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Who are we – who are our cultural groups?

More than 20+ cultural groups are honored each year on San Antonio Founders Day. We pay tribute not only to those who came before and after 1718, 1731 and 1968, but all those who came later. The U.S. Census of 1970 provides the demographics of the 964,379 people who lived here at the time our community reached maturity in 1968. That was the year our city not only came of age, but had assumed the basic form and unique character it has today.

At that time, as now, we were definitely culturally diverse:

     More than half were Hispanics – with roots in Mexico, Spain, Latin America and elsewhere.

·     We were Americans who could trace our foreign or mixed parentage, in order of numbers, to Mexico, Africa, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Greece, Poland, Italy, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, France, Sweden, China, Japan, Spain and a few other countries.

·     There were 50,041 African-Americans, whose descendants’ genes could be traced today through the United States to the continent of Africa.

·     Others came in relatively small numbers – Filipinos, Koreans, Turks, Russians, and others, including those from Central and South America.

·     Some relatively small numbers of citizens made enormous contributions to the city’s characteristics – the French, Belgians and Jews, for example.

Our mother tongues came from a variety of countries. Some San Antonians could speak Syrian and Lebanese. Some could speak Arabic. Some knew Native American languages. Some knew Yiddish. Yet most San Antonians lived convivially – in the spirit of conviviente -- where inter-communal harmony prevailed.

We celebrate the very significant contributions of the largest as well as the most active groups and individuals – and their dates of arrival here. Many have made remarkable contributions – each in a distinctive and identifiable way.  The military is a unique cultural group.  Many of these men and women have settled in this city and have held leadership roles in our development. And we must not forget the various people from many nations, including the Pacific Rim and elsewhere, who came here since 1968 to become deeply involved in San Antonio’s economic, social and cultural life.

A tribute to all who shaped our Heritage