From slavery to freedom, to education, to achievement: these words reflect the goals of African Americans who first came as slaves with the Spanish to this part of the Texas coast. Freed by the Civil War on Juneteenth (June 19, 1865), blacks soon established an active and viable community, a significant part of which was defined by the black churches. Prominent leaders emerged, including Solomon Melvin Coles, H. Boyd Hall, Rufus Avery, and Gloria Randle Scott. Using photographs from individual collections, as well as the Corpus Christi Public Library, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, African Americans in Corpus Christi reveals the history and people of Corpus Christi.

African Americans in Corpus Christi (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Venable, Cecilia Gutierrez

Glasrud, Bruce A.

O’Rear, Mary Jo

Scott, Gloria Randle

Williams, Henry J.

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

From slavery to freedom, to education, to achievement: these words reflect the goals of African Americans who first came as slaves with the Spanish to this part of the Texas coast. Freed by the Civil War on Juneteenth (June 19, 1865), blacks soon established an active and viable community, a significant part of which was defined by the black churches. Prominent leaders emerged, including Solomon Melvin Coles, H. Boyd Hall, Rufus Avery, and Gloria Randle Scott. Using photographs from individual collections, as well as the Corpus Christi Public Library, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, African Americans in Corpus Christi reveals the history and people of Corpus Christi.

African Americans in Corpus Christi

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

Since the late 1830s, the natural harbor at the mouth of South Texas' Nueces River has been a center of regional maritime trade. But by the early 1900s, a storm of political wrangling, cronyism, and corruption was threatening to scuttle the city's efforts toward securing a dependable deep water port to attract international commerce to Corpus Christi. On September 14, 1919, a massive hurricane struck the bay, burying the downtown area under ten feet of debris and killing as many as one thousand people. The storm left millions of dollars of damage in its wake. The citizens of Corpus Christi, rather than being demoralized, however, were galvanized by the disaster. In gripping detail, author Mary Jo O'Rear chronicles the successful efforts of the newly unified Corpus Christi—efforts that culminated in the dedication of the Port of Corpus Christi on September 14, 1926, seven years to the day after the storm that devastated the city. Storm over the Bay will appeal to readers interested in regional history, politics, and economics. It is a must-read for anyone who appreciates Corpus Christi and its colorful past.

Storm over the Bay: The People of Corpus Christi and Their Port (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Business & Money

Economics

Texas A&M University Press

After a devastating hurricane in 1919, the people of Corpus Christi faced the stark reality of their vulnerability. It was clear that something had to be done, but the mere will to take precautionary measures did not necessarily lead the way. Instead, two decades would pass before an effective solution was in place. Mary Jo O’Rear, author of Storm over the Bay, returns to tell the story of a city’s long and often frustrating path to protecting itself. Bulwark Against the Bay reveals the struggle to construct a seawall was not merely an engineering challenge; it was also bound up with the growing popularity of the Ku Klux Klan, local aversion to Roman Catholicism, the emergence of the League of United Latin American Citizens, new efforts on behalf of African American equality, the impact of the Great Depression, support for Franklin Roosevelt, and reactions to the New Deal. A case study of a community wrestling with itself even as it races with the clock, Bulwark Against the Bay adds to our understanding of urban history, boardroom and backroom politics, and the often harsh realities of geography and climate.

Bulwark Against the Bay: The People of Corpus Christi and Their Seawall (Volume 30) (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

History

Americas

Storm over the Bay: The People of Corpus Christi and Their Port (Volume 16) (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Review\n“Mary Jo O’Rear’s new book is a broad-ranging, lively, efficient account of the barrier islands along the Texas Coastal Bend near Corpus Christi. The research is stunning, even better than in her two first-rate volumes on the Port of Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Seawall, and her writing deftly paints pictures of the places and peoples and events she is describing.”—Alan Lessoff, author of Where Texas Meets the Sea: Corpus Christi and its History -- Alan Lessoff\n“Once again, O'Rear highlights the under-researched areas of South Texas. She mines through primary documents and maps, and then analyzes her findings, making her book the only serious work which examines the islands and the barriers to the bays.”— Cecilia Gutierrez Venable, author of Historic Photos of Corpus Christi and Remembering Corpus Christi -- Cecilia Gutierrez Venable\nMary Jo O’Rear rounds out her coastal bend trilogy with a deep and engaging look at the prehistory and history of the Texas barrier islands. In Barrier to the Bays, O’Rear captures the deep time of the islands (Mustang, Padre, and San José), the bays (Aransas, Corpus Christi, Copano, Redfish, and Nueces), and Aransas Pass. From the earliest human settlements to the twentieth century, O’Rear explores the complex interplay between people and economies struggling to survive in a region dominated by indifferent forces of nature. 
Barrier to the Bays opens with the natural formation and development of the barrier isles and the arrival of Native Americans, Spanish castaways, French explorers, and Catholic missionaries. European settlements on the mainland eventually led to rich commercial development of the area and its bounty as ranching, fishing, and transportation took hold. By the early twentieth century, the people of the Coastal Bend began wrestling with a new drive to create deep-water harbors along the coastline in the face of the ever-present hurricane threat. O’Rear shows that by World War II the region had settled into a kind of “practicality” as tourists and traders took their place among the denizens of the islands and bays. 
In addition to the stories of familiar historical figures, Barrier to the Bays stresses the importance of technology in the settlement and development of the region. “Nothing could have been achieved among the barriers and bays of the Coastal Bend without the right tools.” O’Rear underscores the importance of properly designed sailing vessels and the centrality of navigation technology as an integral part of the barrier isle story.

Barrier to the Bays: The Islands of the Coastal Bend and Their Pass (Volume 35) (Gulf Coast Books, sponsored by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

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Books by O’Rear, Mary Jo