Did you know that April is National Internship Awareness Month? Internships (or practicums) are essential for those going to school to become a librarian. We have been lucky enough to have an intern here at the Border Heritage Department for the past 3 months as she is finishing her final semester at the University of North Texas obtaining her Master of Library Science degree.
Border Heritage Center
The Border Heritage Center is a department of the Main Branch of the El Paso Public Library. The department specializes in the preservation and dissemination of El Paso and Southwestern history.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
National Internship Awareness Month
Monday, April 8, 2024
El Paso...officially reporting eclipses since 1885!
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Monday, February 26, 2024
Since 1976, February has presidentially been proclaimed Black History Month in the United States, although the celebrations began long before.
But why February?
Celebrations began in this month that hold the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass (February 14, 1818) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809), both key individuals involved with the Emancipation of slaves during the American Civil War.
As February comes to a close, the Border Heritage Department would like to highlight just a small fraction of that history here in El Paso.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Extra, extra, read all about it!
Did you know that the El Paso Public Library has a resource available to library patrons to access news articles from the El Paso Times and the El Paso Herald as far back as 1881?!?!
Ever wondered what the price of eggs was in 1958? (53 cents by the way ;)
Looking for articles from when you starred on your high school football team?
Maybe you're a student looking for more sources for that paper you're writing?
The ProQuest Historical Newspapers: El Paso Herald/El Paso Times database can be accessed at any of the El Paso Public Libraries or even from your own home with a valid library card!
To help the library staff at the many locations around town, the Border Heritage Department has begun giving hands-on training so that any of the library staff should be able to assist in using this valuable resource.
Monday, February 5, 2024
Sun Bowl History in El Paso
It's the big week for football fans everywhere! Chips will crunched, wings will be tossed, and soon the smell of barbecues will fill the air. As we prepare for the big day we thought we would highlight our own local version of the Super Bowl.....the Sun Bowl!
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Moments in El Paso's History
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Borderland Heritage History: Humberto Silex
Humberto Silex, Sr. Transcript
Hello! This is Susan Barnum with
Borderland Heritage History brought to you by the El Paso Public Library.
In this episode, we’re getting organized and heading back
to the middle of the twentieth century on the border. Here we’ll see a labor union
form which led to El Paso’s own Red Scare.
Humberto Silex, Sr. Was born on January 15, 1903 in
Managua, Nicaragua. He came to the United States in 1920 and went on to serve
in the US Army for six months. Afterwards, Humberto moved around the United
States as a journeyman laborer where he was able to make as much as $6 a day.
In 1931, he moved to El Paso, hoping to find a place he
could settle down. He married Maria de Jesus Renteria and the couple would have
seven children together.
Work was not great in El Paso. Humberto began to work at
the ASARCO smelter where there was no vacation, no sick-leave and workers only
made $1.75 a day. Mexican-American workers were denied promotions in favor of
Anglo workers doing the same jobs.
In 1938, a Mill, Mine, and Smelter Workers Union
representative heard Humberto talk about the work conditions at ASARCO. Three
months later, a union organizer came to El Paso and helped Humberto and fellow
employee, Cefarino Anchondo, form Local 509. Eventually, this union would have
more than 1,500 members from ASARCO, the Phelps Dodge Copper Refinery and other
businesses. Humberto helped negotiate better pay through Local 509 for the
employees of the El Paso Brick Company in 1941. In 1944, union members at
ASARCO received a wage increase. When ASARCO and Phelps Dodge Refinery planned
a strike in 1946 to demand better wages, Humberto represented Local 509.
Despite these gains, trouble was lurking on the horizon. In
1939, Chris Fox, the El Paso County Sheriff, started to secretly investigate
citizens of El Paso he suspected of communist activities. Six men were
arrested. Members of the Bakers Union were targeted and later so were members
of the Mine Mill Union. The Catholic Clergy in El Paso, including Bishop Sidney
Metzger, also participated in union-busting, and threatened to excommunicate
church members if they joined unions. In 1940, Humberto, and Cefarino were
fired by ASARCO and both men were blackballed. Even though Humberto was reinstated
at ASARCO after a court case, he was fired again in 1945 for his union
activities. When Humberto visited the plant three days later after his second
firing, he got into a fight with his former boss and was charged with
aggravated assault.
This assault charge threatened Humberto’s chances to
become a naturalized American citizen. His application for citizenship was
denied in 1947 based on a judge’s decision that Humberto lacked “good moral
character,” and citing the fight. The decision was reversed by an appeals
court, but in 1949 the United States government reopened the case and decided
to charge Humberto with suspected Communist activity. During the new case,
Humberto testified that he had not associated with Communists nor had he had
given speeches in favor of communism to the Mine Mill union, Local 509. The
U.S. government won the case and he was denied citizenship again in December of
1949. He did not appeal the case and was investigated again for possible
deportation in 1957.
Despite these setbacks. Humberto managed to stay in El
Paso. He continued to support the union and eventually became an American
Citizen in 1991. He died on March 14, 2002 at age 99 and was buried an in the
Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
I found out about Humberto Silex, Sr. From the Nathalie
Gross Archives in the Border Heritage Center. In the archive, there are many
original documents from El Paso’s labor union history. To find out more for
yourself, call 915-212-3218 for more
information.
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 812
This year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 812 had their 100th anniversary. The first temporary commander in 1921 was John R. Donoghue. The post, located in McKelligon Canyon, was named after two soldiers who died during World War I, Thomas Hart Davis and Rives Seamon.
Lieutenant Thomas Hart Davis was killed in action on July 21, 1918 in Germany. He was the son of retired General Thomas F. Davis. He was an El Paso native and his body was brought back to El Paso for burial in 1921. Davis was part of Battery F 12th Field Artillery. His death occurred "when the Americans were checking the Germans' final drive on Paris."
Lieutenant Rives Seamon was killed in the battle of Chaudron farm on September 29, 1918. Seamon was leader of a platoon in the 138th infantry. During the battle, they were to bush the combat patrol to the front of the objective. The platoon faced heavy artillery fire. While attacking a machine-gun nest, he was "killed by a high explosive shell." His body was not recovered.
The image above is from the El Paso Herald on February 25, 1922.
Sources:
"Foreign War Veteran Name Post 'Davis -Seamon.'" (August 9, 1921) El Paso Herald.
"Lieut. Thomas H. Davis." (May 21, 1921) El Paso Herald.
"Tribute to Lieut. Seamon." (July 1, 1919) El Paso Herald.
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
All About the American Furniture Company Building
American Furniture Building
AKA: First National Bank, Chemical Bank & Trust Company
Location: 109-117 East San Antonio at Oregon, El Paso, TX
Address 105 N Oregon Street (https://goo.gl/maps/MAoWMXJDyS994HyQ9)
Materials: reinforced concrete, yellow press bricks and yellow terra cotta. Seven stories
The building was designed by Henry C. Trost of Trost &
Trost in August 1909. The building’s exterior was finished by December of 1910.
The First National Bank Building was combined with the American National Bank
building in 1913. Trost & Trost remodeled the building in 1925 and in 1943.
The American Furniture Company purchased the building in
1944. The building was upgraded to a more modern style that covers part of the
original design in August of 1949. The interior was also renovated during this
time. The building was acquired by William “Billy” Abraham who planned to keep
retail shops open on the ground floor, but redesign the upper stories for
live-work artist spaces.
In 2010, the El Paso Building and Standards Commission
issued civil penalties against the Caples Land Company, owned by Abraham, in
order to address issues with the building and bring it up to code. Abraham appealed
the civil penalty. The 2010 ruling was upheld in 2016. As of 2018, there is
interest in turning the building into a hotel based on the Wyndham chain.
Original Trost & Trost architectural drawings are
available at the Border Heritage Center.
Works Cited
“105 N Oregon.” (2010). Building and Standards Board.
Retrieved from http://legacy.elpasotexas.gov/muni_clerk/_documents/DSD_archived_meeting_attachments/bsc0224101730/105%20Oregon%20Backup%20for%20WEB.pdf
“City: ‘Final Judgment’ Against Owner of American Furniture
Building Underway.” (November 2, 2017) El Paso Herald Post. Retrieved
from https://elpasoheraldpost.com/final-judgement-american-furniture-building
“Downtown El Paso Historic District.” (n.d.) United States Department
of the Interior. Retrieved from https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/national_register/draft_nominations/El-Paso%2C%20Downtown%20EP%20HD%20SBR%20Draft.pdf
Englebrecht, Lloyd C. and June F. Engelbrecht. (1990) “First
National Bank.” Henry C. Trost Historical Organization. Retrieved from https://www.henrytrost.org/buildings/first-national-bank-el-paso
Marin, Daniel. (May 21, 2018). “Hotel Proposed for Old
American Furniture Building Downtown.” KTSM.com. Retrieved from https://www.ktsm.com/local/el-paso-news/hotel-proposed-for-old-american-furniture-building-downtown
Mrkvicka, Mike. (March 25, 2001) “Starting With the Plaza.” El Paso Times.
Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77087293
and https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77087425
“New American Furniture Co. Opening to Culminate Years of
Planning.” (August 31, 1949) El Paso Times. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77086605
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