Audio
Written by Teresa Palomo Acosta
Read by Teresa Palomo Acosta
María Elena Zamora O’Shea, a teacher and writer, vindicated the long Tejano presence in Texas with her 1935 historical novella, El Mesquite. To relate her story, she drew from family records and her own research. Her efforts succeeded in countering the Anglo-Texan Centennial celebration of Texas independence, which largely ignored the Tejano presence in the state. In El Mesquite, Zamora O’Shea wrote of multiple generations of Tejanos drawing sustenance from the land they had settled. Her book included details on cultural traditions, folklore, healing plants, and women’s work. To narrate her story, Zamora O’Shea turned to the mesquite, “a tree of fair beauty and grace,” under whose branches the panorama of Tejano history unfolded.
Always engaged with her community, Zamora O’Shea shared her views about her people’s experiences with LULAC leader J. T. Canales. In addition, she corresponded with historian Carlos Castañeda, whom she cautioned against overreliance on archival records and textbooks to relate Tejano history.
A descendant of a Spanish land grant family, Zamora O’Shea was born on July 21, 1880, at Rancho de la Noria Cardeneña in Hidalgo County. Educated at Southwest Texas Normal School, she taught for 23 years. After marrying Daniel O’Shea, she moved to Dallas, where she reared their two children, served as a translator for Sears-Roebuck, and was a member of the Dallas Woman’s Forum and the Latin American League.
María Elena Zamora O’Shea died in Dallas on March 23, 1951. Today, El Mesquite is considered a major contribution to Mexican American literature and Texas Letters.
Resources
Acosta, Teresa Palomo. Review. Border Renaissance: The Texas Centennial and the Emergence of Mexican American Literature. Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Vol. 114, No. 1, July 2010, pp. 107-108.
Garza-Falcón, Leticia. Introduction. El Mesquite: A Story of the Early Spanish Settlements Between the Nueces and the Rio Grande (As told by el Palo Alto). College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2000.
González, John Morán. Border Renaissance: The Texas Centennial and the Emergence of Mexican American Literature. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009.
Orozco, Cynthia E. "O'SHEA, MARIA ELENA ZAMORA," Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
O’Shea, María Elena Zamora. El Mesquite: A Story of the Early Spanish Settlements Between the Nueces and the Rio Grande (As told by el Palo Alto). College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2000.
Tijerina, Andrés. Introduction. El Mesquite: A Story of the Early Spanish Settlements Between the Nueces and the Rio Grande (As told by el Palo Alto). College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2000.
Audio Source Information
Our project, "Texas Women's History Moments," received the 2012 National Council on Public History Outstanding Public History Award and the American Association for State and Local History Leadership in History Award. The audio clips were broadcast on KUT radio from 2011-2016 during Women’s History Month.