Pick Your Own Path: The Circus is STILL Fun!

Posted by & filed under Featured, Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

This week’s story was prepared by Sara McNiel, another undergraduate student assistant in the Digital Newspaper Unit. Sara studies Journalism at the Mayborn School of Journalism here at UNT, and she is minoring in Psychology. Sara will graduate in December of this year.
 
You’ve already seen a lot, even though you’ve only been at the circus for a short while. Now, with the sun peeking out from the clouds, the day becomes warmer, giving you an extra boost of energy. Despite everything that’s happened already, you still feel the possibilities for fun are boundless, as you and your brothers are surrounded by interesting sights, talented performers, and a plethora of exotic animals. How would you like to continue your adventure at the circus?

  1. Tour the sights!
  2. Watch a show under the big top!
  3. Wander around to see what you can see!

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

Choice 1–Tour the sights!

 

While walking through the crowds, you notice from a distance that the circus has its very own train! You and your brothers run up to it to get a closer look, but by the time you got there the train had gotten into a wreck. Everyone worries about how they’re going to get the cars back on the track, when suddenly an elephant walks up. With a little help from an elephant trainer, the elephant used its strong trunk to save the day and lift the cars back on the track. You all marvel at how such big creatures can be so kind and helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 2–Watch a show under the big top!

 

You and your brothers sit among the crowd waiting for the show to start. Suddenly, the lights start to dim and a spotlight is pointed up at a person standing on a tall ladder, towering over the crowd below. She grabs a swinging bar in front of her, and leaps into the air. While flying across the stage she flips herself around grabbing onto another swinging bar. But as she attempts to continue flipping through the air, her fingers slip on the bar and she misses! You remember what you’d read about back in the spring and warn your brothers, “THIS is why we don’t try trapeze at home!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 3–Wander around to see what you can see!

While you walk through the busy circus grounds, you notice that there seems to be a close gathering of people ahead. Not sure if something bad has happened or if there’s a new exciting attraction, you and your brothers decide to check it out. As you get closer, you see that the people were gathering around to watch a fight break out between some circus men and citizens. During the rush of all of this chaos, the lioness managed to escape. You and your brothers watch as the lioness runs away freely. This lioness will be difficult to catch, but hopefully she won’t be able to make her way into town! You tightly hold your brothers’ arms, despite Mark’s whining and Jed’s fidgeting.

Pick Your Own Path: The Big Circus!

Posted by & filed under Featured, Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

Calaine Maulden, a student assistant in the Digital Newspaper Unit, continues the story from last week. Last week, our protagonists had to decide whether to talk their parents into allowing them to go, or whether they should just sneak away. This week, Cal lets us find out what happens at . . .the Big Circus!

AT LAST, you’ve made it to Barnum’s Circus, your brothers in tow. The circus is amazing, representing an overwhelming influx of sights and smells. There’s so much to see, from the animals to the carnies–even the audience is a fascinating sight.

Where will you go, now that you’re finally here?

  1. Visit the giant who used to be a slave.
  2. Go see the animals.
  3. Watch the crowd.

 

 

 

Choice 1 – Visit the giant who used to be a slave

As you and your brothers traverse the extra-ordinary, one thing stands out, or rather, stands over. A giant–a literal giant!–is towering above a crowd around him. He is lifting logs taller than most people over his head and spinning in circles. Your brothers rush off to join the crowd, and it takes all your effort to try and keep track of them.

This is going to be a difficult trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 2 – Go see the animals

Mark grabs Jed’s and your hands and yanks you both toward the animal cages. He bubbles with enthusiasm about seeing animals he’ll likely never see again. He decides to climb the cage. You and Jed try to stop him, but he’s on top of the cage in no time. You watch in horror and feel time slow around you as he sticks his hand into the cage. The lion notices, and suddenly Mark is short two fingers.

This will be hard to explain to Mama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 3 – Watch the crowd

You spend your time watching the crowd. The people are almost as colorful as the attractions. You people-watch as your brothers drag you around and chatter gleefully about the circus. Then you notice a shop with a dim light on inside. As you stare into the shop, you see someone with their face covered walking out the back with cash wadded in their hands. You’re fairly certain you’ve just witnessed a robbery, just like the one you’d read about from Mineola!

This is going to be a difficult situation.

 

 

 

 

 

Pick your Own Path: Convincing Mama that the Circus is a Good Idea

Posted by & filed under Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

This week’s author is Calaine Maulden, a student assistant in the Digital Newspaper Unit, who is also a creative writing major. Cal is preparing for graduation this year and had a lot of fun preparing this story. Where could these paths lead?

 

As you and your brothers wrap up a day of fieldwork, you debate how to go about seeing the circus.  You head back toward the house, with a stop at the garbage heap to snag any of the past month’s newspapers–well-read and somewhat tattered by now from being out in the elements.

You’re pretty sure you can talk Papa around no matter what. It’s Mama you really have to convince.

Mark wants to show Mama and Papa one of the circus ads. He thinks telling them about the variety of what you’ll see and learn will be enough to convince them. Jed thinks you should show your parents a description from someone who actually went there, to let them know what you’ll see so they won’t worry. The idea of just sneaking out has also been tossed into the conversation.

How do you convince Mama?

  1. Show her the ad Mark found.
  2. Let her read someone’s first-hand summary of what they saw.
  3. Don’t bother Mama or Papa with details! Instead, you sneak out with your brothers to see what you can see.

 

 

 

Choice 1 – Show your parents everything you’ll see

You side with Mark, and you all agree to show them an advertisement. Mark and Jed talk on and on about the performing oxen and the Lady Dressed in Glass and more curiosities than any of you can count. After a whole dinner of badgering from the boys, and a promise from you to keep them safe, Papa gives in first, and finally Mama relents. You can go to the circus all day tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 2 – Show her a first-hand description

You think Jed’s plan is the most likely to work. Between Mama and Papa, they’ll be worried but may be convinced by someone else. You show your parents the editorial about last night’s show. You point out it must be safe for the guests, especially with kids being a huge part of the audience. As you thought might happen, all three of you convince Papa first and, after a lot more talking, Papa helps convince Mama to let you go, on the condition you keep them safe. Tomorrow will be exciting, and even better, tomorrow will be something different!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choice 3 – Sneak out to see the animal den wreck

After going over it again and again, you all decide it’ll be impossible to convince Mama to let you go. She’s worried herself sick about Grandma Thomas, and you know she’d say she can’t risk losing you three. You decide to sneak out after dinner and see the animals in their cages. Before you leave you read in Papa’s paper that some of the animal dens were destroyed, so you all agree you must get a glimpse of their cages. Time for an exciting night out!

Pick Your Own Path through Texas Newspaper History

Posted by & filed under Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

Over the next few weeks, the Texas Digital Newspaper Program will present you with a time travel adventure that gives you different choices over time and space. Through this, you’ll begin by imagining yourself as a teenager from Brenham, Texas, in the autumn of 1880s. You can visit the different links we provide, but the one you choose will take you to a different option.

Your Adventure Begins

As you pull the heavy pine door closed, a page of newspaper blows under your feet.  It’s hard to read the text beneath the huge portrait of Mr. Barnum, his curly hair and dignified suit belying everything you’ve ever heard about his famous show.

“Everything advertised will lie exhibited, every hoof, horn and feather, every animal, every novel attraction, and the full programme as presented in New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, .St. Louis and all the large cities and towns of the East, will lie exhibited here, Museum Menagerie and Circus in their entirety and positively without curtailment.”

Mama’s been so busy caring for Grandmother Thomas, you know she can’t get out to see anything.  You’re to mind your brothers all week, and you wonder if she could spare some coins to get all three of you in, so long as you promise not to lose the boys. They’re old enough now, anyway, that if you talk to them, they’ll help you get your way.

To convince your brothers to help you, do you:

  1. Show them the ad you found.
  2. Tell them they might get to see a stuffed giraffe (because you know how much these boys like those kinds of gruesome things!)
  3. Besides a giraffe, mention the other mystical creatures they might get to see if they listen to you…

 

 

 

 

You Chose #1: Show Them the Ad You Found

Your brothers get really excited, for no other reason but to relieve the boredom of a windy autumn–the adults have mostly put them to work pulling seeds out of cotton. But they also know there’re plenty of opportunities for mischief, and they think all three of you can convince Mama of anything under the sun, especially while she’s too distracted by Grandmother Thomas’ illness, and Papa’s busy with getting the cotton harvested.

 

 

You Chose #2: Tell Them about the Stuffed Giraffe

You’ve always known your brothers are a lot more interested in decay and dead animals than in all the trained horses or aerial-diving ladies in the world. They also love the idea of getting out of helping Papa with the cotton-picking–the most tedious work they have to do every autumn. They immediately agree to help you talk Mama around.

 

 

 

 

You Chose #3: Tell Them about Other Mystical Creatures at Barnum’s Circus

Your Mama and Grandmother Thomas spent a lot of time reading Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales to you, and your whole family pays attention when they hear anything about his stories.  Grandpa Thomas had gotten to see a parade in New Orleans a couple of years ago, and he regaled you all with stories. There’s nothing your brothers wouldn’t do to see a little more into the fairy tales. Jed, the oldest at 12, points out that even if he doesn’t see a mermaid, it’s something different from picking seeds from cotton all day.

Historic Issues of EL REGIDOR Available in Chronicling America and the Texas Digital Newspaper Program

Posted by & filed under Featured, Grants, National Digital Newspaper Program, Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

Today begins a series of blog posts highlighting titles digitized in Chronicling America, the Library of Congress’s repository of historic American newspapers, by the UNT Libraries’ Digital Newspaper Unit from 2016-2018. The Digital Newspaper Unit has received National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to work with the Library of Congress in building access to historic Texas newspapers. The 2016-2018 award cycle focused on non-English newspaper content. El Regidor is also available on the Portal to Texas History as part of the Texas Digital Newspaper Program.

This essay was prepared by our own Sarah Lynn Fisher, Texas-NDNP project coordinator, and Brooke Edsall, Digital Newspaper Unit Imaging Lead.

El Regidor

In 1888 Pablo Cruz founded El Regidor (also available on the Portal), a weekly Spanish-language newspaper, with Cruz serving as both publisher and editor. El Regidor reported on issues concerning Tejano people in San Antonio, giving first-person, eyewitness accounts of Texas politics. In his editorials, Cruz detailed the Mexican immigrant’s struggle to obtain United States citizenship. Cruz, himself a naturalized Mexican immigrant, used El Regidor as a platform to publicize his social and political goals for the Mexican immigrant community (Orozco 2019).

In 1893 El Regidor measured 13 inches by 20 inches, typically published four-page issues, and aligned itself with the agrarian populist People’s Party (Barnes 2019). The Party’s support of small landowners and opposition to centralization of power resonated with Cruz and his immigrant readers. However, following the Party’s attempts to limit the voting rights of Mexican immigrants in Texas, which culminated in the pivotal 1897 civil rights case In Re Ricardo Rodríguez (Acosta 2019), Cruz abandoned the Populist movement. El Regidor remained independent until 1906, when it declared itself to be Republican. Its circulation grew from a modest 1,200 in 1896 to nearly 10,000 at the end of its run in 1915 (Kanellos & Martell 2000). The paper included national and international newswires, focusing on the politics of Mexico in particular. The last page of every issue from 1904 to 1915 is dominated by advertising for medicines and local merchants.

Cruz used his paper to voice discontent with those who questioned and violated civil rights of barrio residents by encouraging them to unite against behavior such as educational segregation of children of Mexican ancestry (Menchaca 2011). In 1901, Cruz started a campaign through El Regidor to raise funds for the defense of Gregorio Cortez, a Mexican man charged with the murder of Sheriff Morris of Karnes County. Cruz, convinced the murder of Sheriff Morris was justified, advocated for Cortez in the pages of El Regidor. The campaign was a success – funds were allocated to hire Judge B. R. Abernethy of Gonzalez and Samuel Belden of San Antonio to conduct the defense and Cortez was eventually pardoned in 1913 (Martinez 2003).

Cruz died in 1910. His wife, Zuelma P. de Cruz, edited and published the paper, suspending publication in 1915. After Cruz’s death, El Regidor’s masthead still credited “Fundador, Pablo Cruz.” (Orozco 2019). Col. Francisco A. Chapa, who published El Imparcial , took Cruz’s place as an activist in the community, particularly in the effort to defend Gregorio Cortez. Cruz’s son, Pablo Cruz, II, was a founding member of a Mexican American fraternal organization that eventually organized as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

For more information about the National Digital Newspaper Program, you can visit the NEH NDNP page.

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References

Acosta, T. P. (2019). IN RE RICARDO RODRIGUEZ. In Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pqitw

Barnes, D. A. (2019). PEOPLE’S PARTY. In Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved from http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wap01

Kanellos, N., and Martell, H. (2000). Hispanic Periodicals in the United States, Origins to 1960: A Brief History and Comprehensive Bibliography. Houston: Arte Publico Press.

Martinez, A. L. R. (2003). The Voice of the People: Pablo Cruz, El Regidor, and Mexican American Identity in San Antonio, Texas, 1888-1910. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/8830

Menchaca, M. (2011). Naturalizing Mexican immigrants: A Texas history. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Orozco, C. E. (2019). CRUZ, PABLO. In Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved from https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcr65

A Twentieth century history of southwest Texas. (1907). Vol. 1. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury01unse

For more information about the National Digital Newspaper Program, you can visit the NEH NDNP page.