Nov 1526 – First enslaved Africans arrived in South Carolina, United States

Estevanico, also called Esteban, was originally from the North African coast of Morocco. He was enslaved by Andres Dorantes Carranza and sailed with him and 300 others across the Atlantic and along the west coast of Florida in Tampa Bay into Gulf of Mexico off the east coast of Texas. They eventually landed in Galveston in 1529. He traveled inland with 3 other Spaniards throughout Texas and Mexico and was known for his ability to serve as an interpreter of the Native Americans. The group spent many years navigating through the challenges of Native American contact. On a lone forward scouting mission gone bad, Estevanico was killed by one of the tribes. Estevanico is known as the first African to touch Texas soil.

San Antonio was named by Spanish explorers on an exhibition from Mexico when they visited the land in 1691. They named the land after St. Anthony of Padua, a Portuguese Franciscan friar, a patron of the poor.

May 5, 1718—The Spanish established San Antonio de Bexar Presidio, a military garrison, and Villa De Bejar (English for Town of Bexar).

May 1, 1718--Father Antonio Olivares, a Franciscan missionary, established Mission San Antonio de Valero, which would later be known as the Alamo on May 1st, 1718. The Alamo (Spanish for Cottonwood) was the first of 5 missions established in the area.

Villa Nueva, later known as La Villita, developed on the east bank of the San Antonio River as a settlement next to Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo).

1792 – Pioneering Africans came with the Spaniards who settled Southwest Texas. By 1792 Spanish Texas numbered forty Blacks and 415 pioneers of African and Spanish ancestry. Some of them were free men and women.

MR. SAM MCCULLOUGH (1810-1894)

Born in Abbeville, SC, McCullough moved to Jackson County Texas in 1835. After only 5 months in the state, he joined the Matagorda Volunteer Company as a private in the Texas Revolution. He fought in the Battle of Goliad and was severely wounded in his right soldier. He was the Revolution’s first casualty. The musketball that shattered the shoulder left him severely disabled. While initially barred citizenship in the state due to his ethnicity, he became eligible for land as a disabled veteran on Dec 18, 1837. He settled in Von Ormy, Texas where he lived as farmer and cattleman until his death on Apr 21, 1894.

1835 – By the eve of the Texas Revolution, 5,000 Africans or 14 percent of the Texas population was enslaved.

Feb 23-Mar 6, 1836 – The Battle of the Alamo was fought between Mexican General Antonio Lopez De Santa Ana and 200 American defenders. The 13-day battle ended with the Mexican forces overtaking the mission. But the battle served as the flashpoint to light the fire of more resistance and provided the battle cry for Texas independence later that year. Africans were present among those 200 defenders.

Texas became a state in the United States of America.

Hendrick Arnold was a scout and spy who participated in the Texas Revolution (TSHA online). He briefed Gen Travis at the Alamo and brought Sam Houston information that was significant to Santa Ana’s defeat at the Battle of San Jacinto. After the Revolution he was granted land in what is now Bandera, which was settled by his brother. A family cemetery exists in the area as well, known as the Tyron-Hendrick-Arnold Cemetery. He settled near Castroville and ran a gristmill until his passing in 1849.

Bexar County assessment rolls showed 600 slaves in Bexar county. Captain Charles F. Smith tells the San Antonio Express, “there were outside steps which led to the center of the building to the second floor. The steps ended in a platform. That platform was on of the old slave markets where negroes were put up for auction….” He was referring to the Alamo.

April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865 – Civil War is fought.

Jan 1, 1863 – President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring enslaved Africans free.

Jun 19, 1865—General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas by boat with news that the Civil War had ended and the slaves were now free. Unfortunately, this news got to Texas 2 and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation which was signed January 1, 1863. As there were not many Union soldiers in the state to back up this Executive Order, it had little impact in Texas until June 1865. General Granger and his regiment saw to it that there were no other barriers to freedom in Texas. This event is celebrated today in Texas as Juneteenth.

1867—Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau on Mar 3, 1965., The purpose of the Bureau was to ensure a smooth transition to freedom for the formerly enslaved. Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds, a West Point graduate, arrived in Austin, Texas in March 1867 and established a Freedman’s Bureau headquarters. General Reynolds removed the civil government of San Antonio and appointed a new Unionist City Council. He also established a local Freedmen’s Bureau and a school for Negroes.

The U. S. Congress passed the law to shut down the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1869. In its almost five years of existence, it had built the foundation for Negro education in Texas, as greater than 20,000 Blacks had received some form of education. To add why was it closed?

An African known as Joe was one of the black defenders of the Alamo (Blackpast.org). Enslaved to William Travis, Joe was one of many slaves and free blacks who fought for Texas independence. [1] . Joe survived the massacre and lived to recount the story. (Chicago Tribune). After the Alamo Joe was sold to John Rice Jones, however, he escaped to Alabama in 1838. There he told the rest of the Travis family what he experienced at the Alamo battle. Joe changed his name to Ben in the 1850s. He was called a hero and was last seen in San Antonio in 1877.[2] His brother was the first African American writer published in the United States, William Wells Brown.

DR. GREENE J. STARNES (1859 – 1925)

1884--Dr. Starnes was the first African American Surgeon in San Antonio, TX and a graduate of Meharry Medical School. He started his practice in 1884 and had an office on the south end of the Alamo plaza. He is said to have been the first President of the Lone Star Medical Club. He was a member of St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church in San Antonio for 29 years. He later moved to Los Angeles, California where he passed in 1925.

MR. SAMUEL J. SUTTON, SR. (1863-1950)

1896--Samuel J. Sutton, the son of a slave, was born in Virginia, in 1863. He operated a gold mine in Mexico before moving to San Antonio to become an educator. He met Lillian V. Smith, of New Orleans; his Guadalupe College classmate who was also an education major. The couple married three years later. They eventually, bought a house settled on the East Side of San Antonio in 1896, and started a family. Always an encourager of ambition and achievement, all twelve of the Sutton children who survived to adulthood went to college. In addition to teaching, the couple had multiple businesses including a skating rink, funeral home, mattress company, and farm. As important citizens in the community, they often hosted prominent figures like Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Thurgood Marshall. In fact, Carver became their son, Alexander’s godfather.

ELLA AUSTIN

1897--Ms. Ella Austin founded the Ella Austin Orphans Home at 1920 Burnet St in 1897. She took care of children and senior citizens at the home. It became a multi-purpose community center on Nov 1, 1968 and is still in existence with a focus of children and senior services.

1898—St. Phillips College Established at La Villita by Bishop James Steptoe Johnson.

Educator

MS. ARTEMISIA BOWDEN (1879-1969)

1902--Born in Albany, GA, 1879. The daughter of former enslaved people, she graduated from St. Augustine’s Normal School in Raleigh, NC and taught for 2 years at the High Point Normal and Industrial School in High Point, NC. She moved to San Antonio in 1902 to become the principal of St. Philip’s Day School, a day school for African American girls. She soon changed the name of the School to St. Phillips Industrial School for Girls. Under her leadership, the school reached Junior College status. Not without adversity, she consistently had to advocate for the school winning a long-fought battle for public funding in 1942. It would later become what we know today as St. Phillips College. She retired as the head of the school in 1954. (tshaonline.org). She was named a saint by the Episcopal Church in 2015.

MR. CHARLES BELLINGER (1875-1937)

1906--Born Apr 15, 1875, Charles Bellinger was a political leader and business owner who established his own saloon in San Antonio in 1906. Other businesses included a pool hall, café, cab company, a real estate and construction company, a theater, a barbershop, a lending service for Blacks among other ventures. He was instrumental in creating a voting bloc in 1918 that resulted in the election of John W. Tobin, who would serve as sheriff and mayor. His support efforts were leveraged for the benefit of the African American Community and resulted in paved, lighted streets, plumbing, a meeting hall, a branch library and improved facilities and schools in San Antonio’s Black community. He was a Methodist, a Mason, and a father of 12 children, including Valmo Bellinger. He passed away on Jun 14, 1937 and is buried in East View Cemetery.

MRS. MYRA HEMMINGS (1895-1968)

1913--Born in Gonzales, Texas in 1895. She graduated from Riverside High School in SA in 1908 and completed undergrad at Howard University in 1913, where she was founding member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In 1913, she began her career as an English teacher at Douglas High School. She later transferred to Phyllis Wheatley High School. She taught school for 51 years. In addition to teaching, she was also an actress who played in 3 films. She received many accolades for here oratorical gift and for her stand productions from Shakespeare to modern writers.

Jul 28, 1914--World War I began

Photo is of the 24th Infantry (Buffalo Soldiers) stationed at Camp Logan, Houston, Texas. They were a part of "The Houston Riot".

DR. CHARLES A. WHITTIER (1891 – 1969)

1917--Dr. C. A. Whittier established the Whittier Clinic at 928 East Crockett street San Antonio TX in 1919. He graduated from Meharry Medical School in 1917. He was a First Lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps during World War I. After discharge, he practiced for 6 months in Victoria, Texas before he opened his practice here. Dr. Whittier was active in many local, state and national organizations including serving as President of the Lone Star Medical Association and the National Medical Association. He was also a member of the Bexar County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and various other organizations. He also served as President of the San Antonio and Texas NAACP. He retired from medicine in 1965. The C. Austin Whittier Medical Society is named in his honor.

St. Philip's moved to its present location on then Nebraska Street now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Ms. Bowden is on the steps of the Bishop Johnston Building.

This is a photo of the US Army’s 369th Infantry Regiment, nearly 3,000 African American soldiers and known as the Harlem Hellfighters, returned from World War I and marched up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan before hundreds of thousands of cheering New Yorkers. This photo was taken February 17, 1919.

1931—Valmo Bellinger was born on Oct 12, 1889 to Charles and Celestine Bellinger. He attended St. Peter Claver Junior High, Thomas Academy, in Minnesota, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. In his adult life, he founded and published the San Antonio Register beginning in 1931. In 50 years of publishing the San Antonio Register, he never missed a publishing deadline. Like his father, he used his political influence to advocate for the African American community resulting in improved public schools and parks. The Register was one of the most successful African American newspapers in the Southwest. He also Supported the creation of Texas Southern University. He passed away Jan 15, 1994.

1936—La Villita established as an Arts Village.

You can read more about the establishing ordinance here.

Sep 1, 1939 – Sep 2, 1945--World War II was fought. This photo is of 6888th Central Postal Directory Batallion.

An army unit known as the “Six Triple Eight” had a specific mission in World War II: to sort and clear a two-year backlog of mail for Americans stationed in Europe. Between the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Red Cross and uniformed civilian specialists, that amounted to seven million people waiting for mail. And the responsibility to deliver all of it fell on the shoulders of 855 African-American women.

From February 1945 to March 1946, the women of the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion distributed mail in warehouses in England and France. Because of a shortage of resources and manpower, letters and packages had been accumulating in warehouses for months.

Part of the Women’s Army Corps, known as WACs, the 6888 had a motto, “No mail, low morale.” But these women did far more than distribute letters and packages. As the largest contingent of Black women to ever serve overseas, they dispelled stereotypes and represented a change in racial and gender roles in the military.

DR. RUTH ANN BELLINGER (1908 – 1984)

1946--A native San Antonian, Dr. Bellinger attended St. Peter Claver and graduated from the old Douglass High School. She was a graduate of Smith College and received her Medical degree from Howard University. On November 2, 1946 she was licensed to practice medicine. She went on to become one of the first African American physicians accepted into Bexar County Medical Society and worked in private practice as an OB/GYN and then worked for 12 years on the Kelly Air Force Base medical staff before retiring. She was the daughter of political leader and business owner, Charles Bellinger. She was also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

REV. CLAUDE BLACK (1916-2009)

1949--Rev Black was the Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church for 49 years, from 1949 - 1998 and San Antonio City Councilman from 1973-1978. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Rev Black conducted civil rights marches throughout Texas challenging unfair treatment of minorities in San Antonio. He was an associate of notable civil rights leaders including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and famed civil rights attorney, Thurgood Marshall. He also participated in the Civil Rights Conference at the White House in 1966. Like others of his era, he endured threats to his life and to those of his family, including a drive by shooting at his home and a church burning in 1974.

May 17, 1954 – U.S. Supreme Court declared state segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board Education case.

This is a photo of Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP attorney that argued the case to the Supreme Court.

April 4, 1968 – The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis TN

This photo is a copy of the front page of the San Antonio Express News April 5, 1968. Hemisfair opened April 6, 1968.

REV. RAYMOND A. CALLIES, JR. (1929 – 2011)

1968--The Son of Rev R. A. Callies, Sr., Rev Callies was the first Pastor of First Gethsemane Baptist Church, a lifetime NAACP member, veteran, husband, and father of 5 children. He was also a30-year Math, History and Industrial Arts Teacher. Rev Callies organized and lead San Antonio’s first M.L. King, Jr. March on Apr 6, 1968, just 2 days after the death of the leader. He began advocating for an MLK state holiday in 1972, that was eventually passed in 1991. He was a strong advocate for public works and safety improvements on the east side including street lights, flood drainage and easy access to schools.

MR. GARLINGTON JEROME (G. J.) SUTTON (1909-1976)

1972--Born Jun 22, 1909, G.J. Sutton was the first African American State Representative elected from San Antonio in 1972. He was the eighth child of Samuel and Lilian V. Sutton and one of 12 other sibling who all earned a college degree. He completed a Bachelor of Science from Wilberforce in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1932 and later a Mortuary Science degree from Cincinnati College. In 1938, Sutton returned to San Antonio where he and his brother Samuel took over the family business, Sutton and Sutton Funeral Home, the oldest Black-owned mortuary in San Antonio. In 1948, Sutton was elected to the Board of Trustees of the San Antonio Union Junior College District, where he advocated for resources for St. Phillips College. After his state election, he was a strong supporter of the University of Texas Institute of Texas Cultures, state college grants, and revitalization of the St. Paul Square neighborhood. A three-story learning center on the St. Phillips campus was named in his honor in 1980.