Neighborhood Stories - La Bajada
[bc]'s Neighborhood Stories is a research and documentation project that celebrates community identity, history, and culture by showcasing neighborhood histories. This initiative amplifies neighborhood voices by working directly with residents to document neighborhood narratives and provide a platform to share these stories. Products of the initiative include films, exhibits, and publications that trace the interrelated social, economic, political, and physical histories within a neighborhood.
Learn more through our Neighborhood Stories project guide.
Watch our series of Neighborhood Stories feature films.
View our collection of one-on-one Neighborhood Stories videos.
[bc] Contributors:
Thomas Simpson
Emily Schmidt
Melanie Wood
Jennifer Dowland
Lauren Powers
Diana Kichler
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La Bajada Stories
November 19, 2012
The event celebrated this century-old Mexican American neighborhood.
View more photos of the event on our Facebook page.
On the evening of November 17th, the first exhibit was held in La Bajada, a residential neighborhood dating back to the 1930s just west of Downtown Dallas. La Bajada's story was told through an exhibit of the events that shaped the neighborhood and a short film that featured interviews with neighborhood residents: Pete Martinez, Anita Martinez, Gloria Lopez, Ysidro Huerta, Sr. and Ysidro Huerta, Jr., John Zapata Gonzalez, and Felix Lozada. Guests had opportunities to contribute their own personal stories and memories about the neighborhood through recorded interviews and enjoyed tacos, tamales, and pastries from Taquería La Chilanga and La Estrella Bakery. By far the most popular activity was sledding down the slopes of the Trinity River levees, a common neighborhood recreation first enjoyed more than 60 years ago.
Neighborhood Stories: La Bajada was presented with the assistance of the Dallas Mexican American Historical League and the West Dallas Community Centers.