During her years of protecting the important mission, she identified historic sites, formed volunteer groups and defied law officers in her determination to protect this historic landmark.
Adina also encouraged statewide recognition of Texas Independence Day on March 2nd and worked to further the education of Texans about their heritage.
Adina was the granddaughter of Lorenzo De Zavala the first vice president of the provisional government (for whom Zavala County, Texas is named).
Born November 28, 1861 in Harris County within the sight of the Battlefield of San Jacinto, which is east of where Houston is located today, Adina was the oldest of 6 children. Her father was a rancher by the name of Augustine De Zavala, who became a Captain in the Confederate Navy and her mother was Julia Tyrrell De Zavala, a Dublin born woman, educated in Galveston.
Adina loved to read and she best loved reading about history. She also loved reading myths. In a 1935 interview for Holland's magazine she said that she and her sister used to produce plays and they were always scenes from history.
Adina was first tutored at home and then she attended the Ursuline Academy from 1871 to 1873.
It was about 1873 that Adina's father moved the family to Locke Hill, a community on Fredericksburg Road, about 12 miles north of downtown San Antonio.
Adina continued her education from 1879 to1881 at Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University) in Huntsville, and she also attended a music school in Missouri.
After teaching High School in Terrell, TX from 1884 to 1886, Adina returned to San Antonio, where she taught Elementary Schools until 1907. It was about the time of her return to San Antonio that Adina began her lifelong efforts to preserve Texas Historic places and traditions.
In two years time, she had formed a group of other women interested in preserving history to help her carry out her work. In 1893 Adina said that the group, who gathered periodically, gathered "to keep green the memory of heroes, founders, and pioneers of Texas." At that time the women became affiliated with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas as the De Zavala chapter.
Adina and Lizzie Coppini, wife of an Italian born sculptor, would make daily rounds by horse and buggy, appealing to local merchants for bricks and lumber to help repair the missions that were falling into such a sad state of disrepair, due in part to relic hunters who had been carrying away souvenirs from the missions. At the San Jose mission, whole figures had been stolen or made headless and fine old carved doors carried away in pieces.
Adina became somewhat of a national figure in her zeal to protect the long barracks section of the Alamo because of her belief that it was the location where much of the battle of the Alamo had been fought. She and fellow preservationist Clara Driscoll, disagreed on what was to be done with the long barracks, also called the convento. Driscoll wanted the long barracks taken down and had also considered renting them to outside investors and Adina was adamantly against either.
In protest, Adina barricaded herself in the long barracks for three days. But apparently, in holding the fort, Adina crossed swords with the law.
The February 11,1908, edition of the San Antonio Light reported that the sheriff, armed with an injunction, went to the Alamo grounds. "An attempt was made to serve the injunction upon Miss De Zavala. . . but the decrees of the court brought no fear.... she refused to accept a copy. . . and when an attempt was made to read it. . . she stopped her ears with her fingers."
Although Adina is probably best known for her work as a preservationist, her work as a teacher is equally important and it was through this work that she used creative ways to teach children about their Texas heritage. Her 1900 play, The Six National Flags That Have Floated Over Texas, helped acquaint her students with the diverse nationalities that formed the state. Her "Texas Under Six Flags" concept continues to be used today.
Adina and a group of women were also instrumental in helping to preserve the Spanish Governor's palace, and a group of houses once lived in by Texas patriot Jose Antonio Navarro, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Adina was a charter member of the Texas State Historical Association, a member of its executive council for 35 years, and in 1945, she became the only member voted an honorary life fellow of the council.
On March 2,1951, when she was 90, the San Antonio Conservation Society presented an award to Ms De Zavala at the Spanish Governor's Palace for "marking historic homes and sites."
Adina was a prolific writer. Her work included many newspaper articles on historical Texas subjects and a 1917 book titled "History and Legends of the Alamo and Other Missions In and Around San Antonio".
When Adina died at age 93 on March 1,1955, she was the last surviving member of her family.
Two months after her death in 1955, the Texas Legislature honored Adina De Zavala for her “life of devotion to Texas history, folklore, and general civic and patriotic work,” as well as her commitment to “immortalizing Texas history for the ages.”
http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/bios/zavala/zavala.html
http://www.texasescapes.com/MurrayMontgomeryLoneStarDiary/Savior-of-The-Alamo.htm
Remarkable woman. I believe DeZavala Road in San Antonio was named after her father.
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