MACRI TALK – Derechos, Fueros, and Privilegios: Rights in Spanish Colonial Texas
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. In the year of this milestone, we are called to reflect: What does the United States semiquincentennial mean to Mexican Americans? How have Mexican Americans shaped this country, and what do we want to see for our communities in the future?
Join us for the first of a series of special MACRI Talks for America 250, the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. In this series, we will highlight the ways Mexican Americans have been essential threads to the national fabric. We begin the series with Dr. Frank de la Teja, inaugural state historian of Texas (2007-2009), and a renowned expert in Spanish colonial Texas, presenting Derechos, Fueros, and Privilegios: Rights in Spanish Colonial Texas. This talk will explore civil rights in Spanish Texas (1519-1821).
Saturday, January 10, 2026 | 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Central Library | 600 Soledad Street, San Antonio, Texas 78205
Light Refreshments will be provided.
This program is presented by MACRI and the San Antonio Public Library Latino Collection and Resource Center.
✨ This is an official Dreamweek event ✨
Dreamweek is an annual series of events across San Antonio that foster the free exchange of ideas on universal issues affecting the human race. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy of civil rights reform, the DreamWeek mission is to lay the foundations of tolerance, equality, and diversity to create a platform where people across cultures and communities can discuss and exchange ideas, fostering enlightenment for the greater human experience.
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About our guest
Jesús F. “Frank” de la Teja is Regents’ Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Texas State University in San Marcos. He obtained a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Texas at Austin, and between 1985 and 1991, he worked in the Archives and Records Division of the Texas General Land Office. He has published extensively on Spanish, Mexican, and Republic-era Texas, and has served on the board of directors, as president, and as executive director of the Texas State Historical Association. He was the inaugural State Historian of Texas (2007-2009), is a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association and the Texas Catholic Historical Society, and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Philosophical Society of Texas.
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MACRI’s programs are funded in part by the City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture, Bexar County, the Mellon Foundation, the John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation Fund of the San Antonio Area Foundation, Spurs Give, and individual donors like you! Gracias!
As always, views and ideas shared by presenters do not necessarily reflect those of the MACRI, its staff, board, or funders.
