AUSTIN, Texas — A major exhibition, Los Tejanos: Sus Huellas en esta Tierra (The Texas Mexicans: Footprints on the Land), opens at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum on Oct. 12.
The photographs, oral histories, artifacts and historical documents dating from the 1700s to the present depict the diversity, fierce spirit and vigor of Texans of Mexican ancestry.
“This unique oral narrative enriches an understanding of Tejano culture and its impact on the shaping of Texas. Important themes of conflict, adaptation and blending of cultures are addressed through artifacts and the personal stories of individuals and families,” said Lupita Barrera Bryant, visiting curator.
The exhibition providing a glimpse of Texas Mexican history includes a rare document, dated 1767 and borrowed from the Archivo General in Mexico City, which shows the partitioning of land in what is now Texas. Other works include 19th-century watercolors from the Gilcrease Museum of Tulsa, Okla.; the marriage registry of James Bowie and Ursula de Veramendi provided by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio; handmade ranching equipment used by South Texas working ranches, and a railroad boxcar stove from a Hereford, Texas, family.
The exhibition will be in place for one year. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with free admission and parking.
For additional information, contact Bryant at (512) 916-5137, ext. 232.
(Editor’s Note: A media preview of the exhibition will be held at 10 a.m. on Oct. 7, beginning in the lobby of the LBJ Library and Museum.)
