Brick By Brick: Council 60 Clubhouse Preservation

"Preserving Houston's Hispanic HIstory"

When LULAC organized at the start of the Great Depression, its member faced many other problems besides poverty. Tejanos endured discrimination, segregation, the lack of political representation, and the federal government’s Mexican Repatriation program which sent nearly a quarter of a million Texas Mexicans and Mexicans-Americans to Mexico. Despite these obstacles, Houston's LULAC Council 60 formed in 1934, and by 1937 Houston hosted the LULAC's national conference, and continued to grow in importance. 

In 1955, seven members of Council 60, with financing by restauranteur Felix Tijerina, bought a house at the corner of Anita and Bagby for the chapter’s clubhouse. The area was once part of Mrs. Obedience Fort Smith’s headright, and later the site of the state fair of Texas. By the 1880s, it became the Fairgrounds Addition when the city annexed the property. In 1909, contractor Benjamin Franklin Secor, a home remodeler, purchased the house from the Citizens Home & Investment Company. The Secors were a prominent family, and their daughter, Katherine, whose activities often appeared in the society column, was an accomplished pianist who gave lessons in the home.

In the Clubhouse, LULAC officers and members worked for civil rights, campaigning against the poll tax, getting better jobs for the Hispanic community, and fighting discrimination during the Civil Rights Era. They developed programs such as SER Jobs for Progress. The Little Schools of the 400, an ambitious program to teach pre-school children 400 or more words of English before they entered school, was later adopted and funded by the state legislature, drew national attention, and contributed to the development of Project Head Start during Lyndon Johnson’s presidential administration. The keystone event was hosting President John F. Kennedy at the LULAC State Director’s Ball at Rice Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom on the evening of November 22, 1963.
 
On May 3, 2015, Ernest Eguia, the last of the original seven trustees passed away. C 60, Inc., a non-profit group organized to restore the Clubhouse, now unused and in serious need of repair. ​

How to Order:

Just follow the simple step-by-step process below to place your order. Be sure you are happy with your brick design as it will look very similar to the image on your computer when completed.

Order Deadline: May 5, 2019

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If you have any questions, please contact Raymond Valdez at 206-650-1065