(This R.H Wallis Photo was taken in 1879 and features the law office building of Jerry Galvan of E. Levee St. which Bronsvil Estacion says may have been on corner of 12th St. Left to right are 1) Jerry Galvan 2) Ed Dougherty 3) John Brown, 4) "Smithwick", 5) Brownsville, Texas mayor Thomas Carson, 6) Pepe Webb (maybe be nicknamed or related to Joseph Webb who owned E 13th Galeria 409 and 7) Victor Natus who was probably related to Frank Natus who was the only fatality during the 1906 Brownsville Raid. Thomas Carson was mayor from 1879-1904.)
(In this 1879 Wallis photo, 1) Jas. Browne 2) Spud Murphy 3) Porter Blacksmith 4) Simon Celaya and 5) Jose Tiga(?) stand on the corner of the first Cameron County Courthouse. Celaya is credited with building the narrow-gauge railroad to Point Isabel.)
Wallis photo of Putegnat Drug Store at 13th and Elizabeth. Note mortar and pestle.
A Wallis photo from 1865 of the original St. Josephs Academy on Elizabeth Street.
A Wallis photo of Willman's Grocery whose owner was once mayor of Brownsville.
By Juan Montoya
In June 2008, Cheryl Hollis Shepherd, of Knoxville, Tenn., - the great-grand-daughter of Joseph F. Cummings, superintendent of Public Schools at Brownsville from 1888 to 1898; Inspector of Customs from 1899 to 1900, and proprietor and editor of the Brownsville News to 1902 - thought she'd gift the city 12 original photographs by R.H. Wallis, a Cummings contemporary.
Toward that end, she called the Brownsville Historical Association as asked if they were interested in accepting the photographs that had been in her family for generations.
The only conditions she set was that they "be properly displayed to the public for the use and enjoyment of the citizens of Brownsville to view these truly historical items."
Wallis, a pioneer photographer in south Texas who followed Louis de Planque, took many photos of Brownsville during the 1860s and 1870s.
Very few of his photos are known to exist. He also photographed other buildings downtown including Market Square and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico right across the border.
Then-curator Jessica Villescaz and BHA Director Priscilla Rodriguez agreed with Shepherd's conditions and the photos were sent to the BHA. They also said they would acknowledge receipt of the historical photos and would be displayed "at all times" to the public and "preserved for future generations."
That was prior to June 2008, before she sent the photos.
In August, November and December, Shepherd called Villescaz and found out that none of the conditions she set for her gift had been met and she told her she "did not understand how museums work."
She then received a letter from then-BHA Director Priscilla Rodriguez informing her that only the board could return the photos and sent her two undated letters from Villescaz, who was no longer at the BHA, acknowledging receiving he photos.
At the time, the city had received a federal grant to exhibit historical photos of the city with enlarged photos, including some of the ones donated by Shepherd, and Rodriguez and the BHS board decided this put them in compliance with the donor's conditions and left it at that.
A later BHA director - Tara Putegnat - told a former BHA member the organization would not return the photos and that the reason that Shepherd was upset was because she had found out "that they are worth a lot of money."
And what about the enlargements? With the monies from the federal grant running out, the placement of the photos stopped.
Today, the cracked and peeled enlargements constitute an eyesore in the middle of the downtown area.
None of these images Shepherd are on display to the public as the donor required.
Shepherd, in a February 2009 letter to the BHA, demanded the return of her family's photographs.
"It is regrettable that an organization dedicated to the preservation of historical material, such as the BHA, has totally ignored the reasons for its own existence," she wrote.
"The purpose of the BHA should be to preserve, display and above all provide the citizens an opportunity to learn of its past to provide for all future generation to learn of Brownsville's rich historical past."
She then offered to reimburse the BHA any postal or handling charges associated with the photographs' return. She also hinted at possible legal action if they were not returned.
And so the matters stand until today. The photos remain (we assume) somewhere in the dark vaults of the Market Square Resource Center, inaccessible to the public, and the enlargement of at least one, peeling and cracked on a brick wall almost unrecognizable.
24 comments:
Gringo trinkets worthless pieces of trash store them at HEB
Use pony express to return them pieces of trinkets worthless
U.S. cities home to worst wage inequality
Must be reporting on Brownsville Tx where we have the most inept, insensitive, out of touch elected official.
Astros at 6pm - astros free streaming
The BHA has always employed rank amateures to preserve the history of Brownsville. This history and historical artifacts are being lost and destroyed through negligence and ignorance. When if ever, will the BHA Board pull their collective heads out of their collective culos and take charge of the horrible botch that is the BHA employees.
Bro, check the STD rate in Browntown. Caught the clap from a nice-looking chick I met at a bar two weeks ago. Took the fun out of the action, Guey. Not going there again, that's for sure.
EL FUNDIO
All the joints are the same full of STDs
Take a picture of these old using your cell phone, in natural daylight (such as near a large window with a white wall or card opposite the window, or on a shaded porch). Then publish them in the local newspaper and/or give copies away to schools, libraries and museums.
The quality of these photos is too poor any way to really enjoy them. Give them back. Thank the family for their gift and respectfully get their blessings to make the copies.
Monday’s announcement comes as the city is continuing to build on the five previous holiday parades, which have grown in size each year, city officials said, eclipsing 250,000 attendees NOT HERE IN FAT MCALLEN!!!
And here NADA NADA NADA NADA.
Thank you city elected officials hope all of you don't run for RE-ELECTION.
You can tell from most of the comments that the people of Brownsville don't care about local history and most know little or nothing about local history. Few people visit local history museums except visitors or winter Texans. Unfortunately, too many donations to the museums are stored away to ruin. Why, because the BHA is willing to accept donations, but don't know how to use them or are unwilling to use them. Harry McNair and his family insured that things they donated to the BHM were on display by volunteering to be on boards and by constantly managing or micro-managing to insure their donations were on display. Lack of professional management in BHA insures this will poor management will continue.
What place was this EL FUNDIO? Lol was she worth the nutt though?? lol
What Bar was this? EL FUNDIDO. lol did you use condoms?
When I graduated from UTB with my degree in history, I sent out resumes to all the local museums. I got a call from Priscilla Rodriguez and I interviewed with her. During that interview, she mentioned the project the museum had in mind — they would put these murals of the enlarged photos on the sides of buildings and eventually there'd be self-guided walking tours where they could pick up an audio device at the museum and have it give the people on the tour information about the places they were visiting.
I very much enjoy studying about Brownsville history, and I figured with my experience handling historical documents and artifacts from my time working at a local church with records going back to the early 1900's, I would have been an obvious hire. I guess my biggest mistake was actually thinking to ask for a salary I thought was fair.
I always wondered why the project never really got off the ground and why so few of these murals ever went up. It really is a pity to see how much people don't care about their local history. I get the comments section will always have off-topic comments, but over the last few days, it is sad to read what has become of the historic association.
I can only imagine how many awesome artifacts must be stored away in their vaults. I also worry how many artifacts are being damaged because they are improperly stored. It really is sad that so many of these things will never be seen by the public and they'll all be lost to time.
@12:35
Don't you think we also have the most inept, undereducated, and out of touch voters?
I continue to be amazed how disconnected the local population is from history in general and history of this town in particular. Now throw a pachanga or a beer bust and they will perk up and take an interest. The sadist of all, the seem to enjoy and wallow in their cultural ignorance. Beer, tacos and screwing whores is the outside limits of their lives.
Every wonder how Browntown became the most ignorant and poorest town in the US, well there you have it. The town is filled with ignorant poor people and they want it to stay that way. They just really dont give a shit. The few that have some drive and make something of themselves either leave or turn around and prey on their lower fellows.
Should have read WE ARE THE MOST ETC...voters.
9:14am - Let me guess: You are not from Brownsville or you are not "connected". That is why so many qualified people are not hired by the City and its organizations. I was hired for a director's position at UTB many years ago and people asked "Who do you know" - It took a while to realize that I was the exception to hiring in Brownsville. I am so sorry your last name wasn't Putegnat. We lose too many good people to the "old families" in town. It time for a change.
ALL I SEE IN THOSE PICTURES IS THE START OF CORRUPTION IN THIS CITY NOTHING ELSE GOOD THAT THEIR NAMES ARE ON THERE SO WE KNOW
October 9, 2019 at 11:03 AM
I see more corruption on the east coast than I see here idiot...
@ 6:24 PM, I am from Brownsville, but you're absolutely right — I don't have a fancy Brownsville society last name, nor am I connected in the least. I guess I was just dumb and under the impression that the passion I have for local history and the fact that I did have qualifications for the job would have given me a chance.
I know better now. Ha.
Racism permulated everything even at school in team sports gringos were first to start, even thought they couldn't stand or sit or run, (why?) most of the local business shops were owned by gringos and were elected on the school board and every other political office. Hispancic coaches were instructed that their sons are to start ahead of every body even though they couldn't play a lick...
NOTHING NEW HERE CORRUPTION WAS SWEEP UNDEWR THE RUG EVEN THE LOCAL DAILY WAS PART OF THE Conspiracy
puros fotos de ratas...squik squik squik
i was on the BHA board and unless there was a profit to be made or a big donation, Priscilla would not move a finger. She had her staff, which was qualified, on a short leash and they could not act without her. Which was interesting to observe since she was rarely present at BHA even though she was compensated handsomely (considering she was not even bilingual) compared to her workers, some of which possessed the same level of education as her. As a board member, we were privy to applicants backgrounds. We, the Board, actually worked closer with the staff than Ms. Rodriguez and would only see her at openings or when a photo op was needed. I personally spoke to the then curator, who brought up her interaction with the donating party and felt that the photos should be returned in good faith if they were not being displayed. Needless to say that did not happen. I often wondered why, until I overheard a conversation between then Board President and Ms. Rodriguez. They were more concerned with the potential profit that could be made by compiling those photos and others in the museum's collection for a book. This along with the Diaz car fiasco was one of the many reasons that I resigned from this organization.
Unless you were connected and could bring in money, Priscilla Rodriguez was not going to hire you. Or if you had more education than her
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