| Russell Guerrero | 210-999-8406 | rguerrer@trinity.edu |
| Before Selena There was Lydia: Women’s History Speaker to Sing Praises for Accomplishments of Early Tejana Pioneer |
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As a child in the late 1920’s, Ms. Mendoza began her career singing with her family at a plaza near downtown San Antonio. In the ’30s, the family cut several records which included solos by Ms. Mendoza. Her music and voice resonated with Mexican-Americans and made her one of Tejano music’s first stars. She continued to perform into the ’80s and in 1999, was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Bill Clinton.
Additionally, Dr. Broyles-Gonźalez will present “La Voz de la Londra: Lydia Mendoza’s Life in Music” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the Prassel Auditorium of the Witte Museum. The event is free with museum admission. The Trinity presentation is part of the University’s celebration of Women’s History month, which officially begins in March. The event is funded in part by the Texas Council for the Humanities, the Witte Museum, and the Alameda National Center for Latino Arts and Culture. |
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Last updated on February 11, 2003 by the Office of Public Relations |
Feb.
11, 2003 – Fifty years before Tejana singer Selena became a breakout
star in Tex-Mex border music, selling records both here and in Latin
America, there was Lydia Mendoza, the “lark of the border”. Yolanda
Broyles-Gonźalez, professor of Chicano Studies at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, will recount the early singer’s accomplishments
in a presentation titled “Lydia Mendoza in Life and Work.” The event
will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, in room 111 of the Ruth
Taylor Music Building. The event is free and open to the public.
Dr.
Broyles-Gonźalez is the author of Lydia Mendoza’s Life in Music/La
historia de Lydia Mendoza, and El Teatro Campesino: Theater in
the Chicano Movement.