August 6, 2023. Dr. Aureliano Urrutia often took on surgeries that no other doctor would attempt. He considered this operation in 1917 to be his most challenging and his most inspired. It was an early success in several fields of surgery and solidified his reputation as a great surgeon; continuing a legacy begun in Mexico as that country’s top physician, and bringing pride to San Antonio as a budding medical city…. Read more >>>
June 11, 2023. On the occasion of Dr. Aureliano Urrutia’s birthday this month, here is a tribute given on the occassion of his 48th birthday, in 1920, by the esteemed writer Nemesio García Naranjo, an attorney, writer, and friend of Urrutia’s both in México and in exile here in San Antonio. Feliz cumpleaños y descanse en paz… Read more >>>
April 26, 2023. Join us Saturday, May 13, JUNE 24, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. for the Conservation Society’s Historic Preservation Month Seminar on Miraflores. With Logan Wagner, PhD, FAIA, Anne Elise Urrutia, and Claudia Guerra. We will explore Miraflores’ cultural and historical significance, and motivations and challenges for the garden’s potential restoration. FREE to the community. Read more >>>
All in Urrutia
August 14, 2021. What do these objects from Dr. Urrutia’s garden of Miraflores have in common? A large wrought iron gate with two sentry towers displaying murals of blossoming flowers, a giant bench cloaked in a over 700 tiles, and a statue of an indigenous man shaking his fist toward the heavens. Read more >>>
April 17, 2021. A look into the life of my great-grandmother, Luz Fernández—what we know about her, and how her path intertwined with her husband, Dr. Aureliano Urrutia. Read more>>>
February 6, 2021. Miraflores, the historic family garden of Dr. Aureliano Urrutia, is reviewed in the Brackenridge Park Cultural Landscape Report, which evaluates its significance and provides important conclusions about the feasibility of restoration…Read more>>>
January 3, 2021. Dr. Aureliano Urrutia began creating his San Antonio garden, Miraflores, 100 years ago this year. In celebration of its centennial, here’s a video presentation about the garden….Read more>>>
September 27, 2020. How Luz felt about her position in the family is unknown, but she excelled at managing the affairs of Casa Urrutia….Read more>>>
August 30, 2020. Luz Fernández and Dr. Aureliano Urrutia had seven daughters who immigrated with them to San Antonio. It has been a challenge to get a sense of their lives, and to bring the memory of these women into the present. Refugio, the eldest daughter, arrived on the Texas coast with her parents in May 1914, and was old enough to remember some of the details of the journey….Read more>>>
July 11, 2020. Several months ago, I met with a group of UTSA students to explore any historical connection between Miraflores, the land which once was Dr. Aureliano Urrutia’s historic San Antonio garden, and the Camino Real. The 1716 Stone is one of the more mysterious objects in the garden… Read more>>>
June 28, 2020. In order to reconstruct Dr. Aureliano Urrutia’s garden of Miraflores in book form, I had to understand more about what he knew of his own cultural heritage, and what lay beneath his thinking, like old ruins beneath churches. I had to leave 21st century San Antonio, and travel back to late 19th/early 20th century Mexico City. Read more>>>
May 3, 2020. In 1921, ninety-nine years ago, Urrutia purchased 15 acres of land at Hildebrand and Broadway on the outskirts of San Antonio. Over the next several decades the accomplished Mexican surgeon created his garden of Miraflores… Read more>>>
May 25, 2019. Announcing the publisher of my book about Dr. Aureliano Urrutia’s garden of Miraflores. Also, the 150th anniversary celebration of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word honors early supporters, including la familia Urrutia. Read more>>>
November 23, 2018. A first poem in Spanish, reflecting upon an experience in Xochimilco. Read more >>>
October 20, 2018. Last year, on Día de los Muertos, I ventured over to San Fernando Cemetery to place the beautiful traditional Mexican marigolds, cempasuchitl, at the graves of three Urrutia generations. This year, the spirit of Día de los Muertos visited me a bit earlier, initiated by a trip to Xochimilco, Mexico in early October to meet friends face to face for the first time. Recovering memories of Dr. Aureliano Urrutia in Xochimilco and San Antonio…Read more>>>
August 4, 2018. Several familia Urrutia photographs are exhibited along with hundreds of other historic images of San Antonio. One shows the 1971 demolition of the Clínica Urrutia y Farmacia as a result of "urban renewal." Dr. Aureliano Urrutia built the nearly square-block clinical complex in 1926 at the northeast corner of Houston and Laredo. Read more>>>
August 2, 2018. Upon initiating construction of the walkway, it became apparent that Urrutia’s design differed significantly from the City’s original plan. Everyone involved in the project marveled this past spring as Urrutia’s original design emerged. Read more>>>
March 31, 2018. Join me, Elise Urrutia, this Thursday, April 5, 2018 at the Igo Branch Library for a presentation on Miraflores: Dr. Urrutia's Lost Garden. I will read from my upcoming book entitled Jardín mexicano de la memoria~Miraflores~a Mexican garden of memory. Read more>>>
December 28, 2017. San Antonio's tricentennial year will commemorate Doctor Don Aureliano Urrutia's life and legacy in many ways. I am so excited that this amazing man and his work will be remembered during our city's very special anniversary. Read more>>>
March 22, 2017. I'm excited to announce my book about the garden at Miraflores. My great grandfather, Dr. Aureliano Urrutia, created this unique and mysterious place almost 100 years ago. The book will portray the cultural landscape that Miraflores was when he was alive. Read more>>>
March 3, 2017. Elise Urrutia told the story of a magnificent garden that sat on what was the far-northern edge of San Antonio more than 100 years ago. Miraflores, located on Hildebrand Avenue adjacent to the University of the Incarnate Word, would have far more than 20 slides to fill if it could talk. Read more>>>
February 21, 2017. PechaKucha: 20 slides x 20 seconds per slide = almost 6 1/2 minutes! Come see 8 people present their passions, including yours truly. Read more>>>
October 1, 2016. In 1921, Doctor Aureliano Urrutia, an accomplished physician, built a garden at the northern edge of San Antonio. Located at the corner of Hildebrand and Broadway, it was an expression of his connection to his native Mexico. After 1960, the garden suffered from neglect and active destruction. Read more>>>
