Natives and Newcomers: Ethnic Mexican Religious Convergences in 1920s San Antonio, Texas

Abstract

Abstract:Relations between Mexican émigrés and U.S.-born Mexican Americans have often been strained due to economic rivalry, differences in language usage and social mores, and the concern that immigrants would fuel Anglo-American stereotypes about people of Mexican heritage. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe at San Antonio's San Fernando Cathedral during the 1920s and early 1930s provides an apt case study for an analysis of group relations between ethnic Mexican natives and newcomers. During this period Guadalupan devotion at San Fernando increasingly reflected the conflictive sentiments of exile: hope and fear, patriotism and protest, trust in celestial protection and humble acquiescence to divine reprimand, longing for home and struggles over cultural expectations in a new land, such as women's roles as daughters, mothers, and homemakers. At the same time, in the face of Anglo-American hostility and prejudice, the transformation of San Fernando's annual Guadalupe celebrations into intense exile rituals expressed confident assurance that ethnic Mexican residents were a chosen people, invigorating their faith and ethnic pride. The San Fernando case reveals both the possibilities and pitfalls for traditional religious devotions in fostering group cohesion between established residents and newcomers.