Witte Museum
Major San Antonio cultural institution at 3801 Broadway in Brackenridge Park. Texas history, natural science, regional art and archaeology. Founded 1926 as the city’s first museum of any kind; remains one of San Antonio’s anchor museum-and-research institutions.
For the H and H Coffee Factory project, the Witte appears in three distinct research threads:
1. Mi Cultura — Bringing Shadows Into the Light (2023–2024)
The “Mi Cultura — Bringing Shadows Into the Light” exhibit ran 2 September 2023 – 27 May 2024 at the Witte and included Al Rendón’s photography of Mi Tierra Café and the Cortez family. The exhibit catalogued the 2016 “Nuestra Cultura · 75 Años” Cortez-family anniversary lanyard pass — the same painted-portrait image of Pedro and Cruz Cortez that appears in HH-LIB-2016-0001 Edible San Antonio Issue 18, showing the Master Chef Coffee sign on the Mi Tierra storefront wall. The Witte’s curation makes it the institutional repository for that image’s later afterlife, distinct from its original 2016 Edible publication.
2. The 2018 Sam Houston Coffee sighting
In March 2018, Nancy Draves (great-granddaughter of R. W. Menger) spotted a Sam Houston Coffee tin in the Witte’s “Confluence” display and emailed the curator. Indicates that an H&H-line tin (Sam Houston was an H&H sub-brand) has at least once been on public display at the Witte as period San Antonio commercial material.
3. Curatorial / institutional reference
Multiple H&H brand and place pages reference the Witte as a research target for collection holdings, exhibition history, or curatorial expertise. Brands citing the Witte in cross-references include Anita Coffee, Master Chef Coffee, Juanita Coffee, Sam Houston Coffee, Crystalvac Jars, H and H Blend Coffee, Border Coffee, and Texas Girl Coffee.
The Witte is also referenced from the Coffee Museum page and the Mystery synthesis page as a comparable / aspirational model for the 601 Delaware adaptive-reuse program.
4. NJ Elmendorf catering kitchen
The Witte campus includes a catering kitchen named for NJ Elmendorf — caterer, gourmet cook, and mother of project curator Brett Elmendorf. Curator-provided; exact room name on signage and dedication date not yet filed. Places Elmendorf’s professional catering legacy inside the same institution the project already tracks for SA commercial-history programming (Mi Cultura, Sam Houston tin, listening-tour contacts).
Note: Dirk Elmendorf has served as Witte President & CEO since January 2024 (Trustee since 2012; past board chair). Family relationship to NJ Elmendorf not documented on this site.
Open questions
- Witte collection holdings on H&H or Hoffmann-Hayman. Does the Witte hold any H&H tins, advertising material, or company records? The 2018 Sam Houston tin display indicates at least one period H&H artifact has been in their custody; a Witte collections-search query would establish whether they hold additional H&H material.
- Curatorial connection. The Witte’s exhibition program on SA commercial history is a natural partner for any future H and H Coffee Factory museum programming.
- The 2023–2024 Mi Cultura catalog. Is the Cortez-family lanyard image reproduced in a printed catalog or online publication that would document the image’s provenance chain?
- NJ Elmendorf kitchen. Official room name, location on campus (Mays Family Center vs. service wing), and dedication history for the catering kitchen named for NJ Elmendorf.
See also
People
- Al Rendón — photographer; 2023–2024 retrospective subject; 2016 Mi Tierra press pass
- Nancy Draves — surfaced the 2018 Sam Houston tin sighting
- Harry Hertzberg
Places
- UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio)
- San Antonio Conservation Society
- San Antonio Historical Association
Companies
- Mi Tierra Café — Cortez-family commercial venue; Master Chef sign documentation thread
Brands
- Master Chef Coffee — the brand whose sign is documented on the Mi Tierra storefront
Artifacts
- HH-LIB-2016-0001 — Edible San Antonio Issue 18 — the 2016 Cortez-family portrait publication
Future
- Coffee Museum — comparable / aspirational model for 601 Delaware programming
- Listening Tour — SA History Community