DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala — first vice-president of the Republic of Texas, born 1789, died 1836 — young Adina grew up breathing the air of revolution. Stories of Texas' Revolutionary and Republican past weren't just history to her.
They were family. And that kind of upbringing tends to produce one of two things: somebody who runs from the weight of it, or somebody who plants their feet and refuses to let the world forget. Adina de Zavala was very much the second kind.
She became a guiding force in the preservation of some of Texas' most revered historic structures and sites — the Alamo, Mission San Francisco de Los Tejas way out in East Texas, San Antonio's Spanish Governor's Palace. The woman had range. In 1889, Miss Adina formed a women's group that took the family name as a badge of purpose: the De Zavala Daughters.
They erected Texas' first historical markers. They helped preserve San Antonio's Spanish missions. They were doing the work before most people even knew the work needed doin'.
But here's where the story shifts into something else entirely. Miss Adina held a belief — firm, stubborn, unshakeable — that beneath the wooden exterior of buildings sitting right next to the Alamo church, there were remnants of Mission San Antonio de Valero. The long barracks, known as such in 1836.
Most folks weren't so sure. She was. And she was right — later verified.
By 1893, as president of the De Zavala chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, she had already moved strategically, securing a commitment from the adjacent property owner to give the chapter first purchase option on those buildings. She saw what was coming. Then came 1908.
Word reached her that the two-story long barracks were about to be razed. Torn down. Gone.
Now, some people write letters. Some people file complaints. Adina de Zavala walked into those buildings, barricaded herself inside, and stayed there for three days and nights.
Three days. Three nights. Alone.
Standing between a piece of Texas history and the people who were fixing to erase it. The destruction did not happen. The marker doesn't dress that up with a bow, and neither will I — what it says is that her effort ultimately prevented their destruction.
That's enough. Granddaughter of a republic's first vice-president, founder of a movement, and when it came down to the last line of defense, she was it — and she held.
What the marker says
As the granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala (1789-1836), first vice-president of the Republic of Texas, young Adina de Zavala was exposed to vivid accounts of Texas' Revolutionary and Republican past. She became a guiding force in the preservation of many of Texas' most revered historic structures and sites, including the Alamo, Mission San Francisco de Los Tejas in East Texas, and San Antonio's Spanish Governor's Palace. The "De Zavala Daughters," a women's group formed in Miss Adina in 1889, erected Texas' first historical markers and helped preserve San Antonio's Spanish missions. Her firm belief, later verified, was that remnants of Mission San Antonio de Valero, known in 1836 as the Alamo's long barracks, lay underneath the wooden exterior of buildings adjacent to the Alamo church. By 1893, as president of the De Zavala chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT), Miss Adina had secured the adjacent property owner's commitment to give the chapter first purchase option. In 1908, upon hearing that the 2-story long barracks were about to be razed, Miss Adina barricaded herself inside the buildings for three days and nights in an effort that ultimately prevented their destruction. (1994)