About the Project

T he Magnolia Park Oral History Project is a documentary-style, multi-part video project that features the people, history and legacy of one of the oldest neighborhoods of Houston and of Texas.

Magnolia Park, located in Houston’s East End and adjacent to the early Texas town of Harrisburg (the true birthplace of Houston), eventually became home to a wave of Mexican and Tejano settlers and their families fleeing the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

The neighborhood’s identity and unique culture produced great leaders and activism in the Sociedad Mutualista Benito Juárez or Benito Juárez Mutual Aid Society, and other groups focused on advocating for barrio cohesiveness and organization. This community-building started in the early 1900s and continues today with descendants of the original families including the Vara, Partida, Antes, González and Chairez families, to name a few.

These families contributed to Magnolia Park’s historical context and continue to contribute to this living history of Houston and Texas.