City welcomes four leaders into its Women's Hall of Fame

It is important to acknowledge the women that are making a difference in the community, and the city of San Marcos hosts an annual award ceremony to do just that. Mary Peterson Earls, Nancy Hanks Ellis, Bobbie Garza-Hernandez and Mittie Miller were recently inducted into the Hall of Fame for providing assistance to those in need and demonstrating leadership qualities.

According to the city’s website, the San Marcos Women’s Hall of Fame began in 1984 and has inducted 140 women to date.

The presenter listed the extensive volunteer organizations that Earl has been a part of, including a term as the first African-American President of the Hays County League of Women Voters, she’s a court appointed special advocate for children, she’s on the board of the Hays County Crime Stoppers, among many other service organizations. Earls’ nomination letter said that she is known as the “resource lady” in her community–a moniker she received for helping those in need receive the resources that they lack.

Earls said she wanted to give gratitude to God, who she credited as the author of her journey.

“My parents taught us early on, service is the one thing you can do.” Earls said. “Thank you again San Marcos for allowing me to do all that I do here, and just hang in there with me, there's so much more to do here.”

The presenter said that Ellis is a court appointed special advocate for children and has helped 51 children in that capacity so far. Ellis was nominated by the CASA Advocacy Program Manager. She has also served on PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, an organization that is committed to standing up for equality and fairness for those in the LBGBTQ+ commu- nity, and she was elected to the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees in the 70s.

In her speech, Ellis told a story of an exchange with her grandmother that inspired her to work as hard as she has.

“One time I held up her hand when it looked like mine does now,” Ellis said. “I was 14 and she was quite old, and I said, ‘Grandmother, your hand looks old.’ And she said, ‘Well yes, I would be ashamed to meet my maker if I had hands that didn’t looked like I had worked.’” The presenter said Garza-Hernandez had a career in youth services, which included state-wide migrant education programs, employment programs for high school dropouts and local and statewide youth employment programs. Garza-Hernandez served as a member of the council of the Indigenous and Tejano Community and is a member of the Indigenous Cultures Institute Pilam Circle, among other organizations.

Garza-Hernandez said that coming back home to San Marcos has been a journey for her because things have changed a lot. She said that her family of origin, the Garza family, is very large and has contributed a lot to the community without acknowledgment for years.

“If it’s happened with my family, it’s happened with every other of the 400 original Tejano families that established here and helped build this city,” Garza-Hernandez said. “And it’s time that those stories are told.

Bobbie-Hernandez is currently working to help the Indigenous Cultures Institute build an institute at the Sacred Springs in San Marcos, where the Coahuiltecan people have resided for over 12,000 years.

“We were forced to go underground, as they say, to not recognize or share that we are Indigenous,” Garza-Hernandez said. “Now it’s with great pride that I can say to you that my Native American heritage is very important, and there is a lot of work to be done so that those that identify as I do, as Indigenous, have the opportunity to enjoy their culture, to learn the language, to remember the customs, to understand the ancestry, but most of all, we are the people that have the medicine to make this planet right, and we will have to bring us out of the situation that we are in across this nation. They are the keepers of the planet.”

The presenter said that Miller is committed to uplifting the Dunbar Historic Neighborhood and advocating for social and economic advancement for the black community that resides there.

In her speech, Miller encouraged people to speak up against injustice.

“I proclaim myself to be a missionary activist,” Miller said. “If you see something, say something.”

To learn more about the Women’s Hall of Fame go to this link: sanmarcostx.gov/332/Womens-Hall-of-Fame.