Stories of Black San Antonians surpass 1 million hits online
Library’s collection of funeral programs reaches a milestone
The African American Funeral Program Collection at the Central Library captures stories of Black San Antonians, from birth to death.
The obituaries range from the one-sheet remembrance of library volunteer Ira Lott ( June 4, 1934 - Nov. 2, 2018) to the 12page, glossy booklet chronicling the life of rhythm and blues singer Melvin “Marvelous Mel” Waiters ( June 25, 1956 - May 28, 2015). Carl Henry Matthews (Sept. 20, 1936 - June 28, 2006) penned his “home going,” with a forwarding address — “32 Jesus Way, God’s Town, Heaven.”
In 2012, the library partnered with the University of North Texas to have the collection scanned, digitized and accessible online at the Portal to Texas History. In October, the collection marked a significant milestone — 1 million hits.
Archivist/librarian Matthew Dewaelsche curates the actual collection, preserved in the Texana/genealogy Department at the San Antonio Public Library.
“A very small percentage on the portal get that many hits,” Dewaelsche said.
The funeral programs are part of a wide range of archival collections preserved in a climatecontrolled vault on the sixth floor of the Central Library, 600 Soledad St. More than 4,530 programs dating back to 1935 spotlight the lives of African Americans who have died in Bexar County. The collection includes obituaries from 34 Texas counties and eight states.
According to the University of North Texas, the digitized version is one of the most visited sites on the portal. The scanned programs include remembrances for 10 infants under 1 year old and four people over 100 years old. The oldest notice is for Prudence Curry, director of the George Washington Carver Library on North Hackberry Street during segregation. She died in 1990 at the age of 105.
The collection began in the summer of 2005 when Patricia Pickett donated two dozen funer
al programs to the library. Pickett discovered boxes stacked with the pamphlets after she moved into a house owned by Dorothy Pickett, her mother-inlaw. The older Pickett had managed the collection of obituaries at Mount Zion Baptist Church.
The late Rev. Claude Black suggested Pickett take the programs to an institution to be preserved. Carver Community Cultural Center administrators advised her to donate the collection to the San Antonio Public Library, where experts could properly maintain and document the historical biographies.
Dewaelsche and retired librarian Frank Faulkner agreed the collection would add a valuable chapter to San Antonio’s history and genealogy resources. They contacted local Black churches and community leaders about helping add to the collection.
Geraldine Smedler, a member of San Antonio African American Genealogical and Historical Society, donated more than 100 programs from Second Baptist Church.
Faulkner, who retired in 2014, said that before 1970, African American obituaries were not often printed in San Antonio mainstream newspapers.
“It’s a great archive, one of few this large in the entire country,” Faulkner said. “It’s being used more than any of us expected.”
One of the oldest programs dates back to 1900. It’s for the Rev. Charles. L. Madison, an ancestor of Ira Lott. The notice, from Austin, is not part of the scanned collection.
In 2015, the San Antonio Juneteenth Association recognized Dewaelsche with the Sojourner Truth Advocacy Award. A year later, the portal and the San Antonio Central Public Library won the Texas Digital Library Trailblazer Award for innovative use of resources.
“I’m very proud of this collection,” Dewaelsche said. “It’s not just for me. It’s a good thing for the community.”
The librarian said the department’s work isn’t done — they’re still seeking more obituaries for the archive. For more information, call 210-207-2500 or email genealogydesk@sanantonio.gov.