Lydia Mendoza - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Growing up along the border of Mexico and Texas, Lydia Mendoza's parents fled Mexico during the Mexican Rebellion and worked hard all week, then sang on street corners for extra cash to pay the bills. This is how Lydia Mendoza learned to sing and play her guitar. She continued to sing on the local Spanish radio station as a paying gig until she began recording Spanish songs that became popular hits. She played her unusual 12 string guitar as she sang. Her singing career eventually crossed over from just Spanish speakers to a broader U.S. audience. She has been the inspiration for many female singers to enter the music career.
She performed for President Carter's 1977 inauguration and in 1999 was presented the National Medal of Arts award by President Clinton. Other honors included being inducted into the Texas Women Hall of Fame, Conjunto Music Hall of Fame, and the Tejano Music Hall of Fame.
This marker is mounted on a granite slab laid on the ground below her own tombstone in the San Fernando Cemetery 2 at 746 Castroville Road in San Antonio, TX. Her plot is on the NE corner of the cemetery, near the intersection of Castroville Rd and Cupples Rd. Cupples Rd. changes name to SW 26th Street once it crosses Castroville Rd. and continues northward. Look for a row of flat headstones in a row between the cemetery plot markers 2-D and 1-B. Her marker and headstone is near the middle of the row of grave plots.

NPR article on her life and career:
(visit link)

Listen to her sing "Mal Hombre."
(visit link)

Marker Number: 18446 Marker Text: (May 31, 1916 - December 20, 2007) Houston Native Lydia Mendoza was one of the first and most famous singers of the Texas-Mexico border and Latin America. Her 1934 recording of "Mal Hombre" for Bluebird Records launched a decades-long career. Mendoza became famous for both her voice and skills playing the twelve-string guitar. She was known as "La Alondra de la Frontera" and performed at President Carter's 1977 inauguration. She won numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 1999, and induction in the Halls of Fame for Texas Women, Tejano Music, and Conjunto Music. Medoza's image was featured on a U.S. postage stamp in 2013. Recorded - 2016 Marker is property of the State of Texas

Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   06/11/2019 WayBetterFinder visited it