The South Texas town of Hebbronville is known as “The Vaquero Capital of Texas.”
It is located in Jim Hogg County 100 miles southwest of Corpus Christi and 50 miles southeast of Laredo.
Families in the Hebbronville area trace their roots back to the Spanish and Mexican land grants of the 19th century.
But Hebbronville has a much bigger legacy - education. At a time when educating the Tejano children was not important in Texas, this community founded in 1883, stepped up and dismissed the myth that Tejanos did not care about education.
Realizing the importance of education, Tejano ranch owners opened schools for their children and their vaqueros. (Children of Rancho El Colorado, owned by the Guerra family).
Educators were sought to teach children in English and Spanish. (Children for La Violeta Ranch).
The students of Rancho Nuevo owned by the Martinez family were an example of that commitment to education held by the Tejanos
In 1897 the community took that commitment a step further when Tejano business leaders founded El Colegio Altamirano. Sixteen students registered that year – 12 boys and four girls between the ages of 9 to 12 years old.
The school was opened to all children and not limited to children who lived in a rancho. Enrollment averaged about 100 students annually. Its students transferred successfully into the Jim Hogg County pubic school system which opened in the 1920s.
El Colegio Altamirano taught art, music, discipline, the social graces as well reading, writing and arithmetic. The first “profesor” was Don Rosendo Barrera. Señorita Emilia Dávila , shown here on the left with her class, is believed to be the first woman teacher.
The school had much rigor and final exams for each grade level were presented by students in front of their peers and the school board.
Using their own economic means, the Tejanos of Jim Hogg County instilled in their children the values and beliefs of their ancestors. Simultaneously, they provided their children with educational opportunities that would ensure their place in mainstream Anglo society and public schools.
The building still stands on E. Santa Clara Street across from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and Scotus College, once a seminary for Franciscan priests It serves as a HeadStart Program.
“El Colegio Altamirano” closed in 1958, but it stands as a model for educational opportunities for Tejanos and should erase the notion that Tejanos, Mexican Americans, did not care about their children’s education

свернуть