Carolina Munguia and Emma Tenayuca: The Politics of Benevolence and Radical Reform

Abstract

On August 25, 1938, labor leader and Texas Communist Party chair Emma Tenayuca barely escaped with her life as she and other party leaders attempted to hold a meeting at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium. Outside the auditorium, a large anticommunist mob prepared to storm the building. Inside, police guided party members to a secret tunnel. Everyone escaped safely, but that climactic day marked the end of Tenayuca's public career in radical reform politics. Two days after the Municipal Auditorium riot, but a world away, the ladies of the Círculo Cultural "Isabel, la Católica," led by their president, Señora Carolina Munguía, held their bimonthly meeting at the San Antonio Latin American Center. The members of this female benevolence organization delved into a full agenda consisting of a report on securing free legal aid for the poor; a discussion on sending delegates to a conference at the Mexican Library; plans for an upcoming art exhibit sponsored by the Círculo; and, acknowledgments for charitable services provided by the organization. Tenayuca and Munguía shared a vision—to help la Raza (the Mexican-origin community)—but they chose to do so in different ways. 1 [End Page 200]

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