Statue of mariachi legend Teresa Cuevas will soon join these figures across Topeka
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The late Teresa Cuevas felt it was her destiny to keep mariachi music alive.
Now Cuevas' legacy will live on through the presence of a statue of her in downtown Topeka.
A trailblazing mariachi musician, Cuevas on Friday will become the first woman to be subject of a statue along S. Kansas Avenue in downtown Topeka. The statue will stand near the main entrance to Evergy Plaza, 630 S. Kansas Ave.
It will be unveiled during a celebration taking place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. that day, which is Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday.
Who was mariachi pioneer Teresa Cuevas?
Cuevas' parents fled during the Mexican Revolution to Topeka, where she was born 103 years ago last week, on April 20, 1920.
A violinist, Cuevas became the director and driving force behind the seven-member Mariachi Estrella de Topeka, one of the first all-female mariachi bands in the U.S. She formed the group in about 1977.
Mariachi Estrella quickly gained regional popularity while shattering gender stereotypes in the male-dominated genre of mariachi music.
Then tragedy struck.
Members Connie “Chae” Alcala, Dolores Carmona, Linda Rokey Scurlock and Dolores Galvan were among 114 people killed in the July 1981 collapse of two skywalks at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, where Mariachi Estrella was to perform later that evening.
Group members Cuevas and Rachel Galvan were among about 200 people who were hurt but survived. Cuevas suffered crushed vertebrae, a concussion and severe bruising. Galvan suffered bruises and a broken ankle.
Group member Isabel "Bolie" Gonzalez wasn't present, having stayed home that evening to care for two young children.
A statue called "Mariachi Divina" stands outside the Topeka Performing Arts Center, 214 S.E. 8th, to honor the four members of Mariachi Estrella who died. The figure stands atop a monument, which features images of the four.
Cuevas recovered and resumed playing. She spent much of her time in the years that followed mentoring young musicians.
She died at age 93 in 2013.
Who is already honored by statues along Topeka's S. Kansas Avenue?
Cuevas lived more recently than any of the six men for whom statues already stand along S. Kansas Avenue in downtown Topeka recognizing their contributions to this city's history and development.
Those statues depict the following:
• McKinley Burnett, a pivotal figure linked to the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. He died in 1968.
• Arthur Capper, a two-term Kansas governor and longtime U.S. senator, who died in 1951.
• Harry Colmery, father of the GI Bill, who died in 1979.
• Charles Curtis, the first Native American vice president of the U.S., who died in 1936.
• Cyrus K. Holliday, who co-founded Topeka and served three terms as its mayor. He died in 1900.
• Washburn University namesake Ichabod Washburn, who died in 1868. A smaller version of the Ichabod Washburn statue stands on the Washburn University campus.
A sculpture will also be part of a pocket park honoring Topeka's Menninger family of psychiatrists, set to be located on the west side of the street in the 600 block of S. Kansas Avenue, said former Topeka Mayor Larry Wolgast, who is involved.
Further details are expected to be announced soon.
What other historical figures have been honored with a statue in Topeka?
Some other statues depicting specific people in Topeka include the following:
• A statue of Dr. Samuel Crumbine, who gained a reputation while living in Topeka as one of the nation’s leading public health officials. It stands in front of the Kansas Health Institute at 212 S.W. 8th Ave. Crumbine died in 1954.
• Statues depicting former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower on the grounds of the Kansas Statehouse. Lincoln died in 1865 and Eisenhower in 1969.
• A separate statue of Lincoln at Mount Hope Cemetery, 4700 S.W. 17th.
• Statues inside the Kansas Statehouse portraying Capper, Eisenhower, trailblazing female pilot Amelia Earhart and newspaper editor William Allen White. Earhart died in 1937 and White in 1944.
• A statue of Sen. Bob Dole on the campus at Washburn University, 1700 S.W. College Ave. Dole is the most recently deceased of those honored by statues in Topeka, having died in December 2021.
• A statue of Kay McFarland, who was chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, at the Topeka Zoo's Kay McFarland Japanese Garden. McFarland died in 2015.
What are some of Topeka's other statues depicting people?
Some of Topeka's other statues depicting people include the following:
• Ad Astra, the sculpture of a Kansa Indian standing atop the Kansas Statehouse while pointing an arrow toward the sky.
• A pocket park sculpture in the 700 block of S. Kansas Avenue depicting a boy and girl playing with their pets.
• Sculptures on the Statehouse grounds depicting the Statue of Liberty and a pioneer woman with her children.
• A statue depicting a woman reaching up to release a prairie falcon inside the Kansas Judicial Center, 301 S.W. 10th Ave.
• A statue of a Trojan warrior standing in front of Topeka High School, 800 S.W. 10th Ave.
• A statue of an organ grinder and his monkey outside the Mark Lundeen Studio in the NOTO Arts and Entertainment District.
• A statue of a Civil War soldier standing atop a monument in Topeka Cemetery honoring front-line enlisted men who fought in that war.
• Gage Park's Munn Pioneer Memorial, which honors this nation's pioneers.
• The Gage Park War Memorial, which honors "heroes of the past and warriors of the present," according to its Facebook site.
• Statues of a kilt-clad Scotsman and a Scottie dog outside Highland Park High School, 2424 S.E. California Ave.
• A statue at Lake Shawnee's Ted Ensley Gardens showing two children captivated by a family of rabbits.
• A sculpture of three children playing at the southeast corner of S.W. 37th and Spring Creek, about two bocks east of S.W. Wanamaker Road.
• A statue of a Shriner with a little girl and her crutches outside the Arab Shrine Temple building, 1305 S. Kansas Ave.
• A statue of three children playing in front of CoreFirst Bank & Trust, 3701 S.W. Wanamaker Road.
• A sculpture of Ronald McDonald sitting on the front porch of the Ronald McDonald House at 825 S.W. Buchanan.
• "Walking Bods" sculptures standing near Washburn University's Memorial Union.
• Four statues on the Washburn University campus depicting Mr. Ichabod, Washburn's mascot.
• Various 5-foot-tall statues of Mr. Ichabod were put up at places throughout Topeka to celebrate Washburn's 150th anniversary in 2015.
Numerous sculptures that don't depict people also stand throughout Topeka.
Some of their subjects include a buffalo in Cushinberry Park, S.E. 15th and Madison, and the world's largest wren near the intersection of S.W. Huntoon and Topeka Boulevard.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka history is preserved in statues. Teresa Cuevas joining lineup.
