This January marks the hundredth anniversary of the Porvenir Massacre of 1918, a dark event in West Texas history. This event was one of the many clashes that took place on the border between men of Mexican-descent and Texas Rangers during the Mexican Revolution. Fifteen men were killed outside of their village in Porvenir Texas. The site was abandoned and burned down shortly after the executions. Some Texas Rangers were fired, but never indicted for murder.
Filmmaker Andrew Shapter is producing a documentary and feature-length film about this historical event. In this conversation, Shapter discusses the importance of this history and what it means today. "It was a decade of 1910 to 1920 that has sort of not been explored in cinema before," he explains.
More information about this work can be found here.
A Centennial Remembrance of Texas State Representative José T. Canales & the 1918 Porvenir Massacre will take place from 1-3 pm on Sunday, January 28th at the Texas State Capitol Extension Auditorium in Austin. The program will consist of specialists in their fields sharing information about this event of the past and upcoming future memorials, including the unveiling of a Texas State Historical marker in Presidio County in 2018.
