
Cecilia Gutierrez Venable
Ph.D. from the University of Texas at El Paso
M.A. and B. A. in history from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi
BlackPast board member
Cecilia Gutierrez Venable received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at El Paso and her M.A. and B. A. in history from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi. Gutierrez Venable has worked in university, city, county and private archives and has taught history classes. She is currently working with the Sisters of the Holy Spirit as their historian and archivist. Gutierrez Venable has published several articles and books and is co-editing an anthology, Centuries of Voices on Black women in Texas. She is also working on a book about the foundress of the Sisters who built the first Black Catholic Church and School in San Antonio.
Articles by Cecilia Gutierrez Venable

Solomon Melvin Coles (1844-1924)
Solomon Melvin Coles was a minister, educator, and community leader. Born a Virginia slave in 1844, Coles pursued an education before...
November 1st, 2010

Gloria Dean Randle Scott (1938- )
Civic and educational leader Gloria Dean Randle Scott, the first African-American president of the Girl Scouts of America and the...
December 14th, 2011

Henry Boyd Hall (1899-1974)
Dentist, community leader, and civil rights activist Henry Boyd Hall was born September 12, 1899, in Palestine, Texas. Hall attended...
December 18th, 2011

Benjamin Todd Jealous (1973- )
Civic leader, environmentalist, activist, and journalist Benjamin Jealous is currently the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, one of the...
April 12th, 2012

Jarvis Lavonne Scott (1947-2017)
Jarvis Lavonne Scott, athlete, teacher, and mentor, was born on April 6, 1947, in Waco, Texas, to Ivory Scott and...
September 13th, 2013

Tone Johnson Jr. (1944– )
Tone Johnson, medical doctor, Vietnam hero, and civic leader was born on November 9, 1944 to Lyzer (Elizabeth) Marks Johnson...
September 13th, 2013

Alexis Margaret Herman (1947- )
Alexis Herman, US Secretary of Labor, political activist, civic leader, social worker, and entrepreneur, was born on July 16, 1947...
September 16th, 2013

Yvonne Jeffries Johnson (1942- )
Yvonne Jeffries Johnson, the first African American mayor of Greensboro, North Carolina, was born on October 26, 1942 in Greensboro...
September 24th, 2013

Juanita Jewel Shanks Craft (1902-1985) and the Long Civil Rights Movement in Texas
A small but growing number of black women are slowly being recognized for their contributions to the “long” civil rights...
October 6th, 2013

Darius Carlos Rucker (1966- )
Singer and songwriter Darius Rucker was born on May 13, 1966, to Carolyn Rucker in Charleston, South Carolina. His mother,...
January 11th, 2014

Simeon Daniel (1934-2012)
The Right Excellent Sir Simeon Daniel—teacher, lawyer, civic activist, Premier of Nevis and national hero—was born on August 22, 1934...
January 12th, 2014

Holy Cross Catholic Church, Corpus Christi, Texas (1914- )
Holy Cross Catholic Church, the first church for African American Catholics in Corpus Christi, Texas, was organized before the parish obtained...
January 21st, 2014