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Local Activities Launch
Hispanic Heritage Month
Monday,
Sept. 15th
11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Diez y Seis at Republic Square, 5th and Guadalupe.
Council Member Mike Martinez invites you to enjoy lunch (food vendors available) while you listen to live Mariachi and the music of Los Texas Wranglers, and hear the history of Diez y Seis told by the Consul General of Mexico, Rosalba Ojeda, all in historic Republic Square, where in the 1870s and until 1927, the Mexican Community of Austin celebrated Diez y Seis. Free admission.

7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Diez y Seis at the Mexican American Cultural Center. It's the first anniversary of the MACC and you are invited to Austin's official Diez y Seis celebration, which will include Mariachi music by Nueva Generacion from Texas State University, Folklorico Dancers from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico and the highlight of the evening the "El Grito" ceremony given by the Consul General of Mexico Rosalba Ojeda. Sponsored by the City of Austin, the Consul General of Mexico, and the Fiesta de Independencia Foundation. Free admission.

Featured Resources:
Hispanic Heritage Month:
September 15 - October 15
Presenting "Leadership Texas Style!"
A Series of Lessons
from
The Center for American History
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are proud to bring you a collection of lessons, each focusing on an important Hispanic Texan and, as well, various resources related to the inspiring history of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement.
The lessons have been designed and several of the resources provided by our friends at The Center for American History.
Each lesson focuses on an important hispanic Texan and the values of leadership and bravery that each of them exemplified. They are TEKS-aligned and, as one might expect, complete with primary and secondary documents from the Center for American History's own large collection. These lessons are designed to engage students in the work of actual historians while fostering within them an appreciation of Texas' own rich cultural heritage and the contributions of its people.
I. LEADERSHIP Texas Style!
In this unit lesson, students identify characteristics that define good leadership; evaluate the leadership skills of a group of prominent Hispanic Texans; and conclude by assessing their own leadership skills.
- Lesson unit: Leadership Texas Style.doc
(includes lesson plans & student handouts)
II. Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez:
Military Leader, Medal of Honor Recipient

- Lessons 3 and 4
- Asoociated Photos: a.) Roy Benavidez receiving Congressional Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan; b.) Latino recipients of Congressional Medal of Honor.
Associated documents:
III. Congressman Henry B. Gonzales:
A Leader Who Advocated
For Change

In this lesson students examine primary source documents from Congressman Gonzalez' personal papers related to his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
IV.
Adina de Zavala:
The Woman Who Saved the Alamo!

A featured bio in the "Leadership Texas Style!" unit, Adina de Zavala ranks as one of the most colorful, fascinating, and courageous women in Texas history.
Here are a few associated archival documents related to her story:
- Examining Newspaper artifacts
- "The Six National Flags of Texas"; a playet written by Adina de Zavala for elementary students.
V. Additional resources focusing on the History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement
Viva La Causa - Teaching Tolerance presents a new 39 min. documentary film about the Delano Strike and Grape Boycott led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. A standards-based teacher's guide is provided.Mexican-American
Civil Rights Movement
in Texas
"Mexican Americans have made efforts to bring about improved political circumstances since the Anglo-American domination of Texas began in 1836.
Issues of immediate concern to Mexican Americans after the Texas Revolution centered around racist actions. In the 1850s, Tejanos faced expulsion from their Central Texas homes on the accusation that they helped slaves escape to Mexico. Others became victims of Anglo wrath around the Goliad area during the Cart War of 1857, as they did in South Texas in 1859 after Juan N. Cortina's capture of Brownsville. Following the Civil War..."
Read more about the History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement in Texas at the digital gateway to Texas history, TSHA Online.
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To order your free copy, click here.
- Voices of Civil Rights -
AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress have teame
d up to collect and preserve personal accounts of America's struggle to fulfill the promise of equality for all. We invite you to explore this site, a tribute to those who were a part of the civil rights experience and to the continuing quest for equality.
Begin by watching this video montage and learning about the power of a story.
- Video clip, Chicano: The History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement.dv

This video montage was used as the preview trailer and opening credits for the four-part PBS series. The images can serve as an excellent hook in the classroom in getting students to begin thinking about the history, struggles, and accomplishments of Mexican-Americans.
- Dr. DuBois from the Center for American History highly recommends the Library of Congress'
Hispanic Reading Room. "There are
excellent resources there. On-line exhibits, teaching materials, etc. I
especially recommend Hispanic Americans in Congress and The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo and The U.S. And Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures. There are many things at this site that are excellent for World History or 6th grade Comparing cultures."
- African-American and Hispanic Heroes Addressed in the Social Studies TEKS; Grades K-12. Developed by Joe Ramirez in the AISD Social Studies Department, each of these paragraph biographies were adapted from the TEA Social Studies Center, include an image of the subject, and denote the specific TEKS grade-level each subject is addressed.
- Traveling Panel Exhibit, "Images of Valor: U.S. Latinos and Latinas of World War II"
Through images and stories, this twelve-panel exhibit, created by the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project in partnership with the School of Journalism and Center for Mexican American Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, provides a historical overview of U.S. Latino participation in World War II.In addition to historical photographs from the project's archives, "Images of Valor" incorporates contemporary photographs of men and women of the WWII generation by photojournalist Valentino Mauricio. The exhibit focuses on individual stories that reveal larger 
Pictured are Lt. Everett Alvarez, whose plane was shot down in 1964, was the first U.S. Navy pilot to be captured by the North Vietnamese. He spent nearly nine years as a prisoner of war. He retired as a commander. and
Dr. Hector P. Garcia. Garcia, a World War II veteran, civil rights leader and founder of the American GI Forum, is known for a lifetime of service that included receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.themes such as citizenship and civil rights and features excerpts from the more than 500 oral history interviews that were part of the project. Wall space required: approximately 37 linear feet.
One of the many traveling exhibits made available through Humanities Texas, "Images of Valor" was sponsored in part by a We the People grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Panels are lightweight and can also be displayed on easels as a free-standing exhibit.
NOTE: This exhibit will be on display at the Austin Public Library's Terrazas Branch Nov. 1 - Dec. 31.
- U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project - It has been estimated
that anywhere from 250,000 to as many as 750,000 Latinos and Latinas served in the armed forces during World War II. The purpose of this site is to foster a greater awareness of their contributions. On the site you will find hundreds of stories, thousands of photos, oral history training videos, all the forms and guidelines you need to submit a videotaped interview or tribute to the project.
_________________
- VI. New Resources for Learning about Mexico
The Mexic-Arte Museum has launched a new digital education program highlighting a special, former exhibit at Mexic-Arte Museum entitled From Revolution to Renaissance:
Art from the Renaissance period of Mexico following the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
The exhibit proved to be such a wealth of education and fine art from a pivotal time period in Mexico's identity and history, that the Museum chose to offer it to the community for an extended period. Using an online digital education program called Pachyderm, teachers, students, and the public can access a wonderful resource of images, text, audio, and video. Simply go to the education page of the museum's website www.mexic-artemuseum.org and click on the link Pachyderm. The program will start, and you will have access to navigate through the templates, following the links to the different features, including downloadable activities to use in the classroom, such as art activities! The program is meant for anyone to utilize it with ease. The From Revolution to Renaissance Pachyderm is a very rich resource, and Mexic-Arte Museum hopes teachers will take advantage of it!
The sound effects and the colorful lizard tatooed with the states of Mexico are way cool!
Okay... and so is all the wonderful learning on the site!
Check it out on the History Channel site!
_____________
We are grateful to the Center for American History and Dr. Cynthia DuBois, Assistant Director for Education at the Center, for providing the lesson materials (I. - IV. above) as well as many of the resource recommendations on this topic for our Austin ISD teachers.
Dr. DuBois is available for consultation at the Center and is happy to work with teachers at any time. She can be contacted at: cddubois@austin.utexas.edu or by phone 512/495-4107.
_____________
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