi, however, claimed that he had been in the radio business for twenty-one years. See John J. Herrera to D.F. Prince, 31 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; D.F. Prince to John J. Herrera, 1 April 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; “KLVL Pasadena: Official Dedication and Open House,” Pasadena Citizen clipping, 25 May 1950, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.

88 Charles Belfi to Felix H. Morales, 28 March 1947, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1.

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Angie‟s words, “sell them the station for five cents on the dollar.”89 The Moraleses confronted them immediately with the incriminating evidence, and both promptly left, but only after Belfi demanded financial compensation. Because his contract ran until

1957, Angie had to borrow money from a friend to pay off Belfi. Fortunately, the two unscrupulous men ceased working at the station.90

With no experienced manager and program director to run the station, Felix and

Angie had to take the reins and learn the trade by themselves in the first few months of

KLVL‟s airtime. Filling out logs, which FCC rules mandated, turned out to be one of the most puzzling parts of the job for Angie. Because every single program and public service announcement that was scheduled to air had to be transcribed ahead of time and filed with the FCC, she found the technical aspects of logging perplexing.91 Angie wrote the logs herself for the first six months, but later admitted that she did not always perform the task properly.92 They soon employed a man she trained as KLVL‟s logging specialist and took caution to call their lawyer thereafter whenever they needed advice.93 But learning the administrative ropes did not prove enough to turn KLVL into a lucrative venture.

89 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

90 Ibid. The sum of money that the Moraleses owed Belfi is specified neither in his employment contract nor in Angie‟s interview.

91 Ibid.

92 Ibid.

93 Ibid. KLVL‟s first logging specialist was named Juan García and stayed with the station for ten years. Angie did not mention their lawyer by name, but one might presume that John J. Herrera continued to provide the Moraleses with legal counsel since he and Felix were close friends.

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Advertising has always been the financial engine of radio stations, and KLVL had great difficulties securing enough spots to pay its bills and employees, let alone generate a profit. For the first four years, the handful of announcers who worked at KLVL also acted as salesmen, but because they lacked the skills to attract customers, the advertising revenue remained scant. Moreover, contrary to their original intentions, Felix and Angie decided to provide the majority of their programs in the English language since Pasadena had few Spanish-speaking residents in the early 1950s. By doing so, they hoped to tap into the business community‟s need for advertisement. Nevertheless, as Angie later explained, the town‟s Anglo residents did not provide enough advertising income for the station to become financially viable, and only local companies bought airtime from

KLVL.94 Thus, even though the Morales Funeral Home had become a successful business by the early 1950s, Felix and Angie were still burdened with great debt, which they struggled to pay back.95 A change in programming and a new and successful sales strategy, however, would soon help turn KLVL‟s fortunes around.

94 Ibid; Julio E. García, “KLVL celebra su 34 aniversario y el cumpleaños del jefazo Felix H. Morales,” El Sol, 30 May 1984, 1, 2. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

95 By 1952, the worth of the Morales Funeral Home was estimated at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. For KLVL‟s second birthday, the Moraleses advertised in the local press that they had spent forty thousand dollars for renovations of the funeral home. They added new rooms, two new chapels, and the facilities now boasted air conditioning. After the Moraleses acquired KLVL, their adopted son, Joe, became the funeral home director. Joe also was a popular announcer on KLVL. See Mary Beck, “In 1931: Minus $150… But Today It‟s Plus $150,000!” Houston Press clipping, 3 May 1952, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 1, n.p.; “The Morales Interests Celebrate 2nd Anniversary of KLVL Radio Station, Pasadena,” Houston Press clipping, 3 May 1952, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 8.

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“La madre de los mexicanos:” KLVL Becomes a Popular Radio Station, 1954- 1979 Generating Revenue: A Priority

Even though KLVL was broadcasting to 100,000 listeners throughout twelve

Texas counties in the early 1950s, Felix and Angie knew that the lack of advertising revenue, coupled with the debt they had acquired during their struggles with the FCC in the late 1940s, would lead them to bankruptcy unless they made some drastic changes.96

To that effect, they decided to switch KLVL to a mostly Spanish-language format and hired skilled staff for their advertising department.

Since the station‟s inception, the Moraleses had opened accessible offices in

Houston to ensure that potential advertisers from the city could easily purchase airtime.

By 1952, Felix and Angie had realized that Houston‟s business community had a strong interest in advertising its services to the Mexican-origin population, and that customers would be more receptive if the publicity were delivered in their mother tongue. Thus, the station gradually switched to Spanish-language programming. Angie recalled that by the mid-1950s, they “had so much demand that [they] had to gradually increase [their]

Spanish time to where [their] format … [was] about eighty percent Spanish.”97 Because the FCC license stipulated that KLVL operated out of Pasadena, not Houston, Felix and

Angie made sure that slightly more than half of their shows originated from the Pasadena

96 Ibid.

97 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

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studios.98 The transformation of KLVL into a station that prioritized Spanish-language broadcasting resulted in a moderate growth in advertising revenue, but by 1954, the station was still not generating a profit.

The arrival of Johnny Hernández that year, however, changed the station‟s future in a notable manner. Hernández, also a native of Texas, came to Angie one day and asked for a job. Two weeks after she had hired him, he convinced her to let him work as a salesman in KLVL‟s advertising department, where he would feel more comfortable than on the air.99 Almost immediately, Hernández brought in more customers thanks to his amiable character and disciplined work ethic. He quickly became the man behind the inner workings of KLVL, and his role in saving the station from bankruptcy cannot be understated.100 By the mid-1950s, he had managed to recruit a number of small and medium-size local businesses as advertising customers. Beauty parlors, barbershops, music, furniture, and grocery stores all found KLVL a highly convenient public platform to reach Mexican-origin listeners. The station also offered the cheapest advertising spots on radio in the city at that time, which enhanced its appeal to small businesses and

98 Ibid. The FCC only required that over fifty percent of KLVL‟s programming emit from Pasadena, but it let the Moraleses decide the proportion of Spanish-language shows they preferred to broadcast.

99 Ibid.

100 Even though Johnny Hernández continued to work full time at KLVL, he became a highly successful businessman of his own. He started as the impresario of Antony Aguilar, a famous Mexican actor, producer, and writer, in the late 1960s. He also ran his own advertising and public relations agency in Houston and promoted artistic and sports events. He was a member of most prominent Mexican American cultural and civic organizations in Houston. See KLVL advertisement, La Prensa, 11 October 1978, 3; “Personalidad de la semana,” La Prensa, 16 November 1978, 4; Carlos Alberto Novoa, “Entrevista de la semana,” El Sol, 9 September 1981, 3, 6; Juan Vega, “Ondas AM… y otras más,” El Sol, 29 September 1982, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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minority entrepreneurs.101 Hernández would ensure KLVL‟s continued financial success through the 1980s and acted as Felix‟s right hand until Felix‟s death. Indeed, two decades after hiring him, Felix ran an open letter in Johnny‟s own newspaper, La Vida

Latina, calling him his personal “Santa” and thanking him warmly for his key role in placing the Mexican-origin people at the center of the broadcasting scene.102 Felix fondly acknowledged Johnny‟s contributions to KLVL‟s success, recalling that, “when there was no Latin Voice” in Houston, KLVL “gave everybody a run for their money in the communication media,” and forced its radio competitors to “hand … out pie in the sky to the forgotten „Meskin.‟”103 Yet, despite Hernández„s best efforts and his success at recruiting a growing pool of customers in his first years of employment, KLVL did not generate enough revenue to help Felix and Angie meet their monthly expenses and retire their debt right away. The Moraleses thus took the third decisive step that would help their radio station stay alive and prosper.

In 1955, Felix and Angie followed their lawyer‟s advice and hired a firm that could secure advertising contracts with national corporations.104 They chose National

Times Sales, which had offices in New York, Illinois, and California.105 In order to

101 By the mid-1950s, advertising time on KLVL cost only three to five dollars. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; (Houston, TX) KTBY-TV, Channel 55, “The Story Behind KLVL and the Morales Family,” television documentary, 8 April 2010, http://www.myhoustons55.com/_The-Story-Behind-KLVL-and-the-Morales- Family/video/977726/38668.html, accessed 20 April 2010.

102 Felix H. Morales, open letter to Johnny P. Hernández, La Vida Latina en Houston, January 1977, n.p.

103 Ibid.

104 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

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inform the National Times Sales representative about the activities of KLVL in the

Houston metropolitan area, Angie gathered newspaper clippings into scrapbooks that reflected the importance of Mexican-origin radio audiences for marketing agencies.

Coca-Cola, Zest, Colgate, Procter and Gamble, and a wide array of food companies signed on right away. Angie explained the turnaround in their advertising revenue as follows:

Then, the agencies had not heard about KLVL because there had never been a need to know about KLVL. As a matter of fact, the Latin Americans were not known in the agencies. … They [the agencies] thought all they had to do was try to sell to the blacks and the Anglos, and the Latin Americans were not worthy of even catering to because there were not that many… I suppose the agencies began to realize that there was a potential for their products here among the Latins.106

In light of the national firms‟ indifference to, or ignorance of, the purchasing power of

Spanish speakers in the United States, the Moraleses also offered to translate advertisements for their clients in order to boost the performance of KLVL‟s sales department. Johnny Hernández usually volunteered his services and received many praises for his work, much like the following:

We particularly appreciate the quick, sure, and sharp way you translate our copy into Spanish. It is a real relief to be able to leave that part up to your station and to know that you get it into Spanish without losing any of the flavor, punch and power.107

105 By 1979, National Times Sales was still working with KLVL. Untitled newspaper clippings, 1959 (no day or month specified), Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 5, n.p.; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

106 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

107 Irma Faerber to John Hernández, 2 July 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13. For another letter expressing gratitude for Hernández‟s translation services, see David G. Ritchie to John Hernández, 15 December 1960, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 14. 152

KLVL acted as a powerful medium that linked a variety of industries to a new pool of customers. Moreover, the station‟s philosophy on advertising costs emphasized charging low prices for all companies, regardless of their size. That strategy ensured that small, local, and minority-owned businesses had the same chance to broadcast their services as large national firms.108 Hernández and the Moraleses thus accomplished what the organizers of the Fiestas Patrias realized on a different public platform later: they made corporations “hand out pie in the sky” to Houston‟s Mexicans and Mexican Americans, as Felix put it in 1977, at a time when Latinos were anything but a serious consideration for marketing agencies.

KLVL’s Format

By the late 1950s, KLVL boasted one-quarter million listeners, a number that remained constant through the 1970s.109 Its non-directional antenna first beamed throughout twelve counties, and gradually reached nineteen, with a radius of one hundred miles.110 The station played the two most popular styles of music among its Mexican

108 “Reportaje gráfico de El Sol de Houston,” El Sol, 19 August 1981, 4. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

109 “KLVL 10 Years Old; Has Birthday Party,” unspecified newspaper clipping, 1960 (unspecified day and month), Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979. In a 1973 interview, KLVL‟s program director, Joe Morales, estimated that their potential audience amounted to 450,000. The scarce primary evidence available for the 1970s, however, suggests that the station had one-quarter million listeners. See Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD).

110 “The Morales Interests Celebrate 2nd Anniversary of KLVL Radio Station, Pasadena,” Houston Press clipping, 3 May 1952, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 8; “Pasadena Station Time Unlimited,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 12 February 1953, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; “KLVL Gets Full Time Grant,” Houston Press clipping, 12 February 1953, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD); Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979. 153

American audience, norteño (accordion- and bajo sexto-based (sixth bass) music from northern Mexico) and ranchera rhythms (ranch-style Mexican music).111 It also offered a platform for local Mexican American musicians to advertise their services through radio announcements and to become known by performing shows on the air. For instance, two popular bands in Houston, Eloy Pérez and the Latinaires and Alonzo y sus rancheros appeared frequently on the station in the 1950s and 1960s.112 The Mexican and Tejano musical scenes had finally found a medium through which they could receive greater exposure and could play a more public role in the cultural life of the Gulf Coast.

Because the Moraleses, in particular Angie, were deeply religious, KLVL also featured many programs that catered to the Catholic, Lutheran, and Baptist faiths.113

Every day of the week at noon, broadcasting was interrupted for the angelus, and

A non-directional antenna emits 360 degrees. Felix obtained permission from the FCC to broadcast at nighttime in 1953, which enabled the station to bring Spanish-language news, music, and educational programs to more Mexican-origin communities scattered across the Houston metropolitan area and beyond. By 1973, KLVL broadcast its programs from Victoria, southwest of Houston, to Beaumont, northwest of the city and also reached Galveston.

111 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; “Reportaje gráfico de El Sol de Houston,” El Sol, 19 August 1981, 4. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. For further reading on music and Mexican American culture, see Manuel H. Peña, The Texas-Mexican Conjunto: History of a Working-Class Music, Mexican American Monograph, no. 9 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985) and Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., Tejano Proud: Tex-Mex Music in the Twentieth Century, Texas A & M International University Fronteras Series, no. 1 (College Station: Texas A & M University, 2002).

112 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Paul, Eloy, and Richard Pérez Oral History Collection, 29 January 1981, HMRC; Kreneck, Del Pueblo, 119, 143, 147. The Frank and Ventura Alonzo Collection and Eloy Pérez Family Collection are also available at the HMRC.

113 More research is needed to determine the popularity and nature of religious programs on other radio stations in the Houston area in the time period this chapter examines. See Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; Dale Lezon, “Rev. Harry Green, 89, Founder of Mission,” Houston Chronicle, 6 December 2001, 42 (A).

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religious shows populated KLVL‟s Sunday‟s schedule.114 The well-known civil rights activist and editor of El Sol, Reverend James Novarro, hosted one of the most popular programs. “La hora bautista” (The Baptist Hour), which discussed issues related to spirituality, family, and self-betterment, gained such popularity that it ran daily for over twenty years.115 By including conversations about religion and opening its airwaves to several Christian denominations, KLVL fostered religious diversity and cast itself as a spiritual medium.

La voz latina strove to offer a broad array of shows to its listeners and therefore did not limit its broadcasts to music or religious themes. Joe Morales, Angie and Felix‟s adopted son, acted as program manager of the station from 1954 until his death in

1979.116 In this capacity, he ensured that KLVL‟s format covered as many of their

114 The Oxford dictionary defines the angelus as “a Roman Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation, said at morning, noon, and sunset.” Marion Zientek, “He Hoped; His Wife Prayed; It Happened,” The Texas Catholic Herald clipping, 27 September 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 10; KLVL Schedule, El Sol, 11 April 1969, 4; “Reportaje gráfico de El Sol de Houston,” El Sol, 19 August 1981, 4; “KLVL 1480 AM Radio: A History of Service to the Hispanic Community,” KLVL radio website, http://klvl1480.com/5.html., accessed 12 April 2010. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

115 “Lynn Montgomery Named Father of the Year,” El Sol, 14 June 1968, 1; “Cherloc Holmes el detective amistoso,” El Sol, 18 October 1968, 8; “Listen to „La hora bautista‟” advertisement, El Sol, 20 December 1968, 2; “Hora bautista Anniversary,” El Sol, 4 December 1970, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. Advertisements and articles about the show stopped appearing in El Sol by the late 1970s, but further research is needed to know whether the program kept running on KLVL in the 1980s or not.

116 Joe was born in Houston in 1928 and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Martinez, who were very close friends with the Moraleses. Joe had one brother and six sisters. Felix and Angie took care of him and one of his sisters, Juanita, in order to help their parents since they had no child of their own. Juanita left when she was a teenager, but Joe considered Felix and Angie his parents and had an excellent rapport with them throughout his life. He became an embalmer in the 1940s and asked the Moraleses to formally adopt him upon his departure for the Korean War, in which he served as a technical sergeant in communications until 1953. He became KLVL‟s program director in 1954 and also worked as the director of the Morales Funeral Home until his death in 1979. Joe counted among the first Mexican American impresarios in Houston. He successfully brought scores of famous artists and singers to the Coliseum and the Music Hall in Houston and also invited many of them to give interviews on KLVL. By all press accounts available, 155

listeners‟ interests as possible. The station featured movie reviews, poetry readings, weekly LULAC news, history programs on important Mexican civic holidays, talk shows, political debates, presentations on outdoors sports, and hurricane updates, all of which attracted significant audiences.117 KLVL‟s live coverage of baseball, football, and soccer games also enjoyed great popularity.118 The station thus provided the broadest platform for entertainment and information to which the Spanish-speaking population of the Gulf Coast had ever had access.

Joe was a loving and generous man and was very active in the social and civic life of the Mexican American community of Houston, very much in the mold of his adoptive parents. He was admired by Houstonians of all stripes. His children were still running the Morales Funeral Home through 2010. See Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; George Carmack, “Meet These Fine People… Felix, Angie, and Joe,” Houston Press clipping, 8 June 1963, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 4; unnamed and undated newspaper clipping, Felix H. Morales Collection, no box or folder; “Morales Death Notice,” Houston Post, 10 May 1979, n.p.; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 10 May 1979, 5; “Falleció Joe Morales,” El Sol, 10 May 1979, 1; Dr. José P. Mederos, “Recordando a Joe Morales,” El Mexica, 10 May 1979, n.p.; Lumiers, “Usted… y otros más,” El Sol, 18 September 1985, n.p.; Joe Morales, résumé, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2; Joe Morales, résumé, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. For the website of the Morales Funeral Home, see http://www.moralesfuneralhome.com/index.cfm, accessed 27 April 2010.

117 John J. Herrera to Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 30 July 1951, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 4, Folder 1; “Belles of the Ball,” Houston Press clipping, 30 March 1953, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Ann Hodges, “Mexicans Observe Independence Day,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1954, 14 (A); “Self-Help Programs Replace His Dream,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 4 October 1967, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 3, 5 (6); “Meet Joe Villarreal, Philco Dealer,” El Sol, 7 March 1969, 4; KLVL Schedule, El Sol, 11 April 1969, 4; William Gutierrez, résumé, 1970, William (Canales) Gutierrez Collection, Box 6, Folder 10, HMRC; “César Chávez with Johnny P. Hernández,” photograph caption, La Vida Latina en Houston, May 1975, n.p.; “Un programa muy gustado,” El Sol, 7 April 1977, n.p.; “Se comenta en Houston,” El Sol, 2 December 1981, 3, 15; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: cine, radio y televisión,” El Sol, 24 August 1983, 5; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: cine, radio y televisión,” El Sol, 4 April 1984, 4. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

118 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; “Area Grid Games to Be Aired Over KLVL Radio—1480,” La Vida Latina en Houston, September 1974, 9; Juan Vega, “Experimentado locutor y promotor se queda en Houston,” El Sol, 18 November 1981, n.p.; “Se comenta en Houston y más alla,” El Sol, 9 December 1981, 3, 7; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: cine, radio y televisión,” El Sol, 29 February 1984, 4, 5; KLVL advertisement for a football game, El Sol, 4 December 1985, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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Serving People’s Needs

From the early 1950s through the 1970s, Felix and Angie donated significant amounts of airtime to public service announcements.119 Many city, state, and federal departments found KLVL a convenient vehicle to inform city residents about their activities. Some programs, like the projection in a downtown theater of a documentary in

Spanish about breast cancer prevention, targeted the Hispanic community in particular, but many others, such as immunization campaigns, concerned the entire population.120

KLVL offered public service to agencies working on issues as varied as heart disease, highway safety, emergency shelters, fire prevention, unemployment relief, and public housing, among many others.121 Because it lent a voice to associations and public

119 The Morales collection does not include documents from the 1980s because Angie made her donations to the HMRC‟s archives in the late 1970s. Based on the overwhelming amount of evidence of KLVL‟s sustained involvement with public service announcements, however, one might infer that the Moraleses continued to offer their airwaves for such assistance through the 1980s. Nevertheless, it is also quite possible that the emergence of new Spanish-language stations in Houston in the early 1980s caused such announcements to be further spread out between their various airwaves, depending on their audiences. There are no archival records for the other Spanish-language stations in Houston in the 1980s, save for newspaper articles, thus it is difficult for the researcher to gauge correctly.

120 Robert Macintyre, president of the American Cancer Society, to Mr. and Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 1 May 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Elizabeth Sherwood and Mary Forbed, Young Women‟s Christian Organization, 11 May 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Albert Randall, director of the Department of Public Health of the City of Houston, to Joe Morales, 23 June 1971, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 15.

121 Thomas McDonnell, chairman of the National Radio Committee of the American Heart Association, to Felix H. Morales, 31 December 1951, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Rosa Bradbury, chairwoman of the Emergency Relief Committee for Cancer Patients‟ Aid, to Felix H. Morales, 1 October 1956, Maria Reyna Collection, Box 1, Folder 24; Price Daniel, Governor of Texas, official memorandum for KLVL‟s contribution towards the 1958 traffic safety campaign, 24 March 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 18; Glenn Lively, director of public relations for the American Red Cross, to Felix H. Morales, 28 June 1960, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 14; Jack Westney, manager of the business services of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, to Felix H. Morales, 15 October 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 15; Felix H. Morales to Jack Westney, 18 October 1968, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 15; Moses LeRoy, chairman of the Model Neighborhood Resident Commission, to Felix H. Morales, 21 July 1971, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 15; A.L. Gruhlkey, district director of the Texas Employment Commission, to Felix H. Morales, 24 August 1972, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 15. For the complete documentation of KLVL‟s public 157

officials that aimed to foster awareness about the assistance and services available to all ethnic groups, La voz latina acted as a channel for important interaction between different segments of the Houston community. Such an approach to broadcasting enhanced the

Moraleses‟ reputation as outstanding Houstonians who sought to foster better relations among the city‟s growing multicultural population in the 1960s and 1970s.

While KLVL partly built its image on its generous airtime for public service announcements, two of its core Spanish-language programs aimed to lend a hand to the most destitute Mexican-origin people. “Que Dios se lo pague” (May the Lord Repay

You) began in the early 1950s and aired weekly.122 Angie created this show in order to assist the poor in raising money to solve particular problems. Those in need wrote to her or came to the station to explain their misfortune on the air. Within hours of exposing their plight to listeners, dozens of sympathizers dropped by the studios to give whatever they could afford, usually in dimes and quarters. Angie always succeeded in collecting the necessary funds, whether they were intended for a bus ticket for an unemployed person to return to Mexico or for more serious issues, such as helping a family whose home had burned to the ground and who had lost several loved ones in the fire.123 One of the program‟s most publicized efforts dealt with the devastating flooding of the Rio

Grande that took many lives and left thousands homeless in southern Texas and northern

service, see Box 5, Folder 5; Box 9, Folders 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18; and Box 13, Folders 2 and 13 of the Felix H. Morales Collection.

122 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Mary Ann Harris, no title, unspecified newspaper clipping, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 5, n.p.

123 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; Bill Porterfield, “Burned-Out Family,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 11 February 1960, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p. 158

Mexico in 1954. After hearing about the dire needs for emergency supplies on both sides of the border, Angie partnered with Reverend Novarro to call upon Houstonians to donate clothing, relief packages, and money. Within a few hours, Anglos and Mexican-origin people alike swarmed KLVL studios with their contributions. Novarro pleaded with a local trucking company to lend five of its trucks in order to drive one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds of provisions to Laredo and Eagle Pass. The operation also gathered ten thousand dollars to help the victims who found themselves without homes after the flood. This campaign had such an impact on the relief effort that Adolfo Ruiz

Cortines, the President of Mexico, later appeared on KLVL to thank Houstonians for their generosity.124 By rallying all segments of the population to the cause of American and Mexican citizens, KLVL gained citywide recognition for its role as a bridge between

Anglos and Mexican-origin people, not only in the metropolitan area but also across the

State of Texas. Throughout the decades, “Que Dios se lo pague” continued to assist countless Mexican-origin individuals and families and helped build KLVL‟s image as a station that fostered cooperation and compassion.125

124 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; photograph captions, Houston Press clipping, 7 July 1954, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Alejandro Martínez to Felix Morales, 8 July 1954, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; “Los mexicanos de Houston ayudan a los damnificados,” La Prensa clipping, 11 July 1954, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Salvador Zavala, “VII Aniversario de la difusora KLVL de Houston, Texas,” La Prensa clipping, 26 May 1957, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; “Quien es quien en Houston,” La Gráfica clipping, undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 2, n.p.; Juan Francisco Hernández, “Corrido del Río Grande,” undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 5; Juan Francisco Hernández to Mr. and Mrs. Morales, undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

125 For the many other good deeds that the show accomplished, see Mary Ann Harris, no title, unnamed newspaper clipping, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 5, n.p.; Sigman Byrd, “In a World of Darkness, Lazaro Perez Finds a Light to Show the Way to a Shining New Hope,” Houston Press clipping, 30 May 1953, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 5; Bill Porterfield, “Burned-Out Family,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 11 February 1960, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 159

While Angie claimed “Que Dios se lo pague” as her personal creation directed at the poor, Felix saw the difficulties that his Mexican-origin brethren faced with unemployment and devised an innovative and practical program that linked employers and job seekers daily. In 1954, “Yo necesito trabajo” (I Need a Job) came on the air and became so successful that it lasted well into the 1980s.126 The show provided Mexicans and Mexican Americans with work every day throughout the metropolitan area. In the morning, employers called KLVL about the various positions that were open and for which they needed laborers. The station‟s staff then paired each offer with the most qualified person present in the studios that day. The program gained broad popularity rather quickly because the matchmaking cost neither party any money since KLVL offered the service free of charge.127 Over the years, “Yo necesito trabajo” became “the pride of the station,” as its program director put it in the 1980s, because it helped an under-skilled population that typically suffered from unemployment rates higher than the national average find remuneration, even for a day.128 Moreover, the Mexican-origin men and women who gained employment through this program secured long-term job n.p.; “Blind Boy Makes Piano Tinkle Due to „Que Dios se lo pague‟,” Houston Press clipping, 6 June 1960, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 9; Domingo Segovia Mata to Radio Station KLVL, 3 September 1975, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2.

126 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979; “Radio Dial,” Houston Post, 14 September 1981, 6 (B); Juan Vega, “Yo necesito trabajo,” El Sol, 24 March 1982, 7 (2); Bob Grace, “Houston Station Lists Job Openings for City‟s Minorities,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 20 November 1982, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 11 (3); “Yo necesito trabajo,” El Sol, 9 July 1986, 2; Lori Rodríguez, “Immigration, the Golden Door: „This Is No Gift Horse:‟ Illegal Aliens and Their Attorneys Wary of New Immigration Bill,” Houston Chronicle, 19 October 1986, 1 (1). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

127 Ibid.

128 Bob Grace, “Houston Station Lists Job Openings for City‟s Minorities,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 20 November 1982, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 11 (3).

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contracts on many occasions.129 Like “Que Dios se lo pague,” this broadcast came to be the station‟s flagship show because it provided assistance to the needy and unemployed among a population who otherwise enjoyed little access to welfare and vocational services. These two programs thus reflected Felix and Angie‟s longstanding belief in giving back to those in a lower station in life.

The existence of a Spanish-language station in Houston also fostered linguistic exchange among Houstonians. Indeed, many Anglos enjoyed listening to KLVL because its announcers, who hailed either from Texas or Mexico, “pronounced every syllable distinctly and correctly and did not go too fast,” as one grateful Anglo listener once wrote to Felix.130 Angie also received requests for scripts of the publicity that came on the air from learners of Spanish who wished to read the text at home while the station was broadcasting the advertising spots.131 Such services enhanced the level of contact between English and Spanish speakers throughout the metropolitan area. Additionally,

KLVL became the first radio station in the Gulf Coast region to pioneer a simultaneous news broadcast on both the television and its airwaves. It partnered with Channel 2,

129 Hernan Escalante to “I Need a Job” program,” 12 August 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Eric Frame to KLVL, 8 September 1959, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Juan Vega, “Yo necesito trabajo,” El Sol, 24 March 1982, 7 (2); “Yo necesito trabajo,” El Sol, 9 July 1986, 2; Lori Rodríguez, “Immigration, the Golden Door: „This Is No Gift Horse:‟ Illegal Aliens and Their Attorneys Wary of New Immigration Bill,” Houston Chronicle, 19 October 1986, 1 (1). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

130 Russell Bosworth to KLVL‟s general manager, 10 March 1975, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2. For other letters from Anglos who expressed gratitude for KLVL‟s Spanish programming, see V. W. Uher, Jr. to Radio KLVL, 25 January 1969, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 14; Granville E. Cassill to Felix Morales, 29 June 1961, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 14.

131 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

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KPRC, and arranged for the news‟ script to be sent to KLVL studios where a Mexican

American announcer read it as the program appeared on television screens every night at

10 pm.132 Alex Sánchez, KLVL‟s translator, explained that such an exercise proved difficult because he came into possession of the script fifteen minutes before the scheduled airing and only knew what the anchormen would say.133 Having no text for the weather and sports sections, he had to translate directly. Yet, Sánchez was conscious of his role as “the only link many Hispanics … [had] with the news” and spoke in the

“international, standard Spanish dialect” so that Spanish speakers from all regions of

Latin America could understand him.134 Angie later expressed great satisfaction with the program because it helped inform Spanish speakers, some of whom were illiterate, about daily and world news.135 Sánchez also likely remained mindful that many Anglos used the simulcast to hone their linguistic skills and that standard Spanish made their apprenticeship easier. The Moraleses‟ sensitivity towards the needs of their diverse audience thus made KLVL a unique broadcasting tool that both served the Spanish- speaking population of the Gulf Coast area and linked residents who might otherwise not

132 Ibid; “Ahora puede escuchar y ver las noticias en el canal 2,” advertisement, El Sol, 3 February 1977, 5; “On the Dial,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 February 1977, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 8 (2); Richard Vara, “Sánchez‟ Simulcast Link to Hispanics,” Houston Post clipping, 7 August 1977, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 4 (B). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

133 Richard Vara, “Sanchez‟ Simulcast Link to Hispanics,” Houston Post clipping, 7 August 1977, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 4 (B).

134 Ibid.

135 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979. KLAT, a rival Spanish- language radio station, took over this program in 1983 for reasons unspecified in the archival records. Its simulcast‟s advertisement, however, did not offer any explanation on how Spanish speakers should proceed to hear the program, which suggests that the simulcast had become a widely used service by the 1980s. See La Tremenda advertisement, El Sol, 23 November 1983, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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have encountered one another daily.

Financial Success and Giving Back

As KLVL gradually established its reputation as a caregiver to the Mexican community and a medium that fostered greater contact between Anglos and people of

Mexican origin, financial success rewarded Felix‟s and Angie‟s efforts at last. The second half of the 1950s slowly brought in a higher monthly income, though expenses to keep the station running and outstanding debts still prevented it from generating a profit for the Moraleses. By the early 1960s, however, KLVL yielded about twenty thousand dollars per month, and its earnings continued to expand at a steady rate until the 1980s.136

Its monopoly of the Spanish-language airwaves ensured that its faithful audience and the flow of immigrants from Mexico and the rest of Latin America to the Houston area combined to sustain the station‟s popularity.

In the late 1960s, Angie and Felix struck it rich. They were deep into the radio business, running both KLVL-AM and its FM counterpart, which Felix had obtained in the early years of that decade. Yet, this newest acquisition failed to generate any profit, and Felix sold it for three to four times more than what he had paid for it in 1968.137 The

Moraleses, who were avid hunters and anglers, invested the money from the sale into a

600-acre ranch at Three Rivers, in McMullen County, southwest of Houston.138 While

136 Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979.

137 Ibid. In her oral history interview, Angie did not provide a specific date for Felix‟s acquisition of KLVL-FM in the 1960s, but she did specify that it took place in the early years of the decade.

138 Julio F. García, “ KLVL celebra su 34 aniversario y el cumpleaños del jefazo Felix H. Morales,” El Sol, 30 May 1984, 1, 2. This is the only interview in which Angie talked about their ranch and its mineral wealth. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. 163

initially reluctant to allow drilling experiments on the land, Felix followed his neighbors‟ encouragements and found that their property held vast amounts of oil and mineral resources.139 Such a discovery made them millionaires relatively quickly and allowed them to spend an increasing amount of time at the ranch, occasionally running remote broadcasts from the retreat.140

As soon as KLVL and their ranch started yielding financial returns, the Moraleses began donating large sums of money to various causes, thus furthering their reputation as philanthropists. They contributed to national organizations that focused on health issues, especially the American Cancer Society, for which they also performed a significant amount of public service on KLVL.141 The biggest beneficiaries of the Moraleses‟ generosity, however, were the youth. Because Felix had received little education as the tenth child of a widowed mother, he felt that helping to provide access to cultural centers and secondary and higher education would enable teenagers and young adults to avoid the difficult times that he himself had endured as a child. While he and Angie acted as the benefactors of many Mexican-origin students, Felix also insisted on assisting youths of all ethnic backgrounds. A letter to the head of the Pasadena Council of Parent-Teacher

139 Ibid.

140 “Se comenta en Houston… y más alla,” El Sol, 2 December 1981, 3, 15; Richard Vara, “Morales Beams Español to Radioland,” Houston Post clipping, 5 August 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, 6 (DD). The translation from Spanish to English is mine. The Moraleses shared their oil dividends with KLVL staff in 1982, awarding bonus checks of five thousand dollars to the longest-employed. This generous gesture made the front page of El Sol on 4 August 1982.

141 Felix H. Morales to Pasadena Salvation Army, 25 December 1970, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; American Cancer Society to Felix H. Morales, 31 December 1970, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Felix. H. Morales to American Cancer Society, 27 December 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 9; James Keesy to Mr. and Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 10 June 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 17.

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Association, written in 1976, clearly summarized his concerns about the restrictions that social class all too often placed on access to education. After being asked whether he wished for his one-thousand-dollar donation to the school‟s scholarship fund to benefit

Mexican-origin students, Felix answered:

It has never been my intention that the fund I sent you might just apply to the Mexican or Latin pupils. I think it is fair that … [you give] scholarships to the most outstanding pupils who may need of this fund, be they Anglo or Latin, Yellow, Red, or Black.142

In the same missive, Felix explained that he committed to providing ten thousand dollars yearly in financial aid to schools in the several cities in which he had lived because he had not been able to reach a high level of education himself and felt that “help[ing] some worthy child who wishe[d] to further his education [was] in a manner filling [his] particular need.”143 Felix and Angie made regular contributions to schools in Pasadena,

New Braunfels, and McMullen County.144 Many Mexican American associations that

142 Felix H. Morales to Kathleen Hensley, 27 December 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 9.

143 Ibid.

144 Elizabeth Byrne to Mr. and Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 19 December 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Felix H. Morales to Comal Independent School District, 19 December 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; “CISD Gets Morales‟ $500 Gift,” New Braunfels Herald clipping, 27 December 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 3, n.p.; Forrest E. Watson to Felix H. Morales, 17 January 1974, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; A.J. Cobb to Felix H. Morales, 5 March 1975, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; ; A.J. Cobb to Felix H. Morales, 7 January 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; Norman Whiseman to Mr. and Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 26 May 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; Brenda Blaschke to Mr. Morales, 28 June 1977, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 10; James Richardson to Mr. and Mrs. Felix Morales, 13 January 1978, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; C. Lee Meyer to Mr. and Mrs. Felix Morales, 13 January 1978, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; A.J. Cobb to Felix H. Morales, 23 March 1979, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 17; James Richardson to Mr. and Mrs. Felix Morales, 27 March 1979, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 17. For the complete list of the Moraleses‟ donations to these schools, see Box 5, Folder 1; Box 9, Folders 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17; and Box 13, Folder 2 of the Felix H. Morales Collection.

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provided scholarships and services to Mexican-origin youths in Houston also benefited from their generosity. The Second Ward‟s Ripley House, the Association for the

Advancement of Mexican Americans, Unión y Progreso, Sembradores de Amistad, and the University of Houston‟s Amigos Club counted among the several frequent recipients.145 From 1970 to the time of his death, in 1988, Felix gave thousands of scholarships, many anonymously, and donated over one-quarter million dollars towards the educational achievements of Texan students.146 The Moraleses‟ commitment to using

KLVL as a voice for the Mexican-origin community in the Houston area thus grew into a pledge to assist not only their own brethren but also younger generations of all ethnic backgrounds with a need for a helping hand.

KLVL Faces Competition: 1979 Onwards

By the late 1970s, KLVL‟s monopoly of Houston‟s Spanish-language airwaves came to an end. In 1979, two English-language stations took notice of its claim on the entire Hispanic audience and decided to switch their broadcasting to Spanish. KEYH

145 Felix H. Morales to Felix Fraga, 24 December 1970, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Malcolm S. Host to Felix H. Morales, 18 January 1971, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Fred E. Tudon to Felix H. Morales, 29 November 1972, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Jesse V. Rodríguez to Felix H. Morales, 6 July 1973, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 7; Felix H. Morales to Luis Cano, 27 December 1974, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 8; John Simon to Felix H. Morales, 13 February 1975, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; Fred E. Tudon to Felix H. Morales, 13 September 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 9; Luis Cano to Felix H. Morales, 4 January 1978, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 11. For the complete list of the Moraleses‟ donations to Mexican American associations in Houston, see Box 9, Folders 7, 8, 9, 11, and 16. For a detailed list of their donations between 1974 and 1979, see Box 9, Folders 7, 8, 10, and 17 of the Felix H. Morales Collection.

146 Beatrice López to Felix Morales, 4 December 1974, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 11; Mr. Felix H. Morales, résumé, n.d., Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2.

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started in its new version that February, and KLAT followed suit in August.147 Because

KLVL officially operated out of Pasadena, KLAT marketed itself as Houston‟s first

Hispanic-owned radio station. Its president, Marcos Rodríguez, a Mexican American from Dallas, claimed that it would “become the center for the exchange of ideas within the Latin American community and with the anglo [sic] community,” much like KLVL‟s original mission.148 KLAT also advertised itself as a medium that would defend and fight for Hispanics‟ rights.149 In November of 1981, KXYZ switched to a Spanish format and became “Radio 13,” giving Houston‟s Hispanics a growing choice.150 KLVL remained the pioneer of Spanish-language radio broadcasting in Houston, but its success had also paved the way for its young competitors.

By the early 1980s, new Spanish voices on the city‟s radio dial made sense, both economically and demographically. Indeed, a marketing agency found in 1979 that

Houston‟s Hispanic population listened to the radio twice as much as Anglos, mostly

147 “Congratulations! Keyh Radio Station Will Start Full Spanish Broadcasting on Feb. 24th,” El Sol, 22 February 1979, 1; “Llega a Houston la primera emisora de radio en español de dueños y operada por hispanos,” El Sol, 25 July 1979, n.p.; “KLAT „La Tremenda,‟ la emisora de los hispanos inició hoy sus programaciónes en español,” El Sol, 15 August 1979, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. KFRD, which operated out of Rosenberg, located 35 miles southwest of Houston, had carried some Spanish-language programs since 1948 and gradually increased its Spanish broadcasting until all its daytime shows were carried in the Spanish language by 1980. See “Viva Radio…,” Houston Post clipping, 19 October 1980, H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics Vertical File, n.p.; Lori Rodríguez, “Pasadena Spanish Radio Station Paved Way for Three Energetic Rivals,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 March 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 17 (1).

148 “KLAT-In, the First Spanish Radio Station in Houston Operated and Owned by Hispanics Will Be on the Air August 15th,” El Sol, 8 August 1979.

149 Orquidea Peña, “De todo un poco… Con paso firme entra triunfante “LA TREMENDA,” ¡La emisora de los Hispanos!” El Sol, 15 August 1979, 4. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

150 “Logical Change,” El Sol, 2 December 1981, 2; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 4 November 1981, 5. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. By 1981, Houston boasted 5 Spanish-language radio stations.

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because Spanish speakers did not have access to a daily Spanish-language newspaper.151

Moreover, as stated in Chapter Two, the 1970s witnessed a steady flow of immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American nations, thereby increasing the pool of listeners who did not have a solid command of English and who appreciated radio programs that offered news and music from their home countries. Because KLVL featured mostly ranchera and norteño tunes, two styles that Mexican Americans especially favored, other stations catered to the newer immigrants by playing more diverse rhythms. KEYH, for instance, prided itself in broadcasting tropical and “Hispanic modern” music as well as other styles that enjoyed popularity in Latin America.152 The station also covered political events in Central and South America by sending its announcers to Nicaragua and

Columbia in 1979 and 1980.153 KLAT and KEYH rivaled each other in their quest to attract a wide range of Hispanic listeners. The former showcased frequent editorials in support of issues of importance to Hispanics, lavished its audience with cash prizes, and offered extravagant celebrations during the Fiestas Patrias, as the previous chapter showed.154 KEYH also held its share of grandiose concerts, but its most popular

151 “Viva Radio…,” Houston Post clipping, 19 October 1980, H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics Vertical File, n.p.

152 Lori Rodríguez, “Pasadena Spanish Radio Station Paved Way for Three Energetic Rivals,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 March 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 17 (1).

153 Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 25 July 1979, 5; Radio 85, KEYH advertisement, El Sol, 30 April 1980, 15. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

154 La Tremenda advertisement, El Sol, 12 September 1979, 14; La Tremenda advertisement, El Sol, 28 November 1979, n.p.; Lori Rodríguez, “Pasadena Spanish Radio Station Paved Way for Three Energetic Rivals,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 March 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 17 (1); Vicki Macia, “Meeting Needs of Hispanics, Spanish Stations Here Play More than Tunes to Listeners,” Houston Post clipping, 19 October 1980, H-Ethnic Groups- Hispanics Vertical File, n.p.; “Hot Gossip,” Houston City Magazine, August 1981, 4; La Tremenda advertisement, El Sol, 25 May 1983, 10. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. 168

community events focused on fundraising for associations and causes popular among

Hispanics.155 For instance, “Operation Loop,” for which the station‟s two most famous announcers drove eighty-five loops of the interstate that forms a ring around the inner city of Houston, collected eighty-three thousand dollars for the George I. Sánchez School in March 1980. The educational center, which the Association for the Advancement of

Mexican Americans managed, was facing bankruptcy because the federal government had stopped funding its program.156 Because the school taught primarily the children of undocumented Hispanics, KEYH found it a cause worthy to embrace, and the two announcers‟ stunt allowed the establishment to stay open another year.157 With an increasingly diverse Spanish-speaking population making Houston and its sprawling metropolitan area home, KLVL faced competitors who catered to those who did not feel an allegiance to La voz latina because they had only recently arrived in the region.

KLVL had had almost thirty years to nestle itself into the life of the Mexican-origin community and to settle into its own broadcasting style. The need to re-invent itself did not seem pressing, however, especially because KLVL continued to fare well in audience

155 KEYH 85 advertisement, 14 November 1979, El Sol, n.p.; José Ortiz, “Extraordinario labor social y cultural de radio ky,” El Sol, 19 November 1980, 13; KEYH 85 advertisement, 28 January 1981, El Sol, 4 (1). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

156 “Marathón de locutores de radio‟K.E.Y.H.‟,” El Sol, 19 March 1980, n.p.; “Operación Loop,” El Sol, 19 March 1980, 13; “Radio 85 lo logró,” El Sol, 26 March 1980, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

157 Luis Cano, director of AAMA, to KEYH radio station, undated, Luis Cano Collection, Box 2, Folder 22; “Radio 85 lo logró,” El Sol, 26 March 1980, n.p.; Lori Rodríguez, “Pasadena Spanish Radio Station Paved Way for Three Energetic Rivals,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 March 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 17 (1); “Estudiantes agasajan a locutores de Radio KEYH,” El Sol, 2 April 1980. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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ratings through the 1980s.158

In fact, the accomplishments of KLVL and Felix and Angie Morales were honored multiple times over their first forty years of broadcasting.159 The station‟s “La hora bautista” (The Baptist Hour), hosted by Reverend James Novarro, was awarded a proclamation from the City of Houston for its work “contributing to the community through student scholarships, family counseling, and programs for victims of flood and other disasters” in 1970.160 Most notably, KLVL was named among the top 500 Hispanic businesses in the United States in 1985 and received a tribute at the sesquicentennial

158 When its first two competitors came on the air, in the spring and summer of 1979, KLVL seems to have increased its advertising time and to prompt its announcers to diversify the station‟s musical style slightly, but KLVL‟s program directors reportedly did not pay much attention about Arbitron ratings, feeling quite confident that their original audience had remained faithful. For KLVL‟s response to its competition in the early 1980s, see Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 6 June 1979, 5; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 18 July 1979, 5; Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios: radio, cine y televisión,” El Sol, 29 August 1979, 5; José Ortiz, “Houston disfruta de buena radiodifusión,” El Sol, 26 September 1979, 7; Lori Rodríguez, “Pasadena Spanish Radio Station Paved Way for Three Energetic Rivals,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 March 1980, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 17 (1); Bob Grace, “KMJQ Leads Pack in Latest Arbitron Ratings Race,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 10 July 1982, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 7 (4); Juan Vega, “Ondas y más…,” El Sol, 21 July 1982, n.p.; Jay Frank, “Giving Arbitron Cold Shoulder,” Houston Post clipping, 7 November 1984, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 4, 8 (B); Bob Grace, “Magic 102 Stays on Top of Radio Ratings; KODA Moves Up,” Houston Chronicle, 11 January 1986, 1 (4); “Radio,” La Politiquera clipping, March 1995, H-Ethnic Groups-Hispanics Vertical File, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

159 For the awards not mentioned in the text of this chapter, see 1951 March of Dimes, award of gratitude to KLVL, 1951 (unspecified date and month), Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 18; Frank C. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society, to Mr. Felix H. Morales, 15 September 1951, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 13; Jackson Martindell, publisher of Who‟s Who in the South and Southwest, to Felix Morales, 1960 (no day or month mentioned), Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 1; R.E. Turrentine, Jr. to KLVL, Harris County Resolution, undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 14; “Editorial: Felix H. Morales,” El Sol, 5 April 1968, 3; Joseph Lucke, president of the Better Hearing Institute, to radio station KLVL, Certificate of Appreciation, undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 18; George B. García, Diocesan Union of Holy Name Societies, to Felix Morales, 18 March 1976, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 16; “Entrega Perless reconocimiento a KLVL,” El Sol, 6 November 1985, n.p.; Leonel J. Castillo, board chairman of the Immigration Counseling Center, Houston, to Mrs. Angelina Morales, 15 December 1988, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2; Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, “Making History—Organization Honoring Five Texas Women for Lifelong Contributions,” Houston Chronicle, 4 March 1999, 1. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

160 Louie Welch, “Proclamation,” El Sol, 11 December 1970, 1.

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celebration of Texan independence in Houston in 1986.161 Angie also accepted the

Distinguished Hispanic Award during the 1988 Fiestas Patrias and was inducted into the

Pasadena Hall of Fame, along with Felix, that same year.162 Finally, Pasadena dedicated an elementary school in Felix‟s name to recognize his lifelong commitment to education.163 Over the years, the achievements of Felix and Angie Morales and the role that KLVL played in the cultural and civic life of Houston received due praise. The

Moraleses‟ name has also become a permanent part of Houston‟s memory thanks to the archival records that Angie donated to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, a recent documentary on KLVL‟s history and legacy on a local television channel, and the continued existence of both KLVL and the Morales Funeral Home through 2010.164

161 James Hayden to Mr. Felix H. Morales, 2 July 1985, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 9, Folder 17; “Reconocimiento a negociantes hispanos,” El Sol, 17 July 1985, 1-2; Deanna M. Jaine to Mr. and Mrs. Felix H. Morales, 21 April 1986, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

162 Peter Fogo, chairman of Pasadena Hall of Fame, to Morales Family, undated, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folder 5; “Hall of Famer,” The Daily Pasadena Citizen clipping, 23 August 1988, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2, n.p.; “Fiestas Patrias Honors Woman,” Houston Chronicle, 15 September 1988, 31 (A).

163 Thomas Kreneck to Captain E.F. Leija, 10 April 1989, Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 13, Folder 2. The website for the Morales Elementary School in Pasadena is the following: http://www.pasadenaisd.org/morales/default.htm., accessed 4 May 2010. For all the awards that the Moraleses and KLVL received from the 1950s to the 1980s, see Felix H. Morales Collection, Box 5, Folders 1, 2, 5; Box 9, Folders 4, 5, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18; Box 13, Folder 2. Also see “In Honor of a Pioneer,” Houston Chronicle, 10 June 1990, 17 (B); Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, “Making History—Organization Honoring Five Texas Women for Lifelong Contributions,” Houston Chronicle, 4 March 1999, 1.

164 KTBY-TV, Channel 55, “The Story Behind KLVL and the Morales Family,” television documentary, 8 April 2010, http://www.myhoustons55.com/_The-Story-Behind-KLVL-and-the-Morales- Family/video/977726/38668.html, accessed 20 April 2010. Christina Morales, Felix and Angie‟s granddaughter, ran the business through 2010. Information about the Morales Funeral Home may be found on their website at http://www.moralesfuneralhome.com/index.cfm., accessed 3 May 2010. Tracing the history of KLVL after the late 1980s presents challenges because Angie‟s donations to the HMRC do not cover the station‟s trajectory after Felix died in 1988. Christina Morales confirmed to me in an email that Angie ran KLVL until her death in 1994. What happened to KLVL after that date, however, is difficult to uncover. Files from the FCC indicate that a Richard C. Vara was the executive director of the station in 1996 and 1997. 171

Conclusion

As this chapter has demonstrated, Felix and Angie Morales stood amidst

Houston‟s most prominent Mexican American civic and social leaders. During the Great

Depression, they moved to the city with borrowed money to follow Felix‟s family tradition and start a funeral home to help bury departed Mexican-origin people. They quickly became active among the small nucleus of activists in the Second Ward and strove to combine business with a commitment to helping the most destitute of their brethren. Faced with adversity and obstacles, neither Felix nor his wife gave up hope for a Spanish-language radio station. KLVL finally came to life at a time when the rest of the city and the State of Texas still maintained rigid segregation between Anglos, African

Americans, and Mexican-origin people.

The Moraleses gave Spanish-speaking Houstonians a medium for information and entertainment as early as 1950. The station‟s role in fostering community-building and better racial relations between Anglos and Mexican-origin people in the city therefore cannot be understated. Because its programs provided a wide array of services that sought to meet community needs, KLVL offered a public platform that introduced the

Mexican-origin residents of Houston and its metropolitan area to their Spanish-speaking

Siga Broadcasting Corporation has owned KLVL since 2002, according to FCC reports and William Rivas, the station‟s manager as of 23 March 2010. William Rivas to Chrystel Pit, email correspondence, 23 March 2010; Christina Morales to Chrystel Pit, email correspondence, 29 April 2010; FCC broadcast actions, report, 1 November 1996, http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Actions/ac961101.txt; FCC broadcast actions, report, 30 July 1997, http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Actions/ac970730.txt; FCC broadcast actions, report, 1 November 1996, http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Actions/ac961101.txt; FCC broadcast actions, report, 1 November 2002, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-228012A1.pdf; FCC broadcast applications, 25 February 2009, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC- 288774A2.txt.; accessed 13 May 2010. 172

brethren and to listeners of other ethnic backgrounds. By doing so, KLVL constituted an important tool for communication between groups who would otherwise likely not have been exposed to one another‟s culture and worldviews. Thus, just like the Fiestas Patrias helped Houston become aware of the place of Mexican-origin people in its history and identity, KLVL was a pioneer for its role in making Mexican culture and music a part of the city‟s cultural life.

In many ways, Felix and Angie Morales paved the way for other Hispanics‟ success in the Gulf Coast area. Their generosity and shrewd approach to business led them to forge strong friendships with Hispanics and Anglos alike, which in turn shed positive light on the cultural and civic contributions Mexican-origin people had to offer to Houston. The subject of the following chapter, another Felix, was a close friend of theirs who also left a strong imprint on the city‟s culture by using another medium to foster greater cultural exchange between Houston‟s Mexican-origin residents and Anglos: food. By making a fortune with a chain of Mexican restaurants, Felix Tijerina not only introduced foreign flavors to Anglo Houstonians, but also helped build a bridge between the city‟s two communities. In addition to the celebrations of Mexican holidays and its first Spanish-language radio station, Houston unwittingly discovered the importance of

Mexican culture to its identity through its taste buds in the years following World War II.

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CHAPTER 4

“THEIR FIRST TASTE OF MEXICAN FOOD, THEIR FIRST WORDS OF SPANISH AND THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH MEXICAN-AMERICANS”1: FELIX TIJERINA AND THE FELIX MEXICAN RESTAURANT CHAIN, 1930s- 2008

Spanish-language radio programming and the celebrations of Mexican holidays serve as useful platforms for the study of cultural exchanges between Anglos and

Mexican-origin people in Houston. Yet, the evolution of Anglo culinary tastes also illuminates how immigration, the food industry, and business practices gradually transformed the city into a hotbed for the newest food trends. The next two chapters will retrace the transformation of Tex-Mex food, commonly labeled as Mexican until the

1970s, from a mild accommodationist collection of combination plates to foodways that represented both a local and national opening to new flavors and culinary experiences.

Each chapter will focus on the life and business acumen of a famed Houstonian restaurateur of Mexican heritage and reflect upon the ways in which each individual‟s professional and personal biography revealed evolving cultural interactions in Houston in the postwar era. Indeed, while Felix Tijerina, the subject of this chapter, became

Houston‟s first millionaire of Mexican extraction by serving traditional Tex-Mex food,

Ninfa Laurenzo, the focus of the next chapter, achieved mythical status in the State of

Texas by introducing Texans to bold new flavors in the 1970s and thereafter. These last two chapters describe how Hispanic culture seeped through everyday American

1 Robb Walsh, “Temples of Tex-Mex: A Diner‟s Guide to the State‟s Oldest Mexican Restaurants,” Houston Press, 2 July 2008, http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07-03/news/temples-of-tex- mex-a-diner-s-guide-to-the-state-s-oldest-mexican-restaurants/, accessed 1 November 2010. 174

experiences in the postwar era and how foodways have come to form an intrinsic part of the modern American multicultural character.

Felix Tijerina, a poor, barely literate Mexican immigrant, rose to success with his self-named restaurant chain in Houston from the 1930s until the closing of his flagship establishment in 2008. A “child of the Mexican Revolution” who fled violence and despoliation with his family in 1910, Felix experienced a childhood similar to that of

Felix Morales in its lack of formal schooling and his commitment at a young age to financially supporting his mother and five sisters.2 This chapter will first present Felix‟s introduction to the Houston restaurant industry in the 1920s and describe how a young man who spoke little English became a waiter so successful that he could open his own establishment just before the Great Depression broke out. The bulk of this chapter will retrace his rise in that industry, analyze his approach to Anglo Houstonians‟ culinary tastes, and will recount how the Felix Mexican Restaurant chain survived the death of its founder for over forty years, but ultimately could not outlive its competitors. This chapter will thus explore the contributions of one of the United States‟ prominent

Mexican-origin activists by shedding light on his perhaps less celebrated accomplishment: introducing Mexican food and culture to Anglo Houstonians.

2 Thomas H. Kreneck, “Sleuthing Immigrant Origins: Felix Tijerina and His Mexican Revolution Roots,” in Arnoldo De León (ed.), War Along the Border: The Mexican Revolution and Tejano Communities (Forthcoming Publication, 2011). 175

From the Cotton Fields to the Restaurant Business: The Rise of Felix Tijerina

Fleeing the Mexican Revolution

Felix Tijerina was born in 1905 in the village of General Escobedo, just north of

Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. His father, a humble farmer, died when the boy was ten years old and left him in charge of his mother and five sisters. As Mexican revolutionaries disrupted food supplies and pillaged the region‟s homes, Felix‟s mother sought help from a brother who had emigrated to Texas ten years earlier, asking him to arrange for their crossing of the border. He promptly followed suit.3 Once in the United

States, the Tijerinas led the life of itinerant fieldworkers, tilling the land and picking cotton around South Texas. Felix remained proud of those experiences throughout his life.4 The physical mobility required in fieldwork meant that Felix received little formal schooling. His mother, however, ensured that her children learned how to read and write in Spanish, skills that would later help Felix pick up the English language.5 Like his future friend Felix Morales, Felix Tijerina took on as many jobs as he could to support his family. In Sugar Land, where the Tijerina family settled before his move to Houston,

Felix not only toiled on farmlands but also peddled chickens, took on odds jobs, and eventually worked as a water boy for Sugar Land Industries. At Sugar Land, he made

3 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 20-22; Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC), n.p.

4 John J. Herrera, “His Work Was His Monument,” eulogy, 1965, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 6, Folder 21, HMRC.

5 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 22-29.

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$1.50 per day, about half as much as what whites with the same qualifications earned.6

Apparently, Felix established residence in the city in the early 1920s and moved his mother and sisters there soon afterwards.7 Barely literate and with few skills under his belt, the young man first worked briefly as a laborer on “Produce Row,” a two-block stretch downtown where fruit, poultry, and eggs found their way to cargo shipments across town and throughout the state. This position did not pay much more than his job as a water boy in Sugar Land, but it allowed him to become acquainted with working- and middle-class Houstonians and to observe how businessmen conducted daily affairs.8

Working on “Produce Row” thus gave Felix his first experience in the food industry and allowed him to acculturate to urban life.

Seminal Experience as a Busboy and Waiter

With the help of an old friend from Sugar Land, Felix quickly left the ranks of

“Produce Row” to become a busboy in downtown Houston‟s Original Mexican

Restaurant, a challenging position for one lacking command of the English language.9

6 Ibid, 29; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

7 Kreneck clarifies that while most newspaper reports about Felix‟s early days in Houston later stated that he arrived in 1918, the details about his exact move to Houston and his family‟s decision to follow him a few years later remain unclear in the available historical record. See Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 29-30, 33-34.

8 Ibid, 32; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

9 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 33-35; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p. 177

Under the ownership of George Caldwell and his wife, both Anglos who had moved to the city from San Antonio fifteen years earlier, the Original Mexican Restaurant catered exclusively to the downtown Anglo crowd and advertised itself as an establishment that served “genuine Mexican food properly prepared.”10 The seven years or so that Felix would work at the Original provided him with a base of knowledge that he would later need to run a successful business.

Felix‟s apprenticeship in a restaurant serving Mexican food to Anglos offered a wide array of opportunities that would shape the rest of his life. First and foremost, his daily contact with English speakers forced him to learn the language a few words at a time. Later in life, he often described his first encounter with a phrase unknown to him but essential to his job performance: a request for tomato catsup. As Felix smiled politely and nodded to the inquiring patron, he walked back to the kitchen, repeating the two words, and asked a waiter in Spanish, “what please, is tomato catsup?” 11 After receiving the critical piece of information, he “grabbed a bottle and rushed it triumphantly to the customer.”12 This episode proved momentous for his lifelong dedication to helping

Spanish speakers learn English at a young age.13 Felix also had the ambition to become a waiter at the Original Mexican Restaurant but knew that his boss would not promote him

10 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 41.

11 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

12 Ibid.

13 Felix Tijerina‟s activism in the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and especially his commitment to education, will be briefly described later in this chapter. For a more in-depth examination of his role in expanding educational opportunities for Spanish-speaking children in Texas and in federal programs, see Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, especially Chapters 6, 8, and 9.

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unless his command of English improved significantly.14 He thus took it upon himself to attend night classes in elementary school for six months and read menus and newspapers to learn new vocabulary. He remembered each new word and became fluent, despite reading deficiencies and a thick Spanish accent that stayed with him throughout his life.15

An astute observer of business practices, Felix quickly learned the ropes of upward mobility within the restaurant industry. The Caldwells recognized his industrious spirit and good manners and promoted him to waiter within a year, a position that gave him more extensive contact with Anglo Houstonians. A punctual, hard-working, and polite employee, Felix gained favors through his respectful attitude towards his employers and customers alike.16 A biographical article about him would even later claim that “his practice of „yes mamming‟ the proprietor‟s wife saved his job the first summer when business was slacking off.”17 In fact, while he showed no aversion to cursing in the company of his close friends, Felix maintained a professional image associated with deference and polite language throughout his life, attributes that

14 “Felix Tijerina Lived Rags-to-Riches‟ Life,” Chuck Wagon clipping, October 1965, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 4, Folder 19, n.p.

15 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; John J. Herrera, “His Work Was His Monument,” eulogy, 1965, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 6, Folder 21; Texas House of Representatives, resolution, 22 February 1966, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 4, Folder 15; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 42.

16 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 42.

17 Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p. 179

undeniably contributed to his success in an industry where public appearance and propriety remained centerpieces of success.18

Employment at the Original Mexican Restaurant also presented Felix with daily opportunities to observe how the downtown professional and political class that patronized the establishment behaved in public.19 He later explained that “… [he] started watching people, how they acted and the way they talked… [and] tried to copy the things

… [he ] liked about their manners.”20 His careful study of businessmen‟s deportment did not stop at daily observations in the confines of the downtown restaurant, however. Felix also paid particular attention to the obituaries of successful entrepreneurs in the newspapers he read to familiarize himself with the English language because “[he] could learn how … [they] began, and perhaps … could get some ideas for [himself].”21 Felix

Tijerina, the barely literate son of Mexican farm workers, thus made the best of the opportunities with which employment at a restaurant selling Mexican food calibrated to

Anglo tastes presented him: he learned American business practices.

Felix‟s position at the Original Mexican Restaurant also allowed him to grow close to people who would later play a fundamental role both in his personal and professional lives. Domingo Villarreal, a second cousin from General Escobedo, had come to the United States in search of a better life and found himself in Houston, hoping

18 Mr. Alfred J. Hernández, interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 5 April 1975, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC).

19 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 41.

20 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

21 Ibid.

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to secure a job at the Ford Automobile assembly plant. The opportunity never materialized, but Felix convinced the Caldwells to hire “Mingo” as a cook at the restaurant. The two young relatives forged a brotherly bond and would become lifelong business partners.22 As importantly, the 1920s were the time when Felix Tijerina developed social ties in the Mexican-origin community, cultivated friendships with future leaders such as Felix Morales through the Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello, and met his future wife, Janie.

Janie González, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, was born in 1908 in Sandy

Fork, Texas, a rural community about halfway between Houston and San Antonio.23 Her parents held low-paying jobs around the Pleasanton area, where Janie grew up. In 1919, the family moved to Bastrop, Texas, in order for her father to work at the Belton mines.

By 1920, however, the parents and their two daughters had switched to “contract farming,” as Janie called it, tilling the land and picking cotton until the middle of the decade.24 A severe drought in 1925 forced Janie to leave for Austin in search of employment, armed with only a third-grade education and her desire to learn new skills.25

22 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 44.

23 Janie‟s parents left Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, in 1901. Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 49-50.

24 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie), interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 16 April 1978, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC).

25 Ibid; Ann James, “Widow Charters Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 1 June 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 1 (N); Pat Manley, “Mrs. Felix Is Kept Busy Aiding Others, Planning Tour,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.; Cleveland Grammer, “Mrs. Felix Recalls Past: Success Didn‟t Come Easily for City Restaurant Owner,” Houston Post clipping, 27 July 1986, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-1987,” HMRC, n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 49-50.

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She stayed in that city for a year, working at a laundry shop, but by the end of 1926, decided to hitchhike her way to Houston along with a female friend. When they arrived in the Bayou City, Janie had an apple and twelve cents to her name.26 Over the next several years, the resourceful young lady held a variety of jobs, including clerk, cotton press operator, photographer‟s assistant, and department store employee. She supplemented her income by working at a downtown restaurant in the evenings. There, she met Felix, who frequently patronized the establishment, and the two embarked on a seven-year-long courtship. After much hesitation because of their precarious finances,

Felix finally proposed, and they were married on 10 December 1933.27 The couple would soon set out to open one of the city‟s most beloved culinary institutions, but not before a period of tribulations that would challenge their ambitions.

The Mexican Inn and the Great Depression

By the summer of 1929, Felix Tijerina enjoyed broad popularity among the

Original‟s customers and fellow Mexican-origin people, especially in the downtown area, where he worked and socialized. Encouraged by this solid base of support, he sought out a business partner to found a restaurant on Main Street, only one block away from the

Caldwells‟ restaurant.28 His associate, Antonio Reynaga, had immigrated from

26 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978.

27 Ibid; Betty Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5); Cleveland Grammer, “Mrs. Felix Recalls Past: Success Didn‟t Come Easily for City Restaurant Owner,” Houston Post clipping, 27 July 1986, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-1987,” n.p.; Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 49-50.

28 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 52. It is not clear why the two men decided to open their restaurant so close to the Original. One might assume, however, that they felt that the downtown 182

Monterrey, Mexico, and owned a thriving café and bakery in the Second Ward, one of the city‟s oldest barrios. Each man planned to invest $1,500, and they agreed that the establishment would be named The Mexican Inn. Felix took charge of advertising, creating the menus, selecting and managing the staff, and supervising daily operations, while Reynaga took care of the furniture and supplies; they would split profits and incur losses equally.29 With Felix‟s experience with the downtown crowds and Reynaga‟s own expertise in the restaurant business, the Mexican Inn was quickly ready to open its doors to hungry Houstonians.

Felix‟s connections with the Anglo world also allowed him to obtain press coverage about the Mexican Inn‟s opening in the Houston Post, one of the city‟s three main newspapers. On 15 August 1929, a day before the restaurant was scheduled to open its doors, the Post published an article in which it informed readers that “Felix Tijerina, better known as „Felix‟ to hundreds of Houstonians, announc[ed] the opening of the

Mexican Inn.”30 The article also combined exotic descriptions of the food that Felix had selected with more familiar mentions of authenticity and family heritage by stating that:

Tempting and spicy Mexican dishes, the best of cuisine south of the Rio Grande will be served patrons, Senor [sic] Tijerina said, and famous recipes, handed down through generations in his family will be used and served to add a piquant taste to the menus of the Mexican Inn.31 commercial district, the center of Houston‟s economic life in the 1920s, attracted a sufficient number of patrons. For further details on the growth of Houston and its downtown district in the 1920s, see De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 22-25.

29 Ibid. As Kreneck points out, because Reynaga already owned an establishment, he could bargain prices more easily and buy supplies in bulk, something that Felix could not have accomplished alone.

30 Ibid, 53.

31 Ibid. 183

While no Mexican Inn menu has survived in historical records, it is more than likely that

Felix emulated the Original Mexican Restaurant‟s food offerings because he had, after all, learned about making and selling Mexican fare from an Anglo. As the only Mexican- owned establishment outside of the barrios and one of three Mexican restaurants in downtown Houston, the Inn also tapped mostly the Anglo market. As such, Felix‟s menu choices must have focused on the Mexican dishes that had become popular among Anglo

Texans by the turn of the twentieth century.32 As food historian Robb Walsh has explained, what is now known as Tex-Mex simply bore the label of Mexican food until the 1970s and consisted of two basic choices: one option comprised dishes based on chili powder, the second involved cheese-covered combination platters, neither of which would have been considered authentic in the interior of Mexico.33 Moreover, Felix‟s son,

Felix, Jr., would later explain that “restaurants usually … [add] things on their menus” that “they see other restaurants doing well” and asserted that throughout his childhood and as he later worked alongside his mother, he had observed that the Tijerinas‟ business

32 Ibid. For an in-depth analysis of the early days of Tex-Mex cuisine in Texas, see Jeffrey M. Pilcher, “Who Chased Out the „Chili Queens‟? Gender, Race, and Urban Reform in San Antonio, Texas, 1880-1943,” Food and Foodways 16 (2008), 173-200.

33 Chili powder was invented by a German immigrant who lived in New Braunfels, Texas, in the 1890s. William Gebbhardt owned a café and relied on dried chiles for the most popular item on his menu, chili con carne. Because chiles were imported from Mexico and not available year-round, Gebbhardt decided to concoct a seasoning of his own by mixing paprika, ground chiles, cumin seeds, oregano, black pepper, and other unknown spices. He then opened a factory in 1896 and sold his chili powder from the back of a wagon. Other manufacturers followed suit shortly thereafter, and the spice became a staple of Tex-Mex food. Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos (New York: Broadway Books, 2004), 64-69. For an analysis of the recent rise in popularity of southwestern cuisine and the complexity of borderland foodways, see Amy Bentley, “From Culinary Other to Mainstream America: Meanings and Uses of Southwestern Cuisine,” in Lucy M. Long (ed.), Culinary Tourism: Explorations in Eating and Otherness (University of Kentucky Press, 2004): 209-225.

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model tended to follow food trends that proved successful at other establishments.34

Originality or popularity of menu choices notwithstanding, Felix‟s restaurant did well until the Great Depression ensnared many of Houston‟s businesses. Even though his reputation and social skills enabled him to attract customers and to use the restaurant as a gathering place for Mexican American social clubs, prime among them Club México

Bello, the economic crisis forced the Mexican Inn to close down in 1936.35

The hard-working couple did not give up in the face of adversity, however. While shutting the doors of the Inn meant moving back in with Felix‟s mother and sisters, living accommodations that proved especially difficult for the independent-spirited Janie, Felix joined Texas Old Union Company, a beer distributor, as a porter. His work ethic quickly earned him a job as a truck driver, and he gave his weekly pay of fifty dollars to Janie.36

Felix would later recall that his business failure and subsequent employment at the beer company represented a humbling experience that he remembered all his life. As he, by then a millionaire, explained to a journalist in 1955:

34 Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

35 Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 55-60, 70-71.

36 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 72. According to Felix Tijerina Jr., Janie had troubled relationships with Felix‟s three sisters, especially in the first years of her marriage to Felix. Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009. For further details on Janie‟s relationship with Felix‟s family, see Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 61, 72-73.

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You know I guess I do get to feeling [sic] like I‟m a big shot sometimes, when I put on my best clothes and I go to an important gathering. But I have a way of keeping my feet on the ground. Up in the top of my closet, where I can see it every time I open the door, is the old union [sic] cap I used to wear when I was driving a beer truck. So I put on the cap and look at myself in the mirror, and I say, “Look Felix, you‟re not such a big shot; the cap still fits.”37

While Felix drove his truck around town, Janie worked at a retail store in downtown

Houston. Times often proved so harsh that hunger would set in. As Janie later recounted, “Everybody went broke. … Friday came and we didn‟t have anything to eat.

… We didn‟t have anything to eat until Monday. Sometimes, we had dough and water.

Plain old water.”38 One day, however, one of Janie‟s old habits resurfaced and led to actions that would forever alter the couple‟s fate. Frustrated with their meager means of existence, she rescinded a promise she had made to Felix and headed to the racetracks.

After receiving a tip from her boss, she borrowed money against her jewelry and from coworkers and headed to Epsom Downs, located on the northeast side of Harris County.

There, she bet on a horse and luck struck: she won $1,600.39 She gave the entire sum to

Felix, instructed him to pay her creditors back and to keep the rest to open his own food establishment, this time without a partner in tow.40 Neither of them knew what the future

37 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

38 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978.

39 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 73.

40 Ibid. Felix had had a bad experience with partnering in his days operating the Mexican Inn. Soon after the establishment had opened, Antonio Reynaga sold his share to an Anglo woman by the name of Ethyl Lawrence. Lawrence did not work at the restaurant nor give input on how Felix ran the restaurant. She solely came to the Mexican Inn to pick up her share of the sales money. Felix thus felt like he was working for Lawrence, and that she was not willing to shoulder the workload necessary to keep the business open and financially afloat. See Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 57-58. 186

held, but the lure of the restaurant business seemed too strong to hold them back. Fully aware that second chances did not present themselves often, the Tijerinas determined they would prevail this time.

The First Decade of the Felix Mexican Restaurant

With $1,100 in his name, Felix decided to locate his new Mexican restaurant away from the barrios or downtown Houston and instead selected the Montrose neighborhood, a growing, middle-class Anglo area west of downtown and in proximity of

River Oaks, where upper-class Houstonians resided.41 By choosing to serve food to a financially comfortable strata of the city‟s white population, Felix articulated a business strategy that would enable him to tap a steady clientele whose culinary tastes were not acquainted with truly authentic Mexican fare. In order to do so, he continued the Texan tradition of labeling food as Mexican when it actually consisted of cheesy platters, chili con queso (cheese), and chili gravy. Until the 1970s, this type of selection on restaurant menus represented what most Houstonians and Texans imagined as genuine Mexican food; Felix Tijerina, schooled at the Original Mexican Restaurant, knew that well prepared and served, such dishes could make him a successful restaurateur.

Although Felix‟s instincts quickly proved more than correct, opening the small restaurant at 1220 Westheimer Road presented some financial challenges at first.

Indeed, because the Mexican Inn had gone bankrupt, Felix still owed money to some of his suppliers and therefore felt uneasy about asking to be trusted again. Janie took the necessary steps by putting the new restaurant in her name and contacting business

41 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 73-74.

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representatives from furniture, food, and beverage companies personally, inquiring whether they would trust the Tijerinas to obtain credit again. She encountered no difficulty in the matter, and would later recall gratefully that they “began on credit” entirely.42 Having secured a $65 monthly rent and bought food and equipment with the promise of later payment, Felix Mexican Restaurant opened in the fall of 1937 with ninety cents in its cash register.43 Felix and Janie did not have enough money to advertise their new venture at first, so they “painted [signs] white and … [wrote] „Felix in

Business Again‟” and stood in front of their establishment, waving at their friends as they drove by.44 Moreover, Felix‟s cousin, Mingo, quit his job to come and cook at the restaurant, and Janie‟s parents worked in the kitchen while Felix greeted and waited on customers. Even though the eating space only accommodated fifty people, a “bug room,” as Janie fondly labeled it later, the Tijerinas had to close at eight o‟clock on their opening night because they ran out of food.45 A recipe for success had clearly been born on

Houston‟s west side.

Felix Mexican Restaurant became a solvent establishment within a year thanks to a combination of efficient business strategies. First and foremost, its location on a major

42 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978.

43 Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

44 Ibid; Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13; No title, newspaper clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 73-74.

45 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978.

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artery just outside of downtown and the broad net of connections that Felix had developed since his early days in Houston ensured that a significant number of patrons stopped by for lunch or dinner to see a friendly face. One of three food establishments on that stretch of road and the sole provider of Mexican food, “Felix,” as it became known, attracted a strong customer base quickly. Moreover, the small but enticingly decorated restaurant conjured up the colors and symbols of Mexico: small serapes (ponchos) and sombreros adorned the walls, and Janie displayed curios (pottery and other decorative

Mexican artifacts) on shelves for sale. The extended opening hours and low prices also proved attractive, especially in the midst of a severe economic downturn.46 In fact, their first bookkeeper, Angie Morales, remembered that Felix generated between $36 and $40 daily, not an insignificant amount of money for that time period.47 Finally, the young couple limited expenses by living in the one-room apartment in the back of the restaurant.48 These new beginnings thus required a lot of discipline and sacrifices, but

Janie and Felix forewent immediate gratification and forged ahead with hard work.

46 The first advertisements to appear in Houston‟s newspapers for Felix Mexican Restaurant in June 1938 mentioned that the dishes cost “thirty-five cents up.” The establishment remained open from eleven in the morning until eleven thirty in the evening. See Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 74.

47 Both couples‟ professional success came about at similar times and, as the previous chapter briefly mentioned, the Moraleses and Tijerinas became close friends through Club México Bello. See Chapter Three and Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 74.

48 Their quarters were small and did not include a private bathroom. Felix and Janie thus had to wait until the establishment had closed to bathe in its washroom. Felix would later add a room that Janie used mostly for herself, but the couple lived in these small quarters until 1948. Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 74.

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The late 1930s and World War II period enabled the Tijerinas to use the restaurant as a platform for greater involvement with the social and civic life of the city. As

Thomas Kreneck, Felix‟s biographer, has argued, the activities in which Felix engaged during those years exemplified how he had become bicultural, comfortably navigating

Anglo and Mexican environments.49 While Janie helped create the women‟s auxiliary branch of Club México Bello in 1937 and worked with them to raise money for the poor,

Felix‟s association with the group deepened in 1940, when he became its treasurer.50 In

1938, he also took his first steps in the political arena through his work for the Latin

American Club, an offshoot of the local LULAC (League of United Latin American

Citizens) chapter, and participated in the campaign of a Democratic candidate for the upcoming state gubernatorial elections.51 Moreover, he devoted an extensive amount of his free time towards preventing delinquency among barrio youths through the Comité

Pro-Beneficencial Juvenil (Juvenile Welfare Committee) of the Comité Patriótico

Mexicano, Club México Bello‟s own program for troubled teenagers and the Harris

County Probation Department, for which he volunteered for seven years.52 Felix‟s work

49 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 54.

50 Ibid, 75.

51 Ibid. For further details on the Latin American Club, see Mrs. Felix H. Morales Oral History Collection, 5 February 1979 and 24 March 1989; Arnoldo De León, Ethnicity in the Sunbelt, 85-89; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 69-71.

52 Felix was also involved with the Optimist Club, of which he was the only Hispanic member, and the Community Chest, the predecessor of the United Ways Association. See Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Pat Manley, “Mrs. Felix Is Kept Busy Aiding Others, Planning Tour,” Houston Chronicle 190

with law enforcement meant that the Tijerinas frequently received telephone calls in the middle of the night with requests to host young law-breakers until the next day.53 The couple would quickly build a reputation for their dedication to helping those in need.

From the late 1930s until the end of their lives, the Tijerinas would remain deeply devoted to charity, especially with regards to helping underprivileged youths and the sick.54 Yet, despite their strong commitment to philanthropic causes, Janie and Felix focused primarily on business affairs because both, especially Felix, dreaded another bankruptcy. Financial dismay would never come again, even during wartime. In 1940,

Janie quit her position at the department store and, with Felix‟s support, opened her own curio shop in downtown Houston, a job that she enjoyed tremendously because it gave

clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 75-79.

53 Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3).

54 For a complete list of the Tijerinas‟ civic and charitable activities, see Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Mary Lasswell, “A Champion in Our Midst,” newspaper clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; “Olé, the Press Says Olé to… Felix Tijerina,” Houston Press clipping, 18 August 1961, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; John J. Herrera, “His Work Was His Monument,” eulogy, 1965, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 6, Folder 21; Pat Manley, “Mrs. Felix Is Kept Busy Aiding Others, Planning Tour,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.; Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Ann James, “Widow Charters Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 1 June 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 1 (N); Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Betty Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5); Cleveland Grammer, “Mrs. Felix Recalls Past: Success Didn‟t Come Easily for City Restaurant Owner,” Houston Post clipping, 27 July 1986, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-1987,” n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, Chapters 3-6, 9-10. 191

her a sense of independence and often took her to Mexico to order supplies.55 Moreover, brisk business allowed them to open a second Felix Mexican Restaurant in Beaumont, another vibrant port city seventy miles east of Houston. From the beginning, this restaurant brought in good income because of its location on a major thoroughfare, a décor and menu selection similar to those of its parent establishment, extended business hours, and its clientele, mostly middle-class Anglo residents.56 Finally, the early 1940s also enabled Felix to serve the country he had adopted as his own. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army and cooked for the troops at Ellington Field‟s mess hall, twenty miles south of Houston, until his honorable discharge in July 1944.57 During that time,

Janie ran the two restaurants despite shortages of food and employees, which earned her

55 Janie would own up to four curio stores but had to cease her business upon Felix‟s death in 1965 in order to run the restaurants. See Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Barbara Liggett, “American Behavior Distresses Her,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 14 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Pat Manley, “Mrs. Felix Is Kept Busy Aiding Others, Planning Tour,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.; Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 86.

56 Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 86-87.

57 Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 89-90.

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positive press coverage as a Mexican American Rosie the Riveter.58 The Great

Depression era and World War II years thus proved both trying and rewarding for the

Tijerinas. Despite little education and a lingering hesitancy with the English language,

Felix became a successful businessman and, along with Janie, worked extremely hard to equate the Tijerina name with compassion, genuine sociability, work ethic, and of course,

Mexican food. After closing the Mexican Inn in 1936, little would Felix have known that he would die bearing the proud title of Houston‟s first millionaire of Mexican origin.

Houston‟s First Mexican American Millionaire

The Flagship Restaurant and Sustained Success

After his release from the Army, Felix continued to work arduously at the

Westheimer restaurant and kept a close watch on the thriving Beaumont location, the management of which he had entrusted to his cousin, Luciano Villarreal.59 He became further involved with Club México Bello, acting as its president from 1946 until 1949, and with LULAC Council #60, a role that would lead him towards the League‟s national presidency a few years later. He also served on the Harris County grand jury in 1946, only the second Mexican American to do so, and joined the all-white and prestigious

Houston Rotary Club in 1948 as its first Mexican American member.60 In addition to this

58 Louis Alexander, “Caféman Tijerina Likes to Help Boys,” Houston Chronicle clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 89-91.

59 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 87.

60 Ibid, 109. 193

sustained civic engagement during the immediate postwar years, Felix made two choices that would transform the rest of his life in a significant way. First, because he and Janie had no children of their own, the couple traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo León, and adopted a baby boy whom they named Felix Tijerina, Jr., in early 1948.61 Secondly, Felix, who now held sufficient personal wealth to carry a roll of one-thousand-dollar bills in his pocket at all times, made a business decision that would place him and his family in

Houston‟s history that same year.62

For the previous twelve years, Felix and Janie had worked tirelessly to run the small Felix Restaurant at 1220 Westheimer, but the steady quality of the food and warm, friendly atmosphere that the establishment offered had gained the favors of too many customers for the limited seating space. Moreover, Felix and Janie, now with an infant to care for, yearned for larger and more private living accommodations. The answer lay at

904 Westheimer Road, just three blocks away. A spacious building had come up for sale, and its upstairs seven-room apartment provided a well-suited space for the family‟s quarters.63 Felix spent $125,000 on the purchase and renovation of the property. The new Felix restaurant opened with fanfare on 23 June 1948. The hundreds of attendees included the mayor of Houston and his family.64 By then a well-respected business

61 Felix, Jr., was the child of two of Janie‟s distant relatives. Felix, Sr., and Janie did not tell him he had been adopted when he grew up, and Felix only found out from Janie when he turned twenty-one years old. See Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 2 November 1994 and 5 November 1997, donated to author by Thomas H. Kreneck.

62 Mr. Alfred J. Hernández, Oral History, 5 April 1975; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 94.

63 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 106.

64 Ibid; Silas B. Ragsdale, “Mother-Wife-Friends Form Real Keystone of Felix‟s Success Story,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 5 (Found in 194

whose food offerings pleased many middle- and upper-class Anglos, the new establishment received due praise and publicity in the mainstream press. A full-page advertisement announcing the “grand opening” of “America‟s newest and finest Mexican restaurant” conveyed Felix‟s marketing strategy, which projected confidence in his business enterprise:

The dazzling splendor of Mexico has been embraced in the colorful setting for the New [sic] Felix Mexican Restaurant. … Superlative food, with the delicate flavor of Mexico modified to suit the American taste, is a specialty … at Felix‟s. The haunting goodness of Mexico‟s savory dishes is reproduced to perfection at this most famous of Houston‟s restaurants.65

The wording of this advertisement effectively conveys the confusion that reigned over the definition of authentic Mexican food in the era that heralded Felix Tijerina as Houston‟s purveyor par excellence of cuisine from “south of the border.” Most readers and patrons likely did not perceive the inherent contradiction in Felix‟s claim that he served dishes that faithfully followed Mexican culinary traditions but also altered their taste to suit

Anglo preferences for generally mild-tasting, cheese-laden platters. Indeed, most establishments selling Mexican food in that time period adopted the same strategy.

Reflecting consumers‟ contentment, the menu at all Felix locations never changed from

1938 until the 1970s.66 Moderately priced tamales, enchiladas, Spanish rice, and Felix‟s

Box 10), n.p.; “Announcing Grand Opening Tonight,” advertisement, Houston Press clipping, 23 June 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.

65 “Announcing Grand Opening Tonight,” advertisement, Houston Press clipping, 23 June 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.

66 Felix Tijerina, Jr., explained that his parents preferred leaving the restaurants‟ menus unchanged because of the sustained popularity of the dishes they offered. Janie did, however, add fajitas and margaritas when they became hot-ticket items in the 1970s, but only because most Tex-Mex establishments were serving them around town. This chapter and the following will elaborate further on the change in Anglo culinary tastes in the 1970s and 1980s. Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos 195

signature chili con queso stood as some of the most favorite items, and the consistency with which they were served gave them that “Felix taste” that so many customers cherished for generations.67 Felix also capitalized on these dishes‟ reputation by claiming that they “[were] not everyday fare but fiesta food in the land south of the border,” thereby enhancing their standing and authenticity.68 Meals served in the new, larger

Westheimer location proved so popular that, by the late 1940s, Felix epitomized Mexican cuisine at its best throughout the city.69

While Felix Mexican Restaurant prided itself on the quality of its food and its low prices, the new establishment gave the Tijerinas an opportunity to upgrade the ambience to a more pronounced Mexican style. Perhaps following Janie‟s cues from her curios imports, Felix purchased furniture and “hand-wrought tiles, hand-carved wood decorations, and hand-wrought iron grill work” from Mexico, which he used to create a

Mexican atmosphere that “ma[d]e this one of the outstanding native restaurants furnished

Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

67 Ibid; “Felix Mexican Restaurant” menu, ca. 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 2; Carrie Jones Wingfield, “Fiesta Food Popular with Most Texans,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, ca. 1950, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 9 (Found in Box 10), n.p.; “Felix Restaurant Winds Up 10th Year,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 November 1962, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 9, 4; “Felix All-Time Special,” advertisement, newspaper clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 9, n.p.; Cliff Ellis to Tijerinas, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13; “Thirty Five Years of Service,” advertisement, newspaper clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 2, n.p.; J.R. Gonzales, “Felix Mexican Restaurant,” Bayou City History, Houston Chronicle blog, readers‟ comments, 9 April 2010, http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2010/04/felix_mexican_restaurant.html, accessed 12 November 2010; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 106-107.

68 Carrie Jones Wingfield, “Fiesta Food Popular with Most Texans,” newspaper clipping, no day or month, ca. 1950, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 9 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

69 By 1954, Felix was heralded as one of the three best chefs in the city. Ann Valentine, “These Chefs Create the Recipes You Rave About,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 3 February 1954, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 9 (Found in Box 10), n.p. (2).

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throughout with „SOUTH OF THE BORDER‟ charm.”70 In fact, many customers enjoyed the carefully chosen décor because, as one regular patron later explained, “it made it so easy to imagine [oneself] in Mexico.”71 Felix also emphasized the restaurant‟s seating capacity of two hundred, supplemented by a separate banquet room that could accommodate one hundred and twenty-five people.72 Among locals, the Tijerina name would from then on be linked with the white-stucco establishment in the heart of the

Montrose area.

Felix owed his success not only to the steady quality of his food but also to his professional image and his personnel. Thanks to these attributes, many Houstonians came to associate eating at Felix with family occasions. Most people knew Mingo, the kitchen manager and Felix‟s right arm, because he often appeared alongside him in press photographs. They also appreciated the staff‟s attention to their requests and the fact that many waiters memorized individual patrons‟ personal preferences. Carlos, a particularly beloved waiter, became famous for his ability to anticipate regular customers‟ needs.

One diner fondly remembered that Carlos “was so personable and remembered what we all liked. I tended towards lots of hot sauce and he was quick to bring me the grande

70 “Announcing Grand Opening Tonight,” advertisement, Houston Press clipping, 23 June 1948, Felix Tijerina Sr. Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.

71 J.R. Gonzales, “Felix Mexican Restaurant,” Bayou City History, Houston Chronicle blog, readers‟ comments, 9 April 2010, http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2010/04/felix_mexican_restaurant.html, accessed 12 November 2010.

72 “New Mexican Restaurant to Open Tonight,” Houston Post clipping, 23 June 1948, Felix Rijerina Sr. Papers, Box 1, Folder 4, 7 (2).

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when he saw me approach.”73 Moreover, Felix Restaurant boasted a high retention rate of its employees, many of whom worked for the Tijerinas for decades. As a result, the wait staff served several generations of family members, which enhanced the familiarity of eating at the establishment. One patron would later comment, “ I grew up eating at

Felix‟s. Carlos was the best waiter in Houston. He served me when I was just 8 and he served at my wedding rehearsal.”74 In addition to choosing staff who developed a bond with diners, Felix also ensured that politeness remained at the forefront of service. A

1955 Houston Post article explained his outlook as follows:

If tomato and catsup were the first two words of English Felix Tijerina learned, his next two probably were “Yes, Ma‟am.” Now a successful restaurant operator himself, he is a stickler for politeness. “It doesn‟t cost a thing to be polite,” he frequently tells his waiters. “I‟d fire a man sooner for failing to say „yes ma‟am‟ to a lady than I would for cussing me out.”75

Felix‟s extensive memory also allowed him to learn the faces and names of hundreds of customers, and he often greeted people at the door, which ensured that they felt personally acquainted with him.76 Finally, just as many Houstonians enjoyed listening to

KLVL‟s programs to enhance their Spanish-language skills, dining at Felix presented patrons with the opportunity to practice ordering food and beverages in Spanish. One

73 J.R. Gonzales, “Felix Mexican Restaurant,” Bayou City History, Houston Chronicle blog, readers‟ comments, 9 April 2010, http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2010/04/felix_mexican_restaurant.html, accessed 12 November 2010.

74 Ibid.

75 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

76 Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, 2 November 1994 and 5 November 1997.

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woman, for instance, recalled that, “when [she was] a child in the 1950s, … [her] older siblings would attempt to order using their not-so-perfect Spanish, and [she] got a chance to say „gracias.‟”77 Eating at the Tijerinas‟ establishment provided a cultural and culinary experience to several generations of Houstonians for whom the actual customs and foodways of their “neighbor to the South” might have otherwise not proved as accessible.

A trip to Felix offered them a seemingly foreign experience in a familiar setting.

Expanding into a Small Restaurant Chain

The two Felix Mexican Restaurants yielded such a profit that Felix had amassed a fortune by the early 1950s. Both establishments generated an average of $3,000 each day, and this success convinced Felix that a second Houston location would bring in further revenue.78 After a careful study of patterns of Anglo residence and trends in the spatial extension of the burgeoning metropolis, Felix chose Kirby Drive, just west of the

Rice University campus, proving once again his shrewd understanding of the importance of locating food establishments according to the local clientele. This restaurant offered about half the seating capacity of the Westheimer place and boasted a fully equipped kitchen. It was also decorated in a manner similar to that of the other two Felixes, with imported furniture and hand-wrought iron chandeliers. Employees wore jackets made out of the same hand-painted cloth as the draperies that adorned the picture windows, adding

77 J.R. Gonzales, “Felix Mexican Restaurant,” Bayou City History, Houston Chronicle blog, readers‟ comments, 9 April 2010, http://blogs.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2010/04/felix_mexican_restaurant.html, accessed 12 November 2010.

78 Felix had entirely renovated the Beaumont location in the summer of 1951, its tenth year of operation. Such was the Tijerinas‟ policy for every establishment thereafter. “Felix Mexican Restaurant on Kirby Drive Will Open Today,” Houston Post clipping, 3 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7 (Found in Box 10), 2 (4).

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a sense of coordination and harmony between the interior and the wait staff.79 Just like the Westheimer opening four years earlier, the inauguration on 3 April 1952 proved a grand affair. The mayors of Houston, West University, and Bellaire all attended, while the two teenage daughters of Robert Everett Smith, a local millionaire oilman, cut the symbolic ribbon.80 Adding to the family atmosphere that the Felix brand had come to symbolize amongst Anglo Houstonians, Felix enrolled his four-year-old son, Felix, Jr., to serve the first meal to the Smith daughters. Fully clothed in Mexican garb, the child showed that he stood ready to follow into his father‟s footsteps, having already been

“schooled in the restaurant business,” according to one newspaper account.81 A photograph of the two generations of Tijerinas even depicted the proud father kneeling next to his son, who rested his hand on his shoulder and smiled candidly, with the caption

“At 4, son will repeat father‟s job at 13,” while another advertisement juxtaposed their photographs, depicting Felix, Jr., wearing a chef‟s toque.82 Such publicity enhanced

79 Ibid.

80 Ibid; “Felix Opens 3d Mexican Restaurant,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 3 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7, n.p.; “Who Did What on the New Felix Mexican Restaurant,” advertisement, Houston Press clipping, 8 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7 (Found in Box 10), 7; “Felix Jr., 4, Turns „Busboy‟ for Opening of Dad‟s 3d Café,” Houston Press clipping, 8 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7 (Found in Box 10), 7.

81 “Felix Jr., 4, Turns „Busboy‟ for Opening of Dad‟s 3d Café,” Houston Press clipping, 8 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7 (Found in Box 10), 7. It should be noted, however, that Felix emphasized education to his children, and he did not want them to work at the restaurant as long as they attended school. Felix Jr., only went to work at the restaurant after graduating from college and because he felt it his duty to continue his parents‟ legacy. See Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, 2 November 1994 and 5 November 1997; Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

82 “Announcing the Opening of Houston‟s Second FELIX [sic] Mexican Restaurant,” newspaper clipping, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, n.p.; “Felix Jr., 4, Turns „Busboy‟ for Opening of Dad‟s 3d Café,” Houston Press clipping, 8 April 1952, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 7 (Found in Box 10), 7. 200

Felix‟s public image as a successful, hard-working businessman and a loving father eager to entice his son to continue the family legacy of serving Mexican food to Houstonians.

A decade and a half after re-inserting himself into the local restaurant scene, Felix

Tijerina thus epitomized Mexican fare and culture in the eyes of many Anglo

Houstonians.

Felix‟s keen understanding of how Anglos chose new residential areas as the city‟s population continued to explode in the postwar era informed his strategy of expansion. Between the mid-1950s and 1965, the year of his untimely death, Felix would launch four new branch restaurants throughout the metropolitan area. In 1956, the

Bellaire location, just a few miles west of Kirby Drive, opened with the goal “to serve more conveniently the folks who live in the West and Southwest area of Greater

Houston.”83 Felix again decorated the establishment with the Mexican-themed colors and furniture that had become his signature style. He publicly expressed his gratitude in a full-page advertisement, “thank[ing] … [their] hundreds of good friends, whose continued patronage for so many years, [sic] ha[d] made possible the third Felix Mexican

Restaurant.”84 He noted that “this evidence of confidence … [was] a source of great personal pride” and that the Tijerinas “shall always conduct [their] business so as to keep

[their] old friends and to continue making new ones.”85 In 1961, Felix decided to tap

83 “Open Today at 6 P.M.: The Third Felix Mexican Restaurant,” Houston Post advertisement, 30 November 1956, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, 7 (3).

84 Ibid.

85 Ibid; Charlie Evans, “Felix Opens New Restaurant Here,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 November 1956, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 28, 6 (B); “Fourth Felix Mexican 201

Houston‟s eastside market for the first time. He purchased a building at 719 Telephone

Road, another prime location with steady traffic, and enticed customers with a “2 for 1

Get Acquainted coupon” [sic] for the “Felix Special” dinner and a new take-out service.86

That establishment also fared well, especially at lunchtime.87 Two years later, a sixth restaurant opened its doors, but this time in a different format from its predecessors.

Felix chose to cater to the downtown midday crowds with a small cafeteria on Main

Street, symbolically returning to the place of his professional roots. Its appearance starkly contrasted with the other five Felixes, which all featured white stucco facades, picture windows, elaborate décor, and sturdy wooden tables and chairs. Instead, the 616

Main location‟s exterior consisted of chrome, glass, and veneer. Its interior offered simple booths on each side of the walls and lacked a full kitchen. Since it only opened for the lunch shift, the chili, beans, rice, and tortillas were prepared every morning at the

Westheimer location and delivered before opening.88 In keeping with the quick-meal

Restaurant to Open,” Houston Post clipping, 30 November 1956, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 1, 7 (3).

86 “Be My Guest,” advertisement, unknown newspaper, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 9, n.p.; “Now Open, the Fifth Felix,” advertisement, unknown newspaper, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 9, n.p.; “New Mexican Restaurant Opens Today,” Houston Post clipping, 27 August 1961, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 13, n.p.; Ray and Mary Molina, interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 12 December 1984, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC); Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 302- 303. The “Felix Special” consisted of a taco, a tostada, chile con queso, guacamole, crisp toasted tortilla chips, and hot sauce on the side. “Felix Mexican Restaurant” menu, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 3.

87 Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 302-303.

88 The tacos and enchiladas were cooked at the Main Street restaurant on a steam table, one of the few kitchen equipments available there. Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, 2 November 1994 and 5 November 1997.

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strategy, Felix did not adorn the tables with white tablecloths and forewent regular dishware for disposable plastic, a decision that also set the cafeteria sharply apart from all the other restaurants.89 Like its siblings, the downtown branch performed well for many years and provided workers with savory dishes just a few blocks from their offices.

Finally, in the summer of 1965, just a few weeks before Felix‟s death, the Tijerinas opened their seventh and last establishment in the growing city of Pasadena. A smaller building that Felix rented from a friend, it held a seating capacity of one hundred and ten people and, as per custom, offered the same menu selection as other restaurants.90 While it would sustain brisk business at first, that establishment proved less successful, perhaps because it lay in a “dry” area, which curtailed the restaurant‟s benefits since no beer nor wine could be served. Janie, who had originally expressed reluctance about this seventh location because it stood furthest east of all other branches, would later say that Felix

“shouldn‟t have opened it, and maybe he would have lived.”91 He had indeed invested a lot of energy in the new enterprise that hot summer and, already in ill health, became significantly weaker shortly before the opening.92 He died of a heart attack on 4

September 1965, leaving Janie in charge of all the restaurants.

89 Ibid.

90 Ibid. Felix also rented the downtown restaurant. While we know he bought the Beaumont, Westheimer, and Telephone road properties, it is unclear whether he rented or owned the other locations.

91 Ibid.

92 Ibid.

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Felix Tijerina and Race

In many respects, the life of Felix Tijerina exemplified the experience of the

Mexican American generation.93 His unwavering quest for social mobility and embrace of American principles paralleled his efforts to present the cultural attributes of his ethnic group in a favorable light. Yet when it came to racial minorities and his opinion on how best they could improve their standing in American society, Felix‟s views remained accommodationist, and he never took a stand against the established racial order. This next section briefly examines how Felix dealt with issues of his own birth and immigrant status, segregation in his restaurants, and how his work within LULAC focused on improving the educational and linguistic opportunities of Spanish-speaking youths.

Although many Houstonians held him in high esteem, and Anglos formed the bedrock of his customer basis, Felix nonetheless remained fully aware of his Mexican origins. Indeed, newspaper articles that otherwise depicted him in a highly favorable manner nonetheless associated him with “such Latin mannerisms as the lift of an eyebrow or the wave of his well-manicured hand,” and noted that “his English, even though it … [was] fluent and even eloquent at times, … [bore] a strong Spanish

93 For further examination of the Mexican American generation, see Mario T. García, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960, Yale Western Americana Series, no. 36 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989); George J. Sánchez, Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); David G. Gutierrez, Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), Chapters 3 and 4; Anthony Quiroz, Claiming Citizenship: Mexican Americans in Victoria, Texas, Fronteras Series, no. 3 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005); José Alamillo, Making Lemonade Out of Lemons: Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1880–1960, Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial Series, (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2006).

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accent.”94 Yet from his early days at the Original Mexican Restaurant until his last breath, he maintained that he was a United States citizen. Felix carefully crafted a narrative that placed his birth in rural Sugar Land, Texas, where his family worked as field hands and barely interacted with English speakers, thereby justifying his difficulties with the language. He, of course, wove elements of truth in this account. He concealed that he had been born in General Escobedo, Mexico, and had spent the first ten years of his life there, but otherwise incorporated his family‟s experiences after they had crossed the border into the rags-to-riches story that would become known to most Houstonians.

Felix had to prove his American citizenship several times between the mid-1920s and

1950s and went to great lengths to forge documents and produce false testimonies that stated that he had been born in Sugar Land in 1905.95 In 1956, however, a federal judge officially settled the case and declared him a citizen of the United States. By then, his stature among both Mexican-origin and Anglo Houstonians had become so prominent

94 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

95 Felix‟s first immigration problems occurred in 1925, when he took a short trip to his native village of General Escobedo. Upon his return to the border, he could not show proof of U.S. citizenship. Because he wanted to get back to Houston quickly so as not to lose his job at the restaurant, he signed a request for an immigrant visa with the INS and swore that he had been born in General Escobedo, Mexico. Fifteen years later, Felix again encountered the same problem after trying to re-enter the United States from Mexico, but managed to return safely to Houston. This second incident, however, prompted the INS to order him to “get the matter [of his citizenship] straight” and to produce a birth certificate that confirmed he had been born in Sugar Land, as he claimed. Felix proceeded to locate an elderly African American midwife in Sugar Land and convinced her to sign an affidavit certifying that she had delivered him. He submitted it, along with a delayed birth certificate, to INS officials. The latter remained skeptical, but the matter of Felix‟s citizenship would not resurface for another thirteen years. In 1953, Felix‟s and Janie‟s adopted son became eligible for U.S. citizenship, so the Tijerinas filed the necessary paperwork with immigration services. Doubts over Felix‟s immigration status came up once more, and he decided to settle the matter for good in court. The lawsuit lasted from 1953 to 1956 and received intense scrutiny from the local Anglo press, which openly supported Felix. For further details on Felix‟s immigration troubles, see Kreneck, “Sleuthing Immigrant Origins: Felix Tijerina and His Mexican Revolution Roots,” 3, 5-13, and Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 43-44, 80-83, 157-158, 175-191. 205

that the prosecuting attorney only built a tepid case on behalf of the Immigration and

Naturalization Services. Moreover, Felix had armed himself with a successful and popular local attorney and received a solid and vocal backing from the mainstream press.

The federal district judge would later not elaborate on his favorable ruling towards a defendant who, had he not stood among the most successful entrepreneurs of the city, would likely have endured deportation and lost his fortune in the process.96 But Judge

Joe Ingraham ate regularly at the restaurant and respected Felix greatly.

Felix not only viewed his own immigrant identity as a potential disadvantage to his professional achievements but also felt that keeping the racial status quo in his establishments held paramount importance to his success. Therefore, because the majority of his loyal customers were white, he adopted a segregationist policy.97 A note, entitled “Negroes” and typed on the restaurant‟s letterhead, explained to employees the proper steps to take should an African American enter the establishment and seek service.

It first cautioned that “the proper thing to say … [was], „I‟m sorry, we cannot serve you here,‟” and provided instructions on how to dismiss any protesting customer without having to call the police.98 Should the black person persist and intervention from law officers prove necessary in order to remove the individual, the staff was instructed to inform them that “[Felix had] the right to select [their] customers” because “[they were]

96 Ibid; Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, Chapter Seven.

97 Felix‟s public stance on African Americans‟ civil rights militancy always advocated for the members of that ethnic group to remain patient and to realize that confrontational tactics, such as the sit-ins of the late 1950s, would “alienate the friendship of the white people.” Felix Tijerina, untitled and unaddressed manuscript letter, ca. May 1960, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 27.

98 “Negroes,” Felix Mexican Restaurant memorandum, n.d., Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 4.

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operating a private business.”99 Felix upheld this policy until the passage of the Civil

Rights Act on 2 July 1964. The day following the new law, an internal memorandum circulated among the restaurants, observing that, “The Civil Rights bill has been signed into law by the President of the United States. And being good Americans we must obey this law.”100 The note also instructed personnel on the best ways to alleviate white customers‟ resentment of the new policy:

Beginning to-day [sic] Negro citizens will be served in all our restaurants, they are to be given the same service as any other patron. … If there is some insulting remark made to the Negro by a white patron, and the Negro ignores him and says nothing, then ask the white person to refrain from his remarks to the Negro patron or leave the restaurant. If both the white and Negro patron get into an argument ask both to leave, and if they do not call the police.101

While Felix held accommodationist views towards African Americans and their struggles for civil rights, he also strongly advocated assimilation for Mexican immigrants and their children.102 Heavily influenced by his own life story, difficulties with the English

99 Ibid.

100 “Notice,” notice to hostesses, cashiers, and waiters, 3 July 1964, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 4.

101 Ibid. It should be noted that Felix died in September 1965 and left no evidence of how he interacted with black customers after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Janie, however, openly expressed her reservations about black and Hispanic customers in her oral history interview in 1978. She contended that African Americans were demanding about the quality of food and service and required “a lot of attention.” Janie concluded by summarily dismissing black and Mexican customers as “the only dissatisfied people that she ha[d].” The historical records consulted for this project do not illuminate further whether she based her claims on a few encounters or if she did have less harmonious relations with black and Mexican customers. See Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978.

102 Felix became directly engaged with the African American civil rights movement in Houston in the spring of 1960, when black students from Texas Southern University, a black institution, organized a sit-in at a Weingarten supermarket‟s lunch counter. Lewis Cutrer, then Houston mayor, appointed a biracial committee to put forth suggestions on how to solve the issue and asked Felix to participate. Felix first expressed his opinions to his colleagues in a one-page-and-a-half-long letter, which quickly received 207

language, and the advantages that claiming American citizenship had bestowed on his own professional life, Felix tirelessly urged Mexican immigrants to become American citizens and to speak English to their children from a young age in order to ensure their educational success and improve their chances for social mobility. In a 1955 Houston

Post feature article, Felix, then regional governor of LULAC, expressed his views on the importance of education as follows:

There are natives of this country who still think of themselves as “Mexicans” instead of “Americans.” That is not right: if they are going to live here, they must become Americans… We [also] need to see that the young children learn English before they start to school [sic] so they can keep up with the other children and go on through with high school.103

One year later, Felix was elected LULAC national president and served an unprecedented four-year term in that position. He used this platform to extend the organization‟s reach from coast to coast and to promote the importance of English-language education for children of Hispanic immigrants. Indeed, he devised a program called “The Little School of the 400,” which boasted such success that it resulted in its adoption by the State of

coverage from the local press. In his missive, he exhorted black leaders to remain patient and to remember that “the … plight of the Negro in the South [was] the result of over a hundred years of social and economic customs and [that] there [was] no way this situation [would] be overcome in a day, week, or even years.” He also advised them that blacks‟ “best friend [had] been the white man of good will” who helped establish universities and worked towards giving blacks better job opportunities for their “effort towards self-improvement.” Such had been Felix‟s stance as national president of LULAC from 1956 to 1960, as well. See Felix Tijerina, untitled and unaddressed manuscript letter, ca. May 1960, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Folder 27.

103 Marie Moore, “When Felix Tijerina Feels Like a Big Shot, He Thinks of Beer Truck,” Houston Post clipping, 1 August 1955, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 22 (Found in Box 10), n.p.

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Texas in 1960.104 Arguably his most significant legacy during his LULAC years on a national scale, Felix put his heart, mind, and wallet into the sponsorship of this program because it sought to address the linguistic deficiencies of Spanish-speaking preschoolers by teaching them four hundred basic English words before they entered the first grade. It yielded such impressive results, especially in the rural areas of Texas where most

Spanish-speaking pupils suffered from school segregation and poverty, that it greatly influenced Lyndon Johnson‟s “Project Head Start” in 1965.105 While the federal program‟s goals reached beyond the Little School‟s original agenda, most observers of educational policy at the time concluded that Felix‟s model in part influenced Head

Start‟s strategies to allay poverty and prevent school dropout among lower-class students.106

Felix Tijerina was therefore a prominent public figure and civic leader whose views on race relations and assimilation attracted both criticism and acclaim, and he remains a controversial figure of the Mexican American generation. Yet, he built a restaurant chain that would outlive him by forty years and familiarized Anglos with his own rendition of Mexican culture and food. Poor or rich, he always strove to take part in the life of both Anglo and Mexican communities and to help those in want, whether they needed a job, money for education, or assistance paying medical bills. Felix Tijerina had

104 For a thorough examination of Felix‟s presidency of LULAC between 1956 and 1960, as well as details on the development and implementation of the “Little School of the 400,” see Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, Chapters Eight and Nine.

105 Ibid, 308.

106 Ibid, 307-309.

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countless friends and acted as a bridge between members of his own ethnic group and the white community. He embodied the rags-to-riches tales of which enterprising

Houstonians prided themselves and represented the generation of Mexican American leaders that came of age during the Great Depression. As the priest officiating the requiem mass exclaimed at his funeral, “this was an outstanding man, and his work is his monument.”107 Thereafter, Janie and their two children would tend to his legacy.108

Felix Mexican Restaurant after Felix, the Evolution of Tex-Mex Food, and Changing Anglo Culinary Tastes

The Tijerina children were still in school when Felix died in 1965, so the responsibility of maintaining the family business fell on Janie. Of course, because she had played such an important role in the management of the restaurants since the beginning, employees and customers alike naturally supported her as the new public face of the chain. Even though she herself had become a prominent member of the Anglo and

Mexican-origin communities, Janie knew that the Felix name would remain associated with her husband and did not alter the business model. Instead, she presented herself as a hard-working, self-reliant mother and widow who strove to keep all seven establishments open with the sweat of her brow.109 For instance, a 1967 Houston Chronicle article

107 John J. Herrera, “His Work Was His Monument,” eulogy, 1965, John J. Herrera Collection, Box 6, Folder 21.

108 Felix and Janie adopted infant Janie Bell in 1952. Unlike her brother, Janie Belle was born in Houston. Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 89, 115.

109 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Betty 210

explained that “the menus ha[d]n‟t changed since 1938,” and that Janie only slept four hours each night, “visit[ed] every one of her restaurants at least once a day,” and took weekly trips to the Beaumont location.110 She also picked up food supplies and delivered them to the Houston restaurants herself, supervised the food quality in all establishments, and even covered shifts whenever wait staff was needed.111 Janie engaged fully with the restaurants immediately after Felix‟s death, and the Houston public continued to patronize the establishment.

Tex-Mex Food Evolves in the 1970s

Despite the continued popularity of the Tijerina name around town, in no small part due to Janie‟s hard work and her multiple civic engagements, business at Felix began to wane during the 1970s.112 Felix, Jr., joined his mother after obtaining a degree in

Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5). Janie also supervised Felix‟s catering services and would continue to do so until at least the mid-1980s. The records in the Tijerina papers do not offer conclusive evidence of the dates of operation for that aspect of the business. See Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 9; “The 20 Oldest Restaurants in Houston,” Houston Business Journal clipping, 23 June 1986, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-1987,” HMRC, n.p.

110 Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8).

111 Mrs. Felix Tijerina (Janie) Oral History, 16 April 1978; Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Betty Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5).

112 The archival records consulted for this study do not clearly indicate when business at Felix establishments began to decline. For Janie‟s civic engagements and accomplishments, see Susan Buchanan, “The Busy Lady behind the Tacos Remembers the Leaner Years,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 2 January 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 3 (8); Ann James, “Widow Charters Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 211

finance from Saint Edwards University in Austin, Texas, in the early years of that decade; he did so because “it seeme[d] natural [to him] that the children ha[d] to continue their parents‟ legacy and life work.”113 The injection of young family blood into the operation, however, failed to help the Felix chain weather the culinary changes that swept through that decade and would force Janie to close down several locations and eventually lead to the slow death of Felix Mexican Restaurants.

The 1970s represented a turning point in Americans‟ relationship with cuisine, especially with regard to the introduction of foreign foods. Houston, a prime host for immigrants from Latin America and Asia during that decade, became a harbinger of the nation‟s growing tastes in less familiar flavors and dishes. By 1980, the city counted

48,000 Asians, the majority of whom hailed from China and Vietnam, and 280,000

Hispanics, most from Mexico, but with an increasing number of Central and South

American refugees.114 Food columnists in the city celebrated the “unspeakable delights” that accompanied such an influx of new cultures in the metropolitan area and felt that

“Houston‟s ethnic explosion ha[d] educated the collective palate and expanded the

1 June 1967, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 8, Folder 14, 1 (N); Brenda Beust Smith, “The Chili Lady,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 January 1973, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 11, 1 (3); Betty Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5); Jane Hill, “Houston Rotary Picks First Woman Member,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 July 1987, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 28 (1).

113 Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009. Felix Jr., worked out of the Westheimer location most of the time. He later explained that he naturally gravitated towards that establishment because he had spent his childhood in the apartment above the restaurant.

114 Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, Comparative American Cities Series (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989), 96; Nestor Rodriguez, “Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston,” in Helen Rose Ebaugh, Janet Saltzman Chafetz, and Michael Wilkinsom, (eds.), Religion and New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptation in Immigrant Congregations, (Washington, D.C.: Association for the Sociology of Religion, 1993), 25-28.

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culinary consciousness” of residents.115 In a parallel fashion, Mexican food, as Anglo customers conceived of it, was redefined in the 1970s in a manner that drastically transformed the restaurant industry in Texas and throughout the nation. While a growing number of ethnic restaurants offered meals from Central America and Asia, the Mexican food industry in Texas received serious criticism from America‟s newest expert in

Mexican fare, Diana Kennedy. A self-taught cook living in Mexico, she published the ground-breaking The Cuisines of Mexico in 1972, in which she heavily criticized the

“‟mixed plates‟ that passed for Mexican food [in the United States] and challenged readers to raise their standards” and to familiarize themselves with the flavors and ingredients that Mexicans consumed instead.116 Kennedy famously coined the term

“Tex-Mex food” to refer to the dishes that catered to the bland palates of white Texans and that relied mostly on cheese-laden combination plates and hard-shell, meat-filled tacos that might have sold well in Texas but held no resemblance to what Mexican

115 Alison Cook, “Unspeakable Delights,” Houston City Magazine, September 1981, 133-136; Leslie Sowers, “Mouth-Watering Range of Foods Tantalizes Restaurantgoers [sic],” Houston Chronicle clipping, 15 July 1985, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1980-1985,” HMRC, n.p. For further information on the explosion of the ethnic restaurant scene in the city, also see Alison Cook, “Orient Express,” Houston City Magazine, August 1980, 85-88; Ellen Middlebrook, “Chinese Fortunes: Houston a Restaurant Boomtown,” Houston Post clipping, 7 September 1980, Vertical File, “H- Restaurants-1980-1985,” n.p.; Judith Crown, “Restaurants Jockey to Find New Markets,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 1 August 1984, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1980-1985,” n.p.; Judith Crown, “A More Eastern Flavor: Older Businesses Fear Expanding Asian Community Market May Eliminate Established Market,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 13 October 1985, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1980- 1985,” n.p.; “Houston: Residents Eat Out More Than New Yorkers Do,” Houston Post clipping, 11 June 1989, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1988-1990,” HMRC, n.p; Diane Freeman, “Already at the Top in Ethnic Fare, Mexican Restaurants Freshen Looks,” Houston Post clipping, 1 October 1989, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1988-1989,” 1 (D), 9 (D); Beverly Narum, “Ethnic Choices Winning Out at Restaurants,” Houston Post clipping, 28 June 1992, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1992,” 1 (D).

116 Robb Walsh, “Mama‟s Got a Brand-New Bag,” Houston Press, 28 September 2000, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, Hospitality Industry Archives, Conrad N. Hilton College, Houston, Texas, n.p. Also available at http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-09- 28/dining/mama-s-got-a-brand-new-bag/, accessed 16 November 2010; Diana Kennedy, The Cuisines of Mexico (New York: Harper and Row, 1972).

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denizens actually ate.117 Food historian Robb Walsh summarized the impact of

Kennedy‟s judgment on the accommodationist food that establishments like Felix had offered to several generations of white Houstonians as follows:

When Kennedy pointed out that Tex-Mex was a bastardized version of Mexican food, America fell into step behind her. They did so because … authentic or not, the Texas-Mexican food of Tijerina‟s generation didn‟t reflect the spirit of the times. Tex-Mex was what we called the Uncle Tomás version of Mexican food. It was Mexican food for white people.118

Nothing in the available archival record suggests that Janie or Felix, Jr., responded to these changing trends in the 1970s. They did not offer new dishes that catered more closely to baby boomers‟ taste for Mexico‟s regional cuisines, which Diana Kennedy strongly advocated. Janie did add a few Tex-Mex items, such as the margarita cocktail and fajitas in the 1970s, but only reluctantly and once they had become staples of the menus of other Tex-Mex establishments around town.119 The Felix Restaurants

117 Ibid; Ann Criswell, “Looking at Cooking,” Houston Chronicle, 11 September 1969, 8 (Food Section). In this article, Criswell explained that tacos were never served with ground beef in Mexico, but rather offered “thin strips of pork, chicken, or beef,” something unusual in establishments serving so-called Mexican food in Texas by the turn of the decade. Criswell also debunked the myths about Texan-style chili, tamales, and cheese-flavored Mexican dishes that Texans enjoyed so much by describing how they were actually served in an authentic fashion in Mexico. Criswell wrote many articles on Mexican food and authentic preparation of this ethnic fare throughout the 1970s and 1980s in the Houston Chronicle.

118 Robb Walsh, “Mama‟s Got a Brand-New Bag,” Houston Press, 28 September 2000, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p.

119 Liquor-by-the-drink became legal in the State of Texas in 1971. Until then, Texans who wished to consume a cocktail at a bar or dance club had to bring their own bottle of liquor and order ice and a mixer in order to confect their own beverage. The new law generated tremendous income, both for the state, which taxed the libations, and for food and drinking establishments, whose revenues dramatically increased as well. For instance, between May and June 1979, Texans spent $194 million on alcohol purchases in such places. Janie did not favor serving mixed drinks for fear of intoxicated customers but added them to the menu because of their popularity, especially that of the margarita. Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009; “Houston, Liquor-by-the-Drink: Tops in Texas,” Houston Post clipping, 19 August 1979, Vertical File, “H-Liquor,” HMRC, n.p (D); “BYOB: The Texan and the Bottle: A Brief History,” Texas Monthly, March 1982, 132-133, 206. Chapter Five will examine the life of Ninfa Laurenzo, Houston‟s most famous purveyor of fajitas.

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continued to offer traditional Tex-Mex dishes such as the “Jalisco Special,” featuring

“Toasted Tortillas Spread with Fried Beans, Melted Cheese Topped with Avocado Salad,

Cole Slaw, Tortilla Chips and Hot Sauce,” served on the side.120 A caption at the bottom of the menu now also informed “those who ha[d] not eaten Mexican food [that] it [was] not highly seasoned and [was] not hot,” thereby perpetuating the claim that Felix served authentic Mexican dishes while easing new customers‟ potential reservations about the perceived spiciness of any food labeled as Mexican.121 For the first time since the late

1930s, the Tijerinas, Houston‟s First Family of Mexican restaurateurs, encountered a serious challenge to their business model. The old Tex-Mex had lost its appeal, and two possible directions now presented themselves as viable options for the future: a newer version of Mexican food cooked Texas-style or Mexican cuisine featuring genuine dishes from Mexico‟s heartland. Nevertheless, Janie and Felix, Jr., either refused to acknowledge these evolving trends in culinary tastes or simply felt confident that the restaurant chain and family name had gained enough support and respect among

Houstonians over more than three decades to continue brisk business in all seven restaurants.

The End of an Era

Even though the Tijerina name would remain associated in many residents‟ minds with Mexican food and civic accomplishments for several decades after the death of Felix

Sr., its particular brand of dishes would not survive the new cultural makeup of the

120 Menu, “Felix Mexican Restaurant,” 1970s, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 3.

121 Ibid.

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growing metropolis. By the mid-1970s, Felix, Jr., and Janie started to receive sharp criticism about the quality of the meals served in different locations. One patron, for instance, expressed her disappointing experience at the Telephone Road restaurant, where she received poor service and found the meat in her “Felix Special Dinner” not to taste fresh. She informed Felix, Jr., that, “if the waitress had been friendly, then even a poor meal would not have seemed near as bad.”122 Another disgruntled customer qualified his dinner at the Kirby branch as a “misfortune” and expressed his dismay that the food he was served was branded Mexican:

The [tostadas veracruzanas] … were the poorest excuse for any type of Mexican food I have ever eaten, in the U.S., or in Mexico. I travel into Mexico often … I know Mexican food very well…and what you serve is not Mexican food. … It shall be my neverending duty [sic] to inform friends and business associates NOT to enter one of your restaurants [sic], for fear of being fed some foreign substance called food. Down with Felix!123

By the mid-1980s, the declining service and food quality likely had coupled with the insistence of an aging Janie on supervising all restaurants in the midst of an economic recession that hit Houston especially hard.124 By 1986, the chain had shrunk to three

122 Mrs. Frank B. Martin to Mr. Tijerina, 23 September 1975, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 8.

123 Jack Naite to Felix Restaurants, 25 April 1972, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 1, Folder 8.

124 By the 1980s, Houston‟s economic structure depended heavily on the oil industry and imports. The sharp fall in oil prices throughout OPEC countries as well as a national decline in oil demand and a weak economy in the early years of that decade combined to make the recession especially hard for the city. Reflecting this, by 1986, the unemployment rate across the metropolitan area stood at about 15 percent. See Beth Anne Shelton et al., Houston: Growth and Decline in a Sunbelt Boomtown, 9, 25-26.

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Felix branches, and Janie and her children leased two others.125 Felix, Jr., continued to help his mother run the three establishments while his sister, Janie Bell, worked as secretary, treasurer, and bookkeeper.126 As business became less steady, the Tijerinas would close all locations, save for the flagship restaurant on Westheimer, which, by the mid-1990s, remained the only legacy of Felix‟s and Janie‟s lifework. The establishment that had defined much about the Tijerina saga stayed in family hands and would die a slow death, nurtured into its final days by Felix, Jr.

One could argue that the spirit of the Felix Mexican Restaurant died in 1997, along with eighty-eight-year-old Janie. Houstonians mourned her passing, and at least one thousand honored her memory at her funeral, which many dignitaries attended.127

Felix, Jr., found himself in charge of managing the operation, well aware that the restaurant held a significant place in his family‟s legacy and had become an institution in

Houston. Despite offers to sell the name for franchise, Felix, Jr., persisted in his efforts

125 Betty Ewing, “Mrs. Felix: A Houston Tradition to Celebrate 57 Years of Business, Community Service,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 July 1986, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 10, Unlabeled Folder, 1 (5). Neither the Tijerina Papers nor the vertical files held at the HMRC give any indication about the respective closing dates of the Felix branches. Online searches of the Houston Chronicle, whose archives are available on the Internet from 1986 to the present, also yield little information about the gradual closings. A consultation of the city directories would be the next step towards uncovering further evidence. By the time Janie died in 1997, the Westheimer location remained the only running establishment, while the Tijerina children were leasing the Telephone Road property to Taiwanese restaurant owners and hoping to sell the Beaumont location. See Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, 2 November 1994 and 5 November 1997; Marty Racine, “Tex-Mex in a State of Mind: Chips and Salsa, Refried Beans, Enchiladas, Nachos, Fajitas, Huevos Rancheros- They‟re Not Just Foods. They‟re Sustenance for the Soul, Beatitude for the Belly and Affirmation That Life in Texas Is Good,” Houston Chronicle, 21 June 1998, 8 (Texas Magazine); Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

126 Ibid. Janie Bell left the family business at some point in the late 1980s or early 1990s to attend law school, and she and Felix Jr., strongly disagreed over the division of the family‟s estate and fortune after Janie‟s death, which strained their relationship. Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

127 “Restaurateur Janie Tijerina Dies at Age 88,” Houston Chronicle, 4 March 1997, 19 (News); Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, 5 November 1997. 217

to “keep the tradition going.”128 In fact, he perceived his continuation of his parents‟ work as an “emotional” commitment and felt that the Westheimer restaurant “[was] almost like a museum” of the city‟s identity.129 Felix, Jr., strove to keep on serving the famed cheese enchiladas and chili con queso that had built the restaurant‟s reputation and had earned the favors of four generations of loyal customers.130 But by the mid-2000s, business was floundering, and he found it increasingly difficult to maintain food quality and pay the staff, most of whom were extended family and longtime employees, while still generating a profit.131 By the spring of 2008, Felix, Jr., quietly closed the

Westheimer location, leaving Houstonians to mourn the most well-recognized legacy of the Tijerinas and one of the temples of Tex-Mex cuisine in Houston.132 He would later explain that,

128 Leslie Sowers, “Not So Nouvelle/Restaurants with Half a Century‟s History Are Few in This City That Thrives on Turnover and the Trend du Jour. Few, but They‟re Still Here. And They‟re Not Changing,” Houston Chronicle, 2 April 1995, 1 (Lifestyle).

129 Marty Racine, “Tex-Mex in a State of Mind: Chips and Salsa, Refried Beans, Enchiladas, Nachos, Fajitas, Huevos Rancheros- They‟re Not Just Foods. They‟re Sustenance for the Soul, Beatitude for the Belly and Affirmation That Life in Texas Is Good,” Houston Chronicle, 21 June 1998, 8 (Texas Magazine).

130 Renee Kientz, “Tex-Mex Mainstay: Felix Mexican Restaurant Is a Longtime Houston Tradition,” Houston Chronicle, 5 March 1999, 1 (Dining Guide).

131 Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009. In the early 2000s, two of the Westheimer restaurant‟s longtime and beloved employees died. Frank Barrera, who worked as a waiter for over fifty years, died in 2001. Joe González, Janie‟s cousin and a cook at the flagship establishment for over a half century, died a year later. Surely, the loss of these two employees exacerbated Houstonians‟ awareness that Felix Mexican Restaurant was an aging institution. See Edward Hegstrom, “Frank Barrera, Waiter at Felix with Generations of Customers,” Houston Chronicle, 11 December 2001, 25 (A); Rad Sallee, “Longtime Chef González,” Houston Chronicle, 1 October 2002, 15 (A).

132 I borrow the term “temple” from Robb Walsh‟s article, “Temples of Tex-Mex: A Diner‟s Guide to the State‟s Oldest Mexican Restaurants,” Houston Press, 2 July 2008, http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07-03/news/temples-of-tex-mex-a-diner-s-guide-to-the-state-s-oldest- mexican-restaurants/, accessed 30 November 2010. 218

Like everything else, restaurants have a set life duration. They are meant to change because what people want changes over time. People loved [the Westheimer restaurant] so much, and it was such a part of Houston that [they] did not want it to change. At the same time, [they] stopped coming because the food we served was not what people wanted any more.133

In the same conversation, Felix, Jr., characterized the Westheimer location as a

“dinosaur.”134 Indeed, the closing of the establishment did represent the end of an era. It epitomized a time when a barely literate son of Mexican migrants with no formal training in business nor in the hospitality industry made a name for himself and his family through hard work and a willingness to build bridges between Mexican and Anglo cultures. Felix Mexican Restaurant symbolized an approach to Anglo-Mexican relations that chose compromise with the established racial order rather than confrontation. Felix

Tijerina employed cheese enchiladas served in chili gravy and hot sauce on the side to gain respect and acceptance from Houston‟s Anglo residents; in the process, he built a fortune and a cultural institution. Yet, in many ways, Felix acted as a forerunner of what other Hispanic restaurateurs would accomplish more boldly in Houston in the 1970s and

1980s: he introduced white Americans to Latin American culture through their taste buds.

Conclusion

Because it sustained such an explosive economic and demographic growth in the post-World War II era, Houston has become known for its lack of awareness about its own history. Yet to this day, the city continues to herald Felix and Janie Tijerina‟s legacy

133 Mr. Felix Tijerina, Jr., phone interview by author, 21 June 2009.

134 Ibid. 219

as a part of its identity. Felix‟s rags-to-riches story was renowned before his death in

1965, and the publication of his biography in 2001 revived interest in his life‟s work and his and Janie‟s contributions to the city.135 His dedication to delinquent youths, devotion to social clubs among Mexican-origin and Anglo residents alike, and his groundbreaking work with LULAC have now become publicly acknowledged. Similarly, Janie‟s support of her husband‟s endeavors, her own life story and philosophy about working hard and sustaining Felix‟s legacy, and her charitable accomplishments have earned her a spot among the city‟s most prolific citizens and philanthropists. Yet, comparatively little has been said about what Felix Mexican Restaurants accomplished for race relations throughout the city. The Westheimer location, of course, opened in fanfare and held a dear place in the city‟s history, but given Felix‟s ties to the downtown crowds and the restaurant‟s proximity to that area, perhaps his impact on the culinary tastes of

Houstonians might not have proved so great had he not had the entrepreneurial spirit to try his hand in other locations farther from the center of the city. By strategically opening new branches where Anglos chose to live as Houston expanded, Felix and his cuisine essentially followed them and presented them with an opportunity to taste an

Americanized version of Mexican fare. Food became another way by which Felix acted as a bridge between the two cultures. In traditional Tex-Mex dishes, the Texan met the

Mexican, and ingredients from both sides of the border met in the middle, forming their own original mix of flavors, colors, and textures. As the last chapter will demonstrate, by

135 Bob Tutt, “Bet Was a Hot Meal Ticket-Biography Details How Wager Led to Success for Restaurateur Felix Tijerina,” Houston Chronicle, 18 March 1990, 7 (C); Frank Michel, “To Know Houston, Come to Know Felix,” Houston Chronicle, 10 September 2001, 22 (A); Barbara Karkabi, “Houston Odyssey Book Explores Inspirational Life of Restaurateur, Civic Leader Felix Tijerina,” Houston Chronicle, 2 January 2002, 1 (Houston). 220

the 1970s and 1980s, Americans stood ready to partake more fully in the flavors of the borderlands and of the interior of Mexico. As fate would have it, Ninfa Laurenzo, the woman credited for introducing fajitas to Texans and the nation, had been a business partner and friend of the Tijerinas‟. The Tex-Mex saga would in essence come full circle.

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CHAPTER 5

“HOUSTON’S FIRST LADY OF MEXICAN COOKING”1: NINFA LAURENZO AND THE REDEFINITION OF MEXICAN CUISINE, 1970s-1990s

By the mid-1970s, food columnists and many Houstonians heralded Felix

Mexican Restaurant as “the backbone … upon which [the city‟s] restaurant scene ha[d] gained prominence.”2 Yet as the previous chapter has demonstrated, Felix Tijerina‟s success at familiarizing Anglos with an Americanized version of Mexican food eventually led to his chain‟s demise because by the 1970s customers yearned for bolder textures and flavors. Ninfa Laurenzo, an enterprising widow and gifted cook, would fill that void by melding traditional cooking from the Rio Grande Valley, innovative recipes, and a carefully crafted public image that would capture the interest of Houstonians and many Texans until the 1990s. This final chapter examines another successful story within the Mexican restaurant industry in Houston and shows how a middle-class

Mexican American woman achieved wealth and fame after a personal tragedy drastically redefined her life. First, I analyze how Ninfa Laurenzo overcame financial distress by introducing a new type of Mexican cuisine to Anglo Houstonians. Second, I investigate what made the “Ninfa taste” so appealing to restaurant-goers in the city in the 1970s and

1980s and how her brand of Mexican cuisine reflected Americans‟ growing interest in a multicultural dinner table. Ninfa‟s restaurant met with such an early success that the

1 Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, Hospitality Industry Archives, Conrad N. Hilton College, Houston, Texas, n.p. (Death Notices).

2 Mary K., “Cellar Doors Serve It Up with Flavor,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 21 June 1974, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 12, Folder 10, 12 (6). 222

matriarch and her family bit into the American Dream with relish and implemented ambitious expansion plans that encompassed other types of ethnic cuisines, as well.

Finally, I will explain the demise of the family enterprise and the ways in which Ninfa

Laurenzo and her children have left a lasting impact, not only in Houston‟s history, but also in American culinary and social history. As in Chapter Four, this chapter examines the evolution of Mexican food and culture as understood by Anglo Houstonians and explores the impact of generational shifts regarding Mexican cuisine. The story of Ninfa

Laurenzo and her restaurant empire illustrate how American culture and society came to consider Mexican foodways as a part of the multicultural character of the nation.

Ninfa Before Celebrity

María Ninfa Rodríguez was born on 11 May 1924 in Harlingen, Texas, to Esteban

Rodríguez and Maura Chapa Rodríguez. Her father had fled Monterrey, Mexico, and moved to South Texas as a political exile in 1911. In Harlingen, Esteban opened the first ice plant and a hotel in the Rio Grande Valley. He ran these two businesses until the

Great Depression, during which he established himself as a plumbing contractor.3 Ninfa

3 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” HMRC, 9 (8), 15 (8); “Mexican-American Businessperson of the Year 1978,” La Vida Latina en Houston, February 1979, n.p.; Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, Courtesy of Houston History Archives, Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries, n.p.; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “Houston Sings Praises of Restaurateur Who Cooks with Love,” New York Times, 24 July 1982, 6; Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 1 (D), 4 (D); Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz 223

grew up on a small ranch along with her six brothers and five sisters, graduated from high school, and attended college in the early 1940s.4 During those early years, she not only acquired a formal education, but also learned the culture and foodways of this borderland region. Such an apprenticeship would prove essential to her success in the restaurant business later on.

In 1945, Ninfa visited her twin sister, Pilar, who had married and lived in

Providence, Rhode Island. There, Ninfa met Dominic Laurenzo, a distant relative of

Pilar‟s husband and a young engineer of Jewish and Italian extraction and married him a year later. Ninfa moved to the east coast with Tommy, as Dominic‟s friends and family called him, and worked in a beauty parlor on the weekends; their first son, Roland, was born in 1947. The cold weather, however, proved difficult for Ninfa, who was accustomed to the warm climate of South Texas. Thus the young couple moved to

Houston in 1948 in search of business opportunities in the food industry, a sector that appealed to both of them.5

de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 8. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

4 The sources remain unclear as to the nature of Ninfa‟s post-secondary education. Newspaper articles alternatively mention that she attended college in Kingsville, Texas, where she purportedly obtained a Bachelor of Science in education, or Durhan Business School in Harlingen, Texas. The next step would be to inquire with these two institutions whether Ninfa Laurenzo received a degree from either one of them. See “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; “Mexican-American Businessperson of the Year 1978,” La Vida Latina en Houston, February 1979, n.p.; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices).

5 Ninfa had read that Houston was the fastest growing city in the years immediately following World War II. Tommy originally contemplated moving to Los Angeles, where some of his relatives worked in the funeral home business, but after flipping a coin, the young couple moved to Houston instead. See “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Betty Ewing, 224

In 1949, Ninfa and Tommy rented a building in the barrio on the east side of town and started a wholesale food company that reflected both of their ethnic heritages. Over the next two decades, Rio Grande Food Products Company would become one of

Houston‟s major suppliers of tortillas and pizza dough to local restaurants.6 Felix

Tijerina was one of the Laurenzos‟ steadiest clients and provided them with increased business each time he opened a new location of his Mexican restaurant chain around town. Moreover, as Felix and Tommy developed a close friendship, the older restaurateur offered words of advice to ensure Rio Grande‟s success.7 In the 1950s,

Ninfa decided to add tamales to their food offerings, which she sold for thirty-five cents a dozen, and by the early 1960s Tommy delivered frozen pizza, a product that was not common at that time.8 Sixteen-hour days paid off, and the Laurenzos‟ enterprise grossed a yearly income ranging between $300,000 and $400,000.

“Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8), 15 (8); Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; “Ninfa Laurenzo distinguida dama que ha triunfado en los negocios es un orgullo de nuestra raza, ha recibido muchas satisfacciones y honores pero también ha trabajado mucho para merecerlo [sic],” El Sol, 28 July 1982, 2; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 8. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

6 Most sources describe Rio Grande Food Products Company as a “wholesale food distributing and manufacturing company.” In the retellings of the Ninfa story, however, the business was solely referred to as a tortilla factory. “Feeding the Multitudes,” Houston clipping, July 1968, Vertical File, “H- Food,” HMRC, 22-25; Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 1 (D), 4 (D); Ninfa R. Laurenzo‟s resumé, 1998, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 10, Public Service-Check Donations, n.p.

7 Tommy acted as a pall bearer at Felix Tijerina‟s funeral, and Janie Tijerina and Ninfa were both active in the Mothers‟ Club at Saint Thomas High School, which their children attended. See photograph caption, newspaper clipping, unknown newspaper, early 1960s, Felix Tijerina Sr. Family Papers, Box 6, Folder 2, n.p.; Thomas H. Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey, 166-167.

8 Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 1 (D), 4 (D). 225

In the early 1960s, Ninfa and Tommy relocated to 2704 Navigation Boulevard in the Second Ward, one of Houston‟s oldest barrios, where they established themselves and their five children in a two-story house that abutted their business. Their earnings allowed them to send their daughter and four sons to local parochial schools.9 The

Laurenzos had therefore managed to set up a business that provided them with a comfortable way of life.

Their professional success gave Ninfa and Tommy a sense of deep personal fulfillment, yet they yearned to open a restaurant together and to develop a menu that reflected their Mexican and Northern Italian roots. On a fateful day in January 1969, however, that dream died along with Tommy, who succumbed to a sudden and massive cerebral hemorrhage.10 Forty-two-year-old Ninfa now found herself a widow with five children and a business to shoulder on her own. But running Rio Grande Food Products by herself quickly proved exhausting. She even later accused former customers and staff of “taking advantage of her lack of business knowledge” during that time of

9 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “Houston Sings Praises of Restaurateur Who Cooks with Love,” New York Times, 24 July 1982, 6; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 1 (D), 4 (D); “Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 8.

10 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8), 15 (8); Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; David Kaplan, “Ninfa Laurenzo Focuses on Cancer Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 22 December 1993, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p. 226

readjustment. The transition had placed the company more than $50,000 in debt by

1973.11 As a result, Ninfa could not secure financial backing from any bank and faced significant expenses to keep up with new federal regulations that would have required an entire remodeling of the business‟s physical plant.12 Confronted with certain failure, she decided to honor her husband‟s legacy by opening a small restaurant in the front of the building in order to earn enough money to keep Rio Grande Food Products open. Little did she know that in doing so, she would revolutionize the Mexican food industry, both in Houston and throughout the state of Texas.

The Birth of a Culinary Figure in the Barrio

Early on, Ninfa and her children crafted a narrative about her beginnings in the restaurant industry that would change very little over the next twenty-eight years of her career. According to that account, Ninfa resolved to open a small restaurant in the front of the factory after she visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City and prayed for hours. A few days later, “she dreamed of a taco stand on the site of her factory” and decided that it might represent the only way to save Rio Grande Food

Products from bankruptcy.13 She informed her children of her decision, “mortgaged the

11 Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

12 Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

13 Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “Houston Sings Praises of Restaurateur Who Cooks with Love,” New York Times, 24 July 1982, 6; Tay Polo Miranda, “Mamá Ninfa, la reina del tex-mex,” Semana News clipping, 22-28 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized- Newspaper Clippings, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. 227

two-story clapboard house, which along with the factory and two nearby vacant lots formed her husband‟s entire estate,” and borrowed $5,000 from a family friend in

Mexico.14 She used the money to convert the front of the factory into a small dining room, bought furniture from a fire sale, and summoned her children back home for help running the establishment.15 Ninfa‟s new enterprise opened in July of 1973 and quickly became successful thanks to efficient service and original dishes that most Houstonians had never tasted before.

A Family Affair

From the beginning, Ninfa crafted a narrative of a widow who opened a little restaurant in order to support her family.16 Indeed, at the center of her public image,

Ninfa placed a reinvention of self in the midst of grief and economic distress.

Throughout her career, she described “cannibaliz[ing] her own kitchen” for pots, pans, silverware, and glassware because she could not afford to buy new ones at first.17 The restaurant also meant change for her children; her three oldest, Roland, Jack, and Phyllis left college to help her with the business. The two youngest sons, Tommy and Gino, still

14 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 16-17.

15 Ninfa‟s children expressed incredulity when she told them of her plans to open a small restaurant because she only cooked one big meal per week when they were young. See “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8.

16 Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 4 (D).

17 “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 36; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p. 228

attended secondary school and also worked at the restaurant during their free time.18

Ninfa would later recall those early times in the restaurant business as challenging because of frequent lack of sleep and time to eat, which often caused her to faint in the kitchen.19 Ninfa and the children nevertheless persevered and especially emphasized good service and food of steady quality.

An important part of the family‟s business strategy stressed that working at the eatery allowed them to stay close together and to mourn the loss of Tommy. As Ninfa would later comment, they strove to project a cohesion that would become one of the main elements of the Ninfa brand: “[It‟s] a combination of personalities, of the concept of our food …, and just plain hard work. I guess you could say we cook with love, pride, dedication, and caring.”20 These characteristics would remain associated with the restaurant‟s public image. Moreover, Ninfa articulated an approach to good service that melded the comfort of a family environment with pleasant waiting manners. “Two ingredients that should come from any home is [sic] family love and courtesy,” she

18 Ibid; “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16; “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 16. Roland attended the Naval Academy and was serving at Houston‟s naval reserve training center when he was discharged to help his widowed mother. Jack was pursuing a master‟s degree in urban studies and city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when his mother asked him to return home in April 1973. Phyllis, Ninfa‟s only daughter, was studying hotel and restaurant management at the University of Houston. See Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 36; “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8.

19 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 36; Bob Borino, “Destitute Widow Turned Taco Stand into a $30 Million Empire,” Globe clipping, unknown day and month, 1983, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper clippings, n.p.

20 “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16.

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stated.21 Because she declared her children an integral part of her motivation for cooking good food and for generating enough money to sustain herself and her family, Ninfa was perceived as an enterprising woman who had entered the restaurant business with a drive that surpassed that of her competitors.22 She quickly became known to the public as

“Mama Ninfa,” a widow who strove to serve genuine Mexican food in the name of preserving family unity and celebrating her Mexican heritage.

Ninfa’s Food

Ninfa selected dishes that broke away from the traditional Tex-Mex meals that, by the 1970s, had an increasing number of detractors who were hungry for new offerings.

Drawing from family recipes and her own experience growing up in the Rio Grande

Valley, she decided to serve up flavors and textures unknown to most Houstonians.

Claiming that “she felt that [residents] wanted authentic Mexican food,” Ninfa took the risky step of filling her menu with dishes bearing unfamiliar names.23 Her flautas de pollo (deep-fried chicken rolled tacos), chilpanzingas (a corn tortilla turnover stuffed with ham and cheese), and sopapillas (fried pastry) immediately intrigued customers and

21 “Dine Out in Houston with Hans Willi Rotheudt,” Houston Post clipping, 22 August 1975, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 7 (C).

22 Ibid; “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16; “Houston Sings Praises of Restaurateur Who Cooks with Love,” New York Times, 24 July 1982, 6; Bob Borino, “Destitute Widow Turned Taco Stand into a $30 Million Empire,” Globe clipping, unknown day and month, 1983, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper clippings, n.p.; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 36; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; David Kaplan, “Ninfa Laurenzo Focuses on Cancer Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 22 December 1993, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p.

23 “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16.

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would become staples of her future menus.24 Houstonians also heralded her as a pioneer for purportedly being the first restaurateur in the city to use fresh cilantro, an herb popular in Mexican and Asian cooking.25 In fact, her green sauce, an alternative to the tomato-based salsa that Mexican restaurants had served on the side of combination plates for decades, became most famous for its unusual mix of sour cream and cilantro and gained broad appeal right away. Ninfa‟s restaurant also offered an appetizer of free chips for customers to dip into a red sauce much spicier than what they had been accustomed to, which lent the eatery a reputation of a low-priced place because these food items cost the customers nothing.26 Finally, the restaurant embraced the liquor-by-the-drink law that had been in place in Texas since 1971, and Roland concocted a potent version of the

24 “Dine Out in Houston with Hans Willi Rotheudt,” Houston Post clipping, 22 August 1975, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 7 (C); Marcia Hayslett, “Houston Scene,” On the Town clipping, June 1976, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized- Scrapbooks, n.p.; Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8), 15 (8); “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

25 “Ninfa‟s Avocado Sauce,” unknown newspaper, clipping, 31 August 1980, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 9, Folder 4, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 35; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5.

26 Ibid; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p. Ninfa‟s red sauce contained four sprigs of cilantro, one jalapeño chile, and two dried chiles de arból (bird‟s beak chile). Such a red salsa tasted fairly unusual and spicy to most Houstonians by the mid-1970s. See Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos (New York: Broadway Books, 2004), 219.

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margarita, which he named “Ninfarita.”27 It was “not too sweet and [had] a clear bite of tequila.”28 Ninfa called these cocktails “frosty giants [that could] quench the fire of jalapeño peppers” and claimed that they provided the perfect accompaniment to “relaxing and snacking” at her restaurant.29 What earned Ninfa‟s restaurant almost instant success, however, was a rather simple dish that consisted of charbroiled beef rolled in tortillas.

The tacos al carbón created an immediate sensation. Ninfa sold 250 on her first day of business, and her name remains associated with the popular dish in Texas to this day.30

Ninfa Laurenzo had thus turned the front of her flailing tortilla factory into a restaurant that offered an entirely new culinary experience steeped in genuine Mexican cuisine.

Just like Felix Tijerina and his generation of Mexican restaurateurs, Ninfa served an Americanized version of Mexican food, but she ensconced her meals in an aura of tradition and authenticity that most food critics and customers did not question. Indeed, one of the Laurenzos‟ strategies consisted of claiming that their business had found inspiration for many of their recipes in the heart of Mexico. For instance, Ninfa included chilpanzingas on her menu early on and claimed respectively that the dish originated in

Guadalajara, Mexico, and in a fictitious city whose name closely resembled the capital of

27 “Houston, Liquor-by-the-Drink: Tops in Texas,” Houston Post clipping, 19 August 1979, Vertical File, “H-Liquor,” HMRC, n.p. (D); “BYOB: The Texan and the Bottle: A Brief History,” Texas Monthly, March 1982, 132-133, 206.

28 Ninfa‟s menu, n.d., Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folder 3, Artifacts-Menus.

29 Ibid.

30 Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 8; Ann Criswell, “Ninfa‟s,” in Houston Gourmet Cooks (Houston: Fran Fauntleroy, 1987), Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Press Coverage-Magazines, 60.

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the Mexican State of Guerrero, Chilpancingo.31 A creative cook, she had invented the recipe herself.32 Yet, food critics and reporters throughout Houston and Texas wrote about Ninfa‟s food and its purported origins without checking the veracity of the family‟s claims, which helped perpetuate Ninfa‟s reputation as an engine of culinary innovation.

Ninfa‟s most heralded dish, the tacos al carbón, received the largest misrepresentation from the press and the Laurenzos alike. Because Houstonians had never tasted such tender and juicy chunks of beef served in hand-rolled fresh tortillas before, they did not question Ninfa‟s assurances that she was merely replicating a dish that could only be found in Mexico. Yet, just as with the mythical origins of the chilpanzingas, she crafted two versions about how she had decided to serve tacos al carbón. In the first, she explained that she recreated them in memory of her late husband who once ate them in Mexico City and loved their flavor and texture. In another, she declared that her eldest son and son-in-law had “discovered [them] on a vacation in

Mexico City” and, after returning to Houston, “slaved over [a friend‟s] charbroiler trying to perfect [them].”33 Ninfa later acknowledged, however, that she “was just serving the

31 “Dine Out in Houston with Hans Willi Rotheudt,” Houston Post clipping, 22 August 1975, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 7 (C); Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” (8), 15 (8); “Dine Out Houston,” Houston Post clipping, 20 August 1976, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 6 (E); “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5.

32 Ninfa‟s, Inc., Food and Beverage Consultant Guide, May 1985, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 6, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training, 33.

33 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 35. 233

same kind of good honest food at [her] restaurant that [she] used to eat at home.” 34

Indeed, fajitas, as tacos al carbón became known as their popularity spread on a national level in the late 1970s and early 1980s, had for decades been a common dish for the vaqueros (cowboys) of South Texas and northern Mexico. Skirt steak, the meat originally used for fajitas, was a cut ordinarily found in butchers‟ shops in the Rio

Grande Valley by the 1930s. 35 Ninfa was therefore the first restaurateur to introduce

Anglo Houstonians to fajitas, but she had not invented them, nor did they originate in the heart of Mexico.36 As food historian Robb Walsh suggested:

The fact is, of course, that fajitas eaten with spicy salsa and fresh flour tortillas didn‟t come from … interior Mexico… They came from the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It was more authentic all right, but it wasn‟t authentic Mexican, it was authentic Tejano.37

Part of the Ninfa legend nonetheless maintains that she “popularized and introduced

[tacos al carbón] to this country” in 1973, and that she was “the forerunner of the fajita

34 Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, 214.

35 Fajita is the diminutive form of the Spanish word faja, which means skirt. It refers to the diaphragm muscle of a steer, which is shaped like a short belt. It is called “skirt steak” in English. Vaqueros (cowboys) received the least desirable pieces of meat, such as the head, the intestines, and the diaphragm as part of their pay. Because skirt steak is not tender, they pounded it with a hammer, marinated it in lime juice, and grilled it. Additionally, as the fajita craze caught on in the United States, the price of skirt steak jumped from 49 cents a pound in Texas in 1976 to anywhere between $2.49 and $4 in Texas by 1993. Most Texan and American restaurateurs quickly turned to more tender cuts, such as rib eye and flank steak, since they required no preparation. Food historian Robb Walsh concludes that “it was the national distribution of feedlot-fattened American beef that started the fajita craze.” See John Morthland, “Low Steaks,” Texas Monthly, March 1993, 52-57; Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, 210-214.

36 It should be noted here that fajitas and tacos al carbón became conflated in the public‟s mind in the early 1980s. Technically, the meat found in tacos is cut in chunks, and the tortilla is rolled for the customer in the kitchen. Fajitas are served with meat that is sliced and served on a sizzling platter and must be assembled by the customer. Moreover, both dishes traditionally only consist of beef, but as the craze caught on, restaurateurs decided to add shrimp, chicken, and pork in their fajitas selection. See Ann Criswell, “Ninfa‟s,” in Houston Gourmet Cooks (Houston: Fran Fauntleroy, 1987), Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Press Coverage-Magazines, 60; Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, 211-212.

37 Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, 214. 234

craze [that swept] the nation” in the 1980s and thereafter.38 As with many other aspects of food history, it is difficult to check the veracity of such broad claims to fame.39 It remains undeniable, however, that Ninfa offered a dish that became so popular that it quickly spread throughout the menus of other Mexican restaurants around town and across the state.

Ninfa made waves in Houston‟s restaurant scene when she opened her ten-table establishment in 1973. Not only did she offer Houstonians new and bolder versions of

Mexican food, but she also represented a generation of entrepreneurs for whom a

Mexican American heritage was to be celebrated and marketed as broadly as possible.

Unlike Felix Tijerina, who strove to accommodate his dishes to Anglo tastes and who hid his own Mexican citizenship, Ninfa sought out flavors and names for her menu offerings that conjured up a partaking in Mexican culture within the confines of a Mexican

American family restaurant. Moreover, she complicated the ethnic aspect of her cuisine by advertising that, while her cooking reflected genuine Mexican traditions, it also melded in Italian flavors because of the legacy of her late husband. Indeed, Tommy, the son of Italian immigrants, had never held much fondness for Mexican-style cuisine, so

Ninfa‟s home cooking had mostly consisted of Italian dishes when he was alive. In her restaurant, Ninfa thus used Italian ingredients such as olive oil, Parmesan, Romano, and

38 Ninfa‟s, Inc., Food and Beverage Consultant Guide, May 1985, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 6, Biographical Background- Business Plans and Training, 36.

39 As Robb Walsh explains, the first person to sell commercial fajitas in Texas may have been Sonny Falcon, who ran a booth at an outdoor festival in Kyle, Texas, in 1969. That same year, the Round Up Restaurant in Pharr, Texas, allegedly became the first establishment in the state to serve fajita meat. To most Texans, however, Ninfa‟s remains the birthplace of fajitas. Robb Walsh, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, 211. 235

Mozzarella cheeses, and even pizza sauce.40 Undaunted by the inner contradiction in incorporating such traditional Italian food items in supposedly authentic Mexican cuisine,

Ninfa often proudly declared in the press that, “the type of food we cook is Mexican … but I say I cook with an Italian flair. I call it gourmet Mexican food.”41 A journalist commented that, “whatever she calls it, her perception of the American palate couldn‟t have been more timely.”42 Indeed, Ninfa caught Houstonians‟ changing culinary moods at the right time. The ethnic revival of the 1970s coincided with baby boomers‟ “appetite for exotica,” which translated into a growing interest in Asian and Mexican foods nationwide.43 She also anticipated the taste for “fusion food” that would take over the restaurant industry in the early 1980s, and that blended ingredients from two or more ethnic cuisines from around the world.44 Ninfa‟s brand would therefore owe its success to this savvy reading of Houstonians‟ hunger for cross-cultural culinary exchanges.

40 “Dine Out in Houston with Hans Willi Rotheudt,” Houston Post clipping, 22 August 1975, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 7 (C); Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 34-39, 69-82; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16; “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5.

41 Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

42 Ibid.

43 Donna R. Gabaccia, We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 215.

44 California chef Wolfgang Pucks, for instance, became famous for his blend of Asian, Mediterranean, and regional American cuisines in the early 1980s. See Gabaccia, We Are What We Eat, 216.

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The Clientele

Tacos al carbón, of course, were nothing new in Mexican restaurants located in the barrios, but because most Anglo Houstonians rarely patronized food establishments in those neighborhoods, they had never tasted that type of ethnic fare before.45 In fact, it seems that Ninfa only expected to cater to a Mexican-origin crowd in her early days as her occasional advertising only appeared in the local bilingual press.46 Although also in the barrio, Ninfa‟s restaurant was situated in an industrial area so close to downtown that it attracted a steady stream of Anglo customers. Indeed, employees at nearby businesses, such as Cameron Iron Works and Hughes Tool Company, as well as downtown office workers, drove past her business on their way to work and gave it a try at lunchtime.

Enticed by the novelty of the food and the quality of the service, they returned in the evening with their friends and family. Within its first year of operation, Ninfa‟s restaurant built a growing customer base, mostly through word of mouth.47 The little restaurant on

Navigation Street quickly became a sensation among Anglo diners avid for that novel

Mexican taste.

Ninfa‟s restaurant represented a significant shift in residents‟ growing interest in ethnic cuisine in the 1970s, not only because of the type of food the establishment served

45 Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 4 (D).

46 “Something Different… Ninfa‟s,” advertisement, La Vida Latina en Houston, January-February 1974, n.p.

47 “Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices).

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but also because of its geographical location. Indeed, the eatery stood in the Second

Ward, an overwhelmingly Mexican neighborhood that otherwise remained unknown to most Houstonians. Ninfa herself would later say that she had started “on the wrong side of town,” and part of her public image revolved around the claim that “many first-time customers were surprised to find polite, college- educated, English-speaking” staff in such a part of the city.48 In fact, one newspaper article qualified the switch from a

Mexican-origin to Anglo clientele in the early days of the restaurant as “neighborhood browns compet[ing] for tables with retail and corporate executive types,” implying that middle- and upper-class Anglos stepped on Mexican-origin customers‟ turf.49 The same article depicted the experience of Anglo customers venturing into the barrio to eat at

Ninfa‟s restaurant in the following blunt and racially biased language:

Ninfa‟s early customers from across town inevitably had to be taken by the hand and led to the spot by a friend in the know. Once someone entered the neighborhood, there was a certain frisson… a wee misgiving about the safety of the car, perhaps, or even one‟s well-being. Once inside Ninfa‟s doors, though, the fears were assuaged.50

While not all press coverage spoke of Ninfa‟s culinary crossover in such racialized terms, newspaper articles emphasized her restaurant‟s appeal as, in the words of one El Sol piece, a “central meeting and interchanging of the two linguistic cultures of the western hemisphere”51 The ten-table eatery that had started as a way to pay off Rio Grande Food

48 Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid.

51 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8. 238

Products‟ debt had thus become a much bigger success than either Ninfa or her children had anticipated. Soon, expansion would become necessary in order to accommodate the appetites of a growing number of customers curious about that “Ninfa taste.”

Biting into the American Dream

During her first two years in business, Ninfa implemented changes that ensured sustained profit. After four months, the restaurant generated enough income for sons

Jack and Tony to earn seventy-five dollars a week, and Ninfa could afford to hire her first employee. One day, Lydia Rubio, an out-of-work Mexican-origin mother who spoke no

English, walked into the eatery and asked for a job, explaining that she needed money to feed her children. Touched by the single mother‟s plight and quite willing to receive some help in the kitchen, Ninfa hired Rubio, who learned how to cook the family‟s recipes and would spend her entire career working for the Laurenzos.52 Furthermore, the growing flow of customers called for an expansion of the restaurant‟s seating capacity.

In 1974, Ninfa added twenty-four tables, which quickly proved insufficient. A year later, the family secured a 50,000-dollar loan that enabled them to double the restaurant‟s size to 3,800 square feet, with a total of 175 chairs, and close the tortilla factory in the process.53 While that decision sounded the official death of Rio Grande Food Products,

52 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 38; “Ninfa Laurenzo distinguida dama que ha triunfado en los negocios es un orgullo de nuestra raza, ha recibido muchas satisfacciones y honores pero también ha trabajado mucho para merecerlo [sic],” El Sol, 28 July 1982, 2.

53 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 1-3; “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston 239

the brainchild of Ninfa and Tommy Laurenzo, it also opened the door for further popularity and greater profits for the family.

In those early years, Ninfa worked mostly in the kitchen to ensure consistent food quality while her children concentrated on service. But Mama Ninfa also greeted diners and offered faithful patrons a taste of dishes with which she was still experimenting and had not yet added to the menu. She was also known for hugging her regular customers warmly and singing songs to them, thereby enhancing the cordial, family-like atmosphere upon which her restaurant built its success.54 Lines soon “stretched out the door and down the street,” and the Laurenzos had to “dispatch someone to serve chips and green sauce and the famous „Ninfarita‟” in order to accommodate hungry customers waiting in line.55 Even Hollywood and music celebrities such as Rock Hudson, Paul Simon, and

George Benson were known to enjoy a meal at Ninfa‟s restaurant when they were in town. Such popularity led the local press to declare that “stargazing … [was] another of

Ninfa‟s attractions.”56 With their family enterprise meeting such an overwhelming

clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

54 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Untitled, Houston City Magazine, October 1982, n.p.; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices).

55 “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 2.

56 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 39.

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success and customers who now also hailed from out-of-town, the Laurenzos contemplated expansion as a viable business strategy.

A Second Location

By 1976, Ninfa‟s restaurant operated at full capacity, and Rio Grande Food

Products‟ debt had long been paid off. The family had found a comfortable, if busy, work schedule, and no one had considered opening a second establishment. That changed when Lenny Friedman, a regular patron, suggested that a more central location would prove convenient to many diners who had to drive across town to eat at the restaurant. Friedman mentioned to Roland, Ninfa‟s oldest son, that one of the commercial buildings he owned just a few miles west of downtown Houston had become vacant and asked him to consider his offer. Roland immediately felt enthusiastic about the prospect of an additional restaurant, as did his mother, who rejoiced over the idea of

“duplicating their success.”57 On the other hand, the rest of the children expressed serious doubts about expanding. Indeed, Jack and Tony Mandola, Phyllis‟s husband, had hoped to return to their graduate studies, and Jack voiced the deepest reservations about dividing family management between two locations. Mama Ninfa, however, would later explain her decision to heed Roland‟s advice by affirming that, “the others were afraid we‟d lose everything. I thought, I know how to be poor. What was the difference?” 58

57 “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 2.

58 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 39; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 2; “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5. 241

Acting against most of her children‟s wishes, she let Roland take charge of expanding the business. Within a few weeks, he had secured a 190,000-dollar loan from the Small

Business Administration and made the preparations for the new restaurant. Ninfa relished the idea of sharing her family‟s product and service with as many customers as possible.59

On 20 April 1976, the second establishment opened at 6154 Westheimer, and the family organized a private party that included “a mob of famous faces” from the city‟s wealthiest Anglo entrepreneurs.60 The new location had its share of detractors, prime among them regular patrons who felt that “they were no longer conspirators protecting a great secret” and “feared that Ninfa‟s would take the all-too-predictable downhill slide that so often accompanie[d] expansion.”61 Despite worries about a decline in the quality of the food and service, success continued to soar. Jack, the most vocal opponent of expansion, stayed at the Navigation restaurant as manager, while Roland took on the new establishment. Thanks to a pool of regular patrons and a central location that attracted new ones, the Laurenzos conducted business more briskly than ever. Lunchtime drew four hundred customers to the Navigation place and six hundred to Wesheimer, and in the evening, seven hundred dined at the original restaurant and one thousand at the second

59 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 39; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 2.

60 Marge Crumbaker, “Schmitt‟s Sounds Fade from Crystal Forest,” Houston Post clipping, 27 April 1976, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 8 (B); “We‟re Rolling Out the Red Carpet,” invitation flyer, 20 April 1976, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks.

61 Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 65.

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location.62 Celebrities now also made appearances at the new establishment, which added to its renown. Indeed, one most recited story involved actor John Travolta, who purportedly often requested that his plane land in Houston in order to satisfy a craving for

Mexican fare at the Westheimer location.63 Contrary to the fears of customers and food columnists, the opening of a second establishment had not jeopardized the quality of the food and service. In fact, the mid-1970s represented the heydays of Ninfa‟s restaurants.

While the Laurenzo name would continue to be associated with fine Mexican food and the famed tacos al carbón, the family‟s decision to expand further would lead to serious challenges for their restaurant concept.

Devising an Advertisement Campaign

Now that they had duplicated their business model successfully at the second location, the family, especially Ninfa and Roland, felt that they could develop a set of branches in a way that would emulate other restaurant chains.64 As the Laurenzos stood poised to open their third location, Roland sought out professional advice on marketing and advertising strategies in the spring of 1977. He settled with Gulf State Advertising, a

Houston-based company whose one-line campaign advertisements had met with success.

62 Richard West, “From Mexico with Love,” Texas Monthly clipping, June 1977, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.; Jerry Lazar, “¡Ninfa! You Never Read Anything Like This,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, 39.

63 Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 8. According to the Laurenzo children, Travolta also had his own private table at Ninfa‟s during the shooting of the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy, which was set in Houston.

64 Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, Hospitality Industry Archives, Conrad N. Hilton College, Houston, Texas, 15.

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Aware that other Mexican restaurant chains were considering entering the local market,

Roland emphasized the Laurenzos‟ need to fend off future competition. Larry

Sachnowitz, one of the agency‟s star copywriters, suggested, “why not simply say thank you. … Better yet, say it in Spanish. Say „¡Gracias!‟” He promptly added, “that way, when the competition arrives, you‟ll still be sitting pretty.”65 Sachnowitz reasoned that

“anybody who had been to Ninfas [sic] would know why the restaurant was saying thank you, and anybody who hadn‟t been would wonder why and find out.” 66 Within a few weeks, 250 billboards and buses were displaying the new poster, which featured a parrot, the phrase “¡Gracias!,” and the restaurant‟s name in red letters with a black background.67

Mama Ninfa explained that she chose the tropical bird as the restaurant‟s emblem because it represented “a symbol of love,” thus building on the theme that had become the mainstay of their public image.68 The strategy worked. Sales at both restaurants went up significantly, and the new advertisement even received praises in the local press.

Indeed, an El Sol column characterized the campaign as a “publicity stunt” for its brevity, sincerity, and originality.69 Equipped with efficient advertising that gave Ninfa‟s

65 Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

66 Ibid.

67 Ibid.

68 Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8).

69 Gaby Jiménez, “Comentarios,” El Sol, 18 August 1977, 5. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

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restaurants greater presence in the community, the Laurenzos set out to expand their business, launching new locations in Houston first and then venturing outside of the city.

Consolidating the Local Market

As they planned to grow their business, the Laurenzos incorporated the restaurant brand under Ninfa‟s Tacos al Carbón, Inc.70 Roland served as its president and sat on the

Board of Directors, of which Ninfa acted as the chair. He also was responsible for making decisions about opening further locations.71 Confident that the local market could accommodate more Ninfa‟s branches, the family proceeded to open a third establishment at Echo Lane and Katy Freeway, northwest of downtown, in September

1977, and a fourth by the William P. Hobby Airport, southeast of the city, five months later. The four restaurants boasted over five hundred staff and generated 2 million dollars in payroll, which made the chain a significant local employer.72 The company continued to conduct good business as it established each new branch in growing residential areas, populated by the mostly Anglo middle-class customers who had become regular patrons of the eateries. Ninfa expanded her menu selection by adding new dishes that she had always wanted to create but never had had time to craft until then. Her new mango ice

70 The rest of this chapter will refer to Ninfa‟s Tacos al Carbón, Inc. as Ninfa‟s, Inc.

71 Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8); “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8. It should be noted that all the Laurenzo children above eighteen years of age had a seat on the Board of Directors. By the early 1980s, Roland was still president, Jack its vice-president and in charge of the restaurant operations, Phyllis ran public relations, and Tommy headed the staff training program. See Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

72 Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8).

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cream and an Italian-style veal cutlet, for instance, furthered her reputation as a creative cook who loved blending flavors not found at other restaurants. These new dishes also continued to indicate Anglo consumers‟ eagerness to partake in a Mexican dining experience that did not entirely resemble that of denizens south of the border but nonetheless passed for genuinely Mexican cuisine to Anglo palates in Houston.73 Finally,

Ninfa‟s son Jack ensured that the staff at all four locations knew how to properly prepare his mother‟s recipes in a consistent manner by conducting regular training sessions in the kitchen.74 The Ninfa‟s restaurant model had become so successful and had managed to maintain quality of food and service so well that a Texas newspaper declared that, “at this particular point in time no other Texas restaurant dictates the dining-out habits of so many of its city‟s inhabitants.”75 Another column pronounced it “so in, you may not get in.”76 Based on such favorable reports, it appeared that expansion had proved a sound business decision and had not damaged the brand‟s image.

The restaurant also consolidated its hold on the local market by offering catering services. At its inception, the establishment only supplied parties of a few hundreds, but under the direction of Phyllis, who received formal training in restaurant and hotel

73 Ellen Middlebrook, “Ninfa Credits Love, Prayer, Hard Work and a Tasty Taco,” Houston Post clipping, 4 June 1978, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants,” HMRC, 17 (C); “The Company,” company profile booklet, 1990s, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training, 20.

74 Ellen Middlebrook, “Ninfa Credits Love, Prayer, Hard Work and a Tasty Taco,” Houston Post clipping, 4 June 1978, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants,” 17 (C).

75 Richard West, “From Mexico with Love,” Texas Monthly clipping, June 1977, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.

76 Untitled, Texas Monthly clipping, April 1977, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.

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management at the University of Houston, that aspect of the business also soared.77 By the turn of the 1980s, catering generated 10 million dollars annually, and the Laurenzos proudly announced that they had arranged dinner parties for celebrities such as Bob

Dylan and the Bee Gees.78 The patronage of such famous persons added to Mama

Ninfa‟s exposure in respected publications such as National Geographic, Time Magazine,

Business Week, and Vogue, along with her portrayal in a documentary about the few

Houstonians who had struck a fortune outside of the oil industry.79 The family‟s business model received such high praises both from the press and their customers that the economic possibilities must have seemed without limit for their restaurant chain.

Expanding Beyond Houston

In light of their success in the Houston market, Ninfa and her children set their sights on other Texas cities where they felt their brand of Mexican food would be received well. In August 1978, just a few months after her fourth establishment had made its debut in Houston, Ninfa launched a new restaurant location in San Antonio.

The grand opening drew over one thousand well-wishers and even boasted the presence of the city‟s mayor. The Laurenzos had invested 2 million dollars in the new restaurant,

77 “Ninfa‟s Specialties,” photo caption, Houston Chronicle clipping, 30 June 1976, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.; Betty Ewing, “Mother‟s Day Story: White Cadillac Is Only One Facet of Mama Ninfa‟s Success,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 14 May 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 9 (8).

78 Shelby Hodge, “At Home: Ninfa Laurenzo,” Houston Post clipping, 7 January 1979, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 2 (AA); “Ninfa‟s: Tacos to Riches,” Restaurant Hospitality Magazine clipping, January 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 16.

79 “Ninfa Laurenzo: A Well Known Name in Our Community,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 8; Shelby Hodge, “At Home: Ninfa Laurenzo,” Houston Post clipping, 7 January 1979, Vertical File, “Biography- Ninfa Laurenzo,” 2 (AA).

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which started operating only three weeks after they had purchased the building.80 Both

Houston‟s and San Antonio‟s press recited the Ninfa‟s rags-to-riches story that by now had become a familiar refrain to many Houstonians. Mentioning the use of computers in her restaurants, articles continued to present Ninfa as a businesswoman ahead of her time.81 Some of Ninfa‟s children and friends became wary about the business expanding out of town, and especially into a city with a full supply of Mexican eateries such as San

Antonio. Tommy, one of Ninfa‟s youngest sons, recalled that the opening of that establishment overwhelmed him. Moreover, one close family friend had counseled that the Laurenzos only “get [themselves] one restaurant apiece. … Otherwise, there [would be] too many headaches, … too much bickering and fighting.”82 While this person‟s advice offered a cautionary approach to turning a family restaurant into a full-blown chain, Roland‟s enthusiasm for conquering new markets would not be quenched for some time.

Within two years of testing out the San Antonio market, Roland devised a forceful penetration of the Dallas area, where he opened four new branches, along with four new locations in Houston. In the year 1980 alone, the number of Ninfa‟s restaurants throughout the state expanded to a total of thirteen. The company now employed over

80 “Restaurant Briefs,” Houston Post clipping, 31 August 1979, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.; Marcy Meffert, “Dreamer Finds Tortilla Treasures,” San Antonio Light clipping, 2 September 1979, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, 3 (5).

81 Ibid.

82 Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

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1600 staff persons and generated 32 million dollars in annual revenues.83 Ninfa used the local press, by now a familiar means of public relations, to reassure the Houston public about the family‟s sound business conduct. Indeed, she asserted her confidence in the new ventures by praising their staff of professionals, which “consist[ed] of analysts, accountants, engineers, programmers, [and] administrators.”84 They were “proven leaders” in their fields and would usher the Houston-based family restaurant into a new era of expanded success.85 In fact, by the early 1980s, Ninfa announced that she and

Roland were hoping to start opening new locations soon outside of the state of Texas and projected that the business would become a national franchise by the end of that decade, with 500 million dollars in revenues. In order to do so, she explained that 135 Ninfa‟s restaurants would dot the country. Such a plan entailed launching one new establishment every month until the late 1980s.86 She dismissed the critics who doubted that the family would succeed in implementing such designs by stating, “If you have the will, a proper

83 “Ninfa Opens It‟s [sic] 7th Restaurant,” El Sol, 16 July 1980, 1; Jerry Lazar, “Enchilada Empire,” D Magazine clipping, August 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage- News Kit, n.p.; Olga Soliz, “Houston Highlights,” El Sol, 10 October 1980, 3; Percy Duran, “Latino Success Stories—Plunkett and Flores Aren‟t Alone,” El Sol, 28 January 1980, 8; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage- News Kit, 2-3.

84 “Ninfa‟s Reports Rapid Growth,” Houston Post clipping, 24 October 1974, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 9, Folder 4, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.

85 Ibid.

86 Leslie Loddeke, “Ninfa‟s Horizons Encompass 135 Restaurants, Large Hotel, Mexican Frozen Foods Line,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 8 September 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 2, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p. (3); Bob Borino, “Destitute Widow Turned Taco Stand into a $30 Million Empire,” Globe clipping, unknown day and month, 1983, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper clippings, n.p. Ninfa and Roland also planned to launch a large chain of hotels and to enter the frozen food industry. These projects never saw the light because Ninfa‟s, Inc. faced severe financial problems in the 1980s and 1990s.

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attitude and the help of God, you can achieve anything.”87 Managing just thirteen restaurants, however, quickly proved more difficult than Ninfa and Roland had anticipated, and their dreams of further expansion would have to be revisited several times over and eventually abandoned.

Managing a Multi-Million Dollar Restaurant Chain

With locations spread across three cities and a staff of 1600, Mama Ninfa had to travel a significant amount while remaining creative in the kitchen. As the public face of the restaurant, she also had to make herself visible to customers. Even though she did not visit her establishments in San Antonio and Dallas as often, she explained how she ensured that her Houston patrons knew that she was still strongly involved with the business:

At least two or three times a week, I dress up in one of my long Mexican dresses and go around to my restaurants and see that things are running okay, and that the meals are right. “I‟m Ninfa,” I tell customers. “How do you like my food tonight?”88

Since her children had left the ranks of the wait and kitchen staff to work at the headquarters, Mama Ninfa knew that her presence at the restaurants reconnected her rags-to-riches story with the experience of dining at one of her establishments. The days when coming to the Navigation restaurant guaranteed that one would see her laboring in

87 Bob Borino, “Destitute Widow Turned Taco Stand into a $30 Million Empire,” Globe clipping, unknown day and month, 1983, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper clippings, n.p.

88 Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.

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the kitchen or greeting customers were long gone. The Laurenzos nonetheless ensured that she remained present in the customers‟ minds by devising a series of strategies to retain the faithful and attract new customers.

Maintaining Food Quality and Good Service across All Locations

The tacos al carbón that made Mama Ninfa a successful restaurateur became so famous that they had spread across the menus of many Texas restaurants by the early

1980s. Such popularity compelled the Laurenzos to trademark the product under the name “Tacos a la Ninfa.”89 They would remain a favorite order at all branches, since they had, after all, turned her restaurant into an instant sensation in the 1970s. Customers also continued to herald the green sauce, the “Ninfarita” cocktail, and most of the charbroiled meat dishes as among the best of their kind throughout the city.90 In order to keep up with the latest food trends and to prevent diners‟ apathy, Ninfa kept on expanding her selection by creating new dishes. She, however, chose to display them in a rather unusual manner. Indeed, the early 1980s saw the birth of the Off-the-Menu menu.

The Laurenzos created it with the hopes of increasing patrons‟ anticipations about the wide variety of the food offerings at Ninfa‟s restaurants. Hidden under a bushel basket, the unofficial menu boasted a broad range of items pricier than those on the regular menu but that received high marks from diners, such as the chiles rellenos (stuffed chiles) and the alambre abrigado (charbroiled ham, beef, peppers, tomatoes, and onions rolled into a

89 W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 209-211; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 3.

90 Ibid; “Critics‟ Choice,” Houston City Magazine, August 1984, 45.

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flour tortilla).91 Most customers, however, found the practice irritating. One food critic described the Off-the-Menu menu concept as follows:

Expansion may not have hurt the Laurenzos‟ food, but if this ploy is any evidence, it does seem to have impaired their common sense. When you sit down, you are handed the regular menu; if you‟re lucky, you notice the button on the waiter‟s shirt, advising customers to ask for the second menu, the world‟s least-kept and most irritating secret. There is no doubt that some of Ninfa‟s best dishes are on this menu … but I still question the affectation.92

Although the number of dishes on the Off-the-Menu menu gradually diminished over the years, the disappearance of complaints in food columns and restaurant reviews by the mid-1980s suggests that customers eventually accepted the practice.93 Moreover, the

Laurenzos decided to make frequent changes to the regular menu so as to introduce a wide variety of dishes. That approach also brought its share of detractors, who disliked the fact that Ninfa took away some longtime favorites, like chilpanzingas and some charbroiled meats, as she added new meals.94 This led a restaurant reviewer to conclude that writing about the “tinkering with [the] menu” proved “an exercise in futility”, and

91 W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 209-211; “Restaurant Reviews,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, n.p.; “Ninfa‟s,” Houston City Magazine, August 1982, n.p.

92 W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 209-211.

93 One undated menu features a half-page section about the Off-the-Menu menu, in which Ninfa informed customers that they should ask their waiter to see the selection if they chose to do so. Because it bears no date, it is difficult to gauge whether this was an alternative to the button on waiters‟ shirts urging customers to ask about it. By February 2011, Ninfa‟s Off-the-Menu menu only boasted three or four dishes, according to an employee working at the original Ninfa‟s on Navigation Boulevard. “Off Menu Specialties,” menu, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folders 3, Artifacts-Menus, n.p.; phone conversation between author and Ninfa‟s employee, 7 February 2011.

94 By 1985, the chilpanzingas had been brought back on the menu by popular demand. Taking items off the menu and then re-inserting them by customers‟ request had become a common strategy at Ninfa‟s by the mid-1980s. This explains some patrons‟ complaints about the constant “tinkering” with the menu. 252

that “a loud howl of protest” was in order.95 This regular change in the restaurants‟ food selection indicates that the Laurenzos were anxious to keep customers coming and suggests that they might have been ill-prepared to manage multiple locations.

Their most successful strategy consisted in ensuring that the public received frequent exposure to Mama Ninfa. For instance, the restaurant‟s menus featured numerous photographs and stories that conveyed the impression of thumbing through a family album with the matriarch by one‟s side, explaining the meaning of each picture.96

Ninfa also appeared in the local press often, which kept her and her eateries in the public‟s mind. Additionally, the team that trained her staff emphasized that each individual working at the chain formed a part of her extended family. As such, they served as Ninfa‟s “ambassadors” and were urged to display a “congenial, cheerful, … gracious, [and] enthusiastic” attitude towards serving guests, who were to be treated as

“king[s]” and “queen[s].”97 Finally, Ninfa‟s restaurants also offered customers flexibility with new “light” dishes, possibilities to substitute items for one another, and multiple portion choices.98 The company therefore tried to uphold its reputation for consistency and good service while keeping up with the changing demands of diners. With over a

95 “Restaurant Reviews,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, n.p.; “Ninfa‟s,” Houston City Magazine, January 1982, 104.

96 Numerous Ninfa‟s menus can be found in Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folders 1-7, Artifacts- Menus. Another is located in the “Houston Restaurant Collection” box, Hospitality Industry Archives, Conrad N. Hilton College.

97 Ninfa‟s, Inc., Food and Beverage Consultant Guide, May 1985, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 6, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training, 5.

98 Ibid; “We Work Hard on Only One Thing—The Food, the Food, the Food!” Ninfa‟s menu, 1985, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folder 1, Artifacts-Menus, n.p.

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dozen locations to supervise and Roland‟s ever-present emphasis on expansion, however, the family brand gradually lost its appeal among many patrons.

As one studies the evolution of the Ninfa‟s chain, the Laurenzos‟ slow loss of control over their brand appears quite starkly. The Dallas branches, which Roland had masterminded, constituted one of the poorest business decisions the family made when they initially decided to expand. Roland would later recall that by opening four eateries in one urban area far away from Houston, where the Laurenzo name did not have any clout, they “cannibalized” themselves.99 From the beginning, reports signaled that service at these establishments did not meet the usual standards found in Ninfa‟s restaurants in Houston, and complaints about cold food abounded. By 1984, the family had sold two of these locations, along with the San Antonio branch, which also drained resources and did not generate sufficient revenue.100 Clearly, growth outside of the

Houston metropolitan area had not brought the good fortunes that the Laurenzos anticipated.

Branching out within the city did not prove successful either. With each new location, the family lost oversight of operations. Increasingly, press coverage decried

99 Diane Freeman, “Ninfa‟s Strategy: New Foods, Cities,” Houston Post clipping, 5 June 1988, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Press Coverage-Magazines, 1 (D).

100 Ibid; Tedd A. Cohen, “Faith and Good Works,” Forbes Magazine clipping, 16 March 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, n.p.; W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 209-211; Drusilla Gómez, “Ninfa‟s, Inc., Five Year Growth Plan: July 1984-June 1989,” 1984, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training, 3; “The Ninfa‟s Story,” public relations document, September 1986, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 5; Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 15; Richard Vara, “A Laudable Feast,” Houston Chronicle, 12 May 1999, 4 (D).

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poor and hasty service and a decline in the quality of food. Despite Ninfa‟s and Roland‟s precautions in choosing new managers and training cooks, serious discrepancies between establishments quickly made themselves apparent.101 Complaints about “miserably” dry chicken, an over-salted green sauce, and even margaritas that “tasted like glycerin” were reported to Ninfa‟s, Inc., headquarters and in reviews.102 A Texas Monthly column lamented the loss of the “Ninfa taste” as follows:

Ninfa‟s chain stills feeds on the Mama Ninfa myth, her “I struggled greatly to bring you great food” legend. So when she doesn‟t bring great food, people tend to take it personally.103

Most food columnists and many diners, however, agreed that the original Ninfa‟s restaurant on Navigation had kept the level of food quality, good service, and friendly atmosphere that had made the family wealthy and famous. While other extensions exuded a “prefabricated” feeling, “the offbeat charm of the original location” continued

101 W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 211; “Dining Out,” Houston City Magazine, September 1981, n.p.; Alison Cook, “The Texas Food Manifesto,” Texas Monthly, December 1983, 146; Mimi Swartz, “Houston‟s 20 Most Powerful Women,” Houston City Magazine, September 1982, 34; “Dining Out,” Houston City Magazine, November 1985, 51; Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 18.

102 “Restaurant Reviews,” Houston City Magazine, May 1981, n.p.; “Dining Out,” Houston City Magazine, September 1981, n.p. Customer complaints for the year 1986 may also be found in Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business. Each of these features the form that customers filled out after eating at one of Ninfa‟s restaurants, their explanation about what they felt did not prove satisfactory with their dining experience, and Ninfa‟s response. Ninfa replied to each customer individually and always offered a “complimentary certificate” for future use at one of her restaurants. She concluded all of her letters by explaining that she felt “genuinely sorry” about the customer‟s dissatisfaction and asked them to try one of her establishments again.

103 Alison Cook, “The Texas Food Manifesto,” Texas Monthly, December 1983, 146.

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to attract Mama Ninfa‟s most loyal and purist fans.104 By the mid-1980s, over-expansion had clearly taken its toll on the family enterprise. Customers kept patronizing the various locations across town because they quite simply enjoyed the dishes, and eating at Ninfa‟s restaurants had become a Houston tradition. Yet Roland‟s sustained ambitions, poor business decisions, and a severe contraction of Houston‟s economy combined to bring about the slow decline of Mama Ninfa‟s famed brand of Mexican food.

Financial Difficulties and Diversification

By 1985, Ninfa‟s, Inc., faced significant financial distress, and in October of that year, Roland struck a deal with McFaddin Ventures. The biggest nightclub operator in the country at the time, it hoped to diversify its portfolio by entering the restaurant industry. The business arrangement seemed advantageous to the Laurenzos. In addition to a quarterly fee based on sales, McFaddin paid them $635,000 for the right to operate future Ninfa‟s locations. Moreover, Roland joined the corporation‟s executive board.

The agreement also suited Roland‟s plans for expansion because the contract required

McFaddin to open twelve new establishments by 1989.105 By 1987, however, the two companies found themselves pitted against each other in multiple lawsuits. They settled

104 W.L. Taitte, “A Good Catch,” Texas Monthly clipping, May 1981, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Press Coverage-News Kit, 211.

105 License agreement between Ninfa‟s, Inc. and McFaddin Ventures, fourth draft, 15 October 1985, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training; “Firm Acquires Rights to Develop, Operate New Ninfa‟s Restaurants,” Houston Post clipping, 18 October 1985, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1980-85,” HMRC, 3 (C); “Spectator,” Houston City Magazine, July 1986, n.p.; Brian Levinson, “Lawsuits Pit Ninfa‟s Against McFaddin Chain,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 8 January 1987, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-87,” HMRC, n.p.; Daniel Benedict, “McFaddin Problems Piling Up,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 3 April 1988, Vertical File, “H-Nightclubs,” HMRC, n.p.; “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 17; Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 13.

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their dispute in 1988, with Ninfa‟s, Inc., back in control of the Mexican restaurant chain.106 Roland was again in charge of deciding what direction to take the family company in order to survive a depressed economic climate and dealing with the problems inherent with supervising twelve locations.

The economic crisis that hit Houston especially hard in the mid-1980s caused

Ninfa‟s business to lose fifteen percent of its normal profit. Competition for the Mexican food market had also significantly increased in that decade. Indeed, whereas the city only boasted 150 Mexican establishments in the early 1980s, by 1988, that number had soared to more than 500. Roland attempted to offset the financial loss by cutting food and labor costs, but he became convinced that diversification within the restaurant industry represented the safest way to continue forward.107 In order to do so, he created RioStar

Corporation in 1989. The holding company had been “formed by the shareholders of

Ninfa‟s, Inc., to acquire and expand top rate food service chains utilizing the highly

106 Relations between McFaddin and Ninfa‟s Inc. first grew sour when McFaddin fired Roland, who had been sitting on its executive board, only nine months after hiring him. Roland was laid off, along six other executives, because McFaddin lost $20 million in 1986 alone. In August of that year, McFaddin sued Ninfa‟s, Inc., alleging that the Laurenzos had threatened to picket at restaurants owned by the company and were actively defaming its name. The Laurenzos counter-sued, accusing McFaddin of breach of contract and of stealing Ninfa‟s recipes. See Brian Levinson, “Lawsuits Pit Ninfa‟s Against McFaddin Chain,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 8 January 1987, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-87,” n.p.; Laurel Brubaker, “Hot Nightclubs Feel the Big [sic],” Houston Business Journal clipping, 17 November 1986, Vertical File, “H-Nightclubs,” n.p.; Diane Freeman, “Nightclub Giant Loses Appetite for Running Restaurants: McFaddin Retreats amid Heavy Losses,” Houston Post clipping, 12 June 1988, Vertical File, “H-Nightclubs,” n.p.; Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 13.

107 “Economy Brings Restaurant „Shakeout‟,” Houston Post clipping, 19 January 1987, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-87,” 1 (F), 10 (F); Diane Freeman, “Ninfa‟s Strategy: New Foods, Cities,” Houston Post clipping, 5 June 1988, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Press Coverage-Magazines, 1 (D).

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experienced management team of Ninfa‟s, Inc.”108 The Laurenzos decided to take their first forays into non-Mexican restaurants with Bambolino‟s, a pizza-by-the-slice drive- thru concept for which they felt Houston had an appetite. Because his father, an Italian

American, had sold pizzas with Rio Grande Food Products, Roland reasoned that such a new venture made sense because Italian cuisine ran in the family‟s blood. There would be fourteen such establishments around town.109 RioStar also invested in four Cajun- style eateries as well as a seafood restaurant. By the mid-1990s, the company owned a total of thirty-eight restaurant locations, spread across three southern states.110

Overstretched and in debt, RioStar would soon be forced to declare bankruptcy, and in the process, would bring the end of Ninfa‟s restaurants under Laurenzo ownership.

By the fall of 1996, RioStar owed its main food and equipment supplier $2.8 million and could not show financial viability in order to secure further loans.111 Five

108 RioStar Corporation, use of funds booklet, 1989, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 2, Biographical Background-Business Plans and Training, 1.

109 “Economy Brings Restaurant „Shakeout‟,” Houston Post clipping, 19 January 1987, Vertical File, “H-Restaurants-1986-87,” 1 (F), 10 (F); Diane Freeman, “Ninfa‟s Strategy: New Foods, Cities,” Houston Post clipping, 5 June 1988, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Press Coverage-Magazines, 1 (D); “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 17; Dee Gill, “They Mean Business: These Go-Getters Wouldn‟t Let a Little Oil Crisis Stop Them,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 8 July 1990, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 2 (S3).

110 By 1996, most of RioStar‟s restaurants were versions of Ninfa‟s. The corporation owned regular Ninfa‟s restaurants, Ninfa‟s fajitas delivery outlets, and Ninfa‟s cafés, which featured a smaller menu selection. By 1996, Roland had also sold three of the four Creole-style establishments he had bought in 1989. As for the Bambolino‟s pizza drive-thrus, the family converted most of these locations into Ninfa‟s establishments and sold Bambolino‟s assets by 1993. See “Vigésimo aniversario: Ninfa‟s Mexican Restaurant,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 14 July 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 5; “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 17.

111 Greg Hassell, “Sysco Goes to Court vs. RioStar,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 October 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 2, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1 (C), 10 (C); Robb 258

different parties sued the company, which forced Roland to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October of that year. Mama Ninfa had entrusted the management of her business to her eldest son back in the 1980s and mostly had acted as the public face of the Ninfa‟s brand. She, therefore, had been sparsely involved in the expansion plans that eventually led to the financial downfall of her restaurant. In fact, she admitted to feeling “shocked” when she found out that the business model that she had worked so hard to develop would leave family hands.112 She never, however, publicly blamed Roland for his unrealistic ambitions and poor business management skills. It remained unquestionable that he had made some seriously unsound decisions. For instance, his dreams of launching the Ninfa‟s brand in California had required a $1 million investment in a restaurant that never came to fruition. He also later conceded that “RioStar [had] borrowed 2 million dollars at 20 percent interest” as a last resort.113 Ninfa‟s, Inc., had essentially sunk into debt with the opening of the Dallas branches in the early 1980s and never recouped its losses. Roland explained that he felt that the “only [viable] option was to grow out of debt” by taking on new ventures.114 Rationalizing his decision to diversify the family business, he stated that:

If one restaurant, even one whole restaurant concept, failed, try again, just as soon as you can borrow the money. If 28 Ninfa‟s are making money, why not license another two or three for the trademark payments?115

Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 16.

112 Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 16.

113 Ibid.

114 Ibid.

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By the mid-1990s, it became apparent that this approach to debt management had suffocated RioStar and stretched its financial viability beyond recovery. Roland had clearly miscalculated his diversification and expansion plans, and creditors would soon close in to recover their own losses.

In 1998, Austin-based Serranos Café and Cantina took over RioStar, which signaled the end of Ninfa‟s restaurants under the Laurenzos‟ command. The matriarch and her children nonetheless struck a deal that removed debt and secured the family‟s finances. Under the judge-approved plan, Serranos would “pay 100 cents on the dollar to

RioStar‟s creditors,” Ninfa and her kids were authorized to open six new Ninfa‟s establishments in the future, and Mama herself received a comfortable monthly stipend from Serranos to continue to act as the restaurant‟s spokesperson.116 The Ninfa‟s restaurant saga, as defined by this Mexican American family, had come to an end.

Ninfa‟s locations continue to dot Houston‟s landscapes today, and each establishment still displays the familiar Laurenzo photos that remain associated with the matriarch‟s story. Yet the family never returned to the brand that made their name synonymous with fajitas in Houston. Instead, Ninfa retired, and Roland and his brother Jack opened a

Mexican restaurant of their own in 1998.117 Failure with RioStar seemed to have tamed

115 Ibid.

116 Ibid; Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 8. Ninfa‟s stipend was contractually set to gradually decrease over the years. In 1998, Serranos paid her $16,500 per month, in 1999, $15,500, and $14,500 in 2000. In 2001, the year of her death, she earned $13,500 a month.

117 Ibid.

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Roland‟s expansionist impulses, as Houston only counted three El Tiempo locations by

2011.118 The Laurenzo name thus continued to be associated with Mexican cuisine in the city even after the family‟s ownership of the chain concluded.

Ninfa and Community Service

As Ninfa quickly gained stature as a successful businesswoman among Anglo and

Mexican-origin Houstonians alike, she dedicated as much of her free time to causes of various constituencies. While she would later act as the national spokesperson for the

Cancer Foundation and other organizations, from early on, Ninfa became the public figure for East End barrio residents, where she had spent most of her life as a Houstonian.

She lent her support to citywide policies and activities that enhanced Houston‟s awareness of its Mexican-origin population and implemented positive changes in the daily lives of barrio residents. For instance, she played a notable role in the Mexican

Americans for Better Transit campaign in 1978, when she became the only female and sole Hispanic member of the interim board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.119 She worked tirelessly to mobilize Mexican American voters in favor of a significant extension of the existing public transportation system. As a well-known accomplished businesswoman, in August 1978 she used her clout and Spanish-speaking skills to reach

Mexican-origin residents through radio announcements, opinion pieces in the local bilingual press, and appearances at many community events to convince them to cast

118 See http://www.eltiempocantina.com/index.html, accessed 25 January 2011.

119 “The Interim Board,” La Prensa, 11 August 1978, 5 (A). For further details on this campaign, see the Mexican Americans for Better Transit Collection, Box 1, Folders 1-3, HMRC.

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their vote. She vocally supported plans for increased employment of Mexican-origin contractors and Spanish-speaking bus drivers. She also advocated the implementation of

Spanish-language services and additional bus routes between the East End barrio and the rest of the city. When voted upon, the proposal even received the support of a majority of Anglos.120 Early on, Ninfa thus showed Houstonians of Mexican and Anglo backgrounds that they shared similar opinions beyond their taste for Mexican food. She would do so repeatedly by throwing her support behind causes that united a majority of the city‟s residents, including issues as varied as justice, health, the arts, economic opportunities, and gender equity.121

120 “Usted: En sociedad,” La Prensa, 24 March 1978, 5; “Regional Transit Plan,” El Sol, 27 April 1978, 6; “Community: MTA Board Adopts 1st Part of Transit Plan: Minimum Standards for Buses,” La Prensa, 7 July 1978, 4 (A); “En Houston: Comité de transporte promociona East End minibus,” La Prensa, 7 July 1978, 1; “¡Transporte para Houston! Líderes hispanos respaldan la creación de un Nuevo plan de transporte,” El Sol, 3 August 1978, 1; “Mexican-American Forces Endorse MTA,” El Sol, 3 August 1978, 1; “Endorsement,” El Sol, 3 August 1978, 2; Ninfa Laurenzo, “MTA and its Importance to Hispanics Houston [sic],” La Prensa, 4 August 1978, 2 (A); “Broad Support Developing for Transit Election Aug. 12,” La Prensa, 4 August 1978, 5 (A); “Broad Support Developing for Transit,” El Sol, 10 August 1978, n.p.; “Mexican-American, Affluent Whites Strongest for MTA,” El Sol, 17 August 1978, 1; Mr. Raúl Castillo, interview by Thomas H. Kreneck, tape recording, 23 August 1978, Oral History Collection Mexican American Component, Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC). The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

121 “X-Mas at Ninfa‟s,” El Sol, 8 September 1977, 8; The University of Texas System Cancer Center, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, certificate in appreciation for dedication to Pediatric Christmas Card Project, 25 January 1978, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folder 1, Artifacts-Plaques; “Houston Ready for Bellas Artes,” La Prensa, 31 March 1978, 7 (A); “Cámara mexicana de comercio elige nueva directiva,” El Mexica, 28 June 1979, n.p.; “‟Arte de Mexico‟ en Ripley House,” El Sol, 26 September 1979, n.p.; “Ole! [sic] Come to a Mexican Fiesta,” unknown newspaper, n.d., Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 8, Folder 1, Oversized-Scrapbooks, n.p.; “TAMACC Dallas Convention Biggest Ever,” El Sol, 23 July 1980, n.p.; Olga Soliz, “Houston Highlights,” El Sol, 23 September 1981, n.p.; Olga Soliz, “Houston Highlights,” El Sol, 18 November 1981, n.p.; Janice DelValle to Ninfa Inc., 3 April 1987, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; George Simons to Ninfa Laurenzo, 27 April 1987, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; David Kaplan, “Ninfa Laurenzo Focuses on Cancer Foundation,” Houston Post clipping, 22 December 1993, Vertical File, “Biography- Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p.; Greg Burns to Ninfa Laurenzo, 9 October 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; The Furniture Bank to Ninfa Laurenzo, 11 December 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; Michelle Cordua to Ninfa Laurenzo, 12 November 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; Evin Thayer Scholarship Fund to Ninfa Laurenzo, 12 December 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, 262

An examination of Ninfa Laurenzo‟s public and civic life cannot end without mentioning her active interest in politics. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was asked to consider political office in Houston, but she declined the opportunity because she was preoccupied with maintaining and expanding her restaurant business. By the late

1980s, however, as a millionaire restaurateur whose professional activities mostly revolved around matters of public relations for the Ninfa‟s chain, she became engaged with the Republican Party. Through her food establishments and her involvement with

Houston‟s social and civic affairs, Ninfa had developed an acquaintance with George H.

W. Bush and his family. Indeed, Bush and his wife enjoyed sharing a meal at Ninfa‟s restaurant whenever they visited Houston.122 In 1988, Ninfa even received the honor of seconding George H. W. Bush‟s nomination for President of the United States at the

Correspondence-Business; Dorothy E. F. Caram to Ninfa Laurenzo, 12 December 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; Underprivileged Children‟s Christmas Party, certificate of appreciation, n.d., Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 8, Public Service-Award Certificates; Ninfa Laurenzo‟s check donations, 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 10, Public Service-Check Donations. The translation from Spanish to English is mine.

122 “‟Mama Ninfa,‟” Houston Business Journal clipping, 6-12 September 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 17; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); “Houston‟s „Mama‟ of Mexican Cuisine Dies,” Click2Houston.com clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 8; Marcello Marini, “Se apaga una estrella que brilló sobre nuestro cielo de Houston,” La Información clipping, 21-27 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, n.p. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. At the request of the President and First Lady, Ninfa also often brought food from her restaurants to the White House in the 1980s. When Ninfa died, George H.W. Bush issued a written statement in which he declared: “Ninfa was a leader in the business community and a loyal ally and friend in the political arena. Barbara and I and the rest of the Bushes treasured our personal friendship with her.” “Houston‟s „Mama‟ of Mexican Cuisine Dies,” Click2Houston.com clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Association Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices).

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Republican Convention held in New Orleans, Louisiana.123 She dismissed political pundits‟ speculations that the presidential candidate had chosen her because of her

Hispanic descent, but she also informed the press that if his decision had been solely motivated by his desire to court the Latino vote, she found it an honor to represent

Hispanic Americans at the convention.124 Ninfa would remain active in Republican politics until her death in June 2001.125

The last decade of Mama Ninfa‟s life presented her with challenges, as she had to witness the loss of her restaurant chain and was confronted with cancer. At least publicly, she did not grieve losing her business, and she seemed to rejoice spending time at El Tiempo, her sons‟ newest restaurant venture. On 17 June 2001, however, she succumbed to her fight against bone cancer at the age of seventy-seven. Houstonians mourned the passing of a local icon whose face and brand of Mexican food had become

123 Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., to Ninfa Laurenzo, invitation to Republican Convention, 4 August 1988, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Political; Bill Coulter, “Ninfa Laurenzo to Second Nomination of George Bush,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 11 August 1988, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 1 (A), 10 (A); Felix Sanchez, “Ninfa Laurenzo to Help Second Nomination,” Houston Post clipping, 11 August 1988, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 1 (A), 15 (A); Ninfa Laurenzo, speech to Republican Convention, draft, undated, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 5, Public Service-Speeches.

124 Felix Sanchez, “Ninfa Laurenzo to Help Second Nomination,” Houston Post clipping, 11 August 1988, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” 1 (A), 15 (A).

125 Ninfa actively supported Texas Governor George W. Bush throughout the 1990s, and she also lent her voice to radio announcements endorsing his candidacy to the 2000 presidential election. Moreover, she read the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston. George W. Bush to Ninfa Laurenzo, invitation to open house, 8 March 1993, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Personal Letters; Greg Burns, president of Magic Circle Women‟s Republican Group, to Ninfa Laurenzo, 9 October 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence- Personal Letters; political radio announcement endorsing George W. Bush, English language, Fall 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Personal Letters; political radio announcement endorsing of George W. Bush, Spanish language, Fall 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Personal Letters; George W. Bush to Ninfa Laurenzo, thank you letter, 16 January 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Personal Letters.

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so familiar during the previous three decades.126 After all, Ninfa Laurenzo, the widow entrepreneur and gifted cook, epitomized Houston‟s celebrated motto that a can-do attitude can achieve almost anything in the “Golden Buckle of the Sunbelt.”

Conclusion

Ninfa Laurenzo was and remains a legendary Texas figure. She built a food empire that no other Houstonian of Mexican descent has ever managed to equal. She also exposed Anglo Houstonians to a taste of authentic Mexican cuisine much more accurate than that of her famed predecessor and early business collaborator, Felix Tijerina.

Indeed, where Felix served enchiladas with a mild red sauce on the side, Ninfa spiced up hers with jalapeño peppers. The food she offered her customers represented the second generation of Texas-style Mexican fare. While she never really explained why she decided to cook such a foreign-tasting food for patrons accustomed to the blander style of

Tex-Mex for which Felix had become famous, Ninfa clearly had an inkling for what a new generation of diners desired. An inventive and adventurous chef, she devised recipes of her own, found inspiration in some Mexican dishes, and otherwise served the food that she had grown up eating in the borderlands region of South Texas. There,

126 Ninfa first suffered from breast cancer in the mid-1990s, which she successfully beat, initially. See Robb Walsh, “Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids,” Houston Press clipping, 6 August 1998, Houston Restaurant Collection, 15; Dai Huynh, “Restaurateur Mama Ninfa Dies,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 18 June 2001, Houston Restaurant Collection, Box 1, “Restaurant History” Folder, n.p. (Death Notices); Dai Huynh, “Muere „Mamá‟ Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Voz de Houston clipping, 20 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized-Newspaper Clippings, 1, 8; Tay Polo Miranda, “Mamá Ninfa, la reina del tex-mex,” Semana News clipping, 22-28 June 2001, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 5, Folder 1, Oversized- Newspaper Clippings, n.p.

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Anglo and Mexican cultures met and continue to mingle, and Ninfa and her restaurants embodied this blend.

The college-educated daughter of a Mexican political exile, Ninfa Laurenzo engaged in activities that directly related to the life of barrio residents, but she felt equally comfortable in middle- and upper-class Anglo milieus. Like Felix Tijerina, she became a prominent public figure because she could seamlessly navigate both cultures. Ninfa used her stature among Houstonians and Texans to foster greater community awareness about issues dealing with education, poverty, health, and the arts. She also was a lifelong advocate for the advancement of Latinos and a strong supporter of Hispanic female entrepreneurs. That commitment led to her induction in the Texas Women‟s Hall of

Fame in 1988. She also was nominated as “Woman of the Century” by the Austin Texas

Chamber of Commerce in 1999 and by the Houston-based Hispanic Women in

Leadership organization in 2000.127 Throughout her lifetime, Ninfa received many such awards celebrating her achievements and devotion to others.128

127 Texas Women‟s Hall of Fame, award ceremony pamphlet, February 1989, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 2, Public Service-Event Pamphlets; Ninfa R. Laurenzo‟s resumé, 1998, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 10, Public Service-Check Donations; Margaret Palacios Rodriguez to Ms. Ninfa Laurenzo, 22 November 1999, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Correspondence-Business; “Hispanic Women in Leadership‟s „Woman of the Century,‟” pamphlet, March 2000, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 1, Public Service-Event Pamphlets.

128 Ibid; “Outstanding Mexican-American Business Woman [sic] of the Year,” El Sol, 13 April 1978, 1; “A Chicana Salute to Ninfa Laurenzo,” Houston JWY Chicana Caucus award plaque, 28 April 1978, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folder 2, Artifacts-Plaques; “Owner of Ninfa‟s Will Get Business Award,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 31 December 1978, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p.; “Mexican-American Businessperson of the Year 1978: Ninfa Laurenzo,” La Vida Latina en Houston, February 1979, n.p.; Texas Mexican-American Business Hispanic Hall of Fame Award to Ninfa Laurenzo, award plaque from the Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce, July 1979, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 3, Folder 3, Artifacts-Plaques; Olga Soliz, “Houston Highlights,” El Sol, 19 November 1980, n.p.; Olga Soliz, “Houston Highlights,” El Sol, 13 May 1981, n.p.; “Top Businesswoman,” Houston Chronicle clipping, 21 August 1981, Vertical File, “Biography-Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p.; Big Brothers and Sisters of Houston, the President‟s Award, plaque, 1982, Ninfa Laurenzo 266

Ninfa Laurenzo therefore stands among Houston‟s most influential entrepreneurs and civic leaders. Thanks to a shrewd understanding of restaurant-goers‟ evolving culinary tastes, her warm personality, and her ability to keep herself in the public‟s eye, she changed the eating habits of her city and beyond. Overreach and poor business decisions in the later years did bring about the end of her family‟s ownership of her restaurant chain, but her culinary legacy has become acknowledged throughout Texas and increasingly, the United States. Nowadays, Americans across the nation do not question the presence of sizzling fajitas on the menus of Mexican restaurants. Ninfa Laurenzo played her part in bringing that aspect of Mexican American culture into the mainstream of food offerings.

Papers, Box 4, Folder 5, Artifacts-Plaques; “Reconocimiento a negociantes hispanos,” El Sol, 17 July 1985, 1; “Bush Appoints Ninfa to PACA,” Houston Post clipping, 26 September 1992, Vertical File, “Biography- Ninfa Laurenzo,” n.p.; “Ninfa Laurenzo, Business Woman [sic] of the Year,” United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Houston luncheon, 21 April 1994, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 3, Public Service-Event Pamphlets; Appreciation Award to Ninfa‟s Restaurant, Jefferson Davis Hispanic Alumni Association Scholarship, 1996, Ninfa Laurenzo Papers, Box 2, Folder 8, Public Service-Award Certificates. The translation from Spanish to English is mine. 267

CONCLUSION

On 17 February 1982, Ruben Treviso, a Congressional liaison for Hispanic organizations in Washington, D.C., published an opinion piece in El Sol entitled, “The

Taco Invasion—Food for Thought.”1 In it, he celebrated the recent penetration of

Mexican food into mainstream American culinary ways by recounting how newspaper food sections across the nation now had “expanded their gastronomic cultural awareness” to include “tips on preparing nopales, churros, and Tex-Mex meatballs.”2 Moreover,

Treviso reported that “customer counts in Mexican restaurants [had] increased nearly 30 percent every year since 1974,” and that one could find Mexican food establishments serving authentic dishes in most of the country‟s major cities.3 He also noted that, during

National School Lunch Week, the U.S. Assistant Agriculture Secretary, Carol Tucker

Foreman, had told journalists that “„tacos and beans … were not only nutritious, … but

[also that] such meals helped students learn about a different culture.‟” 4 Treviso concluded that, since the Senate Building boasted a “‟Mextravaganza‟ build-your-own- taco alternative lunch stand,” and that “every Thursday, the White House itself feature[d]

Mexican food in its staff dining room,” surely “the day [was] coming when the United

1 Ruben Treviso, “The Taco Invasion—Food for Thought,” El Sol, 17 February 1982, n.p.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid. 268

States [would] be a nation whose revered traditions included beisbol and Mom‟s tamale pie.”5

Just as this column connects local culture with the national one, this dissertation explores how the endeavors of some of Houston‟s Mexican-origin entrepreneurs and civic leaders themselves participated in the mixing of Mexican culture into the American identity in the post-World War II period. My research highlights how the efforts of these individuals emphasized the importance of the Mexican heritage to the country‟s fourth- largest metropolis in the post-1945 decades. My study also uncovers how, at the same time, Anglo Houstonians adopted elements of Mexican culture as their own. By focusing on the commemorations of a Mexican patriotic holiday, Spanish-language broadcasting, and Mexican food, this dissertation has shown how manifestations of Mexican ethnicity helped a major urban center incorporate the heritage of its Mexican-origin population into its self-perception and self-definition. As Mexican-origin people have established communities in cities throughout the United States, especially after the 1950s, my research offers points of comparison for the study of similar processes in other American cities.

The Fiestas Patrias committee, Felix and Angie Morales, Felix and Janie

Tijerina, and Ninfa Laurenzo all sensed that the culture of the Mexican-origin community deserved recognition beyond the barrios. They also perceived that, with the right approach, Houston was ready to welcome Mexican ethnicity in its public spaces. The demographic explosion that followed World War II quickly turned the city into a

5 Ibid. 269

multicultural metropolis, so exchanges became inevitable as more and more immigrants made it their destination. Music, festivals, and food constituted platforms that showcased the sounds, flavors, and history of the Mexican-origin community. By celebrating and selling Mexican culture, the civic leaders that are the subject of this dissertation led the way towards establishing Mexican heritage as an intrinsic part of Houston‟s modern identity. They shared their culture with all Houstonians, and in the process, ensured that encounters with aspects of Mexican culture would become a part of the regular life of the city.

Food, patriotic festivals, and music became avenues where cultural appropriation remained of central importance, as events organizers and restaurateurs put forth their own interpretations of Mexican culture, and Anglos proceeded to consume it. Mexican culture thereby became commodified to appeal to people with no Mexican heritage.

Nonetheless, the middle-class leaders depicted in this study succeeded in retaining ownership of the versions of Mexican culture they wanted the Houstonian community to embrace. Their endeavors resulted in greater exchanges between two communities that theretofore had had little interaction.

By using Houston‟s public spaces to display their ethnic heritage, these Mexican- origin civic leaders and entrepreneurs exposed lo mexicano to outside forces and had to negotiate the definition of Mexican ethnicity. In the case of the Fiestas Patrias, events that celebrated pride in the Mexican heritage led Houstonians to recognize their fellow residents‟ bicultural identity. But the festivities also faced the dangers of co-option from national corporations eager to court the Hispanic dollar by commodifying the 270

independence day holiday and Mexican culture at large. Fiestas Patrias committee members managed to retain control over the planning of the events, but they could not prevent national businesses or local radio stations from seeking to make a profit from the activities. Yet Juan Coronado and Armando Rodriguez accomplished what they had originally intended and brought the city together a few days out of the year to commemorate Mexico‟s history, specifically, events that resonated with the United

States‟ own identity.

In a similar fashion, KLVL offered a public platform that introduced Mexican- origin residents to their Spanish-speaking brethren and to listeners of other ethnic backgrounds. Felix and Angie Morales, however, only achieved financial success when they secured the advertising portfolios of national corporations that sought to attract a new pool of Spanish-speaking customers through the radio‟s airwaves. By providing broadcasting and translation services to businesses otherwise unprepared to deal with

Mexican-origin consumers, KLVL also engaged in the ultimate commodification of culture: advertising. The station nonetheless served as an important tool for communication between groups that would otherwise likely not have been exposed to one another‟s ethnic ways and worldviews, and it was a pioneer for its role in making

Mexican culture and music a part of Houston‟s life.

Finally, Felix‟s and Ninfa‟s Mexican restaurants adapted Mexican food to the contemporary tastes of their Anglo patrons. In Felix‟s time, authentic Mexican fare meant mild, cheesy combination plates served with a glass of American beer. As his successor in the industry, Ninfa offered potent “Ninfaritas” and a wide variety of spicier 271

dishes to customers hungry for something more foreign-tasting. Both restaurateurs became wealthy by claiming to deliver genuine aspects of Mexican culture in the plates of customers willing to consume it. By exposing Anglo patrons to new flavors, these two entrepreneurs brought ethnic food into the mainstream. Their particular blend of cuisine is now widely known as Tex-Mex, but in their respective eras, eating at Felix‟s or Ninfa‟s restaurant meant tasting authentic Mexican dishes and by extension, experiencing

Mexican culture through one‟s taste buds.

This dissertation demonstrates how the study of the experience of the Mexican- origin community in Houston in the post-World War II era sheds light on the role of business and culture in the blending of ethnic communities in multicultural urban environments. More specifically, my research contributes to the existing scholarship on modern Mexican American history by looking at how the Houston Mexican-origin community transformed the racial, social, and cultural makeup of a large metropolis in ways that occurred before, alongside, and after civil rights movements. Indeed, the bulk of the scholarship available about the post-World War II period focuses on the Chicano

Movement and fights for equal rights in the streets, parks, schools, and court rooms of

American localities, small and large. My research offers an examination of the role of middle-class Mexican-origin men and women in adding Mexican ethnicity to the definition of a modern American metropolis. They and their counterparts in other cities across the United States shaped the ways in which so much of Americans‟ contemporary behavior now involves dealings with Mexican culture. Indeed, while immigration from

Mexico remains a contentious issue to this day, average Americans nonetheless take their 272

families and friends out to eat at local Mexican restaurants frequently; they witness, and sometimes join, street parades commemorating Mexican holidays; and their children learn the Spanish language in school. As this dissertation has shown, the post-World War

II era presented Americans with opportunities to consume Mexican culture, both passively and actively. In the process, Mexican cultural ways have come to form a part of the modern American identity.

273

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