DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Jovita González de Mireles — and friends, this is one worth slowing down for. She came from deep roots. Fifth-generation descendant of a land-grant family, born in Roma, Texas, right there near the Texas-Mexico border.
And from the very beginning, the land was telling her something. She was born and raised on her grandparents' rancho — Las Viboras — and the people who lived and worked that land told stories. Legends.
The kind that sink into you when you're young and never really let go. Those experiences, the marker tells us, influenced Jovita throughout her life. In 1910, the family moved to San Antonio.
Jovita was sharp, driven, the kind of student who doesn't wait around. By eighteen, she'd completed the high school equivalency. Then came a scholarship to Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio — and while she was studying, she was also out there teaching Spanish at a local school.
Doing both at once. She earned her bachelor's degree in 1927. But here's where the story picks up a head of steam.
In the summer of 1925, she was introduced to J. Frank Dobie — noted Texas historian and folklorist — and Dobie did what good mentors do when they recognize something real. He encouraged her to write about her heritage and her culture.
Write it down. Don't let it disappear. She listened.
In 1929, Jovita was awarded a Lapham Scholarship to conduct research along the border. That award carried her all the way to the University of Texas, where she completed her master's thesis. And what she produced wasn't just academic — it was authoritative.
Her authentic knowledge of South Texas, combined with her literary abilities, gave her a standing in Texas folklore studies that few could match. She gave lectures at Texas Folklore Society meetings. She wrote articles, novels, Spanish school curriculum books.
And she became the first — and only — Mexican American woman to serve as president of the Texas Folklore Society. First and only. Let that settle for a moment.
Now here is the part of the story that has a little ache in it. Jovita wrote two novels that went unpublished. They sat in archives at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, waiting.
Decades passed. Then — they were discovered. Dew on the Thorn saw publication in 1996.
Caballero followed in 1997. The work had outlasted the silence. All the while, Jovita was showing up.
Teaching Spanish and history in Corpus Christi until her retirement in 1966. Active in LULAC. Sponsoring academic and social clubs.
Co-creating the Pan American Club of Corpus Christi. She died in 1983 and is buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park. A woman who grew up on a rancho called Las Viboras, listening to the stories of her people — and who spent her whole life making sure those stories would not be lost.
Some of them waited longer than she did to be read. But they got there. They always get there.
What the marker says
Mexican American folklorist, writer, teacher, speaker, and cultural historian, Jovita Gonzales de Mireles, was born in Roma, Texas, near the Texas-Mexico Border as a fifth-generation descendant of a land-grant family, she was born and raised on her grandparents’ rancho, Las Viboras, where she heard stories and legends from the people who lived and worked there. Their experiences influenced her throughout her life. Jovita moved with her family to San Antonio in 1910 and she completed the high school equivalency by the age of 18. She earned a scholarship at our lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, while studying and teaching Spanish at a local school. Jovita earned her bachelor’s degree in 1927. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1925, she was introduced to J. Frank Dobie, noted Texas historian and folklorist, who encouraged her to write about her heritage and culture. In 1929, Jovita was awarded a Lapham Scholarship to conduct research along the border. This award allowed her to complete her master’s thesis at the University of Texas. Jovita’s literary abilities, combined with her authentic knowledge of south Texas, gave her an authority within the field of Texas folklore studies. She gave lectures at Texas Folklore Society (TFS) meetings and was the first and only Mexican American woman to serve as president of TFS. Jovita’s writings, articles, novels, and Spanish school curriculum books were celebrated. She also wrote two novels which went unpublished until they were discovered in the archives at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi: Dew on the Thorn (1996) and Caballero (1997). Jovita taught Spanish and history in Corpus Christi until her retirement in 1966. She was active in LULAC, sponsored many academic and social clubs, and co-created to Pan American Club of Corpus Christi. Jovita died in 1983 and is buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park. (2017)