The Herrera Sisters' Legacy: Pioneering Education and Advocacy in Austin's Schools

Women's HistoryMexican American History
Written By Preservation Austin

BY MARISEL SAUCEDO-TARIN, 2024 WOMEN’S HERITAGE INTERN

This article appeared in Preservation Austin's fall 2025 newsletter. Join or renew as a member to receive future issues straight to your door!

The Herrera sisters, Consuelo and Mary Grace, left an indelible mark on Austin’s educational landscape. As pioneering Mexican American educators, they contributed to bilingual education in the city and advocated tirelessly for their students. Their work not only transformed the learning experience for countless children; it also demonstrated the profound impact that dedicated educators can have on their communities.

During the first few decades of the twentieth century, Austin's Mexican American population experienced dramatic growth from around 500 to 5,000 people. [1] This was due in part to the violent actions of the Texas Rangers and white ranchers seeking to seize land from Tejanos in rural South Texas, combined with an influx of Mexican nationals seeking refuge during the Mexican Revolution of 1910. These new residents worked the land, farms, and ranches throughout Central Texas as vaqueros, crop tenders on white-owned farms, and railroad builders. 

Austin had few schools available to communities of color at that time, and these were often housed in substandard buildings that lacked essential resources and amenities. Options were even more limited for students of Mexican heritage, who initially enrolled in the local schools but soon were transferred to Spanish-speaking schools established in response to the growing Tejano community. These schools posed numerous challenges. They required students to travel long distances each day, and although educators felt this separation was best for the students—citing the “language handicap” furthering racial isolation—parents argued that their children would acquire English more quickly if they continued to attend the "regular ward" schools. [2] 

The Austin school district defended its practice of moving these students to the new Spanish-speaking schools because “[Mexican American children’s] inability to speak English makes them an impediment to the progress of the English-speaking children.” Historians note that so-called Mexican schools served as a way to erase children’s language and culture before they could study alongside Anglo classmates. In 1923, the Texas Department of Education told parents that Spanish and Mexican customs were unacceptable, requiring children to adopt English. Many Mexican American students were forced to repeat first grade for years until they mastered the language. Ultimately, parents boycotted these schools by keeping their children at home or seeking alternative means of education, such as private schools operated by local Catholic churches. [3]

It was in this context that Consuelo and Mary Grace were raised, educated, and embarked on their own education careers. Their parents Valentine Alcale Herrera and Josefa Duran Herrera moved to the United States from their homeland of Mexico in 1899. In 1910, like many Mexican immigrants at the time, Valentine worked on rented farmlands in Comal, Texas. The next year, the Herreras moved to Austin and into the National Folk-style, 800-square-foot home at 1805 East 3rd Street where they would raise their seven children and grandchildren over the next 75 years. Valentine opened a small Spanish school for the children of El Buen Pastor Presbyterian Church, while Josefa worked as a seamstress. In 1924 Josefa opened a bakery at 518 Chicon Street with her eldest daughter Flordina. Valentine joined the family business as its salesman in 1935—the same year that El Fenix Bakery was moved to their East 3rd Street property. 

Consuelo Herrera Méndez [4]

Mary Grace Herrera [4]

Valentine and Josefa’s younger daughters Consuelo (born in 1904) and Mary Grace (born in 1912) followed in their father’s footsteps to become trailblazing educators, despite the societal challenges of their time, and made history as the first two Mexican American teachers in the Austin Independent School District. 

Consuelo attended Palm Elementary, one of the few schools open to Mexican American children, before continuing to John T. Allen Junior High and ultimately graduating from Austin High in 1923—a remarkable achievement for a Mexican American woman of her era. After graduating, Consuelo passed the elementary certification exam to become a teacher. She applied to teach for Austin ISD, but the district rejected her application, claiming there were no vacancies. It was later revealed that her ethnicity was the true reason for the denial. [5] After teaching in Bay City and Taft, Consuelo returned to Austin—and her childhood home on East 3rd Street—in 1927. She was then hired by Austin ISD, thanks to the City Council of Parent Teacher Associations’ crucial role in persuading Superintendent A. N. McCallum, Sr. With that, Consuelo Herrera became the first Mexican American of Texan descent to teach in the district and in any major school system in Texas. Her first assignment was at the small, segregated Comal Street School, known locally as La Escuelita, where she provided primary education to Mexican American children. 

Palm Elementary School, February 7, 1940. PICA 15136. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.

Zavala School, October 19, 1939, Stewart Photo Company. Austin Independent School District Records, AR-2019-031, Box 6, Folder 12. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. 

In 1937, Consuelo secured a position at Zavala School, which had been recently constructed with funding from President Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration, Austin ISD, and Austin City Council. Named for Lorenzo de Zavala, a prominent Tejano figure from the birth of Texas, Zavala School was built to serve the growing Mexican American population and designated the official "Mexican School.” In line with the prevailing Jim Crow practices of the time, Zavala’s purpose was to separate Mexican American children attending Metz Elementary from white students. Students of Mexican descent were consolidated into Zavala School, now known as Zavala Elementary. The school was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. 

After the opening of Zavala School, Santa Rita Courts became one of the first public housing communities in the nation to receive funding from the 1937 Housing Act and the Public Works Administration. At the time, many communities of color in Austin were living in overcrowded shacks without running water and were in desperate need due to the effects of the Great Depression. Newly elected Congressman and future President Lyndon B. Johnson played a key role in securing federal funding for the project, advocating for the creation of the Austin Housing Authority to address the city’s affordable housing crisis. As a result, three public housing communities were built in Austin. The first was Santa Rita Courts, which provided homes for 40 Mexican American families. Rosewood Courts housed 60 Black families, and Chalmers Courts housed 86 white families. Santa Rita Courts—listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008—offered a single-story community with basic amenities and a central playground. Children who lived there could easily take the trolley to the nearby Zavala School.

In 1943, Consuelo married Patricio J. Méndez, a local attorney who, in 1951, was the first Latino to run for Austin City Council. Together, they served as presidents of the Zavala Parent Teacher Association. Consuelo tirelessly advocated for students and families in her community, including translating the state PTA newsletter and other educational resources into Spanish. In 1956, she earned her bachelor's degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin following years of summer school. She continued her work at Brooke Elementary, where she became involved in various community organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), advocating for students and families through the creation of scholarships. Consuelo volunteered additional time at polling places, participated in political campaigns, and was a dedicated member of the Texas State Teachers Association, along with other educational groups. She even assisted with the education of her nieces and nephews. She retired in 1972 after more than 45 years as a devoted and influential teacher. Consuelo Herrera Méndez passed away at the age of 81 in March 1985. 

In 1938 Consuelo’s sister, Mary Grace, became Austin ISD’s second Mexican American teacher. She began her career at Fulmore Junior High (now Lively Middle School) before moving to Palm Elementary, where she taught for 35 years. Throughout her tenure, she faced challenges typical of the time, such as being required to speak only English to her students, even when teaching Mexican American children who were just beginning to learn the language. This contradicted the original purpose of the "Mexican Schools” to help students become proficient in English; the restriction from assisting students in their native language made it difficult to achieve this intended goal. 

For years, segregated schools were prevalent in East Austin, even after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation unconstitutional. Austin ISD continued to segregate schools under state law until the federal government sued the school district in the 1970s for noncompliance (United States v. State of Texas). In 1971, the Nixon Administration, through the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, recommended “extensive busing” as part of a federal plan to desegregate Austin’s public schools. The plan required crosstown busing among Black, Mexican American, and white students to achieve racial balance. However, this came at a deep cost to Austin’s communities of color. Two long-standing Black schools—Kealing Middle School and L. C. Anderson High School—were forced to close, displacing students and dismantling strong neighborhood networks that had served as pillars of pride and leadership in East Austin. 

During this time, Mary Grace Herrera served as a witness in the 1973 federal desegregation trial, which addressed discrimination against both Black and Mexican American students. According to the Austin American-Statesman, federal attorneys pointed to inequities in minority schools, including lower test scores, higher dropout rates, less experienced teachers, and inadequate facilities. Mary Grace testified about her years teaching at Palm Elementary and noted the success of the newly implemented bilingual program under the 1968 Bilingual Education Act, saying it “works beautifully with children who speak both languages.” Earlier in her career, she explained, such programs did not exist—making it difficult to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking students. The courts ultimately determined that Austin ISD had deliberately segregated its Mexican American students. After several appeals, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its ruling that the district’s segregation was intentional and not merely a result of circumstance.

Although integration was a necessary step toward equality, Austin’s one-way busing system placed most of the burden on Black and Mexican American students, who were transported far from their neighborhoods while white students stayed close to home. Courts later ruled that this arrangement failed to meet the spirit of Brown v. Board of Education, leading to the creation of a two-way busing system in 1980—finally achieving full integration across Austin schools, nearly 26 years after the landmark decision.

One might ponder how Consuelo Herrera Méndez and Mary Grace Herrera would view the current state of education in Austin. As history often repeats itself, Austin has experienced an influx of immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries over the past 13 years. Many families, seeking better opportunities for their children, have come to Austin in search of a brighter future. But with the advent of school choice, a proliferation of charter schools, and an increasing class divide, there appears to be a trend toward re-segregation in today’s schools, driving inequities with a significant impact on bilingual communities. 

A 2020 report by UT’s Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis revealed that Travis County schools are among the most segregated in the entire state of Texas, with a strong correlation between students of color and low-income students attending the same schools, particularly at the elementary school level. [6] This is largely driven by gentrification and recent redevelopment that have displaced Black and Latino families from certain neighborhoods, with many newer residents transferring their children to other, often whiter, schools. As a result, neighborhood schools have been closed or are under-enrolled—and those left with a high proportion of low-income students tend to have fewer resources, higher teacher turnover, and less experienced staff—all contributing to a growing opportunity gap. 

Meanwhile, recent federal actions have renewed debate over multilingual education. A new executive order declares English the nation’s official language, with federal guidance emphasizing English instruction and assimilation over multilingual access. However, research consistently shows that bilingual education offers significant advantages over English-only instruction, particularly for English learners. Studies have found that students in bilingual programs perform better across core subjects, develop stronger skills in both languages, and contribute to better graduation rates. [7]

Graduates of Crockett ECHS. Photo courtesy of Crockett ECHS.

For perspective, I turned to my former colleagues at Educators at Crockett Early College High School, where the student demographics are majority Latino and 62 percent of students economically disadvantaged. Antonio Silva Salmeron, Department Chair for World Languages and the Dual Language Program Coordinator, noted that multilingual programs can help attract new students and resources to schools, yet they face significant funding cuts amid Austin ISD’s current budget crisis, not to mention challenges related to attracting and retaining the specialized educators that they require. Elena Maldonado, a dual language social studies teacher at Crockett, observed that there is a lack of professional development opportunities for those teaching bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) students, on top of factors like low pay and burnout that can deter talented educators from the field. Both Maldonado and Salmeron pointed to the need for greater incentives to retain valuable dual language teachers and improve stability and benefits for students—such as programs to eliminate teachers’ property taxes or sales tax for supplies they purchase. Salmeron argued that teachers should not bear the burden of these taxes as public servants. As Maldonado put it, “school is a community. If you educate our youth, you will create a better future. But we aren’t able to do that as well as we want to. It starts with our staff.”

Ongoing developments within Austin ISD serve as a stark reminder that many of the challenges our public schools face today mirror those that educators like the Herrera sisters experienced decades ago. As the district navigates new waves of enrollment shifts and funding pressures, conversations around access, equity, and community investment remain as relevant as ever. The Herrera sisters’ story offers a reminder that education is deeply tied to the health and resilience of Austin’s neighborhoods—and to the future generations of Austinites, both students and educators alike.

The Herrera House. Image courtesy of Map data © 2011 Google. 

The Herrera House. Image courtesy of Map data © 2024 Google. 

The legacy of Consuelo Herrera Méndez and Mary Grace Herrera lives on in Austin’s physical fabric. Mary Grace resided in the family home until her passing in 1992. Her close relative, Diana Herrera Castañeda, lived there from 1992 until her death in 2016. Castañeda was an influential figure in her own right as the first Latina elected to the Austin ISD School Board and a distinguished community activist in East Austin. With her passing, the echoes of the once-thriving family life that filled the home faded, and the century-old building fell into disrepair. In 2019, new owners purchased the property in foreclosure with plans to build a new home on the site. However, the East Austin Mexican American community rallied to preserve the house in recognition of the Herrera family’s influence. The Historic Landmark Commission recommended the property for rezoning due to its century-old National Folk-style architecture and its historical significance–not only to Mexican American culture but also to the Latino educators of Austin ISD. This move prevented the property from redevelopment and led to the home’s restoration. 

Decades earlier, in 1987, South Austin’s Méndez Middle School was named in honor of Consuelo Herrera Méndez, providing a further reminder of the sisters’ contributions. A history on the school website reflects: “The teaching experience this family has contributed to the Austin Independent School District totals 117 years… As a role model in her family and in her profession, Consuelo Herrera Méndez blazed a trail into education for other Hispanics to follow." 

Méndez Middle School. Source: Homes.com.

Marisel Saucedo-Tarin was Preservation Austin’s 2024 Women’s Heritage Intern. As a former student and high school social studies teacher of Austin ISD, Marisel remains a strong advocate for the betterment of education. Her research on the Herrera sisters is informed by a shared Tejano heritage and dedication to teaching and the Austin community. Funding for this internship was provided by the Historic Preservation Office in Austin Planning. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the City of Austin.

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