Service in the Basement

ID: 2519 ~ Source: Vasquez, Martin J., interviewed by Marla Lester, February 8, 2001, in Waco, Texas, Baylor Institute for Oral History. View Full Interview
This file appears in: St. Francis on the Brazos

Martin Vasquez describes the racism of Waco in the 1920s and how the Hispanic population used to worship in secret in the St. Francis basement.

This file appears in: St. Francis on the Brazos

By Amanda Sawyer
The founding of St. Francis on the Brazos in 1924 marked the return of Franciscan missionaries to central Texas after a century’s absence. At the invitation of Rev. C.E. Byrne, the bishop of Galveston, Spanish Franciscan missionaries settled in Waco…