Lot 017 - Vintage Mexican-American Family Photo Album and Scrapbook, Barron and Lira Families, Caldwell, Texas, Circa 1930s-1950s, Including Photographs, Marriage Certificate, Newspaper Clippings, and Ephemera

Vintage photo album and scrapbook documenting the Barron and Lira families, compiled in a brown cloth-covered three-ring binder with photographs, documents, and ephemera spanning from the early 20th century through the 1950s. The album chronicles the family's life in Mexico and their settlement in Caldwell, Texas, in Burleson County.

The album contains a translated United States of Mexico marriage certificate uniting Mr. Vencil R. Doyel and Miss Ida Pearl Shardelman, dated April 12, 1953, from the State of Morelos, bearing the seal of the Registro Civil and signed by Judge Constancio Torres. A "Primera Comunion" ("First Communion") card is inscribed for Antonio Barron, age 11, son of Jose Barron, dated March 24, 1939, in Caldwell, Texas. A City of Caldwell, Texas receipt dated August 5, 1953, is made out to Fida Lira Barron.

Photographs throughout the album include family portraits, school class photographs, children with chickens and farm animals, a young man in military uniform, a man posed with an automobile, a child on a bicycle with a standing bear, and multi-generational group portraits. Several earlier photographs depict large family groups in studio settings with painted backdrops and woven rugs. A newspaper clipping from The Burleson County Citizen, dated Friday, February 18, 1966, shows new U.S. citizens taking the Oath of Allegiance, with individuals identified in the caption. A partial page from a "Social Hispano-Americano" organization lists officers including Mr. Gil Bazan as Vice President and Mrs. Cane Casteneda as Secretary.

The photographs are housed in plastic sleeve pages. Many of the photographs exhibit creasing, surface wear, and toning. The earlier studio family portrait is torn into two pieces with significant losses and heavy creasing. The album binder shows general wear.