Tuesday afternoon, San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) historian Cristal Rose Mendez traveled to Helotes to spread the mission of teaching Black history far beyond her organization’s downtown locale.
An audience of two dozen Historical Society of Helotes members listened intently as Mendez detailed how Black life changed following the Civil War. Her 20-minute “Life After Emancipation in the San Antonio Region” presentation charted the postbellum migration of formerly enslaved, newly freed people moving from rural areas into the city, creating a more than 300% increase in the Black population of San Antonio over a 10-year period.
Mendez emphasized how present Black history remains in San Antonio, showing archival images of the St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church that once sat on what is now the San Pedro Creek Culture Park.
“Literally, the history is buried underneath” us, Mendez told the audience. The discovery of the building’s 1875 cornerstone changed plans for the culture park to accommodate a plaza commemorating the church.
A more somber piece of San Antonio history was touched upon when Mendez revealed that the former City Hall, once known as the “bat cave” because bats inhabited the rooftop, was once purposed to jail recaptured enslaved people and auction them to slaveholders.
Mendez also detailed the rise of educational opportunities for Black San Antonians, beginning with the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1867 and leading up to the creation of the St. Philip’s Day School by pioneering Black educator Artemisia Bowden. Before relocating to the East Side and becoming St. Philip’s College, the original school was in La Villita, SAAACAM’s current home.
Mendez described how segregation played a major role in where Black San Antonians lived and worked. According to a clip from the San Antonio Gazette, physician G.J. Starnes was denied membership in the West Texas Medical Association in 1887 because its members feared he would want to be seated among them during gatherings.
An 1897 map prepared by civic leader and civil rights activist Mario Salas demonstrated that Black residents lived and worked throughout the city at the time, rather than mainly on the East or West sides as is sometimes assumed.
The map led to a discussion among the group about the Jim Crow-era practice of redlining, which denied real estate ownership to people of color in certain areas of the city. A debate ensued as to whether the practice was officially sanctioned by city governments in collusion with real estate developers.
Despite eventually being outlawed, for decades many deeds still contained “racial covenants” stating that properties could not be sold to African American or Mexican American people seeking homeownership, Mendez said.
The issue resonated with historically-minded residents in Helotes in the audience, who shared similar information they had gleaned during their own research.
Historical Society of Helotes President Cynthia Massey said she lived on the West Side as a child and experienced the segregation of the 1950s.
“You can’t dwell on that,” she said. “However, you do need to know what happened. That’s why I love history — I want to know these things. This is important in knowing why we are where we are today.”
Mendez said her trip to Helotes was worthwhile, not only because “it’s beautiful to connect with people who are so interested in preserving history,” but because historical society members shared their own knowledge of Black history in the area, to add to SAAACAM’s archives and help fulfill its mission.
“That’s what I hope to come from these conversations,” Mendez said. To get people “thinking about, ‘What are those connections of Black history in my own neighborhood?”
