Adina De Zavala (1881-1955) teacher, preservationist and feminist.

Background

Adina was born on November 28, 1861 in the family homestead in Harris County within sight of the battlefield of San Jacinto. She was the eldest of six children born to rancher Augustine De Zavala who became a captain in the Confederate Navy, and Julia Tyrrell De Zavala, a patrician. Adina grew up absorbing Texas history and developing her love for reading and learning. She was the paternal granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala, the first vice president of the provisional government of Texas.

Early Life

Tutored at home until 1871, Adina attended Ursuline Academy in Galveston from 1871 to 1873. She completed her education at Sam Houston Normal Institute and at a music school in Chillicothe, Missouri in 1887. After teaching high school in Terrell, Texas, from 1884 to 1886, Adina moved to San Antonio to teach at Ward School No. 5 until 1907.
Preservationist Work. Within two years of moving to San Antonio, she joined with other preservation minded women to help carry out her work. In (1891) the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) were created. In (1893) Adina formed her own affiliation with the DRT as the De Zavala Chapter. She was concerned with the condition and memory of the Alamo and four other missions near San Antonio. For several years, Adina concentrated on trying to obtain for the State of Texas control of the privately owned two-story former quarters and offices of the Alamo missionaries, the building known as the convento or the "long barracks,” the site saw much of the bloodiest fighting during the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. The more publicized adjacent mission church was owned by the State of Texas, which had purchased the building from the Catholic Church in 1883 and had given custody to the City of San Antonio.

DRT Years

In 1903, Adina's strategy paid off when the owners of Hugo & Schmeltzer told her they were considering selling the property to a hotel syndicate. Immediately, Adina attempted to notify the proprietors of the Menger Hotel of their potential competitor on the plaza. Although the owners of the Menger were out of the country, Adina was introduced to hotel guest Clara Driscoll, who also had an interest in the Alamo’s future. Driscoll, a wealthy heiress to cattle, railroad and oil, was from an old south Texas family. Together the two women went on a fund raising campaign for the Alamo. Sadly, their efforts failed and Driscoll had to pay for the funds her self. On January 26, 1905, Governor S.W.T Lanham signed legislation for state funding to preserve the Alamo property. The state reimbursed Clara Driscoll and, on October 4,1905, the governor formally conveyed the Alamo property, including the convento and the mission church, to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Driscoll was now known as the ‘Savior of the Alamo’, but Zavala was right with her. Despite the common ground of preservation, the two women could not agree on just ‘how’ the Alamo should look and how the property should be developed. The women parted ways on bitter terms.
In 1908, on February 10, Adina barricaded herself in the long barracks building to protest its being rented. Adina feared that a DRT faction influenced by Driscoll planned to rent part of the site to a group of investors from St. Louis, Missouri, who were affiliated with several local businessmen. She refused to leave for three days, ignoring a visit from the sheriff and suffering a boycott that forbade anyone to bring her food and water.
"An attempt was made to serve the injunction upon Miss De Zavala. . . but the decrees of the court brought no fear.... she refused to accept a copy. . . and when an attempt was made to read it. . . she stopped her ears with her fingers." In (1911) Texas governor Oscar Colquitt gave the order to demolish all of the gaudy and unsightly Hugo & Schmeltzer building accept the two-story west and south walls. Driscoll was angered by this action.
In (1936) Adina wrote a letter to the state's newspaper editors decrying the focus on the church as the main structure of the Alamo. "You can not learn the history of the Alamo by visiting the church of the Alamo today," she wrote. "The bloodiest spot about the Fort was the long barrack and the ground in front of it, where the enemy fell in heaps.... the Church of San Antonio de Padua is NOT THE ALAMO, but just a small part of it-and not where the heroes died....".

Later Years

Adina De Zavala should be remembered today for her love of Texas History and the preservation of that rich and powerful legacy. Although the debate continues today exactly what the Alamo stands for, according to which side one takes, through her and Clara Driscoll’s tireless efforts we today have the rich past of the Alamo preserved for future generations. Driscoll died in June of 1945. Adina died on 1 March 1955 from complications of a broken hip. Her coffin was draped with a Texas flag and her remains were taken to the Alamo for one last visit. She is truly a Texas icon and savior of the Alamo.

Note

Four sitting US presidents have visited the Alamo- Benjamin Harrison in 1891, William McKinley in 1901, William H. Taft in 1909 and Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.
Adina also took great pride as an educator. She took pride in her 1900 playlet, The Six National Flags That Have Floated Over Texas, helped to educate her students with the diverse nationalities that formed the state. She was a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association. Adina and others helped save the Spanish Governor's Palace and several other structures, including the cluster of houses once lived in by Texas patriot Jose Antonio Navarro. It wasn't until 1994 that the DRT showed signs of reconciliation with Adina. On September 27, top officers of the DRT took part in a ceremony at Adina's grave at Saint Mary's Cemetery in San Antonio.

Texas Links

Timeline of the Texas Revolution

Further Reading

Roberts, Randy & Olson, James S.; A Line in the Sand-The Alamo in Blood and Memory; Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0-684-83544-4