By Gabriella Parra
This summer, I interned at the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, also known as SAAACAM. SAAACAM is actively uncovering the history of the African American community in San Antonio and presenting this history to the public. They do this by hosting historic tours, conducting oral histories, archiving artifacts, and creating exhibits. They plan to open a new, larger museum space in 2026.
SAAACAM took me on as a research intern. This involved utilizing previous research done by SAAACAM, public archives, and digitized resources accessible online to conduct research on different topics relating to Black San Antonio history. I mainly focused on three topics: the people enslaved by Samuel Augustus Maverick, Green Book sites in San Antonio, and Sallie Royal.
I started my internship by looking into the people enslaved by the Texas revolutionary and politician, Samuel Augustus Maverick. First, I read a biography on Mr. and Mrs. Maverick for context. After this, I researched all the enslaved people’s names and scoured the internet for any source of information about them. As a result, I became well-versed in search tools like Ancestry.com, Family Search, The Portal to Texas History, and Bexar County Records Search. I wrapped up the internship by taking a trip to the Briscoe Center Archives in Austin to look through the Maverick Family Papers for more details.
As I concluded this research, I contributed to SAAACAM’s Green Book Pop-Up Exhibit. The Negro Motorist Green Book, or the Green Book, for short, was one of many travel guides created for Black travelers in the United States pre-Civil Rights. The goal of these travel guides was to provide travelers of color with a list of accommodations where they could expect respect and dignity despite their race. I provided a fresh set of eyes on this project by drafting new panels of the pop-up in the aim of making it more cohesive. Just before I left SAAACAM, the exhibit was submitted for review!
In the last week of my internship, my supervisor asked me to look into a woman that came up in her research, Sallie Royal. Royal was a black women born in the South in the late 19th century. After abolition, she struggled to contact her mother who she was separated from because of slavery. This task was a great way to use the preliminary research skills I practiced throughout the internship.
I’m grateful to have left SAAACAM with more knowledge than when I started. Specifically, I know more about the people enslaved by Samuel Maverick and the political landscape they lived in. I learned about the Green Book and what life was like for Black San Antonians pre-Civil Rights.
During this internship, I also strengthened old skills and gained new ones. Working on so many projects allowed me to practice conducting preliminary research. This is a skill I developed at university, but it was exciting to apply it to Black history in San Antonio. I’ve also worked on a pop-up exhibit at my university before. Collaborating with others on a pop-up exhibit at SAAACAM was useful in that I was able to learn about expectations for pop-ups from experts!
The most important new skill I practiced was being professional in a history setting. I had never worked in a professional history setting, so I was excited to see how it differed from academia. What is expected of me? How much time do I have for each task? Am I dressed right? Every day I had a new question and a new answer! Luckily, everyone at SAAACAM was inviting and helpful when I was confused. I now feel like I have a better understanding of public history work, and I feel that it is a good fit!
I am eternally grateful to everyone who guided me through this internship. It has boosted my confidence in myself and my career. I wasn’t sure that I could have a career in public history, but now I can’t wait to get back out there!
Website: saaacam.org
Instagram: @saaacamtx
