Conference Videos from "40 Years of Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas: An Anniversary Symposium," February 20-21, 2026
Conference videos are now available from “40 Years of Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas: An Anniversary Symposium,” held February 20–21, 2026, commemorating four decades since the 1987 publication of Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 by David Montejano. Montejano’s pathbreaking work fundamentally reshaped how we understand Texas history—demonstrating that the state was forged not through a singular Anglo narrative, but through deeply contested political, economic, and racial formations involving Mexicans and Anglos alike.
The symposium gathered scholars, undergraduate students, graduate students, and community members to reflect on the book’s enduring influence, its methodological interventions, and its continued relevance amid contemporary struggles over knowledge, curriculum, and power in Texas.
The conversations captured in these videos are both historically grounded and urgently present. At a moment when Mexican American history and ethnic studies face renewed scrutiny, the symposium reminds us why Montejano’s scholarship mattered—and still does. His analysis of racial formation, state violence, labor control, and political exclusion provides an indispensable framework for understanding not only the Texas of the 19th and 20th centuries, but the policy battles unfolding today.
These recordings are a gift to the broader community: an opportunity to revisit a foundational text and to consider how rigorous, community-rooted scholarship continues to shape the intellectual and political life of Texas.
On a personal level, David is an old friend of mine who most certainly deserves this loving, heartfelt recognition. It was very moving learning about his struggles in bringing this book to fruition (see Plenary session below). By al means, buy and read the book!
The seminal book Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 by David Montejano is celebrating 40 years in print by the University of Texas Press, and it remains one of the most insightful analyses of Texas history to date. Hailed as “the most important race-class analysis of the Chicano experience,” a generation of scholars continue to cite Montejano’s work as an influence on their careers and a model for revisionist historical sociology. The two-day symposium Anglos and Mexicans: Still Making Texas is organized by graduate students in the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies (MALS) under the guidance of Associate Professor C. J. Alvarez, providing an opportunity for inter-generational dialogue that reflects on the book’s legacy and future contributions to Latino Studies and Texas history.
"Long before the explosion of scholarly interest in the borderlands in the 2000s, Montejano asked penetrating questions about how Mexican-descent people make Texas society during the 150 years after the Texas Revolution. Decades after its publication, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 remains a landmark for the study of Mexican Americans, Texas and North America." - Benjamin H. Johnson, Professor in History at Loyola University of Chicago.
Join Latino Studies and MALS at UT Austin for two full days of panel presentations and keynotes, including a keynote plenary by author David Montejano on February 20, along with Texas historians Emilio Zamora and Neil Foley, and moderated by MALS Department Chair Karma Chavez. The symposium will include panel discussions with prominent scholars from across Texas and the United States, as well as a Saturday plenary on the future of Texas history and a graduate student-focused panel of emerging scholarship. Email stillmakingtexas@gmail.com with questions or for more information.
Friday February 20-21, 2026
Gordon-White Building 2.206 | 210 W. 24th Street | The University of Texas at Austin
9:30 - 11:00am
Session I
Sonia Hernandez, Texas A&M University
Benjamin Johnson, Loyola University
moderated by Paul Del Bosque, The University of Texas at Austin
11:15 - 12:45pm
Session II: Grad Student Lightning Round
ethen peña, The University of Texas at Austin
Jackeline Guajardo, The University of Texas at Austin
Kara Alexandra Culp, The University of Texas at Austin
Leslie Torres, Texas A&M University
Alex Navarrete, Texas State University
moderated by Alfonso Ayala, The University of Texas at Austin
1:45 - 3:15pm
Session III
Phillip (Felipe) Gonzales, The University of New Mexico
Carlos Blanton, The University of Texas at Austin
Aaron Sanchez, Texas Tech University
moderated by Annaliese Martinez, The University of Texas at Austin
4:00 - 6:00pm
Plenary I: Looking Back with Anglos and Mexicans
David Montejano, University of California, Berkeley
Emilio Zamora, The University of Texas at Austin
Neil Foley, Southern Methodist University
moderated by Karma Chavez, The University of Texas at Austin
Saturday, February 21, 2026
9:30 - 11:00am
Session I
John Weber, Old Dominion University
Elliott Young, Lewis & Clark College
moderated by Paulina Serrano, The University of Texas at Austin
11:15 - 12:45pm
Session II: Grad Student Lightning Round
Jose Roberto Campos Cordero, The University of Texas at Austin
Paul Del Bosque, The University of Texas at Austin
Danielle Sanchez, The University of Texas at Austin
Laura Lamb, The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley
moderated by C. J. Alvarez, The University of Texas at Austin
1:45 - 3:15pm
Session III
John Moran Gonzalez, The University of Texas at Austin
Annette Rodriguez, The University of Texas at Austin
4:00 - 6:00pm
Plenary II: Looking Ahead in Texas History
Jonathan Cortez, The University of Texas at Austin
Alana de Hinojosa, Texas State University
Monica Muñoz Martinez, The University of Texas at Austin
moderated by ethen peña, The University of Texas at Austin
Note: Please forgive the disruption in the recording; the video begins anew here.
This event is organized by graduate students in the Department of Mexican American & Latina/o Studies under the guidance of Associate Professor C. J. Alvarez and co-sponsored by Latino Studies, the Humanities Institute, the Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State University and the Alliance for Texas History.
