In the Loop: A Political and Economic History of San Antonio by David R. Johnson

Abstract

Reviewed by: In the Loop: A Political and Economic History of San Antonio by David R. Johnson Herbert G. Ruffin II In the Loop: A Political and Economic History of San Antonio. By David R. Johnson. (San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2020. Pp. 576. Illustrations, appendix, notes, index.) In the Loop examines the political and economic history of San Antonio from the 1700s into the 2000s, ranging from the time it was a colony of Spain to the mid-1970s, when its city leaders and businessmen stopped linking inevitability to city growth and instead adopted a modern political system of urban growth centered on good-faith cooperation by government, business, and investors. It is written in the tradition of American urban history by scholars like Carl Abbott, Roger W. Lotchin, Char Miller, and Rodolfo Rosales. Urban historian David R. Johnson gives special attention to western history and to the political and economic impact that urban power brokers have had in urbanizing and industrializing San Antonio over the past three centuries. An accessible read organized into three parts and ten chapters that are bookended by a brief introduction and an afterword that takes the story into the twenty-first century, the book shines in the telling of San Antonio’s urban growth within its Interstate 410 beltway. After a general discussion of Spanish San Antonio and early boosterism, core themes examine San Antonio’s Main Plaza and the struggles related to creating a culture of professional boosterism; slums, scandal, and revitalizing San Antonio’s downtown; and the explosive urban growth that occurred under a new, competent, and committed group of developers who used cooperative partnerships, suburban development, and management of discontented [End Page 214] old guard, Mexican American, and African American community advocates. Using as its sources land transactions, books, articles, newspapers, reports, special collections, meeting minutes, and interviews, In the Loop explains a few curiosities about the city. For example, how does a city with a small-town feel and a history of complacent and conflicted leadership grow into a major metropolis? Why do many southwestern cities that formed after 1950, like San Antonio and San Jose, California, have huge suburban subdivisions annexed within their city limits? One area in which the book is vulnerable to criticism is its social history, especially as it addresses women and race relations. An adequate examination on how women affected San Antonio’s growth is missing. In regard to race relations between White and Mexican-origin San Antonians, the narrative is more thorough in addressing how that history impacted the city’s political and economic history. Managing race relations and maintaining a strong military presence, it can be argued, have been a concern of city leaders ever since the mission of San Antonio de Valero and presidio of San Antonio de Béxar were established in 1718. This tradition transferred from Tejanos to White Texans in the 1830s and did not change until the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and 1970s forced San Antonio’s old guard to start taking notice of Mexican American and African American infrastructural needs in Southside and Eastside San Antonio. The limited coverage of Black San Antonians in chapter 9 is the only section in which their history is critically discussed. In every other chapter there is brief mention of slavery, Jim Crow, and the impact of defense industry jobs during World War II, but despite the notable growth in Black Texas history since Alwyn Barr’s Black Texans (Jenkins, 1973), the Black experience is no more than a footnote in this otherwise brilliant telling of the political and economic history of the Alamo City. That said, In the Loop is essential for a basic understanding of the political and economic history of San Antonio. It is a must-read for audiences interested in a mostly comprehensive story of the formation and growth of San Antonio, which by 1990 had become one of the ten most populated cities in the United States. Herbert G. Ruffin II Syracuse University Copyright © 2021 The Texas State Historical Association