UTSA Special Collections opens Governing San Antonio: Four Centuries and Five Flags Exhibit

In honor of the Depository Library Council (DLC) Meeting being held in San Antonio on April 4-6, 2011, UTSA Libraries Special Collections is hosting an exhibit celebrating four centuries of government in San Antonio. The exhibit features rare books and archival manuscripts related to the establishment of federal, state, and local government in San Antonio, beginning with the creation of the military presdio San Antonio de Béjar in 1716 and going up through the civil rights era. On display are examples of materials related to each of the five historical governments that have flown flags over San Antonio: Spain, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and continues through October 1, 2011.

There is also an opportunity to attend a presentation titled, “Five Flags over San Antonio,” during the DLC meeting at on April 4th, 2011. The presentation will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Riverwalk Hotel. The DLC meeting is free and open to the public, though attendees are asked to register onsite.

Ruins of the Church of the Alamo, San Antonio de Bexar, by Edward Everett, 1847.

Speech delivered by Philip Schug, First Unitarian Church, San Antonio Texas, 1960. From the Albert Peña Papers.