Narratives, Uses of History, and Power in Gonzales, Texas, 1900-1940 (Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict)

History is never just about the past. It is a powerful resource used to shape public space, communities and relationships of power.In Narratives, Uses of History, and Power in Gonzales, Texas, 1900-1940, Anne Magnussen explores how a confrontation in 1835 between American immigrants and the Mexican army evolved from local history into the famous and powerful “Come and Take It” narrative used to promote business ambitions, define community values, and establish ethnoracial and social hierarchies. Drawing on a rich array of sources-from newspapers, census records, maps, monuments, and organizational archives-Magnussen reveals how Anglo-Texans, Mexican-Texans, African-Texans, and German-Texans negotiated power, belonging, and identity in a rapidly changing society.As Gonzales confronted industrialization, immigration, racial segregation, economic crisis, and the Texas Centennial, historical narratives became tools for both inclusion and exclusion, legitimacy and resistance. Far more than