As in many things today, technology has been responsible for the disappearance of customs, practices and various trades. Today, secretaries have been reduced to the role of administrative assistants.
In the past, secretaries played a fundamental role, directing and replacing the immediate boss when there was some eventuality or absence. The most specialized ones knew how to speak English, they could take dictations with shorthand and write perfect letters and trades on heavy typewriters, without errors or misspellings, but above all they knew how to keep secrets, hence the name.
THE SILENT HISTORY OF THE VICTORIANO CEPEDA COMMERCIAL ACADEMY
Without being able to specify it, it was surely the first in the city. On January 16, 1926, Professor Severiano Urteaga H. founded the academy and began receiving students in an old house located on General Cepeda street, almost on the corner with Juárez street.
From 1943 to 1951 it changed its headquarters to a stately house built in 1893, located at 359 Zaragoza street. Due to the constant increase in students, one year later, the academy moved to a building at 130 Xicoténcatl street, before to reach Victoria street. He remained in that two-story building until his disappearance, at the end of the 1950s.
Under strict rules, for years as directors of the Victoriano Cepeda academy, they instilled in their students; the exact fulfillment of the duties of every good Mexican citizen, the observance of the laws, respect for authorities, society, love for parents and veneration for the country. The training included a strong military preparation, which served to strengthen the character of the students. The motto of the academy was: Seriousness, Competence, Discipline and Experience.
Many years of dedication and fruitful service, resulted in the training of hundreds of prepared students, endowed with professional skills to make their way in the world of work in the government, business and commerce sectors.
Squad. Second location of the Victoriano Cepeda Commercial Academy at 359 Zaragoza street between Aldama and Pérez Treviño streets.
HIS HIGH PERIOD
The heyday of the academy, around the fifties, reminds teachers. Professor Severiano Urteaga himself, who was director of the same academy, Mrs. Serapia Garza de Urteaga, professor of shorthand and typing, Miss Olga Urteaga Garza, professor of filing system and calligraphy, Miss Acidalia Rodríguez, instructor of arithmetic and general economic geography, Lucila Rodríguez Lara, with the subjects of Spanish and English, the law intern Enrique Arizpe Narro, Mrs. María de Jesús Urteaga widow of Leyva, in charge of surveillance, Saturnino Martínez Maldonado band instructor and Benigno Landeros Ruvalcaba in charge to conduct military training.
The technical careers that were taught were typists, stenographers, bookkeepers, formerly, the person in charge of making the necessary entries of the operations of a commercial house in the accounting books was called a bookkeeper. Profession equivalent to the current private accountant.
EMILIO CARRANZA ACADEMY
On September 2, 1930, the professor from El Venado, San Luis Potosí, Gabino García García, founded this academy with the name of the aviator pilot Emilio Carranza. Professor García was in charge of the school as director for twenty-five years, upon his death in 1955, her wife, Professor Amalia Vitela de la Peña, took over the management and decided to change her name to that of the husband of her
Named and known by its students as Gabino, it currently offers a secondary school with commerce, a high school, and a commercial technical high school. With more than ninety years, it is still in office and has remained since its foundation in a store on Xicohténcatl street.
Loss. Last headquarters of the Coahuila Academy, in Ramos Arizpe and Cuauhtémoc; which closed its doors at the end of the eighties.
COAHUILA ACADEMY
Professor Ángel Rodriguez C., originally from the state of Chihuahua, had the idea of launching an innovative advertising campaign, on the night of August 22, 1934, at the film performance of the old Teatro Obrero, later Cine Saltillo, during the intermission, projected an ad that said: Academia Coahuila, is not just another school, but the Commercial School that Saltillo needed. Three days later the first four students came to enroll in the new business academy. Rodolfo Hernandez, stenographer, who later became employed in the General Directorate of Education, Raúl Flores Castro, later manager of the Castro Bookkeeping, Angelina Lucio settled as a set designer for Coordinated Services and Lauro López, who did not finish his studies.
In a house located in the old street of Venustiano Carranza number 606 today Manuel Pérez Treviño street, at 08:30 hours, on September 3, 1934, classes began with the aforementioned four students. Due to the growth of students, the academy moved its facilities to house number 511 on the old Venustiano Carranza street. In the 1940s they settled in a large house at 421 Victoria Street, to end up in the majestic house that belonged to General Luis Gutiérrez, in Ramos Arizpe and Cuauhtémoc.
The battle cry and propaganda that the Coahuila Academy maintained was: Send us the student and we will return the professional. His coat of arms, the phrase of the Mayo brothers: “Do something better than the others and even if you settle in the heart of a jungle, the world will make a path to reach your door.” Due to family problems, the children of Professor Rodriguez decided to close the academy in 1989.
On another occasion we will continue talking about other business schools in the city.
