New museum exhibit details the history of education in South Texas

EDINBURG — The Museum of South Texas History (MOST) has a new exhibit focused on the history of Valley education, titled The right to LEARN: A History of Education in South Texas that includes equity and inclusion in schools, landmark court cases, and the legacy of Congressman Ruben Hinojosa.

The new exhibit opened on Sept. 19 and is curated Jenarae Bautista, curator of Exhibits and Collections.

“It’s our history and we need to know it so that we’re better for the future,” Bautista, a Valley native, said. “These predecessors opened the door but we need to keep it open and we need to keep fighting and learning about who we are, where we’re going so that we can make even better choices moving forward … the only reason I’m here is that I got an education locally, went to graduate school … then came back so that I could give back to my community.”

The exhibit begins with an overview of early education in the Valley and how rare formal schooling was in the area, with many learning at home or at ranch schools. Several artifacts can be seen to give visitors a physical glimpse of the past.

Notable figures in education are highlighted, such as educator Emilia Schunior Ramirez from Edinburg and Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldua from Hargil.

The exhibit features historical events like the Edcouch-Elsa High School walkouts of 1968 and key landmark court cases such as Del Rio ISD v. Salvatierra in 1930 and Delgado V. Bastrop ISD in 1948 which helped shaped Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

One section takes a look at the segregation in education in the 1900s and examines how Edinburg CISD described its segregation practices in 1927 with a separate school for Mexican children.

Another section also looks into higher education in the region and how it has transformed throughout the years, and includes an interactive panel that takes a look back at old newspaper clippings about the legacy institution Pan American University.

A large part of the exhibit is detailing the life of former congressman Ruben Hinojosa, his upbringings and his contributions to Valley education. The section includes an interactive panel with Hinojosa responding to several different questions.

Donating his former desk and office materials to UTRGV, he reached out to MOST to see if the museum could do something with it.

That is when MOST Chief Executive Officer Francisco Guajardo saw it as an opportunity to share the story of education in the Valley while including Hinojosa’s contributions.

Bautista said the exhibit will be up for a year or two and hopes she can turn it into a traveling exhibit around the Valley.

Asked how important is it to know the history of education given the current times of the federal and state government looking to have more control over education, Bautista said it is extremely important and said she didn’t know her first curated exhibit would be so impactful in today’s times.

“The fact that we are a nonprofit museum, but we do not receive any sort of state or federal funding, we’re able to share this story without that fear so, I think it’s important to share this truth,” she said. “I think that little bit of extra passion and understanding pushed me to get this to the end product, to what you see here … when you can see yourself in it, it’s important. Hopefully the community can see that as well. Hopefully we push that and inspire somebody else.”

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