The Concilio Superior building in Antonito is the headquarters of La Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (SPMDTU), a mutual-aid society established in 1900 to protect Hispano workers in the San Luis Valley from discrimination and to provide burial aid and other assistance. In the 1920s the society built the Concilio Superior building as its headquarters and meeting hall. The building continues to serve in that capacity and was recently restored with the help of several State Historical Fund grants.

Origins of SPMDTU

In the late nineteenth century, Hispano workers in the San Luis Valley and across the Southwest often suffered from racial discrimination. They faced segregation and were not allowed in white schools, hospitals, and restaurants. As a result, Hispano communities across the Southwest established mutual-aid societies to  advocate for equal treatment in the courts, work for social and economic rights, celebrate their culture, and provide basic social insurance programs such as unemployment and burial aid.

One of the most important Hispano mutual-aid societies in Colorado was SPMDTU. Founded by jeweler Celedonio Mondragón, the society held its first meeting on November 26, 1900, at his house in Antonito. Membership was restricted to men, who were required to attend meetings, pay dues, and be good citizens. The society quickly spread across the San Luis Valley, spurred by pervasive prejudice and violence against Hispano workers in the valley, including the murders of several shepherds in 1902 and the Maestas School Desegregation case in 1916. 

In 1902 the society organized the Concilio Superior (Superior Council) to coordinate local councils and plan for expansion. Composed of eight officers, the Concilio Superior served as the society’s executive body. It called all the local councils together in 1909 to frame a general constitution to guide the society’s activities.

Concilio Superior Building

For the first two decades after its founding in 1900, SPMDTU rented the Antonito Opera House when it needed a large space for events. In 1920, as the society’s councils and membership continued to grow, the Concilio Superior determined the need to build a permanent headquarters and meeting hall in Antonito. Each member was initially assessed a tax of seventy-five cents to begin the process. Members were later taxed an additional five to ten dollars to buy the building site and start the construction fund. These amounts were essentially loans that were refunded upon the member’s death.

Construction started in 1923 and was completed in 1925. The building, located on Main Street, was constructed using adobe walls with a stucco finish. The Main Street façade was designed with a ticket window and two doors to accommodate sports and social events. The interior of the building included a large open hall, a raised stage, and bleachers. The building’s use of steel trusses and commercial windows in a southwestern vernacular design helped introduce new architectural features to Hispano communities in the San Luis Valley.

The Concilio Superior building has been used primarily for SPMDTU business and meetings. The main alteration to the building over the years was the addition in the 1980s of murals on the stage and the south exterior wall. The stage mural, painted by Los Muralistas del Valle, depicts Mexican nationalistic and agricultural themes. The south exterior wall has a series of three murals by Fred Haberlein, with two showing local agricultural scenes and one portraying a male angel protecting the earth.

In the year 2000, the SPMDTU celebrated the centennial of its founding by commissioning a statue of Celedonio Mondragón, which now stands on the street corner adjacent to the Concilio Superior building. A plaque at the base of the statue honors Mondragón and the other six officers who served as the first board of directors at the founding of the society. 

In the early 2000s the society also received a grant from Colorado’s State Historical Fund to assess the structure of the building and prepare a preservation plan. Two additional State Historical Fund grants and other donations and contributions allowed a full restoration of the building which was completed in 2024.  The building has been on the Colorado Register of Historic Places since September 2000.