A Guide to the Mario Marcel Salas Papers, 1968-2009

Biographical Note

Mario Marcel Salas was born in San Antonio, Texas on July 30, 1949. He attended Central Catholic High School and graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School, an African American segregated school, in 1968. Salas entered San Antonio College and graduated with Associate's degrees in Applied Science--Engineering Technology and Liberal Arts. In 1987 he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). On July 9, 1988 Salas married Edwina Lacy of Chicago; their two children are Elena Patrice and Angela Christine.

For most of his adult life, Salas has been an advocate for San Antonio's African-American community. He was a key member of the San Antonio chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and founding member of Organizations United for Eastside Development (OUED), Black Coalition on Mass Media (BCMM), and Frontline 2000. He championed the establishment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a Texas state holiday in 1991, and participated in marches and other events commemorating Dr. King's legacy. Salas frequently contributes editorials to various activist newspapers and newsletters; including a regular column that ran in the San Antonio Community Journal/Inner City Journal during the 1970s. In addition, he was involved with political issues relating to social justice and human rights struggles world-wide. In particular, Salas supported the Anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa and opposed the recruitment of Americans as mercenaries in the revolutionary war in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia).

Salas became an educator for the San Antonio Independent School District and received his Master of Education degree in 1999 from Our Lady of the Lake University. He was elected to the City Council of San Antonio in 1997, where he served two full terms as Representative for District 2. In 2000 Salas wrote a sequel to Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein, titled Frankenstein: The Dawning and the Passing.

In June 2001, Salas enrolled in the Master of Political Science program at UTSA. He also began teaching for the Alamo Community College District as an English and Government adjunct faculty member. Salas campaigned for the office of County Commissioner in 2004. Additionally, Salas has been a lecturer for UTSA's Political Science Department. He has also served as Vice President of the Judson Independent School District (JISD) Board of Trustees and as Chairman of the Tax Increment Finance Board, Zone 11.

Scope and Content Note

The Mario Salas papers, 1968-2009, consist of personal and subject files spanning a wide range of Salas's interests, from his advocacy of civil rights for African-Americans and his opposition to human injustice world-wide, to his career as City Councilman in San Antonio, Texas. Materials in the collection include correspondence, photographs, news clippings, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases/statements, posters, maps, manuscripts (typed and hand-written), magazines, reports, programs and petitions.

The collection is arranged in three series: Personal and Subject Files. The Personal series is comprised of files containing biographical information, correspondence, and writings. Biographical materials include Salas's own typewritten curriculum vitae, certificates and awards, draft and selective service records and personal news clippings. Among these biographical materials are personal portraits and photographs of Salas'ss family and councilman activities. The City Councilman files from 1997-2001 contain campaign materials, reports on city-wide and District 2 issues, large-scale maps and plans, news clippings, correspondence and various memoranda. Salas's writings are divided into academic, editorial articles, published articles, "Talkin' Back" essays, general writings, and his book, Frankenstein: The Dawning and the Passing.

The Subject Files series, comprising the bulk of the collection, includes documention of organizations, people, photographs, publications, topics, and events. Includes materials on organizations Salas was either an active member of or groups that were associated with causes and issues of interest to Salas. The FBI folders include documentation of FBI activity in San Antonio and also files about Salas that he obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The organizations files further document activities of anti-civil rights groups, such as the KKK. Salas held positions of leadership within various organizations and was especially active and prominent within the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Organizations United for Eastside Development (OUED), Black Coalition on Mass Media (BCMM), Frontline 2000, and the San Antonio Committee Against Mercenary Recruitment (SACAMR). While not an active member, Salas was interested in the activities of groups like the Black Panthers, the African Support Liberation Committee and the American Friends Service Committee, which he documented through news clippings, newsletters, articles, posters, correspondence and other printed materials.

The Subject Files also contain photographs of activists Salas was personally acquainted with, and of rallies and other events. Notable individuals are also documented in the collection, such as political prisoners Angela Davis and Steven Biko, as well as civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Items in the folders related to these individuals include pamphlets, programs, posters, news clippings, newsletters, bulletins, police statements and correspondence. Unique San Antonio newspapers represented in the collection include Eagle Bone Whistle, Honky Times, SNAP, Inner City Journal and Chicano Times.

The Topics and Events subseries encompasses local and global aspects of the human rights struggle and includes information on domestic African-American civil rights issues as well as revolutionary and progressive political movements abroad. Topics of personal interest include documentation of police brutality and initiatives for prison reform. Materials in these files range from personal correspondence to the official investigative file of Bobby Jo Phillips, who was murdered by San Antonio police officers during an attempted arrest in 1968. The plight of political prisoners was of particular interest to Salas and the collection profiles activists wrongly imprisoned in the U.S. and African countries. U.S. groups like the Wilmington 10, the Houston 12, and South African prisoners such as Nelson Mandela, are represented by newsletters, bulletins and news clippings. The topics series also contains news clippings, bulletins and flyers related to the Vietnam War and political unrest in countries such as Grenada, Namibia and South Africa. This series additionally incorporates materials--boycott posters, liberation pamphlets and news clippings--highlighting the struggle against Apartheid and the subsequent boycotting of the Krugerrand coins of South Africa.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the Collections Request Form.

Usage Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Mario Marcel Salas Papers must be obtained from University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections or the appropriate holder of copyright.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Mario Marcel Salas Papers, 1968-2009, MS 142, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Materials were donated by Mario Marcel Salas in 2003, 2006 and 2009 (Acc. 2003-012, 2003-013, 2003-061, 2006-026, 2006-027, 2006-034, 2009-043).

Processing Information

Processed by Ancelyn Krivak and Heather Kuhn, Archives Interns, June 2006 and Bonnie Saenz, Archives Intern, October 2009.

 Notes to Researchers 

Many of the photographs in the Subject Files of the Mario Salas collection are unidentified and/or undated.

Letters to Salas written by activist and draft resister Walter Collins are filed with the organization Collins worked for, Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF).

Detailed Description of the Collection