San Antonio on parade

the long version

"Cities, like people, may be best known by the way they party. For nearly a century-and-a-half, San Antonio has celebrated well. In this fascinating look at late-ninteenth-century festivals in San Antonio, Judith Berg Sobre brings an art historian's sensibility to accounts of the pageantry, parades, and festive events that typified a city welcoming settlers from several nations and American regions into a community that valued their individuality even while it taught them a new identity.". "Sobre traces the evolution of the individual celebrations to show how they reflected the growth and maturing of the city and how ultimately they changed as American identity became less inclusive and more chauvinistic. She draws on contemporary writings, especially newspaper accounts, and pictures to form impressions and inform understandings of the conduct and function of civic celebrations."--BOOK JACKET.