Public History Commons^™

Thomas Frost: Slave Catcher?, Charles Ryan Ricketts

Posters - 2026

Thomas C Frost, founder of Frost Bank, has long been regarded as a well-spoken individual whose legacy has caused exponential growth in the San Antonio Area. However, Frost’s legacy has deep roots within the Texas branch of the Confederacy and even less known a key enforcer of slavery.   He was a Ranger thru and thru but the type of ranger he was is terrifying.

St. Mary's Rotc, One Hundred Years Of Military Science, Pedro Martinez

Posters - 2026

The ROTC program at St. Mary’s has built a proud legacy of over a century of military tradition, leadership, and service. That distinguished chapter will evolve at the end of this semester as the program transitions from host institution status and becomes an extension of the University of Texas at San Antonio. While the program will continue to operate, this change marks both the end of one era and the beginning of another. Much of this rich history had long gone undocumented by the university and the battalion, until now, bringing together the key moments of its evolution, from its …

Spanglish: Un Viaje Al Pasado Observado Por El Presente, Nyleen Benavides, Raquel Christopherson, Rose Jouini, Kennedy Kuchta

Posters - 2026

Since its founding in 1852, St. Mary’s University has evolved from a small institution into a diverse and inclusive community that has worked to overcome discriminatory barriers. Originally founded to serve Mexican students in underserved communities, the university has reflected San Antonio’s Cultural diversity since its earliest years. Its founder, Reverend John Marie Odin, envisioned supporting a “melting pot” of cultures within the city (Flores, 2019). While the university has grown significantly in enrollment, Hispanic culture and traditions have remained a central part of its identity. Today, with over two thousand students enrolled, St. Mary’s University continues to not only …

Visible And Invisible Empires: The Revival Of The Ku Klux Klan 100 Years Ago, Christian Molina

Theses

Hatred and violence breed division, and division breeds more hatred and more violence. In an America where our politics has become name-calling, finger-pointing, scapegoating, and whataboutisms, and violence, unfortunately, it is safe to say our nation has entered this self-perpetuating cycle. A place for malicious groups concerned with growth, power, and profit to capture the angry, the stressed, and the less informed in their webs of elaborate lies and misleading, misinterpreted numbers the way they have in decades past.

"Nuestra Herencia, Nuestra Historia – Our Heritage, Our History" Preserving Hispanic Heritage Month At St. Mary’S University, Barbara Ortiz

Capstone Projects

This project aims to initiate the preservation for culturally significant events of Hispanic Heritage Month at St. Mary’s University through collection, documentation and archival efforts. By capturing events, speeches, performances, and exhibits, I plan to create a lasting historical record that highlights the contributions and experiences of Hispanic students, faculty, staff, and community members. The Digital Commons will serve as the primary archive and research space, providing a valuable and accessible resource for future generations, fostering understanding, appreciation, and celebration of Hispanic heritage within the St. Mary’s and Westside San Antonio community.

Hidden Gems In The Cops/Metro Archival Collection, Qiuying Chen

Posters - 2025

This student poster was created for the 5th annual Research Showcase at St. Mary's University. From the poster:

University of Texas in San Antonio’s Special Collections has boxes upon boxes of COPS/Metro archival records which include rarely-known stories including these about a United Nations award, nationwide documentaries, and an inspiring bishop. In this project, it is my goal to uncover these special memories.

A Quarter Century Of Scholarship: Trends In The St Mary’S Law Scholar’S Journal, Trenton Boudreaux

Capstone Projects

This project catalogs the trends of the articles published in The Scholar: St Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice. Over its 25-year history, The Scholar has published 26 volumes discussing issues related specifically to minority and social justice issues. The project catalogs the topics covered in the volumes, and explores this data for historical trends. The project posts these results on the St. Mary’s Law School History page and provides historical context for some of the topics covered. This information provides a valuable resource for researchers into The Scholar as a publication.

Getting Engaged: Public Engagement Quiz For “Unity In Action” At Saaacam, Terry Pohl

Capstone Projects

I developed the Getting Engaged Capstone Project in partnership with the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) and their new Museum. The primary purpose of this project is to provide the “Unity in Action,” room, the first exhibit in the final hall of the SAAACAM Museum, with materials to support its cause. This project is dedicated to doing virtually what the “Unity in Action” room is trying to do in person – to send the audience out into the world with a tangible project they can participate in that will help create positive change in the community …

Documenting Music: Chronicling The Fiesta Jazz Festival At St. Mary’S University, Qiuying Chen

Capstone Projects

“Documenting Music: Chronicling the Fiesta Jazz Festival at St. Mary’s University” records memories of the Fiesta Jazz Festival at St. Mary’s University and provides a detailed history of the festival since 1962. Through archival visits, newspaper articles, photos, as well as oral interviews of the Jazz Studies Directors and the volunteer coordinator, the project shares the history of the festival’s structure and organizing efforts. Moreover, the project highlights the festival’s performance information, guest artists, the preparation process, and organizers’ experiences throughout the decades. This project preserves the history for the Music Department and its student community at St. Mary’s University, …

Monuments And Memorials On Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland Afb, Sarah L. Neal

Capstone Projects

The capstone project, Monuments and Memorials on Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland AFB, seeks to document and analyze the monuments and memorials that honor the legacy, achievements, and sacrifices of the U.S. Air Force community. Lackland Air Force Base, a cornerstone of military training and history, holds an array of memorials that capture the essence of military service, from historical milestones to individual acts of valor. This project aims to create a comprehensive resource that not only preserves the history represented by each monument but also serves as an interpretive guide for future generations. The decision to focus on these …

Public History In The Middle School Classroom, Victoria L. Sanchez

Capstone Projects

This project was inspired by my own experience as a middle school classroom teacher and seeks to highlight the crossover between public history pedagogies and middle school social studies instruction. The project’s main focus lies on providing social studies educators with resources to learn about, teach, and integrate classroom projects that draw on public history pedagogies and methods. I created the public PHxMS website to achieve this goal. The intended impact of this site, upon being shared with educators, is to increase awareness about and interest in the field of public history, provide a resource for educators who might be …

Little Flower Church And School: A Digital History Of Westside San Antonio's Spirituality And The Dedication Of The Community, Ashton Jeffers

Capstone Projects

This project utilizes digital and oral history methods to present a collective narrative on the Little Flower Basilica and School. It begins with the origins of the parish on the Westside of San Antonio to the present day, showing how the parish presents its history to the public. Using a StoryMap to create a digital exhibit, this multi-media project includes a comprehensive historical narrative along with primary source documents and photographs of the development of the parish and its school over time. The StoryMap also includes an oral history audio of Diane Gonzales Bertrand, a former member of the Little …

Birth Of A Narrative: Santa Anna Satanized On The Silver Screen, Eddie Anthony Paniagua Jr.

Capstone Projects

“Birth of a Narrative” is a documentary project looking at the history of how former President of Mexico, Antonio López de Santa Anna, has been depicted in movies, television shows, and other visual media in the United States. American film producers have used the power of motion pictures to create a racialized narrative villainizing Antonio López de Santa Anna and Mexicans so as to aggrandize expansionists bent on eliminating or subordinating Tejanos. Films like “Birth of Texas: Martyrs of the Alamo” by DW Griffith and “The Alamo” by John Wayne pulled no punches as they project racial stereotypes of Latinos …

San Antonio At The Military City, Santos Mencio

Capstone Projects

The San Antonio as the Military City project aims to create a digital medium available to the public that recounts the long history of the many military installations scattered across San Antonio. Exploring the role of these bases in the myriad conflicts the United States has participated in and the impact the bases have had on veterans and the people of San Antonio. This information is conveyed using ArcGIS story maps, and the personal stories of those who have served on these bases will provide a more personal perspective on the role of these bases.

An Oral History Project: Shirley Knutson And Rural Ministry Initiative, Carly Bagley

Capstone Projects

This project examines oral history methods through a series of interviews with Shirley Knutson. These interviews focus on her life and her intentions for Rural Ministry Initiative, a Lutheran residency program for clergy interns. Shirley describes her experiences in rural communities as a child, student, teacher, wife, and mother. This project aims to help historians understand ethical practices and effective principals when conducting oral history projects while also exploring historical themes of domesticity, religion, and family relations from the perspective of a woman living in the Midwest United States during the mid- to late-20th century.

The Emma Tenayuca Project, Gwyn V. Hartung

Capstone Projects

This project is a multi-directional approach to increase recognition for labor activist and educator Emma Tenayuca, a lead organizer of the 1938 Pecan Shellers Strike in San Antonio, Texas. By collaborating with community leaders in this project, I seek to inspire future generations of San Antonians by highlighting the struggles and successes Emma and her fellow strikers faced. The biggest part of the project is a call to honor Emma Tenayuca with a permanent monument. Other components of the project include a Twitter account dedicated to sharing information about Tenayuca, an ofrenda dedicated to Tenayuca displayed at Centro de Cultural …

Westside Sound Oral History Project, Norberto "Geremy" Landin

Capstone Projects

The West Side Sound Oral History Project is a collaborative effort that stemmed from the application for a seed grant from the UTSA Westside Community Partnerships Faculty Seed Grants. The grant program serves with the intention of projects that are “likely to catalyze and support meaningful community and academic engagement across research spectrum to improve bienestar of WCP [Westside Community Partnerships] residents.” The project collects oral history interviews with community members, musicians, DJs and music enthusiasts that were/are a part of this music genre scene. West Side Sound is a genre of music that was largely influenced by a combination …

Pecan Grove Review Digital Archive, Cristal Rose Mendez

Capstone Projects

I created a digital archive for the Pecan Grove Review, a literary magazine published by St. Mary’s University. This project digitized the collection of nineteen issues, dating back to 1996, making the magazine accessible to the public. Powered by Omeka-S, this site will also include future issues of the Pecan Grove Review, historical information related to the magazine, and can be used to collect writing submissions and volunteer applications.

Radical Rattlers: A Narrative Of Latino Students At St. Mary’S University In The 1960’S, Edgar Velazquez Reynald

Capstone Projects

In the 1960s, St. Mary’s University saw an increase in Latino enrollment and a shift in student political attitudes from confidence in established politics in the early 1960s to radical activism at the end of the decade. The transition occurred as students engaged with the Civil Rights movement and then the Chicano movement. St. Mary’s distanced itself from radical forms of protest, as best exemplified by the formation off campus of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) off campus, arguably the lynchpin of the Chicano movement in San Antonio. Attempting a reconciliation, St. Mary’s declared the 1969-1970 school year The …

The Cobalt Oral History Project:Reflections On A Near-Century Of Archaeology, Glory Turnbull

Capstone Projects

The CoBALT (Coastal Bend Archaeological Logistics Team) Oral History Project is a series of interviews conducted by Glory Turnbull featuring CoBALT members Bill Birmingham, Ben McReynolds, Frank Condron, Jud Austin, and Rickey Ramseur. CoBALT is a group of citizen archaeologists that protect archaeological sites and excavate in the Coastal Bend of Texas, primarily in the town of Victoria. CoBALT’s history is previously unrecorded, but features heavily in these interviews, in addition to information about Coastal Bend archaeology from the 1950s to present. The members of CoBALT have excavated, surveyed, or collected at nearly all of the archaeological sites in Victoria …

A Microscopic View Of The Covid-19 Virus: Pandemics Move The World Forward: A History Of Humanity’S Progression Via Pandemics, Harold D. Johnson

Capstone Projects

This project argues that pandemics have the ability to move the world forward in ways such as causing economic shifts, leading to new medical innovations and stimulate changes to current religious ideas. By examining past pandemics, such as bubonic plague, the influenza outbreak of 1918 and smallpox, this project demonstrates how humanity has risen to the challenge pandemics create. Through innovations, invention and societal changes, pandemics are often the catalyst for major changes in the world. As the world wrestles with COVID-19, it is good to remind ourselves of humanity’s resilience and to consider what the lasting results of the …

The Southwest History Project, S. Michael Sleeter

Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to expand Public History practices in the community of the Southwest Independent School District. Its main goal is to establish a community historical society that will preserve and promote the local history of the area while allowing students to gain practical experience in the field. A newly created Public History class at the High School will support it. By giving members of the community the knowledge and ability to record and preserve their local history, the power to keep alive the collective memory is in the hands of those who made this area their …

Baseball, Hot Dogs, And Raspas: The Prospect Hill Yellow Jackets Athletic Club During The 1960s In San Antonio, Tx, Adam M. Nerio

Capstone Projects

The Prospect Hill Yellow Jackets Athletic Club was an important institution in San Antonio’s West Side in the 1960’s. It was a vehicle through which the emerging Mexican American middle-class families integrated and acculturated into the American mainstream. Using images, maps, archival photographs, newspaper articles, obituaries, and oral histories, this project presents evidence on how organized youth sports played a major role in helping shape and define the identity of a Mexican American community in San Antonio and provided the foundation that spawned an engaged generation of achievers.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With George Montague, Peter Coons

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Fr. George Montague reflects on his time serving as a professor and chaplain at St. Mary’s University. His former office was in the Marianist Heritage House in Pecan Grove, a building he described having served over time as a laboratory, then an office, and now a storage space.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With Jim Jakely, Euris Morales

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Brother Jim Jakely narrates his experience burying Marianist in the St. Mary’s University Cemetery. He describes the different characteristics that make the Marianist Cemetery unique, then goes on to explain the requirements for individuals to be buried there, as well as the various incidents that have occurred in the cemetery throughout the years.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With Scott Sleder, Kacey Diaz

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Scott Sleder shares his experience catching pokemons around various locations of St Mary’s University, including iconic landmarks such as the Bell Tower. Sleder describes the process of capturing different Pokemon characters and reflects on the personal benefits that this activity can provide.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With Earl Leistikow, Euris Morales

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Earl Leistikow reflects on the many personal stories behind all those individuals buried in the St. Mary’s University Cemetery. He discusses the requirements for someone to be buried in the cemetery and highlights several Brothers whose dedication and contribution have left a lasting impact on St. Mary’s University.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With Franz Schorp, Euris Morales

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Franz Schorp discusses the history of the St Mary’s University Cemetery. He explains the requirements for being buried in the Marianist cemetery, including for those individuals who are not part of the Marianist order. Schorp also talks about future plans to continue the tradition of burying Marianist and other individuals who have significantly contributed to St. Mary’s University.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With George Montague, August Guzman

Rattlers Remember

In this interview, Father George Montague speaks of his time as a chaplain for the St. Mary’s University Assumption Chapel. He discusses various renovations made to the chapel over the years, how the chapel has been used, and describes notable elements inside the Assumption Chapel.

Rattlers Remember - Stmu Oral Histories With Franz Schorp And Leticia Morales-Bissaro, August Guzman

Rattlers Remember

Franz Schorp spoke about his experiences attending The Assumption Chapel while being a student at St Mary’s University. In this narration Schorp talks about serving in daily mass, the history of the chapel, and architectural designs of The Assumption Chapel.

August also interviewed Leticia Morales-Bissaro who spoke on her experience with the ministry faculty and life commitments she made to the Assumption Chapel.