In 2012, Rick Ruenes, the son of Brownsville Mexican cinema pioneer Ramon Ruenes, decided that its residents and visitors to the city should be able to enjoy seeing the local history of the industry in an area accessible for the public to enjoy.
Toward that end, in October 2012, he deeded a gift to the Brownsville Historical Association of important historical objects from his family's theater which opened in November 1946 and didn't close its doors until 1993, providing entertainment to generations of city movie-goers for some 47 years.
The transaction was coordinated between the BHA through Collections Manager Javier Garcia and included – among dozens of other items – three sombreros gifted to Ramon Ruenes, Jr. by Mexican cinema and music artists Pedro Infante, Miguel Aceves Mejia, and Fernando Casanova.
Other items included artifacts like movie reels, movie reel winders, movie projection equipment canisters, projector lenses etc. A catalogue put together later lists at least 28 items used in the theater during its almost 50 years in business."We envision the 1955 Manley popcorn machine and projector will be on the first floor of the Market Square and a gallery of Mexican movie memorabilia which is made up of movie posters, lobby cards and photographs from the Agrasanchez collection will be on the second floor," Garcia wrote Ruenes.
"We believe having the projector and functioning popcorn machine on the first floor will serve a better purpose by drawing interest to the surroundings and build anticipation for visitation to the golden age of Mexican movie cinema exhibit.
"The artifacts will be arranged as permanent fixtures in the gallery/exhibit room and a space will be designated with a title to include the “Ruenes” family name, long known to be associated with this era of cinema and drive-ins."
According to the deed signed between Ruenes and the BHA the city, the items were: "To be placed on permanent display in Mexican movie cinema gallery planned for Market Square building currently under renovation as a public use building by Brownsville Historical Association and City of
Brownsville."
Ruenes agreed that he was giving the BHA the items "without remuneration, exchange, or restriction of any kind. The Association agrees to treat the items to its best advantage for exhibit, study, or other purposes, and to maintain their condition and security in a manner consistent with the total Association program."
About a year ago, Ruenes said that the new owner of the old Victoria Theater who turned its interior into an adult day care center took it upon himself to give it an old Mexican cine motif. Ruenes thought that a framed autographed photograph of Pedro Infante dedicating it to his father Ramon – who was Infante's compadre since he had baptized Rick – would be a unique addition to the day-care decor.
He contacted the BHA and said he wanted to look through the items to find the framed picture. Imagine his surprise when he walked into the Market Square Resource Center and found that the photo was gone.
Despite the protests of the director and BHS board members that the photo wasn't included in the donation, Ruenes persisted and eventually found the frame – minus the Infante autographed photo – among the collection he donated.
"I walked into the dark vault at Market Square seven or eight years after I donated the collection only to find the sombreros in a dark vault," he said. "I could have had them at my house or sold them online. But I wanted people to see them. They are part of our city's history, the people's history."
"If we had said it had been donated by the McNair family, they probably would have done something right away," said a close friend of the Ruenes family. The city commission recently voted to rename Fronton Street to McNair Family Drive despite its historical significance. Former city commissioner Harry McNair sits on the BHA board.
The BHA board and director Tara Putegnat decided they didn't want any problems with Ruenes and told him that he could take his donation back. Ruenes said he is in the process of recovering the items, but his personal attachment to the framed and autographed Infante photograph – his padrino – and its link to his father's memory has made him insist on its return."When they did an inventory later the framed photograph wasn't included in the gift," Ruenes said. "But I found the frame and I remember we took a picture of all the items at the time and it was included. Someone probably walked in there and stole it from them. If they can't come up with it I am going to have to file a police report for theft."
Meanwhile, Ruenes said that day-care owner Roberto Zamora was trying to get an historical designation for the old theater and was making a replica of the outside sign and restoring its exterior to its original condition. He said the sombreros would form part of the interior's decor.
"My original wish was for this history to be available so people could see it," he said.
"The sombreros will form part of an exhibit and I am working with Mr. Zamora so that maybe once a month the public will be able to enter the building and see them and remember the old days when people would go to see the movies there."
47 comments:
With this new coco we how have as mayor forget about mexican culture and heritage and with the new white commissioner over at southmost things are getting much worst. People don't vote and the elected officials know that and they run rampant and do anything in their favor not the community. Charro days and Mr. Amigo are next on the cutting ax
What an example of inept administrative oversight by the
heads of BHA. What a slap in the face to historical gift
so closely tied to city of Brownsville and a family that
was key to cinema of the Mexican culture. Good point made of the
name donating this.
On, Trump, it's going to be increasingly difficult for these guys to defend all of the blatant obstruction and obfuscation that will be brought into the light as this moves forward. This is why Nixon walked......But Trump will sit there until they haul his blubbery ass out the door.
Remember nixon was pardon by his vice president if this walking piece of shit gets indicted vice p pence will pardon him things go no where very fast.
The items mentioned in this story have absolutely ZERO historical value to brownsville or Texas. Pick up your family trinkets and set up a display at the old folks home. No big deal.
Trey Mendez is Worthless... he will sit in the middle and accomplish nothing
After the Brownsville Historical Society’s latest renovation, informed by a mixture of ideological (personal racism) and commercial concerns, there are far fewer objects on display specially objects related to the Hispanic culture and its history of this region.
But there’s more: The society has chosen to destroy its display of its trove of objects—which had never made the majority of its collection donated by a local and prominent Hispanic family available to the public. Instead decided to disregard these precious items on purpose and dump them in the back storage shed.
Since the 19th century, museums have been dedicated to preserving and presenting the objects of our cultural patrimony. Visual storage represents the apogee of this object-oriented approach. But NOT HERE they hire from the elitist famalies and their object is to preserve and make everybody believe that their families were the founders and builders of this community.
They continue unabated doing this and making a mockery of the REAL founders and the REAL builders of this community the Hispanics, Los Tejanos, Los Chicanos and the Mexican-Americans.
Its probably sitting on some board members mantle or sold on ebay for a couple of bucks
Ask Gene Fernandez. He loves movies and props. He may know about it. He even recently entered the Market Square and took a bunch of pictures.
I just visited the Historic Brownsville Museum and was so impressed by the difference in exhibits, books for sale, and everything displayed. It now looks like a museum, back like when Marisela Rodriguez (Cortez) used to be the director. I was so happy that they are finally trying to do something to bring it up to par and something for us to be proud about and visit. Kudos to the 3 ladies working there because now I know I will have a place to spend my free time and continue to learn about the history of Brownsville. As for Rick, I would get El Victoria property back and build your own museum. So many of the neighborhood kids used to chase your small truck who was releasing into the air the free coupons for the movies there. There are not too many of us that are still around, so the sooner the better, Rick. We are all excited and waiting for that planned exhibit.
They all need to go NOW and STOP the funding or make a change overhaul everything and everybody NOW!!!! On purpose they stay at the little house downtown they don't want to see a long line of hispanics going in. STOP THIS RACISM NOW WE DON'T NEED IT WE DON'T WANT IT.
"CITY ALERT-CITY-ALERT"
The city has a crack team of bike lane specialist to conduct counter guerilla warfare and clandestine operations in maritime and barrio environments that is protect and defend and stop the removal, by unauthorized citizens , of bike paint lanes and other objectives too sensitive to mention here. The team is run by a 6 star general with experience in extremely dangerous garbage removal objectives that no
other person volunteered and remains anonymous like the commenters here.
CLINCH TEAM 41: City laundry In Need of Catch and Hold.
PICS AND VIDEOS COMING SOON-SNEAK PREVIEWS AT THE CITY ZOO BY THE MONEY SECTION-A MUST SEE.
When the BHA had a ceremony in honor of J.T. Canales, family members of Canales in Brownsville were not invited. His granddaughter in Chicago was not notified. When his granddaughter wanted to come down to honor her grandfather at Canales School, his picture (given to the school when it was dedicated) was found in a janitor's closet. BHA does little research on local history, unless if is for financial gain or unless someone brings the history to them. A professional museum director, especially one with a history background would be a positive change. But, please don't assume Eugene Ferguson fits the bill.
This is very common in the world of museums and museum collections. People have family items they think are historic, significant and donate them to a museum, only to have them put in storage and never displayed. The museum curtor find the items don't fit into what the museum is trying to do. To the family, these things are everything, to the museum they are nothing. I know of half a dozen at least folks with similar museums around Texas. Even if the items are displayed, in a short time they will be removed to make room for another display. Same ol, same ol.
12:55pm...cállate lo osico pinche Coco hillbilly parrot! Go learn some new fuking words puto! No one cares about your stupid comments jotito!
@September 26, 2019 at 3:04 PM
To this town and the hispanic community it does have historic value but to you gringos it doesn't you need a whore house and the city to spend 15k dollars and that's just the moving for you idiots to adore and admire since it belonged to one of the historic texas families. Next it will be a saloon hidden in the wilderness that all founding fathers of texas went to get stone drunk... The city has the funds to bring that saloon here idiotas.
Yes it is a big deal to us but if it was you gringos you'd be yelling bloody murder pinche pendejo.
"The items mentioned in this story have absolutely ZERO historical value to brownsville or Texas. Pick up your family trinkets and set up a display at the old folks home. No big deal."
Buy the HEB downtown for storage of the so call HIspanic "TRINKETS" by the gringos. Bring down here more whore houses used by the so call brownsville founders and builders.
“I walked into a restaurant, which was the wrong restaurant, in Brownsville … I sit down, the blonde waitress walked over to me and I said, ‘I’d like two cheeseburgers.’ She said, ‘We don’t serve meskins people here,’ and I said, ‘I don’t eat meskins people nowhere!’”
This guy should have got a storage unit to hold his trinkets instead of relying on the cob. Can somebody tell me why all these very common garage sale items are important to the history of brownsville? You can buy that popcorn machine on EBay for $150.00 . And Sombrerros are on sale at Garcia’s. This city is overloaded with butt hurt border mexicans who think that the 100 Anglos that are still here run the city. Let me break it down for you. The real Mexicans who live in México hate border mexicans because you lack culture and can’t speak English or Spanish correctly . You put on your stupid fake ass charro days costumes once a year and dance around in the street and go to a shit event like Sombrerro festival and there you have your brownsville culture! REAL MEXICANS FOR TRUMP 2020!
If the families of every business in Browntown that shuttered 50 years ago, thought the various articles in that shuttered business were of great historic importance, we would indeed need the old HEB to store the stuff. Yonke familiar es yonke familiar. Mejor La Pulga.
Let's get some fucking reporting on here already! Shit, man, there's got to be something going on! smh
Pinche Coco hillbilly parrot! Go back to Washington to be with your boyfriends biden/Sanders. They will teach you new words! Pinche jotito!
I wish I could tell you I was a member of one of those important Brownsville families, but I'm not. I wish I could tell you I was someone important and when people saw my last name it carried some sort of weight like one of those last names we've used to name some of our local schools, but I'm not. I'm just a regular, plain old "Garcia." I'm not even one of the prominent Garcias like Dr. Julieta. I was born in Brownsville, I've lived almost my entire life in Brownsville, and I'll die in Brownsville. My family has served this fair city in several capacities, from city workers, to school district workers, and everything in between.
I have a degree in history from the University of Texas at Brownsville, not UTRGV. The degree on my wall at home has "Brownsville" on it. I am proud to be from Brownsville. I am proud to be Texan.
I am not ashamed of our history. I am well aware not all of it is flattering, and some of it is downright dark, but I think it is our responsibility to teach those who come after us about that history. No place in the United States is so colorful. I get some bloggers like calling Brownsville the third world capital of the United States, and yet others have very little positive to say about the city, but the fact is Brownsville can be a wonderful place.
Can be.
Brownsville, along with the Great State of Texas, has been touched by six distinct groups of people from around the world. In addition to the Native American tribes that already populated this land, we have been touched by the Spanish, the French, the Mexicans, Texans, the Confederacy, and the Great United States of America. We are a tapestry of all these distinct cultures coming together to form Texas and Brownsville.
I have no political agenda. I do not aspire to hold any political office. I do not want to engage in any power-plays. I do not want power, or authority, over anybody or anything. I just think the people of Brownsville should be taught about our colorful history. From Charles Stillman to Jacob Brown, from Juan Cortina to the Texas Rangers, and from the Yturria, Celaya, and Fernandez families to everybody else in between.
I would love the opportunity to bring the Brownsville Historical Association and all of Brownsville's historical learning centers together to be able to create a bold vision for the creation of a program designed to educate the citizenry about the bold and glorious history our corner of the world holds. From colonization, to the Mexican Revolution, Texas Statehood, the US-Mexican War, the Civil War, and beyond, we should all know what Brownsville really is about.
If anybody out there is willing to listen, I am willing to talk. Brownsville can be so much more than it is right now. The future is bright for our beloved city — and it all starts with unlocking, preserving, and learning about our past.
Dear September27, 2019 at 12:19 PM....Check out the BHA museum. It covers all that history you mentoned. Have any suggestions that are new?
I love this Mexican on Mexican racism. You are a Coco, if you don't park two or more old pickups in your front yard and cook cow heads and goats in your backyard. These seem to be the litmus test for who is Mexican enough to be a Mexican. These "real Mexican" think all others are beneath them and this is honest to gosh racism.
12:19...Ja..ja..ja - No gringo history is needed. We want a historic collection of huarches, sombreros and molcajetes housed in a very large jacal. Diss iss our history buey!
aT 12:19
Gringos will not join in because of their lies about their history their theivery and the murders and every thing inbetween will never happen. Just look at how they don't pay taxes lies and deception is their calling card not truth and justice FORGET IT.
Juliet Garcia is not a Garcia. She is a Villarreal-Lozano. The old shack that they dragged here from Petronila (Stillman shack at Linear Park) was the place where Stillman went to hide when he was being sought for treason during the civil war along with King and Kenedy and Yturria. Yturria fled to France and the rest to the King Ranch area. Why is that significant for Brownsville and look how much money was spent on moving it to Brownsville and to different places? Did the Stillmans pay for the moving?
12:17pm YOUR BOYFRIEND EDDIE LUCIO IS READY FOR A SPANKING. ONE AT A TIME.
September 27, 2019 at 12:17 PM
Hillbilly heavan=City Landfill. This idiot gets the red-ass if somebody mentions hillbilly, coco and parrot. Must be in San Antonio in some nut house and that's where he belongs.
Its good to know how the gringos think about your valuables TRINKETS.
Chinga tu madre Coco parrot! You should be in School learning new words bastard! Ask your lovers Biden/Sanders to send you to a good school in Washington! No one cares about your bs pinche jotito!
The guys items are of no value to anyone except his family members. They hold no historical value what so ever. All are very common items found in every Hispanic community in the United States and México. Was he expecting for the historical society of Brownsville to erect a shrine to the golden age of poorly made Mexican movies? If you don’t like how you were treated, pick up your stuff and go home. Your actions in this debacle are more entertaining than any movie ever shown at your theatre.
I AGREE WITH 5:53 WE ALL PAID TO GO IN HE NEVER OFFER FREE SOMETHING. AND FOR THE HILLBILLY MENTIONING HIS MOM WELL HE'S STILL IN THE NUT HOUSE IN SAN ANTONIO AND WILL STAY THERE THE REST OF HIS LIFE IF HE CONTINUES TO HATE HIS MAMACITA. ESTUPIDO WITH HIS MARICON PERICO TRUMP...
@September 26, 2019 at 10:19 PM
Retard how can this retard hack the I AM A ROBOT and allowed to post his redundancy SHIT? I think one of the staff over at the hallucination clinic is helping him log-in. Glad this "BRO" is locked up.
@September 27, 2019 at 12:17 PM
Sometimes, different types of hallucinations can occur at the same time. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) often helps reduce emotional symptoms, such as distress from hallucinations Feelings of unwanted, repeating comments over and over, blaming your mom and insulting everybody, thinking you're somebody your are not, go see a psychiatrist, sorry you are already in the nut house.
...
Treatment
risperidone.
aripiprazole.
olanzapine.
ziprasidone.
quetiapine.
pimavanserin.
clozapine.
People who have hallucinations caused by Parrot's disease report sensations such as the feeling of flying or floating.
NO WONDER THIS RETARD HAS A PARROT
PLEASE GO TAKE YOUR PILLS AND STOP FLYING AROUND YOUR CAGE
10:36am That commenter wouldn't be commenting if that "Coco, hillbilly, gringo " commenter would stop his racist rants. This racist should be investigated by FBI before he goes and hurts innocent people. I'm sure nothing will be done to him, because he has his lovers Biden/Sanders protecting him.
I agree with 12:14,that "Coco" commenter should be investigated. There's no need to call people Coco, hillbilly or gringos. Next time he comments those words, I will contact the Texas Rangers to investigate who is writing those racist comments. Racist remarks and bullying should not be tolerated.
Your mean 10:19 pendejo at 12:14 estupido.
Chinga tu madre Coco parrot! September 28, 2019 at 5:50 PM
Violence again women is very real be careful what you say it might come back to bite you on your ass.
This is the good ole usa and the freedom of speech is its strenght estupido at 12:14pm go to china or russia if you can't stand free people making comments.
Its call freedom of speech hillbilly cupcake.
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How Do You Castrate A Redneck?
Why Did OJ Simpson Want To Move To The South?
What Do You Call A Goat On A Mountain?
How Many Rednecks Does It Take To Eat A Possum?
Why Do Ducks Fly Upside Down Over Trailer Parks?
LOL ROTFL KMS hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
@11:04 Here's some more! How many old dicks can Coco Parrot hold in his mouth? lol Why did Coco parrot cross the road? Because there was Joe Biden waiting for him lol How many words does Coco parrot knows? Three! Gringo, Coco and Hillbilly! lol Where does Coco parrot likes his dicks more? In the mouth or ass? Lol jajajajajajaja
Ja ja? Must be a mojado a wanna be white posting like a gringo verdad BRO.
@September 30, 2019 at 2:02 PM
You are impolite, discourteous, ill-mannered, uncivil, churlish, sullen, surly, sharp, harsh, gruff, brusque, abrupt, tactless, curt, short, snappish, snarling, ungracious, truculent, crabbed, sour, disdainful, unmannerly, improper, shabby, ill-chosen, ungentlemanly,abusive, loud, unrefined, unsophisticated, vulgus, common people and a coprolalic and a HILLBILLY WANNA BE WHITE COCO "BRO". ESTUPIDO!!!
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