From Bexar County to the Nation: The Trailblazing Legacy of Raoul A. Cortez, Emilio Nicolas Sr., & M

Name: From Bexar County to the Nation: The Trailblazing Legacy of Raoul A. Cortez, Emilio Nicolas Sr., & M
Start: 2025-09-12T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-09-12T13:00:00-05:00
Location: Double Height Courtroom, 100 Dolorosa St., San Antonio, TX 78205

Schedule

Fri Sep 12 2025 at 10:00 am to 01:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Double Height Courtroom, 100 Dolorosa St., San Antonio, TX 78205 | San Antonio, TX

What: From Bexar County to the Nation: The Trailblazing Legacy of Raoul A. Cortez, Emilio Nicolas Sr., & Martha Tijerina in Spanish-Language Media
When: Friday, September 12, 2025 @ 10:00 a.m.
Where: Double Height Courtroom, 100 Dolorosa St., San Antonio, TX 78205
Who:
• Martha Tijerina – One of the first women in Spanish-language TV news in the U.S.
• Guillermo Nicolas – Businessman, grandson and son of Spanish-language station pioneers
• Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez – UT Austin Professor, Director of the VOCES Oral History Project
Details:
On Friday, September 12, the Bexar Heritage Center will host a community panel honoring the legacy of Spanish-language media pioneers Raoul A. Cortez, Emilio Nicolas Sr., and Martha Tijerina.
San Antonio is the birthplace of Spanish-language broadcasting in the U.S. In 1946, Raoul A. Cortez launched KCOR-AM, the first full-time Spanish-language radio station in the nation, followed by KCOR-TV (now KWEX) in 1955, the first full-time Spanish-language television station, which provided Mexican-American families access to news, culture, and representation.
Building on this legacy, Emilio Nicolas Sr. expanded Spanish-language television nationwide. In 1962, he co-founded the Spanish International Network (SIN), the first national Spanish-language TV network in the U.S. By 1976, KWEX and its sister stations became the first satellite-interconnected Spanish-language television network, transforming Latino media access across the country. The network today is known as Univision.
Martha Tijerina carried that legacy forward, breaking barriers as one of the first women in Spanish-language television news. Her voice gave visibility to community issues and opened doors for generations of Latina journalists in Spanish-language broadcasting nationwide.
This event, held as part of Bexar County’s Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebrations, will explore how these San Antonio pioneers transformed broadcasting and advanced Latino representation across the nation.
This event is free and open to the public.