| |
Community and Preservation in the
Spanish Borderlands
by John Peterson, PhD ( University of Texas at El Paso)
Historic preservation and community involvement have become inseparable.
We've always known that preservation flows from the community, or
it doesn't work. How many worthy projects have died from lack of
a broad constituency, or worse, have failed years later from lack
of continuing community involvement and persevering identity with
historical roots?
In Socorro, Texas, the historical landmarks of over 300 years of
Spanish Colonial, Mexican and Hispanic residence are suffering from
neglect. It is occasioned by poverty of the worst kind, where gangs
and colonias are often the only refuge for identity and residence.
The monuments of the Ysleta and Socorro Mission and the San Elizario
presidio have succumbed to negligence as well as improper care.
Portland cement plaster over the adobe structures has weakened the
adobe mass by accumulating moisture; concrete aprons at the base
have eroded the foundation; and, heating and cooling systems on
the roofs of the structures have weakened the historic vigas, transported
lovingly from structure to new structure over the 300 year life
of the parishes. The buildings have come perilously close to collapse.
In 1998 Pat Taylor of Cornerstones, Inc., a community organization
and knowledgeable resource for restoring adobe structures in New
Mexico, passed by the mission one day and found one corner of the
nave collapsing from these problems. Through the creative and caring
involvement of Cornerstones, the commitment of the local parish,
the oversight of the El Paso Catholic Diocese and the Texas Historical
Commission, a new commitment to preservation has arisen like a phoenix
from the ashes of lassitude and inappropriate treatment.
Much credit goes to State Senator Eliot Shapleigh who, with staff
coordinator Socorro Ramos, recognized the need for coordinated community
involvement. They spearheaded an oversight committee that bridged
competitive and conflictive interests. In less than a year, the
committee raised over $500,000 toward the goal of saving the mission.
Paramount among the grants was a program to involve at-risk students
from the local Keys Academy of Socorro Independent School District.
The most important element in a community's effort to preserve cultural
values and traditions is its youth. Funded by the Governor's office
for Criminal Justice, the grant funded students to engage in restoration
efforts through an integrated curriculum of studies. University
of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) staff and students through the Community
Partnerships program in the Colleges of Business and Liberal Arts
worked with KEYS to provide coordination for the grant and also
the creative engagement of college students and faculty who were
responsible for the archeological monitoring of the project.
The success of the program can be measured by many criteria. The
mission is being slowly and painstakingly rehabilitated under the
knowledgeable guidance of Pat Taylor and Cornerstones. The parish
and the City of Socorro, along with other community players, are
cooperating towards this important goal.
But also there are the small often unnoted successes. UTEP student
Nobert Hill worked to coordinated the archeology and KEYS student
activities. The at-risk students worked on-site to produce adobe
blocks but also spent two weeks learning website construction at
UTEP with Harry Schulte of the Digital Media Center. During the
period Nobert worked one on one with kids who had no concept of
life outside the lower valley of El Paso. Nobert had studied at
UTEP years earlier, had played football with the last successful
UTEP team, and had then served in the Navy for several years before
returning to school to finish his degree. He was an African-American
student in an Hispanic island in the Southwest; he brought an unique
experience to the project.
After working for several days with KEYS kids, Nobert developed
rapport with one young man who, at the age of 16, had a rap sheet
longer than his academic credentials. He had felonies to his credit,
a fact that unnerved Nobert, worldly as he was. One day the student
asked him about serving in the Marines. " I want to enlist, maybe
I can better myself in the Marines." "Whoa," said Nobert, "those
felonies are going to hurt you. You've got to deal with that." "Oh
yeah," he replied, "well what about college?" Nobert encouraged
him to think about college, "you're smart, give it a try." "One
question-are there cholos (Mexican-American youth outlaw subculture)
there?" asked the student. Nobert replied, " Oh man, by college
they've all out grown that."
Worlds collide and come together in these community projects and
the youth of the valley learn of opportunities and futures unknown
to them before. The college students learn humility and a depth
of knowledge of the strictures of poverty and hopelessness. The
community is revived by creating living memories among those who
stay about the proper care of the adobe missions. And the historical
buildings thrive from the loving care of community that will persist
well into their future.
Socorro was founded on October 13, 1680 with
a Mass said by Franciscan, Fray Antonio Guerra, who along with other
Franciscans, Spaniards and Indians fled New Mexico from the Pueblo
Revolt of 1680. By 1691 Socorro's first permanent church was in
use. In 1692 Socorro received her official grant and name "Nuestra
Senora de la Limpia Concepcion de los Piros de Socorro." A second
church was built in 1744. The 1829 flood wrought havoc in the valley,
destroying mission churches, homes and crops. The villagers salvaged
the vigas (supporting rafters in Spanish architecture), church vessels
and religious art to be used in the rebuilding of Socorro's third
and current mission completed and dedicated by Fray Andres de Jesus
Camacho in 1843.
Back to Publications
|
