Department of History

St. Mary’s undergraduate students partnered with the School of Law to commemorate the centennial of Honorable Henry B. González’ birth by making a documentary film about his life and lifework (37 years representing Texas in the U.S. Congress). Contributors included Senator Harry Reed, House Leader Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Joaquin Castro, and former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Students discovered Congressman González’ FBI file, which documented death threats and attempts on his life, unknown even to his family. The year-long project culminated in a big celebration that reunited the family, staff, friends and constituents in their respect and affection for the late congressman.

St. Mary’s students helped a French village find the descendants of an American fighter pilot whose memory they had been honoring for more than 70 years. Lt. Joseph Rosar had come to liberate them from the Nazis, but had crashed and died on impact in their town, Orsan. They had saved a scrap of his parachute to return to his family.

Thanks to St. Mary’s students, the mayor and people of Orsan hosted his niece in a ceremony where they gave her the parachute and she gave them the American flag that had draped his coffin. The students, many of whom belong to military families, were moved and honored.

In 2016, 25 St. Mary’s students mobilized on a 1,000-mile journey from the Alamo to the Illinois State Military Museum in Springfield to repatriate the prosthetic leg of Mexican General Santa Anna to Mexico. The students efforts and their journey produced a front-page article on the Wall Street Journal in November 2016 bringing this project to national prominence.

While the quest to repatriate General Anna’s leg continues, we look forward to the evolution of this project and the involvement of our students. In fact, following the northern trek of our students, a Boston-based professional filmmaker published a documentary film about the quest and the project was selected as a finalist for Latino PBS funding.

Many St. Mary’s Public History students have had the opportunity to work with the ScoutSA program at the City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation (OHP). The first link shows digital projects created with our graduate students in partnership with the OHP’S Dr. Jenny Hay. The second link provides a reflection by graduate Alicia A. Guzman on her internship with the OHP.  

View students’ ScoutSA StoryMap Projects: Digital Histories of San Antonio

View ScoutSA internship example: Alicia A. Guzman

In Spring 2018, St. Mary’s students launched a major collaboration with the Bullock Texas State History Museum to contribute to its “Texas Story Project.”

The World War I Centennial Commission, appointed by former President Obama, granted permission for St. Mary’s students to emblazon their World War I micro-documentary films with the official WWICC logo.

The link to those films, housed in our YouTube channel, has been posted on the websites of the Texas WWICC and other WWI centennial organizations.