Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, Mexican American labor organizer, civil rights activist, and educator, oldest daughter of Sam Tenayuca and Benita Hernandez Zepeda, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 21, 1916. Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 pecan shellers' strike. Emma Tenayuca was a Texas labor organizer who was born on Dec. 21, 1921, in San Antonio. Emma Tenayuca was born into a large Commanche family whose residence in South Texas predated both Mexican independence and the Mexico-U.S. War. Progress At the age of 16,Emma Tenayuca suffered her first arrest protesting against the Finck Cigar Company of San Antonio in 1933. Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice, published by Wings Press. In a 1987 interview, Tenayuca recalled what she would typically see during her visits. When 12,000 pecan shellers marched out of the factories in 1938, she was unanimously elected strike leader. Her close relationship with a grandfather who read the newspapers with her and took her to rallies for the rights of the poor fed the young girl's profound hunger for both learning and social justice. 6 Replies to “Emma Tenayuca-“La Pasionaria”” She died on July 23, 1999, at 83, receiving many tributes from the city that once shunned her. Happy Birthday to a Tejana OG, Emma Tenayuca who was a labor leader, organizer and educator from San Antonio, Texas.. Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938. 2 of 2 Emma Tenayuca led the Pecan-Shellers Strike of 1938 against wage cuts. Here are a few clips in her own words from an interview excerpt conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres, hosted in the UTSA Libraries Special … SAN ANTONIO — Emma Tenayuca was born Dec. 21, 1916, to a large family in San Antonio. Categories Uncategorized Tags Emma Tenayuca, phstmu, Rinconcito de Esperanza, Women's History. : Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La Lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la Justicia is a children's picture book written by the team of Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca and illustrated by Terry Ybáñez. Tenayuca explained in an oral history interview,. Tenayuca was born in San Antonio in 1916 and as a child she accompanied her abuelito to La Plaza del Zacate to hear speakers talk about the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. 249 years later, Tenayuca graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1934. They unanimously elected Emma Tenayuca as their strike leader. NARRATIVE TEXTS 5± NARRATIVE TEXTS Leonor Villegas de Magnón, Author and Founder of La Cruz Blanca, 1876-1955 Born into wealth, Leonor Villegas de Magnón could have lived a life of aristocratic ease but chose instead to follow her conscience. Tenayuca was a central figure in the radical labor movement in Texas during the 1930s and a leading member of the Workers Alliance of America and Communist Party of Texas. It is a biographical picture book of Emma Tenayuca … 1987-1988. Born on December 21, 1916, in San Antonio, Texas, Tenayuca started her activism early. zKillboard has detected that it has been embedded in an iframe. Emma Tenayuca left a legacy of social change and an inspiring commitment to justice. Emma Tenayuca was a labor activist in Texas during the 1930’s, best known for her passionate speeches. Her ancestors had lived on the land that would come to be known as San Antonio since 1685. Tenayuca was a central figure in the radical labor movement in Texas during the 1930s and a leading member of the Workers Alliance of America and Communist Party of Texas. Although her story is rather sad in parts, Tenayuca … Tenayuca died in 1999, at 83. Emma Tenayuca, address to 2th Annual Conference, National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies, Austin, 984, reprinted in La Voz de Esperanza 2:7, September 999, p. 5. Emma Tenayuca: 8 ships destroyed and 9 ships lost. 3 Emma Tenayuca, interview with Jerry Poyo, February 2±, ±987, Oral History Program, Institute of Texan Cultures. This article first appeared in the American Postal Workers Magazine, Pecan Shellers’ Strike Sparked Hispanic Workers’ Movement (March 2012). Tenayuca said this during a late 1980s interview about the conditions in which shellers worked. I first learned about Emma Tenayuca when I was doing research for a project about women’s equality in my 20’s. The interview was conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres ca. Submitted by Steven. "And you could go to one corner of the plaza and listen to someone reading the Bible," Tenayuca said. Photo: ... a left- winger,” Tenayuca told Vargas in a 1990 interview for his book. ... Red and Black Notes interview AngryWorkers. Emma Tenayuca by: Aalahjania Jones Emma Tenayuca Bibliography Bibliography: There is no biography of Emma Tenayuca, but information about her Texas organizing can be found in Zaragosa Vargas, “Tejana Radical: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Labor Movement during the Great Though out of the limelight for many decades, Tenayuca “never lost her passion for social justice and empowerment,” notes her niece, Sharyll Teneyuca, a San Antonio attorney who with Tafolla has written a children’s book, That’s Not Fair! They would give them their money in small envelopes and you wouldn’t see more than- if a whole family made four dollars, that was a lot of money.” Emma Tenayuca was just sixteen years old in 1932 when she joined a strike of women cigar makers. Like Dolores Ibárruri Gómez before her, Tenayuca gave all of her passion, her heart and her soul, to … Her first arrest, which would become one of many, occurred when Emma Tenayuca was 16 years old. "By age 21, Emma was Via University of Texas Press. Read more:20 Quotes from Badass Women to Remind You How Awesome You Are. During the 32-minute interview, Tenayuca discusses her family’s history in Texas, the genesis of her early radicalism and participation in the Communist Party during the 1930s, and her role in organizing the 1938 pecan shellers’… Emma Tenayuca oral history interview: Description: An oral history interview with Mexican American civil rights activist Emma Tenayuca. Because of her work as an educator, speaker, and labor organizer, she became known as “La Pasionaria” (The Passionate One). Tejana Radical: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Labor Movement during the Great Depression 1987-1988. Is Part Of: José Angel Gutiérrez Papers, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries, MS 24, Box 31. "You could go to another place, and you would see one person with a newspaper reading the paper to other workers — the latest news from Mexico." Resources about Emma Tenayuca and related topics available through the Blume Library and beyond. Meet Equal Pay Pioneer Emma Tenayuca. Being the activist she was, this would just be one of the many hurdles she would face in the fight for the rights of laborers. Let’s honor her memory by continuing her fight for social equity. We're ok with this, however, your experience might not be that great. on Feb 2 2016 09:57 A short account of the life of Emma Tenayuca and the Texas pecan shellers' strike of largely Hispanic workers in which she played a leading role. What started out as a movement for organization for equal wages turned into a mass movement against starvation, for civil rights, for a minimum wage law, and it changed the character of West Side San Antonio. An oral history interview with Mexican American civil rights activist Emma Tenayuca. ... Workmates - organising with agency workers on London Underground. “You just had a flat bench with no backing. Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 pecan shellers' strike. Tenayuca, Emma Pecan Shellers sign up or sign in to add/edit tags Interview date: 2016-07-01: Interview source: CRBB Summer 2016: Interviewees: Martinez, Jaime Locations: San Antonio, TX Duration: 00:04:55: Citation In an oral-history interview given to the Texas Observer in 1983, when she was in her sixties, Tenayuca floated the suggestion that her unusual last name tied her father’s lineage far … She is remembered as a leader and stellar revolutionary organizer. Born in 1916 in San Antonio, Texas, Emma Tenayuca lived at a time when Mexican-Americans were allowed few freedoms and fewer privileges. Emma Tenayuca passed away on July 23, 1999, after developing Alzheimer’s Disease. She was arrested during a protest in 1933, at just 16 years old. The interview was conducted by journalist Luis R. Torres ca. Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, Mexican American labor organizer, civil rights activist, and educator, oldest daughter of Sam Tenayuca and Benita Hernandez Zepeda, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 21, 1916. I was shocked that I had not heard of hear before, and disappointed that they did not talk about her when I was in school. 2 Ibid., p. 8. Tenayuca explained in an oral history interview , What started out as a movement for organization for equal wages turned into a mass movement against starvation, for civil rights, for a minimum wage law, and it changed the character of West Side San Antonio. Emma Tenayuca was an organizer and activist who fought for civil and labor rights for Mexican and Mexican American workers in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1930s. Shortly after retirement Emma Tenayuca developed Alzheimer’s disease. 3 Emma Tenayuca, interview with Jerry Poyo, February 2 , 987, Oral History Program, Institute of Texan Cultures. NARRATIVE TEXTS NARRATIVE TEXTS This was during the Great Depression era and when Jim Crow laws were enforced with a heavy hand. UTSA Special Collections has digitized an oral history interview with the noted Mexican American civil rights leader Emma Tenayuca (1916-1999). That's Not Fair!/¡No Es Justo! Materials include books, electronic books, articles, databases, and web resources. Emma’s family as well as those around her were hit hard by the… Emma Tenayuca was a fierce defender of Mexican workers, especially women, and she spoke without hesitation about the terrible working conditions forced upon workers. 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