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Melanie Schwebke

I'm an Education Specialist at the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures. I manage all the k-12 teacher and student programs including teacher workshops, student exhibits and special programs.


The Institute of Texan Cultures gives voice to the experiences of people from across the globe who call Texas home, providing insight into our past, present, and future. A Smithsonian Affiliate, the ITC is located on the UTSA Hemisfair Campus in downtown San Antonio.  Resources for multiple audiences are available at TexanCultures.com

Melanie Schwebke's collections

 

Japanese Rice Farmers in Texas

<p>This collection includes resources about focusing on the story the Japanese rice farmers who immigrated to Texas in the early 1900's. Included are photos of the Japanese farmers in the rice fields and photos of families who owned the largest rice farms.<br /></p> <p>Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions , such as those about immigration policy and/or discrimination. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. Documents are included to guide students through analysis activities of the documents, photos and oral history. </p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. </em></p> <p>Keywords: Japanese immigration,rice farming, sharecropping </p> <p> #EthnicStudies</p> <p></p>
Melanie Schwebke
24
 

Chinese immigration experience to Texas featuring Jim Eng's story

<p>This collection includes resources about focusing on the story of Jim Eng (Ng San Wah) who immigrated to Texas when he was seven years old. Included are the various documents that he and his mom needed to immigrate and excerpts from his oral history are included. <br /></p> <p>Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussions , such as those about immigration policy and/or discrimination. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study. Documents are included to guide students through analysis activities of the documents, photos and oral history.<br /></p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. </em></p> <p>Keywords: chinese exclusion act, 1882, <br /></p> <p> #EthnicStudies</p> <p></p>
Melanie Schwebke
29
 

Emma Tenayuca: La Pasionaria

<p>Emma Tenayuca was just sixteen years old in 1932 when she joined a strike of women cigar makers. By 1937, when she was twenty-one Emma held a leadership role with the Workers Alliance of America, a group that sought to unite organizations of unemployed and industrial workers. <br /></p> <p>In January 1938, when pecan shellers in San Antonio walked out of their jobs, they looked to Emma for leadership. Their ranks swelled to between six and eight thousand strikers. Emma was arrested and released along with hundreds of others. Although she took a background role for the duration of the strike, she continued to write flyers and provide support behind the scenes. <br /></p> <p>Then a dispute over leadership arose between the Workers Alliance and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).  Emma’s communist affiliations were used to discredit her. <br /></p> <p>Emma was supposed to meet with Communist Party members in the municipal auditorium in 1939 when a riot broke out. A crowd stormed the building, smashing windows and attacking participants. Emma managed to escape, but she never again led a major labor protest. Employers blacklisted her. As a result, Emma was unable to find work in San Antonio.<br /></p> <p>She moved to California in 1946, where she earned a college degree and stayed for many years. Returning to San Antonio in the late 1960's, she was amazed to find herself hailed as "some sort of heroine." She earned a master's degree in education at Our Lady of the Lake University and taught in San Antonio public schools until retiring in 1982. She died of Alzheimer's disease in 1999. People still remember her as <em>La Pasionaria</em> for her fierce defense of the working poor.</p> <p>#ethnicstudies #NHD2020 #BecauseOfHerStory <br /></p> <p><em>This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.</em><br /></p> <p></p>
Melanie Schwebke
30