Browse Exhibits (33 total)
Preserving Our Past: People Saving Places

May is National Preservation Month. It is a time to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of our region and to promote heritage tourism and historic preservation of places and spaces.
Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month, but it is always time to honor the historic achievements and contributions of women in the Rio Grande Valley.
University Archives: Looking back, honoring legacy

The purpose of this exhibit is to showcase materials from the University Archives and to pay tribute to the evolution and traditions of UTRGV’s legacy institutions. The exhibit is particularly interested in raising an awareness among new members of the UTRGV community by honoring notable alumni, highlighting athletic coaches, and showcasing the President's Office.
Gold in the Magic Valley

John H. Shary and the Citrus Industry of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
This exhibition is presented by Special Collections & Archives to highlight the John H. Shary Collection. It focuses on how one man’s dream of building a citrus empire helped stimulate the rapid growth of the Rio Grande Valley’s economy and develop the “Magic Valley” into a reality.
The digital exhibit features photographs and documents relating to the Shary family and the development of the Valley's citrus industry.
Use the links in the menu (right) to explore the exhibit pages and digital items.
Hometown Teams Women in Sports

While women have been historically limited when it comes to sports, they have managed to shine in the Rio Grande Valley in spite of these obstacles.
Hometown Teams Athletic Teams

Here you can view teams from across the Rio Grande Valley, including high school, college level, and local teams from 1903-2010.
Hometown Teams Sports

Photographs and other items throughout the Rio Grande Valley organized by specific sport.
La Lomita
This lesson will also give them understanding on the difference between the past and present of the La Lomita and how these changes over time have shaped Mission. La Lomita has gone through many changes since it originated, some which have had a great impact in its town. One of the main reasons why this landmark is so important is because it gave Mission it’s city name. La Lomita property was willed to the Oblate Fathers by Rene Guyard in 1861. Later, in 1865, the priests built a small chapel and a living space to serve as stop-over for their horseback circuit. The Oblates would also use the land to raise cattle and crops. As years passed, the property began to add more buildings, this led to La Lomita to be considered a small town by many. Now in days only a couple of the original building are standing and are visiting sites for tourist, this includes the chapel and the remains of what was once served as an asylum. The chapel is considered a landmark and is open to the public. The chapel has been used for many traditional celebrations throughout the years. La Lomita plays an important part on the development of Mission, TX and its history should be taught to the students.
Agriculture

The purpose of this lesson conducted was to teach students the importance of agriculture and teach students the history of John Shary, geography and climate in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas citrus, and how agriculture shapes the Rio Grande Valley. The Rio Grande Valley is one of the richest farming areas of Texas and remains an agricultural gem with diverse, year-round production. The inspiration to create these lessons came from the agriculture the Rio Grande Valley provides. By educating our children on agriculture, we are able to tell the history on the Rio Grande Valley as it will set the foundation for settlements. With Texas being an agricultural state, the majority of our people are actively engaged in the profession of agriculture.
Butterflies

The purpose of the weeks worth of butterflies and migration lessons is to inform students about the world that is around them, from as close as their backyard, to their school campus, even to a location that is just driving distance away from them. As the students go throughout the week they will come to know and hopefully, appreciate, the very insects that fly among us so casually. The students will not only learn about butterflies and their characteristics, but they will also learn about migration. Students will learn that it’s not only people who migrate, but it is also, birds, butterflies, and other types of animals too. These lessons will help students appreciate the life of not only themselves but of other beings we share this earth with too.
Birding

The resolution for this lesson is for the students to understand the economic impacts of the Rio Grande Valley. To gain the interest of the students, in this lesson the teacher will be using the topic of birds and the things that concern them to help the students develop knowledge on economics. The students will also be able to see how migration impacts the growth of Texas both in a positive and negative way. Because limited resources have a significant impact on the economic development of Texas, the students will also have an opportunity to see how those such resources have an impact in their hometown. Students will be able to see what it is like to go into a store and manage the money they have been given to buy the products they wish to have. Overall, the students will be pleasantly learning about economics and the impacts that come along with it.
South Padre Island

The purpose of this lesson is to help students identify common recreational activities of their local communities in the past and the present. They will first learn about the history of the South Padre Island and the first community established there with Priest Padre Jose Nicolas Balli with resources from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley University Library. Using the same resources, South Padre Island newspapers, students will read about recreational activities people took part in in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Students will then research about recreational activities that exist today in the South Padre Island to be aware of all the places that their community has to offer. By learning about this students will be familiar with what has shaped and keeps shaping the daily lives of people in the ways they have fun.
Battle of Palo Alto

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the Battle of Palo Alto which happened in the Rio Grande Valley. The Battle of Palo Alto was the first battle of the Mexican-American War. Palo Alto recalls the scenes described by soldiers in dozen of letters and diaries entries. By the students understanding the history of Palo Alto, they will gain the outlook of their local history.
Citrus Industry

In this lesson we will be learning the Citrus Farming in the Rio Grande Valley and how it developed into the industry we have today. We will discuss in which communities citrus tree grow in and their characteristics, who John Shary was and how he utilized natural resources to grow his industry, and the effects the different weather patterns such as snow, floods, and extreme heat has on citrus farming in the community.
Peonage

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students about the evolution of the working system in the United States, and most importantly, in the Rio Grande Valley. Seven lesson plans were created in where the students will be learning about Peonage in the Rio Grande Valley. The first two days are based on Slavery, thus students make new connections to the new topic being taught. That way the student can have their previous knowledge activated going in to the next days, which are day three and four, in where the term Peonage will be introduced. Then the students will go into day five in where they will compare the characteristics of slavery and peonage. On day six and day seven the students will express their point of view on the topics through a series of activities. One of the activities will be to visit The Museum of South Texas History, and the last activity will be to create a proclamation about how the student would change the laws regarding the peonage system.
Karankawa Indians

The goal of this lesson plan is to give background information on the Karankawa tribe. These background information ranges from knowing where their territory is located, their dietary supplements, their weapons and tools, and their language and culture. To begin the week, students will be creating a foldable where they continually add information onto it throughout the week. This foldable will introduce to the students how the Karankawa’s tribe was founded, how they were physically built, and more. Next, The Karankawa’s physical traits will be described in detail to help students visualize how the Karankawas looked. The following lesson will involve students learning how the Karankawas utilized different types of tools and weapons. After, students will learn about different dietary supplements that were present in the lives of the Karankawas. Then, students will be educated on types of shelter that the Karankawa’s resided in. In addition, students will be given a wide variety of information on the Karankawa’s culture. To the end of entire lesson, students will be informed on where the Karankawas are today, and what caused their current circumstances.
Hurricane Beulah / Huracán Beulah

The Rio Grande Valley is an area of high risk since many hurricanes form in the Gulf of Mexico; most states along the coast can be impacted by the rain and heavy winds of the storm. Emergency groups notify people in the news and other media forms on how to get prepared in case of a natural disaster. In 1967 Beulah was a category 5 with winds of 160 mph, meteorologists were following its path, and the news started advising people to take the necessary precautions and which were the areas that had to be evacuated. It is very important that people know when they must evacuate, and what to have if they are staying in their homes. It is important that we educate on the history of how other hurricanes have impacted the Valley past and present, what the damages were and how the community was able to recover from this. Students will be able to apply the knowledge gained from this lesson to be prepared for hurricane season. Students will have an understanding of how these natural disasters affect us.
Mercedes Livestock Show & Rodeo

During these five lessons, the students learned a small portion of what the Rio Grande Valleys culture consists of through the Mercedes Livestock Show and Rodeo.
In the first lesson we informed the students about the jobs that are in our community as well as in the livestock show. We must educate our students of the importance of those people and the jobs they do. On Tuesday, the students were able to see what it was like to be a cowboy for a day. They learned new vocabulary words referring to cowboys and their clothing. On Wednesday it went more in dept on the marking/brandings of the cattle. We opened our lesson by talking about the Rio Grande Valleys history and telling the students that back in the day ranchers used these markings to distinguish which cattle belonged to Texas and what cattle belonged to Mexico. On Thursday we wanted to have a designated day for the activities that are in the Livestock Show and Rodeo. The Livestock Show and Rodeo includes a carnival, plenty of food such as turkey legs, barbecue, funnel cake and has a petting area for kids to touch the animals. Lastly, on Friday we decided it was going to be a review and assess day for the students. We wanted the students to review everything from the previous days by using the game jeopardy which is very fun to play for students and it involves team work in action.
Citizenship in the Republic of Texas

These three lesson plans are designed for fourth-grade students and they focus on the Pledge to the Texas Flag, Texas Independence Day, and Juneteenth. The overall purpose of these lessons is to help students become aware that Texas was once its own country until it agreed to join the United States of America in 1845.
An additional goal is for students to understand the significance of the oldest known celebration of when the enslaved were freed, Juneteenth. These concepts are incorporated because it is important for students to know the history of the state they live in. Throughout the lessons, students will be able to have fun with various engaging activities along with assessments to prove their understanding. By the end of these lessons, students will be able to explain the meaning of the Pledge to the Texas Flag and the significance of Texas Independence Day, as well as Juneteenth.
Local Celebrations

For this lesson students will learn about the holidays, seasons, national holidays in the U.S., and the weather. Students will be able to identify what holidays we celebrate during what season, including national holidays. The students will learn about the weather of each season and what type of clothing is appropriate for that season, or according to the weather. Students will use prior knowledge on their favorite holidays and what traditions they do with their family to celebrate that holiday. They will also learn what traditions their community has for celebrating certain holidays, and specific celebrations that take place in the Rio Grande Valley. A series of projects, group work, and a book will be used throughout the different days of the lesson. At the end of the week, teacher will check for understanding with a formative assessment. Each lesson is adaptable to ELL students and learners with special needs.
Harlon Block

The purpose of this lesson is to help students make connections between what is being taught in school and their community. The student should be able to learn history that had shaped their community. For the city of Weslaco, TX. Harlon Block was a hero. Thus, the city has a Sports Complex named after him. The city museum has a small exposition about Harlon Block life and accomplishments. The Marine Military Academy from Harlingen TX, has the monument of “raising the flag in Iwo Jima Battle” this is to commemorate all of those who serve during World War II, this war was one of the deadliest wars and it claimed the lives of many soldiers who were part of our community. The Academy also has an annual parade in remembrance to the Iwo Jima Battle and Harlon Block, this is a public event.
It is important for the student to be able to make a relationship between school and community. Unfortunately, new generations do not know much about who Harlon Block was, and this is the main reason we thought of using him as an example of local people being contributors to our nation. We considered for this lesson the use of Paulo Freire Pedagogical Framework theory. He based his theory on curiosity and our lessons considered our students to use their creativity to do the activities and assignments. As well as using innovation and collaborative assignments that will help them fight for social justice and become good citizens (Lewis, 2012, p 29).