San Antonio Our Lady of the Lake University will be the home of the new National Institute of Mexican American History of Civil Rights, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The institute, which is partially funded with $250,000 from the City will be a place to bring together artifacts, photographs, reminiscences, and the history of the Mexican American fight for civil equality in the United States dating back to the 1890's.
"the injustices that were suffered, the battles that were fought, and the victories that we won are well known by those who lived though them,"Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. "But they are not well known to today's generation."
He says that's why the struggle for Mexican American civil rights, like any other major movement, needs a place for those important items to be remembered and studied by future scholars.
"Future generations must understand the sacrifices and the struggles that were required on their behalf," he said. "So for the first time, there will be one centralized place to house the stories and the histories of the men and women who organized.:
It is not surprising that this museum would be located in San Antonio, said Paul Ruiz, a professor at OLLU and the chair of the National Institute.
"No other American city was given its residents and the nation so many Mexican American social justice organizations, leaders and events. The National Institute will teach, educate, and showcase the significant struggles and contributions forged in our own Mexican American community to advance the civil rights and fair treatment of all people."