Yanaguana Society (San Antonio, Tex.) Records, 1931-1960

Yanaguana Society (San Antonio, Tex.) Records, 1931-1960

DRT Collection at Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Description

Formed in 1933 by a group of San Antonio, Texas, residents, the Yanaguana Society aimed to encourage research into the earliest records of San Antonio. The organization sponsored a number of activities, including an exhibit of San Antonio artwork at the Witte Museum in 1933 and a series of publications. The Society also acquired thirteen paintings by San Antonio artist Theodore Gentilz. Activity declined in the 1940s and came to a halt in 1943 following the death of Frederick C. Chabot, the primary organizer of the group. A reorganization was attempted in 1946, but a lack of interest led to the dissolution of the Society in 1947.

Correspondence, minutes, resolutions, membership records, printed material, financial records, and literary productions are part of the Yanaguana Society records. General Society records include the first proposals for the new organization, a fairly complete set of minutes, and routine business. Special projects documented include the Art Committee, which worked on the 1933 exhibition and the acquisition of the Gentilz paintings. Some items deal with the donation of Society records to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. A few personal papers of Frederick C. Chabot are also included.