Inherit the Alamo: Myth and Ritual at an American Shrine

This study explores the multiple histories and mythologies of San Antonio's famous Spanish mission and Texas Revolution battle site.

The Alamo Mission still evokes tremendous feeling among many Americans, and especially among Texans. For Anglo Texans, it is the "Cradle of Texas Liberty" and a symbol of Western expansion. But Hispanic Texans increasingly view the Alamo as a stolen symbol, its origin as a Spanish mission forgotten, its famous defeat used to rob Hispanics of their place in...