Interfaith group visits Callandret

By SANDRA TUMBERLINSON
San Benito Historical Society

The Callandret Black History Museum of San Benito hosted an interfaith group from Hidalgo and Cameron Counties, Saturday, July 30, 2022.

The visit was yet again another gift of remembrance and thanksgiving for the Callandret family legacy, and the heightened visibility and prominence of the African American livelihood in the San Benito community.

For volunteers, and members of the San Benito Historical Society, it was heartening to watch the gathering of interfaith friends soak in the history of an authentic black story and increase their awareness of the struggles and resilience of African Americans in the 20th century Rio Grande Valley.

The museum graphically displays and carefully documents the black journey to freedom and celebrates the many ways they have contributed to American life.

William Louis Davis, a descendant of the Callandret and Davis families, provided a verbal portrait of the family’s history and how significant their influence was on the economic and cultural development of San Benito.

The well-organized and accessible museum brings into clearer focus the realities of how people of racial and cultural distinction learned to commune and build community-life together, and also how they sought to preserve evidence of their existence.

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