New Evidence Suggests Frank Zimmerman, San Marcos Mayor Commemorated with a Bronze Plaque on the Square, Hosted “Ku Klux Klan Day” at his Palace Theater

Stunning Revelation of the Celebrated Civic Leader Lands on the Eve of the “Imposed Separateness” Series: Films & Panels Spotlighting the Legacy of Segregation in Texas

 

The engraved bronze plaque staked across from the Hays County Historic Courthouse at the entry to The Marc, honoring Frank W. Zimmerman, mayor from 1949-1951, states he “came to San Marcos in 1922, beginning a 47-year career in the theater industry with the purchase of the Grand Opera House and the original Palace Theater.”

 

A Palace Theater advertisement in the San Marcos Record dated March 28, 1924 – uncovered by Cinema Club members last week in the public library’s microfiche collection – promotes “KU KLUX KLAN DAY,” boasting “hundreds of scenes of Klan activities – in connection with big regular picture program.” (See attached photos.)

 

An article titled “Klan Picture Coming,” in the same issue, reads:

 

A treat is in store for every person within 20 miles of San Marcos.  The Palace Theatre has been fortunate in booking the two-reel motion picture showing the Ku Klux Klan activities at the recent Dallas fair. It will be shown in connection with the regular admission price of 10, 20 and 30 cents, next Wednesday and Thursday.

 

In July 1924, a few months after Zimmerman’s theater hosted Ku Klux Klan Day, roughly 20,000 Klansmen descended upon San Marcos – an enormous statewide gathering documented inside the Calaboose African American History Museum, a co-sponsor of the “Imposed Separateness” film series.

 

The series kicks off Monday at the San Marcos Public Library with The Stand Ins, a new documentary on the Central Texas protest movement that sparked desegregation at scores of movie theaters throughout the South in the early 60s.  Film starts at 7 PM, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

 

On Tuesday, Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos features Giant, the 1956 Hollywood blockbuster that denounced injustices against Texans of Mexican heritage, at 5:30 PM.

 

On Thursday, at 6:30 PM, the San Marcos Unitarian Universalist Fellowship hosts a special sneak preview, ahead of its spring premiere, of Insecurus, exposing a new trend toward the elimination of in-person visitation in Texas county jails, replaced by a costly “video visitation” system.  Award-winning criminal-justice advocates from Grassroots Leadership will speak afterward.