By Chilaeya Ezell

Culture Travels is a testament to the strength and influence of the individual; acknowledging the potential of each person to be a traveler, an adventurer, and a global influencer.

Museums can instantly transform you into that traveler. Their doors beckon you to dive into the adventures awaiting discovery behind them - a promise you will be immersed in culture spanning distance and time. A gift from the influencers of past, and present, across the globe to you.

Upon entering SAAACAM's door, a timeline of our ancestors’ impact greets you. Beginning in 1526, when the first Africans arrived in Texas, each timestamp offers a window into our past and the labels introduce the stories that make up “the cultural heritage of African Americans in the San Antonio region”.

As stated in their mission, SAAACAM collects, preserves, and shares our cultural heritage. Roughly 7% of 1.43 million San Antonio residents identify as Black or African American in the 2020 U.S. Census, in comparison nearly 64% of residents identified as Hispanic. One may ask, what cultural heritage do African Americans have in San Antonio, Texas, a city which has been predominantly Hispanic since its official founding in 1791?

A guided tour at SAAACAM reveals our heritage in San Antonio is older than the Alamo.

Our tour began at Their Contributions Our Legacy, a timeline spanning from when the first Africans arrived in Texas through the advancements of prominent Black figures - entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, activists. In recalling what I read and heard during the tour, my personal favorites included:

Estevanico: The first of the African arriving in Texas in 1529, Estevanico was an important slave to Spanish explorers. Multilingual and a natural born leader, he was on the frontline of many expeditions and was killed by Natives who didn’t believe he owned his belongings.
Military City, USA: Home to several military bases, San Antonio, Texas is commonly referred to as Military City, USA. Though the moniker was only trademarked by the city in 2017, San Antonio has been a military city since 1718 with establishment of the Alamo and other military camps. The Texas Revolution saw the influence of many Blacks to include Hendrick Arnold, a scout and spy for Sam Houston; Samuel McCulloch Jr., known as the first Texan casualty of the war; and Joe Travis, enslaved by Lieutenant Colonel Travis and a male survivor of the Battle of the Alamo who recounted the defeat to the Texas Cabinet as well as Travis’ family - Joe is single-handedly responsible for us being able to “remember the Alamo.”

Mya Lillian Davis Hemmings Community Center

Myra Lillian Davis Hemmings: Moving to San Antonio with her family following high school graduation, Myra Lillian Davis Hemmings was an educator, actress, producer, and community activist. While in college at Howard University, she became one of the twenty-two founders of the sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Inc. Upon graduating from college, Hemmings returned to San Antonio where she taught English at the historic Fredrick Douglass and Phyllis Wheatley high schools as well as organized and became the first president of the San Antonio chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. Today, the Myra Davis Hemmings Resource Center can be found in San Antonio’s Eastside Promise Neighborhood - one of the first five Promise Zones nationally designated in January 2014 by President Obama.

Another exhibit is A History of Transportation Protests and the American Civil Rights Struggle which honors Rosa Parks and Civil Rights Pioneers.

San Antonio values the contributors of the Civil Rights Movement as evidenced through commemoration within the city’s VIA Metropolitan Transit through annual fare-free service in observance of Rosa Parks Day and a yellow seat dedicated to Rosa Parks on every bus - SAAACAM has one of those very seats within the exhibit. In 1987, during the first official Martin Luther King Jr March in San Antonio, Rosa Parks was present and rode a vintage city bus. In 2018, Freedom Riders were also present during the Martin Luther King Jr March and rode in a 1966 Dreamliner bus.

In addition to their permanent exhibits, SAAACAM has a rotating exhibit on display in the largest room within the museum - currently featuring entrepreneur, creative, and advocate Eugene Coleman - along with a small gift shop and call to reflect on “What is your legacy?” posted near the exit.

In alignment with its mission to preserve African American history, SAAACAM also hosts events throughout the community such as:

Story Time in the Park: Held monthly in Hemisfair Park, a downtown community gathering place, Story Time in the Park allows young explorers the opportunity to “learn and play around the theme of being different while being included.”

Black History Boat Tours: History lovers across the country come to San Antonio to experience the guided boat tours which travel along the San Antonio River exploring the city's Black History and uncovering its continued influence.
Black History Film Series: In 2024, the monthly series has a new home in the “Little Carver” at the historic Carver Community Cultural Center.
Book discussions, Juneteenth celebrations, and more!

Nestled within the heart of downtown San Antonio, SAAACAM is currently located in the historic La Villita village, the first settlement established in the area over 300 years ago. Roughly a half a mile from their future home within the Kress-Grant Building - which will house the new SAAACAM Cultural Center. The new cultural center will bring together the neighboring Kress and Grant buildings which will remain separate on the first and mezzanine levels but will be connected on the upper floors making it, once renovation is complete, the second largest African American museum and cultural center in the United States.

The layout of the new SAAACAM Cultural Center.

This move, expected to be completed in mid-2025, is significant to the preservation of the area's Black cultural heritage in a multitude of ways. The Kress Building was a former five-and-dime store which housed within its basement one of seven downtown lunch counters to be peacefully desegregated in 1960. And a four minute walk down E. Houston Street leads directly to the Alamo - historic church, fortress, and former slave auction block.

The Kress Building has a prominent place in the black history of San Antonio and through SAAACAM’s efforts, reading the project’s mission statement we learn that the Cultural Center is meant to “embody Black excellence and define Black Space locally and abroad. The building will add to San Antonio’s iconography of freedom by celebrating and preserving the untold stories and artifacts of African Americans in the region” (cite blueprint).

San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, or as it is more commonly known SAAACAM (pronounced “say-CAM”), serves as a reminder that a city doesn't have to be known as a black place to have been impacted and shaped by black culture.

Learn more about SAAACAM, gain access to resources, or make a contribution at https://saaacam.org/. SAAACAM can also be found across social media on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.