Inherit the Alamo: Myth and Ritual at an American Shrine

by Holly Beachley Brear

Long overshadowed by the towering buildings of downtown San Antonio, the modest little Alamo still evokes tremendous feeling among Texans and, indeed, many other Americans. For Anglo Texans, the Alamo is the "Cradle of Texas Liberty" and a symbolic confirmation of Manifest Destiny. For Hispanic Texans, however, the Alamo has increasingly become a stolen symbol, its origin as a Spanish mission forgotten, its famous defeat used to exclude Hispanics from an honorable place in Texas history. In this important new book, Holly Beachley Brear explores in fascinating detail what the Alamo means to the numerous groups that lay claim to its heritage. She shows how Alamo myths often diverge from the historical facts—and why. She decodes the agendas of various groups, including the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (who maintain the Alamo buildings and grounds), the Order of the Alamo, the Texas Cavaliers, and LULAC. And she probes attempts by individuals and groups to rewrite the Alamo myth to include more positive roles for themselves, as she explains the value in laying claim to the Alamo's past. With new perspectives on all the sacred icons of the Alamo and the Fiesta that celebrates (one version of) its history each year, Inherit the Alamo is guaranteed to challenge stereotypes and offer new understanding of the Alamo's ongoing role in shaping Texas and American history and mythology. It will be of interest to a wide popular and scholarly audience.

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a lot about the uses (pretty much by Anglos with some push-back from Hispanic folk) of the Alamo.

It also makes a great point, noting that the Texas Revolution was such a peculiarly undocumented era that presenters of that history are remarkably free to make-over the past in their own image.

The book does acknowledge - as I wish every other book on Texas did - that Stephen F. Austin's father led slavers to bring enslaved people into what became East Texas. I wish it also noted that S.F. Austin spent a decade trying to convince the president of Mexico to let those slavers ignore Mexico's anti-slavery laws and that Texas was formed by those revolting slavers, whose purpose was to keep people enslaved. That's why Texas remains the only country to have ever written slavery into its constitution.

And I really wish that I (a white man raised in Texas) had been taught this true history, rather than the Alamo-based propaganda that is pumped through the schools.