Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (Museo del Westside)

The Museo del Westside, operated by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, will improve the care and management of its collections and make them publicly searchable online. The museum’s collection of over 3,000 photographs, oral histories, and architectural artifacts document the history of San Antonio’s Westside neighborhood, which became the primary San Antonio neighborhood housing working-class Tejanos (Texans of Mexican descent) and Mexican immigrants in the late 19th century. Museum staff will transfer the collection into new collection storage areas and complete the associated data entry. In partnership with local schools and senior centers, staff will recruit and train volunteer docents as well as host workshops to engage them with the use of the collections management system. The project will provide improved access to objects for future exhibitions and make the collections publicly accessible through the museum website.