Jovita González de Mireles
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Mexican American folklorist, writer, teacher, speaker, and cultural historian, Jovita Gonzales de Mireles, was born in Roma, Texas, near the Texas-Mexico Border as a fifth-generation descendant of a land-grant family, she was born and raised on her grandparents’ rancho, Las Viboras, where she heard stories and legends from the people who lived and worked there. Their experiences influenced her throughout her life. Jovita moved with her family to San Antonio in 1910 and she completed the high school equivalency by the age of 18. She earned a scholarship at our lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, while studying and teaching Spanish at a local school. Jovita earned her bachelor’s degree in 1927. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1925, she was introduced to J. Frank Dobie, noted Texas historian and folklorist, who encouraged her to write about her heritage and culture. In 1929, Jovita was awarded a Lapham Scholarship to conduct research along the border. This award allowed her to complete her master’s thesis at the University of Texas. Jovita’s literary abilities, combined with her authentic knowledge of south Texas, gave her an authority within the field of Texas folklore studies. She gave lectures at Texas Folklore Society (TFS) meetings and was the first and only Mexican American woman to serve as president of TFS. Jovita’s writings, articles, novels, and Spanish school curriculum books were celebrated. She also wrote two novels which went unpublished until they were discovered in the archives at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi: Dew on the Thorn (1996) and Caballero (1997). Jovita taught Spanish and history in Corpus Christi until her retirement in 1966. She was active in LULAC, sponsored many academic and social clubs, and co-created to Pan American Club of Corpus Christi. Jovita died in 1983 and is buried at Rose Hill Memorial Park. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in 1904 into a fifth-generation land-grant family near Roma, Texas, Jovita González de Mireles grew up on her grandparents' ranch absorbing the stories and legends of the borderlands. Encouraged by folklorist J. Frank Dobie, she earned degrees in San Antonio and at the University of Texas and became a leading authority on South Texas folklore—the first and only Mexican American woman to preside over the Texas Folklore Society. A longtime Corpus Christi teacher active in LULAC, she wrote novels including Caballero and Dew on the Thorn that were only published decades later, after their rediscovery in university archives.
Why it matters
Her scholarship gave voice to the Mexican American experience of the Texas borderlands, reshaping how the state understood its own folklore and heritage.
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Related people
- · Jovita González de Mireles
- · J. Frank Dobie
Themes & tags
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