MACRI TALK – General Ignacio Zaragoza: His Birthplace, Life, and El Cinco de Mayo
Save the date for a special Cinco de Mayo MACRI Talk!
General Ignacio Zaragoza was born in 1829 in present-day La Bahía, Goliad County, Texas, to a family with ties to San Antonio. Throughout his career, he rose as a high-ranking official in President Benito Juárez’s government, and as a commander of the Mexican forces that defeated an invading French army at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, also known as El Cinco de Mayo.
How did Ignacio Zaragoza become a significant figure on both sides of the border? How did El Cinco de Mayo become a transnational holiday? Historian Thomas Kreneck will discuss this and more during our Cinco de Mayo MACRI Talk, “General Ignacio Zaragoza: His Birthplace, Life, and El Cinco de Mayo.” Join us!
🗓️Tuesday, May 5, 2026
⏰6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
📍Bazan Library | 2200 W Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78207
🍇Light refreshments will be provided.
This program is presented by MACRI, the San Antonio Public Library, and the Latino Collection and Resource Center at Central Library. ✨
🌟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.
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About our guest
Dr. Thomas H. Kreneck served as head of Special Collections & Archives at A&M-Corpus Christi for 22 years before he retired in 2012. While there, he recovered the lost manuscripts of Jovita Gonzalez, the publication of which greatly contributed to Mexican American literature. Before moving to Corpus Christi, Dr. Kreneck was assistant head of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center of the Houston Public Library, where he founded HMRC’s Mexican American Archival Component.
He has also taught United States history in various colleges and universities. When he left A&M-Corpus Christi, he was the Joe B. Frantz Lecturer in Public History. Among his honors, he received the Premio Estrella de Aztlan from the Tejas Foco of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS), a lifetime achievement award for fostering the well-being of the Mexican American community.
Dr. Kreneck is the author of books and articles and has made many presentations on history and archives. He is most noted for having written Mexican American Odyssey: Felix Tijerina, Entrepreneur and Civic Leader, 1905-1965, the biography of the person whose national presidency transformed LULAC into a national organization. Active in history circles from his home near San Antonio, Dr. Kreneck most recently published General Ignacio Zaragoza: His Birthplace, Life, and Legacy for the Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site.
