VOL. 1 A Brief Xicanx Cultural History [Brief] Xicanx History
East Austin
East Austin 08. 01 . 2018
This zine was a collective effort by the “Xicanx Cultural History In Austin� summer course put on by Brown State of Mind and facilitated by Andie Flores, Karma Chavez, and Ivan Alonso at the historic Resistencia Bookstore.
VOL. 1
A [Brief] Xicanx History of
Harkins Grocery 1920 Comal Food Store 2016, 2018
Rabbit’s Lounge A very brief history...
Rabbit's Lounge opened its doors in 1969 just as the Chicano civil rights movement was gaining momentum in Austin, TX. Rosalio Duran, aka Rabbit, purchased the building for $14,000 after he outgrew a space formerly known as Cisco's Bakery. Rabbit's became a place where early Chicano politicians could run their campaigns upstairs while our tios and tias partied downstairs.
The lounge closed its doors in 2011 and is now home to a craft cocktail bar where the menu doesn't list its prices, a far cry from the $2 ice cold Lone Stars Rabbit used to sell his patrons. Rosalio's legacy is memorialized by the Rabbit's sign still painted on the side of 1816 E 6th Street building and 5 Star rating on Yelp.
“If you're in the mood for Tejano, and who doesn't get the mood once in a while? Head on down to Club El Calentano.� - 2010 review
“At Club Calentano, a sports bar on East Cesar Chavez, the faithful gathered in front of their shrine, a mammoth big screen TV showing their beloved Team Mexico facing host South Africa. Ceiling fans strained against the early morning humidity as construction workers and painters, playing hooky for the morning, ate bowls of menudo and drank micheladas...� - Austin American Statesman, 2010
Credits: Austin History Center; Austin American Statesman, 2010
2018
DAYS BEFORE DEMOLITION
“Domingo Lamas Leal is the oldest of 13 children, Domingo through sweat and hard work was the first to open Leal’s Tire Shop back in 1975 in the east side of Dallas on the 500 Block of Carrol Avenue. Teaching his brothers everything he knew about the business and later helped them open their own business around the Dallas area. Those who knew him well, will deeply miss him. Not only his family members but all his friends and loyal dedicated customers he made throughout the years.” LEALS TIRES
"I was sending $200,000 every week to Mexico from my stores," reveals Jorge Espinosa, who owned five Acapulco Video & Record Shops from the mid-Eighties until the mid-Aughts when he closed them amidst the post-9/11 economic downturn.
Acapulco Video & Record Shops
“...Austin's increasingly expensive real estate has contributed to a decline in Latin music retailers. That means Espinosa can be found every Saturday and Sunday at the Austin Country Flea Market on Highway 290, one of the most distinctly Latino gatherings in town, featuring almost exclusively Mexican vendors plus live cumbia, Norteño, and Tejano music under the pavilion. His booth is an immaculate collection of CDs and cassettes including widely recognizable acts like Flaco Jiménez, Freddy Fender, Selena, and veteran local crooner Ruben Ramos – plus a treasure trove of regional artists.”
1912 E. 7th St. 2009 E. 7th St. 1739 W. Anderson Lane
Credits: ATX Barrio Archive; Kevin Curtin - The Austin Chronicle (Aug. 2017); Jaime Elizalde
Flo CONGRESS AVE
ood 1938 Douglass, Neal July 26, 1938
Butcher 2 BAKERY 1511 E. 6th street was constructed for the J. B. Pierce & Bro. butcher and meat market in 1914. James B. Pierce sold the business in the 1930s though he continued to live next door in a large, one-story frame home with a gracious columned porch (demolished). The Austin Packing Company was located here for a time, after which the building changed hands until purchased by Rudy Cisneros for his
N O W (ish)
legendary diner, Cisco’s Restaurant & Bakery.
RUDY CISNEROS
THEN
entonces
ahora Drinks Lounge
Arnold Hernandez & Sons Sport Bar, at 1200 East 6th Street, ca. June 4, 1975.
100
YEAR OLD BUILDING STILL STANDS UNOCCUPIED
707 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701
1971-1979 Juárez-Lincoln University emphasized a bilingual and bicultural environment. Students were encouraged to invest their skills in the local community. It started in Ft.Worth Texas in ‘71 but moved to Austin in ‘72 It was one of many alternative education schools that came out of MAYO, the Mexican American Youth Organization conference held in Mission, Tx in 1969.
Raul Valdez, an art student at UT, painted the mural “Los Elementos” on the side of the building in 1977. He received a failing grade for the mural but it was loved by the community. After the University closed, the building was used by local groups, including the League of United Chicano Artists and Mujeres Artistas del Suroeste.
1980-Today In 1980 real estate developers announced they would be demolishing the building to make an office building. Neighborhood groups took the battle to court but after losing the lawsuit the building was demolished in 1983. Cruelly, the wrecking ball was placed to hit the head of the woman in the mural
Crowds of people watched in horror and protested the destroyal of the mural. Today, in 2018, where Juรกrez-Lincoln University once stood, there is an iHop. We should tear that down.
Credits: ATX Barrio Archive; ‘When We Were Young and There Were Rats on the Wall’ - Mike Hooker
“In December 1977, a former Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant manager named Roy Gomez bought a club at 2610 Guadalupe Street, across from the University of Texas campus. Joseph Gonzales managed the club, and Bobby Morales served as the bouncer… When Gomez took over, he rechristened the club “Raul’s” and planned to showcase Chicano music. However, he allowed one of the bands that had regularly played at Gemini’s, a group known as Project Terror, to continue performing. This largely undocumented group inadvertently helped pave the way for Raul’s to become the premier punk rock venue in Austin.” “By the end of the night, six people—including Morales—were taken into custody on charges including inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, and interfering with a lawful arrest. ”
1978: The Huns play Raul’s
Many punk bands rolled through Raul’s. Perhaps the two best documented were The Violators and The Skunks.
El Galindo
1940-200X? Austin’s Original Tortillaería
Original location at 1111 E 6th (now Violet Crown Social Club)
EL GALINDO INC. Originally El Fenix Tortilla Co., slowly and vaguely died after the passing of it’s found in 1986 and a mysterious fire only seven months later. A web search for El Galindo bears few results except for references to its biggest competitor, El Milagro. It’s believed to have officially closed around 2007 and cancelled it’s trademark in 2010. It’s unclear if they rebuilt in the same location or not
Photo of the fire on 6th & Comal - Austin American Statesman
Current building now in its place “The Arnold�, a luxury apartment complex
1986
1986 Earlier that year Jan 15, 1986. - Austin American Statesman AUSTIN, Texas -- Tomas Galindo, founder of the city's largest tortilla factory and a man who relatives say once fed Pancho Villa's troops in Mexico nearly 70 years ago, died Tuesday. He was 96 Galindo was born in Cadereyta JimĂŠnez , Nuevo Leon, Mexico, the grandson of Norwegian immigrants who settled in the southern Mexican city in the early 1800s. His ancestors later adopted the name Galindo. Galindo originally worked as a bricklayer near his home. But he later opened a tortilla and bread-making factory, and in 1917, fed Pancho Villa's troops when the Mexican revolutionary passed nearby. He moved to Austin in 1911 and opened the El Fenix Tortilla Co. in 1940. The company was later renamed El Galindo Tortilla Inc. Galindo is survived by three sons and three daughters.
1111 E Today. Violet Social
6th Now Crown Club
1995
1995 Last recorded record of their address. Same location as the factory that burned to the ground. No images of their packaging can be found On popular search engines, despite Having, at one time, a reportedly high distribution rate among local grocery chains and restaurants.
Texas Monthly 1974
T R A N E A S T
A U S T I N
Roy Velasquez chose Nash Moreno's
business by catering to riders who
service station at 1005 E. 6th Street to
needed to travel beyond the streetcar
serve as the headquarters for his newly
lines. In this photo Nash Moreno (fifth
created taxi service because of its loca-
from the right) poses with the fleet
tion. The streetcar tracks ended at 6th
of Roy's Taxis in front of his auto
and Chicon and Velasquez built his
repair service.
1936 M R.
M O R E N O
Fun Fact: 1005 E. 6th St. is now Corazon Apartments
S I T Two men dig up the streetcar rails on E. 1st st. (E. Cesar Chavez) 1940.
ROY
VELASQUEZ
When the construction work
Mayor Tom Miller, Lyndon Johnson,
dried up during the Great
and Harry Truman. He began his
Depression, Roy Velasquez
work in politics by selling the poll tax
borrowed $5 from a friend for a
to Mexican-Americans so they could
taxi license and started Roy's
vote and, in 1935, founded the Austin
Taxi. Using a phone at a filling
Chapter of LULAC (League of United
station at Sixth and Chicon, he
Latin-American Citizens).
solicited the business of African-Americans who, in 1931, could not take taxis. But his legacy is more than his business. He was known for his influence in the Democratic Party, and offered counsel on issues involving minorities to
FRIAS GROCERY, 1980, 2017
911 E. 6th St. 2018.
|
El Rio 1970.
GUAJARDO 2013 LANDMARK PROPOSAL The house, which is located at 805
Their daughter, Guadalupe, married
Lydia Street, was built by Eloy and
the meat manager of the store, Sonny
Soledad Guajardo in the 1940s. Born in
Falcon. According to the staff report,
Mexico, the couple ran Guajardo’s Cash
Falcon “later became known as the
Grocerynext door, which was one of the
Fajita King, popularizing fajita meats
few grocery stores that catered to the
through Central Texas and beyond.”
Mexican American community in Austin.
— Austin Monitor. 11.04.2013
805 LYDIA ST
GUAJARDO GROCERY & MARKET 1970 SITE of GUAJARDO RESIDENCE. 2018
ENRIQUE MARTINEZ MD, 2017
HILLSIDE
TRADITIONS
June 20, 1968
1112 E 1st St.
DIS COS MEX ICA NOS
FIESTA GARDENS
Inocentes Cafe, ?
Counter Culture Cafe, 2018
Douglass, Neal. June 20, 1962
Douglass, Neal. February 5, 1940
para llevar
Images courtesy of Joesbakery.com
SKR R R R
R R
CONTRIBUTORS
CONTRIBUTORS
Victoria O’Dell
Andie Flores
Johnny Estrella
Karma Chavez ĂĄvez
Jon JohnBolden Bouldin
Ivan Alonso
A special thanks to the Austin History Center, Resistencia Bookstore, Guest Speakers, Martha Cotera and Cary Cordova, Lilia Rosas, and all participants of our class.
Brown State of Mind is an organization dedicated to the advancement of creatives of color and their ideas by providing opportunities and linking artists with resources. Our vision is just beginning.