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| Photograph by Vedant Peris, appearing in San Antonio Report, October 26, 2015. |
Such a touching, beautiful tribute to the late Texas historian, Dan Arellano, by Dr. Emilio Zamora.
Thank you for your many contributions, not the least of which was keeping Texas history alive.
We miss you, Dan. May you rest in power!
-Angela Valenzuela
Adan Daniel “Dan” Arellano (March 12, 1947-January 1, 2024)
by
Emilio Zamora, Ph.D.
The Clyde Rabb Littlefield Chair in Texas History
History Department
University of Texas at Austin
Ever since the early 1970s, historical writings on and by Latinos have increased in impressive numbers alongside the growing calls to incorporate them as a measure of equity and fairness in American life. Our recently departed Dan Arellano was one of the chief exponents of this variant of the social, if not sacred, contract to continue defining our national goal of a more perfect union according to high moral and political rules of behavior as well as with more truthful accounts of our histories.
A longtime resident of Austin, Dan was best known as a public historian, an author, a reenactor, and an advocate for Mexican American history. He was born in San Antonio to loving parents, Seferino Arellano and Gregoria Sendejo Arellano. Dan was a Navy veteran, mail carrier, and a real estate agent in the Austin area. He retired years ago and began devoting more of his time to his advocacy work until he became ill about a year ago and spent his last days in assisted living institutions at San Antonio and Bastrop.
Dan was a kind and amiable person who always welcomed the opportunity to engage in conversation, especially if the topic was Mexican American history and the need to recover it from its state of near public obscurity. He also modelled public service as an outgoing and socially engaged Tejano, always optimistic and encouraging.
Dan’s public service work was continuous, too extensive to do it justice in this brief account of his life. Some activities stand out, however. Dan worked tirelessly to honor the memory of fellow Mexican American veterans. This was especially evident when he collaborated with Eastside Memorial High School (formerly Johnston High) graduates like Larry Amaro and other members of the school’s Alumni Association organize in 2012 the annual Johnston High School Vietnam Veterans Memorial Ceremony that recognizes the extraordinarily large numbers of Vietnam War casualties from the school. According to Amaro, Dan proposed the idea as an initiative in the larger effort to insert Mexican Americans in the telling of U.S. history as a matter of principle and as a statement of self-affirmation.
Dan’s concern for recovering the largely dismissed history—a central challenge in the even larger effort to obtain opportunity and justice in the social arena—was evident in other instances. He served as Commander of Tejanos in Action, a veterans’ service organization and, in that capacity, led a public campaign to name the Nicholas S. Perez Elementary School after a lance corporal who became one of the first Austin casualties in the Iraq War. Dan was also involved in naming a post office on South Congress Avenue after another Mexican American Iraq War and organized a six-month exhibition at the Austin History Center to honor Tejano veterans.
Dan was especially proud to have self-published Tejano Roots: A Family Legend (2005) with a focus on the Battle of Medina, the bloody 1813 confrontation battle between Spanish colonial forces and the adherents to the Texas independence movement in its early Tejano history. He gave so much of himself with the book as well as with his numerous reenactments, public lectures, conference presentations, and public ceremonies on early Tejano history to underscore its importance and to demonstrate the public’s callous disregard for this history as a foundational element in the constitution of Mexicans as a people.
Dan also participated in the ethnic studies campaign to convince the Texas State Board of Education (TSBE) to expand the representation of Mexican Americans in the standard curriculum for our public schools. He often testified before the Board in his striking reenactment uniform from Spanish colonial times. Dan, frustrated with the slow pace in increasing Tejano representation in the standard curriculum, ran for a position on the TSBE in 2018. He lost the election to the equally dedicated Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz, however, he left the lasting impression that minoritized communities must constantly lead with the idea that historical memory is precious knowledge and that it must be restored to its rightful place if they are to function in American society to the fullest capacity possible.
While visiting Dan in Bastrop a few months ago, we spoke about the impressive national discourse over the importance of reclaiming history and the leading role that he played in it. I sought to encourage him in his trying moment, but I almost lost my assuring composure when he asked the sincere but unsettling question, “Emilio, do you really think that Tejanos have been reading my book and have we really made a difference in their lives?” I assured him that all was well and that ours was a noble mission for the liberation of body and soul, but I also responded with the frankness that he deserved. We agreed that our readership needs to grow, but that regardless of the interest and impact of historical knowledge, we had to continue the reasonable and just work for the sake of collective self-knowledge in the fight for fairness and just inclusion at the proverbial public square. It really doesn’t matter that we may disagree on interpreting Tejano history, what matters is that we speak and join in the process of testing approaches, sources, and the uses of this history.
His last request to me was that I lift his book as a necessary tool for individual and collective self-discovery and social responsibility. This tribute, to him, his book, and the rest of his selfless work is my response to Dan.
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