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Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History
Winner, Texas Reference Source Award, Reference Round Table, Texas Library Association, 2003
T.R. Fehrenbach Award, Texas Historical Commission, 2004 Since the early 1700s, women of Spanish/Mexican origin or descent have played a central, if often unacknowledged, role in Texas history. Tejanas have been community builders, political and religious leaders, founders of organizations, committed trade unionists, innovative educators, astute businesswomen, experienced professionals, and highly original artists. Giving their achievements the recognition they have long deserved, this groundbreaking book is at once a general history and a celebration of Tejanas' contributions to Texas over three centuries. The authors have gathered and distilled a wide range of information to create this important resource. They offer one of the first detailed accounts of Tejanas' lives in the colonial period and from the Republic of Texas up to 1900. Drawing on the fuller documentation that exists for the twentieth century, they also examine many aspects of the modern Tejana experience, including Tejanas' contributions to education, business and the professions, faith and community, politics, and the arts. A large selection of photographs, a historical timeline, and profiles of fifty notable Tejanas complete the volume and assure its usefulness for a broad general audience, as well as for educators and historians.
T.R. Fehrenbach Award, Texas Historical Commission, 2004 Since the early 1700s, women of Spanish/Mexican origin or descent have played a central, if often unacknowledged, role in Texas history. Tejanas have been community builders, political and religious leaders, founders of organizations, committed trade unionists, innovative educators, astute businesswomen, experienced professionals, and highly original artists. Giving their achievements the recognition they have long deserved, this groundbreaking book is at once a general history and a celebration of Tejanas' contributions to Texas over three centuries. The authors have gathered and distilled a wide range of information to create this important resource. They offer one of the first detailed accounts of Tejanas' lives in the colonial period and from the Republic of Texas up to 1900. Drawing on the fuller documentation that exists for the twentieth century, they also examine many aspects of the modern Tejana experience, including Tejanas' contributions to education, business and the professions, faith and community, politics, and the arts. A large selection of photographs, a historical timeline, and profiles of fifty notable Tejanas complete the volume and assure its usefulness for a broad general audience, as well as for educators and historians.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
456 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Teresa Palomo Acosta
8 books7 followersTeresa Palomo Acosta was born in McGregor, Texas, on March 9, 1949. Her parents, Sabina Palomo Acosta and Andres Alderete Acosta, both came from families of Mexican migrant workers who settled in Central Texas in the 1930s. Acosta is the youngest of four children with two older brothers, Andres and Jesus ("Jesse"), and one older sister, Olivia. In 1974, Acosta graduated from The University of Texas with a bachelor's degree in ethnic studies. In 1977, she received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Acosta has had a lengthy career as a writer of poetry and fiction. Her first published work, a poem entitled "My Mother Pieced Quilts," appeared in the 1976 anthology Festival de Flor y Canto: An Anthology of Chicano Literature printed by the University of Southern California Press. This poem is among Acosta's most notable works and has been anthologized and republished in secondary school textbooks, bringing her national recognition. Her work takes inspiration from her personal experience as a Mexican American woman from Texas. Throughout her work, as in "My Mother Pieced Quilts," Acosta elevates the domestic Mexican American woman, highlighting a group that has generally been underrepresented in literature and poetry.
Acosta also addresses her cultural heritage and identity through her work as a historian. In this capacity, she coauthored the 2003 book Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History with Ruthe Winegarten, an American author, activist, and historian from Dallas, Texas. Las Tejanas focuses on the previously uncelebrated contributions of Mexican American women to Texas history and was the winner of the T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award in 2004.
via TARO
Acosta has had a lengthy career as a writer of poetry and fiction. Her first published work, a poem entitled "My Mother Pieced Quilts," appeared in the 1976 anthology Festival de Flor y Canto: An Anthology of Chicano Literature printed by the University of Southern California Press. This poem is among Acosta's most notable works and has been anthologized and republished in secondary school textbooks, bringing her national recognition. Her work takes inspiration from her personal experience as a Mexican American woman from Texas. Throughout her work, as in "My Mother Pieced Quilts," Acosta elevates the domestic Mexican American woman, highlighting a group that has generally been underrepresented in literature and poetry.
Acosta also addresses her cultural heritage and identity through her work as a historian. In this capacity, she coauthored the 2003 book Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History with Ruthe Winegarten, an American author, activist, and historian from Dallas, Texas. Las Tejanas focuses on the previously uncelebrated contributions of Mexican American women to Texas history and was the winner of the T.R. Fehrenbach Book Award in 2004.
via TARO
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 23, 2019
This is a solid reference concerning the various and multifaceted contributions of Tejanas in Texas.
September 3, 2025
Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History is a significant and long-overdue exploration of Tejana history, shaped by two influential historians. Ruthe Winegarten’s deep roots in Texas women’s history make this a rich, comprehensive book. A must-read for all Texas women and anyone interested in US Western Women's history. A great supplement book that parents should consider for their children in junior high or high school, taking Texas History.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews