DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's the thing, and here's how I tell it — the story of the Herrera family of east Austin, just as the official record lays it out. Now, if you want to talk about a family that put down roots and then spent the next hundred years making sure everyone around them could grow, pull up a chair. Because the Herreras didn't just move to east Austin — they built something there that outlasted every one of them.
It starts in 1911. Valentin and Josefa Herrera, originally from Mexico, arrived near the corner of 3rd and Chicon Streets with their seven children in tow. Valentin had been born in 1859.
Josefa in 1898. They were a family that believed in two things above almost everything else — bread and learning. And they didn't separate the two.
That house near 3rd and Chicon became the center of a bakery run by Josefa and a Spanish-language school taught by Valentin. One family, one address, feeding the neighborhood in more ways than one. Now, the next generation — that's where the story starts to widen out.
Two of Valentin and Josefa's daughters, Consuelo Herrera Méndez and Mary Grace Herrera, became some of the first Tejana women to teach in a major Texas school system. Let that settle for a second. Some of the first.
In a state as big and as old as Texas, that is not a small thing. Consuelo started in Austin Independent School District at Comal Street School — a segregated escuelita, right here at what is now the site of Comal Park — and she taught there from 1927 to 1935. Then Zavala Elementary from 1936 to 1956.
She went and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, and then she taught at Brooke Elementary School from 1956 all the way to 1972. Decades in classrooms. Decade after decade.
But Consuelo wasn't just a teacher inside four walls. She and her husband, Patricio J. Méndez, founded the Zavala Parent-Teacher Association.
They were active in local politics. And in 1961, Consuelo became president of Ladies League of United Latin American Citizens — LULAC Council No. 202 — and that same year she served as chair of the state LULAC convention. The same year.
She was not a woman who did things halfway. Two years after Consuelo's passing, AISD named a new school in her honor — Mendez Middle School. That's the kind of legacy that gets carved into a building.
Mary Grace, meanwhile, was carving her own. She taught first at Fulmore Junior High, then at Palm School — and not just for a few years. Over thirty-five years at Palm School.
She also became the second generation to live in the family home on 3rd and Chicon, the same house her parents had moved into back in 1911. And when a federal desegregation trial came in 1973, Mary Grace was there as a key witness, standing up for her students in a courthouse the way she'd stood up for them in a classroom. Then comes the third generation.
Diana Herrera Castañeda carried the family's legacy of education and advocacy right out of that same family home. She was elected to the AISD school board in 1992. She was active in LULAC.
She kept going until her death. Three generations. One house near 3rd and Chicon.
A bakery, a school, decades of classrooms, a PTA, a LULAC council, a school board seat, and a federal trial. The Herrera family of east Austin didn't just dedicate their lives to education — they made sure, generation after generation, that the children of that community had someone in their corner. Some families leave a house behind.
The Herreras left a whole neighborhood better than they found it.
What the marker says
Since their arrival in east Austin, generations of the Herrera family dedicated their lives to education. In 1911, Valentin (1859-1942) and Josefa (1898-1963) Herrera, originally from Mexico, and their seven children moved into a house near the corner of 3rd and Chicon Streets. The house became the center of both a bakery run by Josefa and a Spanish-language school taught by Valentin. Their daughters, Consuelo Herrera Méndez and Mary Grace Herrera, were some of the first Tejana women to teach in a major Texas school system. Consuelo began teaching in Austin Independent School District (AISD) at Comal Street School, a segregated escuelita from 1927-1935, located here at the current site of Comal Park, and Zavala Elementary from 1936-1956. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, Consuelo taught at Brooke Elementary School from 1956-1972. Mary Grace taught first at Fulmore Junior High, then at Palm School for over 35 years. Mary Grace also was the second generation to occupy the family home. Consuelo and her husband, Patricio J. Méndez, founded the Zavala Parent-Teacher Association and were active in local politics. In 1961, Consuelo became president of Ladies League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council No. 202 and served as chair of the state LULAC convention the same year. Mary Grace advocated on behalf of her students and was a key witness in a 1973 federal desegregation trial. Two years after Consuelo’s passing, AISD named the new Mendez Middle School in her honor. From the family home, third generation Diana Herrera Castañeda continued the Herrera’s legacy of education and advocacy until her death. She was elected to the AISD school board in 1992 and was active in LULAC. For three generations, the Herrera family tirelessly advocated on behalf of the students and residents of east Austin. (2022)