Corpus Christi—A Brief History 299 repulsed when they landed on the coast. In this Battle of Corpus Christi, many residents evacuated before the battle but were able to return once it was over. Confederates were also said to have taken revenge on known Union sympathizers in the town, plundering their homes and property. Ranching and Deep-Water Port By the late 19th century, the area had become a significant cattle ranching region. Nearby King Ranch was established before the Civil War by Captain Richard King to raise domesticated longhorns. His breeding program transformed the rangy longhorns and wild horses into the finest cattle and horses in Texas. By the end of the war, he had more than 146,000 acres. King Ranch developed the Santa Gertrudis breed in the early 20th century, a cross between Brahman bulls, native to India, and British Shorthorn stock, still valued for its fine beef quality and ability to withstand arid climates. The ranch also produced the number one registration in the American Quarter Horse Association Stud Book and Registry and acquired prized stallions that went on to produce winning racehorses. King’s Ranch is now 825,000 acres and one of the largest cattle and horse ranches in the world. Captain King also invested heavily in building railroads, packinghouses, ice plants and harbor improvements in Corpus Christi, creating an infrastructure to get his cattle to market in the most efficient way possible. Corpus Christi grew into a regional hub for marketing, processing, packaging and distributing agricultural commodities for a 12-county trade area. The arrival of the four railroads in 1881-1909 stimulated a land boom, but the exploitation of gas beginning in 1923 and the development of a deepwater port in 1926 laid the foundation for its development as a modern city. The port on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway handles bulk cargoes, including grain, cotton, ores, petroleum, and raw materials.
300 Susser Holdings Oil Discovery and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi’s population doubled between 1931 and 1941. The discovery of the Saxet oil field in 1939 would bring prosperity and development to the region, drawing immigrants from all over the world. The Corpus Christi Cathedral was built in the 1940s to house a congregation that had already been in the city for a century. When World War II started, a huge Naval Air Station was built there, and after the war, an army depot was established. The new $25 million Naval Air Station would energize the economy, employing more than 9,000 workers in 1941. After World War II, Corpus Christi continued to grow, becoming the 12th largest port in the country and almost doubling its population by the end of the 1940s. Notable Business and Industry The popular Texas burger chain, Whataburger, opened its first location in Corpus Christi in 1950. Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton opened up their first location on Ayers Street across from Del Mar College, selling 25-cent burgers, chips and soft drinks. More stores were opened and gradually the chain expanded outside of Texas. On May 6, 1999, the company opened Whataburger by the Bay on Shoreline Drive. It is the largest Whataburger store at 6,000 square-feet and includes a life-size bronze of Harmon Dobson. Today, key industries in Corpus Christi include petrochemical, tourism, healthcare, retail, education, shipping, agriculture and the military. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a population of 307,953 according to the 2010 US Census.
Corpus Christi—A Brief History 301 Colleges and Universities Corpus Christi has been blessed with institutions of higher learning. Founded in 1935, Del Mar College is a community college that has two primary campuses and one campus annex. It offers associate of arts and associate of science degrees in over 50 university transfer majors, Associate in Applied Science degrees, Enhanced Skill Certificates and Certificates of Achievement in more than 80 occupational fields. The University of Corpus Christi, affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was established on Ward Island in 1947 and was the area’s premier institution of higher education for years. A state-supported upper-level institution opened its doors September 4, 1973. In 1977, the school’s name was changed to Corpus Christi State University, and 12 years later it joined the Texas A&M University System. In 1993, the university was renamed Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. It became a fouryear comprehensive university the next year with 5,000 students. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) named the campus as one of seven test sites for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in 2013. Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (1970) Corpus Christi gained nationwide attention in 1970 when the U.S. Supreme Court extended the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision to Mexican Americans in Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District. Judge Woodrow Seals found that the school board had consciously fostered a system of perpetual segregation that including busing Anglo students to schools out of their neighborhoods, renovating old schools in black and Mexican-American neighborhoods instead of building new ones, assigning black and Hispanic teachers to segregated schools and limiting the hiring of minority teachers in other district schools.
302 Susser Holdings Hurricanes Being a coastal town, Corpus Christi has been affected by many hurricanes and tropical storms. Two hurricanes hit the area in 1916 and 1919. The 1919 storm killed hundreds and devastated the city, with only three structures surviving the storm on North Beach. The seawall was built afterwards to protect the city. Hurricane Carla (1961), the most intense tropical storm on record to make landfall, and Hurricane Beulah (1967) did damage in the 1960s while Hurricane Celia (1970), the costliest tropical cyclone in Texas history until Hurricane Alicia (1983), and Tropical Storm Amelia (1978) destroyed much property. Hurricane Harvey (2017) tied Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone on record, inflicting $125 billion damage, primarily from rainfall with caused catastrophic flooding. Harvey dumped more than 40 inches, making it the wettest tropical cyclone on record. Hundreds of thousands of homes were flooded and more than 30,000 people were displaced. The area is still rebuilding from its damage.
Corpus Christi—A Brief History 303
304 Susser Holdings The first known Jewish settler to arrive in the Corpus Christi area was Julius Henry, who was born in Posen, Prussia in 1839.
The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi 305 The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi Early Jewish Settlers Corpus Christi has a rich Jewish community. The first known Jewish settler to arrive in the Corpus Christi area was Julius Henry. Born in Posen, Prussia in 1839, he emigrated to America to escape the hardships and persecutions many Jews were experiencing in the Pale region. After landing in New York in July 1854, he traveled throughout the U.S. taking various jobs before arriving in the Corpus Christi area in 1858. He worked as a farmer, baker and shipping clerk before opening his own business, a successful grocery store which remained in operation for several decades. His cousin, Bertha Nelson, immigrated to America and married him. The couple would raise seven children in Corpus Christi.27 In 1916, Julius Schwarz, Minna Schwarz Susser’s father, married Hattie Weil, daughter of another important Jewish settler, Charles Weil, who immigrated to Corpus Christi from Alsace, France, in 1867. Charles established the Frank-Weil General Store with his brother-in-law Emmanuel Frank, selling goods primarily to northern Mexican ranchers. After the railroads came, Corpus Christi’s trade with Mexico suffered, and Weil and Frank moved into ranching. Weil bought 40,000 acres of land which his son Jonas would grow to manage, becoming deeply involved with ranching. Residents remember Jonas, Hattie’s brother, as an expert rancher, always wearing his cowboy boots. Henry and Weil, along with other early Jewish settlers, were active in the larger Corpus Christi community, known for being active and involved citizens. By 1875, there were 45 Jews from 11 families living in Corpus Christi. They tended to earn their living as merchants, primarily selling dry goods, clothing and shoes. Lichtenstein’s Department Store, for example, was a “focal point” in the city for 100 years. Moise and Alex Weil, sons of Charles and brothers to 27 “Corpus Christi: A Historical Overview,” Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, https://www.isjl.org/ texas-corpus-christi-encyclopedia.html
306 Susser Holdings Jonas, operated a grocery store. Lawrence Levy owned a toy store, and Simon Gugenheim opened Gugenheim and Cohn Dry Goods Store.28 Establishing the Beth El Synagogue The first effort to start a formal Jewish organization in Corpus Christi was in 1875 during the bris of the son of Julius Henry—the fourth ever bris in the city—attended by Henry Weil, David Hirsch and Dr. Aaron Ansell who performed the ceremony. During the festivities and merrymaking, the “voice of Benevolence was heard, demanding attention” and those attending were asked to unite in the formation of a “Hebrew Benevolent Society.” Those attending responded affirmatively to the call as this was seen as the first step toward the erection of a temple. The Hebrew Benevolent Association was established shortly thereafter, but there would be no formal organization or regular religious services for years. High Holy Day services took place in homes of area Jews or in local buildings, particularly Meuly Hall, and were led by visiting rabbis invited from throughout Texas. By 1913, Corpus Christi was home to 100 Jews from 20 families. The Jewish congregation would finally be organized on September 30, 1928. By that time there were 200 Jews living in Corpus Christi. Ed Grossman was elected the first president of the congregation. On October 2, 1928, the congregation purchased land for the Temple Beth El for $875 at the corner of 11th and Craig Streets. In the spring of 1930, a one-room wooden building was constructed, and in 1932, Beth El was officially organized, adopting a constitution formally declaring that the congregation would be Reform but those who wished to adhere to a more traditional ritual by wearing yarmulkes and tallit could do so. A group of Orthodox members chose, instead, to hold their own separate High Holiday services at private homes and later Meuly Hall. 28 Ibid.
The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi 307 Beth El soon hired a full-time rabbi, Rabbi Sidney Wolf. The first in Corpus Christi, he came recommended by the Hebrew Union College and was hired for a three-month trial. Arriving ten days before Rosh Hashanah in 1932, he was soon regarded as an acceptable rabbi for this new and growing congregation. He was given a one-year contract and was formally installed in November by Rabbi Henry Cohen of Galveston, Texas. By the end of his first year, membership at Beth El totaled 60 families. Rabbi Wolf was well known for cultivating ties to the non-Jewish community. In 1936, he organized a joint Thanksgiving service with a local Episcopal congregation, an event so unusual it attracted the attention of Time Magazine, which devoted a full article to the event. He was also involved in many civic organizations, ranging from his time as President of the American Red Cross in 1937 to helping an African American Boy Scout troop purchase their uniforms. He took his students on yearly tours of a local African American church and was a driving force in an effort to desegregate the city’s golf course. He also taught Mexican Americans to read and write at the Adult Learning Center in the 1970s. His impact was so strong in Corpus Christi that November 10, 1982 was proclaimed Rabbi Sidney Wolf Day. Although early Corpus Christi Jews had held informal religious schools for the children as early as 1916, Beth El had established a formal religious school by 1930. By the end of 1933, the number of students at the school had increased to 40. The Jewish community continued to grow along with Corpus Christi’s general population during the 1930s after oil was discovered and the port was opened. In the mid-1930s, there were an estimated 645 Jews living in Corpus Christi. Due to this growth, a new synagogue was proposed by Beth El President Alex Weil in 1936. The wooden building was demolished to make way for the new temple which was dedicated on April 5, 1937. As a result of the establishment of a Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi in 1941, a new wave of Jews arrived, many of whom came from Orthodox backgrounds. The congregation of Beth El would formally affiliate with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1946 and would celebrate its 15th anniversary the next year. There were now 187 Jewish families. Sam Susser
308 Susser Holdings served as president of the Temple League and was co-chair of the United Jewish Appeal at this time. Susser was first vice president of Temple Beth El in 1948, the year the congregation purchased property behind the synagogue to build a bigger school. Property for a new synagogue on Saratoga Boulevard and Shea Parkway would be bought in 1968, but the new synagogue would not actually be built until 1983.29 B’nai Israel I n October 1942, the city’s growing number of Orthodox Jews formed Shomre Emunah (“keepers of the faith”). The following year, they established a formal congregation, under the leadership of Will Rauch, which was called B’nai Israel. The new congregation celebrated its first High Holiday services in 1943, led by their new rabbi, Yonah Geller. In 1944, B’nai Israel moved into its own space on Elizabeth and 13th streets after temporarily using Beth El’s annex, but by September 1950, it was meeting on Fort Worth Street. Sarah Susser, Sam’s mother, became active in B’nai Israel Auxiliary as well as Eastern Star and the Pioneer Woman’s Association (a Zionist charitable organization). Sam Susser was a member of the B’nai B’rith Knights of Pythias, a Lion and a Jaycee. He served as program chair for the Jaycees in 1948. B’nai Israel and Beth El worked together in a spirit of cooperation although they had differing religious practices. For many years, the two congregations organized a joint Simchat Torah celebration.30 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.
The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi 309 Jewish Charitable Activities in Corpus Christi The Jewish community has been very active in charitable organizations and fundraising almost since it was organized. The Hebrew Free Loan Society was chartered in 1940 with Abe Block as President. The organization provided emergency financial support—up to $200—to those members in need with no interest charged. There were 200 members who paid annual dues of $3. The Corpus Christi Jewish community became especially active in charitable efforts during World War II as news began to reach them about the horrific events that were happening in Europe. The city’s Jewish Welfare Fund, under Alex Weil’s leadership, raised $16,000 in 1939. Another $126,611 was raised in 1946. With the help of the Jewish Welfare Fund, between 1940 and 1957, 13 Holocaust refugee families and individuals were brought to Corpus Christi to start a new life. The Jewish community also provided meals and arranged social functions for those stationed at the Naval Air Station during the war. Corpus Christi Jewish women sold $226,000 in war bonds, and Jewish families provided free longdistance phone calls to servicemen. The Jewish community was also greatly represented among those who enlisted or were drafted from Corpus Christi with some 10 percent serving in the armed forces. After the war, The Council of Jewish Women was established. Its 35 members undertook many charitable projects such as establishing a library at the Cuddihy Home for Girls as well as arranging birthday parties and providing clothes for the residents. The Council also sponsored a medical school in Paris and sent supplies to a Moroccan nursery school. The group even brought former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to Corpus Christi to speak in 1955. Other groups, such as Hadassah, Young Judea and Pioneer Women, were also particularly active in Corpus Christi, sponsoring speakers, raising money and supporting the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. In addition to participating in specifically Jewish charitable organizations, the Jewish community was also active in non-Jewish local charities. For example, Fanny Alexander served as President of the Nueces County Chapter of the American Red Cross; on the Nueces County Tuberculosis Association; on the
310 Susser Holdings Hilltop Sanitarium board; and was a part of the Texas Branch of the American Association of University Women. Many Jewish residents also played other civic roles in the Corpus Christi community. Albert Lichtenstein, grandson of the Lichtenstein’s Department Store founder, Morris Lichtenstein, was Corpus Christi’s first Jewish mayor, elected in 1953. The local Junior Chamber of Commerce named Nat Selinger the “Outstanding Man” for his contributions to the city. Sam Louis Susser was involved in numerous civic activities, serving on advisory boards for the local colleges, hospitals and economic development.31 Jewish Community Center of Corpus Christi 32 I n 1952, Beth El and B’nai Israel established the Jewish Community Council, unifying youth activities and other social functions and establishing the Jewish Community Center.33 The Jewish Community Center provides several levels of membership. It has meeting rooms, a swimming pool, patio and playground areas. The primary mission of the Jewish Community Council was to develop, foster and strengthen Jewish life and enhance the education, cultural, physical and social aspects of the Corpus Christi Jewish community. The community center, however, was established to serve people of all faiths and denominations with a quality educational experience. The center provides a preschool program for children beginning at age 15 months and a half-day kindergarten. There are also before and after school programs that provide a safe environment as well as weekly arts and crafts projects, games and other activities. A summer program is also available. 31 “Corpus Christi: A Historical Overview,” Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, https://www.isjl.org/ texas-corpus-christi-encyclopedia.html 32 Jewish Community Center of Corpus Christi website, http://jcccorpuschristi.org/ 33 “Corpus Christi: A Historical Overview,” Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, https://www.isjl.org/ texas-corpus-christi-encyclopedia.html
The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi 311 The Jewish Community of Corpus Christi in Recent Years The Jewish population in Corpus Christi reached its peak in 1990 with about 1,400. It has since declined and both the Beth El and B’nai Israel congregations began shrinking. In 2005, the two congregations agreed to merge, forming Congregation Beth Israel. This new congregation has about 300 members representing 150 Jewish families. The congregation of Beth Israel sponsors weekly worship services for Shabbat evening and morning prayer, as well as observances of all festivals, holy days and holidays. It provides educational programs for children from kindergarten to high school. Adult education is taught by the rabbi. It also oversees the two Jewish cemeteries in the Corpus Christi area.34 Jewish Cemeteries in Corpus Christi I n the early years, there was no formal Jewish cemetery in Corpus Christi. When Jewish residents died, their families would have to transport them to other towns that had Jewish cemeteries or bury them in local cemeteries. When David Hirsch’s wife, Jeanette Hirsch, passed away in 1873, he had to transport her body by horse-drawn carriage 130 miles to Gonzales, Texas for burial in a Jewish cemetery. Upon the family’s return from Gonzales, Captain Richard King, founder of the King Ranch, Hirsch’s partner at Corpus Christi National Bank, stopped by the house to pay his respects. He asked why they took her all the way to Gonzales. Two days later, Captain King’s attorney, delivered a deed made out to the Jewish community of Corpus Christi for a piece of property on the edge of town that could be consecrated as a Jewish cemetery. The Jewish community was very thankful. The Hebrew Rest Cemetery was established in 34 “About Us,” Beth Israel website http://bethisraelcc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view= article&id=43&Itemid=64
312 Susser Holdings 1875. The earliest grave is dated 1878. Sam and Minna Schwarz Susser were buried at Hebrew Rest Cemetery. Their headstones are the largest ones in the cemetery and were designed by their sonin-law Al McCall who resides with Susan Susser in San Antonio. “Senator” Sam Susser believed that “he who laughs last, always laughs best” and wanted his headstone to tower over Minna’s aunts and uncles who had refused to bless their wedding since he came from the wrong side of the tracks. Congregation Beth Israel (CBI) owns Hebrew Rest Cemetery at the corner of Brownlee and Laredo Streets and controls the practices and procedures of the two Jewish sections of the Seaside Memorial Park on Ocean Drive. A committee of the congregation is charged with the oversight and with making periodic recommendations to the Board for updating the guidelines that cover the use of those sections. The congregation determines eligibility for funeral services. The CBI rabbi is in charge of all ritual matters, and all funeral services and officiants must be Jewish. If the rabbi is unavailable, the President of the Congregation and/or the Chair of the Cemetery Committee is responsible for finding a suitable substitute. Seaside Memorial Park and Funeral home was established in 1936 in the farming community of Aberdeen outside the Corpus Christi proper. The small cemetery is about three or four acres with the oldest burial in the original Aberdeen Section dating back to early 1900. W.R. Reid, a Texas businessman, purchased the cemetery in 1938 and made improvements which included paving the roads, establishing pre-planning and setting aside an area for a mausoleum. There are also sections for veterans and different faiths. Louis and Sarah Susser, Sam’s parents, were buried in the B’nai Israel section in the early 1950s. In 1962, Reid constructed the Red Mausoleum Chapel, and in 1979, the Seaside Funeral Home was established to oversee the cemetery. Seaside Cemetery now sits along 4357 Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi and was owned by four local families—Mintz, Nuss, Cottingham and Zane— prior to being sold to a national operator. Congregation Beth Israel controls the practices and procedures of two sections of the cemetery.