Gus Mejia Collection of Mexican American Democrats Records

Collection

Identifier: Coll-59

Staff Only

Records of the Corpus Christi chapter of the Mexican American Democrats. The materials deal with Mr. Mejia's participation in the Mexican American Democrats (M.A.D.) of Texas, these materials illustrate the development of that important Hispanic political group. They include documents such as programs, photographs, newsletters, political ephemera, membership rosters, and other items that show the many activities and nature of M.A.D. over the years.

Dates

Extent

4 Linear Feet

Biographical / Historical

Augustine (Gus) Mejia was born in Mercedes, Texas, on August 28, 1923. He was the youngest of twelve children. As a young man, Mejia moved to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1942.

Mejia served as a Chief Steward for the National Maritime Union of America for 21 years. He then served as their personal liaison officer. Mejia worked as a Court Bailiff for the Nueces County Court at Law No. 3, and at the 347 District Court for ten years. After retiring from Nueces County, he worked as a Civil Process Server from 1991 to 2007.

Mejia had served on the Texas Parks and Recreation Board; the 319th Family District Court County Child Welfare Board, and the Foster Children Trust Fund. He was also a member of the St. John Baptist Catholic Church. Mejia became a member of MAD in 1976. He was the designer of the MAD logo, which was based on ancient Mexican symbols that were imprinted on clay as stamps. The logo was copyrighted in 1983, and is still being used by MAD. He received a Certificate of Appreciation from MAD for services from 1976 to 1996. Mejia died in Corpus Christi on June 10, 2007. He and his wife, Estela Mejia, had four children, many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The Gus Mejia Collection of MAD includes the following documents titled: Chronological History of MAD (June 1972 to June 1980); A Brief History of Mexican American Democrats (1975 to 1991); and a list of MAD Charter Members, which includes Past MAD Presidents (1976 to 1997). There is also a book that Mejia used to create the MAD logo.

MAD adopted their constitution in 1977, and was amended in 1990 to include the purpose as “to seek and represent all Mexican Americans at all levels and in all activities of the Democratic Party”. Booklets of the constitution and documents of the Bylaws are included in the collection. MAD was created in 1975 to seek representation, and pursue the interest of the Mexican Americans into the Democratic Party. Many MAD chapters spread across Texas. In June 1976, MAD attended the State of Texas Democratic Convention, held in Houston, Texas, and succeeded in having elected the first Mexican American to the Democratic National Committee. At this convention, more Mexican Americans were chosen to be National and State Delegates than in the past years.

Some of the MAD charter members include Oscar Reyna (first MAD president), Dr. Cleotilde Garcia, Dr. Dalia Garcia, Augustine (Gus) Mejia, Senator Carlos Truan, Elvira Truan, Arnold Gonzales, Sr., Dora Garcia, Representative Irma Rangel, Dr. Arturo Medina, and Ruben Bonilla. These individuals are also in the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Special Collections and Archives database.