CORPUS
CHRISTI PAN AMERICAN ROUND TABLE
History
The following is an excerpt from The Pan American Round Table, Lois Terry Marchbanks, 1983, Avon Behren Press, pg. 126.
The Pan American Round Table of Corpus Christi was organized on December 6,1955. Mrs. Cy Nelson of the San Antonio Table appointed Mrs. William Dowd (now Mrs. John Cox) to organize the Table. The Table was to be a pilot in that it was to be much smaller than most Tables. Twenty-five ladies were invited to join. Then, and now, our meetings are luncheon meetings, held at the Corpus Christi Town Club.
Since our organization we have given scholarships to needy students of Pan American countries. We also observed Pan American Day each year with a reception at the Corpus Christi Art Museum. Members dressed in Pan American costumes and Mexican food was served. Guests were invited and it was always a gay and rewarding evening.
In our early years, members were in charge of the program and gave papers on such subjects as "Mexico! A New Look," "The Peace Corps in Latin America" and other topics on U.S. Relations with Latin America. For the last number of years we have invited guest speakers.
In 1966 our membership was increased to 30 active members. In 1969 our Constitution was changed to expand our membership to fifty active members.
We have been host to the State Convention.
Every year our Table has observed Columbus Day with the gift of a book to La Retama Library to be placed on the Pan American shelf.
Most years we have had a bus trip to places of historical interest in South Texas. These trips are well attended and interesting.
On February 17, 1981, we sponsored, along with Corpus Christi State University and the Institute de Cultura Hispanica de Corpus Christi, a seminar on "Contemporary Mexico," with Dr. Harley Browning and Dr. Karl Schmidt from The University of Texas, Dr. Mario Ojeda of Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City, and Dr. Robert Kruger, former Ambassador-at-Large to Mexico. It was one of our most successful efforts and received community participation and acclaim.