VITAE
EDUCATION
2022 - present UTSA, Ph.D. student in Anthropology
2014 Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Tx. Master of Arts in History
2007 St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Tx. Juris Doctor
2007 St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Tx. Master of Arts in Systematic Theology
2003 University of Colorado, Denver, Co., Bachelor of Arts in History
1999 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tx., Plan II Honors Program
JUDICIAL INTERNSHIP
2006 The Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio, Tx.
TEACHING POSITIONS
2014 – 2016 Our Lady of The Lake University, School of Business - Adjunct Professor
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
2023 “Jose Francisco Ruiz” and “Jose Miguel Arciniega.” In The Mexican American History of Texas and Beyond, edited by Andrés Tijernia, Emilio Zamora, Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., Sonia Hernández, and Amy Porter. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
2021 Alston Thoms, Ramon Juan Vasquez, and Art Martinez de Vara. “Battling the Alamo: Toward Preservation and Protection of Coahuiltecan Legacies and Camposantos,” In Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas, edited by Lee M. Panich and Sara L. Gonzalez. London: Routledge, 2021.
2012 Art Matrinez de Vara. “KONO,” in The Handbook of Texas Music, Second Edition, edited by Laurie E. Jasinski. Austin: Texas State Historical Association Press, 2012.
2010 S. W. Pease and Art Martinez de Vara. “Enoch Jones,” In The Handbook of Texas, Online, edited by Laurie E. Jasinski. Austin: Texas State Historical Association Press, 2010.
2010 Art Martinez de Vara. “Garza’s Crossing, Texas,” “Bexar, Texas,” “Von Ormy, Texas,”
Strumberg, Texas,” and “Mann’s Crossing, Texas.” In The Handbook of Texas, Online, edited by Laurie E. Jasinski. Austin: Texas State Historical Association Press, 2010.
BOOKS AUTHORED
2024 Beneath Sacred Ground: The Mission San Antonio de Valero Burial Records Transcribed,
Translated and Annotated, San Antonio: Tap Pilam Press
2021 San Antonio Marriages, 1703 – 1846: Matrimony in Colonial, Mexican and Republican Texas, Alamo Press
· Northwest Vista College Texas Cultural Heritage Series, No. 8, 2021
2020 Tejano Patriot: The Revolutionary Life of Jose Francisco Ruiz, TSHA Press
2018 Mission Espada After Secularization, Alamo Press
· Northwest Vista College Texas Cultural Heritage Series, No. 4, 2018
2017 El Carmen – The Chapel of The Battle of Medina, Alamo Press
· Northwest Vista College Texas Cultural Heritage Series, No. 2, 2017
2016 Dios y Tejas: Essays on the History of Von Ormy, Texas, Alamo Press
· Northwest Vista College Texas Cultural Heritage Series, No. 1, 2016
2014 Jose Francisco Ruiz Papers: Report on the Indian Tribes of Texas In 1828, Alamo Press
2013 Bexar: The History and Records of a South Texas Ghost Town, Alamo Press
2009 Santisima Trinidad Church – The Mission On The Medina, Alamo Press
BOOKS EDITED AND PUBLISHED
2020 Roads to the Battle of Medina – A Search for the Lost Battlefield of Texas, Bruce Moses and David Nickels, Alamo Press
· Northwest Vista College Texas Cultural Heritage Series, No. 7, 2020
2020 Norbert Ormai: The First Martyr of Arad, Lajos Babos, Alamo Press
AWARDS
2024 Sons of the Republic of Texas, Presidio La Bahia Award, Beneath Sacred Ground
2024 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, 1st Place, Books by Professional
Authors, Beneath Sacred Ground
2021 San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation, Publication Award, Tejano Patriot
2021 Austin American-Statesman, Best Texas Books, January 9, 2021, Tejano Patriot
2021 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association, TOMFRA Book Award,
Tejano Patriot
2021 Tejano Genealogical Society of Austin, Tejano Book Award – Finalist, Tejano Patriot
2021 Texas State Genealogical Society, Grand Prize Book Award, San Antonio Marriages
2021 Tejano Genealogical Society of Austin, Members’ Choice Book Award, San Antonio
Marriages
2021 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, 2nd Place, Books by Professional
Authors, Tejano Patriot
2021 Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin, Members Choice Award, Roads to the Battle of
Medina
2021 San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation, Publication Award, Roads to the Battle of
Medina
2020 Sons of the Republic of Texas, Presidio La Bahia Award, Tejano Patriot
2019 Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin, Members Choice Award, Mission Espada After
Secularization
2018 Texas Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Texas Media Award
2018 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, 1st Place, Books by Professional
Authors, Mission Espada After Secularization
2017 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, 1stPlace, Books by Professional
Authors, El Carmen
2016 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, Grand Prize, Dios y Tejas
2014 Sons of the Republic of Texas, Presidio La Bahia Award, Jose Francisco Ruiz
Papers
2013 Texas State Genealogical Society Book Awards, 1stPlace, Reference Books, Bexar
GRANTS AND EXTERNAL FUNDING
2022 San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation, “Education Grants Program,” $9,000, “to fund the publishing of the burial records associated with Mission Valero in a book (forthcoming)”
2020 Texas Historical Foundation, “J.P. Bryan Endowment Publication Grant,” $5,000, “for printing and design costs of the publication of Tejano Patriot: The Revolitionary Life of Jose Francisco Ruiz, 1783 – 1840”
SELECTED CONFERENCE AND SPEAKING APPEARANCES
2024 “The Mission San Antonio de Valero Burial Records” Wilson County Historical Commission, Floresville, Texas
2024 Restoring Roots - Reclaiming Heritage and Countering Erasure, Smithsonian, San Antonio, Texas
2024 “From Spain to Texas: Unveiling Manuel Yturri y Castillo (1790 – 1842), San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, Texas
2024 “Beneath Sacred Ground – The Mission San Antonio de Valero Burial Records” Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
2023 The Tejano Experience in Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Austin, Texas
2022 "Causes of the Texas Revolution from the Perspective of Tejanos", Texas State Historical Association's San Jacinto Symposium, Houston, Texas
2022 Hidden History, Season Two, Episode 6: The Revolutionary Life of Jose Francisco Ruiz, The Bryan Museum, Bryan Texas
2021 "Texas Patriot Jose Francisco Ruiz" On Stage @ APL, Allen Public Library
2021 “Jose Francisco Ruiz: A Revolutionary Life”, Texas General Land Office – Save Texas History Digital Series, Austin, Texas
2021 “Tejanos and Texas Independence”, Washington on the Brazos Historical Foundation – Texas Independence Series, Washington on the Brazos, Texas
2021 “Exiled: Jose Francisco Ruiz and his Exile after the Battle of Medina”, Conference on Texas: From Tejas to Texas!, Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
2020 “Tejano Patriot: A Discussion with Author Art Martinez de Vara”, Texas Historical Commission, Casa Navarro State Historical Site, San Antonio, Texas
2019 “Los Misioneros – Indigenous, Spanish and Mestizo Families of the Texas Missions”, 40th Annual Texas Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference, Dallas, Texas
2018 “El Carmen and the Texas Heritage Book Series”, Texas Daughters of the American Revolution State Convention, San Antonio, Texas
2017 “People of the Place – Indigenous Heritage in San Antonio” San Antonio Tricentennial Summer Institute for Educators, UTSA, San Antonio, Texas
2016 “Highlighting Tejano Perspectives on the Texas Revolution,” Latino Americans: 500 Years of History Series, Trinity University and the Hispanic Heritage Center of Texas, San Antonio, Texas
2012 “José Francisco Ruiz.” Region XIII Discovering Texas Conference. Bob Bullock State History Museum. Austin, Texas
2012 “José Francisco Ruiz and the Tejano-Mejicano Dialectic.” Texas State Historical Association Annual Meeting. Omni Hotel, Houston, Texas.
RECENT HISTORICAL CONSULTATIONS
2022 T+E (Canada), consulting historian for documentary series “Haunted History: Season 2” on the Battle of the Alamo
2021 - present University of Texas at San Antonio, Bexar County Indigenous Heritage Module, Bexar County Heritage Project
2021 San Antonio College, Land Acknowledgement, “Recognizing Place and People: Building Inclusion with Land Acknowledgments”
2021 University of Texas at San Antonio – Center for Archaeological Research, Alamo Mission Cemetery Archival Study
ACADEMIC AND PUBLIC POLICY EXPERIENCE
2023 - present Society for American Archaeology - Governmental Affairs Committee
2021 – present Texas A & M University – San Antonio - Texas Cultural Heritage Project
2019 – present Texas State Historical Association - McNeill Research Fellowship Committee
2019 Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala - Antigua Forum
2012 Texas Lyceum – Director
2010 Leadership San Antonio – Member of Class 35
2008 San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce - Alex Briseño Leadership Program
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2018 – present Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation - Tribal Attorney and Enrolled Member
2010 – present The Martinez de Vara Law Firm, PLLC – Attorney
2008 – present Alamo Press – founder, publisher and senior editor and publisher of monthly community newspapers The Von Ormy Star and Sandy Oaks Chronicle, 2008 - 2015· partnered with Northwest Vista College in 2017 to publish the “Northwest Vista College Texas Heritage Series,” currently at 8 volumes
2021 – 2023 Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores - Senior Policy Adviser/General
Counsel
2014 – 2015 State Senator Konni Burton, SD 10 - Chief of Staff/General Counsel
2010 – 2013 State Representative John V. Garza, HD 117 - Chief of Staff/General Counsel
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
2024 Texas Bar College - Society of Professional Legal Scholars
2022 San Antonio Magazine, Top Lawyers in San Antonio, Civil Litigation
2021 San Antonio Magazine, Top Lawyers in San Antonio, Civil Litigation
2019 San Antonio Magazine, Top Lawyers in San Antonio, Civil Litigation
2015 San Antonio Business Journal, Outstanding Lawyers
2014 Texas Monthly, SuperLawyers Rising Stars
2014 The Business Journals’ Who’s Who in American Energy
2013 The Business Journals’ Who’s Who in American Energy
2012 The Business Journals’ Who’s Who in American Energy
2011 American Bar Association Journal, profiled in January 2011 edition
2010 SceneInSa Magazine, Best Lawyers, Business and Corporate Law
2009 Texas Lawyer Magazine, 25 Extraordinary Minorities in Texas Law
ELECTED AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICE EXPERIENCE
2008 – 2015 City of Von Ormy, Texas - Mayor
2012 – 2014 Texas Municipal League - Vice-President, Acting President, Region 7
2012 – 2014 South Texas Partnership of Governments – President
2008 Electoral College - Presidential Elector for Texas Congressional District 23
2007 – 2008 State Association of Fire and Emergency Districts – Board of Directors
2006 – 2008 Bexar County Emergency Services District No. 5 – Commissioner
2003 – 2006 Jarret Volunteer Fire Department – Fire Engineer and Emergency Care Attendant
CIVIC AND RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT
2018 – present Los Alcaldes de Bexar, Board of Directors
2008– present Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
2009 – present Von Ormy Community Foundation, Board of Directors
2008 – present National Hispanic Institute, Board of Directors
PROFESSINAL AFFILIATIONS
American Anthropological Association
Society for American Archaeology
State Bar of Texas
Texas State Historical Association
Alliance for Texas History
Phi Delta Phi – Legal Honors Fraternity
Phi Alpha Theta – History Honors Fraternity
Lambda Alpha - Anthropology Honors Fraternity
