part-ep-featured-image1

Pan American

Round

Table

Of El Paso

FOUNDED IN 1921

part-ep-featured-image1

Pan American

Round

Table

Of El Paso

FOUNDED IN 1921

OUR STORY

OUR STORY

OUR STORY

OUR STORY

The Pan American Round Table of El Paso is the largest of the 213 Tables
within 16 countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and Puerto Rico

It is the only Table with members on both sides of the border: El Paso, Texas, USA and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

The table shall endeavor to provide mutual knowledge, understanding and friendship among the women of the Western Hemisphere.

We fulfill our mission by:

  • Sponsoring scholarships at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to eligible students from El Paso and Juarez
  • Promoting friendship and understanding among people of the Western Hemisphere
  • Learning and sharing information about other cultures of the Americas
  • Participating in member projects
  • Having speaker events to enlighten members and guests
  • Monthly book club meetings

Eugenia Mananyi Schuster | Founder of PartEP

eugenia-schuster-bio-pic

Eugenia Mananyi Schuster founded the Pan American Round Table of El Paso in November of 1921.  She served as the organization’s initial Director.

It was at the request of the Consul-General in Washington, DC that Eugenia launched the third Round Table in El Paso.

It was part of the Good Neighbor Policy which was implemented by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.

The first table was organized in San Antonio in 1916 by Mrs. Florence Terry Griswold and was modeled closely after the Pan American Union.

Eugenia’s interest in international and border issues began in 1916 with Mrs. Alberto Matero and their involvement in Amigos Listos, the group that aided refugees during the Mexican Revolution.

Eugenia was born January 5, 1865, in Budapest, Hungary.  She spoke five languages and was educated in Vienna, Austria, where she studied piano under Franz Lizst.  It was in Vienna where she met and married Dr. Michael P. Schuster.  They came to the United States in 1891.  In 1894, they were sent by his employer, The American Smelting and Refining Company, to El Paso, Texas, to serve as the company physician and surgeon. Dr and Mrs. Schuster were among the group who established the old Providence Hospital, the forerunner of Providence Memorial Hospital. Eugenia was an original pillar of El Paso’s society, who served on many boards, always supporting the El Paso community. She is well remembered for helping to improve the relations between Americans and Mexicans. 

The round table represents the medieval concept of a circle with no beginning and no ending, symbolizing unity, perpetuity, equal representation and opportunity for all.

The motto is “One for All and All for One; Una para Todas y Todas para Una,” penned by Alexander Dumas, the author of “The Three Musketeers.” 

EVOLUTION OF PAN AMERICANISM

Some scholars trace the origins of the inter-American system back to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 and the Congress of Panama convened by Simon Bolivar in 1836.  However, it was not until 1889 that the American States (North, Central and South American) decided to meet periodically to forge a shared system of standards and institutions.  The First International Conference of American States was held in Washington, D.C., from October 1889 to April 1890.  Eighteen American States took part in the conference and it was agreed to constitute the “Commercial Bureau of the American Republics.”  Two years later the name was changed to “The International Union of American Republics,” and in 1910 to “The Pan American Union.”

The purpose of the Union was to create and promote international  cooperation in commerce and trade, legal matters, and protection of member countries.  It offered technical and informational services to all of the American Republics and served as a repository for international documents.  The Union was also responsible, through supplementary councils, to promote the furtherance of economic, social, juridical and cultural relations.

In 1916, amid the turmoil of the Mexican political upheaval and revolutionary governmental changes taking place, Mrs. Griswold became interested in the work of the Pan American Union and wholeheartedly endorsed its goals:

  • Achieving an order of peace and justice
  • Promoting American solidarity
  • Strengthening collaboration among member states
  • Defending the sovereignty, independence and international integrity of the nations of the Americas

Mrs. Griswold believed the work of the Union could be advanced by the women of the Americas.  As a symbol of her support for the Union, Mrs Griswold and 21 of her friends gathered and formed the first Pan American Round Table.  Each of the members agreed to represent one of the 21 member nations of the Pan American Union. 

One for All and All for One 

* 

Una para Todas y Todas para Una