KINGSVILLE (April 11, 2022) — History students from Texas A&M University-Kingsville will present their research on the history of the City of Bishop during a symposium from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Mi Familia Gallery at the John E. Conner Museum, 905 W. Santa Gertrudis Ave.
Students in the HIST 3301 Methods of Historical Research class, taught by Dr. Dean T. Ferguson, history professor in the history, political science and philosophy department, will present their findings in four panels throughout the day at the R.J. Kleberg and Phi Alpha Theta Symposium on the History of Bishop, Texas. Lunch will be provided.
The symposium will be divided into four panels Bishop and its History: The Land and its Changing Hands; German Settlement, Migrant Labor and Anti-Hispanic Discrimination; The Klan, the “Great Bank Robbery” and Bishop at War, 1918-1945; and Women’s Associations and School Reform.
SCHEDULE
Welcome and Introduction
Dr. Dean T. Ferguson
Panel A
Bishop and its History: The Land and its Changing Hands
9:15-10:30 a.m.
Matthew L. Medley from Harlingen: Bishop, Texas: The North Nueces Strip Farming Experiment;
Joseph Stornello from Katy: From a Spanish Land Grant to a Model Farm Town: Land
Ownership and its Significance in Bishop, Texas;
Commentary: Dr. Ferguson
Panel B
German Settlement, Migrant Labor, and Anti-Hispanic Discrimination
10:45 a.m.-noon
Jenna Baker from Orange Grove: The Bishop German Community: From Isolation to Assimilation, 1910-1930;
Robert Luera from Beeville: The Migrant Machine: The Lives of the Mexican Labor Force in Bishop Texas, 1920-1930;
Abel Hinojosa from Rancho Viejo: Anti-Hispanic Discrimination in Bishop, Texas (1910-1940);
Commentary: Dr. Shannon Baker, Associate Vice President for Student Success and history professor, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Lunch will be provided
Panel C
The Klan, the “Great Bank Robbery,” and Bishop at War, 1918-1945
1-2:15 p.m.
Matthew Almaraz from Kingsville: Not Brave Men but Cowards: The Ku Klux in Bishop, Texas, 1918-1926;
James Gates from Corpus Christi: The Great Bishop Bank Robbery of 1934;
Jacob Lee from Riviera: A Small Town at War: Bishop, Texas 1941-1945;
Commentary: Dr. Roger Tuller, history professor, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Panel D
Women’s Associations and School Reform
2:30-3:45 p.m.
Mariah Mercado from Kingsville: Canning, Mattresses, and National Defense: From Penny-Pinching to Consumerism in the Women’s Home Demonstration Club, Bishop, Texas 1930-1950;
Melissa Diaz from Alice: The Evolution of Racially Integrated Bishop Independent School District from 1911-1960;
Linda Dixon from Corpus Christi: A Time for Tea, Floral Arrangements, and Civic Activism: The Bishop Women’s History Club;
Commentary: Dr. Alberto Rodriguez, history associate professor, Texas A&M-Kingsville
Closing Remarks: Dr. Ferguson
