Dr. Am�rico Paredes
When the family of the late border scholar and folklorist Am�rico Paredes decided to scatter his ashes at the mouth of the Rio Grande, they invited The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB/TSC) history professor Manuel Medrano to join them.
A border scholar in his own right, Medrano is both a family friend and author of a new biography on Paredes. His commitment to the Paredes legacy did not end in the pages of a book � or at the river�s edge.
When Medrano was named to UTB/TSC�s Houston Endowment Chair in Civic Engagement, he dedicated part of his award to complete a scholarship endowment honoring the respected Rio Grande Valley icon, who died in 1999.
�To me, Am�rico Paredes represents the essence of our community,� said Medrano. �He represents a person willing to stand up and challenge the status quo in literature and folklore � in a way that changed how people think about the border. It was important to me to have him recognized in this way.�
Medrano has been a faculty member since 1972. A recipient of the prestigious Chancellor�s Council Teaching Award, he created the �Los Del Valle� (�Of the Valley�) oral-history project, which includes video interviews with interesting Valley characters. He has authored other books of poetry and border culture and participated in an oral-history project on Latinos in World War II.
Paredes was one of Medrano�s first �Los Del Valle� interview subjects back in 1993. Both got their start at what is now UTB/TSC. A musician and poet, Paredes went on to become a professor at The University of Texas at Austin and helped inspire a new interest in the songs, stories and culture of �la frontera� (the border).
Dr. Manuel Medrano
Medrano was a presenter at the 2010 �Am�rico Paredes Remembered� symposium at the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT Austin. �Am�rico Paredes: In His Own Words� is Medrano�s family authorized biography.
Dedicating part of his Houston Endowment award to the �Dr. Am�rico Paredes Scholarship Endowment� for history majors was an easy choice, he said.
�This scholarship endowment is so much a part of our university mission, of being conscious not only of our academic work but of our cultural work,� said Medrano. �Dr. Paredes represents not only academic greatness but someone, as a person, who was noble and respectful. He sets an example. � We can use a lot more of that.�
Efforts to grow the endowment continue, Medrano said. He imagines future scholarship recipients learning about Paredes and his work and being inspired to persevere.
�To me, his story transcends ethnicity. He came from an impoverished community, went through the Great Depression and was able to follow a dream � even when that dream was delayed,� Medrano said.
�This endowment is something I had the opportunity to do, something I wanted to do and something that is necessary to do. The community will be better off for it.�
