HIDDEN HISTORY: WHO KNOWS WHAT'S IN THE BHA ARCHIVES?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

For years now, the historical archives of the Brownsville Historical Association have been locked up in walk-in vault at Market Square, accessible to the historians, researchers, students and to the public only by a ponderous and expensive process. 

Even when one can get access to the material, there apparently is no general catalog to help researchers find documentation for specific research topics. Donations from individuals and families are basically stacked on top of others and never exhibited, sometimes prompting the donors to ask for their return. And if some of these donations walked out the door, who would know?

The collections, exhibits, and donations there, are, for all practical purposes, our hidden history.

According to the Visit Brownsville website, "in early 2009, Market Square was leased to the Brownsville Historical Association. 

"Thanks to the support of the Stillman Trust, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, and the City of Brownsville, Market Square became the home of BHA's collections and archives.
The vaults of Market Square house one of the largest South Texas photograph collections in the Rio Grande Valley. 

"Additionally, the archives are home to numerous documents include the Frank Cushman Piece Papers and the A.A. Champion Collection."

And some who remember back far enough recall that the historical books and documents that were kept in the Jose Escandon Research Room at the Central Library were also removed to the Market Square "Castle." And furthermore, the contents of Texas Southmost College's John Hunter Room were also moved in crates to Market Square, including the vast genealogy research done by the late Yolanda Gonzalez, remains unavailable – except by special permission – and are stored in a closed area of the building as well.

After attempting unsuccessfully in previous years to secure access to the archives, University of Houston professor and researcher Dr. Marie Theresa Hernandez referred BHA administrators and board members with information into grants that might aid the BHA in cataloging and sorting the archives to make them available for researchers and the public. 

So far, there have been no takers. Here, Dr. Hernandez again offers BHA Director Tara Putegnat the link to grants awarded by the National Archives for just such a purpose. Will the archives ever see the light of day? Or will they remain in a dark vault forever? Here's the professor's latest effort to make them available:

From: Dr. Marie Theresa Hernandez

Professor
World Cultures and Literatures

Dear Ms. (Tara) Putegnat,

For the past four years I have been working on a cultural history of Juan Cortina and the Rio Grande Valley. As you know the BHA archives have not been available for research… I understand there is some accessibility, but it is prohibitively expensive and requires an extensive wait time. 

I realize that lack of funding has been a significant problem. I met with Mr. (Gilbert) Velasquez and Dr. (Anthony) Knopp, and have spoken to Eric Gonzalez and Aubrey Nielsen. Ms. Nielsen informed me several years ago that there was nothing in the BHA Collection on Juan Cortina. (Really, Does that include references to Cortina in all those documents and photo collections?) 

In this email, I am sending a link to a call for proposals to the National Archives for a grant-maximum $150,000 (See below). Perhaps funding of this size would help make the BHA collections more accessible. Please let me know if I could be of help.

The manuscript of the Cortina book will probably be completed by August 2023, if not sooner. Publication usually takes another 18 months.

Best Regards,
Theresa Hernandez