George Washington’s Birthday Celebration
Laredo hosts the largest event of its kind in the U.S.
Laredo was among 20 towns and 18 missions established in New Spain between 1749 and 1755. This remarkable foundation of Spanish culture remains prominent in the city today. But the major annual community celebration draws its inspiration from the American Revolution.
In the late 19th century, a committee including prominent Laredo residents of both Mexican and American ancestry from the Improved Order of the Red Men set out to find a traditionally “American” holiday to celebrate that might offer the best of all cultures. They learned that during the American Revolution, the Sons of Liberty would disguise themselves as Indians to meet and discuss strategy using the forest as cover. George Washington served as “Sachem,” and so within the his- tory of their own society, they found the “American” holiday they sought and an annual Washington’s Birthday Celebration was born.
The festival is deeply rooted in its namesake, but the Native American Princess Pocahontas made her first appearance during the inaugural Washington’s Birthday Celebration in 1898, when the Improved Order of the Red Men laid siege to the old Laredo City Hall • as part of a mock battle. Princess Pocahontas served as a peacemaker between the tribe and the city. In gratitude, the mayor presented her with a key to the City of Laredo.
A BRIDGE BETWEEN NATIONS The 2015–2016 Abrazo Children, representing the United States in last February’s throughout a full month. International Bridge Ceremony, were Anna Victoria Herbig and Michael Casso (at right in photo). The children representing Mexico were Claudina Patricia Gonzalez Vazquez and Juanmario Barragán Garza.
Over the years the celebration grew in size and popularity. In 1923, Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association of Laredo received its state charter and has been shepherding continued growth and development ever since.
In 1939, the celebration featured its first Colonial Pageant, which presented 13 young girls from Laredo, representing the 13 original colonies. Now, Princess Pocahontas presides over a spectacular pageant that’s as much a part of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration as it is a homage to the Native American culture. The Princess Pocahontas Pageant presents Native Americans in a setting that is both mystical and natural. The event adheres faithfully to the Native Americans’ deep communion with the earth and its elements while showcasing Princess Pocahontas and her court in the splendor of the indigenous tribes they represent.
The International Bridge Ceremony is one of the major events serving as the “welcom- ing ceremony” between officials and dignitaries from Mexico and the United States by exchang- ing abrazos, embraces, symbolizing the amity and understanding between two neighboring nations.
Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association and more than a dozen affiliate organizations now have a calendar of more than 28 events, which attract some 400,000 attendees throughout a full month.
Belles, Bows and Balls
Laredo’s formal extravaganza honors Martha Washington — in period attire.
On the evening of Feb. 17, at Laredo’s premier social event, a bak- er’s dozen (or so) of young women — high school seniors who’ve prepared and polished for a full year leading up to this date — will portray the storied contemporaries of Martha Dandridge Washington, first First Lady of the United States.
And chances are the elaborate dresses (as well as period attire for many of the escorts) were the creation of a year’s effort as well, springing from the imagina- tion of dressmaker Linda Leyendecker Gutierrez.
A Laredo native and former “Martha” deb herself, Gutierrez considers her
design talent a providential gift. Upon meeting each client — whose families may well have penciled in fittings years in advance — she advises on the style and color that best complements the wearer. Each design is unique.
Gutierrez then gets down to work on measurements, sketches and patterns, selecting luxury fabrics and embellish- ments with the utmost care. The resulting gowns may weigh 50 to 100 pounds, supported by stays and hoops that require assistance to don and practice to curtsey in.
PAGEANT MATERIAL Dazzlingly embellished gowns begin in the Laredo studio of Linda Leyendecker Gutierrez and even- tually adorn pageant and parade participants.
The pageant, and the debutante ball that follows it, are traditions that date back to 1939, when a grand evening celebrating the original 13 U.S. colonies was introduced to Laredo’s already popular George Washington’s Birthday Celebration as a venue for presenting daughters of leading families to society. While such a costly and formal extravaganza might seem an anachronism in the 21st century, the event continues to knit together customs of “los dos Laredos” and provides a vehicle for development and recognition of leadership.
U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, for instance, was honored with the role of George Washington in 2014, the same year that Dr. Minita Ramirez, vice president of student success at Texas A&M International University, served as president of the Martha Washington Society.
Today’s young Las Marthas and their escorts carry on a legacy that reaches back to
the 19th-century origins of the Washington’s Birthday Celebration and the 18th-century roots of American loyalty on the border. The elaborate dresses, frock coats and knee breeches conceived in the mind of Gutierrez recall that distant birth of a nation with a unique recog- nition that’s become a tradition in its own right.
On the final weekend of Laredo’s month-long array of George Washington’s Birthday Celebration events, find a good spot downtown and watch the spectacle at these events.
