Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia

LATINO AMERICA

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LATINO AMERICA A State-by-State Encyclopedia VOLUME 1

Alabama–Missouri

Edited by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez

Foreword by Stephen Pitti

GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Latino America : a state-by-state encyclopedia / edited by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez ; foreword by Stephen Pitti. v. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–313–34116–8 (set : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–34117–5 (vol. 1 : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–34118–2 (vol. 2 : alk. paper) 1. Hispanic Americans—Encyclopedias. 2. Hispanic Americans—History—Encyclopedias. 3. Hispanic Americans—Social conditions—Encyclopedias. 4. U.S. states—Encyclopedias. 5. United States—History, Local—Encyclopedias. I. Overmyer-Velázquez, Mark. E184.S75L35555 2008 973'.0468—dc22 2008026044 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2008 by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008026044 ISBN: 978–0–313–34116–8 (set) 978–0–313–34117–5 (Vol. 1) 978–0–313–34118–2 (Vol. 2) First published in 2008 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To mis hijos y sobrinos, living in several of the states of Latino America, all recipients and integral parts of this history in one way or another.

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 1 Foreword by Stephen Pitti Acknowledgments Introduction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa

ix xiii xv 1 13 25 63 77 105 125 145 157 167 197 215 225 239 269 289

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Contents 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri

311 335 347 363 373 385 405 427 445 463 VOLUME 2

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.

Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

475 489 501 519 531 549 577 611 627 639 657 667 687 703 715 731 745 759 791 811 821 839 855 867 883

Appendix: Census Data of Latinos, 1870–2000

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Index

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About the Editor and Contributors

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FOREWORD

This important encyclopedia proves that Latinos have a history in all 50 U.S. states, and it anticipates how and why residents of Latin American descent will continue to play critical roles throughout the hemisphere. Its publication follows up on announcements that Latinos have recently become the nation’s largest minority population and on predictions about what this fact will mean for rural America, for race relations in U.S. cities, for future Democratic and Republican political campaigns, and for the cultural industries of New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. It also follows up on new attention paid by Latin American countries to emigrants: those family members, wage earners, and fellow citizens who have for decades been in the United States as students, labor migrants, or refugees from violence. It therefore contributes to critical national and hemispheric debates about our shared past and future, about the causes and consequences of migration, about the ways in which governments respond to demands by citizens and noncitizens, and similar issues of central importance. The remarkable essays solicited by editor Mark Overmyer-Velázquez portray the dynamics, past and present, of changing migrant and native-born populations, and they explain the varied nature of Latino neighborhoods, workplaces, theaters, places of worship, and political organizations. Providing the first sustained accounts of Latinos in many regions of the United States and bringing essays of this sort together for the first time, Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia should serve as a standard reference work for years to come. Because the contributors emphasize diverse Latino experiences, it seems clear that students, educators,

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Foreword and members of the general public will find much to admire in this collection. Some readers will turn to these regional studies for information about particular locales or prominent individuals. Others will depend on the demographic and statistical data that they offer. Teachers will also make good use of this encyclopedia. Instructors in middle schools and high schools will use it to integrate Latino materials into established curricula, or to develop new teaching units that respond to the changing demography of classrooms in the United States. Students in various academic settings, in high schools, colleges, and graduate programs, will turn to these volumes as starting points for new local, national, or international studies of Latinos. Like other readers, new generations of readers will find the bibliographies included in these essays indispensable for future research. These are volumes of considerable intellectual range. As Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia presents new, richly informative essays about all 50 U.S. states, it manages also to push our interpretation of those places and their residents. These contributions to local history, in fact, demand a rethinking of broad issues of national and international importance. As essayists explore how Latinos came to play such central roles in states as different as Arizona, Florida, and Mississippi, they tell us a great deal about patterns of national incorporation, about the ways in which, for example, the United States expanded its territorial borders and its influence into Latin America, and how the Mexican War of 1846–1848 and subsequent U.S. interventions in the Caribbean shaped the Latino past and present. They also address how new migration patterns connecting the United States and Latin America emerged from the mid-nineteenth century into the present, and how governmental, religious, and other officials nationwide responded in different ways to recent arrivals and their children. Students and scholars can hardly think about these topics at local levels without engaging other fundamental questions about regional and national identity, about the causes and consequences of migration, and about the intersecting histories of race, gender, and class. Attention to Latino communities from Maine to Hawaii focuses new attention on the ways in which Latin Americans have been seen as threats to U.S. national culture, and how Mexicans and others came to embody racial stigmas, which in turn defined their own individual and collective opportunities, their health and survival, and their identities. Attentive to histories and changing contemporary circumstances, these essays also highlight the many different ways in which Latinos have responded to residency in the United States. The pages that follow, therefore, document the fascinating public and private lives of women, men, and children who struggled to make the best of difficult local circumstances, including some who contributed in remarkable ways to cities and towns across the country. Contributors show us Latinos who have long been deeply rooted in various locales and many who have

Foreword articulated strong feelings of national identity for generations. From the Revolutionary War forward, these essays suggest that Latinos have fought and died in military campaigns in and for the United States, contributed labor to home front industries, and supported U.S. patriotic causes. But many others, as these essays also make clear, have concurrently remained Latin Americans within U.S. borders, committed to the homeland politics of Cuba or Colombia, and eager to influence nations elsewhere in the hemisphere. Some of the scholars in this encyclopedia call such political tendencies transnational, emphasizing the ways in which many Latinos have affirmed their connections with nations abroad. Thanks to Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia, we know a great deal more both about the U.S. residents who have emphasized U.S. citizenship and national belonging, and about those who have drawn different cognitive maps of Latin America across the United States over the last century and more. Published at a time when students, academics, policy makers, and others engage in heated new discussions about immigration and citizenship, race and labor, and the future of the United States and the broader hemisphere, this important encyclopedia deserves broad attention. Latino America: A State-byState Encyclopedia contributes in fundamental ways to policy debates in the United States and Latin America, and it should guide new academic efforts to understand our shared past and future. Its wide-ranging portraits of Latino communities will no doubt inspire new and better ways of thinking about populations that have long been misunderstood or simply ignored in the United States. Stephen Pitti Professor of History and American Studies Director of the Program in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Master of Ezra Stiles College Yale University

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The further I progress into my academic career, the more I learn that the scholarly enterprise of research and writing is an exciting and challenging one of building intellectual communities and enduring collaborative partnerships. I was not only very fortunate that Wendi Schnaufer of Greenwood Press contacted me to embark on this audacious project, but also that she skillfully and with a generous sense of humor guided me through what has been at times a labyrinthine process. I greatly appreciate the diligent work of all the contributors to these volumes and their patience with me as I pestered them with e-mails requesting the latest draft of their chapters. Their pioneering work will be a resource and inspiration for others in the years to come. My academic community throughout this adventure has included many of the administrative and custodial workers, students and faculty at the University of Connecticut. I am very grateful to the diligent custodial staff members—all of them Latinas—that continue to maintain my office in a semblance of order. I have been inspired and challenged by my undergraduate and graduate students over the past four years, and I thank them for their participation as critical readers of various ideas and writings present in this encyclopedia. In particular, Damian Nemirovsky and Michael Neagle merit special credit for their work on the census data chart and respective chapters. My colleagues in the history department and elsewhere have been very welcoming and giving of their time and encouragement. In particular, I have been blessed to receive large doses of critical insight and advice from my compañeros and mentors Blanca Silvestrini, Guillermo Irizarry, and Enrique Sepúlveda.

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Acknowledgments The Institute of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at the University of Connecticut has served as a virtual home for this project over the past two years, for which I thank Anne Theriault and her student assistants. I owe a long overdue debt to Stephen Pitti. In addition to crafting the Foreword to the encyclopedia and working as an invaluable interlocutor with other contributors, Steve has been my long-term advisor, beginning with my graduate student days, when he first introduced me to the possibilities and responsibilities of studying and teaching Latino history. My greatest support in this project has been, as always, Jordanna Hertz. Jordi patiently and enthusiastically tolerated the fact that I completed most of the editing of these volumes at night, after our precious children, Sarai Dov and Maceo Ilan, were not-so-fast asleep.

INTRODUCTION

Puerto Rican reggaetón and Mexican corridos (ballads) have never had such popular attention. Supporters of party candidates in the 2008 U.S. presidential election have harnessed these popular music forms to mobilize an increasingly politically powerful Latino constituency. Reminiscent of the Viva Kennedy Clubs of the 1960s, Latinos have organized across national origins to work and sing in support of their preferred candidate. At the same time, politicians such as Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas have resurrected racist and erroneous narratives of the Alamo to champion the supposed patriotism and moral victory of white Americans over an invisible Latino enemy. In the context of intensified and unresolved debates around migration from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States, these campaign fragments highlight the central importance of Latinos today and raise fundamental questions about who exactly this dynamic and heterogeneous population is and what their histories can teach us about the United States and their countries of origin. Experiencing a demographic explosion since the 1960s, Latino/as are now the “majority minority” in the United States, for the first time outnumbering African Americans. One of every seven people in the nation identifies herself or himself as Latina/o, a group that has accounted for about half the growth in the United States population since 1990. The presence of over 47 million people of Latin American and Caribbean origins in the United States has profound implications for the future of this country and for the countries from which they originally came.

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Introduction People of Latin American and Caribbean heritage have shaped the social, political, economic, and cultural landscape of the United States for centuries. Rather than merely returning another misplaced episode to the story of the United States, the chapters in Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia confirm that the story of Latinos is central to U.S. history, and as such it challenges us to reimagine the fundamental constitution, development, and future of the country. Although more exploratory and suggestive than encyclopedically encompassing in its approach to knowledge, Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia provides new routes to encounter Latino/as’ longstanding contributions to and struggles with people and life in the United States. In Latino America: A State-byState Encyclopedia, scholar-specialists provide individual chapters on each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This introduction briefly examines the multiple meanings and implications of the term Latino, and it discusses the major forces that have shaped the historical experiences of Latino/as in the United States. It concludes by introducing the encyclopedia’s scope, coverage, and importance and by providing the reader with a key with which to navigate each chapter’s constituent parts.

What’s in a Name? The demographic statistics outlined above elide the fact that Latino/as can be simultaneously an extremely diverse and fluid assortment of self-conscious individuals and a unified ethnic community. The strategic definition as Latino/a—at once external and self-identifying—is inherently political, and it is complicated by several factors, including historical context, generation, language, gender, race, class, location, and country of origin. Emerging in the 1980s, the term Latino refers to people, either male or female, living in the United States with at least one parent of Latin American or Caribbean descent, and it is often used in contrast to groups such as Asian, African, and Anglo Americans. According to the official classificatory schemes of the U.S. census, Latino is applied to migrants and their descendents in the United States originating from the Spanish-speaking countries of North, Central, and South America, as well as from countries in the Caribbean and from Spain.1 This definition often excludes countries such as Haiti, Brazil, and Belize, but it includes U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico. As a Spanish-language term, it takes masculine and feminine endings. Although the masculine versions of the term, Latino/Latinos, are commonly used to refer to both men and women, it is important to consider the meaning and power of using Latina/Latinas in place of, or in addition to, Latino/Latinos. In an effort to avoid masculine-only descriptions, some authors in the encyclopedia use hybrid terms such as Latino/a. The other popular term used to describe this population, Hispanic, was adopted in 1977 by the U.S. Office of

Introduction Budget and Management for purposes of data collection as a simplified way to categorize people of Latin American and Caribbean descent. However, many individuals of Latin American and Caribbean heritage or origin reject the term Hispanic to identify themselves, considering the label a denial of gains made by U.S. ethnic rights struggles and something that improperly identifies them more with Spain than with Latin America and the Caribbean. As with all identities, Latinos/as choose their identifiers among a shifting and mutable repertoire that varies depending on the individual’s political, historical and spatial contexts. Most Latinos first identify with their own national or subnational origins. For example, a woman with roots in Puerto Rico might first identify herself as una puertorriqueña and then as a Latina.2 The term Latino is made further problematic by the thousands of non-Spanish-speaking indigenous migrants in the United States who may identify primarily with their small village or perhaps state of origin, and not with a Spanish-language heritage, as is the case with Mixtec migrants from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, who have developed Oaxacan hometown associations in places such as Los Angeles. The term Latino America in this publication’s title additionally complicates the conundrum of identity and identifying by insisting on a transnational dynamic between Latin Americans and U.S. Latino/as. Although perhaps seeming at first glance a malapropism, Latino America suggests a shared hemispheric historical experience among North, Central, and South American as well as Caribbean populations that challenges us to reconsider fixed regions of study that divide the United States and Latin America into discrete units of inquiry.3 Furthermore, by closely resembling its Spanish-language cognate, Latinoamérica (Latin America), Latino America makes a direct connection with Latino/as’ region of origin.

Latina/o History as U.S. History Latina/o history is central to the history of the United States. Just as we might learn about indigenous populations, Anglo-European settlement on (that is, migration to) the East Coast, or African slavery as part of the history of the United States, Latino/as have also played a critical role in shaping this country’s history. From the sixteenth-century Spanish settlements in states such as Alabama, California, and Florida, to the role of state residents in nineteenth- and twentieth-century U.S. military campaigns in Latin America, to the contemporary surge of Latino/a populations in the Carolinas, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Connecticut, Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia clearly demonstrates that Latina/os have been intimately connected to every historical stage and to every region in the United States. U.S. economic and military imperialism, liberalized immigration laws, population expansion in Latin America, and comparatively higher wages in the

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Introduction United States have determined the historical presence of Latino/as in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century. The years 1848, 1898, and 1965 exemplify these factors in history. Mexicans refer to the 1846–1848 war with the United States as the North American Invasion. As a young country, the United States’ first significant effort at economic and military imperialism cost Mexico over half of its territory— including the present-day U.S. states of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming—which led some Mexican citizens left on the new U.S. side of the border to proclaim, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.” Mexico, weak from years of independence and civil wars, and the United States, eager to expand its borders to the west past Texas, built the right environment for war between the two countries. The annexed Mexican territory brought not only new citizens of Mexican heritage to the United States but also enormous mineral and land wealth. The mining prospectors made wealthy in the famous 1848 gold rush dug their mines on former Mexican territory in California. U.S. government officials and others viewed that event and the vast expanse of agricultural and pasture lands as fundamental to the country’s westward expansion. In theory, the culminating Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) promised that Mexicans on the north side of the new Rio Bravo/Rio Grande border could become U.S. citizens; it was a promise rarely fulfilled as Anglo-European settlers frequently manipulated the law to remove Mexican access to land and citizenship rights. Ironically, as the West industrialized and demand for labor grew, it was often Mexican American and migrant Mexican workers who labored in the fields and factories of the growing economy. The arrival of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States was a direct result of U.S. imperialistic activities, starting with the invasion of Mexico in 1848. The United States’ “harvest of empire” peaked with the 1898 Spanish-American War. With all of the continent’s land colonized by the end of nineteenth century, the United States government looked to the remnants of Spain’s overseas possessions to expand its economic empire. At the conflict’s end and the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, the United States had conquered not only Puerto Rico but also the Philippines and Guam, and irrevocably linked Cuba and Cubans to its trans-Caribbean future. When the United States’ military was in the process of “freeing” the island of Puerto Rico from Spanish colonial rule in 1898, General Nelson Miles declared, “Our purpose is not to interfere with the existing laws and customs which are beneficial for your people.” The island’s inhabitants would have never imagined that two years later; with the passing of the Foraker Act in 1900 Puerto Rico would become a colony yet again, this time of the United States. The Act made the island a U.S. territory and gave the president power to appoint the governor and other high-level administrators. In 1917 Congress passed the Jones Act, imposing

Introduction U.S. citizenship on all Puerto Ricans. For the next 35 years the island would exist as a colony of the United States and provide cheap labor for the mother country’s industries. In the 1950s, after the island’s status had changed to a neocolonial commonwealth model permitting some limited political autonomy, migration to the United States rapidly accelerated; in fact, this was the largest migration of Latin Americans to the United States the hemisphere had ever witnessed. But that was only the beginning of the migrant flood to the north. New legislation in the 1960s would not only increase the numbers of Latin American migrants to the United States, but it would also radically reshape the contours of North American society. On October 3, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Hart-Celler Immigration Bill, inaugurating a new era of mass migration. The legislation, which phased out the national origins quota system first instituted in 1921, created the foundation of today’s immigration laws. Prior to 1965, 70 percent of all migrant slots were allotted to natives of just three countries—United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany—and most slots went unused. But there were long waiting lists for the small number of visas available to those born in Italy, Greece, Poland, Portugal, and elsewhere in eastern and southern Europe. The Hart-Celler Act eliminated the various nationality-based criteria, supposedly putting people of all nations on an equal footing for migration to the United States. The new legislation put in place a system based primarily on family reunification and needed skills. The long-term result of the Act was to reverse the composition of migrants coming to the United States in the last four decades of the twentieth century. In 1960, 75 percent of all the foreign-born population came from Europe, and only 14 percent came from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. These numbers had been essentially inverted by 2000, when only 15 percent of migrants arrived from Europe, and over 77 percent arrived from Latin America and Asia. This trend only promises to continue in the future. Latin America and the Caribbean also contributed to the massive flow of migrants to the United States during this period. Between 1960 and 2000 the region’s population skyrocketed from 218 million to over 520 million. Political instability in Latin America and the Caribbean, combined with this growing population, meant increased needs for out-migration and work; thus many turned to the economic opportunities of the United States. On the other hand, for most of the twentieth century, agricultural, industrial, and domestic employers in the United States depended upon cheap migrant labor from Latin America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere to make enough profits to sustain their successes. Though the events surrounding the years 1848, 1898, and 1965 help us to understand how and why Latin American and Caribbean populations migrated to the United States, they do not tell us much about what happened once they arrived. Despite their many shared experiences of U.S. military and economic imperialism,

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Introduction migration, and racial and ethnic discrimination once in the United States, Latina/os are anything but a uniform population. In fact, their broad diversity in terms of national origin, generation, gender, sexuality, class, and political affiliation—to name a few variables—has as much divided as it has united this growing demographic. Although popular cultural representations of Latina/os on TV and in film have tended to portray them as a unified and homogenous group with similar cultural sensibilities and linguistic, religious, and political affiliations, Latinos, as we have seen from this brief historical introduction, differ both in origins and destinations. Before even entering the United States, Latin Americans and Caribbeans themselves represent a large range of class, national, ethnic, and racial backgrounds—including black, brown, white, Asian, Indian, and any combination of these as well. Mexicans started migrating to the United States in the nineteenth century and Puerto Ricans in the early twentieth century, whereas South and Central Americans from countries such as Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, and Guatemala made their way north, seeking asylum from brutal military dictatorships—most supported by the U.S. government—in increasing numbers starting in the 1960s. Once in the United States, Latino/as of all backgrounds have continued to mix with local populations, forging a whole new set of identities and ethnic, national, and political allegiances. Far from being uprooted from their original cultures and assimilating into the American melting pot, diverse Latino/a communities maintain and develop their distinct cultures in new and innovative ways in the United States, adding to the rich diversity and complexity of the country. Indeed, Latina/os have contributed to U.S. society in ways that reach beyond their investments in the country’s economy and labor. In the realms of politics, education, sports, and the arts, Latina/os are a growing presence helping to frame the future of the United States and their countries of origin. In an ill-conceived attempt to stop or stem the flow of Latin American and Caribbean migrants to the United States, many U.S. politicians have sought to redraw the map of the country by effectively extending the border beyond the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande line deeper into the United States. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. officials and pundits have positioned Latino migration and migrants as central causes of national anxiety and insecurity. Increased surveillance and raids by Homeland Security officers have only further increased apprehension among the country’s migrant communities. Despite renewed unilateral, anti-immigrant legislative intensification, the consistent and constant need of and demand for labor—fueled by an enduring imperial connection between the two regions—have proven the historical inefficacy of each new regulation and law. At the same time, our Latin American and Caribbean counterparts have continued to recast their countries’ relationship with their neighbor to the north through the lives of their transborder citizens. If history has taught us anything about this protracted transnational relationship, it is that what is urgently

Introduction required are multilateral negotiations that address and remedy long-standing economic and structural inequalities between the two regions. As the maps of the United States and Latin America increasingly overlap one another, we need to turn to histories such as those found in Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia to redraw our conceptual and geopolitical maps of the country, hemisphere, and world, and to expand rather than restrict our access to new routes and possibilities for freer movement and lives.

About the Encyclopedia Authored by an interdisciplinary group of scholars, Latino America: A State-byState Encyclopedia is uniquely conceptualized to address the historical significance of the growing Latino/a American population throughout the United States. The set contains geographically distinct entries according to individual states and the District of Columbia.4 Clearly presented for a general audience, this comparative method of organizing material importantly and appropriately moves the focus of the Latino/a experience from studies of gateway states in the Southwest to a national level. Besides paying careful attention to the transnational dimensions of Latin American migration to the U.S, individual entries critically examine the wide range of different Latino/a identities, ethnicities, and social and political positions at the state level. In doing so, the authors engage a broader understanding of the central role of people of Latin American and Caribbean origin and heritage in the United States. As with all large edited works, there is a creative tension between uniformity and consistency on the one hand, and the uniqueness of the subject and its authors’ scholarship on the other. The varying historical experiences of Latinos/as in each state challenged authors to examine different chronological and thematic emphases. Additionally, authors came to this project with their own disciplinary lenses and approaches. With all of this in mind, authors sought to incorporate themes that surpass national and intercultural boundaries, while simultaneously revealing some of the more salient sources of internal division among Latinas/os. Themes analyzed include the trans- and international dimension of Latin America’s relationship with U.S. Latinas/os, cultural nationalisms, identity formations, political membership, gender relations, race and racism, labor and immigration law, and religion and expressive cultures. Certain elements have been omitted while privileging others. For example, a decision was made not to have Puerto Rico as one of the chapters in this encyclopedia, because, despite the fact that inhabitants of the island of Puerto Rico were made U.S. citizens in 1917, they continue to be perceived as “foreign to the United States in a domestic sense” by the U.S. government, which makes them occupy a liminal status between state and colony. Although not the subject of a

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Introduction separate chapter, readers will discover the complexities of nationality and citizenship among Puerto Ricans in many of the individual state chapters. Rather than include additional essays that examine political, economic, social, and cultural themes that transcend national and state boundaries, Latino America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia allows readers to conduct their own comparisons of themes and national groups among the states. As such, the publication’s subtitle State-by-State could also read State-to-State, underscoring the movement between and within the states of the United States that so aptly characterizes the historical experience of Latino/as. Every chapter is divided into distinct sections that approach the history of Latinas/os from multiple perspectives. The historical Chronology section that opens each essay offers an annotated timeline of the role and impact Latino Americans have had in the particular state. The Historical Overview examines in narrative form the extended presence of Latinas/os in the United States, emphasizing political, social, and economic histories unique to the region, from the earliest days of settlement of Latin American and Caribbean explorers to the present day. In the section Notable Latinos, authors document in chronological birth order select and representative individuals from the state’s Latino population. These notable people are resourceful pioneers—past and present—who have created new possibilities and avenues of discovery and achievement for both Latinos and non-Latinos alike. Conceptualizing cultural production as a mutually constitutive aspect of political power, the section entitled Cultural Contributions explores cultural expressions, rituals, and traditions among each state’s Latino/a populations. The Notes and Bibliography sections provide a critical resource for students and researchers seeking to expand their study of Latino American history. And finally, the Appendix provides a table with census data on Latinos from 1870 to 2000.

NOTES 1. Here and throughout the encyclopedia the terms migrant and migration are often used in place of immigrant and immigration. The latter terms imply a unidirectional path to the United States, and as such, they are linked to a historical privileging of assimilationist and melting-pot theories that ignore both the transnational movement of people back and forth across borders and their varied national and regional claims to identity and citizenship. Unless noted otherwise, immigration is only used when referring to official government policies or legislative or organizational titles, as in immigrant rights laws. Similarly, when possible, the term America is avoided as a substitute for the term United States. Because Latinos are also of (Latin) American heritage and descent, it is inaccurate to believe that the term America refers uniquely to the United States. At times authors use North American to mean a citizen or inhabitant of the United States, although that term can also include Mexicans and Canadians.

Introduction 2. National and subnational Latino groups often use separate categories to identify themselves. For example, Mexican Americans might use the term Chicano/a and Puerto Ricans the term Boricua. Each term has its own particular historical, political, and regional meaning. 3. The term Latin(o) America was first coined by Diane Taylor, and it has been used in similar ways by other authors to theorize issues of mestizaje (mixed race) and hybridity among Latin American and U.S. Latina/o subjects. See also works by Spitta and Poblete. 4. Entry lengths (roughly four, seven, or thirteen thousand words) vary depending on the number of Latinos as a percentage of the state’s total population, as determined by the 2000 U.S. census.

Selected Bibliography Gonzalez, Gilbert, and Raul Fernandez. A Century of Chicano History: Empire, Nations, and Migration. New York: Routledge, 2003. Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America. New York: Viking Penguin, 2000. Gutiérrez, David. The Columbia History of Latinos in the United States since 1960. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. Oboler, Suzanne. Ethnic Labels, Latino Lives: Identity and the Politics of (Re)Presentation in the United States. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. Oboler, Suzanne, and Deena J. González, eds. The Oxford History of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Overmyer-Velázquez, Mark, ed. History of Latinos in the United States, 6 vols. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2007. Poblete, Juan. Critical Latin American and Latino Studies. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. Ruiz, Vicki. “Nuestra América: Latino History as United States History.” Journal of American History 93, no. 3 (December 2006): 655–672. Sánchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900–1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Spitta, Silvia. Between Two Waters: Narratives of Transculturation in Latin America. Houston, TX: Rice University Press, 1995. Taylor, Diana, and Juan Villegas, eds. Negotiating Performance: Gender, Sexuality, and Theatricality in Latin/o America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994.

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1 ALABAMA Helen Delpar

CHRONOLOGY 1540

1559–1561

1780–1813

1921

1990s

1996

Hernando de Soto leads a Spanish expedition that spends part of the year traversing Alabama. They are the first Europeans to visit the future state. A Spanish expedition headed by Tristán de Luna explores part of Alabama during an unsuccessful effort to found a colony in territory still considered part of Florida. Spanish forces commanded by Bernardo de Gálvez capture Mobile on March 14, 1780. This and other later victories allow Spain to regain control of Florida, which was lost to the British in 1783. Mobile and other portions of the future Alabama become part of West Florida, which extends from the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee rivers on the east to the Mississippi on the west, and north to 32°28’N. latitude. All of West Florida falls under U.S. control in 1811–1813. A sensational trial takes place after a Methodist minister, Edwin R. Stephenson, kills a Roman Catholic priest who had married his daughter to a Puerto Rican, Pedro Gussman. In his successful defense of Stephenson, attorney Hugo L. Black makes much of Gussman’s supposed African ancestry. A Latino influx to Alabama begins. Latinos, mainly from Mexico and Central America, many of them undocumented, come to the state to work in the poultry industry and in other low-wage, nonunion jobs. A lawsuit is initiated to force Alabama to offer driver’s license examinations in Spanish and other languages besides English.

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Latino America

2001

2007

2008

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Alabama is not required to offer driver’s license examinations in languages other than English. By then, however, the state had already been offering the exam in Spanish and other languages, a policy upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court in 2007. A new Spanish-language radio station goes on the air in Birmingham. It is one of several new businesses and services targeted at the state’s growing Latino population. Data from the Census Bureau demonstrate that more than half of Alabama’s Latino population is of Mexican origin, and that 71.5 percent of Alabama’s Latino population is under 35 years of age. Alabama’s Joint Interim Patriotic Immigration Commission—created by the state legislature in 2007—issues a report listing 25 recommendations for enforcing immigration laws and cracking down on undocumented immigrants. These include finding out whether public medical facilities are being abused, denying bond to undocumented migrants, and impounding vehicles of drivers without licenses or proof of insurance. The report is issued after the commission holds public hearings in four cities.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Alabama began to receive relatively large numbers of Latinos only after 1990, and they tended to congregate in certain areas of the state. Some residents wel-

Alabama comed the new arrivals, but others regarded them warily, fearful of the economic and social consequences of their presence. Moreover, the Latinos represented a novel cultural and racial element in a state that had traditionally defined itself in terms of black and white.

HISPANIC BEGINNINGS Alabamians who were uncomfortable about the presence of Latinos in their midst often overlooked the fact that Spanish was the first European language heard in what is now Alabama. In the mid-sixteenth century two large expeditions traversed most of the territory of the future state. Little remains of the brief Spanish presence, though scholars debate the routes followed and pore over contemporary accounts of the expeditions to glean information about the American societies encountered by the Spaniards. In 1537 the Spanish Crown authorized Hernando de Soto to launch an expedition to Florida, whose contours were still unclear. Landing with nine ships, 237 horses, and some 650 persons on Florida’s western coast, probably at Tampa Bay or Charlotte Harbor, the expedition traveled to the panhandle and into present-day Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee before entering Alabama. In 1935–1939 the U.S. DeSoto Commission retraced the expedition’s route, but modern scholars have questioned its findings. For example, de Soto spent a month in Coosa, the central town of an important native chiefdom. The commission placed Coosa in modern Talladega County, but others argue that it was located in northwestern Georgia. Later the expedition moved through the territory of another important chief, Tascaluza. On October 18, 1540, de Soto engaged Tascaluza’s forces in a bloody battle in Mabila, during which perhaps as many as 3,000 Indians were killed. The site of Mabila is still uncertain, but it may have been located near the Alabama River or on the lower Cahaba River. The expedition then moved north and made camp for the winter in northeastern Mississippi, among the Chickasaw. Although the expedition is credited with the European discovery of the Mississippi River, overall it is considered a failure, as it not only cost the life of de Soto himself and those of many of his companions, but it also failed to yield the gold and silver sought by the Spaniards. Relations with the Indians were uniformly bad, no converts to Christianity were made, and no colonies were established. The expedition introduced pigs to the region as well as Old World diseases, such as smallpox and typhoid fever. A second Spanish expedition that traversed much of what is now Alabama was equally unsuccessful. Led by Tristán de Luna, the expedition left Veracruz, Mexico, on June 11, 1559, with 11 ships, 240 horses, and 1,500 men, women, and children (including Indians and blacks) for the purpose of exploring and colonizing what was still called Florida. The expedition settled along Pensacola Bay,

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Latino America where, on September 19, a hurricane destroyed most of the ships; but the expedition also spent time on Mobile Bay (then called Bahía Filipina), which had been visited by Guido de Lavazares in 1558. Parties from the expedition traveled to an Indian community called Nanipacana, on the Alabama River, and reached Coosa as well. The expedition proved a failure for several reasons, including food shortages and Luna’s deficiencies as a leader, and no permanent Spanish colony was established in Alabama. Two centuries later, another Hispanic episode in what is now Alabama occurred when Spain acquired West Florida from the British in 1783. This region, stretching from the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee rivers to the Mississippi, extended from Mobile as far north as 32°28’N. latitude. During the 20-year Spanish occupation, top officials were Spanish, and consequently the official language became Spanish, but many of the residents were French, British, or American. For the Spanish authorities, the main preoccupation was twofold: the expansionist tendencies of the United States and the need to maintain friendly relations with the Indians, who also feared North American encroachment on their lands. These concerns prompted the Spaniards to establish Fort San Estevan (St. Stephens) in 1789, about 60 miles north of Mobile, on the Tombigbee River, but in 1795 Spain ceded the territory north of 31° N. latitude to the United States. Between 1811 and 1813 the United States occupied Mobile and the rest of West Florida. With these additions, ratified by the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819, all of present-day Alabama was included within the territory of the United States.

THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES Alabama entered the Union as a slaveholding state in 1819. It was part of the “Cotton Kingdom” of the pre–Civil War South, with a labor force made up largely of black slaves, who represented more than 45 percent of the total population of 964,201 in 1860. The free black population numbered only 2,690 in that year. Few foreign-born migrants settled in Alabama, except in Mobile, which was the principal outlet for the state’s cotton exports. In 1850 the foreign born made up 31 percent of the city’s free population of 13,712. Among them were 22 Mexicans and 144 Spaniards (including three described as “free colored”). A few Cubans and Mexicans, especially from the Yucatan Peninsula, also enrolled in Spring Hill College, a Jesuit institution in Mobile.1 During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Mobile was also an important port of entry for sugar and cigars from Cuba and for bananas from Central America. If few Latinos settled in the state, Alabamians had occasional contacts with Latin America, often in a wartime context unlikely to foster friendly feelings. Alabamians volunteered to fight for Texas independence, and some 140 were exe-

Alabama cuted at Goliad in March 1836. Alabamians took part in the war against Mexico in 1846–1848 and in the war against Spain in 1898. During the latter conflict Richard Pearson Hobson, a naval officer from Greensboro, distinguished himself for a daring effort to bottle up the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago, Cuba. Another Alabamian, William Crawford Gorgas, of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, was named chief sanitation officer for Havana in 1898. In this capacity he made use of the theory of the Cuban physician Carlos Finlay, according to which yellow fever was spread by mosquitoes. Gorgas was thus able to eradicate that deadly tropical disease in Cuba. Later Gorgas conducted a similar campaign against yellow fever during the construction of the Panama Canal. Journalists and other writers displayed sentiments toward Mexicans and Latin Americans in general that were at best ambivalent. When a crisis arose over Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution, Alabama newspapers conveyed a negative image of Mexicans. However, an editorial writer in the Birmingham Post predicted, during the centenary of Mexican independence, that in 2021 Mexico would be a greater power than any of the European nations because of its “vast territory and tremendously rich resources.” Hudson Strode, a well-known teacher of fiction writing at the University of Alabama, published four books on travel and popular history related to Latin America in the 1930s and 1940s. Although he described Mexican peasants stereotypically as submissive fatalists easily transformed into “savage fanatics,” he also declared the notion of Mexico’s “inexhaustible riches” to be a “fallacy” and stressed the importance for the United States of a peaceful and prosperous neighbor. According to Strode, Cubans were fatalists too, but there was much in the Cuban character that North Americans might emulate, particularly “a basic joyousness that will not be suppressed.”2 In the late nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth century Alabama remained a largely rural state where agriculture was predominant. Because farm prices, especially for cotton, were often low during this period, most rural Alabamians, both black and white, lived in poverty. By 1930 nearly 65 percent of the state’s farmers were either sharecroppers or cash tenants who usually found themselves at the mercy of landlords. White tenants frequently left their farms for jobs in textile mills, which grew rapidly after the Civil War. Alabama had also become an important coal-producing state, with 26,200 miners, by 1920; many black miners were convicts leased by the state to mine operators, a system that persisted until the late 1920s. Demand for Alabama’s coal was stimulated in part by the rise of iron and steel production, which used coke as fuel. The iron and steel industry developed around the new city of Birmingham, founded in 1871, and it became a major source of nonfarm employment. During this era the African American population remained large, even after the start of the Great Migration of blacks to the North, reaching nearly 36 percent of

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Latino America the total population in 1930. Racial segregation was the norm in schools, public accommodations, and most other areas of life, and blacks were effectively disenfranchised by the constitution of 1901. In this environment and given the poverty of the state, few foreign-born migrants moved to Alabama. In 1910, when the foreign born accounted for nearly 15 percent of the total U.S. population, they represented less than 1 percent of the Alabama population. Alabama’s foreign born, mainly from central and southern Europe, usually found employment in the iron and steel and related industries in the Birmingham area. There had long been a Roman Catholic presence in Mobile, and many of the recent foreign migrants in Birmingham were Catholics as well. By the 1920s, however, anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant sentiment had emerged with unprecedented virulence, articulated by U.S. Senator J. Thomas Heflin (1920–1931) and by groups such as Birmingham’s Society of True Americans and the revived Ku Klux Klan. In 1921 a Puerto Rican migrant played a leading role in a notorious case that epitomized the racism and anti-Catholicism characteristic of the state and the era. In August 1921 Pedro Gussman—who had migrated to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico at the age of 20—was a 42-year-old wallpaper hanger living in Birmingham. Several years earlier he had become acquainted with the much younger Ruth Stephenson, daughter of Edwin R. Stephenson, an ordained Methodist minister extremely hostile to Catholicism. The previous April, Ruth, then eighteen, had defied her father by joining the Catholic Church, and on August 11 she was married to Gussman by Father James E. Coyle, pastor of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Birmingham. Upon hearing of the marriage, the outraged Stephenson went to the cathedral rectory and gunned Father Coyle down. When Stephenson was tried for murder, his defense attorney, Hugo L. Black, the future U.S. senator and Supreme Court justice, claimed that Stephenson had killed Coyle in a fit of temporary insanity. Although Gussman asserted that his parents had been born in Spain and that he was white, Black was at pains to suggest that the Puerto Rican was of African ancestry, thereby exploiting fears of interracial marriage. On one occasion Black had the courtroom dimmed to highlight Gussman’s supposedly dark complexion, and on another he asked whether the Puerto Rican had had his hair straightened recently. In his closing argument Black declared that if Gussman was of Castilian descent, he had descended a long way. The jury quickly acquitted Stephenson.

LATINO INFLUX

IN THE

LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Prior to 1990 few Latinos lived in Alabama, and they were mainly professional people, such as physicians and college instructors. Among the latter were many of the several hundred Cuban refugees who settled in Alabama during the 1960s. In addition, temporary workers were recruited to pick fruits and vegetables and to

Alabama plant pine trees, but they usually returned to their place of origin after completing their assignments. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau offered only sample-based estimates of the Latino population until 1980. In that year the Census Bureau counted only 33,299 Latinos in the state, or less than 1 percent of a total population of 3,893,888. The years after 1990 witnessed a substantial influx of Latinos, who became permanent residents of Alabama. According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2006, there were 111,432 Latinos in Alabama, or approximately 2.4 percent of the total population of 4,599,030. The actual number of Latinos living in Alabama was undoubtedly much higher. In 2005 the Pew Hispanic Center estimated the number of “unauthorized migrants” living in Alabama at between 30,000 and 50,000. By the time Latinos began arriving in the late twentieth century, the economy of Alabama had undergone substantial changes. The state was still relatively poor, but its economy was much more diversified than it had been earlier in the century. Although cotton remained a major crop, poultry raising and processing had become the most important activity in the agricultural sector, and Alabama ranked third in U.S. broiler production, behind Arkansas and Georgia. Other new products included farmed catfish and soybeans. Though experiencing declines in Alabama as elsewhere, textile and iron and steel production was still a major part of the industrial sector. These traditional industries were, however, supplemented by new manufacturing activities. Most notable perhaps was the establishment, beginning in the 1990s, of automobile plants by several foreign makers—including Mercedes, Honda, and Hyundai—and of factories for the production of auto parts. Latinos initially settled in the northern section of the state—mainly in rural, sparsely populated, overwhelmingly white counties.3 One such county was Marshall County, where the Latino population in 2006 was estimated at 8,100, or 9.3 percent of a total population of 87,185. In neighboring DeKalb County, there were 6,460 Latinos in 2006, or 9.5 percent of a population of 68,014. Other northern counties where Latinos were numerically significant included Franklin and Cullman counties. Farther south, the more populous Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located, and Shelby County had sizable Latino populations too. In Jefferson County, Latinos numbered 17,337, or 2.6 percent of the total population in 2006. In Shelby County 5,934 Latinos, or 3.3 percent of the total population, were counted. There was also a Latino presence in parts of the 12-county Black Belt (so called because of its rich soil), the most impoverished and heavily African American section of the state, even as the region was losing population. Approximately 64 percent of the Latinos counted in the 2006 survey were Mexicans; the others came mainly from Central America and the Caribbean. Most

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Latino America of these Latinos originally went to northern Alabama to work in poultry-processing plants. By the late 1990s, for example, in the tiny town of Collinsville, in DeKalb County, approximately half of the workers in the local poultry plant were Latinos. They also found employment in a local sock factory, a nursing home, and in retail establishments. By 2000, 23.5 percent of Collinsville’s 1,644 residents were Latinos. Poultry-processing plants drew Latinos to other areas of the state, such as the town of Union Springs in the Black Belt’s Bullock County. In 2006 Latinos accounted for about 2.7 percent of the county’s approximately 11,714 people. Throughout the state Latinos also found work in construction, landscaping, restaurants, and other service industries. In addition, many Latinos opened restaurants, groceries, clothing stores, and other businesses to serve their communities, and by 2002 there were more than 2,500 Latino-owned businesses in the state. A Hispanic Business Council was established in 2001 as part of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce to assist Latino entrepreneurs and companies doing business with Latinos. In 2003 an Alabama Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was formed in Birmingham. Affiliated with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and made up solely of Latino entrepreneurs, its members included retailers, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and others.

MIXED RECEPTION The growing number and visibility of Latinos in a state where the foreign-born population had traditionally been minuscule produced mixed feelings. On the one hand, Latinos were praised for their work ethic and for revitalizing depressed business areas. According to a Birmingham News article from January 10, 2004, Collinsville’s Main Street was the site of several Latino-owned businesses—such as grocery store–restaurants, a shipping and travel agency, and a food products distribution center. The mayor was quoted as saying that the Latino businesses had “brought the downtown area back to life” and boosted the town’s sales tax receipts. The Latino influx occurred when economic conditions in the state were generally good and unemployment was below the national average. As a result, relatively few complained that Latinos were depriving native Alabamians of desirable jobs. On the other hand, many native Alabamians expressed unhappiness over the growing Latino population, particularly the undocumented among them. The principal grievance was that they represented a burden on taxpayers because of their utilization of public services. Because undocumented workers usually lacked health insurance, they turned to public hospitals and public health departments for prenatal and other forms of medical care. In 1994 there were only 44 visits by Latinos to Jefferson County Department of Health centers, but by 2000 the figure

Alabama had risen to more than 13,000. The number of interpreters employed by the department increased from one to six in the same period.4 Between 1993–1994 and 2002–2003, according to a Pew Hispanic Center estimate, the number of Latinos enrolled in Alabama public schools increased by nearly 380 percent. In counties of high immigration, public school teachers and administrators, especially at the elementary level, were confronted with the arrival of children with limited English-language skills; yet federal and state funding for ESL (English as a Second Language) and other services was deemed inadequate. Some Alabamians complained that Latino residents lowered neighborhood property values through overcrowding or by producing excessive noise or other disturbances. As a result, Pelham (Shelby County) and other communities adopted ordinances limiting the number of adults who could legally occupy a single-family dwelling. In Hoover, an affluent suburb of Birmingham, the congregation of day laborers in front of a city-owned building became an issue in municipal elections in 2005. The sound of Spanish or the sight of bilingual signs offended other Alabamians. As early as 1990 nearly 90 percent of voters approved an amendment to the state constitution declaring English to be Alabama’s official language and requiring officials to preserve and enhance its role. As a result, the state ended its practice of offering the driver’s license test in Spanish and other foreign languages. In 1996, backed by the Southern Poverty Law Center and other groups, Martha Sandoval, a permanent U.S. resident originally from Mexico, initiated a class-action suit against the state for the right to take the driver’s license test in Spanish. Federal district and appeals courts agreed with the plaintiff’s contention that the Englishonly policy violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But in 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 vote that Sandoval could not sue the state for discrimination (Alexander v. Sandoval). By that time, however, the state had resumed testing in languages other than English, leading to new litigation in 2005 by the Southeastern Legal Foundation. In October 2007 the Alabama Supreme Court upheld the state policy by a 5-4 vote. The majority accepted the state’s contention that the policy encouraged the assimilation of foreign-language speakers by facilitating access to education, employment, and other activities. Alabamians unhappy about the increased number of Latinos among them sometimes resorted to vandalism. In July 2006 gunshots were fired into the windows and glass doors of Latino businesses in the Marshall County town of Albertville. The following October trailers occupied by Latinos in Tuscaloosa County’s Northport were vandalized and a Mexican flag set on fire. At another trailer park, obscenities were spray-painted on a mobile home, and the occupants were told to leave. In response to large pro-immigrant demonstrations throughout the United States in the spring of 2006, including one in Birmingham and another in Albertville, some Alabamians took part in counterdemonstrations. In Cullman a

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Latino America crowd of 300–400 held signs with such sentiments as “Illegals cost taxpayers thousands of dollars a year.” A Ku Klux Klan anti-immigration rally in Russellville (Franklin County) attracted some 300 supporters. In 2003 the desire to reduce illegal immigration led Alabama to become the second state (after Florida) to sign an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use state troopers to enforce federal laws; 70 troopers were expected to be authorized to arrest undocumented aliens by the end of 2006. As of 2006 few Latinos were registered voters in Alabama, and the Latino community as a whole had little political influence. However, churches and other nonprofit groups provided legal, medical, and educational services to recent migrants. Among the latter were the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, which was established in 1999 to assist Latinos in the Birmingham metropolitan area, and the Huntsville-based Alabama Hispanic Association, founded in 2002, which focused on northern Alabama. As Alabama’s Latino population rose, the city of Mobile maintained a close relationship with Cuba. In 1993 Mobile and Havana became sister cities, the first such U.S. “twinning” since the Cuban Revolution. Through the work of the Society Mobile–La Habana, numerous conferences and people-to-people exchanges took place. After Congress passed legislation in 2000 permitting limited U.S. exports to Cuba, Mobile again became an important port for the shipment of agricultural goods to the island, many of them produced in Alabama and ranging from poultry to wooden utility poles.5

NOTABLE LATINOS Soto, Hernando de (c. 1500–1542). Spaniard who led the first European expedition in the future Alabama. Born in Jerez de Badajoz, de Soto came to the New World around 1514, settling in Panama, and took part in the conquest of Nicaragua (1524). He played a major role in Francisco Pizarro’s campaign against the Inca Empire (1531–1533); but eager for an independent command, he secured appointment as governor of Florida (1537). During his trek through the future U.S. Southeast, he fell ill and died on May 21, 1542. His body, weighted with sand, was sunk in the Mississippi River. Luna y Arellano, Tristán de (c. 1510–1573). Spaniard who tried unsuccessfully to found a colony on the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Florida. From a distinguished Aragonese family, Luna had been a long time resident of Mexico when the viceroy appointed him governor of Florida in 1558. Because of the problems that plagued Luna’s efforts, he was relieved of his command in March 1561 and returned to Mexico. His successor, Angel de Villafañe, was also unsuccessful in establishing a permanent Spanish presence on the Gulf Coast. Gálvez, Bernardo de (1746–1786). Army officer who gained control of West Florida for Spain in 1780. Born near Málaga to a prominent family, Gálvez had extensive experi-

Alabama ence when he was appointed governor of Louisiana in 1777. After Spain declared war on England during the American Revolution (1779), he defeated the British at Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola, thereby enabling Spain to retain control of Florida in 1783. Gálvez later served briefly as governor of Cuba and viceroy of Mexico. Gussman, Pedro (ca. 1879–?). Puerto Rican who became enmeshed in a sensational murder trial in Birmingham in 1921, after his marriage to Ruth Stephenson led her father, Edwin R. Stephenson, to shoot to death the priest who had married them. During the trial, Stephenson’s attorney, Hugo L. Black, made much of Gussman’s supposedly negroid physical appearance. He and Ruth soon separated, and both disappeared from view after the trial. Sandoval, Martha (1946–). Mexican-born resident of Mobile who was lead plaintiff in a class-action suit seeking the right to take the state driver’s license examination in Spanish. When the suit was filed on December 31, 1996, the test was administered only in English. Sandoval, a permanent legal resident, was insufficiently proficient in English to pass the test and suffered hardship because she lacked a license. After tests became available in Spanish and other foreign languages in 1998, she passed the examination on her first try.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The increase in the Latino population exposed Alabamians to Latin American food, music, and culture in general. Mexican restaurants soon dotted the landscape throughout the state, and supermarkets began to stock Latino products on their shelves. Spanish-language radio stations went on the air in Birmingham and other cities, and Spanish-language and bilingual newspapers also circulated in the state—among them El Latino, a free weekly established in 1996. Roman Catholic churches began to schedule Sunday masses in Spanish and to hold special celebrations in honor of the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Baptists and other Protestant denominations also reached out to Latinos by launching ministries and offering English-language classes and other services. Since 2003 Birmingham’s Hispanic Business Council has sponsored an annual Fiesta that attracts thousands. It aims at acquainting Alabamians with the culture of Latin America while offering various services to Latino attendees. Soccer acquired a Spanish accent as teams for Latino adults were formed and organized into leagues. In Jefferson County in 2005 there were three such leagues with more than 70 teams, as well as a Latino baseball league with ten teams.

NOTES 1. Thompson, 168–169; Kenny, 153–154, 277–278, 302. 2. Birgmingham Ledger, March 30 and April 11, 1916, cited in Sterkx, 168–169; Strode, Timeless Mexico, xiv–xv, 416–417; Strode, Pageant of Cuba, xx–xxi.

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Latino America 3. Mohl, 243–245; Moseley, 45–46. 4. Patino, 31–32. 5. Society Mobile–La Havana. http://www.havana-mobile.com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Badger, R. Reid, and Lawrence A. Clayton, eds. Alabama and the Borderlands: From Prehistory to Statehood. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1979. Birmingham News, 2000–2007, passim. Kenny, Michael. Catholic Culture in Alabama: Centenary Story of Spring Hill College, 1830–1930. New York: America Press, 1931. Mohl, Raymond A. “Latinization of the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-Twentieth-Century Alabama.” Alabama Review 55 (October 2002): 243–274. Moseley, Edward H. “Growing Hispanic Influence in the United States: The Case of Alabama.” In El triángulo económico España-USA-América Latina. Eds. Saturnino Aguado-Sebastián and Rosa María García Barroso. Alcalá de Henares, Spain: Instituto de Estudios Norteamericanos, 2002, 43–50. Patino, Fausto. “Maternal and Child Health Services Utilization by Hispanics in Alabama.” PhD diss., University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2002. Pew Hispanic Center. http://pewhispanic.org. Pruitt Jr., Paul M. “Private Tragedy, Public Shame.” Alabama Heritage 30 (Fall 1993): 6–20. Society Mobile–La Habana. http://www.havana-mobile.com. Sterkx, H.E. “Unlikely Conquistadores: Alabamians and the Border Crisis of 1916.” Alabama Review 24 (July 1971): 163–181. Strode, Hudson. The Pageant of Cuba. New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934. ———. Timeless Mexico. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1944. Thompson, Alan Smith. “Mobile, Alabama, 1850–1861: Economic, Political, Physical, and Population Characteristics.” PhD diss., University of Alabama, 1979. U.S. Census Bureau. 2006 American Community Survey. http://factfinder.census.gov/home/ saff/main.html?_lang=en. Weddle, Robert E. Spanish Sea: The Gulf of Mexico in North American Discovery, 1500–1685. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985.

2 ALASKA Edna Jiménez-Lugo

CHRONOLOGY 1774

1775

1779

1788

1790

The viceroy of New Spain (Mexico), Don Antonio Maria Bucareli y Ursua, orders Juan José Pérez Hernández, a Spanish captain, to lead the first Spanish expedition to Alaska departing from San Blas, Mexico. During the second Spanish expedition to Alaska, the Peruvian Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra, as commander of the vessel the Sonora, anchors in a harbor known today as Bucareli Bay, named in honor of Viceroy Bucareli. The third Spanish expedition to Alaska, commanded by the Spanish explorer Ignacio Arteaga and Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra, sails to Bucareli Bay and then stops in Prince William Sound, Gulf of Alaska. The Nootka Controversy develops. The dispute is between the Spanish and British governments over lands explored in 1774 by Spanish explorers and later claimed in 1778 by the British. It takes from 1790 to 1794 to solve the Nootka Controversy, as various agreements are signed by the Spanish and British to define possession of the lands. The Spanish explorers on the fourth Spanish expedition to Alaska encounter the first Russians at what is now called Unalaska Island, off the southwest coast of Alaska. The Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo commands the fifth Spanish expedition from San Blas, Mexico, to Nootka. After several stops along Prince William Sound, Fidalgo and the crew members of the San Carlos take possession of several regions and assign them Spanish names.

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1791–1792

1792

1795

1899–1916 1975–1977 1981 1990–2000 2001

2004

The Italian explorer Alejandro Malaspina and the Spanish explorer José Bustamante sail from Cádiz, Spain, to visit Spanish colonies, and to the Northwest Coast in search of the Northwest Passage. The Spanish explorers Jacinto Caamaño and Juan Pantoja survey the area of Bucareli Bay in search of the Northwest Passage. This is the end of the Spanish explorations to Alaska. Due to problems encountered by Spanish explorers in Europe and New Spain, the Spanish decide to withdraw from Alaska at the port of Nootka. The Alaska Mexican Gold Mining Company operates in Douglas Island, Alaska, during the early mining history of the state. Latinos are a part of the workforce that builds the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline from the North Slope to the south central port of Valdez. Latinos Unidos del Norte is founded as a community organization that promotes Latino culture and language in interior Alaska. Latinos account for 10.5 percent of the population growth in Alaska— one of the highest rates recorded for Latinos in Alaska. The Council of Latin Americans in Alaska for Special Services (CLASE), a community organization, starts providing assistance in the areas of adult education, health, and migrant rights to Latinos in Anchorage. Many Latinos from other states assist firefighters during a wildfire season that burns 6.7 million acres in interior Alaska.

Alaska 2005

Latinos are recorded as the second-largest minority group in Alaska. Population estimates record that Latinos account for 5.1 percent of the state population.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW An increase of the Latino population in Alaska since 2001 makes them the second-largest minority group in the state. By 2005 there was an estimated 31,000 Latinos living in Alaska.1 Approximately 19,000 live in the Anchorage borough, one of the most populated urban cities in Alaska. Nearly 5,000 enjoy living in other urban areas, such as Fairbanks and Juneau, the state capital. Hundreds of Latinos face the challenges of living in rural Alaska in remote areas inaccessible by road, such as Angoon, Barrow, Nome, and Bethel. Some Latinos who work in the fishprocessing industry prefer smaller areas, such as Kodiak Island and the Aleutians. The early migration of Latinos to Alaska resulted from a rapid growth in the state’s economy. For instance, the 1902 gold rush boom in Fairbanks, the strong military presence in Alaska since the 1950s, the oil boom in the 1960s, and the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970s all contributed to the growth of Alaska’s Latino population. The social context of Latino life in Alaska is different from that of states where Latinos are the largest minority population. In Alaska, the majority of political and social minority issues are associated with Alaska Natives’ cultural preservation, education, health, and improvement of basic services in rural areas. Little attention is given to Latino culture and society. However, Latinos and Natives share a concern with policies that affect language issues in the state.

LEGACY

OF

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS

The Spanish influence in Alaska is less evident than in many other states in the Southwest. From 1774 to 1792, Spanish explorers conducted expeditions to Alaska with the hopes of finding the Northwest Passage—a supposed link between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans believed to be navigable through North America. Before the era of aviation, the hypothetical discovery and dominion over the Northwest Passage was considered of great economic and strategic importance. Expansion of the Russian fur trade to the Spanish-colonized west coast of California was another reason for the early Spanish incursion into Alaska. The majority of the Spanish expeditions to Alaska departed from San Blas, Mexico. The viceroy of New Spain (today’s Mexico), Don Antonio María Bucareli y Ursua, was one of the most influential in the Spanish expeditions to explore the northern coast in search of the Northwest Passage and Russian settlements. In 1774, the Spanish captain Juan José Pérez Hernández, following

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Latino America Bucareli’s instructions, sailed north in search of latitude 60°, which is approximately where Prince William Sound is located in the Gulf of Alaska. This 1774 expedition failed to reach Alaska, as the sailors did not pass beyond Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada. In 1775 a second expedition departed with two vessels: the Santiago, led by the Spanish Captain Bruno de Hezeta, and the Sonora, commanded by the Peruvian Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra. Although their mission was to reach latitude 65° north, the crew members of the Santiago and the Sonora were ambushed by the Chinook Indians along the northern coast of United States, close to what is now known as the state of Washington. After that skirmish, the vessels went in opposite directions. Hezeta returned to San Blas with the Santiago’s crew, while Bodega y Quadra headed north up the southeast coast of Alaska with the Sonora’s crew, toward the contemporary town of Sitka. In search of a better place to anchor than Sitka, Bodega y Quadra continued to the Southeast and anchored in quiet waters later named by Bodega and known today as Bucareli Bay. Neither Bodega y Quadra nor the crew members of the Sonora ever returned to San Blas, landing instead in a Spanish settlement in the Monterey Bay of California. From 1776 to 1778, Spanish explorers repaired and built ships to continue these expeditions to the north. In 1779 the vessels Princesa, commanded by the Spanish explorer Ignacio Arteaga, and the Favorita, led by Bodega y Quadra, departed from San Blas. The vessels stopped in the recently discovered Bucareli Bay, where they interacted with Native Americans. Encounters with Tlingit Natives in the Southeast led to violence, including the first and only recorded Native Alaskan death caused by Spanish explorers. That same year, the Princesa and the Favorita sailed in search of a safer anchorage. They arrived in Prince William Sound, where the crew members met with another group of Natives in Alaska, the Aluttiq. The expedition then headed south and west to the Kenai Peninsula. During the expeditions from 1774 to 1779, Spanish voyagers traded food and artifacts with natives. Some believe potatoes and other crops arrived in Alaska during exchanges between explorers and natives, but little evidence is available to substantiate these theories. Expeditions to the north were expensive, risky, and dangerous, causing many deaths among the Spanish crews. The Northwest Passage was never found, and Spanish exploration to the north was put on hold until 1787. In 1788 another vessel departed from San Blas, heading north to Prince William Sound. Crew members of the 1788 expedition documented one of their first encounters with Russian explorers during a stop at what is now called Unalaska Island. The Spanish-Russian encounter ended when the Spanish explorers returned to San Blas. The year of 1788 was of great controversy between the Spanish and British crowns. A dispute on sovereignty over an area discovered and named by the

Alaska Spanish during the 1774 expedition led to what is known as the Nootka Controversy. Nootka was the name given by the British to a place that the Spanish had explored and named Surgidero de San Lorenzo (Anchorage of Saint Lawrence). Although the Nootka Agreement was signed in 1790, preventing a war between the two nations, confusion remained over what land area pertained to the British and what to the Spanish. After further disputes, both the British and the Spanish had free access to the area in 1794, but by 1795 the Spanish had withdrawn from the port of Nootka. The search for the Northwest Passage still was intriguing for some Spanish explorers. A 1790 expedition commanded by the Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo sailed to Prince William Sound, where he named various sites on his way north. In 1791 the Italian Alejandro Malaspina and the Spanish explorer José Bustamante y Guerra sailed from Cádiz, Spain, to visit Spanish colonies and search for the Northwest Passage. They later learned the passage was a myth. Nevertheless, in 1792, the Spanish explorers Jacinto Caamaño and Juan Pantoja started a voyage to Bucareli Bay from San Blas with the goal of finding the socalled Northwest Passage. Caamaño and Pantoja surveyed the area of Prince of Wales Island, then headed west, arriving in the Queen Charlotte Islands. The voyage of 1792 was the last expedition to the Northwest and the end of 18 years of Spanish exploration in Alaska.

SPANISH NAMES

IN

ALASKA

Similar to the case in other areas colonized by Spaniards, the Spanish legacy in Alaska is recorded in the names of towns, rivers, and glaciers sighted by early explorers. The best-known examples are the towns of Valdez and Cordova, two small cities located in the southern area of Alaska. Salvador Fidalgo named the town of Valdez, located in the northeast of Prince William Sound, in honor of a minister of the Spanish Navy, Antonio Valdés y Basán. Modern-day Valdez is a tourist destination known for its natural beauty, waterfalls, glaciers, fishing industry, and marine life. Historical events such as the Viernes Santo (Good Friday) Earthquake in 1964 (which forced the relocation of the city) and later the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 significantly and negatively affected the economy and progress of Valdez. Cordova, another small city in southeast Alaska, was named by Salvador Fidalgo during his 1790 expedition in search of Russian settlements in the Pacific Northwest. Fidalgo proclaimed the land east of Prince William Sound to be Puerto Cordova, in honor of Luis de Córdova y Córdova, a famous captain general of the Spanish Royal Navy. This small town, accessible only by plane or boat, is home to hundreds of Latinos.

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Latino America Other places named by Spanish explorers along the east coast of Alaska include Gravina Island, the name of which honors another illustrious Spaniard, Federico Carlos Gravina. Over time, Spanish names were changed by other explorers or translated by Russians or North Americans. Under North American influence, U.S. sailors and the U.S. Geological Survey renamed parts of Alaska honoring the original Spanish names, while some were translated into English.

LATINOS

IN THE

ALASKAN CONTEXT

Alaska is a very popular tourist destination, visited for its astonishing and pristine landscapes, glaciers, mountains, wildlife, and tundra. Tourism in Alaska makes a major contribution to the economy during the summertime and stands only second to oil revenues in overall economic importance. Tourists, including Latinos, are visible in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, Barrow, and southeast Alaska. Although tourists are less evident during the harsh winters, Latinos visit relatives in Alaska during all times of the year. Alaska’s geographic isolation and harsh climate contribute to the relatively low migration of Latinos to the state. Access by road is limited within the state’s largest cities (Anchorage and Fairbanks) and communities. Because Alaska, along with Hawaii, does not connect physically with the 48 other states, migrants accessing the state by land have to cross through Canadian territory by a rough road with limited services. In addition, permafrost and extreme temperatures during winter contribute to the lack of public utilities (water, energy, and phones); the limited availability of education; and the lack of medical facilities and paved roads in many areas of Alaska, especially in rural sites. This situation makes the wilderness unattractive to some looking for an urban lifestyle or job opportunities. Despite the limitations and conditions of living in Alaska, some Latinos enjoy living in remote towns and are able to find job opportunities in rural areas. This is the case for about 200 Latinos living in the famous town of Barrow, in the North Slope borough. Barrow is the northernmost town in the United States, located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The majority of Barrow’s approximately 5,000 residents are Alaskan Natives of Iñupiat Eskimos descent. For Latinos living in Barrow, the lifestyle differs dramatically from that of other urban areas in Alaska. U.S. Latinos in Barrow live according to the context of rural life in Alaska, which includes engaging in traditional subsistence practices of seal hunting and bowhead whale hunting. Although Barrow is a tourist destination, visitors and locals can only access it by air. One of the limitations Latinos face in Barrow is the transportation of goods and high costs of living. For instance, just one barge arrives in town every August, loaded with equipment, diesel, vehicles, and goods that cannot be transported by aircraft. The movement of the barge is limited by ice in the Arctic Ocean. Because vehicles can only be shipped in this way once a year, their

Alaska cost is prohibitive for personal use, forcing noncommercial users to rely on all-terrain vehicles during summer and snow machines during winter as a method of transportation within the small town. Another remote site is in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where 85 percent of the population is Yupik Eskimos and Athabaskan; approximately 100 Latinos live there. As an additional challenge for Latinos living in this region of rural Alaska, the Yukon-Kuskokwim region has the highest rate of infectious diseases in the state due to a lack of running water and proper sewer facilities. Although some Latinos decide to migrate to rural Alaska, most choose urban areas, such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. More than half of the Latino population in Alaska lives in the Anchorage Borough, where many are connected to the military community. By 2005, Latinos active at the Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson in Anchorage accounted for 5.7 percent of the Anchorage military population. There are about 5,000 Latinos residing in the Fairbanks Borough. The secondlargest city in Alaska, Fairbanks attracts Latinos with its dynamic economic and educational opportunities. Although temperatures in Fairbanks can drop to –45°F for about two weeks in January and darkness reigns during winter, the city has many attractions. Fairbanks has a highly regarded school district, where Spanish is offered as an elective to local students. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District assists non-English speakers, including Latinos, who require a tutor or interpreter at school until they become proficient in English. The presence of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) is another asset that attracts Latinos because of education and employment opportunities. Fairbanks is a city where traffic jams are almost nonexistent and where people can enjoy the privacy of living in the wilderness and having the pleasures of city life nearby. As compared to other states, the crime rate in Alaska is very low, making the state a very attractive and peaceful place for Latinos to live and raise children in a relatively safe environment.

NOTABLE LATINOS Reyes, María Elena (1947–). In 2003, María Elena Reyes, a Mexican American from Texas, was the first Latina to earn tenure at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The Latino community at UAF knows Dr. Reyes for her contribution as faculty advisor to the Latina/o Culture Club, the first Latino college student organization in Alaska. She was Alaska’s chairperson and national board member for the National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies from 1999 to 2006. Pantoja, Alberto (1956–). Puerto Rican–born Alberto Pantoja is an entomologist well known for his scientific research in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

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Latino America In 2003 he was appointed as research leader for the Subarctic Agricultural Research Unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Alaska. Pantoja is the first Latino research leader in the history of ARS in Alaska, and currently is the highest-ranked Latino working for USDA-ARS in Alaska. Fernandez, Ivette (1975–). In 2001, Ivette Fernandez became the first Latina to receive the title of Miss Alaska and was honored with the Miss Congeniality award. In 2001 she was a legislative aide for a state senator; in 2007 she worked as the associate director for Latin American Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Fernandez is of Mexican descent and active in the Latino community. She was the feature speaker for the 2006 scholarship fund-raiser event hosted by the Latinos Unidos del Norte (United Latinos of the North) during the Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In October 2006, she was also the guest speaker at the Eielson Air Force Base for a luncheon celebrating the importance of Latinos in the Air Force. Recently, Fernandez participated in the 2006 Young Hispanic Leaders Program in Spain with fourteen other Latino Americans. Gomez, Scott (1979–). Scott Gomez, of Mexican and Colombian heritage, was born in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1998 he became the first Latino player to be drafted by a National Hockey League (NHL) team. As a professional ice hockey player with the New Jersey Devils during the 1999–2000 NHL season, Gomez was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. Other awards received by Gomez included team First All-Star, Top Scorer, and Most Valuable Player. He and his teammates won the Stanley Cup in 2000 and 2003. During the 2004–2005 lockout year, he returned to Alaska and joined the Alaska Aces Team. For the 2006–2007 NHL season, Gomez became the first Latino to have a million-dollar contract for his superb performance as a hockey player.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS For many Alaskans, “Latino” is synonymous with “Mexican.” Occasionally, some Alaskans assume that all Latinos are of Mexican descent, perhaps because the majority of Latinos in Alaska are Mexicans. However, the population of Alaska includes Latinos from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Such confusion is also part of the history of Fairbanks. An Italian who discovered gold in 1902 in the Tanana Valley, near Fairbanks, is known as Felix Pedro, but his real name was Felice Pedroni. The use of the name “Felix Pedro” leads many to believe that he was Latino, not European. Alaskans’ confusion with Latinos’ ethnic origins probably arises from the strong presence of Mexican cuisine in the interior of the state (Fairbanks), south central Alaska (Anchorage Borough, Soldotna, Kenai, Homer, and Valdez), southeastern Alaska (Juneau, Petersburg, Sitka, and Ketchikan), the North Slope (Barrow), and Kodiak Island. Approximately 7 percent of the restaurants in Anchorage offer primarily Mexican cuisine. Certainly, Mexicans have lived in Anchorage for

Alaska decades, as is evidenced by a factory named Taco Loco that assumed operations in the 1960s. Currently, Taco Loco products include tortillas, chips, and salsa that are distributed across Alaska. Anchorage is the only city with Latino markets (Bodega Hispana and La Flor de Tijuana) offering products that are difficult to come by for Latinos in other Alaskan cities. However, large chains of supermarkets in Fairbanks and Anchorage contain modest sections of ethnic foods for Latinos. Latino cuisine in Alaska attracts people from the Latino community, as these restaurants are one of the few places where Spanish is spoken and the cultural diversity of Latinos is evident. Latino culture and identity are represented in the names of Latino restaurants. Names such as Jalapeños and Cilantros are representative of Latino condiments in food, while other names, such as El Chicano, Azteca, El Sombrero, and Acapulco, are representative of Mexican culture. In North Pole, a small town in the interior near Fairbanks, the Mambo Grill offers Latino cuisine from South and Central America, including the Caribbean (Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico), making it a must-visit restaurant for the Latino community. In the Mexican restaurants of Fairbanks and Anchorage, it is common to hear guests and employees speaking Spanish. However, the situation in Pepe’s North of the Border, a Mexican restaurant in Barrow, is slightly different, because the owner is of European descent—although employees at the restaurant do speak Spanish. Pepe’s North of the Border is influenced by the Mexican friends of Fran Tate, who established the restaurant in 1978. The restaurant is very famous among locals and tourists visiting Barrow from all over the world, because it is the only Mexican restaurant in town and the northernmost Mexican restaurant in the United States. In the 1980s an article about Tate and her Mexican restaurant was published in the Wall Street Journal, and Tate was a guest on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. Besides the evident influence of Latinos throughout Mexican and Latin American cuisine in Alaska, various Latino organizations sponsor events, such as Cinco de Mayo celebrations, that enrich cultural identity during Hispanic Heritage Month. Because Anchorage is the state’s most populous city, most Latino organizations are located there. These include the Anchorage Latino Lions, Anchorage Hispanic Cultural Committee, Alaskans Concerned About Latin America, Association of Latin American Students, and Consejo de Latinamericanos en Alaska para Servicios Especiales (Council of Latin Americans in Alaska for Special Services, or CLASE). CLASE focuses on meeting the needs of the Latin American community with social services and programs related to education, migration, and citizenship, among other issues related to public policy. Eielson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, also holds several events during Hispanic Heritage Month to celebrate the culture, traditions, and contributions of the Air Force’s Latinos. In 2006, Ivette Fernandez, a Mexican American who is active in Latino community events in Fairbanks, was the guest speaker for one of the Air Force events.

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Latino America

Eielson Air Force Base Latinos and Latinas: Princess Rivera, Gloria Wilson, Gloria Harrison, Johanna Gonzalez, Alex Paz Rivera, Ray Hernandez, Robert Palos, Victor Valencia, and Enrique Carrillo. Courtesy of Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity (OMAD) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

In Fairbanks, Latinos Unidos del Norte, a community organization, and the Hispanic or Latino Awareness Organization (HOLA) a student organization, together with the UAF Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity, sponsor fundraising events for two scholarships awarded to two Latinos at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. One scholarship goes to a college freshman, and the other to a continuing student; both include a tuition waiver for a year and $1,000 from Latinos Unidos del Norte. During the spring of 2007, the group Tezkatlipoka Danza Azteca, from Southern Mexico, performed traditional and ceremonial dances as part of the Festival of the Native Arts in Fairbanks. Most of the music on the radio stations of Fairbanks is in English, but Latino music can be requested on Friday afternoons at the UAF campus station, KSUA, which features a Latino disc jockey, José Cruz-Gómez. In Anchorage, KSKA hosts radio shows in Spanish from Sunday to Tuesday. Religious services in Spanish are available in Fairbanks at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, at UAF for students who are Catholics, and at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In Anchorage, Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the churches visited by some of the Latinos. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint for Mexicans—and, increasingly, for many Latinos.

Alaska

NOTE 1. Population percentages and other demographic statistics reported in this chapter are based on data compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau—specifically, the 2000 and 2005 population estimates. The “State and County QuickFacts of Alaska” are available online at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/02000.html (accessed January 17, 2007), and the 2005 American Community Survey is available online at http://factfinder.census.gov (accessed February 3, 2007).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Alaska Conservation Foundation. Guide to Alaska’s Cultures. Anchorage, AK: Alaska Conservation Foundation, 2004. Alaska United Gold Mining Company. “Seventeenth Annual Statement. Superintendent’s Report, Balance Sheet, and Profit and Loss Account.” Douglas Island, AK, 1912. Baker, Rachel, John Boucher, Neal Fried, and Brigitta Windisch-Cole. “Long-Term Retrospective: Alaska’s Economy since Statehood.” Alaska Economic Trends 19 (December 1999): 3–21. http://almis.labor.state.ak.us. Ben-Yosef, Tamar. “Rural Villages Living with Effects of No Running Water.” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, January 3, 2007, A1, A8. “Chronological History of Alaska.” Statewide Library Electronic Doorway. http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akchron.html (accessed January 15, 2007). Curteich, John H. History of Alaska: Land, People, and Events. Westlake Village, CA: John Hinde Curteich, 2002. Ferrell, Nancy Warren. Destination Valdez. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company, 1998. Fried, Neal, and Brigitta Windisch-Cole. “The Military Is Big Business in Anchorage.” Alaska Economic Trends 26 (June 2006): 4–14. http://almis.labor.state.ak.us. Kidder, Lyn. Tacos on the Tundra: The Story of Pepe’s North of the Border. Anchorage, AK: Bonaparte Books, 1996. Legislative Bulletin #19-6. “Mayor Rocky Gutierrez, A Pioneer in Municipal Government.” Juneau, AK. April 14, 1995. Olson, Wallace M. The Spanish Exploration of Alaska, 1774–1792. Auke Bay, AK: Heritage Research, 2004. ———. Through Spanish Eyes: Spanish Voyages to Alaska, 1774–1792. Auke Bay, AK: Heritage Research, 2002. Rey-Tejerina, Arsenio. “Spanish influence in Alaska and Spanish Place Names.” http://www.explorenorth.com/articles/rey/reyindex.html (accessed January 3, 2007). Richardson, Kirsten. “Eating Out.” Anchorage, November 16–22, 2006. http://www.anchorage press.com/archives-2006/eatingoutvol15ed46.html (accessed December 7, 2006). Williams, Greg. “Migration.” Alaska Economic Trends 24 (July 2004): 3–12. http://almis. labor.state.ak.us. ———. “Population Projections.” Alaska Economic Trends 25 (February 2005): 4–15. http://almis.labor.state.ak.us. ———. “Race and Ethnicity in Alaska.” Alaska Economic Trends 21 (October 2001): 11–21. http://almis.labor.state.ak.us.

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3 ARIZONA Geraldo L. Cadava

CHRONOLOGY 1539 1540

1687 1775 1821 1826 1838

1846–1847

1848 1853

Franciscan Friar Marcos de Niza crosses through southeastern Arizona on his way to Zuni pueblos in New Mexico. The Coronado expedition, led by Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, is the first by Europeans to systematically explore Arizona. Francisco Eusebio Kino establishes Mission San Xavier del Bac at a Tohono O’odham settlement near Tucson. On August 20, Hugo O’Connor, a colonel in the Spanish army, founds the Tucson Presidio. Mexico wins independence from Spain. On December 31, Anglo-Americans visit the Tucson Presidio for the first time. A 6-year civil war in Sonora begins between federalists (represented by José Cosme de Urrea) and centralists (represented by Manuel María Gándara). Between October 1846 and January 1847, the Mormon Battalion of Stephen Watts Kearney and Philip St. George passes through Tucson and southern Arizona in the midst of the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo makes central and northern Arizona part of the United States. On December 30, the Tratado de la Mesilla makes the portion of Arizona south of the Gila River part of the United States. Known in the United States as the Gadsden Purchase, the treaty is ratified on June 24, 1854.

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Latino America

1856 1857–1858 1862 1863 1871

1877–1881

1894

1903 1911 1912 1915–1916

The last Mexican troops leave the Presidio of Tucson on March 10. A gold strike along the Gila and Colorado rivers, near Yuma, gives rise to Arizona’s first mining boom. A gold strike even bigger than the one in 1857 prompts another boom in Yuma. Arizona becomes a territory of the United States. A total of 144 Apaches, all but eight of whom were women and children, are murdered by a group of Anglos, Mexicans, and Tohono O’odham Indians in the Camp Grant Massacre. Mexican and Mexican American workers lay tracks for the Southern Pacific Railroad across Arizona. The railroad arrived in Yuma in 1877 and in Tucson in 1880, connecting with Lordsburg, New Mexico, in 1881. On January 14, La Alianza Hispano-Americana, an ethnic Mexican mutual aid society, fraternal insurance organization, and civil rights organization, is founded in Tucson. A copper-mining strike in Bisbee is the first major labor strike in Arizona. The Roosevelt Dam is completed, leading to Arizona’s World War I–era agricultural boom. Arizona becomes a state on February 14. Anglo and Mexican employees of Phelps Dodge go on strike in Clifton and Morenci.

Arizona 1917

1927 1946

1952 1972

1980s 1983 2004

2005 2006–2007

Citing the supposed communist influence of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Phelps Dodge Corporation deports copper workers from Bisbee to New Mexico. Future farm labor leader Cesar Chávez is born on March 31 in Yuma. In Morenci, Mexican American veterans of World War II lead a strike against Phelps Dodge to lobby for fair treatment and equal wages for ethnic Mexican workers. Sheeley v. González desegregates public schools in the farming community of Tolleson, setting a precedent for the state as a whole. In May, Cesar Chávez holds a Fast of Love, refusing to eat for 24 days in protest against Arizona House Bill 2134. The bill outlaws boycotts and strikes by farmworkers during harvest season. The church-based Sanctuary movement in Tucson provides safe haven to refugees from war-torn Central American countries in the early 1980s. Strikes occur against Phelps Dodge in Clifton and Morenci. Arizona voters, including almost half of all Latino voters, pass Proposition 200. The initiative requires proof of citizenship before registering to vote or applying for public benefits and denies social services and education to undocumented migrants. Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano declares a “state of emergency” in Arizona, owing to migration and other border issues. Thousands of demonstrators march on May Day for comprehensive immigration reform.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Arizona’s Latina and Latino population is predominantly Mexican—mainly from the states of Chihuahua and Sonora—which has had a significant impact on the culture, social life, and political economy of ethnic Mexican communities in the state. Only during the late twentieth century did migrants from Central and South America arrive in Arizona in large numbers, seeking sanctuary from wars in their home countries and providing labor to support Arizona’s economic and demographic boom. Arizona north of the Gila River became part of the United States following the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which also formally ended the MexicanAmerican War. The area south of the Gila, which at the time included the only towns in Arizona with settled Mexican populations—such as Tucson, Tubac, and Tumacácori—remained part of Mexico until 1854. In that year, the United States purchased for $10 million an additional 29,000 square miles of Mexican land in a treaty known in the United States as the Gadsden Purchase and in Mexico as El Tratado de la Mesilla. In 1856, Mexican soldiers finally vacated the Tucson Presidio, the last city in the United States with a Mexican military

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Latino America presence. Arizona became a territory of the United States in 1863, and then a state in 1912.

THE SPANISH COLONIAL AND MEXICAN PERIODS Arizona’s Latino history dates back at least to the sixteenth century, when Franciscan friar Marcos de Niza entered southeastern Arizona in 1539 to explore what was then an uncharted corner of northwestern New Spain. From a distance, de Niza saw the Zuni pueblo of Cíbola—mythically described as a city of gold— and later he wrote that it was larger than Mexico City. These descriptions led Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to retrace de Niza’s footsteps in 1540, searching in vain for the sight that had impressed his predecessor. Coronado and his followers, including hundreds of Native Americans, became the first to systematically explore the Arizona territory. As part of the Coronado expedition, García López de Cárdenas became the first European to see the Grand Canyon, and Hernando de Alarcón the first to navigate the lower Colorado River. Though other Spaniards entered Arizona over the next two centuries, none settled permanently there until the 1700s. By the time of the Mexican independence in 1821, Spaniards and native groups (including Tohono O’odham, Apaches, and Pimas) had already established many of the religious, military, farming, and ranching communities that shaped Arizona’s history into the twentieth century. Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino had traveled throughout northern Sonora and southern Arizona to set up the first missions; these became one method used by the Spanish empire not only to convert Native American souls but also to acclimate Native Americans to village life and teach them European stock-raising and farming techniques. Kino established San Xavier del Bac near Tucson in 1687 and Guevavi near Tumacácori in 1701, though both missions were abandoned and then reestablished in 1732, after Kino had already died. The establishment of these missions, along with the 1736 silver strike at Arizonac, a few miles south of Nogales, spurred the first wave of non–Native American settlement in Arizona. Kino introduced various grains, vegetables, fruit trees, and herds of livestock to the state; yet, many perceived him and later Spanish missionaries as unwelcome colonizers. The Pima Revolt of 1751—during which Pima Indians, led by Luis Oacpicagigua, killed more than a dozen men, women, and children—was an early example of Native American resistance against Spanish settlement in Arizona. Pima Indians briefly regained control of Tubac as the surviving non–Native Americans fled, but the Spanish Crown reasserted its authority the following year by establishing Arizona’s first presidio, or military garrison, at Tubac in 1752. In 1775 a second presidio was established in Tucson.

Arizona The pattern of colonial settlement—cooperation and conflict with the Native Americans—and military response recurred throughout the Spanish, Mexican, and early United States periods. Spanish colonists developed several methods of negotiating contact with Apaches, such as forming alliances with Tohono O’odham and Pima Indians; developing a rationing system that rendered Apaches militarily and economically dependent; and setting up establecimientos de paz, or peace camps, near military garrisons in order to incorporate Native Americans within village boundaries. Life for Arizona’s first non–Native American inhabitants was highly unstable— resulting, out of necessity, in highly flexible migration patterns and the frequent abandonment and resettlement of villages. During periods of relative peace, Spanish colonists worked as subsistence farmers and small ranchers along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers, but when Apache raids and other conflicts arose, many sought refuge near the presidios at Tubac and Tucson. Tucson was an example of a typical community, as many vecinos (civilians who lived near military garrisons) grew crops of wheat, corn, beans, and vegetables, and raised cows and sheep to feed their families and presidio soldiers. The early nineteenth century was relatively peaceful, and many of southern Arizona’s ranching, farming, and mining communities prospered, even though the total non–Native American population of the area was only 1,000, with 300 to 500 living in Tucson, 300 to 400 living in Tubac, and less than 100 living in Tumacácori.1 The situation changed during Arizona’s Mexican period, when Mexico’s political instability again exposed the area’s vulnerability. The Mexican War of Independence, from 1810 to 1821, had several consequences for Mexicans in Arizona and Sonora. First, the war depleted Mexico’s treasury and destroyed its silver-mining industry, which meant the government had little money with which to provision the presidios. Second, in 1824 the Mexican government dismembered the Spanish empire’s provincias internas and turned control over to independent Mexican states, setting the stage for multiple civil wars between centralists and federalists. War broke out in Sonora in 1838, as centralists (under Manuel María Gándara) and federalists (under José Cosme de Urrea) struggled for power. Third, in 1831 Mexico ended the rationing system that Spain had established to maintain peaceful relations with Apaches. In 1825, approximately 2,500 Apaches received weekly supplies of beef, corn, sugar, and other goods from commanders in Chihuahua, Sonora, and New Mexico. When the Native Americans stopped receiving such rations, they left the peace camps and resumed raiding as a means of livelihood.2 During the 1830s and 1840s, Mexicans therefore abandoned many of southern Arizona’s missions, farms, ranches, and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments (including San Rafael de la Zanja, Babocómari, and San Bernardino), leaving their cattle to roam freely

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Latino America throughout the region. By the late 1840s, even Tubac was deserted temporarily, leaving Tucson as Arizona’s only military settlement. The increased presence of outsiders in southern Arizona by the late 1840s was another source of regional instability. French and Anglo fur trappers—such as Bill Williams, Ceran St. Vrain, Antoine Leroux, and Christopher “Kit” Carson—first entered Arizona territory during the 1820s and 1830s, which led many Mexicans in Sonora to worry about U.S. designs on their land. The outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846 confirmed their suspicions, as U.S. troops under Stephen Watts Kearney and Philip St. George Cooke—called the Mormon Battalion—passed through Tucson in 1846 and 1847. Even though Cooke assured the Sonoran governor, Manuel María Gándara, that his troops meant Sonora no harm, the United States annexed half of Mexico’s land, including most of Arizona, only a year later. For the first time, this split Arizona and Sonora in two. Following Mexico’s cession of land under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico tried to secure what remained of its northern frontier by granting plots of land to soldiers in exchange for 6 years of military service. In 1854, however, the United States acquired the rest of Arizona (south of the Gila River) through the Gadsden Purchase. In 1856, as Mexican troops left Tucson, many Mexicans stayed in Arizona, as it had been their lifelong home. Others returned to Mexico, in part because they recognized the racism Mexicans had experienced in Texas and California after the United States annexed those territories, and they were aware that the same fate might befall them if they stayed.3

THE POST-GADSDEN AND EARLY TERRITORIAL PERIODS Before Arizona became its own territory in 1863, it formed part of the territory of New Mexico, and the Mexicans who stayed there after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase became Arizona’s first ethnic Mexican citizens. Nevertheless, during the immediate post-Gadsden era, such categories were relatively fluid, as families continued to move freely between Arizona and Sonora. The two states worked as one social, cultural, and economic region, despite the international border that had recently separated them. Sonoran politics was a key factor driving migration between Sonora and Arizona during the 1850s and 1860s. After Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna resigned, following the Mexican-American War, a succession of temporary governments divided Mexico into various liberal and conservative factions. In Sonora the struggle was between liberal Ignacio Pesqueira and conservative Manuel María Gándara, who had been a central figure in Sonora’s political infighting years earlier. They traded governance of the state several times during the 1850s and 1860s, until Porfirio Díaz became Mexico’s president in 1876 and installed his own governors. The battles between Pesqueira and Gándara, com-

Arizona bined with the French occupation of Sonora during the 1860s, led Sonorans to emigrate en masse, particularly between 1848 and 1849, 1852 and 1853, and 1865 and 1868. Continued conflict with Native American groups in Sonora and Arizona also caused ethnic Mexicans in both states to migrate. As in earlier periods, Native American raids during the post-Gadsden era led farmers to abandon their land and move within and between Sonora and Arizona. Tensions caused by Anglo and Mexican conflicts with Native Americans increased during the 1850s and 1860s as Apaches and other Native Americans began to use the new international boundary to play each side against the other, participating in an illicit trade in arms, cattle, and other goods that had been stolen from the United States and Mexico. Anglos, Mexicans, and Pima and Tohono O’Odham Indians often formed alliances against Apaches; the most notorious example of such interethnic alliance was the Camp Grant Massacre of 1871, during which prominent Anglos, Mexicans, and Tohono O’odham from the Tucson area killed more than 100 Apaches, all but eight of whom were women and children. Despite such tensions, Arizona’s mining, ranching, and agriculture industries developed significantly during the early territorial period, though they did not boom until the late nineteenth century (following technological developments such as the arrival of the railroad). Ever since Spanish explorers searched for Cíbola during the sixteenth century and then struck silver at Arizonac in 1736, Arizona had been thought of in terms of its potential mineral wealth. Shortly after the Gadsden Purchase, Anglo entrepreneurs reopened mines that had been dormant for decades. The Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, near Tubac, founded in 1856 by Charles D. Poston and Samuel P. Heintzelman, purchased property from Mexican landholders with backing from investors in New York, Ohio, and other states to the east. It was Arizona’s first mining corporation, though many others would follow. Mexican workers—primarily from Sonora, but also from Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa—filled most of the company’s labor needs, which included clearing out old abandoned shafts and digging new veins. For 12-hour workdays, Mexican miners earned 16 ounces of flour and $15 to $30 per month, depending on the type of labor they performed. At the low end of the wage scale, pick and crowbar men (barrateros) and ore carriers (tanateros) earned $15 a month, whereas those who tended the furnace and smelters made $25 to $30. These wages were still higher than the $6 to $8 per month Mexican workers earned on haciendas in Sonora, though they earned only half the $30 to $70 per month that Anglo miners made.4 Most Anglo mine owners saw ethnic Mexicans as a cheap, efficient, docile, and permanent source of labor. One way they tried to make Mexican labor permanent was to charge a 300 percent markup on goods sold at the company store, which forced many to live month to month on lines of credit that bound them to the company. Nevertheless, many Mexicans

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Latino America simply left the mines when they desired, or when they were mistreated, even if they owed money to the company store. Though many Mexican miners worked for Anglo-owned companies, some operated mines for themselves. One leased the Picacho Mine from Poston, and when he closed it during the 1860s (because heavy rains had flooded the mine shafts), Mexican gambusinos, or ore thieves, stayed behind and mined an additional 240,000 ounces of silver over several years. Far more common during the early territorial period than a relatively large operation such as the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company were the individual placer miners, or placeros, who traveled from camp to camp as various sites boomed and busted. They struck veins of ore, exhausted them, and moved on to the next strike. In general, mining progressed clockwise around the state, from Tubac to Yuma, to Wickenburg and Prescott, to Clifton and Morenci, and back down to Bisbee. Because of anti-Mexican racism in central and northern Arizona mining towns—as well as long-standing cultural connections between Mexican miners and southern Arizona—the proportion of Mexican miners in Arizona decreased considerably as the mining frontier moved from south to north. Mexican and Mexican American men and women established camps that were generally separate from the camps of Anglo miners. According to the 1870 territorial census, the women were predominantly single and young; they were from Sonora, Arizona, and New Mexico, and they worked as cooks, housekeepers, boardingroom operators, and seamstresses.5 Gila City became Arizona’s first boomtown in 1858, but by the mid-1860s, it was already a ghost town. Jacob Snively discovered gold there in 1857, and in less than a year, more than 1,000 independent Anglo and ethnic Mexican prospectors were earning $50 a day from veins in the area. Just a few years later, in 1862, an even bigger placer strike gave rise to the town of Yuma. Many of the Sonoran miners who first settled Yuma during the 1860s were returnees from California’s gold fields. After hearing of the California gold rush, more than 10,000 Sonorans passed through Arizona on their way to northern California. Some returned seasonally to Sonora throughout the 1850s to plant and harvest their crops, but many stayed in California until the 1860s, when news of the Yuma placer strike and the experience of anti-Mexican racism in California led them to return south.6 Towns throughout Arizona established several businesses to support the development of Arizona’s early mining industries. Freighting companies were established in Tucson to haul materials to and from the mines. Ferry businesses started in Yuma to carry miners across the Colorado River. Lumber outfits in the Chiricahua Mountains opened to supply wood for furnaces, and farm produce from the region fed miners. Men such as Estevan Ochoa, Mariano G. Samaniego, and Leopoldo Carrillo migrated from Sonora during this period and started merchant

Arizona and freighting companies that profited greatly from the growth of Arizona’s mines. Most of their trade—conducted mainly in Mexican pesos, called “dobey dollars”—was between Arizona and Sonora. Though most Mexicans worked as unskilled or semiskilled laborers, these men formed the core of Arizona’s Mexican middle and upper class during the early territorial period. Cattle ranching also developed following the Mesilla Treaty. A group of investors from Providence, Rhode Island, organized the Sopori Land and Mining Company near Tubac in 1859, later renaming it the Sopori Land and Cattle Company. Prior to the arrival of Anglos, Mexicans controlled Arizona’s ranch land. Many ranches were established on Spanish and Mexican land grants that had been passed down from generation to generation, then sold or abandoned during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For example, the ranch operated during the late nineteenth century by Sabino Otero, the so-called Cattle King of Tubac, sat on land originally granted by Spain to his grandfather Toribio in 1789. The Pacheco family ranch was on land granted by Spain to their ancestor Ignacio Antonio Pacheco in 1813. Other Mexicans bought ranches when they migrated from Sonora during the 1870s and 1880s. Although some of the best ranch land was in southern Arizona, Mexican ranchers worked land in other areas as well. José María Redondo, for example, owned La Hacienda de San Isidore, located north of Yuma, near the Arizona-California border; Teodoro Ocampo, and his wife, Mariana owned a ranch near Wickenburg. In many ways, the Oteros, Pachecos, and other ethnic Mexican ranchers taught Anglo ranchers the trade, which they had practiced for centuries before Anglos arrived. This included the Spanish terms Anglos adapted and made their own. Words used by Anglo cowboys such as buckaroo (vaquero), lariat (la reata), chaps (chaparreras), and dally (dar la vuelta), all had their origin in the vernacular of Mexican ranch work.7 Each spring, ranchers from Arizona and Sonora gathered for a roundup at the Elías Ranch, near San Pedro, where they returned to their rightful owners the cattle that had wandered onto the land of neighboring ranches across the border. More than business meetings, the roundups were festive occasions; ranchers raced their horses, held cockfights, and performed the saco de gallo, during which a rider on horseback swiped from the ground a rooster buried up to its neck in dirt. Charrería, a Mexican cowboy competition, evolved separately from rodeo from the early twentieth century forward, but they intersected during the nineteenth century at roundups and other gatherings. By the 1870s and 1880s, Anglo businessmen had begun to buy and consolidate wide swaths of Mexican ranch land in Arizona, which sold for $200–$300 an acre.8 In 1870, there were approximately 5,000 head of cattle in all of Arizona, and by the mid-1880s, there were more than 650,000.9 In less than two decades, Arizona’s ranch lands had been transformed—with grave consequences for most

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Latino America Mexican ranchers. By the early twentieth century, Emilio Carrillo had lost La Cebadilla Ranch; Anglo businessmen had bought the San Bernardino and San Rafael de la Zanja land grants; and, following a severe drought, Bernabé Robles was forced to sell his Rancho Viejo, which stretched from Florence to the U.S.Mexican border. After selling their ranches, many ranchers moved to Tucson and Phoenix, and their migrations constituted an important part of Arizona’s urbanization during the early twentieth century. Some continued to operate small ranches well into the twentieth century, and a few maintained larger ranches that competed with Anglo-owned corporations. However, by the mid-twentieth century, much of the ranch land once owned by Mexicans in the Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Sonoita valleys had been sold to various Anglo interests that converted it into large-scale ranching and farming corporations, mines, guest ranches for tourists, and modern housing developments. Along with mining and cattle ranching, agricultural industries also developed significantly after the Gadsden Purchase. Commercial farming increased during the late nineteenth century, but it was the federal dam projects of the early twentieth century that transformed Arizona’s landscape and led to impressive booms in cotton and other crops. Phoenix, drawing on the surrounding Salt River Valley, became Arizona’s first primarily agricultural settlement in the 1860s, and it quickly became Arizona’s most productive agricultural region. Like other towns north of the Gila River, Phoenix was settled by Anglos—in this case, farmers who hired Mexicans to improve and build upon the canals, or acequias, first dug by Hohokam Indians centuries earlier. Mexicans and Mexican Americans came to Phoenix from the 1860s forward to perform most other farm labor as well, first setting up tents near fields and later moving into Phoenix’s barrios. They planted, cultivated, and harvested crops; cleared land and plowed fields; and cared for livestock and draft animals. As Phoenix’s farms grew, other businesses that relied on Mexican labor moved to the area as well, creating additional job opportunities for blacksmiths, carpenters, leather workers, construction workers, and merchants. According to the 1870 census, Phoenix had 240 residents, 124 of whom were listed as Mexican.10 Many Mexicans worked for Anglo farmers, but others bought or leased farmland to work for themselves. José María Redondo, for example, in addition to grazing 2,500 head of cattle, grew crops of barley, oats, wheat, alfalfa, and corn on his farm north of Yuma. And after Francisco Valenzuela moved to Phoenix in 1877, he acquired 160 acres in the city’s western suburbs through the Homestead Act. By the early twentieth century, Valenzuela was growing alfalfa and maize, and raising dairy cows, horses, chickens, and turkeys. If they were unable to buy their own land, some Mexicans leased small parcels on larger farms, where they grew food both to feed their families and to sell at the market. Women shared this labor as well, raising chickens, selling eggs, milking

Arizona cows, and churning butter. Like Mexican cattle ranchers, however, the number of Mexican farmers decreased by the twentieth century as Anglo-owned corporations gained control of many of Arizona’s agriculture industries. In Phoenix, for example, the 1870 territorial census listed 30 Mexican farmers and ranchers in Phoenix, but by 1900, there were only nine.11 By the early twentieth century, farming communities such as Tolleson and Glendale sprouted up around Phoenix. These were home to canal companies; creameries and dairies; flour mills; hay and grain companies; ice companies; nurseries; and produce distributors.

THE COPPER BOOM AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILROAD LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY

DURING THE

If core industries such as mining, cattle ranching, and agriculture grew during the early territorial period, they exploded from the 1880s forward, following the arrival of the Southern Pacific and other railroad lines. Copper, cotton, cattle, and railroads became mutually dependent industries that transformed Arizona’s economy during the late nineteenth century. Copper companies, such as Phelps Dodge, depended on railroads to deliver the heavy equipment and new technology that allowed them to produce more copper and bring it to market, whereas railroads depended on copper mines for their contracts to deliver equipment, food, timber, laborers, and other goods. The simultaneous development of the railroad and other industries led to unprecedented economic growth, which transformed towns such as Clifton, Bisbee, Tombstone, and Douglas within the span of a few decades. Clifton, for example, produced 5 million pounds of copper in 1881, 15 million pounds in 1882, and 24.5 million in 1883. Production there peaked in the early twentieth century when, in 1904, the town produced 29 million pounds of copper—more than the total copper production in Arizona in 1883.12 Part of the demand for copper during the 1880s and 1890s was driven by the electrification of the United States, which depended on that metal as a conductor. As the mines seemed to have unlimited potential for profit, capital poured into southern Arizona and northern Sonora as never before, primarily from investors in Europe and eastern states such as New York. In addition to mines in Arizona, they invested in Sonoran cities such as Cananea, Nacozari, and Agua Prieta. International railroad tracks connected Sonora and Arizona; various labor migrations supplied workers to mines in both Mexico and the United States; and the capital flows that invested in mines in Cananea and Bisbee converted a once isolated region into an industrial crossroads of capital, labor, and international political cooperation.13 Mexicans provided much of the labor for corporations such as Phelps Dodge, the Arizona Copper Company, and the Greene Consolidated Copper Company in

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Latino America Cananea. During the 1870s, copper companies relied on Mexican familiarity with the region’s resources and basic extraction and smelting techniques, but as new equipment arrived during the 1880s, Mexican miners struggled to compete for jobs. New technologies first decreased the need for Mexican labor in mines, but many workers found new jobs with the railroads when work in mines was unavailable. When copper production increased throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the labor needs of the mines increased as well, which again created a demand for cheap Mexican labor—often recruited in gangs. Some mining towns—such as Clifton and Morenci—were known as Mexican towns, whereas others—such as Bisbee, Tombstone, Globe, and Miami—were thought of as Anglo towns, populated mainly by migrants from western and northern Europe. The different pay scales of each town reflected the wage disparity between Anglo and Mexican copper miners. In Globe and Miami, the lowest wage was $3 per 10-hour day, whereas the lowest wages in Clifton and Morenci were $1.75 to $2.00 for the same amount of time.14 Anglos and Mexicans also generally performed different types of labor. Mexicans and Mexican Americans did most of the smelting and dangerous underground work, whereas Anglos received the majority of management and other high-paying positions. Finally, mining camps were segregated; most Mexican miners lived in neighborhoods such as Ragtown (in Douglas) or Bajo (across the border, in Agua Prieta). Segregated mining camps and differential wages, in addition to late pay, lead poisoning, and abusive overseers, frequently led Mexican miners to strike or walk off the job. Major strikes, often ending in ethnic and racial violence, occurred throughout the twentieth century: at Clifton and Morenci in 1903; at Cananea in 1906; at Bisbee in 1915 and 1916; and again at Clifton and Morenci in 1946 and 1983. The Southern Pacific railroad, which arrived during the late 1870s, made Arizona’s late-nineteenth-century copper boom possible. Freighting had become an important industry in Arizona; companies such as Tucson’s Tully and Ochoa transported machinery, lumber, and copper ore back and forth from the mines and supplied food, clothes, and other goods to agricultural and military settlements. Because freight wagons pulled by horses were slow, expensive, vulnerable to robbery, and unable to support the heavy machinery that drove Arizona’s mines from the 1880s forward, many freighting companies went out of business after the railroad arrived. Railroads also increased trade with areas east and west of Arizona, which decreased trade with Sonora, once Arizona’s foremost trading partner. Tracks first crossed into Yuma in 1877, then progressed eastward, using the work of Mexican and Chinese laborers. These tracks reached Tucson in 1880 and Lordsburg, New Mexico, in 1881. Anglo, Irish, and Scandinavian workers laid most of northern Arizona’s railroad tracks, but Mexicans and the Chinese (until the latter were excluded during the early 1880s) laid practically all the tracks in southern Ari-

Arizona zona. By the twentieth century, the Southern Pacific connected the state’s mines, ranches, farms, and timberlands. Railroads penetrated deeper into Arizona when Mexican labor built feeder lines such as the Maricopa, Phoenix, and Nacozari railroads to connect the main Southern Pacific line with cities throughout Arizona and northern Sonora. Copper mines and railroad companies remained two of Arizona’s largest employers of Mexicans well into the twentieth century. In 1911, 60 percent of Arizona’s smelter workers were Mexican, and in 1920 the Southern Pacific employed over 25 percent of Tucson’s Mexican male workforce.15

BARRIOS, URBANIZATION, AND EARLY MUTUAL AID SOCIETIES The development of cattle ranches, copper mines, and railroads also affected cities such as Tucson and Phoenix. The Southern Pacific brought thousands of new Anglo migrants into Arizona, where they reconfigured the social, political, economic, ethnic, and racial character of the state. One important marker of this shift was the transfer of the capital from Tucson, most of which remained ethnically Mexican through the early twentieth century. The capital moved to Prescott in the late 1870s and then to Phoenix in the late 1880s; both of those cities were primarily Anglo towns by the late nineteenth century. Railroads boosted Tucson and Phoenix as centers of trade, leading to new business opportunities for Mexican and Mexican American butchers, bricklayers, grocers, launderers, and other workers looking for employment even as they signaled the beginning of Arizona’s urbanization from the late nineteenth century forward. Ethnic Mexicans became increasingly segregated in barrios as Anglos gained social, political, and economic control of Tucson and Phoenix. On the one hand, their segregation was a sign of subordination. As marginalization depended in part on racism for justification, barrios became stereotyped as havens of gambling, prostitution, and disease. Eventually, such racial thinking led to the destruction of some of Tucson and Phoenix barrios during the twentieth century. On the other hand, barrios were economically diverse centers of Mexican culture and family life; racially diverse neighborhoods with Chinese and Indian—and later, African American—inhabitants; and vibrant artistic, intellectual, and political centers. For example, dozens of Spanish-language newspapers emerged in Phoenix and Tucson during the 1880s and 1890s, and they attest to the intellectual energy of Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities. In Phoenix, La Guardia was established by José García in 1881, El Democrata by Pedro G. de la Lama in 1898, and El Mensajero by Jesus Meléndrez, among many others. In Tucson, Carlos Velasco started Las Dos Repúblicas and El Fronterizo in the late 1870s, whereas others started La Sonora, La Colonia Mexicana, and La Alianza. Even more Spanish-language newspapers were established during the twentieth century, such as El Tucsonense, published by Francisco Moreno. The best Mexican

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Latino America writers in Arizona and Sonora wrote for these papers, which kept Mexicans and Mexican Americans well informed of local and regional news, as well as developments throughout Latin America. Tucson’s Barrio Libre in particular was home to an economically and politically diverse community at the turn of the century. In the 1860s and 1870s, during the first wave of migration following the Gadsden Purchase, many members of Sonora’s middle and upper classes—journalists, lawyers, doctors, and politicians—took up residence in Tucson. Even though they started new lives in Arizona, they maintained connections with politicians, businessmen, and relatives in Sonora. Members of Sonora’s working class migrated to Arizona during the 1860s and 1870s as well, but they looked for work primarily at farms, ranches, and mines in more rural areas, rather than in Tucson. Joining these sonorenses were the ranchers who moved to Tucson after selling their land, and together they formed Tucson’s Mexican middle and upper class. They established some of Arizona’s first literary societies, philharmonic clubs, and leisure resorts, helping make Tucson the largest and most sophisticated center of ethnic Mexican society between Los Angeles and El Paso. Many middle-class tucsonenses also held conservative political ideologies, carried over from their lives in Sonora or cultivated by their privileged class positions in Arizona. Carlos Velasco, for example, arrived in Tucson during the 1870s after having lived under the influence of Sonora’s relatively rigidly stratified society, and his experience there informed the ideas his newspapers printed about organized labor, fiscal conservatism, and other issues. In general, these newspapers opposed organized labor as a threat to their own class interests, which more often than not were aligned with those of Arizona’s Anglo elite. Still, Tucson’s Mexican middle class worked in several contexts to address the prevalence of racism in Arizona. Criminal records demonstrated that Mexicans were arrested and convicted for murder, larceny, and robbery more often than Anglos; Mexican, Chinese, and Native American laborers continued to occupy positions at the bottom of the wage scale; and nativist organizations, such as the American Protective Association and the Society of American Workers, formed in Arizona during the 1890s. One important way that ethnic Mexicans dealt with anti-Mexican racism in Arizona was to form political groups and mutual aid societies, which spread across the U.S. Southwest during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some examples were the Mutual Benevolent Society of the Latin American Races in Phoenix, Club Mexicano Republicano in Tucson, and the Sociedad Mexicana de Protección Mutua in St. Johns. Such groups charged their members dues in exchange for low-cost sickness, accident, and death benefits; they were also active in many community affairs, including political and social events, such as dances and charity benefits.

Arizona Perhaps the most significant of Arizona’s mutual aid societies was La Alianza Hispano-Americana, formed in Tucson in 1894. The organization’s founding members—including Estevan Ochoa, Mariano Samaniego, and Carlos Jácome— were representatives of Tucson’s Mexican middle class. As the organization grew, however, it gained working-class members as well—particularly in rural mining and agricultural communities, such as Douglas, Bisbee, Tolleson, and Glendale. From the few chapters that spread across Arizona by the early twentieth century, La Alianza became a regional organization with lodges (or logias) in California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, and then an international organization with lodges in Sonoran cities such as Nogales, Hermosillo, and Guaymas. At its peak during the 1920s and 1930s, La Alianza claimed well over 10,000 members as it evolved from a fraternal insurance organization into a political advocacy and civil rights organization by the mid-twentieth century. It promoted both Americanism (through celebrations of George Washington’s birthday and the Fourth of July) and pride in its members’ Mexican heritage (through celebrations of Benito Juárez’s birthday and Mexican independence).

MIGRATION, THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, AND THE WORLD WAR I ERA In addition to segregation in barrios and the development of mutualistas, the early twentieth century also marked a period of mass migration from Mexico to Arizona, and to many other areas of the United States. Between 1900 and 1920, more than 47,000 Mexicans settled in Arizona—which, in addition to migrants from Mexico, included Mexican American citizens of the United States from California and other areas—primarily to work as railroad and migrant farm laborers.16 The greatest number migrated between 1910 and 1920, both because the Mexican Revolution caused many Mexicans to seek refuge in the United States, and because the economic boom of the World War I era created new job opportunities for Mexican workers. During the nineteenth century, the vast majority of Mexican migrants to Arizona were men from Sonora and Chihuahua. During the early twentieth century, however, whole families came from other areas as well, such as Guanajuato, Aguas Calientes, and Michoacán. Different groups of migrants settled in different parts of Arizona, depending on the kinds of employment and cultural opportunities available to them. For example, because Tucson’s economic base during the early twentieth century was primarily commercial, rather than agricultural or industrial, and therefore it could not absorb as many laborers as other parts of the state, it never attracted the same number of laborers that cities such as Phoenix did. Tucson became a haven for members of Mexico’s revolutionary elite, such as Pancho Villa, Plutarco Elías Calles, Adolfo de la Huerta, and Alvaro Obregón, each of whom visited Tucson

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Latino America between 1913 and 1917.17 Most Mexican migrants to Arizona during this period, however, were workers looking for jobs in Arizona’s agricultural, railroad, and other industries. The opening of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911 gave Phoenix’s Salt River valley its first steady water supply to cultivate crops. With the new source of water, as well as increased wartime demands for food and cotton—a key ingredient of rubber tires and other war matériel—agricultural production in Arizona skyrocketed during World War I. Arizona growers harvested 400 acres of Yuma Long Staple cotton in 1912, 33,000 acres in 1917, and 180,000 acres in 1920.18 The dramatic rise in production, combined with the service of many Arizona farmers in World War I, prompted growers to plead with government officials and the Arizona Cotton Growers Association (ACGA) to permit the importation of Mexican labor, lest their crops wither unpicked. The Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885 and the Immigration Act of 1917 had made it difficult for employers to hire foreign contract labor. The critical labor shortage cited by growers across the United States, however, led Secretary of Labor William Bauchop Wilson to allow Mexican laborers to work in the United States on a temporary basis, exempting them from literacy tests, head taxes, and other restrictions. During this first Bracero program—a concerted effort by the United States and Mexico to supply temporary Mexican labor—growers throughout the southwestern United States imported thousands of Mexican farmworkers to plant and harvest crops during the 1910s. For its part, the ACGA recruited more than 35,000 Mexicans to labor in Phoenix’s fields between 1918 and 1921 alone, marking the largest migration to date of Mexican workers to the Salt River valley.19 After particularly successful harvests from 1918 to 1921, the cotton market crashed during the early 1920s, and many Arizona farmers abandoned their fields and dismissed their workers, even though they had hired those workers under contract. The Mexican consulate in Phoenix estimated that the cotton crash left between 15,000 and 20,000 migrant workers stranded in the valley without pay or way of getting home. La Liga Protectora Latina (LPL)—formed in 1915 by Phoenix businessmen Pedro G. de la Lama, Ignacio Espinoza, and Jesus Meléndrez—and several Mexican and Mexican American civic organizations opened soup kitchens to help the stranded farmworkers, but such measures did not solve the problem. Mexican officials negotiated for the ACGA to pay workers’ unpaid wages and send them back by train to Mexico, free of charge, but growers never made good on the agreement. Eventually, Mexican president Alvaro Obregón arranged for the Mexican government to repatriate workers. Mexican newspapers criticized the ACGA for treating Mexico’s farmworkers shamefully, and the incident had a lasting effect on Arizona-Mexico relations— especially when Arizona growers again sought to negotiate temporary labor contracts during the World War II era.

Arizona Racial and class conflict also characterized the experience of Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities during the early twentieth century— perhaps nowhere so violently as in mining communities. In 1903 thousands of ethnic Mexican workers in Clifton and Morenci walked away from their jobs with Phelps Dodge to participate in the first major strike in Arizona history. The labor movement in Arizona had successfully lobbied the territorial legislature to reduce miners’ workdays from 10 to 8 hours per day with no cut in pay. Phelps Dodge scaled back the workday, but in violation of the new law, they scaled back wages as well, which led workers to strike. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) did not organize workers in Clifton and Morenci, because they were so-called Mexican towns, so some of the mutualistas formed during the late nineteenth century helped organize workers. The strike ended in a standoff between workers and National Guardsmen, federal troops, and the Arizona Rangers, who were used throughout the early twentieth century to suppress labor unrest. Racial prejudice in Clifton and Morenci was manifest in other aspects of life as well, as members of a 1904 Anglo-led posse confiscated Irish Catholic orphans from the ethnic Mexican families who had adopted them, claiming that Mexicans were unfit to raise white children. In 1906, arguing that it was not in the best interest of white orphans to have Mexican parents raise them, the United States Supreme Court upheld the actions of the white vigilantes and decided that the orphans would remain with white parents. The same year, a strike rocked the Sonoran mining town of Cananea, where 2,000 Mexican employees left their jobs when the Greene Consolidated Copper Company failed to meet their demands for an increased minimum wage, eight-hour workday, and pay rates and promotions commensurate with those of Anglo miners. Arizona Rangers helped suppress this strike as well, and more than 20 strikers were killed in the action. Another strike erupted in Clifton and Morenci in 1915, amid labor activism that also swept across other areas of the United States. This time, with the backing of unions such as the WFM and International Workers of the World (IWW), as well as the support of thousands of Euro-American miners, more than 3,000 ethnic Mexicans struck for improved working conditions and wage parity with Anglos. Although the 1915–1916 strike resulted in a wage increase, another incident in 1917 ended in tragedy. Citing the communist influence of the IWW, Cochise County sheriff William Wheeler formed the Bisbee Citizens’ Protective League, which imprisoned 1,186 striking mine workers—268 of which were ethnic Mexican. Mexicans and Mexican Americans negotiated such instances of ethnic and racial conflict during the early twentieth century through increased social and political activism. Mutualistas similar in function to La Alianza formed during the World War I era—including the Liga Protectora Latina (LLP), a fraternal insurance organization that also offered broad educational, moral, social, and material support to Phoenix and Arizona’s ethnic Mexican communities. The immediate

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Latino America impulse for its establishment was discriminatory legislation, such as the 1913 law requiring an English literacy test in order to vote. In response, the LPL and other organizations taught ethnic Mexicans how to read the preamble to the Constitution. Later, it rallied community opposition against the Claypool-Kinney Bill, which sought to prohibit employers from hiring “anyone deaf or dumb, or who could not speak or read the English language.”20 Though the bill did not name Mexicans in particular, it was widely understood to target them. In part because of the efforts of the LPL, the Arizona Supreme Court overturned Claypool-Kinney. Placing great emphasis on education in addition to political organization, the LPL also lobbied the Arizona State Legislature to approve bilingual education in elementary schools.

AMERICANIZATION AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION The Friendly House, established in Phoenix during the early 1920s by teacher and social worker Carrie Green, was another important organization that focused on Mexican communities. Offering courses in English, citizenship, hygiene, and homemaking, it worked for the Americanization of Mexicans without denying participants’ Mexican heritage. Along with the Phoenix Americanization Committee and similar groups in Tucson, the Friendly House was a local manifestation of a national Americanization movement that began during the World War I era. Arizona’s public schools also launched Americanization programs, such as the 1C program—which until the mid-1960s made English-only language instruction and courses in American culture mandatory for many ethnic Mexican schoolchildren. Estevan Ochoa and other ethnic Mexicans had played a key role in establishing Arizona’s public schools during the 1870s, but by the end of the nineteenth century, the state’s school boards were dominated by Anglo administrators, many of whom argued that Mexican schoolchildren were developmentally behind their Anglo peers. Originally intended to address issues of educational development, the 1C program in effect segregated Mexican schoolchildren. Economic hardship caused by the Great Depression had a significant impact on Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Arizona. By the early 1930s, 59 percent of Phoenix’s Mexicans and Mexican Americans, compared with 11 percent of Anglos, received some form of public welfare.21 Anti-Mexican sentiment throughout the state increased as Mexicans and Mexican Americans, citizens or not, became viewed as burdens. The Friendly House assisted ethnic Mexicans by providing day care and helping thousands of men and women find jobs as seamstresses, domestic workers, or bricklayers. The federal government—through the Unemployment Relief Bureau, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and the Civil Works Administration—also provided work for Mexican Americans on construction and maintenance projects, if they could prove U.S. citizenship.

Arizona Not all Mexicans and Mexican Americans experienced equal hardship during the 1930s, as many still found work as ranch hands and in factories, laundries, and other service industries. Some small-business owners, such as Pete Romo, owner of a butcher shop in Phoenix, and Rafael Granados Sr., a veteran of the Mexican Revolution who owned Phoenix’s first Mexican-operated drugstore, remained afloat during the Depression. So did many owners of larger businesses, such as Tucson’s Alex G. Jácome, whose department store continued to serve its Anglo and Mexican clientele. Nevertheless, thousands of Mexicans in Arizona repatriated to Mexico during the Depression, either forcibly or voluntarily. Even though repatriation, economic depression, and racial discrimination characterized the experience of many in Arizona during the 1920s and 1930s, the persistent efforts of organizations such as La Alianza, the LPL, and the Friendly House also shaped Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities as they entered the pivotal World War II era.

THE WORLD WAR II AND POSTWAR ERAS One of the key turning points in Arizona’s history, the World War II era, initiated a period of economic and demographic boom that had important consequences for ethnic Mexicans. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson became Sun Belt metropolises through the arrival of military bases, the presence of other defense-related industries, and increased efforts by chambers of commerce and other booster organizations to attract visitors and new residents. The population of Arizona’s two major cities increased by 400 percent between 1940 and 1960, largely because of these developments. Several trends characterized Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities during the World War II and postwar eras. First, because of the rapid influx of primarily white migrants from eastern and midwestern states and the West Coast, by mid-century ethnic Mexicans represented only 15 and 22 percent of Phoenix and Tucson’s populations, respectively—their lowest proportion of any period, before or since. Second, and partly because of Arizona’s sustained economic and demographic booms, many Mexicans and Mexican Americans during the postwar era enjoyed new social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Third, despite these new opportunities, persistent challenges and racism led a growing constellation of Mexican and Mexican American civic organizations to continue to struggle for first-class citizenship and civil rights. During the 1940s and 1950s, mining, agriculture, railroad freighting, and ranching remained important sectors of Arizona’s economy. However, Arizona’s sunny climate, available labor pool, right-to-work legislation, and tax laws favorable to corporations attracted high-tech and defense industries as well. DavisMonthan Air Force Base, in Tucson, and Luke Air Force Base, in Phoenix, were

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Latino America built during the early years of the war to serve as training facilities for allied pilots from around the world. They were also buffers in the U.S.-Mexican border region, protecting against a feared invasion by Germany and Japan through Mexico. Mexicans and Mexican Americans from all over the United States and Mexico worked and trained at these bases. During the war years—and even more so during the postwar era—military defense industries built up around Davis-Monthan and Luke, including Consolidated Vultee and Hughes Aircraft in Tucson, and AiResearch and Goodyear in Phoenix. These and other companies quickly became the largest employers in their respective cities, but they primarily hired Anglos to work in management and skilled positions, whereas ethnic Mexican men and women worked as machinists, metalworkers, and other lower-paid jobs. Work in defense industries was just one way that Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities contributed to the allied war effort. They also volunteered for the Red Cross, held fund-raisers, and joined organizations such as La Asociación Hispano-Americana de Madres y Esposas (a women’s organization in Tucson that bought and sold war bonds), sent letters to soldiers, and published a community newsletter, among other activities. Also, at Phoenix’s Immaculate Heart Church, Mexican American women hung American and Mexican flags to honor those who served; they also placed a silk banner on an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe bearing the names of all the soldiers who had died.22 Finally, social and political groups such as La Alianza, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC, a national organization founded in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1929), and others sold and bought war bonds; collected rubber, paper, metal, and other rationed goods; and hosted dinners and dances for Latin American troops training at Arizona’s military bases. Thousands of braceros contributed to the war cause as well, working primarily in Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties to harvest Arizona’s cotton, citrus, and vegetable crops. In Arizona’s fields, braceros joined year-round farmworkers as well as Mexican American volunteers, such as the Victory War Volunteers, who during a three-week period in 1942 harvested more than 35,000 pounds of cotton.23 Under the provisions of the 1942 Emergency Farm Labor Program, the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation contracted 5,975 Mexican men between 1943 and 1947 to work in Arizona’s fields.24 Though the program was originally intended to fill the void of American farmworkers who left to serve in the war, a coalition of growers and politicians in the United States and Mexico extended the program until 1964—well beyond the war years, despite the program’s shortcomings. These problems included worker exploitation and a spike in the number of undocumented migrants, who had come looking for work as well. Although precise numbers are unavailable for the period after 1947, thousands of Mexican workers harvested Arizona’s crops during the postwar era. These workers provided labor that was vital to the maintenance of Arizona’s agriculture

Arizona industry, but their presence was nevertheless a polarizing issue that often divided Arizona’s Mexican American communities. In 1946, hundreds of Mexican Americans identifying themselves as “citizens, taxpayers, and agricultural workers” petitioned Arizona governor Sidney P. Osborn to stop importing bracero labor, offering the common argument that braceros drove down wages, took jobs, and inspired racism toward all ethnic Mexicans—including those who were U.S. citizens. Many workers in farming communities—such as Phoenix, Tolleson, Guadalupe, and Tempe—continued to oppose bracero labor throughout the postwar era, receiving support from such groups as the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Workers Union Local 78, an affiliate of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the Community Service Organization (CSO). Many Mexicans and Mexican Americans from Arizona also served in World War II. Because of their patriotism toward the United States and participation in a war against racism abroad, they expected to receive treatment as equals when they returned home. Benefits from the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944— popularly known as the GI Bill—helped many ethnic Mexican men and women buy new homes and enroll at the Arizona State Teachers College (later renamed Arizona State University), the University of Arizona (U of A), and trade schools. However, employers, city planners, and civic organizations continued to discriminate against them. During the postwar era, Mexican American veterans became particularly active in fighting for civil rights through organizations such as the GI Forum, the American Legion, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.25 In 1946, for example, the American Legion’s Thunderbird Post 41 in Phoenix took a lead role in efforts to desegregate the Tempe Beach community swimming pool, which had exercised an unofficial ban on Mexicans from its opening in 1923 to 1946. The local LULAC chapter, Council 110, took up the issue in 1942 after two young Mexican American women and their dates—pilots from Mexico—were denied entry and told to leave. Despite pressure from LULAC, Tempe Beach did not desegregate until 1946, when American Legion members convinced Tempe Beach to drop its discriminatory policy. The same year, American Legion members organized to fight for integrated housing after they learned that city planners had drawn blueprints for three separate housing projects: one for whites, one for African Americans, and another for Mexican Americans. The members filed suit against the Garfield Property Owners Protective Association, and on December 11, 1946, the Arizona Supreme Court decided that housing had to be integrated. Also in 1946, veterans in Clifton and Morenci struck against Phelps Dodge for wage parity with white miners. Throughout the post–World War II and Korean War eras, ethnic Mexican veterans were highly respected in their communities, and former soldiers often boasted about having joined the military voluntarily, rather than waiting to get drafted.

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Latino America New job opportunities and increased demands for equality during the postwar era also led to a significant expansion of Arizona’s Mexican American middle class. For the first time, significant numbers of ethnic Mexicans, including many World War II veterans, moved from Tucson and Phoenix’s barrios into parts of town that had been inhabited almost exclusively by whites. Some experienced discrimination upon arriving. They persisted nevertheless, even in some of Tucson and Phoenix’s most exclusive, upper-class neighborhoods. However, most Mexicans and Mexican Americans—because of enduring discrimination, economic inequalities, and distinct cultural opportunities—continued to live in Tucson and Phoenix’s barrios. Other evidence of the growth of Arizona’s Mexican American middle class included the increased efforts of Mexican (and later, “Hispanic”) chambers of commerce to promote Mexican American business interests, social organizations, enrollment in Arizona’s universities, and political participation and representation. In part because of the GI Bill, more Mexican Americans pursued degrees at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, even though their proportional enrollment remained extremely low. Mexican and Mexican American students joined groups such as the Spanish Honorary Club, the Newman Club for Catholic Students, and Los Universitarios, a club for students interested in Latin American affairs.26 Phoenix’s Vesta Club, established in 1954, also helped increase educational opportunities for Mexican Americans by raising college scholarship funds for local youth. Other groups focused on increasing political participation among Arizona’s ethnic Mexican communities. In addition to older groups, such as La Alianza, Friendly House, and others that predated World War II, newer ones, such as local chapters of LULAC and the CSO, became important parts of Arizona’s ethnic Mexican communities. LULAC’s Council 110 was established in 1940, and Plácida García Smith, who directed the Friendly House during the 1930s, served as one of its earliest presidents. The California-based CSO operated in Phoenix from 1952 to 1958. LULAC and the CSO focused primarily on increasing political participation through voter registration drives, but they also held citizenship classes, formed neighborhood improvement committees, and engaged in multiple civil rights struggles. The Spanish American Democratic Club and the Latin American Club of Arizona also focused on political participation. These groups achieved some success, and Anglo politicians in Arizona came to regard Mexican Americans as important voters and candidates. The vast majority of Mexican Americans during the postwar era voted for Democratic candidates, though a few prominent Mexican Americans—such as department store owner Alex G. Jácome and bank president Louis Felix—were active members of the Republican Party.

Arizona The postwar era also saw the proliferation of ethnic Mexican social clubs, such as Tucson’s Monte Carlo Men’s Club; Club Cienna, a group for single women; and Club Mavis, a women’s auxiliary of La Alianza. Even though these clubs were primarily social groups, many of their members went into politics. By 1960, two Monte Carlo members were state legislators, and another was the vice chairman of the Pima County Democratic Central Committee. In addition, ethnic Mexican youth formed car clubs—such as Club Belmont, the Playboys Club, and Los Dukes—and attended dances at Tucson and Phoenix’s many ballrooms. Another organization, the Cuauhtémoc Club, celebrated Arizona’s cultural connection with Sonora by planning celebrations of Mexican Independence Day and yearly trips to Hermosillo. They joined many ethnic Mexican families in Tucson that made regular trips to Sonora to visit family members, shop in Nogales or Agua Prieta, or visit dentists and doctors who charged less than their counterparts in Arizona. Finally, a few middle-class Mexican Americans were members of the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, and the Lions Club. In many ways, Tucson in 1960 still retained its Sonoran character, as more than 70 percent of ethnic Mexicans there were of Sonoran descent.27 Despite these trends toward social and economic equality, challenges remained. The majority of ethnic Mexican workers in Arizona were still near the bottom of the wage scale, and Arizona’s 1946 right-to-work law made it difficult for them to organize; very few Mexicans or Mexican Americans served on Arizona’s school boards or as teachers; they were arrested at higher rates than members of other ethnic and racial groups; and the loan provisions of the GI Bill often discriminated against them. Also, de facto segregation policies separated Mexicans from Anglos in theaters, swimming pools, and public schools. To address such issues, La Alianza’s Richard Estrada and Greg García, among others, filed important antisegregation lawsuits such as Baca v. Winslow (1944), which desegregated Winslow’s public swimming pool, and González v. Sheeley (1952), which legally ended segregation in Arizona’s elementary schools. In González v. Sheeley, Mexican and Mexican American plaintiffs sued the superintendent of schools in the rural farming community of Tolleson, a western suburb of Phoenix, for segregating their children. The school system acknowledged segregation and unequal facilities, but claimed the situation resulted from segregated housing patterns, rather than any conscious efforts of discrimination on the part of school board administrators, adding that language deficiencies necessitated instructing Mexican children in separate classes. Plaintiffs, however, borrowed the logic of Méndez v. Westminster, a 1947 desegregation case in California, to argue that segregation violated their children’s constitutional rights. Arizona Supreme Court judge David Ling sided with them, ruling that segregation violated Mexican children’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth

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Latino America Amendment. Sheeley v. González became an important precedent for other desegregation cases in the state—such as Ortiz v. Jack, which ended segregation in Glendale, another farming suburb of Phoenix—and the desegregation of public facilities in the mining community of Miami, Arizona.

THE CHICANO MOVEMENT ERA Building on the activism of the 1940s and 1950s, ethnic Mexicans in Arizona during the 1960s and 1970s—who often identified themselves as Chicanas and Chicanos—continued to struggle for social, economic, cultural, and political justice. Chicanas and Chicanos supported regional and national Chicano movements, but Arizona’s Chicano movement remained primarily defined by local issues. During the 1960s, many older organizations, such as La Alianza and the Friendly House, struggled to remain relevant as new groups—including the Mexican American Student Organization (MASO), the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC)—organized Mexican and Mexican American youth. Even though the membership of organizations such as La Alianza declined during the Chicano movement era, prominent Mexican Americans of an older generation remained committed to their relatively conservative ideas about political change, economics, and ethnicity. La Alianza finally folded in 1965, in part because of corruption charges and political infighting. LULAC and the Friendly House, however, were more successful in rejuvenating their message by taking up President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and other issues. During the Chicano movement, national political organizations formed local chapters in Arizona, such as the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA, founded in 1960 by Mexican Americans in California) and the Political Association of Spanish Speaking Organizations (PASSO, founded in Texas in 1961 by Hector García, who also founded the GI Forum). But many local and statewide organizations particular to Arizona formed as well, such as the Phoenix-based American Coordinating Council of Political Education (ACCPE) and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). The Southwest Council of La Raza (SCLR), another civil rights organization, started in Phoenix with a small grant from the Ford Foundation. It later became a national organization based in Washington, DC, called the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Each of these organizations had local objectives, such as improved housing, as well as statewide and national goals, such as the election of Chicana and Chicano political candidates and increased voter registration. In part because of the efforts of such groups, several Latino Democratic candidates were elected during the 1960s and 1970s to the Arizona state legislature,

Arizona including Leonardo Calderón Jr. (1964–1966), David Valenzuela (1964–1966), and Tony Abril (1967–1970, 1973–1982). As a response to such political activism, organizations and individuals—including future U.S. Supreme Court justice William Rehnquist—began to monitor ethnic Mexican participation at the polls during the 1960s.28 These monitors claimed they were only interested in protecting against voter fraud, many Mexican Americans nevertheless viewed such actions as discriminatory efforts to bar them from the political process. Perhaps the most important political organization to form during Arizona’s Chicano movement was Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), established in 1969, which by the early twenty-first century had 30 offices in 23 cities and served 45,000 individuals. CPLC’s annual operating budget skyrocketed from $676,000 during the early 1970s to $6.3 million by the end of the decade, sparking the ire of many who disapproved of government support for what they called specialinterest groups. Founded by Arizona State University student movement leaders Alfredo Gutierrez and Joe “Eddie” López, CPLC drew together diverse elements of Phoenix’s Chicano movement to build community service programs focusing on housing, education, counseling services, small-business development, job training, migration, and public health. Student activism was also a key component of Arizona’s Chicano movement. At the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, students established the MASO during the late 1960s, which they incorporated into the national MEChA during the early 1970s. At both universities, Chicano students called for the development of courses on Chicano history and culture; more Chicano faculty members; and increased cultural opportunities. Students at the U of A, including Salomón Baldenegro, Raúl Grijalva, and Guadalupe Castillo, formed the Mexican American Liberation Committee (MALC), which led the effort to organize walkouts at Tucson and Pueblo high schools, similar to the walkouts that rocked Los Angeles high schools in 1968. Even though participation in the Tucson walkouts was less than in Los Angeles, students in Tucson nevertheless brought attention to issues of overcrowding and bilingual education. They also formed the El Río Coalition Front, which during the summer and fall of 1970 successfully pressured the Tucson city government to convert El Río Golf Course into a public park and community center. Students at Arizona State University engaged in similar community-based struggles, such as the successful protest against the Phoenix Linen Towel Supply Company, which paid discriminatory wages to its Mexican workers and failed to promote them. Because of these students’ efforts, Arizona State University promptly ended its contract with Phoenix Linen. Operating alongside and often in concert with political and student activism, farmworker organizations formed another key element of Arizona’s Chicano movement. Arizona’s farmworker organizations were most active in Phoenix’s Salt

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Latino America River valley. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Maricopa County Organizing Project (MCOP), Migrant Opportunities Program (MOP), and United Farm Workers (UFW) of Arizona provided job training for migrant workers and focused on sanitation, access to safe drinking water, migrant health, protection from pesticides, child labor, and wage discrimination. Like farmworkers throughout the United States, farmworkers in Arizona did not get state unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, or overtime pay; moreover, under the National Labor Relations Act, they could not organize. The UFW in Arizona, led by Gustavo Gutiérrez, often organized in solidarity on these and other issues with UFW members in other areas. For example, following César Chávez’s famous strike against Delano grapes and his subsequent march to Sacramento, the UFW in Arizona led a boycott of Arizona’s grape growers and organized a 20-mile march from Tolleson to the capitol building in Phoenix. One of the most important events of Arizona’s Chicano movement, which brought national media attention to the state, was Chávez’s 1972 Fast of Love, during which Chávez fasted for 24 consecutive days as a protest against Arizona House Bill 2134, which proposed to outlaw strikes during harvest. The bill, Chávez and the UFW argued, would negatively affect farmworkers’ ability to fight for fair labor conditions. By the time Chávez was admitted to Phoenix’s Memorial Hospital because his organs were failing, his fast had already gained media attention from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post; support from national celebrities, including Joan Baez and Coretta Scott King; and a daylong sympathy strike organized by 1,500 farmworkers in Yuma. Despite Chávez’s fast, HB 2134 passed the state legislature, at which point the UFW led an unsuccessful movement to recall Governor Jack Williams. The Fast of Love nevertheless mobilized Phoenix and Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American communities, which had a significant impact on the outcome of state elections in 1974. In part because of the widespread support of Mexican American voters, Raúl Castro became the first Mexican American governor of Arizona; Democrats captured control of the state senate; and Alfredo Gutiérrez of MASO and CPLC became the senate majority leader. Several urban-renewal projects also inspired community activism during Arizona’s Chicano movement era, such as freeway construction through Tucson and Phoenix barrios, along with supposed neighborhood improvement projects that destroyed Mexican and Mexican American neighborhoods. Interstate 10 displaced many homes in Tucson’s El Hoyo barrio, and the Maricopa Freeway split Phoenix’s Cuatro Milpas in half. Then, during the late 1960s, city developers razed Tucson’s Barrio Libre, building the Tucson Convention Center where houses once stood. Urban-renewal projects ripped through Phoenix barrios when the expansion of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport led to the destruction of the Golden Gate barrio, where many ethnic Mexican families had lived from the

Arizona 1920s forward. Multiple organizations, such as Tucson’s Save La Placita Committee (led by longtime resident and community organizer Alva Torres), collected signatures, raised funds, and solicited legal advice in order to prevent the destruction of these neighborhoods, but to little avail.

POST-CHICANO MOVEMENT From the 1970s forward, the primary concerns of Arizona’s Latino communities have revolved around political representation, access to services, and migration. Latinas and Latinos made several gains as a result of the Chicano movement, including the establishment of the Mexican American Studies and Research Center at the University of Arizona in 1983. In 1991, Manuel T. Pacheco became the University of Arizona’s first Mexican American president. Then, in 1992, Arizona State University established a Chicano Studies program, which was renamed Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies in 2006. Additionally, more Latinas and Latinos were elected to political office following the Chicano movement than during any other period of Arizona’s history. Despite the gains of the post–World War II and Chicano eras, Latinas and Latinos in Arizona continued to face many challenges. Phoenix Union High School was forced to close temporarily in 1982, because it continued to segregate ethnic Mexican students. Also, of ASU’s 40,000 students, only 2 to 3 percent during the early 1980s were of Latin American birth or heritage. Migration from Latin America has perhaps been Arizona’s most divisive social and political issue since the Chicano movement. Migration was a matter of local and national concern during earlier eras as well, but debates in Arizona reached peak intensity during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as Arizona became the busiest point of migration along the U.S.-Mexican border. Setting the tone for much of the late twentieth century was the 1976 Hanigan Case, in which George, Patrick, and Thomas Hanigan went on trial for torturing, beating, and robbing three Mexican nationals—Manuel García Loya, Eleazar Ruelas Zavala, and Bernabe Herrera Mata—whom they caught crossing over their ranch land in 1976 in Elfrida, just north of Douglas. George Hanigan, the father of Patrick and Thomas, died before the trial began, but an all-white jury acquitted Patrick and Thomas in 1977. Phoenix’s Mexican consul said the verdict “declared open season on illegal immigrants.” In response the National Coalition on the Hanigan Case formed as a human rights advocacy group to protect Mexicans and Mexican Americans from suffering similar attacks.29 During the early 1980s, Latin American migration to Arizona was again at the forefront of local and national attention as a coalition of community leaders— including Jim Corbett, Guadalupe Castillo, Presbyterian minister John Fife, and Roman Catholic priest Ricardo Elford—offered sanctuary to Central American refugees who fled their war-torn homes in Guatemala, El Salvador, and other

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Latino America countries. Though it began as a church-based initiative in Tucson, the Sanctuary movement expanded to more than 500 congregations across the United States. During the mid-1980s, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 16 participants in the Sanctuary movement; 11 went on trial, and 8 were eventually convicted of smuggling charges, even though the activists argued that humanitarian considerations justified their actions. At the same time, by the mid-1980s, undocumented Mexican migration had become a divisive issue in Arizona, as the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) granted amnesty to thousands of Mexicans in Arizona. Many civil rights activists in Arizona generally favored IRCA’s amnesty provisions but argued that they were not being properly implemented, whereas both Anglo and Mexican anti-immigration activists argued that amnesty only encouraged Mexicans to continue migrating illegally. In part as a backlash against IRCA, several anti-immigration organizations formed in Arizona during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, such as Save Our State (SOS), an Arizona spin-off of a California-based organization; the Minuteman Project; Border Guardians; and Protect Arizona Now. Several immigrant rights and humanitarian groups formed as well, including No More Deaths, Border Action Network, and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos (cochaired by immigration lawyer Isabel García). The work of both sides intensified during the early twenty-first century as Arizona, in part because of the funneling effect of immigration crackdowns in California and Texas, became the most traversed point of crossing for undocumented migrants into the United States. The Tucson and Yuma sectors of the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 500,000 undocumented migrants every year during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and hundreds more died of heat in the Arizona-Sonora desert. The intensification of immigration debates led 56 percent of Arizona voters, including 47 percent of the state’s Latina and Latino voters, to pass Proposition 200 in 2004. Many observers compared the initiative with California’s Proposition 187. This led Democratic governor Janet Napolitano to declare a state of emergency in Arizona in 2005, and it also led thousands of immigrant rights activists to march in Tucson and Phoenix on May Day in 2006 and 2007 in support of comprehensive immigration reform. By the early twenty-first century, Arizona had become the focal point of the national debate over migration. Since 1990, Arizona has been one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. During the 1990s alone, its population increased by 40.1 percent. Even more impressive was the 88.2 percent growth of Arizona’s “Hispanic” and “Latino” populations, as U.S. census takers classified members of those groups. Mexicans and Mexican Americans continued to be the dominant Latino group in Arizona, constituting approximately 90 percent of the total Latino population, whereas Puerto Ricans represented 1 percent, Cuban Americans 0.4 percent, and all others (primarily from Central America) approximately 8 percent. According to the 1990 U.S. census, Arizona’s population was 18.8 percent “Hispanic” (688,338 of

Arizona a total population of 3,665,228); according to the 2000 U.S. census, the number had increased to 25.3 percent (1,295,617 of a total population of 5,130,632). Most of that growth took place in the counties and cities that experienced the greatest overall growth, including Maricopa County (Phoenix) and Pima County (Tucson). However, traditionally Latino-dominated areas, such as Santa Cruz, Cochise, and Yuma counties (which, in addition to Pima County, form southern Arizona’s border with Mexico), experienced impressive growth as well. This was especially true in border towns such as Douglas, Nogales, and Yuma, which capitalized on the North American Free Trade Agreement’s increase in cross-border commerce, the growth of agriculture industries, and tourism.30 By 2005, Arizona’s Latina and Latino population had grown to represent 28.6 percent of the state’s total population, and reports during the fall of 2006 proclaimed Phoenix and Tucson majority-minority cities for the first time since the late nineteenth (in Phoenix’s case) and early twentieth (in Tucson’s case) centuries. In addition to occupying familiar positions in Arizona’s agriculture and mining industries, Latinos have filled Arizona’s construction, domestic service, janitorial, and landscaping jobs. New Latino migrants to Arizona have joined those whose families have lived there for several decades, if not centuries, and their cohabitation has led to both conflict and cooperation over issues such as migration, labor, bilingualism, and social services for migrants.

NOTABLE LATINOS Vázquez de Coronado, Francisco (1510–1554). An explorer of New Spain (Mexico), Coronado was born near Salamanca, Spain, and first traveled to Mexico at the age of 25. Between 1540 and 1542, and in search of the mythical golden cities of Cíbola and Quivira, he led an exploration of the present states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. His expedition greatly enhanced knowledge of the geography and peoples of Arizona. Kino, Eusebio Francisco (1644–1711). Born in Italy, Kino became one of the New World’s foremost missionaries, establishing dozens of missions in the territory that became northern Mexico and southern Arizona. Often called the Father of Arizona, Kino arrived in Sonora in 1687. In what would become Arizona, he established missions at San Xavier del Bac, Guevavi, and elsewhere. In addition to his missionary work, Kino was a mapmaker, an astronomer, a mathematician, and an agro-pastoralist who introduced cattle into the region. Elías, Eulalia (1788–1865). With her brother Ignacio Elías, Eulalia Elías managed the horses and cattle on the San Juan de Babocómari land grant in Cochise County from 1833 to 1849. Redondo, José María (1830–1878). A pioneer of Yuma, Redondo was a prominent miner, rancher, and landowner during Arizona’s territorial period. He served three terms in the territorial legislature and was mayor of Yuma. Redondo’s 1,000-acre ranch north of Yuma was one of Arizona’s largest.

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Latino America Ochoa, Estevan (1831–1888). Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Ochoa became one of Tucson’s most prominent ethnic Mexicans during the late nineteenth century. Making his fortune as co-owner of the Tully and Ochoa freighting company, he is also generally credited as the founder of public education in Tucson. In 1875 he became Tucson’s only Mexican elected mayor from the Gadsden Purchase forward. Ochoa also raised sheep and owned mines. He was one of the first to experiment with Pima cotton, planting acres of cotton crops and sending samples to New York. Carrillo, Leopoldo (1836–1890). Born in Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico, Carrillo moved to Tucson in 1859, where he became the owner of several businesses and ranches throughout southern Arizona. During the 1880s, he developed Carrillo Gardens, which became Tucson’s most popular resort park during the late nineteenth century. Velasco, Carlos (1837–1914). Born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, Velasco contributed to Tucson’s intellectual and cultural life during the late nineteenth century, founding newspapers such as Las Dos Repúblicas and El Fronterizo. In 1894 he cofounded La Alianza Hispano-Americana. Samaniego, Mariano (1844–1907). A native of Sonora, Samaniego attended St. Louis University and moved to Tucson in the 1860s. During the late nineteenth century, he was one of Tucson’s foremost businessmen, ranchers, and politicians. In 1891 he became a member of the University of Arizona’s Board of Regents, and in 1894 he cofounded La Alianza Hispano-Americana. Samaniego served four terms in Arizona’s territorial legislature from the 1870s to the 1890s. He also cofounded the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society. Gárfias, Enrique (1851–1896). Born in Mexico and raised in California, Gárfias moved to Phoenix in 1874, where he became the city’s only ethnic Mexican elected official during the nineteenth century. Bonillas, Ignacio (1858–1944). Originally a schoolteacher from Tucson, Bonillas became mayor of Nogales, Sonora, and then a Mexican diplomat to the United States. He was the favorite candidate of Venustiano Carranza in Mexico’s 1920 election. Vásquez, Carmen Soto de (1863–1934). In 1915, Carmen Soto de Vásquez founded Tucson’s famous Teatro Carmen. Until it closed in 1924, Teatro Carmen was Tucson’s foremost theater for Spanish-language productions and a central gathering place of Tucson’s ethnic Mexican community. Ronstadt, Federico (1868–1954). Born in Las Delicias, Sonora, Ronstadt moved to Tucson at the age of 14, where he became one of the city’s most prominent businessmen, musicians, and citizens during the late nineteenth century. He opened a carriagemanufacturing shop in 1888, which eventually became one of Tucson’s biggest businesses. The Ronstadt family, from the time of Ronstadt’s arrival forward, has been considered one of Tucson’s foremost pioneer families. Rebeil, Julia (1891–1973). A graduate of Tucson’s St. Joseph’s Academy, Rebeil earned her master’s degree at Chicago Musical College, then attended the Fountainbleau Conservatory near Paris before returning to Tucson in 1920 to teach piano at the University of Arizona. When she retired in 1953, she was the head of the university’s piano department. Espinel Ronstadt, Luisa (1892–1963). Daughter of tucsonense Federico Ronstadt, Luisa Espinel became an internationally renowned singer who gave concerts in Los

Arizona Angeles, New York, and Europe. She was most famous for her interpretations of Spanish folk songs; late in her career, she also became an actress. Garcia Smith, Placida (1896–1981). A longtime resident of Phoenix and the director of the Friendly House during the 1930s, García Smith led efforts to provide job opportunities and social services to the city’s ethnic Mexican communities. Also during the 1930s, she helped form the Phoenix’s Southside Improvement organization. In 1941 she served as president of Phoenix’s newly formed LULAC chapter, and in 1962 she was honored as the Phoenix Woman of the Year. Jácome Sr., Alex G. (1904–1980). A native of Tucson, Alex Jácome Sr. became president of Jácome’s Department Store in 1932, after his father, Carlos Jácome, died. In addition to running his commercial business, Jácome became Tucson’s foremost diplomat to Mexico during the mid-twentieth century, serving as the city’s honorary vice-consul to Mexico. He was also a U.S. delegate to the 1954 Inter-American Indian Conference in La Paz, Bolivia, and to a 1959 trade mission to Spain. Also active in Arizona affairs, Jácome was a member of the University of Arizona’s Board of Regents from 1952 to 1960, serving as its president in 1959. Urquides, María (1908–1994). A teacher and administrator in Tucson’s public school system during the twentieth century, Urquides became a nationally renowned advocate for bilingual education. She was the first Latina to serve on the YWCA’s board of directors, and in 1974 the Tucson Unified School District recognized her lifelong service by naming Urquides Elementary School in her honor. Díaz, Adam (1909–). Originally from Flagstaff, Díaz moved to Phoenix as a child, and in 1948 he became the first Mexican American elected to the Phoenix City Council. He served 4 years on the council and one as vice-mayor of Phoenix. He began his community service during the 1930s and 1940s as an active member of the Latin American Club, the Spanish American Club, and as a co-worker of Plácida Garcia Smith at the Friendly House. During the postwar era, he was a member of American Legion Post 41 and was the president of Friendly House in 1948. He later served as chairman of the board of Chicanos Por La Causa. In 1964 he won the Phoenix Sertoma Club’s Service to Mankind Award, and in 1977 he received the first Plácida Smith Award for his service to the Friendly House. In 2007 the Phoenix Westside Senior Center was renamed the Adam Díaz Senior Center. Castro, Raúl (1916–). Born in the midst of the Mexican Revolution, in Cananea, Sonora, Castro moved to Arizona in 1926, where he became a prominent Mexican American politician. After receiving his law degree from the University of Arizona and becoming a member of the Arizona Bar Association in 1949, Castro was elected Pima County attorney general in 1954, and he served as judge of the Pima County Superior Court from 1959 to 1964. Before serving as Arizona’s first ethnic Mexican governor from 1974 to 1976, he was a U.S. ambassador to El Salvador and Bolivia. Castro’s term as governor was cut short in 1977, when Jimmy Carter appointed him U.S. ambassador to Argentina. Guerrero, Eduardo “Lalo” (1916–2005). Guerrero was born and raised in Tucson’s Barrio Viejo district, and as a youth, he was a pachuco and car gang member. He started his musical career in Tucson as a member of Los Carlistas. Although he moved his family

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Latino America to California during the 1940s, Tucson remained an important source of inspiration for his music. Cordova, Valdemar A. (1922–1988). Born in Phoenix, Cordova became a decorated U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II before receiving his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1950. After serving on the Phoenix City Council from 1956 to 1958, in 1965 he became the first Mexican American Maricopa County Superior Court judge. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Cordova as a federal district court judge, and in 2002, Phoenix renamed its municipal court the Valdemar A. Cordova Building. Chávez, César (1927–1993). Perhaps the most famous Mexican American in the United States from the Chicano movement forward, Chávez was born in Yuma and spent a considerable portion of his career supporting Arizona’s farmworkers—most famously during his 1972 Fast of Love, organized as a protest against Arizona House Bill 2134. The bill outlawed boycotts and strikes by farmworkers during harvest season. Apparently the chant “¡Si Se Puede!” originated at Phoenix’s Santa Rita Hall during the fast. For his lifetime of work, Arizona State University awarded Chávez the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters on May 8, 1992. Chávez died where he was born, in Yuma, on April 22, 1993. Olivárez, Graciela Gil (1928–1987). Born in Phoenix and raised in Barcelona, Arizona, Olivárez was Phoenix’s first female disc jockey. She brought attention to local issues of poverty and working conditions for migrant farmworkers. In 1965 she became state director of the Office of Economic Opportunity for Arizona. She then received a law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1970, becoming the first woman to graduate from that school. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed her as director of the Community Service Administration; she was the highest-ranking Mexican American woman in the Carter administration. Torres, Alva (1932–). A native of Tucson, Torres has been a member of several ethnic Mexican civic organizations, such as the Mexican American Unity Council and the League of Mexican American Women. During the 1960s, she helped form the Save La Placita Committee, which tried to prevent the so-called urban renewal of Tucson’s Barrio Libre. Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel (1936–). Born in Douglas, Rubio-Goldsmith received an undergraduate degree in law and philosophy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) before becoming a history professor at Pima County Community College in 1969, and at the University of Arizona in 1983. In addition to her academic work, Rubio-Goldsmith has worked as an activist promoting migrant and women’s rights. López, Joe Eddie (1939–). Born in Duran, New Mexico, López traveled with his family of migrant farm laborers around the U.S. Southwest before settling in Maricopa County in 1939, where he attended Peoria High School and Arizona State University. During the Chicano movement era, López organized construction workers and farmworkers, cofounding Chicanos Por La Causa. Before he was elected in 1996 to the Arizona state Senate, he served on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors from 1972 to 1976, the

Arizona Arizona House of Representatives from 1991 to 1992, and the Phoenix Union High School District Governing Board from 1990 to 1996. Martin, Patricia Preciado (1939–). Born and raised in Tucson, writer Patricia Preciado Martin received her degree in elementary education in 1960 from the University of Arizona. The author of books such as Images and Conversations, Songs My Mother Sang to Me, and Beloved Land, Martin has spent a lifetime documenting the lives of Arizona’s ethnically Mexican women and men. During the 1980s, she developed the Mexican Heritage Project at the Arizona Historical Society with Thomas E. Sheridan, an anthropologist and historian at the University of Arizona. Castillo, Guadalupe (1942–). Castillo received her BA and MA at the University of Arizona before becoming a history professor at Pima County Community College. During the 1960s and 1970s, she was an active member of Tucson’s Chicano movement, helping organize efforts to introduce a Mexican American Studies curriculum at the University of Arizona and to convert El Río Golf Course into a public park and community center. From the 1970s forward, she became involved with several immigrant rights organizations, such as Derechos Humanos and No More Deaths. Marín, Christine (1943–). A native of Globe, Marín is the archivist and curator of the Chicano Research Collection at Arizona State University’s Hayden Library. Marín earned a BA in English in 1974, an MA in U.S. history in 1982, and a PhD in U.S. history in 1997, all from Arizona State University. Her scholarship has focused primarily on the mining community of Miami and on Mexican Americans in Arizona during the World War II era. Pastor, Ed (1943–). Born in the mining town of Claypool, Pastor received his BA in chemistry from Arizona State University in 1966, as well as his law degree in 1974. Before he became Arizona’s first Latino representative in the U.S. Congress, Pastor served as a member of Governor Raúl Castro’s staff and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. His Fourth District includes most of downtown Phoenix and Glendale. Gutierrez, Alfredo (1944–). Born in Miami, Gutierrez became one of Phoenix’s foremost civil rights activists during the Chicano movement and beyond. During the 1960s, he was a leader of Arizona State University’s MASO, founder of a Brown Beret chapter in Phoenix, and founder of Chicanos Por La Causa. In 1974 he became the youngest person ever elected to the Arizona state legislature, and in 2002 he ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor. Baldenegro, Salomón (1945–). Originally from Douglas, Baldenegro cofounded MEChA at the University of Arizona in 1969. He organized many other efforts as well, including walkouts at Tucson and Pueblo high schools and protests for the conversion of Tucson’s El Río Golf Course into a public park and community center. During the 1970s, Baldenegro was a candidate for mayor of Tucson, supported by La Raza Unida Party, and after the Chicano movement, he continued to advise the University of Arizona chapter of MEChA. Ronstadt, Linda (1946–). A native of Tucson and granddaughter of Federico Ronstadt, Linda Ronstadt became an influential American folk rock singer. In 1964, at the age of 17, Ronstadt moved to California, where she has spent much of her life. But she has

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Latino America maintained a home in Tucson, and her music remains influenced by her roots there. A winner of several Grammy awards, Ronstadt’s Canciones de mi Padre won the 1988 award for Best Mexican American Performance. Grijalva, Raúl (1948–). Born in Tucson, Grijalva attended Sunnyside High School before receiving his BA in sociology from the University of Arizona. While at the University of Arizona, he was a founding member of MEChA. In 1974, Grijalva became a board member of the Tucson Unified School District, and from 1975 to 1986, he directed the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center. Grijalva served on the Pima County Board of Supervisors from 1988 to 2002, and in 2000 he was elected as a Democratic member of Congress from Arizona’s Second District. García, Isabel (1953–). Born in Tucson, García became one of southern Arizona’s foremost immigrant rights activists, serving as Pima County public defender and cochair of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos. She has served on the board of directors of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, testified before the United States Congressional Sub-Committee on Immigration, and organized the Border Summit held in Tucson in 2000.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latina and Latino cultural contributions have extended well beyond Tucson and Phoenix barrios, shaping much of Arizona history through a year-round calendar of national and religious celebrations, along with other community activities, ranch culture, and art and music. Mexicans and Mexican Americans have celebrated Mexican national holidays—such as Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence, and Fiestas Patrias—even as they have celebrated U.S. national holidays, such as Independence Day and President’s Day. Many of these are festive occasions that involve fireworks, bonfires, dancing, singing, drinking, eating, and other activities. Mexicans and Mexican Americans have demonstrated the binational character of their celebrations by wearing the national colors of both the United States and Mexico, reading aloud passages from the American Declaration of Independence, or marching to the music of Mexican bands. Many Angloled organizations, such as the Tucson Festival Society and the Tucson Rodeo and Parade Committees (which organize the annual Fiesta de los Vaqueros), have drawn inspiration from the cultural contributions of Arizona’s ethnic Mexicans, reinterpreting celebrations such as charrería and incorporating them into broader social and cultural life. A variety of religious celebrations also punctuate the year, such as Las Posadas, Easter, Día de los Muertos, and the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. There celebrations include annual pilgrimages in October from Tucson to Magdalena, Sonora, to pay homage to Saint Francis Xavier. Active participation in these and other religious occasions reflects the predominance of Catholicism among Arizona’s ethnic Mexicans. In Tucson around 1960,

Arizona 90 percent of ethnic Mexicans were Roman Catholic, amounting to 50 percent of the city’s Catholic community in general—even though Mexicans and Mexican Americans represented only about 25 percent of the city’s population. Although the majority of Arizona’s ethnic Mexicans are Catholic, some are Protestant. Because ethnic Mexicans in southern Arizona incorporate religious folk practices and prayers to curanderos and curanderas (or faith healers) into their worship, many have referred to their particular brand of Catholicism as Sonoran Catholicism, again linking the cultures of Arizona and Sonora.31 The primary churches that have served ethnic Mexicans in Arizona are San Agustín Cathedral, Santa Cruz, and San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, and St. Mary’s, St. Anthony’s, and Immaculate Heart Church in Phoenix. Some of these, such as San Xavier and San Agustín, were built during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, many were built during the 1910s and 1920s through local fund-raising efforts, volunteer labor, and donations. In addition to religious services, churches have also provided many social services and helped with political organization. Other important sites of worship are southern Arizona’s folk religious shrines—such as Tucson’s El Tiradito, or Wishing Shrine, where Mexicans and Mexican Americans light votive candles in prayer for loved ones. Mexicans and Mexican Americans also have made many contributions to Arizona’s artistic and intellectual life. Philharmonic clubs, newspaper publishers, and literary societies of the late nineteenth century have made an impact, along with singers such as Lalo Guerrero and Linda Ronstadt, art organizations such as Phoenix’s Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado, and Arizona’s Mexican and Mexican American artists and intellectuals. For example, the annual Tucson International Mariachi Conference, established in 1982, has become a worldrenowned celebration of mariachi music and baile folklórico. In addition, ethnic Mexicans such as Ernesto Portillo Sr., in Tucson, and Pete Bugarín, in Phoenix, helped pioneer broadcast radio in Arizona. Many popular deejays were from Sonora, Zacatecas, and other Mexican states, and some had experience working in Arizona’s mines and fields before they worked in radio. Delivering news from Mexico, playing orquesta and corridos, and hosting local personalities, they broadcast early morning shows such as La Hora Mexicana, which appealed to a broad range of listeners as they got ready for work. Another popular disc jockey was Graciela Gil Olivárez, Phoenix’s first female disc jockey, who brought attention to issues such as poverty and living conditions among migrant laborers. Mexicans and Mexican Americans have also engaged in other community activities, which have contributed to Arizona’s culture. Many of these have been held at community parks, ballrooms, theaters, and barrios. Parks such as Grant Park in Phoenix and Kennedy Park in Tucson have been important gathering spots for sporting events, barbecues, concerts, holidays, and various educational opportunities. Similarly, dances at ballrooms such as Maravilla in Phoenix and Del Río in

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Latino America Tucson have provided opportunities for ethnic Mexican youth to socialize, and for Latina and Latino musicians—many of whom traveled on the so-called Taco Circuit throughout the U.S. Southwest—to make a name for themselves. It was from this milieu that individuals such as Eduardo “Lalo” Guerrero emerged as one of the most popular ethnic Mexican singers of the post–World War II era.

NOTES 1. Sheridan, Arizona: A History, 38. 2. Sheridan, Arizona: A History, 45–46. 3. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 31. 4. Poston, quoted in Park, 62. 5. Susan L. Johnson, “Women in Central Arizona Mining Towns, 1863–1873,” unpublished essay dated May 1981, in the Arizona Collection (Tempe, AZ: Hayden Library, Arizona State University), 3. 6. Park, 99, 101, 103. 7. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 32. 8. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 73. 9. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 90. 10. Luckingham, 17. 11. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 16. 12. Park, 205, 208. 13. See Truett. 14. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 176. 15. Park, 265; and Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 181. 16. Dean and Reynolds, 2006, 28. 17. Sheridan, Los Tucsonenses, 250, 166. 18. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 38. 19. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 38. 20. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 50. 21. Luckingham, 39. 22. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 97. 23. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 77. 24. Wayne D. Rasmussen, A History of the Emergency Farm Labor Supply Program, 1943–1947, Agricultural Monograph No. 13 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, September 1951), 226. 25. In 1960, for example, the Tucson American Legion’s Morgan-McDermott No. 7 claimed 110 ethnic Mexican members of a total membership of 1,500 (7.3 percent), while Post No. 549 of the city’s Veterans of Foreign Wars had 200 ethnic Mexican members of a total membership of 895 (22.3 percent). In 1946, because of such low representation in the Morgan-McDermott chapter, Mexican Americans from that group formed their own organization especially for Mexican American veterans, naming it Cocío and Estrada for two ethnic Mexicans from Tucson who died during service. Tucson’s Post No. 4903 of the Veterans

Arizona of Foreign Wars also had Mexican American members, but the numbers were far fewer, because this post was based on Tucson’s east side, and very few ethnic Mexicans lived on the east side in 1960. See Officer, “Sodalities and Systemic Linkage: The Joining Habits of Urban Mexican-Americans,” 262, 264. 26. Officer, “Sodalities and Systemic Linkage,” 207. 27. Officer, “Sodalities and Systemic Linkage,” 73–74. 28. Dean and Reynolds, Hispanic Historic Property Survey, 110. 29. Christine Marín, “They Sought Work and Found Hell: The Hanigan Case of Arizona,” Perspectives in Mexican American Studies 6 (1997): 96–122 30. 1990 census figures were calculated based on information provided at the state of Arizona’s Web site: “Hispanic Origin and Race for Arizona, Counties and Places,” at http://www.workforce.az.gov/?PAGEID=67&SUBID=129 (accessed May 14, 2007). It cites 1990 Census of Population and Housing, PL 94-171 Data File. Census figures from 2000 were calculated based on information provided at the state of Arizona’s Web site: “Total Population by Hispanic or Latino and Race; Counties, Incorporated and Census Designated Places, Arizona’s Indian Reservations,” at http://www.workforce.az.gov/?PAGEID= 67&SUBID=127 (accessed May 14, 2007). It cites the Census 2000 Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) Summary File. 31. Officer, “Sodalities and Systemic Linkage,” 124, 151.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brady, Mary Pat. Extinct Lands, Temporal Geographies: Chicana Literature and the Urgency of Space. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. Browne, J. Ross. Adventures in the Apache Country: A Tour through Arizona and Sonora, with Notes on the Silver Regions of Nevada. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1869. Dean, David R., and Jean A. Reynolds. Hispanic Historic Property Survey, Final Report. Phoenix, AZ: City of Phoenix, Historic Preservation Office, and Athenaeum Public History Group, 2006, 28. Luckingham, Bradford. Minorities in Phoenix: A Profile of Mexican American, Chinese American, and African American Communities, 1860–1992. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994. Martin, Patricia Preciado. Images and Conversations: Mexican Americans Recall a Southwestern Past. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1983. ———. Songs My Mother Sang to Me: An Oral History of Mexican American Women. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1992. ———. Beloved Land: An Oral History of Mexican Americans in Southern Arizona. Photography by José Galvez. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2004. Meeks, Eric V. Border Citizens: The Making of Indians, Mexicans, and Anglos in Arizona. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. Mowry, Sylvester. Arizona and Sonora. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1864. Officer, James E. “Sodalities and Systemic Linkage: The Joining Habits of Urban MexicanAmericans.” PhD diss., University of Arizona, 1964. ———. Hispanic Arizona, 1536–1856. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1987.

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Latino America Park, Joseph F. “The History of Mexican Labor in Arizona during the Territorial Period.” Master’s thesis, University of Arizona, 1961. Sheridan, Thomas E. Arizona: A History. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995. ———. Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854–1941. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1986. Truett, Samuel. Fugitive Landscapes: The Forgotten History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006. Vélez-Ibáñez, Carlos. Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996.

4 ARKANSAS Steve Striffler and Julie M. Weise

CHRONOLOGY 1541

1800 1920 1930–1932

1940s 1952–1964 1950–1952 1954 1960

1962

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrives at Parkin, Arkansas, and erects a cross near present-day Helena. His party ultimately travels through much of the state. Spain cedes the Louisiana colony, including present-day Arkansas, to France. Pittsburgh Reduction Company (Alcoa) brings 655 Mexican workers from south Texas to Bauxite, Arkansas, to mine aluminum ore. Mexicans in Bauxite and the Arkansas Delta find themselves out of work due to low cotton and aluminum prices; many repatriate to Mexico at their own expense. Arkansas Delta farmers begin recruiting bracero workers to chop and pick cotton. Some 251,298 Mexican nationals chop and pick cotton in Arkansas. The Mexican consulate in Memphis fights discrimination against Mexicans in Osceola and Marked Tree. Memphis’s African American leader, George W. Lee, alleges that Mexicans earn more than African Americans for picking cotton in Arkansas. A migrant labor camp opens in Hope, Arkansas, to serve migrant workers (including Mexicans and Mexican Americans) on their way between Texas and the upper Midwest or Florida. About 600 Arkansas Delta farmers pack a Department of Labor hearing in West Memphis to protest a proposed bracero wage increase from

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1971 1980s 1990–1991 1998

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50 cents to 70 cents per hour. A compromise of 60 cents is reached, but bracero contracting to Arkansas declines significantly. The Bracero program ends, and picking cotton becomes more mechanized; many Mexicans and Mexican Americans move on to pick fruit in Florida. The Migrant Farm Labor Center in Hope processes 48,000 migrants, most of whom are Mexican. The most recent wave of Latin American migration into Arkansas begins. The first League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) council is formed in Little Rock. A council in Rogers is formed shortly after. Americans for an Immigration Moratorium of Rogers and other organizations support federal legislation that calls for a five-year moratorium on immigration. Their goal is to halt the flow of undocumented migrants into northwest Arkansas. Organizations run anti-immigration radio, television, and newspaper ads in Arkansas. The INS announces it will open an enforcement office in northwest Arkansas because of an increase of Latino population. The first Cinco de Mayo celebration in Little Rock is held. The Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas is founded in the northwest section of the state. Governor Mike Huckabee announces the start of the statewide Hispanic Assimilation Program. A $50,000 study will focus on the needs of Arkansas’s growing Latino population.

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A suit is filed against Rogers police for racial profiling against Latinos. A branch of LULAC forms at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in order to increase Latino enrollment. LULAC holds a national convention in Little Rock. An estimated 10,000 protesters hold pro-immigration rallies in Springdale, Arkansas. The mayor of Rogers, Arkansas, asks for federal money to train local officers so that they may question, detain, and process suspected undocumented migrants encountered in daily police work. The Guatemalan consulate comes to northwest Arkansas to provide passports and identification to Guatemalans living in the area. Newly elected Democratic Governor Mike Beebe appoints Maria Elena de Avila Peters as the Hispanic liaison to the governor’s office.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Though the Spanish crown nominally controlled present-day Arkansas for most of its colonial period, Spanish culture exerted little influence on this early frontier society. The beginnings of slavery-based plantation agriculture in the antebellum years more critically influenced the future course of Arkansas’s Latino history. Though no significant Latino communities existed in the state until the twentieth century, Arkansas’s early patterns of agriculture, labor, and African American history help explain the course of its Latino history. As Reconstruction faced its final death knell in the South at the turn of the twentieth century, African Americans remained subject to violence and coercion that kept them available as a labor source. Thus, Latino migration to the South as a region was low through the mid-twentieth century. Yet, in periods of African American migration out of the state, farmers and other employers have looked to Latin American migrants and U.S.-born Latinos to meet their labor needs. Mexican workers first came to Arkansas in the 1920s to pick cotton and mine aluminum ore. While their presence in the central Arkansas mining town of Bauxite lasted only a decade, their arrival to work the rich soil of the delta region of northeast Arkansas initiated a half century of migrations. Because the Arkansas Delta was late to mechanize production, Mexican and Mexican American workers stayed in the area through the 1960s, making Arkansas more dependent on Mexican labor than any southern state besides Texas. By the 1970s, most Latino workers in Arkansas were passing through on their way to harvest crops on the Atlantic Coast or in the upper Midwest. Finally, Latinos have played a critical role in Arkansas’s new service economy, moving to every part of the state and powering the state’s massive chickenprocessing industry. At the turn of the twenty-first century, a Latino middle class was also establishing itself in Arkansas.

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MEXICANS

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BAUXITE

The Great Migration of African Americans out of the South prompted some Arkansas farmers and employers to seek Mexican laborers immediately following World War I. The Pittsburgh Reduction Company (later known as Alcoa) recruited Mexican, Italian, and Chinese workers, in addition to African Americans, to mine aluminum ore during the interwar years. By the end of 1920, it had recruited 655 Mexicans to live and work in Bauxite. The company built segregated housing for its workers, naming the respective areas Mexico Camp, Africa Camp, and Italy. While the company received some criticism for hiring Mexican rather than native-born workers, Mexico Camp housed Mexican and Mexican American families in Bauxite through the early 1930s. The local newspaper began publishing a Spanish-language page to cater to this relatively settled community of Mexican workers. Mexicans in Bauxite were separated from both whites and blacks, despite the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo’s promise to consider Mexicans as whites under the law. Mexicans in Bauxite’s Mexico Camp attended Mexicanonly schools, shopped at Mexico Camp’s own branch of the company store, and used recreational facilities separate from blacks, whites, and Italians. When ore production nearly stopped in the early years of the Depression, Mexicans were the first to be laid off. While the company transported many workers back to Laredo, others were stranded and had to return to Texas or Mexico at their own expense.

MEXICANS

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ARKANSAS DELTA

For most of the twentieth century, the fate of Arkansas’s Latinos and its cotton were intertwined. Rapid Mexican migration to the United States during the 1920s—and the expansion of this migration beyond Texas, to locales such as California and the Midwest—reverberated in Arkansas, albeit on a drastically smaller scale. Indeed, it was Californian and Texan farmers’ access to plentiful Mexican labor that Arkansas farmers hoped to emulate. The Lee Wilson Plantation, which dominated Mississippi County, Arkansas, was the most active in pursuing Mexican laborers. The Depression notwithstanding, baptism records suggest that small numbers of ethnic Mexican families lived and worked in the Arkansas Delta throughout the 1930s. Largely ignored by white and black society, these migrants neither received the benefits of the New Deal nor suffered the forced deportations that affected Mexican communities elsewhere. World War II, however, would bring thousands of Mexican workers to the same parts of Arkansas, generating deliberate attempts to exclude them from white society.

Arkansas

WORLD WAR II AND THE BRACERO PROGRAM In 1942 the U.S. and Mexican governments negotiated a guest worker program that would come to be known as the Bracero program. While the program is best known for its presence in the Southwest, Arkansas at times trailed only California and Texas in the number of braceros recruited. This was due primarily to the state’s unusually slow pace of mechanization, as well as the migration of both white and African American rural workers to cities during World War II. Braceros began arriving in Arkansas in the late 1940s; by the early 1950s, they had become ubiquitous throughout the Arkansas Delta. Between 1952 and 1964, Arkansas farmers employed 251,298 braceros in picking cotton, in addition to an unknown number of Tejanos.1 Statistics available from 1957–1959 suggest that braceros performed a quarter of the cotton-picking labor in Arkansas during that period.2 The arrival of thousands of Mexicans to the Arkansas Delta forced the question of whether these racially ambiguous newcomers would be treated as whites, blacks, or something else under the region’s Jim Crow system. Initially, Mexicans’ exclusion from white institutions was widespread, though not universal, varying from town to town and establishment to establishment. In both Osceola and Marked Tree, workers complained to the Mexican consulate in Memphis that they were being excluded from white restaurants and forced to sit with blacks in movie theaters. Said one proprietor in Osceola, “We have a very high class trade that would leave if my place was filled up with Mexicans. I would close up before I would serve them.”3 Police in Marked Tree would stake out bars where Mexicans were served to make arrests, regardless of whether individuals had caused any particular disruption. Some Mexican Americans made their way to the delta as well, and their U.S. citizenship did not affect their treatment. In 1951, for example, Corpus Christi native Bonifacio Nieto, a cook, traveled to Marked Tree in search of work. When Nieto entered a restaurant called Prince to inquire about employment possibilities, the first person he encountered shouted at him that “Spanish people” were not welcome. Thus, Tejano families migrating to work the delta’s cotton fields faced the same discrimination as their bracero counterparts. Though bracero contracts included an array of guarantees and protections regarding wages, housing, and working conditions, stating that discrimination based on ancestry or nationality would not be tolerated, the Mexican government’s power to enforce these guarantees declined significantly during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although Mexican government attempts to stymie discrimination took the form of drawn-out battles, they did have limited success in securing Mexicans’ access to white establishments. For example, in November 1949, bracero complaints prompted Mexico’s consul in Memphis, Ruben Gaxiola, to investigate alleged discrimination against Mexicans in Marked Tree. He recorded

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Latino America his findings with a camera: “No Mexicans” signs prominently displayed in front of the town’s 11 establishments. Additionally, one of the town’s two movie theaters seated Mexican patrons only in the area reserved for blacks. Attaching the photos as evidence in his report to Mexico City, Gaxiola immediately recommended that Marked Tree’s employers—most prominently, E. Ritter—have their bracero contracts cancelled. Gaxiola hoped that swift action would set an example for the rest of Arkansas, “as an energetic protest against these discriminatory acts against Mexicans.”4 Though it took 2 years and the cancellation of Ritter’s contracts, once local officials became convinced that their labor source was imperiled, they employed inventive means to stymie discrimination. The Marked Tree City Council published an ordinance in the Marked Tree Tribune stating that any person or business discriminating against Mexicans would be fined between $10 and $50. The police department changed its compensation structure to remove officers’ incentive to make superfluous arrests of Mexican workers. The farmers’ association even purchased two restaurants that refused to comply with the mandate. During the mid-1950s, the consulate’s constant interventions and its limited control over the supply of Mexican labor had placed Mexicans in a social and economic position that was de facto superior to that of local blacks. In 1952 the Mexican government secured a raise in the minimum bracero wage to 50 cents per hour or the local prevailing wage, whichever was higher. In an era when agriculture in the United States had no minimum wage, braceros became the only laborers in Arkansas’s fields to have such a guarantee. In 1954, African American leaders lodged a formal protest against the wage disparity, claiming that African American laborers were paid 30 cents per hour for cotton chopping, while Mexicans were paid 50 cents. Unlike Mexican nationals who could rely on the power of the Mexican government, blacks in Arkansas had little power, and their grievance never was addressed. Mexican government lost its power to withhold workers over the course of the 1950s, but in the early 1960s, the U.S. Department of Labor responded to liberal opposition to the Bracero program and began to enforce bracero housing codes more strictly while proposing an increase in bracero wages to 70 cents per hour. Some 600 Arkansas Delta farmers packed a hearing in West Memphis on March 2, 1962, to protest the proposed increase. In the end, a compromise of 60 cents was reached, but contracting of Mexican nationals to Arkansas dropped drastically in these waning years of the Bracero program. The program formally ended in 1964. While delta farmers recruited a few Mexican Americans from Texas to operate their gins over the course of the 1970s, all but a handful of the region’s Latinos left the delta. Many moved on to pick fruit in northern Florida’s increasingly productive orchards.

Arkansas

MIGRANTS

IN THE

1960S–1980S

Though no longer picking cotton in the delta, Mexican workers continued to enter Arkansas during the 1960s and 1970s. Southwestern Arkansas became a way station for Mexican and Mexican migrant workers moving between Texas and the Midwest or the Atlantic Coast. In 1960 the Migrant Farm Labor Center opened on Highway 67 just west of Hope, later expanding under federal direction in response to growing national attention to the plight of migrant farmworkers. The Migrant Farm Labor Center processed tens of thousands of migrants every year (nearly 50,000 in 1971), but few went on to work or stay in Arkansas. For those who did remain and work in Arkansas, the options were limited to seasonal agriculture, including limited cotton work in the delta, fruit in north Arkansas, and tomatoes in various parts of the state. In fact, by the mid- to late 1970s, Arkansas tomato farmers were complaining of labor shortages and insisting that migrant labor from Mexico was the foundation of successful tomato farming. Federally certified migrant labor, which required luxuries such as housing and mediocre wages, was simply too expensive for Arkansas farmers. A young attorney general named Bill Clinton helped tomato farmers in their search for a cheap and available labor force. This image—Latinos as migrants—would endure even as more and more Latinos began to make the state their home beginning in the 1980s.

ARKANSAS AS A NEW RECEIVING SITE The mid-1980s, and particularly the 1990s, marked the first time Arkansas received relatively large numbers of migrants from Latin America, as well as Latinos from other U.S. states. Between 1990 and 2000, while the U.S. Latino population increased by nearly 60 percent and hundreds of thousands of Latinos left traditional receiving sites (such as California), Arkansas’s Latino population more than tripled and was surpassed in growth only by that of North Carolina. In 1990 less than 1 percent of Arkansas’s population was Latino; by 2000 that figure was nearly 4 percent; and by 2005 almost 5 percent of Arkansas (or more than 125,000 people) was Latino. The vast majority of Arkansas’s Latinos are migrants, typically coming either directly from Mexico and Central America or spending time in other U.S. states before making their way to Arkansas. Many of these have responded to the saturation of low-wage labor markets in California and an economic boom in the U.S. South. Among migrants, at least 70 percent are from Mexico; slightly less than 10 percent are from Central America (mainly El Salvador and Guatemala); and much smaller percentages came from South America and elsewhere.5

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LATINOS AND POULTRY In the case of Arkansas, greater numbers of Latinos were initially drawn to the state in the mid-1980s largely because of employment opportunities in the poultry industry. The state produces more chicken than any other, and poultry is Arkansas’s largest industry. Tyson Foods, the largest poultry producer in the world, is headquartered in the state, and most of the industry’s major players have operations in Arkansas. As a result, the surge in Latino population during the 1990s was geographically concentrated in towns or regions with significant poultry-processing facilities. Although the speed and timing of Latino entry into poultry plants varied somewhat depending on region, the latinization of the state’s industry was undeniable by the mid-1990s. In most cases, and especially in the economically booming and poultryproducing region of northwest Arkansas, whites and blacks left poultry plants in the 1980s as more attractive jobs became available. Latinos, many of whom moved from California, quickly obtained poultry jobs that, although difficult and dangerous, provided benefits, the potential for overtime, and relative job security, especially when compared to seasonal agriculture. As one migrant recounted, I am the Christopher Columbus of Arkansas. I discovered Arkansas for my pueblo [in Mexico]. I came to Arkansas in 1987 or 1988. I had been working in California for more than twenty years. The first day [in Arkansas] Tyson hired me. There were ten Mexicans in the plant. . . . Right away I told my two other sons to come to Arkansas. I said quit your job [in California] tomorrow and come. Then the whole town [in Mexico] stopped going to California and started coming to Arkansas.6

RECEPTION

OF

LATINOS

IN

ARKANSAS

In the most rural and impoverished state in the country—a state that is characterized by one small town after another—the influx of Latinos has been transformative. Rogers, Arkansas, a midsize town of about 40,000 in the northwest corner of the state, saw its Latino population swell to nearly 10,000 by 2003. Likewise, in DeQueen, in southwest Arkansas, the Latino population went from 506 (or roughly 10 percent of the population) in 1990 to more than 2,000—close to 40 percent of the town’s total population. Although small, such numbers represent profound cultural shifts, especially when multiplied across the state. One migrant put it this way: When I first came to Arkansas it was tough working in poultry because there were no Hispanos. I made some friends at work. We never socialized outside of work, though. Just going out was a struggle. It was like people had never met someone who

Arkansas didn’t speak English. I almost couldn’t get my children registered in school. No one at the school spoke Spanish! And there was no ESL [English as a Second Language]. I’d been in California for ten years so I was accustomed to the United States. But here was like another country.7

Arkansas has experienced its share of nativist and racist impulses with respect to the Latino population, including fears about schools, the use (or lack thereof) of the English language, the taking of jobs by migrants, declining property values, and crime. Overall, however, Arkansans’ reaction to unauthorized immigration has been more subdued than that of the federal government.

INS RAID

OF

POULTRY PLANT

In July of 2005, immigration agents raided a poultry plant in Arkadelphia, a city in southwest Arkansas, arresting more than 100 workers—or about half the day shift. As officials told everyone to “freeze,” some workers began to cry, while others called relatives on cell phones in order to ensure that their children were cared for when they got deported to Mexico. The impact of the raid, as well as the possibility of future raids, was undermined by two subsequent events. First, about 60 percent of the deported workers returned to Arkansas and were working in the area within the year. These workers belong to churches, have kids in school (who are often U.S. citizens and have never seen Mexico), own homes, and are stable members of the community. Second, the small-town environment of Arkadelphia prompted many local residents to be sympathetic with migrants and their employers—and angry with the government for removing members of their community. In some cases, they even thwarted government officials in their efforts to crack down on document fraud and illegal hiring. Some members of the community had not even been aware that their friends were undocumented until the raid. For years these community members had been sharing food, vacationing together, playing on sport teams, and attending church with their Mexican friends. As a result, after the raid, some residents helped immigrants fight deportation or return to southwest Arkansas from Mexico. As prominent citizens of the town, Republican governor (and presidential hopeful) Mike Huckabee and Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln both strenuously resisted federal officials on the issue of workplace raids. When asked by federal officials to charge workers with the forgery of Social Security cards, the local county prosecutor—who by now counted Mexicans among his friends— told the agents he would think about their request. His reluctance to prosecute (and essentially deport) people who paid taxes, raised families, and had kids in schools was supported by the town sheriff. These prominent townspeople did

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Latino America nothing and were subsequently left out of the loop when the raid finally happened. For his part, Governor Huckabee, instead of jumping on the anti-immigration bandwagon, called for a White House investigation into why this particular poultry plant was targeted: “Our first priority should be to secure our borders. I’m less threatened by people who cross the line to make beds, pick tomatoes or pluck chickens than by potential terrorists.”8 Huckabee also donated $1,000 to the workers’ families.

LATINOS

IN

TODAY’S ARKANSAS

Although the Latino population remains concentrated in Little Rock, northwest Arkansas, and poultry-producing areas in Arkansas, by the early 2000s, the Latino presence was felt throughout much of the state. Latinos now work in the service economies, light industry, agriculture, landscaping, construction, government, and many other sectors of the economy. Although the Latino population remains relatively poor, there is a well-established middle-class in certain areas of the state, many of whom own independent businesses, are business executives, or occupy important positions within state and local governments. Many of these have begun sending their children to college. Indeed, if the 1990s saw Latinos preoccupied with the nuts and bolts of settlement in Arkansas, the current decade has been characterized by diversity, increased assertiveness, and better organization. The Latino population has moved well beyond poultry. Economically, they are vital to many sectors and present virtually everywhere. Culturally, they are visible not only in the form of Mexican restaurants and Cinco de Mayo celebrations, but also fundamental to cultural life within the state. Politically, they are not only a constituency that is pursued by political parties, but also one that has formed its own advocacy organizations—such as LULAC—in many parts of the state.

NOTABLE LATINOS Garcia, Joe (c. 1925–). A native of south Texas, Joe Garcia spent the 1940s as a migrant worker in Arkansas and the upper Midwest. In 1945 he came to Parkin, Arkansas, where farmer E.D. McKnight contracted him to recruit and oversee Mexican bracero workers. For nearly 20 years, Garcia went to Texas to recruit crews of 20–25 workers to Parkin. Once these workers arrived, Garcia served as an interpreter and intermediary between McKnight and the workers. Choosing to settle in Arkansas with his wife, Garcia was unique among the tens of thousands of Mexicans and Mexican Americans who came through Arkansas on a seasonal basis between the 1940s and 1960s. In fact, in 2000, Garcia proclaimed himself “the only Mexican in Parkin, Arkansas.” Garcia went on to serve on Parkin’s City Council.

Arkansas Lopez, Al “Papa Rap” (1955–). Since moving to Arkansas in 1994, Al “Papa Rap” López has used music to help people from different cultures find common ground in communication, education, health issues, and more. He has been northwest Arkansas’s most prominent and effective cultural broker, helping North Americans and Latinos understand each other. In addition to his radio show, What’s Up, Que Pasa? on Spanish radio’s La Zeta station, he also writes a weekly column, “Papa Reporte,” which appears in several Spanish-language newspapers in Arkansas. Treviño, Robert P. (1958–). Treviño arrived in Arkansas in 1990 and served as the economic development, diplomatic, and Hispanic affairs advisor to former governor Mike Huckabee. He has also served as the commissioner of Arkansas rehabilitation services under governors Huckabee and Beebe. As former director of LULAC, Treviño led the successful effort to bring the 2005 LULAC national convention to Little Rock, helped establish the largest Hispanic student scholarship fund in state’s history, and helped create the state’s first and largest Cinco de Mayo festival. Solorzano, Margarita (1959–). Born in Mexico, Solorzano moved to the United States in 1990 and began living in Arkansas in 1996. In 2002, Solorzano, a founding member of the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas, received recognition from the National Campaign for Tolerance, “honoring those who are leading the way towards a more tolerant and just America.” In 2006 she received the Civil Rights Leadership Award from the Arkansas Citizens First Congress. Restrepo, Luis Fernando (1962–). A dual citizen of Colombia and the United States, Restrepo was born in Washington, DC, to Colombian parents and grew up in Medellin, Colombia. Restrepo arrived in Fayetteville in 1995 to join the University of Arkansas, where he is a professor of Latin American literature and directs the Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies program. Avila-Peters, Maria Elena de (1965–). Born in Mexico, Maria Elena de Avila-Peters moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1991. Trained as a certified public accountant, she is Governor Mike Beebe’s liaison to the Hispanic community in the state of Arkansas. Alemán, Lucía Hernández (1967–). Born in Mexico City, Hernández Alemán graduated as an attorney-at-law from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico and moved to Arkansas in 1999. She was the first director of the Northwest Arkansas Workers’ Justice Center, an organization dedicated to immigrant rights. Muñoz, Christina (1980–). Muñoz is coanchor for Channel 7 News at 6 and Nightside in Little Rock. Born in South Dakota, Muñoz, whose mother is Chilean, is active in community organizations such as the American Cancer Society and LULAC. She has also been president of the board of Ballet Arkansas and performs each year onstage in the annual production of The Nutcracker. Aviles, Alejandro (1982–). Aviles was the first Latino elected as a delegate from Arkansas to the Democratic National Convention (2004). Chicago-born Aviles has spent most of his life in Arkansas, and was a founder of LULAC at the University of Arkansas (2003). He was also nominated by Congressman Boozman and appointed by

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Latino America Governor Huckabee as one of fifteen inaugural members of Arkansas’s first state board to improve the lives of the Hispanic community (Arkansas Task Force on Latino and Hispanic Affairs).

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS While Arkansas is commonly defined as a place of black and white, the influx of hundreds of thousands of Mexicans during the 1940s through the 1960s left a permanent mark on race relations in the state. “No Mexicans” signs represented the first discriminatory policies that white farmers, restaurant owners, and local authorities in Arkansas’s black belt were forced to dismantle—several years before Brown vs. Board of Education set off the South’s violent and contentious desegregation process. Mexicans arrived in an Arkansas already unsettled by blacks’ increasing power and mobility as a result of World War II. Their presence and the antidiscriminatory interventions of the Mexican consulate contributed to the inevitability of Jim Crow’s death. Farmers praised Mexicans for having a work ethic and moral values superior to that of the blacks, relying on them to avoid paying the higher wages that might have lured blacks back to rural areas. In effect, these farmers hoped the Bracero program would help prolong the reign of white supremacy and family farming. Yet the mandate to admit these darkskinned foreigners to white establishments and pay them a minimum wage for their work undermined the very system they had been imported to protect. As the Arkansas economy diversified beyond agriculture, the growing Latino presence in the closing decades of the twentieth century contributed substantively to the state’s cultural landscape. Although this cultural influence shapes the daily lives of all Arkansans, the ubiquitous presence of Mexican food and Latino music and celebrations does not necessarily represent a sea change in relationships between Latinos and non-Latinos. More meaningful interaction and understanding remains relatively limited because of language and cultural barriers; the segregation of Latinos into certain jobs, neighborhoods, and churches; and a general lack of public spaces for cultural interface of any kind. At the same time, interest has grown among both Latinos and non-Latinos in creating spaces for cultural interaction. Cultural events such as Cinco de Mayo are now often accompanied by public lectures and other efforts to educate Arkansans about the history and meaning of such activities. Hispanic Heritage Month at the University of Arkansas has become an important annual series of lectures, dances, and other cultural expressions that simultaneously celebrate, educate, and unite people. Recently, the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock even showcased the work of accomplished Latino artists living in Arkansas in the exhibit Arkansas Arte Latino. Such nascent efforts promise to foment popular understanding of Latino culture that moves beyond chips and salsa, J-Lo, and Taco Bell. As Latinos become further integrated into Arkansas, their influence on

Arkansas education, food, work, and religion will inevitably grow. The question is how such influence will be received by the rest of the state.

NOTES 1. See Holley. 2. See Grove. 3. See Weise. 4. See Weise. 5. All statistics are from the U.S. census. When filling out a census, many Latinos simply check “Hispanic” and do not note their country of origin. As a result, the percentage of Latinos who are Mexicans or Central American in Arkansas is likely even higher than statistics suggest. 6. Steve Striffler’s interview with Poultry Worker #9, December 28, 2000. Names withheld to protect informants. 7. Steve Striffler’s interview with Poultry Worker #5, March 3, 2000. 8. Hennessy-Fiske.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Grove, Wayne Allison. “The Economics of Cotton Harvest Mechanization in the United States, 1920–1970.” PhD diss., University of Illinois, 2000. Hennessy-Fiske, Molly. “The Town That Didn’t Look Away.” Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2006. Holley, Donald. The Second Great Emancipation: The Mechanical Cotton Picker, Black Migration, and How They Shaped the Modern South. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000. Keltner, Robert W. “Tar Paper Shacks in Arcadia: Housing for Ethnic Minority Groups in the Company Town of Bauxite, Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 60, no. 4 (2001): 341–359. Striffler, Steve. Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005. Weise, Julie. “Al Sur: Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the U.S. South, 1918–1935.” Paper presented at the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, Corvallis, OR, 2005. ———. “Against Discriminatory Acts against Mexicans: White Supremacy, Discriminación, and the Bracero Program in Arkansas.” Paper presented at the UCLA Graduate Student Conference on Migration and Race, Los Angeles, April 27, 2007. Whayne, Jeannie M. A New Plantation South: Land, Labor, and Federal Favor in TwentiethCentury Arkansas. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996. Whayne, Jeannie M., Thomas A. DeBlack, George Sabo III, and Morris S. Arnold. Arkansas: A Narrative History. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2002. Woodruff, Nan Elizabeth. “Pick or Fight: The Emergency Farm Labor Program in the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas during World War II.” Agricultural History 64, no. 2 (1990): 74–85.

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5 CALIFORNIA Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera

CHRONOLOGY 1542

1602

1769

1774 1776 1781 1829 1846

1848

Sailor Juan Rodríguez de Cabrillo from Portugal is commissioned by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza to sail north along the coast of Mexico. Cabrillo lands in the port of San Diego. Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaíano is sent by the Spanish viceroy to look for repair ports in California. Vicaíano finds the entrance to Monterey Bay. Junípero Serra, a Franciscan missionary, establishes the first mission in California, named Alta California. Along with Captain Gaspar de Portolá, he establishes 21 missions and converts approximately 6,800 people along the coast of California. Pedro de Garcés, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founds the first overland route to California. Juan Bautista de Anza founds the presidio of San Francisco. La Placita Olvera, the heart of the Mexican community, is established. The Old Spanish Trail, facilitating trade between Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, is established. The Mexican-American War begins. Although the United States is victorious in almost every battle fought in California, the Californios (people of Spanish, Indian, and Mexican ancestry who were incorporated into California after it became a state) win the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. The Mexican-American War ends in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty grants the United States 55 percent of Mexican territory, including present-day California. When the U.S. Senate ratifies

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1849

1850

1851

1855

the treaty, they remove Article 10, an article that guarantees protection of Mexican land grants. Of these grant claims by Mexicans, 27 percent are rejected. Under the treaty, Mexican nationals are given a year to decide if they want to have Mexican or U.S. citizenship. About 75,000 Latinos choose U.S. citizenship. The gold rush begins when Californian landowner John Sutter finds gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills in California. Many Mexicans are forced off their land by the gold seekers. Many Mexicans participate in the mining of gold in the hills, rivers, and countryside of northern California. Migrant communities begin to form and take root in California. The Foreign Miners Tax, which levies a fee on any miner who is not a U.S. citizen, is enacted. The tax affects over 15,000 Mexican miners in California. Congress passes the California Land Claims Act to help Mexican Americans prove their land claims. The act is unsuccessful because of the expensive legal costs involved; consequently, many Mexicans lose their land. The Greaser Act, an anti-Mexican law, is enacted. Vagrancy laws and so-called greaser laws (referring to a derogatory term for a Mexican) are passed. The laws prohibit cockfights, bullfights, and bear baiting— traditional customs of many Mexican Americans. Spanish-language newspaper El Clamor Público is founded in Los Angeles.

California 1862

1866 1875

1910 1917

1920s–1930s

1926 1928

1929

1930s

1931

1933

1942–1943

1942–1964

The Homestead Act is passed in Congress. The act allows squatters in the West to settle and claim vacant lands—often those owned by Mexicans. Cristóbal Aguilar is elected mayor of Los Angeles. Romualdo Pacheco is elected as the first, and only, Latino governor of California. Pacheco later becomes the first Latino to chair a standing committee in Congress. The Mexican Revolution begins, and hundreds of thousands of Mexicans seek refuge in California. In response to labor shortages during World War I, many Mexicans move to California to labor in farms, mines, and railroads on a temporary basis. Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1917, requiring migrants to pass a literacy test. Mexicans are exempt, because they are needed as laborers. In May the Selective Service Act is enacted, requiring that Mexican noncitizens register for the draft. Mexican farmworkers organize agricultural strikes throughout California—for example, in the Imperial Valley melon fields (1928, 1930), El Monte strawberry fields (1933), Hayward pea fields (1933), and the San Joaquin valley cotton fields and fruit orchards (1933). La Opinión, a daily Spanish-language newspaper, begins publication. Chicanos living California establish the Confederación de Uniones Omberas Mexicanas (Confederation of Mexican Labor Unions, or CUOM) to combat wage and racial discrimination in the workplace. The stock market crash and the inception of the Great Depression contribute to growing anti-immigrant sentiment, leading to the deportation of over one million Mexicans living in California—many of them United States citizens. During the Great Depression, thousands of people from the Dust Bowl migrate to California in search of better living conditions, displacing Mexican workers, especially in the agricultural sector. Mexican American parents sue the school board in Lemon Grove for segregating their children from Anglo children. The court deems racial segregation among children illegal. This is the first successful desegregation court case in the United States. Chicanos establish the La Confederación de Uniones de Campesinos y Obreros Mexicanos (Confederation of Mexican Farm Worker and Labor Unions, or CUCOM), the largest agricultural union. The Sleepy Lagoon case exposes judicial discrimination against Chicanos in Los Angeles. In the case, seventeen Chicano youth are found guilty of charges that range from assault to first-degree murder. The California District Court of Appeals reverses the convictions in 1944. The Bracero program establishes a contract labor agreement between Mexico and the United States. The program brings over four million

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1943

1946

1950

1954–1958

1962

1964 1965

1966 1967

1968

1970

Mexican farmworkers to work in the agricultural sector of the United States. The majority of these Mexicans work in California. The Zoot Suit Riots occur in east Los Angeles, in the aftermath of the Sleeping Lagoon Case. Mexican youth are exposed to Anglo criticism, prejudice, and violence. In Santa Ana, Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican American, files a lawsuit (Mendez v. Westminister School District) against segregation in the Westminster public school system. The federal district court rules segregation in schools unconstitutional, and this ruling sets the precedent for the Brown v. Board of Education case. Residents of the Chávez Ravine Mexican American community are forced to sell their homes to the city of Los Angeles to make way for a public-housing project. The housing project is cancelled, and a stadium for the Dodgers baseball team is built on the land. Operation Wetback, a government program to deport undocumented workers, is established. The program leads to the deportation of 3.8 million people of Mexican descent, many of whom were living California. The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) is founded by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta in Delano, California, to organize, serve, and protect farmworkers. The organization later becomes the United Farm Workers of America. Democrats Phil Soto from La Puente and John Moreno from Los Angeles become the first Latinos to be elected into the California state legislature. They are known for their commitment to serving their communities. The government terminates the Bracero program and the contracted importation of laborers from Mexico. Luis Valdez founds El Teatro Campesino (Farm Workers’ Theater); drawing on a blend of Spanish and English, this theater portrays Anglo discrimination and Chicano resistance. César Chávez launches a nationwide strike and boycott of California table and wine grapes. Professor Rudy Acuña teaches the first Mexican-American history class in Los Angeles. The Brown Berets, a Chicano activist organization, is established in east Los Angeles. The group actively protests police brutality and the U.S. war in Vietnam. They also establish and run a free medical clinic and publish the newspaper La Causa. In what is referred to as the Los Angeles Blowouts, thousands of Chicano High School students walk out of their classrooms in protest of poor school conditions. A Chicano moratorium is held in Los Angeles to protest the disproportionate amount of Latino casualties in the Vietnam War. Approximately 25,000 demonstrators participate. Three Chicanos, including well-

California

1973

1982

1986

1990

1993 1994

1995 1996

1998

known Mexican American journalist Ruben Salazar, are killed when the police break up the demonstration. Five Latinos serving in the state legislature establish the Chicano Legislative Caucus to foster the political empowerment of Latinos in California by developing legislative priorities that protect their rights. A group of Chicana/Latina women establish the Mujeres Activas En Letras Y Cambio Social (MALCS) organization at the University of California Davis campus. The organization aims to support and promote education about the issues of Chicana/Latina and Native American women. Congress passes the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The act establishes a process for undocumented migrants who have been in the United States since January 1, 1982, to become legal citizens. Latinos living in California are able to take advantage of this legislation by establishing legal residency. California voters pass Proposition 63, declaring English the official language of California. On June 15, 400 janitors, many of whom are Latino migrants, go on strike for improved wages and benefits in the Century City area of Los Angeles. They are attacked by the Los Angeles Police Department during a peaceful demonstration, and 24 janitors are injured. This event leads to the establishment of Justice for Janitors Day, organized by Justice for Janitors, a section of the Service Employees International Union. The census reveals that Latinos make up over 25 percent of the Californian population. Activist César Chávez dies. His funeral becomes the most widely attended Mexican American political demonstration. On November 8, Proposition 187 is passed. The proposition bans undocumented migrants from receiving public education and public benefits and makes it a felony to sell, distribute, or use false citizenship or residence documents. It also requires teachers, doctors, and state officials to report suspected undocumented migrants to the INS. The U.S. District Court rules the proposition unconstitutional in September 1999. In October, Operation Gatekeeper, a border enforcement strategy aimed at deterring illegal migration around the San Diego-Tijuana border, is enacted. As security is reinforced through an increase in border patrol agents, modern technology, and the building of reinforced fences, undocumented migrants are forced to cross through more desolate areas, increasing risk of death. The University of California Regents vote to end affirmative action, affecting the lives of thousands of Latinos in higher education. California voters pass Proposition 209, an initiative that bans preferential treatment based on race or gender in all state and local public programs. Proposition 227 is passed by California voters. This proposition bans bilingual education and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs

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1999 2000

2001 2003 2005

2006 2007

in public schools, replacing them with a one-year intensive English immersion program. Minority groups make up the majority of the population of California. Latinos are the largest minority group. César Chávez Day becomes a state holiday in California. The U.S. census reveals that Latinos constitute 32.4 percent of California’s population. Ron Gonzáles is elected mayor of San Jose, becoming the first Latino mayor of the city since California became a state in 1850. Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante runs for governor. He receives one-third of the votes in the gubernatorial race. Antonio Villaraigosa is elected the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristóbal Aguilar in 1866. The state of California passes the Apology Act for the Mexican repatriation program that took place in the 1930s. This act recognizes the unlawful nature of the forcible removal of U.S. citizens of Mexican descent and offers a public apology for the violation of their civil rights as citizens. Approximately one million migrants and their supporters march in cities throughout California to protest anti-immigrant legislation. Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, forms a cross-border alliance with Antonio Saca, president of El Salvador, to combat gang violence. Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS 13, is one of the most violent gangs in Los Angeles. MS 13 originated in El Salvador and, in addition to Los Angeles, has groups in Guatemala and Honduras.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The most populous state in the country, with an estimated 35.5 million residents according to the 2000 census, California has long been a Latino stronghold. Its first Latino presence came under Spanish rule beginning in the sixteenth century, and before being integrated into the United States in 1850, California formed part of Mexico’s northern frontier. To date, the Latino population in California remains overwhelmingly Mexican.1 There is, however, a growing presence of Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, and people from other Latin American and Caribbean nations. The Latino presence in California is the largest of all the states. Despite the large presence of Latinos in California and their contributions, the history of Latinos in this state has been one marked by struggle for economic, racial, and political equality. Nevertheless, Latino cultural, economic, linguistic, and political contributions are fundamental to California’s fabric. Today the state’s Latino legacy remains embedded in the Spanish place names and architecture, Latino migrant presence, cultural celebrations, and cuisine.

California

EARLY LATINO SETTLEMENTS California’s colonization began first with the arrival of Portuguese sailors exploring the coastline and continued with Spanish soldiers and Franciscan missionaries who accompanied them. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese sailor, was the first sailor to explore the coast of California in 1542, sailing into the San Diego bay and describing its port. Later expeditions by the Spaniard Sebastian Vizcaíno in 1602 uncovered Monterey Bay. Vizcaíno’s explorations of the coastline were extensive; as he ventured inland, he charted his visit to the coastline meticulously. His expedition reports underscored the suitability of California colonization and proposed Monterey as a port of call. However, more than a century would pass before settlements were established. It was not until the eighteenth century that Spain undertook full ownership of California. Settlement occurred largely in response to growing incursions of Russian and European-American traders and explorers into Spain’s northern territories. In order to defend itself from foreign incursions, Spain relied on three primary institutions to settle the region: presidios, missions, and towns (pueblos). Presidios were self-contained forts, including armories, stables, resident dwellings, and chapels set up to defend Spain’s claim to California. To facilitate their maintenance, presidios were often located near dependable water supplies, as well as pastoral and agricultural lands. The Spanish built four presidios in California: in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. In contrast, missions, often located close to presidios for protection, were established to convert (and supposedly civilize) Native Americans living in California. Staffed by Franciscans, these missions held conversion to the Catholic faith as the primary goal. But once Native Americans were converted and brought into the sphere of influence of the mission, progress could begin toward the secondary goal: creating proper Spanish citizens. Native Americans were thus expected to learn Spanish language and culture. Native Americans also became the main source of labor for maintaining the missions. Frontier town settlements were also encouraged by Spain. Many towns sprung up near missions and presidios, attracting a diverse group of people with varying skills and crafts to help sustain them. These towns eventually grew in size and have become recognized centers of Latino culture. The first mission, established in San Diego, was the result of an expedition by Don Gaspar de Portolá, who was accompanied by Father Junípero Serra in 1769. The San Diego mission became the foundation for the colonization of California. The settlement in San Diego was followed by a later expedition in 1770 to Monterey, where Father Serra founded a second mission. Alongside the construction of the missions, a presidio was also built in each of these locations to help guard Spain’s territorial claims. The San Francisco mission and presidio were founded in 1776. At the time of his death in 1784, Father Serra had founded nine

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Latino America missions. Other missions built by fellow Franciscans followed. In all, 21 missions were built between San Diego and San Francisco. Native Americans living in the missions were circumscribed to the physical limits of the missions after they were baptized. While many resisted and escaped, they were often recaptured by soldiers. Native Americans endured life under Spanish rule in California until the Mexican War of Independence from Spain in 1821. With the end of the war, the new sovereign Mexican state was formed, gaining tenuous political control over California. Under a Mexican California, missions and presidios lost most of their power and land. The missions were secularized, and Native Americans were emancipated. Lands were sold off and redistributed to Mexicans; few Native Americans received any land. The presidio also lost its function under Spanish rule. After Mexican independence, the privatization of mission lands helped to transform California’s economy. Between 1834 and 1846, the Mexican governors of California awarded 700 private land grants to mostly elite Mexicans. These elite landowners established large ranching estates throughout California. Mexican Californians created a new economy and new identities for themselves as Californios. While Mexico tried to exert control over its population in California, it demonstrated little control. In fact, Californios increasingly demanded autonomy from the Mexican government in the mid-1840s. At the same time, the privatization of land also encouraged Anglo-American settlers attracted to California’s rich agricultural lands and new economic opportunities. Consequently, by the 1830s, migrants from the United States outnumbered Mexicans in California. By the 1840s, the United States government had become increasingly interested in acquiring California for access to the Pacific Ocean in order to facilitate trade and whaling, among other reasons. The United States offered to buy California from Mexico, but the Mexican government refused. At the same time, a sentiment was growing in the United States that California should be absorbed into the United States. Guided by principles of manifest destiny, the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846.

SHIFTING ALLEGIANCES: THE GOLD RUSH AND LATINO DISCRIMINATION The Mexican-American War ended in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty transferred California to the United States with the explicit provision that all Mexicans who wanted to remain would become United States citizens at the end of one year’s residency. But within a year of the signing of the treaty, gold was discovered in northern California. As waves of U.S. citizens stormed into California, there resulted an escalation in conflicting land claims. Though they demonstrated valid proof of their land claims, many Mexicans were denied their claims and consequently lost their lands. Still other Mexicans lost their lands piece by piece to armed squatters who took land

California forcibly, through violence. While some fought to retain their land holdings through the court system, another group of Mexican land holders sold off their lands to avoid violence. Thus the gold rush set the stage for an emerging pattern of discrimination against Latinos. As Mexicans were forced off their lands, local authorities were often unwilling to aid Mexican landowners, thereby perpetuating and condoning discriminatory practices. But Mexicans were not the only targets. The gold rush had also attracted experienced Mexican, Peruvian, and Chilean miners to the region; their success created tremendous animosity. As a result of this overt discrimination, Latinos were often victims of violence in mining camps. Latinos involved in any disturbances were often expelled from mining camps, if not subjected to violence—including murder and lynching. When European foreigners or Anglo-Americans caused disturbances, they were not subjected to similar forms of punishment. This discrimination against Latinos was to some degree publicly sanctioned, if not reinforced, by the passage of discriminatory measures. These included the Foreign Miner’s Tax, passed by the state legislature in 1850, shortly after California gained its statehood. This law deemed all foreigners working in the mines trespassers and required that foreigners pay $20 per person per month. This law spawned resistance, and the penalty was lowered to between $3 and $4 per month. Despite being based on racial prejudices, this tax was imposed on Latinos and Asians. The unequal and violent treatment of Latinos—not to mention the exorbitant tax—led thousands of Mexican miners to return to Mexico, while others fled to southern California. The climate of violence against Latin Americans, particularly in northern California, spurred retaliation as Latinos formed armed (bandit) groups. Banditry, as it was often called, became commonplace throughout the 1850s. While many groups of armed Latinos surfaced, some have become legendary. Perhaps the most recognized Latino who rose to legendary status during the gold rush was Joaquín Murrieta (c. 1829–1853). Though Murrieta’s background is often disputed, he came to symbolize Latino American resistance. It is rumored that his success as a miner produced much Anglo resentment toward him. One day, while mining for gold, he and his wife were attacked by a group of Anglo-American men who resented his success. They are purported to have raped his wife and beaten him. Although Murrieta sought justice through the legal system, he was not allowed to testify as a witness, because he was Mexican. Angered by the injustice, Murrieta set out to seek revenge, forming a gang with friends to find and punish his wrongdoers. They killed several men. Murrieta is said to have led various robberies and stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of gold. In May 11, 1853, the governor of California, John Bigler, created the California State Rangers to set out and arrest Murrieta and the members of his posse. On July 25, 1853, a group of California Rangers is said to have encountered a group of men near Monterey. When all was said and done, two of the Mexicans had been killed. The Rangers believed

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Latino America one to be Murrieta and carried the head as proof. But legend has it that the head did not belong to Murrieta; his own sister denied it was the head of her beloved brother. In subsequent months and years, others claimed to see Murrieta, and so Murrieta became a legendary figure epitomized in songs and written lore. Despite the turbulence that accompanied U.S. annexation and the harsh discrimination that accompanied Latinos during the gold rush in northern California, the Latino experience appears to have been very different in southern California. In Los Angeles, Latino landowners like Don Pío Pico, who served as California’s governor after the Mexican-American War, were able to hold on to large ranch estates. Latinos were also able to exert power and respect. For example, prominent political figures, including Jose Miguel Covarrubias, Pablo de la Guerra, and Andres Pico, held office in the state legislature and in local governments. It was not until the end of the 1850s that their prominence in politics began to wane as more Anglo-Americans entered the legislature. Nevertheless stories like those that typified Latino experience in northern California are absent, and Los Angeles is described as being a place where Mexicans and Anglos interacted and intermarried freely. In the 1870s, Mexican Americans still constituted a majority of the population in the Los Angeles region.

FROM ECONOMIC PROSPERITY TO DEPRESSION At the turn of the twentieth century, California’s economy was booming as a result of several factors. First, the transcontinental railroad was completed. The construction of this railroad facilitated the movement of people and goods across the country. As a consequence, Los Angeles was transformed into a bustling commercial hub. The railroad also contributed to the development of agriculture by facilitating transportation to processing and distribution locations. For ranchers, the railroad eased the burden of transporting cattle and sheep while opening up markets. Second, huge oil deposits were uncovered throughout the state, but mostly in southern California—in places like Huntington Beach, Santa Fe Springs, and Long Beach. California became a large oil producer, helping to stimulate its economy. Third, agriculture took on growing significance in California’s expansive economy, to a large extent facilitated by the construction of the railroads, irrigation, and technological advances. In the central valleys, wheat became the most important farm product, while in southern California, citrus production came to predominate. California’s prosperous and growing economy required more labor. The railroads facilitated the movement of Mexican migrants to help fill those needs. Soon Mexican migrants became indispensable to California’s agricultural economy. Also notable during this time period is the importation of Puerto Ricans to work in agricultural fields. Together, Latino and Asian labor provided the backbone of agricultural production.

California The expansion of cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose was also facilitated by economic growth. Cities emerged around agricultural centers, railroad labor camps, and other economic industries throughout California. Latinos formed part of the integral fabric of these cities, settling near their places of work. In the cities, Latinos formed their own neighborhood enclaves, providing an environment where people shared a similar language, customs, and culture. While many Latinos chose freely to live in Latino enclaves—or barrios, as they have come to be known—many more were forced to live there through segregation. In Los Angeles, Latinos were excluded from white neighborhoods through racialized forms of exclusion that included violence and harassment. Mexican migration to California increased significantly between 1910 and 1930. The largest contributor to rising Mexican migration was the Mexican Revolution; large numbers of Mexicans fled the violence and sought refuge in the United States. Even with this influx, California’s growing industries required more laborers. By 1915, the United States was busy mobilizing for war, stimulating the growth of new businesses that contributed to these efforts. These business opportunities also relied on Latino labor in California. However, as U.S. entry into World War I approached, the Immigration Act of 1917 was passed, largely in an effort to restrict European migration into the country. Specifically, the law included an entry fee (head tax) and introduced a literacy test for prospective migrants. This act had a tremendous impact on Mexican migration— and hence on California’s economy. Because many Mexicans could neither afford the exorbitant head tax nor read, migration dropped severely. California’s agricultural industries were particularly affected by the sudden shortage of labor. Given the importance of agriculture for feeding a population ready for war, a proviso was enacted that exempted Mexican agricultural and railroad workers from the requirements of the 1917 Immigration Act until 1921. It was later extended for one more year, until 1922. As a direct consequence of the proviso, the first labor program was initiated. Thousands of Mexicans registered to work; many more came undocumented. At the end of the program, many Mexicans did not return, but no overt pressures were placed upon them to return, because they filled an occupational niche not coveted by most U.S. citizens, including returning soldiers after the war. In 1924 another immigration law was passed that set limits on Asian and southern European migrants; again Mexicans were excluded from such restrictions. By the mid 1920s, California’s Latino population had skyrocketed. By 1930, more than 30 percent of the Mexican migrant population resided in California.

THE DEPRESSION AND THE MEXICAN REPATRIATION PROGRAM The Depression had a profound and immediate impact on Latinos in California. As North Americans lost their jobs, Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the state

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Latino America became targets of growing resentment and were increasingly accused of taking jobs from U.S. citizens. Subsequently, many employers were forced to discharge Mexican employees. As the Depression worsened, anti-immigrant sentiment flourished, culminating in a xenophobic campaign that resulted in the forced repatriation of Mexicans. Mexican workers were no longer welcomed. Between 1929 and 1930, an estimated 500,000 Mexicans were repatriated without any deportation hearings—many of them U.S. citizens. Railroad transportation facilitated the repatriation process across the Mexican border. While the impact of repatriation was felt across the country, California had the highest number of repatriates, with Los Angeles County feeling the largest effects. As documented in Decade of Betrayal, a recent historical account, 50,000 Mexicans and their children departed from Los Angeles within a five-month period in 1931. For Mexicans living in California, repatriation was internalized as a form of betrayal. Needless to say, for many Mexican Americans who remained in California, the repatriation program spawned both distrust and protest. For many of the repatriated, this act produced great shame. While some Mexican American citizens and legal residents eventually returned to the United States, others remained in Mexico, unable to overcome feelings of betrayal and loss. The recent passage of California’s Apology Act of 2005 may help repair the sting left behind in the wake of Mexican repatriation. Through the Apology Act, the state of California offered formal apology for the forceful and illegal removal of Mexicans who were legal residents and citizens at the time. More importantly, it recognized the denial of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.

WORLD WAR II AND THE IMPORTATION

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MEXICAN LABOR

In the 1940s, World War II produced a shift in the tide of Mexican migration. As the United States entered the war, Mexican Americans responded to a call of duty. Mexican Americans served in the military overseas and upon their return; seventeen received Congressional Medals of Honor. In California, World War II brought tremendous labor shortages as men were called to war. Here also, Mexican Americans responded by filling these jobs. As a result, many were able to gain entry into jobs and industries previously closed off to them. However, at the same time they were achieving some upward mobility, they also were leaving behind less skilled jobs, like farmwork. Labor shortages produced by World War II were particularly felt in agriculture, though other industries, like steel manufacturing, meatpacking, and processing, also suffered. Once again, the United States turned toward Mexico to fill these shortages. In 1942 the U.S. Department of State reached an agreement with the Mexican government to create a temporary labor program. The Mexican government built in provisions to protect its citizens from the types of discriminatory exploitation that

California Mexican laborers had previously incurred in the United States. The U.S. Department of State conceded to Mexican demands for protective measures. Both the United States and Mexico, having signed the Mexican Labor Program (more typically referred to as the Bracero program), implemented this new system in August 1942. Under the Bracero program, Mexicans were provided with temporary permits that allowed them to work legally in the United States for short periods of time. In the United States, growers were provided a cheap labor force. Despite provisions for the humane and fair treatment of Mexican laborers, braceros endured less-than-ideal working and living conditions. In the agricultural fields, they lacked toilets and running water; they were also exposed to dangerous pesticides, like DDT. The agricultural camps where braceros lived tended to provide substandard housing, and the tenants were frequently overcharged for their board. While the program was intended to attract a documented Mexican labor pool, it also resulted in a large migration of undocumented workers. California, having attracted the highest percentage of braceros, experienced the significant growth of its Latino population. In 1952 the United States experienced a recession that brought attention to the rise in undocumented Mexican migrants in the country. Again, the United States carried out a mass deportation campaign, called Operation Wetback. In California, the Immigration and Naturalization Services, along with local officials, carried out raids in which Mexican migrants were rounded up and deported. In the course of 3 years, more than one million Mexicans and Mexican Americans were expelled from the United States. Ironically, even in the midst of deportations, the U.S. Congress approved the continuity of the Bracero program until 1964. Mexicans continued to migrate to California in search of jobs. When the program ended, Mexicans had once again become an indispensable part of California culture. Also noteworthy: at the program’s end, several wellestablished patterns of Mexican migration had emerged. Many braceros chose not to return to Mexico, settling in California, where they continued to work and live in ethnic enclaves. Later some braceros encouraged further migration of relatives and friends to California. A pattern of cyclical migration also emerged as Mexicans moved to California for short stints at a time in order to earn money. Finally, the Bracero program contributed to a growing trend of undocumented migration through California’s southern border. These patterns of Mexican migration and settlement would take on new significance in the 1980s and 1990s, as Mexicans once again become targets of nativism.

ETHNIC TENSION

IN THE

AFTERMATH

OF

WORLD WAR II

For Latinos living in California, World War II brought both opportunities and challenges heightened by ethnic tensions between Mexican Americans and AngloAmericans. In part these tensions were a response to entry into World War II and

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Latino America the forced removal and internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans in California. For some Anglo-Californians, fear and suspicion of the Japanese was also extended to include Mexicans and Mexican Americans. In Los Angeles, much of the tension was focused on Mexican American males, known as pachucos, who were part of a youth counterculture centered on popular jazz culture. As part of this counterculture, pachucos wore the distinctive zoot suit, including a long topcoat with broad shoulders and a loose, high waist; pleated pants tapered at the bottom; and a brimmed hat—an iconic clothing style of the jazz era. These Mexican American youths tended to hang together in small groups, flaunting their suits and dance moves. Their style and ways, largely disapproved of by Anglo-Americans, drew public criticism in the press; they were accused of being hoodlums and criminals. In 1942 public disdain for pachucos contributed to the unlawful conviction of 17 Mexican American youths in the Sleepy Lagoon Case; the group was accused of murdering a young Mexican American found dead near the site of a house party. While the details of the death were unknown, Los Angeles police arrested and accused a group of pachucos who had been involved in a fight at the party the dead youth had attended. The conviction of the youth was widely publicized and helped create a hostile environment for young Mexican Americans. In the wake of the convictions, a conflict broke out in Los Angeles between white American sailors stationed in the city and Mexican American zoot-suiters, as they were called. Violent incidents between the sailors and the Chicanos were frequent from 1942 to 1943. On May 31, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors on leave fought with a group of Mexican American youth in the Los Angeles downtown area. Joe Dacy Coleman, one of the U.S. sailors, was seriously injured; in retaliation, a group of 50 sailors went to the primarily Mexican neighborhood of east Los Angeles and attacked zoot-suiters and other Mexicans in the vicinity. These acts of racialized violence came to be referred to as the Zoot Suit Riots. In the end, the riots were blamed primarily on the Mexican-American population, while the sailors were praised for cleaning up the streets of Los Angeles. Despite the troubling events of 1942, Latinos demonstrated resilience and strength throughout the 1940s and 1950s. It was during this time period that Latinos challenged segregation through the legal system. In 1946 Mendez v. Westminster District banned school segregation. In the 1950s, residential desegregation also began to occur as Latinos moved out of ethnic enclaves and into more integrated communities. In part this process was facilitated by the 1944 GI Bill, which provided government loans to many Latino veterans. With the loans, Latino veterans were able to buy homes and start new businesses. Many Latinos also took advantage of the program to attend college. Finally, during this time period, many American-born Latinos transitioned into skilled and semiskilled occupations. In all, the strides made by Latinos for social equality throughout the

California 40s and 50s contributed to a growing ethnic consciousness that helped to foster the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

CHICANO SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Latino youth of Mexican descent reclaimed their ethnic identity and mobilized around it. Referring to themselves as Chicanos (a derivative of Mexicano and members of la raza, or “the people”) Mexican Americans used the label as a symbol of ethnic pride. As a politicized concept, the Chicano movement drew attention to the economic, social, and political marginalization of Latinos. Chicanos banded together to demand their right to fair treatment and equal access to education, political participation, and employment opportunities, as well as the right to claim membership in an ethnic community without prejudice. In California, as in other places throughout the country, Chicanos mobilized around various causes, adding to the complexity and vibrancy of the multiple struggles that constituted the Chicano movement, which took root in the 1960s. In part, these struggles drew on earlier examples of Mexican American activism. In 1931, for example, Mexican American parents called for a boycott to fight school segregation in Lemon Grove. Since the 1920s, Mexican Americans had also organized agricultural strikes throughout California in order to gain better wages. These precedents no doubt contributed to the defining struggle of the Chicano movement in California, which began with the efforts of labor organizers and the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). Bringing together the concerns of mostly Filipino and Mexican agricultural workers in rural California, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta shed public light on the plight of agricultural labor. Having experienced agricultural farmwork as a youth, Chávez knew of the inherent racial and economic inequalities. After serving in World War II, Chávez returned to California with a desire to change the quality of life of farmworkers. He gained valuable organizing experience in the 1950s working for the Community Service Organization (CSO) in San Jose. However, Chávez wanted to create an organization that would benefit farmworkers. Dolores Huerta, a native of Stockton, had also gained organizing experience through the CSO, and in 1955 she cofounded the Sacramento CSO chapter. Huerta shared a common drive to empower Chicano farmworkers. In 1962, Chávez and Huerta cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA)—later renamed the United Farm Workers Union Organizing Committee—in Delano, California. The NFWA developed a strong membership of farmworkers who sought equality and justice and drew support from public figures and community members. In 1965 the NFWA initiated a grape pickers’ strike and later called for a national boycott of California table and wine grapes.

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Latino America Five years later, in 1970, the NFWA scored its greatest victory when their strikes, boycotts, and other efforts finally won a contract with the largest grape growers in California. Subsequently, Latino farmworkers with NFWA contracts received higher wages and benefits. The struggle for social justice and equality was not confined to the fields. High schools, colleges, and university campuses throughout California also became political battlegrounds for Chicanos. In their respective educational settings, Chicano students called for administrators to open the doors of universities to people of color, hire minority faculty, and include minority perspectives in their curricula. The largest high-school student protest in the history of the United States is exemplary of younger student involvement in the Chicano movement. In 1968 more than 1,000 students peacefully walked out of Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles with Chicano teacher Sal Castro to protest of the deplorable conditions in their school. This walkout sparked similar walkouts across Los Angeles in what is now referred to as the blowouts of 1968. In all, more than 10,000 highschool students walked out in protest of a lack of suitable school conditions, lack of minority teachers, and high dropout rates for Latinos. Universities became another focal point of protest. Across California campuses, including UCLA, Berkeley, and Cal State Northridge, students and faculty pushed for scholarships for minorities, an increase of minority faculty, and the creation of Chicano studies. In 1969 a coalition of student groups meeting at the University of California at Santa Barbara established the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán), best known as MEChA. Throughout California university campuses, MEChA became a strong advocate of Chicano studies. MEChA continues to uphold the original goals of the Chicano movement and has chapters in nearly every university across the country. The movement also confronted popular media representations of Mexican Americans, promoting scholarly, literary, and artistic productions that validated the identity and experiences of Mexican Americans. Rodolfo Acuña, a professor of history at California State University at Northridge, for example, wrote Occupied America, refuting widely held assumptions of Chicanos. Artists like Luis Valdéz, who formed El Teatro Campesino (the Farm Worker Theater), also became active participants in the movement.

DIVERSIFICATION

OF

LATINO POPULATION

Throughout the 1970s, Latinos continued to be integrated into California’s growing economy. Many Latino migrants settled in California, especially in Los Angeles. By 1980, the Latino population of the state had grown to over 4,544,331 and accounted for 19.2 percent of the total population. It is estimated that more

California than half of the Latino population was living in Los Angeles county alone. While the predominant flow of migrants continued to be from Mexico, in the 1980s, the migrant flows showed new patterns of diversification. Beginning with the Mexican migrant population, the 1980s saw flows of people from nontraditional sending regions of the country. Whereas Mexican migration had typically been associated with people from northern regions, like Michoacan, Zacatecas, Durango, and Chihuahua, an increasing number of Mexican migrants throughout the 1980s came from more southern regions of the country, including Mexico City and Guerrero. Most notably apparent, however, was a migrant stream of indigenous Mexicans from Oaxaca and Puebla. Among the latter were Mixtec migrants who were overwhelmingly absorbed by California’s agricultural economy and Zapotec migrants who integrated themselves into Los Angeles’s service economy. So many Oaxacan migrants were present in the state that by the 1990s, notable anthropologist Michael Kearney had coined the phrase Oaxacalifornia to describe the relationship established between indigenous Oaxacan sending communities and communities of settlement in California. Beginning in the 1980s, new migrants also came from Central American countries, including El Salvador and Guatemala—countries escaping U.S.-supported civil wars. To date, Central Americans constitute the second-largest percentage of Latinos in the state. When Salvadorans fled their country, many eventually settled in Los Angeles. A well-established community of Salvadorans in the Los Angeles PicoUnion districts was thriving in the 1990s with pupuserias, local restaurants that served handmade corn flour cakes stuffed with cheese or meats and topped with pickled cabbage and vegetables, a traditional Salvadoran dish. Salvadorans also established several refugee resource centers in that area of Los Angeles that provided services to the Central American community. They were also engaged in activism in California that shed light on the atrocities of the civil war in El Salvador. Today there are more Salvadorans living in Los Angeles than in the capital of San Salvador. Guatemalan migrants also fled the ravages of war. In contrast to Salvadoran refugees, however, Guatemalans settling in Los Angeles and San Francisco were largely indigenous. Like Salvadorans, they also established close-knit communities throughout Los Angeles and integrated themselves into the local culture and economy. Other groups of Latino migrants are also present in the state. Puerto Ricans, for example, have been living in California since the late 1800s. However, their unique status as U.S. citizens has often differentiated them from other Latino groups. They are peppered throughout the state, but their presence has often been overlooked. However, their contributions to California’s Latino culture are equally important. Today, California’s Latino population also boasts growing numbers of migrants from South American countries, including Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia.

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Latino America While new patterns of migration include a growing number of migrants from countries beyond Mexico, Latino migration is also unique today for its increasingly transnational character. Today’s Latino migrant population is not one that is typified solely by a permanent movement from their country of origin to settlement in California. Rather, Latino communities today may include people who have permanently relocated, temporary migrants or sojourners here for short periods of time, and also people who move back and forth between their places of origin and those of settlement in California. This movement back and forth has facilitated the increased flow of goods and services that span across geographic space. Thus, money transfers occur every day between Oaxaca and Los Angeles; Salvadoran delicacies are shipped daily to Los Angeles; and print media is available in California as well as countries of origin that cover events in both locations. Important holidays and celebrations from the country of origin may be celebrated in California. Terms such as Oaxacalifornia and Mexifornia capture the uniqueness of transnational Latino cultures.

MIGRATION BACKLASH In California, as in other states across the country, Latino migration has always been met by ambivalence. On the one hand, California’s economic industries have welcomed Latino laborers throughout its history as a source of cheap labor. On the other hand, during times of economic recession or resource scarcity, a popular response to Latino presence has been to adopt restrictive anti-immigrant measures. For example, in the 1930s (during the Depression) and in the 1950s (at the height of the Cold War), Mexicans and Mexican Americans were repatriated across the border. During both repatriations, California deported the highest number of people of Mexican descent. More current measures passed in California are much less extreme than those of the past. Yet ambivalence toward Latino migrants continues to surface in the form of restrictionist and anti-affirmative-action measures within the state of California. Throughout the 1990s, California constituents approved several measures that impacted the lives of both migrant and native-born Latinos alike. The legality of some of these measures continues to be debated. Several of the most notable anti-immigrant pieces of legislation drafted throughout the 1990s were Proposition 187, Proposition 209, and Proposition 227. Proposition 187, passed in the California state legislature in November of 1994, denied undocumented migrants and their children access to publicly funded programs, including health care and K–12 education. The successful passage of this proposition was based on an inflammatory anti-immigrant campaign that blamed undocumented Mexican migrants for flooding the state and overtaking public resources. The campaign’s successful use of images of undocumented migrants

California crossing into San Ysidro and dashing across the freeway to avoid being stopped by migration swayed California’s residents to vote for the measure. Convinced by the rhetoric, people did not question either the racist undertones of the campaign or the figures presented. A consequence of this legislation is that all Latinos became suspect under the law; distinctions between migrant and native-born Latinos were lost. Consequently, Proposition 187 resulted in mounting resentment among Latinos who felt they were unjustly depicted as parasites to the system, neglecting their many positive contributions, including the payment of taxes. Many more resented that Latino had become synonymous with “illegal” or “undocumented,” when many Latinos living in California were citizens who had been in California for generations. The passing of Proposition 187 was followed by injunctions filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and other civil rights groups, citing the unconstitutional nature of its provisions. Proposition 187 would eventually be declared unconstitutional in 1998, 4 years after its passage. The passage of Proposition 187 produced a conservative fervor that contributed to the creation and passage of a proposition passed in 1996, Proposition 209. Called the Civil Rights Initiative, this proposition eliminated affirmative action in state-run agencies and educational institutions. This measure won by a larger majority than Proposition 187. Finally, in 1998, California voters also passed Proposition 227, requiring that all public-school instruction be conducted in English. This act effectively eliminated bilingual education, with the exception of intensive yearlong English immersion programs developed for new migrant youth. While not directed exclusively at Latinos in the state, these pieces of legislation had enormous consequences for both migrant and native-born Latinos living in California. Certainly a negative consequence was that Latinos continued to feel targeted by exclusionary measures regardless of their legal status in the United States. Latinos felt stigmatized by Proposition 187 and further marginalized by Proposition 209. But rather than rendering Latinos victims, the passage of Proposition 187 stirred a new wave of Latino consciousness. Latinos, who by 1995 represented more than 26 percent of the population, responded in two significant ways: registering to vote and attaining citizenship. As a result of these actions, Latinos became a major voting constituency that has helped to transform the face of state and local politics. At the state level, currently one in four assembly members is Latino, and Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante became the first Latino to be elected speaker of the assembly. At local levels, California voters elected Latino mayors in several of the largest cities, including San Jose and Los Angeles, not to mention all the city councilmen and councilwomen who were also elected into their positions.

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Latino America

LATINOS AT THE MILLENNIUM In a similar fashion to the anti-immigrant campaigns of the 1990s that triggered the passing of Proposition 187, the popular discourse presented in the media in the new millennium has again created sensationalist rhetoric that targets Latinos in similar ways. Moreover, in a post-9/11 environment, Latino migrants are increasingly characterized in the media as linked to terrorism, drug trafficking, and other crimes. Terrorism and drug trafficking have become the new staging grounds for political debates focusing on the growing presence of Latinos in this country—more specifically, on the U.S. border with Mexico. With the largest Latino population residing in California, the state has received increased attention in print, radio, and television campaigns targeting undocumented migrants. CNN’s Lou Dobbs, for example, has run a series titled Broken Borders, which constantly depicts migrant paths through southern California as a “terrorist alley.” These recent representations of Latinos have sparked an immigration debate that has polarized the nation. One response has been a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment that targets migrants while hiding behind the veil of border protection. Such a view is represented by a group of volunteers who call themselves the Minuteman Project; they have organized civil patrols “to protect the nation’s borders from illegal immigration,” as frequently reiterated by the media. On the other side are migrants and U.S.-born citizens who resent the ways that they are being negatively depicted and criminalized. At the national level, conservatives and liberals in Congress have continued to debate the future of migration across the nation’s borders. In 2005 several pieces of legislation were proposed in Congress to stem the flow of undocumented migration through Mexico. Proposals in Congress ranged from amnesty programs for undocumented laborers living and working in the United States, to guest worker programs to allow a temporary flow of a legalized labor pool, to more restrictionist measures that would continue to reinforce the nation’s southern border by sealing off the United States from Mexico through reinforced steel and concrete barriers. Latinos have been caught in the crossfire. As in decades past, one of the ironies remaining is that there continues to be a demand for cheap Latino labor in this country. In particular, California’s agricultural industry is still dependent on Latino manual labor. But since the 1990s, California’s booming economy also contributed to the increasing integration of Latinos into its service economy as custodians, gardeners, housekeepers, and nannies, among other occupations. Latinos resented the public hostility directed toward them and in response began to organize. Documented and undocumented Latino migrants and U.S. citizens banded together around a campaign that stressed human rights over the question of legality, boldly asserting that “all immigrants have rights.”

California During the last week of March 2006, over one million Latinos across the country in various cities took to the streets in response to proposed anti-immigration legislation threatening to pass through Congress at the time. More than 500,000 Latinos marched in Los Angeles alone. The march represents one of the largest recent political demonstrations calling for an end to Latino racism and injustice. Moreover, it calls for a critical perspective on Latino migration—one that is historically informed and is inclusive of migrant voices. In a break from the past, however, recent movements signal the ushering of a new historical moment for Latinos in California. As demonstrated by recent trends, Latinos in the state currently account for 32.4 percent of the population; according to projections, they will account for 47.8 percent of the population by the year 2040, becoming the ethnic majority in California. While the social problems of the past have not disappeared, at the closing of the first decade of the new millennium, Latinos are making strides in all areas of life, including education, occupational advancement, professionalization, and politics. The future looks promising.

NOTABLE LATINOS Rodríguez Cabrillo, Juan (1499–1543). Portuguese by birth, Juan Rodríguez de Cabrillo sailed for the Spanish crown and was the first to explore the California coast in 1542. Vizcaíno, Sebastián (1548–1624). Sebastián Vizcaíno explored the California coastline in the early 1600s, making detailed charts. He is also noted for exploration of the Monterey Bay area. Serra, Junípero de (1713–1784). Junípero de Serra was a Franciscan missionary who, along with soldier Gaspar de Portolá, founded 21 missions in California, including the first. Portolá, Gaspar de (1716–1784). As a soldier in the Spanish Army, Gaspar de Portolá led an expedition that founded San Diego and Monterey. Portola also served as governor of Baja and Alta California from 1767 to 1770. Requena, Manuel (1804–1876). Manuel Requena became the second Latino to become mayor of Los Angeles when he took his place as acting mayor for two weeks (September 22, 1856–October 4, 1856). Aguilár, Cristóbal (1816–1886). The third Latino mayor of Los Angeles, Cristóbal Aguilár served two separate terms, from 1866 to 1868 and from 1871 to 1872. Coronel, Antonio Francisco (1817–1894). In 1853, Antonio Francisco Coronel became mayor of Los Angeles. Born in Mexico City, Coronel came to California as a young man. During the Mexican occupation of California, Coronel was appointed assistant secretary of tribunals for the City of Los Angeles, and in 1843 he became a justice of the peace in the city. During the Mexican-American War, Coronel served as a captain and sergeant-at-arms in the Mexican Artillery. After the war, he continued to be involved in politics and served as county assessor and member of the Los Angeles Council for several years between 1854 and 1867.

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Latino America Murrieta, Joaquín (1829–1853). Joaquín Murrieta was an infamous and legendary figure of the California gold rush during the 1850s who has come to symbolically represent early opposition to white, European-American domination. Pacheco, Romualdo (1831–1899). Romualdo Pacheco is the only Latino who has served as governor of California; he held the office from 1877 to 1883. In 1876 Pacheco was elected to the House of Representatives, but he did not serve, because the House Committee on Elections refused to accept his certificate of elections. He was reelected to the House of Representatives and served until 1883. In 1879 he was appointed chair of the Committee on Private Land Claims. After leaving Congress, Pacheco was named the U.S. envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Central American states. Ruiz de Burton, María Amparo (1832–1895). María Amparo Ruiz de Burton was the author of The Squatter and the Don (1885). Written in English, the book is regarded as the first Mexican American novel. Lozáno, Ignacio (1886–1953). Ignacio Lozáno founded the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión in 1926, and it has been published continuously since then. The newspaper focuses on news from Spanish-speaking parts of the world. Before founding La Opinión, Lozáno established the La Prensa, a Spanish-language periodical read by Mexican political refugees. Galarza, Ernesto (1905–1984). A historian, labor organizer, and activist, Ernesto Galarza migrated to Sacramento, California, from Mexico at the age of eight. He grew up working in the fields with his parents and excelled in education. He is one of the first Mexican Americans to have received a college education, which culminated in a PhD in history from Columbia University. Galarza dedicated his adult life to organizing farm laborers and raising awareness of their exploitation through his teaching. He wrote several books, including Barrio Boy, about his own childhood. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1976. Díaz, José (1919–1942). José Díaz was a 22-year-old farmworker murdered on the morning of August 2, 1942, on the way home from a neighbor’s birthday party in what government officials called the growing Mexican American frenzy of the time. A fan of the contemporary jazz music era, he often wore a zoot suit, an outfit that had become increasingly symbolic of an unruly Mexican American youth gang culture. His murder in 1942 was used to rationalize government intervention, both violent and nonviolent, to quell a chaotic and supposedly threatening population. Soto, Philip (1926–1997). Philip Soto was one of the first two Latinos to be elected to the California state legislature. From 1962 to 1966, Soto, a Democrat from La Puente, served as the state representative for the Fiftieth Assembly District. During his terms, he helped organize the United Farm Workers and was active in protesting the Vietnam War. After leaving office, Soto became the director of operations of a nonprofit vocational and job training program in east Los Angeles called SER: Jobs for Progress. Chávez, César (1927–1993). Activist César Chávez, cofounder of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA, later known as the United Farm Workers Association) spent most of his adult life in California. In 1965 Chávez and the NFWA organized a California grape picker’s strike to demand higher wages and encouraged U.S. citizens to

California boycott table grapes to show support. Chávez also organized strikes and boycotts for the rights of migrant workers in several different agricultural sectors. Moreno, John (1927–1999). A Democrat from Los Angeles, John Moreno was one of the first Latinos to be elected to the California state legislature. As the representative for the Fifty-First Assembly District from 1962 to 1964, he served as vice chair of the Constitutional Amendments Committee. Gonzáles, Pancho (1928–1995). Professional tennis player Pancho Gonzáles was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents. Gonzáles won, among other awards, the men’s singles at the United States Championships of 1948 and 1949; the men’s doubles at Wimbledon in 1949. Salazar, Rubén (1928–1970). As a Mexican American journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Rubén Salazar focused on issues that affected Latinos. His reports included stories about the Bracero program, the U.S.-Mexican border, racial discrimination, and ethnic politics. He was killed by police during the National Chicano Moratorium March in protest of the Vietnam War. Escalante, Jaime (1930–). Prized Bolivian-born Los Angeles math teacher Jaime Escalante was the subject of the 1988 book Escalante: Best Teacher in America and the 1988 film Stand and Deliver. He was inducted into the Teachers Hall of Fame in 1999 and is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal for Excellence in Education, the George Forster Peabody Award, and numerous honorary doctorate degrees. Huerta, Dolores (1930–). A cofounder of the National Farm Workers Association, Dolores Huerta played vital role in organizing farmworkers. Raised in Stockton, Huerta became the coordinator for the East Coast table grape boycott, led the political sector of the farmworkers’ union, and was involved with the feminist movement of the late 1960s. Huerta continues to fight for labor rights and spread awareness of farmworker injustices today. Valens, Ritchie (1941–1959). Considered the first Chicano rock and roll star, Ritchie Valens is best known for his hit song “La Bamba,” which was influenced by Mexican folk music. Born in San Fernando, he died when he was 17 years old in a plane crash. Valens received a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990 and was inducted into the Hollywood Hall of Fame in 1991. Rodríguez, Richard (1944–). Best known for his 1982 memoir Hunger of Memory, a book that describes how learning English distanced him from the native culture of his parents, Richard Rodríguez is an accomplished author. As a public intellectual, he appears frequently on the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour and is a contributing editor for Harper’s magazine. Marin, Richard “Cheech” (1946–). Born in South Central Los Angeles, comedian and actor Richard “Cheech” Marin is perhaps best known for his role as half of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong. Marin wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy Born in East LA (1987). He has also appeared in numerous films and television shows. Additionally, Marin is active in Latino politics and volunteers for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Inner City Arts Council.

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Latino America Olmos, Edward James (1947–). Most known for his roles in the film Stand and Deliver and more recently the PBS miniseries Mi Familia (My Family), Mexican American Edward James Olmos is an Emmy-winning actor hailing from east Los Angeles. In 1998 he founded Latino Public Broadcasting Company with the goal of supporting diverse perspectives on public television and providing funding for programming about issues that affect Latinos. Molina, Gloria (1949–). A native Angelina, Gloria Molina is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In April of 2006, she was voted Hispanic Businesswoman of the Year by the Hispanic Business Magazine. Other important positions she has held are deputy for presidential personnel; deputy director for the Department of Health and Services; and California state assemblywoman. Gonzáles, Ronald R. (1951–). Ron Gonzáles was elected the first Latino mayor of San Jose since California gained statehood in 1850. Gonzáles has received several national honors, including the Point of Light Award, in recognition of his contributions to his community. Moraga, Cherrie (1952–). Cherrie Moraga was born in Los Angeles in 1952, and her Chicana roots have informed her experiences as a lesbian poet, playwright, essayist, scholar, and activist. Her work in the theater has contributed to the growth of Chicano theater, and she is the recipient of numerous prestigious honors and awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Playwriting Fellowship Award. In 1983 Moraga cofounded the group Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. She is also coeditor of the pivotal Chicana feminist text This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, coauthored separately with Gloria Anzaldua and Ana Castillo. Soto, Gary (1952–). Born in Fresno, award-winning Gary Soto has written numerous books of poetry as well as young adult and children’s books. Soto won the American Book Award for his 1985 memoir Living Up the Street (1985) and was a National Book Award finalist for his 1995 book New and Selected Poems. Bustamante, Cruz Miguel (1953–). Until 2003, Cruz Miguel Bustamante held the highestranking elected position among Latinos living in the United States. Bustamante has served as a California assemblyman (1993–1996), speaker of the assembly (1996–1998), and lieutenant governor (1999–2007). In 2003 he ran for governor of California, but lost to Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a Democrat, Bustamante focused on education, the environment, racial tolerance, diversity, and the support of migrant and agricultural communities. Villaraigosa, Antonio (1953–). An east Los Angeles native, Antonio R. Villaraigosa was elected the forty-first mayor of Los Angeles on July 1, 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, Villaraigosa served in the California state assembly and in 1994 was elected the first assembly speaker from Los Angeles in 25 years. In 2003 he was elected part of the Los Angeles City Council. Cervantes, Lorna Dee (1954–). Lorna Dee Cervantes, an accomplished and awardwinning poet, was born and raised in California. Her poems and novels offer deep insight into the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans living in the northern

California California communities she was raised in. Her works include From the Cables of Genocide: Poems on Love and Hunger (1991), a collection of poems; and Emplumada (1981), her first book that received an American Book Award. In 1995 she received a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writers’ Award. Solis, Hilda L. (1957–). As a congresswoman in the House of Representatives, Hilda L. Solis has been recognized for her leadership. Among her many accomplishments, Solis’s dedication to environmental justice earned her a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award (2000). She was the first woman to receive this honor. Solis has also served as the first Latina on the Committee on Energy and Commerce (2003). Ochoa, Ellen (1958–). Southern California native Ellen Ochoa is the first female Latina astronaut for NASA. In 1993, Ochoa went on her first space shuttle mission aboard the Discovery. Ochoa has won many awards, including two Space Act Tech Brief Awards, three Space Flight Medals, an Outstanding Leadership Medal, an Exceptional Service Medal, the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award, and the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. Escobedo Cabral, Anna (1959–). Born in San Bernardino, Anna Escobedo Cabral is the forty-second treasurer of the United States. Cabral, a second-generation Mexican American, was confirmed and sworn in to the position on December 13, 2004. As president and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Cabral worked with Fortune 500 companies to increase Latino presence in leadership, employment, philanthropy, and governance. She has served as deputy staff director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee (1993–1999) and as executive staff director of the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs (1991–present). López, George (1961–). George López, a Mexican American comedian and actor known for his satirical representations of Mexican American culture in the United States, is the fourth Latino male to headline a sitcom in the United States. As an active member of the Latino community, López also started the George and Ann López-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation, an organization that provides educational community and arts resources. Tobar, Hector (1963–). Born to Guatemalan parents in Los Angeles, Hector Tobar is a noted author, journalist, and foreign correspondent of the Los Angeles Times. He is author of Translation Nation: On the Trail of a New American Identity (2005) and Tattooed Soldier (1998). His work for the Los Angeles Times earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. In 2006, Hispanic Business Magazine named Tobar one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States. Alcaraz, Lalo (1964–). Lalo Alcaraz is a Mexican American cartoonist best known for his daily syndicated comic strip La Cucaracha. Alcaraz’s work focuses on Latino political issues, like migration, border politics, and race relations. Alcaraz is also host of The Pocho Hour of Power, a Pacifica Radio weekly political humor show. De La Hoya, Oscar (1973–). One of the best contemporary boxers from the United States, Oscar De La Hoya was born to Mexican migrant parents in east Los Angeles. He captured a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics and since then has won five boxing titles in five different weight classes.

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Latino America Gutiérrez, Oscar (Rey Mysterio Jr.) (1974–). Better known as Rey Mysterio Jr., Oscar Gutiérrez, a professional wrestler, is known for the mask he wears during his World Wrestling Entertainment appearances. Furcal, Rafael Antoni (1977–). Dominican American baseball star Rafael Antoni Furcal currently plays shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Known for his strong throwing arm, he was awarded the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2000. Rodríguez Jr., Paul (1984–). Paul Rodríguez Jr. won a gold medal in skateboarding in the 2005 X Games. Rodríguez was born in Chatsworth, California, and is the only Latino to have a professional model show sponsored by Nike.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos have contributed to the vibrancy of California culture. They have contributed to the socioeconomic, political, and cultural life of California in multiple ways through the arts, culinary traditions, architecture, music, politics, popular culture, and everyday activities that bring life, character, and continued vitality. In California kitchens, Mexican and other types of Latin American food have become ubiquitous in California; it is not uncommon, especially in southern California, to find Latin American supermarkets, restaurants, puestos (food vendor stands), traditional foods, and Latin American candies. Tacos, tamales, empanadas, pupusas, clayudas, and various salsas are evidence of a much larger culinary tradition that is the result of the cultural and ethnic hybrid that defines California cuisine. One notable form of contemporary Latino artistic expression has been muralism. Murals decorate the walls of buildings throughout cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and San Jose, with portraits of Latinos and images chronicling Latino history and struggle. The artistic creations, like those found in Chicano Park in San Diego, provide living testament of Latino cultural and artistic expression. Located under the San Diego freeway, Chicano Park contains a conglomeration of outdoor murals, sculptures, earthworks, and architectural pieces. The importance of this site was officially recognized as a San Diego Historical Site in 1980. In Los Angeles, works like the Great Wall of Los Angeles, depicting the history of ethnic people of California, is another example of notable cultural contribution by Latinos. California Latinos have also produced award-winning literary contributions. Poets like Cherrie Morraga and Lorna Dee Cervantes; essayists like Richard Rodriguez; and novelists like Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton have produced works that capture the Latino experiences of discrimination, exploitation, and perseverance. The literary works by Latinos have contributed significantly to critical reexaminations of feminist theory, gay and lesbian studies, Latino studies, and American history. Other contributions to popular culture include Latino theater, movie, and film productions. In 1979 Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit, commemorating the riots of 1943,

California became the first Chicano play to appear on Broadway. The performance troupe Culture Clash (Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza), founded in San Francisco in 1984, attained national recognition in 1993 through their sketch comedy television series, also called Culture Clash. More recently, George Lopez, the syndicated situation comedy that aired on ABC from 2002 to 2007, represents another significant cultural contribution by Latinos in the media. Latinos have also made inroads in the field of motion pictures, an important California cultural industry, producing documentaries and feature films. Beyond these contributions, the Latino presence in California has made unmistakable linguistic contributions toward increasing the rise of bilingualism in California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 26 percent of people in California speak Spanish at home. The prominence of Spanish language throughout the state is evident on billboards, street signs, radio channels, and print media. The cultural contributions made by Latinos have been so significant that in recent years, scholars and others have used terms such as Mexifornia and Oaxacalifornia to acknowledge the transformation of California by migrants into a dynamic, transnational cultural space.

NOTE 1. According to a recent survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, Mexicans account for 84 percent of the Latino population in the state. Source: “Survey Brief: Latinos in California, Texas, New York, Florida and New Jersey.” Pew Hispanic Center, March 2004. Available online at: http://pewhispanic.org (accessed March 25, 2007).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Acuña, Rodolfo. “Greasers, Go Home: Mexican Immigration, the 1920s.” In The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader. Eds. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. New York: New York University Press, 1998, 86–91. ———. “Early Chicano Activism: Zoot Suits, Sleepy Lagoon, and the Road to Delano.” In The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader. Eds. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. New York: New York University Press, 1998, 309–319. Alvarez Jr., Robert. “The Lemon Grove Incident: The Nation’s First Successful Desegregation Court Case.” Journal of San Diego History 32 (1986). http://www.sandiegohistory. org/journal/86spring/lemongrove.htm. Balderrama, Francisco E., and Raymond Rodriguez. Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. Blackmer-Reyes, Kathy. “History of MALCS.” MALCS Web site. 2004. http://malcs.net/ history.htm. California Latino Caucus. “Historical Overview of the Latino Caucus.” 2007. http://democrats. assembly.ca.gov/latinocaucus/history_purpose.htm. California Missions Tourist Information. http://www.californiamissions.com.

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Latino America Carrasco, Gilbert Paul. “Latinos in the United States: Invitation and Exile.” In The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader. Eds. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic. New York: New York University Press, 1998, 77–85. César Chávez Foundation. http://www.Chavezfoundation.org/cesareChávez.html. Civilrights.org. “Civil Rights: A Chronology.” 2002. http://www.civilrights.org/library/permanent_ collection/resources/crchron.html. Democracy Now! “Between 500,000 to 2 Million Take to the Streets of L.A. to Demonstrate against Anti-Immigrant Bill.” 2006. http://democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/27/ 1449257. Driscoll, Barbara. The Tracks North: The Railroad Bracero Program of World War II. Austin: University of Texas, CMAS Books, 1999. Ganster, Paul, and David E. Lorey. The U.S.-Mexican Border into the Twenty-First Century. Boulder, CO, and New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Garrahan, Matthew. “LA and El Salvador Act over Gang Crime.” MSNBC, 2007. http:// www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18425327. Hayes-Bautista, David. La Nueva California: Latinos in the Golden State. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Justice for Janitors. http://www.seiu1877.org/articles/article.cfm?ID=3660. Marentes, Carlos, and Cynthia Marentes. “We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years.” Farmworkers Web site, 1999. http://www.farmworkers.org/strugcal.html. Muñoz, Rosalio. “1970: Chicano Moratorium—2005: Latinos for Peace.” People’s Weekly World Newspaper, August 12, 2005. http://www.pww.org/article/view/7591/1/283. National Park Service. “A History of Mexican Americans in California.” In Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey of California. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/ 5views/5views5.htm. Nevins, Joseph. Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the Illegal Alien and the Making of the U.S.-Mexico Boundary. New York: Routledge, 2002. Oboler, Suzanne, and Deena González. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, Volume 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Olvera Street. http://www.olvera-street.com. PBS. “The Border: History (Text Timeline).” http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/ index.html. PBS. “The History of Chávez Ravine.” http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/Chávezravine/ cr.html. PBS. “People & Events: The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/ eng_peopleevents/e_riots.html. Pew Hispanic Trust. http://www.pewhispanic.org. Pitti, Stephen. Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race, and Mexican Americans. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004. Schevitz, Tanya. “California Minorities Become Majority: Census Reflects Surge among Latinos, Asians.” San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 2000. http://www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/08/30/MN3103.DTL.

6 COLORADO Tom I. Romero II and Nicki M. Gonzales

CHRONOLOGY 1776

1779

1786 1787 1821 1822

1833

Spanish priests Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, along with eight other men—en route to California—lead an expedition through western Colorado, traversing through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. New Mexican Governor Don Juan Bautista de Anza, along with 573 men, sets out to attack Comanche Indians, traveling over Poncha Pass, through South Park, and over the Front Range to Colorado’s eastern foothills. Governor Anza negotiates peace treaty between the Comanches and the Utes. Governor Anza selects site—near present-day Pueblo—to begin first (and last) Spanish settlement in the area; it eventually fails. Mexico wins independence from Spain. Mexico opens trade with foreign nations. Santa Fe Trail links the Mexican southwest with St. Louis, cutting through southeastern Colorado. Bent’s Fort is constructed on the northern bank of the Arkansas River, between present-day La Junta and Las Animas. It later becomes an important economic, social, and cultural meeting place—along the Santa Fe Trail—for Anglos, Mexicans, and Native Americans. Mexican government issues the Conejos Land Grant, which sits in the southwestern part of the San Luis Valley and includes today’s town of Alamosa. This same year, 80 Mexican families attempt to settle an area

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Latino America

1842

1843

1846 1848

1849

of the Conejos Grant, but are chased back to Abiquiu, New Mexico, by raiding Navajo Indians. El Pueblo (or Fort Pueblo), a small village, is founded at the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River. One of the founders is a Latina from Taos, Teresita Sandoval; married to an American man, she challenges many of the gender attitudes of the day. The small village of El Pueblo is later home to “mountaineers” and their Latina wives from New Mexico. This multi-racial trading post is a center of trade between whites, Latinos, and Indians. This later becomes Pueblo, Colorado, a city with a long history of Latino settlement and civil rights activism. Governor Manuel Armijo of New Mexico grants the one million-acre Sangre de Cristo Land Grant to two naturalized Mexican citizens. About three-fourths of the grant sits in what later becomes the state of Colorado, and would become the most contested piece of land in the state’s history. War breaks out between the United States and Mexico The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War. Mexico cedes 529,017 square miles to the United States for $15 million, including southern Colorado. Seventy-five thousand Spanish-speaking inhabitants—many in Colorado—become U.S. citizens. The treaty guarantees the civil, political, and land rights of these new citizens. Latino settlers make first attempt to settle Sangre de Cristo land grant, near present-day San Luis, without the permission of grant owner Car-

Colorado

1851

1852

1858

1860s 1860

1861 1862

1868 1871

1876

1880s 1900

1900–1920

los Beaubien. This settlement fails. Settlements may have existed as early as 1847, on areas of the grant lands. Two permanent settlements may pre-date San Luis: Old San Acacio in 1850 and Garcia in 1849. Carlos Beaubien brings Spanish-surnamed settlers to found the first permanent settlement at San Luis, Colorado—“Colorado’s Oldest Town”— promising them 50–100 varas of private land, as well as access to thousands of acres of mountain land. These communal land rights would become the basis for a lengthy lawsuit in the late twentieth century. San Luis People’s Ditch claims the earliest water rights in Colorado under the doctrine of prior appropriation. Today, the San Luis community still operates an intricate acequia irrigation system, which relies on snow melt from the mountains to irrigate their lowland farms. Latino settlers establish the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Conejos. It is the first church structure in what would become the state of Colorado. Rise of profitable sheep industry in Spanish American villages on the old Mexican land grants. United States Congress validates the Sangre de Cristo Grant, essentially recognizing Carlos Beaubien’s promises to the Latino residents on the grant’s lands. U. S. Congress creates the Territory of Colorado. At the Battle of Glorieta Pass, the Colorado Regiment helps to defeat the Confederate Army. A number of Spanish Americans from the San Luis Valley fight in the battle on the Union side. Colorado Territorial Supreme Court objects to the use of the Spanish language in Territorial courts. El Comité de la Merced (the Land Grant Committee) forms in the town of San Luis, Colorado. It is one of the earliest grassroots political organizations in Colorado, and likely the earliest formal grassroots Latino organization in the state. Latino politicians, such as Casimiro Barela, Jesus Maria Garcia, and Agapito Vigil play crucial roles in the creation of Colorado’s Constitution at the Constitutional Convention and lobby successfully to have the document published in Spanish and English, as well as German. Conflicts arise between Spanish American sheep herders and Anglo-American cattlemen over grazing lands. Sugar beet companies establish successful farms in southeastern Colorado, near towns such as La Junta, Rocky Ford, and Lamar. Mexican migrant workers provide the majority of the labor for the industry by 1920. Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation brings the state’s first Mexican migrants to work in its steel mills. Pueblo’s Mexican-born population increases by 2,500 in 20 years.

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Latino America 1900–1930 1903–1904

1910s

1913–1914

1914

1916

1920s and 1930s

1927 1930s

1935–1936

1936

1940s 1947

About 45,000 Mexicans migrate to Colorado in search of jobs, mostly in the agricultural, steel, mining, and smelter industries. United Mine Workers (UMW) leads a strike in the coalfields of southern Colorado. Striking workers are replaced by Mexican and Japanese workers. Sugar beet companies begin to recruit Latino laborers from southern Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas to work in the fields in northern Colorado. Mexicans fleeing the upheaval of the Mexican Revolution also arrive in northern Colorado to work in the fields, especially during the World War I years. Latino laborers also find work in the railroad industry in Colorado. United Mine Workers calls a strike in the coalfields in southern Colorado, demanding higher wages, shorter work days, and better conditions. Miners—many of Mexican descent—and their families abandon their company houses and move into UMW-supplied tent colonies. Ludlow Massacre results when state militiamen descend upon the UMW’s miners’ tent colony, leading to the deaths of two women, eleven children, five miners, and one militiaman. Small group of Latino community members leads a successful informal grassroots movement in San Luis against the Costilla Estates Development Company, which had tried to violate the community’s legal land rights. Latinos continue to work in large numbers in the beet fields, living in colonias in beet-growing communities. To combat the prejudice and exploitation that they often face, Mexican migrant communities in northern Colorado and nonmigrant Spanish Americans in southern Colorado form mutual aid societies. Spanish-speaking workers make up 60 percent of the labor in the beet fields. Nativist sentiment toward Mexican laborers intensifies. As the Great Depression rages on, whites from the southern plains migrate west and compete with Mexican laborers for farm jobs. Nativist calls to deport illegal aliens from Colorado put American-born Spanish Americans and Mexican Americans on the defensive. As a result, many support Governor Johnson’s call to deport the undocumented workers. Colorado Governor Edwin C. Johnson declares martial law, ordering the Colorado National Guard to the New Mexican border to prevent migrant workers from entering Colorado. His actions are later declared unconstitutional. Latinos in Denver forge interracial efforts with other marginalized groups to advocate for equal civil rights. Denver’s new mayor, Quigg Newton, forms the Mayor’s Commission on Human Relations. The commission’s work throughout the 1950s and

Colorado

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1959

1960s and 1970s

1965

1966

1969

1970s

1970

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early 1960s highlights the intense discrimination suffered by Denver’s Mexican American community. Chama Citizens Committee formed. This grassroots committee organizes resistance in the town of Chama—a small town on the Sangre de Cristo land grant in the San Luis Valley—to protect its rights to use the communal lands of the land grant. La Asociacíon de los Cívicos Derechos (the Association for Civil Rights) is formed in San Luis to protect the community’s unique set of legal land rights on the lands of the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant. Conflict erupts in San Luis over conflicting notions of land use and ownership, as Latino residents assert their historic communal land rights while large land owner Jack Taylor asserts his private property rights—all over a piece of property that will become known as the “Taylor Ranch.” In Taylor v. Jaquez, the Colorado District Court issues a ruling that essentially extinguishes the unique land use rights—granted to the Latino residents of San Luis under the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant. This ruling would be the first of many regarding those legal rights. The Crusade for Justice is formed largely through the efforts of Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. The Crusade spearheads calls for Chicano nationalism throughout Denver and the Southwest. Chicano Youth Blowouts in West High School and First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conferences. Charges of racism and discrimination lead Denver’s Chicano youth to walk-out of their classes and protest discrimination in the public school system. The walk-out culminates in a violent riot with the police. Weeks later, Chicano youth from around the nation meet in Denver and draft El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán (the Spiritual Plan of Aztlan). Chicano activism spreads to towns on the Western Slope, as activists protest educational and employment inequalities. At the same time, in the state’s metropolises, Chicano activists find their influence waning after a series of violent, and at times deadly, clashes with police. UFW calls for national lettuce boycott. Chicano activists in Colorado support the strike statewide. Dicho y Hecho lettuce strike begins in Center, Colorado, where over 80 percent of Latinos live in poverty. Escuela Tlatelolco (Tlatelolco School) is incorporated to provide an alternative education for young Latinos centered on developing and nourishing cultural pride, confidence, and developing leadership among Latino youth. El Centro Su Teatro is founded as a Chicano theater organization aimed at building Chicano community through art and culture. Keyes v. [Denver] School Board Number One is decided by the United States Supreme Court. Filed originally in 1969, the case involves a school district that is largely Mexican American. It is the first nonsouthern school desegregation case to reach the high court because of Denver’s “tri-ethnic” racial demographics.

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Land Rights Council of San Luis is founded to defend the community’s historic communal land rights. The LRC goes on to form coalitions with state, regional, and national civil rights activists and organizations to create a formidable, persistent, and ultimately successful social movement. The Land Rights Council of San Luis revives its legal battle to regain the land rights lost in the 1965 Taylor v. Jaquez ruling, by filing Rael v. Taylor. State Senator Federico Peña, a relatively recent newcomer to politics, becomes mayor of the City and County of Denver. After a bitter and at times racially-charged election, Peña wins a second term. Under his leadership the city and county become revitalized through the Denver International Airport, the redevelopment of lower downtown (LoDo), and the expansion of support for the arts and diversity. Colorado Governor Roy Romer forms the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant Commission, whose task is to come up with a compromise solution to the San Luis land grant problem. The Colorado Supreme Court issues its ruling in Rael v. Taylor, essentially sending the case back to the District Court, where Constitutional issues of due process of law would be considered. This ruling allowed the San Luis community to reopen the legal battle for the San Luis community’s land rights. The Colorado Supreme Court issues its ruling in the San Luis land conflict. By this time, the case is known as Lobato v. Taylor. El Centro Su Teatro unveils its plans to build a new, $3.5 million regional Latino performing-arts center—El Corazón de la Ciudad (the Heart of the City)—in Denver’s hip Westside Santa Fe arts district.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW SPANISH AND MEXICAN ERAS The earliest Spanish forays into the land that would become the state of Colorado began as early as 1776—the year North American revolutionaries issued their Declaration of Independence. That year, two Spanish priests, Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, along with eight other men, led an expedition through western Colorado, traversing through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. They were followed in 1779 by New Mexican Governor Don Juan Bautista de Anza, along with 573 men, who set out to attack the Numunah (Comanche Indians) over the Front Range to Colorado’s eastern foothills. Governor de Anza also attempted to establish the first Spanish settlement, near present-day Pueblo, in 1787. He did this by first negotiating peace with native communities in the area, which was an extraordinary feat at the time.

Colorado Although the settlement eventually failed, it was the first attempt at permanent settlement by a group of Europeans in what is today Colorado. These early racial encounters would begin a complex process of negotiation among racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, which would dominate the history of Colorado. After Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, its leaders opened up trade with foreign nations along the newly established Santa Fe Trail. This trade route brought U.S. and French Canadian traders into the soon-to-be U.S. Southwest, altering the power dynamics in a region that had been populated mainly by Mexicans and Native Americans. Places such as Bent’s Fort and Fort Pueblo would become centers of cultural exchange between Mexicans, Indians, and Anglos. By the 1830s, the Mexican Governor of New Mexico began to implement a policy of distributing large land grants to Mexican citizens along its northern frontier—what is today northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Mexico intended the land grants to form a buffer against a rapidly expanding, Manifest Destiny–inspired American nation. This policy was in place until the beginning of the Mexican-American War in 1846. Present-day southern Colorado included portions of some of the largest land grants: the Vigil & St. Vrain Grant, the Conejos Grant, the Beaubien & Miranda Grant, and the Sangre de Cristo Grant. These land grants left a legacy of legal and political confusion that Colorado courts would continue to grapple with throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. On these grant lands, Spanish-surnamed settlers founded the first permanent (nonindigenous) towns in Colorado. These settlements would become the bedrock for Latino history and culture in Colorado, especially that which would dominate southern Colorado. The history of Colorado’s oldest town offers a glimpse into the richness and complexity that characterized Colorado’s early Latino settlements. San Luis de la Culebra was founded in 1851 by a small group of settlers from New Mexico. The town was situated in the San Luis Valley, on the 1 million acre Sangre de Cristo land grant. Manuel Armijo, Mexican Governor of New Mexico, had issued the grant to two naturalized Mexican citizens in 1843, but immediate efforts to populate the grant were allowed by the outbreak of war between the United States and Mexico. After the two original grantees were killed in 1847, the grant fell into the hands of Carlos Beaubien, a naturalized Mexican citizen of French Canadian descent, who had risen to political and social prominence in New Mexican society. Beaubien would face many challenges as executor of the grant—one of them being the arrival of a new political system.

THE U.S. ERA As the grant owner, Beaubien not only had to begin fulfilling his obligations to settle the grant, but he had to do so under a new political and legal regime. The

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Latino America Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and ushered in the U.S. era for Latino Colorado. The treaty ceded 529,017 square miles to the United States for $15 million, which included the southern part of Colorado. Seventy-five thousand Spanish-speaking inhabitants in the region— many in Colorado—become U.S. citizens, and under the treaty they were guaranteed their civil, political, and land rights. In 1850, Beaubien began efforts to populate the grant land. He offered single men 50 varas of land and married men 100 varas of land.1 The land was divided in long, narrow strips to conform to the region’s natural topography. All strips touched both a river and the resource-rich mountain land, providing settlers with the resources to survive the harsh climate conditions of the San Luis Valley. In addition to individual vara strips, Beaubien also granted settlers communal use-rights to the mountain lands, which they would eventually name “La Sierra.” Settlers could use La Sierra’s resources—grazing lands, timber, and plants and animals on the mountain. Beaubien eventually recorded these land rights in a legal, Spanish-language document in 1863. This document would become the basis for the ongoing litigation legal conflict over land rights between Anglo land owners and the Latino residents of San Luis. Once settled, San Luis residents began shaping a devoutly Catholic community based on communal principals regarding resource use. In 1852 community leaders claimed the earliest water rights in what would become the territory of Colorado. Prefiguring what would become known as the doctrine of prior appropriation in American law, Latinos built an intricate acequia irrigation system, relying on snow melt from the mountains to irrigate their lowland farms. By the time that Colorado was established as a territory, many Latino communities in southern Colorado were already thriving. A regional sheep industry had emerged in these Latino villages. Colorado’s Latinos were also distinguishing themselves in military campaigns in holding the fragile U.S. republic together. In 1862 at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, the Colorado Regiment—which included a number of Latinos from the San Luis Valley—helped to defeat the Confederate Army.

A LATINO POLITICAL VOICE EMERGES Meanwhile, Latinos were also making waves in territorial politics, as politicians debated the use of the Spanish language in government proceedings. In 1868, Colorado’s Territorial Supreme Court objected to the use of the Spanish language in Territorial courts. This was a blow to Latino communities, as they were attempting to find their way in the new Anglo-dominated world of Colorado politics and law. As communities began encountering the challenges of U.S. hegemony, grassroots organizations surfaced to protect those rights. El Comité de la Merced (the Land Grant Committee), formed in 1871 in San Luis, Colorado, offers one exam-

Colorado ple. It was likely the earliest formal grassroots Latino organization in the state. Community leaders formed this group to defend the community’s legal communal land rights, granted to them under the original Sangre de Cristo land grant and protected by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The communal land at the center of this activity was the mountainous portion of the original grant—named “La Sierra” by the locals. In addition to such grassroots activity, in the 1870s Latino politicians mobilized their influence in state government. In 1876, Casimiro Barela, Jesus Maria Garcia, and Agapito Vigil played crucial roles in the creation of Colorado’s Constitution at the Constitutional Convention. They lobbied successfully to have the state’s Constitution published in Spanish, English, and German. This apparent shift in the political winds—from the 1868 Territorial Court Ruling—underscores the ambivalence surrounding issues of race and citizenship in Colorado, as well as the political power wielded by Latino politicians. Interestingly, Latino politicians, such as Casimiro Barela and Agapito Vigil, also lobbied for women’s suffrage in Colorado.

LATINOS AND COLORADO’S SEGMENTED LABOR FORCE In addition to political challenges and accomplishments, the Gilded Age and Progressive Era in Colorado also brought industrialization. Latinos played crucial roles in the shaping of a modern industrialized Colorado. Many—especially those who had owned land in southern Colorado and who had depended on small-scale agriculture to make a living—soon found themselves without land. Crop failures, a poor cattle market, unscrupulous Anglo creditors, lawyers, and land speculators all contributed to this loss of land, forcing Latinos to seek work in other industries. Although some Latinos weathered the storms and remained on their own land—raising sheep and cattle—others migrated in search of wage work, to areas where mining, smelting, meat packing, and large-scale agriculture dominated. During the 1870s and 1880s, when the railroad arrived in southern Colorado, so did the coal mining companies. Latinos flocked to both industries in search of steady work. Those who found jobs with the railroad companies were relegated to low-wage track maintenance or section work. Latinos in the mining industry found similarly unskilled, low-paid work. Yet their numbers in the mining industry, in particular, continued to rise. By 1905, Latinos represented 11.5 percent of all Colorado Fuel and Iron mine workers, and by 1914, that number increased to 17.4 percent.2 By sheer numbers, they were a formidable presence. Mining companies also looked to Mexican labor to break strikes, especially during the 1903–1904 strikes in the coalfields of southern Colorado. The first 30 years of the twentieth century witnessed the diversification of Colorado’s Latino population, when about 45,000 Mexicans migrated to Colorado

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Latino America in search of jobs. These migrants were fleeing the economic and political chaos of the Mexican Revolution and were searching for opportunity in “El Norte,” especially during World War I, when labor demands were at an all-time high. They represented historical experiences that were quite different from Colorado’s native-born Latinos, and those differences would play out politically and socially. Nevertheless, both groups sought work in the agricultural, mining, steel, and smelter industries. By 1900, sugar beet companies, such as the National Sugar Company, were recruiting Mexican and Mexican American labor to work the beet fields in southern and northern Colorado. These companies established successful farms near southern towns such as La Junta, Rocky Ford, and Lamar, as well as northern towns such as Greeley, Erie, and Brighton. By 1927, Spanish-speaking workers made up 60 percent of the labor in the beet fields, as newspapers touted the biological characteristics that made Mexicans well-suited for such labor. As migrant laborers, Latinos encountered exploitive conditions and intense nativism. They found themselves living in segregated neighborhoods. And their children—considered unsanitary and intellectually inferior—were not welcome in “white” schools. Meanwhile, Latinos continued to work in Colorado’s mines, and they would do so well into the twentieth century. They worked the mines of southern Colorado, around the towns of Trinidad, Pueblo, and Walsenberg, as well as the northern coal fields in and around Boulder County—in towns such as Erie, Louisville, and Serene. Latinos partook in some of the most important labor strikes in the state’s history, such as the strike that led to the Ludlow Massacre, in which two women, eleven children, five miners, and one militiaman were killed. Latinos entered the steel industry in significant numbers. Like mining and agricultural companies, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation recruited Mexican immigrants and native-born Latinos to work in its steel mills. Triggered by the railroad and the influx of investment monies, the city of Pueblo became the iron and steel center of the west—an accomplishment made possible by foreign and native-born Latino labor. In the early twentieth century, the city’s Mexican migrant population increased by 2,500, in a period of 20 years. The smelting industry also drew many Latino wage workers. Smelters sprung up in many places throughout the state, such as Leadville and Durango, attracting Latino laborers. Within a few years, many of these smelter companies began to relocate to Denver to minimize their production and labor costs. As a result of this and other factors, Latinos arrived in Denver in larger numbers around the turn of the twentieth century, contributing to the ethnic and racial diversity of the city. Again, Latinos found themselves relegated to the bottom rungs of society and to certain sections of the city. By the mid-1920s, Latinos dominated the Auraria neighborhood on the west side of Denver. They formed a close-knit com-

Colorado munity, with neighborhood events revolving around St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church.

REPRESSION AND REGENERATION: DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II The Great Depression during the 1930s proved extremely challenging for Colorado’s Latino community on a variety of levels. Most obvious was the economic impact of the Depression on Latino wage-laborers, who were often the first employees released as Colorado’s industrial enterprises reacted to the economic crises. Moreover, persistent drought, combined with long-term unsustainable land use, exacerbated the dust bowls that afflicted the sugar-beet, cantaloupe, and other agricultural industries in the state’s eastern plains. This drove thousands of Latino laborers to seek relief from the state’s already over-taxed public welfare system. Nativism made Latinos the scapegoat for the social and economic disruptions that Coloradoans faced during this time. Such anger intensified when Colorado Governor Edwin C. Johnson declared martial law, ordering the state’s National Guard to the New Mexican border to prevent Latino migrant workers from entering Colorado. He also issued a call to deport undocumented workers. In other cases, local newspapers advocated for the internment of Latino “aliens” to “concentration camps.” In every instance, United States citizenship afforded Colorado’s Latinos little protection against public and private discrimination. Such actions reflected a series of national repatriation campaigns during the 1930s. In response, Latinos in both northern and southern Colorado formed mutual aid societies to combat the prejudice and exploitation that they faced. World War II proved to be a transformative time as wartime activities in the early 1940s rejuvenated the economy. As a result, thousands of Latinos permanently found their way to Colorado to work in wartime factories, meat-packing plants, ironfoundries, construction projects, federal government jobs, agriculture, and railroads. Denver, in particular, saw its Latino community burgeon from approximately 15,000 persons in 1940 to nearly 45,000 by 1950. Indeed, by the end of the 1940s, Denver possessed one of the largest concentrations of Latinos in New Mexico and Colorado. Denver’s Latinos encountered ambivalence in regard to their status as full and equal citizens. For example, throughout World War II Denver’s public bathhouses and swimming pools maintained an informal segregation policy that included separate days for Latinos. Similarly, Latinos encountered recalcitrant landlords who refused to lease or sell residential property to them. As a result, Latinos found themselves segregated (along with blacks and Japanese Americans) to some of the oldest and most poorly maintained neighborhoods in the west and east sides of the city. Yet Latinos also encountered a city that was ripe for change. In 1943, James Fresques became the first Latino to serve on Denver’s City Council. Three years later, Fresques’s council colleagues voted him as president of the council, where he served until 1958.

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Latino America Latinos continued to migrate to Denver and Colorado to work in an emerging Cold War economy, in which nonagricultural wage and salary employment rose at twice the rate of the national average. Latinos, however, did not share in the Cold War economic largesse. Remarkably, seven out of every ten residents in Denver’s poorest neighborhoods were Latino.3 By the 1960s, Latinos represented the most impoverished, most segregated, and least employable group in Colorado’s largest city.

LATINOS AND RACISM In response to the racial prejudice that they encountered, Colorado’s Latino communities maintained grassroots efforts to strengthen their communities. Though Colorado’s Latino community did not have active local chapters of national Latino organizations (e.g., GI Forum, League of United Latin American Citizens) until the middle of the 1960s, Colorado’s Latinos engaged in efforts to forge interracial coalitions, with other marginalized groups and organizations such as the Unity Council, Urban League, and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith to advocate for equal civil rights. Mexican Americans such as Bert Gallegos, Bernard Valdez, and Lino Lopez were instrumental in the movement for fair employment and fair housing legislation in the state. Other Latinos joined with the state’s small, but influential, black community in protesting police brutality and police profiling. By the 1950s and early 1960s, Colorado’s Latinos also recognized the importance of intra-community organization. Accordingly, organizations such as the Good Americans Organization, Latin American Educational Fund, and the United Latin American Organization served as the precursors to a more sustained Latino politics. The United Latin American Organization, for instance, provided insight into the politics that would emerge out of Denver’s segregated and racialized barrios. Accordingly, the organization challenged publicly held perceptions about the “criminality” of the city’s Latino community. Organizing its members around the concept of la raza (the people), the United Latin American Organization invoked a nascent concept of race in its rights agenda, which came to also include discrimination in employment, housing, and public education. In rural areas, grassroots activities continued as well. Such activity reflected the complexity and confusion created by layers of legal and political conquest in the Southwest. In the 1940s and 1950s, the town of San Luis mobilized again to protect its land rights and to seek legal validation of them. The community formed organizations that would provide a foundation for later, more radical Latino political organizing in the 1960s and 1970s, which surfaced as a result of many factors. This more radical Latino activism arose in both rural and urban centers in the 1960s and 1970s, with certain areas emerging as hotbeds of Chicano activism. Among rural areas, San Luis saw some of the most intense political organizing. The issue was again land rights—an issue stemming from the Mexican land grant system. In 1965, the Colorado District Court dealt a blow to the San Luis commu-

Colorado nity when it ruled in favor of a process to extinguish the town’s communal land rights to a portion of the original Mexican grant, which had become known as La Sierra. Following this moral and legal defeat, organized political activity gave way to vigilante-type violence between residents who refused to submit to the ruling and those who fought to uphold it. Violence similarly marked the experiences of Latinos in Denver after a series of deadly altercations between police and Latinos in the city in the early 1960s. Such tensions compelled Latinos to consider radically different alternatives to securing the civil rights of the community. The most visible spokesman in this regard was Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales. A former prize-fighter who had achieved prominence in the local Democratic Party, Gonzales organized Denver and southwestern Latinos around the concept and term Chicano. In 1966, Gonzales and other Denver area activists established the Crusade for Justice (Crusade) to promote the interests and values of the city’s Chicano community. Significantly, the organization was founded on the belief that Mexican Americans represented a distinct racial group. In his epic poem “Yo Soy Joaquin” (I Am Joaquin), Gonzales outlines the mosaic of different cultures and different racialized people that make up the Chicano community.

Young Latino activists march in Rudolfo “Corky” Gonzales’ funeral procession, April 2005, Denver. Courtesy of Nicki Gonzales, Regis University.

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Latino America Moreover, the Crusade embraced the concepts of self-determination and nationalism to mobilize the Latino community. In March of 1969, the Crusade organized Latino youth from throughout the United States for the First National Youth Liberation Conference in Denver. During this conference, participants drafted El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán–a Chicano declaration of independence. Accordingly, the preamble to the document focused directly on the importance of race to the Chicano political project:

In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage, but also of the brutal “Gringo” invasion of our territories, We, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlán, from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth. . . . We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows, and by our hearts. Aztlán belongs to those that plant the seed, water the fields, and gather the crops, and not the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the Bronze continent.4

The project of Chicano nationalism was further fleshed out in two subsequent National Youth Liberation Conferences, in Denver in 1970 and 1971, where Latino youth committed themselves to creating an independent La Raza Unida political party, to establishing land banks for economic development, and to petitioning the United Nations for partition of 54 percent of the lands held by the U.S. government in the forests of New Mexico. Constant violence between the police and cultural nationalists in Denver’s Latino community throughout the 1970s, however, sapped much of the energy out of some of the most transformative elements of Colorado’s urban Chicano Movement. As a result, the battle for equity and access turned to nonpolitical, but equally contested, forums. Particularly acute was the segregation of Latinos in Denver’s neighborhoods and public schools, which in 1973 compelled the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the first non-southern school desegregation case in Keyes v. School District Number One. One issue that particularly troubled the courts was whether Latinos were to be considered white or non-white for school desegregation purposes. As the court ultimately concluded, Latinos experienced the same consequences as black students of segregation. Though the origins of racial segregation were different, the case revealed that predominantly black and Latino schools received the oldest textbooks, the poorest equipment, and, often times, only vocational curriculums that made the academic level in such schools lag a year or two below that of the white schools. Moreover, Latino students encountered hostile attitudes to Mexican culture and the Spanish language in the classroom. Tension had become so great that in 1969, hundreds of Latino students walked out of schools to protest such discrim-

Colorado ination. The walk-out and subsequent violent suppression by the Denver Police Department highlighted the various ways that Latino students became educationally, as well as physically, segregated from their white peers. In response, the court in Keyes fashioned a district-wide remedy for the entire Denver Public School System that recognized the distinct needs of Latino students in the city. Ordering not only bussing, the court also adopted a plan that provided for bilingual and multicultural programs in the entire district. Though this decision to provide a Chicano-centered desegregation plan was overturned on appeal, Denver’s Latinos fundamentally repositioned the way that the nation’s courts would understand the legal rights of the community.

EQUITY AND ACCESS AT THE END

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TWENTIETH CENTURY

The same radical politics of Chicano nationalism spilled over into rural San Luis when, in 1978, three Chicano activists formed the Land Rights Council of San Luis to fight for the return of the town’s communal land rights—rights that were taken away in a 1965 District Court decision. The LRC’s founders—Ray Otero, Shirley Romero-Otero, and Apolinar Rael—seized upon the electric atmosphere of the day and formed an organization dedicated to using the legal system as a tool to achieve validation of their lost rights. Twenty-four years after its founding, the LRC emerged victorious. In 2002 the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Latino residents of San Luis and validated their communal land rights—essentially overturning the 1965 District Court ruling. The precedent-setting decision changed the way the state’s courts view Spanish-language documents, Mexican law and customs, and Mexican land grants. In 2004, the United States Supreme Court further legitimized the State Court’s ruling when it refused to hear appeals by the other side, allowing the lower court’s ruling to stand. Within hours of the decision, descendants of the original settlers on the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant entered La Sierra for the first time in decades. The San Luis victory stands as one of the most significant events in the history of Colorado’s Latino population. At the same time, Colorado’s Latinos made other notable accomplishments. Of all of the achievements, the most prominent was the election of Democratic State Senator Federico Peña as Mayor of Denver in 1983. Peña was born in Laredo, Texas and moved to Denver in 1973 to work with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund on desegregating Denver’s public schools. In 1979 Peña was elected to the state legislature, where, in his second term, he became the leader of the State Senate’s minority Democrats. Although a fast riser in the Democratic Party’s ranks, Peña was still relatively new to the city and did not have the long-standing political ties of his opponents. In spite of the odds against him, Peña ran his mayoral campaign on a broad-based platform that focused on civil rights, city planning, and economic development. As the centerpiece of his

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Latino America vision, Peña asked Denver voters to “imagine a great city” centered on an ambitious center-city concept that mixed new construction, historic preservation, and racial as well as social equality of the City and County of Denver’s diverse groups. Peña’s vision resonated with Denver’s electorate. On Election Day in 1983, more than 63 percent of registered voters in the City and County of Denver came out to vote—a record that has yet to be matched in Denver’s mayoral history. Peña, with the near unanimous support of Latinos and other groups of color, became the City and County of Denver’s first Latino mayor. The Peña administration proved to be a watershed in Denver’s history, preparing the city for the challenges of the new millennium. In his 8 years as mayor of Denver, Peña tirelessly promoted nationally renowned large-scale public works projects—including the Denver International Airport, the Denver Convention Center, the upscale Cherry Creek shopping district, development of a new main library, and the completion of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as the largest theater complex in the nation outside of New York’s Lincoln Center—while also driving a realignment in the racial politics of the city. Most importantly, Peña and his administration quietly pushed racial and social equality in all levels of city government. Although Peña’s administration was not without controversy, his detractors conceded that he opened “the door so wide that when two black men ran to succeed him, the color of their skin never became a campaign issue.”5 In spite of the many accomplishments of Latinos at the end of the twentieth century, many long-standing residents and recent Spanish-speaking newcomers to the state continued to encounter political, social, and institutional barriers in the state. As was true throughout most of the twentieth century, Latinos are Colorado’s largest and fastest-growing non-White community. Yet poverty, nativism, racial profiling, and educational inequity too often define the contemporary experiences of Latinos in the state. As they have done historically, Latinos undoubtedly will continue to resist their marginalization and stake their claim in shaping the history of Colorado and of the nation.

NOTABLE LATINOS Sandoval, Teresita (1811–1894). Sandoval was one of the founders of El Pueblo trading center in 1842. This multiracial trading and agricultural community would later be known as Pueblo, Colorado. Chacon, Raphael (1833–1925). A farmer, rancher, merchant, sheriff, politician, soldier, and author, Chacon’s memoirs in the early 1900s provide a unique and rare glimpse of this tumultuous period from a Latino perspective. Chacon served several terms in the Colorado Territorial Legislature. He resided in Trinidad, where he operated a ranch until his death. Barela, Casimiro (1847–1920). Barela was a politician, newspaperman, community leader, Las Animas County Justice of the Peace, assessor, and territorial representa-

Colorado tive. In 1875 he served as a delegate to Colorado’s Constitutional Convention. In 1876 he was elected to his first term as state senator. He printed two Spanishlanguage newspapers—one in Trinidad and one in Denver. He served 37 years in the Colorado Senate. Rael, Apolinar (1899–1993). Rael, a native of San Luis, served as a community organizer, a Chicano movement-era activist, a rancher, and cofounder of the Land Rights Council of San Luis in 1978. He would be the heart and soul of the San Luis land rights movement, even after his death. Valdez, Bernard (1912–1997). The Manager for the Denver Department of Social Services from 1963 through 1979, Valdez served on the National Council of Community Relations (Department of Justice), National Advisory Committee on Mexican-American Education, and select committees on Educational Opportunity and Bilingual-Bicultural Education. Sanchez, Francisco “Paco” (1915–1973). Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sanchez was the radio voice of Denver’s Mexican and Mexican American communities until his death. Along with Levi Beall, Sanchez founded Denver’s first Spanish-language radio station, KFSC, in 1954, where he was known for his biting commentary. Tafoya, Charles (unknown–1999). The executive director of the Latin American Research and Service Agency from 1967–1973, Tafoya was a leader in Denver’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the AFL-CIO, Latin American Education Foundation, American G.I. Forum, Metropolitan Fair Housing Center, Westminster Elks, East Side Health Board, American Legion, Colorado Business Advisory Council, Adams County Improvement Association, and the Disabled American Veterans. Gonzales, Rodolfo “Corky” (1928–2005). Gonzales, an author, activist, and prizefighter, organized Denver’s and the Southwest’s Mexican American community around Chicano nationalism. Born and raised in Denver’s east side, where he had a dramatic rise and eventual break with the local Democratic Party, Gonzales and the organization he founded—the Crusade for Justice—symbolized widespread discontent with the tenants of modern liberalism. Otero, Ray (1945–). Born in Fruita, Colorado, Otero served as an army paratrooper during the early years of the Vietnam War. After military service, he became active in the Chicano Movement. He first became a vocal advocate for educational equity on Colorado’s Western Slope. He later joined ranks with Reyes Tijerina in the New Mexican Land Grant Movement. Recruited by local activists in San Luis, Colorado, he relocated to that community and became integral to its land grant movement. As cofounder of the Land Rights Council of San Luis in 1978, Otero would help bring about the legal victory in 2002 that ended the struggle over land rights. Peña, Federico (1947–). Peña served as the City and County of Denver’s first and only Mexican American mayor. A former state-senator and lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Peña served as secretary of transportation under President Bill Clinton. Falcón, Ricardo (1950–1972). Falcón today stands as one of the most well-known martyrs of the Chicano Movement. A Chicano activist, focused mainly on Chicano issues

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Latino America in rural northeastern Colorado, he was murdered at age 22 en route to the La Raza Unida Party convention in El Paso, Texas, in 1972. Today, his name is synonymous with the Chicano struggle for justice. Romero-Otero, Shirley (1950–). A native of San Luis, Romero-Otero first learned of the Chicano Movement through a college Chicano history class. She took what she learned and became an inspiring advocate for the San Luis land rights movement. In 1978 she cofounded the Land Rights Council of San Luis and became a lifelong Chicana civil rights activist and community organizer. She is also a dedicated educator and advocate for educational equity on Colorado’s Western Slope. Falcón, Pricilla (1951–). The widow of slain activist Ricardo Falcón, Pricilla Falcón is a Chicano studies professor at the University of Northern Colorado and a well-known community activist. Garcia, Tony (1953–). Since 1974, Garcia has served as the artistic director of El Centro Su Teatro—Denver’s Chicano theater troupe. In 1991 he became Executive Director, and assumed both titles in 1996. El Centro Su Teatro is the third-oldest Latino theater troupe in the country. Garcia is also a well-respected playwright, author, professor, and recipient of numerous national theater awards.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Whether one is driving along Denver’s Federal Boulevard in September, enjoying the smell of roasting chiles verdes, or watching the Aztec dancers perform at Denver’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, one cannot help but relish the rich cultural contributions of Latinos in the religious, leisure, and architectural realms, as well as on the nomenclature of the state. Latinos have left an indelible mark on Colorado religious practice. Urban Catholic parishes—among them St. Cajetan’s and Our Lady of Guadalupe—have served Denver’s Latino neighborhoods and provide a forum in which residents celebrate their cultural uniqueness and, at times, organize themselves around political issues, such as civil rights or immigrant advocacy. Traditional religious institutions—such as Los Hermanos Penitentes, a lay brotherhood with roots in rural Southern Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century—still exist. Meanwhile, religious rituals such as “Las Posadas”—the Christmas Eve reenactment of Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter— continue to thrive in both rural Latino communities and urban Latino parishes. The Latino influence on Colorado’s cultural celebrations is vast. Denver’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration is one of the largest in the nation, as the city sponsors a three-day fiesta in its Civic Center Park—complete with Mexican music, dances, food, and an outdoor Catholic mass. Although not as large, events surrounding 16 de Septiembre commemorate, in particular, the lives of Latino activists who have struggled for justice and equality. In the arts, Latinos have certainly made their mark on Colorado. In 1971, Su Teatro was founded. Today it is known as El Centro Su Teatro—the third-oldest

Colorado Chicano Theater troupe in the United States. The group is currently raising money to build a $3.5 million arts complex along Denver’s Santa Fe Drive, which in recent years has become a haven for art galleries and theater, including the renowned Museo de las Américas. Colorado is well known for its active lifestyle, and Latinos have contributed to this lifestyle through their contributions to various sports. A long tradition of boxing—both in rural and urban Latino communities—exists, and Latino boxers trained in local programs have achieved national prominence. An equally rich tradition of wrestling at the high school level exists, and Latino wrestlers have consistently been at the top of the sport. More recently, the meteoric rise in the popularity of soccer in Colorado has mirrored the growth of its Latino population. Some of the best-attended sporting events are those in which Mexican soccer teams play against the Major League Soccer franchise, the Colorado Rapids. Perhaps most telling of all, the worldfamous National Western Stock Show in Denver is highlighted by the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganzas that celebrate the significant reliance on Latino vaqueros to Colorado’s cattle culture and industry. To be sure, the name of the state of Colorado, and vivid place names such as La Junta, Las Animas, Buena Vista, Del Norte, Alamosa, and Sangre de Cristo, speaks to the ubiquitous influence of Latino life in the mile high state.

NOTES 1. A vara is an archaic unit of Spanish land measurement. One vara strip was about 33.3 inches wide and up to several miles long. 2. Deutsch, 1987, 26–33. 3. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, “Characteristics of Families Residing in ‘Poverty Areas,” March 1966. 4. http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/mecha/archive/plan.html. 5. Borderick and Ann Carnahan, “Mayor Built on Dreams of Great City: Even Detractors Agree He’ll Be Remembered for Big Projects, Topped by 2.4 Billion Airport,” Rocky Mountain News, June 23, 1991.

BIBLIOGRAPHY De Baca, Vincent C. La Gente: Hispano History and Life in Colorado. Denver: Colorado Historical Society, 1998. Deutsch, Sarah. No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class, and Gender on an Anglo-Hispanic Frontier in the American Southwest, 1880–1940. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Gonzales, Nicki M. “‘Sin Tierra, No Hay Libertad’: The Land Rights Council and the Battle for La Sierra, San Luis, Colorado, 1863–2002.” PhD diss., University of Colorado at Boulder, 2007.

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Latino America Johnston, Dick. The Taylor Ranch War: Property Rights Die. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2006. Latin American Research and Service Agency (LARASA). http://www.larasa.org/about/ History/LARASA-History/history.htm. Lee, Chungmei. “Denver Public Schools: Resegregation, Latino Style.” Harvard University, Civil Rights Project, 2006. http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/deseg/ denver_reseg.php. Lopez-Tushar, Olibama. The People of El Valle: A History of the Spanish Colonials in the San Luis Valley. Pueblo, CO: El Escritorio, 1997. Romero II, Tom I. “Colorado’s Centennial Constitution and the Ambivalent Promise of Human Rights and Social Equality.” Albany Law Review 69, no. 101 (2006): 569–579. ———. “Of Race and Rights: Legal Culture, Social Change, and the Making of a Multiracial Metropolis, Denver, 1940–1975.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2004. ———. “‘Our Selma is Here’: The Political and Legal Struggle for Educational Equality in Denver, Colorado, and Multiracial Dilemmas in American Jurisprudence.” Seattle Journal of Social Justice 3 (Fall–Winter 2004): 73–142. Vigil, Ernesto B. The Crusade for Justice: Chicano Militancy and the Government’s War on Dissent. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1999.

7 CONNECTICUT Tricia Gabany-Guerrero

CHRONOLOGY 1524 1654

1733

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1795

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1812 1830

Estevam Gomes de Santo (Portuguese Mariner) is sent by the Spanish Crown to explore the northeast coast of the New World. The General Court of Connecticut becomes so alarmed by the number of barrels of rum flooding into its ports that it bans the import of “whatsoever Barbados liquors” to protect the small distillers of New England and begins confiscating the cargos of “rum runners.” England’s parliament passes the Molasses Act, which imposes a duty on molasses in an attempt to control manufacture of rum. New England colonists ignore it, smuggling supplies for their distilleries from the French and Spanish West Indies. The Spanish Ship Case is heard in the court of New London. A local, unnamed “Spanish Jew” is a key translator in a case involving Spanish ships with valuable cargo from Honduras destined for Cadiz, Spain. Caesar Shaw, “a free Negro Mariner,” receives a Seaman’s Protection Certificate in New London. Shaw then sails aboard the Sloop Betsy, John Webb, master, for a voyage from New London to the West Indies. The cargo of brig Caroline (master Elihu Cotton)–on her return to Middletown, Connecticut, from a voyage to Jamaica—consisted of rum and sugar. Rum and Molasses imported from Puerto Rico to New London, Middletown, and Glastonbury. The first Latin American student enrolls at Yale University.

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1914–1915 1916

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The Amistad, a Spanish slave ship that sailed from Cuba, arrives in New Haven. A logbook kept by Abanson Fournier on board the ship Stonington of New London, George W. Hamley, master, for a voyage from Tasmania to the Pacific Ocean whaling grounds, documents that during the voyage the ship was commandeered at San Diego, California, for Mexican war service. Captain Hamley was captured at San Blas, Mexico, and Alanson Fournier took command for the passage home. U.S. census reveals that New Haven and Hartford rank among the top 50 cities for population in the nation. Both cities register foreign-born populations from Latin America and the Caribbean. New London County records more people (167) from the Atlantic Islands than any other place in Connecticut. Hiram Bingham directs expedition from Yale University to Peru and excavates Machu Pichu. A soldier in Bridgeport, who identifies himself as Portuguese (originally from St. Vincent in the Caribbean), serves as a Buffalo Soldier in the U.S. invasion of Mexico at the Battle of Carrizal, Chihuahua, Mexico. Jones Act: Recognition of Puerto Ricans as having U.S. citizenship rights increases migration from the island to the mainland, including Connecticut.

Connecticut 1952 1967

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1974 1974–1975

1977

1978

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1984 1996 1997 2001

First Puerto Rican farmworkers are flown in to Hartford. The Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury is founded by a group of Latino community leaders as a civic center to preserve their languages and culture. The Spanish Action Coalition is founded in Hartford. Urban protests and rioting occur in Hartford. Junta for Progressive Action, Inc. is founded as New Haven’s oldest Latino, community-based organization. La Escuelita, the first bilingual/bicultural school, is founded in Hartford as a result of the efforts of María Sánchez, Professor Perry Alan Zirkel (University of Hartford), and community members such as Esther Jiménez, Antonio Soto, and Edna Negrón. Casa Boriqua is created at Yale University to provide cultural center and living space for Puerto Rican students. The San Juan Center, under the direction of Yasha Escalera, is founded to provide community services to Puerto Ricans. Connecticut Association for United Spanish Action (CAUSA) is founded. CAUSA is a membership organization for Latino social service agencies. Governor Ella Grasso establishes the first Special Assistant for Puerto Rican Affairs under the Governor’s Office. La Casa de Puerto Rico files suit against the Hartford Fire Department for discrimination against Puerto Ricans. Three Kings Day, January 6, is made an official school holiday in Hartford. The Hispanic Health Council is founded in Hartford to integrate public advocacy; high-level, community-based research; and research-based service to provide outstanding care to the poor and underserved. The Connecticut Association of Latinos in Higher Education (CALAHE) is established as a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the participation of Latinos in different areas of post-secondary education in Connecticut. Membership is composed of Latino and non-Latino personnel and students from institutions of higher and secondary education, as well as other professional organizations that share in the spirit of the organization. Humanidad Inc. is founded in Rocky Hill to provide bilingual/bicultural educational and residential services, as well as advocacy and health care for persons with disabilities. American Thread Company closes in Willimantic and many Puerto Rican workers become unemployed. Connecticut has 13 elected and appointed Latino officials. The Bridge Academy, an important educational institution for Latinos, is established in Bridgeport. Eddie Alberto Pérez is elected the first Latino Mayor of Hartford and is reelected in 2007.

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Day laborers from Ecuador are detained by immigration raids in Danbury and become known as the Danbury 11. Connecticut has 27 elected and appointed Latino officials. From June 6 to 11, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts immigration raids that detain 32 people in New Haven after passage of the Elm City Resident Card (New Haven ID card open to all residents). The card provides the opportunity for people without a driver’s license or other form of identification to access municipal and banking services. Connecticut legislature passes the Dream Act to allow undocumented students, with special criteria, the option to apply for and enroll in state higher education institutions by paying in-state tuition. The measure is vetoed by Governor Jodi Rell. The State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission releases a socioeconomic report based on a statewide study.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Connecticut’s relationships with Latin American and Caribbean populations are riddled with U.S. historical engagement in the political and economic affairs of the peoples of this geographic region. From the early trade relationships established during the Connecticut Colony to recent demands for low-wage laborers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Connecticut has played an important role in the migration histories of contemporary Latino populations. Connecticut’s largest ethnic minority is Latinos, surpassing African Americans for the first time in the 2000 census. Within this population, the majority of Latinos in 2000 were Puerto Ricans (194,443), followed by Mexicans (23,484), and Colombians (12,009). The Puerto Rican population has historically been and currently is the largest Latino population in the state. The composition and heterogeneity of the Latino population, however, is changing rapidly. Connecticut individuals of Latin American or Caribbean origin whose populations were estimated to have grown at greater than 50 percent rates during the period from 2000 to 2006 were: Uruguayans, Guatemalans, Brazilians, Ecuadorans, Bolivians, Salvadorans, Argentineans, Peruvians, and Mexicans. The highest population increases, as opposed to growth rates, were from Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and Guatemala, in that order. Negative growth rates were registered for people from Barbados, Cuba, Venezuela, Guyana, Chile, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. In Hartford, 40 percent of the population is Latino; the majority of residents is Puerto Rican and second is Peruvian. Peru was the first Latin American country to establish a permanent consulate in Hartford. Although growing in number, South Americans, especially from Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil, still remain minority populations and are concentrated in the western

Connecticut part of the state. As examples, the largest population of Guatemalans is found in Stamford (3,971), and Brazilians are concentrated in Danbury (4,158). Although research on urban populations predominates in the literature, rural communities in Connecticut have also seen increases in more economically marginalized populations from Latin America, particularly from Amerindian communities. Working on dairy, chicken, vegetable, and flower (green) farms and hidden from public view, it is likely that many rural workers were not counted in the 2000 census.1 The high cost and scarcity of housing in Connecticut also facilitates cross-border housing arrangements in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island for Latin American and Caribbean day-workers in Connecticut.

BACKGROUND The earliest known explorer to the Connecticut coastline was a Portuguese captain, Estevam (Estevão) Gomes de Santo (name changed in Spain to Esteban Gomez). Gomes sailed with Ferdinand Magellan and returned on a mutiny ship. Although he was imprisoned in Spain until Magellan’s remaining crew testified to the horrors of the trip, he was given command of an exploratory Spanish voyage to the northeast coast of the New World in 1524.2 Commanding the ship La Anunciada, Gomes produced the most accurate known maps of what became the New England coastlines. Gomes’s descriptions and maps were documented by Diego Ribero,3 and his records were used by Humfray Gylbert (Gilbert). After the initial European territorial disputes4 over the colonization of Native American lands in New England, and specifically Connecticut, British domination prevailed by the 1700s. The circuits of trade between Europe, the Caribbean, and New England, especially at port centers such as New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport, served as important places for interaction for British commerce. The sea trade of rum, molasses, tobacco, sugar, and slaves was an important part of Connecticut’s early history. Once England declared sovereignty over the Connecticut colony, foreign ships were forbidden to land except in distress. Such was the case in an instance in 1752, when damaged Spanish ships loaded with gold, silver, indigo, and other precious cargo were basically shipwrecked at New London. Although the case surrounding the ship itself is the focus of the pamphlet (Mather Hooker, 1934), the fate of the crew—probably the first Spanish-speaking migrants into the New London region—and an intriguing unnamed personality referred to as a “Spanish Jew” who serves as a local translator, represent the first known instances of Spanish-speaking migrants into the Connecticut region.5 The Connecticut colony was deeply engaged with the West Indies trade (over 43 percent of cargo in 1769). Connecticut shipped livestock, packed meat, poultry, flour, wood, and cheese, principally to the ports of Barbados,

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Latino America Antigua, Turks Island, Saint Kitts, Saint Martin, and Saltanilla. Molasses, tobacco, sugar, and rum were the principal imports. With only a brief decline during the disruptions in trade during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, Connecticut continued to strengthen its trade ties with the West Indies during the nineteenth century.6 Because tobacco became an important product in trade and labor involving Connecticut, it receives special treatment here. Tobacco is one of the defining commodities for the history of Connecticut Latino populations. Tobacco was cultivated along the Connecticut River Basin by Native Americans long before European colonization, but the demand for tobacco both within the colony and in England grew quickly during the seventeenth century. It appears that as the tobacco industry grew and consolidated, particularly during the nineteenth century, federal taxes on tobacco became an important source of revenue for the U.S. government. Whereas the southern tobacco industry was directly connected to slave labor, in Connecticut the industry appears to have depended on new migrants and, within this group, on children and women laborers for processing. A hallmark event in the history of relations between the Caribbean and Connecticut occurred when the Spanish ship Amistad, which, bound for Cuba with illegally procured slaves from Mendeland (Africa), was escorted into the New London harbor by a U.S. ship in 1839. The ensuing trial of the slaves who had rebelled against their Spanish captors engaged and mobilized the abolitionist movement in Connecticut and centered Connecticut within a national debate about slavery.7 Although the slave trade was abolished in England and the British Colonies in 1807 and in Mexico in 1829, the Spanish Caribbean colonies, as well as the United States, continued to depend upon this institution until late in the nineteenth century.8 Despite the relationship between slavery and commodities, trade between Connecticut and the Caribbean continued to flourish. The trade connections between Puerto Rican and Connecticut ports may have involved direct migration from both Mayaguez and Ponce to New Haven, Connecticut. An example of migration is evidenced by the wealthy Puerto Rican family of José de Rivera Sanjurjo, who established an elegant residence in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1844.9 Connecticut soldiers were directly engaged in the war with Mexico (declared in May, 1846) with recruits in the First and Second Artillery regiments as well as the infantry. The Ninth Regiment (the Irish Brigade) specifically served in the war with Mexico. An important figure in the political history of Connecticut, Major Seymour, was directly involved in the invasion of Mexico City and led one of the charges on the Castillo de Chapultepec. He later returned to Connecticut to become governor in 1850. Later in the nineteenth century (1898), Connecticut soldiers serving in the First Connecticut National Guard were deployed to fight in the Spanish-American War, which resulted in the acquisition of Puerto Rico as a territory of the United States.

Connecticut Although a few elite Latin American and Caribbean students attended Yale University during the 1800s, it is believed that most migrants to Connecticut were a result of trade relations. It is unclear exactly how many people of Latin American and Caribbean origin lived in Connecticut during its early history, but the 1870 census illustrates that migration had already begun.10 Ship records from Connecticut ports provide a rich record of passengers and trade relations. Several records show transport of Puerto Ricans to New Haven, specifically.11 Perhaps surprisingly, New London County recorded the largest number of people (169) from the “Atlantic Islands,” presumably the West Indies, in Connecticut.12 The relationship between the “Atlantic Islands” and Connecticut is perhaps best reflected in the documentation of the importance of trade in rum and sugar. The Connecticut economy in general, and the ports and rivers in particular, focused on the trade in rum, dry goods, tobacco, and sugar.13 The early twentieth century is pocketed with Connecticut interaction with the peoples and places of Latin America and the Caribbean. Yale University professor Hiram Bingham directed an expedition to Peru in 1914 and 1915. His partial excavation of the site of Machu Pichu, high in the Andes, resulted in the importation of thousands of artifacts from Peru. The intellectual exchanges as a result of Hiram Bingham’s expeditions resulted in long-term connections between Peru and Connecticut. In 2006, Peruvian officials began discussions with Yale University for the return of artifacts about 90 years after Bingham’s expedition. One of the earliest cases of Latin American and Caribbean migration to Connecticut involves a soldier by the name of Apolinario Pinkeiro. Pinkeiro was born on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in 1893 and registered his ethnicity as Portuguese. He migrated to Bridgeport, enlisted in the Army, and was honorably discharged in 1919. His service is recorded as a Buffalo Soldier in the U.S. invasion of Mexico at the Battle of Carrizal, Chihuahua, Mexico. Pinkeiro’s experience illustrates how his multicultural background was translated into one racial category; according to his skin color and the social construction of race in Connecticut, Pinkeiro was considered “colored” and inscribed into the Buffalo Soldier unit, despite his registration as a Portuguese native of St. Vincent. In 1917, the passage of the Jones Act provided U.S. citizenship rights for Puerto Ricans who migrated from the island to the mainland, including Connecticut. This increased the benefits for laborers who decided to make the transition to the mainland and discouraged the maintenance of residence in Puerto Rico, where neither an elected governor nor the right to vote in federal elections existed. A military service record for Alescander Cornelius from Bridgeport is an example of the service of Caribbean migrants in World War I. He was born in St. Croise, Virgin Islands, and listed himself as colored and Episcopal. Cornelius was married to Nanie Scott from Danville at A.M.E. Zion Church in Bridgeport and worked as a laborer at American Tube and Stamping Co.14 Another military service record lists Horton Dockendorff as born in the United States, but his

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Latino America father Abel was from Lima, Peru. Dockendorff characterizes himself as white, Congregationalist, and single. He served as a sergeant in World War I in France and worked as a clerk at Winchester Repeating Arms Co. in New Haven both before and after the war.15 When child labor laws forbade the use of children in the tobacco industry, recruitment of African Americans from the South by tobacco agricultural firms supplied the growth of the industry during World War I. During the depression, newly migrated European laborers (youth and adults) also labored in the tobacco fields. Connecticut’s child labor laws had no statutory age limits and therefore, up through 1944, Connecticut’s farmers brought children, up to 1,000 African American boys each summer from the South, to “work camps” on farms.16 The University of Connecticut’s agricultural experiment stations played key research roles in providing the tobacco industry with enhanced techniques for cultivating shade tobacco and in managing the tobacco agricultural operation. Relationships between Latin America, the Caribbean, and tobacco growers were evident in the growth of the industry. Although the shade tobacco industry’s best profits were during the 1920s, several large companies operated profitable operations in Connecticut within the Shade Tobacco Growers Association. The growers housed workers in migrant camps along the Connecticut River Valley in northern Connecticut.17 Some of the tobacco was grown and processed in Connecticut, but after World War I tobacco was also shipped to the Dominican Republic, where workers processed the tobacco into smokable commodities that were reimported into the United States for sale. Connections with South America also existed as newly developed Ecuadorian seed cultivars were annually imported to Connecticut. During World War II, Jamaicans were recruited to work in the tobacco industry in Connecticut and they settled just outside the tobacco farms in Bloomfield. As part of the War Food Administration, Connecticut was one of the largest importers (2,053 workers in 1945) of Jamaican labor to support the tobacco industry. An additional 1,001 Jamaicans were recruited to work in over 24 industrial businesses in Connecticut in 1945.18 Jamaicans risked their lives to come to work in Connecticut during World War II. After many Jamaicans served building and maintaining the Panama Canal under the direction of the United States, they were shipped on war boats through the Gulf of Mexico, while evading German U-boat attacks, and up the Mississippi River.19 In 1957 Kenneth Jones, a member of the House of Representatives in the Jamaican Parliament, made a visit to the mayor of Hartford to lobby for more Jamaican workers in Connecticut. He commented on potential tensions between Jamaicans and Puerto Ricans over work opportunities in the tobacco industry and emphasized that Jamaicans would work harder to retain the privilege of annually returning to the United States.20 Puerto Ricans were recruited as part of Operation Bootstrap. This industrial stimulation plan decreased Puerto Rican sugar and agricultural production and

Connecticut attempted to stimulate industrial production by granting tax breaks to companies that relocated to Puerto Rico. The number of Puerto Ricans displaced from farming, however, did not match the low numbers and low wages of jobs created through the industrialization program. In order to mediate the growing labor force and income deficit, Puerto Ricans were flown into Connecticut in 1952 to support tobacco, textile, metalwork, and agricultural industries in Windsor, Hartford, and Waterbury. There appears to have been virtually no state-wide planning for the educational, health, and cultural needs of the new Puerto Rican population in the state.21 The influx of the large number of Puerto Ricans in Connecticut grew exponentially from 1950 to 2007, with Connecticut now ranking with the largest percentage of Puerto Ricans in the United States and Hartford with the largest per capita population outside of Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans were employed in four major areas of Connecticut’s economy: a declining manufacturing sector, that included the textile industry (such as American Thread in Willimantic); small manufacturing in Waterbury; the poultry industry (dominated by Hartford Poultry22 and later Kof-Koff Egg Farms); and tobacco farms. Hartford became the closest urban center for Puerto Ricans who decided to settle in Connecticut after participating in the tobacco industry, whereas Waterbury and Bridgeport became destinations for the Puerto Rican outmigration from New York City that largely began in the 1960s. The service industry, tobacco seasonal work, and blue-collar jobs provided the basis for the community’s economic survival in Hartford. The religious community, including both Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations, participated in serving the growing Spanish-speaking community in Hartford. In 1959, the director of the San Juan Puerto Rican Catholic Center in Hartford, Attorney Joseph Kenny, in collaboration with the Connecticut Council of Churches, called for the Connecticut legislature to investigate the living and working conditions of migrant farmworkers. Raoul Mercado, a social worker at the center, also testified that thousands of Puerto Rican migrant farmworkers were forced to live in conditions without running water, sanitation, or cooking facilities.23 In 1960, The Greater Hartford Council of Churches provided leadership in creating positions to serve the community, at both staff and pastoral levels.24 Willimantic’s Latino population became predominately Puerto Rican in the 1960s, as they were recruited to work in the thread mill and then in the surrounding poultry and landscape agribusinesses. With the decline and eventual closure of the thread mill, Willimantic became an increasingly economically depressed community. With very few options for advancement in the workforce, many Puerto Ricans remained in the changing poultry industry and found new employment venues in agriculture—such as the mushroom industry (closed in 2007)— education, and the landscape (green) industry. During the 1940s Cubans were reported to have participated in foundry work in Waterbury.25 Perhaps this is why Connecticut was chosen as one of the many

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Latino America destinations for political refugees in the 1960s. The largest influx into Connecticut occurred as part of the U.S. airlift of Cubans exiting after the success of the Cuban Revolution. From 1965 to 1966, 1,627 Cubans were formally resettled in Connecticut.26 Migration from the Dominican Republic, frequently through New York City, also became part of the growing heterogeneity of the Latino population in Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1960s. In this case, urban women appear to have formed the backbone of this new immigrant group into the Waterbury economy, in contrast with the largely rural farming experience of the first Puerto Rican migrants into the community.27 Expatriate participation in D.R. elections has substantially increased since the granting of dual citizenship status in 1996. The Hartford riots, which broke out in 1969, provide a venue for discussing the difficulties that the Puerto Rican community faced in terms of police brutality, political neglect, and community representation. In 1970 the Hartford Courant began a Spanish-language column that addressed the specific concerns of the growing Latino community. The first issue noted the continued low levels of Puerto Rican and black employees on the police force. The monumental changes that occurred as a result of Puerto Rican community organization and leadership development in managing community ethnic relations, as a result of the explosive situation in 1969, made possible the leadership that came to fruition in the twenty-first century.28 The economic conditions of Latinos in the northeast worsened from 1970 to 1990, particularly in urban areas. This was a result of the general decline in industrialization in the northeast as well as poor economic growth in the United States. Also, during this period it became evident that prison sentences and conviction rates for Latinos in general, and specifically Black Latinos, were higher than the either African American or European American populations in the United States. Perhaps significantly, within the Latino population, Cubans received lower sentences, when compared with similar crimes, than either Puerto Ricans or Mexicans.29 The tobacco industry became fertile ground for community organizations, such as the Puerto Rican Migrant Support Committee (CAMP), which struggled to protect migrant worker rights under increasingly difficult field conditions. With the support of the United Farmworkers Union in 1974, the Agricultural Workers Association (ATA) had hoped to unionize the workers. The ATA pulled out of the Northeast, however, before that dream could be accomplished, leaving in its wake the exposure of the Puerto Rican Secretary of Labor’s deals with the Tobacco Growers’ Association. Gradually Puerto Rico reduced its worker exports to the tobacco industry, down to 1,954 participants in 1984, and the industry in turn sought workers who were not part of the union effort.30 The founding of the Hispanic Health Council in Hartford in 1978 marked a concerted effort to address the health problems of the Latino community. The long his-

Connecticut tory of community health research, education, and treatment promoted by the Hispanic Health Council has provided a wealth of resources to mitigate the specific problems of the Hartford community. There is also a tendency, however, within the social work literature about Latinos and health, to fetishize the specific practices of Latinos with respect to alcohol, drugs, and health. This has resulted in an enormous volume of studies that attempt to explain the “drinking behavior” of Latinos without placing this behavior in the larger context of U.S. society, conducting similar studies among other populations, or examining the structural and systemic economic and political factors that impinge upon Latino communities.31 The Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos, founded by Rafael Pérez-Escamilla (University of Connecticut, Nutritional Sciences) in 2006, seeks to change the research and clinical agendas with respect to Latino populations in Connecticut. During the 1980s Guatemalan and Salvadoran populations, in particular, found refuge within Connecticut, as their countries were engaged in civil wars. During this period a new trend in immigrant education developed with several academic projects, such as Victor Montejo’s (Guatemalan Maya leader) doctoral dissertation about the impact of Guatemalan and U.S. governmental intervention in Maya communities. Since the major devaluations of the Mexican peso in 1982 and again in 1994,32 Mexican migrants to Connecticut have increased exponentially. Two towns, Willimantic and Wallingford, are examples of the diversity of this population and the changes in industry that have occurred in the past 20 years. Despite the local high unemployment rate, agribusiness industries recruited laborers from Mexico, specifically the state of Puebla, and largely indigenous peoples from Guatemala. Wallingford’s history reflects an interesting twist in migration patterns. Whereas NAFTA provided the fodder for major steel industries, such as U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel,33 to close in major industrial centers, such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wallingford’s steel industry thrived by importing Mexican workers and specializing in high-technology sheet metals.34 In 1972, La Casa Borinqueña (now the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center) was established at the University of Connecticut to provide support for the growing Puerto Rican student movement. By 1974, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies was formed at the University of Connecticut, offering a major and minor as well as a graduate program concentration in Latin American Studies under International Affairs. In 1974, Yale University students and faculty organized La Casa Boriqua (changed to La Casa Cultural in 1977). Yale University currently offers a BA in Latin American Studies and a graduate certificate in Latin American and Iberian Studies through the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. By 1994 Scott Cook, an anthropologist and former director of the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies at UConn, organized the Institute of

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Latino America Puerto Rican and Latino Studies. Other universities, such as Southern Connecticut State University, now offer specialized programs in Latin American Studies. In 1995 Connecticut was one of the first states in the country to establish a State Commission on Puerto Rican and Latino Affairs. This commission reviews and monitors the impact of state legislation on the Latino community. One of the critical leaders in this institution is Commissioner Fernando Betancourt, who has held his position since the commission’s inception. In 2001, Eddie Perez became the first Puerto Rican and Latino mayor of a capital city in the United States. His victory in Hartford was monumental for the Puerto Rican community, which had gained many leadership seats on the City Council but had not been able to obtain this critical position for Latino leadership in the city. In 2007 Mayor Perez was elected to a second term in office. During the past 18 years, from 1990 to 2008, the differences between the immigration statuses of Latin American and Caribbean populations working in Connecticut have divided populations and prevented labor organization. Recent crackdowns on “trafficking in persons” by the U.S. Department of Labor (April 2007) on nursery operators (such as Imperial Nurseries in Granby) illustrate one example of a vertically integrated U.S. agro-industry that employs large numbers of Latino and Latin American workers.35 New Haven has recently made national news for the decision to provide a city identification card (CID) to all residents, without respect to their immigration status.36 This controversial measure at the national level has received positive endorsement from immigrant rights groups nationwide. Although the CID provides identification necessary for banking and other services, the CID could also be used to identify those who are undocumented migrants if the data is available under the Freedom of Information Act. Also in 2007, the Connecticut Legislature passed “The Dream Act” to allow undocumented students with special criteria the option to apply for and enroll in state higher education institutions by paying in-state tuition. The measure was vetoed by Governor Rell. Contrastingly, Danbury is the site of a new policy, approved in February 2008, which consolidates the authority for immigration enforcement in both state and local police to supplement ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). This is the first such policy adopted in the United States. The policy was created in response to the labor recruitment of migrants from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic to fill growing blue-collar jobs in the Danbury regional economy (population approximately 80,000). Latinos now represent approximately 15.8 percent of the population in Danbury, and this population grew at a rate of 133.7 percent from 1990 to 2000.37 The visibility of Latin American and Caribbean workers organizing soccer games and waiting on street corners for day-labor jobs at Kennedy Park drew the attention of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to Danbury. On September 19, 2006, eleven

Connecticut migrants from Ecuador were detained and promptly shipped to Harlingen, Texas. The National Lawyers Guild, the ACLU, and the Yale Law School Clinic provided legal assistance to the families and workers of the nicknamed Danbury 11. These two measures have serious implications for the state’s growing undocumented Latin American and Caribbean populations, who will form the future Latino communities of Connecticut.38

NOTABLE LATINOS Negrón, Edna (1944–). An educator and a politician, Negrón was born in Puerto Rico and came to the United States in 1955. Her family settled in Hartford, where she attended Weaver High School. Negrón went on to graduate from Hartford College for Women and then the University of Hartford, where she was awarded a BS degree in 1973 (summa cum laude) and an MS in 1974. She holds an honorary doctorate degree from Trinity College. She served for many years as the Coordinator of the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Program for the Hartford Public Schools. As principal of the Ramón E. Betances School in Hartford, she founded the Family Resource Center, which became a national model for family-based, multi-generational social services housed in public schools. In 1989, after a long term on its Board, Negrón was elected President of the Board of Directors of La Casa de Puerto Rico. A year later, Negrón became the representative for the State’s 6th House District, after winning a special election for the seat vacated by the death of María Sánchez. Pérez, Eddie (1957–). Mayor of Hartford, Pérez is originally from Puerto Rico. He graduated from Hartford Public High School and later earned an Associate’s Degree from Capital Community Technical College. After spending many successful years as a community organizer, Pérez earned his degree in economics at Trinity College (while working there full-time). He then spearheaded the completion of the Learning Corridor—recognized as a national model for comprehensive community revitalization. Pérez has made history by being not only Hartford’s first Latino mayor, but also the first Latino mayor of a state capital. Betancourt, Fernando (1959–). Executive director of the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, Betancourt develops and recommends public policy as it affects the Latino and Puerto Rican communities throughout Connecticut to the Executive and Legislative branches of State government. Some issues on which his expertise is particularly valued include: welfare and welfare reform; racism; housing rights; Puerto Rico’s political history and status; the AIDS epidemic and services; civil rights; language rights; voting rights; discrimination by gender, sexual orientation and national origin; bilingual education; and campaign finance reform. Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael (1960–). Originally from Mexico, Pérez-Escamilla obtained his BS in chemical engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and his masters in food science and PhD in nutrition from the University of California at Davis. He is the principal investigator and director of the Connecticut Center of Excellence for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos, and a professor of nutritional

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Latino America sciences at the University of Connecticut. He also holds the title of Nutrition Extension Scientist for the State of Connecticut and a joint appointment with the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care (MPH program) at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. Pérez-Escamilla is an internationally recognized scholar in the areas of domestic and international community nutrition. Matos, Kica (1966–). The community services administrator of the City of New Haven. Matos was executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, New Haven’s oldest Latino, community-based organization. She is also a clinical visiting lecturer in law at Yale Law School. For most of her adult life, she has devoted herself to advocacy in the area of human rights and civil rights, working in nonprofit organizations including Amnesty International and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In 2005 she was the recipient of the New Haven Register Person of the Year award. Prior to joining JUNTA, she was an assistant federal defender in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she represented death-sentenced inmates in state courts and federal habeas corpus proceedings. She has a BA from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, an MA from The New School, and a JD from Cornell Law School. Cotto, Luis (1967–). Cotto is an artist and Hartford city councilmember (2008–2011) with a long history of community activism in the Puerto Rican community. He is the former co-owner of La Paloma Sabanera, a coffee shop and political center for community activists in Hartford. González, Jose B. (1967–). Born in San Salvador, El Salvador, migrated to New London, Connecticut at the age of eight, and has been the recipient of such honors as Connecticut’s Higher Education Multicultural Faculty of the Year Award. González has published poetry in such journals as Callaloo, Teacher’s Voice, Palabra, Calabash, and Colere, and anthologies including Coloring Book, Nantucket: A Collection, and Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature, which he also coedited. He is the recipient of the 2006 Poet of the Year Award, presented by the New England Association of Teachers of English. In addition, he has contributed critical and nonfiction essays to such journals as New England Quarterly and to National Public Radio. He holds a master’s in English from Brown University and a PhD in English from the University of Rhode Island. Soto, Balam (1970–). An artist, Soto was born in Mixco, Guatemala, into his native tribe Pocomam Maya. In his mixed media images, he has combined shamanic training with his experience as a Native Central American to develop a unique style of contemporary native art. He is the owner of Nahual Balam Studio, where he exhibits and sells his paintings and masks. He currently resides in an artists’ community with his family in Hartford.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Vast changes have occurred in the opportunities and cultural venues for Latinos in Connecticut. From cultural clubs, which predominated in the 1950s and 1960s, to the twenty-first century’s rich cultural milieu of artists, restaurants, performers, and festivals, Latino culture is thriving in Connecticut.

Connecticut Specific cultural education programs were initiated in the 1950s. The most notable is the work of the New Haven State Teachers’ College, which offered a summer school exchange for teachers at the Inter-American University in San German, Puerto Rico. Citing the need for teachers to better understand the 20,000 Puerto Ricans living in Connecticut, the program provided cross-cultural education for teachers in 1959.39 Later, federal education grants to the University of Connecticut and, currently, Yale University, provide educational opportunities for teachers to continue learning about Latin American and Caribbean cultural roots. In the 1960s, articles in the Hartford Courant described the growth in cultural opportunities for the Puerto Rican community, noting a Spanish-language movie theatre and pastors (Protestant and Roman Catholic) in Bridgeport, a new “Spanish” restaurant in Meriden, the distribution of La Prensa on Hartford streets, and social clubs in Wallingford and New Britain.40 Over 40 Puerto Rican–owned businesses, including grocery stores, blossomed in Hartford by 1970. La Prensa Gráfica, the first bilingual newspaper in New England, began in Hartford in 1973, and local television featured two Spanish-language broadcasts, Adelante and Barrio.41 The current diversity of artists, performers, and restaurants is evident at annual festivals such as the Areyto Latino Festival, established in 1996, which coincides with the Puerto Rican Day Parade every June in New Haven. Many other festivals exist, such as the Puerto Rican Parade (since 1993) in Bridgeport and Three King’s Day Parade (January 6) in Hartford.42 Although WCUM, 1450 AM, is the only known Latino-owned radio station in Connecticut, Univisión and Telemundo have both expanded their markets and coverage of Connecticut. Important writers of Spanish- and English-language fiction and historical and cultural works are part of the growing intellectual cadre of Connecticut higher education, in both private and public institutions. Current Latino performers based in Connecticut include: the Alturas Duo, Ray González, Los Trovadores de America, and Mariano Cotto.

NOTES 1. Gabany-Guerrero, Guerrero-Murillo, and Legrand, 2004. 2. “The Gilbert Map of c.1582-3.” 3. The full title of this world map is Carta Universal En que se contiene todo lo que del mondo Se ha descubierto fasta agora: Hizola Diego Ribero Cosmographo de Su Magestad: Año de 1529. La qual Se devide en dos partes conforme a la capitulcio que hizieron los catholicos Reyes de españa, y El Rey don Juan de portugal e la Villa de tordessilas: Año de 1494 [General chart containing the whole of the world that has hitherto been discovered; complied by Diego Ribero, cosmographer to His Majesty, which is divided into two parts according to the agreement made by the Catholic Majesties of Spain and King John of Portugal at Tordessilas, A.D. 1494].

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Latino America 4. England, the Netherlands, Spain, and France. 5. More research needs to be conducted on ship logs, specifically from Caribbean and Latin American locations to Connecticut ports, for the picture of trade in persons and commodities to be complete. 6. Daniels, 1980, 429–450. 7. Horton and Horton, 1997. 8. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery (1888). 9. Glasser, 2005, 176. 10. Detailed research on surnames for ship passenger lists and census data in Connecticut is needed to provide a more detailed view of this important history. 11. Glasser, 2005. “Lists of ships’ passengers from the 1800s show that other visitors and settlers went back and forth between Connecticut and Puerto Rican ports. Ships ferried wealthy tourists, merchants, planters, and skilled workers of both nationalities between Bridgeport or New Haven, Connecticut, and Mayagüez, Ponce, or Guayanilla, Puerto Rico . . . New Haven census records for 1860 show that ten Puerto Ricans lived in the city at that time. One of them was Augustus (probably Augusto) Rodríguez, who joined the Fifteenth Connecticut Regiment in 1862. Fighting in the Civil War, Rodríguez reached the rank of lieutenant before he was mustered out in June of 1865. When he returned from battle, Rodríguez became a New Haven firefighter.” 12. Migration from the Atlantic Islands was also recorded for the cities of Hartford and New Haven. 13. A century ago, the Connecticut River was an important artery in the transportation system of all this section of New England, and the stories of the time when the boatman’s song echoed through the valley, instead of the locomotive whistle or the honk of the automobile driver, are increasingly interesting as those days recede further into the past, and the present generation knows less of the problems of those days. In about 1970, Sumner L. Howard, recorded the following: The boats carried down loads of freestone, shingles and other produce, bringing back heavy freight such as iron, sugar, molasses, grindstones, salt, etc., while a specialty was made of new rum during the last of June . . . At practically all points along the river, where boats were supposed to stop, the country stores carried a stock of rum in addition to their other merchandise. There was a store building about where Granger Block on Westminster Street now stands, the front door opening on Westminster Street and a flight of stairs leading down the back side to the canal. They sold rum, in addition to dry goods, and often disposed of a barrelful in one morning to the boatmen and rafts men. This rum was made from distilled molasses and seldom caused drunkenness or fighting. It was sold at twenty-five cents a gallon, or three cents a tumbler (1/2 pint). Brandy, gin, and West India rum sold at five cents a glass, while whiskey was unknown. In spite of the large amounts of liquor consumed, there was not as much drunkenness as at the present time. 14. Archive of the State Library of Connecticut, RG 12: War Records Department, World War I Veterans, Box 46.

Connecticut 15. Archive of the State Library of Connecticut, RG 12: War Records Department, World War I Veterans, Box 31. 16. Tucker, 1994. 17. Glasser, 2005. 18. Ransom, 1946. 19. For detailed oral histories see Fay Clarke Johnson’s book Soldiers of the Soil. 20. Hartford Courant, “Jamaica Political Figure is Welcomed by Mayor,” February 15, 1957. 21. In an article by Craig Pearson, “‘Too Little, for Too Many’ Brings Puerto Rican Migrants to State” (Hartford Courant, May 2, 1954), a stereotypical view of Puerto Ricans was presented to the public that included the U.S. political perspective that Puerto Rico is devoid of natural resources. 22. Hartford Poultry was the largest supplier of kosher chickens in the state of Connecticut. 23. Kravsow, 1959. 24. Hartford Courant, “Worker Named by Council for Puerto Ricans,” August 6, 1960. 25. Glasser, n.d. 26. Thomas, 1967. 27. Glasser, n.d. “Puerto Ricans had struggled in the 1950s to form cultural beachheads such as St. Cecilia’s Church, for many years the only Hispanic parish in Waterbury. Dominicans and other Latinos slowly began to enter these institutions and make them more multicultural. After a long time of participating side by side with Puerto Ricans in church and watching the development of Dominican communities in other parts of the state or region, a group of Dominican women decided to celebrate their culture’s uniqueness within the larger context of hispanidad. In the late 1980s, they started the celebration of the festival of the Virgen de la Altagracia, the patron virgin of the Dominican Republic, inside St. Cecilia’s Church.” 28. Cruz, 1997. 29. Steffensmeier and Demuth, 2000. 30. Glasser, 2008. 31. See, for example, Christina S. Lee. 32. Vidal, 1994. 33. Bethlehem Steel moved to the port city of Lazaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico. 34. Allegheny Ludlum Stainless Steel operates in Wallingford and Waterbury. 35. Bernstein, 2007. 36. Carpenter, 2007. “Besides serving as identification for bank services and if police ask for ID, the card can be used at municipal locations such as libraries, beaches, and parks—and as a debit card for city parking meters and at 15 downtown shops.” 37. Vásquez, 2003. 38. Spencer, 2008. 39. Hartford Courant, “College offers Summer Study in Puerto Rico,” March 5, 1959. 40. Pearson, 1954. 41. See Cruz, 1997, 63. 42. For details on the history of specifically Puerto Rican cultural celebrations, see Glasser’s Aquí me quedo.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Archive of the State Library of Connecticut. RG 12: War Records Department. World War I Veterans. Box 31. Archive of the State Library of Connecticut. RG 12: War Records Department. World War I Veterans. Box 46. Atwood, Frank. “Connecticut Farm News.” Hartford Courant, March 25, 1953. Bernstein, Nina. “Suit Charges That Nursery Mistreated Laborers.” New York Times, February 7, 2007. Bishop, R.P. “Lessons of the Gilbert Map.” Geographical Journal 72 (1928): 237–243. Carpenter, Caitlin. “New Haven Opts to Validate its Illegal Residents.” Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2007. Collection of Louis F. Middlebrook. Mystic Seaport Museum. Collection 50, Box 1, Folder 1. Cruz, José. “María Sánchez: Godmother of the Puerto Rican Community.” Hog River Journal, Summer 2003. http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/HRJ/MariaSanchez.htm (accessed March 19, 2008). ———.“A Decade of Change: Puerto Rican Politics in Hartford, Connecticut, 1969–1979.” Journal of American Ethnic History 16, no. 3 (1997): 45–81. Daniels, Bruce C. “Economic Development in Colonial and Revolutionary Connecticut: An Overview.” William and Mary Quarterly 37 (1980): 429–450. Gabany-Guerrero, Tricia, Narcizo Guerrero-Murillo, and Ana Legrand. “Educational Needs Assessment of Non-English Speaking Agricultural Workers in Connecticut: A Pilot Study.” Paper presented to the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, October 22, 2004. Glasser, Ruth. “From ‘Rich Port’ to Bridgeport: Puerto Ricans in Connecticut.” In The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Historical Perspectives. Eds. Carmen Teresa Whalen and Victor Vázquez-Hernández. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2005, 174–199. ———. “Waterbury, Connecticut: An Evolving, Multi-Latino City.” Working paper. University of Connecticut, Urban Studies Program. N.d. ———. “Tobacco Valley: Puerto Rican Farm Workers in Connecticut.” Hog River Journal, March 2008. http://www.hogriver.org/issues/v01n01/tobacco_valley.htm. ———. Aquí me quedo: Puerto Ricans in Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Humanities Council, 1997. Hartford Courant. “College Offers Summer Study in Puerto Rico.” March 5, 1959. ———. “Jamaica Political Figure Is Welcomed by Mayor.” February 15, 1957. ———. “‘Too Little, for Too Many’ Brings Puerto Rican Migrants to State.” May 2, 1954. ———. “Worker Named by Council for Puerto Ricans.” August 6, 1960. Hooker, Roland Mather. The Spanish Ship Case. Hartford, CT: Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut, Committee on Historical Publications, 1934. Horton, James Oliver, and Lois E. Horton. In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest among Northern Free Black. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Johnson, Fay Clarke. Soldiers of the Soil. New York: Vantage Press. 1995. Judd, Sylvester. History of Hadley. Springfield, MA: H.R. Huntting & Co., 1905.

Connecticut Kravsow, Irving. “Probe into Farm Conditions: Asked by Puerto Rican Center.” Hartford Courant, March 7, 1959, 1A. Lee, Christina S., “Social Processes Underlying Acculturation: A Study of Drinking Behavior among Immigrant Latinos in the Northeast United States.” Contemporary Drug Problems 33 (2006): 585–609. Logbook of Stonington (Ship), 1846, February 28–1847, September 29. Mystic Seaport Museum. Manifests and entry papers. Caroline (Brig). Mystic Seaport Museum Records. 1796. Manuel-Scott, Wendi. “Soldiers of the Field: Jamaican Farm Workers in the United States during World War II.” PhD diss., Howard University, Washington, DC, 2003. Pearson, Craig M. “‘Last Migration’ Brings 12,000 Puerto Ricans to Connecticut, Revives Old Problem.” Hartford Courant, April 25, 1954, A1. Ransom III, Reverdy C. “Jamaican Workers in the State of Connecticut.” Journal of Negro Education 15 (1946): 717–721. Shaw, Ceasar. “Seaman’s Protection Certificate.” Mystic Seaport Museum Records. December 30, 1795. Spencer, Mark. “Cordial Talk on a Hot-Button Issue.” Hartford Courant, March 13, 2008. Steffensmeier, Darrell, and Stephen Demuth. “Ethnicity and Sentencing Outcomes in U.S. Federal Courts: Who Is Punished More Harshly?” American Sociological Review 65, no. 5 (2000): 705–729. Thomas, John F. “Cuban Refugees in the United States.” International Migration Review 1 (1967): 46–57. Tucker, Barbara M. “Agricultural Workers in World War II: The Reserve Army of Children, Black Americans, and Jamaicans.” Agricultural History 68 (1994): 54–73. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census 1870. Selected Nativities by Counties. Table VII. Vásquez, Daniel W. “Latinos in Danbury, Connecticut.” Latinos in New England. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts, Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, 2003. http://www.gaston.umb.edu/ Vidal, Gore. “The Economy at a Time of Crisis: Mexico, 1995.” Mondes en Developpement 22 (1996): 77–84.

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8 DELAWARE Milton R. Machuca

CHRONOLOGY 1525

1639 1763–1767

1950s 1961 1969 1970 1977

1980

Spanish explorer Estevan Gomes passes by and notes the mouth of Delaware Bay. Slave trader Pedro de Quejo’s expedition reaches the entrance of Delaware Bay and lands on the Delmarva Peninsula. The first African on the Delaware, Anthony Swart, is brought from the Caribbean to Fort Christina. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon survey the line later named after them to resolve a border dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore that had lasted for almost 100 years. Puerto Rican contract laborers arrive in Delaware to follow employment opportunities in agriculture and industry. The Puerto Rican Association meets in the basement of Saint Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, in Wilmington. The Latin American Community Center (LACC) is founded by a group of Puerto Ricans. The state population is 548,104 people, of whom 4,820 are Latinos. LACC’s La Fiesta child care center opens in Wilmington. The Delaware and Pennsylvania Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights publish The Working and Living Conditions of Mushroom Workers, a report on the mushroom industry in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and New Castle County, Delaware. The state population is 594,338 people, of whom 9,540 are Latinos.

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1985 1990 1995 2000 2002

2003 2006

Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA) is formed by an executive order signed by Governor Michael Castle. The state population is 666,168 people, of whom 15,510 are Latinos. An executive order is reissued by Governor Thomas R. Carper to continue the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA). The state population is 783,600 people, of whom 37,321 are Latinos. LACC receives a 3-year JUMP mentoring grant totaling $220,000. LACC receives a 5-year, $1.3 million federal education grant (administered by the State Department of Education) under the auspices of the Leave No Child Behind program. LACC operates with a $2.2 million budget and offers over 40 programs to the community. The state population is 865,051 people, of whom 56,131 are Latinos. On May 1 (May Day), after a season of protest and as part of the national immigrant general strike, or “A Day without Immigrants,” four of the five poultry-processing plants in Sussex County shut down.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Efforts by Spain in the sixteenth century to establish, and later maintain, a foothold along the Atlantic coast between Florida and Chesapeake Bay—a region considered vital to the protection of Spain’s successful Caribbean establishments—

Delaware brought the earliest Spanish-speaking peoples to present-day Delaware. In 1525 Pedro de Quejo, a Spanish slave trader, piloted a preliminary expedition composed of two caravels and some 60 crewmen for Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón, one of the Auditors of Hispaniola. The purpose was to explore the coastal area of land granted to Ayllón by the King of Spain in search of the mythical land of Chicora. It appears that Quejo entered present day Delaware Bay and sailed along much of its western side, then passed down the east coast of the Delmarva Peninsula to the lower portion of Chesapeake Bay.2 After this brief incursion, Spanish-speaking peoples would not return to Delaware until the mid-twentieth century. Meanwhile, during the 400 years in between, Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and Britons settled and colonized the region, in the process decimating, dispossessing, and displacing the Algonquin-speaking group known as Leni-Lenape, Delaware’s aboriginal population.3 Thus from its very beginnings, Delaware, one of the original thirteen British colonies, had a remarkably varied and complex ethnic composition and settlement. Next to Rhode Island, Delaware4 is the second-smallest state in the Union. Delaware is made up of three counties: Kent in the center (800 square miles, established in 1664), New Castle in the north (494 square miles, established in 1680), and Sussex in the south (1,196 square miles, established in 1664). This small state, in the middle of the United States Atlantic Seaboard, not quite part of the South nor the North because of the way the Mason-Dixon Line bisects it, has until recently often been isolated and in many ways even deemed an unimportant place. The Mason-Dixon Line proved to be an effective cultural boundary in the state; key issues in U.S. history have consistently divided the state’s population. The Civil War, for example, divided sympathies in the state between Union and Confederation to the point that it resembled a miniature version of the country.5 For Latinos, Delaware was not a traditional point of destination; however, as explained below, this situation changed rapidly during the last quarter of the twentieth century. Puerto Ricans were the first Latino group to arrive in the area. They came in the late 1940s (after War World II) and early 1950s as contract laborers hired to work in the agricultural and industrial sectors. These workers provided the base from which sprang the Puerto Rican community in Delaware. Some of them settled in Wilmington and Newark (New Castle County), where they shared the historic misfortunes and hopes of the Irish, Germans, Poles, Italians, Jews, Ukrainians, rural African Americans, and other newcomers who had arrived over the past century and a half. Puerto Ricans were the dominant Latino presence until the mid to late 1970s (122,000 persons migrated between the 1940s and 1970s). During this period, mushroom growing in New Castle County (although not as big as in neighboring Chester County, Pennsylvania) attracted Puerto Rican workers.

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Latino America But in the mid-1970s and 1980s, the pull for jobs in the local mushroom industry coupled with the push of a declining rural economy in Mexico contributed to the rapid arrival of Mexican workers to Chester County, Pennsylvania, and New Castle County, Delaware. In 1977, the Delaware and Pennsylvania Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights published its report on the mushroom industry in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and New Castle County, Delaware (hereafter referred to as 1977 DPAC Report). This report indicated that in the 1970s, there were 25 to 50 mushroom growers in New Castle County whose labor force was composed of Puerto Rican and Mexican workers. The Mexican worker profile was quite similar to those of earlier migratory waves to the state: they were mostly young, male, single, and Spanish speaking. A few were married, and there were even fewer women. Assessing accurately how many Mexicans were working in the industry is simply impossible. The 1977 DPAC Report recognized that there were no accurate statistics for mushroom workers in general, let alone for Mexican workers. The American Mushroom Institute calculated a figure of between 2,000 and 3,000 workers. For the next two decades, however, the regional mushroom industry experienced repeated shocks, and it had to adapt and reconfigure over and over again to changing economic and social conditions. It succeeded in Pennsylvania, but it almost disappeared in Delaware.6 In the south of the state a different story started to unfold in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although during this period each county in the state exhibited faster population growth than the rest of the nation, it was Sussex County that grew the fastest, at a rate double the growth of Delaware as a whole. New residential housing near the inner bay attracted retirees to homes near the beaches, and lowpaying jobs on farms and in chicken-processing plants brought a wave of Latin American migrants.7 Initially, migrant workers—including Mexicans and Mexican Americans, Central Americans (mostly Indigenous Mayans from Guatemala), and some Haitians—came from Florida and Texas to work in the seasonal fruitand-vegetable farms in the county.8 Some of them were hired at the border in the late 1980s under H2B visas, some were beneficiaries of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act or IRCA, and others were undocumented individuals fleeing civil unrest in their countries.9 Some of these workers, mostly Guatemalans, broke away from the stream each summer, preferring year-round employment in the county’s poultry-processing plants. Although the Latino population is still higher in the northern part of the state (New Castle County), a new Latino community has been forming for the past 20 years in the south. Their impact in the area is unquestionable, and they have affected housing, language, business, and culture. Non-Latino residents were caught by surprise in this seemingly overnight process and found themselves a numerical minority. Tensions have been inevitable. In the post-9/11 world, immi-

Delaware gration status has become an issue; for example, Delaware’s governor, Ruth Ann Minner, shortly after 9/11, blocked the issuance of vehicle tags to individuals who could not prove their citizenship with a Social Security card.10 Despite these difficulties the Latino community in the state has flourished during the past decade as never before. In Delaware the reported migrant population has nearly doubled to 67,000 since 2000. Although this figure includes other groups (for example, the Chinese and eastern Europeans), a significant percent of this population is Latino. Compared to other areas of the country these figures may not look so significant, but they have been enough to bring about an unprecedented change to many towns in the state. Census figures reveal interesting changes and trends in the Latino population in Delaware in the past four decades. In 1970, Delaware had 548,104 residents; 4,820 of these were Latinos (0.87 percent of the total population), concentrated in New Castle County only, mostly in Newark and Wilmington. In 1980, the total state population was 594,339 residents (an increase of 8.4 percent), of which 9,540 were Latinos (1.61 percent of the total population and almost double that of the previous decade). New Castle County still had the lead (6,825), followed by Kent County (1,800, mostly in Dover) and Sussex County (915, mostly in Georgetown). In 1990, the state population was 666,168 (an increment of 12 percent), and the Latino population had reached 15,510 (2.33 percent of the total population and an increment of 65 percent compared to the previous decade). Distribution by county maintained the previous trend: New Castle County (11,075), followed by Kent County (2,854), and Sussex County (1,221). A big change occurred between 1990 and 2000. Whereas the total population of the state was 783,600 residents (an increment of 17 percent), Delaware’s Latino population grew 140 percent, to 37,321 residents. This population was also distributed differently when compared to the previous trend: New Castle County (26,307), followed by Sussex County (6,736) and Kent County (4,278).11

NOTABLE LATINOS Villamarin, Juan A. (1939–). Villamarin is an emeritus professor of anthropology and former chairperson of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delaware. He continues to mentor students and teach some courses at the university. Villamarin guides undergraduate and graduate students, ushering in class after class of Latino professionals to the Delaware arena. Miró, Joseph (1946–). Miró, a Republican state representative in Delaware of Cuban ancestry, spent 31 years as a teacher for the Christina School District/Wilmington School District and served as chair of the World Language Department. After retiring, he became president and consultant of Miró Diversified Services. He serves in many leadership roles, including state representative (R), 22nd District; vice chair of the

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Latino America Health and Human Development Committee; chair of the Business/Corporations/Commerce Committee; chair of the Homeland Security Committee; and member of the Education Committee, Bond Bill Committee (alternate), Joint Finance Committee (alternate), and Appropriations Committee (alternate). He previously served as councilman in the New Castle County Council, 3rd District. Rivera, Jaime “Gus” (1950–). Rivera, a physician, was born in Puerto Rico and migrated to the United States in 1957. He graduated from Aviation High School in Queens, New York. He attended the City College of New York, graduating with honors in 1972. He received his MD degree from Harvard Medical School in 1976 and completed residency training in pediatrics in 1979. In 1972, Rivera cofounded the Latino Boricua Health Organization at Harvard Medical School. This organization currently has 13 chapters in medical schools across the country and is dedicated to increasing Latino enrollment in medical school and serving their needs while in medical school. Rivera serves as an appointed member of Delaware governor Ruth Ann Minner’s administration in the capacity of chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs. He serves on the board of directors of the United Way of Delaware, and he is a director of the Grand Opera of Delaware. Rivera is cofounder of the Delaware Hispanic Political Action Committee and the Delaware Friends of ASPIRA Committee. Pilonieta Blanco, Gabriel (1955–). Gabriel Pilonieta Blanco, originally from Venezuela, is a historian. He worked as a reporter after coming to the United States and then decided to start his own publication, El Tiempo Hispano, a weekly bilingual newspaper. Pilonieta renders an invaluable service to the Delaware region in that he provides the community with a forum to highlight accomplishments, express concerns, and debate important issues. Rodríguez, Havidán (1959–). Rodríguez, born in Puerto Rico, is a sociologist with academic training in demography and statistics. He has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. Rodríguez is the University of Delaware’s vice provost of Academic Affairs and International Programs and the former director of the Disaster Research Center (DRC). He joined the University of Delaware in 2003 as director of the DRC and professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Rodríguez has published in the areas of disasters, diversity in higher education, and Latinos in the United States. Delgado, Milton (1962–). Born in New York City, Delgado is a U.S. Navy veteran, a former instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy. He works for Nemours Health and Prevention Services as a community relations associate. He helps community leaders build an infrastructure that will sustain community-based, long-term educational programs focused on healthy eating and physical activity. Delgado sits on the board of directors of the Latin American Community Center and of Westside Health, and he chairs the Health Committee for the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs. Matos, Maria (1962–). Matos, a native of Puerto Rico, has been the executive director of the Latin American Community Center (LACC) in Wilmington since 1995. Major accomplishments include the selection of LACC by the National Council of La Raza as the

Delaware regional affiliate of the year for 2005 and 2006; the development of a high school reentry program at LACC to reduce the number of high school dropouts among Latino youth; and the designation as a supplementary education provider for the state of Delaware.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos have indisputably had a strong influence on the cultural landscape in Delaware. Earliest efforts to organize the Latino presence in the state resulted in the creation of the Latin American Community Center (LACC), which was founded in 1969 by a small group of Puerto Rican migrants seeking to address the immediate needs of members of their community as they adapted to life in a new country and, in most cases, to a new language. Its main offices are located in Wilmington. LACC offers different programs aimed at different age groups and needs, including La Fiesta I, Early Childhood Assistance Program (ECAP/La Fiesta II), Adult Education Center, DeLead Delaware, and La Oficina de los Niños. LACC organizes three annual events: the Outstanding Hispanic Student Recognition Awards (April/May), the Hispanic Heritage Month Open House (September), and the Grand Ball (September/October). In 1977 a group of Puerto Ricans started the Semana Hispana, a weeklong celebration that consisted of a Food Festival on Market Street, the Miss Hispanic Delaware Pageant at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church, a Grand Ball, a three-mile run, and the Puerto Rican Parade. Thirty years later, the Semana Hispana has evolved into the Hispanic Festival of Wilmington, an annual three-day event that reaches the Latino and greater Delaware community. It has become a much-anticipated community tradition and a highlight of the Hispanic Heritage Month. It is organized by Nuestras Raíces Delaware.12 In 1985, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA) was formed by an executive order signed by Governor Michael Castle; the order was reissued by Governor Thomas R. Carper in 1995. The council has the critical roles of advising the governor of Delaware and serving as a bridge between Latino Delawareans and their state government.13 Its members include Delaware Latinos from all walks of life. The council organizes its work through the Hispanic Student Recognition Program (a joint effort with LACC) and the Economic Development, Health, Education and Social Justice Committees.14 After the passage of IRCA in 1986, the rapid growth of the Latino community in Delaware has become apparent, and so has its impact on the state’s cultural landscape; local and regional journalists periodically report on this topic.15 The local school districts, for example, found themselves dealing with a rising enrollment of migrant children. The Roman Catholic Church has also experienced this growth in Spanish mass attendance and its catechism classes. Local agencies have experienced an increasing Latino clientele seeking social services. The local

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Latino America supermarkets are regularly stocked with ethnic food such as tortillas, chilies, corn, and so forth. Latino restaurants and grocery stores (which offer money wiring services, Spanish music CDs, and calling cards) have mushroomed almost overnight. In the southern part of the state, the Latino presence has also contributed to the local culture. Since 1995, the all-volunteer-run Hispanic Festival in Georgetown (Festival Hispano de Georgetown), organized by El Centro Cultural in Georgetown, has been held annually in September at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. The festival includes instrumental, vocal, and dance performances, an art exhibit, a costume parade, children’s activities, and traditional Hispanic foods. In 2004, the Library of Congress designated the Festival a Delaware Local Legacy.16 Also in Georgetown, La Esperanza Community Center was founded in 1996, primarily to provide support to the increasing number of migrant workers arriving in Sussex County from Mexico and Guatemala. Since then, it has evolved into a multi-service support organization that assists with the assimilation of Latinos into the broader Sussex County population.17 Voices Without Borders/Voces Sin Fronteras is a faith-based, grassroots advocacy nonprofit organization based in Wilmington, committed to improving the quality of life of Latinos and Latin American migrants living in Delaware. Founded in 2000, Voces seeks to promote social and institutional change by establishing a space for dialogue and exchange among its members, members of other organizations, and the government. In the academic arena, the La Raza Alumni Association (LRAA) at the University of Delaware was created in 2006. LRAA is an organization that serves many purposes; most notably, it offers oversight and expertise to La Raza undergraduate executive boards, fosters social and intellectual development of La Raza members, works to maintain unity among under-represented communities, and raises money to support future generations of minority students in higher education. LRAA also serves as a forum for La Raza alumni to engage each other in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to increase the wealth, power, and influence of the La Raza Familia. The ultimate goal of LRAA at the University of Delaware is to raise money to establish an endowment to support the La Raza Center for Latino and Minority Affairs (La Raza Center). The pervasive presence of the Spanish language has become apparent in media. There are at least five Spanish newspapers: El Tiempo Hispano (bilingual weekly); El Mundo Hispano (bilingual monthly); El Sol Delaware (Philadelphia’s El Sol created a Delaware edition); Hoy en Delaware (bilingual monthly); and Unidad Latina (bilingual semi-monthly in Oxford, Pennsylvania, covering southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, and Delaware). El Tiempo Hispano is particularly important. It began in January 2006 with a run of 3,000 for each edition. In just over a year, that number grew to 10,000. Written in both Spanish and English, El

Delaware Tiempo Hispano looks at issues of importance to Delaware’s Latino community, covering most of the Delmarva Peninsula. The newspaper features community events as well as information about local communities and leaders. Because one of the goals of the newspaper is to build bridges for new migrants coming to the area, it is intentionally published in both English and Spanish. Additionally, an online version is available.18 There is one radio station, La Exitosa/930 AM, which offers round-the-clock Spanish-language programming in Milford.19 Other stations have individual Spanish programs: En Español, 10:30 A.M.–noon on Sundays, WGMD/92.7 FM in Rehoboth Beach; La Invasora, 9 A.M.–midnight on Saturdays, WJWL/900 AM in Georgetown and WJWK/1280 AM in Seaford; The Latin Beat, noon–1 P.M. on Sundays, WDEL/1150 AM in Wilmington; and Radio Uno, 4–6 P.M. on Saturdays, WVUD/91.3 FM in Newark. There are also three television programs: Con Sabor Hispano, Dando la Vuelta, and ¡Viva la Vida! Finally, Delawarehispanic.com was created in 2002 as the first Hispanic Internet magazine in Delaware; it serves as a resource for Latinos to progress and improve their lives. It aims at teaching the state’s Latinos about voting, getting driver’s licenses, and gaining access to political leaders. It also includes information on Spanish-language church services, leaders in the state’s Latino community, and jobs for bilingual workers.

NOTES 1. http://www.geolytics.com/projection. 2. Hoffman, 1990. 3. Weslager, 1972. 4. In 1610 English sea captain Samuel Argall sailed into the bay and named presentday Cape Henlopen Cape La Warre, giving rise to the name Delaware for the bay, the river, the Native American group, and later, the state. 5. Munroe, 2006, 130–143. 6. Garcia, 1997, 12. 7. Munroe, 2006. 8. Griffith and Kissam, 1995. 9. Borland, 2001. 10. Caldwell, 2006. 11. Unofficial estimates indicate that these figures might be even higher. See, for example, Horowitz and Miller, 1999. 12. http://nuestrasraicesde.org. 13. http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dssc/gacha/index.html. 14. GACHA’s Annual Report 2006. 15. See, for example, Caldwell 2006 and Nefosky 2006. Annie Nefosky, a Wilmingtonbased radio journalist, won 1450 WILM NEWSRADIO 2006 awards in the categories

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Latino America for National Federation of Press Women (Special Programming) and the National Edward R. Murrow Award (News Series) for her radio program “Chasing Dreams in the First State: An In-Depth Look at the Latino Population in Delaware.” 16. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/DE/200002825.html. 17. http://www.laesperanza.org. 18. http://www.eltiempohispano.com. 19. http://www.wyusam.com.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Borland, Katherine. Creating Community: Hispanic Migration to Rural Delaware. Wilmington, DE: Delaware Heritage Press, 2001. Caldwell, Christopher. “Hola, Delaware! How Guatemalan Immigrants Changed a Small American Town.” Weekly Standard, August 14, 2006. Delaware Federal Writers’ Project. Delaware: A Guide to the First State. Compiled and written by the Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Delaware. New York: Hastings House, 1955. Delaware Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA). Annual Report. Wilmington, DE. 2006. Ferris, Benjamin. A History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware: From Its Discovery by Hudson to the Colonization under William Penn, to Which is Added an Account of the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Swedish Settlers, and a History of Wilmington, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time. Wilmington, DE: Wilson & Heald, 1846. Garcia, Victor Q. “Mexican Enclaves in the U.S. Northeast: Immigrant and Migrant Mushroom Workers in Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania.” JSRI research report #27. East Lansing, Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 1997. Griffith, David Craig, and Edward Kissam. Working Poor: Farmworkers in the United States. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995. Higgins, Anthony, ed. New Castle on the Delaware. Delaware Federal Writers’ Project, New Castle Historical Society, 1973. Hoffecker, Carol E. Delaware: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1977. Hoffman, Paul E. A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient: The American Southeast during the Sixteenth Century. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990. Horowitz, Roger, and Mark J. Miller. “Immigrants in the Delmarva Poultry Processing Industry: The Changing Face of Georgetown, Delaware, and Environs.” JSRI occasional paper #37. East Lansing, Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 1999. Louhi, Evert Alexander. The Delaware Finns; or the First Permanent Settlements in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West New Jersey, and Eastern Part of Maryland. New York: Humanity Press, 1925. Munroe, John A. History of Delaware. Newark: University of Delaware Press; London: Associated University Presses. Fifth edition, 2006 (originally published in 1979). ———. The Philadelawareans, and Other Essays Relating to Delaware. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2004.

Delaware United States Commission on Civil Rights, Delaware Advisory Committee and United States Commission on Civil Rights, Pennsylvania Advisory Committee. “The Working and Living Conditions of Mushroom Workers: A Report.” Washington, DC: Commission on Civil Rights, 1977. Weslager, Clinton Alfred. The Delaware Indians: A History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972. Wuorinen, John H. The Finns on the Delaware, 1638–1655: An Essay in American Colonial History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938.

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9 DISTRICT

OF

COLUMBIA

Enrique S. Pumar

CHRONOLOGY 1800

1822–1823 1960s 1960 1967 1970s

1973

1976

1978

The federal capital is transferred from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia. Two years later, Congress provides the city with its first municipal charter. Joseph Marion Fernández (1783–1857) becomes the first Hispanic to serve in Congress as a delegate from the territory of Florida. Many Latin American political exiles settle in Washington, DC, escaping a new wave of dictatorships throughout Latin American. With the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution, many Cuban exiles begin to settle in the Washington, DC, metro area. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is created. Economic crises and political instability in Central America increase the number of Central American migrants in the Washington, DC, metro area. Congress approves the District Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, which establishes the current governance structure with an elected mayor and a 13-member council. The Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs (OLA) is organized to act as liaison between the District government and the Latino community. To date, this office—along with the Commission on Latino Community Development—is the only political voice for Latinos in the District government agencies. The nonpartisan Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute is established.

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1986

2000

2003

The Salvadoran civil war and the Nicaraguan Revolution contribute to the increase of these two Latino groups in Washington, DC. The decade of the 1980s witnesses the largest wave of Latino migrants to the District. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is founded, reflecting the increasing presence of Hispanics in the business sector of the state and the purchasing power of this group. The Latino population reaches 39 percent of the foreign-born population of the District of Columbia; by 2002, Latinos constitute 9.4 percent of all the District’s residents. The Latino population in the District reaches 53,289.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The early Latino presence in the nation’s capital was shaped by the very unique historical identity of the District. Washington, DC, was founded to house the federal government, and as such its demographic growth has been driven by the peculiar nature of politics. This means, among other things, that a portion of the residents in the city is transient as it circulates in and out of the city according to electoral cycles. In addition, the population of the District has grown proportionally to the size of the federal government. After the Great Depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the federal bureaucracy expanded with the insertion of New Deal programs, the population and character of the District of Columbia changed, gradually becoming the metropolitan city that is today. However, Latinos did not settle in large numbers in the city until much later. Although events in the District had an immeasurable impact in the historical destiny of Latin American nations, the Latino population in the city was not sizeable until the latter part of the twentieth century. With the exception of foreign diplomats, a few professionals and politicos1 who lived in the city during political transitions, and the occasional public intellectual (for example, Fernando Ortiz, who came to reside briefly in Washington, DC, during his exile in the United States in the 1930s), Latinos tended to congregate in nearby cities such as Philadelphia and New York, where the economic and cultural ties with their home countries had been solidified since the early days of the nineteenth century. Historically, first-generation Latinos tend to congregate in areas with large manufacturing districts where there are ample opportunities to work and the cost of entering the labor force is considerably less. In addition, Latinos have traditionally been underrepresented in professional careers, such as law and engineering, associated with public service. Additionally, civic activists began to flow in numbers into the District after the 1960s. For example, the National Council of La Raza, the largest of the Latino civil rights and advocacy organizations in the country, with some 300 affiliated community-based organizations throughout the nation, did not open its Washington, DC, offices until 1968.

District of Columbia One of the major area’s engines of growth—in addition to the federal government, international, and nonprofit advocacy organizations—did not become well established until after World War II, when institutions such as the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank were created.

THE LATINO POPULATION BOOM Like most other cities in the nation, the bourgeoning number of Latinos settling in Washington, DC, has been in large part the result of transnational ties and political and economic events in Latin America. Before the 1980s, the Latino community of the District was primarily composed of a few professionals from throughout Latin America who came to work in the growing number of international and regional organizations. As such, the civil servants and other professionals who came to live in the District composed one of the most ethnically diverse Latino populations in the nation. Although no single Latin American nation predominated, this population shared high levels of education and professional status. Along with this professional group, a growing number of service workers gradually settled in the city, taking advantage of the growing service-sector employment opportunities. As in other neighborhoods of the DC metro area, the biggest jump in the Latino population occurred after 1980. Between 1990 and 2002, the population of Latinos residing in the District increased by 56 percent, becoming the area’s fastest-growing ethnic minority. Demographers estimate that by 2010, Latinos will total about 70,000. Several political and economic factors contributed to this transformation. Civil wars, economic devastation, and a succession of natural disasters provoked a mass migration from Central America, primarily from El Salvador. In the rest of Latin America, the downward mobility caused by the financial crises of the 1980s also brought many new economic migrants to the city at a time when the metro regional economy was booming. Many Latinos who had ties with relatives and acquaintances in the city learned about the historically low unemployment rate in the District and surrounding jurisdictions. Finally, the growth of the service-sector economy during the 1980s also attracted many newcomers, and by 2000, Central Americans already accounted for 22.4 percent of the foreign-born population in the District, South Americans for 10.1 percent, and migrants from the Caribbean for 6.2 percent. Of these three regions, almost 13 percent came from El Salvador alone.

CURRENT ISSUES In a number of ways the dispension of the new social class and professional status of the recent wave of Latino migrants is reflected in the residential clustering of the newcomers. The great majority of Latinos reside in working-class neighborhoods

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Latino America east of 16th Street, one of the major thoroughfares along the north-south corridor in the city, in such districts as Columbia Heights, Adam Morgan, and Mount Pleasant. Neighborhoods populated by poor Latinos are among the most violent and the most dilapidated. In 1991, the lack of sufficient affordable housing and mounting political frustrations in the Latino community fueled the riots in Mount Pleasant, one of the predominantly Latino neighborhoods in the city. The proliferation of Latino street gang activity in the District between 1999 and 2003 prompted the mayor and the DC Police Department to form the Gang Intervention Partnership Program, which has drastically reduced the reported gang violence among Latino youth. Latino enrollment in public schools around the city has doubled since the 1980s. However, Latino students continue to score lower than other ethnic groups in most criteria of educational achievement. The levels of schooling and language proficiency among parents and immediate family members are highly correlated with at least some of the dismal scores among Latino students. The basic reading and math skills among Latino children did not improve between 1990 and 2000, and their scores were among the lowest in the nation. Clearly, the performance of Latino students in school is closely related to the question of family wellness and human capital. The first report on the state of Latino children in Washington, DC (2003), issued by the Council of Latino Agencies found a close correlation between poverty, economic deprivation, and educational attainment in the Latino population. In 2000, 23 percent of Latino children of school age (6–17 years old) and 26 percent of the preschool age (6 years old or younger) were living in poverty in the District. Although this figure is lower than the poverty rate among African American children and, as one might expect, substantially higher than the rate among whites, the report concludes that the condition of poverty affects educational attainment most visibly when it contributes to the high degree of student absenteeism, the low levels of parental involvement in school and school work such as homework, and the alarming dropout levels among Latino students. Between 1991 and 1999, the dropout rate among Latino students was cut in half; however, in 1999, this group still had the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in the District public school system. Poverty, together with the hardships associated with selective assimilation, has also contributed to the near crisis in public health among Latino youth in Washington, DC. This group of Latinos has the highest percentage of drinking and cocaine consumption among the District youth population. But Latinos have the lowest percentage of marijuana use, which declined more drastically in this group than in any other during the 1990s. In addition to language and communication impediments, the single most alarming obstacle to receiving adequate health care for Latino families is the low level of insurance coverage. Interracial tensions have also been more evident in the District recently. The sources of tensions between Latinos and African Americans derive primarily from

District of Columbia the underrepresentation of the former in the governing institutions of the District government. In recent decades, no Latino representative has been elected to the city hall or the city council. In addition, the Office of Latino Affairs falls under the mayor’s purview and lacks political independence. On the other hand, politics in the city are controlled by African American groups and politicos. The voice of the Latino population has been impaired by the migratory status of the majority of this population. There has been little attempt to overcome the miscommunication and cultural stereotypes that permeate the perceptions these two groups have of each other. The relationship between the two groups is further complicated by their competition for affordable housing and service jobs in the city. Unlike other areas of the United States where one of the major divisions among Latinos is their political affiliation, in the District, with its overwhelming Democratic force and its nonvoting status in presidential elections, the major source of intra-ethnic tensions among Latinos relates to their immigration status and the biased treatment various groups of Latin migrants receive from federal agencies. Political asylum continues to be granted to refugees from leftist revolutionary regimes (for instance, Cubans and Nicaraguans) at a much higher rate than to refugees from other nations (primarily El Salvador and Guatemala), regardless of their level of suffering or the validity of their residency claims. For example, in 1997 Congress passed the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, which permitted Nicaraguans and Cubans residing in the United States since 1995 to become permanent legal residents through a relatively effortless status adjustment procedure. However, Salvadorans and Guatemalans had to prove they had been living continuously in the United States since 1990 in addition to meeting other stringent requirements.

NOTABLE LATINOS Fernández, Joseph Marion (1783–1857). Fernández was the first Hispanic to serve in Congress and the first delegate from the territory of Florida. From 1835 to 1838 he served in the U.S. Army, and in 1845, after being defeated when he ran for the U.S. Senate, he moved to Cuba and managed his family sugar estate near Matanzas. Farragut, David Glasgow (1801–1870). Son of Jorge Farragut, a merchant captain from Minorca, Spain, who migrated to America in 1776, Farragut entered the Navy, where he distinguished himself as a midshipman defending the District of Columbia during the war of 1812. He later rose to the rank of admiral. Garesche, Julius (1821–1862). Garesche attended Georgetown College and West Point and later rose to a distinguished military career. While residing in Washington, DC, he helped found the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Garcia-Menocal, Aniceto (1836–1908). A U.S. Navy admiral and Cuban-born civil engineer who, after graduating from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New

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Latino America York, in 1862, became subchief engineer on the Havana water works. In 1870, he was appointed engineer of public works in New York City, and between 1873 and 1885 Menocal worked as chief engineer responsible for drawing surveys in search of the best route for a canal in Panama and Nicaragua. The Garcia-Menocal family produced several generals and admirals and one president of Cuba. In 1900 he oversaw the plans for the naval station in the Philippines. Yzaguiree, Raul (1939–). Born in San Juan, Texas, Yzaguiree is a civil rights activist who served as president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza from 1974 to 2004. Melendez, Sara (1940–). An educator and community activist, Doctor Melendez, a native of Puerto Rico, has served on the boards of the Ethics Resource Center, the Points of Light Foundation, the National Puerto Rican Forum, the MS Foundation for Women, and the Aspira Association. Doctor Melendez has published numerous articles on education, leadership, and diversity, and he has coauthored a book on bilingual education. Medrano, Hugo (1943–). Medrano is the founder and artistic director of the GALA Theater Company. Already an accomplished actor and director in his native Argentina, Medrano created GALA in 1976 shortly after arriving in the nation’s capital. He has been involved in one way or another in promoting and developing Latino actors in Washington ever since. Velazco, Anna (1952–). A nonprofit executive and social entrepreneur, Velazco is currently the executive director of the DC Public Library Foundation. She recently served 5 years in the District of Columbia government, primarily as director of planning and analysis in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families, and Elders. She began her career as an adult educator in the fields of literacy, English as a second language, and adult basic education, culminating in managing a network of 18 alternative learning centers in New York City. She holds degrees in literature and the classics from Oberlin College and Harvard University. Leiva, Rodrigo (1956–). Leiva is president of the Board of Trustees of Latino Fiesta DC 2007 and director of membership services of the Latino Federation of Greater Washington. Arene, Eugenio (1960–). Arene is the president and executive officer of the Latino Federation of Greater Washington. A native of El Salvador, in 2002 Arene became the executive director of the Council of Latino Agencies (CLA), a nonprofit membership organization comprising 40 multicultural, community-based agencies in the Washington Metropolitan Area that provides direct services to the Latino community and lowincome residents. In addition, he serves on the boards of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, the Greater Washington Ibero-American Chamber of Commerce, and the Youth Build Charter School in Washington, DC. Vivero, Mauricio (1966–). Vivero is the executive director of Ayuda Inc. and president of 501 (c) Strategies. A native of Cuba, Vivero has built a distinguished community service and nonprofit career, having served as director of government relations for Indepen-

District of Columbia dent Sector, a national coalition representing more than 600 foundations, charities, and corporate giving programs. From 1998 until 2003, he was vice president of government relations and public affairs at the Legal Services Corporation. He also served as director of grassroots lobbying for the American Bar Association (ABA) and as director of leadership development for the National Council of La Raza. Reinoso, Victor (1969–). Reinoso serves as the deputy mayor for education in the District of Columbia and is the principal policy advisor to the mayor on issues related to education. He was elected to represent the Second District on the Board of Education in November 2004 and elected as chief operating officer of the Federal City Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership community development organization in the District. Reinoso was a founding staff member of the Fair Employment Council, now the Equal Rights Center, a civil rights advocacy group. He earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Multiple community-based Latino associations hold community festivals celebrating the Latino culture heritage and national identity. One of the oldest community festivals is the Latino Festival Fiesta DC in Mt. Pleasant. Held in one of the neighborhoods with the strongest historic Latino ties, the festival celebrates the rich multicultural tradition of Latin America and showcases the growing Latino businesses in the city. In addition, several institutions throughout the city sponsor cultural festivals such as the Latin American Film Festival. The many public affairs programs and cultural centers from Latin American embassies and international organizations also enrich the city’s cultural life. One such center is the Inter-American Cultural Center at the Inter-American Development Bank. The Cultural Center was created in 1992 with the mission of advancing the cultural heritage of Latin American and Caribbean nations in Washington, DC. The center also contributes to social development by administering a grants program that sponsors and cofinances small-scale cultural projects. Another such institution is the Smithsonian Latino Center. The center is part of the Smithsonian Institution and receives about $1 million per year in funding from Congress to promote Latino cultural heritage through museum exhibits and cultural programs. In the past 10 years alone, the Center has distributed approximately $10 million in congressional funds to more than 250 successful cultural art projects. Six Spanish-language dailies and magazines are published in the city. Some 50 restaurants and lounges catering to Latinos have opened in the city in the last decade. One of the oldest Latino theater companies, GALA (Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos), also operates in Washington, DC. GALA was founded in 1976 and was the outgrowth of Teatro Double, a bilingual children’s

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Latino commercial center in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Courtesy of Enrique S. Pumar.

theater in Washington. GALA Hispanic Theatre has long been a groundbreaking and energetic performing center presenting classical and contemporary plays in Spanish and English, as well as an accompanying program of dance, music, poetry, spoken word, art, and, more recently, film. In January 2005, after 29 years of moving between venues, GALA moved into its permanent home in the historic Tivoli Theater. The move to a permanent home fulfilled the dream of its founder, Hugo Medrano, who had envisioned GALA as one of the more vibrant cultural outlets in the city.

NOTE 1. According to the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, only 61 Hispanic delegates have served in the legislative branch since 1774. See http://www.loc.gov/rr/ hispanic/congress/contents.html.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bean, Frank D., and Marta Tienda. The Hispanic Population of the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1988. Office of Latino Affairs, District of Columbia. http://ola.dc.gov/ola/site/default.asp?olaNav. Portes, Alejandro, and Robert L. Bach. Latin Journey: Cuban and Mexican Immigrants in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

District of Columbia Renteria, Rose Ann. “A Vibrant Latino Presence in Washington, DC.” Footnotes, May–June 2000. Repak, Terry. Waiting on Washington: Central American Workers in the Nation’s Capital. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995. Roy, Kishna, and Heather McClure. The State of Latino Kids in the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: Council of Latino Agencies, 2003. Sanchez-Korrol, Virginia. From Colonia to Community. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. Singer, Audrey. At Home in the Nation’s Capital. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2003. ———. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2004. Valenzuela, Abel, Ana Luz Gonzalez, Nik Theodore, and Edwin Melendez. In Pursuit of the American Dream: Day Labor in the Greater Washington D.C. Region. Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, 2005.

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10 FLORIDA Martin Nesvig

CHRONOLOGY 1513 1528

1539

1565

1567–1705 1586 1596–1597

1613–1617 1628 1668

Juan Ponce de León leads first Spanish exploration of Florida, but no permanent settlement is established. Explorer Pánfilo de Narváez leads a large expedition to Florida, making landfall near Tampa Bay. The exploratory mission results in disaster: of 300 men, only four survive. One of them is Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, who wanders from Texas to the Pacific and writes a narrative of the expedition and the shipwrecked survivors’ travels. Explorer Hernando de Soto leads a larger exploration to Florida, making landfall at Tampa Bay; over 4 years he leads his expedition through Florida and southeast North America. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés establishes the first permanent Spanish settlement in Florida as the province’s governor; St. Augustine is established. Spanish Franciscan and Jesuit missions established throughout Florida. English corsair Sir Francis Drake raids St. Augustine. Spain annexes Ais (above Cape Canaveral) and Guale (in present-day Georgia) as provinces; Guale Indian Rebellion lasts for 6 years, beginning in 1597. Epidemic diseases kill most mission Indians. Dutch naval officer and privateer Piet Heyn captures the entire Spanish silver fleet off the coast of Cuba, along with all financing for Florida. English corsairs led by Robert Searles sack St. Augustine.

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1670 1672–1695 1686 1700–1713

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1783 1821 1868 1885–1924 1959 1961

Treaty of Madrid recognizes a boundary line between Spanish Florida and English Carolina. Castillo de San Marcos, a massive stone fort, is built in St. Augustine. Spanish explorers Juan Enríquez Barroto and Antonio Romero explore Pensacola Bay. The War of Spanish Succession, called Queen Anne’s War in North America, pits Spain against England; the Spanish population of Florida is reduced to its lowest point, less than 1,000. During the French and Indian War, the English take Havana; Spain trades Florida to the English in exchange for Havana, and Florida becomes an English possession. Florida is returned to Spanish possession in imperial horse trading. After repeated invasions by President Andrew Jackson, Florida is ceded to the United States. Cuban and Spanish cigar workers and manufacturers leave Cuba and settle in Key West. Thousands of Cubans come to Tampa and establish Ybor City as Florida’s first migrant Latino community. Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, spawning decades of migration from Cuba. Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, founded in Havana in 1854, opens in Miami after being expelled from Cuba by its alumnus Fidel Castro.

Florida 1966 1980s–1990s 1980s

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Cuban Adjustment Act provides automatic permanent resident alien status to Cubans arriving in the United States. Thousands of Colombians fleeing political violence in Colombia migrate to Florida. Thousands of Nicaraguans flee civil war and the Sandinista regime for Florida. Billions of dollars worth of Colombian cocaine passes through southern Florida. In the Mariel boatlift, some 125,000 people leave Cuba in boats and arrive in Miami. Race riot in Liberty City (Miami-Dade County) erupts and 18 people are killed. Panamanian general Manuel Noriega is tried, convicted, and imprisoned for drug trafficking and money laundering in a Miami federal court. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen becomes first Latina and first Cuban American elected to the U.S. Congress. Upper- and middle-class Venezuelans arrive in Florida after leaving Venezuela, following presidential victories by self-proclaimed socialist Hugo Chávez.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Hurricanes and the fountain of youth were at the heart of the Spanish colonial enterprise of Florida, and in many ways, nearly 500 years later, those two physical phenomena continue to define Florida. In 2004 and 2005 several hurricanes hit Florida, leaving devastation in their wake. And although the fountain of youth was never found, anyone who takes a walk down the boardwalk in Palm Beach or Miami Beach would swear that the cosmetic surgeons have gotten close enough. But it was really hurricanes that in many ways defined Florida’s earliest existence and also defined Florida’s earliest Spanish presence. Too swampy for serious building in the colonial period, too subject to hurricanes for permanent structures, and lacking a densely settled imperial Indian population for taxation, Florida was for hundreds of years a kind of backwater and buffer zone against the imperial pretensions of the French and English to the north. Unlike Havana, with which Florida has had a long relationship, Florida was off the main trans-Atlantic commerce routes. Of course, Florida’s status as a backwater and extension of the Old South changed dramatically in the second half of the twentieth century. The twentieth century in Florida witnessed a radical re-Hispanization of the state. As of 2005 the state itself was home to more than 1 million Cubans, close to 650,000 Puerto Ricans, half a million Mexicans, almost a quarter million Colombians, 120,000 Dominicans, over 100,000 Nicaraguans, and thousands of

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Hernando De Soto, soldiers, sailors, and priests landing in Florida, from 1855 engraving. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

Latinos from all over Latin America. Latinos now make up just under 20 percent (approximately 19.6 percent as of 2005) of the total population of Florida.1 Miami-Dade County, home famously to the largest concentration of Cubans in the United States, is just over 60 percent Latino.2 How Florida went from being a colonial outpost of the Spanish New World endeavor to being a U.S. territory and slave state, a state with the highest lynching rates of any southern state in the early twentieth century, to a state with a vast amalgamation of Latinos from all parts of Latin America, is the story of this chapter. Like some parts of the U.S. Southwest—notably New Mexico and, to a lesser extent, California—Florida has a long political history as part of the Spanish Empire. But Florida did not have a historically consistent Latino presence. Prior

Florida to the nineteenth century, Florida had been sparsely populated, and the Spanish presence from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, although consistent from an administrative and territorial perspective, was never deep or wide-ranging. Instead, even though Florida was a Spanish possession for nearly 300 years, it would take a revolution in Cuba in 1959, an exodus and migration to Miami, a booming cocaine trade from Colombia in the 1980s, counterrevolutionary migrations from Nicaragua and Venezuela, waves of migrations from Central and South America, and agricultural migrations from Mexico to transform Florida into one of the United States’ most diverse Latino populations. One joke is that if one wants to lie on the beach and speak English, one should go to Cancún, and if one wants to lie on the beach and speak Spanish, one should go to Miami. In a highly globalized economy and world system in which Miami lies at the heart of the Caribbean basin, international borders and linguistic debates about English-only legislation seem to fall largely on deaf ears in Florida. But despite this pluralism and diversity, Florida is also a deeply divided place—a place where accents determine business transactions, where national identities are held so dear that, rather than cosmopolitanism, Florida is better characterized by ethnic factionalism, provincialism, and racism. The Cuban Republican U.S. senator from Florida Melquiades (Mel) Martínez had this to say about the use of the Mexican flag on April 8, 2006, after hundreds of thousands of predominantly Mexican migrants staged rallies across the country for immigration reform: “I think it’s terrible . . . But if what this is about is the opportunity to be an American, to be a resident of America, to work in America and, ultimately, to be a citizen of America, they need to be carrying American flags.”3 But Martínez is not to be found to protest when Cubans wave the Cuban flag on news of the potential demise of Castro, at the restaurant Versailles, or at the ubiquitous presence of Cuban flags from rearview mirrors of cars in Miami. The Cuban flag waves proudly at the entrance to downtown Miami from the Freedom Tower in front of the American Airlines Arena, and neither Senator Martínez nor any other Cuban political leader has ever protested this as “un-American” or somehow disparaging the preferential treatment that Cubans received from the United States as pawns in the Cold War. What it really comes down to is a politicized division between Latinos and between Cubans, who are predominantly white, and African Americans, between individual Latino groups, and between Latinos and Anglos, in Florida. In the fall of 2006, Cuban Hialeah-based state legislator Ralph Arza repeatedly referred to Miami schools superintendent Rudy Crew (who is African American) as a “nigger,” all the while enjoying the support and loyalty of his constituency and political cronies. Only after Arza and his cousin Gus Barreiro were caught on tape repeating the same language, threatening other legislators, and eventually charged with witness tampering felonies did Arza step down from the legislature.

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Latino America Tellingly, part of his mea culpa was tempered with self-pity in which he said he “felt sad” that people considered him a racist.4 These are mere vignettes but they go a long way toward highlighting the deep ethnic, racial, and ideological divisions that drive Floridian Latino identity. Whatever one thinks of the political identity of Latinos in Florida, the issue of national identity and flags is a clear symbol for the division, not unity, of Latino identity in Florida.

SPANISH COLONIAL FLORIDA (1513–1763) Unlike other parts of the Spanish imperial project in the Americas (such as Mexico, Peru, and the Caribbean), which were important for large Indian populations as tax and labor bases, silver deposits, or as sugar plantation sites, Florida never offered the Spanish Empire much of anything. Its principal purpose was as a territorial buffer between the lucrative trans-Atlantic silver fleet system, which disembarked from Havana before heading to Seville, and the imperial pretensions of the French and English in the Carolinas and Louisiana. Nor were the climate, land, or Indian populations much help in this regard. Hurricanes, swamps, mosquitoes, floods, and vicious semitropical sun all combined to make Florida less than salubrious. The Indian populations were largely composed of hunter-gatherer groups and as such, unlike the Mexicans and Andeans, offered little financial incentive for ambitious conquistadores or hacienda owners. Despite these drawbacks, Florida exerted a powerful tug on the collective imagination of early Spanish explorers. Juan Ponce de León, the former leader of the conquest of Puerto Rico in 1506 (and Puerto Rico’s erstwhile Spanish governor) led the first Spanish expedition into Florida, in the now-famous search for the fountain of youth. He never found gold (or, it seems, the fountain of youth) but was named adelantado (governor) of Florida by the Crown in 1514. Delayed by administrative and family events in Spain (his wife had died) Ponce de León returned to Puerto Rico. In 1521, amid reports of Hernán Cortés’s spectacular victory over the Mexican Empire, Ponce de León led a new expedition to Florida with some 200 settlers, missionaries, horses, and domestic animals, but on landing in Florida (probably in San Carlos Bay) he was wounded by an arrow shot by hostile Indians, fled to Cuba, and died of infections from the wound. Ponce de León’s experience in Florida would prove ominously predictive. For over 200 years the Spaniards struggled to make Florida a Spanish possession in the style of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Peru, and as a whole the effort was largely fruitless. Even by 1700 the Spanish population in Florida had not yet risen above 2,000. By contrast many of the larger Spanish cities alone in the Americas had Spanish populations well above that—Mexico City may have had as many as 50,000 Spaniards by the end of the eighteenth century.5

Florida The Americas, for Spain, were important for both global and economic reasons. Although Spain had little difficulty keeping most of its possessions in the core areas of its American holdings (in Mexico and the Andes, for example), the peripheral and transitional regions were more susceptible to foreign intrusions and trade. The Spanish Crown established a mercantile trade system—or closed sea—in which only certain trade ports were licensed and in which free trade between nations was prohibited. This meant that Seville was the home port for all of the Spanish American trade—a highly lucrative international trade in American silver, European cloth, Chinese silk, and Asian spices, among other items. In the Americas, Lima, Panama, Veracruz, and Havana were the principal ports of entry or embarkation. Given the currents and winds of the Caribbean, and the need to transport the vast amount of silver coming from Zacatecas in Mexico and Potosí in upper Peru, Havana became the final port in the eastward flow of bullion. Ships laden with silver from the Caribbean ports of Panama and from Veracruz in Mexico would meet in Havana for provisioning and ship repairs; Havana also quickly became an important shipbuilding city. Having provisioned in Havana, the silver fleets traveled under military escort to Seville. After Ponce de León, Pánfilo de Narváez and then Hernando de Soto made unsuccessful explorations in Florida, leading to no real permanent settlement. It was not until 1565 that Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was awarded a contract as adelantado of Florida. Virtually all conquest in the Americas by the Spanish was privately funded. Like Cortés and Ponce de León, Menéndez de Avilés put up the lion’s share of the funding for conquest endeavors in the hopes that conquest and victory would bring untold wealth, fame, fortune, and power. This system was based on the old medieval system of patronage, in which vassals risked their fortunes and lives in exchange for titles of nobility and lands from the Crown. Menéndez de Avilés’s Florida venture fit this pattern. Menéndez de Avilés had convinced the Spanish Crown to grant him the title of adelantado (governor). It helped his cause that the French (many of whom were Protestants and therefore anathema to the Catholic king Phillip II of Spain) had set up forts on the Florida coast. Menéndez de Avilés went to Florida with 10 ships and 1,000 men and made landfall in St. Augustine on September 8, 1565. Thus began the first permanent Spanish settlement in Florida. The Spanish presence was haphazard and spotty. Unlike conquest efforts in the Caribbean, which turned up gold, or in Mexico, which turned up large imperial societies with vast tax and labor base populations, Florida offered little. Nevertheless, over the next few years Menéndez de Avilés, along with his wife doña María de Solís, set up a string of semifortified Spanish towns. As with Peru and Mexico, a good portion of the Spanish settlers came from the relatively poor province of Extremadura and from upper Andalucía.6 Like Pizarro, who was famously illiterate and viewed by his Old World rivals with scorn, the settlers of

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Latino America Florida were social climbers, looking to move up the socioeconomic food chain from their relatively meager Spanish origins. Those at the top, like the adelantado and his household, would enjoy expensive Ming dynasty porcelain (imported from China via Manila and Acapulco), gold embroidery, marzipan from Toledo, dates, almonds, and, most assuredly, to remind themselves of their Spanish pedigree, vinegary wine from Spain.7 But these were isolated households. The experience of Spaniards in colonial Florida was one of isolation, raids by rival European corsairs and freebooters, tense relations with nomadic Indian groups, and poor funding from the Crown. Although the Crown saw Florida as important strategically, it did not invest heavily in fortifications or in the budgets of the presidios. Instead, these presidios were often marginal places where criminals served their sentences.8 By 1600 St. Augustine was the only Spanish fortification in 600 miles of coastline. In the 1610s, epidemic disease dramatically reduced Indian populations, and labor shortages were common because the Spanish had demanded a kind of levy draft labor system from their Indian subjects. In 1622 a massive hurricane devastated trade. The year of 1628 was a low point for Florida. For the first and only time in its history, an entire Spanish silver fleet was captured, by Dutch naval officer and privateer Piet Heyn, off the coast of Cuba. Subsidies for the Florida presidio and mission systems were devastated. In the wake of these events, a new push to expand Spanish presence came from governors Luis de Rojas y Borja and Luis de Horruytiner. What became known as Middle Florida (the area in the panhandle around Tallahassee) was settled, and Franciscan missionaries began to set up small missions. Tallahassee and the Apalachee area would provide food and harbor for Spanish ships fleeing corsairs in the Gulf of Mexico. In theory the expansion was a good idea, but like much of the history of early Florida, the Spanish were harassed by raids and unpredictable weather. The Apalachee rebelled against Spanish rule in 1647, and an internal war between Christianized and non-Christianized tribes broke out. In 1668 St. Augustine was sacked by English corsair Robert Searles. In 1670 English settlers from Barbados founded Charleston. The Spanish Crown responded to these events with increased investment in Florida. In the 1670s the building of the massive stone Castillo de San Marcos was begun in St. Augustine. Despite the efforts of the Crown, Spanish Florida remained a place renowned for seemingly constant war and raiding. In fact the Spanish population of Florida may have fallen below 1,000 by the end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1713.9 Even the missionaries, who were famed for their intrepid nature and willingness to live in the most extreme circumstances, fared poorly in Florida. By 1759, it is reported, there were less than 10 Franciscan priests in all of Florida. South of St. Augustine there was virtually no Spanish presence at all on the Atlantic coast.

Florida In 1683, amid the various explorations and expansions into Middle Florida, Pensacola Bay was scouted by the Spanish. It was settled, and some argued that it should replace St. Augustine as the capital of Spanish Florida—a suggestion rejected by Charles II. As in the rest of Florida’s early history (or modern history, for that matter), criminals settled Pensacola. Many of the settlers sent to work in the presidio had come from jails in Mexico or were press-ganged into service from the poorer sections of Mexico City and Veracruz. The Spanish priests who went to Pensacola often complained bitterly of the low moral standing of the presidio defenders, who had little incentive to defend imperial ambitions. Likewise, despite the efforts of the Crown to the contrary, Pensacola proved an excellent place for contraband international trade with the French of Louisiana and Mobile. By 1763 Pensacola had only barely survived after decades of raids, smuggling, disease, and neglect—this despite the fact that the Crown had sunk more than 4.5 million pesos into the endeavor. When Pensacola, along with the rest of Florida, went to the English, there were only a few hundred Spaniards there, compared with perhaps over 2,000 in St. Augustine.10 In 1763 Florida was ceded by the Spanish Crown to England in exchange for Havana, which the English had taken during the various imperial wars known as the French and Indian (or Seven Years’) War. Spain saw Florida as increasingly less important, but more significantly it viewed Havana as much more important. Cuba was home to a burgeoning sugar plantation economy, and by 1763 Cuba had supplanted Brazil as one of the world’s major sugar producers. Cuban plantation owners had adopted new technologies in production developed in Barbados and the island was fast emerging as an important piece in Spain’s international economy—to say nothing of the Caribbean. Florida, on the other hand, produced virtually nothing. In the end this worked well for Spain, because Cuba emerged over the next three decades to become the world’s major sugar producer, rising in importance after the Haitian Revolution, which ousted French slave owners. In all, it appeared that Florida was a kind of lost land, a marshy bog forgotten by history and left out of the important shipping lanes between Panama, Veracruz, Havana, and Seville. How ironic this state of affairs seems now, when Miami is perched as one of the Caribbean basin’s most important Latin cities, and when the relationship between Florida and Cuba has never been stronger.

INTERIM YEARS (1763–1821) From Florida’s incorporation into British America, and its temporary return to Spain from 1783 to 1821, the area was torn between competing imperial interests and the growing expansionist pretensions of the world’s next great empire—the

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Latino America United States. Although the economy of the Spanish period was marked by its dependence on Indian and slave labor, this tendency grew during the interim years (to be expanded more during the antebellum years). At the same time, this period, especially the second Spanish period, saw a highly diverse population, mixed between white Protestants, white Spanish Catholics, Indians, blacks, and mestizos and mulattos (persons of mixed descent). St. Augustine, now under Catholic rule again, witnessed a kind of cultural revival. Spanish residents in 1789 staged a three-day celebration for the coronation of King Charles IV of Spain; a new cathedral church was built between 1793 and 1797; and the Spanish Crown began offering grants of land up to 150 acres for settlers from the United States to come to Florida. Nevertheless, this period never saw any substantial growth. When the War of 1812 broke out, Florida was increasingly caught in the crossfire of imperial interests. Likewise, in 1810 various groups in Mexico, and later in other parts of Latin America, rebelled against the Spanish Crown and established independent nations. In 1821 Florida was ceded to the United States and the era of the Spanish flag flying over Florida came to an end—even if, more than a century later, the Cuban flag would again fly over Miami and countless Latin American flags would dangle from rearview mirrors.

THE EARLY U.S. FLORIDA (1821–1959) As a territory and later state of the United States, Florida would develop into one of the most conservative and economically and technologically underdeveloped states of the Old South. Developed on slave labor and harboring a deepseated white supremacy, antebellum Florida remained relatively undeveloped. Nevertheless, it expanded considerably in population. In 1825 there were about 13,000 residents in all of Florida (excluding Indians), and within 5 years the nonIndian population grew to nearly 35,000. Centered on the upper-east coast and middle Florida, the territory developed a cotton industry.11 Some Spaniards remained in Florida, and St. Augustine, unlike the largely white Tallahassee, remained a fairly diverse town, retaining a mix of Anglo and Spanish residents. Joseph Hernández, a sugar planter, was made the territorial delegate to Congress in 1823. Although Spaniards retained their slaves after the transition in 1821, very few Spaniards migrated to Florida after this date. The result is that by the Civil War, most Spaniards had died, were subsumed into the population through intermarriage, or had migrated to other parts of the Spanish world. Overall, Florida took a turn toward being a territory (and a state in 1845) defined by slave plantation labor, stark black-white race relations, and poor infrastructure. By the turn of the nineteenth century the Latino presence in Florida was negligible as the state went through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Literacy rates

Florida were among the lowest of all Southern states. Segregationists ruled with a politics of white supremacy, terror, and political favor. Lynching rates were higher in Florida than any other part of the South in the first decades of the twentieth century.12 Education was formally segregated both by Jim Crow laws and by legislative decree. There were some sporadic Latino migrations in this period. Cuban cigar workers and manufacturers had come to Key West in the 1860s, and in the 1880s they went in large numbers to Tampa, founding Ybor City as modern Florida’s first Latino migrant enclave. Named after the Spanish industrialist Vicente Martínez Ybor, cigar workers and the cigar industry formed a close-knit Latino community. Spanish-language (and other languages—principally Italian) newspapers were founded, and cooperative fraternal and social organizations began to spring up. Later, by the 1910s and 1920s, political exiles from Latin America began to consider Florida, and Miami in particular, to be a potential place of refuge. Developed by canny railroad magnates such as Henry Flagler, southern Florida at long last was connected to the rest of Florida and the United States and developed—once the crocodiles and mangrove swamps were cleared out—as a kind of winter paradise. Former dictator-president of Mexico Porfirio Díaz, in exile in Paris, was rumored to have considered a comeback in Miami. By the end of the 1920s, more than 1,000 Cubans opposed to the rule of Gerardo Machado had come to Miami. When, after Machado was overthrown in a revolution in 1933, the exiles returned to Cuba, the Miami Herald prophetically said that “Miami’s gates will always be open to Cubans, should the time ever come again when they need a refuge.”13 Of course, that time would come in 26 years, when another revolution spawned the single largest Latino migration in Florida’s history.

MODERN FLORIDA (1959–2007) On January 2, 1959, Fidel Castro and his supporters began a victorious march toward Havana, having successfully ousted Fulgencio Batista, who fled Cuba in the early morning of New Year’s Day. With this shift began one of the Cold War’s most notorious stories, and also the single greatest migration of Latinos into Florida in its history. The migrations across the now-famous “ninety miles” of the Florida straits would be massive. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans would eventually leave Cuba for Miami. And this migration also paved the way, in uneven ways, for future Latino migrations, because this ultimately transformed Miami from a relatively sleepy retirement town and enclave of Russian Jewish émigrés into a city where one could conceivably live and die without speaking a word of English. The Cuban migrations to Miami were structured along class, socioeconomic, professional, and racial lines. The first wave of migrations came immediately in

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Latino America the wake of Castro’s triumph. Fearing (correctly) that Fidel would turn Cuba communist, the Batista oligarchy, wealthy conservatives, business owners, and the right-wing professional class constituted, generally, the initial migration to Florida. Predominantly white and well-to-do, this group tended to integrate successfully into the Miami economic and political world. Unlike other migrant groups in U.S. history, Cubans have benefited from the circumstances of global politics. Eager to embarrass or eventually defeat Castro (and, one might add, to add Cubans to their voting rolls), formal U.S. policy has been exceptionally favorable to Cubans. The first wave of émigrés, who viewed themselves as political exiles, possessed an unusual profile for migrants: educated, propertied, and professional. In many cases they were from the highest ranks of the old Batista elite. The result is that this relatively upper-middle- and upper-class group set up shop quickly in Miami as a kind of oligarchy in wait for the hoped-for demise of Castro. Castro did not fall; in fact, he outlived assassination attempts, coups, an incompetent invasion at the Bay of Pigs, and even the Cuban Missile Crisis. The next wave of Cuban migrants consisted of children who were airlifted out of Cuba by the U.S. military, a program known as Operation Pedro Pan. Until 1965 Cuba saw the first phase of the revolution and it became increasingly clear that things were taking an authoritarian turn. Castro surprised the United States and the exile community in September 1965, when he announced that anyone in Cuba who had relatives in the United States and who wished to leave was free to do so. The result was the so-called freedom flights over the next 9 years, in which close to 300,000 Cubans left for Florida.14 Throughout this process Miami became the “front line in the Cold War.”15 In 1966 the United States implemented the Cuban Adjustment Act, which provided for immediate and automatic permanent resident status for all Cubans who arrived legally in the United States. The U.S. government also sponsored wide-ranging welfare programs to assist new arrivals. By the mid-1970s the United States government had spent more than $1 billion assisting Cuban migrants. The result of the U.S. government’s eagerness to discredit Castro and welcome enemies of world communism was to provide unprecedented opportunities for Cubans in Florida, who thrived as a result of strong familial and community solidarity, economic patronage, and their generally high socioeconomic profile prior to migration to Florida. By the late 1970s Cubans had come to form an economically and politically powerful group in Miami. By 1977 Cubans owned 8,000 businesses in Miami.16 Although Cubans would increasingly dominate Miami business and politics, 1980 marked a watershed in Florida history, in the collective dynamic of Latino identity in Florida, in Cuban identity, and in the ethnic balance in Florida. In April 1980 Castro announced that gusanos (worms—Castro’s pejorative word for enemies of his regime) would be free to leave Cuba. Debarking from Mariel Harbor,

Florida some 125,000 Cubans left for Miami. It was nothing short of a debacle. Cubans in Florida organized fleets of “freedom boats” to ferry the émigrés. Among the Marielitos were a substantial amount of criminals and the mentally insane whom Castro had released from asylums and prisons. He remarked that he had “flushed the toilets of Cuba” on the shores of Miami and openly mocked the exile community in Florida. U.S. President Carter was caught off-guard and the entire incident made for salacious headlines—murderers and psychotics dumped on Miami’s shores. From a demographic perspective, however, important shifts could be detected—Marielitos were generally poorer, younger, and less white than previous Cuban migrants. Significantly, unlike previous migrations, which tended to be for both economic and ideological reasons, by 1980 the promises of the revolution were souring on substantial portions of the population, and middle-class and working-class Cubans left Cuba out of discontent over the stagnant economy and the increasingly dictatorial rule of Castro. In the midst of the Mariel boatlift, Haitian migrants were simultaneously attempting to cross the Florida straits and reach the United States. But Haiti did not have a communist government and Haitians, unlike Cuban émigrés of the 1960s, were overwhelmingly black and very poor. U.S. policy called for turning away Haitians. Bloated corpses of Haitian migrants began to wash up on Miami beaches. The African American community in Miami seethed; predominantly black Liberty City and Overtown were among the poorest cities in the United States. In the same year four white policemen were accused of beating a black man, Arthur McDuffie, to death. In May 1980 the officers were acquitted and Miami erupted in racial violence over four days, killing eighteen people and causing more than $100 million in property damages.17 The year 1980 was a turning point for Latino identity in Florida. It was the year when the clear inequities in U.S. immigration policy were laid bare, but it was also the beginning of a much more diverse Latino migration into Florida. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans began to flee the Sandinista regime, which like Castro’s, was unabashedly communist. But Nicaraguans did not receive the same open-armed welcome that Cubans had in the 1960s and 1970s. They had seen themselves as occupying similar circumstances as Cubans, but official policy did not reflect that perspective. Instead, Nicaraguans were left in a kind of legal and immigration limbo. In many instances unable to obtain visas or documentation, Nicaraguans were never able to achieve the kind of socioeconomic success that Cubans had. The 1980s were also the years of Colombian cocaine in Miami. Billions of dollars worth of cocaine came through Miami, which was a porous harbor. Mayors and police welcomed the trade with virtually public smiles. Mayors were indicted. The city’s homicide rate soared. Miami became Murder, U.S.A., as socalled cocaine cowboys—hit men for the Medellín Cartel, the principal operative

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Latino America in the cocaine trade in the 1980s—shot down people in the streets. Real estate values plummeted and tourists were warned to stay inside at dark. But at the same time violence in Colombia was worse. A lingering, decades-long, low-level civil war continued to claim thousands of lives and in the process thousands of Colombians fled the country for Florida. Today close to a quarter million Colombians reside in Florida, making them the fourth-largest Latino group in the state. While the lurid stories of corruption, murder, and discos awash in cocaine made headlines, and while racial tensions boiled over to murderous mayhem in Florida in the 1980s, something else was happening. South Florida was increasingly looking southward to the Caribbean and South America politically, culturally, and economically. Banks sprang up like mushrooms in Miami in the 1980s as the need to launder drug money skyrocketed. General Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian dictator, was one of the principal operatives, staging a lucrative money-laundering scheme between Miami and Panama. In the end, of course, Noriega was captured by U.S. forces in an invasion of Panama in 1989 and extradited to Miami, where he was prosecuted and imprisoned in a U.S. prison. Also, after Mariel, the makeup of Cuban migrants, and Latino migration to Florida in general, changed. The 1990s saw the balseros, or rafters, from Cuba and, increasingly, widespread migration from South America pick up speed in the 1980s and 1990s. But apart from this, south Florida was also developing into a place where Latino migrants could arrive and not skip a beat, as it were. One could literally live and die in Miami without learning English. This meant opportunities for Latin American enterprises and for service industries. By the end of the 1980s, crime levels in south Florida had dropped. Thousands of Latinos from all over Latin America came to Florida for education, work, family, political exile, economic exile, and to chase the enigmatic lure of Florida. Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, came to Florida for the same reasons people move from state to state within the United States—jobs, career, education, family—but given south Florida’s increasing reputation as a place open to Latinos, Puerto Ricans saw Florida as a viable and desirable option. The same could be said of Peruvians, Argentines, Colombians, and Dominicans— they lacked U.S. passports but they came for the Latino presence and perceived opportunities. Much of this migration came from the middle classes, who saw in Florida economic or educational opportunities, familial ties, or career moves. Other groups fared differently. Central Americans, especially from Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large numbers of Mexicans, have come to Florida since Mariel, largely in pursuit of a better life and job opportunities. Whereas Cubans came with the support of the U.S. government, migrants from Central America and Mexico have tended to arrive in Florida without documentation, with shaky migration status, or as members of extended families. They have

Florida often found work in the service sector, semi-skilled labor, domestic work, construction, and agriculture. Mexicans, for example, are the third-largest Latino group in Florida (over half a million) but are concentrated heavily in rural areas of south Florida. Many Salvadorans and Hondurans work in service sectors. Nicaraguans see the political and migration situation in Florida as especially bitter. Many were educated members of the middle and upper classes who left Nicaragua after the Sandinista takeover and assumed (wrongly) that they would receive the same welcome Cubans did. But the dynamics of the Cold War had changed, and many Nicaraguans who came to Miami in the 1980s remained in a kind of limbo, seeking out jobs well below their educational and career levels. One final group that has made for an interesting phenomenon is Venezuelans. Like many South Americans who have come to south Florida for career opportunities, many Venezuelans have left their home country for both economic and political reasons. Hugo Chávez, a firebrand socialist, has increasingly imposed his own version of economic reform on Venezuela since his election in 1998 and his subsequent reelections in 2000 and 2006. Thousands of wealthy and professional middle- and upper-middle-class Venezuelans, seeing correctly that their vast fortunes are in peril, have left Venezuela for the more favorable tax and political climes of Florida. The 2006 election in Venezuela is instructive. Chávez won the election in a landslide, with over 60 percent of the vote. Miami set up the Orange Bowl stadium as a polling station for the election early in December 2006. When the results were tallied, Manuel Rosales—who opposed Chávez—received 10,679 votes, and Chávez, 242. Thus Rosales received nearly 98 percent of the U.S.-based Venezuelan vote—a fairly stark contrast from his paltry 30-some percent in Venezuela.18 The election shows how closely Florida’s Venezuelans have followed the rightward tilt of Cubans in south Florida. After the multilayered migrations from every nation in Latin America to Florida over the last four decades, the state is home to one of the nation’s most diverse Latino populations. Nearly 3.5 million Latinos now reside in Florida, surpassing New York as the state with the third-largest Latino population in the United States (California, with 12.5 million Latinos, is first; Texas, with 7.9 million, is second).19 Unlike the U.S. Southwest, where Mexicans are by far the single largest Latino group, Florida’s Latino population is more wide-ranging. Cubans still compose the lion’s share of the state’s Latino population, composing 29 percent of the total Latino population of Florida and nearly 6 percent of the total state population. But as noted, sizable Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Colombian populations form part of this mosaic, which literally includes every single country in the Hispanic Americas—Paraguayans represent the smallest single national group, with just over 1,400.

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Latino America The diversity of Latino populations in Florida is geographically determined— that is, there are clear patterns to the migrations. There is no county north of Seminole (near Orlando) where Latinos compose more than 10 percent of the population, and the counties with the highest concentration of Latinos (MiamiDade at 60 percent; Orange and Broward each near 20 percent) are in south Florida or around Orlando, Tampa, and inland south Florida. This is the result of the multiple migration patterns—Cubans and South Americans into Miami; Puerto Ricans into Tampa, Orlando, and Miami; and Mexicans into rural areas. Cubans, as can be expected, are most heavily concentrated in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. They are the single largest ethnic group in Miami-Dade County, representing about 32 percent of the county’s population, with about 740,000. Whites who would likely identify as non-Hispanics probably represent about 450,000–600,000 people, making it, along with African Americans/nonHispanic blacks, the dual second-largest ethnic group in Miami-Dade.20 As of 2005 in Miami-Dade, Cubans represent over half (about 52 percent) of all Latinos, whereas no other single Latino group represents more than 7 percent of the total Latino population of Miami-Dade—about 96,000 Nicaraguans live in Miami-Dade, making them the second-largest single Latino group in the county, far behind the some 740,000 Cubans. The highest concentration of Cubans is in Hialeah, where Cubans represent at least 71 percent of the total population (145,444 out of 203,575). Other Latino populations in Florida, such as Puerto Ricans, the next largest Latino group in Florida (at over 600,000 total in all Florida), are more spread out. Puerto Ricans are the single largest Latino group in Orange County—of the 236,000 Latinos (out of a total population of 1 million) in Orange County, 115,000, are Puerto Rican. Likewise, Puerto Ricans make up the majority of Latinos in Osceola County—50,000 out of 87,000 Latinos. They compose a sizable portion of the Latino population in Broward County, which is home to the most diverse, in terms of percentages, of Latino populations in Florida. A sizeable Puerto Rican population also resides in Hillsborough County (65,000 out of 238,000 Latinos and a total population of 1.1 million). Approximately 81,000 Puerto Ricans also live in Miami-Dade. Close to 390,000 Latinos live in Broward out of a total population of about 1.8 million. Of this Latino population, no single group composes more than 20 percent of the Latino population. Approximately 78,000 Puerto Ricans (about 20 percent), 69,000 Cubans (about 18 percent), 57,000 Colombians (about 15 percent), 34,000 Mexican (about 9 percent), 19,000 each of Dominicans, Peruvians, and Venezuelans (each about 5 percent), and 9,000 Ecuadorians (about 2 percent) and an undetermined number of Brazilians (mostly in Pompano Beach) live in Broward County, making it a very evenly divided county in terms of Latinos.

Florida Mexicans, who compose the third-largest national Latino group in Florida, tend to be spread out, largely in rural areas. This is due to the migration patterns in general of Mexicans into Florida, who have largely been from poorer groups than Cubans, Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans, and Colombians. This does not mean that no wealthy Mexicans have migrated to Florida (there is a small and extremely wealthy Mexican enclave in Aventura, in north Miami-Dade), but in general it appears that Mexican migration in Florida has followed family routes or agricultural or semiskilled labor markets. And unlike migrations from Central America, which have largely settled in urban areas such as Miami, Mexicans have tended to settle in areas such as Hillsborough County (53,000 in the county of 1.1 million), a large county that includes Tampa and rural areas to the east. Mexicans have also migrated for agricultural and service jobs across central-south Florida, and the highest concentrations can be found in rural areas such as Homestead in southern Miami-Dade County (some 43,000 in the county) and rural parts of Palm Beach County (30,000, but perhaps more given the nature of agricultural work). In some rural counties Mexicans represent a large majority or a sizeable plurality of the Latino population: Polk County (more than 25,000 in a county of half a million in 2000, and half of the overall Latino population); Lee County (16,000 out of 42,000 Latinos and 440,000 overall); Hendry County (10,000 out of 14,000 Latinos and a total county population of 36,000); De Soto County (inland from Sarasota on the Gulf Coast, where 7,000 of 8,000 Latinos are Mexican out of a total population of 32,000); Hardee County (south of De Soto, with 7,500 out of close to 10,000 Latinos were Mexican in 2000, out of a total population of 27,000); and Highlands County (6,000 out of 11,000 Latinos in a county of 87,000). But population figures on Mexicans can be difficult to track in Florida. Unlike Cubans, who are given visas on arrival in the United States, Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, and professional South Americans, who arrive with visas, many Mexicans in Florida remain undocumented. It is likely that the overall population of Mexicans in Florida is higher than the 2005 reported number of 532,000. Other groups (South and Central Americans primarily, as opposed to Puerto Ricans and Mexicans) tend to be concentrated very heavily in Miami and Broward. For example, over 70 percent of all Colombians (the fourth-largest Latino group statewide) in Florida live in these two counties (57,000 in Broward and 90,000 in Miami-Dade, out of some 235,000 in the state). Sixty-three percent of the statewide Dominican population of about 122,000 lives in Miami-Dade and Broward. This trend holds true for several other groups from South America: Venezuelans (76 percent of the 82,000 statewide population), Peruvians (72 percent of the statewide population of about 78,000), and Argentines (77 percent of the statewide population of 52,000). Central Americans also follow this concentration

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Latino America in southeast Florida (statewide, 88 percent of 117,000 Nicaraguans, 68 percent of 88,000 Hondurans, and 60 percent of 47,000 Salvadorans live in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties). But for all this diversity, Florida in many ways is the very opposite of cosmopolitanism. Rather than celebrating diversity and ethnic mixture, Latino identity in Florida is defined principally by national association and by divisive and tense relationships between Cubans and other Latino groups. Given Cubans’ highly privileged immigration status, and their socioeconomically higher status than other groups, especially among those who arrived before Mariel, many Latinos in Florida see Cubans not as their natural allies but as their economic and political enemies. Politics is about perception, and the very perception that Cubans have turned Miami into a third-world city, as Colorado Republican congressman Tom Tancredo recently claimed, or that racial division and ethnic distrust had turned it into the “Beirut of the West,” as Puerto Rican mayor of Miami Maurice Ferré once remarked, are telling indicators of Latino identity in Florida.21 The question—heavily determined by the accented response—“where are you from?” is one of the most common first questions asked between Spanish speakers in Florida, and its underlying cultural implication writ large on the public stage can lead, as it did in Liberty City, to devastating consequences of racial violence.

NOTABLE LATINOS Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro (1519–1574). Born in Avilés, in Asturias, Spain, Menéndez de Avilés came from the Spanish nobility and made a name for himself as a formidable naval officer. In 1554 he commanded the fleet that brought Phillip II to England to wed Queen Mary. By the 1560s he was operating as a commander in the Spanish transAtlantic military fleet system between the Americas and Spain. True to medieval and colonial methods of conquest, Menéndez de Avilés (not without some opposition and political troubles) was granted the title of adelantado of Florida. This meant that he would front the capital for the venture of conquest and colonization of Florida in the name of the Crown in exchange for a share of the spoils and potential title of nobility. On August 28, 1565, he founded St. Augustine as the first successful permanent Spanish settlement in Florida. He also encouraged Catholic missionaries to come to Florida as part of the Hispanization project. Although the long-term success of St. Augustine was mixed, Menéndez de Avilés was important as the first successful colonizer of Spanish Florida. Also, his project fell in line with traditional approaches to colonization by the Spanish. Rather than being funded by a royal army or Crownsponsored force, Spanish colonization efforts in the Americas were privately funded affairs, and Menéndez de Avilés’s approach to conquest as a means of social advancement and financial gain fell within this cultural pattern. Martínez Ybor, Vicente (1820–1896). Born in Valencia, Spain, Martínez Ybor moved to Cuba and became involved in the cigar-making business. He became quite successful,

Florida but in 1869 a revolution against Spain led him to leave Cuba for Key West.22 He had a cigar factory there, but a fire destroyed it in 1880. He left Key West for Tampa shortly thereafter. In 1885 he purchased several city blocks of land on the outskirts of Tampa. He bought a cigar factory and developed a large cigar industry in Tampa. With the promise of steady work, many Spanish, Cuban, and Italian migrants came to Tampa to work in the cigar business or in the various satellite service industries spawned by the engine of the cigar industry. Eventually the area where Martínez Ybor operated was named after him. It is a testimony both to his entrepreneurial spirit and to his role as the first leader of a Latino migration in modern Florida. Although the Latino community of Tampa–Ybor City would never rival that of Miami in later times, it is significant as a kind of foreshadowing of future migrations. Moreover, even during the nadir of Latino presence in Florida in the nineteenth century, the connections between Cuba and Florida were always very strong. Ferré, Maurice (1935–). Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ferré was the first Latino elected mayor of a major U.S. city in the modern era. Described by one historian as a “revolutionary in pinstripes,” he was mayor during some of Miami’s most tumultuous times between 1973 and 1985, having been reelected four times after his initial election in 1973.23 Ferré oversaw Miami’s transformation from Cuban exile enclave to Cocaine, USA, and was eventually consumed by the shifting ethnic lines of south Florida politics. Ferré was from a wealthy family of politicians and construction company owners. He earned a bachelor degree in architecture from the University of Miami in 1957 and worked for his family’s concrete business. He ventured into politics (a Democrat) and was elected to the Florida legislature and Miami-Dade county commissioner in the later 1960s and early 1970s. He ran for and was elected mayor of Miami in 1973. Although eventually the rightward shift in Miami politics and the increasing political clout of Cubans would force him from office, Ferré is significant as the nation’s first Latino mayor of a major city.24 Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (1952–). Born in Havana, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen came to Miami after Castro’s rise to power and was educated at Florida International University in Miami, receiving a BA in 1975 and an MS in 1987, and received an EdD from the University of Miami in 2004. The daughter of a prominent anti-Castro activist, Enrique Ros, Ros-Lehtinen has been at the forefront of the anti-Castro lobby in both the Florida legislature and U.S. Congress for over two decades as a Republican. She served in the Florida state legislature (1982–1986) and senate (1986–1988) before running for Florida’s 18th Congressional District in 1988, with future governor Jeb Bush as her campaign manager. She won the seat and has held it since then. When she was elected, she was the first Latina woman and first Cuban American elected to the U.S. Congress. Her candidacy was endorsed by the powerful anti-Castro activist Jorge Mas Canosa, who had once been head of the Cuban American National Foundation. Ros-Lehtinen has been a consistent advocate of anti-Castro policies and has embroiled herself in several controversies concerning Castro over the years as a lawmaker. In the 1980s she lobbied for the pardon and release of Orlando Bosch, who had been implicated in the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 in 1976, which killed 73 people. She

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Latino America organized a “Free Orlando Bosch” day in her efforts. Recently, in 2006, the documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro was released by BBC, and in it Ros-Lehtinen twice openly called for the assassination of Castro. When pressed in various interviews, she denied having said this; the director released the full interview transcripts that clearly showed the congresswoman calling for the assassination of Castro. Ros-Lehtinen beat a hasty retreat but insists that her fundamental position is just. Ros-Lehtinen has been consistently one of the most militant supporters of anti-Castro policies and one of the tireless advocates for regime change in Cuba. She operates from a powerful base of both political and popular support in Miami; in 2006 she was reelected to her seat with 62 percent of the district’s vote. It is not clear what her future goals are, but she is an important voice for anti-Castro politics and is symbolically important as a Latina political leader of the right. Estefan, Gloria (1957–). Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana, the now famous singer was a daughter of the Batista Cuba elite. Soon after her second birthday and shortly after Castro took over in Cuba, her family fled Cuba and came to Miami. When she was 18, she met her husband—Emilio Estefan, whose family name she took—at a wedding party. She joined Emilio’s band, which would change its name to the Miami Sound Machine. They were married in 1978 and soon became one of Miami’s cultural power couples. Miami Sound Machine produced some of the most memorable disco music of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and in 1984 the band produced its first English-language album. Shortly thereafter the band released “Primitive Love,” which sold over 3 million copies in the United States and established Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine as bona fide stars. Through the 1980s Estefan’s star rose along with spectacular record sales, but in 1990 her tour bus crashed and she suffered severe injuries, which required a year of recovery and physical therapy. She made a comeback and through the 1990s established herself as one of the United States’ premier Latina vocalists. She has won five Grammy Awards, among others, and has produced both Spanish- and English-language albums to critical and popular acclaim. In addition to her musical activities, she has become active as a restaurateur in Miami and a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Miami. Significantly, Estefan in many ways paved the way for the so-called Latin explosion in North American pop music made notable by the work of Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Jennifer Lopez. She is also noted for having helped create what is now known as the Miami sound, or the Miami Latin sound, a particular fusion of disco, Latin, and dancehall styles. Cantero III, Raoul (1960–). The grandson of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, Cantero was appointed the first Latino on the Florida State Supreme Court by then governor Jeb Bush in 2002. Appointed as a strong conservative by Bush, his tenure on the court was intended to blunt what Bush and Cantero saw as judicial activism on the bench. Although prior to his appointment he had not served as a judge, he was known to have strong views on topics such as abortion. In 1993 he wrote a letter to the editor of the Miami Herald in which he said that “abortion kills children.” He also weighed in on the Orlando Bosch case. In 1989 Cantero said on a Miami radio talk show that Bosch was a “Cuban patriot.”25 Cantero was born in Madrid in 1960 after his parents (his mother is Batista’s daughter) left Cuba in the wake of Batista’s fall and Castro’s rise to power. His family came to

Florida Miami soon thereafter, in 1961.26 He proved to be a brilliant student, graduating summa cum laude from Florida State University in 1982 and cum laude from Harvard Law in 1985. He served as a law clerk for Justice Edward B. Davis of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He worked in the appellate division of the Miami law firm Adorno and Yoss and was active in several bar association panels and committees, as well as community organizations such as the Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Board, serving as its president at one point. Being named to the State Supreme Court at the age of 41, he is poised to become an influential jurist and has been mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee, though he was recently passed over for this distinction in favor of Samuel Alito. In any case, Cantero’s Florida court appointment is significant on numerous levels. He is the first Latino Supreme Court justice of Florida and, like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, he symbolizes the rise of prominent Cubans to high-profile positions of political power. Ayala, Jorge “Rivi” (1964–). Born in Colombia and raised in Chicago after age 11, Ayala went on to become one of the Medellín cocaine cartel’s principal assassins in Miami in the 1980s, acting as the personal bodyguard and favored hit-man of Griselda Blanco, a major cocaine operator for the Medellín cartel in 1980s Miami. The TV show Miami Vice and the movie Scarface made cocaine and Miami synonymous on the national stage, but beyond the lascivious stereotyping of Miami Latinos as drug-dealing murderers and money launderers, there was, in the end, quite a lot of cocaine trafficking, murder, and money laundering in Miami in the 1980s. Entire Miami City Police Academy classes did get arrested, and Miami mayors were indicted on corruption charges. At the center of this was a multibillion-dollar cocaine industry centered in Antioquia, Colombia, overseen largely by the Medellín cartel. Ayala came to Miami as a noted car thief from Chicago, and he had a reputation for fearlessness. His reputation quickly gained him entry into the world of organized crime and the cocaine trafficking industry of Miami. He was the enforcer of Griselda Blanco and is, by his own admission, responsible for several murder-assassinations on Blanco’s orders. Long known in Miami in the world of organized crime and investigative journalism, his story resonates as a real-life Scarface. Some may view him as a kind of worst-case stereotype of drug-trafficking Colombians, but there can be no underestimating his role in the transformation of Miami in the 1980s as the United States’ most dangerous city and as a city built with billions of dollars of cocaine and laundered money. Eventually, the drug trafficking through Miami was compromised by law enforcement efforts; now travels principally across the U.S.-Mexican border, but in Miami in the 1980s, Rivi was the man to be reckoned with in what was, at the time, Miami’s single largest source of income: Colombian cocaine.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS RELIGION Religion in Florida has been heavily influenced by Latinos. During the lengthy Spanish colonial presence, Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries established a far-flung

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Latino America missionary system throughout the coast and interior of Florida. However, in general, these missions were rarely successful in the ways that Spanish missionaries were in places such as Mexico and Peru. Instead, they suffered, as did the colonial enterprise in general in Florida, from underfunding. Moreover, the Indian groups often proved impervious to missionary efforts. The overall result was not the kind of widespread conversion of Indians that took place in densely settled areas of Latin America. Instead, the experience of Spanish missionaries in Florida was more akin to the perilous and shaky experiences in other peripheral regions, such as southern Chile, northern Mexico, and the Amazon, where highly mobile and nonurbanized Indians proved difficult to concentrate into mission settlements. But if the colonial missionary efforts of the Spanish met with mixed success, the massive migrations of Latinos into Florida over the last four decades has made for a transformation of the religious landscape of Florida. Long a bastion of Anglo Protestantism, Florida now has been influenced by Latin American popular Catholicism and by Caribbean Catholicism in particular. Perhaps the most notable influence has been popular Cuban folk Catholicism. A mix of African orixá (spirit) worship and folk veneration of saints, Afro-Cuban religious influence is quite visible, especially in Miami. One can walk into virtually any grocery store and find candles for San Lázaro (a saint popular among Cubans) or Eleguá (the Yoruba orixá). The mixture of African and Spanish elements in Cuban religion has become a flashpoint both culturally and politically. Anthropologists and historians debate whether orixá and spirit propitiation should be called syncretic or parallel. In any case, African slaves introduced the worship of orixás to Spaniards in Cuba. The mixing or parallel use of orixás and Spanish Catholic saints is called Santería in the Spanish Caribbean, Voodoo in Haiti, and Candomblé in Brazil. But whereas Mesoamerican gods were subsumed into Spanish saints (Tlaloc, the god of rain, became John the Baptist, for example), orixás remain highly visible in Latino folk religion in Florida. The presence of Santería in Florida became an issue of political debate in Hialeah. The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, an organization that practiced and promoted Santería, intended to set up its base in Hialeah in the 1980s, but the city enacted an ordinance directed at the Church. Santería rituals involve animal sacrifice, and the city of Hialeah passed a law prohibiting this sacrifice. Although the unspoken motive may have been racial—Santería is derived from African rituals and white Cubans, many of whom, like Ralph Arza, are powerful political leaders in Hialeah—the implications went well beyond that. The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye challenged the law and the law was upheld in U.S. Circuit Court. The Church then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case and ruled, in 1993, in a 7-2 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, that the Hialeah ordinance violated the Santeros’ right to practice religion as protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.27

Florida Santería is not the only form of folk religion of Latin American origin that has come to become important in Florida, but the Hialeah case highlighted just how politically charged questions of religious practice could be in a highly diverse Latino population in Florida. The Virgin of Guadalupe, revered by Mexicans, is another visible sign of the changing landscape of religion in Florida. Located in central Florida, Mexicans have brought their own form of Catholicism with them. The recent trend of saint bracelets has become a highly visible marker of popular Catholicism in Florida. And so-called botánicas (religious paraphernalia stores) dot the Latin sections of Florida cities.

FOOD AND DRINK Some of the most visible and tangible cultural changes in Florida stemming from Latinos come in the form of food and drink. Mojito—a delicious concoction of rum, sugar, lime juice, and mint leaves—has become nationally and internationally famous as a quintessentially Miami drink. Latin Caribbean food—in restaurants, take-out counters, and in stores—has dramatically changed the culinary landscape of Florida. And more recently, the influence of Latin fusion has become the next big thing in food and culinary trends. One need only walk into a corner grocer in Miami to get a sense of just how dramatic the influence of Latinos on food culture has become. Badía, the spice and herb company, markets a vast selection of traditional non-Latin spices, such as tarragon, thyme, and black pepper, but has also become one of the largest spice companies in the United States, with widespread distribution in Florida. Badía offers everything from Mexican chiles, Puerto Rican mojo (a garlic-based marinade), and virtually any spice or seasoning from the Caribbean imaginable. Likewise, products by Goya Foods can be found in major supermarkets in Florida as well as in corner markets. The Meridian Market, on 6th Street by Meridian in Miami Beach, is a case in point in the incredible culinary diversity and cultural mixing of Florida. The deli hot food counter offers a wide range of traditional Caribbean foods such as ropa vieja (a meat stew with peppers and onions), fried yuca, black beans, Cuban-Chinese fried rice, and others. The girls who work the counter are predominantly Honduran migrants and do not speak English. The butcher counter is run by a Cuban and an Argentine who provide many typically Argentine and Latino meats such as beef sweetbreads, tripe (for Mexican menudo), vacío (an Argentine steak cut), and many others. The produce section offers a wide range of Latin, especially Caribbean, vegetables such as yuca, chayote squash, avocado, habanero chiles, jalapeño chiles, and papaya. It would be easy to belabor the point, but perhaps yuca is most symbolic of the Latin and Caribbean influence on Florida’s culinary landscape. A nutritionally poor but calorie-rich tuber, yuca is a starchy food, similar to a sweeter version of

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Latino America a Russet potato. Long used by the indigenous Tainos of the Caribbean for its caloric richness, yuca was quickly adopted into Spanish Caribbean food. A staple of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican diets, yuca can be found in most supermarkets and grocers in south Florida and is often found on menus in upscale restaurants, as well as being a standard at mid-range Caribbean restaurants. In addition to the influence of Caribbean styles, Argentine food has also made impressive inroads in Florida. Long known for its high-quality beef, Argentine parrillas (grills) have proven wildly popular in Florida for their simple offerings of steak, red wine, and pasta. Mexican food, which is of course incredibly popular throughout the United States, has been more confined to regions of Florida such as Homestead, where there are large enclaves of Mexican migrants. Because the market audience is primarily Mexican, the nature of Mexican food in Florida has tended to be less internationalized and “Taco Bell-ized” as it has been in other parts of the United States, where the tendency of Mexican food to be very hot and spicy has been tamped down for American palates. South American wine has also proven to be extremely popular in Florida. Whereas in other parts of the United States with large Latino populations, such as California, where Californian, Australian, and French wines tend to be more popular, the close demographic and financial links between Florida and Latin America have made for a booming industry in the export of Argentine and Chilean wine into Florida. Indeed, one is as likely to find an Argentine malbec or a Chilean cabernet in a wine store or restaurant list as a Californian pinot noir or French Bordeaux, both of which tend to be more expensive than their South American counterparts. And then there is the rum. Caribbean rum has in many ways transformed the image of Miami and Florida into a place where the party never ends and the cocktails always remain full and the girls scantily clad, and the men pack pistols in nightclubs. This is in many ways testimony to the success of marketing campaigns that have associated rum, mojitos, and Cuba libres as symbolic of the Florida Latin experience. But it is also testimony to the financial and political influence of the Bacardí family and conglomerate, which came to Miami shortly after the fall of Castro.

MUSIC The Miami sound offers a refrain of the old saw: one may not know how to define it, but one knows it when one hears it. Exuberant, playful, and robust, Florida’s Latin music has developed out of classical Cuban styles, dancehall, reggae, soul, and disco. Celia Cruz, the singer whose voice was truly larger than life, in many ways symbolized this new sound, even if it is Gloria Estefan who came to be its most visible representative for non-Spanish speakers. Celia Cruz was trained in

Florida mambo, salsa, and other forms and left Cuba after Castro’s rise, but she was based primarily in Mexico City, though later in life she had homes in Miami and New York. The “new” Latin sound of Florida combined brash band music along with the big vocals of singers such as Cruz to produce a unique kind of Caribbean music. Apart from this now signature music, numerous other styles of music have come to influence both Florida and even international musical styles. The most recent phenomenon is reggaetón, which is principally Puerto Rican in origin. Reggaetón combines rap, hip-hop, salsa, reggae, and heavy bass into a seductive mix that can now be heard in cafés, bars, clubs, and on the radio from Miami to Santiago, Chile. Among the noted artists of the genre are Calle 13, Wisín y Yandel, and Daddy Yankee. Reggaetón has its critics—it has been called misogynist and overly violent—but nevertheless it appears to be in for the long haul. In addition to Caribbean musical forms, more staid musical styles also have made some inroads in Florida’s culture, though with considerably less success. Mariachi, from Mexico, has not caught on much outside of Mexican communities. The same could be said of criolla, the Peruvian style of music from the coastal areas, which combines vocals and Afro-Peruvian elements. Nonetheless, these styles can be heard and found principally in south Florida. Perhaps most symbolic, and indeed financially significant, of the growing influence of Latinos in music culture in the United States and Florida is the presence in Miami of many of the high-end music awards ceremonies. The Latino Billboard and Grammy ceremonies are now frequently held in Miami, and it is fitting that Gloria Estefan has often led the way.

NOTES 1. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US12086&ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_ G2000_B03001. 2. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US12086&ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_ G2000_B03001. 3. Miami Herald, April 8, 2006. 4. Miami Herald, November 11 and 12, 2006. 5. Although it is not without controversy, a classic study of the population of the Valley of Mexico remains Charles Gibson’s The Aztecs under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964). 6. See, among others, Peter Boyd-Bowman’s Indice geobiográfico de cuarenta mil pobladores españoles de América en el siglo XVI, 2 vols. (Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1964; Mexico: Ed. Jus, 1968) and Ida Altman’s Emigrants and Society: Extremadura and America in the Sixteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989).

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Latino America 7. See Eugene Lyon, “Settlement and Survival,” in The New History of Florida, ed. Michael Gannon (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996). 8. Amy Turner Bushnell, “Republic of Spaniards, Republic of Indians,” in New History, 66. 9. Charles W. Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” in New History, 108. 10. Arnade, “Raids, Sieges and International Wars,” 102, and William S. Coker, “Pensacola,” in New History, 128. 11. For discussion of the early U.S. period in general and for statistics given here on the subject, see Daniel L. Schafer, “U.S. Territory and State,” in New History, 207–230. 12. Mormino, 2005, 315. 13. Quoted by Raymond A. Mohl and George E. Pozzetta, “From Migration to Multiculturalism: A History of Florida Immigration,” in New History, 401. 14. Mormino, 2005, 286. 15. Quoted in Mohl and Pozzetta, “From Migration to Mulitculturalism,” 405. 16. Mormino, 2005, 288. 17. Mormino, 2005, 289. 18. Miami Herald, December 4, 2006. 19. For census data on Florida, I have relied on the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, which is interactive for state, county, and city statistics on population ethnic and racial identification. The principal location for the information on Florida, which can be searched for city and county statistics, is http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ ACSSAFFPeople?_event=&geo_id=04000US12&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US12& _street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US12&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&Active GeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=040&_submenuId=people_10&ds_name=ACS_2005_ SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=. 20. The U.S. census has two forms containing ethnic/racial questions. The first asks for race and does not ask whether one is Hispanic. The second form does not ask for phenotypic or geographically linked racial categorization but rather about whether one is Hispanic or not, with options for nationally related categories. In the 2005 figures drawn by the community surveys in Miami-Dade, about 900,000 people are non-Hispanic of any race. In the race category, in which many Hispanics identify as white, about 460,000 people are identified as black or African American. One might reasonably guess that some portion of this came from Afro-Latinos, but not much, given the general composition of Miami Latinos, most of whom claim white status racially. Accounting for some shaving off of these numbers, we can remove 300,000–450,000 people from the non-Hispanic number of 900,000, given the preponderance of non-Hispanics in the Miami black community. This gives us approximately 450,000–600,000 non-Hispanic whites in Miami-Dade, a number still lower than that of Cubans as a distinct group. 21. Quoted in Mormino, 2005, 290. 22. For a standard biography, see L. Glenn Westfall’s “Don Vicente Martínez Ybor, the Man and His Empire: Development of the Clear Havana Industry in Cuba and Florida in the Nineteenth Century” (PhD diss., University of Florida, 1977). Further studies include Gary Mormino and George E. Pozzetta, The Immigrant World of Ybor City: Italians and Their Latin Neighbors in Tampa, 1885–1985 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1998). 23. Mormino, 2005, 290.

Florida 24. See, for example, Raymond Mohl’s “Maurice Ferré, Xavier Suarez [sic], and the Ethnic Factor in Miami Politics,” in Spanish Pathways in Florida, 1492–1992, eds. Ann L. Henderson and Gary R. Mormino (Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1991). 25. http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/11/State/Selection_a_swipe_at_.shtml. 26. http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/library/releases/2002/july/appt_cantero-0710-02.html. 27. The full transcript of the case Church of Lukumu Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah can be found at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol= 508&page=520.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnade, Charles W. Florida on Trial, 1593–1602. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press, 1959. Boswell, Thomas D., and James R. Curtis. The Cuban-American Experience: Culture, Images, and Perspectives. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Allanheld, 1983. Bretos, Miguel. Cuba and Florida: Exploration of a Hispanic Connection, 1539–1991. Miami: Historical Association of Southern Florida, 1991. Burns, Allan F. Maya in Exile: Guatemalans in Florida. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1993. Bushnell, Amy Turner. The King’s Coffer: Proprietors of the Spanish Florida Treasury, 1565–1702. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1981. ———. Situado and Sabana: Spain’s Support System for the Presidio and Mission Provinces of Florida. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1994. Carr, Patrick. Sunshine States: Wild Times and Extraordinary Lives in the Land of Gators, Guns, and Grapefruits. New York: Doubleday, 1990. Chatelain, Verne E. The Defenses of Spanish Florida, 1565 to 1763. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1941. Coker, William S., and Douglas G. Inglis. The Spanish Censuses of Pensacola, 1784–1820: A Genealogical Guide to Spanish Pensacola. Pensacola, FL: Perdido Bay Press, 1980. ———. John Forbes’ Description of the Spanish Floridas, 1804. Pensacola, FL: Perdido Bay Press, 1979. Cruz, Arturo K., and Jaime Suchlicki. The Impact of Nicaraguans in Miami. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami, Graduate School of International Studies, 1990. Deagan, Kathleen. Spanish St. Augustine: The Archeology of a Colonial Creole Community. New York: Academic Press, 1983. Galgano, Robert C. Feast of Souls: Indians and Spaniards in the Seventeenth-Century Missions of Florida and New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. Gannon, Michael V. The Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in Florida, 1513–1870. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1965. García, Genaro, ed. Dos antiguas relaciones de la Florida. Mexico City, Mexico: Tip. de J. Aguilar Vera y Comp., 1902. García, María Cristina. Havana, USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, 1959–1994. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.

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Latino America Geiger, Maynard. The Franciscan Conquest of Florida (1573–1618). Washington, DC: Catholic University of America, 1937. Grenier, Guillermo J., and Alex Stepick. Miami Now: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Social Change. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1992. Greenbaum, Susan. More than Black: Afro-Cubans in Tampa. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002. Griffen, William B. “Spanish Pensacola, 1700–1763.” Florida Historical Quarterly 27 (1959): 242–262. Hann, John H. Missions to the Calusa. Gainesville: University Press of Florida; Florida Museum of Natural History, 1991. Henderson, Ann L., and Gary R. Mormino, eds. Spanish Pathways, 1492–1992. Los caminos españoles en la Florida, 1492–1992. Translated by Carlos J. Cano, José A. Feliciano-Butler, and Warren Hampton. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1991. Hoffman, Paul E. A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient: The American Southeast during the Sixteenth Century. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990. Landers, Jane G., ed. Colonial Plantations and Economy in Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. Lyon, Eugene. The Enterprise of Spanish Florida: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Spanish Conquest of 1565–1568. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1976. McEwan, Bonnie. The Spanish Missions of La Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993. Milanich, Jerald T. Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1995. Milanich, Jerald T., and Susan Milbrath, eds. First Encounters: Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the United State, 1492–1570. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1989. Mohl, Raymond A. “Miami: The Ethnic Cauldron.” In Sunbelt Cities. Eds. Richard Bernard and Bradley R. Rice. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983, 71–89. ———. “Miami: New Immigrant City.” In Searching for the Sunbelt: Historical Perspectives on a Region. Ed. Raymond A. Mohl. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990, 81–98. Mormino, Gary R. Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida. Foreword by Raymond Arsenault. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005. Mormino, Gary R., and George E. Pozzetta. The Immigrant World of Ybor City: Italians and Their Latin Neighbors in Tampa, 1885–1985. Champaign-Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987. Oré, Luis Jerónimo de. The Martyrs of Florida (1513–1616). Translated by Maynard Geiger. New York: Joseph F. Wagner, 1936. Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. Portes, Alejandro. The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays on Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1995. Portes, Alejandro, and Rubén G. Rumbaut, eds. Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Portes, Alejandro, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America: A Portrait. 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.

Florida Portes, Alejandro, and Alex Steppick. City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Schafer, Daniel L. “‘A Class of People Neither Free Men Nor Slaves’: From Spanish to American Race Relations in Florida, 1821–1861.” Journal of Social History 26 (1993): 587–609. Stamps, S. David, Miriam Stamps, and Susan Greenbaum. Comparative Study of Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics in the Tampa Metropolitan Area. Tampa: University of South Florida, Institute on Black Life, 1990. TePaske, John Jay. The Governorship of Spanish Florida, 1700–1763. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1964. Weber, David J. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. Weddle, Robert S. Spanish Sea: The Gulf of Mexico in North American Discovery, 1500–1685. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985. Zubillaga, Félix. La Florida: La misión jesuítica (1566–1572) y la colonización española. Rome, Italy: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1941.

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11 GEORGIA Stephanie A. Bohon

CHRONOLOGY 1521 1526

1527 1539–1543 1566

1587 1595–1597

1597

1605

Explorers Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quexos explore the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Cape Hateras, North Carolina. Explorer Lucás Vazquéz de Ayllon founds the first named European settlement in the New World at San Miguel de Gualdape on the Savannah River. It lasts two months. Surviving members of the Gualdape colony return to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Explorer Hernando de Soto begins his exploration of the Southeast, including inland Georgia. The Spanish government establishes a fort on St. Catherines Island. Jesuit priests construct Mission Santa Catalina, Georgia’s first church, within the fort. Puturiba, the first Franciscan mission in Georgia, is established on or near Cumberland Island. The Franciscan Missions Talapo, Santo Domingo de Asao-Talaje, Santa Catalina de Guale, and Santa Clara de Tupiqui-Espogache, and the mission-presidio Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato, are established on the Sea Islands. The Guale Rebellion, a Native American uprising, results in the destruction of several Spanish missions and the burning of St. Catherines Island Presidio. All remaining Spanish missions are abandoned. Franciscans reestablish Georgia’s mission system. The St. Catherines Island Presidio is rebuilt for their protection.

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1670 1675–1680 1702 1721

1733 1739 1742 1898

1900 1948 1960 1970s

St. Catherines Island Presidio is abandoned after attacks by Englishcontrolled South Carolina forces. Attacks by the Westo tribe and pirate raids destroy most of the Spanish missions in Guale and Mocama. An invasion of Spanish Florida by South Carolina troops destroys the remaining Guale and Mocama missionary systems. Fort King George is established by the British on the former site of Mission Santo Domingo de Asao as the southernmost British outpost in North America. The first English colony in Georgia is established by General James Oglethorpe, exacerbating hostilities between the Spanish and the English. The War of Jenkin’s Ear begins between English and Spanish colonizing forces. The Battle of Bloody Marsh is fought on St. Simons Island, ending Spanish occupation of Georgia. Spanish-American War begins with the bombing of the USS Maine. Georgia supplies 3,000 troops for fighting in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Georgia Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon introduces legislation to block U.S. annexation of the Philippines and Cuba. Cuban students at Georgia Tech organize the Latin Americans Club. Fidel Castro’s rise to power results in a mass migration of Cubans to Miami and Atlanta. Latino workers begin to find work in Georgia’s chicken-processing industry.

Georgia 1980s 1981 1996 1998

2000 2002 2003

2004

2005

2006

Latino workers begin supplying labor in Georgia’s textile industries. Cuban-born Roberto Goizueta becomes chairman and chief executive officer of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company. The Olympic Games launches Atlanta’s reputation as an international city; many Latin American-based companies move to Georgia. The Board of Regents of the University System convenes the Hispanic Task Force to determine how to best meet the needs of Georgia’s Latino students. The U.S. census reports Latino numbers in Georgia are much higher than projected. The Georgia Supreme Court upholds a lower court decision that makes Latinos a cognizable (within court’s jurisdiction) group for jury selection. Governor Perdue creates the Latino Commission for a New Georgia. In August two Mexican American college students, Desiree Smith and Beatriz Velez, create the Students for Latino Empowerment. It is the first student organization dedicated to encouraging upward mobility among Georgia’s Latinos. Former employees file federal racketeering charges against carpet-maker Mohawk Industries, claiming that the hiring of Latino workers represents a conspiracy to depress wages. On September 30 robberies of four mobile home parks in Tift and Colquitt Counties result in the murder of six Mexican immigrants in an incident known as The Night of Blood. On April 17 Governor Perdue signs the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act; many view the bill as anti-Latino. On November 5, Cherokee County officials unanimously enact the state’s first ordinance, making English the official language of the county.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Between 1990 and 2005, the Latino population in Georgia increased 474 percent; by 2000, there were Latinos living in every one of Georgia’s 159 counties. African Americans, who compose almost 30 percent of Georgia’s population, are now outnumbered by Latinos in some counties, despite the fact that Latinos only compose about 7 percent of Georgia’s current population.3 Latinos are now visible across the state; thus, many Georgians mistakenly believe that their presence in the state is a new phenomenon. In fact, Georgia has enjoyed 500 years of Latino presence, beginning with the very first Spanish pilgrims who arrived from what is now the Dominican Republic in the sixteenth century.

COLONIAL GEORGIA In 1520, Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quexos began an expedition from Hispaniola (the island that today is home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic)

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Latino America up the coast of North America to explore the area north of Florida. After claiming for Spain land just south of what is today the Georgia-Florida border, Quexos went on to explore a considerable portion of the Atlantic coast. He is believed to be the first European in Georgia. Back in Hispaniola, Lucás Vazquéz de Ayllon, who was responsible for organizing Gordillo’s 1520 expedition, obtained a charter from Spain to create the first European settlement north of Mexico. With 600 colonists and an indigenous guide, they sailed north to land in Winyah Bay, South Carolina. Finding the area unsuitable for settlement, they traveled south, finally settling in an area around the Savannah River, probably on or near what is today Sapelo Island. They named the settlement San Miguel de Gualdape (the exact name of the settlement and its precise location are in dispute). The settlement did not last long. It was attacked by the indigenous people and plagued by disease and slave revolts. After only two months, the failed expedition returned to Santo Domingo with only 150 settlers remaining. De Ayllon died on the voyage home.4 Although the Gualdape colony was short-lived, it is important in that it set the stage for the creation of Spanish missions and garrisons along the coastal regions of Georgia in what are today called the Sea Islands. Beginning in 1574, Spanish priests and friars began settling in what they called Mocama (the area between Altamaha and Nassau Sound) and Guale (north of Altamaha Sound to St. Catherines Sound). Between 1587 and 1680 there were at least 18 Franciscan missions located throughout the Sea Islands and as far inland as the Okefenokee Swamp. Although the primary purpose of the missionaries was to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism, friars often interfered with the political and social affairs of the indigenous people. Their presence allowed for the protection of illegal Spanish slaving expeditions, and many Native Americans were forced into servitude. Although slavery was prohibited under Spanish law, unmarried indigenous men were forced into servitude, working in the Spanish-controlled fields or fortifying the battlements around St. Augustine in Florida. Due to poor working conditions, many became ill and died. This situation led to numerous revolts, the most notorious of which was the Guale Rebellion that resulted in the death of all but one friar and the discontinuation of the Georgia mission system until 1605. Between 1605 and 1680 the Jesuits, and later the Franciscans, rebuilt many of the missions, and the Spanish government created some garrisons for their protection. The primary mission-presidio was Santa Catalina on St. Catherines Island. Built in 1566, nearly two centuries before Spanish missions were built in California, it is assumed to be the oldest church in Georgia. Despite the fortifications, the Spanish settlements were often attacked in English slave and pirate raids and were constantly under threat by the indigenous people. The Iroquoian Westo tribe, called the Chichimeco by the Spanish, was

Georgia the most troublesome. Beginning in 1675, the tribe began attacking Spanish missions and presidios with the support of the English colonies in South Carolina and Virginia. By 1680, most of the Spanish settlements had been destroyed by the Westo. In 1702, South Carolina forces successfully invaded the weakened Guale strongholds to destroy the remaining outposts. Although the Spanish outposts were primarily established in the coastal regions, some exploration occurred inland. Renowned Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto traveled through Georgia in search of gold and other valuables along a path now known as the De Soto Trail. The expedition, which resulted in an exploration of most of the Southeast and Midwest, was notorious for its mistreatment of the indigenous people, but it also served to provide Europeans with their first glimpse of native habits and cultures. One of de Soto’s most valued guides on his expedition to the Mississippi River was Perico, a 17-year-old boy from one of the native tribes in Georgia. De Soto’s exploration of Georgia, however brief, was cause for conflict between the Spanish and the English, who had established a British colony in Savannah in 1733.5 Georgia served as a buffer between Spanish forces around St. Augustine and well-established British colonies in South Carolina. Spain used de Soto’s travels to make a claim on Georgia territory, and James Oglethorpe, the governor of the English Georgia colony, organized settlers and indigenous people to fight these claims. By 1739, hostilities between British and Spanish colonizing forces ultimately resulted in the War of Jenkins’ Ear, with fighting mostly occurring in Florida. It is thought that only one significant battle in this war occurred in Georgia, but it was pivotal. Although outnumbered five to one, General Oglethorpe’s forces defeated Don Manuel de Montiano’s troops in 1742 at the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island. The fight was short lived and resulted in few casualties, but it marked a turning point in the war because it demoralized Spanish troops. The Battle of Bloody Marsh represents the last Spanish offensive on Georgia and the beginning of the end of Spanish occupation of Georgia territory.

GEORGIA AND LATIN AMERICA With the ousting of the Spanish in the eighteenth century, the history of Latinos living in Georgia remains largely unrecorded from 1742 until modern times. The history of relations between Georgia and Latin America is better documented. Certainly, the presence of the plantation system and the heavy reliance on slave labor created strong trading ties between Georgia port cities and many Caribbean islands, including Cuba and Hispaniola. It is estimated that between 1755 and 1767 more than 60 percent of the slaves brought into Savannah harbor were from the Caribbean.

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Latino America There is also a strong Georgian thread throughout the history of the SpanishAmerican War. When the United States declared war on Spain on April 20, 1898, many Americans saw the war as an opportunity to claim the territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines from the Spanish. Many Georgians, however, were opposed to annexation. Most outspoken among them was the U.S. Senator from Georgia, Augustus Octavius Bacon. Bacon called the U.S. occupation of Cuba unnecessary, extravagant, wasteful, and illegal, and he introduced legislation to block its annexation. When Cubans were allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to be annexed, the annexation effort was resoundingly defeated. Half a century later, when Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959, many Cubans fled to Atlanta. Like Miami, Atlanta was a prime relocation site because there were many strong historical and social ties between Georgia’s capital and Havana. Since the turn of the twentieth century, the Atlanta business elite had frequented Cuba as a vacation destination, and many of the Cuban upper class educated their children in Atlanta schools, particularly the Georgia Military Academy, Georgia Tech, and Emory University. In fact, one of the first institutions in Georgia organized around Latino culture was the Latin Americans Club established by Cuban Georgia Tech students in 1948. It was the forerunner of a variety of Latino cultural organizations that would eventually spring up in Atlanta, such as the Latin American Association and the Mexican Center of Atlanta. Cubans have regularly migrated between Atlanta and Havana since 1920. When former students were displaced as a result of the Cuban Revolution, Atlanta, like Miami, became a logical refuge. Migration from Cuba to Atlanta accelerated in the sixties, with as many as 2,500 Cubans (mostly upper-class whites) eventually settling in the Atlanta area by 1980. For many Atlanta was a secondary destination, after living for some time in Miami. Among the new settlers fleeing first to Miami and then to Atlanta was Robert Goizueta. Born in Havana, Goizueta was educated at elite institutions in the United States, including Yale University. After returning to Cuba, he answered a newspaper advertisement for a chemical engineer at the Coca-Cola Company. Goizueta moved up the ranks in the company, first in Havana, then in Miami and the Caribbean, and eventually in Atlanta, where he was elected chairman and chief executive officer in 1981. He is largely credited for the marked success of the company in the eighties, its positioning as the worldwide soft drink giant, and for his philanthropic contributions to education. In 1994 Emory University renamed its business school in his honor. Other former Cuban residents now living in Georgia have also prospered, and many have used their wealth to support anti-Castro movements and activities. Elena Diaz-Verson Amos, a former Cuban resident who moved to Columbus, Georgia in 1955, is prominent among them. Married to AFLAC insurance mogul John Amos, she used her considerable financial resources to advocate for human-

Georgia itarian causes in Cuba. She also financed the smuggling of Cuban dissidents out of the country, including Alina Fernández Revuelta, the illegitimate daughter and outspoken critic of Castro. Fernández and her daughters lived with Amos in Georgia for several years before moving to Miami. In the early 1980s, Amos lobbied the Department of Defense to move the School of the Americas (SOA) from Panama to Fort Benning (near Columbus). The SOA is a U.S. Army–operated training center for Latin American military and law enforcement personnel. Training is conducted in Spanish. In 1984 the SOA was moved to Fort Benning, and Amos is credited with being instrumental in this move. Amos’s involvement with SOA has lent an air of notoriety to her biography. Almost from its inception, the SOA has been controversial. Many detractors argue that the school is a training ground for state terrorism and that students are trained in torture and other human rights abuses. Certainly, long lists of Latin American dictators, including Manuel Noriega, were trained at the SOA. In response to these charges, Congress voted to withdraw its authority for the SOA in 2000. In 2001, the school reopened as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), and WHINSEC now requires students to take courses in human rights along with their other curriculum. Despite these changes, the governments of Argentina, Venezuela, and Uruguay have recently established official policies to cut ties with WHINSEC.

GEORGIA AS AN EMERGING GATEWAY Although Latinos have had a presence in Georgia throughout most of the state’s history, it was not until the 1990s that the state became a prime receiving location for both immigrants from Latin America and Latino migrants from other U.S. states.6 Between 1990 and 2000, when the U.S. Latino population increased 58 percent, Georgia’s Latino population tripled. Georgia is now the eleventh-largest state in total Latino population size, with more than 600,000 Latino residents. The majority of Georgia’s Latinos, about 60 percent, are immigrants, whereas the remaining are U.S. born. Of the immigrants, about half are of Mexican origin. Cubans, Colombians, Guatemalans, and Peruvians make up most of the remaining half. Georgia does not stand alone in the phenomenon of mass Latino migration to the Southeast that is often referred to as “the Dixie Diaspora.” Most states in the South experienced a marked increased in their Latino population in the nineties, but Georgia stands out as the largest receiver, in total numbers, of all of the southeastern states except Florida. Georgia also differs from its neighbors in that the Latino newcomers are not geographically concentrated in one location but are scattered throughout the state.7 Most of the influx is attributed to the economy. Since 1972 the South has outperformed other regions in economic growth; Georgia, particularly Atlanta, has

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Latino America been at the forefront of this growth. Along with an increase in jobs in the service sectors, low-wage, low-skilled jobs continue to be created in agriculture and industry, and professional jobs are increasing as well. This growth has attracted many residents to Georgia. At the same time, recessions in cities such as Houston drove many Latinos to new destinations, including Atlanta. In Georgia, two million new residents settled in the state between 1990 and 2004, and many of them were Latino. For the new residents who were Latino, the primary attraction was available jobs in construction, poultry, and textiles. Ambitious construction projects such as preparations for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics created additional new jobs, increasing an already large labor demand for builders. Much of this demand was filled by Latino labor. In places such as Dalton, Georgia, communities were transformed seemingly overnight. This city had fewer than 1,500 Latinos living in it in 1990. By 2000, Latinos made up more than 40 percent of the total population and more than 60 percent of public school students. In Hall County, the population changed from nearly all white to 20 percent Latino in a 5-year period. In the Atlanta metropolitan area, the Latino population grew 370 percent between 1990 and 2000. Although the Latino population is most heavily concentrated in the Atlanta metropolitan area and a few scattered cities such as Athens, Moultrie, Dalton, and Gainesville, the Latino presence was felt throughout the state by 2000. In most counties, immigrants compose the majority of the Latino population, and localities have had to adjust in order to provide services to people with limited English fluency. However, in some areas—particularly those with military bases such as Columbus and Hinesville—U.S.-born Latinos far outnumber the immigrants. Included among the Latinos now living in Georgia are a relatively large number of unauthorized migrants. According to the Office of Homeland Security, between 2000 and 2005 Georgia had the largest percent increase in unauthorized immigrants (114 percent) of all of the states.8 Certainly, only a fraction of Latinos are unauthorized immigrants, and not all unauthorized migrants are Latinos, but reliable reports suggest that more than 70 percent of unauthorized migrants are Latinos, mostly from Mexico. More importantly, the presence of unauthorized migrants in Georgia and the national attention the phenomenon has received has legitimized anti-Latino sentiment proffered under the guise of immigration policy reform. Georgia-based groups such as the Dustin Inman Society and the American Resistance Foundation warn about the possibility of the state becoming “Georgiafornia,” making reference to the large Latino presence in California. On December 5, 2006, officials in Cherokee County reacted to the growing Latino presence there by unanimously approving an ordinance that would allow the county to revoke the business licenses of landlords who rent properties to unauthorized immigrants. Although touted as an immigration (rather than a Latino) issue, commissioners at the same time approved a measure making English the official language of the county. More than 7 percent of the residents

Georgia of Cherokee County are Latino, and most of them are recent immigrants who are still learning English.

LATINOS

IN THE

LABOR MARKET

Although there are undoubtedly many unauthorized Latino immigrants in Georgia, the majority of Georgia’s Latinos are either U.S.-born or legal immigrants. What all of them have in common is that most are relative newcomers to the state. More than 80 percent of Georgia’s Latino immigrants have been living in the state for less than 15 years. Many of them are new to the United States as well. For those who moved from other U.S. states, many came to escape the crime, crowding, unemployment, gangs, and high cost of living in places such as Los Angeles and New York. Others came to join family members who arrived before them. Most came to fill the demands for labor, particularly in the construction, poultry, and textile industries. Preparations for the 1996 Olympics, paired with the influx of new (mostly nonLatino) residents from other states, created a mass demand for new housing, roads, hospitals, shops, and other infrastructure. Some of the jobs filled by Latino construction workers are new jobs created by this construction boom. Other jobs have been created by vacancies. Many of the previous non-Latino black and white construction workers saw opportunities in the expanding construction industry to leave their jobs as roofers, carpenters, and masons to become contractors, often hiring Latino labor. The high wages in the industry make it a particularly desirable sector in which to work. New construction also created demands for construction auxiliary jobs. For Latinos, the most common auxiliary work is in landscaping. Latino men are commonly employed in landscaping in traditional gateway places such as Los Angeles, Houston, and Miami, so many of the new migrants to Georgia brought these skills with them. Some of these former landscape workers have begun their own small lawn service enterprises. Another major employer of Latinos is the poultry industry. In Gainesville, Georgia (which bills itself as the Poultry Capital of the World), Latinos began replacing mostly white and a few black workers in the 1970s, but this replacement became widespread in the mid-1990s. It is important to note that jobs in the poultry industry were not going to Latinos at the expense of non-Latino workers; rather, as the economy grew in the 1990s, whites and blacks left jobs in the poultry industry, which often required back-breaking work in sub-zero refrigerators, for jobs with better working conditions in the service sector. The transition of the poultry industry from non-Latino to Latino workers dramatically changed the landscape of Gainesville and other cities with large poultry-processing plants. Within 10 years, Gainesville and surrounding Hall County transformed from an almost all-white place to one that was one-fifth

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Latino America Latino. Latino-owned businesses now line the main thoroughfares through Gainesville, and some of the local elementary schools are almost entirely composed of Latino students. The overwhelming majority of Latinos in Gainesville are immigrants. This is particularly noticeable in the schools, where many students are second-language learners. Because the transformation of Gainesville happened so quickly, teachers have had little time to transition to teaching students with limited English proficiency. Despite this, change has been rapid and largely successful. Gainesville Elementary School and Fair Street Elementary School have received national attention for their high test scores, including accolades from President George W. Bush. Another school district that made a rapid transition was the Dalton City Schools in northwest Georgia. Dalton, a textile city that produces half of this country’s carpets, had operated under conditions of labor shortages since the sixties. As Latinos began migrating north from the poultry plants in Gainesville to work in a large chicken-processing plant in Whitfield County (of which Dalton is the county seat), some of them saw better opportunities in the carpet industry, which paid higher wages. The children of these Latino workers are now the majority of Dalton’s school students. The transition from poultry to textiles was gradual at first. Although Latinos began working in carpets in the eighties, only 3.1 percent of the Whitfield County’s total workforce was Latino in 1990. By 2000, however, the county had the largest percentage concentration of Latinos in the state (over 22 percent), and Dalton City was almost half Latino. Although there are no official estimates, many speculate that Latinos are now the majority of carpet workers in Georgia. The transition of the carpet industry from non-Latino to Latino workers has not happened without incident. In Calhoun, just miles from Dalton, Mohawk Carpet Mills was sued by a group of former workers alleging that the carpet manufacturer conspired with labor recruiters to artificially lower wages in textile jobs by recruiting and hiring unauthorized immigrant workers from Mexico. Mohawk denied this allegation. Executives at Mohawk and Dalton-based Shaw Industries maintained that they took pains to ensure that their workers held proper work permits. Furthermore, industry insiders assert that without the influx of Latino workers— most of whom are immigrants from Mexico—the textile industry would have been forced to close their doors in Georgia due to the inadequate labor supply. This claim was substantiated by economic analysts. In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on the Mohawk case.

LATINO LIFE

IN

GEORGIA

Despite the concentration of Latinos in relatively high-paying, blue-collar jobs, Latinos remain at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder in Georgia. On average nationally, Latinos fare better than African Americans in terms of

Georgia personal and family income and occupational attainment. In Georgia, this is not the case. There are three reasons for this. First, Georgia is home to some of the most affluent African Americans in the country, and the state has a sizeable African American middle class; African Americans tend to be less well off in other states. Second, many of the Latinos in Georgia are recent immigrants who have not yet developed the English language skills or job credentials to gain higher-paying jobs. Third, there are barriers in the social structure to upward mobility for Latinos. Because of the high rates of poverty among Latinos in Georgia, many find it difficult to obtain adequate transportation, housing, and health care. Georgia has a poor public transportation infrastructure, and Latinos who do not own a vehicle find it difficult to get around. Carpooling is the means by which 40 percent of employed Latinos get to and from work, and although this system is efficient, it limits the other places that Latinos can visit beyond their workplace. It also keeps many from obtaining better-paying jobs elsewhere. For those who own their own vehicles, getting a license to drive it is also a problem. Most places offer driving tests only in English, and identification requirements are strict. For those Latinos who are immigrants, these barriers make it more difficult to obtain drivers licenses in Georgia than in many other U.S. states. Many Latinos also live in unsafe, dilapidated housing. Those without transportation may choose poorer quality housing because it is within walking distance of work. For recent Latino immigrants with undeveloped English skills, dilapidated housing may be the only housing that they know about because they lack access to good information. For Latinos who are poor—more than a quarter of Georgia’s Latinos—bad housing may be all that they can afford. One of the ironies of the fact that so many Latinos live in such poor quality housing stock is that many of them are employed in construction. They build homes that they cannot afford to buy. Additionally, some Latinos who can afford to buy homes have become victims of unscrupulous realtors. Housing fraud is a growing problem in Georgia, and Latinos are increasingly the victims. For the poorest Latinos having several people living in a household is one means by which housing becomes affordable. This practice leads to problems of overcrowding, which is so widespread that Latinos in Georgia have a name for it, camas calientes (hot beds). The phrase refers to the situation whereby so many are sharing living quarters and sleeping in shifts that the mattresses never get cold. Some communities have reacted to camas calientes by enforcing housing codes that limit the number of people sharing living quarters. Such laws ignore the cultural tendency among Latinos to live in larger, multigenerational households. Additionally, these ordinances can lead to more overcrowding in other areas as residents are pushed from one locale to another. Often Latinos live segregated from other Georgians in mobile home parks. Because of the heavy concentration of Latinos—especially immigrants—in these

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Latino America places, trailers parks are increasingly becoming the targets of criminals. Particularly problematic are home invasions. Because many recent immigrants are uninformed about U.S. banking practices, they keep their money at home. Knowing that there are likely to be large sums of money in the trailers, criminals will target these Latino communities. In southern Georgia, a group of armed robbers invaded four mobile home parks one night in October 2005. Using guns and clubs, robbers assaulted the Mexican immigrant residents who had the misfortune to be home, resulting in the death of six immigrants and serious injuries to five more. The incident, known as the Night of Blood, heightened Georgians’ awareness of the precarious position of new Latino immigrants, and many banks, in response, began accepting the Mexican matrícula consular card as sufficient identification to open a bank account. The mayor of Tifton County also flew the Mexican and U.S. flags at half mast to demonstrate the county’s sorrow at the loss of these immigrants’ lives. Of course, although many Latinos remain in poverty in Georgia and tragedies do occur, many have also done quite well. Hispanic Business magazine lists several Georgians in their list of the 75 Wealthiest Hispanics in America. Topping the list is the Goizueta family, but also among them is Lou Sobh, an immigrant from Torreon, Mexico, whose automobile dealership is the largest minority-owned business in Georgia and one of the largest Latino-owned businesses in the country. Elena Diaz-Verson Amos was listed in 1997 as America’s wealthiest Latina. Georgia’s Latinos can also be found heading multinational advertising agencies, financial institutions, and research centers. Many prominent Latino physicians and scientists work at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and several are on faculty at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University. Additionally, there are thousands of Latino-owned small businesses, as well as several Spanish-language radio stations and newspapers. Starting a business in Georgia can sometimes be a challenge for Latinos, because most non-Latino Georgians are less familiar with Latino culture and the Spanish language than they might be in states such as California and Texas. For example, renowned artist Dan Vargas founded Vargas, Flores and Amigos in 1990 as the first Latino advertising agency in the Southeast. Vargas notes that in the early years of his operation, people would call his agency and ask to speak to Amigos. However, as the Latino population grows, Georgians are becoming more used to seeing new Latino businesses next door to longer-established, black- or white-owned enterprises. Furthermore, Latino residents are increasingly viewed as a viable business market. In 2000 Roy Communications, an internationally renowned black-owned advertising agency, merged with Vargas’s enterprise because Roy’s president thought that her agency was ill-equipped to reach the Latino market. This move is indicative of a trend seen on a smaller scale among other businesses. Increasingly, businesses are working to position products and

Georgia services to reach Latino buyers. According to projections by the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Georgia now has the tenth-largest Latino market in the nation.

GEORGIA’S RESPONSE TO LATINO MIGRATION Although the business community has embraced the Latino market, other sectors of Georgian society have been slower to welcome the new residents. Overall, the rapid growth of the Latino population has forced many Georgians to reconceptualize the social dynamics of race in the state. In places such as Gainesville, the shift from being one of the whitest cities in the state to one that is sizably Latino has required meeting the challenges of diversity. In the counties where African Americans outnumber whites and dominate the power structure, room has had to be made for minorities of another color. At first, several African American leaders were reluctant to share power with another minority group. In 2002 there was considerable debate over whether or not to officially recognize Latinos as a minority group. By 2006, however, when the General Assembly debated over the passage of the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB529), all of the African American legislators sided with the Latino legislators in opposing the bill. The bill, which was signed into law in April 2006, is intended to reduce the flow of unauthorized immigrants into Georgia. Minority leaders, however, saw it as a back-door attack on Latinos. One newspaper called it a “Latino witch hunt.” SB529 follows on the heels of a number of local ordinances designed to reduce or eliminate the changes that local communities are seeing in response to the increasing Latino population. Some municipalities have enacted ordinances that ban or restrict the use of foreign languages on signs. Others have used anti-loitering laws to restrict day labor, a practice that is common among Latino immigrants without regular jobs. In November 2006, Cherokee County passed the first local ordinance in Georgia making English the official language. At the same time, many organizations have worked to expand their outreach to the Latino community. In 1998, the Board of Regents of Georgia’s university system, which had long focused on increasing the representation of African American students in higher education, established a task force to study the unmet needs of Georgia’s Latino population. By 2003, a consortium of six state colleges and universities was formed to create the Hispanic Pilot Project. This project is charged with meetings two goals: to increase the number of instructors certified in English as a Second Language, and to encourage Latinos to pursue higher education. This is one of several new initiatives to increase Latino educational attainment in Georgia. In 2003 Desiree Smith and Beatriz Velez, two Mexican American freshman students at the University of Georgia, founded Students for Latino Empowerment

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Latino America (SLE). This organization is the first Georgia-based student group organized around improving the socioeconomic position of Latinos. SLE sponsors a number of activities to help Latino adolescents find pathways to college. The inception of this organization followed closely on the heels of the founding of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), a political advocacy group that aims to give a voice to Georgia’s growing Latino population. GALEOs formation was largely in response to the 2002 elections, where Sam Zamarripa, Pedro Marin, and David Casas were the first three Latinos elected to the Georgia General Assembly. In 2005 GALEO was instrumental in organizing the Coalition for a New Georgia, an association of at least 25 groups fighting for Latino rights in Georgia. These organizations have been influential in helping Latino voices be heard and in halting many anti-Latino bills that have been introduced in the state legislature. In 2002 the Georgia State Supreme Court heard arguments in Smith v. the State. As part of their ruling, the Court upheld a lower court’s determination that Latino ethnicity must be considered in the make-up of jury pools. Prior to that ruling, courts only had to consider whether blacks and women were properly represented. Because the Dixie Diaspora is a relatively new phenomenon, the Latino presence in Georgia is still viewed by many Georgians as a novelty. Among these Georgians, there is a sense that the Latino stay in the state is temporary. The history of states such as Texas, California, and New York suggest that this is not the case. It is more likely that the Latino population in Georgia will continue to grow, and Latinos will continue to make vital contributions to the history and culture of the state. It will take some time, however, before all Georgians accept Latinos as full and legitimate citizens of the state.

NOTABLE LATINOS Vazquéz de Ayllon, Lucás (c. 1475–1526). Vazquéz de Ayllon was a Spanish conquistador who, with 600 settlers, founded the first European settlement in the New World at San Miguel de Gualdape on the Savannah River near Sapelo Island. He is best known for the discovery of Chesapeake Bay and the exploration of South Carolina. Soto, Hernando de (c. 1500–1542). From 1539 to 1543, Hernando de Soto led 3,700 troops on an expedition of southeastern North America. In 1540 de Soto’s party traveled through Georgia, making him the first European to explore Georgia’s interior. Diaz-Verson Amos, Elena (1926–2000). Diaz-Verson Amos was a Cuban-born philanthropist who moved to Columbus, Georgia in 1955. Named in 1997 as the wealthiest Latina in the United States, she was influential in lobbying the U.S. Army to relocate the School of the Americas (now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) to Fort Benning. She also served on the board and as the director for a number of arts, advocacy, and humanitarian groups, including the Valladares

Georgia Foundation, a human rights organization. Amos was also instrumental in financing dissident Alina Fernández Revuelta’s covert flight from Cuba. Fernández is the daughter of Fidel Castro. Goizueta, Roberto C. (1931–1997). Cuban-born Roberto Goizueta was elected president and chief operating officer of the Coca-Cola Company in 1980. In 1981, he became CocaCola Company’s chairman and CEO. Under his tutelage, the company’s stock increased 7,200 percent, creating more shareholder wealth than any CEO in history and making Goizueta the first billionaire corporate manager in the United States. In 1992 Goizueta and his wife, Olga, established the Goizueta Foundation to provide assistance to Georgiabased charitable and educational institutions. The foundation has donated millions of dollars to assist in strengthening educational programs for Latino students. Vargas, Daniel O. (1942–). Vargas, a noted community activist, is a former art director for Avon Products. In 1990 he founded Vargas and Amigos, Inc., the first Latino advertising agency in the Southeast. His art and advertising concepts are award-winning, including being listed among Advertising Age’s “100 Best Ads Ever Created.” In 1982 he designed the Georgia peach logo that is the centerpiece of Georgia’s license plate design. His artistic rendering of famous Latino soldiers is on permanent display at the Pentagon. Sobh, Lou (1944–). Lou Sobh, founder and president of Lou Sobh Automotive, is listed among the wealthiest Latinos in America. His company is the largest minority-owned business in Georgia and one of the twenty largest Latino-owned businesses in the United States. Sobh, who was born in Torreon, Mexico, is founder and chair of the National Association of Hispanic Automobile Dealers and is on the board of directors of the National Council of La Raza. Zamarripa, Sam (1952–). In 2002 Zamarripa, an investment banker, became the first Latino elected to the Georgia State Senate. A Democrat from Atlanta, Zamarripa is known for his strong advocacy of immigration rights and as a proponent of issues of interest to Latinos. He resigned from the Senate in 2006. Ginés, Venus (1961–). Puerto Rican–born Ginés is the founder and chief executive officer of Día de la Mujer Latina, a Georgia-based organization aimed at addressing health disparities among the Latino population. Along with providing a range of health services, the organization sponsors annual one-day health fiestas in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic in order to screen Latina women for breast cancer, help the uninsured gain access to health care, and address health risk behaviors among Latino adolescents. Smith, Desiree (1985–) and Velez, Beatriz (1985–). Phoenix-born Smith and Houstonborn Velez, student activists, spent most of their childhood in Georgia. In 2003 they entered the University of Georgia as freshman, where they organized the Students for Latino Empowerment (SLE), the first student group organized to improve the socioeconomic position of Georgia’s Latinos. With the help of government and private funds, SLE sponsors two annual signature events to promote college enrollment among Latino students. SLE chapters are now forming in other universities in Georgia and in other states.

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Sports broadcaster Fernando Palacios and two campers at Campo Nuestro, a baseball clinic for Latino youth sponsored by the Atlanta Braves. Courtesy of Atlanta National League Baseball Club.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS In many states, Latinos have transformed the culture by introducing Latino products and services into everyday use and Spanish words into the common vernacular. Certainly this has happened in Georgia. More and more Georgians are eating salsa, speaking Spanish, and celebrating festivals such as Cinco de

Georgia Mayo. However, the biggest cultural contributions may be those that are less visibly Latino. Icons that people tend to think of as uniquely Georgian have been greatly influenced by Latinos. Peaches, peanuts, cotton, and Vidalia onions, all crops traditionally associated with Georgia, are harvested and packed by Latino migrant workers. Carpets, one of the state’s leading exports, and poultry, one of its major agricultural commodities, would not have remained an integral part of the Georgia economy without Latino labor. CocaCola, the state’s most ubiquitous soft drink, gained its market position, in part, due to Latino CEO Roberto Goizueta. Even the Georgia peach logo, seen both in the state’s capitol and also on Georgia residents’ license plates, is a design of Latino artist Dan Vargas.

NOTES 1. Historical documents give evidence that many Spanish missions were established in Georgia. Although some have been recovered through archeological investigations, the names, dates, and locations of many of these remain speculative. 2. Coca-Cola is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company. 3. Demographic information reported in this chapter is calculated based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 and Census 1990, Summary File 1 (SF1) and Summary File 3 (SF3), and U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2004, generated by Stephanie Bohon using American FactFinder, available online at http://factfinder. census.gov (accessed November 1, 2006). 4. The name of de Ayllon’s settlement has been recorded as Gualdape, Guandape, and Guadelupe. The exact site is also unknown. Some historians place the settlement in South Carolina or Virginia. Based on archeological evidence, most scholars maintain that the original site was in the Georgia Sea Islands and was likely named Gualdape. 5. Georgia territory was also claimed by France. 6. The distinction between the terms immigrant and migrant are important. In this chapter, immigrants refer to people who move to Georgia directly from other countries. Migrants are those who move to Georgia from other U.S. states or territories who may or may not have been born in the United States. 7. The largest concentration of Latinos is in metropolitan Atlanta, but there are large Latino settlements throughout the state. 8. Hoefer, Rytina, and Campbell, 2006.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anrig Jr., Greg, and Tova Andrea Wang, eds. Immigration’s New Frontiers: Experiences from the Emerging Gateway States. New York: Century Foundation, 2006. Atiles, Jorge H., and Stephanie A. Bohon. “Camas Calientes: Housing Adjustments and Barriers to Social and Economic Adaptation among Georgia’s Rural Latinos.” Southern Rural Sociology 19 (2003): 97–122.

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Latino America ———. The Needs of Georgia’s New Latinos: A Policy Agenda for the Decade Ahead. Athens, GA: Carl Vinson Institute, 2002. http://www.cviog.uga.edu/latinos. Bayala, Charolette A. “Cuban Refugees in Atlanta: 1950–1980.” Master’s thesis, Georgia State University, 2006. Bohon, Stephanie A., Heather Macpherson, and Jorge H. Atiles. “Educational Barriers for New Latinos in Georgia.” Journal of Latinos and Education 4 (2005): 41–56. Gill, Leslie. School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. Greising, David. I’d Like the World to Buy a Coke: The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta. New York: Wiley, 1998. Hayes, Cassandra. “Media Meltdown.” Black Enterprise, June 2000. Hispanic Business. “75 of the Wealthiest Hispanics in America.” September 2002. Hoefer, Michael, Nancy Rytina, and Christopher Campbell. “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2005.” Washington, DC: Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security, 2006. Lanning, John Tate. The Spanish Missions of Georgia. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1935. McMillan, Richard. “Savannah’s Coastal Slave Trade: A Quantitative Analysis of Ship Manifests, 1840–1850.” Georgia Historical Quarterly 78 (1994): 339–359. Murphey, Arthur D., Colleen Blanchard, and Jennifer A. Hill, eds. Latino Workers in the Contemporary South. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001. Passell, Jeffrey S. “The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2006. Smith v. the State, 571 S.E.2d 740 (Ga., 2002). Thomas, David H. St. Catherines: An Island in Time. Atlanta: Georgia Endowment for the Humanities, 1988. Worth, John E. The Struggle for the Georgia Coast: An Eighteenth-Century Spanish Retrospective on Guale and Mocama. Washington, DC: American Museum of Natural History, 1995.

12 HAWAII Lucía V. Aranda

CHRONOLOGY 1555 1794

1832

1893 1898 1900 1901 1921 1931 1932 1959 1973 1980s 1980 1994

The Spanish sailor Juan Gaetano visits the Hawaiian Islands but charts them incorrectly. Francisco de Paula Marín (1774–1837) brings the first pineapple and coffee plants to the Islands. Manini, as he is known, stays on as an advisor to King Kamehameha I. Mexican cowboys are invited to teach Hawaiians about cattle ranching, giving way to the paniolo, the Hawaiian cowboy, a word derived from español. Queen Lili’uokalani (1838–1917) surrenders under protest, and the Hawaiian monarchy is overthrown. On July 7 President William McKinley signs the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. The first Puerto Ricans arrive in Hawaii sugar plantations. Approximately 5,000 Puerto Ricans are established on the Islands. A second wave of Puerto Rican migration arrives in Hawaii. The Puerto Rican Civic Club is founded. The Puerto Rican Independent Association is founded. Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the United States. The United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii merges with the Puerto Rican Civic Club and the Puerto Rican Independent Association. A new wave of Latino migrants come to Hawaii, especially to the islands of Maui and Hawaii. The Puerto Rican Heritage Society is established. The first Hawaii Hispanic Heritage Festival is celebrated.

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According to the U.S. census 7.2 percent of the population in Hawaii is Latino. Centennial celebrations of the first arrival of Puerto Ricans in Hawaii take place. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the Latino population grows more rapidly than any other ethnic group, composing 8 percent of the population in Hawaii; however, community activists estimate the Latino population at 10 percent, including undocumented migrants.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The state of Hawaii, composed of eight islands—Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe—is one of the most isolated territories in the world. However, by 1555, according to Spanish archives, the Spanish sailor Juan Gaetano had already been to the islands and charted them. A few longitudinal degrees off, Gaetano called the archipelago Islas de Mesa (Table Islands); Maui he named La Desgraciada (The Unfortunate One), the island of Hawaii (or the Big Island, as it is also known) La Mesa (The Table), and the islands of Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe Los Monjes (The Monks). A less obscure but still fairly unfamiliar character in Hawaiian history is Francisco de Paula Marín, a Spanish sailor who came to Hawaii in 1794 and stayed on to work with King Kamehameha I as his physician, interpreter, and business manager. In fact, the 2006 proclamation of Hispanic Heritage Day by the governor of Hawaii celebrates Marín as the earliest Latino influence on the Islands.

Hawaii A better-known Latino influence in Hawaii is that of a group of cowboys who came from Mexico at the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1793 the British explorer Captain George Vancouver had presented King Kamehameha I with half a dozen longhorn cattle, which were allowed to roam the island of Hawaii freely. By 1830 the kapu, or taboo, on the cattle was lifted, and 2 years later, when the cattle had multiplied and become a danger, King Kamehameha III and John Palmer Parker (who would establish Parker Ranch, one of the oldest and largest ranches in the country) arranged to have a handful of cowboys brought to the Islands from Veracruz to train Hawaiians in cattle- and horse-handling skills. These and the other Spanish-speaking men that followed brought with them their language, culture, and music, and as they embraced Hawaiian culture, a hybrid culture arose. Born of this contact an important cattle industry developed, and the quintessential paniolo culture of cattle ranching, vaquero clothes, and music was born. Puerto Ricans would be the next Latino group to make its presence felt in Hawaii. The four factors that would lead to this were the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which put a stop to cheap labor from China in the United States; the annexation of Puerto Rico by the United States in 1898; the precarious situation created by the devastating San Ciriaco Hurricane, which hit Puerto Rico in 1899; and the fact that Puerto Ricans were experienced sugar cane workers. On December 23, 1900, 66 Puerto Ricans got off the Río Janeiro in Honolulu Harbor. However, 50 more had escaped en route—forced by the poor living conditions endured on the voyage from Puerto Rico to New Orleans by steamship, from New Orleans to San Francisco by rail, and then from San Francisco to Hawaii again by boat. Between 1900 and 1901, 11 expeditions would bring 5,203 Puerto Ricans to Hawaii. The last group of Puerto Ricans would arrive at the Islands in 1921; the high cost of transporting the 683 men, women, and children offset any further attempts to bring Puerto Ricans as laborers to Hawaii. The plantation culture that developed on the Islands and evolved into the multiethnic local culture of Hawaii would not have been the same without the presence of the significant Puerto Rican contingent that arrived at the turn of the twentieth century. Between 1852 and 1946 approximately 395,000 people were recruited to work in Hawaii on the sugar plantations. Although less numerous, the Puerto Ricans joined migrants from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Samoa, and Portugal who had also come to work on the sugar plantations. The migration patterns were not alike for all the migrant groups either: some, such as the Spanish or Italians, used Hawaii as a stepping-stone to the continental United States; like the Puerto Ricans, the Portuguese—recruited as entire families— tended to stay on the Islands; the Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos, who made up the majority of the migrants on the sugar plantations, arrived as single men and either intermarried, sent for picture brides, or returned to their homeland. With the annexation of Hawaii in 1898, the mainland Unites States became Hawaii’s main market, and sugar plantations would dominate the economy of

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IDENTITY: FACTS AND FIGURES Identity in the state of Hawaii can be said to be more sui generis than in other states due to its past and present history. Hawaii is the most multiracial state in the nation and is slated to have the highest percentage of minorities (77.3 percent) by 2025.1 The data from the 2000 Census Report indicates that a staggering 24.1 percent of its population defined itself as belonging to two or more races, followed by far by Alaska (with 5.4 percent) and California (with 4.7 percent). It is not surprising that Honolulu has now become the city with the largest mixedrace population in the United States, at 14.9 percent. The largest ethnic group on the Islands identifies itself as Asian, at 41 percent (510,354), followed by Whites or Caucasians, at 23 percent (284,455); a third group, which considers itself multiracial, makes up 18 percent of the population (217,171); and in fourth place are Latinos, who make up 7.2 percent of the population (87,699).2 The American Community Survey of 2005 figures indicate a growth of the Latino population in Hawaii to 98,699 people, or 8 percent of the total population. In fact, this figure jumps to 10 percent according to Latino activists, once legal and illegal migrants are taken into consideration. Latinos are growing at a much faster rate than any other single ethnic group in Hawaii: of the 5–25 age population, 10 percent is Latino, whereas 40 percent is Asian, 16 percent white, and 2 percent African American. Those who consider themselves multiracial, a consequence of the high degree of intermarriages that

Hawaii are so common in Hawaii, and indicate “Other” on the census form, make up 31 percent of the 5–25 age population. The proportion of Latinos and Native Hawaiians (as well as Pacific Islanders who are included in the same category) is presently balanced; however, economic factors such as the elevated price of housing have forced Native Hawaiians to move elsewhere. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that in 2004, 30.3 percent Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders lived in California, whereas only 26.2 percent lived in Hawaii (5.7 percent lived in Washington; 4.9 percent in Texas; 3.4 percent in Utah.; and 3.2 percent in Nevada). If the most numerous ethnic group among Asians is the Japanese, Puerto Ricans make up the largest Latino group on the Hawaiian Islands (34.2 percent), followed closely by Mexicans (22.6 percent). The fact that Latinos in Hawaii reported more than one race would explain how the third-largest group is a composite of “Others” (38.4 percent). Other Spanish-speaking groups are Spaniards (1.1 percent), Cubans (0.8 percent), Panamanians (0.5 percent), Colombians (0.5 percent), Peruvians (0.4 percent), Dominicans (0.3 percent), Salvadorans (0.3 percent), Guatemalans (0.3 percent), Argentineans (0.2 percent), Chileans (0.2 percent), and Ecuadorians (0.2 percent). Oahu, the seat of the capital, holds the largest number of Latinos on the Hawaiian Islands, 7.1 percent of the population, whereas the island of Hawaii has the highest percentage of Latinos, 11.6 percent.3 A significant number of Latinos on the Islands are stationed at the military bases; for example, on the island of Oahu 16.2 percent of the personnel on Schofield Barracks and 8.37 percent on Hickam Air Force Base are Latino.4

ECONOMY The economic development in postcontact Hawaii was dominated by the sugar and pineapple plantation industry. However, plantations disappeared in the 1990s, and the economy, which has since attempted to diversify, is sustained by tourism, defense, and highly technological innovation industries. The low unemployment rates (2.3 percent in 2006) have attracted Latino migrants to the construction and service industries, especially to Maui and the Big Island. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the foreign-born population of Hawaii arrived primarily from Asia (83.3 percent), Oceania (6.3 percent), Europe (4.9 percent), Latin America (3.2 percent), Northern America (1.8 percent), and Africa (0.5 percent). Interestingly, it is on the more sparsely populated islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai that there is a greater percentage of businesses owned by Latinos (5.1 percent vs. a 3.1 percent on the rest of the islands). On Maui, more than 100 Latino-owned companies have opened in the last 6 years, especially in the construction, landscaping, cleaning, and restaurant industries.

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GOVERNMENT Although Latinos make up the fourth-largest group in Hawaii, this 10 percent of the population has very little visible government representation and largely remains a politically invisible group. Although it is true that the number of Asian American appointments has declined, Latinos, in spite of the requisite population, have not been appointed to top policy positions. Two of the few local Puerto Ricans who have served the Hawaiian government are Faith Evans, a former state legislator, and Alex Santiago, a former Hawaii state representative.

NOTABLE LATINOS Camacho Souza, Blase (1918–). Camacho Souza founded the Puerto Rican Heritage Society in 1980, and he is also the project director of the Puerto Rican House at Hawaii’s Plantation Village. Born in North Kohala, Hawaii, to Puerto Rican parents and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the University of Hawaii, Camacho Souza is an authority on the Puerto Rican experience in Hawaii. Carr, Norma (Gómez) (1927–). Carr’s 1989 doctoral dissertation “Puerto Ricans in Hawaii: 1900–1958,” from the University of Hawaii, is an obligatory reference for any study dealing with the Puerto Rican migration to the Islands. Carr, who was born to Puerto Rican parents in New York, moved to Honolulu with her husband in 1958. Evans, Faith (1937–). A locally born Puerto Rican, Evans is a former state legislator and the first woman to serve as a U.S. marshal. A cofounder of the Puerto Rican Heritage Society, Evans was appointed by Governor Ben Cayetano as chair to the Puerto Rican Centennial Commission. Ortiz, Nancy N. (Perry) (1942–). Ortiz is a radio host to Alma Latina (Latin Soul), “the longest running Latin music program in the Pacific.” Born in Aiea, Oahu, Ortiz, whose grandparents arrived from Puerto Rico at the turn of the twentieth century, describes herself as a “Boricua Hawaiana.” Ortiz created Alma Latina Productions to promote salsa and latin music in Hawaii. One of the cofounders and executive director of the Centro Hispano de Hawaii/Hawaii Latino Center, she remains active in the United Puerto Rican Association. Dias, Austin (1946–). Born in Honolulu and raised on Kauai’s Kilauea Sugar Plantation, Dias, professor of Spanish at the University of Hawaii, was chair of the Department of Languages and Literatures of Europe and the Americas for over 10 years. Dias, who is an honorary member of the Puerto Rican Heritage Society and was appointed to the state’s Puerto Rican Centennial Commission, has been instrumental in bringing to the forefront the forgotten literature of the early migrants of Puerto Rico to Hawaii. Valdez, Pedro (1946–). Valdez, a native of Texas, arrived to Hawaii in the 1970s after retiring from the U.S. Navy and became host of the only local Spanish-speaking television program ever broadcast in Hawaii, ¿Qué pasa Hawai? which ran from 1991 to 1998. Villa, José (1948–). From 1994 to 1999, Villa published the bilingual Spanish-English newspaper Hawai‘i Hispanic News, also available in an online format from 1996 to

Hawaii 2000. He cofounded, and serves as secretary of, the Latin Business Association. Villa, who is involved in “providing a forum from which to educate Latinos with dignity and respect,” presents “This Week in the Hispanic Nation” on Ray Cruz’s Sabor Tropical show on Hawaii Public Radio. Cruz, Ray (1951–). Cruz is undoubtedly the most important Latino DJ in Hawaii. Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, Cruz has promoted Latino music on the Islands for over 18 years, hosting the weekly Sabor Tropical on Hawaii Public Radio. Cruz has been extremely influential in maintaining the high profile of Latin music on the Islands. Sánchez, Rolando (1951–). Sánchez, a native of Nicaragua, moved to Hawaii in 1984 and in 1987 formed the band Salsa Hawaii. With events such as the Hawaii International Latin Music Festival, Miss Latin-Hawaii Scholarship Pageant, and many other cultural events, this Honolulu-based percussionist, songwriter, singer, and producer has been instrumental in infusing the salsa scene in Honolulu with the vitality it has today. Sánchez, Martha (1953–). Sánchez, from Cuernavaca, Mexico, opened the Mercado de la Raza in 1994, one of the first Latino markets on Oahu. Sánchez is a cofounder of Centro Hispano de Hawaii/Hawaii Hispanic Center and is so active in Latino affairs on that island that her business doubles as a Hispanic food market and Hispanic referral center for the community. Ortiz, Eddie (1964–). Ortiz, a retired U.S. marine bandsman of Puerto Rican descent and a transplant from New York who has been on the Islands since 1997, formed the salsa band Son Caribe in 2002. Garnering the admiration of fans locally, nationally, and internationally, Son Caribe has opened for Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, and received a 2004 Grammy Award consideration for Best Salsa/Merengue Album of the Year.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As a result of the pervasive and ubiquitous ethnic diversity in the state of Hawaii, it would be difficult to affirm that there exists a distinct Latino identity on the Islands. The situation is such that many in the Latino community believe they garner too little respect from the other ethnic groups, largely because they are misunderstood. The fact that their purchasing power remains largely untapped attests to this invisible stature. Latinos did start organizing themselves around cultural organizations early on in their arrival to the Hawaiian Islands. By 1931, Puerto Ricans had established the United Puerto Rico Association of Hawaii, and a year later came the Puerto Rican Independent Association. These would merge in 1973 to become the United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii. Still active today, the United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii, located at 1249 N. School Street in Honolulu, remains a social hall that hosts Latino activities. Like the Puerto Rican Heritage Society founded by Blase Camacho Souza and Faith Evans in 1980, it promotes a scholarship program for the grandchildren of Puerto Rican migrants. More recent is the Latin Business Association of Hawaii, which Ray Cruz, José Villa, his

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Latino America wife Marie Villa, and Jesús Puerto founded with the intention of becoming a link between Hawaii’s Latino businesses and the global business community. On Maui the service program for Latinos, called Enlace Hispano, founded in 1999, provides translation services, referrals, cultural events, and education and development opportunities for Maui’s growing Latino community. As part of Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO), Enlace Hispano awards the César Chávez prize to recognize the effort of Hispanics on the island; recipients so far have been César Gaxiola (2005) and Silvia Naiberg (2006), present director of Enlace Hispano. Although Latino cultures have blended into one larger “local” culture, Latinos are more visible in the food and names. Local dishes such as pateles (as pasteles are locally known) from Puerto Rico are found alongside horchata, churros, malasadas, Portuguese bean soup, and sausages. Across the islands there are numerous Latino restaurants; although the majority are Mexican, there are some Argentinean, Cuban, and Puerto Rican ones as well. In fact, the ethnic food aisles in many Hawaiian supermarkets stock a Mexican section alongside the Japanese, Thai, or Vietnamese sections. The fusion in food is such that ka’lua tacos or taro tortillas are staples on menus across the islands. Many of these can be found at the Hawaii Hispanic Heritage Festival, which usually takes place in October in Honolulu, and at the Somos Amigos Festival on Maui. These two festivals, the first launched by the once very active Centro Hispano de Hawaii/Hawaii Hispanic Center and the second by Enlace Hispano, showcase Latino music, dance, and food, although Somos Amigos incorporates Portuguese culture as well. Insofar as a literary contribution to the Hawaiian Islands is concerned, the visibility of Latinos was strongest at the time of migration at the turn of the twentieth century. Puerto Rican migrants such as Carlo Mario Fraticelli, Salvador Hernández, Nicolás Caravallo Vegas, Justo Pérez Peña, Andalecio Troche, and Tanilau Dias wrote décimas in the jíbaro oral tradition and recited or sung them at social gatherings. Fraticelli, who migrated to Hawaii in 1901, seemed to be “conscious that he [was] the spokesperson for his Puerto Rican people.”5 As Fraticelli chronicled life in Hawaii in Spanish, and called Puerto Ricans to action against an unjust oligarchic plantation system, he could not help but pervade his poetry with deep nostalgia and regret for leaving his beloved Puerto Rico. Rodney Morales, of Puerto Rican descent and professor at the University of Hawaii, recalls another perspective of the migrant experience: a Puerto Rican culture that, intertwined with that of the Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, and Hawaiian communities, helped form the local culture that the plantation system gave way to. In “Ship of Dreams,” Morales draws on the distinct ethnic differences that distinguished the diversity of the local culture of Hawaii, without the nostalgia of his parents’ or grandparents’ generations. Latinos have achieved substantial visibility in the music that is heard on the Hawaiian Islands. Guitars, generally believed to have entered the Islands with

Hawaii the paniolos in 1832, and the ‘ukelele—which has its precursor in the Portuguese braguinha, brought from Madeira by migrants at the turn of the century—have both had a profound influence on Hawaiian music. The Spanish influence on the slackkey guitar is likened to that of the falsetto singing, which also arrived with the paniolos from Veracruz and blended with ancient Hawaiian chants to become an essential element of Hawaiian music. An indication of how music blended life on the culturally diverse plantations is kachi-kachi (or katchi-katchi) music, the onomatopoeic name the Japanese used for the folkloric music of the migrants from Puerto Rico as they scraped the guiro. The cuatro is the focus of jíbaro music in Hawaii, and although kachi-kachi music is more infrequent every day, it can be said to link the traditional and contemporary music of the Boricua community in Hawaii. For Ángel Santiago, president of the United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii, “it was through sports and music that the Puerto Ricans on the Islands were able to hold on to their roots.” There were a great number of groups playing the cuatro, guiro, box bass, maracas, palitos, or the bongos at the association’s social hall until very recently, such as the Trio Borinque or Silva and His Rumba Kings in the 1930s, The Jolly Ricans in the 1950s, the Rumbacheros in the 1960s, or Boy and His Family of Troubadors from 1941 to 1986. Puerto Ricans excelled

Trio Borinque (circa 1930). Courtesy of United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii.

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Latino America in baseball: they were Territory Champions and had their own baseball leagues. However, due to a lack of players, the Puerto Rican baseball league has ceased to exist as such. Joseph Martin took Puerto Rican excellence in boxing one step further and became a Hawaii sumo wrestler champion in the 1950s. There are a handful of Latino radio shows airing in Hawaii today, most notably Sabor Tropical, on Hawaii Public Radio, but without a doubt Latino music is more visible on the dance floor, where salsa dancing in clubs and classes can now be found almost nightly, sometimes in more than one venue. These local Hawaiian salsa bands are usually a composite of residents of Latino ancestry and, more often than not, Latino members of the military.

NOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Cheng and Ho, 2002, 12. U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census. U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey Reports. U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census. Dias, 2001, 100.

BIBLIOGRAPHY U.S. Census Bureau, 2007. American Community Survey Reports. Race/Ethnicity Reports. The Hispanic Community–2004. http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-03.pdf. Aranda, Lucía. “Latinos in Hawaii.” In Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Eds. Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Camacho Souza, Blase, and Alfred P. Souza. De Borinquen a Hawaii, nuestra historia. From Puerto Rico to Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Puerto Rican Heritage Society, 1985. Carr, Norma. “Puerto Ricans in Hawaii: 1900–1958.” PhD diss., University of Hawaii, 1989. Cheng, Susan M., and T. Linh Ho. “A Portrait of Race and Ethnicity in Hawaii: An Analysis of Social and Economic Outcomes of Hawaii’s People.” Hawaii: Pacific American Research Center, 2002. Dias, Austin. “Carlo Mario Fraticelli: A Puerto Rican Poet on the Sugar Plantations of Hawaii.” Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies XIII, no. 1, (Spring 2001): 94–107. López, Iris. “Borinkis and Chop Suey: Puerto Rican Identity in Hawaii, 1900 to 2000.” In The Puerto Rican Diaspora. Historical Perspectives. Eds. Carmen Teresa Whalen and Víctor Vázquez-Hernández. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2005. Morales, Rodney. “Ship of Dreams.” In The Speed of Darkness. Ed. Rodney Morales. Honolulu, HI: Bamboo Ridge Press, 1988. Pukui, Mary Kawena, and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary. Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. U.S. Census Bureau. 2000 Census. 2000.

13 IDAHO Errol D. Jones

CHRONOLOGY 1820s–1850s 1860 1870 1890 1910s 1917 1920s 1930 1935 1942–1947

1955

Mexican and other Spanish-speaking fur trappers work future southeastern Idaho. Discovery of gold attracts Mexican miners, muleteers, ranchers, and cowboys to the area. The census counts 60 Latin Americans (mostly Mexican) in what is Idaho today. Idaho statehood is established. Railroads and the Mexican Revolution bring more Mexicans to Idaho. Idaho National Guard sent to Mexican border. Mexican government complains about treatment of Mexicans in beet fields. Labor recruiters turn to Mexican migrants to meet needs of Idaho’s expanding economy. Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City investigates abuses of Mexican workers in eastern Idaho. In Teton pea fields 1,500 workers—mostly Mexican—strike. Governor declares martial law. The Bracero program brings 15,600 Mexican workers to Idaho. Contract violations lead to strikes, and discrimination leads to termination of jobs. Governor creates Migratory Labor Committee to report on conditions in migrant camps. Increasing number of migrants settle permanently.

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1961 1965 1967 1969 1971 1987 1990s

2000–2007

Idaho Citizens Committee for Civil Rights successfully wins passage of antidiscrimination law. Idaho Farm Workers’ Services incorporates, bringing Head Start programs to migrant camps. John Pino (Pocatello) elected Idaho’s first Latino legislator. Idaho Human Rights Commission formed with Mexican representation. Idaho Migrant Council formed to promote rights of Idaho’s Mexican Americans in health, education, and housing. Idaho Legislature creates Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Jesse Berain becomes Idaho’s second Latino legislator. Farm workers included in state’s workers’ compensation program. Hispanic Business Association formed. Workers Compensation extended to Idaho’s farm workers. New Hispanic Cultural Center built in Nampa. New minimum wage law extends federal minimum wage to farm workers. Farm Labor Contractor Registration and Bonding Act forces contractors to register and post bonds with state.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Over the last quarter century the Latino population in Idaho has dramatically increased, as it has nationally. The 2000 Idaho census showed 101,690 people of

Idaho

Workers at the Casa Valdez Tortilla Factory, 1979. Idaho Statesman photo, Boise State University Library, Special Collections.

Latino background living in the state, revealing a striking population growth of ethnic groups from Latin America. Most of that growth is attributed to migration. Accurate numbers, however, are difficult to determine. About 80 percent of Idaho’s Hispanics (the official government term) are Mexicans or of Mexican heritage. In 1980, Idaho’s total population of 943,985 contained about 36,560 (or 3.9 percent) Latinos. Over the next decade the Latino population jumped to almost 53,000 (or 5.3 percent) of a total of 1,004,000. Though significant, Latinos still represented a small percentage of the total population. Over the next 10 years their numbers almost doubled again, increasing from about 53,000 to 101,690, a growth of 92 percent. In 2000 Idaho’s population had swelled to 1,293,953, of which 100,000 were Latinos, equaling 7.9 percent of the total population. Estimates for 2003 put the state’s overall population at 1,367,034, with Latinos jumping to 119,066, or about 8.7 percent. Idaho’s recent demographic increase is impressive, but growth of the Latino community is even more so, and it continues to soar. The most recent census estimates (2006) of Idaho’s Latino population show 139,000 of a total 1,466,465, or an increase of 20,000 in only three years. If these estimates prove accurate, Latinos currently represent about 9.5 percent of the state’s population, the largest minority group by far. These numbers may contain undocumented individuals, but it is difficult to say how many. The most reliable estimates range from 25,000 to 50,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Labor’s Current Population Survey.1 These growth rates

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Latino America cast Idaho as a state whose ethnic complexion is undergoing a radical change, forcing the government, economy, and society to adapt.

EARLY ORIGINS Spain had claimed as part of its colonial empire the region that eventually became the state of Idaho. There is, however, little evidence that the Iberian power did anything to control or even explore the region. The first Euro-Americans (the Lewis and Clark Expedition) to set foot in Idaho encountered Spanish-speaking Native Americans who no doubt had picked up the language through trade. Mountain men, including some Spaniards and Mexicans, following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, lived off the land as trappers and hunters. Spain ceded its claims to the Idaho territory and the rest of the Pacific Northwest in 1819 in the Adams-Onis Treaty. The few Spanish settlers remaining did not relocate south of the 42nd parallel, the northern limit to Spanish territory. Instead, they formed part of the population that grew with the discovery of gold in the Northwest. Historical accounts after 1819 contain names such as Manuel, one of five merchants in Kootenai, Idaho, and Casildo Robles, owner of a dance hall. With the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 the United States gained political control of all Mexican territory between the Rio Grande and the 42nd parallel, and with it over 75,000 Mexicans who had made their homes there. For Mexicans on both sides of the border the new boundary line was only a political fabrication and meant little to their ability to come and go. Although the Mexican population of those new U.S. states bordering Mexico grew after the war, Mexicans were slow to move north beyond the 42nd parallel until lured there by economic opportunity. Opportunity came with the discovery of gold on Orofino Creek in 1860. Other discoveries followed and in 1863 Idaho became a territory independent of the Washington Territory. Almost 15,000 people lived in Idaho when the 1870 census was taken, 60 of them Latinos (including 10 women and 4 children), mostly of Mexican descent. Though not a large group, they played an important role in the region’s economy, bringing with them Mexican traditions of handling horses and livestock. Many of these early Latinos were mule packers, ranchers, and cowboys. A smaller number were miners and laborers, and a few were soldiers in the U.S. Army. They and their children became solid members of Idaho’s pioneer community. Spanish words and Mexican techniques and equipment permeated the cowboy and ranching cultures of southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and northern Nevada. That influence continues to this day.2 Here and there in these early years one catches glimpses of a richer, more diverse culture than it is usually portrayed in the standard accounts of that era. Mexican vaqueros, expert horsemen trained with the lasso, worked the isolated ranches. Skilled Mexican

Idaho mule train packers hauled food and supplies into Idaho’s mines high in the mountains. While on campaigns against resisting Native Americans, the U.S. Army occasionally relied on them to supply its troops with necessities. Mexicans dominated the mule packing trade, making themselves an indispensable economic asset. Their traditions and Spanish vocabulary suffused the business. According to the 1880 census several Mexican mule packers lived in Lewiston, while others called Boise home, including “Idaho’s premier muleteer” Jesús Urquides. Known as the “fast little packer,” Urquides was born in Sonora, Mexico, in 1833 and, like so many other Sonorenses, migrated to the California gold fields during the 1849 gold rush. Having little interest in prospecting for gold and silver, Urquides turned to packing. In 1860 he transferred his operations from California to Walla Walla, Washington, and from there to Lewiston, Idaho. When gold was discovered in the Boise basin in 1862, Urquides snatched the opportunity to move to Boise to pack supplies into the surrounding mines. Near the Boise River Urquides built his own “Spanish village,” with corrals and outbuildings for his mules, cabins for his packers and wranglers, and a home for his family. At the time of his death in 1928 Urquides was a prominent and prosperous Boise resident, lauded for contributions to the state’s economy, photographed (with his mules) in Boise parades, and mourned by all who knew him. He was buried in Boise’s Pioneer cemetery, a stone’s throw from Spanish Village. Long after his death Spanish Village remained a landmark in the growing state capital until the city razed the buildings in 1972.

RAILROAD AND FARM LABORERS In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Mexican American pioneer families such as the Urquides, Fontes, Ortiz, Amera, Valdez, Galindo, Ocampo, Ursino, Escaso, Ruiz, and Carusia enjoyed relative prosperity, respect, and acceptance in their Idaho communities. But Idaho’s economy underwent change during that time. The gold rush was short lived, and in its place emerged an expanding agricultural and livestock industry. Railroads penetrated the territory and the federal government made lands available to thousands of settlers attracted to Idaho by large-scale, government-financed irrigation projects. Southern Idaho’s Snake River desert plateau now burst with sugar beets, potatoes, and other market crops. When the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company built a rendering plant in eastern Idaho in 1904, it recruited Mexican workers. An economic boom in the southwest, west, and northwest regions of the U.S. took advantage of those who fled the chaos and turmoil of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). The outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 and U.S. entry into that war in 1917 created a labor shortage, leading the government to agree to a contract labor program with Mexico. Railroads and

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Latino America Idaho sugar companies drafted some of these early workers to toil in the fields and lay rails in southern Idaho. Rules of this first Bracero program compelled U.S. employers to hire Mexican workers at recruitment centers. The agreement stipulated the wages, length of contract, tasks to be performed, and worker accommodations. Moreover, growers and railroad companies were obligated to inform immigration officials when workers broke contracts. Because there were numerous violations of agreements and workers’ complaints, among other problems, the program was ended on December 31, 1919.3 While investigating complaints of worker abuse in 1917, Idaho Labor Commissioner William J.A. McVety found more than 2,000 undocumented Mexicans, including 500 women and children, working in southern and eastern Idaho beet fields. In the Idaho Falls, Shelley, and Blackfoot regions “complaints were numerous regarding their accounts [wage agreements], living quarters and about winter clothing.” The commissioner concluded that “too much [was] left to the supervision of the Sugar Company.” He warned the governor that such labor abuses put the survival of the company and the industry in jeopardy.4 Mexican migration to Idaho continued after termination of the Bracero program. Suffering company abuse, low wages, unsanitary and inadequate living accommodations, corrupt labor contractors, and difficult and dirty work, Mexican workers came to the United States out of desperation. Their own country’s economy could not sustain them. Throughout the 1920s railroad companies continued to hire Mexican migrants, until they made up the majority of maintenance crews in many western states. By 1930 Mexicans constituted nearly 60 percent of the section crews employed in Idaho.5 Migrants coveted railroad jobs because no matter how menial, those jobs usually meant steady employment with wages higher than those in fieldwork. Farm labor was just the opposite: it paid less, and it was seasonal, with workers following the crops and living in tents, lean-tos, or deplorable camps. It exacted a heavy penalty from school age children who were both pulled from their studies in the early spring and prevented from returning to them until late fall. Mexican consular officials from Salt Lake City, Utah, did what they could to help Mexican citizens working in Idaho. This protection did not extend to Mexican American migrants, who could only turn to the local justice system when problems arose. Consular officials intervened in wage disputes, complained about substandard working and living conditions, and tried to investigate personal tragedies such as injuries and deaths. A case in point occurred in Burley on July 4, 1920. Local police burst into a shack near the sugar beet factory and shot two (one fatally) Mexican beet workers playing poker with other men. Many irregularities and injustices swirled around this incident; yet, there was little the Mexican consul could do to see that his country’s citizens were treated fairly and that jus-

Idaho tice was served. The Idaho National Guard’s participation in U.S. retaliation against Pancho Villa’s raid into New Mexico a few years earlier fueled a growing backlash against Mexicans. In order to maintain a constant flow of inexpensive labor from Mexico, U.S. immigration policies in the 1920s treated Mexicans differently from the Chinese, the Japanese, and southern and eastern Europeans, all of whom were virtually excluded from entry into the United States. The farm lobby even succeeded in having Mexicans exempted from the immigration head tax. As a result, Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans continued to stream into Idaho in far larger numbers than the 1920 census figures show (only 1,215 Idaho residents born in Mexico, nine times greater than the count of 133 in 1910). Census numbers fail to show the North Americans of Mexican descent living or working in Idaho during the 1920s, but government sources and local newspapers reported large numbers of Mexicans and other Latinos working the state’s mines, rails, forests, and farms.6 Throughout the 1920s, more and more Mexican Americans and Mexican nationals migrated into the state, and as they did, a pattern of discrimination and human rights abuses emerged. Xenophobia was one of the defining characteristics of American society in the 1920s, and Idaho was no exception. A Payette minister drew a crowd of some 500 to a Ku Klux Klan rally in Boise in June 1924. He praised the virtues of the Klan and its mission to end Jewish economic monopoly, prevent mixed marriages, bar Catholics from political office, and dry up the “flood of undesirables” pouring into the country.7 During the decade newspapers reflected negative attitudes toward Mexicans in general. Several large produce companies flocked to Idaho in the 1920s and 1930s to grow green peas. After being harvested, the peas were packed in ice and shipped by rail to markets as far away as Chicago and the East Coast. Companies contracted with Idaho farmers such as those in the Teton Valley to plant the peas and recruited large gangs of migrant pea pickers to harvest the crop. Because most of the harvesters—even during the Great Depression era—were Mexicans or Mexican Americans, complaints flooded the Mexican consulate of workers being abused, cheated on their wages, forced to live in subhuman conditions, and subjected to all sorts of indignities. By August 1935 worker anger exploded during a strike in the Teton Valley’s pea fields. The conflict had escalated from a dispute over wages between laborers and the produce companies to one in which the farmers became directly involved, because they feared losing their pea crops. In their anger they lashed out at the strikers. Violence erupted on both sides, forcing county officials to beseech the governor to declare martial law and send the National Guard. On August 15 and 16, Idaho Guardsmen entered labor camps and arrested about 125 “Mexicans who were causing the trouble.” Another 30 or more were picked up on valley

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Latino America streets. Together with “a few American agitators and some parasites and camp followers,” these Mexicans were held under guard until they were paid the wages still owed them. Troopers then loaded them into trucks furnished by the packing companies, or forced them into their own cars and trucks, and escorted them to the county line, warning them not to return. The next day the remaining workers returned to the fields. The strike was over. It was clear at the time, and it still is, that the authorities violated workers’ civil rights regardless of their citizenship or ethnicity.8 The Great Depression was a nightmare for most North Americans and for countless Mexicans. Many U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage suffered profoundly when arrested and, together with their Mexican cousins, deported to Mexico. No official forced migrations of Mexicans or Mexican Americans from Idaho during the Depression occurred, but it became the policy of some communities to “hire whites only.” Nevertheless, the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association brought so many Mexicans for spring thinning in 1935 that “local residents felt discriminated against.” Growers responded that “white workers were amateurs who did the job poorly and were slower and less efficient than the Mexicans.”9 Signs posted at roads entering the state warned nonresidents that state social services would be denied them. Because they were Mexicans, one resident remembered, there was no relief for them. In spite of that, with demand for Mexican migrant labor in sugar beet production high, migrant workers may have flocked to Idaho in greater numbers during the 1930s.

WORLD WAR II BRACEROS AND THE MIGRANT STREAM War mobilization effectively ended the Depression. Local Idahoans and domestic migrants left the fields to take well-paying jobs in factories and elsewhere. In 1941 national farm federations urged the United States Employment Service to import thousands of Mexican contract workers. As the country’s wartime economy expanded, demand for farm labor grew. Recently completed New Deal reclamation projects added an additional 2,895,000 irrigated acres to Idaho’s and Oregon’s agricultural sectors by 1940. Two years later farm labor shortages were greatest in the Pacific Northwest. Unable to find workers, growers became desperate. The Idaho State Farm Bureau Federation petitioned for more than 1,000 Mexican farm laborers, and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company requested braceros. Mexican workers began arriving the following year. From 1942 to 1947, 15,600 Mexican men entered Idaho. U.S. farm federations wanted Mexican contract labor, but they resented the restrictions and rules imposed. Braceros vigorously protested contract violations and abuses, but some farmers ignored their complaints and forced them to do the most difficult and perilous tasks. Suffering serious accidents, exposed to chemi-

Idaho cal and lead poisoning in the fields, finding only contaminated water to drink on the job, braceros’ health was constantly in jeopardy. Although some farmers’ inattention to proper safety procedures at times led to worker death, they often reprimanded camp managers who took additional precautions to prevent accidents.10 The Bracero agreement did not give workers the right to strike for better conditions or pay. But in Idaho and elsewhere ill treatment and contract violations caused workers to protest and, at times, walk off the job. Farmers often brought strikes to an end by assaulting braceros and threatening them with jail, forced labor, or deportation. Wage disputes often strained farmer-bracero relations. Facing the lowest wages and the most “recalcitrant farmers” of any Northwest state, “braceros’ strikes in Idaho were more serious and prolonged.” Idaho earned a reputation for discrimination against braceros, especially in Canyon County, where Mexicans were routinely barred from stores and saloons. To its credit, the Notus Farm Labor Committee joined others in denouncing racist practices and warned they could lose their labor supply. Prejudice against the braceros became so pronounced in Idaho that the Mexican government threatened to cancel contracts in the state, finally doing so in 1948. On the other hand, some communities welcomed Mexican workers and treated them with kindness and respect.11 After the war, Idaho’s need for agricultural labor persisted. Contributing to the labor demand were new techniques in deep well pumping, more acreage brought under cultivation, and new food processing plants. Low pay, harsh conditions, and seasonal employment, failed to attract many locals. Employers turned to Mexican American families, mostly from Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, who journeyed north on a migrant circuit in search of work. Undocumented Mexicans joined the Mexican Americans in the migrant stream to Idaho. Their numbers increased after the war. A 1955 U.S. Public Health Service study of migrant life found over 8,000 workers and about 13,500 family members in the state. The number of migrant workers almost doubled to 15,000 ten years later. Idaho growers and the state’s political leaders deemed them essential to the prosperity of the state’s agricultural sector. Furthermore, these migrants proved to be ideal farm workers: they arrived on their own, were skilled and experienced, accepted lower wages than locals, took advantage of few social services, and moved on when the work was done. In brief, they were almost invisible.12

FINDING THEIR OWN WAY Although small communities of Mexicans and Mexican Americans had existed in Idaho cities for some time, the number of permanent residents grew as nonseasonal jobs for them became available. Anglo communities and public institutions, accustomed to migrants coming for a few months of the year and then leaving, adapted slowly to this new reality. Moreover, migrants continued to arrive during

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Latino America the agricultural season, and the Anglo community could not, or would not, distinguish between permanent Mexican American citizens and those recent arrivals who worked the fields. To the typical Anglo Idahoan they were all the same: poor, unable to speak English, and transient dwellers of labor camps. Mexican Americans eager to join mainstream Idaho society sent their children to school, rented or bought a house in a safe and decent neighborhood, went to church, and participated in community activities. Despite these efforts, they confronted language and education obstacles that had initially tied them to the migrant circuit. Encouraged by the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Idaho’s Latino activists struggled to create their own organizations to address their unique concerns. From these efforts emerged the Idaho Migrant Council in 1971. Run by a board of Mexican American farm workers, for over 35 years the Idaho Migrant Council championed the rights of migrant laborers and other low-income folk to decent housing, improved health care, and greater educational opportunities. Together with other ethnic and racial minorities, Latinos formed the Idaho Citizens Committee for Civil Rights and successfully won passage of an antidiscrimination law in 1961. By 1969 they persuaded the state legislature to create the Idaho Human Rights Commission with Mexican representation. After a four-year struggle, Latino activists convinced the legislature to establish the Commission for Hispanic Affairs in 1987. Civil rights legislation and affirmative action programs opened the doors to state and federal employment, providing opportunities for Latinos to leave the migrant stream and achieve better-paying and higher-status jobs. Most who took these jobs, however, were two or three generations removed or from nonmigrant families. Nevertheless, Latinos could now be seen in positions that were previously the exclusive domain of Anglos. To promote improvements in the Latino community, activists working in government formed Image de Idaho, a statewide advocacy group linked with Latino organizations in other states. Image sponsors annual conferences to focus attention on social and economic issues confronting the Latino community. Alarmed by the high proportion of Mexican American youth who dropped out of junior and senior high schools, the Idaho Migrant Council (IMC) conducted a study of six school districts in southern Idaho in 1978 and discovered that between 80 and 90 percent of Mexican American students dropped out before graduating. The following year IMC filed a class action lawsuit on the students’ behalf against the State Board of Education and local school districts. The suit claimed that education officials were out of compliance with state and federal laws protecting the rights of limited English proficient (LEP) students. Under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act states received federal funds to ensure that schools provided educational services to all its students regardless of race, color, or national origin. Almost four years later, the courts worked out a settlement agreement between the IMC and the State Board of Education. Effective in 1983–1984,

Idaho the settlement required each school district to identify students with limited English proficiency and submit a plan designed to enable them to participate in the school’s standard curriculum within a reasonable period of time. In June 1990 the State Board of Education created the Task Force on Hispanic Education to study the state’s public education system and to recommend solutions to problems facing students in the state’s growing Latino community. One of the Task Force’s most notable findings was that 40–60 percent of Latinos still dropped out of school. The 1993 legislature allocated $1 million to improve services to LEP students and increased it to $2.25 million for the 1997–1998 school year, when the number of those students stood at 13,188. Unfortunately, the impact of increased funding and additional efforts did not produce the expected results. The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reported in 1995 that language minority students in several of the state’s districts were not able to participate effectively in the regular instructional program. The estimated dropout rate that year was over 43 percent. One writer concluded that it would take another lawsuit to force the state to remedy the situation.13 During the 1990s and the first few years of the twentieth century Latino activists have won many victories for Idaho’s farmworkers, of whom 95 percent are Mexican nationals or Mexican Americans. A law passed in 1996 overturned a 1917 law that excluded agricultural workers from workers’ compensation coverage. Lawmakers extended the federal minimum wage to farm workers effective in 2002. That same year the legislature passed the Farm Labor Contractor Registration and Bonding Act, which forces contractors to register and post bonds with the state. Idaho’s economic growth opened up opportunities for Latinos and others in every conceivable field. Mexican Americans and other Latinos are found in all professions, in business, in government, in skilled trades, and more. But they also endure unacceptable poverty, have persistently high dropout rates from junior and senior high school, and continue to face discrimination. Idahoans have made great strides in dealing with some of these problems, but much more needs to be done to overcome the lingering prejudices of the past. Mainstream Idahoans need to acknowledge the historic and important role played by Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and other Latinos in the creation of Idaho society. Their presence and their contributions go back as far as any other nonnative Idaho group.

NOTABLE LATINOS Urquides, Jesus (1833–1928). Early pioneer and premier muleteer, Urquides built Spanish Village, from which he helped provision mining towns in the Boise Basin. Hernandez Rodriguez, Antonio (Tony) (1920–2004). Ardent civil rights activist, Hernandez Rodriguez fought to end discrimination in the state through passage of an antidiscrimination law. He was instrumental in organizing cultural events and working with youth.

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Latino America Berain, Jesse (1928–). Latino community leader since the mid-1950s and a key organizer of cultural events, Jesse has also served on the Human Rights Commission and in the State Legislature. He and his wife Maria work with at-risk youth and advocate for the elderly. Fuentes, Humberto (1942–). A political activist and spokesman for Idaho’s farm workers, Fuentes was a key participant in the establishment of the Idaho Migrant Council, also serving as its executive director from 1971 to 2001. Schachtell, Ana Maria (1947–). Schachtell has served as cultural specialist for the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs. She played a key role in establishing the Hispanic Cultural Center (opened 2003), and she has chaired its board: She is an ardent promoter of Latino culture and education in Idaho. Gonzalez Mabbutt, Maria (1955–). A notable political activist and farm worker advocate, Gonzalez Mabbutt’s work focuses on registering Latinos to vote and protecting their civil rights.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Starting in 2000, as more and more migrants of Mexican heritage found permanent work in Idaho, community activities such as parades, fiestas, and dances that expressed their unique cultural identity became more frequent. The celebrations continued on an annual basis. Complete with elaborate costumes, music, dances, piñatas, food booths, parade floats, queen contests, and baseball games between labor camps, these fiestas marked a new sense of stability in Idaho’s Mexican American communities. Though newspapers drew a distinction between “migrant workers” and “residents,” in truth many of the fiesta organizers already were residents. Presently, fiestas such as Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence Day, and other cultural activities draw large crowds of non-Latinos, which seems to herald a level of acceptance by the dominant society of the growing Latino presence. The practice of showing appreciation to those who labor in the fields was revived recently by numerous groups working with migrant workers. Farm Worker Appreciation Day is one example of an annual event celebrating southwestern Idaho farming communities. As a capstone to the vitality of Latino cultural influences, Latinos joined forces with a broad spectrum of other interested citizens to raise money for a new Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa, Idaho. Funded by grants from the Idaho state government, the Mexican state of Jalisco, individuals, and businesses, the new center opened its doors in 2003 and has become the venue for a vibrant display of Latino art, dance, lectures, fiestas, and a variety of other cultural events.

NOTES 1. Jones, “Invisible People”; Passel, 6; Wu. 2. Jones and Hodges, “Writing the History of Latinos in Idaho,” 18.

Idaho 3. García, 21. 4. Jones and Hodges, “A Long Struggle,” 54. 5. Gamboa, “Mexican American Railroaders,” 35. 6. Margo J. Anderson, The American Census: A Social History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988; Idaho Farmer, 13 October, 1921. 7. Ourada, 17, 20; Jones, “Shooting of Pedro Rodriguez,” 40–55. 8. McConnel to Ross, Governor’s Papers, August 14, 1935. 9. Gamboa, Mexican Labor and World War II, 14–15. 10. Gamboa, Mexican Labor and World War II, 68–73. 11. Gamboa, Mexican Labor and World War II, 83, 84, 112. 12. Salazar, 15; Jones “Invisible People.” 13. Byrd, 131.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Margo J. The American Census: A Social History. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. Byrd, Sam. “The Plight of Mexican-American Students in Idaho’s Public Schools.” In The Hispanic Experience in Idaho. Eds. Errol D. Jones and Kathleen Rubinow Hodges. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 1998, 131. Delgado, Max. Jesús Urquides, Idaho’s Premier Muleteer. Boise: Idaho State Historical Society and Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho, 2006. Gamboa, Erasmo. Mexican Labor and World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest, 1942–1947. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990. ———. “Mexican American Railroaders in an American City: Pocatello, Idaho.” In Latinos in Idaho: Celebrando Cultura. Ed. Robert McCarl. Boise: Idaho Humanities Council, 2003, 35–42. García, Juan Ramon. Operation Wetback: The Mass Deportation of Mexican Undocumented Workers in 1954. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1980. Idaho Statesman. “Census: Hispanic Population Rises Across Idaho.” August 11, 2007, Business 1. Jones, Errol D. “Invisible People: Mexicans in Idaho History.” Idaho Issues Online, Fall 2005. http://www.boisestate.edu/history/issuesonline/fall2005_issues/1f_mexicans.html. ———. “The Shooting of Pedro Rodriguez.” Idaho Yesterdays 46, no. 2 (Spring–Summer 2005): 40–55. Jones, Errol D., and Kathleen Rubinow Hodges. “Writing the History of Latinos in Idaho.” In Latinos in Idaho: Celebrando Cultura. Ed. Robert McCarl. Boise: Idaho Humanities Council, 2003, 17–30. ———. “A Long Struggle: Mexican Farm Workers in Idaho, 1918–1935.” In Memory, Community, and Activism: Mexican Migration and Labor in the Pacific Northwest. Eds. Jerry Garcia and Gilberto Garcia. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 2005, 41–84. Ourada, Patricia. Migrant Workers in Idaho. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 1980.

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Latino America Passel, Jeffery S. “Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Undocumented Population.” Pew Hispanic Center Report, March 21, 2005, 6, Table 1. http://pewhispanic. org/files/reports/44.pdf. Accessed August 28, 2005. Ross, C. Ben. Governor’s Papers. Idaho State Historical Society, Library and Archives, AR2/15, Box 1. Boise. Salazar, Maria. “Yo, También, He Estado Aquí.” Unpublished article. 1991. Wu, Huei Hsia. “By the Numbers: Mexican Workers and Idaho.” Idaho Issues Online, Fall 2005. http://www.boisestate.edu/history/issuesonline/fall2005_issues/index.html.

14 ILLINOIS Sylvia Fuentes

CHRONOLOGY 1541

1850 1884 1900 1906–1910 1910 1916

1916–1919

1920 1920–1921 1924 1928

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto first enters Illinois by crossing the Wabash River at Mount Carmel. This expedition was Spain’s longest into Native America. The 1850 U.S. census reports that Illinois has 50 Mexican residents. The Mexican Consulate is established in Chicago. The 1900 census reports 156 people of Mexican descent in Illinois. Mexicans and Chicanos are recruited to work on the Chicago railroad. The number of people of Mexican descent documented in Illinois is 672. Railroad companies bring hundreds of Mexicans to Chicago’s Near West Side because this is where the hub of railroad companies are located and one of the few places where Mexicans find affordable housing. The restriction on European immigration in concert with wartime economic boom and labor shortage results in a demand for railroad and industrial labor. This fuels a demand for Mexican labor. The number of people of Mexican descent in Illinois jumps to 4,592. Postwar industrial depression. Chicago Packinghouse workers begin to strike and employers seeking relief hire Mexicans. Mexicans established the first local Mexican church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in South Chicago. Dedication Ceremony of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Chicago on September 30.

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1930 1930–1940 1935 1937

1940 1943 1950s

1950 1960 1966

1970 1977 1978

Approximately 21,000 Mexicans reside in Illinois. Chicago Societies is the first Mexican American Political Club designed to promote informed voting in East Chicago. El Frente Popular Mexicano, a group with leftist ties to organized labor in Mexico, is established in Illinois. Mexican workers are among strikers and supporters beaten, arrested, and murdered by Chicago police during the infamous Republic Steel Mill Strike. The number of Mexicans in Illinois is 23,545. The Mexican Civic Committee is formed. Mexicans establish branches of civil rights organizations already active in the Southwest. This includes the GI Forum and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). There are 34,538 Mexicans in Illinois. There are over 63,000 Mexicans documented in Illinois. Casa Aztlán is established in Chicago. On June 12, the Puerto Rican community—feeling a sense of neglect, marginalization, and despair and further fueled by police brutality— rebels in what became known as the Division Street Riots. There are 117,268 Mexicans living in Illinois. The Chicago-Colombia Lions Club is founded. The Puerto Rican People’s Parade is first held in response to the murder of two youth by Chicago police.

Illinois 1982

1987 1992

2002 2006

Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ located in Chicago, only the second Church in the United States to participate in the Sanctuary Movement, illegally houses Central American families attempting to escape political violence in their homelands. Casa Guatemala is founded in Chicago to provide support for Guatemalans and Latin Americans. Centro Romero is founded in Chicago in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero by Salvadoran refugees to continue the archbishop’s work of aiding Central American refugees escaping political and violent turmoil. The Mexican Fine Art Center Museum opens. The Puerto Rican Organization for Political Action files a suit to require the Chicago Board of Election Commission to provide Spanish-speaking voters with instructions and assistance in Spanish. The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation is formed. Latino activists and Illinois residents join the Immigrant Rights Marches held in several cities and towns in Illinois.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The history and experiences of Latinos in Illinois is a result of the economic, social, and political needs of Illinois citizens. Illinois has the fifth-largest Latino population in the United States and the fifth-largest increase in the same population between 1990 and 2000.1 In 2000 the Census Bureau identified Mexicans as the majority of the state’s Latino population, followed by Puerto Ricans, and lastly by those categorized as “Other Hispanic/Latino.” Tejanos, Cubans, Central Americans, and other Latinos have settled and played an important role in the development of Illinois. Groups of people representing less populated and well-known Latino countries have also contributed greatly to Illinois history; however, there is a dearth of information and even less recognition of such contributions. In 2004, Latinos accounted for 14 percent of all Illinois residents. Between 1990 and 2004, the Latino population increased almost 96 percent. Latinos accounted for 63 percent of the total population growth during these 14 years.2 The largest Latino groups in Illinois are Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans, respectively, although the Census Bureau includes Cubans as the third-largest group with those categorized as “Other Hispanic/Latino.” Sixty-two percent of the state’s Latino population is Mexican and lives in Chicago. While Puerto Ricans also have a history of settling in Chicago, most (48.7 percent) call New York City their home. The growth in the Latino community is occurring primarily in the suburbs and this trend is expected to continue. In terms of county population, Cook County has the fourth-largest Latino population in the United States, with 1.1 million. This represents 70 percent of the entire Latino population in Illinois. With 753,644 Latinos, Chicago has the

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Latino America third-largest U.S. city population, outdistanced only by New York and Los Angeles. Currently, almost one-third of all children in the Chicago area are of Latino origin. Nearly 40 percent of the Chicago area school students are of Latino origin.3 Many of Illinois’s Latinos live in the six-county metropolitan Chicago area, where 92 percent of the state’s Latinos are concentrated. The six counties are Kane, Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, and Will. In 2000, Kane County had the largest concentration of Latinos (23.7 percent). Between 1990 and 2000 McHenry County registered the fastest Latino growth rate: 223 percent.4 At one time, Chicago was considered the most frequent port of entry into the United States. Traditional destinations from Chicago had been Cicero, Elgin, and Aurora. A trend toward outward migration from Chicago has been noted, and Naperville, Schaumburg, and Palatine are now ranking among the top 10 Illinois destinations for new migrants.5 In Cicero, there has been a rapid growth of the Latino population, which continues to grow. In the past ten years there has been a 40 percent increase in the town’s Latino population, resulting in approximately 77 percent of the community residents being identified as Latinos. This remarkable growth is due primarily to migration and higher-than-average birth rates. Such growth is expected to continue in the future. In fact, in the 30 years between 1995 and 2025 the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the Latino population in Illinois will double. reaching an estimated 2,275,000 people. The example of the large impact of Latino growth on the suburb of Cicero serves to underscore this point. Latino growth in Illinois and around the country has been met with feelings ranging from apathy to abhorrence. Discussions of economic matters usually evolve into a debate about U.S. hardship at the hands of undocumented Latinos. An uninformed segment of the general population has difficulty separating undocumented workers from those who are lawful residents and citizens. Between 1990 and 2003 Illinois was well on its way to suffering a net loss of jobs. Increases in employment attributable to Latinos in Illinois provided relief. In 2002 there were 40,000 Latino-owned businesses generating over $7.5 billion in revenues.6 The average age of the state’s Latinos plays an important part in growth of the workforce. The Latino population in Illinois is overwhelmingly young, with a little over half aged 25 years or less. By comparison, the average age for non-Latino Illinoisans is approximately 36 years.7 Illinois became the 21st U.S. state in 1818. Prior to that, Illinois was part of a territory known as French Louisiana. The Illinois territory was later lost to England after the French and Indian war, and it was subsequently reclaimed from the British. In 1803, the North American explorers William Clark and Meriwether Lewis began their expedition from Illinois with help from the Spanish Louisiana governor.8

Illinois The State of Illinois soon found itself participating in a war with Mexico. In January 1846, U.S. President James K. Polk sent troops to the Rio Grande, declaring that Mexico started the war with the Spot Resolution (naming a particular location where U.S. blood had been shed). President Abraham Lincoln opposed the war indicating it was uncalled for, unconstitutional, and deliberately begun by the United States.9 Illinois contributed a total of 6,123 men between June 1846 and January 1848 to the Mexican-American war. The United States defeated Mexico, and it rewarded itself with over 500,000 square miles of new territory, which forms a great deal of the current U.S. Southwest.10 Illinois troops participated in the battles of Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, and Cerro Gordo; they even participated in the march into Mexico City.11 During the 1890s, Illinois became a conglomerate in the agricultural and industrial fields. It was at the forefront in the production of wheat and corn, and second in livestock. Manufacturing, union stockyards, and meatpacking businesses also grew in cities like Joliet, Peoria, and Rockford, making Illinois the hub in the north central United States.12 Illinois had great appeal for those seeking employment. In 1898, Illinois would again find itself embroiled in conflict with those whose mother tongue was Spanish. The Spanish-American War had begun. After years of U.S. tension with Spain because of the Spaniards’ rule over Cuba, the sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Cuban waters became the cause for the U.S. declaration of war.13 Governor John Tanner of Illinois offered “whatever moral and material support may be necessary in this emergency to maintain the honor of the U.S. flag and prevent or punish any attempt at hostile invasion of our common country.”14 Illinois became the first state in the Union to offer material support and troops for the coming war. In April of 1898, eight Illinois National Guard regiments, as part of U.S. forces, joined approximately 5,000 Cuban revolutionaries to free Cuba from Spanish rule.15 In the early part of the twentieth century the influx of Mexican and Latino migration to Illinois was driven by the demand for inexpensive, high-quality labor in the agricultural and railroad industries. By the early 1900s, employment opportunities emerged in other industrial sectors.16 Although many Latin Americans migrated to Illinois of free will, capitalists were luring them with the promise of better working conditions, better pay, and an abundance of employment opportunities. The most popular destination for persons of Mexican origin who were coming from the Southwest and Mexico was Chicago.18 In fact, the city outside of the Southwest with the most Latin Americans was Chicago. Forced deportation of Mexicans, some of whom were U.S. citizens, and federal repatriation programs to Mexico began in the early 1920s and reached into the

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Latino America 1940s. Recruitment by capitalists for inexpensive labor and the social ills of the time placed Latinos, as a whole, in a tenuous situation. The capitalist need for labor, the Latinos’ need to earn a living, and the fear of being deported made for an atmosphere of fear and conflict. On the one hand, Mexicans were viewed as cheap labor used to fill voids in the labor market; on the other, Mexicans and other Latinos became the scapegoats for social troubles. Aggravated by historical tension with countries where Spanish was the official language, the tone was set for discrimination and unspoken policies against Mexicans and other Latinos.19 New migrants to Illinois from Mexico, the Southwest, Puerto Rico, and Cuba arrived in the city in the 1950s. The Latino population did not become significant until the 1960s. Nevertheless, Latinos have embraced this country and given their lives for the freedoms that all U.S. residents enjoy. There was only one all-Latino infantry division serving during the Korean War. Its members were Puerto Rican and belonged to the 65th Infantry Division. Combined with those serving in World War II and Korea, the city of Silvis, Illinois, contributed the most men to these conflicts than any other community of its size. During these conflicts, Silvis lost eight Latino men and erected a tribute to them in the form of a monument dedicated to their sacrifices.20 The 1990 data for Illinois revealed that 14.2 percent of residents over age five spoke a language other than English at home. That number rose to 19.2 percent by 2000, translating to 2.2 million residents. Illinois is fifth among states with non-English speakers, preceded only by California, Texas, New York, and Florida. According to 2005 data, 21.5 percent of Illinoisans speak a language other than English at home, and a total of 12.6 percent of Illinoisans speak Spanish at home. This ranks Illinois the state with the ninth-largest Spanish-speaking population behind Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas. Illinois is the only one of all nine states located in the Midwest.21 A number of socioeconomic issues have led to disparities in a number of areas where Latinos are concerned. For example, adult literacy skills—which affect a person’s ability to obtain employment, function in health care systems, or function in general—are disproportionately lower among Latinos than among Whites and Blacks, respectively, in the United States.22 According to data collected in 1992 and reported in 2004, Illinois Latino adults fell in the lowest two literacy category levels, being outperformed by their White and Black counterparts.23 The 2000 census data demonstrated that U.S. educational attainment levels were high and continuing to rise. In 2000, most people aged 25 years and over in the United States had earned a high school diploma or higher degree, and more than half the U.S. population aged 25 and over (52 percent) had completed at least some college education. Nine percent had an advanced degree.

Illinois By 2000, Illinois educational attainment numbers had risen and surpassed those reported for the U.S. in general: 81.4 percent had a high school diploma, 53.7 percent had some college, 26.1 percent had a bachelor’s degree, and 9.5 percent had an advanced degree. By comparison, the disparity for Latinos in Illinois in educational attainment is significant. Data reveal only 52.4 percent having obtained a high school diploma, 30.3 percent having had some or more college, 10.4 percent having attained a bachelor’s degree or more, and only 3.8 percent having obtained an advanced degree.24 Despite the gradual increase in numbers of Latinos in higher education, in Illinois there is a disparity in representation of Latino faculty and staff. In 2002 the Illinois Board of Higher Education indicated that hiring biases were likely one source of failure in increasing numbers of minorities. Beginning with narrow advertising of the position, racially homogenous search committees, biases in judging candidates, and flawed interview processes, the eventual hiring of Latinos is an irregularity.25 Data from 2001 reveals that the number of Latino faculty members in Illinois educational institutions was minimal. Community colleges claimed 1.4 percent of Latino faculty representation; private institutions revealed 1.9 percent, and public universities boasted 2.5 percent Latino faculty representation.26 The 2004 poverty data for the State of Illinois reveal that although Latinos comprised 12.1 percent of the population, 16.4 percent lived in poverty as defined by the state. People with disabilities fared worse. Of persons with disabilities, 16.3 percent living in poverty were non-Latino Whites, whereas the rate for Latinos was 28 percent. Unfortunately, senior citizens are not immune from being affected by poverty. Of seniors, 6.4 percent living in poverty were nonLatino Whites, but 17.1 percent were Latinos.27 A trend in Illinois and many other areas of the United States is the English-only movement. There has been significant growth in the Latino Spanish-speaking population in Carpentersville, Illinois. It has bred tension among residents with village officials proposing English-only ordinances to effectively erase Spanish documents in the village.28 It has been widely reported that the real target of this ordinance are those perceived to be illegal migrants who at best refuse to acculturate.29 In 1923 Illinois passed legislation making “American,” not “English,” the official state language. In 1969 the law was amended because of the obvious inability to punish Illinoisans who continued to use English.30 Although Latinos in Illinois are high in numbers and in a position to affect legislation and elections, voter registration for Latino citizens has been exceeding low. It lags behind registration rates for Blacks and Whites. Nevertheless, although data is not complete, turnout of Latinos registered to vote in Illinois elections during presidential election years is impressive. Voter turnout for Latinos ranged from 76.5 to 92.2 percent between 1984 and 2004, and for some of the elections that

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Latino America took place in those years it surpassed that of White voters.31 Illinois politicians have been paying close attention to those numbers. With a little over half of Latino residents who are eligible to vote having registered, a surge in voter registration in combination with the traditionally high voter turnout will affect the outcome of any political race.

MEXICANS AND MEXICAN AMERICANS The census of 1850 reported that the state of Illinois had 50 Mexican residents. In 1900, the census showed that there were 156 people of Mexican descent in Illinois. This number increased to 672 in 1910, and then it increased drastically to 4,592 in 1920. By 1920, Illinois ranked eighth in the country in terms of the size of its Mexican population.32 The migration into Illinois occurred in three distinct phases. The first phase occurred in 1906–1910, and it was associated with the recruitment of Mexicans by the railroad companies already employing Mexicans in the Southwest. The second phase occurred in 1916–1919, and it was based on employer demands during World War I and labor shortage (as a result of immigration restrictions from Europe); several railroad companies brought hundreds of Mexicans to the Near West Side of Chicago in 1916. The third phase came about during the postwar industrial depression era: stockyard districts began to appear in Chicago, and employers looking to break the packinghouse workers strike of 1921–1922, sought out Mexicans.33 Prior to the 1900s, a small number of Mexicans and other Latinos had come to Chicago looking for work wherever they could find it. Many did migrant work, whereas others went into the art and entertainment fields.34 Mexican migrant workers were employed by the railroads in Chicago at least as early as 1907.35 A small number of those initial laborers settled in the area, but soon they would be joined by a larger wave of Latino migrants. In 1914 the U.S. Army comprised 98,000 men, and President Woodrow Wilson increased the number of the Army troops to 140,000, likely in anticipation of the mounting tensions overseas. The United States entered the war in 1917, and all males between the ages of 21 and 30 were required to register for military service. By 1918 almost 24 million men had registered, and 4 million of those registrants were drafted into service.36 An unprecedented opportunity arose for migrants as they were hired to replace workers serving as soldiers in World War I. Mexicans were the first group to arrive in the Midwest, more specifically in Chicago. The earliest new migrants were single young men who rapidly settled near their places of employment in close-knit groups. Industries that recruited the young men included the South Chicago steel mills, the meatpacking companies close to the Back of the Yards and the Near West Side, and the budding railroad system close to the Hull House area.37

Illinois Between 1912 and 1928, the ethnic composition of the workforce in various industries in Chicago changed drastically. Mexicans had gone from 0 percent of the steel industry’s workforce in 1912 to 9.4 percent of workers in 1928. The packinghouses experienced the same growth.38 Out of this labor shift came the colonias (communities), which were already commonplace in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.39 One of the first Mexican-based colonias in Illinois was in South Chicago. Thereafter, many Mexicans and other Latinos began to form communities in proximity to their employment. Historically, new settlement experiences have occurred due to personal economic need on the part of Mexican American and Mexican nationals as well as to fiscal security interests on the part of the United States. The 1900s employment opportunities had become bountiful, and Latinos were surreptitiously welcomed as they provided cheap labor. Thus, a pattern began to emerge: Mexicans, Chicanos, and other Latinos would primarily be used to fill the demand for cheap labor in agricultural and railroad industries.40 The railroad expansion served as a catalyst for Mexican American employment in Chicago, and that city would later be identified as the Midwest Mexican Capital.41 During the industrial and agricultural boom, many Mexican migrants lived in railroad camps, in and around Chicago. During the winter of 1927–1928, 950 Mexican people were found living in 20 camps. Men accounted for 423 of camp residents, 155 were women, and 372 were children. Among the railroads with camps were Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Ry. Co.; Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Ry. Co.; Chicago and Northwestern Ry.; and Burlington Railroad.42 Midwestern Mexican colonias appeared in the early twentieth century—a period during which there was massive Mexican migration to the area—because there were no established Mexican communities. South Chicago had one such colonia.43 The year of 1929 saw a sizable influx of Mexican and Mexican Americans into Illinois, most notably into Chicago. Chicago housed one of the largest and strongest Mexican populations outside the Southwest. Although the population was relatively small compared to the city’s total population, it was a Midwest destination that drew Latinos by the largest numbers.44 By 1930, the number of Mexicans in Chicago had increased dramatically. Single men were no longer the only ones making the trip. Initially, groups of Mexican male workers came directly to Chicago, having been recruited by industries to fill voids caused by wartime labor shortages; others came as a result of the known demand for more laborers. Ultimately, Mexican men and women journeyed toward Chicago from the agricultural fields, looking for other opportunities. The lure of gainful employment in the United States and the desire to escape the revolution in Mexico were the primary reasons for the massive migrations north. The movement of Mexicans to urban areas had thus begun. It is estimated that there were 1,265 Mexicans in Chicago in 1920, and that the number had jumped

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Latino America to 19,362 by 1930. The urban colonias, or barrios, were dreadful. Inundated by rodents, chronic disease, high infant mortality rates, lack of essential utilities, and lack of protection from the elements, the families huddled together to find comfort in supporting one another. Eventually, the rise of culturally familiar shops, restaurants, and churches added to the comfort level of the local residents.45 By this time, one-third of the Mexican population was composed of women, children, and extended family members. These new families formed cultural and social networks that provided relief from discrimination and economic hardship. Their connection to their mother country remained strong, leading to local celebrations of holidays such as Mexican Independence Day.46 Thousands upon thousands of Mexican laborers had entered the industrial labor force in the Midwest. By 1930, the Mexican population of Illinois numbered 28,906.47 However, the stock market crash of 1929 left the country in economic despair that lasted until World War II. The war also caused the loss of over half of the population of Mexican origin in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. In the 1930s the U.S. secretary of labor, William N. Doak, initiated a nationwide campaign of terror against Mexicans.48 Although this initiative was referred to as repatriation, many U.S. citizens of Latin American origin were deported. Local immigration officers and law enforcement agencies willingly supported implicit anti-Mexican sentiment as well as deportation raids that resulted in more losses of Mexican-origin residents and citizens. During the 1930s and 1940s, as a result of this anti-Mexican campaign, the Mexican population dropped 40 percent in the United States. In Illinois it caused the Mexican population to decline to 21,449 in the 1930s and 10,065 in the 1940s. This represented a 53 percent loss of Mexican-origin residents in Illinois.49 In 1941, the United States became engaged in World War II, once again finding itself with wartime labor voids and additional wartime industrial demands. The United States again eased on immigration restrictions; much in the same way as it did with the Puerto Rican government, it was now working with the Mexican government to contract labor. As a result of U.S.-Mexican negotiations over 15,000 guest workers, called braceros, arrived in Chicago from 1943 to 1945. Numerous braceros stayed and settled permanently after the expiration of their contracts. By the late 1940s, many had settled in Aurora, Joliet, Gary, and Blue Island. Among the settlers were Mexican Americans and Tejanos (Texans of Mexican origin).

PUERTO RICANS Many first-generation Puerto Rican migrants initially settled in various parts of the United States, particularly in Chicago and New York. The Jones Act of 1917 assured the inhabitants of the island of Puerto Rico U.S. Citizenship. The Puerto Rican influence in Chicago during the 1930s was minimal as there were only a

Illinois few men and women who relocated from New York. Ultimately, the growth of Puerto Ricans settling in Chicago was sufficient to make an impact. The late 1940s saw a significant wave of Puerto Rican migration to Chicago.51 It is ironic that although Puerto Ricans from the island were U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans from New York felt in competition with them for jobs. During this juncture, the Puerto Rican government did not want to get involved, but through contract labor it agreed to direct migrating Puerto Ricans to areas other than New York so as to avoid competition with local Puerto Ricans for jobs: “Through the ‘advance-guardsmen’ project, fluent English-speaking Puerto Ricans would be sent to previously agreed-upon towns and cities to lay the foundation to ease the migration of other Puerto Ricans into that area.”52 Ultimately, Puerto Ricans sought out larger cities such as Chicago, attracted by job opportunities. The migration of Puerto Ricans expanded as the immigration laws became unyielding, causing deportation of Mexican nationals as well as Mexican Americans. During World War II, the need for labor again arose, and immigration laws were arbitrarily applied, luring foreigners to work in the United States. In the meantime, Puerto Ricans were being overlooked as viable members of the workforce. In 1946, after World War II, shady employment agents began offering Puerto Ricans employment in places where employment opportunities were scarce. Workers were transported to Chicago on cargo planes, were clearly overcharged for airfare, and were not allowed the customary luggage weight and capacity. The new Puerto Rican migrants employed at the Chicago Hardware Foundry Company were underage, failed health exams, and worked in poor conditions. The U.S. Department of Labor went on record that these workers came of their own accord, and hence, it would not take action against the employers, unless there was a flagrant violation of contracts. The degree of violation would be later defined by the U.S. Department of Labor.53 Puerto Ricans were now working alongside the Mexican braceros. The braceros were hired initially to alleviate the need for laborers in the wartime relief effort. During this same period, an employment agency recruited women from Puerto Rico as domestic workers in the Chicago area. New Puerto Rican arrivals lived on the north side—in Lincoln Park, Uptown, and Near West Side. But that began to change in the 1960s, when Puerto Ricans began to claim their own environs concentrating in West Town and Humboldt Park.54 The growth in the Puerto Rican population was astounding. In 1950 the population was 8,000, for the entire Midwest. Due to the “advance guardsmen” program and to employment agency recruitment, by 1960 the Puerto Rican population in Chicago had grown to 32,000.55 The most intense migration of Puerto Ricans from the island occurred after World War II, with over 2 million people migrating. Although the majority settled in New York, Chicago had the second-largest concentration of Puerto Ricans.56

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Latino America Much like other Latinos, Puerto Rican migrant workers have suffered abuse in the workplace. For example, in 1946 an employment agency imported over 300 Puerto Rican girls to work as maids for about $60 a month. The agency then charged the girls a flat agency fee of $125.00 and paid them at the rate of $10 per month, while retaining additional funds in escrow for return flights. In another agency, over fifty Puerto Rican men were recruited for jobs at the North Chicago Hardware Foundry. They were paid approximately $30 weekly and then charged room and board, and employment agency fees. In addition, they had to pay for plane tickets to fly home. The majority of Puerto Rican migrants were attracted to New York in the early years. By 1950 many had settled outside of New York. It is estimated that about 130,000 have settled in the Chicago area. Puerto Ricans, like many others, migrated to the United States to work. In the last several decades these U.S. citizens have filled labor shortages in many important mainland industries—the textile and garment industries in New York, the electronics industries in Illinois, the foundries in Wisconsin, the steel mills in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, and the farms in the East and Midwest. This population is plagued by poverty and alienation.57 The first Puerto Rican Parade in Chicago was held on June 12, 1966. It was during this time that there was an upsurge of riots in the West Town community on Division Street. The riots were spurred by the shooting of a Puerto Rican man by the Chicago police. These riots lasted until June 14, 1966, and they highlighted the bleak social conditions of the Puerto Rican youth and the random spurts of police brutality. The Puerto Rican community and other Latinos were faced with racism, inadequate housing, inferior health care, and a poor educational system. In 1968, ASPIRA Inc. of Illinois was established as a nonprofit organization in Chicago’s West Town community to address the high dropout rates of Latinos and the growing social and educational needs in the Puerto Rican community. The first office was located on the third floor of a bank at the corner of Chicago and Ogden Avenues, in the community now known as River North. The first executive director of ASPIRA was Mirta Ramirez, who obtained funds to set up the first bilingual program in the public schools. She also founded the West Side Child Parent Bilingual Center, the first agency of its type in the nation. ASPIRA continues to thrive because of the perseverance and engagement of the Puerto Rican community.58 Two distinct migratory experiences and settlements between Puerto Ricans from Chicago and New York have been identified. The first migratory group, which is referred to as the “old migration,” consisted mostly of those who were already living in other parts of the United States, such as New York, before settling in Chicago. Those who came from Puerto Rico as part of the old migration were usually university students pursuing an education in the United States. Puerto Ricans migrating directly from the island to Chicago as part of the second

Illinois migratory group were mainly contract laborers recruited for domestic and foundry work via employment and government agencies. One main difference between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans is that Puerto Ricans are not deportable because of their status as U.S. citizens. However, the status of U.S. citizenship has not shielded Puerto Ricans from prejudice and discrimination. They have endured a long history of being displaced from their homes because of gentrification projects in their neighborhoods.59 In Chicago, Division Street continues to symbolize the preferred destination for new Puerto Rican migrants. Paseo Boricua, better known as Puerto Rican Road, has an abundance of culturally friendly restaurants and shops on Davison Street between Western and California Avenues. In the last few decades, the Puerto Rican population within Chicago has continued to grow. Recently, Puerto Ricans have extended their influence to some of Chicago’s suburbs, such as Naperville and Schaumburg. Though the number of Puerto Ricans in white-collar or professional jobs is increasing, most continue to work as laborers and in domestic occupations.60 There are many similarities between Mexican and Puerto Ricans migrants. Although the Jones Act of 1917 granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans, poverty, police brutality, discrimination, and poor living conditions have created situations similar to those experienced by Mexicans, which resulted in a better understanding on the part of Puerto Ricans of the daily lives of their Latino counterparts.

CUBANS The history of Cubans in Illinois is poorly documented. Because of historical and geographical circumstances, Cubans represent a much smaller percentage of Latinos in Illinois. After Fidel Castro’s coup in 1959, Chicago began to see its first significant influx of Cubans, composed of refugees, most of whom were professionals or paraprofessionals. Cubans faced a different issue with their homeland than did Mexicans or Puerto Ricans: chances were that they would not be returning to Cuba because of the political situation there, whereas Puerto Ricans and Mexicans had the option to go back to their respective home countries. However, most in the latter group would probably not opt to return to their homeland.61 Over 1 million Cubans have entered the United States since the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The port of entry for Cubans has always been Florida. Cuba is located about 90 miles southeast of the tip of Florida, and refugees still attempt to enter the United States through the Atlantic waters. Puerto Ricans and Cubans have been settling in the mainland United States for centuries. Unlike Mexican and Puerto Rican migration, Cuban migration involved noncitizen island-dwellers.62 Cubans began to arrive in Chicago in the 1950s. Some

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Latino America came because of economic opportunities, but most were political refugees. Although some Cubans returned to the island after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the majority stayed. Approximately 2,500 Cubans were living in Chicago in 1960. Between 1960 and 1973, approximately 20,000 Cubans arrived in the Chicago area. Many emigrated from Cuba because they opposed the Castro government.63 There were several waves of migration from Cuba. The first wave consisted largely of professionals. Doctors, engineers, teachers, and dentists were among this group. The second wave, which was referred to as the “freedom flights,” allowed Cubans to reunite with their families in the United States. The third wave, known as the Mariel boatlift, arrived in 1980. This group was mainly made of young single men, poor and of color, who did not have any family in Chicago. The most recent wave, in the 1990s, consisted of the “boat people,” or balseros. Most of these people, found by U.S. Coast Guard ships, were also poor. By the end of 1996 about 2,000 balseros had settled in the Chicago area, many of whom having been relocated to the city by Catholic charities.64 Unlike the Cuban migrants of the 1960s and the 1970s who entered the United States as political refugees, the Cubans forming the last several waves left for economic reasons. Since the 1980s, Cubans coming to Chicago have been younger and less educated. Cubans entering the United States after 1994 fall under revised U.S. immigration laws, that changed Cuban migrants’ refugee status from political to economic. This new legal status in the United States meant that Cuban refugees received fewer benefits and support from the government.65 The majority of Cubans in the Chicago area live in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties. Cubans are the largest Spanish-speaking group to migrate to the suburbs of Chicago and live in various Chicago neighborhoods, such as Albany Park and Logan Square.66 Chicago Cubans are more apt to be business owners than other Latino groups, and Cuban women have a higher rate of participation in the labor force, with many of them in nontraditional careers such as dentistry and medicine.67

SALVADORANS The history of Salvadorans in Chicago can be traced back to the late 1920s, with a steady flow of migration beginning in the 1950s.68 This first wave of migrants was mostly composed of upper- and middle-class students. The civil war in El Salvador spurred a second wave of Salvadoran migration to Chicago, from the 1970s through the 1990s. Initially, Salvadorans entered directly into the United States. However, as the civil war intensified, many Salvadorans migrated through Mexico to come to the United States, crossing over illegally.69 Archbishop Romero, an outspoken critic of the military in El Salvador, provided support for change and activism in Chicago. He was murdered by a gunman on March 24, 1980, while performing a memorial mass for a friend’s mother.

Illinois His death became the impetus for the founding of Centro Romero in Chicago, whose mission is to address social injustice among Central Americans.70 Chicago faith organizations formed the Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance and unmistakably defied of the U.S. government, which continued to refuse political asylum to refugees. Without legal recourse, churches all over the United States began participating in a concerted effort to protect, aid, and shelter Salvadorans and others. The conglomeration of churches participating in this undertaking were known as the Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America. The task force established an “underground railroad,” known to operate during 1983 and 1984. This underground railroad shuttled refugees from place to place, in secrecy, and through a network of churches and synagogues.71

GUATEMALANS Similar to the Salvadorans, Guatemalans numbered very few in Illinois prior to the 1980s. A wave of migrants came to the United States and to the Chicago area, fleeing the intense and extreme violence of civil war. The United States, in particular Chicago, played a vital role in aiding and providing shelter to Guatemalans seeking refuge from their war-torn country. In 1981 the government of Guatemala launched a scorched earth campaign that resulted in genocide, torture, and other war crimes against anyone suspected of participating in or empathizing with revolutionaries. This campaign continued into 1982, and it has been described as “the most intense years of the 36-year civil war.”72 During this time, the U.S.-based Sanctuary Movement offered protection to Central American refugees. Many Chicago-based churches and organizations provided assistance to Guatemalans and Salvadorans facing deportation. Guatemalan refugees thus joined the Salvadorans who were fleeing their own political persecution. Refugees from various parts of Guatemala, and hailing from various ethnic groups, were part of the Sanctuary Movement and many of them had suffered torture and other unspeakable acts. During the 1990s there was another large wave of migrants from Guatemala, owing to extreme poverty and natural disasters. Various Chicago service organizations have estimated that Guatemalans in Chicago numbered up to 80,000 by 2000. The 2000 census reported 19,444 in the Chicago metropolitan area.73

COLOMBIANS Colombians began migrating to Illinois decades before many of the other Latino groups. Colombia was embroiled in a civil war from 1948 to 1957. Therefore, the 1950s saw a large growth in their numbers in Illinois.74 Since 1974 Colombianos Unidos Por Una Labor Activa (CUPULA) has been celebrating Colombian Independence Day (July 20th). A group of medical students from

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Latino America Colombia started the tradition, and it is the largest annual Colombian celebration in the Midwest.75

ECUADORIANS The presence of Ecuadorians in Chicago can be traced back to the mid-twentieth century. Ecuadorians came to Chicago primarily in two waves. Initially, they migrated to Chicago from the period between 1965 and 1976. They came from provinces such as Guayas, Pichincha, and Chimborazo, working primarily in, factories, retail, and the service industry. Ecuadorian businesses included travel and courier agencies, restaurants, and food and clothing stores, located primarily on Milwaukee, Division, and 26th Streets. The second major wave of migration took place in the 1990s. These Ecuadorians came mainly from the highland provinces of Azuay and Cañar. This wave of Ecuadorians depended on networks of family and friends to secure jobs in the restaurant and hotel industry for the men, and housekeeping and garment industries for the women.76 In 2000 there were 8,941 Ecuadorians in Chicago, making them the fifthlargest Latin American group in the city. And after New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, Chicago is the fourth U.S. city with the largest number of Ecuadorians.77 Ecuadorians live primarily in Logan Square, Albany Park, Uptown, and Lake View. There are smaller clusters in Irving Park, Belmont Cragin, Edgewater, and West Ridge. More recently, Ecuadorians have been moving to the suburbs of Skokie, Glenview, Des Plaines, Morton Grove, and Elgin.78 Ecuadorians have founded many organizations, such as the Ecuadorian Civic Society (founded in 1959), the Federation of Ecuadorian Entities, the Ecuadorian Lions Club, the Cotopaxi Foundation, the Social Association of Azuay, the Civic Society of Cañar, and the Alausí Foundation. Religion has played a major role in preserving Ecuadorian traditions. The Ecuadorian community hosts annual events that include cultural exhibits, picnics, and parades.

NOTABLE LATINOS Parsons, Lucy (c. 1853–1942). Activist Lucy Parsons identified herself as an African American woman of Native American and Mexican descent. Parsons was an activist who stood up for the rights of poor people and workers for nearly 70 years. The Chicago Police Department described her as “more dangerous than a thousand rioters.” Parsons married in 1870 and in 1873 came to Chicago, where she worked with unions and organized workers. Parsons led many workers on strike against poor working conditions. Parsons continued her activism until her death at 89 years old. In May 2004, Chicago Park District’s board named a Chicago park at 4712 West Belmont Avenue after Parsons, notwithstanding strong opposition from local police union.79

Illinois Torriente, Cristóbal (1893–1938). Baseball player Torriente was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He played as a center fielder for the Chicago American Giants from 1918 to 1925. In 2006 the Special Committee elected him to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.80 Bithorn, Hiram (1916–1951). Puerto Rican who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1942. Many consider Bithorn to have been the first to break the color line. Hernandez, Irene C. (1916–). Hernandez was the first Latino elected to office when she became a member of the Cook County Board in 1974, representing the county’s 7 million residents.81 Silva, Rufino (1919–). Rufino Silva was born in Puerto Rico and studied at the Chicago Art Institute from 1938 to 1942 on a fellowship from the Puerto Rican government. Silva taught at Milwaukee’s Layton School of Art between 1946 and 1947. In the subsequent years Silva studied abroad, and upon his return he joined the faculty at the Chicago Art Institute, where he stayed until his retirement.82 Talip, Alfredo (1925–). Talip was born in San Fernando Tamalipas, Mexico, and he came to the United States in 1942. Talip has been one of the most involved political activists of his generation. His love for politics was spurred when his good friend Jack

John F. Kennedy campaigning in Aurora, Illinois, with Alfredo Talip, one of Kennedy’s strongest supporters and campaign volunteer. Talip is in a white hat standing directly under “Viva Kennedy Club” poster (1960). Courtesy of the Alfredo Talip Family, Aurora, Illinois.

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Latino America Hill ran for president of the AFL-CIO union. Talip later supported Hill’s bid for state representative. He has been described as someone who has given to the Latino community unselfishly through his service and personal assets. In 1956, three years before becoming a legal resident alien, he was a volunteer driving people to polling places throughout the city of Aurora, and he continues this service to this day. In 1960 Talip helped establish a fraternal organization, the Latin American Club, whose purpose was to provide a place for Latino social events and a forum to raise the consciousness of Latino issues. He was a volunteer for President John F. Kennedy’s campaign, and he has worked on voter registration drives. In 1970 Talip became a United States citizen, and he was proud that he could vote and affect the future of his family, community, and new country. Ramirez, Mirta (1928–). The first executive director of ASPIRA Inc. of Illinois, Ramirez set up the country’s first bilingual program in public schools. She also founded the West Side Child Parent Bilingual Center, the first agency of its type in the nation. Jordan, Hector (1931–1970). Jordan was the first Latino to become a police officer in Aurora, Illinois, initially meeting with prejudice because of his Mexican heritage. During his tenure on the police force Jordan received many city commendations and was named Policeman of the Year. Later Jordan worked for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (D.E.A.) and accepted a position with the D.E.A in Madrid, Spain, where he was murdered while off-duty. The Hispanic Illinois State Law Enforcement Association created the Hector Jordan Memorial Award.83 Gonzalez, Jose (1933–). Born in Iturbide, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, he has been a leader of the muralist movement in Chicago since the early 1970s. He devoted himself to the Chicano movement as a muralist, organizer of exhibitions, and founder of organizations such as Movimiento Artistico Chicano (MArCh) throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970 and received a master’s of fine arts from the University of Notre Dame in 1971.84 Orozco, Raymond E. (1933–). Orozco was born in Chicago, joined the Chicago Fire Department in 1959, and rose through the ranks to become the head of the Chicago Fire Department. In 1979 he became battalion chief, in 1980 deputy district chief, and in 1981 executive assistant to the fire commissioner. On April 24, 1989, he became fire commissioner, retiring in 1996.85 Aparicio, Luis (1934–). Aparicio was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and played shortstop for the Chicago White Sox (1956–1962, 1968–1970). Aparicio led the American League in stolen bases for nine consecutive seasons, from 1956 to 1964. He won the Golden Glove Award eleven times, was named to eight All-Star teams, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, 11 years after he retired. The White Sox retired his jersey number, No. 11.86 Welch, Raquel (1940–). The actress, a major sex symbol of the 1960s and 1970s, was born Jo Raquel Tejada, in Chicago. Welch’s résumé includes over 45 films. Her father Armando was a Bolivian migrant and aerospace engineer. López-Rivera, Oscar (1943–). Community activist Lopez-Rivera is serving a 70-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy, which included the bombing of 28 targets in the

Illinois Chicago area. Lopez-Rivera was also involved in the Chicago Puerto Rican Riots of 1966. He is a founding member of the Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, now known as the Pedro Albizu Campos High School and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center. He was also active in the Northwest Community Organization (NCO), ASSPA, ASPIRA, and the 1st Congregational Church of Chicago. He helped to found FREE, a halfway house for convicted drug addicts, and ALAS, an educational program for Latino prisoners at Statesville Prison in Illinois. He is expected to be released in 2027.87 Andrade, Juan (1947–). Andrade heads the Chicago-based United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI). He is one of only two Latinos to receive the Presidential Medal for “the performance of exemplary deeds to the nation,” which was presented to him by President Bill Clinton. Andrade received a PhD from Northern Illinois University, and a post-doctorate MA from Loyola University in Chicago. Now a weekly columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, he was a political commentator on ABC-7 television channel and on WGN radio, being the only Latino commentator in the nation appearing on English-language radio or television. Andrade has helped register more than 1 million new Latino voters throughout the United States. As a civics teacher just out of college, Andrade was arrested in his home state of Texas for teaching his students about the fundamentals of U.S. Democracy in his native tongue, Spanish, which then was a violation of state law.88 The American G.I. Forum of Illinois named Andrade Man of the Year.89 Morton, Carlos (1947–). Morton was born in Chicago and is the most published Latino playwright in the United States. Morton’s first book of poems, entitled White Heroin Winter, was published in 1971. His most famous play, El Jardin (The Garden), was published in 1974. He received a PhD degree in drama from the University of Texas in 1987. Morton’s plays appear mainly in two collections, The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales and Other Plays (1983) and Johnny Tenorio and Other Plays (1991).90 Torrado, René (1947–). Torrado was the first Latino president of the Chicago Bar Association. He served as its general counsel from 1988 to 1995, and as its president in 1995 and 1996. Torrado currently chairs the CBA’s Appellate Review Committee of the Judicial Evaluation Committee. In addition, Torrado is listed in the 2003–2004 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.91 Villa-Komaroff, Lydia (1947–). Dr. Villa-Komaroff, a physician, was employed at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as a professor of neurology and associate vice president for Research Administration. She later was appointed as vice president for Research. Some of Villa-Komaroff’s career highlights include creating nine new research centers, the Office of Strategic Initiatives, and the Office of Clinical Research and Training. In 1998 Villa-Komaroff gained international recognition as a pioneer in the field of cloning and became faculty at Harvard University Medical School. Villa-Komaroff was also a founding member of the Society of the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans.92 Venegas, Aurora V. (1949–). Venegas is president of Azteca Supply Company, which is among the strongest and best-respected minority- and female-owned businesses in Illinois. Azteca supplies a variety of products and services of high quality, and it is a preferred supplier to its customers. Venegas actively supports such organizations as HACLA,

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Latino America the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Federation of Women Contractors. She gives back to the community by supporting the Boys Club, the Special Olympics, Hitzaba House, Pope John Paul II School, Alivio Medical Center, and Mujeres Latinas en Acción. She is a board member of Father Flanagan’s Girls and Boys Town in Chicago.93 Del Valle, Miguel (1951–). Del Valle was the first Latino elected to the Illinois State Senate. He also became the first Latino ever to be appointed as City Clerk of Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Senator del Valle is the founder of the Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees (IAHSE). He also cofounded numerous other Latino organizations, including the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus, of which he is a cochair; the Illinois Latino Advisory Council on Higher Education (ILACHE); the Alliance of Latinos and Jews; the Illinois Hispanic Democratic Council (IHDC). He also developed the annual Department of Children and Family Services Hispanic Families Conference.94 Lozano, Rudy (1951–1983). Lozano was a community activist and the Midwest director of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Lozano arrived in Chicago with his family in the early 1950s and settled in Pilsen, a largely Mexican neighborhood. Lozano was on Mayor Harold Washington’s transition team, whose goal was to unite Latinos and African Americans. He was also an organizer of the Independent Political Organization’s Near Westside Branch. Lozano was murdered in his home, and in 1989 the Chicago Public Library opened its Rudy Lozano Branch.95 Maldonado, Roberto (1951–). In 1994 Maldonado was elected Cook County Commissioner, making him the first Puerto Rican in the nation to serve as a county commissioner. In this capacity, Maldonado is chairperson of the Stroger and Cermak hospitals, and of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Committee. Additionally, he serves on nine committees: Business and Economic Development; Contract Compliance; Labor; Real Estate; Department of Corrections; Health and Hospitals; Finance; Zoning and Buildings; and Roads and Bridges. Maldonado earned both his undergraduate and his master’s degrees from the University of Puerto Rico, before heading north to Chicago. In Chicago, Maldonado continued his education at Loyola University, where he earned his PhD in clinical psychology. Martínez, Oscar (1952–). Martinez is the founder of the Latin American Museum of Art in Chicago. He was appointed chair of Media Arts of the Illinois Arts Council. Martinez was also president of the Latino Institute of Chicago. He received a BS in medical art from the University of Illinois Medical Center. Martinez was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and currently resides in Chicago.96 Castillo, Ana (1953–). Author Castillo was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She earned her master’s degree in Latin American and Caribbean studies from the University of Chicago. In 1991 she received her doctorate in American studies from the University of Bremen in Germany. In lieu of a traditional dissertation, she submitted essays later collected in her highly acclaimed work Massacre of the Dreamers.97 Gutierrez, Luis (1953–). In 1992, Gutierrez became the first Latino from the Midwest elected to Congress. By receiving 77 percent of the vote, he was able to win the 4th U.S. Congressional District seat. He received a BA from Northeastern Illinois University in 1974, and he worked as a social worker and teacher before being elected 26th Ward

Illinois Alderman to the Chicago City Council. In a survey of Hispanic voting patterns released in late 1999, Congressman Gutierrez was selected as the single leader most admired by Latino voters nationwide. The poll was commissioned by Univision, a nationwide Spanish-language television network.98 Martinez, Iris (1953–). Martinez is the first Latina in Illinois to be elected to the State Senate. She passed legislation that obligates health insurance companies to provide women with contraceptive coverage. In recognition of this legislation, Martinez received the Profile in Courage Award from Planned Parenthood. With the passage of yet another law Martinez targeted Illinois drivers with out-of-state reckless homicide and DUI convictions. This law ensures that convictions received in other states are not only included in Illinois driving records but also subject to state laws regarding further prosecution of these offenses. To help protect consumers from becoming victims of identity theft, Martinez helped pass a law requiring that all insurance cards be issued without a Social Security number.99 Cisneros, Sandra (1954–). Author Cisneros’s first book of fiction, The House on Mango Street, was awarded the American Book Award by the Before Columbus Foundation in 1985. She received a Paisano Dobie Fellowship in 1986 and a second National Endowment for the Arts Award in 1988. Cisneros was awarded the Lannan Literary Award for fiction in 1991, an honorary doctor of literature degreed by the State University of New York at Purchase in 1993, and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1995.100 Gonzalez, Michael W. (1955–). Gonzalez is chief executive officer of Maestros Ventures LLC. A licensed professional engineer, he was also cofounder and executive vice president of Primera Engineers Ltd and cofounder and president of Primera Hill, an affiliate of Primera Engineers. Gonzalez exemplifies Primera’s commitment to the community by actively serving on the boards of Window to the World Communications Inc., the parent company of WTTW Channel 11 and WFMT 98.7; Latinos United; and ACE Technical Charter School. He also served two terms as president and more than 11 years as a board member of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association. Gonzalez is treasurer of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation. Delgado, William (1956–). Senator from the 2nd Legislative District, Delgado was born in Newark, New Jersey, but was raised in Chicago. He graduated from Tilden High School and Northeastern University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, with a minor in sociology. Delgado was first elected in 1998, and his top legislative priorities are education reform, economic development, and crime prevention. He is working to develop school safety initiatives to keep drugs and guns out of local classrooms. Delgado also supports reducing class sizes, improving classroom discipline, and increasing state support for school construction grant funding. Delgado also highlights his work as “champion of health and physical fitness issues.” He has sponsored legislation to see that physical fitness is emphasized in schools statewide. Representative Delgado serves on seven committees: Appropriations for Elementary and Secondary Education; Fee for Service Initiatives; Human Services; Judiciary II-Criminal Law; KidCare; Managing Sex Offender Issues; and Registration and Regulation. William Delgado was appointed Illinois state senator by the former state senator Miguel del Valle.101

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Latino America Hinojosa, Mark (1956–). Hinojosa has been the director of photography for the Chicago Tribune since 1994. Mr. Hinojosa is in charge of over 67 staff members, including photographers, photo editors, assignment editors, and lab personnel. In 1997, under the direction of Hinojosa, the Tribune’s photo department was awarded third place for best use of pictures in a newspaper. This was the very first time the newspaper had been recognized for this honor. Mora, Antonio (1957–). The first Latino to serve as a main anchor in a mainstream Chicago network-owned station. Mora was born on December 14, 1957, in Havana, Cuba. Mora has worked as a news anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago since 2002. Previously, Mora had worked at ABC as a news anchor for Good Morning America.102 Perez, Antonio (1962–). Perez was a full-time photographer for ¡Exito!, which is the Spanish-language publication in the Chicago Tribune. He currently works full time for the Chicago Tribune. He contributes photographs to several publications and has a private collection in the Museum of Contemporary Photography, at the Chicago Art Institute, as well as in the Stuart Baum Gallery. Grillo, Fernando E. (1963–). Grillo was the head of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, making him the first Latino cabinet secretary in state history. Throughout the 1990s, he worked in public finance, serving as vice president of public finance for Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. Inc. from 1995 to 2000, and assistant vice president of public finance for Estrada Hinojosa & Company Inc. from 1993 to 1995. He worked in several capacities for the City of Chicago—in the Department of Consumer Services, the Park District, and the Department of Housing—between 1986 and 1992. Grillo grew up in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Andrews University in Berien Springs, Michigan, and a law degree from John Marshall Law School. He is a member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, and the Board of the Chicago Children’s Advisory Center.103 Montes, Jorge (1963–). The first Latino chair of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, Montes was nominated by Governor Rod Blagojevich and approved by the State Senate. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board is an independent entity that makes decisions on adult and juvenile prison inmate matters. One of the roles of the Prisoner Review Board is to make confidential recommendations to the governor on clemency petitions.104 Perez-Luna, Victor (1963–). Perez-Luna is an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a member of the team of research scientists who have developed a new sensing device called the IIT ChemArray, which can detect and measure the presence of toxic agents in air, water, and food. Lopez, Paul J. (1964–). Lopez is senior vice president and chief lending officer of Park Federal Savings Bank of Chicago. A banker for 24 years, Lopez’s primary focus is neighborhood revitalization and community development. Born and raised in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, Mr. Lopez serves on Father Flanagan’s Girls and Boys

Illinois Town of Chicago, Peace and Education Coalition of Back of the Yards, New Alliance Task Force, the Illinois Attorney General’s Latino Advisory Council, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, and many more. Lopez played a vital role in opening the first full-service bank branch in an Illinois high school, and he was honored by the City of Chicago for his relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Lopez serves as vice chair of the Illinois Legislative Caucus Foundation. Osorio, Jose M. (1964–). Osorio has been employed as staff photographer at the Chicago Tribune since 1991. He has worked on many special projects, and he was awarded the 1997 Baseball Hall of Fame Feature Picture of the Year. Gonzalez, Ramiro (1968–). Gonzalez became the first Latino town president of Cicero, a Chicago suburb made famous by Al Capone. His predecessor, Republican Betty Loren-Maltese, vacated the post to serve an 8-year prison term for bilking the town out of $12 million. Gonzalez moved with his family from Jalisco, Mexico, when he was 6 years old. He served on the Chamber of Commerce board and helped represent the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at the local chamber. Sosa, Sammy (1968–). In 1992 baseball player Sammy Sosa joined the Chicago Cubs, where he became an All-Star. In 1998 Sosa and Mark McGwire surpassed Roger Maris’s record of 61 home runs. In that same year Sosa became known as Slammin’ Sammy and won the Most Valuable Player Award. The next year, Sosa hit over 60 home runs in two seasons. Lopez, Edwardo (1984–2006). Lance Corporal Edwardo Lopez was born in Aurora, Illinois, and graduated from high school in 2003. He enlisted in the Marines in 2004, and he was stationed and trained in Hawaii. Within four months, Lopez was deployed to Afghanistan for nine months. Lopez was a trained sniper for the U.S. Marines. Upon his return, Private Lopez was promoted to lance corporal. Shortly thereafter, Lopez was able to spend four months with his family in Aurora, Illinois. Lopez was recognized for being one of the best in his field. He was deployed to Iraq on September 8, 2006, and he was killed on October 19, 2006, in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. Lopez was the recipient of a Purple Heart medal.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The cultural contributions of Latinas and Latinos in Illinois have had a tremendous impact on the lives of Illinoisans. The diversity and the complexity of Latino culture and traditions are not only rich in history but also intertwined in the fabric of daily life in Illinois. In 1987 the Mexican Fine Art Center Museum opened its doors, receiving national acclaim for its art display and cultural celebrations. From Chicago to less populous rural towns, Mexicans and Mexican Americans celebrate Cinco De Mayo, 16 de Septiembre, Fiestas Patrias, and Día de Los Muertos. Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations in elementary and high schools are moving beyond tacos and other cultural foods to actually learning about Latino people.

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Latino America The Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center was founded in the early 1970s to showcase the artistic work of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. The Puerto Rican community hosted its first Puerto Rican parade in Chicago on June 12, 1966. Many communities in Illinois celebrate Puerto Rican heritage with parades followed by music, food, and vendors selling Puerto Rico’s flag and other artifacts. Our Lady Charity is the patroness of the island of Cuba. In Chicago, Cubans celebrate the feat of Our lady Charity with masses on September 8. This day is so special that a Cuban priest is flown in from Miami or New York to be the main celebrant. Guatemalan-based organizations and churches in different U.S. cities have played a critical role in the survival of Central Americans trying to escape torture in their mother countries. In the 1980s, the U.S.-based Sanctuary Movement offered critical protection to Central American refugees. A Sanctuary alliance of Chicago-based churches and synagogues provided aid and shelter to Guatemalans and Salvadorans facing deportation. In 1982, Chicago’s Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ was the second church in the country to be declared a sanctuary. Colombians celebrate Colombian Independence Day on July 20. Since 1974, Colombianos Unidos Por Una Labor Activa (CUPULA) has been celebrating this event. A group of medical students from Colombia started this tradition and it is now the largest annual Colombian celebration in the Midwest. The Ecuadorian community holds organized events such as Ecuadorian Week, which involves cultural exhibits, a picnic, and a parade. Throughout the year, charity balls, beauty queen competitions, and fundraisers are held. In the entertainment world, Illinois is the birthplace of Jo Raquel Tejada, better known as Raquel Welch. Welch is recognized as one of the most beautiful women of the 1960s and 1970s. Illinois is also home to Antonio Mora, the first Latino (Cuban) to serve as a main anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago. In the sports arena, Sammy Sosa, who some have described as one of the best baseball player ever, joined the Chicago White Sox in 1989, being traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1992. Sosa went on to become an All-Star, and in 1998 he won the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award. In 1999 Sosa became the first player ever to hit more than 60 home runs in two seasons.

NOTES 1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2000. 2. National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, 2006. 3. http://www.nd.edu/~latino/research/documents. 4. Latino Research @ ND, Vol. 1, May 2003, http://www.nd.edu/~latino/ils_publications.htm. 5. Vock, 2004. 6. The State of Latino Chicago, http://www.nd.edu/~latino/research/documents/ StateofLatinofinal.pdf.

Illinois 7. Latino Research @ ND, http://www.nd.edu/~latino/research. 8. http://www.illinois.gov/facts/history.cfm. 9. Illinois State Military Museum, http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/Museum/Illinois/ILMexican War.htm. 10. http://dig.lib.niu.edu/mexicanwar/overview.html. 11. http://dig.lib.niu.edu/mexicanwar/illinoisrole.html. 12. http://www.answers.com/topic/illinois. 13. http://www.spanamwar.com/1stillinois.html. 14. http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum/Historical Events/SpanishWar.htm. 15. http://www.spanamwar.com/1stillinois.html. 16. Acuña, 1998; Valdés, 1991; Saenz and Cready, 1997. 17. Valdés, 1991. 18. Saenz and Cready, 1997. 19. Arredondo, 2004; Hijar, 2006. 20. http://www.neta.com. 21. http://factfinder.census.gov. 22. National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005. 23. Jenkins and Kirsch, 2004. 24. Educational Attainment Census Brief of 2000. 25. http://www.ilache.com. 26. http://ilache.com/ibhefacultydiveristy.pdf. 27. http://www.heartlandalliance.org/Povertyreport2006lr.pdf. 28. http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news. 29. http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2006/11/17/news. 30. http://www.pbs.org. 31. http://www.wcvi.org/latino_voter_research/latino_voter_statistics. 32. Garcia, 1976; Bureau of the Census, 1900; Thirteenth Census, 1910; Fourteenth Census, 1920. 33. Valdés, 2000. 34. Kerr, 1976. 35. Clark, 1908; De Genova and Ramos-Zayas, 2003. 36. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWusa. 37. Kerr, 1976. 38. Arredondo, 2004. 39. Rosales, 1998. 40. Saenz and Cready, 1997. 41. Acuña, 1988. 42. Jones, 1928. 43. Rosales, 1976. 44. Kerr, 1976. 45. De Leon and Griswold del Castillo, 1997. 46. Kerr, 1976. 47. Romo, 1975. 48. New York Times, 1931. 49. http://www.wtvs.org/archieve/our families/repatriation.

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Latino America 50. http://www.census.gov/prod/2001. 51. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory. 52. Maldonado, 1979. 53. Maldonado, 1979. 54. http://www.encyclopeida.chicagohistory.org. 55. Badillo, 39. 56. De Wagenheim and Wagenheim, 1994. 57. Rodriguez, 2000. 58. http://www.Aspiral.about1.html. Aspira in Illinois. 59. Rúa, 2004. 60. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. 61. http://www.lib.niu.edu. 62. Kanellos, 1994. 63. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/356. 64. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/356. 65. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. 66. Latino Institute Data, 1995, http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. 67. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. 68. http://www.encyclopedia. chicagohistory.org. 69. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1112. 70. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, http://www.ourladyoflourdes.ca/parish_life/cultural_ hispanic.htm. 71. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1112. 72. Kemp, 2002. 73. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/556. 74. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/313. 75. http://www.laraza.com. 76. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org 77. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. 78. http://www.encycolpedia.chicagohistory.org. 79. http://www.lucyparsonsproject.org. 80. National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Inc., 25 Main Street, Cooperstown, New York. 81. Kerr, 1976. 82. Kanellos, 1994. 83. http://www.hislea.org/htm/hector/jordanbiography.htm. 84. Kanellos, 1994. 85. Kanellos, 1994. 86. Kanellos, 1994; Chicago Tribune, January and August 1984; Karst and Jones, 1973. 87. http://www.premium.caribe.net; www.prcc-chgo.org. 88. http://www.citizensmedal.com/JuanAndrade.htm. 89. http://www.ushli.org. 90. Kanellos, 1994. 91. http://www.lawyers.com.

Illinois 92. Latinos in Hollywood, http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/abloom/giselle. 93. http://www.ilcf.com. 94. State of Illinois, November 30, 2006. 95. Taller de Estudios Comunitarios, 1991; Sawyers, 1991. 96. http://www.uic.edu/~olm/martinez; www.oscarmartinez.com/aboutartist.htm. 97. http://www.uic.edu/~olm/martinez. 98. Kanellos, 1994; Chicago Tribune, November 5, 1992, 12; http://www.luisgutierrez house.gov. 99. http://www.luisgutierrezhouse.gov. 100. http://www.ilcf.com. 101. Governor’s Office News Page, July 15, 2003. 102. http://abc7chicago.com. 103. Governor’s Office News Page, July 15, 2003. 104. Springfield, press release, April 19, 2004.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Abalos, David T. Latinos in the United States: The Sacred and the Political. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1986. Acuña, Rodolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. New York: Harper & Row, 1988. Anrig Jr., Greg, and Tova Andrea Wang, eds. Immigration’s New Frontiers: Experiences from the Emerging Gateway States. New York: Century Foundation, 2006. Arredondo, Gabriela F. “Navigating Ethno-Racial Currents: Mexicans in Chicago, 1919–1939.” Journal of Urban History 30 (2004): 399–427. Badillo, D.A., ed. (2005) “Mexican Immigrants in Illinois History: Across Generations and Borders.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 98 no. 3, special issue (2005). Cárdenas, Gilberto, ed. La Causa: Civil Rights, Social Justice and the Struggle for Equality on Midwest. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 2004. Clark, Victor S. “Mexican Labor in the United States.” Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Labor 78 (September 1908): 466–522. De Genova, Nicolas. Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and “Illegality” in Mexican Chicago. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006. De Genova, Nicolas, and Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas, eds. Latino Crossings: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and the Politics of Race and Citizenship. New York: Routledge, 2003. De Leon, Arnoldo, and Richard Griswold del Castillo. North to Aztlan: A History of Mexican Americans in the United States. 2nd ed. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2006. De Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez, and Kal Wagenheim, eds. The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishing, 1994. Dolan, Jay P. “Catholics in the Midwest.” http://www.nd.edu/~jdolan/midwest.html. Fernández, Lilia. “Latina/o Migration and Community Formation in Postwar Chicago: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Gender, and Politics, 1945–1975.” PhD diss., University of California at San Diego, 2005. Flores-Gonzalez, Nilda. “Paseo Boricua: Claiming a Puerto Rican Space in Chicago.” CENTRO Journal XIII, no. 3, (Fall 2001): 8–23.

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Latino America Garcia, Jerry, and Garcia, Gilberto, eds. Memory, Community, and Activism: Mexican Migration and Labor in the Pacific Northwest. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 2005. Garcia, Juan R. “History of Chicanos in Chicago Heights.” Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 7, no. 2 (Summer 1976): 141–336. González-Pando, Miguel. The Cuban Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Hijar, Andres. Mexican Immigration in Chicago, 1920–1960. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University, 2006. Jenkins, Lynn B., and Kirsch, Irwin S. Executive Summary from Adult Literacy in Illinois, Results of the National Adult Literacy Survey. http:///www.nces.edu.gov/NAALpdf/ summaries/Illinois.pdf. Jones, Lottie E. Decisive Dates in Illinois History: A Story of the State. Danville. Illinois Printing Company, 1904. Kanellos, Nicolas. The Hispanic Almanac: From Columbus to Corporate America. Detroit, MI: Invisible Ink, 1994. Karst, Gene, and Martin J. Jones Jr. Who’s Who in Professional Baseball. New York: Arlington House, 1973. Kemp, Susie. “20 Years Since Scorched Earth Policy in Guatemala.” Justice and Reconciliation Program (DEJURE), Center For Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH). Press Release. March 25, 2002. Kerr, Louise Año Nuevo. “The Chicano Experience in Chicago, 1920–1970.” PhD diss., University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, 1976. Maldonado, Edwin. “Contract Labor and the Origin of Puerto Rican Communities in the United States.” International Migration Review 13, no. 1 (Spring 1979): 103–121. Masud-Piloto, Felix. From Welcomed Exiles to Illegal Immigrants: Cuban Migration to the U.S. (1959–1995). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996. Pérez-Firmat, Gustavo. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. Romo, Ricardo. “Responses to Mexican Immigration, 1910–1930.” Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 6, no. 2 (Summer 1975): 172–194. Rodriguez, Clara E. Changing Race: Latinos, the Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States. New York: New York University Press, 2000. Rosales, Francisco A. “The Regional Origins of Mexicano Immigrants to Chicago during the 1920s.” Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 7, no. 2 (Summer 1976): 187–201. Rúa, Mérida M. “Claims to ‘The City:’ Puerto Rican Latinidad amid Labors of Identity, Community, and Belonging in Chicago.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2004. Ruiz, Vicki L. “Nuestra América: Latino History as United States History.” The Journal of American History 93, no. 3 (December 2006): 655–672. Saenz, Rogelio, and Cynthia M. Cready. “The Southwest-Midwest Mexican American Migration Flows, 1985–1990.” Paper presented at the Rural Sociological Society’s 1996 annual meeting, Iowa, February 1997. Sawyers, June Skinner. Chicago Portraits: Biographies of 250 Famous Chicagoans. Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1991.

Illinois Sheppard, E. Donald. “DeSoto’s Illinois Trails.” http://www.floridahistory.com/illinois.html. Valdés, Dennis N. Al Norte: Agricultural Workers in the Great Lakes Region, 1917–1970. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991. Valdés, Dionicio N. Barrios Norteños: St. Paul and Midwestern Communities in the Twentieth Century. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. Vock, Daniel C. “Latino Power: A Rising Power is Pushing Political Change.” Illinois Issues, May 2004. http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/features/2004may/latino.html.

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15 INDIANA Segundo S. Pantoja

CHRONOLOGY 1890s 1911 1919 1924 1925 1932

1938 1948 1957

1960

1963 1972

Thanks to railways, Mexican migrants start to participate in Indiana and other midwestern states’ labor market. Manuel Lara is the first Mexican to settle in Gary. The nationwide steel workers strike marks the start of large scale hiring of Mexican-origin laborers in the Calumet region. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish is created in Gary. The first Mexican Catholic parish is established in East Chicago, Indiana. The massive repatriation of Mexicans reaches its peak. During the Great Depression about half the people of Mexican descent residing in Indiana chose to return, or were deported, to Mexico. First Mexican American political club is established in East Chicago. First Puerto Rican contract workers arrive in northwest Indiana. Joe Maravilla becomes a member of the school board in East Chicago, which is a first step toward getting Latinos elected to public office in Indiana. Mexican Americans rally behind John F. Kennedy and organize Viva Kennedy! clubs, which is a significant show of allegiance to the Democratic Party in Indiana that lasts until today. Jesse Gomez is the first Latino elected to the City Council of East Chicago. Thereafter, Latino vote becomes a force to be reckoned with. The Concerned Latins Organization is founded to address issues of employment, education, housing, and government. It achieves important triumphs in areas of affirmative action and bilingual education.

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1973 1999 2003

2004–2005

2005

2006 2007

The Chicano-Riqueño Studies program is established at Indiana University in Bloomington. The Institute for Latino Studies is established at the University of Notre Dame. The Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs is established by the state legislature to identify, measure, and review programs and legislation affecting the Latino community. Construction and dedication of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Warsaw, Indiana. First new Catholic church to be built in the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend in 25 years. Mitch Daniels becomes the first governor of Indiana to create an Office of Latino Affairs. George Pabey makes history when he is elected the first Latino mayor of East Chicago. Mara Candelaria Reardon becomes the first Latina woman representative among the 150-member Indiana General Assembly. In Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, unprecedented massive raids in factories during March augur a nightmarish year for undocumented workers.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Until recently Indiana had been a state with a solid white majority of over 90 percent. However, a steady shift in the demographic composition of the

Indiana state has been taking shape since the last decades of the twentieth century. Between low fertility rates and out-migration, the percentages of Euro-Americans (also known as non-Latino whites or Anglos) have been descending, whereas those of Latinos and other groups have been rising. Since 1990 the total state population increased by 14 percent, whereas the Latino population rose by about 200 percent. The number of Latinos in Indiana has mushroomed since 1990, and it stood at 285,000 by 2005.1 Not only are they numerous, but they are also young: half of all Latinos are under 24 years of age, in contrast to the rest of the state’s population, whose median age is 35.2 The young age of the Latino population calls for attention to key areas of investment, such as education, with a view to the potential contributions of Latinos in the coming years. Latino enrollment in public schools shot up by 119 percent between 1993 and 2002. In less than 10 years the number of Latino children in school increased by 23,143.3 Latinos are spreading throughout Indiana’s geography, revitalizing with their presence the economies and declining demographics of many counties. Latinos are contributing more than just labor; they make up also a growing share of the consumers. A telling indicator is Latinos’ significance to the real estate market. In 1990 only 12 percent of Indiana’s Latinos owned homes; in 2000, that figure had climbed to 30 percent.4 In 2002 Latinos owned 5,482 businesses, principally in construction and retail.5 For most of their history Latinos remained concentrated within a cluster of towns in Lake County, northwestern Indiana, and a few miles from Chicago; but at least since the 1970s they have been fanning out in all directions, especially to the east and center of the state. By the 1990s, 82 percent of Latinos were found in Lake, Marion, Allen, St. Joseph, Porter, and Elkhart counties, which contain cities such as Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and South Bend.6 Comparatively fewer Latinos live in rural areas, which are mostly to the south. Latinos have been attracted by opportunities in meatpacking plants and agriculture. In towns such as Logansport, the hog and chicken industries depend on their labor. Aware of this relationship, some companies—such as Logansport-based Iowa Beef Processing Company— instituted programs (for example, ESL classes) to ease the adaptation of Latinos to the area, provided free transportation, and even promoted home ownership for Latinos. Latinos have come a long way, especially since World War II. In 1970 Latinos still represented less than 1 percent of the state’s population. By 1980 they had increased their share to 1.5 percent of the total. In 1990 their participation inched slightly upwards to 1.8 percent, in a context of stagnant growth in Indiana’s population (Indiana’s total population went merely from 5,490,224 in 1980 to 5,544,159 in 1990). A significant break with that pattern occurred in the last 15 years, with Latinos constituting 4.5 percent of the state’s 6.3 million people in

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Latino America 2005, figures which don’t include the unknown but also growing number of unauthorized Latino migrants.7 Among Latinos, Mexicans’ share increased from two-thirds (67.6 percent) to almost three-quarters (71.3 percent) between 1990 and 2000. By contrast, the percentage of Puerto Ricans slipped down from 14.2 to 9.2 percent, as did that of Cubans (from 1.9 to 1.3 percent). The catchall category “Other Latino or Latino” increased during the same period from 16.4 to 18.2 percent. The growth in the latter category reflects the expanded numbers of migrants and the diversity of their origins in all the Americas—especially Central and, to a lesser extent, South America.8

THE ALLURE

OF

JOBS

Before Indiana in particular and the Midwest in general became known as the “rust belt,” or a symbol of manufacturers’ decline in the 1980s, great industrial complexes thrived in the northwest of the state, part of the Calumet region, near Chicago. This region had experienced dynamic growth since the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Oil, chemical, metal, and steel industries dominated economic activity, and in the 1920s Indiana boasted over 300 automobile companies. Northwest Indiana became a magnet for migrants. Migrants from eastern and southeastern Europe predominated from the late nineteenth century until the first two decades of the twentieth century. After the earlier waves of Germans, Irish, and other northern Europeans, Slovaks, Italians, Greeks, and Poles provided the bulk of the workforce that made possible the industrial expansion. Blacks from the South migrated to the Calumet region also in hopes of employment and better living conditions. The history of Latinos in Indiana is less than 100 years old. Until World War II, it is for the most part the history of both Mexican migrants and people of Mexican descent born in the United States. (The latter are also known as Mexican Americans or Chicanos). Mexicans came following the railroad tracks which, in addition to transportation, were one of their main sources of jobs. Employment in manufacturing became the lure for the stream of Mexicans that was to grow from a mere trickle in 1911 to a considerable volume by the late 1920s. They concentrated in the industrial towns located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It was in cities such as Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago that they first lay down the foundations of the Latino communities. The arrival of the first Mexicans coincided with the start of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917). Many of those who migrated at the beginning of the decade were escaping the economic disruption and the violence spawned by the Mexican civil war. In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, another armed conflict— the Cristero Rebellion of the late 1920s—raged through parts of Mexico, which also sent a wave of migrants to the United States. Others, born in the United

Indiana States, came to Indiana in search of better opportunities after having lived in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, or Illinois. In 1919, during the nationwide strike of steel workers for better wages and working conditions, industrial companies such as Inland Steel and the U.S. Steel Corporation started the practice of recruiting Mexican workers for their plants. In an effort to break the strike and defeat the European migrant workers, the companies sent recruiters in search of laborers to the U.S. Southwest and as far as Mexico. By the late 1920s, the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Michoacán had supplied about threequarters of all Mexican workers. The immigration laws approved by the U.S. Congress in 1921 and 1924 severely limited the numbers of workers coming from eastern and southern Europe.9 Employers turned to Mexicans and blacks to make up the difference in the labor supply. Bringing in single men by the truckload created the phenomenon of the solos, or single male migrants. About 60 percent of Mexican workers were solos. They lived as lodgers in rooms shared by several men who took turns to sleep in the same bed. People referred to this practice as camas calientes, that is, warm beds. Over time, a significant number of these men either went back to Mexico to get married or sent for the families they had left behind. As the 1920s progressed, the percentage of Mexicans living in family units grew, and the population became more stable.

THE UGLY FACE

OF

RACISM

Mexicans’ relationship with other groups was rocky from the start. During the 1919 strike, Mexican and black workers were introduced under the cover of night into the steel plants to take the place of the white workers. Thus was born the stereotype of these people as scabs. White workers’ prejudice against Mexican and black laborers found in this experience a solid rationale. In the case of Mexicans, it would have to pass a generation before they were more or less accepted by the labor union movement. Racially speaking, Mexicans were wedged between the entrenched white-black extremes. Light-skinned Mexicans were spared some of the most blatant forms of racism, but the dark skin of the majority relegated them to a position closer to blacks than whites in the racial hierarchy. They felt the practical consequences of discrimination in the form of housing segregation and segregation in public places, such as movie theaters. In Gary, for example, Mexicans congregated in south side neighborhoods or colonias, in part because they sought each other’s company, and in part because it was practically impossible to rent elsewhere. A Mexican migrant reported in the 1920s that “on the north side they will not rent to Mexicans.”10 The concentration of Mexicans in colonias favored the development of businesses that catered to their needs, such as tailor shops, groceries, barber shops, restaurants, and pool halls.

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Latino America The difficulty for Mexicans to move up the occupational ladder at the workplace kept them stuck in the most dangerous and back-breaking jobs. White supervisors clearly preferred European laborers, allowing them to occupy skilled and managerial positions as they opened. On the streets and even in their neighborhoods Mexicans were harassed by the police. Encounters with Irish and Polish policemen left Mexicans frequently injured and sometimes dead. They received no sympathy from the judges or political authorities. After all, during these times Indiana was a hub of Ku Klux Klan activity around anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish and anti-black slogans. The first phase of Mexican presence in Indiana came to a close with the Great Depression. The economic crisis that started in 1929 led to widespread unemployment and poverty. Even the U.S. Steel Corporation, one of the major employers of Mexicans, was operating at 10 percent of its capacity during 1932 and seldom at much more than 50 percent during the rest of the Depression. Mexicans were in a vulnerable position because few Mexicans at the time were U.S. citizens, and they lacked organization and political power. With a high unemployment rate and thousands seeking public relief during the 1930s, whites, blacks, employers, and politicians saw Mexicans as an undesirable competition for jobs, their children as a drain of public school funds, and the needy as an undeserving burden on government and private charity. Faced with tough circumstances and a hostile environment, unemployed Mexicans and their families thought they would be better in Mexico, especially when the Mexican government invited them back; others were cajoled by local authorities into accepting to return to their country. Whether by train or car, many left during the early 1930s; some paid their own way, whereas local governments and private donations footed the transport bill of the rest. Although the 1930 census had counted 9,007 Mexicans in Lake County, the repatriation campaign drastically reduced that number; Gary and East Chicago alone got rid of 3,600 Mexican residents during 1932. Eventually, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois contributed 10.5 percent of the 500,000 Mexicans repatriated between 1929 and 1937.11 Indiana’s economy recovered with World War II, attracting again Mexican and Mexican American workers to the state. Their numbers were added to those who had stayed and weathered the depression years. By the 1940s there was already a growing second generation of Mexican Americans born in Indiana; they were now true Hoosiers, as the natives of Indiana are called. Schools, sports leagues, U.S. music, and the media had helped Americanize the children of those who had migrated early in the century. An increasing number of high school graduates were moving up the occupational ladder, and many were serving their country in the armed forces. Since most of those of Mexican descent were still blue-collar workers, they contributed a large share of the industrial labor force. Others

Indiana worked in the farms as part of the Bracero program, a United States–Mexico agreement to supply temporary agricultural workers that lasted from 1942 to 1964. With the employment opportunities created by the war and the support for unionization from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mexican American workers moved into good-paying industrial jobs protected by strong unions. Eventually, a few Mexican American workers figured prominently in the leadership of the unions too. A report from 1967 says that “Mexican-Americans appear to have made some progress in achieving status in the East Chicago unions, or in at least those locals that have a large Mexican-American membership.”12

PUERTO RICANS AND CUBANS JOIN THE MEXICANS The United States emerged as a superpower after World War II. A period of rapid economic growth and modernization started at the end of the 1940s that would last until the mid-1970s. Faced with a shortage of workers, Indiana farmers and manufacturers turned to Puerto Rico as a source of laborers. Tapping Puerto Rico for cheap workers had been a well-established practice since 1898, when the United States took over that island. In subsequent decades, U.S. corporations contracted Puerto Ricans to work in such faraway places as Hawaii and Arizona. Thus, labor recruiters, with the help of the Puerto Rican government, set up offices in various towns throughout the island. Starting in 1948, hundreds of Puerto Ricans began to sign contracts that brought them to farms and factories in Indiana. U.S. Steel again played a leading role in importing workers by securing the services of Samuel J. Friedman Farm Labor Agency of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This company had been effective in bringing Puerto Rican workers to plants and farms not only in Pennsylvania, but also in New Jersey, Ohio, and other midwestern states. Though many came as farm workers, no sooner had they finished their contracts than they had moved to cities like Gary in search of industrial jobs, which offered higher wages and steadier employment. During the 1950s and 1960s the inflow of Puerto Ricans continued. Eventually, the Puerto Rican nation would lose about one-third of its population during the period 1946–1964 in what became known as the Great Migration. Puerto Ricans returned to their island in a proportion of between 15 and 25 percent, and for various reasons, which included homesickness, the harsh climate, or inability to adapt to night shifts.13 However, the vast majority, especially those who were married, stayed and established the basis of a community that would expand later with the arrival of their relatives and fellow countrymen. Today, Latinos of Puerto Rican origin furnish a noticeable fraction of the middle class and of professional sectors, serving the community in various capacities and leadership positions; they are visible as business owners, teachers, social workers, deacons, and public officials.

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Latino America The Cuban Revolution of 1959 generated a new influx of Caribbean migrants. Starting in that year and during the 1960s, the U.S. government welcomed thousands of Cubans as refugees and relocated them to the various states of the nation. The Cubans who came to Indiana were for the most part from middle- and upper-class background. With their superior skills and education, Cubans furnished a significant portion of the Latinos in the managerial, professional, and entrepreneurial sectors. The census of 1970 found that Indiana had 1,158 Cuban residents. They were in third place, after the Puerto Ricans, who numbered 9,269 and who, in turn, trailed the people of Mexican origin, who stood at 30,034 in 1970.14 In total, Latinos were less than 1 percent of Indiana’s population. Nevertheless, the convergence of most of these persons in a few cities and towns provided them the opportunity to learn about and from each other. Sharing common spaces and experiences allowed them to discover the common features in their respective cultural backgrounds as well as their different traditions. The concentration of Latinos in manufacturing jobs allowed them to improve their living conditions during the period from the 1950s until the 1970s. Remarkably, data from those years reveal that the percentage of Latino households with incomes over $25,000 was the same as that of Anglos, namely 36 percent in 1980. Other indicators of social well-being, such as the percentage of Latinos residing in owner-occupied housing units, also showed progress in those decades. Post–World War II government policies expanded opportunities for home ownership, as did also the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s. All such initiatives resulted in Latinos owning their homes in a proportion of 37 percent by 1980. Upward social mobility reflected a high degree of assimilation by Latinos. Over time they were becoming more like the rest of the state’s population. The 1990 census found that five of every six Latinos (83.9 percent) residing in Indiana were U.S.-born, and about half (49.9 percent) were born in Indiana. It also found a high level of cultural integration. For instance, out of every five Latino married couples, three had one partner who was non-Latino. Latinos also reported that they preferred speaking English or that they spoke English well in a proportion of 80 percent.15

LATINOS ADAPT TO A CHANGING ECONOMY In the meantime, the economy of Indiana was undergoing substantial change. Jobs in manufacturing were decreasing, whereas those in services were increasing. Indiana saw the number of manufacturing jobs decline by 11 percent between 1970 and 1988. Many Latinos lost good-paying jobs with the restructuring of the economy. By the end of the 1970s unemployment as well as poverty rates among Latinos were on the rise. The percentage of Latino households living

Indiana with less than $10,000 stood at 32 percent, and around 17 percent of Latino families were receiving public assistance income. The 1990 census found Latino families’ median income lower than the median for the rest of the population in Indiana ($34,187 vs. $40,096), but it was still higher than the median family income for Latinos nationwide ($24,156).16 The ability of Latinos to adapt to the economic changes and take advantage of the jobs being created by a service-and-knowledge-based economy was being hampered by their relative low levels of education. Adult Latinos had registered considerable, though still slow, gains in high school graduation rates between 1970 and 1980. The proportion of Latinos who completed high school had increased from 39 to almost 50 percent; but only in two cities, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, did the rate exceed 50 percent. On the other hand, the rates of graduation among young Latinos offered more hope of educational progress for the forthcoming decades. For Latinos in the 18–24 years-of-age group the rate of high school completion was 60 percent. However, they were still lagging significantly behind whites (80 percent) and blacks (65 percent).17 In the last three decades the number of Latinos attending college shows an upward trend. At Indiana University, in Bloomington, for example, there were 200 Latinos in attendance in 1975, but that number had changed to 800 by 2003.18

RELIGION BRINGS LATINOS TOGETHER Nationalism and religious beliefs have helped Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other Latinos forge a sense of community. Some of the first organizations that earlier Mexicans created were mutual aid societies. At a time when there was no government safety net—such as Social Security, Medicaid, pension funds, or labor unions—Mexicans relied on small self-help organizations to solve emergencies stemming from sickness, job loss, or death. But cultural survival was as important as material well-being. During the first decades of the twentieth century, most Mexicans saw their stay in Indiana as temporary. Few became U.S. citizens, and therefore the majority kept a strong allegiance to the Mexican nation. A considerable amount of organizing, energy, and resources went every year into the celebration of the fiestas patrias (festivals celebrating key holidays in the migrants’ home country), commemorating Independence Day, on September 16, and glorious battles such as Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates the defeat of the French invaders on May 5, 1862. Rivaling patriotic fervor were religious celebrations that marked the Mexican calendar with massive demonstrations of faith and piety during Holy Week processions, and the celebrations of the Day of Dead and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Though on a smaller scale, quinceañeras (coming-of-age celebration for a girl on her fifteenth birthday), christenings, and weddings also provided

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Latino America opportunities for people to get together, celebrate, and renew their traditions and ties with one another. The Catholic churches provided a sense of coherence to the colonias from the beginning. In the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago, for instance, Mexicans had their own Our Lady of Guadalupe parish since 1925. Throughout the ensuing decades, and especially during trying times such as the Great Depression, Mexicans found solace and support in their churches. Parish members were organized by gender and age for an array of devotional, civic, and recreational purposes. They formed Los Obreros, Madres Católicas, Las Guadalupanas, Legión de María, Junior and Senior Catholic Youth Organizations, and Our Lady of Victory Sodality, among other bodies, which instilled a sense of community among practicing Catholics. Mexicans in East Chicago had their first Catholic school founded in 1947. When new national groups, such as the Puerto Ricans and Cubans, became part of the Latino community in Indiana, they also brought with them civic and religious holidays to celebrate. The Catholic background common to the majority of Latinos allowed them to share in each other’s celebrations, so that to the Mexican Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Puerto Ricans added their patron saints, such as Our Lady of Divine Providence, Our Lady of Montserrat, and the Feast of Saint John the Baptist. For their part the Cubans brought later their cult to Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity). The Catholic Church was the only institution familiar to Mexicans as they settled in Indiana. Their first experiences with the Church were unpleasant, though. They came from a Latino tradition that had little in common with the U.S. and European versions of Catholicism. Euro-American Catholics were resisting efforts by the clergy to assimilate the newcomers. There were few Spanish speaking priests in the beginning, and Mexicans were expected to contribute monetarily to the Church. Some preferred not to attend mass rather than part with a substantial share of their meager income. In the 1920s, a steel worker related that in Mexico “[we] just went to church and it didn’t cost anything if we didn’t have money. Here it cost twenty-five cents at the door and twenty cents in the plate.”19 Although most Catholic ethnic groups had their own parishes, Mexicans waited until 1924 to form their first congregation in Gary, when they built the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, under the auspices of Bishop Alerding. Today as in previous decades the Catholic Church enjoys the trust of Latinos like no other U.S. institution. The dioceses of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Lafayette have been flooded with migrants. Therefore, the Church faces a grave responsibility with the sprouting of new and larger Latino settlements in the state. The mushrooming Latino population throughout Indiana demands pastoral care and assistance in solving urgent spiritual and material needs, especially services in Spanish, advocacy on immigration matters, and access to Catholic schools. However, the Church has neither moved fast enough to train its personnel, nor has it allocated the economic resources to adequately

Indiana meet such needs. There are, for instance, 62 churches in the Diocese of Lafayette; however, parishioners may listen to Spanish mass in 16 of them. Not one Latino priest is found in the diocese, and two deacons are employed to serve Latinos in all 62 parishes. In response to the deficits in resources and human power, some initiatives are being developed by individual dioceses and branches of the Catholic Church. One example of these efforts is the Instituto Cultural del Medio Oeste, a program the Jesuits are implementing in several dioceses that seeks to prepare lay Latinos in leadership skills so that they organize themselves and start addressing their own needs within the Church and in the wider society. Protestants have made inroads among the Mexican population since the beginning of their arrival in Indiana. At a time when migrants were vulnerable, Protestants approached Mexicans with offers of help in securing lodging and food. During the Great Depression they were instrumental in providing aid to the hungry and unemployed. Protestants also raised funds to defray travel expenses for those returning to Mexico during times of crisis such as the Great Depression. Although proselytism went hand in hand with the succor provided in times of need, few Mexicans seemed to have really abandoned their traditional faith. Nevertheless, the number of Latino Evangelicals and Pentecostals expanded with the Puerto Rican migration. In contrast to Mexico, Puerto Rico was a place where certain types of Protestantism had been thriving since the beginning of the twentieth century. As Puerto Ricans started to make Indiana their home, they opened new Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, such as La Primera Iglesia Cristiana de Gary in 1956. Soon afterwards, other churches followed in East Chicago, and they have not stopped spreading to all areas of Latino settlement. There is an ongoing tug-of-war between the Catholic and Protestant denominations. In recent years that competition has been heightened by the inability of the Catholic Church to reach out and serve adequately all the migrants who have come knocking at its doors. Christians of the Protestant varieties popular among Latinos require a short formal training to become pastors and little start-up capital to found a church, which can be established in a rented storefront and with few congregants, family members, and a few other believers. The Catholic Church’s perception is that its insufficiency of personnel and resources leaves the flocks open to non-Catholic proselytism. Today’s Catholic clerical and lay leaders couch their concerns in the language of competition; they feel that with every day that passes Evangelicals and Pentecostals are stealing from them a bigger share of the religious market.

CRAWLING THEIR WAY

INTO

POLITICS

Before the 1940s, prejudice and discrimination prompted Mexicans to engage in self-defense and protest. The initial actions were usually formal complaints to local authorities and boycotts of businesses. As Mexican migrants

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Latino America became naturalized citizens and as their U.S.-born children came of age, they started voting in local and national elections. The experiences of participating in World War II helped many Mexican Americans realize that they had to get organized to address issues of equal access to better jobs, adequate housing, and quality education. They linked with Mexican Americans in other regions, especially in the Southwest, and became participants in networks such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which had been founded in 1929, and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), founded in 1968 as a result of the participation of Chicanos in the civil rights movement. A significant result of the mobilization started in the 1960s was the establishment of Chicano-and-Latino-based curricula in institutions of higher education such as Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. Latinos in Indiana have historically voted Democrat. They supported enthusiastically John F. Kennedy in 1960. During his campaign “Viva Kennedy Clubs” were organized in many states. The allegiance to the Democratic Party has been unwavering, especially among Mexican Americans who in the 2004 elections favored Kerry three to one over Bush. In fact, the few districts in Indiana carried by Kerry were those of heavy Latino concentration. Nevertheless, Latinos have been slow in reaching political office in Indiana, although some of them are being appointed to high posts. Examples of such appointments are Federico Thon, assistant to the Mayor of South Bend, and Juana Watson, Governor Daniels’s senior advisor for Latino and Immigrant Affairs. Furthermore, Latina women are playing leading roles in the state: the executive director of the Ethics Commission in Indiana and the executive director of the Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs are Latina. Among the reasons for the slow progress in electoral politics is that neither Black nor Latino voters make up the majority in any of Indiana’s nine districts. As of 1990 only 10 Latinos were occupying elected seats at any level in the state. The city of East Chicago is the exception to the rule in that over half its population is Latino. Here there has been a history of Latinos being elected to local school boards and the City Council dating since at least 1957. More recently, George Pabey made history again in 2005 when he was elected the first Latino mayor of East Chicago. Indiana had one Latino state legislator as the Northwest Gary representative, John Aguilera, but he did not seek reelection in 2006. Instead, his seat was won by Mara Candelaria Reardon, who became the first Latina woman representative among the 150-member Indiana General Assembly. Few other success stories are known outside northwestern Indiana, but there are signs of change on the horizon, such as the 2006 election of the first Latino judge in central Indiana, José Salinas. Other Latinos have run for mayors and congressmen, but so far they have not been elected; Mark Leyva, for instance, has sought unsuccessfully to unseat incumbent Peter Visclosky in Indiana’s 1st Congressional District.

Indiana There are two major Latino population layers in Indiana. One layer is formed by those whose roots stretch approximately from 1990 back to the beginning of the twentieth century; and the other is made up of the people whose presence stretches from 1990 to the present. This demographic split is significant because two-thirds of Latinos are recent settlers in the state; therefore, most have no age or legal qualifications to elect or be elected to political office. Furthermore, studies have shown that Mexican migrants have one of the lowest U.S. naturalization rates, a basic requirement for participation in electoral politics. People who want to become U.S. citizens have to go through stages. Becoming a legal resident (that is, getting a green card) is a condition which many will not meet. In addition, migrants who are legal residents wait on average 8 years before becoming naturalized citizens, but Mexicans wait 11 years; and when they do it, voting is not first on their list of motivations; the majority seek citizenship to ensure equal treatment, to fight discrimination, or to establish eligibility for government programs. Among Mexicans, their strong nationalism and expectations of return to Mexico constitute serious obstacles to naturalization and political participation. Another obstacle to political involvement is the young age of U.S.-born Latinos. About 40 percent are less than 18 years old, the minimum age to vote. It is an established fact that citizens over 55 vote in higher proportion to younger groups. Because Latinos are concentrated in the age groups under 55, it is only natural that their participation in elections be low for now. The prospects for increased participation in a few years look brighter given the number of Latino children who are born and being schooled in Indiana. Organizations like the Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Leadership Coalition are targeting high school seniors and college students in their voter registration campaigns. There are other indicators that political participation might be broadened in the coming years. In a way, grassroots organizations are laying the groundwork. Latino activists are meeting more frequently with public officials and organizing community dialogues to discuss issues that affect the Latino community and all residents. In addition to the traditional areas of Latino presence in northwest Indiana, committed community leaders are emerging in cities such as Indianapolis, Lafayette, Evansville, Angola, Ligonier, and Warsaw. Charles Garcia, for instance, is a recognized Latino business leader who was recently elected chair of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce; he is also the first Latino to sit on the Federal Reserve Board representing Indiana. The business community has indicated that, as part of their agenda for the current decade, there is a plan to develop and elect Latino government officials. Some of the most recent issues stirring Latinos to action include the need to address anti-immigrant legislation put forward by several legislators. Anglos and Latinos have rallied together, and a coalition was formed to distribute information and organize events. Also, a statewide Indiana Latino/Hispanic Association was

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Latino America created to monitor legislative measures that may adversely affect Latinos. Other groups form around specific interests, an example of this being the committee of Latino mental health professionals who want to ensure that culturally competent care be provided to people of color in the state. In the area of education, community leaders and universities are doing research and proposing policy initiatives to adequately integrate newcomers into the school system by sensitizing teachers and other school personnel to the language and sociocultural characteristics as well as the specific needs of Latino children.

NOTABLE LATINOS Samora, Julian (1920–1996). As Notre Dame professor in the Department of Sociology from 1959 to 1985, Samora trained several generations of Latino researchers who went on to play leading roles in academia. The Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University bears testimony to his contributions. Samora was cofounder of leading Latino organizations at the national level, such as La Raza and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He also helped found the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. As a prominent scholar and activist, Samora also served on numerous governmental and private boards and commissions, including the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the President’s Commission on Rural Poverty. Villa Parra, Olga (1944–). The daughter of farmworkers and a longtime local volunteer for various causes, Villa Parra began her activist career supporting Cesar Chavez’s grape boycott in the 1960s. After working many years for the Lilly Endowment, a position from which she helped fund many Latino initiatives, Villa Parra continues her support and consulting for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Probably the most visible and respected Latina in Indiana, she keeps actively promoting Latino events, such as Cinco de Mayo festivities, that celebrate Latin culture. Kanellos, Nicolás (1945–). Founder of Arte Público Press, the largest publisher of Latino literature in the United States. He is also the founder of The Americas Review, formerly Revista Chicano-Riqueña. Kanellos taught Latino Literature at Indiana University Northwest from 1973 until 1979. Among many awards, Kanellos has won the Latino Heritage Award for Literature in 1988; the American Library Association’s Award for Best Reference Works of 1993, and the 1989 American Book Award for Publishing. Garcia, Charles J. (1950–). Garcia’s greatest contributions are his efforts to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs. His mentoring program has been adopted by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce to assist minority- and women-owned businesses to grow at rates of 20 to 60 percent. Founder of the Indiana Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Garcia has helped increase educational opportunities for first-generation college students. Garcia has received many awards, including the Small Business Association’s (SBA) 1994 Regional Construction Company of the Year Award, the 1994 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the 2000 SBA Small Businessman of the Year

Indiana Award, the 1996–1999 Grow 100 Award Indiana, and the 2004 Center for Leadership Development Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Cárdenas, Gilberto (1952–). Former graduate student of Notre Dame, Cárdenas returned to found and direct the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at that institution. In his work Cárdenas has demonstrated a commitment to Latino migrant workers. During his tenure as the head of the ILS, there has been a prolific production of knowledge on Latinos in the Midwest, which has had public policy repercussions. Cárdenas’s contributions have earned him the honor of being named repeatedly among the 100 most influential Latinos in the country by the Latino Business Magazine. Chapa, Jorge (1953–). Professor and founding director of Latino Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington from 1999 to 2006. He has scores of publications reflecting his research focus on the low rates of Latino educational, occupational, and economic mobility, and on the development of policies to improve these trends. He is currently director of the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Watson, Juana (1955–). Indiana State’s first senior advisor for Latino Affairs. She is the founder of two Latino community centers and a not-for-profit organization called Badges Without Borders. She has participated in organizations throughout the state helping develop programs regarding Latino cultural awareness. Puente, Sylvia (1958–). Director of the Metropolitan Chicago Initiative for the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies (ILS). In 2003, Puente was one of 25 Chicago area women named a Pioneer for Social Justice. Puente was introduced to a life of activism by her mother at the age of 13, when she joined her first picket line in support of the United Farm Workers. In 2005, Puente was listed among the nation’s 100 most influential Latinos. Thon, Richard William “Dickie” (1958–). Born in South Bend of Puerto Rican parents, “Dickie” Thon became an outstanding shortstop in Major League Baseball. His professional career started with the California Angels in 1975, reached its peak with the Houston Astros (1981–1987), and ended in 1993 with the Milwaukee Brewers. “Dickie” Thon was inducted to the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum’s Hall of Fame in 2003.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos moving into the state were quick to establish a rich community life in such cities as Gary and East Chicago. The maintenance of a Latino culture came to depend on several communication media such as newspapers and radio, as well as on leisure-time activities, sports, festivals, and dances. Dramatic performances were one of the visible art forms carried out in the community. At least five theater groups were active during the 1920s. They were associated to the two central institutions at the time: the Catholic Church and the Mutual Aid Society. The existence of the theater groups followed the ups and downs of the community, and thus they disappeared by the mid-1930s. A recovery of theatrical activity

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Latino America

“The Mexican Spirit Lives On.” From author’s personal collection. Courtesy of Julio Pantoja.

followed World War II, so that performances of Christmas plays and plays on the Guadalupe theme made a comeback in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1960s new groups had been formed, such as El Teatro Experimental Talia and El Club Artístico Guadalupano. With the advent of the civil rights movement, students and community activists used theater as a political tool to educate and discuss key issues affecting Latinos. El Teatro Desengaño del Pueblo is the best exponent of this type. Indiana audiences also enjoyed performances by groups such as El Teatro del Barrio, a Chicano group from South Chicago, and El Teatro de Artes Chicanos from San Antonio. A new phase in the history of Indiana has started in the early 1990s. Their skyrocketing growth, owing mostly to migration from Mexico, has been impacting greatly the old and new areas of settlement. With their presence and bustling activity, Latinos have been transforming some institutions; both in their makeup as well as in the ways they function. In many districts Latino children are already half the school population. They are also changing the face of the Catholic Church, and Spanish-speaking priests are in short supply; three of every four baptized children are Latino, and classes for quinceañera celebrations are overbooked.

Indiana The growing numbers of Latinos and their concentration in cities such as Indianapolis, the state capital, have created markets for Spanish media—for example, La Onda Latino Americana newspaper, several radio stations, and Univision’s WIIH TV station. In Indianapolis alone, where Latino residents are estimated to number 100,000, there are miles of commercial strips that cater to Latino customers including 100 Mexican restaurants, and several nightclubs advertising salsa dance nights. Latinos participate in mainstream events such as the Indiana State Fair, and they also organize their own, such as Fiesta Indianapolis, the premier local Latino cultural event. These activities are in addition to the annual Puerto Rican Parade, Cinco de Mayo—which has become not just a Mexican, but also a Pan-Latino celebration—and other traditions such as the Day of the Dead, with its vigils, processions, parties, music, and food. In other realms, Latinos hold also the potential to influence the host society with their values. Most of them come from rural areas imbued with traditions that rely on family cohesiveness and group solidarity. Strong work ethic and solid family principles remind many Hoosiers of their own cherished, but fading, conservative standards. Latinos working within institutions of higher learning in Indiana are making intellectual contributions, particularly those in academic departments and research centers whose focus is the Latino experience. A case in point is the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The institute conducts demographic, economic, and political analyses. Its areas of study include also Latino art, spirituality, and literature. Their latest project, for instance, locates and surveys Latino art collections, museums, galleries, and cultural centers to produce a chronological survey of the history of Latino art in the Midwest.

NOTES 1. Indiana Commission on Latino/Latino Affairs, “2006 Demographic Overview of Latinos/Latinos in Indiana,” http://www.in.gov/ichla/pdf/2006_Indiana_Latino-Latino_ Overview.pdf. 2. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18000.html, accessed January 28, 2007. 3. Fry, “The Changing Landscape,” Pew Latino Center, October 2006, 36, http://pewLatino. org/files/reports/72.pdf. 4. Indianapolis Star, “Real Estate Agents Court Latinos,” February 20, 2005, http://www. mdrealtor.org/Tool_Kit/03_2_05.html, accessed November 22, 2006. 5. “Latino-owned Firms, 2002,” http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/sb0200chisp.pdf, 20, accessed February 28, 2007. 6. Aponte, “Latinos in Indiana,” Statistical Brief No. 11, Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, July 1999, 22. 7. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18000.html, accessed January 11, 2007.

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Latino America 8. U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1, Matrix PCT11, http://factfinder. census.gov, accessed January 18, 2007. 9. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 cut the quotas for foreigners from 3 percent of persons of each nationality living in the United States to 2 percent, using as base the census of 1890. David Kennedy et al., The Brief American Pageant, 6th ed. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2004), 445. 10. Mohl, 1987, 94. 11. Mohl, 1987, 104. 12. Samora and Lamanna, 1987, 229. 13. Maldonado, 1987, 203–204. 14. Aponte, “Latinos in Indiana,” Statistical Brief No. 11, Julian Samora Research Institute, Michigan State University, July 1999, 3. 15. Heartland Center. “On Many Edges,” Winter 1996, ii. 16. Heartland Center. “On Many Edges,” Winter 1996, iii–iv. 17. All figures in this paragraph taken from Anne M. Santiago, “Life in the Industrial Heartland: A profile of Latinos in the Midwest,” Research Report No. 2, Julian Samora Research Institute, May 1990, 10–18, http://www.jsri.msu.edu/RandS?research/irr/rr02.html, accessed January 12, 2007. 18. De la Rosa, “Latinos at Indiana,” Latino Alumni Newsletter, 4, http://alumni.indiana. edu/conpubs/archives/latino-spr03.pdf, accessed January 28, 2007. 19. Mohl, 1987, 96.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Aponte, Robert. “Latinos in Indiana: On the Throes of Growth.” Statistical Brief No. 11. Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, July 1999. Badillo, David A. “The Catholic Church and the Making of Mexican-American Parish Communities in the Midwest.” In Mexican Americans and the Catholic Church, 1900–1965. Eds. Jay P. Dolan and Gilberto M. Hinojosa. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994, 237–357. De la Rosa, Belinda. “Latinos at Indiana: A Closer Look at the Numbers.” Latino Alumni Newsletter, 4. http://alumni.indiana.edu/conpubs/archives/latino-spr03.pdf. Fry, Richard. “The Changing Landscape of American Public Education: New Students, New Schools.” Pew Latino Center, October 2006. http://pewLatino.org/files/reports/ 72.pdf. Heartland Center. “On Many Edges—The Latino Population of Indiana.” Heartland Center Reports. Hammond, Indiana, Winter 1996. Indiana Commission on Latino/Latino Affairs. “2006 Demographic Overview of Latinos/ Latinos in Indiana.” http://www.in.gov/ichla/pdf/2006_Indiana_Latino-Latino_ Overview.pdf. Indiana Project for Latin American Competency Project. “Diversity Within: Latino Newcomers in Our Schools and Communities.” Education Brief No. 1. School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, January 2007. http://www.indiana.edu/~iplacc/. Indiana State History. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0858787.html.

Indiana Kennedy, David, Lizabeth Cohen, and Mel Piehl. The Brief American Pageant. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Lane, James B., and Edward J. Escobar, eds. Forging a Community—The Latino Experience in Northwest Indiana, 1919–1975. Chicago, IL: Calumet Regional Archives and Cattails Press, 1987. Maldonado, Edwin. “Contract Labor.” In Forging a Community: The Latino Experience in Northwest Indiana, 1919–1975. Eds. James B. Lane and Edward J. Escobar. Chicago: Calumet Regional Archives and Cattails Press, 1987, 203–204. Millard, Ann V., and Jorge Chapa. Apple Pie & Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. Mohl, Raymond A. Steel City. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers Inc., 1987. National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. http://www.naleo.org/ downloads/3_NALEORacestowatch_fin_10-06.pdf. Samora, Julian, and Richard A. Lamanna. “Mexican Americans in a Midwest Metropolis: A Study of East Chicago.” In Forging a Community: The Latino Experience in Northwest Indiana, 1919–1975. Eds. James B. Lane and Edward J. Escobar. Chicago: Calumet Regional Archives and Cattails Press, 1987, 215–250. Santiago, Anne M. “Life in the Industrial Heartland: A Profile of Latinos in the Midwest.” Research Report No. 2. Julian Samora Research Institute, May 1990, 10–18. http:// www.jsri.msu.edu/RandS?research/irr/rr02.html. Taylor, D. Garth, María de los Angeles Torres, and Rob Paral. “The Naturalization Trail: Mexican Nationality and U.S. Citizenship.” Latino Research @ ND 3, no. 2 (June 2006). United States Latino Leadership Institute. http://ushli.org/pdf/2004%20presidential% 20election2.pdf.

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16 IOWA Jerry Garcia

CHRONOLOGY Pre-Contact

1542 1673 1762 1780s

1801 1803 1803–1833 1833 1846 1850 1890 1920

Approximately 17 different indigenous groups, including the Ioways, Sauks, Meskwakis, Santee Sioux, Winnebagos, Potawatomis, Missouris, and Otos inhabit the region of Iowa. Arrival of first Europeans. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto explores the Mississippi reaching as far north as present day Iowa. First French explorers arrive in Iowa. Beginning of Spanish control over a region that includes Iowa. Manuel Lisa, Spanish subject, marries a Sioux Indian and resides in what becomes Iowa. Lisa is possibly the first permanent Latino resident in the region. Spain relinquishes control of the region that includes Iowa to the French. The United States pays $11.2 million for the Louisiana Purchase from the French. The United States removes most of the indigenous tribes from Iowa. First major groups of U.S. white settlers arrive in Iowa. Iowa becomes the 29th state. Census records 17 Latinos residing in Iowa. First Latino colonia (colony) is established at Fort Madison. U.S. census records 2,560 Latinos officially residing in Iowa, most arriving because of heavy recruitment of Mexican labor for sugar beet and railroad industries. Most believe there are hundreds of other Latinos not counted by the census.

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1930s 1938

1940s

1950s

1960s–1970s 1980s 1990s 2000 2002

2007

Great Depression; unconstitutional deportations of Mexicans take place nationwide. Many Iowa Latinos are forced to leave. Artist Lowell Houser completes “Evolution of Corn,” which depicts Mayan Indians and the Mayan corn god on a mural in an Ames, Iowa, post office. World War II and U.S. mobilization for the war. Nationally, 500,000 Latinos serve in the armed forces. Thirteen Latinos are awarded the Medal of Honor. Iowa Latinos/as serve the nation. Over 6,000 Mexican nationals (braceros) and Tejanos (Mexican Texans) are recruited to work in Iowa. Operation Wetback rounds up 1.2 million Mexicans and has them deported (1953–1954). Fort Madison, Iowa LULAC Council #304, established in 1957, becomes the first in Iowa. Iowa Latino population grows to approximately 30,000. Mexican American civil rights movement mobilizes Latinos in Iowa. Iowa farm crisis: meatpacking industry expands and begins heavy recruitment of Latino labor, which increases the number of Latinos in Iowa. Iowa experiences a large influx of Latinos. The release of the U.S. census reveals a 153 percent increase in the Latino population in Iowa since 1990. On October 14 the bodies of eleven Latinos are found in a train hopper car in Denison. These Mexican and Central American individuals were seeking work in the United States. Approximately 115,000 Latinos reside in Iowa.

Iowa

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Ames, Iowa, home to Iowa State University, a land-grant institution, is an unlikely place to begin the history of Latinos in Iowa. Perhaps this could be said about Iowa in general. Nonetheless, Ames is the home to two remarkable representations of Latino history that illustrate the migration of Latino culture and people to the state of Iowa. The first, located in the main post office in Ames, is a 18' ⫻ 6' oil on canvas mural titled “Evolution of Corn,” by Lowell Houser, a student of Grant Wood’s who painted the mural in the 1930s. Maize (corn) originated in Mexico 9,000 years ago, became a main staple for almost all indigenous groups, and had profound religious significance. It did not reach the region of Iowa until late in the first millennium C.E. The mural by Houser prominently depicts a Mayan Indian harvesting corn; and in the foreground is the Mayan corn god holding the hieroglyph for corn in its hand. Although it was not his intent, Houser—in depicting the migration, legacy, and importance of corn to Iowa—may have been the first to illustrate the history of Latinos in that state with his representation of Mayan history and their contributions to the development of agriculture, while simultaneously depicting the indigenous roots of Latinos. What is not well known is that some of the descendants of the Mayans, the Mexicans, made a similar migration north, albeit thousands of years later.1 The second representation is located in the heart of the Iowa State University (ISU) campus. Just off the central mall area is a totem-like fiberglass and urethane statue standing approximately ten feet. This statue depicts a Latino man carrying his wife on his shoulders, and carefully bundled within the wife’s rebozo (shawl) is an infant. At the base of the image is an inscription that partially reads Border Crossing: Cruzando el Río Bravo (Border Crossing: Crossing the Río Bravo; the Mexican name for the Rio Grande is actually Río Bravo del Norte). Originally, Luis Jimenez created this spectacular artwork in 1989 to honor the millions of Latinos who immigrated to the United States, including his father and grandmother, who came undocumented in 1924. Iowa State University invited Jimenez to campus in March 1999 to celebrate the resiliency of his family. What began as a temporary public art installation became a permanent fixture when the university reached an agreement to purchase the sculpture in 2000. The dedication and purchase of this art coincided with the establishment of the Latino Studies Program at Iowa State University and the release of census data indicating that the Latino population in Iowa had grown extensively. The objective of this entry is to illustrate the permanent presence since the mid-nineteenth century of Latinos in Iowa and their contributions to the development of the state.

DEMOGRAPHICS In the contemporary period Latinos represent the largest minority group in the nation. The origins of Latinos can be traced throughout the world, but the majority

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Latino America is from Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and southern Europe. The release of the 2000 U.S. census revealed a Latino population growing substantially and reaching beyond the traditional zone of the American Southwest. Nationally, between 1990 and 2000 the Latino population grew an astonishing 54 percent. Although the Latino diaspora is now more diverse than it was in the past, Latinos of Mexican origin remain the largest group. And during those same years Latinos of Mexican descent recorded the highest population increase among Latinos, at 52.9 percent, or from 13.5 million to 20.6 million. Nonetheless, nationwide other Latino groups experienced a significant increase in their populations, especially those from Central America. The 2006 U.S. census update revealed continued growth with an overall Latino population approaching 45 million. Although Mexicans remain demographically dominant, representing over 64 percent of all Latinos, immigration from El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, and Dominican Republic have statistically shown dramatic growth. Puerto Ricans (3,985,058) and Cubans (1,517,028) remain the second- and third-largest Latino groups in the United States. The current state population of Iowa is approximately 2,982,085, and it is 93 percent white (U.S. Census Bureau). Overall, Iowa is ethnically one of the least diverse states in the nation, has one of the slowest growth patterns, and has consistently lost people to other regions for the past three decades. One exception has been the growth of the Latino population.

BRIEF BACKGROUND The region that is now Iowa was quite diverse in the past. Iowa was inhabited by indigenous tribes—including the Ioways, Sauks, Meskwakis, Sioux, Potawatomis, Otos, and Missouris—long before the arrival of Europeans. Some sources indicate that the first Whites to travel in 1673 in what eventually became Iowa were French explorers. A critical mass of white settlers would not arrive until the Federal Government purchased, conquered, or appropriated by treaty land that belonged to the local Indians. Having been previously claimed by the French and the Spanish, Iowa was acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Officially, 1833 is considered the year in which the first white settlers arrived in Iowa. And in 1838 the U.S. Congress created the Iowa Territory. By the 1840s the last remaining Indians were removed from their ancestral lands, allowing for the arrival of additional white settlers. Without Indians and with a critical mass of European Americans, the Iowa Territory petitioned for statehood, receiving it in 1846. The state of Iowa became a receiving state for large numbers of European migrants who arrived in the second half of the nineteenth century. This first wave of European migrants was mainly composed of English and German nationals; the second wave, in the early twentieth century, included Swedes, Danes, Dutch, and Italians. The African

Iowa American population also began to arrive in Iowa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, primarily to work in the coal mines.

EARLY LATINO SETTLERS: COLONIAL PERIOD TO 1800S There are many historical moments in which Latinos or their descendants explored, occupied, or settled in what is now Iowa. Perhaps the first Latino in the region was the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who was the first European to see and explore the Mississippi in the early sixteenth century. De Soto’s exploration of the Mississippi may have taken him north to the outer boundaries of Iowa. Maybe Manuel Lisa, owner-operator of a 1780s fur-trapping business who married a Sioux Indian, was the first Latino resident in what became Iowa. If Lisa did exist, then in 1803 he became one of the first U.S. citizens in Iowa. During the period in which Spain controlled the region (1762–1801), it issued three land grants. However, the grants went to Spanish subjects of French ancestry. Nineteenth-century Mexican cowboys (vaqueros) also reached the southern and eastern boundaries of Iowa with the cattle drives into Nebraska. The 1850 U.S. census recorded 16 residents from Mexico and one from South America. It has been noted that when the railroad arrived in Muscatine in 1855, Mexicans helped build it, and a handful actually remained as permanent members of the community. In 1856 Iowa conducted a county-bycounty census and found the following: one Venezuelan living in Butler County, one Mexican in Clinton County; one South American in Dubuque County, eight South Americans in Iowa City, and one Chilean in Marion County. The Iowa census of 1895 recorded an overall Latino population of 30 individuals; however, it is likely many more resided in the region, but census remunerators may have undercounted the Latino population. In the late 1890s one of the first Latino colonias (colonies) emerged in Fort Madison, as a result of the recruitment efforts by the Santa Fe Railroad. Lastly, Iowa made a permanent connection to Mexico by naming two of its counties, Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista, in honor of U.S. victories over the Mexican army during the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848. The Spanish presence in Iowa is well known and well documented. Yet, the Spanish explorers left no long-term settlements. In their turn, the vaqueros and railroad workers were, by and large, transient until the late nineteenth century. Thus, Latinos in Iowa did not emerge as a significant and permanent population until the early twentieth century. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize and acknowledge the Spanish influence in the region as well as a small Mexican presence in Iowa starting in the mid-nineteenth century. The larger and more permanent movement of Latinos into Iowa began in the first and second decades of the twentieth century.

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LATINO MIGRATION TO IOWA: 1900–1920S The movement and development of the Latino population in Iowa is primarily a Mexican affair until the late twentieth century. Several factors contributed to the movement of the first Latinos to Iowa. The migration of Mexicans beyond the borderland regions can be traced to the economy of Mexico—which drove down wages—at the beginning of the twentieth century, the displacement caused by the violent phase of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), increased demand for labor in the U.S.-Mexican border region, competition for labor along the border region, the development of the sugar beet industries in the northern plains, and the demand for labor in the railroad industry. As these factors coalesced in the early twentieth century, Latinos migrated and were recruited into places like Iowa. Using a variety of sources such as municipal and church records, oral histories, census data, community studies, and local and regional newspapers, it is possible to determine the arrival of Latinos to Iowa. Historically there has been a trend in census data to undercount the Latino population, which is due to neglect and marginalization of that group. The U.S. census counted 509 first-generation Mexican Americans in Iowa in 1910, 616 Mexicans in 1915, and by 1920 the number has risen to 2,560. Fort Madison, located in southeastern part of Iowa, probably has one of the earliest Latino communities in the state, dating back to at least 1906, possibly even earlier. The Fort Madison Daily Democrat reported that on September 16, 1906, Latinos in the community celebrated Mexican Independence Day, and by 1922 fiesta committees were meeting on a regular basis. These types of celebrations indicate an organized and settled Latino population in Fort Madison. This period also coincided with the Santa Fe Railroad’s chief recruitment of Mexican labor. Evidence also indicates that Latinos resided in Iowa prior to U.S. involvement in World War I (1917–1918). During this era newspaper articles reported that because of language barrier, some Latinos were unaware they were required to register for the draft, which included resident aliens. Although Latinos could be found working in a variety of sectors in Iowa during the early twentieth century, such as packinghouses and cement factories, two industries employed the largest number of Latino workers—namely, the sugar beet and railroad industries. As the flow of migrants was disrupted and immigration restrictions were placed on Italians, Greeks, Poles, and Hungarians because of World War I, Latinos began to emerge in increasing numbers in the second decade of the twentieth century. In Iowa, Latinos were located in such places as Des Moines, Mason City, Davenport, Muscatine, Sioux City, Fort Madison, and Bettendorf. As early as 1915 The Bettendorf Company, which made train equipment, began to recruit and hire Latinos. Latinos worked in a variety of industries—such as steel mills, highway and building construction, tanneries, and brick houses. The first Mexican

Iowa

The Diaz family is an excellent example of the early arrival of Mexicans in Fort Madison, Iowa, ca. 1920s. Courtesy of the Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

sugar beet workers in Iowa arrived in 1917, but they were more noticeable in the early 1920s. The American Sugar Beet Company recruited some of the first Mexicans to Mason City. The Iowa Valley Operating Company (formerly known as Iowa Valley Sugar Company) recruited Mexican workers to its Belmond sugar refinery. Indeed, these companies were partly responsible for creating the first permanent Latino communities in Iowa by encouraging the workers to remain throughout the year to save on recruitment and transportation costs. Take for example the family of Ila Plasencia, whose father came to Iowa in 1918 to work in the rock quarry in Earlham, Iowa. Ila was born February 18, 1927, in Earlham, and her family eventually moved to Des Moines when her father received work at Hawkeye Portland Cement. The family of Lucy Prado, who was born January 1, 1929, arrived in Fort Madison around 1918 from the state of Guanajuato. Her father, Manuel Salazar, and mother, Ezekia Mendes-Salazar, met in Fort Madison in the early 1920s. Manuel Salazar worked for the Santa Fe Railroad, a company that provided boxcars for individuals and families to live in. By the early 1920s Mexican sugar beet workers could be found in Mason City, Belmond, Lakota, Fort Madison, and Britt. Many of these initial Latino workers

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Latino America were from Mexico, more specifically from the states of Michoacán, Guanajuato, Jalísco, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Coahuila. However, a large segment of this population was U.S. born and arriving from Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico. According to one source 2,018 Latino workers were recruited to work in Iowa in 1926. At the local level, Mason City, located in north central Iowa, illustrates the movement of Latinos into the region. In 1920 Mason City had a Latino population of approximately 113 individuals; this number had increased to 455 by 1928, because of the need for labor in the sugar beet plantations, cement companies, and packinghouses. Mexicans also picked other crops. For example, in the Quad cities area of Iowa and Illinois (Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, and Rock Island) onions were the prevalent staple harvest. In Pleasant Valley and Bettendorf, Iowa Mexicans worked on such farms as Shutter’s, Clements’s, and Blessing Garden. Another strong indicator of a permanent Latino presence is the emergence and development of organizations catering to the community. The early twentieth century saw a number of organizations and government entities facilitate the transition for Latinos from transient to permanent members of the community. The most widespread type of such organizations was the mutual aid societies (mutualistas). Las comisiones honoríficas (honorary commissions) were organizations fostered by the Mexican consular office in order to keep pace with the growing Latino population in such places as Iowa. In many cases these comisiones—whose members were exclusively males—acted as de facto consular offices, addressing the needs of the community and looking into cases of discrimination, exploitation, and abuse. Another role of the comisiones was to teach Latinos how to adapt to their new environment. Several sources report the appearance of La Cruz Azul Mexicana (the Mexican Blue Cross) in the 1920s, a charitable organization run by females and the counterpart to the comisiones. The primary role of the Blue Cross was to raise money for financially needy Mexican families, ensure the welfare of the Mexican population that fell on hard times, and in some cases provide transportation back to Mexico. A specific Iowa example of an honorary commission was the Bettendorf Latino community of the 1920s. Latinos living there celebrated religious and national holidays and created community institutions. David Macias arrived in Bettendorf in 1915 and became a community organizer and religious and social leader. Like the members of the comisiones and Cruz Azul, Macias understood the trauma of the recent Mexican migrant, and through personal involvement and the establishment of local organizations he helped ease the new arrivals into the community. By 1925 the overall Latino population in Iowa was approximately 2,597. By the late 1920s the Latino population had increased nationally and became more dispersed geographically. As the Great Depression settled in during the early 1930s Latinos became the scapegoats for the economic ills of the

Iowa country. As panic set in, prejudices easily rose to the surface with local, regional, and national public officials, creating campaigns to drive Latinos out of their areas, including Iowa.

REPATRIATION AND RESISTANCE: 1930S The removal of 500,000 Mexicans from the United States is well documented but not universally known. Indeed, few Americans realize that approximately 250,000 U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry were either forced to “voluntary” remove themselves or deported to Mexico in the 1930s. The Great Depression, as a rationalization, does not explain the removal of U.S. citizens and their deportation to Mexico. A number of factors coalesced in the 1920s and 1930s that created fear, panic, and hysteria above and beyond the Great Depression. The assault on Latinos in general, and on Mexicans in particular, began after the incorporation of Mexican territory by the United States in 1848; and by the turn of the twentieth century U.S. perception of Mexicans was heavily pejorative. In the early twentieth century, organizations and individuals drawing on the racist ideologies of social Darwinism and eugenics, which advocated white supremacy, viewed groups such as the mentally ill, those of mixed ancestry, and various immigrants as obstacles to the racial betterment of white society and as pollutants to European American ethos. These groups thus became targets for a number of official pogroms to eliminate their reproduction or movement into the United States. This gave rise to miscegenation laws, sterilization programs, and the exclusion of particular groups from immigrating to the United States. In general, Latinos were seen as a threat to U.S. society and often described as inassimilable, foreign, and criminally prone. The “Mexican problem” became a favorite expression during the 1920s and 1930s. Furthermore, public debates emerged as to why Mexicans were exempt from the 1924 National Origins Quota. As the debate leaned towards the inevitable, the Great Depression gripped the nation and provided a convenient mechanism for the repatriation and deportation of U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry. After California, the Midwest was one of the hardest-hit regions regarding the removal of Mexicans, with thousands repatriated from Chicago, Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Detroit. Mexicans in Detroit became one of the largest enclaves removed during this period. Mexicans were also removed in substantial numbers from Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota. Because the population of Mexicans living in Iowa was smaller than that in other northern Midwest states, Mexicans in that state were affected differently. The removal of Mexicans from Iowa was primarily conducted through economic rationalization, nativist rhetoric, and coercion. The reason as to why roundups and deportation were not used can be explained by the small Mexican population in Iowa, making such tactics economically prohibitive. By the late

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Latino America 1920s and early 1930s a large portion of the Latino community in Iowa were working in agriculture. As the prices for commodities fell in the 1930s, so did wages. For example, the rate for working in sugar beets fell from $28 to $10 an acre. Economic necessity forced many Mexicans in Iowa to look for work in other regions. In many instances, employers in Iowa began to implement a “white workers only” policy in their hiring practices, regardless of legal status (Garcia, 1996). Furthermore, New Deal legislation had little to no impact on Mexicans in Iowa, because many were refused assistance and most Mexican Americans were never told they were eligible for relief programs. For those Mexicans repatriated from Iowa it was a demoralizing and humiliating experience. Exact figures for the number of Mexicans who left Iowa during the 1930s are difficult to glean because they left under different circumstances. But regardless of how they left Iowa, they left in relation to the same sequence of events that saw thousands deported in the 1930s. An estimated 60 percent of all Mexican nationals from Midwest states such as Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa had returned home by 1932. Affected by the rising tide of discrimination, they fled areas out of concern for their safety. One group of Mexican repatriates from Des Moines was forced to beg for food while waiting for transportation to their destination. Some Mexicans avoided deportation by sheer luck. For example, the family of John Ortega settled in Des Moines in the 1920s, in an area along the Des Moines River called Box Town. John Ortega believes his own family escaped deportation because they were very fair skinned and had blue-green eyes. Ortega also recalls he and his siblings were allowed to sit on the main floor of the theatre because of their light complexion, whereas darker-skinned Mexicans and “Negroes” were forced to sit in the balcony. Other Mexican American families experienced similar hardships. One example is the family of Estefania Rodriguez, who was born in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1923. Estefania explains how her family survived by growing their own food and catching fish on the banks of the Mississippi. Her recollection of the relief and welfare programs was the allotment of a bag of flour to make tortillas. Estefania recalls being constantly hungry at the age of 10, her diet consisting mostly of beans and rice. During the Depression her father was able to find odd jobs in and around Bettendorf. The Rodriguez family is representative of some families who refused to leave the Midwest and like many other families in the 1930s eked out a living from wherever possible. Relief for Latinos, and the country as a whole, came in the late 1930s with the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

MEXICAN NATIONALS AND LATINOS: 1940S–1950S The Latino experience in Iowa during 1940s included demographic growth, community building, and strong support for the Allied war effort when the United

Iowa States entered World War II in 1941. By the end of 1945 over 500,000 Latinos had served in the armed forces, many with distinction. In the 1940s close to 3,000 Latinos were residing in Iowa. Like other U.S. citizens, Latinos in Iowa volunteered and were drafted into the war. Others never returned, giving their life for liberty, democracy, and freedom. One such individual was Private John M. Piloto who entered the Army on March 3, 1942, being killed in action in Germany on February 10, 1945. Private Piloto was born in Fort Madison on March 21, 1923, and he spent his entire short life in Iowa. Overall, Latinos are considered by many to have received the highest number of medals for valor of any ethnic group during World War II. According to one source Lando Valadez, from Des Moines, received one of the few Silver Stars awarded to Iowans. Latinas in Iowa played a vital role on the home front. Ila Plasencia had two brothers serving in World War II, and both were killed in action. One brother survived the Bataan Death March of 1942 in the Philippines, only to die as a prisoner of war. Ila, as a high school student, organized an allLatina organization called the Twelve Stars, which performed community work. During World War II members of Twelve Stars wrote letters and sent care packages to servicemen. One of the other great contributions Latinos and Latinas made during the 1940s was their labor for the war effort. In a twist of historical irony, as soon as the United States had deported nearly 500,000 Mexicans in the 1930s, almost an identical number was imported in the 1940s under a bilateral agreement. Historically, Latino labor has been viewed as tractable, expendable, and a necessary condition throughout the twentieth century. The movement of Latinos into Iowa during the 1940s is attributed to the global conflict that erupted in Europe and Pacific theatres of war that enveloped the United States in 1941. In short, because of a massive mobilization for the war effort, the United States found itself with a shortage of laborers in key areas, such as in agriculture and the railroad industries. One of the solutions for this dilemma was the development and implementation of the Emergency Farm Labor program in 1942 that advocated the use of multiple forms of labor to include children, prisoners, women, the elderly, as well as the importation of foreign labor. Overall, what became known as the Bracero program has been well documented for places such as California, Texas, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, but no studies exist examining the use of Mexican nationals in Iowa. By 1940 farmworkers in Iowa had declined by 10 percent, and seasonal workers by 35 percent. Iowa produced 10 percent of the nation’s food in 1940. Iowa, synonymous with farming, has a proud heritage and history of farm operators with their families not only managing the farm, but also being its principal laborers. World War II changed this historical trajectory. From 1943 to 1947 Iowa growers utilized numerous forms of labor, including the importation of Mexican nationals and the recruitment of Mexican Americans primarily from Texas. During that

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Latino America period 6,395 Mexican nationals were imported into Iowa, and 1,670 Mexican Americans were recruited. These Latino workers were used in harvesting peas, nursery stock, and grain; cutting asparagus; and detasseling corn. The typical use and reaction to Mexican labor during this period is probably best exemplified by the following observations reported by the Star Clipper of Traer, Iowa, in 1943. Approximately 100 Mexican Americans born in Texas and Montana were recruited to work in Iowa. This group was brought into Iowa by the Pioneer Company to detassel corn in the town of Reinbeck. According to the article these Mexicans were to be segregated from the local workers, but the article does not state why. Furthermore, the Ladies Aid Society of the Methodist Church of Reinbeck took on the task of feeding the Mexicans three meals a day. By 1947 the importation of Mexican nationals was reduced, but the continued recruitment of Latinos was maintained. In fact, Iowa reported that for the 1947 Emergency Farm Labor program, Latin Americans comprised 2.1 percent of the overall workforce. For Iowa, the Bracero program came to an end in 1947, but nationally it continued until December 31, 1964. For the remainder of the twentieth century a steady stream of Latinos entered Iowa, and as the population grew, it became more visible and active within the state. Overall, the permanent Latino population in Iowa during the 1950s was relatively small, probably not numbering over 4,000. However, several things hampered an accurate count. First, individuals of Latino background did not have a designator, and were put into the “white other” category. In the 1950s Iowa recorded 80 people under “other race.” Also, during this time the majority of Latinos were counted under the “white” category because the nomenclature “Hispanic” was not available. By the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s Latinos had been present in areas such as Fort Madison for almost 50 years. The Latino population was not evenly dispersed throughout the state, but it remained concentrated in regions where work was readily available—for example, in Fort Madison, Muscatine, Des Moines, Sioux City, Bettendorf, Davenport, and Mason City. A variety of indicators emerged in regards to the community formation that had taken place. As Latinos became established in their communities, organizations began to emerge that were initially social clubs. For instance, a Latin American organization was formed in Fort Madison that began as a culture conduit to the overall community. In fact, the Latin America Club of Fort Madison, founded in 1949, stressed the following points as an organization: religion, understanding, unity, and recreation. This organization eventually became the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) #304. Similar organizations emerged in other communities throughout the state. As the 1950s emerged, the United States found itself involved in the Korean War, which instigated another wave of Latinos to Iowa. Like World War II, the Korean War created the need for additional labor. Latinos heeded the call for

Iowa help in Iowa and came seeking employment. One historian indicates that Iowans had a difficult time focusing on the war because farm issues—ranging from persistent droughts to debates over farm taxes and the introduction of margarine into the U.S. markets—were prevalent during the 1950s. Of course this was a major concern for Iowan farmers who marketed butter. For the Latino generation returning from World War II and the Korean Conflict, Iowa became the place where change was needed. The relatively small Latino population organized itself in a variety ways during the 1950s to not only take its place in society but also to demand the same rights that many had fought and died for in the European and Pacific theatres of war. LULAC organizations sprang up in Davenport, Des Moines, Fort Madison, and Mason City, among other places. LULAC was a quasi–civil rights organization with its origins in the late 1920s. A chapter of the American G.I. Forum was established in Bettendorf. The American G.I. Forum was created in 1948 in Texas after servicemen of Latino origin were denied their veteran’s benefits. However, the G.I. Forum also demanded and fought for the basic rights of Latinos in the U.S. In general, the 1950s were a difficult period for many Latinos, especially for those who attempted to organize or were involved with unions. The communist scare of this era affected many Latino organizations by either driving them underground (which was due to government harassment) or in many cases by shutting them down, based on accusation of communism. The 1950s saw a new round of Mexican deportations under the military operational named Operation Wetback. During this three-year campaign approximately 1.2 million Mexicans were returned to Mexico. Iowa’s Mexican American generation paved the way for the next generation of Latinos. Furthermore, the late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed an increasing number of Latinos in Iowa that grew internally, but substantial growth came from migration, which created a more diverse Latino diaspora in regards to their place of origin.

CHICANOS

IN IOWA AND A

PAN-LATINO COMMUNITY: 1960S–1970S

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by the end of the 1960s the Iowa Latino population had grown to over 21,000. Some sources stated that number was in fact closer to 30,000. The majority of Latinos resided in the following counties: Black Hawk, Cerro Gordo, Des Moines, Lee, Linn, Muscatine, Polk, Pottawattamie, Scott, and Woodbury. The 1970 census shows a Latino population working primarily in clerical, craftsman, factory, and laborer positions. A large number of transient migrant workers—estimated in 1970 to be approximately 3,000—and undocumented Latinos are not included in the census data. These migrants were mostly U.S.-born individuals coming from states such as Texas, Missouri, Florida, and Colorado. A significant change occurred within the Latino

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Latino America population. Civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala created the displacement of a large number of individuals and families. As a result, a steady stream of migrants and political refugees began arriving in the United States. Iowa, a historical destination for migrant refugees, began receiving a significant number of Central Americans in the 1970s, which added to the diversity of the Latino community that had been, by and large, Mexican for most of the twentieth century. In some ways Iowa was the same as the rest of the country during the 1960s. The civil rights movement was alive and well in Iowa, with numerous groups ranging from student activism against the Vietnam War to the Black Movement. Simultaneously, although the state had diversified its economy, Iowa continued to be a major agriculture producer, and this remained a top priority for the state. Latinos in Iowa were engaged in an Iowan version of the civil rights movement. The evidence suggests that Chicanos in Iowa were politically active during the 1960s on many fronts.2 Because Iowa has strong agricultural roots and employs a large number of Latinos in this industry, it is not surprising that this is one of the areas Latinos mobilized to boycott, strike, and demand equitable treatment. Although Latinos embraced and supported some of the national farmworker movements— such as Cesar Chavez’s farmworkers movement and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee—Latinos had their local struggles in Iowa. For example, during the 1970s Davenport had a population of 3,000 Latinos. That city was the home of an Oscar Mayer processing plant that employed approximately 1,500 people, of whom only 18 had Latino background. Dolores Carrillo, a Davenport resident in the 1970s, had extensive experience working in factories, but was continually denied employment at the Oscar Mayer plant. Newspaper articles describe Carrillo’s efforts to organize a boycott against Oscar Mayer because of unfair hiring practices and prejudice at the workplace. In 1976 LULAC filed a grievance with the Department of Defense against International Harvester Corporation for discriminatory hiring practices against Latino applicants. The Department of Defense found International Harvester in violation of numerous hiring procedures that adversely affected Latinos. What these cases reveal is a politically active Latino community—an activism that has its roots in the early twentieth century—and the maturation of such organizations as LULAC, which were willing to confront companies to ensure that Latino basic rights were protected. This type of activism and involvement did not define all Latinos in Iowa during the 1960s and 1970s, but it rather demonstrates a common history with other Latinos throughout the country that provides a common experience, albeit with Iowan twists. The political development of the Latino community prepared it for the influx of thousands of additional Latinos in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Indeed,

Iowa Iowa experienced one of the largest demographic changes in its Latino population in the country.

LATINOS

IN IOWA,

1980–2000: CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

By the beginning of the 1980s the Latino population comprised over 26,000 people, and the region experienced the early signs of a Latino surge that increased in the coming two decades. Three developments explain why in the last two decades of the twentieth century Iowa experienced an increase in its Latino population. First, Iowa’s agriculture industries went through a stage of deindustrialization created by the emergence of global competition. In the Iowan context this meant that many farmers in Iowa found it difficult to remain economically viable; thus, during the late 1970s and 1980s Iowa suffered a farm crisis, with many growers losing their farms, whereas large corporate entities increased. For Latinos this meant fewer jobs in agriculture. Since the ending of World War II farming in Iowa has become increasingly capital intensive and less labor intensive. Latinos as a whole shifted to the manufacturing and service sector for employment in the second half of the twentieth century, especially the food processing and packaging industries. Deindustrialization also meant that certain sectors of the manufacturing base adjusted to the global competition by moving their operations abroad, de-unionizing, deskilling various industries, or going out of business. On the one hand Iowa’s economy suffered a serious blow, but on the other, a number of large manufacturing and labor-intensive industries relocated to Iowa to take advantage of the low overhead cost and to attract a particular type of labor. As jobs in meatpacking became less desirable for native workers because of low pay, lack of benefits, and poor work conditions, immigrants, especially Latinos, began to fill those positions. Overall, Iowa also experienced a drop in its young population, which was due to the changes in its economy and to individuals leaving to find employment elsewhere. The flight of Euro-American individuals and families from Iowa beginning in the 1980s explains the second factor for the rise in the Latino population in Iowa. The heavy recruitment and utilization of migrant labor by such companies as Iowa Beef Packers (IBP and now owned by Tyson Foods), ConAgra, Cargill, Hormel, and Swift, or the meatpacking industry in general, created a steady stream of Latinos into Iowa. The significance of these developments is that the Latino population in Iowa rose 27.8 percent between 1980 and 1990. The new Latinos consisted of Mexican nationals pulled by economic opportunities to the state, Latinos migrating from other states such as Texas and California—areas where jobs were becoming scarce because of an increase in the Latino population, which in turn increased competition—and Latino refugees fleeing war-torn regions of Central America. The final factor that contributed to the increase in the Latino population in Iowa was fertility rates. Nationally, the Latinos are one of the

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Latino America youngest population groups. The Latino population in Iowa increased substantially toward the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twentieth-first century. At the national level, the overall Latino population increased from 22.4 million in 1990 to 35.3 million in 2000. Iowa followed a similar trend. Indeed, the 1990 U.S. census recorded approximately 32,643 Latinos residing in Iowa, and by 1998 that number had increased to 56,936, that is, by 74.4 percent. By the year 2000 the number of Latinos had reached 82,473, or 2.8 percent of the overall Iowan population. This represented a 169.2 percent increase in the Latino population from 1990 to 2000. Although individuals of Mexican origin remained the largest subgroup of Latinos, at 61,154 or 74.2 percent, other groups are clearly represented in Iowa: 2,690 Puerto Ricans; 1,298 Guatemalans; 1,470 Salvadorans; and 750 Cubans. Historical factors explain the large discrepancy in number between individuals of Mexican origin and their Central and South American counterparts.

2000–PRESENT The significant increase in the Latino population in Iowa was met with a variety of different perspectives. Iowa has never been a homogenous white state, as there has always been an indigenous population and a Black diaspora since its beginnings. However, what is apparent is a white hegemonic apparatus that has controlled the region since the nineteenth century. For most of the twentieth century the Asian, Native American, Black, and Latino populations remained exceptionally small, thus never challenging or threatening the dominance of the Anglo population until the late twentieth century. Because Iowa continually lost people for decades, there were many in the state who encouraged and welcomed the movement of Latinos. For example, in the 1990s Iowa grew only 3.3 percent, whereas the nation grew to 9.6 percent. Most of the growth in Iowa was due to the movement of Latinos into the state. In fact, by the late twentieth century then governor Tom Vilsack officially proclaimed Iowa open to immigrants by establishing New Iowan Centers in Muscatine and Sioux City to help migrants find jobs and settle in. There was a mixed reaction to these developments. Some openly opposed the invitation to migrants strictly on prejudicial grounds, but others were concerned that an unchecked and unplanned growth based on migration would create more problems that it would solve. In the end, the momentum that had began a decade earlier continued unabated. In the early twenty-first century Latinos remained the fastest-growing group both nationally and in the state of Iowa. From 1990 to 2004, Iowa underwent a 221 percent increase in its Latino population, which contributed 97 percent of Iowa’s population growth for this fourteen-year period. As of July 2006 there are approximately 114,700 Latinos in Iowa, constituting almost 5 percent of Iowa’s population and representing a 28.1 percent increase from the 2000 census. Mexicans remain dominant at

Iowa 74 percent, Central Americans at 5 percent, Puerto Ricans at 3 percent, South Americans at 2 percent, Cubans at 1 percent, and other Latinos at 15 percent. Many of the factors mentioned earlier that explain this growth remain the same. It should be noted that the median age of Iowa’s Latino population is 24.6 years, whereas the overall median age for the state is 38.6. Occupationally, 37.1 percent of Latinos are employed in production, transportation, and material-moving positions. But a large percentage of Latinos are employed in the services industry, which has replaced agriculture as one of the main sectors of employment for Latinos. Yet, almost 20 percent of Latinos in Iowa are in managerial or professionally related occupations. Latinos also have a higher unemployment rate, at 7.7 percent, than the overall state rate of 5.3 percent; a significantly lower income, at $29,350, than the median income for the state of $43,609; and a much higher poverty rate, at 25.8 percent, than the state rate of 10.9 percent. Education remains a concern for Latinos: only 54.3 percent of Latinos age 25 and over have at least a high school education; 9.1 percent of Latinos age 25 and over have a bachelor’s degree or higher; and approximately 1 percent had a master’s, professional, or doctorate degree. As of 2006 Polk County had the largest population of Latinos, at 25,358. Counties such as Marshall, Buena Vista, Muscatine, Woodbury, Scott, and Crawford have large concentrations of Latinos. At the city level Des Moines, Sioux City, Davenport, Marshalltown, Muscatine, Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, Cedar Rapids, Perry, and Iowa City have the largest population of Latinos in the state. At the current rate of growth the Latino population in Iowa is projected to reach 305,900 by 2030. This extraordinary growth has been met with resistance, acceptance, and tolerance, but it has not translated into a political voice. Indeed, one consequence for Latinos was a nativistic reaction to their growth when in February 2002 the Iowa House of Representatives passed the English Language Reaffirmation Act. Governor Tom Vilsack signed the bill into law on March 1, 2002, thus making English the official language of the state. More importantly, as of 2005 there was only one Latino elected official in the entire state—a municipal official from Storm Lake. This is a most troubling fact, considering the high concentration of Latinos in certain counties and cities in Iowa. Thus, although Latinos are increasing their numbers and contributing to the growth and development of Iowa, they remain a politically marginalized group throughout the state. Latinos in Iowa recently surpassed the African American population to become the largest minority group in the state.

NOTABLE LATINOS Lisa, Manuel (1772–1820). A well-known fur trader and explorer who founded the Missouri Fur Company, Lisa was born in New Orleans of Spanish parents (his father was a government official from Murcia). Lisa became involved in the fur trade while in

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Latino America his teens. By 1796 he had married a widow, Polly Charles Chew, and was operating a trading vessel along the Mississippi River. In 1799 he obtained a land grant and relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. By 1800 he was a preeminent trader in the fur business, and he was granted a monopoly by the Spanish government in 1802 for fur commerce with the Osage Nation. Lisa was also involved in the preparation for the journey of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803–1804. Plasencia, Ila (1927–). Widely regarded as the most prominent Latino political activist in Iowa, Ila Plasencia was born in Earlham, Iowa, on February 18, 1927. Plasencia had played a pivotal role in various community groups by her late teens. In 1957 she began a long-term career with LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), an organization devoted to the political and social advancement of Latino/as in the United States. She helped to establish the first women’s LULAC council in Iowa, and in 1986 she became the first woman to hold the office of LULAC state director in the state of Iowa. In 1987 she became the first woman from Iowa to hold the office of LULAC national vice president for the Midwest (a 12-state region). Plasencia has also founded several Hispanic organizations and served as the first Latino in primary roles in a number of Latino organizations, including the Mexican American Bowlers League, the State of Iowa Spanish Speaking People’s Commission (the precursor of the Iowa Commission on Latino Affairs), and the Midwest Educational Resources Development Fund. She has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Award in recognition of her untiring contributions to the Hispanic Community. Vasquez Olvera, Mary (1927–). Political activist from Davenport, Iowa, who was involved in the Ladies Auxiliary of the Iowa chapter of the American GI Forum. She also cofounded the Quad Cities Viva Kennedy club with her husband. Campos, Mary E. (1929–). Mary E. Campos, born in McAlester, Oklahoma, in 1929, is an advocate for women and children in Iowa. She has helped to establish better relationships between people of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Campos serves on numerous boards and councils as a champion for human rights, including the Community Housing Education Resources, Bidwell Riverside Community Center, Des Moines Human Rights Commission, Hispanic Education Resource Center, Council for International Understanding, Mid-City Vision Committee, Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, Hispanic Ministry, Senior Citizens Advisory Council, Adult and Youth Ministries Diocese of Des Moines Advisory Council, and the Des Moines Register Advisory Council. She has also served as president of the United Mexican-American Community Center. Campos has been active politically, serving as the Hispanic representative to the Iowa Democratic Party in 1983 and as the cochair of the Polk County Democratic County Convention in 1992. With the Latino population increasing in Iowa, Campos spends countless hours helping non-English speaking families who are relocating to Des Moines and Perry to become more informed about social and health issues. Campos was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995. The Iowa Commission of Latino Affairs established an award named her honor. This first award was given to all the individuals who marched for immigrant rights in May 2006. Rivera, Tomás (1935–1984). Author Rivera was born in Crystal City, Texas, to migrant farmworkers. In his youth, he accompanied his parents as they labored in various parts

Iowa of the Midwest, including Iowa. These experiences had a discernable impact on his writing and his determination to succeed. The story “Tomás and the Library Lady” is based on his friendship as a child with a librarian in Iowa. Rivera is best known for y no se lo tragó la tierra (and the earth did not swallow him). In 1979 Rivera became the first minority to become chancellor in the University of California system (Riverside). The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California is named in his honor. Aguilar, Maria (1936–). Factory worker who was among the first Latinas to be hired to work at the International Harvester Company (IHC) Farmall plant in Davenport, Iowa. In 1973 Maria Aguilera applied for a job at IHC Farmall, but she was denied work on the grounds that she was too short. Aguilera, suspecting discrimination, pressured the company, being finally hired to work on the assembly line. Aguilera worked for International Harvester Company Farmall until 1982, when the plant closed down. Barceló, Nancy “Rusty” (1946–). Born in Merced, California, on June 5, 1946, activist and administrator Nancy “Rusty” Barceló earned a bachelor of arts degree in social welfare and corrections from Chico State University in 1969. Barceló arrived at the University of Iowa as a graduate student in 1970. In 1971 she and fellow students Antonio Zavalla and Ruth Pushetonequa founded the Chicano Indian-American Student Union (CIASU). Barceló earned her master of arts in recreational education in 1972. She left the University of Iowa to assume the position of coordinator of educational opportunity services at the University of Oregon, where she stayed from 1973 to 1975. After her time in Oregon, Barceló returned to the University of Iowa, where, in 1980, she became the first Mexican American to earn a doctoral degree from that university. Following her graduation, Barceló was hired by the University of Iowa, where she served as acting director of affirmative action (1982–1983), director of summer session (1981–1987), associate director at Opportunity at Iowa, (1987–1994), assistant dean (1981–1995), and assistant provost at Opportunity at Iowa (1995–1996). From 1996 to 2001, Barceló was associate vice president for multicultural affairs and the chair of the Chicana Studies Department at the University of Minnesota. She left that position in 2001 to become the vice president for minority affairs and diversity at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2006, Barceló was appointed the University of Minnesota’s first vice president and vice provost for equity and diversity. Barceló is responsible for developing and implementing a system-wide strategic plan for equity and diversity that is consistent with the university’s strategic positioning efforts. Barceló is credited as the moving force behind the National Initiative for Women in Higher Education (NIWHE). She has chaired Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) and the Washington State Native American Advisory Board (NAAB). Her honors include establishment of the Rusty Barceló Award at the University of Minnesota, which honors faculty, staff, and students who, through their own work on campus, foster multicultural community building. In 2004, Barceló received the Ohtli Award, a special recognition presented by the Mexican government to Mexicans or Latinos whose work has benefited Mexicans living abroad. Rundquist, Maria E. (1951–). Community volunteer Maria Eugenia Escamilla-Góngora Rundquist was born in 1951 to Addy Maria Luisa Góngora-Ceballos and Alberto Hernan Escamilla-Mendicuti, in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. She was one of six children.

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Latino America In many of her positions she has used her bilingual skills (English and Spanish) and her multicultural experiences to improve the lives of Latinos in Iowa. She served on the board of both Latinos en Siouxland and La Casa Latina of Sioux City. Rundquist served on the Iowa Commission on Latino Affairs from 1993 to 1995, and she was appointed to the Sioux City Human Rights Commission in 2003.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos in Iowa have been active in celebrating and integrating their unique and varied culture since their first arrivals to the state. Religious celebrations, media productions, and popular culture festivals continue to provide a venue for community solidarity among Latinos as an ethnic minority in the state.

RELIGION Mexican Catholicism has been part of Iowa since the movement of Latinos into the region during the nineteenth century. The strongest symbol of Mexican Catholicism is la Virgen de Guadalupe (the Virgin of Guadalupe), whose apparition was seen in Mexico City in 1531. La Virgen de Guadalupe has become a singular source of faith and unity for Latinos. Her appearances to Juan Diego are celebrated from December 9 to 12. In 1948 Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel was build at 801 Scott Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa, and it was used for decades as a parish and a center of activity for Latinos. Mexican Catholicism is also a transmitter of culture—ranging from traditional Latino weddings to baptisms, and the quinceañera, which is celebrated when Latina adolescents reach the age of fifteen—within the Mexican community. The origins of quinceañera are obscure, but it is likely a merging of indigenous and Christian religiosity that occurred after the conquest. And it has changed over the centuries. Traditionally, this rite of passage, for girls only, symbolized the age when a female accepted the Catholic Church as her faith and her entrance into womanhood. Today the celebration maintains its religious importance, but it also emphasizes a secular coming-of-age ritual. The celebration varies depending on the Latin American country or even the region of the United States. One major change from the past has been the willingness of churches to hold Spanish-only masses. Lastly, Latinos in the United States, including Iowa, for the last three decades have been leaving the Catholic Church for other denominations; however, most Latinos remain Catholic.

SPANISH LANGUAGE AND MEDIA Over 90,000 Iowans age 5 and older in 2005 spoke Spanish at home. Among those who speak Spanish at home, more than half say they speak English “very

Iowa well.” Approximately 14,000 individuals were identified as English-language learners in Iowa’s public and private schools during 2006–2007. This represents a 124.2 percent increase from the 1999–2000 school year. Throughout Iowa there are dozens of different media that caters to the Latino population, ranging from newspapers to magazines to radio. For example, El Enfoque, from Perry, Iowa, is a sports and soccer magazine catering to the interest of Spanish-speaking Latinos. Traditional Spanish-speaking newspapers such as El Latino Newspaper cover a wide area that includes Council Bluffs, Central and Eastern Iowa, and Omaha. La Ley, KBGG 1700 AM, is a Spanish-language radio station based out of Urbandale, Iowa. VOCES, a biweekly Spanish newspaper, covers a large portion of eastern Iowa.

POPULAR CULTURE The oldest Latino festival in Iowa is perhaps the Mexican fiesta held annually in Fort Madison. It is at least 102 years old. The first-recorded Mexican fiesta took place in 1906 in celebration of Mexican independence. Overall, this festival celebrates Fort Madison’s Latino heritage with food, music, dance, art, and fundraising for scholarships. Latino Iowans have also introduced such celebrations as Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla. Each year between September 15 and October 15 Latinos and other Iowans celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

NOTES 1. Most scholars and scientists attribute the origins and cultivation of corn to central Mexico. As such, maize has been one of the primary staples of Mexican diet for over 9,000 years. Ceneotl and Chicomeocoatl represent the God and Goddess of corn, respectively, and they were worshipped by various indigenous groups in Central Mexico. I use Chicomeocoatl metaphorically, in conjunction with the immigration/migration of Mexicans to the state of Iowa, which happens to be synonymous with the cultivation of corn in the United States. 2. The term Chicano was adopted by many U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry who were actively involved in their communities. The indigenous roots of Chicanos allowed many to embrace their Indian past with honor. Not all Mexican Americans embrace this term.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Balderrama, Francisco, and Raymond Rodriguez. Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s. 2nd ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006. Garcia, Jerry. Mexicans in Iowa. Unpublished manuscript. Garcia, Juan R. Mexicans in the Midwest, 1900–1932. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996.

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Latino America Santillan, Richard. A Social and Cultural History of the Midwest. Unpublished manuscript. Schwieder, Dorothy. Iowa: The Middle Land. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1996. Star Clipper, Traer, Iowa, 1943. University of Iowa Libraries, Women’s Archives, Mujeres Latinas Project. Valdes, Dennis Nodin. Al Norte: Agricultural Workers in the Great Lakes Region, 1917–1970. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991. ———. Barrios Norteños: St. Paul and Midwestern Mexican Communities in the Twentieth Century. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. Vargas, Zaragosa. Proletarians of the North: Mexican Industrial Workers of Detroit and the Midwest, 1917–1933. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

17 KANSAS David Knowlton

CHRONOLOGY 1541

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Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado and his troop enter Kansas, searching for the Pueblo Indian village Las Humanas, also known as Gran Quivira, thus starting Spanish involvement with Kansas. Juan de Oñate, governor of Spanish New Mexico, leads an expedition to Kansas. French explorer Robert LaSalle claims the land along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for France. The Pedro de Villasur expedition leaves Santa Fe and crosses Kansas to attack a Pawnee village allied with France. The expedition is defeated by the Pawnees. Spain acquires Kansas as part of the transfer of Louisiana from French to Spanish control. Louisiana and Kansas return to French control through a secret treaty between Napoleon and the King of Spain. France sells Kansas, as part of the Louisiana Purchase, to the United States. Facundo Melgares leads a Spanish expedition from New Mexico across Kansas to establish trade with Indians and to contest U.S. claims to the lands west of the Mississippi. The William Becknell expedition, from Missouri, reaches Santa Fe, New Mexico, and opens the Santa Fe Trail between Kansas City and Mexican Santa Fe.

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President Abraham Lincoln signs the Pacific Railroad Bill, leading to massive building of railroads in Kansas. Beginning of the heyday of cattle drives from Texas to Kansas railheads, which depended on Latino vaqueros and survive in the folk song Corrido de Kiansis. Garden City Sugar Beet Company is founded and hires Mexicans to work in its large holdings of sugar beet fields in southwestern Kansas and in its beet processing factory. This leads to the foundation of a Latino colonia (colony) in Garden City. The Atcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, along with other rail companies, actively recruits Mexican labor. The arrival of Mexican workers to Kansas prompts the establishing of Latino communities in every Kansas railroad town. Anglo parents in Emerson, Kansas, demand segregated schooling for Mexican students, which leads to the education of Latino children in school basements in Kansas. Clara Barton School, a public institution for Mexican children, opens in Argentine, Kansas, on the demand of Anglo parents for segregated education. Two hundred Anglo parents encircle the Major Hudson School in Kansas City, Kansas, to demand that four Mexican boys, who had been admitted, be removed from the school. This incident contributed to segregated elementary education for Latinos in Kansas.

Kansas 1925

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Saturnino Alvarado and other Kansas City parents begin a fight for their children to be admitted into Kansas City high schools when the Alvarado children and others are denied admission to 9th grade at the Argentine High School. Luz Alvarado, Jesús Alvarado, Marcos de León, and Victorina Pérez are admitted to Argentine High School. Luz Alvarado, Jesús Alvarado, and Marcos de León become the first darker-skinned Latinos to graduate from Argentine High School. Treaty between Mexico and the United States establishes the Bracero program, which leads to new migration to Kansas. First publication of the newspaper Aztlán de Leavenworth in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary with the poet Raúl R. Salinas as editor. Salinas also composed the important Chicano poem “Un Trip through the Mind Jail” while at Leavenworth. Formation of the Association of Mexican American Students—later Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), and then Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO)—at the University of Kansas. Paul Feleciano is elected to the Kansas state legislature. The Kansas Advisory Committee on Mexican American Affairs is founded by Kansas governor Robert Bennett. Its name was subsequently changed to Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission. El Centro Inc., the largest Latino service organization in Kansas, is founded. Paul Feleciano is elected to the Kansas state Senate. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City is founded by 25 Latino business leaders. The Kansas Advisory Committee on Hispanic affairs is founded by the Kansas state government. This organization later became the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission. Governor Janet Sebelius signs into law legislation that enables illegal migrants who had graduated from Kansas high schools to pay in-state tuition, without being asked their immigration status. Delia García becomes the first Latina elected to the Kansas state legislature. Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius signs HB 2140, the law that makes English the official language of Kansas, thereby requiring state agencies to carry out official business in English with limited exceptions.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW EARLY HISTORY The Spaniard Francisco Vázquez de Coronado and his entourage were the first Europeans to enter the territory that became Kansas.1 Coronado and his men left

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Latino America Mexico City, traveled to New Mexico, and then headed northeastward onto the plains. In 1541 Coronado entered what is now Kansas, where he spent some three months before returning to Mexico. On this trip Vázquez de Coronado and his men were looking for Gran Quivira, a town on the plains about which the Pueblo Indians had told him. Gran Quivira was part of a network of trade that extended to Mexico.2 Five hundred years ago, central Kansas held Indian towns made possible by agricultural improvements and by trade routes that connected Pueblo Indians of the Southwest, the hunters and farmers of the plains, the riverine Indians of the east and south, and the civilizations of the Valley of Mexico. As Spain consolidated its colonial empire, Kansas was further drawn into its domain. Spanish traders now joined the Indians working the networks to the north, as did occasional Spanish military expeditions. As a result people and products flowed between New Spain and Kansas. Indians who were detribalized (genízaros) through colonial warfare and slave trading not only formed an important population of the Spanish frontier but also drew Kansas’s other Indians into the Spanish empire. Juan de Oñate, the Spanish governor of New Mexico, entered Kansas with his army in 1601 to search again for Gran Quivira.3 Other Spaniards entered Kansas to continue to colonize the Indians who had fled to Kansas after the sixteenth-century Pueblo Revolt. One such group, primarily from the pueblo of Taos, settled in western Kansas. The Spanish attacked their settlement, known as El Cuartelejo, several times.4 The Pedro de Villasur expedition of 1720 crossed Kansas on its way to contemporary Nebraska to attack the Pawnee, who were allies of the French and who had defeated Villasur and his men. In 1806, the Facundo Melgares expedition crossed Kansas to foment trade with the Indians and to contest U.S. control of the land west of the Mississippi.5 Drawn into the conflicts of European and later U.S. governments, Kansas stood between the French and the Spanish. When in 1762 Spain acquired Louisiana from the French, Kansas was part of a massive Spanish land claim in North America. The rise of Napoleon led the king of Spain to return Louisiana to the French in a secret treaty known as the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In 1803 Napoleon sold Louisiana to the North Americans. Spain did not accept the North American claim to land west of the Mississippi. Nevertheless, Spain was soon caught up in the wars of independence in its own North American colonies, and that country could not push its claims, as U.S. power and presence grew. Kansas became a border zone between the Anglo-Americans on the Mississippi and the Spanish in New Mexico. Building on earlier trading with Santa Fe, Anglo traders from Missouri established in 1821, the year of Mexican independence, the famous Santa Fe Trail that crossed Kansas to New Mexico.6 From New Mexico the nineteenth-century Spanish trail Camino de California (now called the Old

Kansas Spanish Trail) continued to the California coast, opening trade with the Pacific.7 Kansas lay near the eastern terminus of overland highways. Traders from the population mix of New Spain and then Mexico—European, Indian, and African— worked this trail, as did Anglo merchants. Although the United States established a presence in Kansas through settlers and built a new history, the old connections with Mexico were not long in reasserting themselves, even though in 1848 the United States took Mexico’s northern territories.

THE PERIOD

OF

RAILROADS

Europe and the United States had a voracious appetite for the products from Kansas’s plains. The acquisition of Kansas’s goods and their movement to urban markets became ever more important. In 1862 President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Bill to encourage the building of a transcontinental railroad as well as many regional rail connections.8 Although the Civil War delayed construction, rail companies were chartered and received federal land grants for every mile of rail built. The railroads lowered costs of transportation, established rail ports for acquisition and shipment of goods, and opened land for colonization.9 As a result, beginning in 1860 herds of cattle that had flourished in Spanish— and then Mexican and Anglo—Texas were driven to Kansas’s railheads such as Abilene and Dodge City. Entrepreneurial drovers would round up cattle and drive them to Kansas for sale in difficult and often dangerous cattle drives.10 Many of the cowboys who worked the trails were Spanish-speaking Texans as well as people from across the new border with Mexico, where there was a long tradition of herding cattle. The traditions that gave rise to the North American cowboy developed in northern Mexico—an area which included Texas—from where they were passed on to Anglo Americans. The Latino cowboys had their own culture and traditions, and at the same time they were foundational in building this Anglo institution.11 In the cattle drives there was cultural conflict between Anglos and Latinos. As Anglos increased their social and economic dominance—with concomitant prejudice and discrimination—resentment and anger bloomed among Latinos. Both the drama of the drive and cultural conflict became part of the corridor, a foundational genre of Mexican American folk song, and hence Latino literature. The Corrido de Kiansis is an example of this type of song (Kiansis was the name used in local Spanish for what is now called Kansas).12 The corrido, a type of ballad sung in Spanish, is an important genre of folk song along the U.S.-Mexican border and in the norteño music that has accompanied Mexican migrants. In it the tensions of life as experienced by Spanish speakers and Latinos in the United States are narrated and examined. The Corrido de Kiansis is the earliest complete example of the corrido form recorded, although the corrido probably already existed among the Spanish-speaking population of Texas.13

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Latino America The Corrido de Kiansis has many versions. In its classic form, instead of the conflict becoming violent, as in later corridos, it was generally resolved with the Spanish subjects of the corrido demonstrating their moral worth and physical prowess and skills as superior to those of the Anglos. For example, one version told how 30 North Americans could not control 500 steers; yet, once “five Mexicans arrived,/all of them wearing good chaps, and in less than a quarterhour,/they had the steers penned up.”14 Hence, the Corrido de Kiansis presented a variety of ethnic triumph at a time of substantial ethnic conflict. The cattle drives ended in the late 1880s, when costs of shipping cattle from Texas declined, barbed wire allowed the plains to be fenced, and quarantines were enforced against Texas cattle. The railroads opened a new period of Kansas’s Latino history. By 1890, the railroads extended into Mexico and connected with the U.S. rail network. Around the turn of the century the railroad companies began recruiting Mexican workers to fill the demand for lower-level workers. The railroads enabled the development of agribusiness on the plains and thereby created a demand for farmworkers. Processing industries—such as the sugar beet processing plant in Garden City, Kansas, which also depended on Mexican labor—developed around agriculture.15 The railroads facilitated the workers’ recruitment in Mexico and transportation to the fields.16 As a result the first decade of the twentieth century saw Mexicans settle in almost every Kansas town and city that had a rail connection.17 There the migrants formed neighborhoods and built local Latino culture. Initially, it was expected that both migrant farmworkers and rail workers would return to Mexico in the off-season, but the combination of farmwork and railroad work enabled Mexican families to settle in Kansas. By 1930 Mexicans and Mexican Americans formed 1 percent of the total Kansas population and, at the time, Kansas Mexicans were one of the larger Latino communities in the United States.18 Mexicans were also the second-largest migrant group in Kansas, after the Germans. 19 Kansas’s population was highly rural, with only about 30 percent of the total population living in cities; yet, its Latino population was almost two-thirds urban.20 Mexican colonias (neighborhoods) developed in cities despite the importance of Latinos as a migrant agricultural workforce.21 The Catholic Church was a center of life, as were stores and other businesses that focused on the Mexican clientele. Newspapers, such as El Cosmopolita of Kansas City, were founded.22 Parades and civic festivals—such as those celebrating Mexican Independence Day, the 16th of September, and Benito Juárez’s birthday—were held. Local culture and language were built in these neighborhoods that continues to have resonance in contemporary Kansas Latino life. Two central Mexican states of the Bajío, Michoacan and Guanajuato, dominated migration to Kansas.23 People followed family members and others from

Kansas their hometowns to settle in enclaves. From there they established connections back to their towns of origin, and people moved back and forth. A separate group of migrants passed through Kansas as part of the three main migrant farmworker streams that worked in the United States. The Depression hit hard, and many Mexicans returned to Mexico because of the downturn and the dustbowl. As much as a quarter of the Latino population left.24 Nevertheless, during World War II demand for Mexican labor increased once again.

DEVELOPING DIVERSITY Prior to World War II the Latino community of Kansas consisted almost entirely of a first generation of Mexican migrants and their children. With World War II the community developed connections beyond the boundaries of local neighborhoods and became more organizationally diverse. During World War II the United States needed Mexican labor. As a result, in 1942 it signed the Bracero program, the first of several treaties with Mexico to import labor for short periods of time. Nevertheless, migration was not a strong factor in the growth of the Kansas Latino community after the war. The demand for farmworkers was met by migrants who came in a great stream from south Texas to Canada, following demand for work in the wheat fields and in the sugar beet fields, until this latter crop declined in the 1950s. Although some migrants did settle out, seasonal movement in search of work characterized this mid-century population. The classic work y no se lo tragó la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Them (1971), by the great Chicano writer Tomás Rivera, witnessed the experience of migrant labor in Kansas.25 As a boy, Rivera and his family worked the fields as part of the migrant stream. Nevertheless, the Bracero program and its social incentives for people to not return to Mexico but to settle in the United States, even without legal documentation, had a different impact in Kansas. Because a population of what is called undocumented workers, or illegal migrants, increasingly became a matter of political concern, the United States developed a bureaucracy to attempt to track and deport people who did not have proper documents. The transfer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Justice Department of the Federal Government in 1940 marked the beginning of a political concern with controlling and limiting Mexican migration at a time when demand for workers increased. Migration, legal and otherwise, and the activities of “la Migra,” as the INS was called in the Mexican community, became increasingly important in the consciousness of Kansas’s Latino community. The Latino community of Kansas became progressively differentiated by historical experience, time of migration, and generations in the United States.26

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Latino America Although there was a trickle of migrants entering the Latino community at midcentury, Kansas’s Latino community developed primarily in the succession of generations, from migrant parents who came in the early decades of the century to a war generation that grew up in the United States and whose children lived the social struggles that shook the country in the 1960s. Their lives were a successive struggle to gain access to mainstream society and to move up socially. Nevertheless, a great period of migration was to come in the last decades of the twentieth century, which was due to difficult conditions in Mexico and an increasing demand for Mexican labor in Kansas. For example, Garden City, in southwest Kansas, developed an early, and important, Latino community because of sugar beet cultivation and processing as well as railroad work in the area.27 Today the county in which it is found, Finney County, has the highest relative percentage of Latinos in Kansas, 43.5 percent.28 This number is the result of almost 100 years of a community producing multiple generations and receiving new migration from Mexico and other countries in Latin America. This difference between those who had arrived earlier and those who have recently arrived in Kansas causes some tension within the community, which creates a separation of interest between new migrants, many of them undocumented, and long-time Garden City residents. Southwestern Kansas, where Garden City is located, is one of the locations where a number of industrial meatpacking plants are concentrated in the United States (in fact, Southwestern Kansas may have the largest concentration of meatpacking plants in the United States).29,30 Instead of being scattered across many states, or located in urban areas at centers of rail connections such as Kansas City or Chicago, this industry is now concentrated under a few corporations and in a few rural locations of the United States. The development of relatively inexpensive highway transportation of cattle, changes in the system of slaughter, and changes in conditions of labor enabled this concentration. The meatpacking industry actively courted refugee and migrant labor, and these new migrants entered Latino communities formed in earlier historical periods. The United States needed Mexican American soldiers during World War II. Latino young men enlisted in the armed services in numbers that were proportionally far greater than their representation in the general population. For example, out of a total population of 800 persons, 52 Latino men from Florence, Kansas, joined the armed forces.31 More than 300 men from the Latino community of Topeka enlisted.32 In some cases all of the Latino young men of a given community were in the armed forces. Latinos enlisted for many reasons—for example, to demonstrate loyalty and commitment to the United States despite the discrimination they faced in their home communities. Enlisting was also a vehicle to citizenship for those who did not yet have it. Latinos received many honors for their wartime service.

Kansas While in the military, Kansas’s Latinos met men from all over the country. Their consciousness was raised through sharing stories with other Latinos about discrimination and prejudice throughout the country. The recruits developed, as a result, an identity as a distinctive population in the United States, and not just in their local community, as well as a commitment to fight against the discrimination they faced at home. Besides developing a growing ethnic consciousness, they also formed networks of friends from many places. The veterans linked Kansas’s scattered Latino communities to national networks of activists.33 Despite civic discrimination, during the war and after, Latinos saw opportunities for jobs open up for them outside of those they traditionally held. Nevertheless, they were limited by the barriers to education and, in the case of veterans, to full access to the benefits of the GI Bill. The postwar period was one of activism and formation of organizations to fight for social access and development. At first these were local fights, but then they became national. Latino communities as a result became more complex organizationally, and they also began to develop a generation of Latinos born to parents who themselves had been raised in the United States. During the 1990s migration from Mexico increased, and, at the same time, the migrant stream diversified. More and more people came from southern Mexican states that previously had provided few migrants. Latinos from other countries were also migrating, some because of the civil wars in Central and South America, and some because of economic crisis. Almost 40 percent of the Latino population in Kansas is foreign born; of those in this group, 74 percent arrived between 1990 and 2005.34, 35 This recent period of Latino migration and growth is comparable only to the first decade of the twentieth century. New migrants grapple with established Latino communities, as they build their own. Most migrants came to places such as Kansas City because they already had family there, and these ties cut across lines of difference. Despite that, the new migrants found communities with their own languages—not the Spanish of Mexico, but languages heavily inflected by life in the United States. To these the migrants had to acculturate, and at the same time their own languages were a force for continued Mexican culture and influence. Instead of weakening, which happened to most migrant languages, Spanish continues nourished by the substantial stream of new migrants.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION The Latino community of Kansas faced substantial discrimination in the early part of the century. They were segregated by residence and within many public facilities— such as churches, schools, and city parks. Anglos used many arguments for separation, including supposed linguistic and racial inferiority. Anglo ideas of race did not easily fit the Latino population, which had its own categories for racial and, thus,

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Latino America social distinction. Nevertheless, Anglos attempted to draw racial lines in accordance with their own notions; they separated lighter-skinned Latinos, who could pass as Spanish, from darker-skinned ones, who faced racial and cultural exclusion. Within segregated neighborhoods, community organization flourished around businesses, sports, music, dance, celebrations, and religious devotion. The Latino community encouraged the Catholic Church to provide religious and other services to the predominantly Catholic Latinos. The Church, as a result, was a central place of social existence. For example, in Topeka in 1914 the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe was formed following a conversation between a local Latino, Pedro López, and a Spanish speaking-priest, Rev. Epifanio Ocampo. Mutual aid societies were also formed—such as the Sociedad Morelos, the first formed in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City—or the Sociedad Mútua Benito Juárez in Garden City. Not only did these associations assist members in times of difficulty, but they also served, along with Catholic parishes, as an organizational base for the development of civic festivals. These festivities connected Mexican culture and history, including sacred history, with the lives of Latinos in Kansas. For example, in 1917 Chanute organized its fiesta to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and the Grito de Dolores—the shout of Father Hidalgo for Mexican independence—on September 16, when it is still celebrated. The Latino community in Kansas City held a parade to celebrate September 16. In 1922 Garden City’s Latino community came out in great numbers to celebrate Benito Juárez’s birthday, and as a result, in 1925 they initiated a fiesta that is ongoing. In Topeka the parish organized a fiesta in August 1932 to raise funds. Now celebrated in July, this fiesta is also ongoing. The types of organization that developed in Kansas were somewhat different from those found in many other migrant communities. Instead of associations built on common place of origin and established to provide mutual assistance, in Kansas these associations developed around the Church, in an effort to present migrants as residents of the United States and not as foreign nationals. The fight against prejudice also led to the creation of organizations that sought change. In Kansas City, El Cosmopolita, a Spanish-language newspaper, was founded in 1915 with the objective of unifying the community and obtaining political and social acceptance and respect for the Mexican community.36 In the 1920s, darker-skinned Mexican children in Kansas City faced strenuous negative reactions from Anglo parents if they tried to attend public schools, especially in the neighborhoods with a greater concentration of Mexican migrants.37 Lighterskinned students were often classified as Spanish, thus being allowed admission. If admitted, the Mexican students were segregated in separate classrooms. Although the Catholic Church provided education for Mexican students, the fear of enrollment of Latino youths in public schools led Anglo parents of Argentine to pressure for the formation of a segregated Mexican school. In response, the Clara Barton School, specifically created for Mexican children, opened in 1923. It lasted

Kansas until destroyed by the flood of 1951 and, although segregated, it was responsible for forming generations of upwardly mobile Kansas Latinos.38 However, there was no high school darker-skinned Mexican children could attend in Kansas. Saturnino Alvarado, from Michoacán, Mexico, wanted his children to be educated.39 Along with other parents in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, where there was a heavy concentration of Latinos because of proximity to the rail yards, Alvarado organized and took action to demand admission to high school for all Mexican children after his two children—Luz and Jesús, along with Victorina Pérez and Marcos de León—were removed from school because of pressure from Anglo parents. At the end of a two-year struggle the activists were successful, and they had broken a major social barrier in Kansas. In 1930, Luz, Jesús, and Marcos de León graduated from Argentine High School. There had been a small number of lighter-skinned, Anglicized Latinos who had graduated prior, but these three were the first to break the color and culture barrier in Kansas City schools. But in Kansas City the barriers to discrimination in public education for Latino students would not fall completely until a decade after World War II. In the 1960s, as the civil rights movement demanded the removal of racial barriers, the Chicano movement exploded. Although Kansas is not one of the core settlement zones where the movement originated, important events took place in Kansas, and the Chicano movement led to greater social consciousness and the formation of social and political organizations that embraced both local national and concerns. During this period local Latino communities became connected with Chicano communities and with activists in the Southwest and elsewhere. A national consciousness of Latinos as Chicano was developing, although it had to compete with other local identities. Kansas activists participated in national Chicano events. For example, Kansans attended the National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado, in March 1969, organized by the activist and poet Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales.40 From the conference came the important Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, which presented a plan of action for the Chicano community. Surprised by the attendance of Chicanos from Kansas, the poet Alurista is reported to have said, “I didn’t know there were any Mexicans in Kansas!”41 The ideas that emerged from national events such as the National Youth Conference and the writings of Chicano intellectuals found fertile soil in Kansas’s Latino neighborhoods. There, local intellectuals and activists put together national thinking and local concerns and issues by writing in local daily and weekly publications. These newspapers and newsletters spread a national Chicano consciousness in Kansas that was connected with local concerns. In 1971 Latino students at the University of Kansas formed the Association of Mexican American Students. In 1974 that association was renamed Movimiento

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Latino America Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA).42 By this change, members signaled a connection with Chicano consciousness and political action. MEChA is a national organization that developed out of preexisting California and Texas student organizations. Ideas of Aztlán and Chicanismo took root in another Kansas institution a bit earlier. The Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, had an important group of Latino prisoners. Like Latino prisoners, known as pintos, in other penitentiaries, many Latino prisoners at Leavenworth developed a political and literary consciousness, thus becoming important Chicano intellectuals while behind bars. Their physical imprisonment became a metaphor for the social confinement they felt as Chicanos. At Leavenworth, a group of prisoners influenced by a range of Third-World and other radical thinkers such as Frantz Fanon and Che Guevara explored issues of racism, colonialism, class analysis, and national liberation as a basis for activism. This group included Raúl R. Salinas, Ramón Chacon, Standing Deer, and Rafael Cancel Miranda.43 The broad ethnic, racial, and national interests and backgrounds of these prisoners built a critical context, both national and international, for thought. The inmates also organized themselves to fight for prisoners’ rights, and they took control of their education. At their request a course was taught at the prison by Francisco Ruiz, of Penn Valley Community College, in Kansas City. This course was called Cultural History of the Southwest. From this class came the newspaper Aztlán de Leavenworth, in which Salinas’s important poem “Un Trip through the Mind Jail” was first published. The group that created Aztlán de Leavenworth also organized the Chicanos Organizados de Rebeldes de Aztlán (C.O.R.A.), an association that worked to ensure prisoners’ rights. Like in other states, the penitentiary became a breeding ground for Chicano activists and intellectuals. The publications by the prisoners were distributed widely in the community outside the prison’s walls.44 The 1960s and 1970s brought not only activism connected with the Chicano movement but also attempts at community organization and social justice, as well as efforts by the Latino elite to claim a place in society. In 1963 Kansas veterans began chapters of the GI Forum, a national Chicano service and advocacy organization.45 The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) started its roots in Kansas around World War II, and it became a force in the state.46 Local organizations, such as El Centro of Kansas City, were founded as nongovernmental entities, and they began seeking federal and state funding to provide social services. Latino-owned businesses also felt the need to have a voice in Kansas’s society. As a result the Latino business owners organized Hispanic chambers of commerce. The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1977, and it was located in Kansas City, from where it later moved to Washington, DC.47

Kansas In 2005 Kansas City native Michael L. Barrera became president and CEO of that national organization. His father, Richard Barrera, was one of 25 businessmen who started that Kansas City organization.48 Latinos also began to seek elected offices in Kansas. Jim Martínez, of Hutchinson, was the first Latino elected to a city council position in 1969. In 1970 he became mayor of that city.49 Similarly, D.C. García was elected to the Garden City Council in 1970, before becoming mayor in 1974. In 1973 Paul Feleciano was elected to the lower house of the state legislature, before becoming a state senator in 1976. Currently, there are four Latinos in the state legislature, three Democrats and one Republican. Kansas Latino elected officials are also involved in national associations of Latino elected officials. The Kansas native Janet Murguía, who began her political life as an aide in the U.S. Congress and in the White House, is currently the executive director of the National Council of La Raza. She is one of many Kansas Latinos who occupy leadership positions in the nation’s Capitol, both in government and in nongovernmental organizations. Many Kansans are found in the ranks of government and business management. On May 1, 2006, as in other states, Kansas experienced some of the largest demonstrations in Kansas history. Migrants and those who embrace their cause walked off work to ask for migration reform. Migration and the presence of a large Spanish-speaking community have become a difficult political issue in Kansas. In 2004 Governor Janet Sebelius signed into law legislation that enables illegal migrants who had graduated from Kansas high schools to pay in-state tuition, without being asked their immigration status. This law has, along with similar legislation in several other states, become a lightning rod for anti-immigration activists. University of Kansas law professor Kris Kobach is a prominent opponent of such legislation, calling it unconstitutional and a violation of federal law. Nonetheless, a legal challenge to the law was dismissed in July 2005, when a federal judge ruled that plaintiffs had no standing to bring suit. Several other judicial challenges to the law are still active. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican senator, was chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, where he shepherded legislation supporting refugee asylum cases. Senator Brownback cosponsored in 2003 an unsuccessful piece of legislation in the Senate known as the Dream Act, which would have provided the means for resident illegal migrants to pay resident tuition at institutions of higher education. Despite his strong conservative credentials, Senator Brownback has drawn the ire of many conservatives for his support of immigration legislation. The Kansas state legislature has also taken on immigration. Besides unsuccessful efforts to overturn the state’s law guaranteeing in-state tuition for resident immigrants regardless of legal status, the legislature has considered legislation that both restricts employment and provision of government services to undocumented

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Latino America migrants and requires proof of citizenship to vote. In March 2007 the legislature passed HB 2140, declaring English the official language of Kansas, with a margin of 114-7 in the House and 32-8 in the Senate, which requires government agencies to only provide services or published material in English, the only exceptions being those required by federal law. Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed the law into effect on May 11, 2007. Republican Latino Representative Mario Goico was a prominent advocate of this English-only legislation. Born in Cuba, Representative Goico argued the importance of legislation to encourage migrants to learn English. “If you want to better yourself,” Goico is reported to have said, “you’d better speak the English language.” Professor Phillip De La Torre, of the University of Kansas Law School, came from Spanishspeaking parents and argued that the government should not “dictate what language we speak. It seems to me we should be able to make that decision by ourselves.”50 Most Latino advocacy organizations in Kansas were opposed to the legislation.

POPULATION The Latino population of Kansas is a complex one. Although mostly Mexican in origin, it has grown through native births and migration. By 1970, when the U.S. census began counting Latinos, there were 46,760 Latinos that comprised 2.1 percent of the total population. By 2000 the Latino population had grown to 188,252 persons, making up 7 percent of Kansas population. The U.S. census estimates that the Latino population now constitutes 8.4 percent (224,152 people) of the total state population.51 The growth rate of the Latino population has been increasing. In the decade between 1970 and 1980 it grew by 31.2 percent; between 1980 and 1990, 52.7 percent; and between 1990 and 2000 it more than doubled. The growth rate has slowed down in the first half of the current decade: by 2005 the population had grown by only 19.1 percent.52 The Latino population has had sustained growth from child births for a long time. In 1970 the median age of the Latino population was 19.9 years of age. In 2005 that number had risen to 25 years of age, whereas that of the general population was 36.1.53 Although the Latino population has been present in Kansas for more than a century, it also shows the heavy influence of recent migration, with some 62 percent of the Latino population being born in the United States and 38 percent being foreign born. Of this foreign-born Latino population, the vast majority came to the United States in the 15 years between 1990 and 2005; only some 26 percent entered the United States before 1990. During the 1990s, 42 percent of Kansas’s Latino foreign-born population migrated to the United States. An additional 32 percent has come in the first five years of the current decade.54

Kansas This migrant Latin population is heavily Spanish-speaking—95 percent of its members speak Spanish at home; 67.2 percent report they speak English less than very well; and only 28 percent claim to speak English very well. Of this foreign-born, Spanish-speaking population, 26.3 percent is linguistically isolated; they do not have someone in their households older than 14 who can speak English very well.55 The 18-and-older Kansas Latino population shows an unequal distribution of men and women. Whereas the general Kansas population shows a slight majority of women, 50.5 percent, the Latino population is skewed heavily toward men: 53.9 percent are men and 46 percent are women. An important reason for this is the gender imbalance among migrants: of the foreign-born population, 57 percent are men and 43 percent are women. According to the 2000 census, the Latino population of Kansas is 85.35 percent of Mexican origin,56 and 7.14 percent falls in the category of “Other Hispanic or Latino.” The remaining 7.5 percent shows increasing diversity. Almost 3 percent of Latinos are from the Caribbean (2.07 percent Puerto Rican; 0.75 percent Cuban; and 0.01% Dominican). A similar amount (2.9 percent) are from Central America, primarily from El Salvador, and 1.77 percent are from South America, primarily from Ecuador and Brazil. In brief, the foreign-born population is 86 percent Mexican and 14 percent from elsewhere in Latin America.57 Between 2000 and 2005 Kansas’s population declined overall by almost 1 percent.58 Yet, during that same period the Latino population grew by 19 percent.59 This strong Latino growth slowed the state’s overall population decline. As a result the relative percentage of Latinos for many Kansas counties is increasing. Although it was believed that Latinos began the twentieth century in Kansas with a strong connection to employment in the railroads and in agriculture, the 2005 American Community Survey reveals a different picture.60 Only 2.5 percent of employed Latinos worked in what the census labels “farming, forestry, and fishing occupations,” whereas about 8 percent are employed in transportation. Management and professional occupations now claim 15 percent of the Latino workforce. Occupations in the service, sales, and clerical, construction, and production industries claim 20, 18, 17, and 20 percent of the Latino workforce, respectively.61 Latinos are not evenly distributed across Kansas. The counties with the highest relative percentages of Latinos are concentrated in the state’s southwest, where there used to be sugar beet cultivation in the past and where there are meatpacking plants now. In 2000 Finney and Seward counties were 43 percent and 42 percent Latino, respectively. They are followed by Ford County at 38 percent, Grant County at 35 percent, Kearny County at 27 percent, and Wyandotte County (which is part of metropolitan Kansas City) at 16 percent.62 The development of a professional class is an important indicator of the development of a differentiated and stratified Latino community in Kansas. In 2005

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Latino America management alone claimed 6 percent of the Latino workforce, and professional occupations alone claimed 8 percent. Of the Latino managers 5 percent are farmers or farm managers; 39 percent are in financial or business operations occupations; and 56 percent are in other management occupations. Of the professions, 37 percent are in education, training, and library occupations; 21 percent are in health care or in technical occupations; 13 percent are in community and social service occupations; and 12 percent are in architecture and engineering occupations. Of the remainder, 6 percent are in computer and mathematical occupations; 5 percent are in the in the arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations; 4 percent are in legal occupations; and 2 percent are in the sciences.63 Latinos claim a substantially smaller percentage of their population as managers and professionals than does the dominant ethnic group of Kansas’s society: whereas 15 percent of Latinos are managers or professionals, 35 percent of the non-Hispanic whites occupy positions in those fields.64 The Latino population has less educational attainment than the general population of Kansas, which is in part due to migration. Of the population 25 years of age and older, 2 percent have a graduate degree, 7 percent have a bachelor’s degree, 4 percent have an associate’s degree, 13 percent have some college without attaining a degree (these are grouped with those who have a college degree, totaling 26 percent ). Of the rest of the Latino population, 25 percent has less than a 9th grade education, 20 percent has attended school to the 12th grade without obtaining a diploma, and 30 percent either have a high school diploma or have passed an equivalency test.65 These data reveal two things: the success and mobility of the native-born Latino population, and the lower educational level of the foreign-born migrants. Of the Kansas Latinos born in Latin America, 62 percent are less than high school graduates in educational attainment; 23 percent are high school graduates or the equivalent; 10 percent have an associate’s degree; 3 percent have a bachelor’s degree; and 1 percent have a professional degree. As a result, the Latino population has a lower income than the general population of Kansas (especially the non-Hispanic white population). The median household income in Kansas for 2005, in inflation adjusted dollars, was $42,920, whereas for the non-Hispanic white population it was $44,839. In contrast, the Latino population had a median household income of almost $10,000 less, at $33,167.66

NOTABLE LATINOS Feleciano, Paul (1942–). Democrat Paul Feliciano was elected in 1976 to the Kansas Senate, where he served for 28 years, after being in the House of Representatives for 3 years. In 2003 he resigned from the Senate to serve on the Kansas Parole Board. Born

Kansas in 1942 in New York City, Feleciano graduated with an applied arts and science degree in petroleum geology from the New York City Community College. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and he is a longtime resident of Wichita, Kansas. Feleciano is CEO and president of Global One Technologies Ltd., and he has served two terms as president of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators. Goico, Mario (1945–). Cuban-born Mario Goico is a Republican member of the Kansas State House of Representatives, representing Kansas’s District 100. He was elected to his first term in 2003. Prior to running for office, Goico was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and in the Air National Guard, where he obtained the rank of colonel. Goico served in the Desert Shield-Desert Storm War. An engineer who spent 20 years with Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, Goico also worked for Boeing and Cessna as a part-time test pilot. Torrez, Mike (1946–). A major league baseball player born in Topeka, Kansas, Mr. Torrez is well known for playing for both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Ruiz, Richard (1950–). A Kansas leader, activist, businessman, and cofounder and longtime executive director of El Centro Inc., Ruiz was born and raised in Kansas City. He graduated from Rosedale High School and, after years as the executive director of El Centro, graduated with an executive master’s in business administration from Rockhurst University. He was also a member of the Kansas City Council from 1984 to 1992, and vice-mayor of that city from 1988 to 1991. He received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican government for his lifelong dedication to Mexican communities in the United States. Ruiz, Louis (1953–). Louis Ruiz was elected in 2004 to the Kansas state legislature for the 32nd District. He is the first Latino from Kansas City to be elected to the State House of Representatives. Ruiz was born in Wyandotte County, in metropolitan Kansas City, where his family had resided for three generations. Ruiz made a career initially as a technical apprentice and then as a manager at Lucent Technologies. Active in the Communication Workers of America union, Ruiz also volunteered at a range of organizations over many years. He served as vice president of the Friends of National Public Broadcasting for two terms. Sawyer, Tom (1958–). Tom Sawyer represents Wichita, the 95th District, in the Kansas House of Representatives as a Democrat. Sawyer was born in Wichita, and he graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In 1987 Sawyer was elected to the Kansas state legislature, where he served as his party’s House Leader, both as a majority and a minority leader. Sawyer left the House when he won his party’s nomination to run for governor in 1998. Unsuccessful in that election, Sawyer became the state chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party until 2002, when he was elected again to the Kansas legislature. By profession an accountant, Sawyer is a small-business owner as well as an adjunct professor of political science at Butler State Community College. Murguía, Janet (1961–). Janet Murguía was raised in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City. After receiving a law degree from the University of Kansas, Murguía worked as a legislative counsel in the U.S. Congress. She also served as a deputy assistant to the president in the White House from 1994 to 2000. In 2001 she was named

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Latino America executive vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Kansas. She is the executive director of the National Council of La Raza, one of the nation’s most important Latino advocacy groups. García, Delia (1977–). In 2004 Delia García became the first Latina to serve in the Kansas state legislature. She is also the youngest woman ever elected to that body. García is a Democrat in the 103rd legislative District in Wichita, where she was born and raised in a family that started a restaurant. García graduated from Wichita State University and obtained a master’s degree in political science from St. Mary’s University, in San Antonio, Texas. García is also an adjunct professor of political science at Butler County Community College.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Massive public festivals—such as Topeka’s Fiesta Mexicana, Garden City’s Mexican Fiesta, and greater Kansas City’s Hispanic Fiesta—are the most visible Latino contribution to Kansas’s culture. These festivities are both social engines generating other contributions as well as consequences of a complex social history. They bring together hundreds of thousands of Kansans of diverse background to celebrate and experience an increasingly codified Latino culture in the United States; at the same time they are a source of pride and tradition for Kansas’s Latino society. These mass festivals are driven, in part, by trends for the celebration of ethnic diversity—as part of the visible and public culture of North American life and ideology—as well as the national trend towards the Cinco de Mayo (May 5) as the paradigmatic day of Latino festivals.67 They also have roots that go deep into local communities. Mexicans who migrated to Kansas in the early twentieth century found themselves living near people who were both from their local communities of origin and from elsewhere. As people recreated their culture in Kansas, they found that they could not recreate the public, primarily religious, culture of fiestas and processions of their hometowns and villages because those are deeply tied to place.68 As a result they developed more neutral public festivities, either in the local parish or during civic festivals celebrating Mexican national life. These local festivals provided people with community solidarity, a public presence, and the possibility of representing their community identity and culture to themselves and outsiders.69 The festivities also delimited and made concrete a Mexican culture that could become a tradition and that could be preserved in the give-and-take of migrant life. These public representations of concrete culture have spread to members of the broader Kansas’s society in part through the fiestas. They now know and consume Mexican food and enjoy folk dance, arts, and music. In addition, the festivities developed and maintained a Kansas public culture of Latino identity into

Kansas

Mexican Band, Wichita. Organizer and Director, Prof. A. De La Mara, 1924. Courtesy of Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum.

which subsequent waves of migrants have been assimilated. At the same time these celebrations connect migrants with touring Latino performers and nationally recognized Latino identities.

NOTES 1. Vigil, Kaye, and Wunder, 1994. 2. Vehik, 2002. 3. Simmons, 1991. 4. Wedel, 1959, 424–468. 5. Weber, 1994. 6. Dary, 2002, 55–73. 7. Joseph Sanchez, 1997. 8. Moody, 1921, 121–153. 9. C.f. O’Brien, 1977. 10. Dale, 1960. 11. Clayton, Hoy, and Underwood, 2001. 12. Paredes, 1970, 228 13. Paredes, 1995, 140. 14. Peña, 1992, 191–225. 15. Ávila, 1997.

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Latino America 16. Mines, 1980. 17. Openheimer, 1985. 18. Openheimer, 1985, 431. 19. Openheimer, 1985, 431. 20. Openheimer, 1985, 431. 21. Ávila, 1997; Valerie Mendoza, 1997; Smith, 1989. 22. Smith, 1990. 23. Suarez Montero, 2006. 24. Openheimer, 1985. 25. Rivera, 1991. 26. Jiménez, 2005. 27. Ávila, 1997. 28. U.S. census, 2005. 29. Stull, 1990. 30. Benson, 1994. 31. Fredricksen, 2001. 32. Fredricksen, 2001. 33. Ramos, 1998. 34. U.S. census, 2005. 35. U.S. census, 2005. 36. Smith, 1990. 37. Cleary, 1981. 38. Cleary, 1981 39. Mary Sanchez, 2003. 40. Valerie Mendoza, 2000. 41. Valerie Mendoza, 2000. 42. HALO, 2007. 43. Louis Mendoza, 2006. 44. Louis Mendoza, 2003. 45. C.f. Ramos, 1998. 46. Gutierrez, 1995, 78; Navarro 2005, 208. 47. Maurilio Vigil, 1987, 129. 48. Cardinal, 2005. 49. Chacon, 1978, 111. 50. Quoted in James Carlson, “English-only Legislation Inspiring Heated Opposition,” Topeka Capital-Journal, March 8, 2007. 51. 2005 American Community Survey. 52. Calculated on the basis of data from www.census.gov for the respective years. 53. U.S. census, 2005. 54. Calculated on basis of data from www.census.gov. 55. U.S. census, 2005. 56. U.S. census, 2000. 57. U.S. census, 2005. 58. U.S. census, 2000, 2005.

Kansas 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69.

U.S. census, 2000, 2005. U.S. census, 2005. U.S. census, 2005. U.S. census, 2000. U.S. census, 2005. U.S. census, 2005. U.S. census, 2005. U.S. census, 2005. Carlson, 1998. C.f. Williams and Fortuny, 2007. Openheimer, 1985, 16, 19.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ávila, Henry J. “Immigration and Integration: The Mexican American Community in Garden City, Kansas, 1900–1950.” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 20, no. 1 (1997): 22–37. Benson, Janet E. “Staying Alive: Economic Strategies among Immigrant Packing Plant Workers in Three Southwest Kansas Communities.” Kansas Quarterly 25, no. 2 (1994): 107–120. Cardinal, Carmen. “Kansas City Leader Named as Head of National Hispanic Chamber.” Dos Mundos 26, no. 25 (2005): 1, 2. Carlson, Alvar. “America’s Growing Observance of Cinco de Mayo.” Journal of American Culture 21, no. 2 (1998): 7–16. Chacón, José Andrés. Hispanic Notables in the United States. Phoenix, AZ: Saguaro Publications, 1978. Clayton, Leonard, Jim Hoy, and Jerald Underwood. Vaqueros, Cowboys, and Buckaroos: The Genesis and Life of the Mounted American Herders. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001. Cleary, Robert M. “The Education of Mexican-Americans in Kansas City, Kansas 1916–1951.” Master’s thesis, University of Missouri at Kansas City, 1981. Dale, Edward E. The Range Cattle Industry: Ranching on the Great Plains from 1865 to 1925. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1960. Dary, David. The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends, and Lore. New York: Penguin, 2002. Fredricksen, Lin. “‘Fiesta, Kansas Style’: A Moment in Time.” Kansas State Historical Society, 2001. http://www.kshs.org/features/feat901.htm (accessed April 3, 2008). Gutierrez, David G. Walls and Mirrors: Mexican American Immigrants and the Politics of Ethnicity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. HALO. “History: AMAS/MECHA/HALO.” 2007. http://groups.ku.edu/~halo/history.html (accessed April 4, 2008). Jiménez, Tomás R. “Immigrant Replenishment and the Continuing Significance of Ethnicity and Race: The Case of Mexican-Origin Population.” Working paper 130. University of California, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, San Diego, 2005.

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Latino America Laird, Judith Fincher. “Argentine, Kansas: The Evolution of a Mexican American Community, 1905–1940.” PhD diss., University of Kansas, 1975. Mendoza, Louis. “The Re-Education of a Xicanindio: Raul Salinas and the Poetics of Pinto Transformation.” MELUS 28, no. 1 (2003): 39–60. ———. “Raul Salinas and the Poetics of Human Transformation.” In Raúlrsalinas and the Jail Machine: My Weapon is My Pen. Ed. Louis Mendoza. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006, 3–30. Mendoza, Valerie. The Creation of a Mexican Immigrant Community in Kansas City: 1890–1930. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. ———. Review of “Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement.” Journal for MultiMedia History 3 (2000). http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol3/chicano/ chicano.html (accessed May 8, 2007). Mines, Cynthia. “Riding the Rails to Kansas: The Mexican Immigrants.” PhD diss., University of Kansas, 1980. Moody, John. The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1921. Navarro, Armando. Mexicano Political Experience in Occupied Aztlán: Struggles and Change. Walnut Creek, CA: Rowman Altamira, 2005. O’Brien, Patrick. The New Economic History of the Railways. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 1977. Openheimer, Robert. “Acculturation or Assimilation: Mexican Immigrants in Kansas, 1900 to World War II.” Western Historical Quarterly 16, no. 4 (1985): 429–449. Ortiz, Leonard David. “La Voz de la Gente: Chicano Activist Publications in the Kansas City Area, 1968–1989.” Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains 22, no. 3 (1999): 228–244. Paredes, Américo. “With His Pistol in His Hand”: A Border Ballad and Its Hero. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958. ———. Folklore and Culture on the Texas-Mexican Border. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995. Peña, Manuel. “Música Fronteriza: Border Music.” Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 21, nos. 1–2 (1992): 191–225. Ramos, Henry. The American G.I. Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1988. Rivera, Tomás. y no se lo tragó la tierra/ And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1991. Sanchez, Joseph P. Explorers, Traders, and Slavers; Forging the Old Spanish Trail, 1678–1850. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1997. Sanchez, Mary. “KCK School to Salute Pioneering Parent.” Kansas City Star, August 31, 2003. http://www.kckps.org/DISTHISTORY/dist-history/bios/arg-salvarado.html (accessed April 4, 2008). Santillan, Richard. “Saving Private Jose: Midwestern Mexican American Men during World War II.” 2001. http://www.csupomona.edu/~jis/2001/Santiallan.pdf (accessed April 3, 2008). Simmons, Marc. The Last Conquistador: Juan de Oñate and the Settling of the Far Southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.

Kansas Smith, Michael M. “Mexicans in Kansas City: The First Generation, 1900–1920.” Perspectives in Mexican American Studies 2 (1989): 29–57. ———. “The Mexican Immigrant Press beyond the Borderlands: The Case of El Cosmopolita, 1914–1919.” Great Plains Quarterly 10, no. 2 (1990): 71–85. Stanley, Kathleen. “Immigrant and Refugee Workers in the Midwestern Meatpacking Industry: Industrial Restructuring and the Transformation of Rural Labor Markets.” Review of Policy Research 11, no. 2 (1992): 106–117. Stull, Donald D. “I Came to the Garden: Changing Ethnic Relation in Garden City, Kansas.” Urban Anthropology 19 (1990): 303–320. Suárez Montero, Natalia. “El medioeste de Estados Unidos como una opción novedosa para la inmigración mexicana: los casos de Kansas y Missouri.” Master’s thesis. Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, México, 2006. http://catarina.udlap.mx/ u_dl_a/tales/documentos/lri/suarez_m_n (accessed April 3, 2008). United States Census, 2000. http://www.census.gov (accessed July 25, 2007). United States Census, 2005. American Community Survey. http://www.census.gov (accessed July 25, 2007). Vehik, Susan C. “Conflict, Trade, and Political Development on the Southern Plains.” American Antiquity 67, no. 1 (2002): 37–64. Vigil, Maurilio E. Hispanics in American Politics: The Search for Political Power. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987. Vigil, Ralph H., Frances W. Kaye, and John R. Wunder, eds. Spain and the Plains: Myths and Realities of Spanish Exploration and Settlement on the Great Plains. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 1994. Weber, David. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994. Wedel, Waldo R. An Introduction to Kansas Archeology. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1959. Williams, Philip J., and Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola. “Religion and Social Capital among Mexican Immigrants in Southwest Florida.” Latino Studies 5 (2007): 233–253.

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18 KENTUCKY Todd Hartch

CHRONOLOGY 1780s 1787–1797 1822

1823 1823–1829

1850 1864–1865 1918 1950s 1953

Western Kentuckians move across the Mississippi River into Spanish Louisiana. Spanish officials in New Orleans plot to detach Kentucky from the United States and to align it with Spain. Charles Todd, the original “Kentucky Colonel,” is sent by the U.S. State Department to extend recognition to the newly independent nation of Colombia. Richard Anderson of Kentucky becomes the first minister plenipotentiary to Colombia, establishing the first U.S. legation to Spanish America. As a U.S. Representative, Henry Clay plays a major role in the 1823 decision by the United States to recognize the independence of Brazil (the United States was the first nation to do so). As Secretary of State (1825–1829) he continued supporting Latin American independence. Kentucky filibusters under Cuban General Narciso López briefly invade Cuba. William Preston of Louisville serves as the Confederacy’s envoy to Mexico and plans to bring Confederate settlers to Mexico. Latino soldiers in the U.S. Army arrive at Fort Knox, near Louisville. Students from Latin America begin to attend the University of Louisville in appreciable numbers. Henry Moreno (Mexican American) rides Dark Star to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

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1956 1958 1960s 1963 1970s 1980s 2005

2006

Cuban investors purchase the Louisville Colonels, a minor league baseball team. Jockey Ismael Valenzuela (Mexican American) rides Tim Tam to victory in the Kentucky Derby. (He also rode a Derby winner in 1968.) Cuban migrants arrive in Louisville. Cubans in Louisville erect a monument to José Martí in Shively Park. The Latin American Club of Louisville is founded by Fortuna Gordon and Miguel Lagunas. Mexican and Central American migrants begin working in tobacco, equine, and other agricultural enterprises. Latinos constitute 2 percent of the state population. The federal tobacco buyout pushes many Latinos out of agricultural labor and into urban service and industrial work. Approximately 5,500 Latinos demonstrate at the capitol in Frankfort for immigrant rights.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Esteban Rodríguez Miró is not a household name in Kentucky, but if that Spanish governor of New Orleans’s plans had succeeded, Kentucky might have seceded from the United States. Between 1787 and 1797 Rodríguez Miró and Lexington resident James Wilkinson, a general during the American Revolution,

Kentucky plotted with influential Kentuckians and with Spanish officials to detach Kentucky from the United States and to align it with Spain as a colony or a friendly independent nation. These plans resulted in little more than public scandal when Wilkinson exposed some of his fellow conspirators, but they do highlight the surprising fact that for four decades Kentucky bordered Latin America. During the years between 1763 and 1800, when Spain controlled the Louisiana territories, Kentuckians looked to Spanish officials in New Orleans as possible allies, and they could enter Spanish territory by crossing the Mississippi River from western Kentucky into what is today the state of Missouri. Some Kentucky trappers traveled into Spanish territory as far west as the Rio Grande in New Mexico, causing considerable notice in Taos with their overpowering stench. There was also some concern that many Kentuckians would be tempted to emigrate into Spanish territory and even a rumor that soldier and frontiersman George Rogers Clark had fallen in love with the daughter of Fernando de Leyba, the governor of upper Louisiana. But that era when Kentucky was on the forefront of AngloLatino relations soon faded as the Louisiana territory was transferred to France and then sold to the United States in 1803. Instead of being on the frontier, Kentucky now found itself in the center of the nation—and Latinos would not show any great interest in the state for more than a century. The only significant way in which Kentucky engaged Latin America in the rest of the nineteenth century was through the actions of national politicians from Kentucky—such as Charles Todd, Richard Anderson, and Henry Clay—who figured prominently in the decisions of the United States to recognize and support newly independent Latin American nations between 1822 and 1826. In fact, during the nineteenth century, there may have been more migration from Kentucky to Latin America than from Latin America to Kentucky. In 1865 Confederate General William Preston of Kentucky helped to organize a group of despairing Confederate generals, governors, and soldiers who attempted to start a settlement in Mexico. Almost all of the would-be settlers, who included at least three Kentuckians, had returned to the United States by 1867. Some Kentuckians also emigrated to Brazil, and they seem to have been more successful in adapting to their new culture. Throughout the nineteenth century few parts of the United States had a lower Latino population than Kentucky. It simply had few industrial or agricultural draws; and what it did have was easily equaled by states that were much more accessible. In fact, the Latino presence in Kentucky was so minimal until recent years (unless one counts the Malungeons, a dark-skinned Appalachian population supposed by some to have Portuguese origins) that, other than in reference to the eighteenth-century intrigues mentioned above, a self-styled “new” history of Kentucky published in 1997 makes only one mention of Latinos, and that to say that there were “almost none” in the state.1 Unlike much of the rest of the country, which was absorbing

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Latino America millions of migrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Kentucky attracted few newcomers. Some German and Irish migrants arrived in northern Kentucky and Louisville, and a few others went to the Appalachian mining region, but the migration to the north of many blacks in search of industrial jobs meant that the state became more ethnically homogenous during this period. In Kentucky the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s were almost entirely a black-white issue. About the only Latino role in the struggle occurred in 1956, when a group of Cuban investors bought the Louisville Colonels, a minor league baseball team. The new owners fielded a team of black and white ballplayers and simultaneously tried to integrate the seating for fans in the Colonels’ stadium. This gambit outraged many local whites and proved financially disastrous for the investors. Everything changed in the late 1980s, when Mexican migrants began heading to states far from the Mexican border, including Georgia, New York, and Kentucky. For Kentucky, this trend increased dramatically in the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially in the Lexington and Louisville areas, the two major metropolitan areas in the state. In the 1990s single male Latino migrants—the large majority from Mexico (especially from the states of Durango, Michoacán, and Veracruz, and more recently, Oaxaca), and many also from Central America—increased their presence, working in tobacco farming, horse farms, and light industry. This influx of Latinos, many of whom came up the interstate highways in long haul trucks before transferring to smaller vehicles in Tennessee and Missouri, changed the labor demographics of Kentucky. Most notably, by 2002 80 percent of the workers on the famous horse farms in the Bluegrass area were Latinos.2 The Tobacco Transition Payment program (federal tobacco “buyout”) in 2005 could have reduced the state’s Latino population, as tobacco work was the initial draw for many Latinos. Many tobacco farmers accepted the buyout and traded tobacco for other less labor-intensive crops. However, even before the buyout, Latinos had begun to enter the urban service sector, particularly restaurants, in large numbers. The buyout did not begin this process, but it did hasten the transition of Kentucky Latinos from a largely rural to a largely urban population. The growing Latino presence in Kentucky influenced policing in the state’s two major cities. In 1994 Assistant Chief Fran Root began to take notice of the increased Latino presence in Lexington and of the growing communication problems that ensued when officers interacted with Spanish speakers. Root discovered that few cities anywhere were doing anything noteworthy to respond to larger Latino populations and that the police department would have to innovate. In 1999 the department began a partnership with the Kentucky Institute for International Studies (a consortium of university summer study programs) to send officers to Morelia, Mexico, for language and cultural training and for an exchange with Morelia’s police.

Kentucky Eventually, the program included 18 credit hours of college-level Spanish classes given in Lexington, followed by an additional 6 credit hours for those who completed the five-week immersion course in Morelia. The Spanish courses and the Morelia program won a 2002 award from a police association, and they have created a growing number of Spanish-speaking police officers who have been successful in connecting with Lexington’s Latinos. In 2006 Louisville began a similar program for judges, county and state attorneys, and public defenders. Despite these innovations, Latinos still face serious hurdles in the justice system because of their undocumented status and the insufficient number of Spanish interpreters. Other changes between 2000 and 2007 included more Latinos coming to Kentucky from other locations in the United States, such as Chicago and California, rather than directly from Latin America, because of safety concerns in those areas and the strong labor market in Kentucky. Another change was the gradual increase in the number of Latino families, as more families migrated together, and more women and children joined men already in the area. Counterintuitively, the larger presence of Latino women and children was probably a result of stricter enforcement at the United States–Mexico border: migrants could no longer depend on multiple crossings each year, and therefore they decided to unite their families in the north. The rising number of families also raised issues about the children of undocumented migrants, many of whom had lived in Kentucky and attended local public schools for years by 2000. Without Social Security numbers they could not attend public universities in the state or apply for most financial aid programs. Because they had no great prospect of going to college, many dropped out of high school; especially in the years after 2001 some of these dropouts began to join groups of other disaffected youths. Los Angeles–style gangs had not yet entered the Bluegrass State, but clearly the potential existed. One bright spot for undocumented youths was the Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) in Lexington, which publicized an explicit policy of opening its doors to undocumented migrants in 2004, which led to an enrollment of more than 200 Latino students in 2007.3 A 2004 state law and a 2005 administrative regulation of the state Council on Postsecondary Education made official the policy that undocumented graduates of Kentucky high schools would be treated as state residents eligible for in-state tuition at state colleges and universities. Four-year institutions then opened their doors to Latinos, with nine attending Kentucky State University and 120 at Northern Kentucky University in 2005. Both four-year institutions joined with BCTC in actively recruiting Latino students through the newly formed organization Educating Latinos for Kentucky’s Future. With at least 65,000 Latinos in the state according to the Pew Hispanic Center and more than 83,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2005 Latinos made up between 1.5 percent and 2 percent of the state’s population.4

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Latino America With the majority of these Latinos living in Lexington, Louisville, and the Cincinnati suburbs, it might be expected that Latinos would have started to come into their own politically. However, because of the large percentage of undocumented migrants in the state’s Latino population, in the period between 2000 and 2007 they found themselves an increasingly visible minority group that lacked even the beginnings of political power.5 Without official documentation, the majority of Kentucky Latinos found themselves in a difficult and often dangerous legal twilight. Without the right to vote, most Latinos had little traction with local officials; without residency papers, many feared going to the police when they were attacked or threatened; and many were victimized because of their perceived vulnerability. Latinos had begun lobbying the municipal and state governments for recognition and support in the late 1990s. In Lexington, the Lexington Hispanic Association/Asociación de Hispanos Unidos (AHU) and the Kentucky Migrant Network Coalition attracted the attention of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government in 1998. Mayor Pam Miller appointed the Lexington Hispanic Labor Task Force and followed its recommendations in hiring Abdón Ibarra as the city’s first liaison to the growing Latino population and in helping to fund a new Hispanic Initiative Network (HIN). The HIN was able to provide bilingual social workers and translators for Latino patients in the health care system, but its grant money dried up after three years, in 2003. The most impressive political action by Kentucky Latinos occurred in 2006, when a new organization, the Kentucky Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, organized thousands of Kentucky Latinos to take part in the National Day of Action for Immigration Rights on April 10. Organizer Freddy Peralta, who collected signatures from 5,500 Latinos (a significant percentage of the total Kentucky Latino population) at the rally, saw it as a turning point in the struggle for immigrant rights and evidence of heightened political will among Kentucky’s Latinos. He seems to have been correct, for local politicians soon felt compelled to take stands on various immigrant issues.6

NOTABLE LATINOS Cardenal, Ernesto (1925–). The Nicaraguan priest and poet spent some of his formative years at a Kentucky monastery. After supporting a failed revolt against dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1954, he left his country to join the Gethsemani Trappist monastery, south of Louisville, in 1957. At Gethsemani, Cardenal was mentored by Novice Master Thomas Merton, the renowned Roman Catholic author and poet. Merton and Cardenal developed a close relationship during Cardenal’s three years in Kentucky. Cardenal considered Merton a lifelong influence; Merton tried unsuccessfully to gain permission from his abbot to found a new monastic community with Cardenal in Latin America. In addition to his continued work as a poet and a Roman Catholic

Kentucky priest, Cardenal founded the liberation theology–influenced community of Solentiname, in Nicaragua, and he served as the country’s minister of culture from 1979 to 1987, during the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega. Lagunas, Miguel (1938–). The founder or cofounder of all major Latino organizations in Louisville migrated from Mexico City in 1956. He spent three years in the U.S. Army during the 1960s, graduated from the University of Louisville in 1969 with a degree in electrical engineering, and then worked for Louisville Gas and Electric until 1996. In the 1970s Lagunas emerged as the most important Latino leader in Louisville, eventually founding or helping to found all major Latino organizations in the city, including the Hispanic Business Association, Adelante Hispanic Achievers, El Club Latinoamericano de Louisville, the Hispano/Latino Coalition, the Liga Deportiva Latinoamericana, and the Police Academy for Hispanic Citizens. Since his retirement he has devoted his time to Latino charities and organizations in Louisville. Cova, Antonio Rafael de la (1950–). Author of Cuban Confederate Colonel: The Life of Ambrosio José Gonzales and The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution, de la Cova is Kentucky’s most prominent Latino scholar. Born in Havana, de la Cova came to Louisville with his family and other Cuban refugees in 1963 and attended Butler High School. He has devoted his scholarly career to the complex relationships between Latin America, especially Cuba, and the United States. He has unearthed almost all there is known about the more than 260 Kentucky filibusters who invaded Cuba in 1850 under General Narciso López to end Spanish colonial rule. De la Cova has a PhD from West Virginia University, and he has taught Latin American and Latino history at the Rose-Hulman Institute and at Indiana University. In 2006 he was awarded the Annual Fellowship of the Kentucky Historical Society. He maintains a leading Web site for Latin American and Latino studies, “Latino Studies Resources” at http://www. latinamericanstudies.org/home2.htm. Rodríguez, Glenn (c. 1950–). Rodríguez is the dean of Kentucky Campuses of McKendree College and a popular speaker on workplace diversity. He attained an MBA from Marshall University and a PhD in educational administration from the University of Louisville. As director of Papa John’s Pizza in Latin America, he opened more than 80 new restaurants in several nations. Starting as an adjunct instructor in 1999, he worked his way to the top of McKendree College’s Kentucky operations by 2005. The native of Puerto Rico also rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. Guzmán, Lila. (1952–). The author of children’s literature books about Latinos earned her bachelor’s degree at Western Kentucky University and her PhD at the University of Kentucky. Her series of historical novels on Lorenzo Bannister traces the considerable contributions of Latinos and Spaniards to the American Revolution. The Lexington native has also written biographies of famous Latinos and Latin Americans, including Frida Kahlo, Elena Ochoa, and Roberto Clemente. Miranda, Marta (1954–). Miranda led the struggle for immigrant rights in Lexington from the late 1990s until 2005. After leaving Cuba at age 12, Miranda moved to New Jersey and then to southern Florida, where she earned a master’s degree in social work from Barry University. Miranda came to Kentucky, which reminds her of rural Cuba, in

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Latino America 1990, and she has taught social work at Eastern Kentucky University since 1993. She organized the campaign for immigrant rights in Lexington in the period between 2000 and 2005. Since 2005 Miranda has served as the director of the Women’s Studies program at Eastern Kentucky University. García, Francisco (1981–). The University of Louisville basketball star was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx. After arriving in Louisville in 2002, García’s 16.4 points per game in the 2003–2004 season and 15.7 in the next season made him for a time one of the most prominent figures in Kentucky, a basketballobsessed state with no major professional sports teams. After leading his team to the 2005 NCAA Final Four, García was drafted in the first round by the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As a border state between North and South that stretches from Appalachia to the Mississippi River, Kentucky has long had a complex and multifaceted culture that has been called southern, northern, midwestern, and western and that is probably best seen as a mixture. The arrival of large numbers of Latinos in the 1990s made the issue of culture even more complex. Much changed, most obviously in the arrival of Spanish as a second major media language: by 2007 Kentucky boasted eight Spanish-language newspapers and five Spanish-language radio stations. Mexican restaurants and grocery stores and Latin night clubs also changed the commercial landscape of not only the major cities but the smaller ones as well. Although many Kentuckians continued to see culture in terms of traditional categories such as the black-white racial dichotomy or of a regional perspective that, for instance, contrasted Appalachia with the Bluegrass, Latinos changed the whole equation. Latino migration revitalized and transformed the Roman Catholic Church in the state. By 2003, 29 Kentucky parishes were offering masses in Spanish, and several urban churches had become predominantly Latino. St. Rita Catholic Church in Louisville, for example, became a center of Mexican-style religious devotion. Festivals in honor of the Day of the Dead and the Virgin of Guadalupe attracted hundreds of worshipers and brought media attention, not just in Louisville and Lexington but in smaller towns across the state. Meanwhile, Latino Protestant churches also sprang up throughout the state, including sixty Baptist, seven Assemblies of God, and dozens of independent Pentecostal congregations. As in many parts of the country, Latinos in Louisville, Lexington, Shelbyville, and several other cities created soccer leagues that have become de facto Latino social networks. Less traditionally, the Las Americas baseball league of Lexington, started by Puerto Rican Omar Quintero in 1998, was the only adult hardball league in the city and therefore served non-Latinos who could not play the game anywhere else. Non-Latinos also responded enthusiastically to the annual Festival Latino de Lexington, which was attracting several thousand people by 2006.

Kentucky Dance is the art most influenced by Latinos in Kentucky. In the 1990s, a number of Cuban migrants and Cuban Americans joined the Lexington Ballet, which closed in 1998 due to financial problems. Two of the Cuban dancers, Norbe Risco and Rafaela Cento Muñoz, formed a new company, the Kentucky Ballet Theatre, which featured four Cubans in leading roles. Dancer Orlando Viamontes extended the company’s community impact by giving free salsa lessons at the public library in 2006. Mexicans also have contributed to dance in the state. Adalhi Aranda Corn founded and directed the Bluegrass Youth Ballet and choreographed a special Day of the Dead show in 2006. The Arcoiris dance group of Louisville performed its “Mexican Ballet Folclórico” piece 33 times in various locations around Kentucky and Indiana in 2006. Churchill Downs, home of the state’s most important sporting event, the Kentucky Derby, stands as an epitome of the profound cultural changes that Latinos have brought to Kentucky. Although the traditions of mint juleps and derby bonnets still prevail in the stands, behind the scenes is the track’s “backside.” There, hundreds of Latinos work and live; Spanish is the most common language; Mexican music wafts through the dormitories; worship services are held in Spanish; and so many are interested in soccer that there are entire leagues for track employees. In other words, at the heart of a Kentucky institution, perhaps the Kentucky institution, Latinos and Latino culture are increasingly evident and important.

NOTES 1. Harrison and Klotter, 1997, 437. 2. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, “Immigration in Kentucky: A Preliminary Description,” Research report No. 305 (Frankfort: Kentucky State Government, 2002), cited in Brian L. Rich and Marta Miranda, “The Sociopolitical Dynamics of Mexican Immigration in Lexington, Kentucky, 1997–2002: An Ambivalent Community Responds,” in New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States, eds. Victor Zuñiga and Rubén Hernández-León, (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005), 214. 3. “Ky. College Reaches Out to Hispanic Students,” Community College Week, May 24, 2004; Erin Howard, personal communication, March 23, 2007. 4. Pew Hispanic Center, “A Statistical Portrait of Hispanics at Mid-Decade, Table 10, Hispanic Population by State: 2000 and 2005,” September 18, 2006, http://pewhispanic. org/reports/middecade/; U.S. Census Bureau, “Kentucky QuickFacts,” January 12, 2007; http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/21000.html. 5. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated only 20,000 to 30,000 undocumented Hispanics in Kentucky in 2005 in Jeffrey Passel, “Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Undocumented Population,” March 21, 2005, http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/44.pdf, but other experts put the numbers much higher: Peter Laufer, “My New Kentucky Home,” Washington Monthly 37, nos. 1–2 (January–February 2005): 26.

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Latino America 6. Steve Lannen and Todd Van Campen, “Thousands Rally Downtown: Protest Asserts Immigrant Rights, Opposes House Bill,” Lexington Herald-Leader, April 11, 2006. 7. Peter Smith, “Faith Matters,” Courier-Journal (Louisville), September 7, 2003. 8. Frank Lockwood, “My New Kentucky Home: Latino Workers Create a Community at Churchill,” Lexington Herald-Leader, April 30, 2003.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, S.D. “More on the Free Black Populations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains: Speculation on the North African Connection.” Journal of Black Studies 25, no. 6 (July 1995): 651–671. Barrouquere, Brett. “Attorneys, Judges to Enter Spanish-Language Program.” Lexington Herald-Leader, December 21, 2006. Community College Week. “Ky. College Reaches Out to Hispanic Students.” May 24, 2004. Copley, Rich. “Dancing Life’s Pas de Deux: We Love Ballet. We Love Each Other.” Lexington Herald-Leader, February 8, 2004. Council on Postsecondary Education. “Minutes.” March 21, 2005. http://cpe.ky.gov/NR/ rdonlyres/CE352A60-B836-4971-8851-00D7E27A06A2/0/32105CPE.pdf. Cova, Antonio Rafael de la. “The Kentucky Regiment That Invaded Cuba in 1850.” Forthcoming from the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Cruz, Andrés. Interview. February 23, 2007. Donís, José Neal. Interview. March 5, 2007. Harrison, Lowell H., and James C. Klotter. A New History of Kentucky. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. “Immigration in Kentucky: A Preliminary Description.” Research report no. 305. Frankfort: Kentucky State Government, 2002. Kentucky State University. “Common Data Set, 2005–2006.” http://www.kysu.edu/about_ ksu/president/oire/CDS_2005_2006.pdf. Kleber, John, ed. The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. Lagunas, Miguel. “Latin Americans.” In The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Ed. John Kleber. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001, 500–501. ———. Interview. March 5, 2007. Lannen, Steve. “Lexington Police Honored for Language Course.” Lexington Herald-Leader, October 7, 2002. ———. “Who Speaks for Hispanics?” Lexington Herald-Leader, November 28, 2005. Lannen, Steve, and Todd Van Campen. “Thousands Rally Downtown: Protest Asserts Immigrant Rights, Opposes House Bill.” Lexington Herald-Leader, April 11, 2006. Laufer, Peter. “My New Kentucky Home.” Washington Monthly 37, nos. 1–2 (January– February 2005): 22–27. Lexington Division of Police. 2005 Annual Report. www.lexingtonpolice.lfucg.com/PDFs/ AR05%20web.pdf. Lexington Herald-Leader. “Ancient Tradition is a Unique Way to Celebrate Loved Ones.” November 3, 2006.

Kentucky Lockwood, Frank E. “My New Kentucky Home: Latino Workers Create a Community at Churchill.” Lexington Herald-Leader, April 30, 2003. Marshall, William. “Baseball, Professional.” In The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Ed. John Kleber. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001, 70–73. Martin, Ernie Lee, and Joy Flynn, prods. “The Confederados.” Kentucky Life, Program 822. Kentucky Educational Television. June 2002. One DVD. Mateo, Darhiana M. “Dance Troupe in Demand.” The Courier-Journal (Louisville), May 2, 2007. Northern Kentucky University. “Common Data Set, 2005–2006.” http://www.nku.edu/~oir/ CDS/2005-2006/CDS_2005_06picsforwebpage_July25.pdf. Novas, Himilce. Everything You Need to Know about Latino History. New York: Plume, 1994. Passel, Jeffrey. “Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Undocumented Population.” March 21, 2005. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/44.pdf Pew Hispanic Center. “A Statistical Portrait of Hispanics at Mid-Decade, Table 10. Hispanic Population by State: 2000 and 2005.” September 18, 2006. http://pewhispanic.org/ reports/middecade/. Rich, Brian L., and Marta Miranda. “The Sociopolitical Dynamics of Mexican Immigration in Lexington, Kentucky, 1997–2002: An Ambivalent Community Responds.” In New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. Eds. Victor Zuñiga and Rubén Hernández-Léon. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005, 187–219. Rister, Carl Coke. “Carlota, a Confederate Colony in Mexico.” Journal of Southern History 11, no. 1 (February 1945): 33–50. Robinson, William Spence. “The First Legations of the United States in Latin America.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 2, no. 2 (September 1915): 183–212. Rosenberg, G., and K.J. Luchok. “Steps in Meeting the Needs of Kentucky’s Migrant Farmworkers.” Journal of Agromedicine 4, nos. 3–4 (1997): 381. Savelle, Max. “The Founding of New Madrid, Missouri.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 19, no. 1 (1932): 30–56. Smith, Peter. “Faith Matters.” The Courier-Journal (Louisville), September 7, 2003. Spears, Valerie Honeycut. “Immigration: Candidates Can’t Ignore It: Lexington Politicians Forced to Take Position on the Issue.” Lexington Herald-Leader, May 3, 2006. United States Census Bureau. “Kentucky QuickFacts.” January 12, 2007. http://quickfacts. census.gov/qfd/states/21000.html. Whitesell, Jesse. Letter to Henry F. Steagall, August 15, 1887. Confederados Collection, Auburn University. Also available at http://www.lib.auburn.edu/archive/find-aid/958/ steagall-53.gif. Zuñiga, Victor, and Rubén Hernández-Léon. “Introduction.” In New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. Eds. Victor Zuñiga and Rubén Hernández-Léon. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005, xi–xxi. ———, eds. New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005.

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19 LOUISIANA Lázaro Lima

CHRONOLOGY 1814

1838

1840s 1846–1848

1850

1856

1861

After the British invade Louisiana, residents of the state from the Canary Islands, called Isleños, organize and establish three regiments. The Isleños had very few weapons, and some served unarmed as the state provided no firearms. By the time the British were defeated, the Isleños had sustained the brunt of life and property loss resulting from the British invasion of Louisiana. The first Mardi Gras parade takes place in New Orleans on Shrove Tuesday with the help and participation of native-born Latin Americans and Isleños. The Spanish-language press in New Orleans supersedes the state’s French-language press in reach and distribution. Louisiana-born Eusebio Juan Gómez, editor of the eminent Spanishlanguage press newspaper La Patria, is nominated as General Winfield Scott’s field interpreter during the Mexican-American War. The capital moves from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where a new statehouse had been built with the help of Latin American and Caribbean immigrants. The Last Island Hurricane devastates Louisiana and destroys Last Island (also known as Derniere Island), interrupting commerce from Cuba to New Orleans for months. Cuban-born Loreta Janeta Velázquez enlists in the Confederate Army masquerading as a man, but she is ultimately discovered and discharged while in New Orleans.

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1861–1865

1901 1940s 1942–1964 1950s 1953–1954 1959 1962

1962–1963 1987

Various Louisiana regiments comprise Latinos fighting for the Confederacy, including the Chalmette Regiment Infantry of Louisiana and the “European Brigade.” New Orleans is captured by Union forces in 1862. Latin American and Caribbean migrants are hired in Jennings after the first oil well establishes the importance of the state’s oil industry. United Fruit Company is headquartered in New Orleans. Hondurans begin to arrive because of the company’s ties with their home country. Bracero program brings Mexicans to the state. Hondurans settle in New Orleans’s Barrio Lempira, which will become the largest Honduran American community in the United States. Ernesto Galarza of the National Farm Labor Union assists many sugarcane and strawberry pickers. Honduran Victor Herrera establishes the Asociación Hondureña de Nueva Orleans to help Honduran American migrants and other Latinos. The United States Catholic Conference in Miami resolves to open a Catholic Cuban Center in New Orleans to provide health care and resettlement assistance to Cuban exiles overwhelming resources in Miami. Cubans exiles are encouraged to move to New Orleans to alleviate their settling exclusively in Miami. Cuban prisoners, known as Marielitos, take approximately 130 hostages in Oakdale.

Louisiana 1996 2005

The Canary Islanders Heritage Society of Louisiana is created to preserve the history and culture of Spanish settlement in the state. The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Coalition is established to address the working conditions of migrants and African Americans. In 2006 the coalition mobilizes 200 law school students to gather the stories of over 1,000 workers, and it authors one of the most comprehensive assessments of race and labor in the wake of Katrina.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW When Louisiana became the 18th state of the Union in 1812, the territory was already seeped in the linguistic, historical, and cultural antecedents that had made New Orleans, its most important city at the time, one of the first multilingual, multiracial, and multiethnic cosmopolitan centers in the United States. The origins of Spanish-speaking Latino Louisiana can be traced to the arrival of Alonso Álvarez de Pineda (c. 1492–1520) in 1519. Álvarez de Pineda sailed from Cuba to explore the uncharted territories between the Florida peninsula—modern-day Arkansas and Louisiana—and the southern Gulf of Mexico region. The purpose of his trip was to find a route to the Pacific Ocean and, in this sense, the trip can be said to have initiated the importance of Louisiana, and of New Orleans in particular, to the development of one of the first major commercial zones in the Americas. Though the Spanish were the first Europeans to explore Louisiana, the area was largely under the political control of the French until 1762, when it was briefly ceded to Spain. France, however, regained control of the region in 1800, with the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, but less than 3 years later it sold the territory to the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. By the time it was incorporated into the Union, Louisiana had thriving communities of Spanish speakers composed of migrants from Latin American, Spain, and the Canary Islands. The Canary Islanders—or Isleños, as they came to be known—migrated to Louisiana by way of Cuba between 1778 and 1783 to prosper economically and to protect the territory from English and French invasion. Scholars have referred to Isleños by the three distinct Spanish dialects that the latter developed in their cultural-geographic enclaves throughout the state of Louisiana. They are the Isleños proper, who have preserved the Spanish language with the lexical and syntactic patterns of the late colonial Spanish period, the Bruli, and the Adaeseños. The Isleños settled in St. Barnard Parish, near New Orleans; the Bruli settled throughout Iberville Parish, south of Baton Rouge; and the Adaeseños in Natchitoches and Sabine parishes, southwest of Shreveport.1 Many of Louisiana’s cities grew out of former settlements such as these and from Spanish posts throughout the state, including the cities of New Orleans, Donaldsonville, Alexandria, Marksville, Franklin, and Vidalia. Not surprisingly, New Orleans was the most

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Latino America significant city in the state given its strategic position on the Mississippi river. As early as 1820 New Orleans had already become a destination for visitors from around the globe, but especially from Latin America. The importance of New Orleans to the state as the gateway to the Americas, not to mention the major inland shipping route through the Mississippi, also made the city one of the principal centers of Spanish-language print culture, with major newspapers circulating via ships through the Gulf of Mexico and by steamboats up and down the Mississippi River. By the 1840s the Spanish-language press in New Orleans was thriving, and it had superseded the French-language press not only in Hispanic expatriate communities but in Latin American and U.S. Latino communities as well. Many newspapers—such as El Independiente, Diario del Gobierno, La verdad, La Patria, and its predecessor El Hablador—were distributed throughout the United States via steamboats, trains, and the telegraph, so that by mid-nineteenth century New Orleans had at least 23 different Spanish-language newspapers and journals; New York, in comparison, had only thirteen.2 Not surprisingly, the war with Mexico (1846–1848) was covered with singular interest in the Spanish-language press because many Latinos and Latin American expatriates, émigrés, and travelers saw the U.S. conquest of Mexico as but a precursor to U.S. expansion into the newly emerging Latin American republics. During the Mexican-American War Latinos participated on both sides of the conflict. For example, the army nominated Eusebio Juan Gómez, editor of the eminent La Patria newspaper, as General Winfield Scott’s field interpreter. Gómez was quickly commissioned as lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, until the Louisiana-born Gómez’s position was rescinded because of allegations that he had leaked secret plans to the Mexicans. Manifest Destiny politics in the United States created the need to further justify the war with Mexico in an attempt to achieve geographic and political hegemony and to secure trade routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboards. Native-born Louisiana Latinos such as Gómez were often assumed to be sympathetic to Mexico’s plight and less American for their cultural, religious, and linguistic ties to Mexico—even if they were born in the United States. Speakers of Spanish of various nationalities and political sympathies in Louisiana, as well as native-born Latinos, were often indistinguishable from each other in the English-speaking press and assumed to be Mexican, or at least sympathetic to Mexico during the war. Justifying the violence related to westward conquest—itself most often understood as “westward settlement”—required the denigration of conquered populations as “uncivilized mongrels.” Given the racial diversity of Latinos and the need to justify the war against Mexico, many Latinos began to be classed along with blacks as the former’s political and cultural influence diminished; still other Latino groups sought to assimilate by identifying pos-

Louisiana itively with their European ancestry as Spaniards.4 However, determining race through ocular evidence was not always possible for such an ethnically diverse group as Latinos. Unlike the various Isleño communities who since their arrival in the late eighteenth century had always considered themselves European, most Latinos could not pass as European or as Anglo-Americans even if they wanted to do so. It was during this generative period that the importance of France to the region was exalted, and the notion of a French Louisiana grew in measure with the paradoxical representation of Latinos as foreign to the state. Indeed, even Isleños whose physical and cultural presence predated the arrival and settlement of Anglo-Americans began to emphasize their heritage as “pure” Spaniards in contradistinction to mixed-race Latinos in the region, who were increasingly classed as colored, foreign, or both. Yet, many Louisiana Latinos saw themselves as part of the very fiber of the state and country. The Civil War (1861–1865) is a case in point. At the onset of the war in 1861 Louisiana seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Estimates of Latino participation in the Civil War range as high as 9,500 nationally. In Louisiana, Latinos fought for the Confederacy in the Chalmette Regiment Infantry of Louisiana, as well as in the Zouaves First Florida Calvary of Louisiana.5 Louisiana’s “European Brigade” alone had upwards of 800 “Spanish” soldiers, though it is not clear how many were actually Spanish nationals, given the pressure to assimilate and the collapsing of national distinctions for most speakers of Spanish in the public sphere. Other units such as Louisiana’s William E. Stake Brigade included Cubans, Mexicans, Central Americans, as well as other Latin American nationals who suffered discrimination. For example, while in Maryland, the “foreign”-looking members of the Stake Brigade were signaled out and accused of looting and violence.6 Louisiana ultimately fell to Union forces early during the conflict when in 1862 Union admiral David G. Farragut, himself of Spanish ancestry, led the USS Hartford past the Chalmette batteries and took the port city of New Orleans by securing control of the Mississippi River, thereby effectively capturing the state for the Union. Economic recovery was slow in Louisiana after the Civil War, as slavery and the dependence on the plantation system were replaced with farm tenancy and sharecropping. The importance of the Mississippi River as a steamer commercial route was also diminished because of the emergence of railroad construction and related industries. Reconstruction in Louisiana, as in much of the South, was overseen by military governors who attempted to ensure, with limited success, that slaves would be freed and given suffrage, but literacy and poll tax laws aimed at former slaves disenfranchised them from the promise of political participation and cultural enfranchisement. Literacy laws, however, disenfranchised not only freed blacks but also Latinos. Recent arrivals to the region as well as established native-born Latinos who had found Louisiana’s multilingual and

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Latino America ethnic diversity ideal for the maintenance of heritage traditions soon experienced how legalized discrimination prevented them from maintaining or achieving political relevance in the region. The landmark Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which legally permitted segregation under the doctrine of “separate but equal” originated as a case in Louisiana, where the plaintiff was not allowed to sit in a “white” rail car because he was, in the parlance of the era, an “octoroon”; that is, a person who is one-eighth black. Ironically, common racial systems in Latin America—such as the casta divisions that created hierarchies based on race and ethnicity in Mexico and Peru—found their way into Louisiana law. To this day Louisiana is the only state that maintains earlier legal structures based on Spanish and Napoleonic code law as opposed to English common law, which forms the basis of the rest of the United States’ legal system. Discrimination in Louisiana, as in much of the South, was systemic at the turn of the twentieth century. Like blacks, Latinos fell victim to lynching mobs in Louisiana, though this fact has been largely elided in the history of lynching in the United States. The solidification of a rigid black and white binary in the post-Reconstruction imagination often meant that Latinos would be counted as white in the popular press in descriptions of lynching, often for reasons that had more to do with diminishing the onus of the South’s lynching of blacks (as opposed to blacks and whites who were meted “justice”) by collapsing other racial and ethnic distinctions. Such was the case on October 7, 1909, when a certain Mike Rodrigauez [sic] of Vernon Parish was lynched for an alleged robbery at the hands of “persons unknown.” Indeed, the transliteration from Rodríguez to “Rodrigauez” is instructive of how English-language hegemony began to supplant multilingual Louisiana. In the process, Latinos became increasingly erased from the historical record, not only literally as in the case of lynchings, but symbolically, as the once multiracial, multiethnic, and plurilinguistic Louisiana began to be divided along black and white lines of racial affiliation under one language.7 Systemic discrimination was also part of the state’s drive to delimit the cultural disenfranchisement of Latinos and blacks. In 1900 Louisiana stopped public schooling after fifth grade for blacks and native-born Latinos who were considered colored. It would not be until 1917 that Louisiana established a public high school for blacks or “students of color,” after the state’s Compulsory Education Act became effective in 1916. Not surprisingly, at the turn of the century thousands of blacks left Louisiana during the Great Migration to seek work and improve their lot in northern industrial cities. The migration of blacks to the North also partly explains the first wave of Latino migration to Louisiana at the turn of the century, as the region experienced a boom brought on by the discovery of natural gas and petroleum in the region. The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) also increased the number of Mexican nationals who fled their country to the United States for political and economic

Louisiana

Creole girls, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, c. 1935. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Reproduction Number LC-USF33-006159-M1.

reasons. Though most settled first in states across the border with Mexico, many traveled throughout the South in search of economic opportunity. It is estimated that this migration brought over 1 million Mexicans to the United States shortly after the revolution. These Mexicans eventually found work in U.S. farms, docks, railroads, as well as in the more traditional agricultural sectors of the economy. By 1911 the press of the period had noted how the increasing number of Mexican laborers to Louisiana allowed the Spanish language to be heard “almost as frequently as English on the docks where Mexican and Central Americans were often employed.”8 Indeed, by 1911 the United States Immigration Commission, also known as the Dillingham Commission, limited the immigration of southern and eastern Europeans and Asians who were deemed as “undesirable” as Mexicans; but because Mexicans were seen as temporary immigrants who would work for far less than other immigrants, it became expedient to make exceptions for them. The Dillingham Commission unwittingly set the stage for the arrival of Mexican migration through subsequent accords, as it noted that “‘Mexican immigrants are providing a fairly acceptable supply of labor in a limited territory in which it is difficult to secure others . . . [w]hile Mexicans are not easily assimilated, this is not of very great importance as long as most of them return to their native land in a short time.’”9 Not surprisingly, Mexican migration to Louisiana and the Southwest grew considerably because it was believed that their stay would be temporary. This partly explains why even though Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 to prevent the immigration of “undesirables” during the height of World War I,

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Latino America itinerant agricultural workers from Mexico were exempted from the directive until 1923 in order to assist with the labor shortage occasioned by World War I. This concession to U.S. farmers brought over 200,000 migrants to states along the border with Mexico and throughout the South.10 In Louisiana, Latino migrants worked in sugarcane fields and as strawberry and cotton pickers under oppressive conditions. Attempts to improve their lot were nearly nonexistent as unionizing became largely a clandestine operation that, if successful, ultimately required U.S. citizenship for membership. This was further hampered by the Louisiana Constitution of 1921 as it effectively sought to limit the enfranchisement of blacks and native-born Louisiana Latinos through voting roadblocks that required voters to complete voter registration cards without assistance, and to be able to both read and interpret any portion of the Constitution selected by the registrar of voters. Because Louisiana did not provide state schooling for “students of color” until 1917, the state’s voter registration board effectively created a tiered democracy in the state. The economic crisis brought on by the Great Depression ended these labor concessions and caused a backlash that resulted in the Mexican Repatriation, which deported over half a million Mexican Americans to Mexico, even though many were U.S. citizens. Yet, the experience provided a testing ground for the various guest worker accords that came to be known as the Bracero program, beginning during the height of World War II in 1942 and up until 1964. Mexicans, however, did not provide the only source of migration-related labor in Louisiana. Hondurans also began to settle in New Orleans when the United Fruit Company, whose headquarters was in that port city, began shipping produce from their Honduran plantations for national distribution. The trade relationship that existed between Honduras and Louisiana ultimately made New Orleans the city with the largest Honduran American population in the United States.11 Honduran immigration to Louisiana was also the result of political and economic disruptions exacerbated by U.S. capital and military interventions in Central America. When it was no longer possible to return to their country of origin, Honduran Americans settled in Louisiana, which led to one of the first permanent settlements of Honduran Americans in the state. During the early 1950s Hondurans settled in Barrio Lempira, near the lower Garden District of uptown New Orleans, and worked in agribusiness and related industries alongside other Latinos from various nationalities. By the end of that decade the Asociación Hondureña de Nueva Orleans “marked the official introduction of a Honduran identity to New Orleans.”12 The racialization of Hondurans prior to the civil rights movement in Louisiana was similar to that of many Latino groups. The white majority conferred a higher status to Creoles and Latinos who were lighter complected than darker-skinned blacks, as the “reality of racial ambiguity, a result of years of miscegenation, led the elite whites to make clear distinctions in order

Louisiana to guard their own white identity from the imminent black ‘infiltration.’”13 The term Creole itself (from the Spanish term criollo) became a euphemism for a person of Spanish or, in some instances, of Latin American lineage, and it signified affiliation with Spain, thus avoiding slippage into the more charged term of the era, Negro. Yet, unlike native-born Creoles and Latinos, more recent Latino arrivals had to contend with the added disadvantage of limited English-speaking skills, which made it difficult not only to get work but to demand humane working conditions. The 1950s also marked concerted efforts by the white majority to limit the possibilities for Latinos to secure living wages. Latino populations in Louisiana were prevented from demanding work protections through Louisiana’s right-towork laws. The laws compromised the emerging strength of unions in the state by making it optional, rather than mandatory, to join labor unions. The laws effectively prevented many entry-level workers from establishing union ties, and they were eventually used as strike-braking measures. Ernesto Galarza of the National Farm Labor Union worked in Louisiana from 1953 to 1954 to assist sugarcane and strawberry pickers through organized protests against agricultural exploitation of Latino workers. Galarza’s efforts resulted in the revision of many right-to-work laws through calls for the right to fair wages and safer working conditions.14 Galarza’s experiences in Louisiana and his native California led him to believe, however, that unionization would not provide the necessary safeguards and labor protections, because he saw the Bracero program as ultimately abusive of both braceros and native-born Latinos, who could not earn sustainable wages while the program was in place.15 His living through the 1954 Operation Wetback, a program established to deport Mexican and Mexican Americans to Mexico, also made Galarza distrustful of unions’ ability to protect workers. He was present in many congressional hearings on the Bracero program and eventually worked to end it. Just before the program was officially terminated in 1964—after its extension was denied by Congress—a Louisiana senator presciently noted, “I am certain that if the proposed extension is not granted, there may be a recurrence of conditions that existed . . . when Mexican labor came by the thousands.”16 Indeed, in 1970 less than 20 percent of Mexicans in the United States were born in their country of origin, whereas today over half of the Mexican population in the United States were born in Mexico.17 Of course the end of the Bracero program did not end the pattern of itinerant and seasonal work to the state; only the designation of legal or undocumented workers changed. The civil rights movement in Louisiana was largely dominated along the black/white divide. Latino rights struggles were most often associated with labor issues, whereas civil rights proper was something that Louisiana blacks were seeking. Unlike the states of California, New Mexico, and Texas, during the height of the civil rights movement Louisiana’s established Latino communities—

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Latino America composed chiefly, though not exclusively, of Isleños, Hondurans, and Mexican Americans—comprised U.S. citizens, either native born or naturalized, and the more recent arrivals at the time were working difficult jobs that left little opportunity to organize protests. Differences among and within various Latino groups in the state regarding questions of civil rights were also conditioned by class standing. Because they had been residing in Louisiana for generations, Cuban Americans in Louisiana had ties to their U.S. identity that often superseded their relationship to more recent arrivals. Cuban Americans had long established ties to Louisiana prior to the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Cuba was the Port of New Orleans’s leading customer prior to the revolution, and established Cuban American business interests were in place, as Cuban sugar producers sent their children to study agriculture and business at Louisiana State University. There was also an influx of post-1959 Cubans who settled predominately in New Orleans after the United States government “started to deny financial help to Cubans in Miami if they would not move to other cities”—New Orleans being one of the principal cities designated for Cuban resettlement.18 However, already before the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Honduras had also become one of the largest trading partners of the Americas with Louisiana. From the mid-twentieth century to the present, Louisiana has had the highest number of Honduran Americans in the United States, with most settling near New Orleans. Native-born Honduran Americans, like Cuban Americans before them, also had a different relation to the civil rights movement and social inclusion, as their tight-knit communities provided much of the protections that were not available to more recent Latino arrivals. Cubans reemerged as migrants to Louisiana in the 1980s though under quite different conditions from previous Cuban settlement in the state. The largest single number of arrivals to Louisiana in the 1980s was the nearly 2,400 Cuban refugees who were sent to the Oakdale Federal Detention Center in 1986. After the Port of Mariel boat exodus of 1980, during which over 125,000 Cubans sought political asylum in the United States, various detention centers were set up in the United States to house Cuban detainees who had criminal records or were considered mentally incompetent. The Marielitos, as they have come to be known, remained at Oakdale until in 1987, when, after being told that they would be returned to Cuba under a renegotiated immigration accord with Fidel Castro’s government, they took approximately 130 hostages. The hostage crisis forced the United States to negotiate with the Cuban refugees and, with the help of various intermediaries, the latter agreed to release all hostages in return for an indefinite moratorium on their repatriation to Cuba and a review of their individual cases. (It was not until 2005 that the Supreme Court ruled that open-ended detention of Marielitos was illegal.) As these Cubans were processed and released, many stayed in the Bayou State, thereby changing the class dynamics of prior Cuban migration to Louisiana.

Louisiana Census estimates for Latinos in Louisiana during the 1990s were upwards of 93,000, though the actual numbers were probably much higher, because of the undocumented Latinos in the state. By the 2000 census the total number of Latinos in the state had increased to over 107,700, reflecting an almost 16 percent population increase from the 1990 census. The highest concentration of Latinos from any single national group was composed of Honduran Americans, who accounted for 24 percent of the total Latino population in the state, with the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area serving as their principal enclave. This changed drastically after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region in 2005. Hurricane Katrina has brought about profound ethnic and demographic shifts in Louisiana. Less than a year before the hurricane made landfall, the African American population in the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area alone had decreased from 37 to 22 percent.19 The 2004 U.S. census update reported a Mexican American population of just below 2,000, whereas by 2006 estimates ranged from between 10,000 and 20,000 Mexican Americans in the region.20 The astounding demographic shift in a state with a pre-Katrina Latino population of 3 percent was exacerbated by the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act that had required contractors to pay prevailing local wages. The suspension of the DavisBacon Act allowed contractors to hire ready Latino laborers and exploit them in the process. As with previous informal and more formal Bracero accords with Mexico, Latinos of Mexican descent in the United States often perform the most dangerous work. In post-Katrina Louisiana alone, 80 percent of the debris and mold removal of hurricane-ravaged areas was undertaken by migrant Latino laborers, many of whom are undocumented. The unprecedented number of Mexican American laborers alone in the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area led city Mayor Ray Nagin to rhetorically ask, “How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?” in an utter collapse of all possible Latino American nationalities under the national signifier Mexican.21 Nagin’s inflammatory political rhetoric both fabricated scapegoats and elided the fact that the state itself had created the conditions for the arrival of contemporary forms of servitude that have profoundly benefitted the rebuilding efforts in Louisiana. In effect, the paradoxical verbal bashing of the very migrants who are rebuilding the region has created the conditions for the further dehumanization of Louisiana Latino laborers. In August 2006 Latin American and Caribbean laborers on legal H-2B visas who were contracted to work in New Orleans hotels but denied their contractual right to work staged a protest in mock handcuffs in front of the hotels that had lured them from as far as Bolivia and as close as the Dominican Republic. With the assistance of the New Orleans Workers Center, the hotel workers sued their employers and won. They have since formed the country’s first H-2B visa workers alliance. As one Dominican hotel worker put it, “Only by studying workers’ experiences can government create adequate reform.”22 Supporting the struggles of

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Latino America Latinos for social justice from the early nineteenth century to the present, the Latin American hotel laborers joined a long historical battle for the economic and human enfranchisement of Latinos in Louisiana.

NOTABLE LATINOS Farragut, David G. (1801–1870). Union admiral of Spanish ancestry who led the USS Hartford past the Chalmette batteries and took the port city of New Orleans by securing control of the Mississippi River and effectively capturing the state for the Union. Velázquez, Loreta Janeta (c. 1842–c. 1898). Cuban-born woman and Confederate Army soldier who was decommissioned in New Orleans after it was established the she was masquerading as a man. Lázaro, Ladislas (1872–1927). The first Latino to serve in the United States House of Representatives, from 1908 until 1912. He attended Holy Cross College in New Orleans and later graduated from Louisville Medical College in Kentucky before practicing in Louisiana. Pérez Sr., Leander Henry (1891–1969). Democratic “political boss” of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in the first half of the twentieth century. Officially, Pérez served as district judge, as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. Gómez, Eusebio Juan (c. 1895–c. 1860). The editor of the eminent New Orleans newspaper La Patria. He served as a field interpreter for General Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American War (1846–1848). Fernández, Joachim Octave (1896–1978). Democratic representative from Louisiana to the United States House of Representatives. Pérez, Irvan (1923–2008). Famous Isleño singer of poetic compositions known as décimas. Pérez was featured in the PBS series River of Song: A Musical Journey (1999). Herrera, Victor (c. 1926–c. 1985). Latino community health advocate and founder of the Asociación Hondureña de Nueva Orleans, in 1959.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The Latino presence in Louisiana predates and is coterminous with the economic and social development of the state. As one of the principal centers of journalistic and literary expression in the Spanish language during the nineteenth century, New Orleans alone has boasted a range of important newspapers and journals—including El Independiente, Diario del Gobierno, La verdad, La Patria, and its predecessor El Hablador. By the mid-nineteenth century New Orleans had over 23 different Spanish-language newspapers and journals in which the top figures of Latin American politics and culture of the period disseminated what has come to be known as Latino literatures and cultures of the United States. Given

Louisiana New Orleans’s unique location at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, the diffusion of Hispanic culture throughout the United States was literally carried up and down the Mississippi River and across the country. Latinos in Louisiana have also infused the state’s music with the ethnic and linguistic particularisms that have made the state a harbinger of the nation’s musical heritage. Though Louisiana’s importance to U.S. popular music is undisputed, it is an often ignored fact that Cuban commercial exchanges with New Orleans also facilitated the arrival of musical forms that informed and complemented one another. Scholars have noted how the emergence of the Cuban danzón and son is roughly coterminous with the emergence of ragtime and jazz. In literature the poetic composition known as décima emerged from Isleño communities, and it still survives as a popular form of entertainment and versification. Composed chiefly of 10 octosyllabic lines, the décima could also be said to share affinities with what came to be known as corrido, or border ballad, in Texas. Like the better known corrido tradition of southern Texas, the structure of the décima makes rote memorization easy, and its rhyme scheme allows for verbal play, double entendres, and the community-specific continuity of cultural memory. To this day décimas are sung at dances, community celebrations, and holidays, as well as during more intimate family events. Latino arts have also flourished in Louisiana as Latino artists have found a visually and culturally diverse environment with an active plastic arts scene from the 1960s onward. Latino performance art has also emerged as an innovative and provocative form of cultural commentary and ethnic memory. For example, New Orleans–based José Torres Tama’s performance piece “The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans After Katrina” critiques government ineptitude in the wake of Hurricane Katrina through spoken-word poetry as well as ritual movement and dance, through the voices of a myriad of characters that he channels in order to bear witness to the abandonment of displaced Latinos whose suffering and resilience have remained largely ignored by the mainstream English-speaking press. Local Latino stations such as Radio Tropical Caliente (KGLA), however, have kept Latino communities informed through Spanish-language programming. More recently, in 2007 Telemundo affiliate KGLA-DT has begun to offer sports coverage, talk-show entertainment, and more traditional cultural offerings such as telenovelas (soap operas), along with local programming and advertising, in addition to Telemundo’s national coverage. The region’s cultural ties to Latino communities in the state and the Americas have been solidified through various educational and cultural industries. Important institutions—such as Tulane University and Louisiana State University— with historically close ties to the Caribbean and the Americas have established some of the country’s premier research centers devoted to the study of Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean cultures. State institutions such as the New

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Latino America Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation have also acknowledged the importance of Latino culture to the region and the country through extremely popular festivals such as the Fiesta Latina, where jazz and Latin rhythms are seen as culturally constitutive of the ethno-linguistic diversity of the region. More populist cultural events are showcased in other festivals—for example, the Carnival Latino—in which the region’s heritage, as well as its present and future, are seen as imminently tied to Latino communities. Given the demographic explosion of Latino populations in the state, cities such as New Orleans are reclaiming their historical importance as the Gateway to the Americas.

NOTES 1. Armistead, 1992, 2. 2. For a discussion of Hispanophone print culture and New Orleans as its center in the nineteenth century, see Silva Gruesz, 2002, 108–120. 3. For a discussion of Hispanophone print culture and New Orleans as its center in the nineteenth century, see Silva Gruesz, 2002, 115. 4. Lima, 2007, 22–55. 5. For estimates of Latinos in the military during the Civil War and related history, see Thompson, 1976. 6. See Smith, 2005, 74. 7. Congressional Record—Senate, list of Louisiana victims of lynching, http://www.iconn.org/documents/s%20res39CongressionalRecord6-13-2005SenateComments.pdf (accessed December 12, 2007). Ken Gonzales Day’s Lynching in the West, 1850–1935 (2006) provides one of the few comprehensive attempts at documenting the historical erasure of Latinos from the history of lynching in the United States. 8. García, 1981, 62. 9. Tichenor, 2002, 168. 10. Monto, 1994, 55–57. 11. Fussell, 2006, 1. 12. Euraque, 2004, 10, 32–33. 13. Euraque, 2004, 32. 14. Chabran, 1985, 138. 15. Chabran, 1985, 139. 16. Cited in David M. Reimers, Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992), 59. 17. Gómez, 2007, 2. 18. Berchak, 2007, 51–52. 19. Berchak, 2007, 69. 20. Quinones, 2006, A10. 21. Fox Gotham, 2007, 201. 22. Fiedman-Rudovsky, 2007.

Louisiana

BIBLIOGRAPHY Armistead, Samuel G. The Spanish Tradition in Louisiana: Isleño Folkliterature, Vol. I. Newark, DE: Juan de Cuesta, 1992. Berchak, Katie Judith. “Nueva Orleans: Hispanics in New Orleans, the Catholic Church, and Imagining the New Hispanic Community.” Master’s thesis, Louisiana State University, 2007. Chabran, Richard. “Activism and Intellectual Struggle in the Life of Ernesto Galarza (1905–1984).” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 7, no. 2 (1985). Euraque, Samantha. “‘Honduran Memories’: Identity, Race, Place, and Memory in New Orleans, Louisiana.” Master’s thesis, Louisiana State University, 2004. Fiedman-Rudovsky, Jean. “Guest Workers Fighting Back.” Time Magazine, March 14, 2007. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1599032,00.html. Fox Gotham, Kevin. Authentic New Orleans: Tourism, Culture, and Race in the Big Easy. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Fussell, Elizabeth. “Latino Immigrants in Post-Katrina New Orleans.” Unpublished paper presented at the Regional Seminar on Labor Rights, New Orleans, LA, October 19–22, 2006. García, Mario T. Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso, 1880–1920. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981. Gómez, Laura E. Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Lima, Lázaro. The Latino Body: Crisis Identities in American Literary and Cultural Memory. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Monto, Alexander. The Roots of Mexican Labor Migration. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994. Quinones, Sam. “Migrants Find a Gold Rush in New Orleans.” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2006, A10. Reimers, David M. Still the Golden Door: The Third World Comes to America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Silva Gruesz, Kirsten. Ambassadors of Culture: The Trans-american Origins of Latino Writing. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002. Smith, Derek. The Gallant Dead: Union and Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005. Smith, Michael M. “The Mexican Secret Service in the United States, 1910–1920.” The Americas 59, no. 1 (July 2002): 65–85. Thompson, Jerry D. Vaqueros in Blue & Gray. Austin, TX: Presidial Press, 1976. Tichenor, Daniel J. Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002. Velázquez, Loreta Janeta. Woman in Battle: A Narrative of the Exploits, Adventures, and Travels of Madame Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Otherwise Known as Lieutenant Harry J. Buford, Confederate States Army. Ed. C.J. Worthington. Hartford, CT: T. Belknap, 1876.

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20 MAINE Phillip J. Granberry

CHRONOLOGY 1524 1940 1990s 2004

First Spanish exploration of the coast of Maine. The U.S. Census Department makes the first Latino population estimate (60) residing in Maine. Latino businesses emerge in southern Maine. Portland’s first Latino Youth Soccer Championship tournament is held.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The 9,360 Latinos residing in Maine on April 1, 2000, ranked the state 48th in total Latino population. Latinos made up 0.7 percent of the state’s population, which ranked Maine 49th in concentration of Latinos. Although the Latino population in the state is growing, it is doing so at a slower rate than New Hampshire and Vermont, states in the region with similarly small Latino populations. The first estimate of the Latino population in Maine was the 1940 U. S. census, which reported 60 Latinos living in the state. The 1970 U. S. census estimated that 2,433 Latinos resided in the state. By 1980 the Latino population was estimated to be 5,005, and in 1990, the estimate was 6,829, which was less than 0.5 percent of the state’s population. Long before today’s Latino presence in Maine, the state was explored by early Spanish cartographers who sailed the eastern coast of the United States to map North America. Esteban Gómez was the first to sail the coast of Maine and travel inland, in 1524. Though no narrative or log of the journey exists, his detailed maps verify his exploration. He entered the Penobscot River and traveled to what

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is today the city of Bangor. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to find a direct passage to China, but he returned to Spain with slaves, some of whom were Algonquin Indians.1 Maine is home to an estimated 1.1 percent of all Latinos in New England. This small Latino population in Maine consists of people who have migrated to the southern part of state, where they are forming an emerging middle class. It also includes migrant and seasonal farmworkers who are employed in the state’s blueberry, apple, eggs, Christmas wreath, tree-planting, and broccoli farms. Some of these workers stay year-round to work on the farms in the state. This trend is also occurring in the other New England states of New Hampshire and Vermont. Together with Maine, these two states are noted for having a small Latino population, as only 3.6 percent of all Latinos (regardless of place of birth) in the United States were residing in them in 2000.2 Latinos are an important demographic group to the region, which is experiencing limited population growth, because they are significant contributors to the region’s population growth.3 Latino population growth is driven almost equally by internal migration and births to resident Latinos, and not by migration from other countries, as only 16.7 percent of Maine’s Latinos are foreign born. Demographic and individual characteristics for Latinos in Maine are presented in this chapter to provide a portrait of this relatively small proportion of Maine’s population that is increasingly making economic and cultural contributions to the

Maine state. Because of their small size and recent arrival to the state, Latinos historical contributions are limited, having occurred over the last 40 years. This chapter’s demographic portrait provides a lens to document the contributions that Maine’s emerging Latino population is making. In addition, examples of how Latinos are participating are added to support this demographic portrait. Although an increasing number of Latino migrants are settling in nontraditional U.S. destinations such as New England, Maine has not attracted significant numbers of Latinos, unlike nearby Massachusetts.4 Overall, Maine’s population grew by 3.8 percent during the 1990s, from 1,227,928 in 1990 to 1,274,923 in 2000. Although only a small proportion of Maine’s population is nonwhite (1.5 percent), Latinos form the second-largest ethnic minority group, having had a population increase of 37.1 percent in the 1990s, which was larger than that of Asians (34.9 percent), non-Latino blacks (25.3 percent) and non-Latino whites (1.8 percent). As of April 2000, Mexicans (3,649) and Puerto Ricans (2,561) represented the two largest Latino populations in Maine. Colombians (419), Cubans (323), and Dominicans (272) were the third, fourth, and fifth largest populations, respectively. Also included in the 10 largest Latino populations in the state were Guatemalans, Ecuadorians, Hondurans, Peruvians, and Salvadorans. Latinos find Maine a welcoming place that offers support upon arrival and provides opportunities to integrate into the state’s social and economic life. Latinos are attracted to Maine also because of its smaller cities with safer neighborhoods— which are seen as good places to live and raise families—because of opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, and because of the overall good quality of life the state offers. Most Maine Latinos are U.S.-born people who have moved to that state from other northeastern states—such as Massachusetts and New York. The majority of Maine’s Latinos live in the southern part of the state. In 2000 Cumberland County, where the cities of Portland and Brunswick are, was home to nearly a quarter of the state’s Latino population, and nearby York County was home to nearly 15 percent of the state’s Latino population.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Age distribution provides a possible insight into the economic contribution that Latinos are likely to make in the state. Latinos (37.3 percent) had greater proportions of their population under the age of 18, compared to non-Latino whites (23.2 percent). This suggests that in the short term Latinos are likely to impose relatively higher fiscal costs, similar to other minority groups; but in the medium and long terms, they are likely to begin working, paying taxes, and supporting the retiring non-Latino white population in the state. In contrast, Latinos had significantly lower percentages of their population who were age 65 and above (4.2 percent) than did non-Latino whites (14.7 percent). These

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Latino America percentages suggest that Latinos should not be incurring costs for elderly care, costs which the state needs to address in the short term.

SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT The socioeconomic portrait of Latinos in Maine supports the emergence of a Latino middle class. The Latino median household income in 1999 was $36,244. This group’s household income was similar to that of Asians ($37,873) and nonLatino whites ($37,408), and it was well ahead of non-Latino blacks ($30,758). Latinos in Maine have high levels of education: Latinos 25 years of age and older have a high school or college degree (79.2 percent) at rates similar to those of non-Latino whites (85.5 percent). Another factor influencing successful employment outcomes is language proficiency. The majority of Maine Latinos are fluent in English. Of the Latino migrants who report speaking only Spanish in the home, nearly three-quarters (72.4 percent) report speaking English very well. The public school systems in Maine appear to be addressing the needs of Latino children. For example, the Portland public schools has an Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Programs that offers technical assistance, training, and support to teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL). And besides providing professional development, diversity training, and support materials for all teachers and administrators within the school district, that office also assists other professionals in the area, offers support to the community to train people in cultural competency, and employs a parent-community specialist who provides outreach and support to Latino families whose children attend the city’s public schools. Spanish is the third most spoken language in which service is provided in Portland’s schools, behind Somali and Cambodian. Citizenship status is thought to confer many benefits that should put migrant populations on a trajectory to the middle class. As previously noted, Latinos in Maine are predominantly born in the United States. Latinos speculate that there have been more foreign-born Latinos moving to the state since the 2000 census, but there is presently no quantitative evidence to demonstrate this. Of the 16.7 percent of Latinos who were foreign born in 2000, slightly over half (51.2 percent) were naturalized citizens. However, concerns are being raised that unauthorized migration could interfere with Latinos’ continued integration into the state’s economic and social life. Latinos’ growing presence in the state and the presence of unauthorized Latino migrants have become a concern to some Maine residents. In 2006, on three occasions, the police in Ellsworth apprehended and detained unauthorized Latino migrants. They subsequently turned them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. In the December 2006 incident, three men

Maine were turned over to ICE officials after they were stopped for driving a motor vehicle with a broken window. The driver did not show a valid driver’s license, and the police officer detained all men.5 Some fear occurrences such as this highlight how concerns over unauthorized migration hinder the ability of Latinos to participate socially and economically in the state, even though the state’s Latinos are overwhelmingly U.S. born and U.S. citizens.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION Latinos have reported moving to Maine to experience a better quality of life. This included finding employment. Some Latinos have been successful in the labor market, whereas others have faced some problems finding employment. The labor force participation rates for Latinos age 16 to 64 years and not in school was similar to those for the general population, but they experienced higher rates of unemployment. Nearly 13.1 percent of Latinos were unemployed in 2000, compared to 5.2 percent of non-Latino whites. Over half (54.3 percent) of all Latinos worked in low-wage service-sector jobs. The few Dominicans in Maine demonstrated some success in the labor market, as 43.1 percent of them worked in white-collar jobs (executive, administrative, and managerial occupations, or professional specialty occupations). Labor market participation can also be assessed by the number of workers in a family who are employed. Census data do not identify the number of jobs a person works, but they can be used to estimate the number of workers in a family. Latinos generally have a greater number of workers who are employed, compared to Anglo-Americans. However, this was not the case in Maine, where Latinos averaged 2.1 workers per family, and non-Latino whites averaged 2.2 workers. Latinos, especially Mexicans, have traditionally come to Maine as migrant and seasonal farmworkers. They work in Maine’s blueberry, apple, eggs, Christmas wreath, tree-planting, and broccoli farms. Many newly arrived Latinos from Mexico work in Maine’s dairy farms.6 The presence of low-income Latino workers has been strong enough to prompt the creation of the Maine Migrant Health Program, which provides primary and preventative health care services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. In 2004 that program provided services to over 1,000 individuals. In addition, the city of Portland provides a Latino Community Health Outreach worker to assist Latinos in receiving adequate medical care. Latinos have had some success starting new businesses in southern Maine. The 1997 U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Census reported that Maine had 545 Latino-owned businesses, which employed 677 workers. Most of these businesses are in the service industry, and two of the more prominent types of businesses are beauty salons and house-cleaning services.7 La Bodega Latina is one of the largest and most visible Latino businesses in the state. It was started by a

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Latino America Dominican migrant in Portland in 1997. The market specializes in Latino products from different Latin American countries. With its success, the owner started a restaurant with the same name in 2004. With Portland being home to a minor league baseball team that has a number of Latino baseball players, La Bodega Latina has become a favorite meeting place for Latinos in the area. Latinos have received help from nonprofit organizations in starting new businesses. Costal Enterprises, a local community development agency, sponsors Start Smart, a program that provides technical assistance for migrants and refugees who are starting new businesses. The program started by assisting the owners of Tu Casa, a Salvadoran restaurant in Portland, who opened their restaurant out of their home in 1999. The owners received assistance initially from Start Smart’s staff members, who helped with the permitting and licensing process and the establishing of good accounting procedures. This service proved invaluable for the owners of Tu Casa to make their business the thriving restaurant it is today.

MOBILITY AND HOMEOWNERSHIP Latino migrants in Maine have been living in the United States for a substantial amount of time. Nearly 95.7 percent of Latinos had been living in the United States for at least 5 years prior to the 2000 census. However, Maine’s Latinos were highly mobile: only 37.9 percent of Latinos were residing in the same location 5 years before the census, whereas 59.6 percent of non-Latino whites were residing in the same location 5 years earlier. Home ownership is a way to demonstrate the commitment to remain in one location, and it has been shown to be important for building sustainable social networks and social capital. Maine Latinos (45.6 percent) had a home ownership rate identical to that of Latinos nationally (45.6 percent) but lower than the rate for non-Latino whites (72.2 percent). In summary, the Latino population has grown slowly but steadily in Maine over the last 40 years. Latinos have found opportunities for employment and affordable housing. Maine’s Latino population is located in the southern part of the state, whereas traditionally migrant and seasonal workers have been in the northern part of the state. The Latino population is growing more from internal migration than from international migration. Some anti-immigrant bias has surfaced in the state that has tarnished the rather positive reception that Latinos had initially received. Most people in Maine have welcomed Latinos and have been appreciative of their economic and social contributions. As the Latino population continues to grow, some believe that the conditions are positive for the Latino population to develop a strong middle-class presence in the state. The present concentration of Latinos in southern Maine could be a harbinger of increased internal and international migration to the state. As is the case in other regions of

Maine the United States, it is likely that beneficial socioeconomic integration will occur as both Latinos and others residing in Maine accommodate one another, rather than Latinos alone conforming to some imagined homogenous national identity.8

NOTABLE LATINOS Yepes, Carlos (1952–). Carlos Yepes, the Peter M. Small associate professor of Romance languages at Bowdoin College, is the author of Oficios del goce: Poesía y debate cultural en Hispanoamérica (1960–2000). Faverón-Patriau, Gustavo (1967–). Gustavo Faverón-Patriau is the author of Rebeldes: Sublevaciones Indígenas en Hispanoamérica en el Siglo XVIII. He serves as an assistant professor of Romance languages at Bowdoin College.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos in Maine have been increasingly making cultural contributions to the state. With a larger Latino population in the southern part of the state, Latino community leaders have focused on creating an internal organizational structure to develop activities to highlight the rich Latino culture. Their efforts are paying dividends as a number of Latino-focused programs and events are regularly held. For example, there are many opportunities to participate in Latino dance and music in the Portland area, and the local community radio station in Portland, WMPG, has a weekly Latino program.

DEVELOPMENT

OF

LATINO ORGANIZATIONS

Latinos in Maine have begun to develop social institutions to help them keep a strong sense of identity. The Latin Community Council of Maine and the Centro Latino of Maine are two organizations in Portland that strive to improve the quality of life for Latinos. For example, the Centro Latino publishes Mi Gente, a bilingual directory of Latino-owned businesses, Spanish-speaking service providers, and community events and activities relevant to the Latino community. The Latin Community Council sponsors the annual Día de la Raza, a day for Latinos to connect with one another and enjoy Latino food, music, and dance. More importantly, these organizations provide Maine’s Latinos with opportunities to develop connections with the established community structures. From these connections, Maine’s Latinos are creating businesses and programs that highlight Latino contributions to the state. The connections that have developed between Latinos and other Maine residents are important for the local community as well. The efforts of Maine’s Latino leaders call attention to the needs and resources of the Latino community. They also demonstrate the willingness of those leaders to work in collaboration with

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Marchers participating in the opening ceremony to the 2007 Portland Soccer Championship. Courtesy of the Portland Public Health Commission.

local institutions. For example, Portland’s Public Health Commission sponsors an annual soccer championship to promote Latino health outreach programs. This event draws people to participate in the soccer tournament and allows Latinos to celebrate their culture with a parade and Latino food and dance. The event is also an opportunity for the Public Health Commission to provide health promotion materials for the growing Latino population in the area.

CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS Churches are an important institution for Latinos, not only because they provide support, but also because they help keep Latino culture alive. Both Catholic and Evangelical Protestant churches reach out to the Latino community and offer opportunities for Latinos to celebrate their cultural and religious traditions. Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Portland has a full-time staff person who works with the Latino community. The church sponsors a women’s group that has been successful in developing social activities and in incorporating many of the religious traditions from the different Latino populations. The church has also been successful in providing support for newly arrived Latinos. Immanuel Baptist Church in Portland has also developed Tengo Voz, a program that provides social

Maine and cultural support for Latinos. This church sponsors a women’s group that helps its members promote their Latino identity.

NOTES 1. Weber, 1992. 2. P.J. Granberry, and E.A. Marcelli, “Latinos and Latinas in Vermont,” In Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, eds. S. Oboler and D. Gonzales (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 3. Marcelli and Granberry, 2006. 4. Singer, 2004. 5. Russell, 2006. 6. Grard, 2006. 7. U.S. Department of Commerce. 8. Suárez-Orozco and Páez, 2002.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Grard, Larry. “Hard Work Pays Off.” Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, December 21, 2006. Marcelli, E.A., and P.J. Granberry. “Latino New England: An Emerging Demographic and Economic Portrait.” In Latinos in New England. Ed. A. Torres. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006, 25–52. Russell, J. “Ellsworth: Police Detain Suspected Illegal Immigrants.” Bangor News, 2006. Singer, A. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2004. Suárez-Orozco, M.M. and M.M. Páez. “Introduction: The Research Agenda.” In Latinos: Remaking America. Eds. M.M. Suárez-Orozco and M.M. Páez. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, 1–37. U.S. Census Bureau (2001). Hispanic Economic Census. Washington, DC. U.S. Department of Commerce. Weber, David. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

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21 MARYLAND Enrique S. Pumar

CHRONOLOGY 1500

1572 1750s

1776 1960

1970s 1979

The Juan de la Cosa map of the world (1500) indicates that John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), the only explorer sailing the North American coast at that time under the British flag, may have coasted as far south as Cape Hatteras around 1498. Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish governor of Florida, explores Chesapeake Bay. Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan who later became one of that country’s patriots during the independence struggle against Spain, plays a key role in obtaining supplies for the French admiral de Grasse, who then sailed to the Chesapeake Bay to help the Americans to capture Yorktown, Virginia. Maryland Convention delegates declare independence from Great Britain on July 4. With the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution, many Cuban exiles begin to settle in Maryland, along the DC metro area. Many Latin American political exiles trying to escape a new wave of dictatorships throughout Latin America settle in Maryland. Economic crises and political instability in Central America increase Central American migrants in Maryland’s DC metro area. The Salvadoran civil war and the Nicaraguan revolution contribute to the increase of these two Latino groups around Maryland’s DC metro area.

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1980s

1985 1986

1995 2000

2000–2005

The years of the 1980s witness the largest wave of Latino migrants to Maryland. Between 1980 and 1990 the Latino population of Maryland rose by 93 percent, to more than 125,000. CASA de Maryland Inc., the largest Latino and migrant service and advocacy organization, is founded. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is founded, reflecting the increasing presence of Latinos in the business sector of the state and the purchasing power of this group. The Latino population in Maryland reaches 172,000. Statewide Latino groups form the Maryland Latino Coalition for Justice, an advocacy organization that scored various legislative victories, such as the legislation that requires state agencies to translate essential documents to Spanish. The Latino population experiences the largest percentage growth of all ethnic groups in Maryland.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW EARLY HISTORY As with other states along the eastern seaboard, Maryland’s first contacts with Latinos came as a result of exploration. Governor Menendez the Aviles is said to have explored the Chesapeake Bay area in the late sixteenth century. However,

Maryland unlike Florida, Maryland did not offer any strategic or known natural resource of value to Spaniards, and they did not establish any permanent settlements in the state. In fact, with the outgrowth of the British settlements in Virginia, settling in Maryland may have become a risk not worth pursuing. With the expansion of British colonialism, the first settlement in Maryland was established in St. Mary’s City in 1634, with 200 settlers, many of whom Catholics from northern Europe who had arrived in the lands granted to Roman Catholic Lord Baltimore by King Charles I. The economy of the state was soon to be dominated by tobacco, a crop that is not as labor intensive as sugar, which promoted the development of fiercely individualistic and relatively small settlements in the state. During the American Revolution, Carlos III generously supported the rebel’s call for independence, and many Latinos contributed money and supplies to the revolutionary effort. In addition, several Hispanic soldiers fought the British alongside the Americans. During the last major battle of the war, at Yorktown, Virginia, the French and American forces were able to sustain their triumphal efforts and pay for salaries, provisions, and ammunition, thanks in large measure to financial donations received from Latina women in Havana, Cuba. None of these events, however, resulted in the permanent settlements of Latinos in Maryland. In fact, by all accounts, the Latino population in the state was small enough not to merit an official count.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Geography and the sparse communication between Maryland and Latin America contributed to the small number of Latinos settling in the state after the American War of Independence. Even throughout the first half of the twentieth century the Latino population in Maryland did not appear significant. This has to do with the slow demographic growth of the state, with an economy that has always been closely tied to both low labor-intensive forms of production and to the growth of the federal government, and with the fact that relatively close cities, such as Philadelphia and New York, have traditionally been magnets for Latino migration. Like in most other states in the nation, the number, composition, and geographical distribution of the Latino community in Maryland have been in large part the result of transnational networks and events in Latin America. Before the 1980s, the Latino community in Maryland was primarily composed of a handful of professional and other political exiles who had left their countries to escape persecution; they took refuge in the counties of Prince George and Montgomery, along Maryland’s DC metro area. For these migrants the major attractions the state offered were the abundance of professional and international jobs, its proximity to other major cities along the Washington, DC–New York corridor, and the

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Latino America relative low cost of living. This was the case, for instance, with the population of Cuban Americans who settled in the area after the Cuban Revolution.

THE GROWTH

OF THE

LATINO POPULATION

Starting in the 1980s the numbers and composition of the Latino community changed drastically. During this period the bulk of the Latino migration to Maryland came from Central America, primarily from El Salvador. The percentage of Latinos who identified themselves as Salvadorans in 1990 was 23 percent. The socioeconomic status of this new wave of migrants was also different. Besides professionals escaping civil wars and other political turmoil, Central Americans from lower socioeconomic strata arrived in the state, not only escaping the political instability of the region but also its economic devastation. When the effects of the debt crises throughout Latin America hit hard, working-class individuals also migrated and eventually settled in Maryland, this time attracted by the rapid explosion in the housing market and the booming construction job market in the state. By the end of the decade, the percentage of Latinos in Maryland jumped from 3 to 5 percent, and their median age was 27.4 years. By 2000 almost half of the Latinos residing in the Maryland–Washington, DC, metro area identified themselves as Central Americans. Although Latinos in the Maryland–Washington, DC, area enjoyed a slightly higher standard of living than that of Latinos in the rest of the nation, this population confronted many of the same issues associated with the process of assimilation as many of their counterparts elsewhere in the nation. Almost half of the Latinos in Maryland are still not fluent in English, but they have a working command of the language. The majority is employed in the service sector. Despite the fact that the region’s migrants live in middle-income neighborhoods, not the poorest, there is evidence of informal residential segregation. For instance, in Montgomery County, where about a quarter of the Latinos reside, the majority (77 percent) tend to congregate along with other working-class groups in the eastern half of the county, where there are more multifamily quarters available for rent. In Maryland’s eastern shore the Latino population is mostly composed of migrants who work in agriculture and the poultry industry. For instance, every summer hundreds of Mexicans and Guatemalans make the trip from Florida to work in the tomato harvest as migrant workers. As in other states throughout the nation, these workers are undocumented, they come without their families, and they constitute a very transient population whose stay is determined by the availability of work in the fields. Estimates set the Latino undocumented workers at about 50 to 60 percent of all the farm labor in the Delmarva region. When Mexican crews from Texas began to arrive in the early 1970s, the profile of migrant workers had a noticeable demographic shift in the agricultural labor market, as

Maryland Mexicans and other undocumented Latinos gradually replaced workers from Puerto Rico who had come in the 1960s, and African Americans who had come before that.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES The growth of the Latino community in Maryland has not been without controversy. The recent rise of ethnic tensions between Latinos and non-Latinos have manifested itself recently in two disturbing issues. The first issue is the so-called amigo shopping.1 This practice refers to the assaults and robberies Latino service laborers suffer after they finish work late at night and are on their way home. Because most migrants use public transportation and walk to their homes after work, they are easy prey to robbers who steal their money hoping that the crime will never be reported for fear of deportation, or simply because the workers do not communicate fluently in English. The second issue involves day laborers. In Maryland most day laborers are Central Americans working in construction-related jobs, such as construction proper, landscaping, and moving services. They are hired repeatedly by the same contractor or subcontractor, and they report incidents related to collecting their salaries. Besides the controversy regarding fair labor and hiring conditions, other minorities, primarily African Americans, have also accused day laborers of taking jobs away from them and lowering salaries in service jobs. Mainstream populations have complained that areas where day laborers congregate are usually unsafe. For these reasons, how to resolve problems with this sector of the Latino population has become a fierce political issue. Yet, despite these obstacles, the Latino community has made tremendous strides in recent years. Politically, no gubernatorial candidate in the state can win without the Latino support. For this reason, both Republicans and Democrats are battling for the heart and soul of the Latino community. This is evident in the recent debate over illegal migration, in which Maryland officials have taken a less confrontational position than their counterparts in neighboring Virginia. In Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George counties Latino groups have established a presence that cannot be easily erased. The number of Latino organizations in Maryland listed in the National Directory of Hispanic Organizations is comparable to the number of such organizations in any other state in the nation.

NOTABLE LATINOS Fernandez Cavada, Federico (1831–1871). A lieutenant colonel in the Union Army until his capture in the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, Fernandez Cavada fought in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. During the Battle of Gettysburg he

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Latino America was captured in Maryland and sent to Libby Prison, in Richmond. Later, he was appointed U.S. consul to Trinidad, Cuba, and in 1869 he resigned from his diplomatic appointment to fight in Cuba’s 10-year war of independence. He was captured and executed in July 1871. Perche Rivas, Emilio (1921–). Perche Rivas is the director of the Spanish Community of Maryland and an influential community leader in the creation and maintenance of educational programs for limited-English proficient students in the Montgomery County public schools. In 2006 then governor Robert Ehrlich awarded Perche Rivas a Lifetime Achievement Award. Bustamante, Javier (1938–). Born in Seville, Spain, Bustamante resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where he has distinguished himself as a publisher, community and civic leader, and entrepreneur. He has participated in multiple commissions in Baltimore, and he has founded several Latino publications. Most notably, Bustamante has been the founder and president of the Club Andalucía, and founder and member of the board of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 2007 he served as vice chairman of the Baltimore City Planning Commission. In that same year he was appointed commissioner of the Trial Courts Judicial Nominations by Governor Martin O’Malley, a position he holds to this day. Iglesias Austrich, Jorge (1939–). Iglesias Austrich has been the director of business initiatives in the Governor’s Office of Small Business Advocacy and Small Business Assistance since 1995. Gutierrez, Ana Sol (1942–). Gutierrez has represented District 18 in the Maryland House of Delegates since January 8, 2003. Born in El Salvador, she has attended Pennsylvania State University, the American University, and George Washington University. She was president and chief operating officer at SOL Quality Systems Inc. from 1996 to 1999. Gutierrez has served in several community organizations, and local and state commissions. In 1997 she was awarded the Outstanding Contributions to Hispanic Community Award by the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association; in 1999 the Outstanding Achievement in Education and Politics Award by the Maryland State Teachers Association, and in 2002 the Political Leadership Award by the Hispanic Democratic Club. Ruiz, Jose (1950–2006). Ruiz served as director of the Maryland Governor Commission on Hispanic Affairs from 1988 to 1995. In that capacity he organized a number of community programs to serve the Latino community in Baltimore—among them the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Maryland and the nonprofit Education Based Latino Outreach (EBLO). He was also instrumental in the growth of the Latino Festival in Baltimore. Alonso, Andres (1957–). Alonso, a native of Cuba, is the chief executive officer of the Baltimore Public School System. He was deputy chancellor of the public school system in New York City before his current position. Alonso earned his bachelor magna cum laude from Columbia University and went on to earn law and EdD degrees from Harvard. Barreiro, Mauricio (1958–). Barreiro is the chair of the Governor Commission of Hispanic Affairs. Born in Colombia, Barreiro has been a Maryland and DC licensed civil

Maryland trial and business attorney since 1987. He graduated with a BA from West Chester State College, and a JD degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2001 he formed his own law firm, Mauricio E. Barreiro LLC. Aside from the full-time law practice, Barreiro has been a consultant for many professional, social, and community organizations in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Solis, Carlos (1959–). A community leader in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Solis is also a member of the Gaithersburg Policy Chief Advisory Committee and of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in addition to being the owner and manager of Family Dentistry of Gaithersburg. A native of Ecuador, Solis ran for the Gaithersburg City Council in 2007. Lobo, Luis G. (1960–). A native of Alajuela, Costa Rica, Lobo is the chairman of the board of advisors of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and regional president of BB&T in Washington, DC, and chairman of BB&T’s Hispanic Segment Task Force. His family migrated to the United States when he was 9 years old, and he was raised in Lincoln County, North Carolina. In 1983 he received a double major in economics and business administration from Belmont Abbey College and then earned a master’s degree in business administration from Campbell University, in Buies Creeks, North Carolina. In 1998 Lobo received his graduate degree with honors from the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware. He graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999. Perez, Thomas E. (1960–). Perhaps the most successful elected leader in Maryland, Perez served from 2002 until 2006 as a member of the Montgomery County Council representing residents in Silver Spring, Kensington, Takoma Park, and Wheaton. He was the first Latino ever elected to the council and served as council president in 2005. From 2001 to 2007 he also served as professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. In January 2007 Perez was appointed secretary of the Department of Labor. Torres, Gustavo (1960–). Executive director of La Casa de Maryland Community Organization, Torres was also the founding president of the Maryland Latino Coalition for Justice. He has served as a member of the executive committee of Prince George’s County Chapter of the NAACP. In 2001 Torrez received the Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation, and in 2002 he was recognized as the Washingtonian of the Year. In September 2003 CASA received the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for its persistent fight for the fair treatment of migrants and refugees. Aldunate, Wilson (1962–). Aldunate is the president and CEO of CompuData Systems Inc. and chairman of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 1981 Aldunate was awarded one of three scholarships allocated to Bolivia by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to study at the University of Kansas. In 1984 he received a BS in electrical engineering with a minor in digital telecommunications from the University of Kansas. In 1986 Aldunate worked as a full-time engineer at INTELSAT’s Satellite Operations Department, and in 1987 at the Satellite Control Center. In 1995 he founded CompuData Systems Inc. (CSI), an information technology company that provides services to several federal agencies and public schools in the Washington metropolitan area.

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Latino America Melnyck, Joseline Peña (1970–). Melnyck represents District 21 in the Maryland House of Delegates. She was an assistant U.S. attorney at the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in the U.S. Department of Justice between 1997 and 1999. Born in the Dominican Republic, she graduated from Buffalo State College and received a degree in law from Buffalo Law School at the State University of New York in 1991. From 1991 to 1992 she was an attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ramirez, Victor (1974–). Ramirez has represented District 47 at the Maryland House of Delegates since 2003. Representative Ramirez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, and attended Frostburg State University and St. Thomas University School of Law. He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 2001, and he is a member of the American, Maryland State, Maryland Hispanic, and Prince George’s County bar associations. He has been the co-chair of the Maryland Democratic Hispanic Caucus since 2004.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The close proximity and easy access to cultural organizations located in the District of Columbia overshadow some of the cultural contributions of the Latino population in Montgomery and Prince George counties, where most Latinos in the Washington, DC, metro area reside. The Maryland State Art Council lists 15 organizations and individuals who contribute to various forms of cultural expressions throughout the state. In addition, community organizations such as the Hispanic Cultural Association of Maryland and the East Baltimore Latino Organization provide a variety of cultural and educational programs. All of the universities in the state support student cultural organizations. Of these institutions, the University of Maryland at College Park houses 11 Latino student organizations and several research centers promoting Latino culture in the state. The Latin American Studies Center, in collaboration with nearby community organizations, sponsors outreach programs to encourage first-generation Latino migrant students to attend college. Multiple community-based Latino associations run festivals to celebrate Latino culture and national identity. Two examples are the Fiesta de Sevilla, organized by the Andalucia Club of Maryland, which was founded in July 2000, and the Annual Gala, which has been sponsored by the Puerto Rican Club of Maryland for the past 28 years. There are three Spanish-language dailies published in Maryland. The close cultural ties between the Latino community in Maryland and the rest of the Washington, DC, metro region can be illustrated by the work of the IberoAmerican Cultural Attachés Association. Established in 1976 by cultural attachés from various Latin American embassies in Washington, the association has sponsored numerous activities to promote the rich Latino cultural heritage and its Latin American roots. In 1991 the association sponsored a symposium at the Library of Congress to commemorate the millennium of the Spanish language.

Maryland

Latino commercial center in Wheaton. Courtesy of Enrique S. Pumar.

Later in 1988, it organized the first Ibero-American Chamber of Music Festival, and in 1992 the first of the Ibero-American Fine Arts Salon was held at the Venezuelan embassy. Today, one of its principal activities is the sponsorship of the Latin American Film Festival, held at the American Film Institute, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Latinos in Maryland have also used art and culture as a medium to combat crime and other social problems affecting them. In 2005 the Latin American Youth Center of Washington, DC, expanded its operations into Maryland, opening offices and offering programs in Prince George and Montgomery counties to encourage youth development through art education. Named the Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (MMYC), this center offers youth development programs modeled after those pioneered in the District for more than 30 years. To kick off its Maryland initiatives, MMYC offers an arts, media, and school beautification camp in Hyattsville, Maryland, in partnership with the Democracy Collaborative of the University of Maryland and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington. In 2006 U.S. senator for Maryland Barbara Mikulski announced that the youth centers would receive $750,000 in federal funding to launch the Center for Educational Partnership, in association with the University of Maryland, to help combat gang violence in the state through

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Latino America such youth development programs as job training and placement, computer training, case counseling, arts activities, after-school programs, summer educational camps, and life-skills training. A more sport-oriented leisure activity that also contributes to combat violence and other deviant behavior among Latino youth in the state is the soccer leagues where many Latino teams compete. In Maryland alone there are four wellestablished soccer leagues. For the Latino community in the state, soccer competition is more than just a sports event. It is regarded as a social networking opportunity and an occasion to reassert cultural identities, as many of the participating teams are organized along Latino nationalities and, in some cases, even along lineages and friendship ties from specific towns and neighborhoods in their native countries.

NOTE 1. Washington Post, October 26, 2007.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bean, Frank D., and Marta Tienda. The Hispanic Population of the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1988. Boswel, T.D., and J.R. Curtis. The Cuban American Experience. Totawa, NJ: Rowan and Allenheld, 1984. Brugger, Robert J. Maryland: A Middle Temperament, 1634–1980. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988. Fitzpatrick, Joseph P. Puerto Rican Americans: The Meaning of Migration. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987. Gómez-Quiñones, Juan. Roots of Chicano Politics 1600 to 1940. Albuquerque: New Mexico University Press, 1994. Governors Commission of Hispanic Affairs. http://www.marylandhispanics.org. Latino Health Initiative. “The Blueprint for Latino Health in Montgomery County, MD, 2002–2006.” Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, May 2002. Maryland Demographic Information. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24000.html. Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. http://www.mdhcc.org/about/about_hispanics_ in_maryland.asp. Portes, Alejandro, and Robert L. Bach. Latin Journey: Cuban and Mexican Immigrants in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Renteria, Rose Ann. “A Vibrant Latino Presence in Washington, DC.” Footnotes, May–June 2000. Rochin, Refugio, and Lionel Fernandez. “US Latino Patriots: From the American Revolution to Afghanistan: An Overview.” Pew Hispanic Organization. http://pewhispanic.org/ files/reports/17.3.pdf.

Maryland Sanchez-Korrol, Virginia. From Colonia to Community. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983. Singer, Audrey. At Home in the Nation’s Capital. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2003. ———. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, 2004. Valenzuela, Abel, Ana Luz Gonzalez, Nik Theodore, and Edwin Melendez. In Pursuit of the American Dream: Day Labor in the Greater Washington D.C. Region. Los Angeles: University of California, Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, 2005.

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22 MASSACHUSETTS Damian Nemirovsky

CHRONOLOGY 1890s 1898 1917

1940s 1950s

1954 1960s 1960s–1970s 1962 1964

1968–1970 1969

The Boston Independence Club Cuba-Borinquen advocates for Puerto Rican and Cuban independence. Massachusetts loses 292 men in the Spanish-American War. Congress naturalizes all Puerto Ricans through the Jones-Shafroth Act, facilitating the recruitment of individuals from the island by manufacturers and agriculturalists in Massachusetts. Puerto Rican workers begin migrating to Massachusetts. Puerto Rican agricultural workers begin staying year-round. Puerto Rican industrial workers greatly increase the Massachusetts Latino population. Eighteen hundred Puerto Rican farmworkers are recruited to work in Massachusetts. Economic changes create large demand for Latino industrial workers in some areas, and the service sector begins to emerge. Dominican workers begin migrating to Massachusetts. Rafael Benzan, the first Dominican to live in Cambridge, arrives. The Immigration and Naturalization Act restricts the use of foreign nationals in temporary agricultural work, increasing demand for Puerto Rican labor in many Massachusetts towns. Cambridge implements rent control, preserving low-rent, affordable housing for low-income Latino families in the city. The Cambridge Spanish Council is established to fight for Latino rights in the city.

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1972

1972–1994

1974

1975

1979

1983

1984

Massachusetts passes the first mandatory bilingual education transition program in the United States as a result of demographic shifts and the work of activists in the Commonwealth. Cambridge reimplements rent control, limiting the amount property owners can charge for rent and maintaining affordable housing for lower-income Latino families in the city. Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. of the Massachusetts U.S. District Court orders Boston public schools to be desegregated after finding a consistent and recurring pattern of racial discrimination against minority students. The Masters Parents Advisory Council (PAC) in Cambridge complains that the city is failing its responsibilities to Spanish-speaking students in bilingual programs. The Masters Parents Advisory Council faults the federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Office for Civil Rights for violating the civil rights of bilingual students. Governor Michael Dukakis appoints a refugee advisory council. The following year, Cambridge becomes a sanctuary for Salvadoran refugees. As a result of the sanctuary offered to Central Americans by Massachusetts, the Latino population enters a period of great growth through immigration. Two days of riots break out between Latino and white youths in Lawrence as a result of that city’s failure to incorporate the Latino population socially and economically.

Massachusetts 1985

1987

1995 1996

1997

1998

2000 2001

2002

2003 2005 2006

The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy is founded. The Cambridge Peace Commission proposes to the Cambridge City Council that city employees not ask individuals about their immigration status. San José Las Flores, El Salvador, becomes a sister city of Cambridge after a vote from the Cambridge Peace Commission, demonstrating the level of interest by non-Latinos in the cause of Latinos. Nelson Merced becomes the first Latino elected to a statewide office, representing the 5th Suffolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The Latino population in Massachusetts reaches 344,068. Federal welfare reform cuts public assistance funding and changes requirements for immigration requests, greatly impacting Massachusetts’s Latino community. The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act becomes a path for Guatemalans and Salvadorans in Massachusetts to attain permanent residence. Democrat Jarrett T. Barrios is elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. December 20 is the last day new Honduran migrants can qualify for temporary protected status. With the closing of this route for migration, Hondurans arriving after this date have much more difficulty attaining work, housing, and education. The Latino population in Massachusetts reaches 428,729. February 12 is the last day new Salvadoran migrants can qualify for temporary protected status. With the closing of this route for migration, Salvadorans arriving after this date have much more difficulty attaining work, housing, and education. Democrat Jarrett T. Barrios is elected to the State Senate in the Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex districts. In November bilingual education is effectively ended by a vote on a referendum. Felix Arroyo becomes the first Latino elected to the Boston City Council. Democrat Jeffrey Sanchez is elected as a state representative in 2003. Latino population in Massachusetts reaches 490,839. On April 10, some 2,000 demonstrators protesting a bill that would make illegal immigration a felony march from Boston Common to Copley Square, forcing road closures. On May 1, as part of the Great American Boycott, about 2,500 people rally in Boston, and 5,000 in Chelsea, East Boston, and Somerville to protest proposed immigration policy changes. As he prepares for his presidential run, Governor Mitt Romney proposes a plan to use Massachusetts state police to detain illegal immigrants.

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Governor Deval L. Patrick rescinds former Governor Mitt Romney’s immigration policy, and he changes and supplants it with one that deports the estimated 700 illegal immigrants sentenced to terms in state prisons.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW In spite of its small size and distance from Latin America, Massachusetts boasted the 12th largest population of Latinos in the United States in the year 2000. As of 2005, the 490,839 Latinos living in Massachusetts accounted for 7.9 percent of the commonwealth’s population, making them the largest minority group there. Between 1990 and 2005 the population of Latinos increased by 203,290, or 70.7 percent. In addition, Massachusetts’s Latino population has both diversified and spread throughout the commonwealth, increasing their economic and political importance. Although this demographic shift and its consequences occurred in the past few decades, Latinos have long affected and shaped the history of Massachusetts.

EARLY LATIN AMERICANS

IN

MASSACHUSETTS

Latin American presence in Massachusetts dates back over a century. Accounts of Latinos in Massachusetts appeared as early as the 1890s, when Latin American migrants, advocating for the independence of Puerto Rico and Cuba, voiced their opinions. During this period the Latinos who arrived tended to come from the upper classes. The attraction for these individuals arose from Boston’s prominent standing in the world and its renowned institutions of higher education, such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These migrants, however, often returned to Latin America after realizing their educational or financial goals. Complementing the migration of upper-class Latinos was the small number of Latin Americans who migrated to Massachusetts searching for work in domestic service jobs. At the time, the limited number of Latin American migrants prevented them from having a collectively significant social impact and from creating a coherent Latino community. One of the first mentions of Massachusetts’s Latino community appeared in a newspaper article written by José Martí. Known for his poetry and journalism, Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in January 1892, and he was also the leader of the Cuban Independence movement. During his stay in the United States, where he lived between 1880 and 1894, he developed an affinity for Boston. Martí utilized his publications to spread a view of Cuba’s northern neighbor that contradicted the monolithic perception held by his Latin American readers, namely that the United States had positive characteristics. One of these articles, published in the newspaper Patria on April 23, 1892, reported on his visit to the Boston Independence Club Cuba-Borinquen.

Massachusetts Pedro Albizu Campos, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, migrated to New England and received a scholarship to study at the University of Vermont in 1912. The following year he attended Harvard University. His tireless work made a significant contribution to historical record of Latinos in Massachusetts. Taking advantage of his status as a Harvard student, Campos lectured about Latin American issues in a variety of venues both in and outside of Boston. He discussed and criticized issues such as the Monroe Doctrine, the silencing of Puerto Rican loyalty to the United States during World War I, and the ways in which the United States prevented Puerto Rican self-determination. The issue Campos worked hardest to achieve, Puerto Rican independence, led to his election as vice president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party in 1922 and as president in 1930. José Martí and Pedro Albizu Campos represent what scholar Andres Torres considers examples of the early and lasting presence of Latinos in Massachusetts. The largest influx of Latinos into Massachusetts occurred after World War II. Prior to that period, the industrialization of Massachusetts depended on the arrival of European migrants. In the first period, between 1830 and 1890, migrants from Ireland, England, Germany, and French Canada provided the fundamental labor that supported industrialization. The recruitment of both these European migrants and rural farm girls from Massachusetts provided factories and mills with the cheap labor force that they needed, especially after the northern victory in the American Civil War and the subsequent industrial boom. As this period approached its end, migrants experienced an expansion of opportunities and success. During a second industrial period, between 1890 and 1950, Massachusetts entered a process of industrial consolidation as larger manufacturers commenced absorbing smaller companies. This consolidation increased the demand for workers, whom the companies began recruiting from southern and eastern Europe. By the 1920s the manufacturing industry in Massachusetts began a noticeable decline, as companies moved either south or west. Even though World War II brought about a small boom to Massachusetts’s manufacturing economy, deindustrialization and restructuring soon resumed. The beginning of deindustrialization coincided with both the commencement of large-scale Latin American migration to Massachusetts and the erosion of the opportunities which allowed previous generations of migrants to succeed.1 The new conditions under which Latin American migrants arrived explain a great deal of the difficulty that the Latino community experienced in achieving the same success as past waves of migrants.

POST –WORLD WAR II LATINO MIGRATION Migration rates in Massachusetts dropped noticeably between the 1920s and 1960s, as the United States embraced tighter immigration laws that prevented

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Farmworkers being recruited by labor boss in Caguas, Puerto Rico, to work on the mainland. No date. Courtesy of Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora, Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, CUNY.

industries from attracting the cheap labor source they had depended on throughout the previous century. The commonwealth’s job market underwent a transformation, steadily losing employment opportunities to other locations. Even for newly formed migrant communities that had populated Massachusetts by 1960, including 5,217 Puerto Ricans, the success of the nineteenth century remained unattainable. New England lost, through both closures and failures, far more than did other industrial regions between 1955 and 1975. Furthermore, the manufacturing firms that remained were forced to reduce the number of people under employment to survive. Between 1967 and 1972 Massachusetts experienced a decline of 112,000 basic manufacturing jobs, demonstrating a pattern of decline in manufacturing that lasted until 1978. In spite of the declining availability of industrial jobs, however, there began a steady increase in the number of Latinos. The first Latinos to arrive in large numbers in Massachusetts in the post–World War II period came from Puerto Rico. They differed from other Latin Americans

Massachusetts in several ways, though primarily through their political status. In 1917, nearly two decades after Puerto Rico had become a U.S. territory, Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act, naturalizing all Puerto Ricans. As a result of this, Puerto Ricans emerged as a special case in the U.S. Latino population. Their status as U.S. citizens allowed them to travel freely throughout the nation, facilitating the process of recruitment by the struggling businesses in Massachusetts. Initially, Puerto Rican migrants labored as seasonal agricultural workers in the Connecticut River Valley, western Massachusetts, and the rural region surrounding Boston. Many of them returned annually to the same farms they had worked at in prior years. The vast majority of these seasonal migrants were recruited either by the small local farmers seeking cheap labor or through the connection between the Shade Tobacco Growers Association and the government of Puerto Rico. The migrants were then contracted out as seasonal laborers to the large farms in the region—such as Reynolds Tobacco, Consolidated Tobacco, and other agricultural centers located throughout the Boston area—and to farms in western Massachusetts, the Connecticut River Valley, and portions of Rhode Island. Slowly throughout the 1950s and early 1960s migrant workers began bringing their families to Massachusetts and settling permanently in the region, as they found a significant number of available unskilled labor jobs in the manufacturing industry and affordable housing. These migrants settled in a variety of locations ranging from larger cities, such as Boston and Cambridge, to smaller centers— such as Lowell, Lawrence, and Holyoke. During this period most Puerto Ricans who arrived in Massachusetts came directly from Puerto Rico, often recruited by individual companies searching for a cheap laborer willing to work the positions that the European migrants who had already assimilated into North American society refused to take. Since the nineteenth century, Cambridge, Massachusetts, had been one of New England’s three largest manufacturing centers and one of New England’s busiest migrant access points, because of both the job opportunities located in the vicinity and the affordable cost of housing. These conditions that benefited the new generation of migrants resulted from the dispersal of the European migrants who predated early Latino migration in the 1950s. Much as other urban centers in the area, Cambridge began to see a shift in its composition as deindustrialization and the growth of suburban communities expanded, and the manufacturing jobs that had supported generations disappeared. The Puerto Rican population in the area originated predominantly from the towns of Coamo and Jayuya. They arrived as a result of the communal and familial connections binding them to the Puerto Rican migrants who had already settled in the Cambridgeport area.2 Through these connections, newcomers found it

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Latino America easier to locate both housing and employment in the region, thereby drawing more Puerto Ricans from both Coamo and Jayuya. Because of this network the Puerto Rican community grew from around 50 in the 1960s to thousands by the 1970s. They predominantly worked in older factories, such as those run by NECCO and Polaroid, though a few did work in the emerging technological companies that would soon dominate the labor market in the Cambridge region. The community, furthermore, began to form an identity as it expanded, organizing community sports teams and banding together to demand better schooling for their children and housing for their families, while increasing their visibility to the other groups in the area.

EARLY LATINO POPULATIONS

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SMALLER CITIES AND TOWNS

Smaller cities in the commonwealth—such as Lowell, Lawrence, and Holyoke—also experienced a great deal of Puerto Rican migration, which in many ways paralleled that of Cambridge and Boston. In the case of Lowell, the initial group of Latinos came from the Puerto Rican towns of Comerio and Barranquitas, both located in the interior of Puerto Rico, toward the eastern side of the island. The earliest group arrived in Lowell as a result of direct recruitment by manufacturing companies that were finding it ever more difficult to employ a cheap workforce. These companies focused their recruitment on Comerio and Barranquitas because they owned manufacturing plants there. This link between the two regions facilitated the location and recruitment of workers because company branches in Massachusetts employed individuals in Puerto Rico. Through this network, 43 Puerto Ricans were living in Lowell by 1960. Early Latino migrants to the city of Lawrence were also from Puerto Rico; however, these individuals tended to come from two coastal towns, Juana Diaz and Guayama. Numbering a mere 28 people by 1960, this group arrived as a result of familial and kin networks. Lawrence emerged as an attractive location for the same reasons as Boston, Cambridge, and Lowell. The restructuring in the manufacturing industry deeply affected the local labor situation, as more low-paying, unskilled jobs became available, because the existing regional population refused to work for those wages. Additionally, in both Lowell and Lawrence the lack of job stability—caused by the continual closing of factories and mills, paired with the difficulty that the community faced in integrating itself with the rest of the city’s resident—led to the formation of a close-knit group. Similarly to both Lowell and Lawrence, the city of Holyoke—located in south central Massachusetts, on the Connecticut River—flourished as a manufacturing center during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Holyoke industries focused predominantly on the production of paper created in mills powered by the flow of the Connecticut River, but deindustrialization took a heavy toll on the

Massachusetts manufacturing output of the city in the 1920s. Latinos, initially from Puerto Rico, began to arrive during the late 1950s as seasonal laborers working the local farms. At first recruited as agricultural workers, as the 1950s and 1960s proceeded, greater numbers of individuals stopped returning to their homes in Puerto Rico during the off-seasons, and they began setting up permanent residences in Holyoke, employed in either the agricultural sector or the dying manufacturing industry. Initially having a population of 99 Puerto Ricans in 1960, Holyoke now boasts the second-largest Puerto Rican concentration of any city in the United States.3

DOMINICANS AND THE SECOND WAVE

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LATINOS

As Puerto Rican migrants established themselves in Massachusetts through recruiting and kin connections, a second group of Latinos began migrating to the commonwealth in noticeable numbers. Beginning in the 1960s, Latinos from the Dominican Republic began arriving and settling within the communities previously established by Puerto Ricans. Dominicans utilized the same social networks as Puerto Ricans to migrate north and locate both housing and employment. Many Dominicans traveled through Puerto Rico en route to Massachusetts, and this more elaborate migratory path required greater financial resources. As such, Dominicans migrating to Massachusetts tended to come from wealthier families, compared with Puerto Ricans. In addition to arriving through a more complex route, Dominicans faced greater adversity than Puerto Ricans as they attempted to become either U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Unlike their Caribbean neighbors, Dominicans attempting to escape from the tense political situation caused by the death of Rafael Trujillo in 1961, and the U.S. invasion that followed, were not naturalized by the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917. They found it much harder to locate decent work, education, and health benefits because of their nationality. Although tensions existed between the two groups, their relative isolation within a much larger non-Latino population forced Puerto Ricans and Dominicans to form a more encompassing community in which they bolstered each another. In the case of Cambridge both of these groups moved to the northern section of Cambridgeport. This region of the city contained a higher concentration of low-income, multifamily housing. As time passed, however, the Latin American community in Cambridge faced ever-growing problems. The unskilledlabor jobs that had supported Latinos began to give way to more skilled, technological jobs. Between 1950 and 1980, manufacturing jobs dropped from 30 percent of the total job market to less than 14 percent, and the manufacturing industries in the area began to disappear, replaced with technological research companies that required a higher degree of skill than pervious jobs. Exemplifying

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Latino America this trend, MIT converted several local manufacturing buildings into a nuclearengineering center. The transition from manufacturing to technology caused demand for property in the area to increase, which subsequently raised the average housing costs. The establishment of rent control between 1968 and 1970, followed by resurgence between 1972 and 1994, succeeded because of the combined efforts of the Latino community and the well-established progressive forces in the city. Thus, although housing continued to be available, traditional employment opportunities declined, and service-sector jobs emerged as the dominant job category in the area.

MIGRATION

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CENTRAL AMERICANS

In the 1980s a new wave of migrants began to stream into Massachusetts from Central America as a result of the growing conflicts in the region. The roots of these conflicts traced back to well before World War II, when exploitation and domination of Central America by the Spanish gave way to control by the United States. Guatemalans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and El Salvadorans found that their countries’ situation deteriorated particularly during the Reagan era. The Republican presidential victory of 1980 signified a break with the policies of the previous administration, as the United States officially shifted from a focus on human rights to a fight against insurgency and communism. The Reagan administration chose to ally itself with the very dictatorships it previously opposed, believing that they posed a lesser threat to U.S. global interests than did communist regimes. For this reason, Jeane Kirkpatrick, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during Ronald Reagan’s presidency opted to support rulers such as Nicaragua’s Anastasio Somoza in his struggle against the Sandinistas. The conflict between the dictatorial governments and the various insurgent movements destroyed the local economies and forced many into exile. Between 1978 and the 1990s, some 300,000 people died in these conflicts, and in El Salvador alone 600,000 people were forced to leave their homes. These political developments led to a marked shift in the characteristics of Latino migrants to Massachusetts from Central America. Prior to 1980 the vast majority of the individuals that migrated from Central America to the United States came from the upper- and middleclasses. Predominantly arriving from more urban areas and with a higher level of education, Central Americans tended to possess the resources for a more comfortable transition, unlike the earlier migrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Demographic patterns of the new Central American migration proved difficult to discern because family units separated and migrated in unusual patterns that were difficult to categorize. Central American parents sometimes sent

Massachusetts their children to the United States, while staying behind either in Mexico or in a Central American country; other times only one or both parents migrated to the United States, leaving their children behind. The first Central Americans to arrive in the city of Cambridge, during the 1980s, emigrated as a direct result of the political turmoil prevalent throughout the region. These people received a great deal of help from the solidarity movements that existed within Cambridge. Due to the formation of a nascent kin and friendship network that facilitated the continued migration of others from the region, Cambridge soon attracted a large population of Central Americans. By this time the manufacturing jobs that attracted Puerto Ricans and Dominicans had diminished significantly, being supplanted by technological jobs. Fortunately for these new migrants, a wealth of low-skilled service-sector jobs accompanied the growth of the new technological industry. Unlike the Latino population in other cities in the commonwealth, however, Cambridge’s Latino population underwent some particular shifts, because of the labor market and the termination of rent control in 1994. By 1990, Puerto Ricans accounted for only 28 percent of the Latino population in the city, as opposed to the 53 percent they constituted throughout the commonwealth.

MIGRATION

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COLOMBIANS AND MEXICANS

The latest groups of migrants to arrive in Massachusetts in significant numbers originate from Colombia and Mexico. Colombians began their migration to escape the violence in their home country. Much as the Central Americans during the 1980s, Colombians have migrated in response to political and social instability. The first migration to the United States resulted from the period know as la Violencia, which occurred between the 1950s and 1970s. Following this first migration, came a short period when middle- and upper-class Colombians emigrated, searching for better educational and professional opportunities. By the 1980s, however, the migration of elites had given way to a more generalized migration as drug-related violence spread throughout Colombia. This last group, still arriving at present from Colombia, began to appear in significant numbers beginning in the mid-1990s. In contrast to the Central Americans who arrived in the 1980s and 1990s, and the Colombians who began arriving in the 1990s, Mexican migrants to Massachusetts did not migrate to the commonwealth to escape political violence. As of 1990, Mexicans represented the third-largest group of Latinos in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, behind Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. They accounted for 4.7 percent of the Latino population and had the thirdlargest growth percentage, behind Salvadorans and Guatemalans, in the decade between 1990 and 2000.

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LATINOS AS POLITICAL REFUGEES Understanding the difficulties faced by the Latino community in Massachusetts first requires an analysis of the immigration procedure that this community faced beginning in the post–World War II era. Recently, the debate over so-called illegal immigration has focused on states such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. As of January 2000, however, the Immigration and Nationalization Services (INS) estimated that 87,000 individuals resided in Massachusetts illegally, an increase of 60 percent from 1990. Both anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that this figure is vastly underestimated. As a result a large portion of Massachusetts’s residents encounter difficulties locating housing, employment, education, and healthcare, among other impediments. These issues compound the complexities of integrating into a society that does not speak the migrants’ native language, demonstrates a great deal of discrimination, and views migrants’ arrival as a cause for concern rather than as a vital economic force that bolsters local economies. The 1917 Jones-Shafroth Act naturalized as U.S. citizens all Puerto Ricans who arrived in Massachusetts under one of four immigration categories: permanent legal residents, undocumented immigrants, refugees under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), or refugees under the Temporary Protected Statute (TPS). Latin American migrants under the first category, permanent legal residents, constitute the majority of first-generation Latinos in Massachusetts. In order to obtain this legal status, migrants had to qualify in one of the following categories: “family reunification, employment, investment, international adoptions, beneficiaries of the diversity lottery, and those designated refugees or asylees who have been in the United States for at least one year, among others.”4 This status allows individuals to become U.S. citizens and gain all legal rights granted by the government. The second group, arriving without legal documentation, constitutes a much smaller portion of the first-generation Latinos in Massachusetts. These individuals often arrive with this status because of several reasons, including the long wait in receiving a visa granted to family members of migrants already living in the United States, the difficulty in finding sponsorship from a U.S. company, or the difficulty in gaining permanent residency through the diversity lottery. There are several programs offering citizenship to undocumented migrants of certain nationalities. These programs, however, offer help to a very limited number of people, leaving many with no avenue for legalization. Of the Latino community in Massachusetts, Colombians best exemplify this plight, as their only means for attaining permanent residency or citizenship in the United States is through a limited number of visas awarded yearly. As a result a large percentage of firstgeneration Colombians reside in Massachusetts illegally.

Massachusetts TPS and NACARA statuses awarded to Latino migrants are available only to Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans. TPS applies only to Salvadorans and Hondurans, and it emerged as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. Eligible Salvadoran migrants need to have arrived prior to February 12, 2001, and eligible Hondurans prior to December 20, 1998. Furthermore, this status will not lead to U.S. citizenship, only to a 6- to 18-month-long permission to obtain work legally and prevent deportation. NACARA applies to Guatemalans and Salvadorans. Under this program, migrants who received asylum prior to 1990 or who arrived in the United States prior to 1990 and applied for TPS are eligible to receive permanent residency. As of 2003, some 200,000 Salvadorans and 50,000 Guatemalans qualified for NACARA. Both of these programs, however, leave migrants vulnerable to abuses that could lead to deportation if any little mistake occurs during the application and renewal processes.

EDUCATION

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GENERAL AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION

Latinos migrating to Massachusetts faced a plethora of difficulties, both when they arrived and as they tried to integrate themselves into the greater community. One of these difficulties with profound consequences was their experiences with public education. Prior to 1970 public schooling in Massachusetts failed to support the growing number of school-age Latino children settling in the commonwealth. The 1970 report “The Way We Go to School: The Exclusion of Children in Boston” made public the policies and actions that prevented a great number of students from attending Boston public schools. Among the groups it examined, “The Way We Go to School” report notes that 48 percent of eligible Latino children did not attend school. The report concludes that this resulted from a lack of programs intended to reach and incorporate Spanish-speaking students. The findings published in “The Way We Go to School” came as no surprise to Latinos living in Boston; however, the emergence of this report prompted Latinos to force change in the school system. The Massachusetts legislature passed the nation’s first bilingual education law in 1970, and by the following year Boston’s first bilingual elementary school had opened. It was named after Rafael Hernández, a Puerto Rican poet, composer, and musician. Though the passing of this legislation signified a victory for the Latino community in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there remained a great deal of work in putting the new policy into practice. To achieve the ambitious goals of the new law, educators in Boston needed to create programs and make the most of their resources to incorporate Latinos into the classrooms. Furthermore, they needed to improve parent-school relations, place greater funding into facilities, strengthen the quality of curricula and teachers, and offer more support to students who appeared highly likely to drop out.

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Latino America During the 1970s Latinos labored to maintain the effectiveness of transitional bilingual education programs in Massachusetts. After the 1974 ruling to desegregate the Boston school system their work became especially important in Boston, the city with the largest number of Latino students. Latinos labored to create space in a system based on a black/white dichotomy that failed to offer a voice to a community not defined by race, but by culture, national origin, and language. Within the city of Cambridge, Latinos faced similar problems, primarily the inability to obtain adequate funding. Frustration over the bilingual programs’ deficiencies rose so high that in 1979 the Masters Parents Advisory Council (PAC) charged the federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Office for Civil Rights for violating the civil rights of bilingual students. The PAC claimed that the city of Cambridge not only failed to provide classrooms and teaching materials to schools but also assigned students not in need of bilingual education to overcrowded programs solely because of their ethnicity. Despite the initial difficulties Latinos had established themselves in the public school system by the following decade. Their achievement levels, however, remained far below those of other students in Massachusetts. In 1986 and 1987, when state officials first conducted a statistical analysis of dropout rates, Latino students as a group had the highest percentage of students failing to graduate. As the 1990s commenced, Massachusetts underwent a period of educational reform that should have benefited the most underserved students. Unfortunately, nearly 10 years after the implementation of educational reforms Latinos still lagged behind other groups. In 1998 the Massachusetts Department of Education estimated that 29 percent of Latinos beginning high school would not complete their education, whereas only one-third that many white students would dropout. Massachusetts’s bilingual education programs contained many faults, but in spite of this, it remained a vital tool for the transition of many Latinos. In November 2002, however, the commonwealth voted to end bilingual education. Though 93 percent of Latinos in Massachusetts voted to retain the program, 68 percent of the total votes favored ending bilingual education programs. This policy reversal illustrates an alarming trend in an area with a great influx of Latin American migrants. Behind this vote lays the fear that the large number of Spanish-speaking migrants can divide the United States into “two people, two cultures, and two languages.”5

MIGRANT RIGHTS The years following the termination of bilingual education programs in Massachusetts saw an increase in anti-immigrant sentiment across the nation. As a result, pressure mounted in the commonwealth’s House of Representatives to develop legislation aimed at limiting undocumented immigration, seen by some as both a national security threat and a financial burden on the nation. In 2005, in a

Massachusetts vote that fell primarily along political party lines, the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 239 to 182, Bill 4437—the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act. Among other provisions, if enacted, this piece of legislation would prohibit the aiding of undocumented immigrants and make it a felony to enter the United States without documentation. Though this legislation targeted all undocumented migrants, it primarily affected the Latino community. Initial protests occurred throughout the nation on April 9 and 10, 2006, drawing a crowd of 8,000 in Massachusetts. A second national protest, planned to coincide with May Day in 2006, received very little coverage and attention in Massachusetts.6 Regardless of the subdued showing in Boston, these protests pressured Congress to let the bill die on the Senate floor and demonstrated the activism of the Latino community both in Massachusetts and throughout the country.

NOTABLE LATINOS Gastón, Mauricio Miguel (1947–1986). Mauricio Miguel Gastón played a very important role in the struggle for Latino rights in Massachusetts. Born in La Habana, Cuba, on September 10, 1947, Mauricio Gastón migrated to the United States shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1960. He attended Princeton University, graduating in 1969 with a degree in architecture; he then attended the Harvard University School of Design. In 1981 he received a master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the faculty at the Center for Community Planning of the University of Massachusetts College of Public and Community Service in 1980. As a faculty member his research focused on the patterns of investment that displaced the black and Latino communities from the areas where they lived. Gastón succumbed to AIDS in 1986. In 1989, the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was founded at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Its goals have been to improve understanding of Latino experiences and living conditions in Massachusetts. Merced, Nelson (1948–). Merced is a former executive director of Alianza Hispana of Boston, which provides social and educational services to the city’s Latino population. He was a founding member and first president of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a nationally recognized community development organization. Merced served as deputy director for policy and planning for the city of Boston and as a commissioner of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which made him the first Latino to hold statewide office in Massachusetts in 1987. While in public office, he served the most racially and ethnically diverse district in the commonwealth, wrote legislation creating the Urban Initiative Fund, and was a key legislative leader for the first bill that sought to establish community reinvestment mandates for the insurance industry. Arroyo, Felix (1949–). Born in Puerto Rico and possessing a master’s in education from the University of Puerto Rico, Arroyo became the first Latino elected to the Boston City

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Latino America Council in January 2003. In November 2003, Councilor Arroyo was reelected to a second term, and then again to his third term in January 2005. Arroyo’s electoral victory resulted from his cultivation of an expansive and progressive multiracial political base, transforming him into the biggest Latino vote getter in Massachusetts history. Otero, Nora (1953–). Nora Otero has served the Latino community as a mental health worker in both the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, in Lawrence, and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC), in Boston. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nora Otero migrated with her family to the United States from Mexico in 1987. She has a master’s degree in education, holds an appointment as a Harvard teaching fellow, and serves as both clinical instructor in psychiatry and team leader at the MMHC. Barrios, Jarrett (1968–). Democrat Jarrett Barrios currently serves in the Massachusetts State Senate, where he represents Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Charlestown, Allston, and parts of Revere, Saugus, and Somerville. Barrios studied at Harvard and received a law degree from Georgetown University. In 1998 he began his legislative career in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 2002 he was elected to the state Senate, and he was reelected unopposed in both 2004 and 2006. Barrios is one of five openly homosexual members of the Massachusetts General Court. Elected as a state senator, he is among the most influential Latinos in Massachusetts politics. He is currently running for district attorney of Middlesex County, a position which is seen as a launching pad for statewide office. Sánchez, Jeffrey (1969–). Jeffery Sánchez, a member of the Democratic Party, ran unopposed for the 15th District of Suffolk County in 2006. His election to the state legislature represents the first time that Latinos have had a voice in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives since Nelson Merced’s term in the 1980s. Martinez, Pedro Jamie (1971–). Pedro Jamie Martinez, born in Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic, was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1997, and short thereafter he received the largest contract by any major league pitcher. With 200 wins, Martinez holds the highestwinning percentage for any major league baseball pitcher. He played a key role in the 2004 championship, when the Red Sox’s 86-year-period with no national titles ended. He is considered one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The growing population of Latinos in Massachusetts has added greatly to the commonwealth’s diverse culture. Their influence can be seen in the arts, theater, music, food, and sports. The Institute of Contemporary Art houses several Latin American pieces in their permanent collection. From March to May 2004 this museum had a special exhibit entitled “Made in Mexico/Hecho en Mexico,” showcasing the transnational aesthetics of the relationship between Mexico and the United States. Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum serves as another example of Massachusetts’s Latino influence in art collections. The Fogg Art Museum not only contains several Latino pieces, but from March 3 to October 21, 2001, it also displayed the “Geometric Abstraction: Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection,” an exhibit that boasted works from Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela.

Massachusetts Latino impact in theater, music, and dance is also abundant. In August 2005 the Boston Globe reported on the growing Latino nightlife. Dances such as salsa, merengue, and tango have become increasingly popular, resulting in new theatrical performances and a proliferation of dance instructors. Local community centers now hold weekly Latin dance nights, and mainstream nightclubs not only mix Latin music with other rhythms but even hold Latin nights. Latin American restaurants and food shops are dispersed throughout the commonwealth. Examples range from major chains—such as Quedoba, Margaritas, and On the Border—to more local establishments—such as Tango, an Argentine restaurant in Arlington, and Casa de Nana, in Springfield. These businesses have expanded in tandem with the Latino population, though there are also many Latino businesses in regions with a low population of Latinos. They expose the Massachusetts community to a wide range of disparate foods from Latin American nations and provide an important link to Latino and Latin American culture. Latinos have also played a prominent role on Massachusetts sports teams. Puerto Rican–native Ramon Rivas became the second player from Puerto Rico to play professional basketball in the United States, backing up Larry Bird and Kevin McHale of the NBA’s Boston Celtics in 1988. Baldomero “Mel” Almada, the first Mexican-born player in major league baseball, began his career with the Red Sox in 1933 and continued with the team, playing center field, until 1937. Current and former Red Sox players such as Nomar Garciaparra, Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz have become household names and constant reminders of the way Latinos have integrated themselves not only into major league baseball but into Massachusetts’s society as well. Latinos are also represented in television, radio, and print. In 1993 WUNI, located in Worcester, became the first 100-kilowatt provider of Spanish-language television programming for New England, showing a range of local and national Spanish programs. The commonwealth also has six Spanish-language radio stations: WNNW-AM (800) in Lawrence, WAMG-AM (890) in Dedham, WSPR-AM (1270) in Springfield, WRCA-AM (1330) in Waltham, WLLH-AM (1400) in Lowell, and WAZN–AM (1470) in Marlborough. These stations add a sense of community by allowing for greater communication and social involvement by Latinos otherwise isolated from the more dense Latino cultural centers in the Greater Boston area, and in central and western Massachusetts. In addition to television and radio media, periodicals in Spanish (and also in Portuguese) are readily available throughout Massachusetts. And several cities in Massachusetts publish periodicals such as the Boston-based El Planeta, the largest circulating Spanish-language weekly in New England, and the Springfieldbased El Diálogo. Massachusetts is also the home base for O Jornal, a Portugueselanguage weekly distributed in the area of New Bedford.

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NOTES 1. Previous generations of migrants had benefited from the growth of the manufacturing industry and the expansion of the economy. Thus, although migrants faced difficult economic conditions, they were still able to improve their children’s lives through education and better jobs. Additionally, as Ramón Borges-Méndez (1995, 48–50) states, “[Europeans] were allowed to preserve their physical community unthreatened by urban renewal or speculation in real estate markets with which no recent Latin American and Southeast Asian immigrant would have to contend.” 2. Cambridgeport is a region of Cambridge, Massachusetts, that historically used to house a large portion of migrants living within Cambridge. It is bound by Massachusetts Avenue, Harvard University, MIT, and the Charles River. Most manufacturing companies were located near Cambridgeport, where rent was lower. Currently, Cambridgeport houses a mixture of students, longtime residents, and young professionals. 3. Holyoke has a Puerto Rican population concentration of 36.5 percent, second only to Yeehaw Junction, Florida. http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Puerto-Rican.html. 4. Uriarte, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Colombians, 2003, 8. 5. Torres, 2006, 274. 6. Observed in several European and Latin American countries, this is an international labor movement holiday.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Borges-Méndez, Ramón F. “CBOs and Non-Profits in Policy Intermediation in New Latino Settlements: The Cases of Holyoke and Lawrence, Massachusetts.” Paper presented at the 2006 ARNOVA Conference, November 17. http://www.naccouncil.org/pdf/ Borges-Mendez%20ARNOVA2-1-4-07.pdf. ———. “Migration, Social Networks, Poverty, and the Regionalization of Puerto Rican Settlements: Barrio Formation in Lowell, Lawrence, and Holyoke, Massachusetts.” Latino Studies Journal 4, no. 1 (May 1993): 3–21. ———. “Industrial Change, Immigration, and Community Development: An Overview of Europeans and Latinos.” New England Journal of Public Policy, special issue (Spring–Summer 1995): 43–58. Donghi, Tulio Halperín. The Contemporary History of Latin America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993. Morales, Julio. Puerto Rican Poverty and Migration: We Just Had to Try Elsewhere. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1986. Perez, Deborah Maira, and Melissa Lee. “The Evolution of the Latino Community in Cambridge, Massachusetts.” Tufts University, Anthropology 183: Urban Borderlands, Spring 2002. http://repository01.lib.tufts.edu:8080/fedora/get/tufts:MS083. 001.001.00013/bdef:TuftsPDF/getPDF (accessed February 2007). Torres, Andres. Latinos in New England. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006. U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov.

Massachusetts Uriarte, Miren. “Massachusetts.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Eds. Suzanne Oboler and Deena González. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, 87–88. ———. Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and Colombians: A Scan of Needs of Recent Latin American Immigrants to the Boston Area. Boston, MA: Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, 2003. Uriarte, Miren, and Lisa Chavez. Latino Students and the Massachusetts Public Schools. Boston, MA: Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, 2000. Uriarte, Miren, Paul Osterman, Carol Hardy-Fanta, and Edwin Meléndez. Latinos in Boston: Confronting Poverty, Building Community. Boston, MA: Boston Persistent Poverty Project, 1992.

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23 MICHIGAN Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof

Chronology 1846 1876

1897

1915 1920–1921

1926 1930–1933 1932

1935

Michigan senator Lewis Cass makes a speech before the Senate supporting the war against Mexico. Jose Celso Barbosa, the first Puerto Rican and the first Puerto Rican with African ancestry to study medicine in the United States, enrolls at the University of Michigan. Federal and state subsidies lead to the creation of Michigan’s beet sugar industry, which would later employ thousands of Mexicans and Mexican Americans. First trainloads of Mexican-origin workers recruited to work in Michigan’s beet fields. The Mexican consulate helps to repatriate 1,500 Mexican citizens who were left unemployed by the cancellation of the beet harvest and by layoffs at automobile plants. The Comisión Honorífica Mexicana in Detroit begins to organize Cinco de Mayo and Independence Day festivals regularly. Repatriation campaigns remove thousands of Mexicans and many Mexican Americans from Michigan. Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo move to Detroit to work on murals at the Detroit Institute of Art which were commissioned by industrialist Edsel Ford. Blissfield beet workers, including both European and Mexican American migrants, go on strike for decent wages.

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1942–1964 1946 1947 1950 1952 1965 1967 1968

1969 1971–1972 1974 1981 1984

The Bracero program brings thousands of Mexican workers to the state. American Legion Post 505 is founded in Detroit by Mexican American veterans. Construction begins on the Lodge Expressway in Detroit, displacing Latino businesses and residents. Some 5,300 Puerto Ricans are airlifted to Michigan to harvest beet. Operation Wetback starts roundups of undocumented workers in Michigan. Michigan Migrant Opportunity Program is founded with a federal antipoverty grant. The March for Migrants goes from Saginaw to Lansing. The Cristo Rey Community Center is founded in Lansing to provide educational and social services as well as antipoverty programs to Latinos and other low-income residents. Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development, a community agency providing services to Latinos, is founded in Detroit. Student protests and community activism create the Chicano-Boricua Studies program at Wayne State University. Michigan legislature recognizes the right to bilingual and bicultural education in the state. La Casa de la Unidad, a Latino arts organization, is founded in Detroit. The Latina/o Studies program is created at the University of Michigan.

Michigan 1989

1993 2003 2006

The Mexicantown Redevelopment Project is created in Detroit to promote alternatives to traditional urban renewal. The Julian Samora Research Institute is founded at Michigan State University. El Vocero Hispano (The Hispanic Voice) starts to be published in Grand Rapids. Ground is broken at Detroit’s Mexicantown International Welcome Center and Mercado. Immigrant rights rallies mobilize 30,000 marchers in Detroit and 10,000 in Grand Rapids.

Historical Overview The first Latinos to arrive in Michigan were Mexicans who came around 1915 to work in the state’s sugar beet fields, railroad lines, and automobile plants. When Mexican workers arrived, political and economic elites and ordinary citizens perceived them, and the many thousands of European migrants in the state, as alien to their basic notion of “America.” According to this thinking, Michigan, like the United States as a whole, was a racial and cultural entity defined as white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. Less than a century earlier, when the United States first claimed the territory of Michigan, the residents were mostly Anishnabe (also often called Ojibwe), Ottowa, and Potowotomi. They had lived alongside French fur traders and culturally and racially mixed people (métis) for several hundred years. A boom in migration from the United States after the construction of the Erie Canal (1825) allowed Michigan to enter the Union in 1837. The newcomers defined both statehood and American nationality as Anglo-American, either by reconfiguring the local people as racial and cultural outsiders or, when more convenient, by absorbing them. Michigan citizens, led by the expansionist senator Lewis Cass, participated in the war against Mexico in the 1840s, which was defined as a conflict against treacherous Spanish and mongrel Catholics. Michigan politicians participated in the compromises after the Reconstruction that stripped the basic citizenship rights from African Americans. In 1898, Michigan troops took part in the war against Spain and in the colonization of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, reviving the battle cry against the Spanish and asserting the right of the white United States to rule over inferior Caribbean and Pacific “races.” Each of these engagements contributed to the notion that Michigan was a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant place, defined in opposition to racial, cultural, and religious others. The idea that Mexicans were Latins out of place in an Anglo place derived from the struggle for white supremacy at home, and expansionist and imperialist projects abroad. To make matters worse, the first Mexicans arrived in Michigan just as the state’s political elites started to become agitated because of the threat that migration posed to their racial vision of America.

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Latino America Despite the worries of these immigration reformers, the state depended on imported labor for its prosperity. Since the 1890s migrant families from southern and eastern Europe had tended the state’s sugar beets and staffed Detroit’s assembly lines. During World War I an interruption in trans-Atlantic travel threatened this labor supply. In 1915 Michigan sugar companies began to recruit workers from the growing Mexican migrant population of south Texas. In 1917 the dozens of expanding automobile manufacturers in Detroit began recruiting Mexican workers from Michigan farms and directly from Mexico, along with the African American workers they brought in from the South. By the end of 1920 there were about 4,000 Mexican-born people living in Detroit. Living in a city with nearly 300,000 European migrants and 40,000 African American migrants, Mexicans escaped the notice of the worst anti-immigrant and white supremacist forces. Yet, like the European and African American workers they lived among, they were highly vulnerable to the whim of employers. Facing a severe recession, in the spring of 1920 sugar companies cancelled the beet season, leaving workers stranded in their camps with no work or wages. In Detroit the automobile industry laid off 80 percent of the workforce, including nearly all the Mexican workers. The Mexican consulate, Catholic Church, and local mutual aid societies raised money to help about 1,500 Mexicans living in Detroit to return to their families in Mexico.1

THE 1920S In 1921, in an effort to protect the supremacy of Anglo-Saxons in the United States, Congress passed a law to restrict new migration from Europe. As the postwar depression subsided, Michigan employers, unable to get new European workers, renewed their recruitment efforts in Texas. By 1927, some 20,000 Mexican-origin contract workers constituted three-quarters of the workforce in Michigan beet fields. Beet work stretched from May to November, but it included a dead period in August and September, between the last weeding of the beets and the harvest. During these months workers migrated to fruit- and vegetable-producing areas of Michigan to pick tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, apples, or cherries. Then in the winter they moved back to Texas to pick winter crops and cotton. Most Mexican migrants hailed from the states of Michoacán, Jalisco, and Guanajuato, areas torn by political and religious conflicts in the 1920s. But before coming to Michigan they lived in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, where they encountered the brutal legacies of U.S. conquest: segregation, lynching, and other campaigns of terror against local ethnic Mexican populations. Although being in Michigan represented a welcome respite from violence in Mexico and south Texas, labor conditions for Mexican agricultural workers in that

Michigan state were precarious in the 1920s. Some workers lived in trailers or camps provided by sugar companies, whereas others squatted in abandoned farmhouses. They had little access to basic sanitation or health care. The work itself required constant bending from the waist, which frequently led to chronic pain and disability. Wages were so low that families relied on the labor of children to ensure a minimum level of subsistence. The Texan-Mexican folk song “The Betabeleros (“The Beetworkers”) recorded the disillusionment many migrant workers felt about their experiences in the Michigan beet fields. These early migrant laborers lived in impoverished, often marginal, camps, but they were hardly marginal to the history of the state. To the contrary, the labor of Mexican sugar workers in Michigan contributed to one the most significant cultural transformations in the United States in the twentieth century, namely the rise of mass consumption. Sugar was the first commodity that reached all sectors of U.S. society, serving first as a cheap source of calories to feed a growing urban working class; then as a desirable product, as workers in the United States shifted from working to avoid starvation to working in order to consume more of the things they liked; in fact, Americans liked nothing so consistently or so voraciously as the sweetness of sugar. By the 1920s the residents of the United States consumed more than 100 pounds of sugar each year per capita, and the government saw the sugar supply as a matter of national security. Almost all of the sugar consumed in the United States came either from sugarcane in the Caribbean— worked by Puerto Rican, West Indian, Cuban, and Haitian laborers—or from beets in Michigan and other northern states, worked by Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Although the sugar industry helped usher in a new era of the citizenconsumer, most of the Caribbean or Latino migrant workers who produced sugar continued to labor, season to season, merely to avoid starvation. It is no surprise, then, that when given the option, Mexican-origin workers in Michigan did not remain in the beet fields. As Michigan manufacturing grew in the 1920s, many migrant workers moved into cities in search of jobs in railroad maintenance, industry, or construction; others came directly from Mexico. By 1928 there were 15,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans living in Detroit; outside the southwestern states only Chicago had a larger colonia (neighborhood). Mexican migrants working at the Michigan Central Railroad built camps near the train depot on Michigan Avenue in Detroit, and in the rail yards at Sixth Avenue and Plum Street. There they recycled empty boxcars into homes complete with porches and small vegetable gardens. Many factory workers either joined the Mexican migrants in the camps or settled in enclaves in the Irish neighborhood known as Corktown (along Michigan Avenue, just west of Woodward), in an area near Lafayette and Congress streets, as well as in Dearborn. The growing Mexican population gave rise to a range of social and political institutions. Mexican parishioners collected the funds to build Our Lady of

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Latino America Guadalupe Church in 1923, staffed by a Mexican priest. A Mexican grocery store opened in 1929, expanding within a few years into a chain of seven stores located in Detroit, Pontiac, and Saginaw, in Michigan, and Lorraine, in Ohio. Two mutual aid societies, the Circulo Mutualista Mejicano (founded 1923) and Sociedad Anahuac (1926) dedicated themselves to regular social events such as dinners and cultural acts. The members of these two organizations were the elite of the colonia: workers who had made their way up to high-prestige jobs in the auto plants and a few professionals. Workers with a more radical perspective founded the Obreros Unidos Mexicanos. In 1926 the Mexican consulate convened the leadership of all social clubs in the colonia into a unified Comisión Honorífica Mexicana. The group began to celebrate patriotic festivals on September 16 and May 5. The main event of these festivals was a beauty pageant pitting the queens of the various clubs and organizations against each other to win the title of Queen of Beauty and Patriotism. These expressions of national pride fit closely with the general tenor of social life in Detroit, a city of migrant workers. National parades—Irish, Polish, Italian, Hungarian, or Mexican—were a way for ethnic leadership to build solidarity among constituents. The patriotic celebrations also fit more broadly with the efforts of the Mexican government in the 1920s to construct a national identity through public ritual. Mexican consulates and the expatriate middle classes did their best to extend this policy to Mexicans living abroad, hoping that a strong sense of patriotism might encourage emigrants to return to Mexico.2 Mexican officials, especially, hoped that Mexicans who made it as far as Detroit factories might go back home, bringing with them the skills of modern industrial workers. Despite these pressures to remain loyal to Mexico, many Mexican migrants and Mexican Americans in Detroit enthusiastically integrated themselves into U.S. consumer culture. As wages in Detroit rose, they bought cars and dressed themselves in the latest fashions. Mexicans in Detroit flooded into movie theaters to see silent Hollywood films. Many adopted the slicked-back hairstyle made famous by Rudolf Valentino, an Italian American actor famous for his depictions of Latin lovers. They also participated avidly in the tango craze that swept the United States in the 1920s, holding dances and crowning dance champions in their social clubs. It seems likely that both Valentino’s Latin heroes and the Latin American origins of the tango held special significance for Mexican Detroiters who, otherwise, faced a constant stream of stereotyped Mexican villains and vixens in Hollywood westerns. Racial discrimination in Detroit also often prevented Mexican Detroiters’ full integration into the U.S. working class. Segregation in Michigan was less formalized for Mexicans and Mexican Americans than it was in Texas; and it was certainly less severe for Mexicans and Mexican Americans than it was for African Americans. However, some dance halls, barbershops, workplaces, and landlords refused to admit Mexicans. These barriers tended to

Michigan exclude Mexicans with dark skin. Those with lighter complexions often escaped discrimination by claiming Spanish, Italian, or even Native American heritage.

DEPRESSION, REPATRIATION, AND WAR During the Great Depression Michigan’s farms and factories began to lay off workers, pushing thousands into homelessness and hunger. Meanwhile, across the United States the Depression gave new impetus to a movement to cleanse the country of foreigners, especially Mexicans. Michigan officials began espousing these ideas as the sharp rise in unemployment and extreme poverty overwhelmed state and local welfare agencies. Jobs and aid, they decided, should be reserved for Americans. Yet, they saw even U.S.-born people of Mexican descent as something less than fully American. Soon the Detroit welfare department and the federal government joined the Mexican consulate in offering to pay transportation costs to Mexico for unemployed workers, instead of providing standard relief. Trainloads carrying hundreds of Mexican nationals from Michigan, along with many U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry and some non-Mexican husbands and wives of Mexican citizens, departed for the Texas border between 1931 and 1933. All told, between 1928 and 1936 the Detroit Mexican population shrank from more than 15,000 to about 1,200.3 This was not quite the same thing as forced deportation. But it was a type of ethnic cleansing, nonetheless. When officials refused to grant public assistance to hungry and homeless people because of their Mexican origin, they made the choice something less than completely voluntary. The most notable and unusual aspect of the repatriation campaigns in Michigan was the involvement of two of the most famous Mexican visual artists of the twentieth century. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo moved to Detroit in 1932, when Edsel Ford commissioned Rivera to paint a fresco at the Detroit Institute of Arts depicting Ford’s Rouge River automobile plant. Rivera, a communist, used both his fame and his money to help organize Mexicans in the state into the Liga de Obreros y Campesinos. In the Liga he articulated a sharp critique of U.S. capitalism, which, given the condition of Michigan’s economy, appeared to be on the brink of collapse. He proposed that citizens of Mexico living in Detroit return to Mexico, where the left-leaning government of Lázaro Cárdenas had promised to help returning workers build rural cooperatives. Rivera traveled around the state, organizing rural and urban workers in support of the plan and registering more than 5,000 for repatriation. When the first trainloads of repatriates left Detroit in November 1932, Rivera and Kahlo walked through the cars to bid farewell to their compatriots. Neither officials in Michigan, nor train companies, nor the Mexican government lived up to their promises, leaving repatriates stranded on trains or in border towns with little to eat and no place to resettle. Many repatriates, especially those born in the United States, eventually made their way back to Detroit.

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Latino America Within a year, Rivera reversed his opinion on the repatriation program, arguing that Mexicans should stay in Michigan and organize themselves there.

THE NEW DEAL, WORLD WAR II, AND THE POSTWAR BOOM Even before the Depression was over, employers again began to recruit Mexicanorigin workers to the state. The New Deal helped to resuscitate the sugar industry in Michigan by guaranteeing prices and instituting new payments to sugar producers. In addition to its provisions for farmers, the New Deal began to defend the “freedom from want” for a broad section of the U.S. working class, including industrial workers in Detroit. Some rural workers made attempts to win the same rights. In 1935 eastern European sugar workers and members of the Liga de Campesinos y Obreros together successfully struck for higher wages in Blissfield. In 1937 labor and child protection activists within the Roosevelt administration tied sugar subsidies to minimum wages for all farmworkers, and eight-hour days for children over 14—which was the minimum age for a migrant worker to be legally employed)—working in migrant camps. But no permanent agency was put in place to enforce the rules. In response to the strikes and limited federal regulations, Michigan contractors paid truckers by the head to load up workers in San Antonio and smuggle them across state lines into Michigan. By the end of the 1930s Michigan manufacturers increasingly relied on few San Antonio firms, run by Mexican Americans, to contract and transport laborers to the state. Texicans, as local farmers called them, constituted about one-third of the workforce in Michigan agriculture throughout the Depression, working alongside white and black southern migrants. New Dealers never guaranteed rights to social security, minimum wages, safe working conditions, unemployment insurance, and collective bargaining to these farmworkers. The state of Michigan imposed its own regulations on migrant labor in 1938 and 1939. These, however, were designed to protect Michiganders from the hazards of interstate migration rather than to benefit the migrants themselves. The state of Michigan sent Health Department officials to San Antonio during the spring contracting season, where they subjected potential migrants to inspections. Rather than offering treatment to the sick, they simply barred them from coming to Michigan. Only a few municipal governments in Michigan created clinics to provide medical services to migrants, but those clinics quickly ran out of money. In the early 1940s volunteers from local Protestant churches formed the Michigan Migrant Ministry to provide basic services and preach the Gospel in migrant camps. They sought to welcome workers on a temporary basis only, not to integrate them into Michigan society as full citizens. The flow of migrant farmworkers to Michigan continued to grow in the 1950s and 1960s, bringing in as many as 106,000 seasonal workers in the peak summer

Michigan of 1957. Many of these workers came through official government programs. Beginning in 1942 the federal government provided laborers to Michigan employers directly. Michigan was one of the states that received the most workers from the Bracero program—as many as 15,000 in the 1957 season.4 During World War II, the War Manpower Commission also sent migrants from Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas to Michigan. Although the government served as a labor contractor, it made little attempt to regulate working conditions for any of these migrants. Braceros working for a railroad company in Ypsilanti, for instance, complained many times to the War Manpower Commission about the poor quality and scarcity of food in their boxcar camp. They received no attention until their complaint reached both the Mexican consulate and labor activist Ernesto Galarza, who visited the state in 1945. Children of all ages still worked on Michigan farms, and few migrant children had access to schools. Diphtheria outbreaks continued in migrant camps, and tuberculosis was widespread. When federal officials finally decided to regulate this labor market in the early 1950s, they defined the problem as an immigration control issue, not as a matter of labor and human rights. With a new nationwide outburst of racist anti-immigrant hysteria, the government sent a fleet of Army C-150s into the Midwest to round up undocumented workers and ship them to the Mexican border. This new repatriation campaign was called Operation Wetback. That is not to say that migrants who moved between Texas and Michigan in the 1940s and 1950s were wholly docile, or that all Michigan employers offered the same subhuman treatment. When conditions on particular farms were bad enough, migrants often abandoned them mid-season. When rumors spread about bad employers in one northern state, migrants in Texas contracted to go to others. For instance, when Michigan health officials began their inspections in Texas, many migrants began to boycott Michigan labor contractors. Soon employers began to complain, and the state gave up on the inspections. On the other hand, migrants who found reasonable conditions on a particular farm often returned year after year, using the regular work in Michigan as a way to improve their lives in Texas. From 1940 to 1950 Candido Delgado, a bricklayer in San Antonio, came every summer with his family to work on the same Michigan beet farm. He could have worked the summer through in San Antonio, but he preferred to bring his family north. “You see,” he explained in 1950, “we have got a lot of things to buy, and of course I figure the kids might have a house sometimes, so I just come here to make a little more.” After paying back the sugar company for travel and living expenses, he and his three children ended the 1949 season with 1,500 dollars saved. Union membership in Texas would have made the trip unnecessary, but the bricklayer’s union would not have him, so he chose to come to Michigan.5

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THE BOOM

IN

URBAN BARRIOS

The cities of Michigan, meanwhile, recruited Texas migrants to settle and work in booming factories. Jane Gonzalez, who moved to Muskegon in 1946, later remembered that “the trucks would arrive and park themselves downtown in San Antonio. And there was a driver there who would give you the information, and the sign would say ‘leaving for Muskegon, MI, . . . core-makers needed, welders needed.’”6 Along with these direct recruits in Saginaw, Lansing, Muskegon, and Grand Rapids, many Mexican Americans settled out of the migrant stream, forming local barrios. The permanent Mexican-origin population of the state reached 65,000 in 1970, with almost all living in cities and working industrial jobs. More than 60 percent of the men in these communities were operatives in factories, and another 12 percent were craftsmen. More than half worked in motor vehicle or metal shops. Only in Detroit, with its earlier networks of migration directly from Mexico, were migrants from Mexico a large part of the growing Latino population. Overall, most of the new settlers were not migrants, but U.S. citizens. They maintained their ties to kin in the cities and towns of south Texas by sending a portion of their wages to relatives. Although they no longer returned to Texas for extended periods, many families in Michigan piled into cars for the drive to Texas to visit relatives during vacations. About 10 percent of Mexican American families that had settled in small and mid-sized Michigan cities by the 1960s owned property in Texas.7 These trips back south enabled Michigan settlers to compare their relative prosperity in Michigan with the violent segregation and widespread poverty suffered by their family members in south Texas. One member of the group Obreros Unidos in Detroit told a researcher in the early 1940s, “Detroit is better. . . . In Texas, especially in the small towns, people don’t treat us good. In some of the restaurants and soda fountains they have signs like this: No Niggers or Mexicans Served Here. In Detroit, the people treat us better.”8 Yet, in Detroit, Latinos experienced the new, subtle, but equally destructive, forms of racial segregation that were emerging in American cities after World War II. Immediately after the war expressway construction cut through the center of Corktown, the commercial and social center of the growing Mexican colonia. Then, in 1957 and again in 1966, city planners razed more of the neighborhood to make way for a light industrial corridor. Barrio residents then started to shift westward, along the river, until the center of Latino commercial and residential life was in Southwest Detroit, in the shadow of the Fisher Freeway. The federal government provided subsidies for the construction and financing of new suburban homes for the many whites moving out of central Detroit in these years. But a range of practices kept these suburbs closed to African Americans and to most Latinos. The only public efforts at resettling residents displaced from the old barrio were two new public housing projects in Southwest

Michigan Detroit. Officials also built two projects in the nearby town of Ecorse, one to house Latinos and white Southerners, the other to house African Americans. Mexican American workers joined unions in the postwar years, seeking the benefits of postwar industrial prosperity. By one estimate 75 percent of Mexican American men employed in Michigan cities were union members in 1967.9 In many towns and plants, unions withheld leadership positions or preferred job categories from Mexicans in favor of white ethnic workers. The Latin American Steelworkers Club, founded in the 1950s at the Great Lakes Steel Plant, actively fought for, and won, inclusion in union leadership positions and contested on-the-job discrimination. With the new influx of Mexican Americans, the Catholic Church also returned to its prominent place in the Detroit colonia. In 1943 a Michiganborn priest named Clement Kern began offering Spanish-language masses at Holy Trinity Church. Padre Kern became one of the principal social and spiritual leaders of Mexican Detroit, helping to revive the older cultural and patriotic societies and setting up social services for the growing numbers of migrants moving from the fields into the city. Kern was also an outspoken defender of migrant workers in the state, testifying before Congress to denounce illegal labor practices and poor living conditions. The Holy Trinity Parish established a credit union in the late 1940s to help Mexican Americans buy homes. The parish also offered English, citizenship, and homemaking classes. Mexican Americans in Michigan created an array of political organizations in the postwar period. Many of these groups, like similar groups in Texas, promoted Mexican American politics, emphasizing their citizenship and service to the United States and denouncing incidents of discrimination to local human relations committees. The American GI Forum, organized by Mexican American war veterans, had chapters in Detroit, Saginaw, Flint, and Adrian. The League of United Latin American Citizens also founded chapters in the state. The Federation for the Advancement of Mexican Americans operated in Adrian, and Latin Americans United for Political Action took root in Grand Rapids. In Saginaw, for instance, in the early 1960s Mexican American civil rights groups staged a successful boycott of a local agency to pressure for the hiring of Mexican American staff. The American GI Forum also sponsored Mexican American candidates for public office, mostly tied to the Republican Party. Leaders in the American Legion Post 505, founded by Mexican American veterans in 1946, also kept the Comité Patriótico Mexicano alive in Detroit, continuing to promote the public celebration of Mexican patriotic fiestas.

THE GROWTH

OF

LATINO DIVERSITY

Until 1950 nearly all Latinos in Michigan were either Mexican migrants or Mexican Americans. After mid-century other Latino groups began to arrive in the state. In 1950, federal policies designed to provide labor to Michigan employers

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Latino America and assist in modernization projects in Puerto Rico created the first major settlement of Puerto Ricans in the state. After five decades of U.S rule Puerto Rico suffered levels of unemployment and poverty worse than those in most of Latin America. Puerto Rican and federal officials hoped that by funneling the unemployed to the mainland, they could lighten the burden to create an industrial economy in Puerto Rico, raise living standards for Puerto Rican citizens, and demonstrate that U.S.-style capitalism could solve the problems of the Third World. Michigan congressman Fred Crawford was a leading proponent of migration as a solution to what he called “the pressure of population” in Puerto Rico. He was also a former beet sugar producer who knew about the seasonal market for farm labor in the Midwest. Along with the Migration Division of the Puerto Rican government, Crawford began, after the war, to promote Puerto Rican workers to midwestern farmers. When Texas officials warned that fewer Mexican Americans would be available for contracts in 1950, the Michigan Sugar Company arranged to airlift 5,300 Puerto Rican men to Saginaw for the beet harvest. In their dealings with the Puerto Ricans, Michigan sugar contractors used the same systems of exploitation that they had practiced on Mexican American families for decades. They paid by the acre, passing much of the risk of losses on to workers; thus, if the weather was bad or if the fields were full of weeds, workers made less money per day. In 1950 both the weather and the fields were unusually bad, cutting workers income by more than half. Employers also held all wages until the end of the season to prevent workers from moving to better opportunities elsewhere in the state. Mexican American migrants survived this system by working as family units in the fields—men, women, and children. With everyone working, families could subsist on the credit offered by employers; and at the end of the season, after everything was discounted, these families received a modest amount from their employers. The Puerto Rican workers brought to Michigan were all men traveling without their families. Without women’s unpaid labor, they needed to set aside food allowances to pay someone to clean the camps and cook. They needed wages sufficient for one worker in Michigan to support a whole family in Puerto Rico. And they needed regular paychecks in order to send money home to feed their wives and children before the end of the season. Because employers were not willing to offer any of this, the airlift quickly turned into a humanitarian disaster. One airlifted worker, Santos Cintron, reported, “I have seven kids and my wife. They are buying in the grocery store on credit. I spoke with the man at the grocery store and asked him to give food to my wife and kids. Haven’t sent one penny you see, in three months, because I haven’t got it, the company hasn’t paid. Now my wife writes that the grocery store stopped the credit.”10 Desperate, Cintron made his way to Detroit, where he found work in a steel plant. Foundry work was hot and dirty, but it paid him enough to send money home to his family every week. Other Puerto Ricans left the beet

Michigan farms too, joining Mexican Americans in the growing barrio in the southwestern part of the city. There they became the pioneers of a growing Puerto Rican community in Detroit. Labor contractors continued to bring small numbers of Puerto Ricans to the state for the sugar harvest each summer. This helped build the permanent Puerto Rican population, but probably not as much as family ties did. Once established in Detroit, workers sent word to family and friends about jobs in their plants. In 1980 the federal census counted 12,425 Puerto Ricans in Michigan; in 2000 that number was 26,941. Federal policies brought the first major settlement of Cubans to Michigan too, although under dramatically different circumstances. In the two years after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, several hundred thousand exiles arrived in south Florida. These exiles included supporters of the toppled Batista regime, business owners, professionals, and others threatened by the economic radicalism and shifting political repression in Cuba. U.S. officials waived visa requirements for refugees from Cuba, whom they saw as victims of a common communist enemy. The government also offered cash assistance, training, and other types of support to Cubans. Despite most Cubans’ middle-class background and privileged status as refugees, many residents of south Florida chafed at the rapid growth of a new Latino population in their midst. In response the federal government worked with private church groups in an attempt to distribute the Cuban refugees around the country. These combined public and private resettlement programs had brought more than 1,700 Cuban refugees to Michigan by 1968.11 By 1980, some 4,000 Cubans and Cuban Americans were living in the state. In the 1980s and 1990s, as new waves of refugees left Cuba, the Cuban ethnic population of Michigan grew to more than 7,000. The arrival of Puerto Rican and Cuban migrants in Michigan raised a new set of questions: To what extent was there a Latino community in the state? And to what extent were there separate national communities—Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban—simply imagined as homogeneous by outsiders? Because of their class status and because of the efforts made to distribute and integrate them into communities around the state, Cubans did not generally settle in urban neighborhoods occupied by other Latinos; nor, for that matter, did smaller numbers of Argentine and Brazilian professionals who came to the state to work at Ford and General Motors. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans shared the neighborhood of Southwest Detroit, but they did not necessarily share social institutions. Father Kern, of the Holy Trinity Church in Detroit, expressed frustration that Puerto Ricans did not attend mass in his church. The Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Detroit, on the other hand, saw a dramatic transformation in its membership in the late 1970s, becoming largely a Puerto Rican congregation. Puerto Ricans understandably showed little enthusiasm for celebrations of Mexican patriotic holidays, the primary spaces for celebrating Latino ethnicity since the 1920s. Rather than force their way

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Latino America into the existing festivals, newcomers set up separate Puerto Rican festivals in the early 1970s. Still, relations among these groups were not predominantly contentious. Not infrequently community activists from one national origin took up the cause of neighbors from unrelated backgrounds under the umbrella of a Latino community.

THE LONG MICHIGAN RECESSION By the end of the 1960s Michigan industries again began laying off workers. Unlike the cyclical downturns of 1920 and the 1930s, the layoffs that struck in the 1960s and 1970s reflected a permanent shift of manufacturing out of Michigan and into the U.S. South, Asia, and Latin America. Things only got worse in the 1980s. The separation between middle-class suburbs and largely black cities that had begun in the 1940s reached a crisis as Michigan plunged into a deep recession. In Detroit the most recognizable symbol of this process was the widespread rioting in 1967. As African Americans revolted in response to their isolation in a decaying inner city, many Latinos retained an optimistic outlook. Migrants who left farmwork to take low- and middle-level industrial jobs in Michigan cities after World War II experienced a remarkable degree of social mobility. Interviewed in 1967, the vast majority of these industrial workers hoped that this rapid mobility would continue for their children. They wished for their sons to attend college and to make the leap to the status of professionals. Their ambitions for their daughters were more modest, reflecting the patriarchal expectations of the era. Yet, in fact, their children did not attend college in significant numbers. Only about 40 percent of Mexican American children were still in school at the age of 18. Only 7 percent continued in some kind of training or college after high school. This compared to 40 percent for the state as a whole. As a result Latino children were prepared mainly to continue in unskilled factory jobs, but these jobs were disappearing. According to an interviewed in the late 1960s most Latinos perceived themselves occupying an intermediate position between blacks and whites in Michigan. In practice they occupied small enclaves inside Michigan’s struggling, mostly black inner cities.12 The combination of the emerging urban crisis and the federal War on Poverty program helped inspire a new kind of Latino politics in the state. In Detroit, city leaders planned a response to the riots that focused almost exclusively on the needs of African American city residents. This led the Latin American Steelworkers’ Club, the American GI Forum, LULAC, and the Holy Trinity Church to create Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development, which became an outlet for antipoverty programs directed at Latinos. LA SED subsequently launched a campaign of rallies and demonstrations that won state recognition of a right to bilingual and bicultural education in 1974. In Lansing the Cristo Rey Community

Michigan Center grew in the late 1960s to provide a wide range of services to Latinos. Federal antipoverty grants also helped, after 1965, to create the Michigan Migrant Opportunity Program, a stable set of social programs for rural workers in the state, including daycare, schooling, and health clinics. These emerging, federally funded social agencies did not limit themselves to charity work. They became committed social organizations, fighting for labor rights among migrant workers in Michigan and seeking out and hiring leadership from within Latino communities. The national context of Chicano and Puerto Rican nationalism and farmworker solidarity also helped to reshape Latino politics at the end of the 1960s. Across the state, local Mexican American activists and sympathetic Anglos organized boycotts of chain stores carrying California grapes and lettuce. These activists, led by United Farm Workers representative Julian Herrera, then joined in campaigns to benefit the tens of thousands of migrant farmworkers in Michigan. This effort included a 1967 march from Saginaw to Lansing, a 1974 Walk for Justice from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids, as well as lawsuits against Michigan growers. Meanwhile, a group of Chicano nationalists in Lansing started publishing the newspaper Sol de Aztlán. Others founded a chapter of La Raza Unida Party. In Southwest Detroit two street gangs active since the 1950s transformed themselves into a chapter of the Brown Berets, taking part in rallies and demonstrations. Kalamazoo also had a Brown Beret chapter. At Wayne State University the Chicano-Boricua Collective, with the support of LA SED, began a series of demonstrations and protests eventually leading to the creation of a ChicanoBoricua Studies Program. Meanwhile, the Latin American Coordinating Council, led by Gloria López McKnight, organized residents in Southwest Detroit to resist further displacement by urban renewal. By the early 1980s, this group would not only give the Latino enclave in Southwest Detroit the name Mexicantown but also begin to build the Latino cultural character of the neighborhood into a plan for economic revitalization.

THE NEW MIGRANT BOOM In the 1980s Michigan was unusual for its relatively slow-growing Latino population. As Michigan’s economy slid into free fall, the systems of recruitment that pulled Latino workers from Mexico and from the migrant stream into permanent jobs in the state sputtered to a stop. New migration returned during the economic boom of the 1990s, most dramatically in southwest Michigan. By the end of the 1980s almost all of the farm labor in the area was done by Mexican or Central American workers who migrated between Michigan and Florida; many of these workers were undocumented. The economic expansion of the 1990s opened opportunities for these migrants to settle out of the migrant stream and move into service and factory jobs. Around the same time, many Dominicans living in New

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Latino America York began fleeing drug-related crime, punitive welfare reform, and the harsh policing of the Giuliani administration. These Dominicans came to western Michigan because of ties to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, headquartered in Battle Creek. By 2005 Latinos were the largest ethnic minority in southwest Michigan, with large concentrations in Holland, Wyoming, and Grand Rapids. A similar process brought newcomers to Southwest Detroit, paving the way for new Spanish-language media, including a local affiliate of a national Spanishlanguage television network. The sweat of Mexican beet workers in the 1920s had subsidized the early transformation of the United States into a consumer society by making sugar a cheap commodity. At the end of the twentieth century, as Michigan shifted from a landscape of urban factories to one of sprawling suburbs with bountiful shopping centers, Latino workers similarly subsidized the abundant fruits, vegetables, and meat on Michigan tables. They continued to work in fields and packinghouses for wages that were hardly above the bare minimum they needed to survive. At the same time many middle-class women in Michigan worked increasing hours outside their homes, the outcome of women’s liberation struggles and of their families’ rising consumer expectations. Because neither the government nor middle-class men stepped in to provide the household labor that women customarily performed, middle-class families increasingly relied on Latino, and especially Latina, migrants for tasks such as childcare and cleaning. Labor in homes, like labor in the fields, was poorly paid. In the first decade of the twentyfirst century, in a country where expansive suburban consumption had become a key aspect of citizenship, this type of citizenship for some Michiganders still depended on the ability to pay Latinos very little for indispensable labor. As they had been doing for nearly a century in Michigan, Latinos took hold of opportunities to increase their own consumption, by moving from the worst jobs into slightly better ones. But the socioeconomic system relied on paying low wages for farm and household labor, so getting ahead was no easy task. When the economic boom of the 1990s came to a shuddering halt after 2001, many politicians blamed Latin American migrants and progressive social programs for the state’s economic woes. A ballot initiative passed in November 2006 banned the use of affirmative action in public universities. Meanwhile, the Bush administration directed Homeland Security officials in Michigan to round up what it called criminal aliens in dragnets called Operation Return to Sender. These sweeps often imprisoned and deported undocumented workers with no criminal record at all, or with minor offenses such as drunk driving. The result was widespread fear, a growing sense of community solidarity, and eventually mobilization in Detroit and southwest Michigan. In 2006 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure making immigration violations a felony offense thus turning all undocumented aliens into criminal aliens. The diverse Latino popula-

Michigan tions in Michigan took to the streets in protest. Ten thousand marched in Grand Rapids, and 40,000 marched in Detroit. These were by far the largest political demonstrations by Latinos in Michigan history.

NOTABLE LATINOS Barbosa, Jose Celso (1857–1921). Puerto Rican intellectual and politician known for his position in favor of statehood, Barbosa lived in Michigan for 4 years, between 1876 and 1880, while he studied medicine at the University of Michigan. This made him the first Puerto Rican to receive a medical degree in the United States. The feat was more notable because Barbosa was of mixed African and European ancestry. Gonzalez, Jane (1918–1977). City council member and community leader who migrated to Muskegon from Texas in 1946. After working as a court reporter, in the mid-1960s, Gonzalez headed migrant programs for the Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1964 she won a seat on the Michigan School Board, becoming one of the first Chicana women elected to public office in the United States. She later won election to the North Shore City Council, in Muskegon. In the 1970s Gonzalez served as chairperson of Midwest Mujeres de la Raza. Benavides, Tony (1937–). Community leader and mayor of Lansing, Benavides migrated to Lansing from Mexico in 1952. He worked part-time in farm labor while studying in public schools and attending Lansing Community College and Lansing Business College. In 1969 he became executive director of Cristo Rey Community Center, a church-based social assistance agency providing services such as health clinics, employment programs, and youth activities. In 2003, while serving as president of Lansing City Council, he was elected mayor. López McKnight, Gloria (1937–2003). The child of a Mexican American mother and a Mexican migrant father, she grew up in Los Angeles, where she became a designer of costume jewelry and an entrepreneur. She was road manager for singer Dinah Washington before moving to Detroit in 1963 to attend Wayne State University. She began working for the state’s Department of Social Services in 1969. She led the movement to defend Southwest Detroit from urban renewal projects in the 1970s, and she testified before the U.S. Senate in 1972. As president of the Michigan chapter of LULAC in the 1980s, she organized protests to resist cuts in social programs. Lozano, Raymond (1947–). Latino business owner and community leader in Detroit. The child of Mexican migrant workers who settled in the Midwest in the 1920s, Lozano attended Wayne State University and fought in Vietnam before becoming director of Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development in 1979. In 1980 he launched a professional and managerial career with DTE Energy. He became active in Latino business and civil rights organizations, eventually serving as executive director of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He was on the board of directors and served as vice-chairman of the National Council of La Raza. Abreu, Andres (1957–). Founder and editor of El Vocero Hispano, Abreu moved to Grand Rapids from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1991. Trained as a journalist, he

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Latino America founded El Vocero Hispano in 1993, while working full-time at a local factory. Within a decade the newspaper grew to a circulation of 20,000. Taking active editorial positions, Abreu helped to elect the first Latino to the Grand Rapids school board and organized large demonstrations in Grand Rapids to support immigrant rights in 2006. Herrada, Elena (1957–). Detroit community activist and historian, Herrada is the granddaughter of a Mexican revolutionary who fought with Emiliano Zapata before moving to Detroit to work in the automobile plants. Many of her family members moved to Mexico during the repatriations of the 1930s, but they soon returned to Detroit, where Herrada grew up. She worked as an advocate for prisoners in the early 1980s, and then as a labor activist with the Service Employees International Union. She created an oral history project to document the history of Mexican repatriation in Detroit. The resulting film, Los Repatriados, was released in 2000. After 2001 she helped create El Centro Obrero in Detroit, dedicated to defending the rights of migrant workers.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS In beet fields, cherry orchards, auto plants, and suburban homes, Latino and Latina workers underwrote the transformation of Michigan into a consumer society, without usually enjoying full access to the evolving culture of plenty that they helped to create. This, in itself, is surely a remarkable cultural contribution to Michigan and the United States. When Latino and Latina artists and academics contribute to “high culture” in Michigan, they often choose to make migrant and factory workers the subjects of their work. The magnificent frescoes painted by Diego Rivera in 1932–1933 at the Detroit Institute of Arts, showing workers in Michigan factories and fields, are perhaps the best-known example. Similar themes appear in the work of Chicano muralists in Southwest Detroit, including George Vargas and Vito Valdez. The Latino Studies programs at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, and the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State support cultural and scholarly production, while working to preserve a place for Latino students in higher education. La Casa de la Unidad, a community-based organization in Detroit, works to bring arts to Latinos in Michigan and to promote artistic production by Latinos. The Fronteras del Norte Oral History Project collects the memories of early Latino settlers. Latinos contributed to the cultural makeup of the state too, through efforts to build and develop their own community institutions. Since the 1920s, festivals and public celebrations have been important elements of Latino cultural life in Detroit. Representatives of the Mexican government encouraged the celebration of national holidays in an effort to bind migrants to the homeland. But these festivals continued through the 1950s, even as the local organizers grew apart from Mexican national politics, seeking to assert their U.S. citizenship through political action. The Comité Patriótico Mexicano and other clubs and organizations, such as the Caballeros Católicos and the American Legion, formed the backbone

Michigan of the effort to promote holidays and festivals. Throughout the year these groups organized social dances and beauty pageants. Mexican national holidays, such as Cinco de Mayo, and regular dances and functions remained ways of uniting and consolidating an ethnic constituency in the 1960s. In the early years of the twenty-first century, as anti-immigrant forces gained strength nationally, Cinco de Mayo parades took on renewed significance as public demonstrations in defense of migrant rights. Local Spanish-language radio broadcasts appeared sporadically the 1930s and 1940s, although none was ever able to succeed as a commercial venture. In the 1950s Javier Cárdenas, a migrant from Guadalajara by way of Brownsville, Texas, operated radio programs first in Pontiac, then in Ann Arbor, and then in Monroe, broadcasting Spanish-Language music and promoting patriotic and religious festivals in the colonia. Spanish-language newspapers also appeared and disappeared with regularity beginning in the 1930s. The ready availability of big-city newspapers—such as La Prensa from New York and La Opinión from Los Angeles— and a variety of papers from Mexico itself, meant that local publications had difficulty attracting readers and sustaining an advertising base. The first Spanish-language newspaper in the state to produce more than a handful of issues was Renacimiento, which began publication in Lansing in 1970 with a grant from Model Cities, a federal program. Not until the 1990s did self-sustaining Spanish-language newspapers appear: Latino in Detroit and El Vocero Hispano in Grand Rapids. In 2004 Univision created a Detroit affiliate of the national Spanish-language network. In television broadcasting, the power of national and international production over local content was still more overwhelming. Except for one half-hour news program, this network affiliate exclusively broadcast programming produced in the major markets of Miami, Los Angeles, New York, San Juan, and Mexico City. Although Latinos in Michigan continue to create their own cultural practices, they remain integrated in national and transnational industries that produce most of the news, music, and entertainment Latinos consume. Since the early days of the Mexican colonias, Latino restaurants and grocery stores in towns and barrios around the state have provided local outlets for imported foodstuff and cultural products—from tortillas to flags to compact discs. With the arrival of Puerto Ricans and South and Central Americans, these stores began offering more diverse menus and products. Stores and restaurants provide links to homeland markets, familiar commodities, and even services to call or send money home. Public spaces welcoming to Latinos and Latino culture also formed the backbone of local popular culture and community identity. As a result, the threat to Latino establishments posed by freeway construction was a major concern of community leaders in the period after World War II, and the basis of community action in the early 1970s. In the 1980s a coalition of community activists, local entrepreneurs, and government agencies began to incorporate displays of ethnic

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Latino America distinctiveness, such as restaurants and festivals, into a campaign to draw tourists into Southwest Detroit, an area which was later renamed Mexicantown. To preserve the community they imagined ways in which institutions and products previously targeted only at the Latino community might also be marketed to outsiders. The centerpiece of this effort is the multimillion dollar Mexicantown International Welcome Center and Mercado, at the entrance of the Ambassador International Bridge. The center has space for cultural productions, ethnic shops, and places to eat Mexican food. Planners hope that this investment in a monument to Latino culture will contribute to presenting a new and improved city of Detroit to the millions of visitors who enter the United States through this bridge each year.

Notes 1. For number of Mexicans and number of Mexicans repatriated, see Vargas, 1999, 75, 84. On ethnic Detroit, see Kenneth Waltzer, “East European Jewish Detroit in the Early Twentieth Century,” Judaism, 2000. 2. Gamio, 1930, 86. 3. Oral history (originally collected by Ciro Sepúlveda) and statistics on repatriation are from Vargas, 1999, 187, 189. 4. Badillo, 2003, 38. 5. President’s Comission on Migratory Labor, Stenographic Report, 1950, 477–478. 6. Clive, transcript of interview with Jane González, 1973. 7. For employment statistics and ties to Texas, see Choldin and Trout, 1969, 82–86, 194–200. 8. Humphry, 1944, 332. 9. Choldin and Trout, 1969, 25. 10. President’s Comission on Migratory Labor, Stenographic Report, 1950, 451. 11. Wenk, 1968, 38–49. 12. Choldin and Trout, 1969, 49–50.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baba, Marietta L., and Malvina Hauk Abonyi. Mexicans of Detroit. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University, 1979. Badillo, David. Latinos in Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2003. Carmichael, Karen. “Americanization and Mexican Immigrants.” Honors essay, University of Michigan, 2007. Choldin, Harvey M., and Grafton D. Trout. Mexican Americans in Transition: Migration and Employment in Michigan Cities. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Rural Manpower Center, 1969. Faiver, Cristina. “A History of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Lansing, Michigan.” Honors essay, University of Michigan, 2007.

Michigan Gamio, Manuel. Mexican Immigration to the United States. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1930. González, Jane. Interview by Alan Clive. 1973. Herrada, Elena. Los Repatriados: Exiles from the Promised Land. Detroit, MI: Fronteras Norteñas, 2000. Humphry, Norman. “The Detroit Mexican Immigrant and Naturalization.” Social Forces 22, no. 3 (1944): 332–335. ———. “Mexican Repatriation from Michigan: Public Assistance in Historical Perspective.” Social Service Review 15 (1941): 497–513. Julian Samora Research Institute. Research and Publications. http://www.jsri.msu.edu/ RandS/research/index.html. Maldonado, Edwin. “Contract Labor and the Origins of Puerto Rican Communities in the United States.” International Migration Review 13, no. 1 (1979): 103–121. Michigan Latino History Project. Online Resources. http://sitemaker.umich.edu/ michiganlatinos. President’s Commission on Migratory Labor. Stenographic Report of Proceedings Held at Saginaw, Michigan, Tuesday, September 12, 1950. Washington, DC: Ward and Paul, 1950. Skendzel, Eduard Adam. Detroit’s Pioneer Mexicans. Grand Rapids, MI: Littleshield Press, 1980. Thaden, John F. Migratory Beet Workers in Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State College Agricultural Experiment Station, 1942. Valdés, Dennis Nodin. El Pueblo Mexicano En Detroit Y Michigan. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University, College of Education, 1982. Vargas, Zaragosa. Proletarians of the North: A History of Mexican Industrial Workers in Detroit and the Midwest, 1917–1933. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. Waltzer, Kenneth. “East European Jewish Detroit in the Early Twentieth Century.” Judaism, 2000. Wenk, Michael G. “Adjustment and Assimilation the Cuban Refugee Experience.” International Migration Review 3, no. 1 (1968): 38–49.

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24 MINNESOTA Leah Schmalzbauer

CHRONOLOGY 1860

1910

1920s

1932

1934 1940

Luis Garzón, an upper-class Mexican musician, is the first recorded Latino to settle in Minnesota. Although Garzón lived in Minneapolis, he was a leader in the Mexican community that developed on the west side of St. Paul. The first wave of Latinos, most of whom are Mexican, arrives in Minnesota. They settle on the west side of St. Paul and work in the sugar beet fields of greater Minnesota. In the late 1920s Mexicans are doing most of the work in Minnesota’s sugar beet fields. Mexicans also work for the railroads and in the meatpacking industry in south St. Paul. In response to the Great Depression, American Crystal Sugar Company, the largest employer of Latinos in Minnesota, stops guaranteeing wages or transportation for its field workers. On November 10, eighty-six Mexicans are repatriated to Mexico, many of whom are U.S. citizens who had never been to Mexico. Although many Mexicans volunteered to go to Mexico, some were forced to do so. Governor Elmer Benson attempts to deport 1,500 Mexicans. His efforts met with opposition. The Neighborhood House and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, both on the west side of St. Paul, help Mexicans in Minnesota register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as part of the Alien Registration Program. All Mexicans who could prove they had been residing in the United States since July 1, 1924, were eligible to become citizens.

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Latino America

1943–1947

1952

1962 1968 1970s 1972

1974

1976

1990

Approximately 8,000 Mexicans come to Minnesota through the Bracero program to work in the sugar beet fields, for the railroads, in the canneries, and in the slaughterhouses. During this time many Tejanos (Mexican Americans from Texas) also come to Minnesota. A flood destroys many Mexican homes and businesses on the lower west side of St. Paul, an area commonly known as the Flats. Soon thereafter the lower west side is targeted for urban renewal, which uproots many more families. Most of those displaced move to the upper west side. Ballet Folklórico Guadalupaño is founded on the west side. Mexican Americans on the west side organize to build the Torre de San Miguel, a cooperatively owned housing project for Mexican families. Minnesota sees a surge in its Latino population. The majority are migrant farmworkers. A total of 142 private family units are opened in Torre de San Miguel housing project. The same year the Department of Chicano Studies is founded at the University of Minnesota. La Clinica, Minnesota’s first bilingual health clinic, opens in St. Paul. That same year Governor Wendell Andersen establishes the Minnesota Office of Migrant Affairs. Centro Cultural Chicano, the first bilingual social service agency, opens in Minneapolis. That same year Conrad Vega becomes the first Latino elected to the Minnesota legislature. He went on to serve as a Democratic Farm Labor (DFL) senator for Dakota County for 10 years. La Prensa, Minnesota’s first Spanish-language newspaper is founded.

Minnesota 1999 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006

Mercado Central, a cooperatively owned marketplace and community center for Latino entrepreneurs, opens in South Minneapolis. Local Latino businesspeople found the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota with 200 members. A segment of Concord Street on the west side of St. Paul is renamed Cesar Chavez Street. Mexican president Vicente Fox visits Minnesota. The 46th Mexican consulate in the United States opens in St. Paul. Approximately 40,000 Minnesotans, the majority Latinos, march in protest to proposed immigration reform, which imposes punitive measures on undocumented migrants. Later that year, on December 12, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids the Swift and Company meat processing plant in Worthington, Minnesota. Some 230 migrants are arrested, the majority from Mexico. Other Latinos arrested are from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The history of Latinos in Minnesota is in large part the history of Mexicans in Minnesota. Currently, there are 15 times more Mexicans in Minnesota than the

“The Heroes of Freedom, Justice, and Peace” mural, painted by Teens Networking Together and artist Craig David in 1995 on the wall of the popular west side restaurant El Burrito Mercado. The west side of St. Paul: “The Ellis Island of Minnesota.” Photo by Leigh Roethke. Courtesy of Afton Historical Society Press: Afton, MN.

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Latino America second-largest Latino group, Puerto Ricans, and 40 times more than the third group, Ecuadorians. The disproportionate numbers of Mexicans in comparison to other Latino groups has been the case since Latinos first began to arrive in Minnesota in the late 1800s, although in the past decade Latinos from Central and South America have started to come to Minnesota in large numbers. Latinos from several nations now live throughout the St. Paul and Minneapolis metro area as well as in several towns in rural Minnesota.

THE FIRST WAVE

OF

LATINO MIGRATION

The first wave of Latinos began to arrive in Minnesota in the late 1800s. The majority of them were Mexican Americans recruited from South Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska to work in the sugar beet fields of the American Crystal Sugar Company. Latino workers received piece rate pay, and the work was temporary and seasonal. As such, only a minority of this first wave of Latinos remained in Minnesota permanently. The fact that the sugar beet fields were located in homogenous rural areas with no history of non-European migration further discouraged Latino settlement. Yet, economic forces would soon alter this demographic trend. By 1928 more than 7,000 Mexican migrants were working in the fields of the Minnesota Red River Valley, making the sugar industry the first in Minnesota in which Latinos, specifically Mexicans, dominated. In order to encourage workers to stay in Minnesota year-round, Crystal Sugar began to offer higher wages. This strategy was successful. Workers soon thereafter began to put down roots in Minnesota, migrating within Minnesota in the off-season from rural areas such as the Red River Valley to the Twin Cities. At the same time, Crystal Sugar was able to boost its profits, as it no longer had to transport workers from Mexico and the Southwest to Minnesota and back again. Already poor and disenfranchised, Latinos in Minnesota were hit hard by the Great Depression. Yet, few sought public assistance, and little assistance was available for those who did seek it. A strong work ethic, coupled with general condemnation for anything deemed a “free ride,” motivated Latinos to struggle to make it on their own, despite the incredible hardships they encountered.1 Pride in providing for one’s family gave many Latinos the strength to endure difficult and often dangerous working conditions, low wages, and the stigma of being a migrant in an often unfriendly place. Despite the challenges resulting from the Great Depression, the Mexican population in Minnesota grew rapidly during this time. In the 1930s a surplus of workers in the sugar beet industry prompted more Latinos to move to the Twin Cities in search of other employment. On August 4, 1942, the U.S. government instituted the Bracero program. This guest worker program recruited skilled workers from Mexico to come to the

Minnesota United States on temporary visas to labor in the fields, factories, and on the railroads, essentially filling the void created by the thousands of workers who left their jobs to fight in World War II. The program continued until 1964, when the immigration system was overhauled. The contribution of braceros to the economies of the United States and Minnesota cannot be understated. Between 1943 and 1947 nearly 8,000 braceros worked in Minnesota agriculture and industry. The abuse of Braceros, especially those who worked in agriculture, is well documented. For example, many field workers were forced to work with a short-handled hoe, literally making the work backbreaking. During this time many Tejanos also came to work in Minnesota, seeking to escape discrimination and the surplus of Latino workers in Texas. Not bound by migration restrictions, Tejanos were able to remain in Minnesota year-round, and many settled permanently. By 1951, Tejanos outnumbered Mexican braceros by about four to one.

THE WEST SIDE

OF

ST. PAUL: “THE ELLIS ISLAND

OF

MINNESOTA”

The west side of St. Paul is commonly considered the birthplace of Minnesota’s vibrant Latino community. Most Mexicans who came to Minnesota to work for the railroad and in the packinghouses and slaughterhouses of St. Paul, as well as those who worked in the sugar beet fields of greater Minneapolis, made their first permanent home on the west side of St. Paul. The west side of St. Paul, like many migrant communities of the time, was impoverished, and as such, life for Latinos living there was difficult. Most Latinos made their homes in the low-lying area on the banks of the Mississippi River called the Flats. Residents of the Flats lived in ramshackle dwellings, many of which lacked heating and indoor plumbing. A 1926–1927 study by the Department of Labor concluded that the worst lodging in the United States was found in St. Paul’s west side “slums,” where Mexican workers lived in old boxcars. Twenty years later, not much had changed; a study by the International Institute concluded that Mexicans on the west side lived in the worst housing in St. Paul. In addition to the poverty that characterized life on the west side of St. Paul, Latino migrants met with discrimination and racism. In 1932, for example, a Minnesota deportation drive resulted in the removal of 15 percent of the Mexicans living there. Although the drive was officially voluntary, it is now known that many Mexicans were forced to leave, and that some of them had never before lived in Mexico. The latter were born in the United States and were by most traditional definitions American. Yet, their skin color and ethnic heritage marked them as foreigners, and thus they were vulnerable to expulsion from the community.

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Latino America Those Latinos who remained on the west side of St. Paul made great strides in building a thriving community. Neighborhood House, founded in 1897, was the Latino community’s cultural center. The focus of Neighborhood House beginning in the early years of the 1900s was to serve the residents of the Flats, all of whom were poor and most of whom were Mexican migrants. Neighborhood House provided English classes, day care, and a space for youth and adults alike to gather. During the Depression, Neighborhood House administered Works Progress Administration projects, as well as food drives and benefit dances to support programs for the poor. Another Mexican institution was Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and Mission. This church, which held its first bilingual mass on February 22, 1931, was considered by many to be the spiritual center of the west side neighborhood.2 In addition to providing a place for Latinos to worship, Our Lady of Guadalupe raised money to assist the poor and infirm. In 1952 the Mississippi River flooded, wiping out most of the housing in the Flats. The city of St. Paul responded with an urban renewal plan that leveled the Flats and displaced hundreds of Latino families. Most families and businesses rebuilt their homes and storefronts on a nearby hill. The destruction of the oldest and most significant Latino community in Minnesota sparked anger and resistance, and it seemingly fueled the determination of those on the west side to recreate a stronger and more politicized community. The urbanization of the Flats and the demolition of its houses and businesses also launched Chicanismo in Minnesota, a movement for Chicano pride and dignity. Chicanismo was most clearly symbolized by the formation of the Minnesota Brown Berets. Gilbert de la O, a community leader on the west side, headed the organization in St. Paul, which not only was involved in political activism and education but also provided many services to Mexican families. At its high point, the Brown Berets had approximately 50 active members fighting for social justice for Chicano workers in the Twin Cities. In the 1960s the Brown Berets aligned themselves with the United Farm Workers of America to support Latinos laboring in the sugar beet fields of rural Minnesota. Many of those migrant workers were abused and exploited, and the Brown Berets struggled to reverse this trend. They also lent their solidarity to the cause of migrant agricultural workers outside of Minnesota. In 1966, for example, they organized a boycott of Twin Cities’ grocery stores that were selling grapes picked by nonunionized migrants in California. The Brown Berets were committed to empowering and educating Latinos, and especially Chicanos, about their culture and about their history of exploitation and struggle. Their commitment to this cause fueled a major campaign that resulted in the formation of the Chicano Studies Department at the University of Minnesota in 1972. Years later, in 1995, St. Cloud State University followed suit,

Minnesota inaugurating their own Chicano Studies Department and hiring several Chicano and Latino professors. The energy spawned by the community efforts of the Brown Berets, Neighborhood House, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church led to other great achievements on the west side of St. Paul. Their efforts can be credited with the opening of La Clinica in 1974, the first bilingual health center in Minnesota. La Clinica, which is now called the West Side Community Clinic, served over 35,000 patients in 2005, most of whom were Latino. Other achievements of the community include the institutionalization of a Cinco de Mayo festival and the creation of the Guadalupe Area Project in 1969, an alternative school that continues to serve and empower troubled urban Latino youth. In the 1980s the west side Latino community began to diversify beyond its historical Mexican roots, welcoming a growing number of Cubans and Puerto Ricans. These two new communities fused traditions and celebrations with the existing Mexican community. The expansion of the west side community soon came to include Central Americans and South Americans. Today, although the Latino communities on the east side of St. Paul and in south Minneapolis are the largest and fastest growing in the Twin Cities, the west side of St. Paul continues to be an important Latino hub. Whereas poverty in the area persists, Mexican-owned businesses and restaurants, many of which were started by first-generation Latino migrants, flourish. Neighborhood House and Our Lady of Guadalupe continue to provide services and support to the Latino community, and several colorful murals symbolize the community’s historical and current significance.

MINNESOTA AS AN EMERGING GATEWAY Though Latinos have been in Minnesota since the end of the nineteenth century, it is only recently that the population has increased at a notably rapid rate. Minnesota is still a predominantly white state. As of the year 2000, 88 percent of the state’s residents were non-Hispanic whites, and 85 percent had European ancestry. Yet, the rate of increase in Minnesota’s foreign-born population has been among the highest in the nation. In the past 15 years the number of Latinos in Minnesota has increased by over 500 percent, accounting for 24 percent of the growth in the state’s labor force. As such, Minnesota has been characterized as a reemerging migrant gateway, a state that was at one time a migrant hub but that until recently has had very little migration activity.3 At the beginning of the twentieth century Minnesota was a pull for northern European migrants, but migration waned for decades until the recent influx of Latinos, Southeast Asians, Somalians, and Ethiopians. The growth of Minnesota’s migrant population, and particularly of the Latino population, has occurred in response to shifts in Minnesota’s economy, specifically

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Latino America the expansion of low-wage jobs in manufacturing, construction, services, and food processing. Whereas manufacturing, construction, and services have drawn Latinos to the Twin Cities, the food processing industry has recruited thousands of Latinos to small towns in rural Minnesota. As a result of the latter, Latinos have become much more visible in places that have a history of European migration. Moreover, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of large farms in many of these areas, which has spurred the out-migration of white residents and which has further increased Latino visibility. As an example of the changing demographics of rural Minnesota, in the 1990s, 16 to 25 percent of the populations of Worthington, Willmar, St. James, and Madelia were Mexican. These numbers have likely grown since. Another demographic shift spurred by migration has been the expansion of Latinos into the suburbs of the Twin Cities. Latino neighborhoods are now well established in Shakopee, New Hope, Crystal, Chaska, South St. Paul, and Inver Grove Heights. The majority of Latino arrivals to Minnesota continue to be Mexican, most originating from the rural states of the Mexican central plateau. Others are Mexicans who have migrated from California, Texas, or other midwestern agricultural states. In 2000 there were 42,000 Mexicans in Minnesota. This number continues to increase rapidly. According to the Minnesota State Demographic Center, in 2004 there were 175,000 Latinos in Minnesota, the majority Mexican. This number is most definitely low, as it excludes the undocumented. Minnesota’s response to and reception of the growing Latino population has been mixed. Though Latinos report feeling an overall sense of welcome by Minnesotans, they also report incidents of discrimination and racism.4 Much of the racism and discrimination is rooted in the beliefs that Latinos are taking Minnesotans’ jobs, abusing the welfare system, and changing the traditional culture. Negative feelings and actions toward Latinos have emanated from civil society as well as from local political leadership. In the 1990s, for example, political leaders in Willmar and Moorhead introduced legislation to curb welfare use by Latinos. In Moorhead this was accompanied by a spate of racist attacks aimed at Latinos, including the painting of swastikas and other racist graffiti in public places. In 1992 racial tension around the issue of Latino newcomers was exacerbated by an INS raid of Heartland Foods in Marshall, which resulted in the deportation of many workers. Though this specific raid did receive support from around the state, it also met with vocal and active resistance from the Latino community. Specifically, in 1993 a strike and protest by Heartland workers against unethical compensation practices resulted in the company agreeing to release the paychecks of deported workers to their families. Discrimination against Latinos continues. A 2001 Minnesota state study found that Mexicans were stopped, fined, searched, and frisked by police more often than other groups. In fact, Latino complaints about police treatment have been registered throughout Minnesota.5 Discrimination has also been cited in the

Minnesota housing market. In 2004 a study by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) found that Latinos are three times more likely than whites to be denied mortgages in the Twin Cities, which has led to a sharp difference in home ownership between these two groups.6 Racial tension and discrimination exist not only between white Minnesotans and Latinos; problems also exist within the diverse Latino community. For example, on the west side of St. Paul, Latinos who have been in Minnesota for generations, and who are thus English-Speaking citizens, are often hostile toward the newly arrived Spanish-speaking Latinos. This hostility is most often directed toward poor and undocumented newcomers. Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, for example, has a bilingual and a Spanish-language mass, and attendance is segregated; longtime Latino residents usually attend the bilingual mass, whereas the newly arrived residents attend the Spanish-only mass. In another example, in September 2006 Neighborhood House hosted a rally in support of migrants rights, but only a few longtime residents showed up to lend their support. The trend was similar throughout Minnesota. Indeed, few Latinos who are now citizens participated in the protests against proposed anti-immigrant legislation.7 Furthermore, a study by HACER of Latinos in rural Minnesota found that there is a high level of mistrust between Latinos who have been in the area for a long time and those who have recently arrived. This mistrust has been a barrier to implementing supportive services for the community. Yet, despite these challenges, Minnesota’s Latino community has achieved notable economic and cultural representation in the state. For example, La Prensa, Minnesota’s first Spanish-language newspaper, now has a circulation of over 14,000. In Minneapolis, Latino entrepreneurs sell their wares in the cooperatively owned Mercado Central, the commercial heart of the large south Minneapolis Latino community. In addition to the economic contributions and media presence of Latinos in Minnesota, several large Latino service organizations—including Comunidad de Latinos Unidos En Servicio (CLUES), Centro Cultural Chicano, La Oportunidad, and Centro Campesino—defend the interests of the Latino community. The strength of Minnesota’s Latino community has also attracted attention from abroad. In 2004 Mexico’s former president Vicente Fox visited Minnesota, and in 2005 the 46th Mexican consulate in the United States opened in St. Paul.

LATINOS

IN THE

LABOR FORCE

Whereas the demographics of Minnesota’s Latino population have changed since the late 1800s, what attracts Latinos to the state remains the same. Family and kin networks fuel the growth of the community, but employment is the initial draw. Latinos first came to Minnesota to work in the sugar beet fields, in the packinghouses, and for the railroad. More recently Latinos have come to

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Latino America Minnesota to work in food processing, agriculture, construction, and the thriving service industry. In 2000 there were over 42,000 Mexicans in Minnesota, and over 132,000 native speakers of Spanish. Most in both groups are migrant workers. In addition to being drawn to Minnesota’s burgeoning industries, Latino labor migrants are attracted by Minnesota’s relatively low cost of living. Industrial and agricultural jobs in rural Minnesota offer an appealing combination of the two. For these reasons employers throughout Minnesota, but especially in rural Minnesota, have been able to recruit thousands of Latino workers. Although their labor participation rates are high, Latinos are positioned near the bottom of Minnesota’s socioeconomic hierarchy. Latinos are much more likely than other Minnesotans to hold low-wage jobs, and therefore they have a much higher poverty rate than other minority groups. Latino mobility is hindered by their means of incorporation into U.S. economy. Work as they may, Latinos often find themselves in low-wage jobs, with little chance of promotion. Sociologist Michael Piore has asserted that capitalist economies are structured by a dual labor market with a primary and secondary sector.8 The primary sector— which encompasses business, finance, science, academia, and government— employs a highly skilled, high-wage workforce. Economic mobility within this sector is high. The secondary sector, on the contrary, demands a low-skill, low-wage workforce, and mobility within it is restricted. Historically, the secondary sector has included the most vulnerable workers, essentially migrants who are relegated to a permanent discriminatory status because of their incapacity to negotiate with employers. This incapacity is compounded by one’s undocumented status. In fact, undocumented migrants are among the most vulnerable workers to date. Latinos in Minnesota are most often employed in the secondary sector of the economy. Few have benefits or earn a living wage, and many cite abuses at the workplace. Recently, migration raids of workplaces throughout the country have heightened fear among all migrants, especially the undocumented, further stifling their demands for fair treatment. Minnesota has been the site of several migration raids, the most recent occurring in December 2006. Barriers to the socioeconomic mobility of Latinos also include language, education, and history. Many Latinos who come to the United States do not speak English and have very low levels of education. In Minnesota only 71 percent of Latinos who are 25 years and older have a high school diploma. A study by the Center for Rural Policy and Development, at Minnesota State University at Mankato, of Latino communities in rural Minnesota found that education is one of the most pressing concerns.9 A consistently high number of Latino youths drop out of high school; in addition, there are many barriers to first-generation Latino migrants learning English. The task is all the more difficult when one is not educated in their native language, a common characteristic of Latino migrants. Further barriers to upward mobility and assimilation include the legacy of poverty and oppression that many Latino migrants

Minnesota carry with them from their home countries; history weighs heavily on them and can perpetuate their discrimination and stagnation. Latinos in Minnesota face all of these barriers, but they continue to struggle to achieve the American Dream.

Latinos in the Rural Sector Although Latinos have always had a presence in rural Minnesota, it is only in the past two decades that they have filled positions in the rural industry. This is due to major shifts in Minnesota’s economy in general and in the state’s rural economy in particular. Rural Minnesota has seen a decline in agriculture and high-wage manufacturing jobs, and an increase in service and low-wage industrial jobs. Many of the large farms that used to dominate the landscape of southwestern Minnesota have disappeared, and the remaining industrial jobs have become less desirable because of their low-wages and lack of benefits. As a result many local residents of the region have left. Paralleling this out-migration, food processing companies have moved into the area in an attempt to lower their production costs. They are initially attracted by the weak labor unions and accompanying low wages of rural areas. The ruralization of the industry has been further encouraged by tax breaks given by small towns to food processing companies to locate there. As a result of these incentives Minnesota has become one of the nation’s leaders in processing foods such as turkey and sweet pea. Farmland Foods, Midwest Foods, Hormel, Jennie-O, Schwan, Swift and Company, Monfort Pork, and Campbell Soup either have headquarters or production hubs in rural Minnesota. With the relocation of food processing factories, new jobs were created in rural Minnesota. Yet, towns had difficulty filling these jobs because they are low paying and unappealing, and because they often entail dangerous working conditions. As a result, in the 1980s food processing companies began to recruit migrants to fill their demand for workers. Little knowledge of English is necessary to work in food processing factories, which makes the jobs attractive to the poorest and least educated Latinos. Besides participating in Minnesota’s rural food processing industry, Latinos continue to work on the farms. A report by the Wilder Research Center estimated that in 2003 there were between 1,200 and 10,000 migrant farmworkers in Minnesota.10 These numbers only include those who are actually working in the fields—that is, they exclude family members accompanying the workers. As was the case in the early 1900s, when Mexicans and Tejanos first came to Minnesota to work in the sugar beet fields, life for contemporary migrant farmworkers is difficult, and exploitation is common. Workers are hard pressed to meet even their most basic needs. Housing is a good example. Few employers provide housing for their migrant workers. In 2002 a study of migrant housing in southern Minnesota by the Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research

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Latino America (HACER), at the University of Minnesota, found that housing is such a great problem that some migrants resort to living in their cars.11 When the option is available, workers commonly choose to live in employer-provided barracks, which are essentially mobile trailers. Still, living conditions in these trailers are far from ideal. Up to 15 workers live in a single gender-segregated trailer, many of which do not have bathrooms. Other housing options include mobile homes or hotels. Migrant living conditions are substandard across the board. In addition, Latinos report persistent discrimination when trying to find housing on the private market. Many migrant farmworkers must piece together work to make ends meet. This means that they often work in both agriculture and industry. Most have to commute to the workplace. Because employers do not provide transportation, workers must have access to a car. HACER reports that the average commute by workers in southern Minnesota is six miles, and that this distance between home and work adds to the costs and challenges of migrant life. As a result of the massive influx of Latino workers into the poultry, meat, and food processing industries, scholars and policy makers have been paying the industry much attention.12 Researchers have found that dangerous working conditions, low pay, and labor abuse are common among migrant workers in Minnesota. Research also reveals that Latino workers—especially those who move to small towns that don’t have a history of non-European migration— commonly face discrimination that permeates their work and social lives.

Undocumented Latino Workers According to research done by HACER in 2000, there are between 18,000 and 48,000 undocumented migrants working in Minnesota, most of whom are Mexican. Analyses of current undocumented migration to the United States suggest that this number is now much higher. Undocumented workers in the United States are most commonly found in the following industries: seasonal agricultural work, textiles, manufacturing, personal service, janitorial services, hotel and restaurants, food service, and construction. Undocumented Latinos in Minnesota work in significant numbers in all of these industries, save in textiles. In addition, undocumented Latinos in Minnesota are present in the rural industry, more specifically in food processing. At the same time that hostility toward undocumented Latinos is growing in the United States, so too is the economic demand for their labor. This paradox also exists in Minnesota. A study of the economic impact of undocumented workers in Minnesota concluded that undocumented labor in the industries cited above contribute between $1.5 billion and $4 billion in added value to Minnesota’s economy each year.13 Similarly, if undocumented workers were removed from Minnesota’s economy, economic growth would be reduced by 40 percent. Finally,

Minnesota it was estimated that the presence of undocumented labor in Minnesota resulted in the generation of approximately $1 billion in tax revenue. Thus, contrary to popular belief, undocumented migrants in Minnesota provide a net gain, not a net loss, to tax payers. Despite their contribution to Minnesota’s economy, undocumented migrants in the state are vulnerable to discrimination and deportation. On December 12, 2006, Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents raided Swift and Company meat processing factories in six states, including the one in Worthington, Minnesota. Some 230 migrants, documented and undocumented, were arrested. Most of them were from Mexico; others were from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru. Many of the workers were separated from their children because of subsequent deportation. For obvious reasons, following the Swift and Company raid, fear permeated Minnesota’s rural Latino communities. The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law reported that the raids sent many Latinos in the region into hiding. The raids also affected business. Swift and Company was forced to suspend operations in the days following the raids, which is yet another indicator of the centrality of undocumented Latinos to the economy. Many of Minnesota’s political and religious leaders, along with local residents, condemned the raids and subsequent detention of the Swift workers. Perhaps the most vocal in their opposition to the raids were seven Minnesota Catholic bishops representing Winona, St. Cloud, Crookston, New Ulm, Duluth, St. Paul, and Minneapolis. They issued the following statement: As the Catholic Bishops of the State of Minnesota, we are distressed and disheartened by the workplace raids that took place in Worthington, Minnesota, and other communities this past week . . . The raids did nothing to advance needed reform. Instead, the raids heartlessly divided families, disrupted the whole community of Worthington, and undermined progress that that city had made toward bridging racial and cultural differences.14

Despite support from many segments of society, Latinos in Minnesota, especially those who are undocumented migrants, will likely continue to struggle for acceptance and social justice. Yet, all Latinos—residents, citizens, and migrants alike—have contributed a great deal to the economy and to the political and social landscape of the state of Minnesota.

NOTABLE LATINOS Garzón, Luis (1867–1954). Luis Garzón was the first Latino to settle in Minnesota. Although he lived in Minneapolis, he was a leader in the west side community. He opened Tienda de Abarrotes, the first Mexican grocery store in Minnesota, which was

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Latino America also an information center for the community. Garzón also helped found the Sociedad Mutua Beneficia Recreativa Anahuac in 1922, which helped first-generation Mexicans settle into their new neighborhood. Rangel, Ray (1932–). A member of Mexican American Veteran’s Post #5, Ray Rangel has successfully brought attention to the contribution of Minnesota’s Mexican Americans to the U.S. military. Following a major organizing effort, he has recently been able to get an area on Harriet Island, in St. Paul, dedicated for a memorial to Minnesota’s fallen Mexican American soldiers. Gomez-Bethke, Irene (1935–). The daughter of migrant farmworkers, Irene GomezBethke has been involved in social justice issues for most of her life. In the late 1970s she sat on both the Hispanic Advisory Committee, representing Minneapolis mayor Don Fraser, and the Spanish-Speaking Affairs Council. In 1982 she became commissioner for Minnesota’s Department of Human Rights. She has also served as state chair of the Hispanic American Democrats, and she has been a member of the board for the Harriet Tubman Center and of the Chicana Caucus. Gomez is also cofounder of Centro Cultural Chicano in Minneapolis and executive director of the Instituto de Arte y Cultura. Her son Jesse Bethke Gomez is the president of CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio), the state’s largest Latino service organization. Calderon, Maria Elena (1936–). Maria Elena Calderon was the first Latino administrator in the St. Paul school district. She arrived in Minnesota from El Salvador in 1968, and she was one of the first Central Americans to settle in Minnesota. A teacher and single mother of four children, she earned her PhD in education. Vega, Conrad (1938–). Conrad Vega was the first Latino elected to the Minnesota legislature, in 1976. He served as a Democratic senator for Dakota County for 10 years. O, Gilbert de la (1945–). Gilbert de la O was the head of the Brown Berets in Minnesota and a celebrated community leader. Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, his parents migrated to Minnesota from Texas to work in the sugar beet fields. In addition to his political work, his service work with youth on the west side has earned him notoriety. Included in his many service awards are the Martin Luther King Community Legend Award for the Twin Cities, and his induction into the Neighborhood House Alumni Hall of Fame, in Washington, DC. Silva, Maria (1947–) and Tomas (1944–). In 1979 Maria and Tomas Silva opened up El Burrito restaurant on the west side of St. Paul. El Burrito has since expanded its services to include a grocery store, a bakery, and a factory that produces wholesale foods, which are distributed throughout Minnesota and the Midwest. The Silvas employ over 100 Latinos and remain dedicated to running a business that gives back to the Twin Cities’ Latino community. Cervantes, Manuel (1951–). The first of seven children of migrant farmworkers, Manuel Cervantes is a judge and the first Chicano attorney for the city of St. Paul. Previous to his service as city attorney, he served as a judge on the State Workers’ Compensation Court, as a referee in Ramsey County District Court, and as a judge in Minnesota’s Family and Juvenile Court. He remains very active in the Latino community.

Minnesota

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos have contributed to Minnesota’s culture through music, food, and commodity production. Beginning in the 1950s Latin music could be heard throughout the Twin Cities. In this era the west side of St. Paul was the hub for several popular Mexican American groups, including Las Hermanas Rangels, Los Rumbaleros, the Augie Garcia Quintet, and the Orquesta Tejana, all of which gained state and regional notoriety. In 1956 the Augie Garcia Quintet opened for Elvis Presley at the St. Paul Auditorium. In 1962 the Ballet Folklórico Guadalupaño was founded on the west side. The dance company has performed throughout the Twin Cities, incorporating the talents of local Latino youth. Today, Latin music and dance continue to be popular in Minnesota. The Latin dance craze has led many Twin Cities’ nightclubs to dedicate one or two weekend nights every week to Latin sound. Latinos have also contributed to education in Minnesota. In 1971 the Mexican American Cultural and Educational Center opened on the west side of St. Paul. The purpose of the center was to provide additional Latino-focused curriculum to the St. Paul public school system. Classes on culture, history, folk and regional dance, and boxing helped youth learn about and celebrate Latino culture. The center offered a tutorial program for struggling students and housed a Latino Credit Union and the Minnesota Migrant Council until it was forced to close in 1974. Food is another means through which Latinos have enhanced Minnesotan culture. Latino restaurants and panaderías (bakeries) in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota attract a diverse customer base. For example, at lunchtime every table is full at El Burrito Mercado, a popular restaurant and bakery on the west side of St. Paul. There the local Latino community mixes with non-Latinos who go to the eatery for great Mexican food. El Burrito Mercado also houses a Latino grocery store that has a special section of Mexican arts and crafts. The salsa made at El Burrito has become so popular that it will soon be distributed by Target and CUB food stores. When walking through the west side of St. Paul, it is difficult not to be taken in by the colorful murals that decorate several walls and buildings. The murals are a reminder of the long and powerful history of Latinos in the Twin Cities and of how much they have contributed economically and culturally. Annual Cinco de Mayo and Día de los Muertos celebrations confirm the vibrancy of Latino culture in Minnesota.

Notes 1. Interview by Leah Schmalzbauer with Gilbert de la O, in St. Paul, MN, February 2007. 2. Roethke, 2007.

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Latino America 3. Singer, 2004, 1–34. 4. Fennelly, Immigration and Poverty, 2005; Wilder Foundation, 2004. 5. Bushway, 2001. 6. ACORN, 2004. 7. Interview by Leah Schmalzbauer with Gilbert de la O, in St. Paul, MN, February 2007. 8. Piore, 1975, 67–79. 9. Bushway, 2001. 10. Owen, Ulstad, Shardlow, Shelton, and Cooper, 2004. 11. Ziebarth and Byun, 2002. 12. Ziebarth and Byun, 2002. 13. Kielkopf, 2000. 14. Minnesota Catholic Conference, www.mncc.org.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ACORN. Separate and Unequal: Executive Summary Minneapolis-St. Paul. St. Paul: Minnesota ACORN, 2004. Amato, Joseph. To Call It Home: The New Immigrants of Southwestern Minnesota. Marshall, MN: Crossing Press, 1996. Bushway, Deborah. The Vitality of Latino Communities in Rural Minnesota. Mankato, MN: Center for Rural Policy and Development, 2001. Fennelly, Katherine. Immigration and Poverty in the Northwest Area States. Working paper no. 65. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 2005. ———. “Latinos, Africans, and Asians in the North Star State: Immigrant Communities in Minnesota.” In Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America. Eds. Elizabeth Gozdziak and Susan Martin. Boulder, CO: Lexington Books, 2005, 111–136. ———. “Prejudice toward Immigrants in the Midwest.” In New Faces in New Places: The Changing Geography of American Immigration. Ed. Douglas Massey. New York: Russell Sage, 2008. Kielkopf, James. The Economic Impact of Undocumented Workers in Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN: HACER, 2000. Massey, Douglas. “International Migration in a Globalizing Economy.” Great Decisions, 2007, 41–52. McMurry, Martha. “Minnesota Labor Force Trends 1990–2000.” Minnesota State Demographic Center, OSD-02-101. December, 2002. Mines, R., S. Gabbard, and A. Steirman. “A Profile of U.S. Farmworkers: Demographics, Household Composition, Income, and Use of Services.” National Agricultural Workers Survey. Research report 6. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Program Economics, 1997. O, Gilbert de la. Interview by Leah Schmalzbauer. St. Paul, MN. February 2007. Owen, G., K. Ulstad, B. Shardlow, E. Shelton, and T. Cooper. “Migrant Workers in Minnesota: A Discussion Paper.” Unpublished study by the Wilder Research Center. St. Paul, MN, 2004. Piore, Michael. “Unemployment and the Dual Labor Market.” Public Interest, 1975, 67–79.

Minnesota Roethke, Leigh. Latino Minnesota. Afton, MN: Afton Historical Society Press, 2007. Schmalzbauer, Leah. Striving and Surviving: A Daily Life Analysis of Honduran Transnational Families. New York: Routledge, 2005. Singer, Audrey. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways. Living Cities Census Series. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2004. Valdés, Dionicio. Mexicans in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005. Wilder Foundation, Anti-Racism Research Team. An Assessment of Racism in Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington Counties: Executive Summary. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research Center, 2004. Ziebarth, Ann, and Jaehyun Byun. Migrant Worker Housing: Survey Results from SouthCentral Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN: HACER, 2002.

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25 MISSISSIPPI Julie M. Weise

CHRONOLOGY 1908 1925

1926

1928–1929 1930 1931–1932 1942–1964 1977 1993

1997

2000

Mexican workers are recruited to Lumberton. Thousands of Mexicans pick cotton in the Mississippi Delta. Priests observe that all plantations in the Clarksdale area have Mexican workers. Gunnison schools’ board of trustees rules that Mexicans cannot attend Gunnison Consolidated School. Some Mexicans attend a separate Mexican school on the plantation of J.G. McGehee. Mexican children attending white schools of Cleveland are forced out. Community leader Rafael J. Landrove and the New Orleans Mexican consulate gain readmission of Mexicans in white schools. Cotton prices crash, which causes Mexicans to repatriate and Mexican Americans to return to Texas at their own expense. Tejanos and Mexican braceros pick cotton in the Mississippi Delta. BC Rogers poultry processing plant in Morton tries to recruit Mexican Americans from Texas. Few stay in Mississippi. BC Rogers begins its Hispanic Project. At its height, the project buses in 80 Mexican, Caribbean, and Central American workers per week from Miami or Texas The Immigration and Naturalization Service opens an office in Jackson. Before this date, Mississippi was one of seven U.S. states with no INS office. Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA!) is formed in Jackson.

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2001

2004 2005 2006 2007

La Noticia becomes Mississippi’s first major Spanish-language newspaper, quickly circulating more than 2,000 copies in Jackson, Biloxi, Carthage, Kosciusko, and Forest. The Mississippi Baptist Convention elects its first Latino officer. Hurricane Katrina strikes Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. In the subsequent year, south Mississippi’s Latino population increases nearly fivefold. African American and Latino leaders organize pro-immigrant marches in Jackson, Gulfport, and Laurel. Mississippi state politicians make illegal immigration a top campaign issue.

Historical Overview Though the Spanish had a colonial presence in Mississippi, Latinos had little influence on Mississippi culture until the 1920s. Then, Mexican and Mexican American workers came to northwest Mississippi’s Delta region, recruited from Texas, to pick cotton. They negotiated their in-between racial status and ultimately secured their children’s admission to Gunnison’s white school. Although the Depression forced most back to Texas and Mexico, Mexicans and Mexican Americans continued to come to the Mississippi Delta as migrant workers through the 1960s. When cotton farmers completed their transition to mechanized picking in the 1960s, Mississippi became largely a way station for Latino workers traveling

Mississippi

“Mexican and Negro cotton pickers inside plantation store, Knowlton Plantation, Perthshire, Mississippi Delta. This transient labor is contracted for and brought in from Texas each season.” October 1939. Photograph by Marion Post Wolcott. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, Reproduction Number LC-USF34-052248-D DLC.

between Texas and Florida. Yet, as the state’s agricultural economy shifted from small-scale farming to industrialized production, so too did Latinos’ role in the economy. Though attempts to recruit Latinos to the industry’s growing poultry industry faltered during the 1970s and 1980s, by the 1990s their numbers were on the rise. The new center of Latino migration in the 1990s was central Mississippi, most prominently in and around Scott County. There, Latinos joined an overwhelmingly African American labor force in the state’s poultry processing plants. They negotiated harsh working conditions and racial and language barriers in their attempts to settle in Mississippi and improve their lives there. Concurrently, Latinos had begun to move to the Gulf Coast to work in the casino and construction industries. Through Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of Gulf Coast Latinos in 2005, thousands of others saw the region’s reconstruction work as an economic opportunity. As construction work subsided and Latino workers got tired of its exploitative conditions, some left the state, whereas others settled in casino or service jobs.1

COLONIAL MISSISSIPPI Even though the Spanish were the first to explore Mississippi in the 1500s, France first claimed and settled the area. Battles for control amongst France,

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Latino America Spain, and Britain concluded in 1763, with Britain controlling the area east of the Mississippi River, and Spain the Natchez colony. Yet, by the late 1700s British colonists were the Natchez colony’s most numerous, with few Frenchmen and almost no Spaniards among its population. Spain’s governor, Manuel Luis Gayoso, had no choice but to rule through accommodation to British colonists, even appointing British settlers to top posts. Making little attempt to Hispanicize its new subjects, the Spanish Crown encouraged Anglo settlement in Natchez and eventually ceded the area to the United States through the Treaty of San Lorenzo. By 1798 the Mississippi Territory was part of the United States. As Spain’s overseas empire crumbled, the English-speaking residents of the Mississippi Territory, and later the state of Mississippi, retained little active memory of their Spanish past. During the nineteenth century, Mississippi’s Gulf Coast attracted a few Latino merchants, as it was in contact with Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America via maritime trade.

MEXICANS

IN THE INTERWAR

DELTA

Latinos did not again settle in Mississippi until the twentieth century, when agricultural labor brought them to the state in large numbers. Since Reconstruction, rural Southern elites had sought migrants—previously Chinese and Italian—to break blacks’ dominance over the rural labor market. Though the lumber industry in south central Mississippi recruited Mexican laborers as early as 1908, World War I and the Great Migration of blacks to northern and western cities most acutely forced the Delta’s white planters to confront the dilemma of their dependence on blacks, and to think seriously about recruiting Mexican workers as an alternative. By the mid-1920s Mexicans could earn more picking cotton in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi than anywhere else in the country, as farmers there paid Mexicans an average of $4 per day for picking cotton, as compared to $1.75 in Texas and $3.25 in California. In 1925, Mexican migration to Mississippi reached its peak. As the cottonpicking season arrived that fall, the Catholic priest at Clarksdale claimed that 5,000 “Mexicans”—as he called Mexicans and Mexican Americans alike, without regard to citizenship—were picking cotton on plantations in Clarksdale, Greenwood, Greenville, Cleveland, Tunica, and Hollandale. And “more are coming every day,” he wrote.2 Indeed, at the end of 1925, when the priest paid a visit to every plantation in his Clarksdale Parish, he found Mexicans—and presumably, Texas-born Mexican Americans—on all of them. These workers were predominantly Mexican migrants who had left during the Mexican Revolution, spent some time in Texas, and then moved on. In this sense their profile mirrored that of the era’s Mexican and Tejano migrants overall. Though they had first lived in south Texas locales such as Crystal City, Pearsall, San Antonio, Mercedes, and San Benito, five-sixths of ethnic Mexican household

Mississippi heads, wives, and boarders enumerated by census takers in the Delta’s Bolivar County during the 1930 planting season were Mexican-born, whereas only onesixth were Texas born. A quarter had first crossed the border before the Mexican Revolution (1910–1917), some as early as the 1880s; half had crossed during the revolution; and a quarter had crossed after the revolution’s end. Most had first spent some time in Texas. Though most Mexicans and Mexican Americans would leave the Delta after the last of the cotton crop had been picked in December, many would try to stay in Mississippi. From March to December they would plant, cultivate, and pick cotton in family groups. Those who remained through the winter bought a few chickens, hogs, and cows, which would provide meager food. Others, such as A. González, left their wives and children in Mississippi and migrated elsewhere for temporary work, at the end of the cotton harvest. Living even more precariously than he had in Mississippi, González’s tertiary migration ended in tragedy. He was accidentally run over while asleep on the railroad tracks in Middlesboro, Kentucky, in November 1930. Many Mexican families in Mississippi sent their children to school there, but a 1926 ruling of the Bolivar County Schools Board of Trustees prohibited them from attending the Gunnison Consolidated School along with white children. Instead, the county paid a Mexican community leader to offer instruction at a separate Mexican school on the plantation of J.G. McGehee. However, by 1928 the Mexican teacher had left the area, the number of Mexican children had dwindled, and the county was unable to convince a young Tejana woman to assume the role of teacher at the Mexican school. Hortensia Landrove, daughter of local community leader Rafael Landrove, and her young uncle George thus attended the white school for a few weeks during the winter of 1928–1929. The following year, the Robledo children enrolled in the second grade once the cotton was picked. Though Telesforo and María Robledo pulled their son Freddo out in February to help seed the next crop, their daughter Jubertina finished the school year, struggling with English but otherwise earning As and Bs. She was promoted to the third grade at the end of the year, even as many of her peers were left behind. She became the first Mexican to complete the academic year in the white elementary school of Gunnison, Mississippi. In early 1930, however, school officials decided to enforce the 1926 school board ruling, telling Mexican families their children could not attend the white school. Landrove appealed to the Mexican consulate in New Orleans for help, and the consulate in turn asked Governor Theodore Bilbo to intervene. Comparable court cases that year in Del Rio, Texas, and Lemon Grove, California, argued that U.S. law did not permit discrimination against Mexicans because they were entitled to all the rights of other Caucasian citizens. In Mississippi, however, the consul did not appeal to U.S. law or to ideas about Mexicans’ racial categorization, but rather to “the desire to strengthen the cordial relations that fortunately now exist between [the United States and Mexico].”3

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Latino America By April, the governor’s intervention had resolved the matter in Landrove’s favor, and the following school year Hortensia Landrove, her uncle George Pérez, and Telesforo Robledo’s son Trinidad once again enrolled in the white school after the cotton was picked. All three finished the academic year and passed on to the next grade. The victory was crucial for Landrove. His children would be educated at a white school in the Delta, leaving open the possibility of gaining economic stability and culturally becoming middle class in the future. However, Mexicans had entered sharecropping in the Delta at the beginning of its end. As cotton prices crashed from 16.78 cents per pound in 1929 to 5.66 cents per pound in 1931, white, black, and Mexican sharecroppers found themselves unable to pay the debts they had incurred by purchasing seed and equipment, let alone turn any profit. For most of the Delta’s Mexicans, the experiment with Mississippi was over. Neither deported by local officials nor able to secure consular help in repatriating, the destitute Mexican sharecroppers of the Mississippi Delta were effectively abandoned, left to finance their own return to Mexico or Texas. Though their numbers were diminished, Mexican workers continued to come to Mississippi’s cotton fields seasonally throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. As World War II accelerated migration from rural to urban areas and increased wages off the farm, the Delta’s planters once again looked to Texas and Mexico for labor.

TEJANOS AND BRACEROS, 1940S–1960S Though Mississippi farmers were comparatively slow to take advantage of the guest worker program that would come to be known as the Bracero program, their fates were tied to it. The influx of Mexican laborers into Texas after 1942 made it easier for Mississippi farmers to recruit Tejanos for the picking season. Soon, Mississippi farmers tried to free themselves from dependence on Texan farmers’ leftover labor, and in 1947 they began recruiting braceros of their own. Though Mississippi farmers never received nearly as many braceros as their counterparts in the Arkansas Delta, in some years the mid-South employed significant shares of the bracero labor force. For example, in the fall of 1954, the states with the highest number of contracted braceros were Texas (345,500), California (277,800), Arkansas (149,400), Mississippi (119,900), and Louisiana (107,700). The leadership of the Mississippi Delta Council actively lobbied Congress for the program’s continuation and the minimization of its financial requirements, and Congress’s Agriculture Committee put Greenville on its itinerary for farm labor hearings in 1950. Yet, bracero contracting required organized farmers’ associations, minimum standards for housing and wages, and the threat of supervision and intervention from the Mexican consulate. Thus, for most of the era, Mississippi’s cotton farmers preferred to bring Tejanos up to the Delta. In so doing, they took advantage of Texan farmers’ bracero recruitment, and of Mississippi’s slightly later picking season, to

Mississippi recruit Texas’s surplus labor. Mexican Americans from Texas picked cotton alongside African Americans, German POWs, and braceros during the war years. During the 1950s, hundreds of Tejano families settled in the Delta, where they performed agricultural labor until they were slowly replaced by mechanical cotton pickers. Although braceros and Tejanos labored in the same fields, their lives were markedly different. Braceros came as single men; Tejanos were more likely to come as families. Braceros remained only seasonally, whereas many Tejanos stayed in the area for longer periods of time or even settled there. Braceros were almost entirely isolated on plantations, whereas many Tejanos had their own cars and trucks, which made it possible for them to join their families on the weekend. Bracero Luís Gutiérrez Velásquez, who worked in Mississippi during 1947–1948, picked cotton alongside 60 other braceros, half of whom were from his small town in Durango, Mexico. So isolated was the work crew that during his time in Mississippi, Gutiérrez saw not a single black person. Other braceros sometimes went to town on Saturdays, but Gutiérrez saw only rows of cotton during his weeks of picking. Though Tejanos led a largely private cultural and communal life, many found a limited acceptance from whites in the Delta, particularly if they had some education. The Soto family, for example, arrived to Rosedale in 1962, having heard that Mississippi would be a welcome escape from the abysmally low wages and Anglo-Mexican tensions of Texas. They were not disappointed: the father, Daniel, a trained electrician, found well-paid work in his profession—something the antiMexican racism of Texas had never allowed him. In Texas, Soto had “worked out in the field sometimes. He didn’t make any money there,” recalled his wife Alice, “maybe 5 dollars a day. Here [in Mississippi] it was $1.25 an hour. We felt rich!”4 Their daughter, a high school student, felt shunned by whites in Texas; in Mississippi, she became friends with them. Yet, Mexican Americans’ limited possibilities for assimilation were not without condition, and they most typically avoided association with blacks. The feeling may have been mutual; the Sotos remembered being turned away from a black lunch counter they had entered by mistake. “This is the black side, you go to the white side,” they were told.5 Intermarriage between Mexican Americans and whites was acceptable in the Delta by this era, whereas other Tejanos married each other or the children of Mexican migrants who had come to the area in the interwar years. As the civil rights movement began to build in the Mississippi Delta during the 1950s, the region’s Mexican Americans remained silent, at the sidelines. By the time the movement flourished in the early 1960s, most Tejanos had moved on. Displaced by the mechanical cotton picker, they went to pick fruit in Florida’s orchards.

ISOLATED MIGRATIONS

IN THE

1970S–1980S

Mechanical cotton pickers notwithstanding, there was still much low-wage labor to be performed in Mississippi—this time, in more industrialized sectors,

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Latino America such as poultry processing. As the civil rights movement expanded beyond the notion of equal rights to include the struggle for economic advancement, mere inclusion in Mississippi’s poultry labor force was no longer enough for blacks. As black labor unionism strengthened in the poultry plants during the 1970s, some owners attempted to import Mexican labor into the industry. For example, in 1977 the B.C. Rogers Poultry plant in Morton began to recruit Mexican Americans from El Paso. Company officials targeted agricultural migrant workers during the offseason. Though a few of these Mexican American workers remained in Mississippi, most did not, and the poultry industry quickly reverted to its status quo of a predominantly African American labor force. Isolated groups of Latinos in other regions and industries also dotted Mississippi during these decades. For example, government subcontractors charged with seasonal tree planting in Homochitto National Forest employed Mexican migrant workers, many of them undocumented. These workers lived in tents in the forests where they worked, cooking game on kerosene stoves and remaining entirely hidden from public view. Their situation was emblematic of the period’s small Latino migrant population: isolated, invisible, and soon to emigrate from Mississippi entirely.

LATINO BOOM: THE 1990S If attempts to recruit Mexicans as a permanent labor force largely failed in the 1970s, in the 1990s they were successful, as their scope expanded to all Latino groups. Whereas some Latinos came to work in traditional agricultural jobs, such as the sweet potato harvest in Vardaman or the Delta’s cotton gins, more came for the service and construction industries, particularly casinos in Tunica and along the coast. The greatest number, however, came to work in industrialized agriculture: catfish, lumber, and, most importantly, poultry processing. In 2000 the U.S. census counted 39,569 Latinos in Mississippi, nearly three times as many as were residing there in 1990. Initially, native-born Mississippians assumed the Latino presence would be temporary, as it had been in previous decades. “I think most people thought that this was a temporary thing,” said the Chamber of Commerce director in Forest, “that they came and were going to go away—that this was not going to happen to our community.”6 As Mississippians adjusted themselves to the new reality of Latino migration, the state’s relative inexperience with this population led to misconceptions about immigration law, violations of immigrants’ rights, and ad hoc policy making toward the newcomers. On the other hand, many public agencies and businesses actively sought to build their Spanish-language capacity and reach out to Latinos. Because churches were the only institutions interacting with Latinos for most of the 1990s, officials and employers who would violate immigrants’

Mississippi rights typically faced no legal opposition. Immigration raids during the 1990s often occurred based on dubious causes, such as a raid in Pelahatchie prompted by complaints from locals that migrants had caused a shortage of rental housing. In an echo of earlier Southern practices of discrimination, in 2002 the Scott County Circuit Clerk began requiring proof of legal presence for those seeking marriage licenses. Though the state’s attorney general affirmed that the law made no such requirement, the county clerk continued to deny marriage licenses to undocumented migrants. Some migrants went to other counties for marriage licenses, and local churches agreed to wed couples who had been denied a license on grounds of immigration status. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Latino leaders in affected areas alleged that some stores flatly refused to sell gasoline and supplies to Latinos, stating clearly, “We are not serving Mexicans.”7 In another incident, the Peco Foods poultry processing plant in Canton fired 200 migrant workers after receiving no-match letters from Social Security— despite the fact that the letters specifically stated that workers should not be fired without a thorough investigation into why their social security numbers did not match federal records. Though many of the fired workers paid union dues, they claimed union officials did little to aid their cause; indeed, the union lacked sufficient Spanish-speaking organizers and experience with the immigration issues of the newly arrived Latino workforce. When the company finally agreed to reinstate the fired workers months later, most of the affected workers had either moved away or disappeared into the shadows. If the seemingly sudden arrival of so many Latinos spawned creative ways to exclude migrants, so too did it encourage creative ways to include them. Churches both Catholic and Protestant became the first local institutions to reach out to Latinos in Mississippi. Indeed, many came to serve as all-purpose help for migrants, with bilingual church employees ministering not only to migrants’ spiritual needs but also to their practical ones. In 2004, Mississippi’s Southern Baptist Convention elected its first Latino officer, Joel Medina, pastor of several Spanish-language churches in Carthage. Given the lack of a bilingual second-generation to serve newly arrived migrants, white and African American businesspeople and law enforcement officials began enrolling in Spanish classes to better communicate with Latino migrants. Describing her students, one Spanish teacher commented, “They’re by and large people who feel that Spanish is here and it’s now.”8. As of 2003, 20 of the state’s 152 school districts had hired a translator or designated a bilingual school employee specifically to aid the Latino migrant population. Of course, Latinos generated their own communication media not reliant on translators, and by 2001 Memphis’s emerging Spanish-language press, as well as Mississippi’s La Noticia, was providing news to Latino Mississippians in Spanish.

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THE POULTRY INDUSTRY As the state’s most important employer of Latinos during the 1990s, the poultry industry provides a useful window into the critical issues affecting Latinos in the state. Scott County in central Mississippi exemplifies this trend. Despite their failure to retain Latino workers recruited from Texas during the late 1970s, B.C. Rogers Poultry executives in the 1990s once again turned their attention to Latinos. In 1993 the company began Hispanic Project. That year, company officials regularly traveled to Miami to recruit Cuban and Central American workers; in 1994, they opened an office there. At its height, the Hispanic Project bused in approximately 80 workers per week from Miami and later from south Texas. Of these workers, company officials estimate that 20 to 40 percent remained in Mississippi. By the mid-1990s B.C. Rogers poultry executives estimated that 400 of the plant’s 600 workers were Latino. The practice of recruiting Latinos to work in the chicken plants spread through the local industry, and by the late 1990s many of the area’s poultry processors were recruiting workers from Miami, south Texas, and even Mexico and Peru. The census recorded 141 “Hispanics” in Scott County in 1990, and in 2000 there were 1,660.

AFRICAN AMERICANS AND LATINOS Poultry is just one area in which the histories of Mississippi’s Latinos and African Americans have intersected. Mississippi has a higher percentage of African American residents (36 percent) than any U.S. state or territory but the District of Columbia. As throughout the South—but perhaps nowhere more than in Mississippi—African Americans’ economic and political activities have affected the lives of Latinos. Though media reports have focused on animosity between African Americans and Latinos, in Mississippi the story has been one of both conflict and alliance. Broadly speaking, the state’s established African American politicians have taken a position of support toward Latinos and their nascent political activity. On the other hand, racial and language barriers have created obstacles to alliance and understanding among African American and Latino workers, whose labor conditions and wages are directly impacted by each other’s. On the level of state politics, African Americans have spoken out prominently and unequivocally in favor of migrants’ rights. Though mostly white antiimmigrant activists criticized migrants’ use of the Freedom Rides metaphor during a protest in 2003, African American leaders defended the analogy. “They have the same problems we had in the 1960s as to finding jobs, living wages, and places to live,” said state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) officer Eddie R. Smith.9 African American leaders also helped organize Mississippi’s pro-immigrant marches in 2006. State Representative Jim Evans

Mississippi (D-Jackson), president of Mississippi’s Southern Christian Leadership Council, evoked the importance of defending the human rights of all—a significant departure from African American civil rights leaders’ traditional reliance on the rhetoric of equal citizenship for all Americans. Notably, however, African American voting rights activist Hollis Watkins spoke through a translator at the 2006 rally, expressing his regret that more blacks had not attended the event. Indeed, though their politicians spoke the language of human rights and mutual struggles, African American and Latino workers faced considerable barriers to working together for better wages and conditions in the workplace. Scholars conducting fieldwork with poultry workers have found that many adopted mainstream discourses, which reinforced distinctions between African American and Latino workers. Black workers commonly expressed that “Hispanics are too willing to work for nothing,” and “they’re taking our jobs and forcing us to work harder”—the flip side of local whites’ discourses praising Latinos for working harder than blacks.10 Meanwhile, Latinos described their African American co-workers as being lazy and as not having discrimination problems. Efforts at cross-racial organizing have attempted to identify common elements of the two groups’ histories and positions within the global economy— for example, by encouraging Latino workers to consider the history of racism against African Americans in the United States, while showing African Americans that a low wage in Mississippi might translate into subsistence for an entire family living off remittances in Latin America. The relationship between African Americans and Latinos in Mississippi would continue to prove critical as the next wave of Latinos arrived.

HURRICANE KATRINA On the one hand Hurricane Katrina devastated south Mississippi’s Latinos; on the other it provided job opportunities for thousands of would-be newcomers. Those who did not speak English likely did not hear any warning of the storm before its arrival. Latino migrants who survived the storm proved reluctant to seek aid and relief services because of fears of immigration enforcement. And if Latinos with limited roots in Mississippi had little access to resources immediately following the storm, newly arrived workers reconstructing the coast found themselves even more disenfranchised. Though it is difficult to establish exact numbers, observers estimate that 30,000 to 60,000 Latinos moved to the Gulf Coast to work on reconstruction efforts within the first three months after the hurricane, bringing the state’s post-Katrina total to 100,000 Latinos. These new arrivals were not only from Mexico but also from Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. Though low-wage migrant workers are vulnerable throughout the country, the exploitation of Latino

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Latino America migrant reconstruction workers was endemic in Mississippi—even more so than in Louisiana. The state of Mississippi has no department of labor, creating a climate in which abuse is routine. Working largely for subcontractors, Mississippi’s Latino reconstruction workforce widely reported nonpayment of wages, threats of deportation to avoid paying migrants, toxic work sites with inadequate protective gear, and deplorable housing conditions. Some workers reported going hungry for days, or being suddenly and unfairly evicted from their housing. Though it had no office in Mississippi, the National Council of La Raza sent its head, Janet Murguia, to the coast in late 2005 to call attention to the abuse of Latino workers. Hurricane Katrina also had ramifications for Latinos’ participation in Mississippi’s workforce overall. The number of Latinos on the coast peaked in the months after Katrina but subsided somewhat within a year, as migrants got tired of the rampant abuse by contractors and the lack of housing. Though some left the state altogether, many who came for construction work ultimately went to work in the poultry or service industries. For example, an organizer at Sanderson Farms’ poultry plant in Collins estimated that before Katrina the plant’s workforce had been 30 percent Latino; and that since the storm Latinos have composed about 45 percent of the plant’s workers.11

ORGANIZING

FOR CHANGE

Mississippi’s Latinos have not been able to use the traditional bases of Latino political power in the United States. No national Latino advocacy organization has offices there, and until Hurricane Katrina the state received little attention from these groups. Furthermore, in this right-to-work state, the labor movement historically has been weak, limiting Latinos’ possibilities for gaining power through organized labor as they have done elsewhere. Thus, Latinos’ political strategies have been uniquely Mississippian—that is, based on religious institutions, limited union activity, and attempts at alliance with African Americans. Churches were Latinos’ first and only line of defense in the 1990s. Though church workers, some themselves Latinos, sometimes chose to intervene in particular troubles with bosses or landlords, on their own they could do little to address the systemic concerns of this newly arrived, largely undocumented migrant population. In 2000, church groups joined forces with union, African American, and social service groups to form the Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA!). MIRA! has focused largely on state and local policy advocacy on behalf of migrants. As rallies in favor of immigrants’ rights swept the United States in 2006, MIRA! worked with religious and African American leadership to organize rallies in Jackson, Gulfport, and Laurel. Approximately 500 people attended each event. Casting the rallies in the tradition of the state’s history of civil rights struggle,

Mississippi organizers led marchers in a Spanish-language version of “We Shall Overcome”— “Juntos Venceremos.” Though Jackson is the state’s capital, central Mississippi has been the locus of an equally dynamic migrant workers’ movement centering around the concerns of poultry workers. Given traditional poultry unions’ initial failure to reach out to Latinos, organizers have created alternative strategies. Helping Latino and African American workers find common ground has been a central concern of MPOWER (formerly the Mississippi Poultry Workers’ Center), in Morton. Working in collaboration with civil and immigrants’ rights organizations, religious leaders, labor unions, and other community groups, MPOWER focuses on worker education. It works across race lines to build a climate of political consciousness among central Mississippi’s poultry workers. In part because of these efforts, Latino migrants in the area responded in large numbers to the national call for an immigrant strike on May 1, 2006. Sanderson Farms’ poultry plant in Laurel, for example, became so short-staffed on that day that it had to cut back from two production shifts to one. In other parts of the state, middle-class Latino professionals have improvised as needed to provide basic services, advocacy, and translation for newly arrived Latinos. In 2002 middle-class Latino leaders on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast founded the Gulf Coast Latin American Association, whose goal is to help the poorer, more recent arrivals from throughout Latin America to the coast.

Notable Latinos Landrove, Rafael J. (1893–1976). By drawing New Orleans’s Mexican consulate into the daily struggles of the Delta’s Mexican migrants in the 1920s–1930s, Landrove became its most prominent community leader. Literate and nurturing middle-class aspirations, he sought to utilize the profits of sharecropping and the in-between status of Mexicans in the Delta to advance into its middle class. When his children and the Robledos’ were denied admittance to Gunnison’s white school in 1929, Landrove penned an appeal to the Mexican consulate, which eventually resulted in the children’s admittance to the school. Together with Manuel Solis, he also organized a comisión honorífica, or honorary commission, to both foster Mexican patriotism and organize the Mexicans in the area to regulate the cotton market and prevent a disaster in the next harvest because of plummeting cotton prices. The Depression, however, would ultimately thwart Landrove’s goals. The Landroves outlasted most other Mexican families in the Delta, remaining there at least through 1934. They eventually left Mississippi and returned to the Southwest. Longoria, Valerio (1924–2000). Though this pioneer of Tejano conjunto music grew up in south Texas, he actually was born to migrant farmworker parents on a cotton plantation in Clarksdale. The first to combine lyrics with accordion music and to introduce Colombian cumbia to the conjunto genre, Longoria is known as the “genius of conjunto.” He spent his life playing in a band with his family, bringing this south Texas

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Latino America musical tradition to Mexican and Mexican American audiences throughout the country. The Mississippi birthplace of this Tejano icon demonstrates both the centrality of south Texas to the pre-1970 Mississippi Latino experience, and the influence of Mississippi, however peripheral, in the lives of the thousands of Tejanos and Texas-based Mexicans who worked the Delta’s cotton plantations as migrants. Echiburu, Tito (1944–). As one of the few Latinos in central Mississippi in the 1970s, Echiburu used his Latin American connections and language skills to spearhead the first successful effort to recruit Latinos to central Mississippi’s poultry industry. He had first come to Mississippi State University from Chile on a tennis scholarship in 1962, and he later returned to the region in 1973 to take a position as chief financial officer of B.C. Rogers Poultry. In 1993 after the plant’s owner, John Rogers, saw a news report about high Latino unemployment in Miami, he sent Echiburu there to recruit workers for the difficult-to-fill night shift. Recruiting mostly Cubans, Dominicans, and Central Americans, Echiburu filled bus after bus with Latino workers bound for the Rogers plant in Mississippi. Thus began B.C. Rogers’s Hispanic Project. Soon, a Mexican American man from California took over the project, recruiting more Mexican workers from south Texas. As other poultry plants followed suit, bringing workers from as far as Argentina, Colombia, and Peru, Central Mississippi’s diverse Latino community was born. Thompson, Marie (1957–). A third-generation Latino American with family roots in south Texas and Peru, Thompson arrived in Vicksburg in 2001. There, she found that recent Latino migrants to the area assumed she spoke Spanish because of her appearance. Dusting off a language she had not used since childhood, Thompson became the unofficial translator and advocate for the area’s burgeoning Latino population. However nascent the immigrants’ rights movement in central Mississippi may be, Vicksburg is a decade behind. Working as welders and laborers for a large oil rig manufacturing company and its subcontractors, the area’s Latino workers have no formal organizations representing them. Thus, Thompson tries to balance advocacy with reality: if she pushes employers too far, they may refuse to deal with her. Working alone to help Latino workers communicate with employers, doctors, and city officials, she also distributes pamphlets originally produced by organizations representing central Mississippi’s poultry workers. Medina, Joel (1968–). In 2004 Medina became the first Latino officer in Mississippi’s Southern Baptist Convention. Originally from Puerto Rico, Medina worked at an auto parts shop and as a bank teller after arriving to Scott County in 1996. Though most Latin Americans are Catholic, Protestantism dominates the rural South, and Protestants have long spotted an opportunity for evangelism among Latino newcomers. Noticing Medina’s nascent ministry work in the late 1990s, Southern Baptists invited him to start a church of his own in Carthage. They provided him with a trailer and some funds, and thus began the Iglesia Internacional las Américas. Like other clergy in the area, Medina ministers mostly to poultry workers and their families, and he provides an array of supports, such as English classes and emergency food supplies, in addition to spiritual leadership. Medina also works as a chaplain at the Tyson poultry processing plant.

Mississippi Salvador, Natanael (1968–). A leader of Mam-speaking indigenous Guatemalans in Carthage, Salvador was among the first group of Latinos recruited to the area’s poultry processing plants. After crossing the border to pick oranges in Florida, Salvador followed the lead of some Cubans who recruited him to work in Mississippi in 1995. Though turnover among the area’s early Latino workers was extraordinarily high, Salvador remained in the area. Despite his limited English skills, he quickly became a resource for newly arrived workers, particularly Mam speakers, helping them navigate the health care, school, and court systems of rural Mississippi. He has also served as a union steward in the chicken plant where he works.

Cultural Contributions Latino culture in Mississippi has been both visible and invisible, mainstream and separate from the culture of white and black Mississippians. The signature Mississippi hot tamale is perhaps the best-known cultural contribution of Latinos to the state. Though theories on the tamale’s arrival to Mississippi abound, food historians suggest that tamales became popular in the 1920s as a result of the influx of Mexican migrant workers to the area. Memories of tamales’ presence in the Delta date back to the 1910s, and since then there has been a dynamic relationship between the Delta’s Mexican and non-Mexican tamale producers. Because the tamale stayed warm all day, it proved particularly well suited for the cool fall days of cotton picking in the Delta. Working alongside Mexicans, the Delta’s African American cotton laborers soon adopted tamales as their own. Yet, the Mississippi hot tamale did not develop entirely in isolation from its Mexican cousin. Capitalizing on Mississippians’ fondness for the tamale, Mexicans in the area during the 1940s and 1950s once again sold tamales to eager customers. Today, dozens of Mississippi establishments serve Mississippi’s unique brand of hot tamale. Ironically, though the Mexican migrants of the 1920s and 1930s left a lasting mark on Mississippi culture, their isolation on separate plantations made the establishment of a communal cultural life of their own exceedingly difficult. The Tejanos who came to the Delta during the 1940s and 1960s enjoyed a richer cultural life than their Mexican-origin predecessors of the 1920s and 1930s. Improved roads and looser labor controls enabled a community life that had been difficult for the earlier, isolated Mexican workers to achieve. Other than the ubiquitous tamale, this period saw little crossover between Latino culture and that of native Mississippians. Tejanos from around the Delta would travel up to 20 miles each Saturday night to gather in private homes. There, they would dance all night to the sounds of Tejano bands that would come up to Mississippi for the weekend. Neither native Mississippians nor braceros participated in these festivities. Though the most recent Latino migrants to Mississippi have established stores, bars, and faith communities apart from those of white and black Mississippians, overall the period has brought a new interaction between Latino and Mississippian

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Latino America cultures. In many ways, Mississippi’s rural landscape has proved particularly fertile for Latino cultural influences. Unlike in southwestern or northeastern states, where Latino culture is ubiquitous, in Mississippi natives have received Latino culture as an international novelty and unique opportunity to forge a new, more cosmopolitan identity. For example, in the small town of Newton, population 3,700, Mexican migrant entrepreneurs organized an authentic Mexican bullfight—purportedly the state’s first—in a 4,000-person arena in 2005. Locals flocked to the event, and the Newton Chamber of Commerce embraced and promoted the bullfight, hoping it would draw tourists from throughout the South. Officials correctly predicted that bullfighting would become an important local attraction, putting Newton on the itinerary of visitors to nearby Indian casinos. Given Mississippians’ longstanding love of tamales, white and black Mississippians have been particularly receptive to the arrival of dozens of new Mexican restaurants since the 1990s. Though they are mostly run by migrants, the restaurants’ novelty has attracted a mostly non-Mexican clientele. For example, native-born residents of Cleveland, a Delta town, fiercely debate which Mexican restaurant on Route 61 is the best: Guadalajara or La Cabaña.

NOTES 1. Due to the near invisibility of Latinos in Mississippi until very recently, there were no published academic works to draw upon in the writing of this chapter. For the period 1908–1960s, I have drawn upon my own original research as well as that of Richard Enriquez. For the post-1970 period, I have drawn upon the unpublished original research of Angela Stuesse, Anita Grabowski and Laura Helton. All information on this latter period is therefore based on these scholars’ research, in addition to newspapers and oral history interviews. I thank them for giving me permission to include their work in this chapter. 2. Weise, 2005; Weise, “Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Mississippi Delta,” 2007. 3. Weise, “‘Different . . . from That Which Is Intended for the Colored Race,’” 2007. 4. Enriquez, interview with Mrs. Daniel (Alice) Soto, 1991. 5. Enriquez, interview with Mrs. Daniel (Alice) Soto, 1991. 6. John, 1998. 7. Davis Maute, 2005. 8. Lindsay, 2003. 9. Brown, 2003. 10. Steusse, 2008. 11. Davis Maute, 2006.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, Riva. “Immigrants in U.S. Pay Hefty Price.” Clarion-Ledger, 2003. Davis Maute, Nikki. “Hispanic Leader Says Stores Discriminated.” Hattiesburg American, September 25, 2005.

Mississippi ———. “Program Helps Verify Immigrants’ Status.” Hattiesburg American, April 20, 2006. Grabowski, Anita M. “La Pollera: Latin American Immigrant Workers at the Koch Foods Poultry Plant in Morton, Mississippi.” Master’s thesis, University of Texas, 2003. Helton, Laura E., and Angela Stuesse. “Race, Low-Wage Legacies and the Politics of Poultry Processing: Intersections of Contemporary Immigration and African American Labor Histories in Central Mississippi.” Paper presented at the Southern Labor Studies Conference, Birmingham, AL, April 15–17, 2004. John, Butch. “Diluted Dreams of Milk and Honey.” Clarion-Ledger, January 18, 1998. Lindsay, Arnold. “Learning Spanish Good for Business.” Clarion-Ledger, April 27, 2003. Soto, Mrs. Daniel (Alice). Interview by Richard Enriquez. Audio tape. Delta State University Archives. Cleveland, MS. 1991. Southern Foodways Alliance. “The Mississippi Delta Hot Tamale Trail.” http://www. tamaletrail.com. Steusse, Angela. “Race, Migration, and Labor Control: Neoliberal Challenges to Organizing Mississippi’s Poultry Workers.” In Latinos in the Contemporary U.S. South. Eds. Elaine Lacy and Mary Odem. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2008. Weise, Julie. “Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the Mississippi Delta, 1908–1939.” Paper presented at the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West Brown Bag Series in U.S. Western/Borderlands History, Los Angeles, April 23, 2007. ———. “‘Different . . . from That Which Is Intended for the Colored Race’: Mexico and Mexicans in the Mississippi and Arkansas Deltas, 1908–1964.” Paper presented at the Southern Historical Association, Richmond, VA, November 1, 2007. ———. “Al Sur: Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the U.S. South, 1918–1935.” Paper presented at the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association, Corvallis, OR, 2005. Woodruff, Nan Elizabeth. “Pick or Fight: The Emergency Farm Labor Program in the Arkansas and Mississippi Deltas during World War II.” Agricultural History 64, no. 2 (1990): 74–85.

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26 MISSOURI Brittney Yancy

CHRONOLOGY 1541 1770 1821 1825 1846

1865

1885 1923 1960 1970s 1977 1980s

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto visits the Missouri area in 1541. The Spanish government takes control of the Territory of Louisiana. Captain William Becknell develops the Santa Fe Trail. Former Missouri senator Thomas Benton petitions the U.S. government to survey the Santa Fe Trail. The beginning of the Mexican-American War. On May 11 Congress passes a resolution, and President James Polk summons 50,000 troops and appropriates $10 million for the war. Missouri sends 2,000 men to the front. Major General Sterling Price, Missouri’s highest-ranking military officer, leads his army to Mexico, to the colony of Confederate exiles at Carlota, in the state of Veracruz. After the Alien Labor Act of 1885, Latino migrants replace Chinese migrant workers in the railroad industry and agriculture. Cuban veteran baseball star Jose Menendez becomes the manager of the Kansas City Monarchs and leads the team to a league championship. The Cuban Revolution and the rise of communism ignite mass migration of Cubans to the United States, including Kansas City and St. Louis. Latinos laborers begin to find work in Missouri’s meat processing industry. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City is established by 25 Latino business leaders. Latino workers begin supplying labor on farmlands in the southwest and boot heel of Missouri.

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1990

1998

2000 2001

2002 2004

2005

2006

Yolanda Jorge establishes Grupo Latinoamericano, an organization of Latin American migrants in southwest Missouri that celebrates folk tradition from Latin American countries. On December 15, four senators and four state representatives form the Joint Interim Committee on Immigration to provide social services to immigrants. The U.S. census reports that Latino numbers in Missouri, estimated at 118,592, are much higher than anticipated. The University of Missouri at Kansas City creates a research organization, the Alianzas Alliances Project, for the study of the Latino presence in Missouri and across the Midwest. The Mexican consulate moves to Kansas City from St. Louis. Governor Matt Blunt creates the Commission on Hispanic Affairs. A community of scholars, activists, professors, and students creates the Cambio Center de Colors at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Governor Matt Blunt replaces the Missouri Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs with the Hispanic Business, Trade, and Culture Commission. Alianzas Alliances meets in Guanajuato, Mexico, to establish a partnership with its sister city, San José Iturbide.

Historical Overview The history of Latinos in Missouri is a narrative of community creation and cultural reinvention, as well as a search for identity, equality, and economic secu-

Missouri rity in the face of adversity. From international students and CEOs to exiles and undocumented workers, Latinos have shaped the cultural, social, economic, and political landscape of Missouri in particular, and the United States in general.

NEWCOMERS: LATINO PRESENCE

IN

MISSOURI, 1500S–1800S

The history of Latinos in Missouri dates back to the sixteenth century, when Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto led his army across the present-day Midwest. In the spring of 1541, de Soto left the southeast, marched through Kentucky and Indiana, and headed up toward Chicago. After failing to locate a route to China for trade, de Soto retreated southwestward through Illinois and Missouri. According to Hernando de Soto’s secretary, “On Tuesday, the sixth of September [1541, de Soto’s army] departed from Coligua, Illinois [Kaskaskia] and crossed the [Mississippi] river another time into present-day Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, precisely on the Full Moon.”1 De Soto and his army encountered five tribal villages of Native Americans in Missouri: Calpista, Palisema, Quizila, Tutilcoya, and Tancio. De Soto died upon his departure from Tancio, Missouri, and his army continued south into Harrison, Arkansas. In 1800, France reclaimed the Louisiana Territory (including Missouri), and sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. By the 1830s the Santa Fe Trail connected Missouri to Mexico. New Mexico, which was then a northern province of Mexico, hungered for goods not regulated by the Spanish Crown’s repressive trade policies. Kansas City, Missouri, was the endpoint of this lucrative commercial traffic and benefited greatly from this trade.2 Throughout the nineteenth century, Missourians engaged in many war efforts within the Spanish territory. Missouri’s relationship with Latin America intensified during the United States’ nineteenth-century imperial expansion in countries such as Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. The Mexican-American War began in April 1846. On May 11, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution to summon 50,000 troops and appropriate $10 million for the war. Missouri sent over 2,000 male volunteers from eight Missouri counties: Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Saline, Franklin, Cole, Howard, and Callaway. Beyond Missouri’s connection to Mexico, Cuba has had an important place in the state’s history. On April 25, 1898, the Spanish-American War began, and Missouri provided infantry and light artillery. Battery A of light artillery was sent to Puerto Rico as part of the First Army Corps.3 By the end of this war, demand for cheap labor had brought migrants from Latin America to Missouri.

LATINOS

IN THE

SHOW-ME STATE

The Mexican Revolution forced Mexicans who wanted to improve their lives to flee their homeland. Mexican migrants, in particular, were initially attracted to jobs in the agriculture, railroad, and meatpacking industries. During the Great

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Latino America Depression (1929–1939), Spanish-speaking populations in Missouri grew slowly, forming enclaves in major cities such as Kansas City and St. Louis. World War II prompted the U.S. government to work with its Mexican counterpart to develop the Bracero program, a contract labor program that officially hired Mexican laborers to work in the United States. Braceros worked in the railroad and agriculture industries in Missouri and throughout the Midwest. Wartime employment brought better jobs and allowed some mobility for Mexican laborers. Missouri received the highest number of Latinos after 1950; the majority of migrants settled into agriculture, manufacturing, and domestic service jobs. In addition, following the Cuban Revolution, the federal government and Catholic churches resettled Cuban refugees in various cities in Missouri. Over the last 40 years Latinos have changed Missouri’s cultural, social, political, and economic landscape. From business owners to professional baseball players, Latinos have established themselves as prominent leaders of the state. From the 1960s to the present, Latinos have increased their presence in Missouri, mainly through labor migration. The University of Missouri’s Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA) reported that the Latino population in the 1960s totaled 60,000 people. The postwar era and the expansion of the meatpacking industry have precipitated nearly a half century of demographic transformation characterized by racial stratification and significant Mexican migration. If in the 1980s and 1990s African Americans and non-Latino whites were the predominant ethnic groups in Missouri, by 2000 the number of Missouri Latinos had doubled to an estimated 120,000 people. In 2000 the Census Bureau announced that Latinos had surpassed African Americans as the largest minority population; and in 2003 the OSEDA announced that Missouri’s Latino population had increased slightly, by 10.4 percent, totaling 131,000 Latino residents.

A NEW GENERATION

OF

LATINO AMERICANS

Motivated by economic security, education, and democracy, Latinos migrated to the United States. Over the past 40 years Latinos have composed 2.7 percent of Missouri’s population, but their growth rate has outpaced that of Anglos and African Americans by far. Latino settlement in Missouri takes place largely in urban areas. Missouri’s Latinos have been consistently settling in Missouri’s metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.

KANSAS CITY Kansas City has the most established Latino population in Missouri, according to the 2000 census, with a population of 92, 910.4 Kansas City became an important transportation, commercial, and industrial center. The first Mexican settlement in Kansas City dates back to 1905, when a barrio developed in the flood-prone

Missouri Argentine area. This settlement was made up mostly of boxcars, provided by the Santa Fe Railroad, and of segregated boarding houses. Two hundred of the 300 Mexicans living in Argentine worked for the railroad, and of this amount 12 percent were women and 12 percent were children.5 By the 1920 census, Kansas City had become an important destination for Mexican laborers seeking work in the Midwest. The settlement process of Mexican workers was interrupted at two major points: during the Great Depression (1929–1939), when U.S. citizens falsely argued that Mexicans were taking away jobs, and during World War II, when Mexicans were deported as threats to U.S. national security. Postwar official policies uprooted many Mexican families, including children born in the United States. However, many resisted, and they were aided by employers in several instances. Three to four generations later, the descendants of these settlers now form the core of Kansas City’s Mexican American community. The importance of Kansas City to Missouri’s Latino population was implicitly recognized by the move of the Mexican consulate’s office to Kansas City in August 2002. In the last decade Kansas City’s metropolitan area has experienced the greatest growth in the state in the number of Latinos (55,243). Kansas City has benefited from Latino-led nonprofit groups working to rehabilitate run-down homes and to reinvest in new construction in the inner city. The Latino population has expanded beyond the boundaries of the old barrio, and Latinos are now present everywhere in the Kansas City metro area. Throughout Kansas City suburbs the Latino population grew by 33 percent, reflecting a national trend of Latinos moving out of segregated inner-city neighborhoods as their economic fortunes improve. The northeast side, formerly predominantly Italian American, is increasingly becoming Latino; in fact, Latinos now represent approximately 30 percent of the population in that area. Kansas City Latinos are finding employment in landscaping, distribution centers, and construction. First- and second-generation Latinos create a dynamic community that has become culturally and politically engaged in advancing. However, Kansas City, like other cities with big Latino communities, faces the challenge of defining a unified Latino agenda and going beyond that to exercise statewide and national leadership.

ST. LOUIS St. Louis, also known as the melting pot city, has a Latino community dating back to the 1920s. The community is substantial but relatively small within St. Louis, amounting to approximately 20,000 Latinos in the inner city and 40,000 in the metropolitan area.6 For the past decades Latinos have ranked economically between the working poor and the middle class. They have established enclaves across the metropolitan areas, and they have formed groups such as the Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis, which came to prominence during

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Latino America the early 1990s, and La Clínica, a public health clinic established in the late 1990s to provide free health care to the Latino community in St. Louis.7 Creating a unified latinidad (Latin-ness) has been difficult, as Latinos in St. Louis are heterogeneous, coming not only from Mexico but from a variety of places in Latin America, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, and South America.

RURAL MISSOURI Latinos in rural Missouri have a very different profile. Most are first-generation migrants who speak Spanish only, earn low wages, and are young and with children. Other areas that showed exceptionally high numbers of Latinos in 2000 are the southwest and central rural counties of the state, including Sullivan, Moniteau, Pettis, Lawrence, Saline, Taney, Dunklin, and Jasper.

LABOR AND INDUSTRY After the Alien Labor Act of 1885, which further barred Chinese migrants from entering the United States, Latino migrants became the source of cheap labor in Missouri. Throughout the early twentieth century, U.S. employers recruited Mexican workers in El Paso and transported them by railroad to jobs in Missouri, Kansas, and elsewhere in the Midwest (e.g., Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio), where they found jobs on railroads, in meat processing plants, and in sugar beet fields. In the early decades of the twentieth century, these Mexican workers may have gone back to Mexico and Texas in the winter, but as circular migration increased between Missouri and Mexico, more Latino settlements began to emerge. Latino farmworkers tended the western apple farms, and the southeastern cotton, soybean, wheat, and rice farms. More recently the increased demand for workers in the meatpacking industry has influenced migration of Latinos to Missouri. Third-generation Latinos and educated Latino migrants have diverted from agriculture to entrepreneurship. In 1977 the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was formed to represent Latino business interests before the public and private sectors. Currently, the organization aims at developing a network that would bring cohesion to the Latino business community, and at promoting economic growth and development of its member businesses and their communities.

MISSOURI LATINO POLITICS Though Latinos in Missouri have always been concerned with citizenship and labor and civil rights, scholars have failed to acknowledge the presence of Latino activism. The historical record has not fully developed a narrative of Latino politics in the state of Missouri. In recent years, new legislative initiatives have

Missouri

Board members of the St. Louis Hispanic Chambers of Commerce. Courtesy of Hispanic St. Louis and Joe Bomarrito.

attracted Latino political activists to the state’s capital. Under the leadership of Representative Deleta Williams and Senator Harold Caskey, the state legislature formed the Joint Interim Committee on Immigration (HCR 10) that met during 1998 and 1999.8 The committee examined, through a series of statewide hearings, the effect of migration on community social services. In 2002 the first annual Hispanic Legislative Day brought Latinos to the state capital to inform legislators of relevant issues, such as bilingual education, wages, and political disenfranchisement. In 2004 Governor Matt Blunt created the Missouri Governors’ Committee on Hispanic Affairs (later known as Hispanic Business, Trade, and Culture Commission) to provide guidance on issues affecting the Latino community. Statewide, Missouri’s large and small cities and rural counties have seen the growth of the Latino population in their communities. Latinos of all backgrounds have regained a sense of identity through various cultural activities. There are positive forces at work in Missouri: faith-based organizations, multicultural and community-based groups, the charitable dedication and leadership of individual Missourians, and the work of the men and women who work for Missouri’s state universities and government.

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NOTABLE LATINOS Bommarito, Dinorah (1936–). Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Bommarito, a prominent Latina community activist, came to St. Louis in July 1960, after marrying Joe Bommarito, a veteran. In the 1960s Bommarito worked with numerous Latino organizations and the St. Margaret of Scotland Church as a translator for Cuban refugee families, helping them adjust to their new environment. Bommarito has earned several degrees and worked at various universities in the St. Louis area. Currently, she works at St. Louis Community College. As a community leader, Bommarito serves on numerous boards and committees for several Latino organizations, including the HLG, Older Women’s League, and the Bellas Artes Multicultural Center and Art Gallery. For 6 years, Bommarito has been a St. Louis’s Hispanic Leaders’ delegate. In that capacity, she was selected to visit Missouri representatives while they were in session in Jefferson City, Missouri. Cepeda, Orlando (1937–). Baseball player Orlando Cepeda’s conflicts with the Giants’ management, in San Francisco, sent him to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966. Known as Cha-Cha because of his love for salsa, Orlando Cepeda led the Cardinals to the World Series championship in 1967. Miranda-Yuen, Celia (1946–). Businesswoman Yuen-Miranda migrated to Missouri from Brazil. Miranda-Yuen earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the Catholic University in Brazil in 1988, and a master’s degree in finance from the Business Management University in Brazil in 1990. In St. Louis, Miranda-Yuen earned a master’s in business administration from Webster University in May 2001. Miranda-Yuen has recently established Bellas Artes—a not-for-profit arts and events gallery and cultural center celebrating Latino heritage—of which she is the director. Pinela, Gilberto (1964–). From San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York City, media figure Pinela has traveled a long, and ultimately fulfilling, road to St. Louis. As the founder and president of Pinela Communications, he has been working in conjunction with UPN 46 to present a block of programming aimed at the Latino market. In the fall of 2004 Pinela produced and hosted a Spanish-language variety television program, Entérate, for UPN. Pinela has also hosted the first Spanish-language televised variety show in Missouri, Ahora San Luis, since 2001. Desarden, Arnette (1974–). Born in Puerto Rico, Desarden is a prominent Latina activist in the St. Louis area. Desarden earned her bachelor’s in communication from Universidad Del Sagrado Corazon, San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1997. After moving to Missouri, Desarden earned a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 2003. She is working on her MBA at Lindenwood University. Aside from her civil involvement, she is the founder and past president of the St. Louis chapter of the Gateway Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS In response to the rapid growth of Latinos in the state, the Catholic Church— particularly through the St. Louis Archdiocese and the Diocese of Kansas City

Missouri and St. Joseph—has historically aided the Latino community, and it has been involved in acknowledging the diversity of Latino culture. In 1919 the Guadalupe Center Inc., which was named after the patron saint of Mexico, became the cornerstone of the Latino community within Kansas City. On the west side of Kansas City, different catholic organizations in the early 1920s established volunteer schools and clinics for disenfranchised Mexican migrants. During the 1960s, the St. Margaret of Scotland Church, in south St. Louis, brought Cuban refugee families to live and work in St. Louis. Spanish-language magazines as well as Latino sports leagues, festivals, parades, and cultural institutions date back to the early 1930s in Missouri’s history. For example, in May 1936 a group of Mexicans formed the Sociedad Mexicana Benito Juárez de St. Louis—named after the late Mexican president—to promote and preserve Mexican tradition and culture through Mexican national fiestas such as Cinco de Mayo and Independence Day (September 16). Over the decades, the community has addressed the increase in the size and prominence of its Latino population by creating social and cultural organizations, including the Sociedad Hispano-Americana de St. Louis, that stabilize Latino community life in the state. In 1990 Yolanda Jorge, a Mexican-born migrant, created a local nonprofit organization, Grupo Latinoamericano, in the southwest of Missouri. Grupo Latinoamericano currently provides volunteer and education services to Latino communities in the region. Yolanda Jorge and Frank Soriano created the first Latino magazine in Missouri, Enfoque. Several key organizations have formed to address the needs of Latinos communities such as the ALIANZAS project at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, the League of Latin American United Citizens (LULAC) Regional Office, La Council de la Raza, Hispanic Leaders Groups of St. Louis, and grassroots groups such as the Hispanic Economic Development, Westside CAN, and the Council of Hispanic Organizations (COHO). Bilingual magazines such as the Kansas City–based Dos Mundos have emerged across the state. The academic community responded to the demographic changes by convening an annual conference—Cambio de Colores (Changes of Colors)—in Columbia, Missouri. Participants from across the region have gathered since 2002 to engage in intellectual debates about the needs and issues concerning migrants of Latin American descent. In 2004 the Cambio Center was established as a research institution at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Latino students at Missouri’s universities have organized to provide a social and cultural environment for Latino students and to increase awareness of the Latino community through several organizations, including the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO), the Cuban American Students Undergraduate Association, and the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers.

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Latino America From 1871 to 1950, there were only 54 Latin Americans playing professional baseball in the United States.9 But in the 1950s, African American Jackie Robinson’s participation in the National Baseball League prompted team owners to recruit outside the United States, notably in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Missouri the St. Louis Cardinals and the former Kansas City Monarchs recruited a number of Latinos from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

NOTES 1. Sheppard, 1993, 50–52. 2. The earliest record of a Mexican national working in Kansas City dates back to 1861, when Miguel Antonio Otero founded the largest land freight company then in existence in the United States. Driever, 1996. 3. Driver, 1996. 4. In 2000, Kansas City and its environs counted 35,150 Latinos, and St. Louis 21,850, for a total of 57,000, or 48 percent of the total Latino population in the state. Hobbs, 2002. 5. Hobbs, 2002. 6. Suro and Singer, 2002. 7. Corey, 2000. 8. Lazos-Vargas and Jeanetta, 2002, 19. 9. Regalado, 2002, 162–176.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baldassaro, Lawrence, and Richard A. Johnson. The American Game: Baseball and Ethnicity. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2002. Corey, Andrea. “La Clinica Offers Health Care to Hispanic Community.” St. Louis Business Journal, February 4, 2000. Driever, Steven L. “Midwest.” In The Latino Encyclopedia. Eds. J. Ramírez-Johnson and R. Chabrán. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1996, 1019–1021. Fredericksen, Lin. “‘Fiesta, Kansas Style’: A Moment in Time.” Kansas State Historical Society, September 2001. http://www.kshs.org/features/feat901.htm. Hobbs, Daryl J. “Overview of Missouri Hispanics—2000.” Changing Colors in Missouri Conference, University of Missouri. Columbia, MO, March 13–15, 2002. http://www.oseda.missouri.edu/presentations/hispanic_conf_mar02.ppt. Lazos-Vargas, Sylvia R., and Stephen C. Jeanetta. Cambio de Colores: Immigration of Latinos to Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2002. Mendoza, Valerie M. “They Came to Kansas: Searching for a Better Life.” Kansas Quarterly 25 (1994): 97–106. Regalado, Samuel O. “The Latin Quarter in the Major Leagues: Adjustment and Achievement.” In The American Game: Baseball and Ethnicity. Eds. Lawrence Baldassaro and Richard A. Johnson. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2002. 162–176. Sheppard, Donald E. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539–1543. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1993.

Missouri Suro, Robert, and Audrey Singer. “Latino/a Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations.” Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, and Pew Hispanic Center, July 2002. http://www.brook.edu/ dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/surosinger.pdf. Wirth, Jim. The Story of the Hispanic/Latino Experience in Southwest Missouri: Surveys of Latino Adults, Latino Youth, and Non-Hispanic Service Providers/Community Residents. Springfield, MO: University of Missouri Outreach and Extension, Alianzas Project Surveys of the Southwest Region of Missouri, 2002.

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LATINO AMERICA

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LATINO AMERICA A State-by-State Encyclopedia VOLUME 2

Montana–Wyoming

Edited by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez

Foreword by Stephen Pitti

GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Latino America : a state-by-state encyclopedia / edited by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez ; foreword by Stephen Pitti. v. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–313–34116–8 (set : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–34117–5 (vol. 1 : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–313–34118–2 (vol. 2 : alk. paper) 1. Hispanic Americans—Encyclopedias. 2. Hispanic Americans—History—Encyclopedias. 3. Hispanic Americans—Social conditions—Encyclopedias. 4. U.S. states—Encyclopedias. 5. United States—History, Local—Encyclopedias. I. Overmyer-Velázquez, Mark. E184.S75L35555 2008 973'.0468—dc22 2008026044 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2008 by Mark Overmyer-Velázquez All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008026044 ISBN: 978–0–313–34116–8 (set) 978–0–313–34117–5 (Vol. 1) 978–0–313–34118–2 (Vol. 2) First published in 2008 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To mis hijos y sobrinos, living in several of the states of Latino America, all recipients and integral parts of this history in one way or another.

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 1 Foreword by Stephen Pitti Acknowledgments Introduction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa

ix xiii xv 1 13 25 63 77 105 125 145 157 167 197 215 225 239 269 289

viii

Contents 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri

311 335 347 363 373 385 405 427 445 463 VOLUME 2

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.

Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

475 489 501 519 531 549 577 611 627 639 657 667 687 703 715 731 745 759 791 811 821 839 855 867 883

Appendix: Census Data of Latinos, 1870–2000

897

Index

901

About the Editor and Contributors

953

27 MONTANA Bridget A. Kevane

CHRONOLOGY 1800s 1807

1808–1812

1847–1867

1850 1865 1880

Spanish speakers from Louisiana and Nuevomexicanos from what is now New Mexico arrive to hunt and trade. Manuel Lisa, business owner of Spanish descent born in New Orleans, establishes the Missouri Fur Company and leads his first trading expedition up the Missouri River and into Montana, with Benito Vasquez as his second-in-command. Lisa establishes a trading post, Fort Manuel Lisa (initially named Fort Raymond), at the confluence of Big Horn and Yellowstone rivers, 30 miles east of present-day Billings. Lisa operates a trading and trapping empire throughout the northern Rockies. Johnny Grant establishes a successful cattle ranch in Deer Lodge, where he employs Mexicans, thereby creating one of the earliest stable Mexican communities in Montana. The Grant-Kohrs Ranch is declared a national historical site in 1972 under Richard Nixon, and today it is considered a place that captures the traditions of western cattle ranching. Deer Lodge becomes a fur trading and trapping center, and many of the first settlers are Spaniards and Mexicans. Spaniard Joaquín Abascal arrives in Deer Lodge, dying in 1869. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and worked in Beartown. J.U. Salazar, or Mexican John, establishes a ranch in Musselshell Valley. His ranch was located at the foot of a hill that now carries his name, Mexican John Hill.

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1900–1930

1910

1915–1945

1920–1975 1924

1929

Butte becomes the world’s greatest copper producer. Mexicans, Sonorans, Nuevomexicanos, and Chileans make up the mining labor pool. The economic transformation of the West and the Mexican Revolution cause an influx of Mexicans—referred to as the Great Migration of Mexicans—into the Southwest. Some continue to northern states such as Montana. Anaconda Copper Mining Company is formed from many smaller mining companies. Anaconda controls much of Butte and Montana’s economy for roughly 70 years. The Great Western Sugar Company and the Holly Sugar Company establish outposts in Montana. Great Western, with the help of Mexican recruiters, establishes a stable Mexican labor force for the sugar beet industry, centered in Billings, Montana. Great Western’s workers build a colonia (colony) in 1923. Great Western Sugar Company is responsible for most of the economic activity and employment for Mexican laborers in Billings. Though greater immigration restrictions are imposed by the United States, Great Western Company brings 3,604 Mexicans to eastern Montana. The company also lobbies for the free movement of Mexican laborers. Billings’s Mexican community forms La Honorífica Mexicana, a cultural organization that celebrated fiestas such as Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day.

Montana 1930

1942–1964

1952

1960s

1960

1961 1971 1980

2006

2007

For the first time in the history of agricultural labor in Montana, Great Western offers contracts to its workers to offset the effects of the economic depression of 1929. The U.S. and Mexican governments create the Bracero program, Public Law 78, which enables companies such as Great Western to keep a stable and experienced Mexican labor force. Completion of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Billings, Montana. The church attracts Latinos to this day and celebrates a Mexican fiesta every August. Operation Peter Pan airlifts Cuban children shortly before and after the Cuban Revolution. With the help of the Unaccompanied Cuban Refugee Children’s Program, the Catholic Diocese, and the U.S. government, more than 100 children arrive in Helena and live at St. Joseph’s Home, an orphanage. The children live there until their parents arrive in the United States, or until they are placed in foster homes. Concilio Mexicano, an organization that fosters the creation of jobs and educational opportunities for Mexicans in the community, is formed in Billings. Chan Romero, a Mexican American from Billings, records a major hit, “The Hippy, Hippy Shake.” The Montana Migrant Council is created in Billings to provide health, educational, and labor assistance to migrant families. The 46th Montana Legislative Assembly passes House Joint Resolution 19, requesting a formal report on Latinos in Montana. The cultural organization El Centro de la Raza is founded in Butte. The Coalition of Resource Organizations (CORO), a nonprofit entity, is formed in Bozeman. This organization is an open group of service providers and educators defending equal access to systems and services in the Greater Gallatin County for migrant families and for those to whom English is a second language. Many local aid organizations—for example, the Food Bank—request help from CORO in translating documents. The first Spanish-language mass in Bozeman is held on May 6 at the Resurrection Church, which is part of the Catholic parish on the Montana State University campus. Three months later, in August 2007, about 200 families attend the mass.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The history of Latinos in Montana begins even before Montana became the 41st state of the Union, in 1889. The Blackfeet Indians interacted with the first Spaniards (which they called Spaiyi or Spaiyu) coming through Montana for fur trapping in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1808 Manuel Lisa, a

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Latino America Spaniard born in New Orleans, established Fort Manuel Lisa, a trading and trapping center, near what is today Billings, Montana. Cattle drives brought the first vaqueros into Montana from Texas. The sheep industry also drew Spanishspeaking workers, including Basques. The railroad giant International-Great Northern—formed in Texas in 1873, and a component of the Missouri Pacific line—employed a large Spanish-speaking population as well. In the future, it would be the different economic traditions and necessities across the state that would determine the arrival, departure, and the settling of different Latino communities in the area. Vaqueros; sheep herders and shearers; sugar beet workers (or betabeleros); cherry pickers; mine, railroad, and construction workers; and workers in the service industry have been largely responsible for the different histories of Latinos across the state. Because of these economic industries, Montana has both a longstanding history of Latinos as well as a relatively new Latino community emerging in the Gallatin Valley. In this respect, Montana can be considered both an emerging gateway state and a state with a 200-year-old Latino history.1 According to the Pew Hispanic Center (2005) and the Montana Department of Commerce’s Census and Economic Information Center, Montana experienced a growth in its Latino population of roughly 21.3 percent between 2000 and 2005 (the numbers of the two reports vary ever so slightly). In 2000 Montana had an estimated population of 18,227 Latinos, and it now has an estimated 23,818 Latinos, an increase of more than 5,000. With a total state population of 944,632, and with an overall population increase of only 7,856 residents, Montana’s 21 percent growth is significant (U.S. Census Bureau 2006). Like in most western states, most of the Latino population in Montana is Mexican (11,735). The highest concentration of Latinos is found in Billings, but there are significant numbers in the Gallatin Valley—which has experienced the most growth in the state overall—as well as in Butte, Great Falls, Helena, and Kalispell. Latinos can be found to a lesser degree in smaller towns along the Yellowstone. Although Billings has enjoyed a large Mexican population since the turn of the nineteenth century, Latinos in Bozeman are presently attracting much of the attention in the state because of their visibility in the construction industry in the Gallatin Valley.

NINETEENTH-CENTURY MONTANA Although there is not yet a comprehensive history of Latinos in Montana, there exist many different and disparate documents on the Latino presence in the state before the nineteenth century. The first document of historical significance regarding a Latino in Montana is that of Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard who was born in New Orleans in 1772, established the first trading post in Montana in 1807, and started the Missouri Fur Company. Lisa led his first trading expedition up the Missouri

Montana River and into Montana with Benito Vasquez2 as his second-in-command. There were a number of Mexican vaqueros working with cattle, and Mexican migrants working in agriculture—with sheep or picking cotton—as early as 1865. John Francis Grant’s (1831–1907) memoir mentions many Mexicans and Spaniards who worked with him on his ranch in Deer Lodge. Grant, who settled in Deer Lodge between 1847 and 1867, founded the historic Grant-Kohrs Ranch, which later became the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historical Site. Grant mentions in his memoir laborers such as Thomas Lavatta, who were ranch hands and worked with him during his time in Montana. In turn, Jack Holterman, an independent historian, traces in The Augustan the arrival of New Mexicans in Montana from 1830 to 1900. He highlights a fur trader, Don Manuel de Alvarez (1794–1856), born in Spain and living in New Spain, and a fur trapper, Marcelino Baca. Although not enough is known about what happened to these Mexicans or Spaniards, there is enough evidence to suggest that Montana had its first encounters with Latino groups during the nineteenth century.

THE BETABELEROS

OF

BILLINGS AND THE MINERS

OF

BUTTE

The history of Latinos, mostly Mexicans, is in part due to two major conglomerates of the early twentieth century: Great Western Sugar and Anaconda Mining. These companies, established in Billings and Butte, respectively, dominated the economy during the first half of the twentieth century, with their far-reaching sugar production and copper extraction. The Latino workers who arrived to labor in these backbreaking and dangerous jobs were mostly Mexicans. Today Billings and Butte have a Mexican community established from those industries and incorporated into the community to varying degrees. In 1939 Montana was ranked third nationwide in sugar production (today Montana ranks sixth nationwide). The center of the sugar beet production was in eastern Montana, more precisely in Billings. The Latino community found today in Billings is linked to the sugar beet industry (1920–1945) and its major employer, the Great Western Sugar Company. The Mexican Revolution was one of the main factors that drove north Mexicans who were looking for better employment and trying to escape the violence of the revolution. The Mexican Revolution, from 1910 to 1917, created a new wave of Mexican migrants to the Southwest and Texas. Many migrants also ended up in places such as Montana; in fact, two of Billings’s most active community members, Jim Ronquillo and Pedro Hernandez, claimed that during the Mexican Revolution their grandfathers fled to Colorado and then moved north to Billings to work in the sugar beet industry. Ronquillo said his grandfather, who served in Pancho Villa’s army, was fleeing persecution, whereas Judge Hernandez said that his family owned land and

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Latino America also had to flee the revolution when the land takeovers of big estates began. But Mexicans already living in Colorado or Texas also came north as seasonal workers. Great Western stationed recruiters wherever they thought there might be labor available in southern United States. The Great Western Sugar Company in Billings recruited both German and Mexican migrants to work in the sugar beet fields. According to different historical sources, Germans were allowed and encouraged to own land but Mexicans were not—they were meant to be seasonal workers only. As the need for laborers grew, Great Western began to provide an incentive for their workers to “winter over” and thus stabilize the labor pool. They gave their recruited Mexican laborers construction material to build their own homes, in this way enticing them to stay. Between 1900 and 1920 Billings’s Latino community established a colonia; many contemporary residents of Billings remember La Colonia, the original Mexican barrio, on the south side of Billings. By 1924, Mexicans working for Great Western had built over 40 family homes. During the off-seasons Great Western encouraged its Mexican laborers to work with the Northern Pacific Railroad so that they would stay. They also provided medical care and social services, hoping to establish a secure labor pool. The company even published materials addressed to the producers and growers of the industry about how to treat their Mexican laborers. For example, in “How to Assist Beet Labor to Do Good Work” L.H. Andrews urges producers to treat their human “instruments” as well as they treat their machines. The author asks, “Would you think of dragging an expensive and valuable beet tool from its winter’s shed, without oiling or repairing, to start the season’s work on your most valuable cash crop? Yet many growers take a family of beet workers—an even more valuable instrument for farm efficiency and profit—into a windowless, cold, leaky shack, without repairing it, without showing the family reasonable attention.”3 Despite the efforts by the company and despite the creation of La Colonia, a clinic, and a school for the children of Latino migrants many practices reveal that prejudice toward this community persisted. Theaters, restaurants, and swimming pools, for example, were segregated. Educational opportunities were limited, Spanish was not allowed in public schools, and employment opportunities were denied to many Mexicans—for example, they could not join the police force. Although Great Western went to great lengths to secure the loyalty of their workers, several economic and political forces worked against a stable labor pool. The end of the Mexican Revolution (which caused some families to return to Mexico), the new immigration acts of 1924, the Great Depression of the 1930s (to reduce costs, Great Western began to hire local Germans instead of Mexicans), and the beginning of World War II (with many Mexicans enlisted) changed the landscape for Mexican sugar beet workers. The Mexican

Montana population dropped dramatically: from 40,000 laborers entering Laredo, Texas (the main port of entry for Mexican migrants), in 1924, to not more than 7,000 in 1925. As companies like Great Western struggled, the United States and Mexico agreed on a guest worker program known as the Bracero program (1942–1964). The program granted Mexican laborers temporary visas to work in large companies such as Great Western and Anaconda. In addition, farmers could now directly import Mexican labor, and they were not responsible for the welfare or housing of their workers. In 1985 Great Western went bankrupt, but in that same year it reorganized as the Western Sugar Company, which still has property and sugar beet production in Montana. In fact, every spring roughly 6,000 migrant laborers come to the Yellowstone valley to handpick sugar beets. World War II changed the focus of returning Mexican American soldiers. Because they served their country, they felt they deserved better economic opportunities than agricultural work could offer. Mexican Americans began to seek year-round jobs as ironworkers, meat packers, cab drivers, and laundry workers, among others. At the same time, first-generation betabeleros were teaching their children that in order to move into a more stable economic labor pool, they needed an education. “Study so you learn so you’re not ignorant like we are,” was a common phrase parents repeated to their children.4 A second motivating force for Latinos to further integrate themselves as U.S. citizens was the civil rights movement. Yellowstone Latinos responded to the call for equal rights, greater respect, and better economic opportunities for Latinos across the country. For example, in Billings the younger generation adopted the call of la raza—a determination to struggle for Latino rights—and fought for better schooling opportunities, a Chicano school counselor, and increased employment opportunities. Several grassroots organizations formed during this time—for example, the Concilio Mexicano, the Mexican American Community Organization (MACO), and the Latino Club. All of these organizations sought to preserve Mexican traditions, end discrimination, and respond to any Latino community crisis. In the 1960s and 1970s, second- and third-generation Mexican Americans were integrated into the workforce, holding jobs with the police force, the government, and the electric company, among others. They also chartered associations and political organizations such as the Concilio Mexicano, which fought for education and better jobs, and the Mexican American Community Organization (MACO), which aided Latinos in crisis. Because the betabeleros faced discrimination and prejudice, the Latino community was relatively isolated. Many first-generation sugar beet workers remember that they were barred from entering the public swimming pools, theaters, and certain stores and restaurants. Responding to this isolation, the

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Latino America Mexican community took action. One of the earliest fiestas they celebrated in 1936 was organized because, as the poster claimed, Mexicans were far from the homeland, and “los mexicanos sentimos la ineludible obligación de rememorar sus fechas gloriosas” (we, Mexicans, feel an inescapable obligation to remember and celebrate our glorious days). The celebration, sponsored by the Comité Patriótico Mexicano de Billings, demonstrates Mexicans’ attempt to connect with their homeland from faraway. This particular poster also celebrates the freedom gained from the Spaniards in 1810. It is possible that Mexicans, feeling the arms of colonization around their lives, wanted to remember that they gained independence once, and that they could gain it again in the United States. Today the Mexican community is largely self-segregated on the south side of Billings. City Commissioner Jim Ronquillo works against contemporary discrimination and against and the ill-placed detention and drug rehabilitation centers placed in the south side neighborhood. As of 2005, Billings had an estimated population of 4,577 Latinos, out of an estimated total population of 92,844.5 Many are active in the community, such as Jim Ronquillo and Judge Pedro Hernandez. Their families arrived to work as betabeleros, beginning the cyclical migration from Texas and/or Colorado to Montana, and back to Texas and/or Colorado. Strong traditions such as the summer fiestas remind the group of their Mexican heritage. The center for community activism and shared traditions is Guadalupe Church, built in 1953 specifically in recognition of the growing number of Spanish-speaking families in south Billings. The church—known through Billings for its fiestas, Spanish dinners, and youth programs—nurtures the Spanish language and the cultural and religious traditions of the Latino community. Butte also has a strong Latino community, but because of a different industry. If Billings was known as the sugar city, Butte was known as the copper king, home to the “richest hill on Earth.” Anaconda Copper Mining Company, which virtually controlled the economy of Montana during its heyday in the 1890s, was the leader in copper production in the United States, as it produced 41 percent of the total U.S. copper production. Anaconda Mining maintained close ties with Chile, more specifically to Chuquicamata, as it recruited workers there and controlled the community politically and economically for roughly 50 years (from the 1920s to the 1970s). Anaconda employed a diverse pool of laborers, ranging from the Chinese to the Irish. Mexican miners, especially from Sonora and New Mexico, were also employed. There remains today in Butte a small community of Latinos, an estimated 927, mostly Mexicans, whose parents first arrived to mine.6 The Catholic Church has played an instrumental role in both Billings and Butte. For instance, Billings’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church is the site of many traditional Latino fiestas. In Butte, the St. Joseph Church is a prime site

Montana of gathering, and Father Baron, of that church, was a key organizer of the Viva la Raza Center, which holds cultural events.

MONTANA AS AN EMERGING GATEWAY Although Latinos have lived in Billings and Butte since the early twentieth century, the Gallatin Valley has recently received such an influx of documented and undocumented workers as to cause alarm among some residents of the community. In early 2007, three months of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle were devoted to letters to the editors sparked by a city commissioner’s essay on the need to understand the migrants’ experience. A brief survey of responses (about 20) reveals inherited racial discrimination, with many respondents referring to the negative impact of Latinos on the local economy. At the same time, the Valley’s health providers recorded a spike in Latino patients and, out of a sense of urgency, created a grassroots organization, Coalition of Resource Organizations (CORO), to connect health providers and educators with Spanish speakers. Although the Latino community in Montana is primarily Mexican, like in most of the Southwest and the West, more and more Latinos from other places have been arriving to the state for economic opportunities. Hondurans make up part of the labor force that is living on site in different construction zones in Big Sky. Gallatin Valley (including Bozeman), which currently has the third-largest Latino population in the state, is also the fastest growing. Big Sky, a major resort for the wealthy, now hires a great number of Latinos for dairy, construction, and service jobs. The Yellowstone Club, the elite resort of multimillion dollar homes, has recently translated its personnel guidelines into Spanish because of the percentage of Latinos it now employs. As mentioned, CORO, a group of health providers and educators, came together because of the urgent need for translators for the Latino community. The Food Bank, for instance, has recently requested that all its information be translated into Spanish. Several other organizations in the Gallatin Valley that provide health services to low-income families have done the same. In 2006–2007, the increased interest in migrants and migration was apparent in the Gallatin Valley local newspaper, as letters to the editor decrying the migration to Montana were published daily. Describing a mass migration and a drain on social services, strident voices outweighed those that supported the entry of Mexicans into the state. The concern over migration arises from the stereotype that Mexicans, and Latinos in general, bring crime and gangs, thus ruining the peaceful and homogenous way of life in Montana. The question of assimilation of Latinos into the community varies from city to city. Billings Latinos have both assimilated into the educational system and into

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Latino America the workforce on some level, but the community as a whole has segregated itself in the south side of the city. Butte Latinos, according to oral interviews, feel assimilated; yet, they also want to retain their ethnic traditions in the community. In turn, Bozeman Latinos, the emergent Latino community in the state, are not yet assimilated on any level.

NOTABLE LATINOS Lisa, Manuel (1772–1820). Born in New Orleans, Lisa was the first successful trading and trapping entrepreneur in Montana. He established Fort Lisa (or Fort Manuel) on the Big Horn River, in Montana, in the early 1800s. He became a director of the St. Louis Fur company in 1809. He was also a key negotiator between several Indian tribes and the U.S. government. Martínez, Lula (1922–2000). Like her younger sister, Angelina Costello, Lula Martínez was a community activist while in Butte and then later in Portland, Oregon. In Oregon, she organized the women to locate health clinics in the communities where farmworkers lived and persuaded the clinics to provide services to the migrant workers. When she returned to Butte, she joined the Butte Community Union (BCU), which was formed in 1982, after the Ananconda mines closed. The BCU organized Butte’s low-income residents. Costello, Angelina (1930–). Born in Butte, Latina activist Angelina Costello’s parents came from Mexico. Her father was from Bueno Plato, and her mother from Tijuana. They arrived in Butte around the time of her birth to work in the mines. As a child, she remembers, like most children of her generation, that she was not allowed to speak Spanish at school. Along with her sister, Lula Martínez, Angelina Costello was one of the founders of Centro La Raza in Butte. The organization was cultural in principle, but it also was political, as it helped educate the community and promoted the candidacy of a Mexican to be on the police force. Elvira, Pablo (1937–2000). Pablo Elvira, the famous Puerto Rican opera star, was active in the arts in Bozeman, contributing time, money, and advice to many cultural organizations. Elvira taught at the Indiana University School of Music, participated in many operas for the Metropolitan Opera, and became a leading baritone, performing with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, and Plácido Domingo. Elvira was instrumental in establishing the Rimrock Opera, in Billings, and later in helping found the Bozeman Opera. He retired in Bozeman, where he died in 2000. Machado, Manny (1939–2001). Machado was a professor of history at the University of Montana from 1969 to 1989. He wrote many books and articles on contemporary Mexican politics and on Mexican Americans. Machado was one of the key contributors to the House Joint Resolution on Latinos in Montana, written in 1980. He authored Listen Chicano! An Informal History of the Mexican-American (1978). Hernandez, Pedro R. (1940–). Pedro Hernandez has been Justice of the Peace in Yellowstone County for 19 years. He is widely respected not only for his current contri-

Montana butions to the Billings community (he was recently named by the governor to the Youth Justice Council) but also for his work prior to becoming a judge: he served in the United States Air force in the 1960s and worked with the Billings Police Force in the 1970s. He has remained involved in the Latino community of Billings. Romero, Chan (1941–). Born in Billings, Romero is a contemporary of Ritchie Valens and is best known for his hit “Hippy Hippy Shake,” from 1959. His parents, of Mexican and Native American heritage, moved to Montana from Colorado during the Great Depression. Romero’s biggest influence was Elvis Presley. Romero’s signature song, “Hippy Hippy Shake,” was adopted by the Beatles, and it has been recorded by different artists ever since. Romero remains active in the music world: he has recently begun work on a new CD. He is very well known in England and Australia, and he also has a strong following in the United States. Ronquillo, Jim (1943–). Jim Ronquillo, a community activist in Billings, currently serves on the Billings City Council. Known in Billings for his work on Big Brothers, Big Sisters— a volunteer organization that promotes and arranges youth mentoring programs in the United States—and for fighting against the degentrifying of the Spanish-speaking south side of Billings. When the city placed the Women’s Prison and the Rim Rock Drug Rehabilitation center on the south side of town, he vowed not to allow the city to further destroy the Mexican neighborhood. He fought against further ill-conceived ideas by convincing the city of the long and important role Mexicans have played in the city. Ronquillo’s parents arrived via Texas from Mexico, escaping the Mexican Revolution. The family moved to Montana to harvest sugar beets and decided to stay in the United States, traveling between Colorado and Montana until they eventually settled in Montana. Chacón, Rafael (1963–). Art historian Hipólito Rafael Chacón was born in Cuba in 1963. He emigrated with his family to the United States as a child. He grew up in Northwest Indiana. Chacón is professor of art history and criticism in the Department of Art of the University of Montana at Missoula. Since coming to Montana in 1994 he has taught a range of art history and criticism courses, and he has written and lectured widely on a diversity of art historical and critical topics. At the University of Montana he has been responsible for the development of the art history and criticism curriculum, introducing the first set of non-Western art history courses. He has also established the state’s first master’s degree in art history.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos have made lasting changes in the state in several industries. Of importance in the field of music are the contributions by Chan Romero to rock and roll and Pablo Elvira to opera. Most towns with a sizable population now hold authentic Mexican restaurants. Cinco de Mayo celebrations take place in several public schools, introducing students to the history of Mexico. Others, such as Professor Chacón, have contributed to creating an awareness of the influence of Spanish architecture on buildings around the state. In Billings the Latino community currently forges cultural contributions by continuing to educate the city and

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Mexican Independence Day Fiesta, Billings, 1936. Courtesy of Montana State University, Bozeman Special Collections Library, collection #2336: WPA records, 1935–1942.

county commission on the needs of Latinos and by celebrating traditional fiestas. In addition, Billings was one of the first and only cities in the northern part of the United States to hold a Mexican celebration, Mexican Independence Day, as early as 1923. Of special note is the corrido “El campo 47,” which a Latino migrant worker shared with Anthony F. Beltramo, professor of Spanish and linguistics at the University of Montana at Missoula, during his research on languages in Montana. The corrido, a typical Mexican folk ballad, is transmitted orally from generation to generation to record events, public or private. It is generally sung during the long hours of picking fruit or other agricultural work. “El campo 47,” which was brought to Montana in the 1920s from the Southwest and has circulated for decades among migrant workers in the state, records the story of a slain laborer on the Southern Pacific railroad line. Finally, Latinos in Montana, like Latinos in the rest of the nation, have been contributing to culture with religious practices, Mexican food, and their language and culture. More and more often in Bozeman, local stores carry bilingual signs, and movie stores carry Pedro Infante films. Furthermore, Spanish is the second language at the Adult Learning Center, and the church holds a fiesta Mexicana after each monthly mass.

Montana

NOTES I would like to thank Brian Shovers and Anthony Beltramo, who provided invaluable information during my research. 1. Names such as Spanish Creek, Spanish Peaks, and Spanish Lake are generally attributed to those Spanish fur traders and trappers who arrived then, and they indicate an early Hispanic presence. Nevertheless, historians have debated whether or not these names were indeed given by early Spanish-speaking residents of Montana. See Beltramo’s “Profile of a State: Montana” for details on how Congressman James A. Ashley, of Ohio, suggested the name from Latin. Regardless of who named Montana, what is clear is the presence early on in the state of what Jack Holterman calls Spanish pioneers. His studies, found in the archives of the Montana Historical Society, revisit the origins of these first Spanish pioneers and convincingly demonstrate that the early Spanish-speaking population to arrive in Montana came from all over; that is, they were New Mexicans, Californios, Mexicans, South Americans, and Spaniards, for example. 2. Andrews, 1929, 17. 3. Mercier, 1995. 4. 2005 U.S. Census Bureau Fact Sheet. 5. 2000 U.S. Census Bureau Fact Sheet. 6. During 1985 Patricia Nelson conducted the Migrant Farmworkers’ Oral History Project, which comprises 28 oral interviews with Latino migrant workers from all over Montana. The interviews shed light on the “work conditions, families, housing, education, employers, wages, language difficulties,” among other issues, that these workers faced across the state as they harvested sugar beets, cherries, and cucumbers. See Montana Historical Society Archives (OH 634).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Beltramo, Anthony F. “Profile of a State: Montana.” In Language in the USA. Eds. Charles A. Ferguson and Shirley Brice Heath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981, 339–380. ———. “A Mexican American Ballad Surfaces in Montana: Notes from a Locally Grown Culture Unit.” MALT Bulletin XLIX (Spring 2004): 23–28. Finn, Janet. “Intimate Strangers: The Interlocking Histories of Butte, Montana, and Chuquicamata, Chile.” http://www.his.state.mt.us/education/cirguides/buttearticfinn. asp. ———. Tracing the Veins: Of Copper, Culture, and Community from Butte to Chuquicamata. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Gard, Lyndel. “A Hospitable History: The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.” Montana, The Magazine of Western History, 52 (Spring 2002): 72–75. Holterman, Jack. “New Mexicans in Montana: 1830–1900.” Augustan Omnibus 10, no. 47 (1989): 837–842. Iber, Jorge, and Arnoldo De León. “Proletarianization, Resistance, and Americanization: 1880–1930.” In Hispanics in the American West. Eds. Jorge Iber and Arnoldo De León. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006, 60–93.

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Latino America Larsen, Kim. From Age to Age: A History of the Catholic Church in Eastern Montana, 1904–2004. Strasbourg, France: Éditions du Signe, 2003. Mercier, Laurie. “‘We’re All Familia’: The Work and Activism of Lula Martinez.” In Motherlode: Legacies of Women’s Lives and Labors in Butte, Montana. Eds. Janet L. Finn and Ellen Crain. Livingston, MT: Clark City Press, 2005, 268–277. ———. “Creating a New Community in the North: Mexican Americans of the Yellowstone Valley.” In Stories from an Open Country: Essays on the Yellowstone River Valley. Ed. William Lang. Billings, MT: Western Heritage Center, 1995. Montana Historical Society Archives. OH 634. Nugent, Walter. Into the West: The Story of Its People. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1999. Oglesby, Edward. Manuel Lisa. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963.

28 NEBRASKA Lori Morrison Gonzales

Chronology 1541

1720

1804 1806

1867 1910

1945–1980s

Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado travels across the present-day southwestern United States into Kansas. Though there is no evidence he crossed into Nebraska, Coronado claimed the entire territory for Spain. Pedro de Villasur, a Frenchman working under Spanish authority, embarks on a mission to investigate rumors of the French trading with the Pawnees along the Platte River. The governor of New Mexico sends order to intercept explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, but the mission is unsuccessful. Spanish authorities in Santa Fe, New Mexico, send military forces to the Nebraska Territory. Spanish officials had received information that the United States was sending an expeditionary force led by Zebulon Pike into the Southwest. One hundred dragoons and 500 militia attempt to intercept Zebulon Pike as far as Webster County, Nebraska. Nebraska enters the Union as the 37th state on March 1. During the Mexican Revolution, Mexican laborers displaced because of economic, political, and social problems enter the United States to work in the Nebraska sugar beet industry. Economic decline in the years after World War II severely impedes technological advances in the agricultural sector of the Midwest and directly affects Latino laborers.

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1980s

1999 2000 2003

2007

The rebound in the U.S. economy and growth results in increased productivity and technology, providing new opportunities for Latino migrants. Ray Aguilar is appointed to the state legislature. This is the first time a Latino serves in this capacity. Nebraska ranks 33rd in the nation in Latino population growth. The University of Nebraska at Omaha establishes the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLA) of the Great Plains to provide academic initiatives, research, and service to the community. The publication of the Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies (JOLLAS) begins. There are five Spanish-language newspapers in circulation within the state. Latin Americans represent 53.8 percent of the foreign born in Nebraska. Of those individuals, 75 percent claim Mexico as their birthplace.

Historical Overview The agricultural heartland of today, the state of Nebraska once sustained sparsely populated indigenous groups. Introduced by the Spaniards, the horse changed the landscape of the prairie. By the eighteenth century the previously horticultural groups of Pawnees and Omahas had mastered horseback riding skills and had begun to follow the bison herds. The speed and agility of horse and

Nebraska rider resulted in swift and successful bison hunts. Additionally, indigenous groups succeeded in using the horse as a weapon in preventing the first Spanish settlement on the plains. One hundred years later, new migrant groups, hoping to settle and farm the land, entered the region. Claiming homestead in the late nineteenth century, European migrants again changed the landscape. As it continues to do today, the agricultural and industrial growth of the plains attracted diverse groups of migrants to the region in search of labor opportunities. Meatpacking plants, corn, soybeans, and milo (sorghum) have replaced the sugar beets crops of the early twentieth century. If European migrants once worked the state’s land, now Latino migrant workforce sustains the growth and success of Nebraska’s labor-intensive industries. Despite being regarded by many as the unwelcoming outback of the United States with its inhospitable climate, Nebraska attracts many migrants. Undeterred by the ominous presence of spring tornadoes, bone-chilling Arctic winds in winter, periodic ice storms, late spring snowstorms, grasshopper invasions, and unpredictable summer weather, migrants continue to thrive in Nebraska. It is not just the inhospitable and unpredictable climate that Latinos endure. Latinos often face xenophobia and discrimination based on myths and stereotypes. Newer migrants often find it difficult to adapt to life in Nebraska. Limited by education and deficient in English speaking skills, Latinos across the state often create their own neighborhoods within larger communities. Latino communities— such as those in Lexington, Scotts Bluff, and Grand Island—provide stability and security through contact with others of similar cultural backgrounds. These newly formed communities also fill the void of the loss of family left behind in Latin America and a respite from the daily realities of prejudice.

SPANISH PRESENCE Around the 1530s, Spanish explorer Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca reported seeing bison and bison hides. Historians believe this shipwrecked explorer reached the outer edges of the Great Plains in Texas. There is no evidence to indicate that Cabeza de Vaca ever entered the Great Plains of Kansas or Nebraska. But his knowledge of the bison and the indigenous residents who depended upon them is important in the history of Spain and the Great Plains region. This story, along with others, fueled the imagination of the Spanish, driving them to explore the region in hopes of finding wealth. Looking for the Seven Cities of Cibola, the legendary cities of gold, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led a small expedition through the Rio Grande Valley. Over a year into the expedition, in 1541, Coronado reached the city he called Quivira. Scholars believe Quivira was located in the present state of Kansas.1 There, Coronado claimed the Great Plains region for the Spanish Crown. Certainly,

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Latino America Coronado and his men had no idea the area was so vast, nor did they know who or what existed in the interior of the plains. Around the same time, Hernando de Soto led an expedition approaching the plains from the east. Reaching the outer edge of the plains, Moscoso—de Soto’s successor after his death—decided to turn back. However, Moscoso’s party, unable to find their way to the sea, continued to press on westward. In 1544 Luys Hernández de Biedma, the royal officer appointed by the Spanish Crown and instructed to provide an account of the de Soto’s expedition, wrote to the king. Biedma’s account suggests that the party, under the command of Moscoso, entered the plains region.2 The descriptions of sterile lands, lack of maize, and contact with bison leads some scholars to believe that the Indian guides working for the party hoped the Spaniards would perish on the plains. The Spanish did not find wealth or a labor force on the plains, as indigenous groups occupying the area did not necessarily establish permanent camp or housing sites. On the other hand, indigenous groups in southwestern United States and Mexico, because of their agrarian lifestyle, fell under Spanish authority much more easily than the nomadic groups on the plains. Battles with Plains Indians occurred as early as 1593, when Spaniards made unauthorized incursions into the area. By this time, Apaches and other groups had already begun to display superior horseback riding skills. The introduction of the horse onto the plains resulted in greater success during hunts and combats. Small parties of Spaniards could not match the fierce, fighting skills of the indigenous peoples. Indian battles and harsh living conditions prevented the Spaniards from settling in the region. More than 100 years had passed before Spanish authorities felt pressure to secure the area. In 1718 the War of the Quadruple Alliance erupted in Europe. France, England, Holland, and Austria aligned against Spain in an effort to force the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Sicily and Sardinia. This confrontation spilled over in North America, and in particular on the Great Plains. In 1720, Spanish authorities in Santa Fe heard rumors of Frenchmen trading and living among the Pawnee Indians. Fearing the French would advance into Santa Fe and take control of trade along the Santa Fe Trail, Pedro de Villasur led a small party of Spaniards and a French interpreter into Pawnee territory. They made camp along the Platte and Loup rivers, in present-day eastern Nebraska. At dawn Pawnees and Otos massacred the party. Only a few members of the party survived and made their way back to Santa Fe.3 Contact with French traders did not occur until 1739, and Spanish exploration of the plains remained stagnant until the late eighteenth century. In 1786 the Frenchman Pierre “Pedro” Vial swore allegiance to the Spanish Crown. In 1792 Vial and a group of men left Santa Fe to find a direct trade route to St. Louis. After a delay in St. Louis, Vial and his men started back to Santa Fe.

Nebraska However, the strong currents of the Missouri River pushed the men towards the Little Nemaha River, in southeastern Nebraska.4 The group made camp and traded with the Pawnees. Later, the group traversed across the prairie and met up with a group of Pawnees on the Platte River. In 1800 the Louisiana Territory was firmly back in the hands of the French, and 3 years later control of the area passed to the newly formed United States. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States alarmed the Spaniards, who previously thought of the area as a buffer zone separating the Spaniards from the English. French control was preferred over U.S. control because Spanish authorities feared that the United States would attempt to assume control of the New Mexico region. In particular, they worried about losing Santa Fe. In 1803 Spanish authorities received word that Thomas Jefferson, the newly elected president of the United States, had commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to embark on an expedition westward, toward the Pacific Ocean. Anticipating U.S. incursion into Spanish Territory, the governor of New Mexico complied with orders from Spanish authorities to intercept Lewis and Clark.5 Spanish troops never did intercept the American explorers, but in 1806 Spanish authorities heard that Zebulon Pike intended to explore the prairie. Once again fearing that the United States would attempt to overtake the Spanish Territory, Spanish authorities sent a large contingent of cavalry with orders to intercept Pike. In the meantime Pike made his way to today’s Webster County, Nebraska. Meeting with Pawnees, Pike demanded that the chief remove the Spanish flag displayed over the entrance of his residence and replace it with the United States’ flag. Pike validated the concerns of the Spaniards in Santa Fe as he pushed on toward the Spanish Territory, where Spanish forces outside of Santa Fe detained him. Soon after, Spanish soldiers escorted Pike and his party to Chihuahua, and later deposited them on the U.S. border near Natchitoches.6 Trade between Spanish, English, and French settlers did not end with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, but Spanish aspirations of establishing permanent settlements in Nebraska quickly dissipated.

TERRITORY AND STATEHOOD The earliest migrants to the Nebraska Territory were primarily those of European origin. Some of these individuals emigrated from other parts of the United States, others directly from Europe. In some cases entire ethnic enclaves came to farmlands owned by railroads. In other cases, migrants came to work the railroads or acquire farmland of their own. Labor opportunities in Omaha opened the doors to a diverse migrant population. In the rural areas single

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Latino America ethnicities often formed communities. At the time of settlement Czechs outnumbered other groups in the present-day counties of Butler, Colfax, and Saline. Polish migrants formed communities in Sherman County, and Swedish migrants helped to found Polk County.7 The numbers of inhabitants in the territory continued to grow, and this growth led to debates about statehood. On March 1, 1867, Nebraska entered the Union as the 37th state, after only twelve short years as a U.S. territory. European migration to Nebraska had slowly decreased by the end of the nineteenth century. In 1909 the Great Western Sugar Company opened its doors to production in Scotts Bluff. After several years of production, the company had outgrown its factory in Ames, Nebraska. Sugar beet production in the United States resulted from tariffs imposed by the U.S. government in 1897 on imported sugar. Initial production and experimentation had begun around 1895. Frustrated by the economic, political, and social situation in late nineteenthcentury Mexico, Mexican laborers began to seek employment in the United States, as a dictatorship that had lasted 31 years left many Mexicans poor and landless. In the first years of the twentieth century the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship in Mexico began to unravel, and by 1910 the Mexican Revolution was underway. Individuals looking for better economic and living conditions, and those desiring to escape political conflicts, trickled into Nebraska to work on the railroads and sugar beet fields. Recruited by the railroad and sugar beet companies, they worked alongside the European migrants. In 1920 the Great Western Sugar Company brought more than 13,000 laborers to the region.8 By 1926 handbills and advertisements in the Spanish language had helped to bring in additional workers to the state. Many Latinos, primarily of Mexican origin, left the fields and returned to Mexico after the end of the Mexican Revolution. Others remained and continued to work, and some became U.S. citizens. However, the Omaha race riot of 1919 and the ensuing depression of 1921 prompted xenophobic and racist tensions within the state. The race riot—which was fueled by the lynching of a black man accused of raping a white woman— resulted from the fear that black and Latino workers would replace the white workforce. Hoping to avoid the unionization of shops during the depression, employers recruited these groups to act as strikebreakers. Compounding the issue, returning World War I soldiers found it nearly impossible to secure employment. During the depression of 1921 the focus shifted toward Mexicans working in the agricultural sectors of the state. U.S. immigration officials conducting raids across the state and the country forcibly deported thousands of Mexicans back to Mexico. Economic conditions fueled the imagination and prompted the public sentiment that Mexicans deprived natives of jobs. This led to the mass deportation of individuals unable to document their arrival in the United States prior to 1921.9 Many Mexican Americans also suffered deportation because immigration

Nebraska officials could not always, or did not care to, separate Mexican Americans from Mexican nationals. The policy of raiding and deporting Mexican nationals continued throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In 1940 President Franklin D. Roosevelt was preparing for war with Japan and Germany. Receiving funding from Congress, he embarked on the construction of ammunition depots, military training facilities, and bomber barracks. Primarily located in the Midwest as a security precaution, many war-related production plants ended up in Nebraska. Airfields and ammunition depots appeared in Grand Island, Hastings, Harvard, Fort Robinson, and everywhere in between. By the end of the war the population in Hastings had gone from 15,000 to approximately 23,000. Whites made up most of the workforce in these plants, but a significant number of minorities were also part of it. Although Mexican Americans contributed to the arms effort at the depots, their numbers are not known. During World War II many Mexican Americans were conscripted into military service. By 1942 agricultural workers had disappeared from the fields, as many took positions in the defense industries. As a consequence, in 1942 the Mexican and U.S. governments entered into an agreement to provide manpower to the United States under the Emergency Farm Labor program.10 This program provided 6-month-long renewable employment contracts to guest workers, and it eventually evolved into the Bracero program, which ended in 1964.

MODERN NEBRASKA The postwar years led to technological improvements in farm methods and machinery. Over the years Nebraska’s small farmers found it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with the technological advances and output of larger agricultural corporations. By the 1980s out-migration had devastated the state. Small communities disappeared, whereas others barely survived. That decade marked a loss of over 100,000 individuals across the state. In 1986 the state, and in particular the community of Lexington, in Dawson County, began to experience a rebound. With its relocation to the rural community of Lexington, Iowa Beef Processors (IBP) attempted to recruit a local labor force. However, out-migration resulted in low unemployment figures, thus the pool of available employees was limited. Moreover, the dangerous nature of the job and low benefit packages did not attracted most white Nebraskans. By 1992 the ethnic composition of IBP employees had changed drastically. At start-up, 81 percent of the employees were non-Latino, but by 1992 only 37 percent of the workforce was made up of non-Latinos.11 The Latino population continued to grow throughout the 1990s. According to the 1990 U.S. census, 1,578,385 individuals comprised the total population

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Latino America of the state.12 Out of this total, 36,969, or 2.3 percent, identified themselves as Hispanic/Latino, of which 29,665, or 1.9 percent, claimed Mexican origin. Clearly, Mexicans constituted the largest Latino group in the state, and they continue to do so today. Some new Latino migrants participated in a sample survey in Lexington to measure household composition. This survey determined that men headed 80 percent of the households. Of those, 62 percent were born in Mexico, 24 percent were born in Guatemala, and 11 percent were born in the United States.13 Guatemalans comprise the second-largest group of Latinos in the state. Latest statistics from the U.S. 2000 census indicate that the entire state is undergoing a reorganization of ethnicities.14 The Latino population in Adams County, located in the south central region of the state, witnessed an increase of 1,125 Latinos, as compared to a gain of only 367 whites. Latinos now make up 5.2 percent of the county’s total population. The case of Colfax County is dramatic. Employment available in the slaughterhouses and processing plants of Madison County resulted in a gain of 2,508 Latinos and a loss of 469 whites. In this county Latinos comprise 14.2 percent of the population. Other counties in the state have demonstrated the same trend. Hall County gained 204 whites and 5,381 Latinos. In this county, Latinos primarily live within or in close proximity to the city of Grand Island. Latinos now represent 11.3 percent of the total population of Douglas County, and 17.2 percent of Lancaster County is of Latino origin.15 As stated, Mexicans are the largest Latino group. The ranking order of other Latin groups is as follows: Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Colombians, and Hondurans. The location of these groups is as diverse as their ethnicities. Whether in the city of Omaha or on its periphery, Douglas County contains the most cosmopolitan mix of Latinos. All subgroups are represented in the county. Mexicans and Guatemalans make their homes in Colfax County. Adams County is the least cosmopolitan, with a Latino population primarily composed of Mexicans and Cubans. This is just a sample of the more populous counties within the state. The official total population of the state recorded in the 2000 census is 1,711,263. Of this figure, 94,425 are listed as Hispanic/Latino, which does not include subgroups who self-reported as “other” on the U.S. census. Some experts believe the actual number of Latinos in Nebraska well exceeds the official number. For various reasons, many new arrivals do not respond to the questionnaires. The nature of the work in the industries and in agriculture also contributes to the many families left unreported. Migrants continue to enter the state on a daily basis, and their numbers increase during specific harvest seasons. Politically, the addition of Latinos to the population and the increase in the black population have sustained congressional representation. Without these groups, the state would surely have lost U.S. representatives. However, the state faces difficult

Nebraska issues. The large influx of Latinos puts strains on smaller communities that are ill equipped and underfunded. Housing shortages, increased school enrollments, and the lack of adequate health care facilities has torn some communities apart. In these communities racism persists, causing many to believe that the increase in crime and low wages are the direct fault of the migrants. Government and private agencies scramble to assist and accommodate new arrivals. Most new migrants are men who spend a few nights in local shelters until they secure permanent housing, after which many send for their families. Nebraska schools have witnessed significant increases in enrollment. For example, between 1990 and 1995 the student enrollment in Lexington increased by 44 percent. Schools in Omaha also dealt with significant increases. Communities responded by adding rooms and teachers. In order to keep up with the needs of the new migrants, Nebraska’s state government has applied for more federal grants. Unfortunately, Latinos comprise one of the poorest groups in Nebraska, just above Native Americans. Low wages and lack of health insurance benefits through employers force many Latinos into the Medicaid system. In order to feed their families, many have no choice but to depend on food stamps. Typically, Latino families are larger than Anglo-American families, and their pay does not cover most basic necessities. Regardless of societal problems and pressures, communities survived and thrived with the addition of Latinos. However, this balance was challenged in the 1990s. In 1992 the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) embarked on a vigorous campaign to seek out and deport undocumented workers. Periodic raids conducted on Midwest plants threatened the fragile economic base of agricultural communities. In 1998 the INS targeted the state of Nebraska. The INS specifically targeted meat processing plants in the state. In a program called Operation Vanguard, the INS subpoenaed records from the Social Security Administration and from employers. They then conducted raids and interviews based on conflicting information. A year later the program was suspended because of the objections raised by the Social Security Administration, employers, and the public. Prejudice, discrimination, and intolerance still linger, but conditions are improving. The practice of stereotyping all darker-skinned Spanish-speaking peoples is common. Coinciding with this is the prejudice and discrimination that Mexican Americans are subjected to on a daily basis. Locals, unexposed to diverse backgrounds, are often unable to discern between families that have been in the United States for generations and newer arrivals. Religious institutions, government, and community agencies work hard to promote tolerance and diversity. Legislators work hard in producing legislative bills that benefit all Nebraskans regardless of ethnicity. Despite economic pressures and sociological differences, Nebraskans are learning to live side-by-side with their new neighbors.

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Latino America

Notable Latinos Gutierrez, Jennie (1924–). Educator Jennie Gutierrez was born in Hershey, Nebraska. Her parents came to Nebraska from Guanajuato, Mexico, to work in the sugar beet fields. At an early age, Gutierrez became an informal community translator. She graduated from Lexington High School in 1935. In 1944 she earned a teaching degree and pursued a career in education. In 1985 she received the Nebraska Hispanic Woman Award. After teaching in Lexington for nearly 50 years, Gutierrez retired in 1989. Throughout her career she promoted equality in education for all students. After her retirement she continued to serve her community by teaching English as a second language. She served as a member of the Lexington School Board and as a commissioner for the Nebraska Mexican American Commission. Jennie currently lives in Lexington, where she continues to provide support and assistance to migrants. Aguilar, Ray (1947–). A third-generation Mexican American, State Senator Ray Aguilar is the first Latino elected to the Nebraska State Legislature. Representing the 35th district, he was appointed to the legislature in 1999 to replace Chris Peterson. Mr. Aguilar won the election in 2000, and he was reelected in 2004. Born in Grand Island, Nebraska, Senator Aguilar’s Mexican heritage can be traced back to his grandfather, who was a resident of Guanajuato, Mexico. Aguilar is a member of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee and of the Gender and Minority Equity Committee. Additionally, he serves as the chairperson of the Government, Military, and Veteran Affairs Committee. As a state senator representing a large constituency of Latinos, Senator Aguilar works tirelessly to address issues both on the local and on the state levels.

Cultural Contributions The visibility of Latinos is evident in the number of tiendas (small stores) and Mexican restaurants that dot the landscape of Nebraska’s towns and cities. Tienda owners not only sell supplies familiar to Latino customers, but they also attract local non-Latino Nebraskans who have come to enjoy Latino cuisines and products. A quick homemade meal of tacos de barbacoa (barbequed meat), menudo (a stew made from hominy and tripe), or tamales can be obtained from the smaller, kitchen-equipped tiendas. Consequently, large supermarket chains now carry Latino products, which can be found on shelves in aisles devoted entirely to them. Taco Bell and Taco John now face competition from authentic Mexican restaurants. An example is La Mexicana restaurant, located in Grand Island. It serves authentic Mexican food prepared by Latinos. The cook prides himself on the delicate balance of spices and the high quality tripe he uses in his menudo. Served on the weekends, the scent of the spicy stew draws crowds of Latinos and Anglos. Lunch time is especially busy during the week, as local business owners and their employees dine on tortas (sandwiches served on a grilled roll), rellenos (stuffed chiles), and many other specialties.

Nebraska Latinos enliven the communities through their entrepreneurship, activism, and participation in activities and events. Moreover, enrollment in Spanish language classes continues to rise. The ethnicity and language of new arrivals differ from early migrants, but there is no denying Nebraska and the United States continue to benefit from the addition of recent migrants from Latin America.

NOTES 1. Webb, 103. 2. Webb, 112. 3. Weber, 171. 4. Dary, 42. 5. Dary, 48. 6. Dary, 54. 7. Luebke, 137. 8. Nebraska State Historical Society and the Nebraska Mexican American Commission, Our Treasures, 17. 9. Millard and Chapa, 31. 10. Millard and Chapa, 32. 11. Gouveia and Stull, 3. 12. http://quickfacts.census.gov. 13. Gouveia and Stull, 9. 14. http://factfinder.census.gov. 15. http://www.census.gov.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baltensperger, Bradley H. Nebraska: A Geography. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985. Dary, David. The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends, and Lore. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. Davidson, James West, William E. Gienapp, Christine Leigh Heyrman, Mark H. Lytle, and Michael B. Stoff. Nation of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the American Republic, Vol. 1. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2002. Dick, Everett. The Sod-House Frontier: 1854–1890. Lincoln, NY: Johnson Publishing Co., 1954. Gouveia, Lourdes, and Donald D. Stull. Latino Immigrants, Meatpacking, and Rural Communities: A Case Study of Lexington, Nebraska. JSRI research report #26. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 1997. Lopez, David A. Latinos in Omaha: An Examination of Socioeconomic Measures for Latinos in South Omaha. Statistical brief no. 12. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, January 2000. Luebke, Frederick C. Nebraska: An Illustrated History. 2nd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.

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Latino America Millard, Ann V., and Jorge Chapa. Apple Pie and Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. Nebraska State Historical Society and Mexican American Commission. Our Treasures: A Celebration of Nebraska’s Mexican Heritage. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society and Mexican American Commission, 1998. Rochín, Refugio I., and Marcelo E. Siles. Latinos in Nebraska: A Socio-Historical Profile. JSRI statistical brief no. 9. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, August 1996. University of Nebraska. http://www.unk.edu/news/nr/archives/2000October/alumni.html. Webb, Walter Prescott. The Great Plains. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1931. Weber, David J. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

29 NEVADA M.L. (Tony) Miranda

CHRONOLOGY 1776

1859

1905

1942–1950s

1960–1970s 1980–1990

1990s 2000–2006 2006

The Dominguez-Escalante expedition from Spain explores the possibilities of opening a route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Monterey, California. A silver mine near Virginia City is discovered by Mexican Ignacio Paredes. The prematurely abandoned mine was reopened by a Canadian, Henry Comstock. The San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroad is completed and the city of Las Vegas starts to emerge. Two thousand Mexican workers are the driving force in the completion of this railroad line. The Bracero program is in effect in Nevada. This program was an agreement between the Mexican and U.S. governments to allow Mexican workers to fill the U.S. labor shortages created by U.S. involvement in World War II. The Chicano Movement reaches Nevada. Latinos implement other means of bringing about social change; broker organizations emerge in the Latino community as militancy becomes passé. Suburbs become increasingly Latino. The Latino population surges in Nevada, with a 44 percent increase in just 5 years. The May Day immigration rally is the largest political protest in the history of the Las Vegas Strip. Between 35,000 and 50,000 Latino and Latina protesters march in opposition to the heavy-handed immigration legislation waiting for sanction by Congress.

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Latino America

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Latinos are simultaneously the oldest and newest arrivals to what is now the state of Nevada. Some Latinos took part in the mining of silver in the 1860s; others helped build the railroads throughout Nevada at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries; others still are only just arriving to work in the construction, landscaping, and service industries. Today, Nevada is seeing a demographic upheaval the likes of which it has never seen before. Much of the booming growth is attributed to Latinos. The tide of Latino migrants and the rapid growth of Latino families are injecting new life and energy into the state at every level. In fact, Nevada’s Latino population is young and getting younger, whereas the state’s Euro-American population is old and getting older. Spanish is heard everywhere in Nevada, and there has been a proliferation of Latino newspapers and Spanish-language radio and television stations. Many Latinos of the baby boom generation are middle class and bilingual. Besides, they spend inordinate sums of money on goods and services. The younger generation performs a cultural balancing act, living in two worlds at the same time, without losing anything in the translation. They have managed to absorb enough of the mainstream culture to succeed, without losing their Latino-ness.

Nevada

EARLY HISTORY Father Francisco, a Spaniard of the De Anza expedition, is credited with being the first European to set foot within the present-day boundaries of Nevada in 1776. The Native American Paiutes and Shoshone tribes hunted and gathered in the area. Fifty-three years later, in 1829, the Mexican trader Antonio Armijo led a caravan from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to California. His chief scout, Rafael Rivera, led the trading party through what was to become the city of Las Vegas, making them the first documented Latinos to see southern Nevada. Because the area was covered with wild hay and watered by artesian springs, an unknown Spaniard named the place Las Vegas (the meadows). Las Vegas provided an oasis for Mexican trading parties traveling between Santa Fe and Los Angeles from 1830 until 1848, after Mexico was forced to cede its northwestern states to the United States after the Mexican-American War. In the 1860s new settlements sprang up all over Nevada, and Latino migrants became a natural feature of those newly established towns. The labor needs of the major industries of Nevada, not unlike today, were met by migrant workers. As such, Latinos were employed in the construction and maintenance of the railroads, in the more dangerous mining operations, in cattle and sheep herding, in lumberjacking and in the burning of charcoal.

LATINOS

IN THE

DEVELOPMENT

OF THE

MINING INDUSTRY

When Mexican-born Ignacio Paredes discovered the great silver deposit known as the Comstock Lode in the summer of 1859, people from many Latin American countries came to seek their fortune. The greatest influx of Latinos came from northern Mexico and Chile. Among those was Gabriel Maldonado, a Mexican who from 1860 to 1861 was co-owner of the Mexican Mine, located near Virginia City. The Mexican Mine turned out to be one of the largest and richest of the Comstock Lode’s major mines. Maldonado employed Mexican miners, and he is credited with developing a system for extracting ore that proved to be more effective than the ones used by other miners. Financial difficulties forced Maldonado to sell his share of the Mexican Mine in 1861; but until he did, he was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Nevada. The Spaniard don Manuel San Pedro studied mining and business. Upon his arrival in Virginia City in 1861, San Pedro located the Esta Buena Mine, becoming co-owner of this ore-rich mine. He helped organize the Union Mining District, and he later founded the town of Grantsville, Nevada. The mines in the Grantsville area became some of the most valuable in the state, and much of the credit for their discovery and successful operation is due to don Manuel San Pedro.

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Latino America With all the publicity about the Comstock Lode and other silver mining operations, the discovery of borax seems pale by comparison. Yet, a Latina was involved with that discovery. Rosie Winters, of Spanish descent, and her husband, Aaron Winters, discovered a vast borax deposit in Death Valley. They sold their Death Valley claims to William Coleman, and he became the Borax King, whereas Rosie and her husband retired to a ranch in Pahrump Valley, in Nye County.

LATINOS AND RANCHING Mexicans worked on many of Nevada’s cattle and sheep ranches during the late 1800s, some of which were owned by Latinos. One such ranch was the famous Spanish Ranch in northeastern Nevada, owned by the Altube brothers, who were Spanish Basques. They employed many Mexican vaqueros, or cowboys, and general laborers. The Spanish Ranch, which operated between 1871 and 1907, was one of the largest ranching empires ever to exist in the state of Nevada, and it contributed greatly to the development of Nevada’s ranching industry. Pedro Alto (Pedro Altube’s nickname) was the jefe (boss). He dressed like the rich hacendado (landowner) that he was, in a large Mexican-style sombrero, with a colorful serape slung over his shoulder, and flamenco-styled leather riding boots. He chose his vaqueros carefully for their riding, roping, and shooting skills. The Altube vaqueros were among the best in the state. They had to be good to be able to tend the thousands of heads of cattle that belonged to the Spanish Ranch. With the passing of the flamboyant Pedro Altube, the Spanish Ranch was sold in 1907.

THE LATINO HARBINGER OF GAMING AND TOURISM Mexican-born Bony Aguilar was a Nevada pioneer in every sense of the word. He was one of several Latino prospectors who migrated to central Nevada in the 1850s to make a silver strike and open the first mines in what would become the Candelaria Mining District. He left that mine and traveled south to Silver Peak. There he made another silver strike, but he was unable to realize any profit because powerful U.S. mining interests moved in and pushed him off the land, just as they had done to other Mexican miners in California’s gold fields. Aguilar then settled at one of the hot springs at Silver Peak Marsh. There, following his pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, he established a small resort and bathhouse that came to be known as Bony’s Baths. Word spread far and wide about the curative qualities of the water at his resort, to which he added a saloon. He prospered, and visitors came not only to enjoy his baths but also to hear his tall tales of excavating mines by hand and fighting hos-

Nevada tile Indians. Bony Aguilar can be considered the harbinger for Nevada’s tourism and entertainment industries that today are the mainstay of the state’s economy.

LATINOS AND THE COMING

OF THE

RAILROAD

The coming of the railroad to Nevada not only brought new jobs and economic opportunities but also introduced different cultures and peoples. Among the migrant groups that came to Nevada, none was more tied to the railroads than the Mexicans. The recruitment efforts of U.S. railroad companies in Mexico was so successful that between 1880 and 1930 Mexicans made up 70 percent of the section crews and 90 percent of the extra workers on the principal railroad lines in the Southwest. By 1910 Mexican workers comprised most of the track maintenance crews working on the major railroad lines in the Southwest. In fact, in 1909 the Dillingham Commission found that Mexican laborers had done most of the railroad construction work in the inhospitable desert areas of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and southern Colorado. With the completion of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroad on May 5, 1905, Las Vegas had its beginnings, and Mexican railroad workers were among the first residents of the city that eventually became the entertainment capital of the world.

THE BRACERO PROGRAM When World War II created a labor shortage in the United States, the federal government signed an agreement in 1942 with the Mexican government that came to be known as the Bracero program, whereby Mexico would provide workers for U.S. farms and railroads. Both Nevada’s railroads and its agribusiness benefited from this program. The Southern Pacific railroad contracted for large numbers of Mexican nationals to work its northern lines, as did the Union Pacific in the South. Braceros were also contracted to work on farms and ranches in and around the Nevada towns of Elko, Winnemucca, Reno, Carson City, Pioche, Caliente, Moapa, and Las Vegas, which boosted the state’s agricultural industry. The first major wave of Mexican migrant labor occurred during the mid-1950s. Nevada’s farmers, in desperate need of workers, turned to the federally organized Bracero program. During that time the most dependable source of farm labor in Nevada were Mexican nationals, who usually returned to Mexico at the end of the growing season. Mexican Americans were also part of the farm labor force. Many Mexican farmworkers came to Nevada’s Moapa Valley for the spring harvest, stayed three to four months, and then moved on at the end of May to harvest or weed crops in other states, depending on the growing seasons.

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Latino America In the late 1950s the U.S. population of Moapa Valley numbered 500; the seasonal Mexican migrant laborers in the valley numbered between 1,500 and 2,000. Today there are several Mexican families living in the valley whose older members originally came to the area in the 1950s as migrant farmworkers. In 1964 the Bracero program was allowed to expire because of intense opposition from U.S. organized labor.

THE POLITICIZATION

OF THE

LATINO

The Chicano/a movement of the 1960s enhanced the sociopolitical awareness of Mexican Americans nationwide.1 As a result, in many communities across the United States, Mexican Americans and other Latinos initiated campaigns to guarantee their civil, social, political, and economic rights within U.S. society. As Latino migration to Nevada was on the increase during the 1960s, the Chicano movement was evolving on high school and college campuses throughout the Southwest. It was a civil rights struggle for social and cultural respect, political recognition, and economic rights. Chicanos protested the poor quality of education, the high dropout rate among Mexican American students, the lack of job opportunities, the absence of culturally relevant curricula, and the lack of Mexican American teachers, counselors, and administrators. It was not until the 1970s, after the arrival of university-educated Chicanos and of other Latinos who had participated in government programs such as Upward Bound and the Educational Opportunity Programs, that the Latino community in Nevada became more politically active. In the early 1970s Chicano students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, pressured the administration to hire Chicano faculty and to implement a Chicano Studies program. They circulated petitions, established a need for the new academic program, and convinced the administration to implement a program offering a minor in ethnic studies. By the mid-1970s, reacting to the many antiwar and civil rights protests racking the country, U.S. society had become less tolerant of protest as a legitimate mode of achieving social change. Mainstream U.S. residents began to tune out to the strident cries of disgruntled Chicano youth. As militancy became passé, Chicanos and other Latinos gradually developed other methods of bringing about social change.

THE NEW LATINO POWER BROKERS In the late 1970s and early 1980s the increasingly conservative business and professional classes in the Latino community emerged, and with them the Latino power broker. On the one hand the new political environment that evolved dur-

Nevada ing the Nixon administration strengthened moderately conservative minority organizations such as the Nevada’s Latin Chamber of Commerce; on the other it weakened groups that used more confrontational methods to bring about change. The media and the public- and private-sector bureaucracies looked exclusively to middle-class Latinos to represent the community. Toward the end of the 1980s influence brokers came almost exclusively from the Latino middle class, and they were viewed by some as the natural channel for the allocation of patronage to other segments of the Latino community in Nevada.

THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS In an analysis of 1990 census data for the 38 metropolitan areas with at least 50,000 Latino residents in the United States, the Latino population of these metropolitan areas accounted for 77 percent of the total Latino population in the country. Las Vegas, Nevada’s largest city, was ranked 38th in size of Latino population, with a Latino suburban population of 50,335. In terms of percentage of suburban residents who were Latino, Las Vegas ranked 24th out of the 38 metropolitan areas, with 10.5 percent. The suburbs of Las Vegas had the eighth fastest-growing Latino population in the United States, at 126.6 percent between 1980 and 1990.2 The major concentration of the state’s Latino population is in the southern part of Nevada, in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located. Increasingly, as their economic condition improved, Latinos moved to the suburbs in Clark County. Thanks to open housing and more equitable employment practices that were the outcome of the civil rights movement, many Latinos in all age groups began moving into town houses and condominiums in Winchester and Paradise, as well as into the upscale single-family home developments stretching from Green Valley, in southeast Clark County, to the fashionable Lakes and Summerlin developments, in the northwest of the county.

CHANGING PATTERNS

OF

MEXICAN MIGRATION TO NEVADA

An outcome of Mexico’s economic crisis of 1982 was migration from the interior Mexican states of Morelos, Hidalgo, Durango, Zacatecas, and the Federal District, which in the past were not known for supplying migrants to the United States. Increasingly, Mexican migrants are bypassing traditional entry points in Texas and California and heading straight for Nevada. In fact, the southernmost county of the state, Clark County, has become the hub for Latino migration in general and Mexican migration in particular. The construction of migration streams between specific source areas in Mexico and specific receiving areas in Nevada depends upon the presence of established workers in Nevada from previous waves of migration, or

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Latino America migration networks. These networks include ties of kinship and friendship. Like gatekeepers, relatives and friends assist a recent arrival in the quest for work, housing, transportation, food, and social opportunities. Migration networks evolve gradually as a few workers return to Mexico with cash and material goods after working in the United States. These returnees describe the booming economy and the job opportunities in Nevada, which encourages others to migrate.

UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) facilitated the legal movement of Mexicans to the United States and gave legal status to many who had arrived illegally. However, the combination of push and pull factors continued to swell the ranks of undocumented workers in Las Vegas. At the beginning of the new millennium Nevada was the home to approximately 55,000 undocumented Latino migrants. One reason Nevada has become a destination for undocumented Mexican and Central American workers is actually the result of attempts by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which today is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Section, or ICE) to restrict border crossing in Texas and California. Undocumented workers are responsive to U.S. Border Patrol tactics. From 1999 to the mid-2000s, when U.S. authorities tightened border crossing points in California and Texas, undocumented workers headed for Las Vegas in growing numbers. The Border Patrol’s increased presence in El Centro and San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, forced undocumented workers into the blisteringly hot Arizona desert, then up through Nevada’s equally sweltering landscape. Many undocumented workers settled in Las Vegas because they are aware that chances of being apprehended and sent back are fewer there than in larger metropolitan areas such as Phoenix, Arizona, or Los Angeles, California. Nearly 10 percent of Nevada’s workers are undocumented—the second-highest percentage of undocumented workers in the United States. In 2004 approximately 105,000 workers in Nevada were undocumented. Undocumented Latino workers will continue to flock to Nevada because businesses there need a cheap source of labor that can be exploited by withholding benefits and paying low wages. To Nevada’s commercial and industrial enterprises they are a convenient necessity: they are the ideal workers because they keep a low profile and do not complain.

EMERGENCE

OF A

LATINO MIDDLE CLASS

New migrants arriving in cities in the Las Vegas Valley—such as Reno, Moapa, Elko, and Carson City—have established networks of family and friends who had

Nevada arrived in earlier migrations to lessen the difficulty of living in a foreign nation. These friends and family members initially find newcomers unskilled jobs that pay minimum wages. Later, through constant vigilance, they usually are able to find higher-paying, more secure positions. A process labeled occupational diversification, which is the search for jobs that pay more, occurs rather quickly once Latino migrants get a first low-paying job. Latinos were occupationally disadvantaged prior to the 1980s because they were specifically hired for minimum wage, unskilled jobs. Since then there has been substantial occupational diversification, with many Latinos moving on to better-paying, more secure positions. For example, the number of Mexicandescent people working in professional, managerial, and administrative positions has risen in the 1990s. Moreover, as the Latino population increases, so does the number of businesses owned by them. Currently, there are 3,900 Latino firms in Nevada, many of which are owned by Mexican Americans. In southern Nevada alone there are 2,000 Mexican American business enterprises. The increasing number of Latino entrepreneurs that have established small businesses in Nevada is another important indicator of a developing middle class. Still another indicator of the middle-class status of many Latinos is their emerging economic power in Clark County, the most populous county in Nevada. This population is constituted of young families. Latinos are 43 percent of the 18–34 demographic, and most of that number is Mexican American, making this population a very young market. Many are first-generation Mexican migrants. Overall, Latino consumers are having a tremendous economic impact. In fact, Las Vegas Latinos alone have over $3.17 billion annually in purchasing power. Moreover, Latinos are sending more money to their homelands than ever before, remittances flowing from Nevada amounts to somewhere between $1 billion and $3 billion.

DEVELOPING POLITICAL POWER In 1998 an effort backed by Spanish-language media to increase Latino voters resulted in the registering of 3,000 new Mexican American voters in Clark County. From March to September, 2,000 volunteers with the Project 2000 Voter Registration Campaign worked feverishly going door-to-door to register Latino voters for the November presidential election with the slogan “Su voto es su voz” (Your vote is your voice). Voter registration efforts by the Mexican American community and other Latino groups in Nevada are expected to continue for future elections. Furthermore, the involvement of young Latinos in Clark County’s political arena appears to be increasing. The organizations Hispanics in Politics (HIP)— the political arm of the Latin Chamber of Commerce—and Alianza Latina deserve some credit for this increased involvement. Both organizations encourage Latino

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Latino America youth to become involved in every aspect of political life through registering voters, doing campaign volunteer work, and even running for political office. Historically, Latinos in Nevada have had a very low voter registration rate. In the case of Mexican Americans this is explained by a number of factors: (1) many are not U.S. citizens; therefore, they are not allowed to vote; (2) many are not proficient in English; (3) discrimination discourages their voting; and (4) many are more concerned with daily survival. However, as the Latino population grows and registers to vote, getting Latinos elected is becoming easier.

NEVADA’S RESORT INDUSTRY, THE CULINARY UNION, AND LATINO POLITICAL MOBILIZATION That Nevada depends on migrant labor was made clear in the May 2006 immigration rally. Nevada’s resort industry and the 60,000-member Culinary Union have long been allies on the immigration issue. More than half of the union’s members are Latino, and many are migrants. The Culinary Union supports a direct path to citizenship for all migrants, reunification for families separated by national borders, and measures to protect migrant workers from being exploited. However, the Culinary Union is also the tourism industry’s de facto human resources department; and although the union and its resort industry allies supported the march for immigration rights by mobilizing a mass petition signing, it encouraged its members to show up for work. The result was a win-win situation: the hotels continued to be serviced and maintained by their union workers, while another 50,000 Latino immigrant reform marchers filled the Las Vegas Strip on May 1, 2006.

THE IMPACT

OF THE

LATINO POPULATION

ON

NEVADA TODAY

A new energy is being injected into the state of Nevada by a rapidly increasing Latino population. They are impacting not only the economic, social, educational, and political systems but the popular culture as well. Their influence can be seen in the media, sports, music, comedy, religion, art, and dance. Not counting the undocumented, the Latino population of Nevada is 563,999, which is roughly 24 percent of the state’s overall population. Those of Mexican descent compose the largest of the Latino groups (449,767). Overall, almost one in four Nevadans are of Latin American descent. When the census data were adjusted in 2005, one in three Nevadans in the southern part of the state—where the majority of the Latino population is located—were Latinos.3 With such a large percentage of the population, it is no wonder that the Latino impact—which is not only economic and political, but cultural as well—is widespread and ubiquitous. After suffering discrimination and prejudice for many years, Nevada’s Latinos have begun to legitimize their language and culture: Latino food has been incorpo-

Nevada rated into the mainstream’s diet; the various Latino dialects of Spanish are accepted by Anglo Americans; and Latino music has crossed over to the mainstream public. The presence of the Spanish language is so great that bilingual signs are commonplace and Spanish-language training is provided for police, social workers, construction workers, and others whose profession brings them in contact with Latinos. Increasingly, Spanish-English bilingualism is a ticket to a good job. For the last few years Nevada’s school districts had to scramble to find bilingual teachers to instruct the rapidly increasing Latino student population. In fact, Latino student enrollment has recently surpassed white student enrollment in the Clark County School District, the largest school district in Nevada, and the fifth largest in the nation.

NOTABLE LATINOS Garcés, Father Francisco (1738–1781). Father Francisco was the Spanish chronicler for the De Anza expedition and one of the first Europeans to set foot in what is today the state of Nevada in 1776. The expedition explored the area from Sonora, Mexico, to the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona. From there the expedition worked its way along the river northward. It was Garcés’s calculations, based on the position of the stars, that put the expedition approximately one mile across what is now Nevada’s state line. Rivera, Rafael (c. 1811–c. 1861). Rafael Rivera was a Mexican scout for the Antonio Armijo Trading Party originating in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Out ahead of the trading party, Rivera scouted alone for 13 days. He covered hundreds of miles of desert, passing through the lands of several Indian tribes. He found watering holes, a crossing at the Colorado River, and a way for the trading expedition to safely traverse the desert wasteland to the Mojave River. Rivera went further north, toward the Vegas Wash, and southwestward, across the valley. He is thus credited with being the first Latino to see what was to be later called the Las Vegas Valley, where the city of Las Vegas now stands. San Pedro, Manuel (c. 1820–c. 1881). Manuel San Pedro studied mining and business. He visited mines in South and Central America and in Mexico. During these visits he acquired considerable knowledge about mining operations. He arrived in Virginia City, Nevada, in 1861, worked a year in the Comstock mines, prospected in Humboldt County, and explored new mining discoveries along the Reese River and into Nye County. He is credited with locating the Esta Buena Mine in the Mammouth District, later becoming the owner of this ore-rich mine. As time went on, he became recognized as a mining expert and consultant, and his advice was sought concerning the investment and development of mining properties. San Pedro helped organize the Union Mining District and later founded the town of Grantsville, Nevada. Maldonado, Gabriel (c. 1821–c. 1881). Gabriel Maldonado was the discoverer and coowner of the Mexican, the Ophir, the Gould, and the Curry mines, some of the largest

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Latino America and richest of the Comstock Lode’s major mines. Maldonado developed a system for extracting ore that was more effective than techniques being used by other miners. Financial difficulties forced Maldonado to sell his shares of the mines to Alsop & Company in 1861. Until he did, however, Maldonado was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Nevada. Altube, Pedro (1827–1905) and Bernardo (1831–1916). The Altube brothers were Spanish Basques who left Spain in the 1840s and eventually established the Spanish Ranch (1871–1907), one of the largest ranching empires ever to exist in the state of Nevada. The Spanish Ranch employed many Mexican vaqueros and general laborers, and it contributed greatly to the development of Nevada’s ranching industry. Aguilar, Bony (1830–1918). Bony Aguilar was a Mexican prospector who in 1870 built one of the earliest resorts in the state of Nevada. Following his pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit, he established a small resort and bathhouse that came to be known as Bony’s Baths. Word spread throughout the area about the curative qualities of the water at the resort. Aguilar also built a saloon. He prospered, and visitors came not only to soak in the hot baths but also to hear his tall tales. Aguilar was likely the harbinger for the tourism and entertainment industry in Nevada. Winters, Rosy (c. 1840–c. 1882). Rosy Winters was a Latina who, with her husband, Aaron Winters, discovered the important chemical borax in the Death Valley in 1880. A wandering prospector with whom the Winters shared a meal revealed to them the site of what he believed to be a borax deposit. He described in detail the chemicals they would need to test for borax. He explained that borax would be present if a green flame appeared after the chemicals he mentioned were mixed and fired with alcohol. They followed his instructions and a green flame did appear, indicating the presence of borax. Mendoza, John (1928–). John Mendoza, a Mexican American, was the first Nevada recipient of a scholarship to Notre Dame University. Later he became deputy district attorney, justice of the peace, Las Vegas city attorney, Juvenile Court judge, and District Court judge. He served selflessly on numerous community organizations, and in 1986 he became the first Latino honored as a Distinguished Nevadan. Cortez, Manny (1939–2006). The Mexican American Manny Cortez was once considered one of the 10 most powerful and influential people in the state of Nevada. He was the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and he is credited with making Las Vegas one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. Coffin, Bob (1942–). Latino on his mother’s side, Coffin, a Democrat, was elected to the state assembly in 1983, where he served until 1985. In 1987 he was elected Nevada state senator from District 10. He has been the lone Latino in the state senate for over 20 years now. Sandoval, Brian (1965–). In 2002 Sandoval became the first Latino elected statewide to the office of Nevada attorney general. He became one of the youngest attorney generals in the United States. President George W. Bush said that Sandoval was a rising star

Nevada in the Republican Party. He was honored with the opportunity to address the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. In 2006 he resigned as Nevada’s chief prosecutor to be sworn in as U.S. District Court judge. Kihuen, Ruben (1980–). Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1980, Democrat politician Kihuen’s family arrived in Las Vegas in 1993. In 2006 he became Nevada’s first recently arrived Latino migrant to be elected for the Nevada state legislature.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS HOLIDAYS Latino cultural traditions have a social and psychological impact on Nevada’s Latino community. Traditional mariachi and conjunto bands perform at the annual Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day celebrations at multiple venues throughout the state, including Reno in northern Nevada, and Henderson and Las Vegas in southern Nevada.4 These two Mexican holidays have become a part of Nevada’s culture as a whole; so much so that some accused the liquor industry of usurping the holidays to sell more alcoholic beverages. For Latino families, though, these celebrations allow Latino working families to unwind, exchange information, and commiserate with each other.

Mexican charro rider at a parade celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Week, an annual event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Courtesy of Irma Varela-Wynants.

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Latino America Fiestas celebrating Latino holidays act to ward off assimilation by reinforcing Latino culture—a strong, vibrant culture constantly reinforced by the large number of migrants reaching Nevada. Money generated at these events supports various Latino religious, political, and social organizations throughout the state. On Mexican holidays the booking of events that include Latinos—such as boxing matches with Latino fighters at Las Vegas hotels—is obligatory. The ticket prices for these events are exorbitant; one has to be fairly well-off to afford them. As such, these events bring to Las Vegas wealthy Mexicans as well as affluent Latinos from other states. For example, on Mexican Independence Day in 2006 the crooner Juan Gabriel sang at Caesars Palace, traditional balladeer Alejandro Fernandez performed at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Latino rock band Jagaures performed at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, Cuban singer Jon Secada sang at the Las Vegas Hilton, and the Mexican balladeer Aguilar played at the Mandalay. Moreover, the Las Vegas International Mariachi Festival has put the Las Vegas Strip on the map as a Mexican Independence Day mecca.

RELIGION The Catholic Church has always been an important Latino social institution. As the Latino population has grown and settled, the Church has taken on a bigger role in the community. At St. Christopher Catholic Church, in north Las Vegas, the reenactment of the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is just one of dozens of events celebrated in Catholic churches across the Las Vegas Valley. This event honors the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint. Mexican children are told the story of the Virgin at a very young age. As the Mexican population in Nevada grows, so do the events on Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day. The faith of Mexican worshipers is so intense that they attend the celebrations regardless of their work schedules or economic status. Beginning with a midnight vigil that lasts five hours, four services are held throughout the day, each of which fills the church to capacity. Churchgoers remain after mass and spend the afternoon at fiestas in the church’s courtyard, eating carne asada, tacos, and tamales, and listening to Mexican music played by a disc jockey.

THE PROLIFERATION

OF

SPANISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA

Spanish-language television, radio, and publications are the primary media for Las Vegas Latinos. Eighty-eight percent of the Latinos living in the Las Vegas area watch and read Spanish-language materials on a daily basis. Most Latino households in Las Vegas are predominantly Spanish speaking; in fact, 62 percent of

Nevada Latinos there speak only Spanish at home; and 12 percent of Latino household members are fully bilingual, speaking equal amounts of Spanish and English at home, which reveals some degree of acculturation. Local Spanish-language media also help build a sense of community. Because local mainstream newspapers do not usually cover events in the Latino community in great enough depth, if they cover them at all, the growing Latino community’s need for news encourages the development of Latino newspapers. Las Vegas, Nevada’s largest city, is served by four weekly Spanish-language newspapers, the oldest being El Mundo, founded by Eddie Escobedo in 1980. El Mundo’s circulation has gone from 5,000 in 1980 to 30,000 today. The other newspapers are El Heraldo, Latin American Press Spanish News, and El Tiempo Libre. Ahora is a weekly newspaper published in Reno. Spanish-language radio and television generally appear in Latino communities after newspapers do. Initially, only a few hours of Spanish-language radio is aired on stations owned by non-Latinos. As the Latino population grows, a few existing radio stations convert to an all-Spanish-language format, or new ones emerge to serve the Latino market. In both northern and southern Nevada there has been a proliferation of Spanish-language radio stations.

NOTES 1. The ethnic label Chicano was chosen by the Mexican-descent youth of the 1960s. Such choice represented their identification with their Indian rather than their Spanish background. It also identified them as more politically aware and active than someone who identified with the more conservative label of Mexican American. 2. Frey and O’Hare, 1993, 33. The demographers have focused their studies on the most rapidly growing areas of the state. Suburbs of Las Vegas such as Henderson and North Las Vegas are among the fastest-growing areas of the state. Latinos are moving to these suburbs in droves, which is indicative of their ascension to the middle class. 3. The great majority of the Latino population in Nevada is of Mexican descent (449,767 out of 563,999). The next three largest groups in the state are Salvadorans (17,325), Cubans (14,759), and Puerto Ricans (14,093). Hubble Smith, 2003, 1D and 5D; U.S. Census Bureau 2005. 4. By far the largest concentration of Latinos is found in southern Nevada, where the city of Las Vegas is located. Smaller numbers of Latinos live in other parts of the state.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Acuna, Rudolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. New York: Longman, 2006. Armas, Genaro. “Tongues besides English Rise in Use.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 9, 2003, 7A, 8A. Arrillaga, Pauline. “Border of Fear.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 20, 2000, 23A, 24A.

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Latino America Ashbaugh, Don. Nevada’s Turbulent Yesterday: A Study in Ghost Towns. Las Vegas, NV: Westernlore Press, 1963. Bancroft, H.H. History of Nevada: 1540–1888. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1981. Bass, Debra D. “Spanish Spreads across the Valley.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 5, 1999. Broder, David. “Immigration Impasse.” Las Vegas Sun, September 4, 2006. Casey, Juliet V. “Faithful Fill Churches for Virgin’s Feast Day.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 13, 2002, 1B, 10B. Douglas, Massey, and Rafael Alarcon. Return to Aztlan: The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Earl, Phillip I. “This Was Nevada: A Bath for Bony Aguilar.” Green Valley News, August 18, 1989, 12. Edwards, Elbert B. 200 Years in Nevada: A Story of People Who Opened, Explored, and Developed the Land. Salt Lake City, UT: Publishers Press and Mountain State Bindery, 1978. Escobar, Corrine. “Mexican Identity in Clark County, Nevada: A Visual Ethnohistory 1829–1960.” Master’s thesis, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 1990. Fletcher, F.N. Early Nevada: The Period of Exploration 1776–1848. Reno, NV: A. Carlisle and Company, 1929. Foley, Douglas E. From Peones to Politicos: Class and Ethnicity in a South Texas Town. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1988. Frey, William, and William O’Hare. “Vivan Los Suburbanos.” American Demographics 15 (April 1993): 33. Haverluk, Terrence W. “Of Latinos in the American West: A Descriptive Model for Understanding the Wider Distribution and Increasing Influence of Latinos in the American West.” August 1994. http://hreweb.utsa.edu/../test/publication/04/04wpwebpub.html. Hernandez, Luis F. Aztlan: The Southwest and Its People. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Company, 1975. Herrera, Dario. “Impact of Latinos on Southern Nevada’s Growth—Social, Economic, and Political.” Latin Chamber News, Spring 2000, 1. Jones, Richard. “Channelization of Undocumented Mexican Migrants to the U.S.” Economic Geography 58 (1982). Kanigher, Steve. “Census Charts Change in Las Vegas.” Las Vegas Sun, September 10, 1998, 1–3. LaRed Latina of the Intermountain Southwest Web site. “Community Leaders and Organizations.” http://www.inconnect.com/~rvasquez/Vorgans.htm. Latin Chamber of Commerce. Year 2000 Business Directory. Las Vegas, NV: Hispanic Publishing Group, 2000. Latin Chamber News. “Voter Registration Drive Shifts into High Gear.” Las Vegas, NV: Latin Chamber of Commerce, Spring 2000. Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Census Figures Reveal Growing Ethnic Diversity in the United States.” September 15, 1999, 13A. ———. “Juarez in Spirit of Giving.” September 15, 2006, 1C. ———. “Latin Music, Culture Celebrated.” September 15, 2003, 7B.

Nevada ———. “Latino Day Parade, Festival Set.” October 15, 2003, 7A. Las Vegas Sun. “Advice from the North.” January 12, 2007, 4. Leland, John, and Veronica Chambers. “Generation N.” Newsweek, July 12, 1999. McWilliams, Carey. North from Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking of the United States. New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1968. Miranda, Malvin. A History of Hispanics in Southern Nevada. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1997. ———. “Some Observations on Latinos in Nevada in the 1980s.” Nevada Public Affairs Review 2 (1988): 36–42. Moehring, Eugene P. Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas 1930–1970. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1989. Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836–1986. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. Nevada State Demographer. “A Decade of Growth.” Latin Chamber of Commerce. 1999. Planas, Antonio. “Hispanic Students Outnumber Whites.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 18, 2006, 1A, 4A. Porter, Eduardo. “Flow of Immigrants’ Money to Latin America Surges.” New York Times, October 19, 2006, 24. Pratt, Timothy. “A New Kind of Hispanic Leader.” Las Vegas Sun, September 6, 2006, 1. ———. “Progress Made but Fears Race On.” Las Vegas Sun, October 8, 2006, 10. ———. “More Mexicans in Las Vegas Lead Dual Lives.” Las Vegas Sun, May 8, 2005, 1D, 6D. Radke, Jace. “Hispanics Flock to Valley: Clark County Population Boom Fastest in the Nation.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 15, 1999, 1A, 8A. Rake, Launce. “Hispanics Fight Political Exclusion: Rapidly Growing Community Seeks Fair Share of Power.” Las Vegas Sun, October 3, 1999, 1E, 5E. Reisler, Mark. By the Sweat of Their Brow: Mexican Immigrant Labor in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976. Riley, Brandon. “Sandoval Sworn In as Judge.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 1, 2005, 5B. Robison, Jennifer. “State’s Share of Illegal Labor Ranks High.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 31, 2006, 1A, 5A. Rodriguez, Cristina. “Hotel-Culinary Teamwork Might Stave Off Walkout.” Las Vegas Sun, May 1, 2006, 7. Rothman, Hal. “On What Was Proven by the May Day Immigration Rally in the Valley.” Las Vegas Sun, May 7, 2006, 6. Shepperson, Wilbur. Restless Strangers: Nevada’s Immigrants and Their Interpreters. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1970. Smith, Grant H. The History of the Comstock Lode: 1850–1970. Reno: University of Nevada, Mackey School of Mines, 1966. Smith, Hubble. “Latino Impact Noted.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 8, 2003, 1D, 5D. Smith, Kim. “Border Squeeze Funnels Aliens to Vegas.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 5, 1999, 1E, 5E. Stack, Megan. “Agents, Immigrants Locked in Conflict on Nation’s Edge.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 20, 2000, 25A.

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Latino America Vigil, Diego. From Indians to Chicanos: A Socio-Cultural History. St. Louis, MO: C.V. Mosby, 1980. Vogel, Ed. “Hispanic Population Growth Has Yet to Hit Legislature.” Las Vegas ReviewJournal, September 1, 2000, 1A, 4A. Weatherford, Mike. “Fighting to Sing.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 15–21, 2006, 3. Weissenstein, Michael. “Racial Picture Changes: Clark County Attracts Bulk of State’s Soaring Population.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 14, 2001, 1A, 19A. Whitely, Joan. “Tuning In: Latino Influence on City Being Felt through Increase in Spanish Radio Station.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 6, 2003, 1E, 2E.

30 NEW HAMPSHIRE Phillip J. Granberry

CHRONOLOGY 1932

1940

1974 1990s 2000 2005

José Clemente Orozco, a visiting lecturer from Mexico, paints frescoes on the walls of the reserve book room in the Baker Library, at Dartmouth College in Hanover. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are 80 Latinos residing in New Hampshire. It is the first time the Latino population is estimated in the state. The Latin American Center, New Hampshire’s first Latino social service organization, opens in Manchester. Latino businesses and nonprofit organizations emerge in southern New Hampshire. The first Latino Festival in New Hampshire is held in Manchester. Governor John Lynch signs Executive Order 2005–2006, creating the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The 20,489 Latinos residing in New Hampshire on April 1, 2000, made the state rank 46th in Latino population. Latinos made up 1.7 percent of the state’s population, which ranked New Hampshire 45th in concentration of Latinos. Although Latinos form a small demographic group, they are a fast growing population in the state. The first estimate of the Latino population is from the 1940 U.S. census, which reported 80 Latinos living in the state. The 1970 U.S. census

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estimated that 2,281 Latinos resided in the state. In 1980 the Latino population estimate was 5,248, and in 1990 the estimate was 11,333. Though still not a major destination for Latinos, New Hampshire has started to attract that group, as the rapidly growing Latino population is being shaped by a national pattern of Latino diaspora that consists of Latino enclaves developing in nontraditional states and cities. New Hampshire is home to approximately 2.5 percent of all Latinos in New England. The Latino population in New Hampshire consists of people who have recently migrated to the state, forming an emerging middle-class population. This is also occurring in the other northern New England states of Maine and Vermont. These three states are noted for having a small Latino population, as only 3.6 percent of all Latinos (regardless of place of birth) were residing in one of them in 2000. Latinos are an important demographic group to this region, which is experiencing limited population growth. New England would have experienced limited population growth in the 1990s if not for the growth in its nonwhite population; Latinos are significant contributors to the region’s population growth. With only 30 percent of New Hampshire’s Latinos being foreign born, Latino population growth was driven almost equally by in-migration and births to resident Latinos, and not international migration. Latinos have moved to the state over the last 40 years because of employment opportunities and affordable housing in relatively safe neighborhoods. New Hampshire offers a quality of life that they have not found in other more urban locations. They enjoy the small town feel they encounter in the cities and

New Hampshire towns in the southern part of the state. Massachusetts was the largest source of Latino migration to New Hampshire. Latinos have moved from Latino enclaves—such as Lawrence, Massachusetts—to less congested communities with more affordable housing in Rockingham and Hillsborough counties, in New Hampshire. As more Latinos have found job opportunities and good neighborhoods to raise their families in New Hampshire, they have encouraged other family members and friends to migrate as well. Overall, New Hampshire’s population grew by 11.8 percent during the 1990s, from about 1.1 million in 1990 to 1.2 million in 2000. Although a very small proportion of New Hampshire’s population was nonwhite (4.9 percent), Latinos represented the largest ethnic minority group, growing at higher rates (76.5 percent) than Asians (61.7 percent), non-Latino blacks (25.4 percent), and non-Latino whites (9.3 percent). Latinos from many countries reside in New Hampshire. All of these Latino groups experienced a population increase in the 1990s, and because of their small numbers, this increase was quite large for some of these smaller populations. The 10 largest Latino populations in New Hampshire in 2000 were Puerto Ricans (7,308), who experienced a 94.9 percentage population increase in the 1990s; followed by Mexicans (4,930), with a 77.0 percentage increase; Colombians (1,280), with a 113.7 percentage increase; Dominicans (1,205), with a 21.6 percentage increase; Cubans (1,035), with a 26.5 percentage increase; Hondurans (447) with a 7.2 percentage increase; and Peruvians (379) with a 28.9 percentage increase. The 2000 population estimates for Guatemalans was 320, Ecuadorians 196, and Salvadorans 86. All three of these groups had increases of over 200 percent, which is due to their small populations in the state in 1990.

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Age distribution provides a possible insight into the economic contribution that a particular ethnic group is likely to make. This is because a younger population is directly related to the costs of education and the contributions of participating in the labor force. Compared to non-Latino groups, Latinos had higher proportions of their population under the age of 18. This suggests that in the near term, Latinos are likely to impose relatively higher fiscal costs, but in the medium and longer term they are likely to begin working, paying taxes, and supporting retiring non-Latino populations in New Hampshire. In contrast, significantly lower percentages of the Latino population were composed of elderly people. This was partly due to their recent arrival to the state. All Latino groups had elderly populations lower than non-Latino whites and other minority groups in the state. Puerto Ricans had the highest elderly percentage, at only 2.2 percent.

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Latino America Because Latinos have developed a growing population base in the state, both the number of females and Latinos’ overall marriage rates are two factors that influence their non-migratory population growth. In 2000 Latinos and non-Latino whites had similar percentages of females. The marriage rates for Latinos ages 16 and older showed some dissimilarity. Dominicans, Colombians, and Cubans had marriage rates higher than non-Latino whites. However, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans had lower marriage rates that were similar to non-Latino blacks.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND SCHOOLS Education is one factor that influences economic success. Some Latinos have high levels of education, whereas others have not finished high school. Over a quarter of all Latinos age 25 and older in the state did not have a high school diploma or its equivalent. This trend may be continuing for Latino youths still in school. The high school dropout rate for Latinos in Manchester’s Central High School in 2004 was twice that of the greater student body. In response, in 2005 Manchester High School initiated a program called Latino Parent Night to address the complex reasons for this high dropout rate. New Hampshire’s colleges and universities have made efforts to recruit Latinos to their institutions. Realizing that many of the state’s Latino youth were not attending the state’s colleges and universities, the New Hampshire College and University Council organized an effort to help the state’s Latinos continue their education through college. Its Latino Initiative sponsors an Annual Latino Student Convention for Higher Education to encourage Latino high school students to enroll in the state’s colleges and universities. The program has enjoyed great success. Since its inception in 2002, the Latino population in the state’s postsecondary educational institutions has doubled. Another factor influencing human capital attainment is language proficiency. Latino migrants differ in their ability to speak English very well. Colombians, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans have self-reported fluency rates above that of Asian migrants. However, Dominicans and Mexicans lag behind in their ability to speak English very well. One effort made to address problems that Latinos might have with language was to provide translation services. The Latin American Center was the state’s first Latino social service agency. It was incorporated in the 1970s, and it has provided assistance with language and other social services for Latinos in southern New Hampshire for over 33 years.

SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND MIGRATION The following socioeconomic portrait of Latinos in New Hampshire suggests the possible emergence of a Latino middle class in the state, even though Lati-

New Hampshire nos have a lower median household income than other ethnic groups. Latinos were drawn to New Hampshire because of its economic opportunities, especially during the economic prosperity of the late 1990s. Their entrepreneurial ability was instrumental in creating new Latino businesses, and Latinos were active in the labor force. This has resulted in Latino median household income being above the nation level of $33,676. In 1999 the Latino median household income in New Hampshire was $39,985, but they ranked below all other ethnic groups in the state. Citizenship status is thought to confer many benefits that should put migrant populations on a trajectory to the middle class. However, segment assimilation theory has identified that these benefits are not equally distributed to all migrant populations. In the 1990s Latinos in New Hampshire had a wide variation in their rates of citizenship. Mexican residents had the highest rates of citizenship, and Colombians the lowest. Many of the Colombians who arrived in the 1990s were foreign born. The reason for the high rates of citizenship for Mexicans was not naturalization, but nativity. The majority of Mexicans (84.4 percent) were born in the United States, or their parents were U.S. citizens. Latinos are worried that concerns about migration could interfere with their continued integration into the state’s economic and social life. Their growing presence in the state and the presence of unauthorized Latino migrants have become a concern to some New Hampshire residents. In 2005, after Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officials did not respond to their desire to detain unauthorized migrants, police chiefs in Hudson and New Ipswich attempted to charge Latino migrants with criminal trespassing in order to detain them. A Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court subsequently threw out the charge. Even though this strategy to address unauthorized immigration failed, Latinos in the state believe that these incidents were a tipping point. New Hampshire’s Latinos fear unauthorized immigration will be an issue that harms all Latinos in the state, even those Latinos who are citizens. In 2007 State Representative Jordan Ulery sponsored legislation to explore the possibility of having local authorities enforce immigration laws. Many Latinos report feeling welcome in most parts of New Hampshire, but they are fearful that the attitudes behind the concern over unauthorized migration will spread to all migrants and any Latino, regardless of nativity.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION Latinos have made significant contributions to the development of new businesses in southern New Hampshire. After the recession of the early 1990s, Manchester was economically depressed because of the closing of its mills. Downtown Manchester was especially hard hit, as it experienced many business

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Latino America closings after the development of the Mall of New Hampshire. This resulted in many vacant store spaces and limited activity for the ones that remained open. This downturn in local business activity provided an opportunity for entrepreneurial Latinos to move to New Hampshire and take advantage of New Hampshire’s economic opportunities. Today, Latinos are credited in large part for the revitalization of Manchester’s downtown district. For example, there are Latino-owned and Latino-run businesses on Elm Street, in the heart of downtown Manchester, where no one would have expected them 20 years ago. Overall, Latinos are contributing to economic development in the state. The 1997 U.S. Census Bureau’s economic census reported that New Hampshire had 122 Latino-owned businesses employing 1,043 individuals. The majority of these businesses were in the service and retail industries. The labor force participation rates for Latinos aged 16 to 64 years and not in school were similar to those for the general population; and those Latinos were successfully finding employment, generally in blue-collar jobs, as machine operators, fabricators, or laborers. Cubans are one Latino population that did not fit this employment trend. Over half of Cubans worked in white-collar jobs (executive, administrative, and managerial occupations or professional specialty occupations), a percentage rate that is higher than that of the general population working the same type of jobs. Labor market participation can also be assessed by the number of workers in a family who are employed. Census data do not identify the number of jobs a person works, but it can be used to estimate the number of workers in a family. Latino households generally have a greater number of workers who are employed, compared to Anglo Americans. This was true in New Hampshire, as Latinos averaged 2.5 workers per family. Latino workers fill voids in New Hampshire’s labor market. Dairy farmers have experienced difficulty attracting workers to fill jobs that require long and demanding hours to keep New Hampshire’s dairy farms running. Since the mid 1990s the state’s dairy farmers have turned to Mexican and Guatemalan migrant workers to operate their farms. Dairy farmers have become dependent on these Latino laborers, and they have expressed concerns that if restrictive immigration policies are implemented, their farms would have trouble attracting enough workers to remain operational.

MOBILITY AND HOMEOWNERSHIP Latinos in New Hampshire appear to be highly mobile. This mobility is not due to recent migration, because many Latinos are not recent arrivals to the United States. Colombians are the newest-arriving migrant group, as nearly a quarter of Colombians lived outside the United States 5 years prior to the 2000 census. All

New Hampshire other Latino groups have resided in the United States for longer periods of time, but they are highly mobile. Over half of all the Latinos lived in a different home 5 years prior to the 2000 census. As noted, Massachusetts is the largest source of Latino migration to the state. The present concentration of Latinos in southern New Hampshire could be a harbinger of increased internal and international migration to the state. Homeownership is a way for Latinos to further integrate in the community. It has also been shown to be important for building sustainable social networks and social capital. Latinos have been highly mobile, and as a result they do not have high rates of homeownership—only 38.6 percent of Latinos in New Hampshire own a home. This is lower than the national Latino homeownership rate of 45.6 percent, and significantly below the homeownership rate (70.1 percent) for non-Latino whites in the state.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Another area that documents the emerging Latino presence in the state is that group’s growing political organization and participation. Latinos have focused on political organizing, and these efforts have paid substantial dividends. Governor John Lynch signed an executive order to create the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs in 2005, which demonstrates the importance of Latinos’ contributions to the state’s economic and social life. The commission consists of 19 members who prepare an annual report with recommendations to advance economic, educational, employment and social opportunities for New Hampshire’s Latino population. The commission gave local Latinos a strong political identity. Commission members reported that Latinos from other states contact them to question how the commission was formed so that they can bring a similar commission to their state. New Hampshire’s Latino political participation has occurred on both local and national levels. To help foster this political participation, in 2004 Vote Now New Hampshire Hispanics was incorporated to promote, encourage, develop, and expand the participation of Latinos in New Hampshire’s electoral process. This organizational structure helped elect the first Latino to the New Hampshire’s House of Representatives. Hector Velez was elected in 2004, and he is now serving his second term. Latinos political participation is also aided by the state’s hosting the first presidential primary every 4 years; New Hampshire’s Latinos are taking advantage of this opportunity to actively influence the political focus of presidential candidates. Major candidates seek out Latinos to be on their organizing committees and participate in campaign functions. Because of the media attention that the New Hampshire primary creates, Latinos have opportunities to receive national exposure as the presidential contenders attempt to use New

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Latino America Hampshire’s small Latino population as a platform to reach out to larger Latino constituencies across the nation. In summary, the Latino population in New Hampshire has grown quickly over the last 40 years. Initially, Latinos were attracted by the opportunities for employment and affordable housing that the state offered. New Hampshire’s Latino population is located in the southern part of the state, and it is growing more from internal migration than from international migration. Some anti-immigrant bias has surfaced in the state that has tarnished the rather positive reception that Latinos had initially received. Most people in New Hampshire have welcomed Latinos, and they have been appreciative of their contributions, ranging from revitalizing downtown Manchester to sponsoring an annual Latino Festival. As the population continues to grow, some believe that the conditions are positive for the Latino population to develop a strong middle-class presence in the state. As is the case in other regions of the United States, it is likely that beneficial socioeconomic integration will occur as both Latinos and others residing in New Hampshire accommodate one another rather than Latinos alone conforming to some imagined homogenous national identity.

NOTABLE LATINOS Velez, Hector M. (1967–). Elected to New Hampshire’s House of Representatives (Hillsborough, District 12) in November 2004, Hector Velez is the first Latino to hold public office in the state. He is now serving his second term, which will expire in January 2009. He lives in Manchester.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS New Hampshire offers Latinos several structural advantages to increase their ability to make cultural contributions to the state. One advantage is that nearly half of the state’s population resides in Rockingham and Hillsborough counties. Three-quarters of the state’s Latinos live in these two counties, and half of the state’s Latinos live in the cities of Manchester and Nashua. This concentrated presence has helped Latinos create a more visible presence in the state through the creation of organizations such as Latinos Unidos of New Hampshire, which sponsors New Hampshire’s annual Latino Festival. Despite the tension created by recent problems concerning unauthorized immigration, Latinos continue to contribute to the economic and social domains of life in New Hampshire, being visible in many aspects of community life. For example, Latino businesses are an important recent development in southern New Hampshire. Latinos are contributing to the community to such a degree that a local National Public Radio affiliate had an hour-long discussion on their

New Hampshire

Orozco painting “The Departure of Quetzalcoatl,” the seventh panel in The Epic of American Civilization, located in the Reserve Reading Room of Baker Library at Dartmouth College. Courtesy of the Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College.

contributions to the state. The following are some examples of Latino contributions to New Hampshire.

FRESCOES

BY

OROZCO AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco (1883–1948) lived in New Hampshire from 1932 to 1934, while he had an appointment as visiting lecturer with the Art Department at Dartmouth College. He taught and painted frescoes at the college; in fact, Dartmouth was one of three locations where he painted murals in the United States. He painted “Man Released from the Mechanistic to the Creative Life,” and the more ambitious “Epic of American Civilization,” a 24-panel-long mural that was his last and largest in the United States. The murals begin with the initial Aztec migration into the valley of Mexico, continue with the arrival of Cortez, and symmetrically conclude with modern similarities with the initial Aztec presence. These provocative murals

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Latino America originally stirred controversy at Dartmouth because of their political interpretation, but now they are considered some of the most important murals in the United States.

ANNUAL LATINO FESTIVAL New Hampshire’s Latinos pride themselves in having a Latino festival instead of specific national festivals (e.g., Puerto Rican and Dominican), as occurs in states with larger Latino populations. Every August since 2000, Veterans Park has hosted New Hampshire’s Latino Festival, which quickly developed into a major cultural event, as demonstrated by 10,000 people attending the 2007 festival. The festival begins with a parade and continues with traditional music, dances, crafts, and food representing the Latino culture in New Hampshire. The event receives tremendous support, and it is sponsored by Bank of America and other community businesses and organizations.

DEVELOPMENT

OF

LATINO ORGANIZATIONS

The first Latino nonprofit organization opened in 1974. The Latin American Center Inc. remains open and provides translation services and summer camp opportunities for Latinos in the Manchester area. The 1990s saw the development of other Latino-owned and Latino-operated businesses and nonprofit organizations. In 2000, Latinos Unidos of New Hampshire was formed not only to organize the Latino Festival but also to provide leadership training for the state’s expanding Latino population and to establish a scholarship fund for New Hampshire’s Latino residents. Two other notable organizations have also been created. Visión Hispana New Hampshire was founded to strengthen Latino presence in New Hampshire. It hosts an annual Latino summit held at the University of New Hampshire. In 2007 Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico was the featured speaker at the summit. Vote Now Hispanic New Hampshire was formed to increase the political influence of Latinos. Its goal is to register Latino voters and provide voter education.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Belluck, P. “Towns Lose Too Against Illegal Immigrants.” New York Times, 2005. Camayd-Freixas, Y. and G. Karush. “Latinos in New Hampshire: Enclaves, Diasporas, and an Emerging Middle Class.” In Latinos in New England. Ed. A. Torres. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006, 171–186. Portes, A., and M. Zhou. “The Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its Variations.” Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 530 (1993): 74–96.

New Hampshire Russell, J. “On New England’s Dairy Farms, Foreign Workers Find a Home.” Boston Globe, 2007, B1. Suárez-Orozco, M.M., and M.M. Páez. “Introduction: The Research Agenda.” In Latinos: Remaking America. Eds. M.M. Suárez-Orozco and M.M. Páez. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, 1–37. U.S. Department of Commerce. Hispanic: 1997 Economic Census. Washington DC: Department of Commerce, 2001. Uriarte, M., and P.J. Granberry. “When They Need Help the Most, Public Services for Immigrants.” New England Journal of Public Policy 20, no. 1 (2004): 121–137.

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31 NEW JERSEY Henry Bischoff

CHRONOLOGY 1850 1900 1940 1944 1960s 1970 1975 1986 1980s 1990 1992 1995

2000

The census records approximately 300 Latinos in New Jersey. The census records approximately 1,200 Latinos in New Jersey. The census records approximately 3,000 Latinos in New Jersey. Seven hundred Puerto Ricans are contracted to work in New Jersey on farms and for the Campbell Soup Company. Many Cubans settle in New Jersey in this decade. There are 59,282 Cubans and 136,000 Puerto Ricans in New Jersey in this year. The state of New Jersey establishes the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research, and Development in the Department of Community Affairs. Robert Menendez, a Cuban American, is elected to the New Jersey Assembly. An increasing number of Dominicans and Colombians come to New Jersey. There are 40,000 Colombians and 36,000 Dominicans in New Jersey, and a total of 327,000 Latinos are employed in the state. Robert Menendez is elected to Congress. The Center for Latino Arts and Culture is established at Rutgers University. Wilfredo Caraballo, a Puerto Rican, is elected public advocate and public defender for the state of New Jersey, and Nilsa Cruz-Perez, also a Puerto Rican, is appointed to the New Jersey Assembly. In 2000 there are 103,000 Mexicans in New Jersey.

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Latino America

2002 2004

2005 2006

Albio Sires, a Cuban American, is elected speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. Joseph Vas, a Puerto Rican, is elected to the New Jersey Assembly, and Roberta Rive-Soto, also a Puerto Rican, is appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court. There are 1,307,000 Latinos in New Jersey. Robert Menendez is elected to the United States Senate from New Jersey; Albio Sires is elected to Congress; and Silvera Vega, a Cuban American, is elected to the New Jersey Assembly.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW By the end of the twentieth century Latinos had become a very significant portion of the population in the state of New Jersey. This phenomenon is the result of the large inflow of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean starting in the early 1940s. Although there has been at least some Latino presence throughout the history of New Jersey as a state, the numbers before the early 1940s were very limited. In 1850 the census recorded 23 foreign-born Mexicans and 294 other Americans (including non-Latino West Indians) in the state.1 The number of Mexicans had grown to 55 by 1900 and to 435 by 1940. Those from other parts of the Americas numbered 1,235 in 1900 and 3,524 in 1940, of which 1,362 had came from Cuba and the West Indies, and 2,162 from Central and South Amer-

New Jersey ica. And just before World War II the Latino foreign stock (migrants and their children) totaled less than 7,000 persons, approximately four-tenths of one percent of the total New Jersey population. In addition, there were a small number of U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico residing in the state. Though there were Latinos in each of the New Jersey’s 21 counties, the largest number were in the most urbanized ones, Essex and Hudson. Less than 100 of the foreign born lived on farms.

THE FIRST WAVES The beginning of a greater movement of Latinos to New Jersey took place during World War II. With so many workers in the armed forces and with the need for increased production, the federal government initiated a program to contract labor from the Caribbean and Mexico. In1944, 700 men were contracted from Puerto Rico to work in New Jersey: 500 were hired to work for the Campbell Soup Company in Camden, and the others to toil on farms. The latter were housed in a camp at Glassboro. This recruitment by the government created a pattern that would have a large impact on New Jersey in the decades that followed, as agricultural labor continued to be needed in the postwar years. The number of contracted workers from Puerto Rico grew to 6,000 in 1954, and it remained at about 7,000 a year until 1973. Though most of these Puerto Ricans returned to their homes, some stayed and formed the base of a growing Latino population in Vineland and Glassboro, in South Jersey. Some Puerto Ricans also migrated to Camden, Trenton, and Newark. There was also some recruitment of additional Puerto Rican workers for New Jersey’s mines and factories. Seven men were recruited in 1948 (and more came later) from Aguada, in Puerto Rico, to work in the Mount Hope Mine, near Dover. This solicitation was the beginning of a Latino community in that city and in the surrounding area. With the end of the war and the establishment of direct air flights from San Juan to New York City, an increasing number of Puerto Ricans, following the example of wartime workers, sought jobs on the continent, at first heavily in New York City, but soon afterward there was a steady flow into New Jersey. A rapid growth of population in Puerto Rico, limited job opportunities, and low pay made New York and New Jersey attractive. By the mid-1950s there were some 5,000 Puerto Ricans in Hoboken and Jersey City, some 2,500 in Perth Amboy, and growing numbers in Newark, Elizabeth, Lodi, and Garfield. In 1960 there were some 55,000 Puerto Ricans in New Jersey. This migration was the largest influx of new people into the state in the 15 years after World War II. Despite the fact that many Puerto Ricans returned to their island—temporarily or permanently—the number of Puerto Ricans continued to markedly increase in New Jersey: from 136,000 in 1970 to 388,000 in 2005. While this population spread throughout the

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Latino America state, it grew most strongly in its early bases in Hudson and Essex counties, and in Passaic, Bergen, and Union counties. The next major influx of Latinos into New Jersey came from Cuba. It began slowly during the 1950s, when several thousand Cubans left Cuba for economic reasons or to escape from the corrupt and repressive regime of Fulgencio Batista. The number of Cubans in the state grew from a little more than 1,000 to 5,500 during that decade. A considerable portion of them settled in Hudson County, and particularly in Union City, because of available work and low housing costs. Then, in the late 1950s a revolt in Cuba led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista government. However, when Castro became increasingly Communist and confiscated the property of professionals and other affluent citizens, there began a large scale movement of Cubans coming to the United States, eventually numbering approximately 1 million people. In 1962 the U.S. government enacted the Cuban Refugee program, which provided limited financial assistance, child welfare funds, food stamps, health care, and aid for education and vocational training especially for those fleeing the Communist Castro regime. Though most Cubans settled in Florida, a sizeable portion came to the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area. A considerable number joined fellow Cubans in Union City and Hudson County, and some went to Newark, Elizabeth, and Bergen counties. There were 59,000 Cubans in New Jersey by 1970 and 68,000 by 1980. Although many of the earlier refugees from Cuba were from the professional and upper classes, an increasing number thereafter came from the middle and working classes. This was particularly true of Cubans who came through the Mariel boatlift in 1980. Several thousands of them came to New Jersey. Despite the aging of the New Jersey Cuban population and the movement of some to Florida and other parts of the United States, there were 77,000 foreign-born Cubans in New Jersey in 2005. A number, particularly of the second generation, had moved from urban centers to New Jersey suburbs. There have been a small number of Mexicans in New Jersey since the early days of the state, and their numbers grew only slowly in the years following World War II—from 598 foreign-born Mexicans in 1950 to 2,785 in 1980. But then the Mexican population in New Jersey grew very rapidly, to a total of 103,000 in 2000 and 164,000 in 2005. This made Mexicans the second-largest Latino population in New Jersey, after the Puerto Ricans. Similarly, the Dominicans numbered only 313 in 1960 and 2,602 in 1970, but their population grew rapidly in the subsequently decades: to 35,660 in 1990 and 159,000 in 2005. From South America the largest numbers came from Colombia (40,000 in 1990 and a total of 87,000 in 2005), Ecuador (21,000 in 1990 and a total of 74,000 in 2005), and Peru (21,000 in 1990). In addition, smaller numbers of migrants from every Latin American nation settled in New Jersey in the second half of the twentieth century. In 1990 there were 15,709 Haitians; 13,360 El Salvadorans; 6,469

New Jersey Hondurans; 6,326 Trinidadians & Tobagonians; 3,951 Costa Ricans; 3,313 Nicaraguans; 2,529 Panamanians; 9,532 Brazilians; 8,162 Argentines; 4,837 Uruguayans; 4,181 Chileans; 2,473 Venezuelans; and 1,079 Bolivians. By 2005 the total number of counted Latinos in New Jersey had reached 1,307,000. Of this number 44 percent were foreign born. Further, it has been estimated that some 45 percent of the state’s approximately 150,000 undocumented residents in 2000 were Latino, with the largest number coming from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Peru, Guatemala, and Honduras. Thus, at the beginning of the twenty-first century the total Latino population in New Jersey was a little more than 20 percent of the state’s nearly 8 million people.

LATINOS

IN THE

LABOR MARKET

The main attraction of New Jersey for this growing influx of Latinos has been economic opportunities, as the state has one of the highest per capita incomes in the United States and a wide range of economic activities. Additionally, some Latino migrants have left their homelands because of civil unrest and repressive governments in the Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile. These migrants come from different economic backgrounds, with a few from the upper class, many from the middle class, and a large number from the working class; different racial groups, including Native Americans, blacks, Caucasians, mulattoes, and mestizos; different educational backgrounds, with 30 percent of the Latinos in New Jersey having a college education, and 45 percent having less than a high school diploma; and different work skills, with some very high-skilled workers, and many low skilled. Most Latinos have settled in New Jersey’s most urban counties, Hudson and Essex, but many (of all classes, legal, and undocumented) have chosen suburban locations. Only a very small portion now lives in rural locations. Thus, Union City—which has a total population of 60,000 in 1.27 square miles, the most densely populated municipality in the United States—has attracted not only large numbers of Cubans but also Puerto Ricans and migrants from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, and Ecuador. Suburban Morristown has Latinos from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Guatemala. Migrants from Costa Rica, Honduras, and Ecuador have settled in Atlantic City, and a significant number of Mexicans and Guatemalans have located in Bound Brook, Hightstown, and New Brunswick. Latinos participate in a wide range of economic activities. Although a number of Puerto Ricans were attracted to agricultural labor during World War II and for some years after it, the opportunities in this field of work declined, and by the year 2000 less than 4,000 from among all Latinos were involved in farming. The great

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Latino America majority of Puerto Ricans who migrated into New Jersey starting in the late 1940s settled mostly in cities and engaged in blue-collar, factory, and service labor. When well-educated Cubans came in the 1960s, many, including lawyers and entrepreneurs without financial resources, could not find employment in their professions. Out of necessity a considerable number took jobs as factory operatives, truck drivers, service persons, or in other employment that did not fully utilize their skills. Still, these persons maintained their middle-class outlook. By 1980 the number of Cubans in white-collar jobs had doubled, in comparison to the late 1960s. This trend continued in the following decades. Other well-educated, affluent Latino migrants, including some refugees, came to New Jersey from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic trying to escape unsettled conditions and lack of opportunity in those countries. However, most migrants from Latin American countries were semiskilled or unskilled. Though most Latino migrant workers in New Jersey are male, the number of Latina women working outside of the home has markedly increased. A Cuban female Spanish-language editor stated: You know, work gives color to life. In Cuba, it was not common that women worked, although I was a teacher myself. But things have changed here. Most Cuban women work and are very active. I am not saying all these nice things about work because I have a nice job. I worked in a factory many years ago when I came to the United States and I still would say that work, no matter what kind, is good for human beings.

Another Cuban woman said, “Dependency does not yield anything good for a woman. Married individuals should maintain independent finances, especially in this country. It wasn’t like that in Cuba. Women were dependent on men.”2 Although the experience of coming to New Jersey from Latin America, sometimes without any funds, has meant downward mobility for some, in many cases it has meant better employment for migrants, and particularly for their children. One example is a man born in Argentina who came as a youth to New Jersey with his Spanish parents in the mid-1960s. His father was a tailor in Ridgewood, but he was able to attend and graduate from college and from Seton Hall Law School, thus becoming an immigration lawyer. He is married to a Cuban American systems analyst, the daughter of a bus driver and a seamstress, who obtained a master’s degree in industrial psychology from Stevens Institute of Technology. An additional path to economic advancement has been through entrepreneurship.3 A considerable number of Latinos have opened their own businesses in the food industry, in retail, in the service sector, in transportation, and in technology. In 1990 there were 40 Latino-owned stores in Englewood, a small city in New Jersey. Latino entrepreneurs have made major contributions to the revitalization

New Jersey of the downtown areas of many cities, such as Union City. Some migrant business entrepreneurs have advanced their economic success by forming and joining ethnic business organizations. One such organization is the Hispanic Business and Professional Association, started in Bergen County and now covering northern New Jersey. By the early 1990s this association had some 100 members—mostly of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Colombian backgrounds—who were retail store and small business owners, travel agents, accountants, lawyers, engineers, computer specialists, and doctors. Hispanic chambers of commerce have been organized in Paterson and in other places in the state. Contributions to the New Jersey economy have been made also by the labor of the undocumented. Many workers from Mexico and some from Guatemala and Honduras form groups of day laborers in many New Jersey suburban municipalities. In one such place, Bergenfield, some 100 men gather at a location outside of town and wait for landscapers, craftsmen, and other employers for daily work. The employers, with the cooperation of the local police, find laborers who are hard working, dependable, and inexpensive. These Mexican workers claim that the $8 to $10 an hour, on average, that they receive is 10 times what they could get back home, if they were lucky enough to get work at all. To support their families in Mexico and to pay for a trip home about once a year, they live in poor conditions to greatly restrict their expenditures. When in the late 1980s the federal government enacted an amnesty program, the Center for Concern in Englewood processed 135 undocumented workers. Among these were 62 Colombians, a large portion of whom had been working in lace making and knitting factories, 13 Peruvians, most of whom were bookkeepers, and 12 El Salvadorans and Costa Ricans who worked in restaurants or were day laborers. Some undocumented workers have progressed in terms of jobs and income. For example, an undocumented Panamanian family has been able to save and buy a home in Brick, New Jersey. The husband had started by parking cars, later becoming the manager of a parking garage, and his wife engages in domestic work. In 2005, 18.6 percent of the Latinos in New Jersey were in management and professional positions (of whom 37.5 percent were Cubans and 9.4 percent Mexicans); 24.8 percent were in service occupations (of whom 13.2 percent were Cubans and 30 percent Mexicans); 22.7 percent in sales and office jobs (of whom 27 percent were Cubans and 16.3 percent Mexicans); 12 percent in construction, maintenance and repair work (of whom 17.8 percent were Ecuadorians and 6 percent Dominicans); 21.3 percent in production, transportation, and moving employment (of whom 27.5 percent were Ecuadorians and 14.5 percent were Cubans); and 9.2 percent in government jobs (of whom 16.6 percent were Cubans and 3.2 percent Mexicans). Of the total Latino population 8.2 percent were unemployed, of whom 9 percent were Dominicans and 3.8 percent Mexicans. The

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Latino America median income for all the Latino households was $42,000, with Dominicans at the lower end ($37,000) and Cubans at the higher end ($52,000). The overall median per capita income for men working full time was $31,000, and for women working full time, $27,000. The poverty rate for Latinos in New Jersey was 18.2 percent, ranging from 22 percent for Mexicans to 9.5 percent for Ecuadorians. The overall averages were brought down by the arrival of new, less skilled migrants and by the decline in industrial jobs in New Jersey’s urban areas, where many Latinos reside.

LATINO LIFE

IN

NEW JERSEY

Many of the Latino migrants in New Jersey came as families, and some formed families here. This core unit was an important source of support, a major aspect of identity, and often a locus of friction. The support came not only in merged economic efforts, but also in psychological and emotional terms. Moreover, the family provided one with the opportunity to live out inherited cultural patterns of life, which most often were fused with aspects of the dominant Anglo culture. Pressure for more equality for women and more freedom for children, both of which are more prevalent in U.S. culture, at times clashed with the fathers’ traditional authoritarian role. Such conflicts have increased the divorce rate in Latino migrant families; in fact, 14 percent of Latino families in New Jersey are headed by a single mother. Statements by Latinos give voice to a range of family concerns and experiences in New Jersey. A Colombian said, “My parents tell me that the family is very important to Colombians and that we should always protect one another.” Yet another Colombian reported the following: My parents always believed that we should live honest lives, work hard, and get along well with everyone. In the beginning, my parents resented it when we children spoke English at home—and they couldn’t understand us. My father has always been the boss in my family. Women are more respected here. They can say what they feel. We spent more time as a family in Colombia.

And a first-generation Dominican American said: We are now like most American families, everyone has their own thing to do. Both of my parents work. They don’t have enough time to show their affection the way they used to in the Dominican Republic. My mother is an exceptional person. She has devoted herself to her children. My mother has been a driving force. I admire her a lot. She always encouraged my brother and me to get a profession. But she is very strong willed and controlling. She can be suffocating. I hate when my parents tell me that I am “too American.” They’re old-fashioned in their ways and so are my brothers.

New Jersey Housing is of crucial importance to Latino families. By 2005 some 38 percent of Latinos in New Jersey had been able to purchase homes. The median value of houses was $317,000. For renters the median paid rent per month was $934. Both owners and renters spent an average of 55 percent of their income on housing. Most Latinos speak and understand Spanish, whereas some use Portuguese, French, or Creole. In 1990 over 600,000 persons in New Jersey spoke Spanish. The majority of these Latinos settled in communities where there were other Spanish speakers. Although there is much commonality of language, Latinos are culturally diverse depending not only on country of origin but also on regions within a given country. Latinos descend from the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Germans, Italians, Native Americans, Africans, and even Asians, and most Latinos in New Jersey have a mix of two or more of the above heritages. The many Latinos in New Jersey with at least some Native American blood are now numerically more here than at the time of the first European settlements.

LATINOS AND EDUCATION Latinos have played an important role in education in New Jersey, as they have made contributions to teaching. In 2000 there were more than 5,000 Latino elementary and secondary school teachers in New Jersey. There are also numerous Latino college professors—for example, from Bolivia (art), Argentina (physics), and Ecuador (Spanish). Many Latinos are also administrators in higher-education institutions, some of whom even became college and university presidents. Puerto Rican Carlos Hernández, for example, was president of the New Jersey City University; Elsa Gómez, also a Puerto Rican, of Kean University; and Jóse López-Ida, a Cuban, of Bergen Community College. In 2005, 67 percent of Latinos in New Jersey graduated from high school, and 16 percent earned a bachelor’s degree. Latino students receive mixed reactions from other students. A Guatemalan young man asserted, “American students were almost always unhelpful. They deterred me from learning by mocking my cultural background. They made fun of my family and told me that I didn’t belong in the United States.” Sometimes in the same family one child would do well in school, and another would not succeed. A Puerto Rican blue-collar family in Passaic had one son who did poorly in high school, but another son is an accomplished violinist and went to Harvard on a full scholarship. Though many schools have only a few Latino students, some have a student body whose composition is more than 70 percent Latino—such is the case with many schools in Hudson County. The state has mandated bilingual classes in schools that have more than 20 Spanish-speaking students; on the other hand schools that have less than 20 Spanish-speaking students offer ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. The state also funds an EOF (Equal Opportunity

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Latino America Funding) program for college attendance for talented students with limited financial resources. A considerable number of Latino students have benefited from this program. Many colleges in the state have special programs, clubs, and counselors for Latino students. In addition, Rutgers University sponsors the Hispanic Women’s Leadership Institute, and Bergen County College sponsors the Hispanic Institute for Research and Development.

LATINOS

IN

GOVERNMENT

Latinos have gradually become involved in politics in New Jersey. In 1985, through the Latin American Civic Center and the Hispanic Business and Professional Association, Colombians and other Latinos in Hackensack, founded and supported a Latino political committee to endorse city council candidates who showed a concern for Latino issues. Consequently, a Latino was named as an alternate to the city planning board, the first Latino political appointment in that city. The first important Latino political breakthrough came in 1986 with the election of Robert Menendez as mayor of Union City. Menendez was later elected to the New Jersey State Assembly. He is a Cuban American and a graduate of St. Peter’s College. In the same year David Ferrer, the president of the Spanish American Cultural Association of Bergenfield, was elected a member of that town’s board of education. In the following year Julio Varela, a Cuban and chairman of the Republican Party of Englewood, was elected councilman in that city. In 1988 Gloria Bonilla-Santiago—a Puerto Rican social worker and college professor who had been instrumental in the founding of the Hispanic Women’s Task Force of New Jersey and in persuading the state to establish an office of Hispanic Affairs with a Center for Hispanic Policy Research and Development—succeeded in getting legislative approval for three Hispanic Women Demonstration Resource Centers in New Jersey. These centers foster upward mobility and economic progress for Hispanic women in the state, and this legislation was the first in the nation to specifically address the needs of Latina women on a statewide level. Political activities among Latinos increased through the 1990s. An important advance was the election of Mayor Robert Menendez to Congress in 1992, with the help of the heavy concentration of Cubans and other Latinos in Union City and its environs. In Hudson County Latinos held 8 of 87 elective offices, 5 of which were in Union City and West New York. Nadia Colón of Jersey City was a member of the County Board of Freeholders. The county established the Office of Hispanic Affairs. Twenty percent of both the Democratic and Republican Hudson County committees were Hispanic. Latinos were two to one Democratic. Still, only 16 percent of the Latinos in Hudson County were registered to vote, with Cubans forming the most politically active Latino community. Efforts were made to increase voter registration. In 1992, Latinos held 65 of 9,000 elected positions at the state level. Felix Cruz was named director of the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs.

New Jersey In 1993 a Latino was elected to the Passaic City Council. In the following year there was a Latino councilman in Hackensack. He and other Latino leaders pushed for better INS rules for migrants. The year 1995 saw Wilfredo Caraballo elected and Nilsa Cruz-Perez appointed to the New Jersey Assembly. In 1999 in Hoboken Nellie Moyeno became the first Latina woman to serve as city council president. Ruben Ramos was also elected to the city council there. He was campaign manager for Anthony Soares, a second-generation Portuguese who was elected mayor. In 2002 the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey—which has 150 statewide political and community leaders—met with U.S. Senator Jon Corzine and Governor James McGreevey to urge better health care, amnesty for the undocumented, and more Latino appointments in the state government. McGreevey did appoint Ida Castro to head the state Personnel Department, the Political Action Committee was formed to help fund additional Latino candidates for political offices, and in 2002 Albio Sires was elected speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. Two years later Governor McGreevey named a Puerto Rican lawyer—Roberto Rivera-Soto, who resides in Haddonfield—to the state Supreme Court, the highest post to be achieved by a Latino in New Jersey. Then in 2006 Robert Menendez was elected U.S. senator from New Jersey, Albio Sires was elected to Congress, and Silvera Vega was elected to the New Jersey Assembly

Senator Menendez at the Comprehensive Immigration Reform rally, June 14, 2007. Courtesy of the Office of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez.

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A NEW HOME In a poll among Latinos in New Jersey in the 1990s, almost all indicated they wished to make a permanent home in the United States; 79 percent stated that life here was better than in their country of origin; and 90 percent expected the lives of their children here to be better than their own. Sixty percent expressed an extremely strong love for the United States, and only 4 percent reported that the feeling of attachment was not very strong. The percentage of positive feeling about life in the United States was higher among Latinos in New Jersey than nationally. A majority among the Latinos in New Jersey, including noncitizens, reported a stronger attachment to the United States than to their country of origin.

NOTABLE LATINOS Unanue, Joseph (1925–). Businessman Joseph Unanue, a Puerto Rican, fought in World War II and received a Bronze Star Medal for bravery. He then received a degree in mechanical engineering from the Catholic University of America. Unanue, whose father founded the Goya Foods Company, succeeded him as president of that company in 1976 and retained that position for 27 years. Goya became the largest Latino-owned food distributor in the United States. Unanue has supported numerous Latino cultural institutions. Hidalgo, Hilda (1938–). Hilda Hidalgo, a Puerto Rican, was a professor of social work at Rutgers University and a civic leader in Newark. She was the first president of the Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey. In 2007 she was honored by the New Jersey Hispanic Information and Research Center. Prieto, Yolanda (1946–). Yolanda Prieto, a Cuban American, is a professor of sociology at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She has written about Cuban women in Hudson County and in the American labor force, and about Cubans and the Catholic Church. Caraballo, Wilfredo (1947–). Caraballo, a Puerto Rican, was a member of Governor Florio’s cabinet and served as director of the Department of Public Advocate from 1990 to 1992. He was elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in 1995, working for a time as assembly speaker pro tem. He is also a professor of law at the Seton Hall University Law School. Sires, Albio (1951–). Albio Sires, a Cuban American, was mayor of West New York. He then served as a member and in 2002 as speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. In 2006 he was elected to Congress. Castro, Ida (1953–). Castro, a Puerto Rican, is director of the New Jersey Commission on Personnel and was previously the chair of the United States Employment Opportunities Commission. Rivera-Soto, Roberto (1953–). Roberto Rivera-Soto, a Puerto Rican, is a graduate of the Cornell University Law School. He is a partner in a law firm, and in 2004 he was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

New Jersey Bonilla-Santiago, Gloria (1954–). Bonilla-Santiago, a Puerto Rican, is a professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Community Planning and the director of the Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership at Rutgers University. She organized the LEAP Academy Charter School and the Hispanic Women’s Leadership Institute. She has written on the organizing of Puerto Rican migrant farmworkers and the empowerment of Latina women. Menendez, Robert (1954–). A graduate of St. Peter’s College and Rutgers University Law School, Menendez, a Cuban American, was mayor of Union City from 1986 to 1992. In 1992 he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was elected chair of the House Democratic Caucus in 2002, which made him the highest-ranking Latino in Congressional history. In 2006 Menendez was elected to the U.S. Senate. Vas, Joseph (1955–). Joseph Vas, a Puerto Rican and mayor of Perth Amboy, is one of the longest-serving Latino mayors in the United States. He was elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 2004. Vega, Silvera (1956–). Silvera Vega, a Cuban American, was mayor of West New York and chairman of the Hudson County Board of Freeholders. He was elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 2006. Cruz-Perez, Nilsa (1961–). Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Puerto Rican, was executive assistant to the mayor of Camden. She was appointed to the New Jersey Assembly, which made her the first Latina in the state legislature. She later became the deputy majority leader in the Assembly in 2006.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Cultural practices in music, dance, art, health, and recreation have been of great value not only to Latinos but also to many others in New Jersey. Music and dance have been enjoyed in homes, at parties, and in clubs. Reggae, dancehall, salsa, calypso, makossa, samba, lambada, mariachi, and soca are among the most popular Latino rhythms in New Jersey. Several clubs across the state feature Latino music—for example, Caribe in Paterson, Deko in Sayerville, El Tropical in Passaic, Drana in Fairview, Red Parrot and New Jersey Salsa in Bloomfield, Club Cubano and Terminal One in Elizabeth, Sen Latino in Union City, and Tribecca in Fort Lee. The music is performed by migrant musicians or through recordings by artists from abroad. Migrants and locals listen to Latino music on the radio and television. Latino sounds have had an impact on mainstream popular U.S. music. Latino American art has been shown at Rutgers University and Ramapo College, in galleries in Jersey City and Newark, in many libraries, as well as in other institutions in New Jersey. There are a variety of Latino cultural and social clubs in New Jersey—from the Spanish American Cultural Association in Bergenfield

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Latino America to Club Cubanos in Newark and Liceo Cuban Jose Marti in Union City. A Spanishlanguage newspaper, La Tribuna, is published in New Jersey. Latinos in the state also read numerous other publications from New York, across the Hudson River. Latinos from different backgrounds hold events to celebrate holidays from their country of origin. Peruvians commemorate independence from Spain in July with a parade of floats, music, and folkloric dancing that starts in Passaic, moves through Clifton, and culminates in Paterson. This six-mile procession draws tens of thousands of viewers. Preparation for the parade begins in February, and it involves fund-raising dances and parties, and float building, all of which bring together people of Peruvian heritage—Amerindians from the Andes, coastal Spanish, mestizos, and those of African, Japanese, and Chinese ancestry. The parade also includes Andean musicians playing pre-Columbian panpipes, Spanish guitar players, and the dancing of the African Peruvian festejo. Colombians celebrate the independence of their country with a one-day festival in Foschini Park in Hackensack. Mexicans commemorate Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates a military victory that drove the French army out of their country in the 1860s. Additionally, there is a Puerto Rican festival in Newark, a parade and ethnic performances in Paterson, and a statewide Puerto Rican parade. Some Trinidadian and other Caribbean migrants partake in the Labor Day parade and festivities held on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. And on a smaller scale, Latinos celebrate Mardi Gras in various places. Many Latinos have been active as participants and as spectators in sports in New Jersey. Soccer has gained the greatest attention. There are numerous soccer clubs, and many Latino youths play on high school and college teams. Baseball also has much support from many Latinos, particularly those from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Young Latinos play on ball fields throughout the state, and they are active on many school teams, being even leaders on some, such as the Vineland High School team. They also have representatives on professional teams, including the major leagues. In many ways baseball in New Jersey has become very Latino, as many Latinos enthusiastically attend and watch games on TV. In the field of health some Latinos rely on folk medicine from African and Native American cultures. There has been much practice in New Jersey of traditional Afro-Caribbean folk medicine, with its use of herbs, mercury, amulets, and shamans. A wide variety of herbs are available in botanicas and other ethnic Latino stores. Rose water is used for nerves, shark oil for flu symptoms, cordial de monell for teething, and anise for nausea. Botanicas are found in Newark, Jersey City, Passaic, Union City, Elizabeth, and other places in New Jersey. As expected, culture influences also what and how one eats, and how food is prepared. In New Jersey there are many Latino food stores, Latino food factories, and Latino restaurants. The best places to obtain Latino foods are the many bodegas or small stores carrying Latino packaged goods, fruits, vegetables, corn prod-

New Jersey ucts, rice, and meats. There are also a number of large producers of Latino foods in New Jersey. The biggest is Goya, whose headquarters is in Secaucus. Goya makes 750 different Latino products and, as of the early 1990s, was the largest Latino-owned company in the United States. It merchandises a variety of spices, olive oils, beans, rice, and tropical juices. Further, La Cena of Saddle Brook and Vitarroz of Jersey City each produce several hundred Latino food products. There are also more than 100 Latino restaurants in New Jersey. The most numerous are Mexican eateries, found in all the major cities, in many suburbs, and even in such smaller towns as Denville, Margate, Deptord, Iselin, Howell, Cape May, and South River. There are a considerable number of Cuban restaurants not only in Hudson, Essex, and Union counties, but also in the cities of Hamburg, Normandy Beach, Ridgefield Park, and Somerville. Colombian restaurants are located in Rahway, Elizabeth, Englewood, and Hackensack; Peruvian in Paterson, North Bergen, Scotch Plaines, Kearny, Passaic, and West Orange; Brazilian in Newark, Trenton, Asbury Park, Eatontown, Harrison, and Linden; Dominican in New Brunswick and Secaucus; Salvadoran in Orange, Elizabeth, Cliffside Park, and North Plainfield; Honduran and Puerto Rican in New Brunswick; Ecuadorian in Hackensack; and Argentine in North Bergen. An important part of culture is religious faith and practices. A large portion of the Latinos who have come to New Jersey are Roman Catholic, the predominant faith in their countries of origin. The influx of Latinos into New Jersey has had a major impact on the Catholics in the state. By the mid-1980s, it was estimated that some 25 percent of the Catholics in the Archdiocese of Newark (Essex, Hudson, Bergen, and Union counties) were Latinos. Most of the migrants from Haiti and Brazil also are Catholic. The approach of the Catholic dioceses in New Jersey has been to integrate new migrants in general into existing parishes, offer social services at parishes where the numbers from any one ethnic or linguistic group are particularly high, and provide social work assistance to the poor. Latinos have received particular attention. A research study by the Archdiocese of Newark found that there were Latinos residing in all of its 242 parishes. The percentage ranged from 1 to 5 percent in 100 of these parishes, to 31 to 50 percent in 12, and over 50 percent in 8. In most of the latter parishes, located in Hudson County, masses in Spanish and social and cultural activities that draw Latinos together for mutual help and support were held, and the spiritual and service needs of the Latinos received major attention. Moreover, Latino organizations have developed in several parishes. In all, 63 parishes have at least one Spanish mass on Sundays. A small number of parishes have a priest from Cuba or from other Latin American countries. The Newark Archdiocese instituted a Spanish Office of Hispanic Concerns and a Hispanic ministry, headed by an auxiliary bishop, that has promoted Spanishlanguage fluency among an increasing number of priests; has encouraged the

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Latino America growth in the number of Spanish masses; and has instituted programs of evangelization and outreach, social justice, jobs, housing and equal rights, education, and youth and leadership formation. Counseling, day care, food programs, and care for the elderly have been offered in 15 percent of the parishes by Spanish-speaking personnel. The Archdiocesan Catholic Community Services provides employment, training, mental health, migration assistance, and other social services that were used by some 10,000 Latinos in 1983. Other New Jersey dioceses have established an Office of Migration in more than half of the counties in the state. However, special services for Latinos in parishes where their numbers are low have been very limited. Following a trend in Latin American countries, the percentage of Latinos in New Jersey who attend mass on Sundays is low, overall ranging from 10 to 20 percent. And although there have been an increasing number of Latino students attending Catholic schools, the large majority attend public schools. Meanwhile, Protestant churches have been making headway in attracting a portion of the many Latino migrants in New Jersey. Some are part of the rising number of Protestants in Latin America, while others have been attracted to Protestant denominations after arriving in New Jersey. A Reformed Latinos congregation has been established in Hackensack, and a Presbyterian one in Englewood. Additionally, there have been a growing number of Latino Pentecostal congregations in Paterson and most of the cities in the state, but also in such suburban towns as Fair Lawn and Dumont. A 1980s survey found that among the many Latinos in Hudson County some 10 percent of those polled who said they belonged to a church reported that they were Protestant or Evangelical, and another 10 percent that they were Pentecostal. The Pentecostal congregations in New Jersey are growing faster than are those of the mainstream Protestant denominations. The draw of the Pentecostal churches for Latinos and others has been their small size, close personal attention and relationships, spiritual fervor, use of a familiar language, and mutual assistance among the members. In the post–World War II decades, migrants from throughout the Caribbean and from Brazil have brought the practice of animism and other African religious traditions to New Jersey. Variations in name relate both to differences in beliefs, practices, African origins, and to the diaspora countries and islands in which such beliefs and practices have evolved. Santeria is practiced by some Cubans and has its origins in the Yoruba people. A cult within Santeria is called Sango. Some Brazilians practice a religion called Candomblé. Palo Monte is also similar to Santeria, but it came with the Bakongo people of Africa. Spiritism is strong among some Puerto Ricans, and Voodoo (or Voudon), which has roots in the Dahomey people of Africa, is practiced by numerous Haitians.

New Jersey The practices of these religions are designed to gain favor, protection, health, safety, good fortune, love, fertility, prosperity, and happiness from multiple deities and from ancestors. To achieve these goals the faithful themselves or through intermediaries offer prayers and material goods to the deities. Most have altars at home, where they pray and offer food, flowers, and other goods. There are also ritual gatherings in which priests offer up the gifts of the believers, and there are ceremonies for the initiation of new members and for members who are moving into various stages of the priesthood. There is much music (especially drumming), dancing, and the sacrifice of chickens or goats on special occasions. In many Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santeria and Voodoo there has developed a syncretic relation between African deities and Catholic saints. Much of the materials needed for these African-derived rituals can be purchased in the numerous botanicas in New Jersey.

NOTES 1. The U.S. census records from 1850 to 2005 supplied much of the statistics on Latinos in New Jersey. 2. These quotes and others throughout the chapter are from interviews with faculty members and students at Ramapo College of New Jersey. The completed interview sheets are in the archives of the Rutgers University New Jersey Special Collections in the Alexander Library, New Brunswick, NJ. 3. Latino-owned businesses in New Jersey numbered 36,100 in 1997.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Archdiocese of Newark. Office of Research and Planning. “Presencia Nueva—The New Presence: A Study of Hispanics in the Archdiocese of Newark.” Bischoff, Henry. “Caribbean Peoples in New Jersey: An Overview.” New Jersey History 113, nos. 1–2, (Spring–Summer 1995): 1–30. ———. Changing the Face of New Jersey: Immigration from 1940 to the Present. Morristown: New Jersey Heritage Press and New Jersey Historical Commission, 2007. Bonilla-Santiago. Gloria. Organizing Puerto Rican Migrant Farmworkers: The Experience of Puerto Ricans in New Jersey. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1988. Espenshade, Thomas. A Stone’s Throw from Ellis Island: Economic Implications of the New Jersey Experience. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1994. ———. Keys to Successful Immigration: Implications of the New Jersey Experience. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 1997. Hidalgo, Hilda. The Puerto Ricans in Newark, N.J. Newark, NJ: Aspira Inc., 1970. Hughes, James, and Connie Hughes. “A 1990 Profile of New Jersey.” Working paper no. 20. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Domestic and Comparative Policy Studies, Program for New Jersey Affairs.

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Latino America McGarril, Fred. “Life in the Shadows: Bergenfield’s Undocumented Mexican Laborers.” Master’s thesis, Ramapo College, New Jersey, 2000. Prieto, Yolanda. “Cuban Women and Work in the United States: A New Jersey Case Study.” In International Migration: The Female Experience. Eds. Rita Simon and Caroline Brettell. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Allanheld, 1986. Rogg, Eleanor, and Rosemary Clooney. Adaptation and Adjustment of Cubans: West New York, New Jersey. Monograph no. 5, Fordham University, Hispanic Research Center, New York, 1980. Solimano, Amy. “The Relation of the Culture, Socioeconomic Class, and Experiences of First Generation Suburban Colombians, Dominicans, and Puerto Ricans to the Educational Outcomes of Their Children.” Master’s thesis, Ramapo College, New Jersey, 1997.

32 NEW MEXICO Martin Nesvig

CHRONOLOGY 1528–1536 1540–1542

1581 1598

1610

1680 1692–1693

1706 1810–1821

Some members of the Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca expedition wander from Texas to the Pacific through the Southwest. The Vásquez de Coronado expedition goes to New Mexico and other areas of the Southwest in search of gold and fabulous and mythical cities. Camino Real, the principal supply line between Mexico and New Mexico, is established. Don Juan de Oñate leads the first formal and administrative expedition into New Mexico, establishing it officially as a territory of Spanish domain. Don Pedro de Peralta, the new governor of New Mexico, begins his tenure in New Mexico and establishes Santa Fe as its capital, with the Palace of the Governors as his residence. Franciscans begin early missionary projects in New Mexico. Pueblo Native Americans led by Popé rebel against Spanish rule and evict Spanish administrators, missionaries, and settlers from New Mexico. Don Diego de Vargas is appointed governor and leads expeditions to New Mexico to reestablish Spanish rule. Santa Fe is retaken by the Spanish, and colonial rule is set permanently in New Mexico. Albuquerque is founded as a villa. Wars of independence in Mexico. In 1821 Mexico is officially recognized as an independent country from Spain, and New Mexico passes from Spanish to Mexican control.

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1878–1890s 1888–1889 1912 1953 1977 1980 1998 2005

Padre José Antonio Martínez establishes the first printing press and newspaper in New Mexico. The war between the United States and Mexico causes vast portions of Mexico’s north to pass to U.S. control; New Mexico becomes a U.S. territory. The Catholic Church establishes Santa Fe as a diocese. For the first time in over three centuries New Mexico’s Catholic Church is run from Santa Fe, and not Guadalajara or Durango (Mexico). The railroad is introduced in New Mexico, linking the territory to much broader trade networks. The University of New Mexico and the New Mexico State University are founded, the latter as a land-grant institution and agricultural college. After much debate and many years of racist objections, New Mexico is admitted to the Union as a U.S. State. The Museum of International Folk Art is established. La Compañía de Teatro de Albuquerque is founded. A deadly riot in the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe exposes institutional corruption and ethnic tensions. Patricia Madrid becomes not only the first woman but the first Latina attorney general of New Mexico. Latinos again become ethnic majority in New Mexico.

New Mexico

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW New Mexico was born in Zacatecas, the colonial silver city in Mexico. Don Juan de Oñate—the man credited with claiming New Mexico for the Spanish Crown and for the viceroyalty of New Spain (today’s Mexico)—could not have been more thoroughly Mexican. He was born in Zacatecas to a wealthy Basque man who had, along with three other Spaniards, discovered the silver mine of La Bufa, which would make Zacatecas the wealthiest mining city of colonial Mexico. Oñate himself was married to Isabel Moctezuma, the daughter of the Aztec emperor and a descendant of Hernán Cortés. Oñate’s children were thus one-eighth Aztec and seveneighths Spanish, but all were born in Mexico.1 That is why the future state of the United States was named not after Spain but after Mexico City: New Mexico. Yet, the cultural heritage and historical memory of New Mexico, and of the Nuevomexicanos, are more complex than simply saying that it was the product of the ambition of the last conquistador, don Juan de Oñate. Nuevomexicanos— Latinos from New Mexico—are perhaps unlike any other group of Latinos in the United States. Many trace their heritage and family histories within New Mexico to the seventeenth century. Families such as the Jaramillos, for example, members of which run today the famous restaurant and inn Rancho de Chimayó, have been living in New Mexico first through Spanish, then Mexican, and then U.S. rule. Other Latinos in New Mexico, mostly in the south, trace their heritage to the nineteenth century and its shifting boundary lines before 1848, when most of today’s New Mexico became a U.S. territory in the aftermath of the MexicanAmerican War. Moving to the Mesilla Valley to remain in Mexican territory, Mesilleros retain a strong cultural identity as Hispanos and Nuevomexicanos. And still others are migrants from Mexico, relative newcomers to a state that has had a Latino presence for more than four centuries. The tension caused by Anglo distrust of Hispanic traditions, of Nuevomexicanos self-styling as Spanish Americans, and of Mexican-ness is seen in high relief in the events surrounding the publication in October 1901 of a racist editorial by the Protestant missionary Nellie Snyder in The Review, an English-language weekly newspaper from Las Vegas, New Mexico. In her editorial Snyder compares Nuevomexicanos to a degraded race of half-breeds, superstitious pagans, and semibarbarians. A young lawyer and author called Eusebio Chacón addressed an angry group of some 600 Nuevomexicanos on October 26. Having denounced the author, who had since been banished from the town, Chacón asserted the very essence of the complex Nuevomexicano identity being formed at the turn of the century: I am Spanish American, as are those who hear me. No other blood circulates through my veins but that which was brought by don Juan de Oñate and by the illustrious ancestors of my name. If there is any place in Spanish America or in the former

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Latino America Spanish colonies that has conserved the physiognomic traits of the raza conquistadora, it is New Mexico.2

Chacón’s statement could not have more succinctly expressed a centuries-old tradition of self-identified Spanishness. Chacón elaborated this identity of Nuevomexicanos as culturally and ethnically Spanish at a time when New Mexico was vying to become a U.S. state and its inhabitants were constantly called culturally backward, racially inferior, and religiously superstitious by Anglos because of their Mexican heritage. By appealing to their European pedigree, Nuevomexicanos would assert their Spanish identity as a way of identifying their unique place in the United States. At the same time, by asserting this identity, they would provide yet another layer to the complex mosaic of cultural identity of Latinos in New Mexico. The mixture of Nuevomexicanos born in New Mexico and of Mexicans born in modern Mexico who migrated to New Mexico makes the Latino history of New Mexico exceptionally complex. Because this dual heritage can be traced to the late sixteenth century, we will return to those earliest roots and trace the development of a distinctly Latino cultural, social, and political identity through the Spanish (1598–1821) and Mexican (1821–1848) periods. Knowledge of this rich history allows understanding of how a particular Nuevomexicano sense of identity developed in the following decades. Since the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries an intriguing ethnic irony has been found in New Mexico: Nuevomexicanos are regarded by many Anglos in the rest of the United States as less American than themselves, and at the same time they are regarded by those of Mexican descent as less Mexican than themselves. Ni de acá ni de allá (neither from here nor from there) is the phrase often applied to those who grew up Latino in a state with a four-century history of Spanish presence; this is often how Nuevomexicanos are seen: a product neither of the Spanish past, nor of intermarriage with Native Americans, nor of the Anglo ethnic majority of the United States, nor of the modern Mexican linguistic-cultural entity.

NEW MEXICO’S HISPANIC TRAJECTORY

OVER

FOUR CENTURIES

The Early Colonial Period (1598–1680) Juan de Oñate had spent years, and considerable money, convincing the viceroy of New Spain to allow him the privilege of advancing on what would become New Mexico. Spanish colonial law and political traditions dated to medieval Spain, and the private funding of conquest and settlement was the long-established norm. As with Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, conquest was funded privately in the hopes of achieving wealth, titles of nobility, and grants of land for service to the Crown. The New Mexico endeavor was no exception to this rule.

New Mexico Once Oñate finally received approval, he and his caravan set out for the north. By April 1598 they had arrived at the northern end of the Chihuahua desert, on the outskirts of today’s Ciudad Juárez. Separated by the Rio Grande, Oñate’s group spent several days grazing their pack animals and searching for a suitable crossing of the river. Finally, on April 30, 1598, Oñate led his group across the river into what is today the lower valley of El Paso, Texas. The royal notary read the official act of possession in the name of the Crown, and New Mexico was born. Shots were fired into the air in celebration; trumpets blew; men and children alike shouted their excitement. They were going to be rich.3 But bad omens haunted the expeditioners as they marched through the desert, through the Mesilla Valley. Just to the north of today’s Las Cruces, Pedro Robledo died, of uncertain causes. The Robledo campsite still exists, west of the flat river plain of the Rio Grande, just to the north of the central Mesilla Valley. For the next 11 years Oñate would be the Spanish governor of newly founded New Mexico. His administration was marked by isolation from Mexico City, political intrigues, lack of supplies, raids by unfriendly Native American groups, and, worst of all, lack of success in the discovery of mines. The hopes and dreams of the expedition members had been based on the possibility that they would discover the kinds of silver or gold mines that had made so many Spanish colonists fantastically wealthy. This was not to be the case in New Mexico. In 1599 Native Americans from the Acoma Pueblo attacked the Spanish group, which led Oñate to issue summary justice against them for rebelling against the Crown. Males over the age of 25 were to have one foot cut off and to be condemned to 20 years of servitude. Others were punished as well. It was an inauspicious beginning for the earliest Spanish colony in New Mexico, and one which would presage more violent events decades later. When it became clear that New Mexico was not to be a new Zacatecas, members of the Spanish colony and expedition began to rebel. Oñate retrenched and began to enforce royal justice as governor of the new province. In the end Oñate was recalled to Mexico City to answer charges of abuse of power and corruption, convicted by royal courts, and exiled from Mexico in 1614 by the viceroy. Eventually, he was able to have the charges commuted in Spain, and he hired himself out as a mining consultant in Spain. But his dream of New Mexico would not materialize in his lifetime. By 1608 Franciscan missionaries had begun mass baptisms of Native Americans in New Mexico. Their presence there would be fundamental. As an essentially frontier society for most of the Spanish period, New Mexico did not have a centralized Church, parish priests, or a resident bishop. The Franciscans were, in effect, the only Catholic Church presence that New Mexico knew. The flavor of Catholicism that would develop—just as the nature of economic, political, and social networks—would be largely ad hoc, sporadic, and based on

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Latino America reciprocal barter systems instead of centralized rule, centralized economy, or state/Church apparatuses. In 1609 the viceroy appointed a new governor, don Pedro de Peralta, who established the first permanent Spanish settlement, Santa Fe. Though Oñate had given the rudimentary impetus for this establishment, Peralta was largely credited as having started this settlement. Situated at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Santa Fe was established as a site that would serve both political and religious goals. In this period, Spanish colonial expansion was as much about spreading Catholicism as it was about expanding the civil power of the Spanish Crown and discovering mines. At its core Santa Fe was a small Spanish settlement surrounded by Native American groups, both Pueblos as well as itinerant, raiding Plains Native Americans. It received little support from the Crown, given its location on the furthest outskirts of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Santa Fe was in a constant state of lack of actual specie, and for this reason barter was established as the principal form of economic exchange. The Spaniards raised livestock and huddled through the winters wondering if it would be their last. It was a far cry from the urbanity and bustling city life of Mexico City, which had some 100,000 inhabitants, large cathedrals, churches, a university, restaurants, bullfights, whorehouses, and a grand central plaza named in the Nahuatl fashion—the zocalo. One can only imagine the sense of isolation that early Spanish settlers in Santa Fe must have felt. The Franciscan missionary effort expanded through the seventeenth century. Because there was no formal Church structure in New Mexico, the Franciscans were the only priests that Spaniards and Native Americans knew. They promoted an almost millenarian vision and saw New Mexico as their own personal Catholic fiefdom. But a handful of missionaries could never completely control either the Spanish or the Native American populations. Father Alonso de Benavides eventually returned to Mexico in 1629 and wrote a lengthy memorial history of New Mexico in which he describes the mission of Santa Fe as one facing innumerable challenges and difficulties. Throughout the next decades, Santa Fe and the growing settlements of Spaniards near Albuquerque, which began to spring up in the 1660s, were characterized by poverty and isolation. One prominent Spanish settler—the first alcalde (magistrate) of the Middle Valley, don Fernando Durán y Chávez—asked the viceroy in a 1643 letter to take mercy on “this miserable kingdom of New Mexico.”4 Given New Mexico’s state of isolation, missionaries and representatives of the Inquisition saw demons and criminals at every turn. It has been rumored, but never thoroughly proven, that early New Mexico was a haven for Jews who had fled the oppressive laws and policies of the Crown to live secretly as Jews in New Mexico. Others practiced witchcraft, some of it learned from the Native Americans. One woman had made pacts with the devil. Adultery and secret liaisons were com-

New Mexico mon ways to break the tedium of life on the frontier. Because of New Mexico’s position on the geographic, political, and cultural margins of New Spain, Spaniards there began to develop a kind of frontier mentality: a sense that though they may have been isolated, they were not without culture. During this period Franciscans began to engage in a variety of attempts to stamp out Native American religious practices. In particular, the Franciscans found various sexually charged rituals of the Pueblo Native Americans to be incompatible with Catholicism, and the worship of spirits and deities was attacked. Underlying all this was the fact that by the 1670s Santa Fe was nothing more than an outpost, a small town with a small, underarmed Spanish population. When the revolution came in 1680, the Franciscans and many Spanish settlers were literally the first up against the wall to face the wrath of the Pueblo Native Americans who, under the leadership of the charismatic Popé, had decided they had had enough of Spanish rule.

Later Colonial Period (1680–1810) Recent work by historians has suggested that the longtime image of colonial New Mexico as a cultural and economic backwater is an unfair stereotype. Nevertheless, it is clear that throughout most of the seventeenth century the colonial enterprise in New Mexico was tenuous and fraught with difficulty and uncertainty. Santa Fe was, in effect, an outpost of Spanish civil rule dominated largely by the power of the Franciscans, who seem to have had better success at regulating the Spanish than in evangelizing the Native Americans. The case of Cristóbal de Anaya is instructive. Anaya was born in New Mexico and was a settler in the Bernalillo area, near present-day Albuquerque, which in the seventeenth century was a loosely affiliated group of Spanish ranchers amidst a predominantly Native American cultural and geographic setting. The Franciscans, the only Church presence in Santa Fe, had been delegated by the Mexican Inquisition to regulate doctrinal purity, being given powers to investigate and punish witchcraft, heresy, blasphemy, and sacrilege. The civil authorities had quarreled with the Franciscans over the extent of the latter’s authority in New Mexico, and Anaya, an outspoken character, sided with the civil authorities in this factional dispute. In 1661 he was arrested by agents of the Inquisition and sent to Mexico City in chains, where he spent 4 years in prison. He was also punished with a public penance before returning to Bernalillo.5 The tension between civil and religious authorities in seventeenth-century New Mexico was constant, as a sparsely populated Spanish colony fought for political preeminence. One famous year in New Mexico history is 1680, which was decisive for the future of that Spanish colony. Pueblo Native Americans, who formed a kind of loose network or federation, rose up against the Spanish and succeeded in ousting

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Latino America them from New Mexico. Their charismatic leader, Popé, urged the destruction not only of the Spanish colony but also of the imposed Catholic presence. The Pueblo revolt was a bloody orgy of revenge in which the Native American rebels burned down Spanish homes and government buildings, killed Spanish settlers, and drove the Spanish authorities from Santa Fe. Forced to flee, the Spanish colonists went south and installed a type of government in exile in today’s El Paso, Texas. Popé and his closest leaders urged the Native Americans to reject the imposition of Catholicism and return to their pre-Hispanic religious traditions, many of which had been suppressed by the Franciscan missionaries. Psychologically, the impact of Popé’s orders must have been tremendous on the Spanish colonists and missionaries. Other areas of Mexico had offered resistance to missionary efforts and colonial rule, but there had not been a revolt as big and successful as the Pueblo revolt in the rest of New Mexico. Many felt that the New Mexico enterprise was a losing proposition; others despaired that the Church had suffered an unbearable setback; and civil officials worried that the strategic importance of Santa Fe would be irreparably lost. But the Spanish would succeed in retaking Santa Fe. In 1688 Diego de Vargas, born in Madrid to a noble family, ascended the colonial ladder of military positions in New Spain, being nominated governor and captain general of New Mexico. In 1691 he formally took office. Over the next years he formed a coalition of Spanish soldiers and Native Americans loyal to the Crown, and he also managed to secure substantial royal funding for an expedition of reconquest. In December 1693 Vargas led his men into Santa Fe, first attempting diplomacy, but when this failed, he took it by force. On December 30 a bloody battle in which more than 80 Native Americans perished resulted in the victory of the Spanish, who reestablished their official rule over Santa Fe. In a symbolic gesture, a Franciscan friar celebrated a mass the next day to give thanks for the reestablishment of Catholicism, and Vargas promised celebrations at the feet of La Virgen Conquistadora, a statue which had been brought to New Mexico by Alonso de Benavides in 1626. Because the Virgen was the patroness of New Mexico and a symbol of the Spanish Catholic conquest, the mass and obsequies at the statue’s feet could not have been more dramatic.6 For the next century New Mexico developed into a mature colony, though it remained defined by its position on the geographic, economic, and cultural periphery of New Spain. Though the seventeenth century was characterized by itinerant colonial rule and sparse population on the part of the Spanish, the eighteenth century saw clear changes. The raids by nomadic Native Americans on Spanish settlements eventually forced a reconsideration of settlement patterns. If previously the Spanish had preferred to live in sparsely populated and distant ranchos largely along the Rio Grande, they now began to settle more densely in towns. The Spanish (or Hispano) population grew at a much greater rate than the

New Mexico Pueblo population, which placed strains on the availability of land and which led to a yet more densely populated Spanish core, though it was still far less dense than central Mexico. Finally, a series of royal legislative changes, known as the Bourbon Reforms, made for dramatic changes in economic systems in the New Mexico colony. The reconquest of New Mexico set in motion greater Spanish settlement and the establishment of new colonies, towns, and municipalities. Villa was a legal term for a municipality that, according to ancient Spanish law and custom, applied to a town that had certain specific privileges and rights, as opposed to a pueblo (which was usually Native American) or scattered settlements. Santa Fe had already been long established as a villa, but the eighteenth century saw the transformation of New Mexico; though it had not become an urban center, at least it had changed into a colony with a much greater density of Spanish settlers and citizens (vecinos). Albuquerque, much further to the south in the Middle Valley of the Rio Grande, was established in 1706. Through the rest of the eighteenth century Albuquerque would take a backseat to Santa Fe, where the oldest Spanish families resided and where the governor’s palace was situated, making it the administrative and political center of the colony, whereas Albuquerque was principally an agricultural town. Land acquisition patterns were influenced heavily by the process of land grants. The Spanish Crown granted land in blocks to both Spaniards and Native Americans. Part of the logic behind giving specific parcels of land to Native American groups stems from the lengthy Spanish colonial policy of accommodating Native Americans into the broader civil polity of the royal system, provided that those Native Americans agreed to pay their tribute requirements and not to raid Spanish settlements. In the case of New Mexico, which was sparsely populated, this meant an uneasy balance between four principal ethnic-social groups The Spaniards, though the nominal rulers of the colony, were always considerably outnumbered by Native Americans. Still, Spanish populations rose in comparison with Pueblo and other Native American populations throughout the eighteenth century. Pueblo Native Americans were seen by missionaries and Spanish officials as “higher-order” Native Americans, given their tradition of town settlement and fixed agriculture. The Jesuit José de Acosta, among others, had viewed Native American societies and groups along a continuum of civilization, and the Pueblos were always seen as superior to other Native American groups—but inferior to Spaniards. The various nomadic Plains Native Americans—the Comanches, for example—were viewed as not only ethnically but civilizationally distinct and inferior to the Pueblos. Their lack of settled towns and steady agriculture and their tendency to rely on raiding as a form of economy made Spaniards see them as not only dangerous (because they often raided both Pueblo and Spanish settlements) but also essentially barbaric. Finally, the genízaros were Hispanicized Native

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Latino America Americans who had been captured and sold into servitude to Spaniards. Their exposure to Spanish custom and language made them partially Hispanicized, but they were never viewed as properly Spanish, given their ethnic background. The geographic isolation made bartering the fundamental method of exchange. The lack of coinage and the omnipresence of ranching and farming as ways of life meant that the exchange of manufactured goods such as textiles and clothing for animal products or vegetables was fundamental. According to some historians, this led to a more familial and personal system of doing business. Stripped of the impersonal nature of formal economies, New Mexico emerged culturally as a place where one’s place in society and one’s word became extremely important. Though ethnic mixing took place in New Mexico as it did in other parts of New Spain, New Mexico’s isolation caused the emergence of a very strong sense of Hispano or Spanish identity among Hispanic settlers. Even though Spanish settlements were surrounded by Native American settlements, they remained fundamentally set apart from Native American societies. Spaniards, many of them Mexican-born criollos, retained a strong cultural identification with their Spanishness. The irony of this situation is that as members of a frontier society, these Spaniards would never have been accepted back in the urban worlds of Mexico City, Seville, or Madrid, as they would have rather been seen as backward. Yet, it was precisely during this time that Nuevomexicanos developed a sense of unique cultural identity. The shrine at Chimayó became an important religious site in the development of identity. Indigenous materials were used by religious artisans to craft a specifically New Mexican style of art. And the availability of certain materials led to the development of specific architectural styles—for example, adobe houses and churches—and culinary traditions. Moreover, Nuevomexicanos continued to speak a type of Spanish that preserved very old Castilian forms, which had gone out of use in other parts of New Spain. In the mid-nineteenth century the Spanish Crown began a series of political and economic reforms that attempted to reorganize its empire and colonial holdings. Among its goals was stricter control of tax collection as well as some freeing up of the previously closed trade systems that forbade non-Spaniards from engaging in direct trade without special dispensations in the Spanish Americas. Despite these rules and various royal prohibitions on foreign trade, New Mexico’s distance from the centers of colonial power meant that trade fairs in Taos and Pecos flourished. The Bourbon Reforms, as these new rules were called, also set the ideological stage for independence movements in Latin America because they imposed governors, known as intendants, who were from Spain and not the Americas. The local criollo elites, who had come to dominate local politics, chafed at these impositions. When Napoleon invaded Spain in the early 1800s, criollos saw an opportunity to rebel against monarchic rule. Beginning in 1810 and led largely by insurgent priests such as Miguel Hidalgo, New Spain successfully

New Mexico rebelled against Spain, which in 1821 led to the establishment of an independent nation: Mexico.

The Modern Period (1810–2000) New Mexico immediately came under the control of Mexico, but the new national state was considerably weakened. The northern provinces in New Mexico, California, and Texas were largely ignored by the off-and-on rule of Antonio López de Santa Anna, and the Mexican state was financially weak and crippled by internal political divisions and instability in general. As a result the northern provinces were in a dire financial situation. At the same time the Mexican state increased taxes in New Mexico in the 1830s, leading to a revolt in 1837. The former governor of New Mexico, Manuel Armijo, organized a militia to suppress the tax revolt and executed its leaders, which led to his reappointment as governor. But Armijo was powerless to protect New Mexico against the aspirations of Texas and the United States. Beginning in 1841 traders and militias from Texas started raids on New Mexico. Ultimately, the territorial disputes over the eastern borders of New Mexico and the movement in Texas to declare an independent republic led to the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848. In the case of New Mexico, the policy of U.S. president Polk was of Manifest Destiny: he sent the U.S. Army into New Mexico to occupy it. Armijo fled, and on August 16, 1846, New Mexico was made a territory of the United States. The shift from Mexican to U.S. rule ushered in a radically different era. Under the political control of a predominantly Anglo nation, New Mexico and Nuevomexicanos entered a period in which Hispano political power was retained but considerably diminished compared to the pre-U.S. period. This also meant that the previous ethnic divisions of Hispano and Native American would be further complicated by Anglo rule. At the same time the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo—which formalized the end of the Mexican-American War and ceded California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to the United States— recognized the Spanish and Mexican legal systems of land holding and property. This, however, did not hold for women. There was a very old Spanish legal and customary tradition that allowed women to hold, possess, and control her own property—a right U.S.-born women did not share. Under U.S. control, Hispanic women were subjected to the Anglo system, which stripped them of their right to hold and maintain property. Language also became a major issue. As is the case still today, the question of a bilingual society was paramount in nineteenth-century New Mexico: Should students be educated in Spanish, the first language of most Nuevomexicanos? Or should schools adopt English as the mandatory language? These questions became central to political debates in New Mexico, as seen in Las Vegas, when Chacón, himself a native Spanish

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Latino America speaker, explained the problems of assuming the cultural or linguistic inferiority of Spanish. The issues of ethnicity and religion would plague a good deal of the early period of New Mexico as part of the United States. Though the presence of Latinos in much of the United States is a recent phenomenon, Latinos had been in New Mexico for centuries prior to its inclusion in the United States. In 1853, Santa Fe was made a diocese for the first time, and the first bishop was a Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Lamy. Immediately, as in language and politics, ethnic tensions arose because Lamy distrusted Nuevomexicanos and Hispanic culture. The end of the nineteenth century saw the opening of New Mexico to expanded trade and population. Always sparsely populated (just after its acquisition by the United States, the population of New Mexico was of approximately 50,000 people), the expansion of the railroad into Santa Fe meant increased travel and trade. By the turn of the century the long isolation of New Mexico had begun to end. With it, though, came mixed blessings. In the early twentieth century there were debates about the suitability of New Mexico as a potential U.S. state, and not a territory. Racist arguments that New Mexico was too Mexican and therefore somehow uncivilized prevented several attempts to make New Mexico a U.S. state, but New Mexico’s statehood was finally approved in 1912. Shortly thereafter New Mexico came to be idealized by many East Coast artists and intellectuals as an exotic, far-off, almost Egyptian land. The debate over ethnicity dominated the discussions over New Mexico’s inclusion in the United States. As noted by Chacón, many Nuevomexicanos saw themselves as descendants not of Mexico but of a kind of mythically glorious Spanish past. At the same time, during debates over statehood, the relative Spanishness or Mexican-ness of New Mexico sparked off the familiar debate about the appropriateness of New Mexico as a part of a presumably Anglo—and therefore white—nation with a long history of institutionalized racism, segregation, and slavery. Ironically, in the later twentieth century Nuevomexicano Hispanos would use the same prejudiced arguments against Mexican migrants. The difficulty of ethnic politics would be central to New Mexico in the twentieth century. Though many Mexican migrants were drawn to New Mexico in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they never represented more than a small percentage of the overall Latino population. This began to change only in the 1990s. In 1900 Mexican-born Latinos represented only 3 percent of the total population of New Mexico. This figure remained steady through most of the twentieth century, with the exception of the period after the bloody revolution in Mexico (1910–1920), which caused Mexicans to flee the violence in their native country. By 1920 the number of Mexican-born Latinos in New Mexico had doubled, as they represented nearly 6 percent of the overall population. In any case, unlike in many other states in the United States, the Latino population

New Mexico in New Mexico has been dominated, in general, by older Hispanos or New Mexico–born Latinos.7 The University of New Mexico was established in Albuquerque in 1889, and in that same year the New Mexico State University was founded as an agricultural college in Las Cruces. By the mid-twentieth century New Mexico had considerably increased its population, Los Alamos labs had been established—becoming central in the research and development of the atomic bombs dropped in Japan during World War II—and for the first time in its history Albuquerque had an urban center. Cultural tourism also began to function as a major component of New Mexico’s economy. Cultural centers such as the Spanish Market and the Santa Fe Art Museum began to develop a specifically Hispano cultural identity and to preserve very old Nuevomexicano art and cultural forms. But in the 1960s and 1970s many Chicano political activists began to see this development as a type of co-opting of Nuevomexicano tradition and culture by a dominant Anglo society. Simultaneously, many non-Nuevomexicano politicians and historians viewed New Mexico as charming but not as really civilized. In other words, New Mexico was a culturally backward state that should be examined for its quaintness. This tendency has been attacked as facile and condescending by many Nuevomexicano intellectuals in recent years. At the end of the twentieth century New Mexico was still a very complex society. Though it was still sparsely populated and rural, it was put on the national map through weapons production, a state university system, and a flourishing tourist industry. And in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, New Mexico was an important swing state, with a large Hispanic population heavily courted by George W. Bush, as part of a strategy to expand his base in the growing Latino voting population. At the end of the twentieth century New Mexico retained not only a good deal of its Hispano cultural heritage but also the highest concentration of Latinos of any U.S. state. This is a product of both longstanding Hispano communities and the recent migration of Mexicans to the United States. According to 2005 U.S. census figures, New Mexico had a population of approximately just under 1.9 million residents, 822,000 of whom were Hispanic, or about 43.6 percent of the population.8 In 2000 Hispanics represented 42 percent of the population of New Mexico, according to U.S. census data.9 Of these Hispanics, slightly less than half identified themselves as Mexican and slightly more than half identified themselves as “other Hispanic or Latino,” which shows the deep and abiding sense of Nuevomexicano identity as distinct from Mexican identity. In 2000 Anglos comprised just above 44 percent of the total population of New Mexico, though this number surely has gone down to about 43 percent, which means that around 2006 Latinos overtook Anglos as the largest ethnic group in New Mexico. The 2010 U.S. census will officially register that shift, making New Mexico the first state of

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Latino America the modern era to have Latinos as the largest ethnic group (though this was certainly the case in the 1850s). Though the Latino population is much more varied in states such as California and though Texas and Arizona are dominated heavily by Mexican migration, New Mexico has a mixture of Latinos who identify themselves as Mexican and those who identify themselves as essentially Hispanos. Unsurprisingly, the counties with the highest concentrations of Latinos in New Mexico are the areas first populated by Spaniards in the seventeenth century, followed by the counties along the U.S.-Mexican border. As of the 2000 census, northern sections of the state had very high Latino population density: Mora County, 82 percent; Guadalupe County, 81 percent; San Miguel County, 78 percent; and Rio Arriba County, 73 percent. Santa Fe County (at 49 percent) and Bernalillo County (home to Albuquerque and 42 percent Latino) were more mixed and in line with general statewide trends. Counties in the south, along the U.S.Mexican border, also registered very high Latino populations: Doña Ana County, 63 percent; Luna County, 58 percent; and Hidalgo County, 56 percent.10 Whereas the Latino populations of northern New Mexico are more likely to identify themselves as Hispano, those of southern New Mexico are more likely to identify themselves as Mexican because they are themselves migrants or children of migrants. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries in New Mexico were marked politically by ethnic divisions and tensions. Governor Bill Richardson—the most famous Latino of New Mexico (three-fourths Mexican, born in Los Angeles, and raised largely in Mexico City)—has promised an end to such dichotomous visions of Nuevomexicano political culture. On January 21, 2007, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s program This Week, Richardson was asked about his announcement that he would run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2008. Stephanopoulos asked Richardson specifically about being a Latino and what this could mean for the nation. Richardson responded by saying, “I wouldn’t run as a Hispanic candidate. I would run as an American, proud to be Hispanic, proud of my heritage.”11 He responded that the United States would judge him based not on his ethnicity but on his accomplishments. In many ways Richardson’s success in politics shows just how far New Mexico has come from the Chicano vision of exclusive Nuevomexicano power and from the racism of Anglos, who saw Nuevomexicano culture as backward. Instead, Richardson seems to exemplify the new identity of most of the U.S. Southwest as a pluralistic and culturally aware society that celebrates ethnic diversity.

NOTABLE LATINOS Benavides, Alonso de (c. 1570–c. 1636). Benavides was the founder of the Franciscan mission to New Mexico and, by extension, the founder of the Catholic Church in New Mexico. There had been a few peripatetic friars in New Mexico prior to the arrival of

New Mexico Benavides, but he was the first permanent leader of the Franciscan mission. He acted as the Inquisition’s representative (comisario) in New Mexico, brought the image of La Virgen Conquistadora to Santa Fe, and wrote the earliest chronicle of missionary activity in New Mexico. Benavides was born in the Azores in the late sixteenth century (the date is uncertain, though probably in the 1570s), and he was in the Americas as early as 1600, serving as the alguacil (bailiff) of the Inquisition in Hispaniola (today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic). In 1603 he professed his vows as a Franciscan friar in the main Franciscan monastery in Mexico City. In 1623 he was both appointed by his order as the custodian of the mission in New Mexico and commissioned by the Mexican Inquisition as its representative in New Mexico, with authority to investigate and punish heresy, superstition, witchcraft, and blasphemy. Friar Benavides arrived in Santa Fe on January 24, 1626, amid great pomp, being received by the governor, his retainers, and a formal procession in the villa. During his tenure as custodian of Santa Fe, Benavides oversaw the expansion of the Franciscan mission, the building of new churches and monastic houses, and the preaching of Catholicism as far as the present-day southwest of New Mexico, in the Apaches’ Gila region. In 1629 Benavides left New Mexico and returned to Mexico City with a supply caravan. There, the viceroy and his fellow Franciscans decided that Benavides should go to Spain to provide an account of the missionary efforts in New Mexico. Benavides arrived in Spain in August 1630, and despite his often stated desire to return to New Mexico, he would never achieve that goal. He wrote a chronicle of the New Mexico mission and of the various customs, cultures, languages, Native Americans, and conversion efforts of the Franciscans. Benavides lived the rest of his life—a few more years—in Madrid, where he petitioned the Crown for support for the New Mexico mission and for more favorable treatment of the Native Americans, who, he said, were abused by the civil authorities. Benavides advocated the suspension of tribute payments by the Native Americans until after the entirety of New Mexico’s Native American groups were converted to Catholicism. He also requested that New Mexico be elevated to a diocese with a resident bishop—a cause which would go unfulfilled until after New Mexico had passed from Spanish to Mexican to U.S. control. Though the date is uncertain, it seems he died in 1636. Trujillo, Doña Luisa de (1600s). Doña Luisa was an important landowner whose ranch lay on the site where Albuquerque was founded. She personified the Hispanic custom which allowed women to own property. She was married to Francisco de Trujillo, who died sometime in the 1670s, leaving her the family home and ranch. Known thus as the Hacienda de Doña Luisa de Trujillo, the ranch was the site on which the town of Albuquerque would be founded in 1706. We know relatively little about her, except that she was married to one of the early settlers of the Middle Valley in the mid-seventeenth century, when the area was an amalgamation of ranches and Spanish settlements. The property was opposite to that of Alonso García de Noriega, who had been the alcalde (local magistrate) and lieutenant governor of New Mexico. Thus the Trujillos, though not as wealthy, were clearly in good company.

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Latino America Doña Luisa became the sole owner of the property after her husband’s death. She thus fell within a long tradition of Spanish custom and law that allowed women to own and retain property, administer a household without a male present, and act as mistress of her own domestic realm. The stereotype of submissive and meek Hispanic women has always been at odds with the historical realities, in which women, though still subservient to men, were given a good deal of autonomy in Spanish American economic life. Doña Luisa was no exception to this rule. In fact, in frontier regions where women were more likely to act as heads of household, she fit clearly within acceptable social patterns for female property holding and social status. Doña Luisa was owner of both a house and a hacienda. The honorific doña placed before her name may have been a later addition, or she may have come from the untitled nobility (hidalguía). Martínez, Padre Antonio José (1793–1867). Born in 1793 in Abiquiú, Padre Martínez was one of the most important and influential clerics of his day. Born in New Mexico’s Spanish era, ordained a priest in the Mexican era, excommunicated during the U.S. era, and viciously caricatured by Willa Cather in her novel Death Comes for the Archbishop, Martínez was a complex man who fought unceasingly for his love of New Mexico and its Church. Padre Martínez was born to a wealthy Taos merchant and landowner and later went to Durango (Mexico) to receive training to become a priest. He was ordained in 1822, just after the independence of Mexico, and made parish priest of Taos in 1826. He spent the next decades embroiling himself in several controversies and promoting religious instruction and publication. The Franciscans had long been virtually the only priests in New Mexico, but as noted above, many parishes were forcibly secularized and placed in the hands of the diocesan clergy. The same occurred in Taos, so Martínez’s charge placed him in the difficult situation of being a parish priest associated not with the friars but with the diocese. He established a printing press and a parish school (the Seminario Menor de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) to prepare young boys to become priests in the diocesan capital in Durango. Padre Martínez also established New Mexico’s first newspaper, El Crepúsculo de la Libertad (The Twilight of Liberty). In 1853 Santa Fe was made a separate diocese from Durango, and for the first time in its history New Mexico was not under the jurisdiction of a bishop from the south (Durango). But this moment would also be a tremendous irony, for the first bishop of Santa Fe was Jean-Baptiste Lamy, a Frenchman. Lamy distrusted Nuevomexicanos, who spent their lives bound up socially and personally with their parishioners. Lamy found various Nuevomexicano customs—such as the fandangos and the penitente brotherhood—to be scandalous. Padre Martínez would then joust with Bishop Lamy on several occasions over the tithe, the appointment of non-Nuevomexicanos as parish priests, and the penitente tradition. Lamy eventually excommunicated Padre Martínez, who remained a dedicated supporter of Nuevomexicano culture and society to the end. It is rumored that Martínez’s last words—“Everything is in the hands of God; may his holy will be done”—were said after one of his former students administered the last rites on his deathbed on July 27, 1867. Another of his students, Pedro Sánchez, would remember him in 1903 with the following words: “His life was precious, his deeds beneficial,

New Mexico passing on in all his worldly matters a public spirit so pronounced that it influenced all his actions for the benefit of others.”12 Chacón, Eusebio. (1869–1948). Born Eusebio Peñasco, he was raised partly in southern Colorado and educated at the Jesuit school in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and at Notre Dame University, from which he received a law degree. A talented orator and lawyer, Chacón quickly rose to prominence also as a journalist, amateur historian, and novelist. He lived through a period of complex changes and political-cultural showdowns. On the one hand, Hispanos had a longstanding tradition as citizens, politicians, landowners, and members of the New Mexico community; on the other, after the Mexican-American War, despite their status as the ethnic and cultural minority, Anglos increasingly came to prominence in New Mexico, which was largely due to the racism and paternalism that characterized the Anglo-American politics of the day. Chacón was able to maneuver between the Anglo and Hispano worlds, and he was never afraid to call attention to the issue of ethnic double standards. But these double standards cut both ways, as many Hispanos distrusted Anglos and were determined to keep them out of New Mexico’s upper political and social echelon. Besides defending Hispano cultural traditions in the public arena, Chacón was an active writer interested in establishing a truly Nuevomexicano literary tradition. His novel El hijo de la tempestad (The Son of the Storm) published in 1892 was an effort at what he called literatura recreativa, or the writing down of oral stories passed down from generation to generation. Chacón also wrote articles on New Mexico history in Las Dos Repúblicas, reflecting his longtime interest in the state’s past. In addition to these activities, Chacón was an English professor in Durango (Mexico) and an interpreter for New Mexico’s court of land claims. He holds a place in the development of Nuevomexicano literature and the formation of a self-reflective Hispano identity. Chávez, Fray Angélico (1910–1996). Chávez was the first New Mexico–born Franciscan friar, an important writer, an influential historian, and a tireless champion of Nuevomexicano cultural heritage. Born in 1910 in Wagon Mound, his given name was Manuel Ezequiel. He took the name Angélico in deference to the Renaissance Florentine artist of the same name. Fray Angélico would have a long career as a poet, historian, artist, and priest. His legacy was one of unceasing interest in Nuevomexicano history and culture. In recent years many have seen his work as instrumental in providing an alternative narrative of U.S. southwestern history that had long privileged the Anglo past and ignored the Hispanic contributions to U.S. culture, literature, and letters. Chávez enrolled in the Saint Francis Seminary near Cincinnati when he was 14, was admitted to the Franciscan order as a novice in 1929, and graduated from Duns Scotus College in 1933. He was ordained in Santa Fe in 1937, becoming the first New Mexico–born Franciscan priest. Fray Angélico spent the next decades as an active parish priest, researcher of New Mexico’s history, and champion of New Mexico’s culture. He painted murals and saints’ images in several New Mexico churches, such as the Crucifixion triptych and various murals of Franciscans in Peña Blanca, his first parish assignment. He also restored and painted murals in the Chapel of Santa Dorotea. Notable in these efforts was his reverence for the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Franciscans.

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Latino America It is his literary and historical work, however, that cemented his legacy. He conducted considerable research in New Mexico’s archives, investigating the Spanish ancestry of Nuevomexicanos, which resulted in the 1954 publication of Origins of New Mexico Families. But it was Nuestra Señora del Rosario, La Conquistadora, his 1948 work, that really demonstrated his skill as a historian and his dedication in unearthing the hidden truths of New Mexico’s past. Chávez also produced a notable work of historical fiction and reflection, My Penitente Land, which is a paean for New Mexico culture. A man of quick wit, deep cultural curiosity, and firm devotion to the notion that Nuevomexicanos had created a culture every bit as worthy as that of the rest of the United States, Chávez would produce a wide body of artistic, historical, and literary work aimed at preserving that culture. Benavides, Lupe (unknown). Lupe Benavides is the matriarch of the Benavides family of La Mesa and Las Cruces, and she runs the restaurant Chope’s. Named after her late husband, José “Chope” Benavides, the restaurant is famed throughout the Mesilla Valley and in El Paso, Texas, as one of the best examples of Nuevomexicana cuisine and of southern New Mexican cuisine in particular, with its heavy emphasis on Hatch green chiles. Residents of Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley make frequent trips through the pecan groves to sample the food and enjoy the warm atmosphere of this truly familyrun establishment. The restaurant began in 1915, when Chope’s mother, Longina Benavides, began selling enchiladas to the largely migrant farmer population of the valley. After her death the restaurant and building was inherited by Chope and Lupe, who continued the family tradition. The daughters of Chope and Lupe all attended and graduated from the New Mexico State University. In many ways the story of the Benavides family is the story not of longstanding Hispano families who draw their cultural roots and genealogies to the seventeenth-century Spanish colonization of New Mexico but to a newer generation of Mexican American Nuevomexicanos, in an area of southern New Mexico that has one of the most prominent Mexican, as opposed to old Spanish Hispano, presences. Madrid, Patricia (1947–). Patricia Madrid was attorney general for the state of New Mexico from 1999 to 2007. In November 2006 she ran for U.S. Congress—through New Mexico’s First Congressional District, which includes much of Albuquerque—as a Democrat and was narrowly defeated by the Republican incumbent, Heather Wilson, by less than 0.5 percent of the vote: 105,921 to 105,046. Born in 1947 in Las Cruces, Madrid received a BA and a JD (law degree) from the University of New Mexico. She was admitted to the state bar and quickly entered politics. She ran her first campaign in 1978 and was the first woman elected as district court judge in New Mexico—a post she held until 1984. In 1998 she was elected attorney general of New Mexico—the first woman to hold the post. She was reelected in 2002. Though she lost her most recent political campaign, there can be no doubt that Madrid is a force to be reckoned with. Moreover, in broad historical terms her achievements go a long way toward demonstrating the changing nature of politics, society, and the role of women in New Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. As the highest-ranking elected Latina in New Mexico, she became symbolic of the growing opportunities for Latinas in realms

New Mexico previously closed to them—namely the law, politics, and governance. It would not be a surprise to see her make a run for the governorship in the near future. Romero Cash, Marie (1942–). Romero Cash is a renowned artist and historian, daughter of Emilio and Senaida Romero, themselves noted tinsmiths whose work was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowships. Romero Cash herself was also honored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Long affiliated with the Spanish Market, an annual art exhibition in Santa Fe, she is the recipient of its Master’s Award for Lifetime Achievement. The Spanish Market has been central in the preservation of traditional Nuevomexicano art forms such as santos, bultos, and gesso. Romero Cash’s work falls squarely within the santero tradition of northern New Mexico—the sculpting and fashioning of saints’ images—both in her physical art as well as in her literary production. Among her noted art projects are the Stations of the Cross for the Basilica of Saint Francis in Santa Fe. In addition to her plastic arts, Romero Cash is an accomplished historian and chronicler of Nuevomexicano artistic traditions. She has published widely on the history and physical traditions of santeros and religious art in New Mexico. Among her books are Built of Earth and Song: Churches of Northern New Mexico (1993), Living Shrines: Home Altars of New Mexico (1998), and Santos: Enduring Images of Northern New Mexican Village Churches (1999). Recently she has published a family memoir, Tortilla Chronicles (2006), which tells the story of growing up in the Romero family in Santa Fe. Romero Cash is a living example of the centuries-old santero tradition placed in a new, modern context. Roybal, Antonio (1976–). Born in Santa Fe in 1976, artist Antonio Roybal, was raised in Southern California. He later returned to New Mexico, where he developed an early interest in art and painting. He studied fine arts at the Colorado Institute of Art, and he was apprenticed with Jean-Claude Gaugy. He lived and worked with Ernst Fuchs, the Austrian artist and founder of linear expressionism. Roybal is an artist straddling three worlds: the art and representations of very old Hispano traditions of northern New Mexico, the modern expressionism of artists such as Max Beckman and Remedios Varo, and the mannerism of El Greco. Roybal is an excellent example of the emerging creative force of twenty-first century New Mexico. Dynamic and open to multiple influences, Roybal is conscious of and draws on the rich traditions of Chimayó, santeros, and bulto representation. Indeed, it seems fitting that an artist such as Roybal, who openly acknowledges the influence of modernism, comes from a venerable old Nuevomexicano lineage. The Roybals have been in New Mexico since the seventeenth century, and they are connected to the Angélico Chávez family by marriage. Roybal is thus an expression of the new fusion of multiple, international currents in art that have expressed themselves in his work, which is both surreal and visionary, and which he himself sees essentially as an expression of the ineffable and ultimately unknowable mystery of God. A young artist, Roybal is in many ways symbolic of how Nuevomexicano tradition and creativity can blend with innovation in technique and style to produce a harmonious balance that preserves the rich and vital religious iconography of Nuevomexicano Catholicism.

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CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS ART Catholicism was brought to New Mexico by Spanish Franciscan missionaries whose presence and dominance in New Mexico would place a unique stamp on the development of religion there. The geographic and administrative isolation of New Mexico from the rest of New Spain also meant a unique frontier religion which mixed Native American and Spanish cultural traditions. And given the shifting nature of politics after New Mexico’s inclusion in the United States, religion would take on an ethnic characteristic that added further complexity to its character. The Franciscans were one of the most powerful mendicant orders of New Spain. At the request of Cortés, they came to Mexico in 1524 as first missionaries, and they would quickly establish themselves in a position of power and authority. The ideology of conversion was brought to New Mexico with Oñate. The Franciscans promoted mass baptisms of Native Americans as well as the suppression of native customs viewed as sexually provocative or demonic. The Church in New Mexico would remain under the near monopoly of the Franciscans for most of the colonial era. New Mexico was part of the diocese of Guadalajara until 1621. In that year Durango was made into a diocese with jurisdiction over New Mexico, jurisdiction which lasted until the nineteenth century. The presence of the Franciscans was thus administratively nearly exclusive, but it was also weak demographically. The ultimate result is that Catholicism developed a fairly local character in New Mexico. This local character can be viewed through the forms of religious art and ceremonies that developed during New Mexico’s long history. Nuevomexicanos adapted their techniques using local materials. Religious imagery of the colonial era was painted on elk, buffalo, and deer hides or carved from local woods such as aspen or cottonwood. Among the prominent forms of religious art were retables (sometimes also called reredos)—altar screens that display saints or other religious imagery—crucifixes, bultos (saint statues) and gesso reliefs (a retable made from gesso and cloth). These very old Nuevomexicano traditions continued through the colonial era and into the contemporary period, being carried down to today through a very self-conscious attempt to preserve Hispano Catholic artistic traditions. For example, la Escuela Artesana—a kind of loosely affiliated group of carvers from the 1970s through the 1990s—promoted a specifically Nuevomexicano cultural heritage at a time when Native American art was in vogue among consumers of high-end art. Likewise, Chicano artists Luis Tapia and Federico Vigil looked specifically to Nuevomexicano traditions as a way of asserting both politically and culturally the uniqueness of the Hispano traditions of New Mexico. They founded the Cofradía de Artes y Artesanos Hispánicos with the goal of promoting traditional Hispanic arts.

New Mexico Other characteristics of Nuevomexicano Catholicism go beyond the plastic arts and imagery. Indeed, prior to the nineteenth century the elements of Hispanic Catholicism that were present in much of the Spanish world—veneration of Mary, pilgrimages, and local shrines—seem to have been largely absent from New Mexico. Rather, a kind of adaptive Catholicism emerged that was more associated with social interaction than religious piety. This does not mean that Nuevomexicanos were somehow less Catholic but that other forms of Catholic activity seem to have emerged. Among the most notable was the emergence in the late colonial period of the Brotherhood of the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Known as penitentes, members of this lay organization preserved traditional Nuevomexicano religious art and, more famously, engaged in ritualized public self-flagellation as penance for the sins of humanity. Whipping themselves to a bloody pulp, the penitentes organized spectacles of processions. The Brotherhood was however under siege because of a reform within Spanish Catholicism in the nineteenth century. Self-flagellation was actually made illegal in the late 1700s, but New Mexico’s isolation allowed it to continue. Lamy, the bishop of Santa Fe after it was made into a diocese in 1853, thought the Brotherhood was primitive and backward, but a New Mexico priest, José Martínez, promoted the Brotherhood as an expression not only of spirituality but of Nuevomexicano cultural tradition. Nuevomexicanos rightly resisted Lamy, pointing out that they had been in New Mexico for centuries and understood the local culture a good deal better than outsiders who had been imposed by the Church structure. In many ways the earliest roots of a politicized tension between Anglos and Nuevomexicanos found its cultural expression in the clash between Lamy and Martínez. Other forms of religious devotion would emerge in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that would mark New Mexico’s cultural tradition. The shrine at Chimayó became the principal pilgrimage site in New Mexico. At the same time New Mexico’s closeness to Mexico meant that the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe was adopted there. This also brings up the issue of the influence of Mexicans on New Mexico’s religious culture. Immigration from Mexico to New Mexico is pronounced in the southern part of the state, which has religious traditions with a heavier Mexican influence. The feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated on the night of December 11 and into December 12, and the Day of the Dead (November 2), a deeply integrated cultural tradition in Mexico, has begun to see greater observance in New Mexico. Religion in New Mexico became increasingly political in the twentieth century. Through the colonial period and the nineteenth century, Catholicism was something linked to cultural identity and spiritual activity. But once New Mexico was made part of the United States, Catholicism would take on different dimensions. Hispano and Nuevomexicano Catholicism was seen by many Anglos as backward

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Latino America and superstitious. Nuevomexicanos reacted to this by reasserting both Catholicism and their Hispanic cultural heritage as opposed to the paternalism of Anglo and Protestant culture. By the 1970s, when Chicano political activism was in its heyday, and through the rest of the twentieth century, there had been very serious debates about the role of Catholicism in general and Nuevomexicano Catholicism in particular. In 1974 Robert Sánchez became archbishop of Santa Fe. Differently from many previous bishops such as Lamy, Sánchez embraced and openly promoted Nuevomexicano cultural traditions from within the Catholic Church. He promoted the use of Nuevomexicano music, vestments, and organizations such as the Brotherhood. Under his tenure Catholicism in New Mexico experienced a kind of florescence— images of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared in churches and the Sanctuary of Chimayó emerged as a kind of symbol for Nuevomexicano cultural Catholicism.13 If on the one hand Chicano activism was characterized by imagery, on the other it was specifically political. Enrique Lamadrid saw Anglo tourism in and U.S. control of New Mexico as a kind of cultural imposition. Hispano Catholicism was for him a kind of cultural resistance. He wrote thus: “Religion takes on the added significance of a cultural as well as spiritual refuge. Traditional symbols are reinvested with a new urgency and power upon which rests the very survival of group identity.”14 The Señor de Esquipulas, La Virgen Conquistadora, the Virgin of Guadalupe, pilgrimages, and processions all thus express not only Nuevomexicanos’ relationship to the divine but also their connection to cultural uniqueness.

FOOD Chile is the most noted component of Nuevomexicano cuisine, if only for its prominence and intensity. It is not clear when chiles were introduced to New Mexico, but we know that in most of Mexico in the very early Spanish period Spaniards adopted the Native American customs of eating chile with their meat. In New Mexico chile is essentially divided between red chile from the north and green chile from Hatch, in the south. It is used as a condiment or as an essential ingredient in stews—for example, pork stew—or stuffed to make chile relleno, this being largely a Mexican adaptation. But beyond the prominence of chile in food as a matter of taste and style, its use has a long-standing practical element. Dating to the colonial era, there has been a tradition of not wasting animal parts, especially in a region where supplies were scarce. This is how adobo—a kind of pork stew in red chile—was born. Though today adobo is made and served wet, it originated as a way of preserving the meat of the pig, which would otherwise spoil. The traditional method was to marinate the pork in a mixture of vinegar, chile, and spices and then to let the meat dry. Other traditional dishes derived

New Mexico from this need not to waste food: pozole (spelled posole in New Mexico) is a stew made from large corn (hominy) and various pork products, and morcilla (blood sausage) is also a product of this tradition.

FOLK MEDICINE As a condition of New Mexico’s centuries-old isolation from New Spain, selfreliance became the traditional way people of that region understood healing and ritual. The most notable outgrowth of this self-sufficiency was the reliance on traditional healers, or curanderos. Usually women (curanderas), these traditional healers combined knowledge of locally available herbs with a spiritualized approach to physical healing. Many of these skills were learned or adopted by genízaro or Pueblo Native Americans, and then adapted to the Spanish context or combined with potential knowledge of broader curandero traditions from Mexico. In either case, curanderas then and now have viewed physical ailments not as merely corporeal but also as spiritual corruptions or imbalances; as a result, cures performed by curanderas have always attempted to diagnose the underlying psychic or spiritual reason for illness. In addition to a long-standing reverence for curanderas, which remains today, other folk healers were given particularly important roles in New Mexico. Midwives (parteras) were especially important in a region that had always had a traditional shortage of physicians. Herbal specialists also received wide esteem. The cultural traditions of folk remedies and folk healers are given a beautiful depiction in Adolfo Anaya’s classic novel, Bless Me, Ultima.

LEGENDS Like folk medicine, local lore and oral traditions were always very strong in New Mexico. This was due to the lack of a printing press and to the nature of settlement patterns and literacy rates. Before the twentieth century, literacy was low throughout New Spain and Spain, and so the oral telling of stories and passing on of legends always had an important role in popular culture in the Hispanic world. New Mexico fell squarely within this tradition, and given its isolation and the relative difficulty in acquiring books and building large libraries, oral traditions took on an even greater importance there. Beginning in the early twentieth century, many notable Nuevomexicano writers— such as Aurelio Espinosa and Rudolfo Anaya—have written down many of these stories and tales for a world where oral storytelling is becoming less central. Espinosa, for one, found that many, if not most, folklore in New Mexico was Spanish (that is, from Spain itself) in origin. A later generation, especially those who politically identified themselves as Chicanos—and therefore neither Mexican nor

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Latino America American—began to utilize the Aztec mythology of Aztlán as part of a specifically self-conscious folk tradition. According to Aztec theogonic mythology, the Aztecs emerged from Aztlán—a place somewhere in the northern part of Mexico or the U.S. Southwest—to arrive eventually in the central valley of Mexico, where they established Tenochtitlan. Another powerful Nuevomexicano legend with less political implications is that of la Llorona (or the weeping woman). According to the legend, she was a widow who drowned her children to be able to marry again. As a punishment for her hideous crime, she was condemned to wander near waterways at night, wailing in grief and guilt, thus terrifying living children who stay out too late at night.

NOTES Unless otherwise noted, translations are the author’s. 1. See Simmons, Last Conquistador, 1991, 13–47. 2. Quoted in Phillips, 2004, 14. 3. For a discussion of the settling and exploration of New Mexico, see Simmons, Last Conquistador, 1991, and José R. López Gastón, 1985. 4. López Gastón, 1985, 201. See also Marc Simmons, Hispanic Albuquerque, 2003, 28. 5. See Simmons, Hispanic Albuquerque, 2003, 15–16. 6. López Gastón, 1985, 230. 7. See María Rosa García Acevedo, “The Forgotten Diaspora: Mexican Immigration to New Mexico,” in The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico, eds. Erlinda Gonzales-Barry and David R. Maciel, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000). 8. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US35&ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_G2000_B03001. 9. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US35&qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP3&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U. 10. Figures for Latino populations according to the U.S. census can be found at http://factfinder.census.gov. 11. Discussion of the announcement by Gov. Bill Richardson and his appearance on ABC can be found in Matthew L. Wald, “Democratic Governor of New Mexico Joins Race,” New York Times, December 22, 2007, at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/us/politics/22richardson.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1169442000&en=0ff23a67c9898ab1&ei=5094& partner=homepage&oref=slogin. 12. Both quoted in López Gastón, 1985, 315–316. 13. See Montaño, 2001, 49. 14. Quoted in Montaño, 2001, 47.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Albuquerque Tribune. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/oct/10/patricia-madrid-democrat. American Fact Finder. http://factfinder.census.gov. Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. Berkeley: Quinto Sol, 1972. ———. Heart of Aztlan. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.

New Mexico ———. Jalamanta: A Message from the Desert. New York: Warner, 1996. ———. Lord of the Dawn: The Legend of Quetzalcóatl. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987. Anaya, Rudolfo, and Antonio Márquez, eds. Cuentos Chicanos: A Short Story Anthology. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. Anaya, Rudolfo, and Francisco A. Lomelí, eds. Aztlán: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Albuquerque, NM: El Norte Publications, 1989. Antonio Roybal. http://www.antonioroybal.com. Archdiocese of Santa Fe. http://www.archdiocesesantafe.org/AboutASF/Chimayo.html. Benavides, Alonso de. Harvest of Reluctant Souls: The Memorial of Fray Alonso de Benavides, 1630. Translated and edited by Baker H. Morrow. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1996. Carroll, Michael P. The Penitente Brotherhood: Patriarchy and Hispano-Catholicism in New Mexico. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. Chacón, Eusebio. El hijo de la tempestad, tras la tormenta la calma: Dos novelitas originales. Santa Fe, NM: Tipografía de El Boletín Popular, 1892. Chávez, Fray Angélico. But Time and Chance: The Story of Padre Martinez of Taos, 1793–1867. Santa Fe, NM: Sunstone Press, 1981. ———. Cantares: Canticles and Poems of Youth, 1925–1932. Houston, TX: Arte Público, 2001. ———. Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue. Santa Fe, NM: Sunstone Press, 1983. ———. Coronado’s Friars. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1968. ———. My Penitente Land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1974. Chavez, John. The Lost Land: The Chicano Image of the Southwest. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. Cobos, Rubén. A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish. Rev. and exp. ed. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 2003. Cutter, Charles R. Legal Culture of Northern New Spain, 1700–1810. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. DeLoach, Dana Engstrom. “Image and Identity at El Santuario de Chimayo in Chimayo, New Mexico.” Master’s thesis, University of North Texas, 1999. Ebright, Malcolm, and Rick Hendricks. The Witches of Abiquiu: The Governor, the Priest, the Genízaro Indians, and the Devil. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006. Flores, Ralph M. The Horse in the Kitchen: Stories of a Mexican-American Family. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004. Forrest, Suzanne. The Preservation of the Village: New Mexico’s Hispanics and the New Deal. Foreword by William deBuys. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. Frietze, Lionel Cajen. History of La Mesilla and Her Mesilleros. Las Cruces, NM: L.C. Frietze, 1994. García Icazbalceta, Joaquín. Biografía de don fray Juan de Zumárraga, primer obispo y arzobispo de Méjico. Madrid, Spain: M. Aguilar, 1929. García, Nasario, ed. Brujas, Bultos, y Brasas: Tales of Witchcraft and the Supernatural in the Pecos Valley. Foreword by Marc Simmons. Principal photography by Nedra Westwater. Santa Fe, NM: Western Edge Press, 1999.

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Latino America Gardner, Mark L., and Marc Simmons, eds. The Mexican War Correspondence of Richard Smith Elliott. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. Gonzales Berry, Erlinda, and David R. Maciel, eds. The Contested Homeland: A Chicano History of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. Griggs, George. History of the Mesilla Valley, Or the Gadsden Purchase, Known in Mexico as the Treaty of Mesilla. Las Cruces, NM: Bronson Print Co., 1930. Gutiérrez, Ramón A. When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500–1846. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1991. Hayes, Joe, ed. and trans. Cuentos de cuanto hay: Tales from Spanish New Mexico. Collected from oral tradition by J. Manuel Espinosa. Illustrated by William Rotsaert. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. Hordes, Stanley M. To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. Jackson, Hal. Following the Royal Road: Guide to the Historic Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Foreword by Marc Simmons. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006. Kessell, John L., Rick Hendricks, and Meredith D. Dodge, eds. Blood on the Boulders: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, New Mexico, 1694–97. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. La Herencia Books. http://www.herencia.com/santeros.html. Leonard, Irving A. Books of the Brave. New York: Gordian Press, 1964. Lomelí, Francisco A., and Clark A. Colahan, eds. and trans. Defying the Inquisition in Colonial New Mexico: Miguel de Quintana’s Life and Writings. Foreword by Luis Leal. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006. Lomelí, Francisco A., Víctor A. Sorell, and Genaro M. Padilla, eds. Nuevomexicano Cultural Legacy: Forms, Agencies, and Discourse. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002. López Gastón, José R. Tradición hispánica de Nuevo México. Mexico City, Mexico: Editora Progreso, 1985. Lovato, Andrew Leo. Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004. McCracken, Ellen, ed. Fray Angélico Chávez: Poet, Priest, and Artist. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. Montaño, Mary. Tradiciones Nuevomexicanas: Hispano Arts and Culture of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001. Morales Morgan, Phyllis S. Fray Angélico Chávez: A Bibliography of His Published Writings, 1925–1978. Santa Fe, NM: Lightning Tree, 1980. Morris, Roger. The Devil’s Butcher Shop: The New Mexico Prison Uprising. New York: F. Watts, 1983. Nieto Phillips, John M. The Language of Blood: The Making of Spanish-American Identity in New Mexico, 1880s–1930s. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2004. Owen, Gordon. Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1849–1999: Multi-Cultural Crossroads. Las Cruces, NM: Red Sky, 1999. Panorama: New Mexico State University Alumni Magazine. Vol. 55, no. 2 (2006). Rancho de Chimayo Restaurant. http://www.ranchodechimayo.com.

New Mexico Roybal, Antonio. Interview by author. January 17, 2007. Salvador, Mari Lyn. Cuando Hablan Los Santos: Contemporary Santero Traditions from Northern New Mexico. Contributions by William R. Calhoun. Spanish translations by Erlinda Gonzales-Berry, Alejandro López, and Juan José Peña. Santa Fe, NM: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 1995. Simmons, Marc. Albuquerque: A Narrative History. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1982. ———. Coronado’s Land: Essays on Daily Life in Colonial New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. ———. Hispanic Albuquerque, 1706–1846. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. ———. Ranchers, Ramblers, and Renegades: True Tales of Territorial New Mexico. Santa Fe, NM: Ancient City Press, 1984. ———. The Last Conquistador: Juan de Oñate and the Settling of the Far Southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. ———. Spanish Pathways: Readings in the History of Hispanic New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001. ———. Turquoise and Six-Guns: The Story of Cerrillos, New Mexico. Cerrillos, NM: Galisteo Press, 1968. ———. Witchcraft in the Southwest: Spanish and Indian Supernaturalism on the Rio Grande. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press, 1974. Simmons, Marc, ed. and trans. Border Comanches: Seven Spanish Colonial Documents, 1785–1819. Santa Fe, NM: Stagecoach Press, 1967. Steele, Thomas J., ed. and trans. The Alabados of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. Stevens, Joanne. “Marie Romero Cash: A New Mexican ‘Santera.’” Woman’s Art Journal 14, no. 1 (1993): 33–36. Torres, Eliseo. Healing with Herbs and Rituals: A Mexican Tradition. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006. U.S. News. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060913/13madrid.htm. Vigil, Donancio. Arms, Indians, and the Mismanagement of New Mexico. Translated and edited by David J. Weber. El Paso: Texas Western Press, University of Texas at El Paso, 1986. Villagrá, Gaspar Pérez de. Historia de la Nueva México, 1610. A Critical and Annotated Spanish/English Edition. Translated and edited by Miguel Encinias, Alfred Rodríguez, and Joseph P. Sánchez. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. Weber, David J. Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005. ———. The Mexican Frontier, 1821–1846: The American Southwest under Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1982. ———. Myth and the History of the Hispanic Southwest: Essays. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988. ———. On the Edge of Empire: The Taos Hacienda of Los Martínez. With a photographic essay by Anthony Richardson. Narrative text by Skip Miller. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1996.

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Latino America Weber, David J., ed. Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans. Foreword by Ramón Eduardo Ruiz. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. ———. The Idea of Spanish Borderlands. New York: Garland, 1991. ———. What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999. ———. The Spanish Frontier in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.

33 NEW YORK Segundo S. Pantoja

CHRONOLOGY 1823

1824 1830 1849

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Cuban Father Felix Varela y Morales arrives in New York City as an exile. During the next 30 years he would work on behalf of the poor, the sick, orphans, and migrants. El Habanero is published to appeal for Cuban independence. It is probably the first Spanish-language newspaper in the United States. Cuban and Puerto Rican merchants establish the first Sociedad Benéfica Cubana y Puertorriqueña, or Spanish Benevolent Society. The writer Cirilo Villaverde escapes from Cuba to New York City and joins the campaign to end Spain’s control of the island. He had published Cecilia Valdés, the most famous Cuban novel, in 1839. Thousands of Cubans fled their island at the outset of the war of independence from Spain and settled in Tampa, Florida, and New York City. At the end of the war in 1878, many of them left New York and returned to their country on ships sent by the Spanish government. Educator Eugenio M. de Hostos, one of Latin America’s first sociologists and a fighter for Puerto Rican independence, arrives in New York City. He took residence in the city on three other occasions between 1874 and 1898. Cuban patriot José Martí arrives in New York City. Known simply as the Apostle, during the next 14 years Martí would work tirelessly for the liberation of Cuba. Cuban singer Rosalía “Chalía” Herrera is the first Latino artist to record in New York City. She recorded 40 songs for the Bettini label between 1898 and 1900.

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1937 1953

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1964

Cuban American New Yorker educator Tomás Estrada Palma, former president of the Cuban Government in Exile, is nominated presidential candidate by unanimity; he is thus elected first president of Cuba. El Diario, New York City’s premier Spanish-language newspaper, is founded. Congress approves the Jones Act, granting U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans. That year saw the first migration spike, with approximately 11 thousand Puerto Ricans migrating to New York City. Oscar García Rivera is the first Puerto Rican elected to the New York State Assembly. Francis Cardinal Spellman creates the Office of Spanish Catholic Action, which in that same year established the Fiesta of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Puerto Rico. Jesús De Galíndez—Basque Republican representative, Columbia University professor, community leader, and anti-Trujillo activist—is kidnapped in New York and killed in the Dominican Republic. The Puerto Rican Day Parade tradition begins, becoming the most important annual celebration of Puerto Rican culture along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Irma Vidal Santaella becomes the first Puerto Rican woman to be admitted to the New York State Bar. Later, in 1983 she will be the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the State Supreme Court. WADO 1280 AM, the dominant Latino radio station in New York City, starts broadcasting in Spanish.

New York 1965 1967

1969

1970 1973

1982

1991 1992 1994

1996

1999 2000

2001

Herman Badillo becomes the first Puerto Rican to be elected borough president in New York City. Miriam Colón Valle founds the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, an institution with year-round Spanish- and English-language plays that has inspired similar initiatives throughout the nation. El Museo del Barrio—a leading cultural institution representing Latino culture through exhibits, festivals, and programs in public schools—is founded. Black and Latino Students at the City College take over the South Campus. They demand from the City University of New York open admissions, no tuition, a Black and Puerto Rican Studies program, and the hiring of minority teachers. All demands are accepted and implemented, but tuition is gradually reinstated after 1975. Herman Badillo is the first Puerto Rican in U.S. history elected to serve in the House of Representatives. The Center for Puerto Rican Studies (El Centro) is formed at Hunter College as a university research unit to help establish the legitimacy of Puerto Rican studies as an academic field. The Nuyorican Poets Café in the Lower East Side is established by poets Miguel Algarín, Miguel Piñero, and Pedro Pietri. The café is a New York landmark, and it has been located on 236 East Third Street since 1980. Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York, dies. An accomplished writer, she published her first book, Pérez and Martina: A Portorican Folk Tale, in 1932. Guillermo Linares is the first Dominican elected to the New York City Council. Nydia Velázquez is elected to Congress, the first Puerto Rican woman ever to do so. The Dominican Studies Institute at the City College is established. An initiative of the Council of Dominican Educators, it is the only universitybased research institution in the United States dedicated to the study of the Dominican experience. Adriano Espaillat becomes the first Dominican elected to the New York State Assembly, representing the 72nd District, which includes Washington Heights and Inwood. Antonia Novello is appointed commissioner of health for the state of New York. She is the first Puerto Rican woman to do so. Ernesto Antonio Puente Sr., better known as Tito Puente, dies. Called Rey del Timbal, Tito Puente’s career in Mambo and Latin jazz spanned 50 years, during which he won five Grammy Awards. Diana Reyna is elected to the New York City Council, representing Bushwick, Ridgewood, and Williamsburg (Brooklyn). She is the first Dominican American woman elected to the New York City Council.

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Latino America 2002

2004

2005

2006

2007

Dora Irizarry becomes the first Latina to run for attorney general. Judge Irizarry later gets a lifetime appointment to the federal bench (U.S. District Court). Hiram Monserrate becomes the first Latino to be elected to public office in Queens, New York City Council District 21. José R. Peralta becomes the first Latino to be elected to the New York State Assembly for Queens District 39. The Dominican Omar Minaya is named the first Latino general manager for the New York Mets. In his short run he has taken the club to a prominent position. Fernando Ferrer unsuccessfully runs for mayor of New York for a third time. In 1997 he withdrew to back Ruth Messinger, and in 2001 he lost in the primary to Mark Green, who went on to lose to Michael Bloomberg. Marching in human chains from Union Square throughout Manhattan on May 1st, thousands of migrants make history while calling for a just migration reform and protesting against the proposed laws that treat them as terrorists. Latino home ownership reaches an all-time high: 16 percent compared with 12 percent in 1990. Latinos trail all other New Yorkers, including black householders, who own their homes at a rate of 28 percent.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW SIZE AND LOCATION In the year 2005, over 2 million of New York State’s 3 million Latinos were living in New York City. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Latinos represented close to 30 percent of the New York City population and 16 percent of the state’s total. Although the roots of many Latinos in the state of New York go back two centuries, half of them are newcomers. They have become indispensable contributors to the economy and have enlivened the city’s and state’s culture with their tasty food, syncopated rhythms, baseball sportsmanship, and pious religiosity. Less visible are Latinos in politics and other places of power. Success has come slowly in business and socioeconomic improvement, both highly dependent on academic achievement. Throughout the state Latino communities form tight clusters in urban areas commonly known as inner cities. Although their numbers in the state’s 62 counties diminish in proportion to the distance from New York City, Latinos can be found in considerable concentrations from Nassau (11 percent), Suffolk (12 percent), and Westchester (16 percent), in New York City’s vicinity, to Orange (14 percent) and Dutchess (8 percent), somewhat farther north. Within specific cities Latinos’

New York participation in the total population is larger than at the county level. Thus Latinos in the city of Rochester make up 13 percent of the population but only about seven percent of Ulster county’s; the same happens in Buffalo, whose Latino population represents 7.5 percent of the population but approximately only three percent of Erie County’s. Within the city of New York, Latinos’ percentages vary, ranging from 18 percent in Staten Island, 20 percent in Kings County in Brooklyn, and 26 percent in Queens, to 30 percent in Manhattan and 51 percent in the Bronx. A positive outcome of the Bronx’s Latino majority is that Latino politicians have been elected more frequently to public office, thus representing more districts from the Bronx than from any other borough in the city. Thanks to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which led to chain migration, the growth from previous decades continued with a concomitant diversification. Up until 1970, Puerto Ricans used to represent 80 percent of the Latinos in New York City. Their numbers increased until 1990, but since then the Puerto Ricans’ share in the total Latino population has declined in absolute and relative terms. In 2000 there were about 100,000 fewer Puerto Ricans in the city than in 1990; and the U.S. census estimates of 2005 found the size of this community stagnant at around 780,000. Today they represent only 35 percent of the total Latino population in New York City. The changes are due in part to a dispersion of Puerto Ricans throughout the state of New York, where they compose 50 percent of the Latino population. Their displacement to other states, such as Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and a return flow back to Puerto Rico—a phenomenon that has been prevalent since the 1970s, which has been dubbed “reverse migration”—have also contributed to this decline in population. The change is also explained by the increased presence of Latinos arriving from all Latin American countries, and particularly from the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Dominicans have become the second-largest group, making up 24 percent (570,000) of the Latino population in the state of New York. In addition, during the last two decades Mexicans in New York City have become a rapidly growing segment of the Latino population, going from 56,000 people in 1990 to over 240,000 a decade later. They stand in third place, after Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. But it is widely believed that such figure grossly underestimates the real size of the Mexican presence, given that the undocumented among them might surpass the 100,000 mark.1 Finally, South Americans as a group constitute a large category (15 percent), followed from afar by Central Americans (6 percent). Latinos who live outside New York City comprise about one-third of the state’s total population. Their presence in the suburbs dates from the 1940s in the case of Puerto Ricans, whereas most others trace the history of their suburban experience from as recently as the 1980s. During World War II, thousands of Puerto Ricans were actively recruited to work in New York farms and factories. Single and married male workers came first; later, many brought their families over and

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Latino America laid down the foundations for Latino communities in rural areas outside New York City—some as far as Buffalo, an eight-hour drive from the Big Apple. With time, many Puerto Ricans who started as farmworkers moved to the industrial towns in search of better-paying and stable jobs. New waves of migrants, chiefly Mexicans and Central Americans, replaced Puerto Ricans as farm hands in the latter part of the twentieth century. Much like Euro-Americans before them, Latinos settled in suburban areas in recent decades in pursuit of jobs, but they sought also their share of the American Dream. Latinos have moved away in successive waves from New York City because they want to be able to own a house. Lack of personal safety in many neighborhoods motivated Latinos to search for safe areas. Last but not least, the lure of good public schools in suburban areas has attracted Latino families. The massive escape from New York City by Latinos has not been the panacea they have sought. Presumably, those who settled in the suburbs first, before the economic crisis of the 1970s, could have still enjoyed the advantages of living away from the city. However, in the last decades of the twentieth century the quality of life in the suburbs deteriorated. This was due to the dismantling of manufacturing plants and the disappearance of stable, good-paying, unionized jobs, among other things. Also, the exodus of whites further away from blacks and Latinos and the consequent decline in tax revenues contributed to a reduction of government spending and investment. Recent times saw the emergence throughout New York State of the inner suburbs—dilapidated residential areas in the wake of economic transformation that have been inherited by minorities, and which came to suffer the same social ills familiar to the inhabitants of the inner cities, namely floundering public schools, run-down housing, drug dealing, and gang violence. New York City suburbs are segregated ostensibly by income levels. Yet, white middle-class suburbs rely on the hundreds of thousands of Latinos who have settled in nearby towns to supply low-wage labor. Hempstead, Long Island, is a case in point. Half an hour from New York City, Hempstead has been since the 1980s the home to thousands of migrants, mostly Salvadorans seeking refuge from the civil war raging in that country (1979–1991). Salvadorans have contributed heavily to the fast growth of Latinos in the two counties of Long Island, Suffolk and Nassau. Just between 1980 and 1990, the census registered increases of the Salvadoran population by 79 percent in Nassau and 50 percent in Suffolk. By the year 2000 the census found that 282,693 Latinos were residing in Long Island.2 Most of them are concentrated in a few occupations—principally as domestics, babysitters, housecleaners, and landscapers, whereas some are employed in restaurants, car washes, and light manufacturing. Because Long Island’s hunger for cheap labor has not abated, Mexicans have joined Salvadorans; and these two have been the fastest-growing Latino nationalities during the first decade of the twenty-first century.

New York The few Salvadorans who arrived before 1980 were of middle-class background. They were mostly professionals, and they preferred to live in the city. The Salvadorans who flooded New York in the ensuing decades were different from the first Salvadoran wave: they were low skilled and came from a peasant background; Long Island was thus a better option for them because there they found jobs that matched their abilities. About half of Salvadoran migrants are undocumented, and one-fifth hold temporary work permits. Only about one-quarter of this Central American community enjoys the privileges of stable residency and citizenship. The tenuous residency status of most Salvadorans places them in a situation of vulnerability. They are not represented politically, and they have not established strong community organizations that could advocate for them. Salvadorans’ U.S.-born children receive deficient public schooling, and they are exposed to the deleterious influence of street life, which is rife with gang activity. Nevertheless, with the high concentration of Salvadorans in a few areas—for example, Hempstead and Brentwood—an entrepreneurial sector of small and medium size businesses has been developing in their midst. Positive signs, though some still feeble, of internal coherence within the Latino community are appearing. Salvadorans, for instance, have established a chamber of commerce and their own newspapers—for example, La Tribuna Hispana. They have also been interacting with older Latino communities, such as the Puerto Ricans, and newer ones—such as the Colombians, Dominicans, and Mexicans. These groups are coming together to do business, to join forces in addressing common issues, and to celebrate their common cultural heritage through festivals and annual parades.

LATINO PIONEERS

IN THE

NINETEENTH CENTURY

For over two centuries now, New York City has been both final destination and gateway for migrants and exiles from Latin America, especially the Caribbean. Ever since the late 1700s, when the Spanish Empire’s grip on its colonies in the New World started to loosen under the pressure of war and competition from other European powers, its colonial subjects opened up to trade and other types of exchange with the United States. Export/import opportunities and the need for credit required natives from the Caribbean islands to travel to the ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard, notably New York. Entrepreneurs from Puerto Rico and Cuba had established a merchant association in New York City by 1830. It was called Sociedad Benéfica Cubana y Puertorriqueña, or Spanish Benevolent Society. Thus, some businessmen thought New York a sufficiently important market in which to set up permanent representation. Such steps helped prepare the way for the growing economic interaction thereafter, for in the second half of the nineteenth century the United States, and New York in particular, became the

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Latino America main trading and financial partners of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Little by little the sugar, tobacco, and coffee from these islands found in New York and other eastern ports their main markets. By 1897, for instance, 60.6 percent of Puerto Rican sugar exports went to the United States, compared with 35.4 percent exported to Spain.3 Many a patriot of the campaigns to end the Spanish Empire’s control over the Caribbean islands ended up making New York their transient or permanent home. Inspired by South America’s war of liberation in the early 1800s and the victory of the Dominicans during the War of Restoration (1861–1865) against the annexation of the republic to Spain, Cubans and Puerto Ricans started seeking alternatives to the detested status quo. They could be divided into three groups: those who wanted more autonomy from Spain (autonomistas); those who wanted to separate from Spain and be annexed to the United States (anexionistas); and those who aspired to wrest the islands from Spain and make them independent republics (independentistas). Puerto Ricans fled their island nation in increasing numbers, especially after the Spaniards suppressed the Lares uprising of 1868; Cubans also headed for New York after El Grito de Yara—the “Cry of Yara,” which marks the beginning of the Ten Years’ War (1868–1878) in Cuba. For example, the census of 1870 found that there were already 1,565 Cubans residing in New York City.4 Achieving independence from Spain was the overriding goal pursued by political exiles converging in New York City during the second half of the nineteenth century. Renowned personalities such as Emeterio Betances, Eugenio María de Hostos, Sotero Figueroa, and Francisco Gonzalo “Pachin” Marín hailed from Puerto Rico, whereas from Cuba came heroes of past and future combats for that nation’s sovereignty—such as “the Apostle” José Martí, Antonio Maceo, and Máximo Gómez. In those agitated times, New York City was where intellectuals, politicians, and adventurers from the Americas and even Spain held their rendezvous. In 1895, Cuban political exiles formed a branch of the Cuban Revolutionary Party; several of their associations were oriented to the cause of Antillean independence. The Liga de Artesanos and the Liga Antillana were male and female organizations, respectively, bringing together intellectuals and working-class activists to support the cause of independence. For this purpose, organizations such as the ligas conducted fund-raising events, conferences, and educational pursuits. Besides Washington, DC, New York was also a destination for Latin Americans from the 15 republics born after the independence wars that ended in 1825, from Mexico to Argentina. They came to New York, for short or long stays, to serve on diplomatic missions, to raise funds for political campaigns or economic development, or to sit out political crises in their home countries. Sailors, too, jumped ship in New York and became a common source of migrants for the city. But all in all, migration in the nineteenth century trickled. There were artisans and skilled

New York workers, such as cigar makers, among the migrants, but this was a period during which businesspeople and political exiles predominated. Children of upper-class families were also sent to study in New York State’s colleges and boarding schools. In the latter part of the 1800s and during the first decades of the 1900s Chelsea was called Little Spain (Pequeña España), dotted with Spanish and Latin American restaurants, cafés, grocery stores, bookstores, social clubs, and cigar factories—especially along 14th Street, its main artery.

COMMUNITY FORMATION

IN THE

TWENTIETH CENTURY

During the twentieth century the state of New York’s Latino contingent became numerous as well as diverse in its origins and socioeconomic composition. The changes in volume and patterns of migration during that century were consequences of U.S. foreign policy, political turmoil in various Latin American countries, and the inability of the majority of Latin American regimes to meet their people’s expectations concerning economic and social standards. At various points in time, the stability or upsurge in the Latino population is explained by one or the combination of some of the aforementioned causes. In addition to population inflows, high birth rates among Latinos are also a key factor for Latinos’ sprawling presence. The first jump in the number of Latinos taking residence in the state of New York was the result of Puerto Rico’s takeover by the United States in 1898. With a population of close to 1 million at the time, Puerto Rico was opened in the succeeding years to recruitment by companies in search of laborers. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century Puerto Rican peasants and workers had already been supplying some of the demand for planters in neighboring islands; but starting in 1900 Puerto Ricans were to be fanned far and wide, depending on the needs of U.S. corporations. Using the routes long established by maritime companies to carry commercial cargo, the transportation of passengers got a boost when Puerto Rican men and women were recruited to labor in New York City factories; others came on their own, escaping unemployment or just seeking better wages. With the exception of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital, it was estimated that on the island there were five unemployed workers for each available unskilled position. Under such pressure, 71,000 persons left Puerto Rico between 1909 and 1940. As a group, Puerto Ricans concentrated in blue-collar occupations; about 75 percent of them found jobs in factories, laundries, construction, and as cigar makers, porters, and hotel employees; a few of them were hired as farmworkers.5 The year 1917 marked a significant increase in the number of Puerto Rican migrants. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans through the Jones Act. About 11,000 Puerto Ricans left their island for the United States immediately after the act was passed. Those who settled in New York congregated

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Latino America in a few areas—such as the Lower East Side, Chelsea, and East Harlem in Manhattan—whereas the rest located along the waterfronts of Brooklyn, such as Greenpoint and the Gowanus Canal. Roughly up to the end of World War II, the areas of settlement for Puerto Ricans were determined mainly by the location of their jobs and availability of affordable housing. With the onset of the Great Migration (1946–1964), Puerto Ricans populated new areas in the city; they moved to Manhattan’s west side, Washington Heights, inner areas of Brooklyn, and above all, the South Bronx. They came to inhabit houses and tenements that had been first occupied by previous generations of European migrants, most notably Jews, Italians, and the Irish. The first waves of Puerto Ricans shared urban spaces with members of such groups. Friction and instances of racial violence were part of Puerto Ricans’ daily life; but as time went on and the Puerto Rican population grew, they ended up taking over whole areas vacated by Anglos who left for the outer boroughs and suburbia. They inherited the living space but not the property, though. They became tenants in run-down housing and unkempt neighborhoods; their living conditions were immortalized in documentaries and novels such as Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets (1967). Perhaps the most famous of these areas is East Harlem, better known as El Barrio (literally, neighborhood). El Barrio lies north of 96th Street and south of 125th Street, and First and Park Avenues flank it to the east and west, respectively. As early as 1916, there were 50 Puerto Rican families residing in this neighborhood. Owing to the Jones Act of 1917 the numbers rose, and the 1920 census finds 7,364 Puerto Ricans in El Barrio. During the rest of the decade, when Puerto Rican and Cuban communities were still about the same size, both groups settled in this section of the city, which would soon be known as Spanish Harlem. By 1930, Puerto Ricans (44,908) had outnumbered Cubans in the city two to one. The pace of growth continued in the years following World War II, and as onethird of Puerto Rico’s labor force moved to the U.S. mainland, chiefly to New York City, their numbers came to predominate in East Harlem, impressing upon the area a markedly Puerto Rican flavor. El Barrio epitomized “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of the Puerto Ricans’ experience in New York City. The vibrancy of the community could be felt in the way extended families living in close proximity of one other wove networks with neighbors of the same background by clustering in tenements, attending the same churches, organizing block parties, playing stickball, hanging out in the stoops, and patronizing the same bodegas. It was in this neighborhood that Puerto Ricans first flexed their political muscle as a voting bloc in favor of Italians such as Fiorello LaGuardia and Vito Marcantonio. It was here also that they elected the first Puerto Rican to the New York State Assembly, Oscar García Rivera. Some years later, in 1958, a conglomerate of associations and hometown clubs established an institution that has had an enduring impact: the Puerto Rican Day

New York Parade, the annual Puerto Rican event par excellence. On the second Sunday of every June, between 2 and 3 million participants and spectators from both New York City and around the country, including Puerto Rico, take part in this revelry. Other activists, parents, and artists founded cultural institutions, such as El Museo del Barrio (1969), to showcase and preserve traditions and artifacts representative of Puerto Rican culture. In the wake of the civil rights movement, activists emerged to organize Latinos around the issues dear to the people of the neighborhood. Urgent problems—such as the need for quality housing, access to health care, garbage pickup, and education—stirred people to action. The Young Lords Party (1969–1976), for instance, channeled, even if briefly, the rebellious and creative energy of politically oriented youths, who mobilized the community to take care of their own problems and demand solutions from the government. Much like South Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s, El Barrio took a turn for the worse during those decades. East Harlem was ravaged by poverty, fires, unemployment, drug trafficking, violence, and the HIV epidemic. Those who could, left the area for better places. Coinciding with the anticrime policies of the Giuliani administration (1994–2002) and the economic expansion of the 1990s, some of the more noticeable social ills of East Harlem seemed to have lessened, which attracted non-Latino groups and investment into the area. Crime indicators are considerably down (from 31 murders in 1990 to 10 in 2006), housing construction for middle-and high-income buyers is on the rise, and small businesses as well as chain stores have proliferated.6 As with everything else Puerto Rican in New York City, much has changed concerning El Barrio. As the new century takes off, there are less Puerto Ricans and more Dominicans and Mexicans in the area. Institutions founded to serve Puerto Ricans have altered their mission statements to adapt to the newer Latino subgroups. During the 1990s, El Museo del Barrio’s mission was modified several times, reflecting the changing demographics while remaining true to its Puerto Rican origins. The museum includes representative art and culture from the Caribbean and Latin America, so that today El Museo is touted as the leading Latino cultural institution in New York City. Any casual walk on the streets of El Barrio confirms the strong imprint Mexicans are making through business and cultural expressions.

SURVIVAL

IN THE

CITY

From the earliest days, migrants have resorted to ethnic group solidarity to find ways of surviving in the metropolis. For those who established communities in New York City before the era of government assistance programs—such as public housing, welfare, Medicaid, and food stamps—solving basic problems in times of crisis was less difficult if they had the support of relatives and of religious and

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Latino America

“Star Kids,” Children March in Puerto Rican Day Parade, New York City, 2006. Courtesy of Clarisel Gonzalez.

communal organizations. Mutual aid societies were organized at the workplace; and hometown clubs for people who shared a common place of origin are examples of associations that created a sort of social safety net to help weather personal and family episodes of hunger, sickness, or death. As early as the mid1920s, 43 associations represented the various groups and interests of the Latino communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Most ethnic organizations identified themselves with a common Hispanic label, but many others were linked to specific nationalities—for example, Puerto Rican, Spanish, Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, and Mexican. Since the 1920s, nonprofit organizations have proliferated and consolidated in federations and confederations, such as the Hispanic Federation, which alone encompasses no less than 80 organizations.7 Although many Latinos have realized their dreams of material, social, and intellectual improvement, New York City has always offered a tough challenge. To those with the least resources, to the weak of will, or to the plainly unlucky, New York City has embodied an insurmountable barrier, and for too many willing and able Latinos, their existence in that city has been reduced to mere survival. Wages for most Latinos in blue-collar occupations have always lagged behind the cost of

New York living in this perennially expensive city. A mixture of discrimination, lack of upwardly social connections, and insufficient schooling explain—today as in yesteryears—the high unemployment rate among Latinos, which have historically run at about twice the rate for whites. Latinos suffered massive unemployment on a few occasions, the Great Depression being the longest bout. So deep was the crisis that this was the only period in the twentieth century in which the number of Latinos, especially Puerto Ricans, returning to their lands of origin surpassed that of those arriving in New York City. When New York City ceased being the industrial capital of the nation and metamorphosed into a center of national and international finance, insurance, real estate, and commerce—in short, when it became a services-based economy— most Latinos were ill-prepared to take advantage of the transition. At a slow but sustained pace, starting after World War II, the industrial base of New York was dismantled and moved increasingly farther from New York City. Just in the period 1950–1976, the city’s manufacturing jobs fell by almost 50 percent, from 1,038,900 to 527,000. The toll on Puerto Ricans was enormous, for two-thirds of them held blue-collar jobs at the time.8 On the other hand the new service economy created enough jobs to compensate for those lost in traditional industries, with the caveat that most service jobs paid less and offered no stability or benefits such as health insurance or pension. In addition, the well-paying jobs among the new employment opportunities went to those who had the skills and academic credentials to perform them. Because most Puerto Ricans lacked training beyond high school and many did not meet even this minimum requirement, they had to scramble for the few remaining manufacturing jobs, settle for occupations in the lower tiers of the service economy, or they were simply left jobless. The more recent migrants had it worse than the Puerto Ricans, for among them the noncitizens and undocumented were numerous, and they lacked Englishlanguage skills. New York City’s economic transformation lies at the root of many Latinos’ decision to leave that city in pursuit of those companies that relocated upstate, out of the state, or to Long Island, attracted by lower costs of land and labor, lower taxes, and fewer regulations.

THE LATINO ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT From the start, Latinos in New York have contributed to the economy mostly as laborers and semiskilled workers, though a small sector composed of professionals and small-business owners has always been present too. Unfortunately, despite the passing of time and the transformation of the state’s economy, the proportion of Latinos holding blue-collar and white-collar jobs remains remarkably similar now to what it was at the beginning of the twentieth century. From that time on, earning a living depended on firms hiring Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and

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Latino America Latinos from other nationalities, though economic opportunities were also generated by Latinos themselves. The clustering of Latinos in a few areas of the city allowed them to develop a sort of enclave economy, where Latinos created a demand for goods and services supplied by other Latinos. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the clustering of enough Latinos in the Lower East Side and Chelsea sections of Manhattan gave shape to a business district where mostly Spanish- and Cuban-owned cigar factories predominated. During the early decades of the twentieth century, Latinos arriving in New York first secured houses or apartments for their use, but they also rented to others who came after them, whether the latter were relatives or fellow countrymen. Lodging became both a source of income to many households and a vital service that eased the transition to the city for those who migrated after the pioneers. Restaurants and bakeries were among the first business ventures sprouting in the Latino barrios. Groceries stores (bodegas), pharmacies (boticas), botanicas (dispensing objects associated with religions rooted in Africa), and music stores also made their appearance early on. These types of businesses generated employment for family units and other members of the Latino community. Evidently, such businesses played more than just an economic role, as they served as places where migrants could meet, use their vernacular, exchange information on available opportunities, and express their nostalgia by talking about news from their country. Restaurants also appealed to and reinforced a sense of ethnic coherence. No one could escape the lure of wafting smells crisscrossing the streets of El Barrio. The unmistakable Puerto Rican eateries (known as cuchifritos) attracted Latinos who succumbed to the taste of traditional dishes such as pasteles, pierna de puerco, bacalao guisado, arroz con gandules, papas rellenas, surullitos de maiz, alcapurrias, and pastelillos. Since those early years El Barrio has been a hub for commercial activity. All sorts of businesses popped up along thoroughfares such as Third and Lexington avenues and 116th Street. La Marqueta—an open-air market built by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s administration in 1936 to accommodate in one place the many vendors dispersed on sidewalks—came to constitute the shopping venue that all Puerto Ricans and other Latinos chose. Although La Marqueta is today just a feeble reminder of its former self, it is worth remembering that for over 50 years it was a rallying place for Puerto Ricans from El Barrio and beyond, where they could find miscellaneous goods, but especially clothes and foods such as plantains, mangoes, coconuts, batatas, and bacalao. The area from 111th to 115th streets along Park Avenue used to come to life every day with the bustling activity of vendors—not all Latinos, but willing to speak enough Spanish to engage costumers searching for a bargain. Latinos from outer boroughs would come by subway to haggle for goods that they might find only in their country of origin.

New York The contribution to the city and state economies through Latino business ownership has expanded geographically and in quantity over the years. As of 2002 the number of Latino-owned enterprises in New York State reached 163,588, generating revenues in the amount of $12.3 billion. Most of these establishments were related to construction and services such as health care, retail trade, and transportation. Out of the total number of businesses, 31,658 were Puerto Rican–owned, followed by 13,011 owned by Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and 6,212 owned by Cubans. The remaining businesses, about 112,000, belonged to members of other Latino subgroups.9 The evolution of Spanish-language TV and radio stations in New York partly Latino-owned reflects the size of the market for publicity in Spanish Language. The 1980s saw the transition to 24-7 television in Spanish. Univisión and Telemundo, the parent companies controlling the two major New York City TV stations, have fed their audiences with a steady diet of telenovelas, reality shows, some news, and little public service. The seven radio stations covering the Latino market in AM and FM reach various audiences by offering different musical genres—for example, romantic, salsa, merengue, reggaetón, and bachata—news, and talk shows. Two new stations were created in 2007, specifically targeting Mexicans (92.7 FM) and Dominicans (94.5 FM). Latino Evangelicals have their own 24/7 station, Radio Visión Cristiana, 1330 AM. For over a decade now, the show known as El Vacilón de la Mañana, aired on 97.9 FM, has enjoyed the highest morning radio rankings, sometimes surpassing Howard Stern’s program. Like Howard Stern’s radio show, El Vacilón entertains with lewdness and bigotry. Among radio stations, WADO 1280 AM is the leader. Its Spanish programming— begun in 1964 and broadcast from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.—is geared toward Cuban exiles. In 1973 WADO became a 24-hour station, keeping over the years the same basic format of news, variety talk shows, and advice on health and beauty. With the growth of the Latino community throughout the state, WADO expanded its coverage and became the dominant Spanish-language station in the 1990s.10

THE MAKING

OF THE

DOMINICAN COMMUNITY

The history of Puerto Ricans and their experiences with the economy, politics, cultures, and institutions of New York City contributed to define the environment for the other Spanish-speaking groups that came after them. They are still the obligatory point of reference to understand what more recent settlers, such as the Dominicans, have been experiencing. Rafael Trujillo, the dictator who ruled Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961, kept a tight lid on that nation’s borders. Trujillo needed workers for his expanding industrial economy, but he also wished to prevent

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Latino America disaffected Dominicans from going out and plotting his overthrow. When Trujillo took power, the Dominican Republic had a population of 1 million; Trujillo stimulated population growth and raised women’s reproductive role to the status of a patriotic feat. By the time of his death, the Dominican population had risen to 3 million. In the 1930s the Dominicans living in New York spent much of their time and energy agitating and organizing the opposition to the tyrant ruling their country. Together with the Cubans, who opposed the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, in the 1950s Dominicans wrote, spoke out, and embarked on campaigns (some military) to jointly rid their islands of dictatorships. Leaders such as Fidel Castro and Juan Bosch stopped by New York to spur political and monetary support for their revolutionary endeavors. There were 9,223 Dominicans residing legally in New York on the eve of Trujillo’s fall.11 Soon after this event, many Dominicans returned to their nation. However, the turbulent period that followed the end of the Trujillo regime caused a greater migration flow toward New York. The emigration after 1961 was in part politically motivated—now it was the turn for individuals formerly associated with Trujillo to leave for the United States. Nonetheless, the outflow also included people who wanted a better standard of living, which the United States in general, and New York in particular, could offer. The United States granted visas generously to Dominicans to diffuse the revolutionary fervor that erupted with the end of Trujillo’s regime; and especially during the insurrection of April 1965, when 25,000 U.S. marines invaded the Dominican Republic to avoid the triumph of the constitutionalist sector of the armed forces, who favored the return to power of President Juan Bosh, overthrown in September 1963. The intervention of the United States secured a political regime, headed by Joaquín Balaguer, responsive to U.S. interests. The Hart-Celler Act of 1965 opened wider the door to migration from the Dominican Republic by granting priority to family reunification and setting no limit on the number of visas requested under this criterion. Those Dominicans who established a beachhead as legal residents or citizens in the state of New York petitioned for their relatives, eventually producing a ballooning effect throughout the succeeding decades. The number of Dominicans admitted to the United States has escalated over time: from an annual average of 9,000 in the 1960s to 14,000 during the 1970s to 25,000 in the 1980s, reaching an average of over 40,000 in the 1990s.12 Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in New York State have been influencing each other despite instances of rivalry and citizenship status differences. Thus, although sizable concentrations of Dominicans have become prominent in Washington Heights, Inwood (Manhattan), and Corona (Queens), they have increasingly been sharing housing space with Boricuas (the Spanish name for people from Borikén, Puerto Rico’s indigenous name) in neighborhoods long known as “Puerto Rican,” such as the Lower East Side in Manhattan; East Harlem, East

New York New York, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn; as well as the South Bronx. Dominicans bought many bodegas (colmados or pulperías) from a previous generation of Puerto Ricans and Cubans on their way to retirement. Moreover, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans have been attending houses of worship together, marrying one another, and begetting a new generation of New Yorkers from mixed Dominican–Puerto Rican background. Old-country nationalism wanes, while pride on a common U.S. and Caribbean heritage is born. Dominicans’ entry to New York State happened at a moment when the state’s economy was undergoing a restructuring from mostly manufacturing to one based on services. In this respect, the economic opportunities for Dominicans in the 1960s coincided with those for Puerto Ricans, whose prospects for upward social mobility were dimming at that time. Dominicans started to come in larger numbers precisely when manual jobs, especially in big and unionized factories, were fast declining. During the 1970s and 1980s, the eagerness of Dominicans to earn an honest living led them to compete with other Latinos for jobs in the remaining factories left in Brooklyn and Manhattan, particularly in the garment sector. The garment industry had been a mainstay for Puerto Ricans, especially women, in the previous two generations. Dominicans of more recent vintage found it increasingly difficult to gain employment in New York industries; thus in the 1980s New Jersey became the principal source of manufacturing jobs for thousands of Dominicans who commuted daily back and forth between the Empire and Garden states. Washington Heights—above 125th Street, in northern Manhattan—became for Dominicans what El Barrio has been for Puerto Ricans. In fact, the area is also known as Dominican Heights, or Quisqueya Heights (a folk name for the Dominican Republic). Dominican entrepreneurs have established a multitude of businesses along main thoroughfares, such as Broadway, St. Nicholas Avenue, Dyckman Street, and 207th Street. The hundreds of thousands of Dominicans who settled in the area have created a vibrant marketplace for locally produced and imported goods, as well as a variety of services, most of them typical of migrant communities, such as travel agencies, calling booths, money wire services, restaurants, music stores, bakeries, and the famous bodegas and beauty parlors. At the beginning of the 1990s, 70 percent of the bodegas in New York City were owned by Dominicans. Their control of several chains of supermarkets made Dominican entrepreneurship legendary. At the opening of the 1990s, 7 percent of Dominicans owned their own business.13 Between the continuous stream of welleducated Dominicans coming to New York and the rising number of U.S.-born and college-educated Dominicans, the community has seen the consolidation of a sector capable of generating and taking advantage of business opportunities. Nevertheless, a less glamorous underside of entrepreneurship is that for a great number of Dominicans and other Latinos, small-business ownership is just a

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Latino America survival strategy to cope with employment dislocation and lack of access to formal credit lines.

SCHOOLING: A MIXED RECORD With the passing of time, higher levels of schooling have been required to access the technical, professional, and managerial positions created in the health, education, banking, communications, tourism, and other myriad service sectors of New York State’s economy. Latinos have been playing catch-up, and progress has been painfully slow. As a group, Latinos in New York City are the ones who depend the heaviest on public schools to educate their children; 84 percent of Latino children attend public schools, compared with 49 percent of white children.14 Through age-based promotion (students pass to the next grade just because they are a year older) and diluted curriculum (content does not matter and no core common knowledge is taught), public schools have served Latinos ill. Reforms started to be implemented in the first decade of the twenty-first century by the Bloomberg administration and the federal government (No Child Left Behind Act), but only time will tell whether they work. School failure among Latino children was usually explained as resulting from their lack of intelligence and low English language skills. As early as the 1930s Puerto Ricans had to confront school and government authorities who were classifying their children as low in intelligence.15 In 1953 the city’s Board of Education published the Puerto Rican Study, acknowledging that city schools were not serving Puerto Rican students adequately.16 The board promised to implement a series of initiatives—for example, bilingual education. Puerto Rican teachers were hired and programs to get parents involved were put in place. It would take more than two decades for these promises to be actualized. Bilingual education (teaching subject matters in Spanish until students are ready to receive all instruction in English, after being taught it) became a reality only in 1974, after the Puerto Rican advocacy organization ASPIRA won a legal battle against the state of New York. Bilingualism became a political lightning rod, even though it never reached more than a fifth of Latino pupils. Three decades later Latino academic achievement is still dismal, and critics who say bilingual education proved to be no silver bullet are calling for its eradication.17 Those Latinos able to afford private schools have been taking advantage of extant religious, particularly Catholic, schools left behind by Euro-Americans who moved to the suburbs. Latino children’s enrollment in Catholic schools rose consistently over the years, and by 2000 it had reached 19 percent in New York City, whereas minorities composed a total of 50 percent of students in Catholic school. In turn, Latino nationalities enrollment in private school varied in proportion to these groups’ respective socioeconomic standing. Thus, in descending order,

New York 29 percent of Cuban children attend private institutions, followed closely by Peruvians (27 percent) and Colombians (23 percent). Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans trail the former groups with 16, 14, and 12 percent, respectively. In today’s inner cities, the function of religious schools is not the same as before, when they served largely the second-generation Euro-American middle class. They sometimes appear as a sort of public school that teaches religious morality, rather than institutions that foster the Catholic, Lutheran, or Seventh Day Adventist faiths, as it educates. With dropout rates below 10 percent and a solid reputation of academic success, the Catholic schools offer aspiring middle-class and even working-class Latinos an affordable alternative to the calamitous public education in their neighborhoods. Even poor parents have found the means to pay for education at Catholic schools—although many of these parents and their children are not Catholics. Latinos’ most significant opportunity to enter higher education was offered by the City University of New York in 1969. Until that year the academic requirements for admission constituted a stiff hurdle for Latinos, who graduated from high school mostly in nonacademic tracks. With the Open Admissions policy in effect at public universities, Latinos’ numerical presence in higher-education institutions increased, so that starting in the 1970s, the possibility arose for a considerable percentage of Latinos to move away from the jobs requiring a strong back and manual dexterity into occupations demanding specialized knowledge and technical skills. Since the 1970s a growing number of Latinos, from second and later generations, have had the chance of being the first ones in their families to achieve a college degree and even professional training. Such development, coupled with expanded employment opportunities in the public sector stimulated by Affirmative Action policies, allowed many Latinos to move into white-collar jobs—from clerical positions in government agencies to careers in the teaching and health professions. Today, New York City thrives on a knowledge-based economy that increasingly offers a forked standard of living for wage workers. People either access highpaying jobs that accord them a middle-class status, or they labor in the sectors that supply the goods and services for those who can afford a more comfortable living. Latinos are overrepresented in the undereducated and underskilled occupational categories for several reasons: The first and fundamental one is the inadequate rates of high school completion and college graduation. Only half the Latino students in public high schools graduate within the stipulated 4 years. Such statistics constitute a massive failure of school institutions, where Latinos are the largest ethnic group (38 percent). The quality of the education among those who do graduate is reflected in the ability of few to gain entrance to four-year colleges. Statewide, 12 percent of Latinos 25 years of age and older had a bachelor’s or higher degree in 2000. The majority start on the path to higher education via a

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Latino America community college because, among other reasons, they offer English as a Second Language and remedial courses. Community colleges are supposed to be a 2-year affair, but end up being rather a 6-year experience, on average. The socioeconomic consequences of weak school performance bode ill for Latinos, whose median household income in 2004 was $28,000 in New York City, a place where persons with a master’s degree earn a median income of $60,000, and a family of four needs to bring home $100,000 to qualify as middle class.18

CHURCHES FOSTER A SENSE

OF

COMMUNITY

The overwhelming majority of Latinos in New York has been and still is Catholic. They have come a long way since those early days in 1940, when only six churches were serving the needs of Puerto Ricans and other Spanish-speaking faithful. Today, Latino Catholicism permeates the entire Church, but the institution is unable to catch up with the Latino tide. Just in New York City, Latinos represent over 50 percent of Catholics. Masses in their neighborhoods are crowded, for they attract the local residents and also those who have left for other neighborhoods and return out of allegiance to their parish or for lack of masses in Spanish where they live now. In the barrios, Spanish masses are scheduled backto-back, up to three on Sunday, with accommodations for the overflow of attendees in the churches’ auditoriums. Like their insertion into society at large, the incorporation of Latinos into New York State’s Catholic Church started at the bottom, figuratively and literally, because when Latinos were still few, masses for them were held in the churches’ basements. Things began to improve with time. Significant change occurred during the tenure of Archbishop Francis Cardinal Spellman. As the head of the Church in New York State during the time of the great Puerto Rican migration (1946–1964), Cardinal Spellman took some initiatives to facilitate the incorporation of migrants into the Church. For one, he wanted them to become Americanized as soon as possible. Nevertheless, Puerto Ricans stuck to their language and popular traditions, which were strongly rooted in the Puerto Rican countryside. To prevent further ethnic segregation, Spellman did not allow the creation of national parishes, preferring that Puerto Ricans integrated themselves into the existing territorial parishes. However, he supported initiatives to make church personnel sensitive to the needs of Puerto Ricans living in the archdiocese. Cardinal Spellman established the Office of Spanish Catholic Action and sponsored the annual celebration Puerto Rico’s patron saint. Starting in 1953 the Feast of St. John the Baptist became a rallying event bringing together Puerto Ricans and other Latinos. Furthermore, during the 1950s the cardinal sent graduating seminarians to learn Spanish at Georgetown University; afterward and until the 1960s, he made it possible for hundreds of priests, religious people, and laypeople to receive language

New York and cultural training at the Institute of Intercultural Communication, which was created under his auspices at the Catholic University in Ponce, Puerto Rico. In contrast with Spellman, who created 40 parishes, the current cardinal, Edward Egan, closed 31 parishes and 14 schools in 2007. Latinos are protesting and even complaining to Rome about the decisions of a church that is shrinking, instead of growing, as the number and spiritual needs of Latinos are growing. As everywhere in the nation, the Catholic Church in New York State is short of priests, especially priests who can speak Spanish. The way Church authorities have dealt with this is mostly by importing clergy. Today the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Mexico supply religious personnel for New York State and other dioceses. Their presence is instrumental in tending to the needs of a flock whose main source of growth is through migration. Another way the Church has tackled the dearth of clergy is by promoting vocations to the priesthood, a call few Latinos have been answering to. Latinos, nonetheless, charge ahead with their faith and go on practicing at home and at church. Continuing a pattern characteristic of their countries of origin, women have played the most important role in keeping alive Catholic beliefs and practices in New York State. Whether in the family, the parish, or the community at large, mothers and grandmothers have been the bearers of popular religiosity; for it is typical of men to say that religion “es cosa de mujeres” (is a woman’s thing). Even when most of them were homemakers—before they started double shifts as housewives and salaried workers—Latina women were teaching the basics of Catholic faith to their kids, providing services as healers and rezadoras (leaders at prayers in mournings or other special occasions), and carrying on functions in the Church’s praying groups and devotional rituals. In front of the home altars, in church, or at bed time, women have instilled reverence for and knowledge of the faith’s mysteries, the saints, and what they stand for over generations. The majority of New York State’s Latino Protestants are Puerto Ricans.19 They have been exposed to U.S. Protestant proselytism both in Puerto Rico and New York State. Because they established the largest Latino community in New York City early in the twentieth century, they also founded numerous churches under their own leadership. Puerto Rican Protestants were not hindered, unlike Catholics, by lack of control over their religious institutions. Protestantism allows more room for entrepreneurship. Thus, religious leadership in evangelical, especially Pentecostal, churches is less centralized through formal and hierarchical structures than in the Catholic and mainline Protestant denominations. A byproduct of this organizational characteristic is that the newer migrant groups are generating their own clergy. In areas where Dominicans live, for instance, many evangelical churches have been set up in which the laity and ministers are of the same nationality (though people from other Latin American countries sprinkle the

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Latino America audience). Today, Latinos are more diverse in their religious affiliation than in the past, as approximately 25 percent have switched from Catholicism to Protestant denominations.20 Among recently arrived migrants many come already affiliated with Protestant churches because religions other than Catholicism have made significant inroads in Latin America. Others convert to Protestantism once here for several reasons, such as the desire to adapt to U.S. culture, which is strongly associated with Protestant values. Church services are held in Spanish depending on the congregation’s needs, whereas in Puerto Rican congregations today services in English are more common. The community the Latino faithful has built revolves around shared religious beliefs and practices that draw on a common Christian background. The instruments normally used for building community are a common language and common experiences—the aches of the body and the soul, as well as the need for divine and fraternal help to overcome personal troubles, whether material or spiritual. Churches have often taken the lead in addressing serious issues in Latino barrios. With their own resources, private donations, and government contributions, a plethora of organizations have arisen over the years to tackle housing, education, migration, and drug problems. Ministerio Way Out is an example of a Christian program established in the South Bronx in 1969. Its mission is to help addicts overcome their dependency with the help of religion and standard detoxification therapies. In 39 years of work, Ministerio Way Out has served 8,000 patients, 80 percent of whom have overcome their addictions.21 Catholics too have launched initiatives to assist Latinos in solving urgent problems. Asociación Tepeyac is one of the most recent and visible examples of such initiatives. Established in 1997, this multiservice association has worked mainly with Mexicans. Today, it serves 10,000 members with computer and English classes, leadership workshops, legal assistance, and the organization of religious and cultural festivals such as Cinco de Mayo, as well as other events.

POLITICS It is said that in a democracy numbers can be translated into power. The popular vote can make a difference in the way decisions are made and resources allocated. However, in the case of Latinos, growing numbers have not meant automatic and direct participation in decision making at city or state levels. Political involvement in their country of origin rather than in local or national politics in the United States has been the dominant pattern for first-generation migrants from all Latin American countries, be they from Dominican Republic, Colombia, or Mexico. The desire of Puerto Ricans and Cubans to resolve the colonial question consumed their political energies during the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. Even after Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship, which

New York made them eligible to vote, their participation had a slow start. Voter registration was a daunting procedure that included an English literacy test administered by intimidating personnel. In addition, given the control of the political machinery by Euro-Americans, they restricted budding Latino politicians to the role of brokers—intermediaries between the Irish and Italian politicians, on one side, and the Latino electorate, on the other. It was in the 1930s, after the precipitous decline in migration from southern and eastern Europe, that Puerto Ricans began to show significantly at the polls not only because they were courted by Democrats and Republicans in need of votes, but also because they were attracted to appealing populist politicians, such as Fiorello LaGuardia and Vito Marcantonio, who could deliver them concrete benefits regarding housing, employment, social assistance, and advocacy in the face of abusive authorities and racist attacks. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and East Harlem Representative Vito Marcantonio were both Italian migrants who, as lawyers and politicians, supported many pro-immigrant measures and had close relations with the Puerto Rican and Latino communities. For the most part, Puerto Ricans sided with the Democratic Party from the beginning and, except for a few occasions, they have kept their allegiance to the Democrats. Since 1932 on average 70 percent of the Latino vote has gone to the Democrats. The drawback of this position is that in a state heavily Democratic such as New York, the Latino vote has been taken for granted in presidential elections. Traditionally, the Democrats have been the party that aided migrants in their process of incorporation to life in New York City since the early nineteenth century. Democrats created a paternalistic system whereby they provided favors in exchange for votes. By working with leaders from all ethnic groups, Democratic politicians used power and money to solve many of the problems of those who could vote for them. District, city, and state bosses developed clienteles for mutual benefit. The city’s patronage system was undermined by the federal government during the Great Depression as federal agencies and programs were created to address many of the problems that had been tackled previously by local authorities. However, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt came up with the New Deal and established agencies—such as Public Works Administration, Works Progress Administration, and Civil Conservation Corps—to create jobs, Puerto Ricans’ alliance with the Democrats was strengthened. With the advent of the civil rights movement and reforms such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which tore down the most blatant barriers erected to impede black and Latino suffrage, an increasing number of grassroots activists, most of them Puerto Ricans, began to run for political office. With the support of the Democratic electoral machinery, candidates began to be fielded for political office in areas with a heavy Puerto Rican presence. The political reforms and demographic changes in the city, after the flight of the white middle and upper classes

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Latino America to the suburbs, helped to make possible the election in 1965 of Herman Badillo as president of the Bronx Borough, and five years later as the first Puerto Rican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The considerable advantage granted to Puerto Ricans by their U.S. citizenship has made them the single largest-voting bloc among New York State Latinos. In Brooklyn, where Caribbean migrants also concentrated, Panamanians rose to political leadership in the 1970s and 1980s. State Senator Waldaba Stewart and State Assemblyman Edward Griffin are but two examples. The rate at which other Latinos acquire U.S. citizenship varies from group to group, with South Americans and Dominicans outpacing the rest. The fear generated by real or perceived threats stemming from federal legislation to reduce benefits to noncitizens as well as rabid anti-immigrant campaigns have pushed Latinos to apply for U.S. naturalization at a faster pace in recent years. Though progress as regards naturalization has been made, there is still room for improvement. Consider, for example, that the potential number of Latino voters in New York State was diminished in the 2004 presidential election because 300,000 of them, who qualified for naturalization, had not applied. What promises to be a significant factor in enlarging the pool of Latino voters and candidates is the expanding percentage of U.S.-born Latinos reaching adulthood. As a second, and even third, generation of Latinos becomes politically active on account of their stakes in this country, they will be making more of a difference in the political landscape of the city and state. Perhaps the Dominican case is the best harbinger of such a future. The intentional redrawing of electoral districts to increase the chances of representation of minority populations early in the 1990s benefited Latinos. In areas of high Latino population density such as northern Manhattan, Dominicans got the opportunity to elect for the first time politicians from among their own. Using networks of community organizations and labor-intensive, door-to-door campaigning, Adriano Espaillat became an assemblyman for District 72, and Guillermo Linares, a councilman for District 10. With the rapid growth in the number of Latino migrants, the larger numbers of U.S.-born Latinos, the increased rates of naturalization, and the recurrent campaigns to register eligible voters, the political outlook has improved for Latinos. To the original elected officials, others have been added in the early 2000s. Currently, there are two Dominicans in the New York City Council, Diana Reyna from Brooklyn and Miguel Martínez from Washington Heights. The number of Puerto Rican politicians—such as Margarita López, from the Lower East Side, and Joel Rivera, from the Bronx—has also increased. Nevertheless, no Latino politician has won a citywide or statewide elected office yet. Since the 1990s some well-known Latino leaders, such as Herman Badillo and Fernando Ferrer, have run for mayor of New York City, but both failed to be elected.

New York Unfortunately, Latinos have higher representation in the state prison population than in the state’s political bodies. As of 2000, Latinos composed 27 percent of the state’s prison population. In contrast, by 2005 there were 26 Latino elected officials in the state, equivalent to 8 percent of all legislators. All Latino elected officials represented parts of New York City—such as Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.22 A major obstacle for Latino candidates to win elections involving representation beyond the barrios is that they have not been able to build viable alliances with non-Latino communities or enough credibility to neutralize racial prejudice.

NOTABLE LATINOS Varela y Morales, Felix (1788–1853). Father Varela was appointed vicar general of the New York Archdiocese, where he served from 1829 until 1848, when he retired to St. Agustin, Florida. Varela came to New York in 1823 as an exile, for advocating the cause of Cuban independence from Spain. For almost 30 years Father Varela served the poor, especially Irish migrants. He founded the Transfiguration Church in lower Manhattan. He also founded schools, programs for women and orphans, and several newspapers, among them El Habanero (1824) and El Amigo de la Juventud (1825). Henna, José Julio (1853–1924). Puerto Rican political activist Henna continued in New York his campaign for the independence of Puerto Rico after being banished from that island by Spain. In 1895 Henna was elected president of the Revolutionary Party, and after 1898 he was elected as delegate to appear before the Senate and House committees on civil government in Puerto Rico. After graduating as a medical doctor in 1872, Dr. Henna became a leading physician associated with the French and Bellevue hospitals until his death. Schomburg, Arturo Alfonso (1874–1938). Schomburg’s collection of letters, manuscripts, prints, playbills, paintings, and books by and about African-descent people became the cornerstone of the New York Public Library’s Division of Negro Literature, History, and Prints. He served also as the collection’s first curator. Schomburg was motivated to battle racism wielding as weapons the intellectual and artistic achievements of people of African descent. Shortly after his arrival in New York City in 1891, Schomburg started to participate in the revolutionary movements struggling for the independence of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Later, he became involved in the social and literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Hernández, Rafael Marín (1892–1965). Composer Hernández’s legacy includes about 3,000 songs, many composed in East Harlem. He created the well-known Cuarteto Victoria. One of the most important Puerto Rican composers, he is remembered for masterfully capturing Puerto Ricans’ nostalgia and patriotism in songs such as “Lamento Borincano” and “Preciosa.” Cugat, Xavier (1900–1990). Cugat founded Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra in 1933, and he is credited with being the first to make Latin American music popular among

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Latino America U.S. audiences. In his time, Cugat enjoyed a standing similar to that of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and Artie Shaw. His orchestra became the platform from which future starts—such as Frank Sinatra, Machito, Dinah Shore, Miguelito Valdés, Tito Rodriguez, and Bobby Capó—launched their careers. García Rivera, Oscar (1900–1969). Representing East Harlem at the New York State Assembly from 1937 to 1940, García Rivera took up the cause of seeking solutions to the grave problems affecting Latinos and the rest of the poor during the Great Depression. In 1926, shortly after his arrival in New York City, Garcia Rivera helped organize postal workers. Later, as a lawyer, he worked pro bono for needy clients in East Harlem. The first Puerto Rican to occupy an elected office on mainland United States, García Rivera studied law at St. John’s University, graduating in 1930. Colón, Jesús (1901–1974). Leading writer and socialist activist on behalf of Puerto Ricans, particularly those from the working class, Colón helped found organizations such as Alianza Obrera and several Spanish-language newspapers in Brooklyn. He was instrumental in building information bridges between Puerto Rico and New York State. Colón is best known for his book A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches, which inspired several prominent writers—among whom are Piri Thomas, Nicholasa Mohr, and Esmeralda Santiago. Soto Vélez, Clemente (1905–1993). A notable Puerto Rican poet and community activist, Soto Vélez was also a leading member of the Puerto Rican nationalist party. He was jailed, with Albizu Campos, in 1937 in a federal prison in Atlanta. After being released in the 1940s, he moved to New York, where he lived until his return to Puerto Rico in 1986. He founded literary and community organizations, among them the Puerto Rican Merchants Association. Some of his best-known books are Caballo de Palo (Wooden Horse), Árboles (Trees), and La Tierra Prometida (The Promised Land). Sardiñas Montalbo, Eligio (Kid Chocolate) (1910–1988). A dazzling Cuban boxer who rose to fame in 1931, when he defeated junior lightweight champion Benny Bass, Kid Chocolate came to New York in 1928 and established a reputation as unbeatable in East Harlem arenas. A year later he gained widespread notoriety beyond the Latino public, when he fought the immensely popular Al Singer and raked in $49,000—a remarkable amount for a boxer in his weight category at the time. Burgos, Julia de (1917–1953). Poet who left an indelible influence on Puerto Ricans in East Harlem, Julia de Burgos is considered by some the greatest female poet born in Puerto Rico. Love of nature and of Puerto Rico was her main inspiration. Her poems appear in books such as Poemas en Veinte Zurcos, Canción de la Verdad Sencilla, and Yo Misma Fui mi Ruta. Today, the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, which was created in her honor, houses several projects, such as a high school and Taller Boricua, a theater workshop group with educational programs involving the arts. Pantoja, Antonia (1922–2002). Teacher, social worker, and activist who, together with other professionals, helped found the Puerto Rican Forum Inc. in 1958. Her most lasting contribution was the creation of ASPIRA to address the high dropout rates among Puerto Rican students. The organization was instrumental in winning the legal battle known as the ASPIRA Consent Decree, which in 1974 made it mandatory for the state

New York of New York to provide bilingual education. Over the years ASPIRA has become a national organization that provides Latinos with leadership training, staff development, and after-school programs. Sánchez-Korrol, Virginia (1944–). Preeminent scholar of the Puerto Rican and Latino experiences in New York and founder and president of the Puerto Rican Studies Association, Sánchez-Korrol helped to establish Puerto Rican studies as an academic discipline. She helped found the Department of Puerto Rican Studies at Brooklyn College, serving as its chair during the 1980s and 1990s. Among her influential publications are From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City (1983) and Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia (with Vicki L. Ruiz, 2006). Sánchez-Korrol’s service to the community includes also participation in advisory boards of cultural and government institutions. She has received numerous recognitions, such as the Puerto Rican Higher Education Award by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office and a leadership citation by the Brooklyn Borough president. Ferrer, Fernando (Freddy) (1950–). During Ferrer’s 14-year tenure as borough president, the Bronx made a comeback after being a national symbol of urban decay. Before serving as borough president, Ferrer was city councilman. He was responsible for the legislation that made it mandatory for hospitals to provide bilingual interpreters at emergency rooms. He also introduced legislation to create the Civilian Review Board to control police brutality, as well as measures that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. Ferrer ran for mayor of New York City thrice—in 1997, 2001, and 2005. In 2003 The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino ranked him as the 42nd most influential Latino politician in the United States. Hijuelos, Oscar (1951–). The best known of the Cuban American authors writing in English, Hijuelos won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990 for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, a work of fiction. He was born in New York and graduated from the City University of New York. Linares, Guillermo (1951–). Linares’s major contribution to the Latino community has been in the area of education. He started as a teacher in New York City public schools and then moved on to become president of the Local School Board #6 in northern Manhattan. In 1991 Linares gained notoriety for being the first Dominican to be elected to public office in the United States. He served in the New York City Council until 2001. During his tenure as councilman he continued to be a strong advocate for quality education and affordable housing. In 1995 Linares was invited to be part of President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. In 2000 President Clinton appointed him chair of that commission. Major Michael Bloomberg appointed Linares as commissioner of Immigrant Affairs in 2004, a capacity in which Linares is still serving. Velázquez, Nydia M. (1953–). Velázquez combined teaching in the City University of New York with political activism, and she rose to become a prominent leader in the local and national politics. She worked on behalf of Puerto Ricans and migrants in the 1980s. She was director of the Department of Puerto Rican Community Affairs in the United States. After being appointed to the New York City Council (1984–1986), the

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Latino America first Puerto Rican woman to occupy that position, she went on to become the first Puerto Rican congresswoman in 1992, representing a district with a large Latino population. She has been visible for her advocacy on issues critical to the working class and the poor, such as health care and promotion of small businesses. In 2003 the Hispanic Business Magazine named Congresswoman Velázquez the Hispanic Business Woman of the Year.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The cultural contributions of New York Latinos span the whole spectrum of human creativity—including the arts, culinary, sports, fashion, and religion. Carolina Herrera and Oscar De La Renta are two outstanding Latino names in haute couture. Hundreds of restaurants offer delicacies typical of the Latino nations represented in New York. However, with the exception of a few Cuban and Spanish places, Latino restaurants are patronized mostly by an ethnic clientele and do not reach the level of haute cuisine. There are in the city and suburbs numerous venues for the performing arts. The best known among them include Repertorio Español, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Thalia Theater, Teatro La Tea, and the Nuyorican Poets Café. Small and cozy, the Café reminds one of a local comedy club. Whether on weekdays or weekends, a visitor may expect to have to stand in line by the door. Poetry slams, and theater and musical performances in English, Spanish, and Spanglish express the creative energies of Puerto Ricans and other New Yorkers, reflecting traditional as well as futuristic visions. Galleries and museums in the city exhibit and sell the works of plastic artists throughout the year. El Museo del Barrio has the distinction of being located within the so-called Museum Mile, along Fifth Avenue, where other prestigious museums are located—including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. But it is probably in music and sports that Latinos have made longer and deeper strides within U.S. culture. The closer links established between the United States and the Caribbean, especially with those nations that at the turn of the century fell under U.S. control—such as Puerto Rico and Cuba—coincided with the invention of the phonograph and the concomitant recording industry. Companies such as Columbia, Victor, and Edison had their recording studios in New York City, and they wanted to exploit the markets that were being created by U.S. might. To sell phonographs, and later radios, U.S. companies started recording local artists in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. They sometimes took their recording equipment to those countries, but they also brought singers and players to their studios in New York City. When artists become part of the migration flow and stay as permanent residents of the city, recording companies draw from this local pool as

New York well. The growth of a Latino population in New York State created an additional market for ethnic music, which now could be sold locally and, at the same time, exported to all Spanish-speaking countries. The early 1920s, for instance, found in New York Puerto Rican musicians some gifted composers, including Rafael Hernandez and Pedro Flores. In addition to musical talents, some of them had a gift to promote themselves and others. Manuel Jimenez “Canario,” the first Puerto Rican singer to record music in New York, opened opportunities for many through his contacts with labels such as Pathé and Odeon.23 He launched la plena, a Puerto Rican rhythm born around 1900, to a commercial success, and on to a decade of popularity not only among Puerto Ricans in New York, but throughout the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent. Rafael Hernández himself established Almacenes Hernández, some of the first music stores in Manhattan, whereas his sister Victoria set up a recording venture, the Hispano label. Musical talent abounded among migrants who supplemented their incomes, and who entertained and helped their compatriots and other Latinos enliven an existence burdened with the stress of drudgery by playing in trios, cuartetos, and conjuntos in house parties or dancing halls. Cuban musicians have been regulars in the New York scene since the mid1930s, and they made contributions that will reach beyond the Latino audience for decades to come. The first names to make an impact were band leaders such as Xavier Cugat and Don Azpiazu, both of whom scored the first Spanishlanguage big success with El Manisero. The decade of the 1940s brought gifted musicians who in their diverse roles as composers, arrangers, and performers made epoch. For about two decades the spotlight fell on musicians such as Mario Bauzá, Dámaso Pérez Prado, Alberto Socarrás, Chano Pozo, Arsenio Rodriguez, and Mongo Santamaría, as well as on bands such as Machito y sus Afrocubans and La Sonora Matancera. These musicians and bands became inextricably embedded with the history of a musical age marked by rhythms such as rumba, mambo, and cha-cha. Desi Arnaz’s (Ricky Ricardo) career began in New York with Xavier Cugat, and it continued in Hollywood as he became the producer of I Love Lucy, the most popular TV comedy show in the 1950s and 1960s. The merging of Afro-Cuban rhythms with African American blues and jazz, as well as the mingling of Latino musicians with African American players such as Dizzy Gillespie, produced lasting innovations whose effects are still felt in ballroom dancing and Latin Jazz. Other combinations of talents and rhythms led to the creation of new genres, such as salsa in the early 1970s, which produced a new generation of performers around the legendary Fania All Stars. Although the musicians were overwhelmingly Cuban and Puerto Rican—such as Willy Colón, Tito Puente, Ray Barreto, the Palmieri brothers, Celia Cruz, and Héctor Lavoe— there were also representatives from Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and the

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Latino America Dominican Republic—among whom were Johnny Pacheco and Rubén Blades— and even Jewish Americans such as Larry Harlow. People all over the world are still dancing to the beat of Caribbean New York rhythms. A new generation of Caribbean Latinos coming of age in the depths of the South Bronx have channeled their creative energies into hip-hop since the early 1970s. Mostly Puerto Rican, together with African American youths, they forged a new genre where their talents as MCs, DJs, rhyme-makers, and break-dancers shone. Hip-hop reached popularity in the last two decades of the twentieth century, and it catapulted to fame artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe. During the 1980s merengue, a new dance rhythm, took hold of New York. This Dominican rhythm reached international audiences during the last two decades of the twentieth century. However, in the 1990s Juan Luis Guerra’s success made bachata rise to challenge merengue for the title of most popular Dominican rhythm. In the realm of sports, Latinos have been making great contributions, particularly to America’s national pastime, baseball. During the first half of the twentieth century, when baseball was segregated, a few Cubans who could pass for whites were hired in professional mainstream baseball teams. However, the majority of Cubans played in the Negro league. But once the racial barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, players from the Caribbean started to populate the major league. In the early 1950s the New York Giants signed Hall-of-Famer Orlando Cepeda, pitcher Rubén Gómez, and infielders José Pagán and Julio Gotay. The first Dominican recruited by a New York team was infielder Oswaldo Virgil, in 1956. It would take three decades for Dominicans to become the most prominent Latino group in American baseball. In the first decade of the twentyfirst century Latinos represent about 30 percent of the players (close to 400) in the major league. The Mets and the Yankees rely to a large extent on Latino players, and in their rosters appear some of the current luminaries: Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Carlos Beltran, Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, and José Reyes. In addition to enhancing the quality of the spectacle for American audiences and attracting Latinos to the stadiums, the talented Latino players represent a great source of profits for their teams and related businesses. A player such as Alex Rodriguez, who earns $23 million a year under his current contract, brings $47 million in revenues for the Yankees. Each game Rodriguez helps his team win means an additional $4.6 million for the Yankees, on account of increased tickets and merchandise sales, as well as higher prices for sponsorships and commercials.24 Moreover, thanks to the system devised by U.S. teams of establishing baseball academies in Latin America, player development became cheaper. The country that contributes the largest number of recruits is the Dominican Republic. In total, about 700 prospects are brought every year to the United States. From this pool, the most talented are offered the contracts that transform some underschooled and impoverished youngsters into members

New York of an exclusive club of millionaires. Those who do not make it end up struggling to survive in New York, like many other undocumented workers. Churches and temples in New York City vibrate with religion Latino style. Revivalist practices have become characteristic of Latinos’ contribution to Catholic life in New York City. The Cursillo and Charismatic Renewal movements— which began in 1960 and 1967, respectively—are two prominent examples. Cursillistas are lay persons trained to be leaders of spiritual renewal in the parish and the community. For its part, the Charismatic Renewal has widespread appealing. The faithful hold services outside the regular mass schedule, typically on Tuesdays and Fridays. Under the direction of lay leaders, they study the Scripture and revel in singing and praising the Lord. A Charismatic Renewal meeting is an intense and emotional session with occasional speaking in tongues and spirit possession. Emotive outpouring is something that Latino Catholics have in common with Protestants. It is no mere coincidence that most Latino Protestants are Pentecostals and evangelicals, for these religious orientations seem to fit best Latinos’ predisposition for intense expression. Charismatics, evangelicals, and Pentecostals are similar in intensity of participation (for example, in singing, praising, and possession), opportunities for the laity to lead religious activities, and reliance on the Bible for reference, guidance, and inspiration. Like Pentecostals, Charismatics also value healing sessions; they say they have witnessed the healing work of the Holy Spirit on the bodies and souls of participants as well as of people visited at home. The similarities stemming from common social class background and common cultural elements minimize the theological differences that may exist between Latino Catholics and Protestants—for example, the centrality or not of the Virgin Mary. That is to say, Latinos’ ways of feeling and expressing transcend the particular and temporary forms of religious affiliation, with some making their way back and forth from one organizational form to another. For example, some Catholics attend evangelical services on weekdays but mass on Sundays, and some evangelicals return eventually to the Catholic fold. In their search for material and spiritual well-being, Latinos patronize the ubiquitous botanicas. In these places they find spiritual advisors and ingredients to prepare house remedies and potions as well as objects used in Santeria, Voodoo, and other non-Christian practices. Churches in Latino areas serve as places for cultural affirmation: the Spanish language is used, music is performed (featuring choirs, but also guitars, guiros, and congas) and traditional rituals are reenacted. Here Latinos of various national ancestries recognize each other, and they pass on common values to the younger-generation Latinos, who learn to share under the same church’s roof with other Latinos. With great anticipation, laity and clergy work throughout the year in preparation of events such as the Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia, Mother’s

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Latino America Day, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feast of Our Lady of Charity, and the Feast of Virgin of Guadalupe, which constitute rallying events in New York parishes with Latino communities. These celebrations bring together not only Latinos from different origins but also the Catholic churches in countries south of the border, for pilgrim priests and bishops tour New York areas of Latino settlement, saying mass and staging vigils with sacred images and statues carried from Latin America. By sharing patron saints and taking turns in the schedule of celebrations, congregants in these neighborhoods come together and discover that despite the diversity in their midst, Latinos share transcendental symbols—for example, the Eucharist, the cross, Jesus’ mother—as well as general sociocultural characteristics and concerns that unify them.

NOTES 1. Julie Salamon, “Celebrating Mexican Life in New York,” New York Times, December 8, 2004, 1, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/08/arts/08mexc.html. 2. Fine, 2005, 164, http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/153. 3. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 12. 4. Antón and Hernández, 2002, 51. 5. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 23, 33. 6. Police Department, City of New York, http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/chfdept/ cs023pct.pdf. 7. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 142. 8. Andrés Torres, Between Melting Pot and Mosaic (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995), 87. 9. U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/sb0200cshisp.pdf. 10. Jaker et al., 1998, 33. 11. Rodriguez De León, 1998, 52. 12. Torres-Saillant and Hernández, 1998, 35. 13. Torres-Saillant and Hernández, 1998, 79. 14. Salvatierra, Latino Data Project, 2. 15. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 189. 16. Andrés Torres, Between Melting Pot and Mosaic (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995), 79. 17. Badillo, One Nation, One Standard, 2006, 57. 18. Bergad, Latino Data Project, 3. 19. Kosmin and Keysar, 1992, 10. 20. Alessandro Rampietti, “Finding God in a New Land: Hispanic Immigrants Turning to Evangelical Churches,” Columbia Journalist, December 12, 2005, http://www. columbiajournalist.org. 21. María Benita Vásquez, “Ministerio Way Out: en 37 años hemos ayudado alrededor de 8 mil adictos a las drogas y el alcohol,” Prensa Cristiana New York, March 2007, 4. 22. Cruz et al., “Latino Voting in the 2004 Election.”

New York 23. Glasser, 1997, 178. 24. Danielle Sessa, “Rodriguez is Bargain for Yankees at $23 Million, Economist Says,” http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aAXWEnG1R6I0&refer=us.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Antón, Alex, and Roger Hernández. Cubans in America. New York: Kensington Books, 2002. Badillo, David A. Latinos and the New Immigrant Church. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Badillo, Herman. One Nation, One Standard. New York: Sentinel, 2006. Bergad, Laird W. “Changes in Income Distribution Patterns, Wealth, and Poverty among New York City’s Racial/Ethnic Groups between 1999–2004.” Latino Data Project. http://web.gc.cuny.edu/lastudies/changesinincomepatternswealthandpoverty19992004inNYC.pdf. ———. “Mexicans in New York City, 1990–2005.” June 2007. http://web.gc.cuny.edu/ lastudies/Mexicans%20in%20NYC%201990%20-%202005.pdf. Cruz, José E. “Latinos and the 2004 Elections in New York State.” NYLARNet, State University of New York. http://www.nylarnet.org/Lat%20Vote%20Highlights2.html. Cruz, José E., Cecilia Ferradino, and Sally Friedman. “Latino Voting in the 2004 Election: The Case of New York.” State University of New York, NYLARNet. http://www.albany.edu/ wwwres/nylarnet/latinovote2004%5B2%5D.rtf. Davila, Arlene. Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Díaz Ayala, Cristobal. Cuando salí de La Habana—1898–1997: Cien años de música cubana por el mundo. San Juan, PR: Fundación Musicalia, 1998. Fine, Janice. “Community Unions and the Revival of the American Labor Movement.” Politics and Society (2005). http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/1/153. Fitzpatrik, Joseph, and Douglas Gurak. “Intermarriage among Hispanic Ethnic Groups in New York City.” American Journal of Sociology 87, no. 4 (1982): 921–934. Glasser, Ruth. My Music Is My Flag. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Haslip-Viera, Gabriel, and S.L. Baver, eds. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996. Hirsch, Eric Donald. The Schools We Need. New York: Doubleday, 1996. “History of Salsa.” http://www.salsaweb.com/ny/historyofsalsa.htm. Iglesias, César Andreu, ed. Memoirs of Bernardo Vega: A Contribution to the History of the Puerto Rican Community in New York. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1984. Jaker, Bill, Frank Sulek, and Peter Kanze. The Airwaves of New York : Illustrated Histories of 156 AM Stations in the Metropolitan Area, 1921–1996. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1998. Kosmin, Barry A., and Ariela Keysar. “Party Political Preferences of U.S. Hispanics: The Varying Impact of Religion, Social Class and Demographic Factors.” City University of New York, Berman Institute, 1992. “Latino Hip-Hop.” http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects/lhh/images/timeline.html. Police Department City of New York. http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/pdf/chfdept/cs023pct.pdf.

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Latino America Recourt, Milagros. Dominicans in New York City: Power from the Margins. New York: Routledge, 2002. Rodriguez De León, Francisco. El furioso merengue del norte. New York: Editorial Sitel,1998. Salvatierra, Cecilia. “Private and Public School Attendance Patterns among New York City’s Racial/Ethnic Groups and Latino Nationalities in 2000.” Latino Data Project. http://web.gc.cuny.edu/lastudies. Sánchez-Korrol, Virginia. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Smith, Robert. Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. Thomas, Piri. Down These Mean Streets. New York: Vintage Books, 1967. Torres-Saillant, Silvio, and Ramona Hernández. The Dominican Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Vargas-Ramos, Carlos. “Settlement Patterns and Residential Segregation of Puerto Ricans in the United States.” Policy report 1, no.2. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Fall 2006. http://centropr.org/downloads/SegregationBrief.pdf.

34 NORTH CAROLINA Elizabeth Turnbull

CHRONOLOGY 1521 1525

1526

1540

1741 1748

1846–1848 1848

1898

Spanish explorer Francisco Gordillo explores the Atlantic coast, extending as far north as the present-day Carolinas. Explorer Pedro de Quexos leads an expedition along the Atlantic coast and passes through present-day North Carolina. His exploration ends in Virginia. Explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllon attempts a first settlement in an unknown location, possibly present-day North Carolina. He moves on to establish a short-lived settlement in present-day South Carolina. Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer, arrives in the Carolinas looking for gold. All he finds is copper, a few pearls, and some weapons. He leaves behind a path of destruction. Two Spanish privateers appear off the coast of the Outer Banks, beginning a series of Spanish invasions of North Carolina. The Spanish engage in their final attack on North Carolina. They target Brunswick and briefly occupy the town. A prisoners exchange marks the end of 7 years of invasions. The Mexican-American War rages under the administration of North Carolina–born President James K. Polk. President Polk negotiates the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ends the Mexican-American War and facilitates the purchase of 525,000 m2 of Mexican territory for the sum of $15 million. Following the sinking of the USS Maine on February 15, 1898, the North Carolinian government sends three regiments of troops for the

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1915

1940

1950s

1970 1990

1994 1995

Spanish-American War. One of the regiments was an all black, making North Carolina one of only three states to recruit all-black regiments for the war. Latin American history, geography, politics, languages, and social life are brought together in a special curriculum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) is established at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, making ILAS one of the nation’s first educational centers dedicated to the study of Latin America. The first Mexican students graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through a joint program with the Escuela Normal Superior de México (Superior Normal School of Mexico). Later, a tree is planted and a plaque installed to honor the friendship between the two schools. North Carolina is home to 43,414 Latinos, most of whom work in the state’s agricultural industry. North Carolina’s Latino population begins to skyrocket. The Latino population will grow from 76,726 in 1990 to more than 506,206 residents in 2004, nearly a 660 percent increase. The first Fiesta del Pueblo, which celebrates the Latino heritage in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle, is held on September 18. El Pueblo files its articles of incorporation and becomes an influential organization that advocates for the Latino community and builds bridges with other communities in the state.

North Carolina 1998 2000 2001

2004

Governor James B. Hunt Jr. appoints Nolo Martinez as North Carolina’s first director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. The Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito, North Carolina’s first Latino-centered financial service, is started. John Herrera is elected an alderman in Carrboro. He becomes North Carolina’s first Latino elected official. The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina establishes the Center for New North Carolinians. Though the center focuses on all migration to North Carolina, it deals primarily with the Latino population, which forms the state’s largest migrant group. North Carolina’s Latino population reaches the half-million mark and continues on a pattern of strong growth.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW When Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrived in what is now North Carolina, he was on a treasure hunt. He and his soldiers were in search of gold, as they had heard of a great gold treasure among the Cofitachequi people. When the explorers arrived, they found not gold, but copper and a few pearls. Several of the Cofitachequi villages were raided and burned along the way, and their princess was taken hostage. De Soto built a legacy as a conquistador, leaving in his wake a path of death and destruction. But he also left another legacy—one of Latino presence that would not be fully realized until approximately 450 years later, when migrants from all corners of the Americas would begin to change North Carolina’s landscape. As a British colony, North Carolina’s encounter with the Spanish in 1741 was nearly as hostile as the first encounter. In April of that year, two Spanish privateers appeared off the coast of the Outer Banks. Within a month, they had captured six vessels, three of which were registered within the colony. The success of the invasion brought the Spanish to land, where they established a tent town and base of operations in Ocracoke. By August North Carolina merchants and shipowners had joined together to engage the Spanish. When the North Carolinians reached Ocracoke, the Spaniards left the coast. But they would return for periodic invasions until the early fall of 1748. This final Spanish attack against Brunswick brought about a brief occupation by the invaders. A prisoners exchange between the North Carolinians and the Spanish marked the end of the invasions. The next time North Carolina would interact so closely with Spain, the North Carolinians would be the aggressors. During the Spanish-American War, North Carolina recruited three regiments of soldiers—two white and one black—making North Carolina one of only three states to send an all-black regiment to fight in the war. The state established several camps in the Raleigh area, including a temporary camp at the state fairground. Within a short time, half the troops were sick and

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Latino America released from duty. Several other problems—such as wanted criminals appearing in the ranks, desertion, and disease—whittled away at the troops’ morale and reputation. One exception was the 3rd Regiment, the all-black regiment. Though many African Americans had viewed the start of the Spanish-American War as a distraction from more important issues, such as racism and repression in the United States, North Carolina’s 3rd Regiment troops felt that the war against Spain gave them an opportunity to further black identity while proving themselves to be able fighters loyal to the United States. History shows the 3rd Regiment to have been overly optimistic. The end of the war marked the end of North Carolina’s interaction with its neighbors to the south for nearly a century, though it did little to change the plight of the state’s African American population. Even after proving their patriotism and loyalty, the black troops returned to a civilian society that continued to marginalize them as second-class citizens. Within 100 years, North Carolina’s demographics—and race relations—would no longer be black and white. A third group—Latinos—would begin to muddle the race lines and leave an indelible mark on the state’s identity. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—when the Latino population in the United States began to grow exponentially in places such as the Southwest, New York, and Florida—the Southeast remained relatively untouched by the changing demographics. But in the 1980s everything began to change, especially in North Carolina. What has made the growth of the Latino population so remarkable in this state is not the size of the population per se but rather the speed with which it has grown.1 Social and political unrest in Central America throughout the 1980s brought to the United States large groups of refugees and migrant workers seeking the everillusive myth of the American Dream. Being an agricultural state in need of a strong workforce, North Carolina proved an enticing choice, and the state’s Latino population grew 26 percent throughout the decade. At the beginning of the growth period, most Latino migrant workers moving to North Carolina sought out the rural, agricultural areas. Typically, the move was temporary, as migrant farmworkers would seek out the harvests up and down the eastern seaboard. The 1990s brought with them the tech boom, and North Carolina entered a period of extreme growth, as did the influx of the Latino population in the state. The research industries moving into the area brought with them a need to build. New homes and office spaces needed to be built throughout the state, especially in the Research Triangle, set between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Suddenly, there was a desperate need for construction workers, and Latino migrants rushed in to fill the void. In 1994 there were 153,488 Latinos living in North Carolina.2 By 2004 that number had grown to 506,206, a 300 percent increase.3 Between 1970 and 2004 the national average of Latino growth stood around 355 percent, but in North Carolina the increase in the Latino population was an astonishing 1,066 percent.4 In the

North Carolina 1990s North Carolina experienced a Latino population growth rate larger than any other state in the United States.5 Although the Latino boom in the state has been exceedingly rapid, it has also occurred against the backdrop of overall growth across many groups.6 In the same way as the Latino population was growing faster in North Carolina than in any other state, the population of African Americans and whites was also increasing faster than the national average.7 Nevertheless, the Latino growth in North Carolina has proved nothing short of remarkable. Though the vast majority of Latinos arriving in North Carolina come from Mexico, other Latino migrants come from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, among others.8 Contrarily to the 1980s, most of the Latinos settling in North Carolina during the 1990s and early 2000s began to occupy the area along the urban crescent—the I-40–I-85 corridor that runs through the heart of the state.9 Currently, 70 percent of the North Carolinian Latino population is settled in urban areas, most of which along the urban crescent.10 As the number of Latinos in the state has reached a critical mass, a recent trend of permanent settling has begun. Hispanic-oriented services are on the rise as families settle permanently. Such services seek to meet the needs of the Latino community through the formation of tiendas, eateries, and financial services. One indication that Latinos had arrived to stay came with the creation of the Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito (Latino Community Credit Union, LCCU) in 2000. After noticing that invasions of Latino homes and muggings of Latinos were on the rise, local community members, spearheaded by noted activist John Herrera, sought to create a financial institution where Latinos would feel safe and comfortable depositing their money. The credit union was founded in downtown Durham and quickly grew to six branches throughout the state. According to the Credit Union Magazine, the LCCU has become the fastest-growing credit union in the United States.11 More importantly, it serves as a symbol of the increasing permanence of the Latino community in a state that had grown accustomed to the coming and going of Spanish-speaking migrant workers. Today, nearly 21 percent of the Latinos in North Carolina were born in the state.12 The growing presence of Latinos in North Carolina has also led to a greater civic engagement of the community, a phenomenon reflected in the 2001 election of John Herrera as alderman in Carrboro. The election made Herrera North Carolina’s first Latino elected official, and it seems fitting that it happened in a town where 12 percent of the population is Latino.13

ECONOMIC IMPACT

OF

LATINOS

The rapid increase of the state’s Latino population has been felt perhaps most strongly in the economic sector. North Carolina’s growing economy has provided

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Latino America a space for Latinos to fill, while also serving as an attraction for those in other parts of the country who are looking for work. Latinos in North Carolina’s workforce are found mostly in blue-collar occupations—such as construction, agriculture, trucking, and cleaning services.14 Forty-two percent of Latino workers in the state are found in construction, with wholesale and retail trade following as a distant second, at 11.5 percent. Agriculture was once the main draw for Latinos to North Carolina. The North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA) used to contract out thousands of laborers from Mexico and other Latin American countries to farms that needed field-workers. These laborers would often end up in farms, growing cucumbers for the Mt. Olive Pickle Company. Complaints abounded that the NCGA abused its workers by denying them water and medical care. Today only 9.2 percent of the population works in agriculture, making it the fourth most common industry for Latinos in the state.15 Despite their heavy concentration in bluecollar industries, Latinos are starting to move to white-collar occupations, according to a report issued by the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.16 In the decade between 1995 and 2005, Latinos added some 15,164 workers in office and administrative support occupations, as compared to 20,102 jobs in farming, fishing, and forestry.17 In addition to providing valuable labor to the growing economy of North Carolina, the Latino population also has a significant buying power, especially in the metropolitan areas. In 2004 the state’s Latinos held an estimated $8.35 billion in buying power.18 North Carolina’s business community has begun to realize the importance of Latino spending, and many local businesses are now targeting the Latino population. The economic impact of Latinos on the state, however, is not limited to gains. North Carolina has also undertaken serious costs to support the Latino population, especially in the areas of K–12 public education and health services.19 In 2004 the state spent an estimated $467 million in K–12 education, $299 million on health services, and $50.7 million on corrections for the Latino population. When Latino tax contributions are factored into the equation, the net cost of Latinos to North Carolina comes to $61 million, or about $102 per Latino resident.20 Nevertheless, Latino labor has helped sustain North Carolina’s growth, and thus it has contributed in immeasurable ways to the state’s progress and development, making the net cost a small investment in comparison.21 Unlike other states with a much longer history of Latino presence, North Carolina is just entering the period of its Latino experience, making it an especially exciting and rich ground for social research. This recent growth in Latino population also brings with it challenges for current researchers, especially because of the general lack of Latino historical context within the state and the constantly changing cultural landscape. Nevertheless, the transition from a migrant workforce to a more permanent settlement, compounded with the expo-

North Carolina nential increase of Latino migrants throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, has begun to change the North Carolinian experience socially and economically.

NOTABLE LATINOS Niggli, Josefina María (1910–1983). Josefina María Niggli, a popular playwright and author, was born in Monterrey, Mexico. The Mexican Revolution prompted her family to send her to San Antonio, Texas, when she was just 3 years old. Her formative years were spent between the two cities. Niggli’s North Carolina connection began in 1935, when she joined the graduate program called the Carolina Playmakers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After she finished the program in 1938, she joined the faculty of that university and published her collection Mexican Folk Plays in 1945. Niggli split much of her professional career between her native Mexico and her newfound home of North Carolina. In 1956 she joined the faculty of Western Carolina University to teach English and drama; she remained a member of the faculty for 20 years. In addition to a series of plays, Niggli also wrote three novels: Mexican Village (1945), which was produced into a Hollywood film called Sombrero (1953); Step Down Elder Brother (1947); and A Miracle for Mexico (1964). Niggli was a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Photographic Society of America, in addition to serving as the president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club in Sylva, North Carolina. Herrera, John (unknown). John Herrera is a community activist and a member of the Board of Aldermen for Carrboro, North Carolina. He was born in Costa Rica and first arrived in the United States in 1983, when he received a scholarship to attend the University of Delaware. Herrera and his wife, Karen Current, moved to North Carolina in 1992 to pursue master’s degrees. Herrera received his MA in community development from North Carolina State University. Herrera’s election as alderman in 2001 made him North Carolina’s first elected Latino official. In 2006 he began a movement to allow legal, permanent residents who are not yet citizens to vote in municipal elections. Herrera is also noted for playing a prominent role in the establishment of the Fiesta del Pueblo, the state’s largest celebration of Latino culture. But Herrera’s most important contribution to the state as a whole and the Latino population in particular is perhaps the creation of the Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito, or the Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU). This was the first financial center in the state to focus on Latinos. The LCCU aims to provide a safe place for Latinos to save their money while earning interest; this also reduces their vulnerability to home burglaries and violent robberies. Herrera’s work in the North Carolina Latino community has helped to elevate the population’s status, economically and socially. Moraloza, Victor Raul (unknown). Victor Moraloza is a Mexican-born sculptor who resides in Franklin. A Vietnam veteran, Moraloza began creating art in the 1990s, after he endured a long and painful recovery from shrapnel wounds he suffered in Vietnam. Moraloza works primarily with copper, and his artwork consists of mini-installations

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Latino America with painstaking detail. In addition to being an accomplished artist, Moraloza is also a decorated veteran. He received about a dozen medals during his military career, including two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. Moraloza remains active in his community, donating his artwork to local charities and serving as a mentor for high school art students. Martinez, Nolo (unknown). Nolo Martinez was named North Carolina’s first director of Hispanic/Latino affairs by Governor James B. Hunt Jr. in 1998. Martinez served two terms, the last of which ended in 2004. He currently serves as director of the Center for New North Carolinians, which was established by the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina in 2001. Martinez has published widely on various issues relating the Latino population in North Carolina, including health care disparities and the benefits of ESL education. Camacho Maas, Aura (1962–). Community activist Aura Camacho Maas was born in Bogota, Colombia, and migrated to the United States in 1981. She arrived in North Carolina with her husband in 1984 and became involved with the local Latino population soon thereafter. Camacho Maas is one of the state’s pioneers in building bridges between the Latino and other North Carolina communities. In 1991 she founded the Latin American Research Center (LARC), whose goals are “to restore humanization within the educational process and . . . to create and implement K–12 classroom strategies for inclusiveness and academic proficiency and professional development for cultural competence.”22 Camacho Maas has worked to broaden opportunities for the Latino population as well as to increase awareness about the challenges facing the Latino community. She has allowed her Latino background, migration to the United States, and other life experiences to transform her perspective into a global worldview that sees “less and less of the traditional boundaries.”23 Bazán Manson, Andrea (1967–). Lobbyist Andrea Bazán Manson was born in Boston, grew up in Argentina, and attended high school and college in New Orleans. She holds two MAs, one in social work and another in public health, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is North Carolina’s first Latina lobbyist to the General Assembly, and she has also lobbied at the national level. Bazán Manson served as the first executive director of El Pueblo, a statewide advocacy and public policy organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is also the president of the Triangle Community Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that “connects philanthropic resources with community needs.”24 Additionally, Bazán Manson is vicechair of the Board of Directors of the National Council of La Raza, based in Washington, DC, and the National Immigration Law Center based in Los Angeles, California. She also sits on the boards of the John Rex Endowment and Wachovia Bank in Raleigh. She holds two appointments by Governor Michael Easley Jr., one at the North Carolina Medical Care Commission and the other at the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. Bazán Manson raises public awareness about the Latino population through frequent speaking engagements at the local and national levels. She has been a pioneer in advocating for the growing Latino population in North Carolina, opening doors for the community throughout the state.

North Carolina Díaz, Albert (unknown). Governor Michael Easley Jr. named Albert Díaz a superior court judge in 2002, making him the state’s first Latino judge to serve on that court. Before his appointment, Díaz worked as a lawyer with the Charlotte-based firm, Hunton & Williams. Díaz is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and a charter member of the Hispanic Latino Lawyers Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association. With the Hispanic Latino Lawyers Committee, he helped establish a network of Spanish-speaking lawyers throughout North Carolina in an effort to better meet the legal needs of the Latino population. Lazo-Chadderton, Matty (unknown). Matty Lazo-Chadderton was born in Peru, where she worked as an educator. She later moved to the Dominican Republic and ran an art gallery. After learning that her son, David, had autism, she and her family moved to North Carolina so that he could receive proper care and treatment. Lazo-Chadderton has since become a prominent figure at the state level. In 2004 Governor Michael Easley Jr. named Lazo-Chadderton director of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, making her the second director in that position’s history, and the first woman to hold the title. Governor Easley also appointed Lazo-Chadderton to the North Carolina Council on Developmental Abilities in 2000. She is a member of the Hispanic Democrats of North Carolina, having served as its treasurer. In 2004 Lazo-Chadderton was named a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from North Carolina. She has used her influence to raise community awareness, worked toward eliminating stigmas about disabilities, helped raise awareness about North Carolina’s Latino population, and worked with state politicians to better meet the needs of the community. Quintana, Sergio (1974–). Though he calls Las Vegas, New Mexico, his hometown, North Carolina now claims journalist Sergio Quintana as one of her own. Quintana moved to North Carolina in 2005 as a television news reporter with NBC-17. Quintana is a two-time Golden Mic Award–winning journalist. He worked in both Albuquerque and Los Angeles before moving to Raleigh to join the NBC news team. In 2006 he hosted the Diamante Awards, a local Latino Community Image Awards show. Quintana’s ancestors are originally from Spain, and they helped settle what became Mexico and then later the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The span of his heritage illustrates the complexities of the U.S. Latino population, debunking the myth of a monolithic identity. Quintana uses his interaction with other journalists to raise awareness about the many textures of the Latino community and to tear down destructive stereotypes. Quintana’s high profile position at NBC-17 opens an important space for the new and rapidly growing Latino population. His fluency in both English and Spanish also facilitates a more authentic journalistic interaction with this important part of North Carolina society.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The newness of the Latino population in North Carolina makes for fertile study. This same newness also means that many of the subtle and perhaps richest cultural

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Latino America contributions of Latinos have yet to surface. Areas of significant impact include education, public celebrations, and changes to the infrastructure of government services, and the publication of Spanish-language newspapers such as Charlotte’s El Sol and La Noticia, Durham’s Nuestro Pueblo, and Raleigh’s La Conexión are a testament to the growing readership. K–12 public education is usually highlighted as one of the areas that Latinos have impacted economically; however, the education sector is also one area where Latinos’ cultural contributions are most apparent in this early stage of settlement. Throughout the urban crescent, public schools have noticed a dramatic increase in Latino enrollment—2,614 percent in the past 20 years.25 In fact, the Latino presence in public schools has reached such a critical mass that the ethnic composition of the state’s school system has been significantly altered. The state’s public school demographics can no longer be broken down along the traditional lines of black and white. English as a second language (ESL) programs are present in public schools across the state to accommodate the growth of students who speak Spanish as their first language. And some counties have even begun to encourage cultural understanding among the students by offering duallanguage immersion programs in public elementary schools; such is the case at Durham County’s Southwest Elementary School. The dual-language immersion

Guadalupe Procession. Courtesy of Barry Yeoman.

North Carolina allows English-speaking children to become fluent in Spanish, and Spanishspeaking children to become fluent in English. In fact, schools throughout North Carolina have begun to recognize and even celebrate the Latino presence through cultural exchanges and festivals. These festivals have not been limited to schools. Cities throughout the state have founded their own Hispanic heritage festivals where food, music, crafts, games, and traditional dances broaden cultural awareness and celebrate the local Latino community. The Carnaval Carolina, founded in 1998 in Charlotte, highlights Latino and Caribbean artists and is growing rapidly. But the most noteworthy festival in the state is Raleigh’s Fiesta del Pueblo, founded by El Pueblo, Inc., a leading advocacy and public policy organization that promotes Latino progress in North Carolina. The first Fiesta del Pueblo took place in 1994 in Chapel Hill, and it boasted 3,500 attendees,26 making it the largest Latino gathering in state history.27 By 1997 the festival had grown so large that it expanded to two days, being forced to move to the state fairground in Raleigh.28 More than 10,000 people participated in the festival that year. Today the Fiesta del Pueblo is recognized as North Carolina’s largest celebration of Latino heritage and culture. The event has grown to incorporate not only Latino food, music, and games but also informational exhibits that promote health, housing, employment, and other political concerns of the state’s Latino population. Cities are not only celebrating Latino culture; they are also looking for ways to better meet the needs of the community. Changes to government offices have taken place from state down to city levels. In 1998 Governor James hunt appointed Nolo Martinez as the state’s first director of Hispanic/Latino affairs. The position has as its main duties to “[sponsor] events/projects involving the state’s Spanish-language population.”29 Martinez later moved on to direct the Center for New North Carolinians at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, another sign that institutions throughout the state are recognizing the impact of migration, especially Latino migration. Local governments have also created positions in Human Relations departments to cater to the specific needs of Latinos. In Durham, for example, the Hispanic Latino Initiative was started to ensure that the Hispanic community has access to the full range of City services, have a voice and a place to express their concerns, share information regarding city ordinances, laws policies, etc., assist in the acculturation process of the “newcomers,” assess information of services and programs available for the community, and ultimately this will benefit the broader community.30

Winston-Salem also instituted a similar initiative with the Beyond Soul and Salsa forums hosted throughout 2006. The forums were designed to address the conflict between the city’s African American and Latino residents by helping to “dispel

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Latino America stereotypes, identify common concerns, and examine barriers to cooperation.”31 The initiative was so successful that it was a finalist for the prestigious Awards for Municipal Excellence. The city of Carrboro took the engagement of Latino residents to an even more direct level when Alderman Herrera called to allow noncitizens to vote in city elections. Examples such as these illustrate that city-based initiatives to support and engage the Latino community are becoming commonplace throughout the state. Churches and other local organizations have often created their own initiatives to reach out to the Latino population. Hispanic ministries have become an everyday part of Church services, as has the incorporation of Latino culture into Church celebrations. One example includes the addition of Las Posadas to the Christmas celebration at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill.32 Las Posadas, which dates back to the sixteenth century, is a Latino Christmas tradition honoring Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. Its incorporation in the Church’s Christmas celebration serves as a subtle symbol of the increasing Latino influence on the state’s cultural fabric. The presence of Las Posadas also reflects the impact Latinos have had on North Carolina’s religious makeup. By the early 2000s there were almost as many unregistered, active Latino Catholics in the state as the 325,000 registered Catholics. The rising number of Latino residents has shaped the state’s infrastructure in much less subtle ways than it has the cultural celebrations, especially in the education, health care and judicial systems. Schools throughout the state have found great difficulties in accommodating the rapid growth in enrollment resulting, in part, from the increasing numbers of Latino migrants and residents. Counties are currently in the process of deciding what direction they must take to meet the demands of the swelling numbers. Some have chosen to build more schools, but Wake County—where Raleigh, the state’s capital, is—concluded that building new schools is not enough solve the problem. In 2006 the Wake County School Board voted to switch from a traditional school calendar to a year-round school schedule, a decision that proved controversial at a minimum and brought a certain amount of backlash to the Latino community. In the fall of 2006, for example, Klu Klux Klan members distributed fliers blaming the Latino community for the over population in Wake County’s schools: The “November Criminals” of both political parties are cowardly & treasonously evading this issue in pandering to these illegal non-white invaders’ votes; thereby forcing you and your children to pay for all this through higher taxes, overcrowded schools, inadequate classrooms and class size, and forced year-round schooling.33

In health care, language—not blatant racism—has proven to be the most notable barrier. Doctors, pharmacists, and nurses all need to communicate with

North Carolina patients. Spanish-English interpreters have become highly sought after, as have bilingual health practitioners. Moreover, Latinos boast one of the greatest numbers of uninsured people of any ethnic group in the United States, and as the Latino presence in North Carolina has grown, so too has the number of bilingual health services and free clinics catering to those without insurance. The judicial system has also had to incorporate interpreters, bilingual materials, and outreach programs to meet the needs of the Latino population. For example, the aforementioned Hispanic Latino Initiative in Durham was founded in part after law enforcement officers and community activists noticed that a disproportionate number of victims of violent crimes were Latinos. The initiative increased police presence in targeted neighborhoods and sought to both integrate Latinos into the broader community and decrease potential friction between Latinos and other groups “by promoting understanding throughout the community.”34 The Durham Hispanic Latino Initiative highlights another influence Latinos have had on the culture of North Carolina—that of potential friction. The state’s strong historic racial divides are no secret, and the great influx of Latinos in North Carolina has worked to reawaken some of the racist sentiments in the state, as in the example of the Ku Klux Klan fliers distributed in Raleigh. At the same time, the negative backlash has served to fuel community groups such as El Pueblo, Latino/Hispanic centers, and Church ministries across North Carolina, which seek to embrace the Latino presence and incorporate Latino identity into the greater identity of the state. Many of the subtleties of cultural exchange have yet to be realized, but the arrival Latinos has brought with it a great awakening throughout the state. North Carolinians are no longer unaware of their neighbors in the Americas, for they are now their next-door neighbors too. The state has awakened to the Latino culture, and it is shaping itself into a multicultural space that makes room for a great variety of people, languages, and traditions.

NOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. State 6. 7. 8. 9.

Kochhar, Suyo, and Tafoya, 2005, 10. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 1. U.S. Census Bureau, “North Carolina,” 2004 American Community Survey. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 1. Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista, The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on the of North Carolina, December 2005, iv. Kochhar, Suyo, and Tafoya, 2005, 12. Kochhar, Suyo, and Tafoya, 2005, 13. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 2. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 5.

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Latino America 10. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 6. 11. Cooperativa Latina Comunitaria de Crédito, “Our History,” 2006. 12. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 8. 13. Meiling, 2006. 14. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 15. 15. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 16. 16. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 17. 17. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 17. 18. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 21. 19. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 25. 20. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 28. 21. Kasarda and Johnson, 2006, 28. 22. Latin American Research Center, “Mission Statement.” 23. Camacho, 2007. 24. Triangle Community Foundation, “About TCF,” 2007. 25. Kasarda and Johnson, 14. 26. El Pueblo Inc., “History of El Pueblo, Inc.” 27. Elliston, 2000. 28. El Pueblo Inc., “History of El Pueblo, Inc.” 29. North Carolina Office of the Governor, “Community Affairs Office: Hispanic/Latino Affairs,” 2004. 30. City of Durham, North Carolina, Human Relations Department, “Mayor’s Hispanic Latino Initiative,” 2006. 31. Marketing and Communications, “Winston-Salem is an Awards for Municipal Excellence Finalist,” 2006. 32. Deconto, 2006. 33. Hiu, 2006. 34. City of Durham, North Carolina, Human Relations Department, “Mayor’s Hispanic Latino Initiative,” 2006.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arounnarath, Meiling. “Alderman Wants Vote for Noncitizens.” News & Observer, May 18, 2006. http://www.newsobserver.com (accessed December 27, 2006). Arrizón, Alicia. Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Niggli, Josefina María.” http://www.tsha. utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/NN/fnitt.html (accessed January 14, 2007). Beadie, Michael. “Petal to the Metal.” Smoky Mountain News, January 25, 2006. http://www. smokymountainnews.com (accessed January 5, 2007). Bostic, Connie. “Gracias, amigos!” Mountain Xpress, January 3, 2007. http://www.mountainx. com (accessed January 5, 2007). Camacho Maas, Aura. Interview by author. Durham, NC. January 11, 2007. Center for New North Carolinians. “Mission Statement.” October 2, 2006. http://cnnc.uncg. edu/about/mission.htm (accessed January 13, 2007).

North Carolina Christensen, Rob. “Democratic Convention Honors Edwards.” News & Observer, January 10, 2002. http://www.newsobserver.com/659/story/229087.html (accessed January 14, 2007). City of Durham, North Carolina. Human Relations Department. “Mayor’s Hispanic Latino Initiative.” 2006. http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/raletions/hispanic.cfm (accessed December 27, 2006). City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Marketing and Communications. “Winston-Salem Is an Awards for Municipal Excellence Finalist.” Press release. September 7, 2006. http://www.cityofws.org/Home/Departments/MarketingAndCommunications (accessed December 29, 2006). Cooperativa Latina Comunitaria de Crédito. “Our History.” http://www.cooperativalatina. org/about/history.html (accessed December 26, 2006). Deconto, Jesse James. “Las Posadas Echo Search for Shelter.” Chapel Hill News, December 24, 2006. http://www.chapelhillnews.com (accessed December 27, 2006). Derbez Bautista, Luis Ernesto. The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on the State of North Carolina. December 2005, iv. Division of History Studies. “The Spanish Conquistadores and Padres.” Explorers and Settlers. Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1964. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/ online_books/explorers (accessed January 13, 2007). El Pueblo, Inc. “History of El Pueblo, Inc.” http://www.elpueblo.org/english/about/ timeline.html (accessed November 25, 2006). Elliston, Jon. “Where Credit Is Due.” Independent Weekly, November 22, 2000. http://www. indyweek.com (accessed December 6, 2006). Exploris. “The Power of One Voice: A Mother’s Story.” http://www.exploris.org/learn/ activities/attitude/?action=onev# (accessed January 14, 2007). Herrera, John. Interview by author. Durham, NC. November 1, 2006. Hiu, T. Kueng. “Racially Tinged Fliers Raise Ire.” News & Observer, September 12, 2006. http://www.newsobserver.com (accessed December 27, 2006). Jacquez Lewis, Georgia. “Albert Diaz, First Hispanic on NC’s Superior Court.” Hispanic National Bar Association. Spring 2002. Kasarda, John D., and James H. Johnson Jr. The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on the State of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School, 2006. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. “Lazo-Chadderton, Matty.” Political Graveyard, March 10, 2005. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/laxalt-leadbetter.html (accessed January 14, 2007). Kochhar, Rakesh, Roberto Suyo, and Sonya Tafoya. The New Latino South: The Context and Consequences of Rapid Population Growth. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, Pew Research Center, 2005. Latin American Research Center. “Mission Statement.” http://www.thelarc.org (accessed January 13, 2007). North Carolina, Office of the Governor. “Community Affairs Office: Hispanic/Latino Affairs.” 2004. http://www.governor.state.nc.us/Office/Hispanic.asp (accessed December 29, 2006).

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Latino America ———. “Gov. Easley Reappoints Boyd and Lazo-Chadderton to North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities.” Press release. October 4, 2004. http://my.ncgov.com/ asp/subpages/news_release_view.asp?nrid=1848 (accessed January 14, 2007). Quintana, Sergio. E-mail to author. January 15, 2007. Sheppard, Donald E. “Hernando de Soto’s Trail through North Carolina and East Tennessee.” http://floridahistory.com/inset9.html (accessed December 29, 2006). Town of Carrboro. “Board of Aldermen Membership.” http://www.ci.carrboro.nc.us/BoA/ boaMembership.htm (accessed December 29, 2006). Triangle Community Foundation. “About TCF.” 2007. http://www.trianglecf.org (accessed January 13, 2007). Turner, Jill K. E-mail to author. January 10, 2007. U.S. Census Bureau. “2004 American Community Survey, North Carolina.” April 25, 2006. http://factfinder.census.gov (accessed December 23, 2006).

35 NORTH DAKOTA John A. Morrow

CHRONOLOGY 1492 1682 1743 1750s 1763 1785 1789 1790 1795 1800 1803 1807 1861 1862

Spanish Crown claims present-day North Dakota. The explorer Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, claims all land drained by the Mississippi, as well as its tributaries, for France. French Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Vérendrye, claims the Dakotas for France as part of the Greater Louisiana. Spanish horses reach present-day North Dakota. French possessions west of the Mississippi are ceded to Spain. Esteban Rodriguez, Governor of Louisiana, takes inventory of Spanish possessions. Hunters Juan Munier and Joseph Garreau were the first Spaniards to explore the Missouri River. Spaniard Jacques d’Église explores the length and breadth of North Dakota. Spaniard John Evans raises the Spanish flag over Mandan villages in North Dakota. The Treaty of San Ildefonso transfers the Louisiana Territory back to the French. The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon. Manuel Lisa travels the Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone. The Dakota Territory is recognized by the U.S. government. The U.S. Congress passes the Homestead Act, drawing Latino settlers from Mexico, southern United States, and Spain.

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1970–2005

Latino population of North Dakota steadily increases from nearly 3,000 in 1970 to over 10,000 in 2005.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The history of Latinos in North Dakota starts in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) to the Americas. As a result of his discoveries, present-day North Dakota became part of the Spanish Empire, a claim confirmed by further explorations of the Great Plains by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554) in 1542, Don Juan de Oñate (1552–1626) from 1598 to 1608, Antonio Valverde y Cosío (unknown–1728) in 1719, and Pedro de Villasur (unknown–1720) in 1720, all of whom claimed the region for the Spanish Crown. Rather than militarizing and permanently settling the region, the Spaniards contented themselves with establishing a trade presence among the Native Americans. Without a military presence, however, the Spaniards were in no position to defend their interests. As a result, their claims to the region were soon challenged by the French. In 1682 the French explorer René Robert Cavalier, Seigneur de La Salle (1643–1687), traveled down the Mississippi River to its mouth. He claimed all the land drained by the Mississippi, as well as its tributaries, for France. The French hold on the Louisiana Territory was not long lasting. As a result of the French and Indian Wars, French possessions west of the Mississippi were ceded

North Dakota to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Hence, from 1763 to 1800 the Spanish governor-general at New Orleans was officially the ruler of the mid-American prairie regions. With the exception of the Red River watershed, all of present-day central and western North Dakota belonged to the Spanish Crown. Though it was part and parcel of the Spanish Empire, the north and the interior of the Louisiana Territory was sparsely settled by French Canadian hunters and trappers. Native American nomads made up most of the residents on the Great Plains, where Spanish military control was only confined to the south. Although the Spanish army never reached the Dakotas, having stopped in Nebraska in 1720, the Spaniards maintained a series of forts and frontier posts inherited by the French that extended along the Mississippi as far north as Michigan. Spanish authorities in New Orleans and St. Louis engaged in fur trading activities on the lower Missouri as early as 1764. In 1785 the new governor of Louisiana, Esteban Rodriguez Miró (1744–1795), took inventory of his domain in a report to his superiors. Beginning in 1789, a few hunters—including Juan Munier and Joseph Garreau, known also as Garán—were the first Spaniards to explore the Missouri. That very year Juan Munier met the Ponca Indians and was given exclusive trading rights with them by the Spanish. In 1790 Spaniard Jacques d’Église traveled up the Missouri. As a result of his travels, Santiago de la Iglesia, as he was known in Spanish, confirmed that the French had been actively trading in the region for some 50 years. He also noted that the Mandan Indians had Mexican saddles and bridles, indicating that Spanish goods, if not Spanish traders, had been reaching the region. Alerted of the seriousness of British incursions into their territory, the Spaniards started to assert their rights over the Missouri. As a result, Spanish merchants formed the Company of Explorers of the Upper Missouri and, within the next few years, Spanish expeditions made their way upriver. In April 1795 John Thomas Evans (1770–1799), a Spanish citizen from Wales known as Juan Evans, led an expedition from St. Louis to the upper Missouri. On September 23, 1796, Evans’s party reached the Mandan villages, located along the Missouri in present-day Oliver County, north of Bismarck, in central North Dakota. He raised the Spanish flag over the villages, distributed a proclamation insisting on the rights of Spain over the land, and ordered British subjects to cease their trading activity. Though it is unknown how many Spaniards visited the upper Missouri after Evans return in 1797, trade continued in the region, and some Spaniards certainly remained behind with the Mandans. In 1800, through the Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain secretly transferred the Louisiana Territory to the French, and in 1803 the United States purchased it from Napoleon. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase, North Dakota now belonged to the United States. In May 1804, while Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made their famous travels up the Missouri, they came across Régis Loisel

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Latino America and Pierre-Antoine Tabeau, a Spanish citizen who was dispatched to explore and trade in the Dakotas in 1803. The two traders were unaware that Spain had given South Dakota back to the French in 1800 and that it was now U.S. territory. The transfer of North Dakota from Spain to France and from France to the United States did not mean the end of the Latino presence in North Dakota. Manuel Lisa, a Spanish American born in New Orleans who spoke Spanish and a little French, left St. Louis in the spring of 1807 with 45 trappers to trade in the Dakotas. During his trip he carried his favorite book, Don Quijote, which he read constantly. Though most of his group was French Canadian, he also employed a number of Anglo Americans as well as some Latinos. Benito Vásquez, of Spanish background and second-in-command of the expedition, accompanied him on the first journey. Pedro Antonio, called a Spaniard in early accounts, accompanied Lisa when he went upriver in 1812, traveling all the way up the Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Manuel Lisa was the first trader to penetrate the far reaches of the Missouri valley. A master of dealing with the Native Americans, he was known as Chief Red Head among them. He organized the Santee Sioux and the Yanktonais to harass the English, and he persuaded 40 chiefs of the Missouri River tribes to make peace treaties with the United States. As a result of Manuel Lisa’s expeditions, U.S. companies became the dominant force in the fur trade. In turn, he became known as the King of the Missouri. A proud Latino and patriotic U.S. citizen, he was also a prominent figure in the war of 1812 against England. He was accused of taking advantage of both the Indians and the government, forcing him to resign his commission in 1817. He staunchly defended his innocence to General Clark in a letter written entirely in Spanish. Gradually, as French Canadians and Latinos trappers became scarce, U.S. citizens came to dominate the fur trade in the region. Though a minority, the Latino presence persisted in North Dakota. The statistics from the late 1800s, the early 1900s, and the mid-1900s demonstrate that there have always been Latinos in North Dakota. For example, a man known as Old Manuel was employed by the American Fur Company at Fort Clark for several years in the 1820s. A Spaniard known only as Isidoro was killed by a fellow trader at Fort Union in 1841. In the 1840s and 1850s, José Ramusio, who was known by the Anglicized name of Joseph Ramsay, was one of the principal hunters at Fort Union. Isidore Sandoval, a Spanish hunter and trapper, served as interpreter for the American Fur Company in several locations along the Upper Missouri. After 1831, steamboats bringing men and merchandise traveled the Missouri with certain regularity. In the 1860s a well-known pilot and captain bore the name of John Gonsollis, a corruption of the name González. In 1861 the Dakota Territory was recognized by the U.S. government. Initially, this included present-day North and South Dakota, and parts of Montana and

North Dakota Wyoming. In 1862 the U.S. Congress passed the Homestead Act, according to which heads of families or single men or women over the age of 21 could claim half a section of land for a $2 filing fee. So long as they lived on the land, built an 8 ⫻ 10–foot house, dug a well, broke the soil, and grew a crop, they could own the property in 5 years. On November 2, 1889, the Dakota Territory was incorporated into the United States as the modern states of North and South Dakota. By the late 1800s cowboy culture, Latino in origin, had reached North Dakota. During that time, up to one-third of trail riders in the Texas cattle industry were either black or Mexican. In the last two decades of the 1800s several Mexicans were in the state as cowhands, cooks, or general laborers. Personal property records from 1873 Pembina County list a certain John Beck, a likely Anglicization of Juan Bécquer, as a Mexican with a property value of zero. By the 1870s railroad construction was in full swing in North Dakota, attracting workers from diverse backgrounds. Though only a small part of the workforce, Latino men worked on the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad. Eventually, some of these Latinos of Spanish and Mexican origin moved from seasonal to year-round section crews. It took a whole century before Latinos became section foremen in their own rights. Although it was a rare occurrence, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans came to North Dakota to homestead.1 In 1890 there were 14 Spaniards and 6 Mexicans in the state. In the 1920s there were three farmers in the state listed as “born in Mexico.” The 1930 census lists 608 North Dakotans of Mexican origin. In that year Grand Forks had 202 Mexicans, Pembina County 172, Walsh County 92, and Cass 35, all working in the beet industry. Ward County had 75 Mexican Americans who were either railroad workers or farm laborers. In fact, from the 1890s to the 1950s, masses of mostly Mexican men, typically accompanied by their families, would make it to North Dakota each fall to work in the sugar beet fields near Williston-Sidney in the west, and the Red River valley in the east. The East Grand Forks sugar plant drew approximately 2,000 migrant workers, half on each side of the Red River, during its first years of operation. By 1954 there were 6,861 migrant workers in the Red River valley, some of them settling permanently. Many of these workers were recruited through the Bracero program, a binational agreement between the United States and Mexico, which lasted from 1942 to 1964 and which brought more than 3 million Mexicans to labor in agricultural fields in the United States. Lee G. William, the U.S. Department of Labor officer in charge of the program, described it as a system of “legalized slavery.” In response to the influx of Spanish speakers to the state, community welfare boards, churches, and private agencies came forward to assist migrant workers.2 In the 1930s local Catholic bishops initiated programs to assist migrant workers both socially and religiously. St. Anne’s Church, near Auburn, had been an active

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Latino America migrant center since 1949. By the 1950s Catholic priests were holding Sunday services in Spanish, sometimes in outdoor masses, in many towns, including Minto, Drayton, Cavalier, Thompson, Reynolds, Hillsboro, Casselton, and Morton. By 1975 there were 7 Spanish-speaking priests, 10 nuns, as well as numerous lay people actively serving migrant communities in eastern North Dakota. By 1993 the number of migrant workers and their dependents in the field of agriculture in North Dakota had reached 30,613. Of these, 14,920 worked in the preharvest of sugar beets; 9,752 harvesting potatoes; 4,579 harvesting dry beans; and 1,040 harvesting soybeans. There were also 132 migrants in greenhouses, nurseries, and food processing. These numbers seem to have gone down since the 1990s. According to a 2000 report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the largest decline in the number of hired farmworkers occurred in the northern plains of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. In 1970 there were 2,954 Latinos in North Dakota; in 1980 there were 3,815; and in 1990 there were 5,006. In 2000 there were 7,786 Latinos in the state, and by 2005 the population had reached 10,179. Most Latinos in North Dakota live in Fargo and Grand Forks, where they represent 1.3 and 1.9 percent of the population, respectively. Typically the largest minority in many cities and states throughout the United States, Latinos in Fargo and Grand Forks are a small minority. Since most of them had lived in other states prior to reaching North Dakota, they usually arrive with sufficient language skills. At present, the largest groups of newcomers to Fargo and Grand Forks are Bosnians, Somalis, Sudanese, and Liberians. The second-largest group of Latinos in North Dakota is found in the military, including the Minot and Grand Forks Air Force bases. As of 2006 the number of Mexicans in North Dakota had grown sufficiently to warrant the visit of a mobile Mexican consulate, which was temporarily based at the Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead. Historically, North Dakota has been the least popular destination for Latinos leaving the Southwest, with only 1 in 50 migrants choosing the state. From 1985 to 1990, 365 Latino migrants, a mere 0.7 percent of Latino migrants from the Midwest, relocated to North Dakota, whereas 474 Latino North Dakotans, 1 percent of Midwest out-migrants, moved out of the state, leaving it with a net migration of –109 people. This general trend, namely the net loss of Latinos through relocation out of North Dakota, seems to have changed. In fact, during the 1990s the west north central states, stretching from Minnesota and North Dakota to Missouri and Kansas, saw their Latino workforce grow by 520 percent. According to the 2000 census, there were 502,306 workers in North Dakota, of which 4,836 were Latinos, representing 1 percent of the total workforce. There were 384 Latinos and 129 Latinas in the armed forces in North Dakota. Latinos composed 6.5 percent of the men in the state’s armed forces, and Latinas represented 11.1 percent of women. Latino workers are found mostly in Fargo and Grand Forks; however, they are present in virtually every county

North Dakota in the state, working in almost every sector of the economy. As of 2006 there were approximately 30 Latino law enforcement officers in the state of North Dakota. In 2005–2006, there were 10 Latino educational personnel in the state of North Dakota, including 1 elementary principal, 3 elementary teachers, 1 English teacher, 4 foreign language teachers, 1 math teacher, an increase from 8 during 2004–2005, 5 in 2002–2003, and 3 in 2001–2002. At present, 0.6 percent of faculty members at North Dakotan doctorate-granting universities are Mexican American/Chicano, and 0.3 percent Puerto Ricans. Nationally, there are only 0.8 percent of the professoriate are Mexican American, 0.3 percent Puerto Ricans, and 1.7 percent other Latinos. As for the four year colleges, there are no Mexican American or Puerto Rican faculty members in North Dakota, and a mere 0.68 percent of other Latinos. In 2005–2006 there were 100,513 students enrolled in North Dakotan elementary and secondary schools, of which 2,381 were Latinos. In the same period there were 489 Latino students enrolled in North Dakota universities, and 68 Latinos were awarded postsecondary degrees. Latinos have been helping North Dakota by countering the state’s serious demographic decline, this being the single greatest contribution by that group to the state. Despite growth rates of 1,435 percent in 1880, 417 percent in 1890, 67 percent in 1900, 81 percent in 1910, 12 percent in 1920, and 5 percent in 1930, the state’s population has declined in almost every following decade. From a historic high of 680,845, the population of North Dakota decreased by 6 percent in 1940, 3 percent in 1950, and 2 percent in 1970 and 1990. By 2030 the population of North Dakota is set to drop to 606,566. With 90 percent of North Dakotan counties suffering from massive out-migration, some federal politicians, including North Dakota senator Byron Dorgan, have proposed the New Homestead Act of 2005 to encourage people to settle in rural areas being depopulated. With a growth of –1.95 percent in its total population from 2000 to 2005, North Dakota’s white population simply cannot even maintain a survival rate. During this same period of time, however, the Latino population had a growth rate of 37.78 percent, perhaps putting the future of the state in their hands.

NOTABLE LATINOS Mayo, Sonia (1959–). A community leader in Fargo-Moorhead for over 20 years, she worked with migrant families from 1983 to 1987. She was the first person of color elected to the Moorhead School Board (2002–2006). Espejo, Napoléon (1960–). Napoléon Espejo has been the medical director of the Family Health Care Center in Fargo since 1999. Originally from Peru, he spent three months at Shanley High School in Fargo in 1978. He returned to Peru in 1979 to complete medical

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Latino America school. Along with North Dakotan wife Laura Christenson, who passed away in 2000, he served the poor in Peru until 1995, at which point he was accepted into the University of North Dakota’s Family Practice Residency Program. Since then, he has devoted himself to providing culturally sensitive health care to the most vulnerable, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Flores-Ibarra, Oscar (1961–). Oscar Flores-Ibarra, a native of Mexico and Fargo resident, is professor of Economics and department chair at Minnesota State University. Martínez, David G. (1967–). Originally from Mexico City, David Martínez is completing a MFA in drawing and digital drawing at the University of North Dakota. His work has been exhibited in Mexico City and Washington, DC. He was part of the Mexican snow-sculpting team, competing in Colorado from 1999 to 2001. López Camarillo, Jeannie (1971–). A community activist, Jeannie López Camarillo worked for Motivation, Education, and Training, a nonprofit organization that helps migrant workers to settle into permanent work. From 2002 to 2006 she served on the board of directors of the Centro Cultural in Moorhead. Zepeda, Manix (1974–). Originally from Nicaragua, Manix Zepeda is the principal at Horace Mann Elementary School in Fargo. Gómez, Raúl (1976–). Raúl Gómez is the co-owner, copublisher, and design editor of the High Plains Reader, an alternative newspaper published in Fargo with a weekly readership of 30,000. Born in Iowa to Mexican parents, Raúl Gómez has lived in North Dakota for over a decade.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As testimony to the Latino history of the state, there are many Spanish place names in North Dakota, including Alamo (poplar, aspen, or wood), Arena (sand), Fonda (inn), Grano (grain), and Loma (hill). Some of these names, such as Flora and Fortuna, may have been taken directly from Latin. Names such as Emerado and Mantador seem to be corrupted Spanish forms of esmerado and matador. The name Medina, Arabic for “town,” is a common city name in the Spanish world. Juanita is a Spanish surname, and Havana is the English form of the Spanish Habana, the capital of Cuba. The community of Maza was named after Maza Chante, the Sioux chief. Maza itself means “metal” in Lakota, and Maza Chante means “armor.” Because the Spanish maza means a club, a hammer, a mace, or a piece of metal, the Lakota maza seems to be a Spanish borrowing. Latinos, despite their small numbers, have made many contributions to the North Dakotan community, including the Centro Cultural de Fargo-Moorhead which, along with Concordia College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Mujeres Unidas, and NDSU, organizes celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month in Fargo-Moorhead. In business, Latinos have brought several restaurants to the Fargo area, including two Mexican restaurants, Acapulco’s and Juanos. Owned by Mexico City–native

North Dakota Juan Mondragón, Juanos has turned into a veritable chain. María Simón, a seamstress from Mexico City, operates Alterations Sew Special in Fargo, serving customers from across the country, whereas Rodrigo Casárez runs Below Radar, a tattoo and piercing shop in the heart of downtown Fargo. One of the most influential Latinos in the community is Raúl Gómez, co-owner, copublisher, and design editor of the High Plains Reader, the first Latino-owned media outlet in North Dakota. The North Dakotan Latino community has made many contributions to the field of social services. Mujeres Unidas, formed in 1989, is directed by Jill Danielson and codirected by Mónica Treviño. The group aims at educating and empowering Latinas, breaking the cycle of racism, poverty, and oppression. In January of 2003 the Moorhead Human Rights Commission recognized the efforts of Mujeres Unidas, granting Human Rights Awards to Hilda Acevedo, Amy Cerna, Bianca Méndez, Belinda Rendon, and Dezi González, ages 17 to 21. In 2004 the YMCA named Mujeres Unidas “Women of the Year” in the category of Organization That Empowers Women. Concerned with domestic violence, Latinos from both North Dakota and Minnesota formed the Hispanic Battered Women’s Program in Moorhead, Minnesota. The Centro Legal, though located on the Minnesota side of the twin cities of Fargo-Moorhead, serves many North Dakotan Latinos. As has been the case for nearly a century, religious life in the North Dakota Latino community revolves primarily around the efforts of non-Latino members of the Roman Catholic Church. Sister Bernadette Trecker has worked in the Hispanic ministry since the 1960s, and Sister Leona Ulewicz is presently the director of Hispanic Ministries in the diocese of Crookston, and she has an intimate knowledge of the Latino community in the Red River valley. At present, Father Timothy C. Schroeder leads the Migrant Workers Apostolate for the Fargo diocese. He holds masses in Spanish in his parish sixth months out of the year. Latinos have increasingly been assuming positions of leadership, particularly in the Protestant community. Pablo Guajardo, a son of migrant farmers, started a Hispanic ministry in the spring of 1978 or 1979. Besides being an active community leader in Moorhead, Minnesota, for over 30 years, he serves as the pastor of Misión Bautista Buen Pastor, which meets at the Temple Baptist Church in Fargo, North Dakota. Latino North Dakotans have also been active advocates of cultural diversity, participating in the Cultural Diversity Project, a community-wide collaboration among four cities in two states—Fargo and West Fargo in North Dakota, and Moorhead and Dilworth in Minnesota—to address immediate community diversity issues while working toward systemic community changes. Latino culture has also made contributions to the First Nations of North Dakota. Spanish names are common on many reservations. Several indigenous women worked in the defense effort in World War II and married Latino men. Residential schools such as Haskell, Chilocco, and Intermountain brought Native

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Latino America American students from all over the United States, including Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache Indians, many of whom have Spanish surnames. From the early 1900s to the 1940s many marriages took place between the First Nations of the Southwest and the First Nations of North Dakota, as a result of boarding school acquaintances. The relocation program in the 1950s and 1960s, which took indigenous people from reservations to urban centers such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San José, and Dallas, all resulted in marriages outside of the tribal group. When many of these North Dakotan natives returned to their reservations, they brought their Latino spouses. Latino culture, however, is not particularly prevalent on reservations. This is due in large part to the matriarchal practices of many indigenous societies, in which the cultural and linguistic identity of the Native women prevails over the Latino heritage of the husband.

NOTES 1. Most early Latino settlers were eventually assimilated in mainstream Anglophone American culture, leaving only a Spanish surname as a hint of their lost Latino heritage. This process was facilitated by the fact that there were very few Latinos in the state, which in turn led Latinos to marry with non-Latinos. The assimilation of Spanish settlers was even easier for those who were fair skinned and because their regional identities prevailed as opposed to a single national identity. Viewing themselves through regional identities such as Basques, Catalans, and Gallegos, Spanish migrants have rarely formed broad inclusive communities with their other countrymen. 2. In response to the growth in the Latino population, some reactionary segments of North Dakotan society turned to the Ku Klux Klan, an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant organization. Concerned with the growth of the Klan in North Dakota, the state legislature passed a law on January 10, 1923, prohibiting all citizens over the age of 15 from wearing a mask or any other head covering in front of a public building to conceal their identity. As a result of these efforts, the Klan started to decline in the late 1920s, essentially ceasing to exist in Grand Forks by 1929. However, as was common in many parts of the South, Southwest, and Midwest, many businesses and communities in North Dakota continued to post signs stating “No dogs or Mexicans” well into the 1960s.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Graham Rezatto, Helen. The Making of the Two Dakotas. Lincoln, NE: Media Publishing, 1989. Haines, Francis. “The Northward Spread of Horses among the Plains Indians.” American Anthropologist 40, no. 3 (July–September 1938): 429–437. Larson, Alice C., and Luis Plascencia. Migrant Enumeration Project 1993. Migrant Legal Services. Buda, TX. 1993. Marentes, Carlos, and Cynthia Marentes. “The Bracero Program.” Farmworkers Web site. http://www.farmworkers.org/ bracerop.html.

North Dakota Nasatir, Abraham P. “Anglo-Spanish Rivalry on the Upper Missouri.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 16, no. 4 (March 1930): 507–528. ———. “Jacques d’Église on the Upper Missouri: 1791–1795.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 14, no. 1 (June 1927): 47–56. National Center for Educational Statistics. “State Education Date Profiles.” http://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/states. National Park Service. “Explorers before Lewis and Clark.” The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery. http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/ WestwardExpansion/EarlyExplorers/EarlyExplorers.htm. North Dakota State Government. “Affirmative Action.” http://www.jobsnd.com/publications/ pub.revision.do?revId=560. Reed, Maureen, ed. The Multicultural Midwest. Moorhead: Minnesota State University, Moorhead’s American Studies Program and the Clay County Historical Society, 2002. http://www.mnstate.edu/mcmdwest. Robinson, Elwyn B. History of North Dakota. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. Saenz, Rogelio, and Cynthia M. Cready. “The Southwest-Midwest Mexican American Migration Flows, 1985–1990.” Research report no. 20. Julian Samora Research Institute. www.jsri.msu.edu. Sherman, William C. Prairie Mosaic: An Ethnic Atlas of Rural North Dakota. Fargo: North Dakota State University, 1983. ———, ed. Plains Folk: North Dakota’s Ethnic History. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1988. U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. ———. Table 1: Interim Projections: Rankings of Census 2000 and Projected 2030 State Population Change: 2000 to 2030. http://www.census.gov/population/projections/ PressTab1.xls. ———. Census of Population, 1950. Vol. II, part 34. Washington, DC: U.S.G.P.O., 1952. U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov.

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36 OHIO José O. Solá

CHRONOLOGY 1900–1930s

1940s–1950s

1960s–1970s

1980–1990

1990s

2000–2006

Mexicans begin moving to Ohio to work at the mills in Lorain. These are the first Latino migrants to permanently settle the region. In 1926 a Mexican baseball team is organized to play in Lorain Class B Sunday League. The Bracero program brings Mexican migrant workers to Ohio. This program was an agreement between the Mexican and U.S. governments to allow Mexican workers to fill the U.S. labor shortages created by U.S. involvement in World War II. Also, migration to the United States makes the Puerto Rican community in northeast Ohio grow. Increased political activism within the Puerto Rican and Mexican communities leads to the election of Latino city council members in Lorain. Latino colonies finally establish themselves as communities in northeast Ohio. Economic conditions in Ohio lead to a decline in jobs and population. The Latino population residing in Ohio is 1.1 percent of the state’s total population. The Latinization of Ohio begins. Larger Latino communities take root outside Lorain, in Cleveland and Toledo. Many of these migrants are of working-class background, though there is also an increase in the number of professionals moving into the state. Communities across the state experience an increase in the number of Latinos or Spanish-speaking residents. In a span of two decades the Latino population doubles in the state of Ohio: from 119,000 in 1980 to 217,000 in 2000.

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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW During the 1990s, Spanish-speaking individuals constituted the fastest-growing portion of America’s migrant population. Though the Latino population in Ohio did not grow as rapidly as those in Florida or California, the rate of change in Ohio does reflect national trends. In the 1980s Ohio was a state with a solid white majority and a large African American minority. However, a steady shift in the demographic composition of the state began to take place during the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2004 the Latino population in Ohio grew from 139,000 to 220,000.1 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 42 percent of the Latino population in Ohio is of Mexican descent, 31 percent is composed of Puerto Ricans, 2 percent of Cubans, and 25 percent of Central/South Americans or other.2 Puerto Ricans are predominant in northeast Ohio, whereas Mexicans concentrate in the northwest portion of the state. Central and southwest Ohio are more diverse. There are Latinos residing in each of Ohio’s 88 counties. Latinos are now more visible across the state, working in many sectors of Ohio’s economy. However, many Ohioans mistakenly believe that their presence in the state is a recent phenomenon. Immediately after the Cuban-Spanish-American War, thousands of Latin Americans, mostly Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, were recruited to fill shortages in the agricultural labor force in the United States and Hawaii. Although census documents do not register Latino Americans residing in Ohio until the 1930s, oral

Ohio history projects and local histories show Mexican migrants living in Lorain, Ohio, in the years immediately after the World War I.3 Though in the past Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban migrants settled in the industrial regions of Ohio (Cleveland, Lorain, Toledo, and Youngstown), the past 16 years (1990–2006) have seen a growth of the Latino population in regions that previously were ignored by Latinos. During this period, Painesville, Cincinnati, and south central Ohio (south and east of Columbus) have become common destinations for Latino migrants. This migration is determined by the need for laborers in agriculture, low-skilled services, poultry and manufacturing industries, and construction.

THE COMMUNITIES OF LORAIN AND CLEVELAND Lured by jobs, Latinos migrated to the Midwest to work in the agricultural fields and industrial centers of the region. Ohio, especially the northeast of the state, was a magnet for migrants. Migrants from eastern and southwestern Europe predominated during the late nineteenth century, and during the first decades of the twentieth century African Americans from the South migrated to Ohio, looking for employment and a better life. Since the late 1910s Mexicans have regularly migrated to northeast Ohio (Lorain and, eventually, Cleveland) in search of jobs. Forced to move from Mexico because of economic necessity or the great political revolution, Mexican migrants found work in Ohio—as farm and railroad workers, and as laborers in the steel mills and factories (in Lorain and Cleveland)—as well as in Detroit, Saginaw (Michigan), Gary (Indiana), Chicago, and dozens of small towns in between. The Latino migration to Ohio was part of a massive movement of people across the U.S.-Mexican border. Mexicans who migrated to Ohio generally came from families who had been engaged in years of back-and-forth movement that eventually culminated in their settling in the Midwest. Latino migration has been seen to fall into three distinctive patterns. First came young single men who hoped to relieve their family’s economic situation back in Latin America. Second came married men who wanted to help their own families by sending money home to their wives; these men wanted to eventually bring their families to live with them. And finally, there were Latinos who arrived in the United States in family groups.4 The Latino migration to Ohio has consisted mainly of men migrating to send money to their families and of those Latinos moving into the state as family units. The first Mexicans to move into Lorain were members of only two or three families. They settled in Lorain in 1921 to work in the gangs of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad companies. Two years later a local steel mill—the National Tube Company, an affiliate of U.S. Steel—recruited 1,300 Mexicans from Texas to come to Lorain. Among the new settlers were the Mendez and Silvia-Tovar families. Between Mexico and Ohio, the Mendez and Silvia-Tovar families had several children,

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Latino America including Frank S. Mendez. Frank was born in Iowa in October 1925, and he was baptized in Lorain, Ohio, two months later.5 The timing of the arrival of Frank’s father, Natividad, in Lorain could not have been the worse. Lorain was recovering from a major tornado that had leveled part of the city a year earlier. Natividad Mendez started working as a laborer in the blast furnace section of the National Tube Company in December 1925. The National Tube Company heavy mill operations were located in south Lorain, separated by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad tracks from the rest of the city. South Lorain had the least desirable real estate in Lorain because of its proximity to the mill. During this period this neighborhood attracted first- and second-generation European migrant families who depended on the National Tube Company for a living. In many homes, English was a second language, with the first more likely to be Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Slovak, Romanian, Ukrainian, or Greek. Mexican families arriving in Lorain during the 1920s faced problems similar to those confronted by other nationals settling in the region. Though there was a certain level of cultural shock for Mexican families, as well as a certain level of discrimination, the proximity to a large number of eastern Europeans, Italians, and Greeks gave the factory workforce a distinct international flavor, turning south Lorain into a preferred destination for foreign workers. The vast number of outsiders created a demand within the ethnic communities for agencies that could assist newly arrived fellow countrymen. Demand for places of religious worship and for products from the migrants’ countries of origin also increased. During the 1920s most Mexicans worked at the steel mill’s blast furnace and pipe mills. The prevailing wage for a 10-hour day in the mill was between $4.50 and $5.00; these daily wages were considerably higher than the wages in Mexico. Those who did not seek work in Lorain’s steel mill established their own businesses in town. According to one study, in the mid-1920s the colony supported “two grocery stores, two restaurants, three pool halls, two bars, and a shoe repair shop.”6 These Mexican-owned businesses coexisted with the commercial ventures owned or run by other migrant groups associated with work at the mill. In order to meet some of the social needs the community faced, the Mexican consulate based in Cleveland began to work with Mexican nationals in Lorain to create a welfare organization. In 1928 the Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana (Mexican Mutual Aid Society) was formed to provide various services to the colony. A building on Vine Street, the heart of the Mexican colony, was chosen to serve as the headquarters for the group, and it accommodated an in-house lawyer, a pharmacist, and a doctor. The Sociedad was quite active, and by 1929 membership had grown to 170 members. However, mass layoffs and unemployment brought by the Great Depression hurt the membership. For the next 40 years the Sociedad existed with only a handful of active members.

Ohio The growth of the community led not only to the creation of the Sociedad and the establishment of Mexican social and religious organizations but also to an increase in the enrollment of Spanish-speaking students at local schools. Because most Mexican migrants were Catholic, many of the school-age children were enrolled in the parish schools. During the first years after their arrival Mexican parents enrolled their children either in St. Ladislaus, St. Cyril, or Methodious parish schools. A former student said, “In the school we were forbidden to speak Spanish, however, they made us learn our prayers in Slovenian and to this day I can still say half of Our Father in Slovenian.”7 Many young Mexicans were held back because they were unable to speak English during their first year of school. Not all students attended Catholic schools; in fact, a large percentage of the Mexican children attended the Lorain public schools. The Mexican colony in Lorain, which started with a base of 1,300 individuals in 1923, had grown to over 2,500 by the end of the decade. However, as with today’s Latin American population, the exact number of the community at that time is unknown. Most documents give conflicting reports, which is due to the high mobility of the group. Many Mexican workers and their families came to Lorain for a period of time and then moved on to another work site, only to return several months later. Yet, the core of the colony was beginning to form a community. This community was large enough to provide rich and varied recreational and social opportunities. The Mexican colony in Cleveland, unlike the one in Lorain, was small in size. During the 1920s the first group of Mexicans migrants, around 600, began to settle on the west side of Cleveland: from Randall Street to West 52nd Street, between Lorain and Detroit avenues. Residing in this area of Cleveland gave the Mexican community easy access to the Flats, where most of the steel mills were located. This was a period of growth for the city of Cleveland, providing opportunities for new migrant groups. However, with the onset of the Depression a backlash against Spanish-speaking migrants led to the deportation of some Mexicans. The deportations and the loss of jobs made the number of Mexicans residing in Cleveland decline. U.S. demand for workers during World War II allowed Mexicans to return to Cleveland and obtain jobs at the steel mills. These new arrivals found that their compatriots residing in Cleveland had created an infrastructure to help them adjust to living in the city.

LATINOS IN POSTWAR OHIO During World War II, the U.S. Department of Labor recruited laborers to replace U.S. draftees. Mexican and Puerto Rican workers came to Ohio under the Bracero program (a U.S.-Mexican agreement to supply temporary agricultural workers that lasted from 1942 to 1964) or as part of a state-sponsored work program initiated by Rexford G. Tugwell, governor of Puerto Rico from 1942 to

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Seventy-five Mexicans leaving Union Terminal for home after six months of work on New York Central RR tracks in northeast Ohio. February 15, 1942. Courtesy of Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library.

1946. The end of the war did not diminish the demand for farm or factory laborers. On the contrary, the robust postwar economy created a need for even more workers. During the early postwar period Ohio farmers and manufacturers turned to Mexico and Puerto Rico as sources for laborers. Tapping Puerto Rico for cheap workers was not new; it was rather a well-established practice that had began in 1898, when the island became a territory of the United States. In Puerto Rico a new state-sponsored industrialization program led to the reduction of agricultural jobs on the island. To alleviate the unemployment rolls, the government began to collaborate with labor agencies in the United States to find jobs for workers. U.S. employers recruited Puerto Ricans as low-wage workers for certain sectors of the economy. Puerto Rican officials also used contract labor to push islanders into settling outside New York City. As a result Puerto Ricans began to settle along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Contract labor also moved into the domestic sphere. In 1947 the first contracts were signed between young Puerto Rican women and an agency that would bring

Ohio them to the United States to be domestics. Between 1944 and 1947 the constant intersection between government agencies and migrants eventually led to the development of informal networks between Puerto Ricans already residing in eastern and midwestern communities. At the end of World War II, the National Tube Company announced a multimillion dollar expansion. The company also discovered a major flaw in its operations: competition for jobs had led to an unacceptable turnover rate at the mill. To create a stable workforce, the company began to hire contract workers. The first group of Puerto Rican contract workers arrived in Lorain, Ohio, in 1947. The company hailed this experiment as a success. Negotiations between the government of Puerto Rico, the National Tube Company, and the workers were handled by S.G. Friedman Labor Agency of Philadelphia. Friedman was familiar with Puerto Rico because his father was a veteran of the war of 1898 who had helped in the organization of the insular police. More than 80 percent of those selected came from the agricultural communities outside of Lares, Utuado, Caguas, and Jayuya.8 This was a calculated decision on the part of Friedman’s agency and the Puerto Rican government. As Operation Bootstrap expanded, agricultural jobs in these Puerto Rican areas began to decrease. Eventually, migrants from the coastal sugar-producing regions began to sign contracts to work in the United States. With increased migration from the Puerto Rican coast, Cleveland experienced an influx of islanders from Juana Diaz and Yauco, as well as from the mountain town of San Lorenzo. Friedman had a series of criteria for selecting contract workers to come to Ohio. During interviews the labor agency weeded out Afro–Puerto Ricans and those who could not read or write in Spanish. Those selected by Friedman’s agency were brought to San Juan, where they boarded DC-3 airplanes at Isla Grande Airport. From October 1947 to June 1948 close to 500 Puerto Rican men arrived in Lorain to work at the National Tube Company. According to oral histories the first group of Puerto Rican workers arrived without winter clothing, even though Friedman claimed that he had provided all the men with cold weather clothes.9 To help the workers, the company gave them work uniforms on credit and assigned them a room in the company barracks. The arrival of Puerto Ricans in Lorain went unnoticed by the residents of the city, until an article appeared in the Lorain Journal.10 City officials and the management at the mill reassured apprehensive residents that the workers had been carefully screened. During this period, most of the Puerto Rican workers were depicted as hard working, law abiding, decent, shy, and yet eager to learn the America ways. Furthermore, Puerto Rican workers kept themselves in south Lorain, rarely venturing into Lorain. At the time most residents of Lorain had never seen a Puerto Rican. The invisibility of the Puerto Rican workers help to ease the concerns some residents had toward the new migrants.

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Latino America As Puerto Rican workers at the National Tube were recognized to be hard working and dependable, other companies in the Midwest began to follow the Lorain experiment. In 1948 Carnegie-Illinois Steel of Gary hired Friedman’s agency to recruit Puerto Ricans for their company. In 1950 Ferro Machine and Foundry of Cleveland hired six Puerto Ricans as an experiment. Like the Lorain officials, the management in Cleveland was so impressed by the workers’ performance that the number of Puerto Ricans was increased to 100. Although most of the Puerto Rican workers had not originally intended to stay in Ohio permanently, many changed their minds and sent for their families and friends to join them. By 1955 the Cleveland Nationalities Directory reported a total of 1,500 Puerto Rican residents in the city.11 The majority of Puerto Ricans who came to Cleveland during this period settled on the east side of the city—around Hough, Lexington, and Superior avenues. The new migrants were attracted to these areas because of their proximity to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church and St. Paul’s Shrine. Trinitarian priests who spoke Spanish led these two Catholic churches. In 1954 the Cleveland Diocese established a Spanish Catholic mission at which masses were given in Spanish. However, local parishioners were opposed to Spanish masses, and they did not welcome the new members of the parish community. The Cleveland Diocese also established a Spanish Catholic mission for Mexicans in Lorain with the opening of the Sacred Heart Chapel on Vine Avenue in 1952. The growth of the Latino population in Cleveland and Lorain also led to the emergence of several Pentecostal churches, the first of which was the Spanish Assembly of God, on West 11th Street in Cleveland, also founded in 1952. Living conditions of the Latino communities of northeast Ohio were shaped by accessibility to financing and housing. The majority of Puerto Ricans and Mexicans in the region were on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. During the late 1940s and early 1950s housing conditions for Puerto Rican workers in Lorain were quite abysmal. Most of the workers and their families lived in squalid conditions, placing the community at risk of disease and death. The lack of accessible housing was due to the refusal of Anglo residents to have Puerto Ricans as neighbors. However, Latinos working for the steel mills in Lorain had better salaries than their counterparts on the East Coast. To resolve the housing crisis, members of the Puerto Rican colony in Lorain sent their families back to the island; many were not reunited until the early 1960s. Census tracks show that the Puerto Rican colony was mostly male between the ages of 25 and 49.12 During the 1950s Puerto Rican men began to buy and renovate old houses along Vine Avenue. Pooling their resources and skills, these men would fix the houses and sell them to friends, who would then bring their families from the island to Lorain. As a growing community, Puerto Ricans began not only to buy residences and permanently settle in Lorain but also to create organizations that advocated

Ohio on behalf of the community. One of the first such organizations was the Puerto Rican Welfare League, established in late 1947. As an organization, the League’s main role was to address the social needs of the community. However, the anticommunist climate engendered by Senator Joseph McCarthy made this organization a target of the authorities. Several other self-help organizations were established during the 1950s to address the community’s social and cultural needs. In 1956 all Puerto Rican organizations in Lorain came together to create El Hogar Puertorriqueño (the Puerto Rican Home). El Hogar, at that moment, was a sign of the community’s political, economic, and cultural strength. This organization hosted community celebrations such as weddings, baptism, quinceañeras (coming-of-age celebrations for girls when they turn 15), wakes, and political events, including a visit by Puerto Rico’s governor Luis Muñoz Marín in 1959. The Hogar also became the cultural epicenter of the community, hosting concerts by artists such as Daniel Santos and Lorain’s own Trio Puerto Rico. Latinos in Ohio have historically voted Democratic. However, during the mid1950s, the Latino population of Lorain broke with this tradition and supported a Republican candidate. In 1956 the Hogar became involved in the election of the Lorain County sheriff. After years of repression and harassment by the local police, the community staged a political movement to elect a new sheriff. The strategy was to vote as a bloc for the Republican candidate, upsetting Lorain’s powerful Democratic machine. The Republican candidate won with the support of the Puerto Rican community and, in a show of gratitude, he named a Puerto Rican deputy sheriff after taking office. By shaping the election the community became aware of its electoral strength. The Democratic Party, now out of power, began to seek the blessings of the community. Eventually, Evelio Rosario, a Puerto Rican Democrat, was elected to the city council in 1963. Though the experience of the 1956 election left a long-lasting imprint in the community, Latinos have been slow in reaching political office in Ohio. In Lorain this experience is constantly referred to as a historical moment when the community demonstrated its political maturity. During the late 1950s the Puerto Rican community in Cleveland began migrating en masse from the east side of the city to the neighborhoods of the near west side. The deterioration of the inner cities and a desire to be closer to the industrial Flats area prompted the migration. By 1995, two-thirds of Greater Cleveland’s Puerto Ricans lived on the near west side: from West 5th to West 65th streets, between Detroit and Clark avenues. In the 1950s, as the community grew and the general workforce stabilized, recruitment of Puerto Ricans laborers dropped off. However, Puerto Ricans continued to move into Cleveland, which led to increased tension and intolerance. Puerto Ricans, who were once hailed by employers and city officials as good, dependable, quiet, and hard working, were now described by newspapers as uneducated, too Roman Catholic, threatening, and communist.13 The Latino

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Latino America community in Cleveland, much like the one in Lorain, was forced to develop institutions and organizations to protect and advocate for their rights. In 1956 the Puerto Rican Department of Labor opened an office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the downtown Arcade. The purpose of the office was to regulate migrant contracts and working conditions, to interview and refer Puerto Ricans for jobs, and to assist Puerto Ricans in need of assistance. The office was empowered in 1966 by the creation of the Spanish-American Committee (SAC). Louis Delgado, of the Commonwealth office, and Chico Cara, of the Cleveland Federation, organized the SAC for Community Planning. SAC’s aim was to serve the whole Spanish-speaking community. Its mission during the 1960s and 1970s was to assist high school students with college applications and job training, and also to bring Puerto Rican teachers to the Cleveland public schools. Likewise, the provision of day care and drug prevention services, and the creation of a credit union to help the community and of a veteran outreach program were also essential parts of SAC’s mission to serve the community. By the 1990s SAC was concerned with stabilizing and strengthening Latino families. Furthermore, because its clientele often spoke little or no English and had significant educational limitations, this organization established ESL classes for adults in hopes of improving employment rates. Currently, the services provided by SAC include social services, a day care center, employment and housing services, educational programs, and paralegal services. In addition, SAC serves as a center for Latino social interaction and communication. Though northeast Ohio remained a locus of Latino migration, a growing number of Mexicans began to reside in areas such as Toledo and Cincinnati. In the 1980s a new generation of agencies sprung up in northeast Ohio. In 1983, community leaders Luis Martínez and Al López established Esperanza Inc. to promote education, provide tutoring services for students, and help the local school districts understand the needs of Latino youth. Today, this organization serves over 800 students and has over 70 volunteers. The focus of Esperanza Inc. continues to be education—it has a scholarship program, a reading program, a youth leadership program, and a stay-in-school program.14 Most of Ohio’s Cubans came to the state following Castro’s seizure of power in 1959. From 1960 onward the U.S. government welcomed thousands of Cuban refugees and relocated them to various states. The Cleveland Cuban Refugee Resettlement Committee—composed of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish organizations—helped to relocate Cuban refugees. Most of the new arrivals were families who intended to return to Cuba as soon as Castro was ousted. In 1961, with the failure of the counterrevolution promoted by exiles and the U.S. government, many decided to stay permanently in areas of the state such as Cleveland. In 1980 there were about 650 Cubans in Cleveland. The Cuban population within the city declined to 140 in 1990.15 The majority were well-educated, experienced business-

Ohio people. Some American industries that had operated plants in Cuba offered jobs to refugees. Cubans quickly became self-supporting, acquired well-paying jobs, and moved into suburban neighborhoods. Cubans in Cleveland organized the Cuban Association of Cleveland, a cultural club that aims at preserving Cuban traditions, strengthening Cuban brotherhood, and keeping alive the dream of a free Cuba.

CURRENT TRENDS IN LATINO OHIO Since the mid-1990s, Ohio has experienced significant Latino migration. The boom in Latino migration, as in the rest of the nation, is driven by job opportunities in the United States and high birth rates in Latin American countries. Unlike previous migrations into Ohio, today’s Latinos are forging communities outside of the northeastern area of the state. Ohio counties that have been experiencing a significant Latino migration are Wayne, Holmes, Stark, Tuscarawas, Ashtabula, Lake, Lucas, Franklin, Delaware, and Butler. Latinos are part of Ohio’s new workforce and are finding jobs in the construction, agriculture, food processing, and service industries. Recent Latino migration to Tuscarawas County has been predominantly Guatemalan. Coming principally from Huehuetenango, Totonicapán, and El Quiche, in Guatemala, the migrants often speak native Mayan languages including K’ichee’, Awakateko, Q’anjob’al, and Mam. The rise in Latino migration to different areas of the state has prompted reaction from the preexisting Anglo communities. Illegal migration has moved to the front burner in Ohio politics as in the rest of the nation. During 2006 the Ohio General Assembly, controlled at the time by the Republican Party, introduced the Illegal Alien Enforcement Act. If this legislation had been passed, it would have given “the state patrol and local police the power to arrest illegal migrants solely for their presence.”16 The bill would also have blocked adult migrants illegally in the state from all public benefits. Latino organizations across the state protested the proposed legislation, and Rubén Herrera, of the Latino Leadership Initiative, appeared at a hearing before the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, to protest the Republican plan. Local reactions to Latino migration have attracted national media attention. On June 19, 2006, All Things Considered, a National Public Radio show, aired a program about the actions of Richard Jones, a Butler County sheriff, who billed the federal government for the expenses his office incurred by incarcerating undocumented workers. Jones led raids at companies known for hiring illegal workers, and in 2006 he began a media campaign warning businesses and migrants with the slogan “You know who you are, and we are coming.”17 Frightened by Sheriff Jones’s tactics, many Latinos have been unwilling to call the police in cases of emergency, and others have stopped patronizing Latino business such as the Taqueria Mercado.

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Latino America After years of marginalization, Ohio’s Latino population has begun to impact the state’s political and economic landscape as well as introduce their language and culture to a larger population. Cultural crossover has also taken place in the retail sector as more grocery stores are selling Latino foods or products. Latino music has crossed over to the mainstream, and in all the large cities of the state it is common to have bars or clubs that are entirely dedicated to Latin music and dance or that have at least one Latin night per week. Latino migration is so pervasive that for influential groups in the state of Ohio Latinos are a blessing and a challenge.

NOTABLE LATINOS Méndez, Frank S. (1925–). Born of Mexican migrant parents, Mendez grew up in Lorain, Ohio. He joined the armed forces during World War II and eventually became the director of the U.S. Army Tropic Test Center in the Panama Canal Zone, reaching the rank of colonel. His biography, publish by Kent State University Press, provides a window into growing up Latino in Ohio during the early twentieth century. Guzmán, Henry (1946–). In 2007 Governor Ted Strickland named Guzmán director of the Ohio Department of Public Service. He came to Ohio at the age of five from Puerto Rico, when his father moved to Youngstown to work in the steel mills. After graduating from high school and serving a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for Valor, Guzmán began an organization in Youngstown that addresses Hispanic American culture. Alvarado, Alicia (1948–). Sister Alicia Alvarado was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Cleveland in the early 1950s, when her father came to the United States. A member of the Dominican Sisters, she has worked as director of the Cleveland diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry. She has served as member of the board of trustees of Tri-C and Esperanza Inc. She was named Madrina (Godmother) of the Year at Cleveland State University. She is currently working with Councilman Joe Santiago as his assistant. López, Al (1948–). López is a cofounder and president emeritus of Esperanza Inc., an organization that promotes education, provides tutoring services for students and helps the local school districts understand the needs of Latino youth. He is also the founder and officer of the Hispanic Roundtable, an organization created to unite and empower the Hispanic community to play a larger, more active role in the economic, educational, civic, political, and social life of Greater Cleveland. Martinez, Luis (1948–). Martinez is a cofounder and president emeritus of Esperanza Inc. and the organizer of the Viva la Salsa festival. He has worked for the City of Cleveland since the 1970s. Pagan, Natividad (1949–). Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Puerto Rican parents, educator Pagan is a graduate of West Technical High School. She is the principal of Joseph Gallagher School, in the Cleveland Public School District. She was also the director of the Multicultural and Bilingual Program of the Cleveland Schools, and she is one of the founders of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, located in Cleveland.

Ohio Feliciano, José (1950–). Born in Yauco, Puerto Rico, Feliciano is an active trial lawyer with 30 years experience in complex commercial and employment litigation. His experience includes business litigation, product liability, construction, shareholders’ rights, contracts, eminent domain, and commercial and personal torts. Feliciano was elected to the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1995, and he is a life member of both the Judicial Conference and the Eighth Judicial District. He is the founder and chairman of the Hispanic Roundtable, former chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Development Program, founder of the Hispanic Community Forum, and a founder of the Ohio Hispanic Bar Association, where he served as vice president. Villanueva, José A. (1951–). A judge for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Judge Villanueva is a graduate of West Technical High School in Cleveland. He has a BA from Cleveland State University and a law degree from Georgetown University. He was a staff attorney at the Cleveland Legal Aid Society (1979–1988), a commissioner at the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (1985–1988); a legal intern at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1978–1979), and a legal intern at the Community Legal Clinic at George Washington University (1978–1979). Alfonzo, Alma (1954–). Alfonzo is the owner of Lelolai Bakery & Café, opened in March 2001 as a retail bakery specializing in Spanish desserts, pastries and other delicacies, including the popular flan. In April 2002, Alfonzo received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Cleveland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In October 2002 Gourmet Magazine recognized Lelolai Bakery & Café as “one of the top 200 restaurants in the nation.” Pagan, Angel (1964–). Pagan is a former director of the Ohio Office of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. He worked at Cleveland State University as the Hispanic Retention Initiative coordinator, providing assistance to Latino students. His posts as a teacher in Puerto Rico and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1990s convinced him of the important role of education in community empowerment. In December 1994, he obtained his BA from Universidad Central de Bayamón in Puerto Rico with a concentration in English literature and linguistics. He received his master’s degree in philosophy from Cleveland State University. Escudero, Ezra (1974–). An Ohio native and a graduate from Ohio State University (1996), Escudero is the director of the Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As a group, Latinos are fiercely proud of their traditions and customs. The maintenance of a Latino culture came to depend on Latino associations, newspapers, radio stations, and local and regional clubs. As the children of Latinos entered the schools, many members of the community feared that integration would lead to acculturation and, eventually, to the transformation of their children. As the number of Latino children attending English-speaking schools increased, some integration began to take place. Integration and acculturation led to tensions between

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Latino America Spanish-speaking parents and their children. For example, in Lorain in the 1930s, it was found that Mexican parents, many of whom had never intended to stay in the United States, became alarmed at the level of acculturation that was taking place among their children. Clearly, this type of concern is not unique to the Mexican community members, nor was their response. To combat this trend, the colony organized a school to counteract the “gringo influence” and to promote the Mexicanization of their children. Children of Mexican descent met at the home of a local Mexican play producer to learn the history and customs of Mexico.18 During the 1920s Mexicans in Cleveland maintained loose ties with one another. However, the economic crisis of the 1930s and the increased xenophobia propelled Latinos in Cleveland to establish a forum to address mutual problems and to preserve their cultural heritage. In 1932, under the leadership of Félix Delgado, the Club Azteca was founded. The club became the center of the community, providing residents with a venue for organized cultural events. However, during those years the club lacked a physical home; its members took turns hosting meetings. By 1945 the club was officially incorporated, and in 1951 its members were able to accumulate enough savings and donations to acquire a building on Detroit Avenue, where the club still resides today.19 The success of the Club Azteca was due in part to the growth of the Mexican community in Cleveland. The postwar economic boom led to an increase in the number of Latino cultural organizations. For the most part, Latinos formed cultural institutions that promoted their national identities. The most important of these institutions were the local or regional clubs, which “responded to more basic needs, providing both social and recreational activities for the incoming migrants.”20 These social clubs often bear the names of native towns. The clubs function as places for social gathering, but they also help in emergency situations by providing food, money, and legal services for families in crisis. The clubs served as the primary agencies for social services during the 1950s. In Cleveland the first Puerto Rican club was the Sons of Borinquen, founded in 1951 by Alfonso Romero, Tiofilo Virola, and Pedro Ilerio. The Sons of Borinquen helped people with job referrals, and welfare and educational programs, and death benefits for members. Its members also functioned as cultural brokers for the new arrivals. The club closed in 1962 because of financial problems. In 1959 the Hijos de Juana Diaz (Sons of Juana Diaz) was founded to encourage the social gathering of migrants from the town of Juana Diaz, in Puerto Rico. Hijos de Juana Diaz was followed by other social clubs such as La Casa Puertorriqueña (Puerto Rican Home), open in 1969 with the purpose of promoting Latino youth participation in sports; the Sociedad Deportiva de San Lorenzo (Sand Lorenzo Sports Society), which promoted sports as well as social events; El Paraiso Club, which was incorporated in 1973 for civic, social, and sports activi-

Ohio ties; and Club Yabucoa, whose membership is mostly composed of migrants from the town of Yabucoa. Three of these organizations (Juana Diaz, San Lorenzo, and Yabucoa) are still active and serving the community today.21 The 1970s led not only to the creation of social clubs in northeast Ohio but also to the establishment of the Puerto Rican Friendly Day, a parade that brought together Latinos from the region. Advertisements in the programs’ guides for Puerto Rican Friendly Day between 1970 and 1975 showed a vibrant and expanding community.22 The community had grown to support Latino car and home repair businesses, grocery stores, restaurants, travel agencies, translation services, and legal services. Toward the late 1970s, the overall decline of the U.S. economy affected these businesses. A close examination of program guides for Puerto Rican Friendly Day shows a decline in advertisement for Latino-owned businesses, social service centers, and social clubs. The 1980s and 1990s brought new challenges and opportunities for Ohio’s Latinos. During the 1980s a new generation of Latinos, most of whom born in Ohio or in other U.S. states, began to form new cultural institutions to promote and protect their heritage. Also, many of them took leadership positions in Ohio’s larger cities such as Toledo, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Lorain. In Cleveland the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center has opened under the leadership of Natividad Pagan and Daisy Diaz. The maintenance of a Latino culture came to depend on organizations throughout the state. With the skyrocketing growth of the population during the 1990s, owing much to the robust economy and massive migration of Mexicans and Central Americans, Latinos have been transforming the state’s population and the group’s cultural traditions. No longer confined to the large cities, Latino culture is spreading through its incorporation by the popular media, the opening of new restaurants, and the growth of the Latino-owned newspapers such as El Sol de Cleveland and La Prensa. Activities no longer are based on national identities, but they have taken a pan-Latino flavor, where Latinos from every Latin American nation come to celebrate a common historical heritage.

NOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

U.S. Census Bureau, “We the People.” U.S. Census Bureau, “The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 2002.” Mendez, 2005. Sánchez, 1993, 42. Mendez, 2005, 17; Jacinto, 2001, 1–2. O’Brien, 1931, 28. Jacinto, 2001, 4. Rivera, 89. Rivera, 90.

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Latino America 10. Lorain Journal, February 6, 1948. 11. Nationalities Services Center, “Cleveland Nationalities Directory,” 1955. 12. Rivera, 13. 13. Cleveland Press, “Discounts Talks of Puerto Rican Problem in U.S.,” 1955; Bonutti and Prpic, 1977, 191; Plain Dealer, “Puerto Ricans in U.S. to Be Topic of Survey,” 1962. 14. http://www.esperanzainc.com. 15. Encyclopedia of Cleveland, http://ech.case.edu/index.html. 16. Rivera, 15. 17. NPR, All things Considered, “Latinos Rattled by Ohio Sheriff’s Mission,” 2006. 18. O’Brien, 1931, 34–35. 19. Encyclopedia of Cleveland. http://ech.case.edu/index.html. 20. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 127. 21. Sánchez-Korrol, 1994, 189; Cleveland Press, “Bon Voyage, Yabucoa Nine Taking Quite a Trip,” 1976; and Cleveland Press, “Fire Destroy Club,” 1980. 22. Western Reserve Historical Society Archives Library, “Programs by the Puerto Rican Friendly Day.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY Akron Beacon Journal. “An Election Year Issue.” August 30, 2006. Bonutti, Karl, and George Prpic. Selected Ethnic Communities of Cleveland. A SocioEconomic Study. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University, 1977. Cleveland Press. “Discounts Talks of Puerto Rican Problem in U.S.” May 6, 1955. ———. “Bon Voyage, Yabucoa Nine Taking Quite a Trip.” September 22, 1976. ———. “Fire Destroys Club.” August 13, 1980. Esperanza Inc. http://www.esperanzainc.com. Jacinto, Frank. The Emergence of the Hispanic Community in Lorain, Ohio. Rev. ed. Cleveland, OH: Western Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, 2001. Lorain Journal. “Arrive by Plane for Mill Jobs.” February 6, 1948. Mendez, Frank S. You Can’t Be Mexican. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2005. Moore, MacKenzie K.L. “‘Unidos luchar por la causa de todos’: A Social Geography of Puerto Ricans in Lorain, Ohio 1947–1955.” Honors thesis, Oberlin College, Ohio, 2002. Nationalities Services Center. “Cleveland Nationalities Directory.” 1955. NPR. All Things Considered. “Latinos Rattled by Ohio Sheriff’s Mission.” June 19, 2006. O’Brien, Robert W. “The Mexican Colony of South Lorain, Ohio: An Exploratory Study.” Master’s thesis, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1931. Plain Dealer. “Puerto Ricans in U.S. to Be Topic of Survey.” April 2, 1962. Rivera, Eugenio. “The Puerto Rican Colony of Lorain, Ohio.” Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños Bulletin 2, no.1 (Spring 1987): 11–21. Sánchez, George J. Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900–1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Sánchez-Korrol, Virginia E. From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Ohio U.S. Census Bureau. “We the People: Hispanics in the United States.” Census 2000 Special Reports. U.S. Department of Commerce. ———. “The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 2002.” U.S. Department of Commerce. http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/soc/hispanicpop2002.pdf. Western Reserve Historical Society Archives Library. “Programs by the Puerto Rican Friendly Day.”

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37 OKLAHOMA Linda Allegro

CHRONOLOGY 1541 1682 1763

1800

1821–1836

1848

1907 1910 1929

The first Spanish conquistadores cross western Oklahoma seeking the fabled riches of Gran Quivira. France claims vast inland empire that includes Oklahoma. Treaties that ended the Seven Years’ War between Spain, France, and England award the Louisiana Territory, which includes Oklahoma, to Spain. Napoleon forces Spain to cede Louisiana to France. Three years later, Napoleon sells Louisiana to the United States. The exact boundaries of the newly acquired territory are undefined. The Oklahoma panhandle is part of the Mexican province of Texas, remaining a Mexican possession until Texas revolts against Mexican rule in 1836. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico cedes over half of its national territory to the United States after the Mexican-American War. The cession includes Texas, and therefore the last portion of modern Oklahoma officially passes from Mexican to U.S. possession. Oklahoma becomes the 46th state of the United States of America. The Mexican Revolution erupts, triggering refugee and labor migrations to the north. On December 17 thirty-two Mexican miners die when a spark from one of the electric cutting machines ignites a gas explosion in the Old Town Company Mine in McAlester. The disaster claims five sets of brothers, all Mexicans.

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1970s

1990s to the present

2005 2006 2006–2007

Ongoing deportations of undocumented Mexicans take place, some of whom are apprehended upon leaving mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Tulsa. Since the mid-1990s there has been a noticeable increase in Mexican and other Latino migration to Oklahoma as a consequence of “push” factors resulting from free trade agreements with Mexico, and “pull” factors resulting from growing labor demand in areas of construction, agricultural, and service sector employment in Oklahoma. The US Census Bureau estimates the Latino population in Oklahoma at 234,159, a 30 percent jump from 2000. In May the American Dream Coalition is formed in response to proposed anti-immigrant legislation known as the Sensenbrenner Bill. Latinos Presentes! an Oklahoma Centennial Hispanic history project is launched.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Oklahoma has one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the United States. In just 5 years the Latino population rose by 30 percent, from 179,304 in 2000 to 234,159 in 2005, making Latinos the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the state. Of the total foreign born 48.6 percent report a Latin American origin. As the undocumented population is often underestimated in census data, the figure is likely to be considerably higher. Latinos in Oklahoma are both old

Oklahoma

Mexican Restaurant in Altus, Oklahoma (2008). Courtesy of Linda Allegro.

and new, with some fourth-generation Mexican Americans dating their heritage prior to statehood in 1907 and more recent migration flows reflecting national trends. Driven by a desire to seek untapped work possibilities, affordable housing, and safer neighborhoods, Latin American migrations to new destinations in middle America have generally increased in the past 20 years. Latinos in Oklahoma reflect both direct migrations from Latin America as well as internal migrations from highly populated cities in California, Arizona, and Texas, from which Latino families are moving away to escape the hardships often associated with inner-city life. Despite their growing numbers, Latinos comprise merely 6.6 percent of the total population of Oklahoma, trailing behind Native Americans and African Americans, who represent respectively 12 percent (400,000) and 9 percent (300,000) of the state’s population. Rather than being evenly dispersed throughout the state, Latinos are concentrated in three counties: Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Comanche. People of Latin American heritage tend to be concentrated in urban centers, especially in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas, although rural growth is expanding, particularly in Guymon and other parts of Oklahoma’s panhandle because of labor recruitment efforts in the meatpacking and related industries.

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Latino America Most of Oklahoma’s Latinos are of Mexican origin. Unofficially, Mexicans are estimated to comprise approximately three-fourths of all Latinos in the state. State demographic projections indicate that overall population growth will be quite modest in the next 25 years. The Latino population, however, is expected to nearly triple during this period.

EARLY MEXICAN MIGRATION TO OKLAHOMA Mexicans have a long history in modern Oklahoma, which once was Spanish and Mexican territory. In the spring of 1541 Spanish conquistadores crossed western Oklahoma, seeking the fabled treasures of the Seven Cities of Cíbola (Gran Quivira), believed to be the lost city of gold. Under the command of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, an expedition was launched by order of the Viceroy of Mexico, Antonio de Mendoza. After months wandering through the Great Plains, the disoriented expedition grew weary and disillusioned, returning to Mexico empty handed. They encountered the Grand Canyon and Zuni adobe villages, but no aspiring riches, hence curtailing any immediate subsequent Spanish incursion into the inhospitable terrain of the Great Plains. Spain periodically renewed interest in the region, but apart from a sporadic missionary presence, it never established a notable settlement. These relatively small Spanish ventures into the territory that is today Oklahoma were sufficient to provide the basis for Spain’s claim to southwestern North America. In 1682 France laid claim to a vast inland empire that included Oklahoma. During the Seven Years’ War, Spain, France, and England all sought to possess the region that included what is now Oklahoma. The treaties that ended the war in 1763 awarded the area to Spain as part of the Louisiana Territory. By the beginning of the nineteenth century Spain’s position weakened relative to other powers. Spain was forced to cede parts of its New World empire to other European imperial nations. In 1820 it was forced to recognize the independence of nearly all of its colonies, except Puerto Rico and Cuba. At that time part of the territory that today encompasses modern Oklahoma passed over to Mexican jurisdiction. From 1821 to 1836 the Oklahoma panhandle was part of the Mexican province of Texas, and it remained a Mexican possession until 1836, when Texas revolted against Mexican rule. Between 1836 and 1848 Mexico refused to recognize the independence of Texas and its later annexation to the United States. Therefore, the Oklahoma panhandle was still considered part of the Republic of Mexico. Finally, in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), Mexico ceded over half of its national territory to the United States after the Mexican-American War. The cession included Texas, and therefore the last portion of modern Oklahoma passed from Mexico to the United States. For over 300 years all or portions of modern Oklahoma were in territory first held by Spain and then by independent Mexico.

Oklahoma Much of the land that encompasses modern-day Oklahoma remained a territorial possession (part of which was divided into Indian territories) of the United States until granted statehood in 1907. Large-scale migration of Mexicans to Oklahoma did not begin until after statehood, although Mexican workers had been employed in the cattle and ranching industry throughout the southwestern states and northern Mexico for decades. After statehood, thousands of Mexican migrants were both attracted to the increased opportunities for employment in the state’s expanding economy and pushed by the progressively deteriorating conditions prevailing in their native Mexico. During the early years of statehood, Mexican labor was recruited to help build the infrastructure of the nascent state. To understand such “pulling” effects, it is also imperative to consider the “push” factors as well, including political and economic dynamics taking place in Mexico. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mexico experienced a period of political stability and sustained economic expansion under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, which lasted from 1876 to 1910. Under his rule Mexico developed a nationwide rail system, a nascent industrial base, growing urban centers, and a new economic structure based on export agriculture and extraction, financed mainly by foreign interests. This period was also characterized by the consolidation of rural landholdings, the substitution of cash for staple crops, and the widespread implementation of capital-intensive agriculture. These developments produced massive labor displacements and strong pressure for emigration from rural areas, forces that were exacerbated by the collapse of the Porfirian regime in 1910 and the ensuing 10 years of revolution and civil war. The revolution erupted in 1910, and its goals were to end dictatorship, regain control of Mexico’s economy and natural resources, redistribute the land and wealth, provide protection and adequate wages for workers, and establish a decent standard of living. The revolution uprooted thousands of peasants, as leaders abolished peonage, which was the foundation of economic relations inherited from the colonial era. Thousands joined the revolutionary bands; others fled in fright. Although the revolution was not the primary cause of Mexican exodus to the United States, it was a further catalyst for a process already underway. Hundreds of Mexican laborers and their families crossed the Rio Grande to work the railroads as well as mines and agriculture in the United States. During the tumultuous revolutionary years (1911–1918), hundreds of Mexicans fled their war-torn nation, seeking refuge in the north. Although Mexicans of all classes and backgrounds migrated to Oklahoma after 1900, the large majority were from the peasant class, that is, campesinos. In the western United States, meanwhile, the arrival of the railroads connected agriculture and mining areas of the Southwest to booming industrial cities in the northeast and Midwest, yielding sustained economic growth and rapid growth in labor demand. As a result, farmers and mining companies began recruiting Mexican workers. As migrants reached U.S. border towns, agents were stationed

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Latino America there to facilitate contact with employers. U.S. companies sent their recruiters to the border or used private agencies that engaged exclusively in securing Mexican workers. The railroads were the single most important employer of Mexican labor. Mexicans faced few restrictions upon entry, and they were not required to have passports before 1918. In 1921, in response to the increasing number of Mexicans entering Oklahoma in search of employment, the Mexican government opened a consulate in Oklahoma City. The consulate served to regulate the numbers of Mexicans coming to Oklahoma in order to avoid a surplus of labor. The Mexican consulate remained in Oklahoma City until the mid-1960s, when its duties were assumed by the consulate in Dallas, Texas. Mexican migration under the “classic era” of Mexican migration to the United States was consistent until the Great Depression. The Depression greatly affected the presence of Mexicans in the region. Employment on railroad gangs declined considerably. Many had moved on to more Latino-concentrated cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles. In Oklahoma, the Mexican population of Pittsburg County dropped by 90 percent, and the Mexican-born population of Oklahoma City decreased by two-thirds. Additionally, the onset of the Great Depression triggered a wave of mass deportations, that is, the roundup and forced removal of individuals to their nation of origin. Together, these factors curtailed large-scale Mexican migration for decades. Beginning in 1942, with the onset of World War II, tight wartime labor markets had replaced the joblessness of the Depression, and the United States once again turned to Mexico for workers, negotiating an agreement known as the Bracero Accords to arrange the annual importation of Mexican farmworkers under supervision of the federal government. Officially designed as a temporary guest worker program, the Bracero program was successively renewed for over 20 years, from 1942 until 1964. The era following the Bracero program is often referred to as the “undocumented era.” It lasted until the passage in 1986 of a large-scale legalization plan called the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which granted legalization to thousands of Mexicans and other undocumented migrants, affording them further employment opportunities as well as mobility. This period reflects the beginning of a new era in Mexican migration in which new, nontraditional destinations, many to middle America, were sought. Many Mexican farmworker families migrated northward through the Oklahoma corridor under the Bracero program, as well as through unofficial farm contracts. Up until the mid-1960s many Texas migrants worked the cotton harvest in southwestern Oklahoma. The mechanization of cotton farming at that time greatly diminished the demand for seasonal labor. Originating in south Texas and the borderlands, and migrating as far north as Minnesota, many Mexican families made the long trek following the sugar beet, cotton, pecan, and melon harvest. Upon their return to south Texas or to their native Mexico, some families “got

Oklahoma stuck” with the onset of the winter, which led to their settlement on the agriculture corridor as they waited for the following year’s harvest. Many remained in Oklahoma because they wanted either to drop out of the migrant pool or to stay in the state to escape the acute discrimination and prejudice they had known in Texas. Farmworker families survived through odd jobs as farm hands building fences and tending farms. Years later, with the expansion of pork processing plants in the area, many Mexican families settled in Guymon, on the Oklahoma panhandle, as they were following new promising industrial and agricultural growth in the state.

RECENT MEXICAN MIGRATION Emerging patterns of rapid and massive migration reflect a new trend in Mexican migration to America’s heartland beginning in the early 1990s. Recent research on Mexicans in Oklahoma suggests a direct migration from the north central Mexican states of Zacatecas and Durango, as well as considerable migration from Guerrero and other south central states. In a revealing series printed in the newspaper Tulsa World, the story begins with the flight trajectory of three brothers who made their way to Tulsa through Texas in the 1950s, found work, and later recruited friends and family from their home state to join them in the growing construction and landscaping industry, where many have specialized in construction-related and service work. The Zacatecan pioneers created a migratory circuit that is still in operation today. Through word of mouth, a chain of migration ensued that had began with male members who were later joined by family members. With time, expanding Latino businesses such as grocery stores, bakeries, hair salons, wire transfer services, bus lines, and other small businesses began catering to the Zacatecan community and other Mexican and Central American groups, solidifying their settlement. Priced very reasonably, various bus lines, including Zavala Bus Service, offer direct routes from cities in Oklahoma to Zacatecas, Mexico. Between 1997 and 2002, Latino-owned businesses in Tulsa County alone rose by over 41 percent, accounting for over 1,000 new businesses. Between 1997 and 2002, Latinos established U.S. businesses at three times the national average. A popular radio station in Tulsa, Que Buena, is run by a Zacatecan migrant, further evidencing this connection to that Mexican state. There are over six Spanish-language newspapers in Oklahoma, including Hispano de Tulsa, La Guía, La Semana del Sur, and El Nacional. The expanding Spanish-language media in Oklahoma also informs migrants of news regarding legalization and social and political events in the state, which shows how a series of networking strategies help newcomers adjust to life in their new destinations. In addition to the informal employment networks mentioned above, Mexican labor recruitment is also coordinated through official employment streams.

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Latino America Agricultural guest worker visas facilitate the “pulling” of Mexican labor to the United States. In Guymon and elsewhere, the expanding meatpacking industries rely heavily on Mexican and other Latino low-wage labor. Much of this labor supply is recruited directly from Mexico as well as through secondary migrations from California, Texas, and other states. The National Steak and Poultry meat packaging plant in Owasso recruited hundreds of Mexican workers from California in the late 1990s. After the plant downsized, many families stayed, making western Oklahoma home. Since the mid-1990s Tulsa and other parts of Oklahoma have experienced a construction boom, especially for residential housing, highways, and other infrastructure. Thousands of Mexican workers and their families made their way to the area as a result. Restaurants, hotels, factories, and large wholesale nurseries throughout the state also rely on Latino labor.

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The Latino community of Oklahoma is increasingly making a visible mark, moving from transience and itinerancy to settling and permanence. The Latino community has been showing signs of organization, as its members have started addressing concerns and needs of the community in areas such as business ownership, immigrants’ rights, advocacy, and cultural life. This coordination is reflected in the numerous Latino organizations at the state and local levels. Some notable organizations to have sprung up over the past decade are the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations (COHO), Coalition for the American Dream, Latino Community Development Agency, the Hispanic American Foundation, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Responding to the rapid change in the demographics of the state since the early 1990s, a growing number of government organizations and churches, as well as civic, educational, and economic resources have emerged. The state of Oklahoma has established the Governor’s Hispanic Council for Latin American Affairs and Task Force for the Advancement of Hispanic Students, and the cities of Tulsa and Oklahoma have Hispanic Affairs commissions as well. Despite these advances at the institutional level, there are still many obstacles and barriers facing the Latino community. Among them is the need for more trained bilingual police officers, health care providers, and educators. Many local businesses and banks are jumping at the opportunities to expand the Latino market. Recently, Arvest Bank has begun offering wire transfer services, Spanishlanguage literature, and more bilingual tellers as a way to reach out to Latino customers. Together, these initiatives indicate that the broader community is responding to the growing demographic changes of the state. For second- and third-generation Latino youth who speak English, day labor and farmwork, to which much of their parental generation had been tied, is undesirable. Their plans are to pursue a college education and to move away from the

Oklahoma labor-intensive work that characterized the preceding generation. In this way they demonstrate much of the convention of assimilation, which is centered on notions of social mobility, for the offspring of migrants. At the same time the preservation of Spanish as well as other cultural characteristics is strong in many Latino households, which reflects commitment to family and a shared sense of collective responsibility towards co-ethnics. In this way many second- and thirdgeneration Latino Americans in Oklahoma reflect both assimilation and cultural heritage awareness. It appears that Oklahoma is at a pace with much of the rest of the nation, becoming a more multicultural and ethnically diverse state. Mexicans and other Latinos of Oklahoma are joining the changing social landscape of contemporary America. At various levels of commitment, private and public institutions are finding ways to respond to the changing cultural dynamics before them.

NOTABLE LATINOS Gomez, Cecil (1923–). Cecil Gomez has contributed to the documentation of early Mexican migration to Oklahoma through his numerous autobiographical and nonfictional works. In his most recent book, A Mexican Twilight, Cecil chronicles the life history of his ancestors, who moved to Oklahoma as early as 1915, settling in the “Y,” a nickname given to the rail yard where Mexican families were housed. He is a World War II U.S. Navy veteran, and he retired as an accountant. Helton, Aurora Ramirez (1924–). Born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, of Mexican coal miner and farmworker parents, Helton has been a spokesperson for Latino and human rights. Having lived firsthand much of the discrimination facing Mexicans in the state, Aurora, along with her husband, Jack Helton, has been involved in numerous organizations that address the needs of Latino residents. As a way to foster better community relations, Helton has helped implement the expansion of a much needed bilingual officer corps in the police academy. Charney, Yolanda (1935–). Born in El Paso, Texas, of Mexican parents, Charney was one of the founders of the Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic Affairs Commission and the Hispanic American Foundation. Her many contributions to the Latino community have emerged from the need for a public Hispanic voice at various levels of local government. She has recently been named project chairwoman and member of the Tulsa Steering Committee for the Oklahoma Centennial. Orta, Victor (1938–). Reverend Orta came to Oklahoma from Texas in the 1970s to start the first Hispanic Baptist Church. His long career working with the Latino community evolved from farmworker assistance programs to recent lobbying before the U.S. Congress for legalization of undocumented workers through his organization, The American Dream Coalition. Fennell, Patricia B. (1941–). Born in Quito, Ecuador, Fennell moved to the Oklahoma City area in the 1960s. As president and founder of the Latino Community Development

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Latino America Agency, she has been instrumental in promoting education opportunities and outreach initiatives for Latino youth as well as supporting numerous programs that seek to improve the quality of life of underprivileged Latino residents of the Oklahoma City area. Cruz, Edgar (1962–). Born in Oklahoma City to Mexican parents, Cruz is an internationally known classical guitarist. Trained in classical guitar at Oklahoma City University, Cruz has been performing for over 20 years, and he has produced over 15 albums and performed in hundreds of festivals nationally and internationally. He is the son of Manuel Cruz II, an established mariachi performer in Oklahoma City.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS There is an enormous amount of talent in the Latino community of Oklahoma but bringing Latino culture, music, language, and other artistic expressions to the mainstream has been partly thwarted because there aren’t financial resources available and because racial barriers still exist, both of which impede the exploring of new venues and outlets for expressing these talents. And yet, despite the obstacles preventing further inclusion, there is growing visibility of Latino culture and pockets of greater appreciation. Today, there is a growing number of Latino festivals and cultural celebrations in the state. The Mariachi Festival in Oklahoma City, the various Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo celebrations statewide, and the educational forums on Latin American migrations and Latino culture all evidence the growing appeal of Latino culture. The Tulsa County Library system has a Hispanic Resource Center, and Tulsa Community College has a cable show addressing Latino themes. State-run agencies and commissions are also demonstrating increased interest in the changing cultural demographics of Oklahoma.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Droege, Tom. “Bordering on a Problem.” Tulsa World, April 16–18, 2006. Gomez, Cecil. A Mexican Twilight. New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2005. Gouveia, Lourdes, Miguel Carranza, and Jasney Cogua “The Great Plains Migration: Mexicans and Latinos in Nebraska.” In New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. Eds. Victor Zúñiga and Ruben Hernandez-Leon. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005. Massey, Doug, Jorge Durand, and Nolan Malone. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003. Smith, Michael. The Mexicans in Oklahoma. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980. Smith, Robert Courtney “Racialization and Mexicans in New York City.” In New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. Eds. Victor Zúñiga and Ruben Hernandez-Leon. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005. Zúñiga, Victor and Ruben Hernandez-Leon, eds. New Destinations: Mexican Immigration in the United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005.

38 OREGON Lynn Stephen and Marcela Mendoza

CHRONOLOGY 1850s

1869 1910 1910–1925

1942–1947 1950s 1955

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During the Rogue River war, Mexican mule packers supply the Second Regiment of the Oregon Mounted Volunteers, who are fighting against Oregon’s native peoples. Mexican vaqueros bring up large herds of cattle driven up from California to eastern Oregon. Oregon ranks seventh among states outside the Southwest with Mexicanborn residents working on farms and railroads. Mexican workers are contracted to work on sugar beet farms and on railroads in Portland, eastern Oregon, and other parts of the state. The first Mexican families settle permanently in the state. More than 15,000 bracero workers come to the state to work in agriculture. Other bracero workers are employed on railroads. Mexican and Mexican American families settle in several areas of the state. The Portland Catholic Archdiocese establishes a Migrant Ministry to serve the Mexican migrant population. In 1964 the name of the organization changes to Oregon Friends of Migrants. The first Fiesta Mexicana is held by the Mexican committee in Woodburn, Oregon. The Valley Migrant is formed. It is later known as Oregon Rural Opportunities (ORO), and it ends in 1979. The Commission for Chicano Affairs is established. In 1983 the group is renamed Governor’s Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

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Colegio César Chávez, the first Latino four-year college in the United States, is created on the former campus of Mt. Angel College in Silverton, Oregon. It closes in 1983. The Willamette Valley Immigration Project opens in Portland. It then moves to Woodburn to protect and represent undocumented workers. The Salud de la Familia Medical Clinic is established in Woodburn, Oregon. El Hispanic News begins publication. Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Nordoeste (PCUN, or in English, Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) forms as Oregon’s only farmworker union. The Chicano/Latino Studies Program is established at Portland State University. CAUSA, the Oregon Immigrant Rights Coalition, is formed. The census shows that Latinos compose 9.9 percent of the state’s population. Paul J. De Muniz becomes the first Latino chief of Justice in the Oregon Supreme Court.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW COLONIAL MEXICO TO TWENTIETH-CENTURY U.S. LATINO OREGON Any discussion of Latinos in Oregon has to begin with a larger discussion of the history of Spanish colonialism, the emergence of independent Mexico, and

Oregon the imperial expansion of the United States as it laid claim to a large chunk of the western North American continent in the nineteenth century. In more contemporary times, the focus moves to U.S.-Mexican political, economic, and cultural relations, as well as to the migration of a smaller number of people from other Latin American countries. In large part, however, the history of Latinos in Oregon is a history of Mexicans in Oregon. Spanish colonial claims to what became known as Oregon Country date back to the papal bull of 1493 and the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which granted Spain the exclusive right to colonize all of the western hemisphere except Brazil. In 1513 the Spanish explorer Balboa Vasquéz de Nuñez solidified Spain’s claim to the west coast of North America by declaring that the Pacific Ocean and all of the lands its touches belonged to Spain. Beginning in the 1700s, Spanish adventurers such as Juan Pérez moved beyond exploration and settlement in California and began to explore the northwest coast, including what is now Oregon. Spanish explorers mapped what became Oregon Country, and their work was reflected in the geographical details that guided the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, in which the United States assumed all Spanish claims north of the 42nd parallel (now marking the California-Oregon Border). The treaty also granted the United States rights to what was known as Spanish Florida, and it settled a boundary dispute between Spain and the United States along the Sabine River in Texas.1 In 1821, when Mexico became independent of Spain, Oregon Country’s southern border became the U.S. territorial border with Mexico. After the U.S. government unsuccessfully attempted to purchase parts of Mexico’s northern territory, an armed clash between the U.S. and Mexican armies along the Rio Grande in 1846 provided the provocation for the United States to declare war on Mexico. With increased Anglo migration to Oregon in the 1840s, confrontations with the native peoples of the area, and U.S. President James Polk’s eye on Mexico’s northern territory, the Oregon border was of key importance. In the same year that the United States went to war with Mexico, it also settled the boundary of the Oregon Territory, with all land above the 49th parallel (what now makes the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the state of Washington) going to Great Britain. At the conclusion of the MexicanAmerican War in 1848, the two countries signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which called for Mexico to give up more than half of its territory. This included the current states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, for which the United States paid $15 million in compensation for war-related damage to Mexican land. The Oregon Territory (which still included the present-day states of Washington and Idaho) went from being the U.S. border territory with Mexico to sharing a border with the soon-to-be state of California (given statehood in 1850). Such shifting borders, however, did not greatly restrict the flow of people. Some of the earliest Mexican migrants to the state of Oregon were mule packers, miners, and vaqueros

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Latino America who brought their trade from Mexico to the United States. Mule packers moved supplies from northern California to areas as far north as the Illinois River Valley in Oregon. In the 1850s, during the Rogue River war in Oregon, Mexican mule packers supplied the Second Regiment of the Oregon Mounted Volunteers, who were fighting against native peoples of the southern coast area. Two decades later, Mexican cowboys migrated to Oregon, coming from California with California cattlemen who settled in remote locations in eastern Oregon. For example, California cattleman John Devine first came to Oregon in 1869. He brought with him a crew of Mexican vaqueros to manage large herds that were driven up from California. Other California ranchers also established themselves in Harney and Malheur counties in eastern Oregon, developing some of the largest cattle spreads in the state. The nation’s first transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, passed across northern Nevada, and the railroad’s shipping point of Winnemucca became a prime destination for cattle drives in the state. Mexicans, along with workers from China, Japan, and the Philippines, built railroads linking the East and West coasts, and these railroads eventually making mule-packing operations obsolete.

THE 1920S–1940S The development of commercial agricultural production in the Northwest, facilitated by the completion of the northern transcontinental railroad and the development of public and private irrigation works, was instrumental in furthering farm production. The fertile Willamette Valley in Oregon, the Puyallup and Skagit valleys in Washington, and the tablelands of eastern Washington and Oregon were able to produce a rich abundance of specialty crops, including a wide range of fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, grapes, sugar beets, onions, hops, and wheat. All of these crops, however, required an extensive, usually seasonal, labor supply in regions that were often sparsely populated. The need for labor led Oregon growers to recruit Mexican laborers away from the Southwest and from Mexico to work on area farms. By 1910 Oregon ranked seventh among states outside the Southwest with Mexican-born residents. Mexicans came to Oregon during and after the upheaval caused by the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). Approximately 10 percent of the Mexican population—over 1 million people—fled to the United States from 1910 to 1920, seeking refuge from the war as well as economic opportunity. Movement across the border was not strictly monitored before World War I, but the creation of the Border Patrol in 1924, along with the passage of quota laws in 1921 and 1924, quickly changed the nature of the U.S.-Mexican border from a porous, weakly defined demarcation to a multisignifying boundary that created the category illegal immigrant.

Oregon From 1917 to 1922, the first temporary worker program (part of the 1917 Immigration Act) allowed temporary workers who would be inadmissible under the 1917 Immigration Act to be contracted seasonally to work in the United States. This program, in effect during World War I and extended until 1922, served as a blueprint for the Bracero program, begun during World War II in Oregon and other states. Though the Immigration Act of 1917 established literacy and head tax requirements for Mexicans, within months of its implementation, the U.S. secretary of labor “authorized western sugar beet enterprises to recruit alien labor without enforcement of this restriction.”2 This waiver, which was prompted by a World War I labor shortage, benefited western growers, who used it to recruit Mexican workers to the Northwest. By 1924, Mexicans were contracted from the southwestern states to work in sugar beet farms at $3 dollars per day. Oregon railroad companies were also prime employers of Mexican workers. Mexicans who came to Oregon in the earlier part of the twentieth century to work in the sugar beet industry and for railroad companies established roots in the state, particularly in eastern Oregon. Santiago Jaramillo, for example, came to eastern Oregon in 1917 as a railroad worker. He settled in Ontario, Oregon, where he and his children established deep roots and some of the first Latino businesses in the area. Mexican anthropologist Manuel Gamio documented 445 money orders sent to Mexico from Oregon from 1900 to 1929, indicating a significant presence of Mexicans in the state during the first decades of the twentieth century, likely linked to recruitment of railroad and agricultural workers. Mexican migration decreased in the 1930s not only because there was a lack of employment in the United States, but also because of U.S. policies of deportation and exclusion. During the Great Depression, local authorities through the West and Midwest repatriated over 400,000 Mexicans. Before the Great Depression the population of Mexicans in the United States was over 1.4 million. Though the deportations of the Depression returned to Mexico about 20 percent of that population, a vast majority remained, and their labor was still needed. The market expanded for some crops, such as hops, which grew significantly after the repeal of Prohibition in Oregon in 1932. Sugar beet cultivation continued to increase in the 1930s as growers received subsidies. A general tide of poor workers flowed into Oregon and the Northwest, and there is evidence to suggest that Mexicans were among them, as growers, sugar companies, and other agricultural enterprises continued to recruit Mexican laborers. In 1937 Paul Taylor noted that Mexican migrants traveled from the Imperial Valley of California to Oregon’s Hood River and Willamette valleys. Gamboa has also suggested that migrant laborers from Texas traveled from there to Oregon, Washington, and midwestern states for work. The continued growth of the Mexican population in Oregon was spurred in the 1940s by three related factors: growth in agriculture and a subsequent need for

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Latino America labor, the onset of World War II, and the existence of the Bracero program, which was designed to recruit Mexican laborers to replace those who entered the U.S. armed forces or who left farm labor to work at industries. The demand for food production and the expansion of irrigation and electrification boosted commercial acreage, whereas the war pulled much of the existing labor force into war production. The demographic shift of workers from rural to urban areas resulted in a labor shortage in Oregon and other parts of the Northwest in 1941. Farmers in the Northwest complained directly to the U.S. government about lack of labor. Though growers wanted the federal government to help them recruit laborers, most did not want it to impose any conditions on them about the circumstances of employment. The U.S. government was bombarded by requests to import workers from Mexico. Commercial agricultural interests made a decision to contract Mexican laborers. In the Northwest, the forthcoming availability of Mexican workers was evident before the ink dried on negotiations between the Mexican and U.S. governments. Sugar beet farmers led the way in the Northwest in contracting Mexican laborers under the Mexican Farm Labor Program (MFLP), or the Bracero program (referring to brazos, arms of helping hands), which had its Northwest headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The Bracero program existed in the state of Oregon from 1942 to 1947. Approximately 15,136 braceros were contracted as farm laborers in the state of Oregon from Mexico during this time. Additional bracero workers were also employed on Oregon railroads from 1943 to 1946. Though the agreements signed by the U.S. and Mexican governments specified particular conditions to be met in terms of worker living conditions, food, hours worked, transportation, and pay, once braceros were turned over to farmers, employers could often do as they pleased with workers and their contracts. In Oregon, Bracero workers thinned and harvested sugar beets, thinned and picked apples, thinned and packed pears, and harvested asparagus, onions, cucumbers, and peas. They also built fire lanes during fires and planted pine seedlings in reforestation projects for the National Forest Service. Workers were widely praised as skilled, with excellent performance indices. But once the war was over, returning Anglo workers and their families began protests against Mexican workers. In 1946, public demonstrations took place in many northwestern communities. Braceros worked under difficult conditions—including being forced to stay in fields despite freezing temperatures, lack of health care, lead poisoning from orchard work, job-related injuries, transportation accidents, and substandard housing and food. Workers responded with work stoppages and strikes, with the support of Mexican government officials. Workers resisted as best they could in conditions in which employers often had absolute control over all aspects of their lives. In 1947 PL-45, which had sanctioned the wartime phase of the Bracero program, expired, being superseded by PL-40. The terms of agreement of PL-40

Oregon called for workers’ contracts to be negotiated directly between employer and bracero. It also called for employers to pay for the screening, selection, and round-trip transportation of workers from Mexico to the Northwest, all of which was previously paid for by the U.S. government. Growers in the Northwest were shocked at the terms of the agreement. This and the fact that anti-Mexican sentiment was growing made growers decide to no longer contact braceros. Thus the program ended in Oregon in 1947.

1950S–1970S: SETTLERS AND A SECOND GENERATION Growers in the Northwest led by the larger commercial agricultural interests soon found a new source of labor—Mexican American migratory laborers recruited from California, Texas, and other areas of the Southwest. During World War II new canneries and packing companies were opened in the Northwest, increasing the acreage of crops. For example, before the war Oregon raised 21,000 acres of processing peas, and after the war that acreage increased to 50,000. Other crop acreage increased as well, making places such as Woodburn known as the berry capital of the world in the mid-1950s. Like California growers, some Oregon farmers recruited undocumented laborers in the 1950s, but they also continued to recruit laborers from the Southwest. Some of the first families of Mexican origin settled permanently in the Woodburn, Hubbard, and St. Paul areas in the 1950s. Many came in the 1940s and 1950s from Mexican states such as San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Hidalgo, and Nuevo Leon to small towns, such as Progreso and Missión, close to the Texas border. From those states they came to form the first population of permanent Mexican families in Woodburn and the surrounding area in the early 1950s, building on deeper roots in communities such as Nyssa, Ontario, and Independence, which had Mexican settlers from as early as the second and third decade of the twentieth century. Many of the members of these families came originally as farmworkers, but they began to work in local canneries, on the railroad, and in construction, as they continued to carry out seasonal harvesting work. The 1950s in Oregon and elsewhere were also marked by Operation Wetback, a program focused on preventing undocumented people from entering the United States and on rounding up and deporting undocumented people already here. The city of Woodburn and other places where Mexican workers lived experienced sweeps through local farms and roads that picked up undocumented workers. A newspaper article in the Oregonian from May 15, 1953, ran the headline “Agents Sweep Rising Tide of Mexican Illegals South to Border.” The paper reported: “Most of Portland’s deportees are flown to Los Angeles. The immigration service used to fly them from there to Guadalajara, about 1,500 miles south of this border, just to discourage them from returning so quickly. Now the flood of

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Latino America wetbacks is so great they are being swept back just to the border.” The culture of immigration raids and the right of INS agents to detain foreign-looking workers in any location became entrenched in Woodburn and other areas where Mexican migrants worked and lived. Mexican and Mexican American families who settled in Oregon in the 1950s and 1960s were often able to eventually purchase small homes. A few settlers opened local businesses such as small stores and restaurants. Their children and grandchildren attended local public and Catholic schools, and they now spoke English as a first language. Some could speak Spanish too, but others had left it behind. Some of the Tejano migrants who grew up along the Texas migrants’ longhaul crop circuit route (Texas, California, Idaho, and Oregon) and settled in Oregon towns and cities have become local civic activists and leaders who bridge different generations of Mexican migrants. A group of such migrants who came to Oregon from the Southwest began the Fiesta Mexicana as well as the Mexican Committee Pro Fiestas Mexicanas in Woodburn. In the 1970s a second wave of migrants came to Oregon from Mexico, including migrant farmworkers from the state of Michoacán and the first indigenous Oaxacans who were brought to Oregon by labor contractors from California. The 1960s and 1970s also brought to Oregon, primarily to the Portland area, Latin American migrants who arrived by way of a variety of avenues. Some came as students or on tourist visas and stayed; others moved to Portland from other West Coast locations. The Latino population in the state became more complex because of different origins and histories, this being part of the context for some of the first Latino cultural and political institution-building in the state.

LATINO POLITICAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZING

IN

OREGON: 1950S–1980S

Religious organizations initiated the first services for Latinos in the state of Oregon. The Portland Catholic Archdiocese established a Migrant Ministry in 1955 to serve the Mexican migrant population. The Ministry provided mass, sacraments, and other services to the Catholic Mexican community. In 1955 the Oregon Council of Churches took on the problems of the growing number of migrant workers and formed its own Migrant Ministry Committee. In 1956 the Oregon Council of Churches requested that the Oregon legislature investigate the serious problems faced by the 40,000 migrants who come to Oregon each year. At the time Oregon was reported to be seventh in the United States in the number of migrants needed each year to plant and harvest crops and work in canneries. This figure is almost twice as much as the one published a year later by the Interim Committee on Migratory Labor. In January 1958 the Oregon state labor commissioner established the Migrant Farm Labor Division, indicating a formal recognition by the state of the significance of the farmworker population.

Oregon That same year the Legislative Interim Committee on Migratory Labor carried out an extensive study that examined recruitment, transportation, wages and earnings, housing, health, sanitation, education, and public welfare. The report revealed what the Oregonian called shocking conditions in some of the state’s migrant labor camps. In 1964, the Catholic Church–based Migrant Ministry changed its name to Oregon Friends of Migrants and formed a coalition of clergy, legislators, farmlabor employers, and Mexican American residents, which became known as the Valley Migrant League. The organization applied for a federal grant to provide adult education, vocational training, day care, health services, and summer school for migrant workers and their families. It eventually received a $680,000 grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity as well as 80 VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) volunteers to carry out the programs. In 1970, Mexican farmworkers took control of the Valley Migrant League by amending bylaws to raise board membership requirements from 51 to 100 percent migrant representation. After this change labor contractors, crew leaders, and growers had no say in the administration. The Valley Migrant League (later known as Oregon Rural Opportunities, ORO) played an important role in establishing farmworkers clinics such as Salud de la Familia (Family Health) in Woodburn. Although ORO collapsed in 1979, when the federal government revoked its funding after audits had uncovered many irregularities, the Salud clinic continued. The Oregon Human Development Corporation emerged to claim job training and other government-funded programs previously run by ORO. In the mid-1970s Mexican workers began to work in greater numbers as tree planters and thinners in the reforestation industry—work that was previously done by Anglo workers. These Mexicans worked through contractors, and in the off-season they looked for jobs in farmwork, nurseries, and canneries. The number of Mexican laborers in agriculture also continued to grow as the industry did. This growth in the population of laborers created the necessary conditions for the birth of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in California. While the UFW was gaining momentum in California by organizing Filipino and Mexican workers, the United Farm Workers of Oregon emerged in 1968. Unlike the UFW of California, the UFW of Oregon was not a formal union. Despite this, its members protested substandard conditions in farmworker housing, grower policies denying access to labor camps, and inadequate field sanitation. United Farm Workers of Oregon also worked with other organizations to pressure the state government to investigate migrant housing conditions, even taking a governor’s aid on a housing tour once. In 1976 UFW opened an office in Portland and established support committees in various places throughout the state. In 1970 the Chicano United Farm Workers of Oregon also emerged to work for farmworker rights. The initiatives of this group as well as that of the United Farm

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Latino America Workers of Oregon did not fully succeed, but they helped to pressure other groups such as the Valley Migrant League to support the boycott of California table grapes and lettuce promoted by the United Farm Workers. As these farmworker organizations were political, they also began to promote a model of worker-controlled organization and to advocate for farmworkers collective bargaining rights. In 1973 a novel experiment in higher education began in Mt. Angel. Colegio César Chávez was begun by a group of Chicano activists and educators who took over the failing Mt. Angel College and proceeded to develop the only independent, accredited, degree-granting institution for Chicanos in the country. Colegio César Chávez operated a G.E.D. (high school equivalency) program, an Adult Basic Education program, a child care center, and a migrant summer school. The language requirements for graduation were unique, including knowledge of the English language, knowledge of the Spanish language, and a working knowledge of Pocho Spanish in oral and written form, according to a recruitment brochure. The Colegio was shut down in 1983, after a long struggle to pay an inherited debt to the Department of Urban Housing and Development. During the late 1960s and the early 1970s there was a marked increase in INS activity targeting migrant Latino workers in Oregon. At that time Cipriano Ferrel, Ramón Ramírez, Larry Kleinman, Juan Mendoza, and others began to talk about organizing an immigration project. In May 1977 the Willamette Valley Immigration Project (WVIP) opened its doors in Portland. Its goal was to provide confidential legal advice and representation for undocumented workers with immigration problems. By the end of 1977 the WVIP had seven bilingual staff members and a summer office at the Colegio César Chávez. The building of the cultural and political space that WVIP had begun in the 1970s continued with the formation of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Nordoeste (PCUN, or in English, Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) in 1985. From 1985 to 1986 the PCUN began to build a constituency among farmworkers and forestry workers. During the 1990s it engaged in a series of actions aimed at opening up political and cultural space for migrant Mexican farmworkers, at raising farmworker wages, and at achieving its first contracts with small organic growers. In the summer of 2002 the PCUN finalized negotiations with NORPAK, a large cooperative of growers that had been the target of a ten-year boycott by Mexican farmworkers.

IMMIGRATION, REFORM ACT, AND THE SETTLING OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATIONS OF LATINOS IN OREGON By the 1980s the Latino population in Oregon included a significant number of indigenous Mexicans and Guatemalans, many of whom became legal residents through the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and the accompa-

Oregon nying Special Agricultural Workers (SAW) program. The majority of the agricultural workers granted legal residency through the SAW program were men. In the state of Oregon 23,736 Mexicans and some Guatemalans received permanent residency under the SAW program. Though this statistic reflects the number who applied and completed the SAW program in Oregon, a figure of between 40,000 and 50,000 may be more realistic because many workers who now reside in Oregon completed the SAW program in California. Following those who were legalized by IRCA was another wave of primarily Mexican migrants who came either as the immediate family members of those who were legalized in 1986 or through larger social networks they had established in their home regions. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s the Mexican migrant population changed significantly in two ways in Oregon. First, many of the men who had become legal permanent residents sent for their wives and children. Second, once the families of these men arrived, they settled more permanently and in communities such as Salem, Woodburn, East Portland, Gresham, and Medford. These migrants came to form significant clusters of people from the same original community, often built around sibling groups who came to either bring or form their nuclear families with them from different parts of Mexico and other places in the United States, particularly from California. Though undocumented relatives of established Mexican migrant families continue to come to the state of Oregon, during the past 4 to 5 years a new wave of young men have come to occupy an important niche in the seasonal harvests, such as berry, in the state. The trend of family settlement and female migration has slowed considerably, and now seasonal workers are again lone men, often young. They are found primarily in labor camps and are brought by labor contractors who work them through a circuit encompassing California, Oregon, and Washington. Some of them are Mixtec, but recruiters are also reaching into Triqui communities and into the state of Veracruz. Later in the 1990s unattached young females and males began to migrate to Oregon. There, they stayed with older relatives—such as siblings, aunts, and uncles—already in the state. The importance of undocumented Mexicans in key sectors of the Oregon economy is not an isolated case in the United States. In March of 2005 the undocumented population of the United States was nearly 11 million. Approximately 6 million, or 54.5 percent, were from Mexico. In 2004 it was estimated that there were between 100,000 and 150,000 undocumented Mexican migrants residing in the state of Oregon, out of a total of 260,095 counted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2002. During the past four decades, the number of Latinos has steadily increased in Oregon, with more than four different generations settling in many different parts of the state and representing an increasingly diverse set of ethnic and national origins, although the majority continues to be Mexican. When Latinos, or

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Latino America Hispanics, were first counted in the 1970 census in Oregon, their numbers were small, 32,000 or less than 2 percent of the population. In 1980, Latinos were reported as representing about 2.5 percent of the total population, or 65,847. From 1990 to 2000 the Latino population in Oregon more than doubled—from 112,707, or 4 percent of the state population, to 275,315, or about 8 percent of the population. Since the late 1980s indigenous Guatemalan and Mexican migrants have made up an increasing number of workers in Oregon, concentrating primarily in agriculture and related businesses. The 2000 census was also the first time that indigenous Mexicans, Guatemalans, and others could make their presence known through two distinct census categories. One of the racial options, “American Indian or Alaska Native,” left a space to indicate a specific “tribe.” The 2000 census showed a significant growth in the number of people who self-identified as American Indian, and also in the number of people who identified themselves as both Hispanic and American Indian. Self-identified Latin American indigenous migrants could identify ethnically as Latinos and racially as American Indians. In the 2000 census 407,073 people reported themselves as both Spanish/Hispanic/ Latino and American Indian and Alaskan Native. This was 1.2 percent of the total Hispanic population. The official number in the census of Hispanic American Indians in Oregon is 5,081, but it is quite likely that the real number is much higher. Community outreach workers from the Oregon Law Center have documented the presence of 14 different indigenous ethnic groups and languages among Mexican and Guatemalan migrants in Oregon.

CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW

OF

LATINOS

IN

OREGON

In 2005, Latinos were the second-largest population group in Oregon, about 9.9 percent of the total population of 3,700,758. Latino children were about 15 percent of the population under age 18 in the state in 2005, but that is likely to increase. During 2005, Latino births were 20 percent of the total births in Oregon. The growth of the Latino population has been sustained since the 1990s, particularly in rural areas, where census undercount is more prevalent. Although Oregon’s urban population is growing, a quarter of all Oregonians still live in nonmetropolitan areas. In some counties, the Latino population increased more than 100 percent in the past decade. Many of these Latinos are foreign born, mostly from Mexico. The resulting demographic and cultural impacts have been enormous. For example, in 2007 Hood River County schools 39 percent of the students were Latino, and in the Woodburn School District 70 percent of the students were Latino. As of 2005, Latino workers in Oregon could find year-round employment in the agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and service sectors. Many are quite mobile within a

Oregon very narrow band of occupations—something that mirrors the situation of the Latino workforce in other states. At the same time, in 2002 Latinos owned 2.1 percent of Oregon firms, up from 0.5 in 1997. The poverty rate for Latinos in Oregon is 34 percent, compared to 14 percent for non-Latino whites. Latino workers earn 64 percent of the average non-Latino white workers’ earnings in Multnomah County. Latinos are younger—the median age of Latinos in Oregon is 22.8 years, compared to 38.3 years for non-Latino whites—and less educated than non-Latino whites. Many live in low-income households—Latino median family income is $31,355, compared to the $50,079 median family income of non-Latino white households. Despite having one of the country’s best economies and the second-highest minimum wage, Oregon has a high percentage of hungry people. In 2002 an estimated 40 percent of Latinos in the state lived in food-insecure households. Food-insecure households are those households that sometimes are on the verge of running out of money for food. Help from other resources—such a family, friends, food banks, and government—is not available or is not enough to assure that these families avoid hunger. However, 72 percent of working-age Latino adults in food-insecure homes were employed in 2001 and 2002, compared to 56 percent of the non-Latino adults in food-insecure homes. In Oregon, Latino children are more likely to live in low-income families: 71 percent of Latino children live in low-income families, compared to 34 percent of white children (nationally, 62 percent of Latino children live in low-income families). Similarly, 68 percent of children of migrant parents in Oregon live in low-income families, compared to 36 percent of children of native-born parents. Almost half of all children in low-income families live in rural areas. Particularly for the poor, the availability of infant and toddler care, and care for children with special needs is very limited in communities throughout the state.

NOTABLE LATINOS Padilla Andrews, Clara (1941–). Padilla Andrews is owner and publisher of El Hispanic News. This newspaper, founded in 1981 by Juan Prats, is the oldest bilingual publication in the Pacific Northwest, and it is an important source of information for the Latino community. Padilla Andrews bought the newspaper in 1995 and turned it into the largest bilingual weekly newspaper in the region. Her company also publishes the bilingual biweekly magazine Más, devoted to Latino arts and culture in the Portland metro area. Before moving to Oregon in 1987, she served as secretary of state for New Mexico from 1983 to 1986. In Portland she was the coordinator of Hispanic Services and the supervisor for Community and Family Services for Multnomah County. She was president of the Metropolitan Portland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and of the National Association of Hispanic Publications. She founded the Susana Maria Gurule Foundation, in honor of her granddaughter, who died of cancer. Today Padilla Andrews

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Latino America is one of the most influential women in Portland’s Latino community. The Hispanic Business Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics four times. Castillo, Susan (1951–). Castillo is the superintendent of Public Instruction at the Oregon Department of Education. First elected in 2003, she was reelected to a second 4-year term, until 2011. Castillo is Oregon’s first Latino woman elected to a statewide office. Prior to entering public office, Castillo pursued a career as a broadcast journalist, first for Oregon Public Radio and later for KVAL-TV in Eugene, Oregon. She is an award-wining television reporter. Castillo served from 1997 to 2002 as the first Latino woman state senator in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. She was the chair of the Senate Education Committee, dealing with issues of charter schools, teacher tenure, and school reform. She was also elected as assistant Democratic leader for the 1999 and 2001 legislative sessions. In 2004 Castillo was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America by the Hispanic Business Magazine. Ramírez, Ramón (1955–). Ramírez helped to organize Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN, or in English, Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United), Oregon’s union of farm, nursery, and reforestation workers. PCUN is the largest Latino organization in the state. The union empowers farmworkers to understand and take action against labor exploitation. PCUN was founded in 1985 by 80 farmworkers, and it has since grown to include more than 5,000 registered members, 98 percent of which are migrants from Mexico and Central America. Ramírez became president of the union in 1995, after the sudden death of Cipriano Ferrel, PCUN’s first president. Ramírez was born and raised in east Los Angeles. At the age of 15 and inspired by the work of César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, he became active in the Chicano movement’s opposition to the Vietnam War. He later joined the farmworker cause. In 1991 Ramírez led the first ever union-organized strike in Oregon agriculture, and in 1998 he signed collective bargaining contracts with three different growers—a first in the state’s agricultural history. Under Ramírez’s leadership, the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC) has built 108 units of affordable housing and also the Cipriano Ferrel Education Center, which provides a head start and multipurpose education facility for FHDC’s Nuevo Amanecer project. Ramírez has also worked to develop a strong immigrant rights coalition (CAUSA), which has defeated anti-immigrant proposals in the Oregon state legislature. In 2003 Ramírez received the Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The cultural and political landscapes of Oregon are quite different in this new century than they were fifty years ago. Today, the Mexican and Latino American presence is well established throughout the state. Supermercados (markets), panaderías (bakeries), and tortillerías (tortilla factories) can be found wherever there is a population of Mexican descent.3 Other Mexican restaurants and taquerias attract mainstream Oregonians almost everywhere. Latino influence and products are evident in cultural celebrations such as the Fiesta Mexicana, an annual

Oregon event in Woodburn since 1964; the annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in Portland, organized by the Portland-Guadalajara Sister City Association since 1984; and the annual Latino Fiesta of Eugene-Springfield, which started in the mid-1980s. Latinothemed murals are found in Portland, Woodburn, and other cities, and many of these murals adorn Latino social service agencies. Latina artists are featured in art galleries in Portland. Latino music, dance, and theater groups—such as the Miracle Theater Company (Teatro Milagro) from Portland and La Grandeza Azteca from Nyssa—perform around the state. Begun in June 2006, Latino Gay Pride marked its second celebration in 2007, with more than 500 people in attendance. It featured a combination of speakers and performers, including Multnomah County Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey, the folk dance troupe Baile Folklórico, from Forest Grove High School, and the band Lo Nuestro of Eugene. Spanish-language and bilingual newspapers such as El Hispanic News (published since 1981), El Latino de Hoy (published since 1991) and Noticias Latinas have proliferated in Oregon’s largest cities. La Campeona in Dallas (KWIP AM 880) was the first Oregon radio station to go 24 hours in Spanish; and LaX is a Spanish-language radio network broadcasting in Portland and Eugene. Between Portland and Eugene, seven stations broadcast full time in Spanish—among them La Pantera in Salem and KPCN-LP La Voz del Pueblo, PCUN’s own 96.3 FM radio station in Woodburn—and two other radio stations broadcast in southern Oregon. La Voz del Pueblo broadcasts in Mixtec, Zapotec, and occasionally in other indigenous languages of Mexico as well. Portland has one Spanish-language television station. Latino soccer leagues, other sports teams, and sporting competitions (such as the Oregon Basketball Tournament that started in Woodburn in 1986, and the Latinos of Oregon Golf Association) have proliferated with the growth of the population. Soccer leagues are now well established in most communities. A number of towns have Mexican-style rodeos with the participation of charros (cowboys). Mexican music, food, and entertainment are major components of these events. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Latinos struggled to ensure that they could carve out their space as citizens in Oregon’s civic and cultural life. In 1971 Governor Tom McCall created the Advisory Committee on Chicano Affairs (now Hispanic Affairs). Those struggles resulted in new social programs, educational opportunities for children of farmworkers and laborers, and laws against discrimination based on national origin, language, and race. In the 1980s several nonprofit organizations that provide culturally specific services to Latino children and adults were established. Among such organizations are the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement and Catholic Charities’ El Programa Hispano in the Portland metro area; Centro Cultural in the Forest Grove–Cornelius area; and Centro Latino Americano in the Eugene-Springfield area. CAUSA is a statewide grassroots Latino coalition that defends and advances

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Latino America the rights of migrants in Oregon. Formed in 1986, CAUSA uses a combination of mobilization, strategic research, popular education, actions, media campaigns, and policy formulation to advance immigrants’ rights. Portland VOZ is a worker-led organization that tries to secure and promote members’ rights through leadership development and community education. The mission of VOZ is to empower migrant workers, particularly day laborers. Voz Hispana Causa Chavista is a community-based organization in Woodburn composed of Latino parents, workers, students, small business owners, and community organizers working to register new voters and encourage them to participate in the electoral process. Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS) is a youth-led organization that works for the educational, cultural, and political development of Latino youth. LUS empowers youth to resist negative societal and peer pressures, advocates for social and political change, combats racial discrimination through grassroots organizing, and builds coalitions with other youth of color. The Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) now has representation in most universities and community colleges of Oregon. In 1995 a Chicano/Latino Studies program was established at Portland State University.

NOTES 1. From 1819 to 1848 Oregon Country included part of the present-day Canadian province of British Columbia, all of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. 2. Gamboa, 1990, 9. 3. Nusz and Ricciardi, 2003.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Baragli de Bevington, Maria Luisa. “Argentinian, Teacher at Lincoln High School, Portland.” In Nosotros: The Hispanic People of Oregon. Eds. Erasmo Gamboa and Carolyn M. Baun. Portland: Oregon Council for the Humanities, 1995, 138–139. Beals, Herbert K. “Spanish Explorers in the Oregon Country.” In Nosotros: The Hispanic People of Oregon. Eds. Erasmo Gamboa and Carolyn M. Baun. Portland: Oregon Council for the Humanities, 1995, 23–30. Bianco, Joe. “Shocking Conditions in Migrant Labor Camp Revealed in Survey Team Report.” Oregonian, July 31, 1958, 9C1. Douthit, Nathan. Uncertain Encounters: Indians and Whites at Peace and War in Southern Oregon, 1820s–1860s. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2002. Gabay, Jerry. “Milagros in the Mid-Columbia: An Integrated Lesson Plan.” Sixth Grade Social Studies Unit on Mexican Migrant Workers. Pacific University, 1998. http://community.gorge.net/ncs/contents.htm (accessed June 25, 2007). Gamboa, Erasmo. Mexican Labor and World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest, 1942–1947. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.

Oregon ———. “Mexican Mule Packers and Oregon’s Second Regiment Mounted Volunteers, 1855–1856.” Oregon Historical Quarterly 92 (1991): 41–59. ———. “The Bracero Program.” In Nosotros: The Hispanic People of Oregon. Eds. Erasmo Gamboa and Carolyn M. Baun. Portland: Oregon Council for the Humanities, 1995, 41–46. Gamio, Manuel. Mexican Immigration to the United States. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1930. Hood River Country School District. “Frequently Asked Questions. What is the Ethnic Enrollment of the School District.” 2007. http://www.hoodriver.k12.or.us/faqs/ faqs.htm#g6 (accessed June 25, 2007). Kaiser Family Foundation. “Oregon: Population Distribution of Children by Race/Ethnicity, states (2004–2005), U.S. (2005).” 2005a. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/cgi-bin/ healthfacts.cgi?previewid=1107&action=profile&area=Oregon&category= Demographics+and+the+Economy&subcategory=Population&topic=Children+by+ Race%2fEthnicity (accessed June 25, 2007). ———. “Oregon: Poverty Rate by Race/Ethnicity, States (2004–2005), U.S. (2005).” 2005b. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/cgi-bin/healthfacts.cgi?previewid=1107&action= profile&area=Oregon&category=Demographics+and+the+Economy&subcategory= People+in+Poverty&topic=Poverty+Rate+by+Race%2fEthnicity (accessed June 25, 2007). Kissam, Edward, Jo Ann Intili, and Anna García. “The Emergence of a Binational MexicoUS Workforce: Implications for Farm Labor Workforce Security.” Paper prepared for America’s Workforce Network Research Conference, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC, June 26–27, 2001. Kleinman, Larry K. “Telling and Writing Our History.” Unpublished document. Woodburn, OR: PCUN Archives. No date. LaGuardia, Armando. “Cuban, Educational Consultant, Assistant Professor, Portland.” In Nosotros: The Hispanic People of Oregon. Eds. Erasmo Gamboa and Carolyn M. Baun. Portland: Oregon Council for the Humanities, 1995, 136–138. LaLande, Jeff. “High Desert History: Southeastern Oregon. Subtopic; Settling Up the Country: Founding a Cattle Kingdom, 1870s–1880s.” Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 2005. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm? subtopic_ID=460 (accessed September 19, 2005). Leachman, Michael. “Oregon Latinos More Likely Food Insecure.” Oregon Hunger Issues: Finding #4. From OCPPs Analysis of the State Health Survey. Issue brief, December 11, 2003. Silverton: Oregon Center for Public Policy. http://www.ocpp.org/2003/ issue031211-4.pdf (accessed June 25, 2007). Leachman, Michael, Jeff Thompson, and Richard Goud. “What Color is Your Paycheck? Disparities in Annual Pay between White and Minority Workers Living in Multnomah County.” Silverton: Oregon Center for Public Policy. 2001. http://www.ocpp.org/ 2001/rpt010828race.pdf (accessed June 25, 2007). League of Women Voters.”Farmworkers in Oregon.” Report of the League of Women Voters of Oregon Education Fund. 2000. http://www.open.org/~lwvor/ Farmworkers2.htm (accessed June 25, 2007).

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Latino America Legislative Interim Committee on Migratory Labor. “Report on Migratory Labor in Oregon.” Legislative Interim Committee on Migratory Labor. Portland, OR. October 15, 1958. Maldonado, Carlos S. “Overview of the Mexicano/Chicano Presence in the Pacific Northwest.” In The Chicano Experience in the Northwest. Eds. Carlos S. Maldonado and Gilberto García. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1995, 1–23. McConahay, Mary Jo. “The New Face of Farm Labor: Indian Teens from Mexico, Guatemala.” Pacific News Service. August 27, 2001. http://www.pacificnews.org/ content/pns/2001/aug/0287farmlabor.html. National Center for Children in Poverty. “2004 Oregon: Demographics of Low-Income Children.” National Center for Children and Poverty. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. 2004. http://nccp.org/profiles/OR_profile_6.html (accessed June 25, 2007). Nusz, Nancy, and Gabriella Ricciardi. “Our Ways: History and Culture of Mexicans in Oregon.” Oregon Historical Quarterly, 104 (Spring 2003): 110–123. Oregonian. “Plea Readied On Migrants, Church Council Studies Plight.” August 11, 1956, 3–3. Oregon Historical Society. “Our Ways: History and Culture of Mexicans in Oregon.” 2002. http://www.ohs.org/education/Our-Ways-Exhibit-2.cfm (accessed March 17, 2005). Oregon Law Center. “Indigenous Mexicans and Guatemalans in Oregon.” PowerPoint presentation. Woodburn, 2007. Oregon School Board Association. “Engaging and Inspiring All Students: Woodburn School District Closes the Achievement Gap through Strategic Planning.” 2007. http://www.osba.org/hotopics/gap/woodbrn2.htm (accessed June 25, 2007). Oregon Vital Statistics County Data. “Table 2. Ethnicity, Race, and County of Residence of Mother, Oregon Resident Births.” 2005. http://www.dhs.state.or.us/dhs/ph/chs/ data/cntydata/cdb2005/tbl02_05.pdf (accessed June 25, 2007). Passell, Jeffry. “Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2005. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/46.pdf (accessed June 15, 2005). Passel, Jeffrey, Randy Capps, and Michael Fix. “Documented Immigrants: Facts and Figures.” Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2004. http://www.urban.org/Uploaded PDF/1000587_undoc_immigrants_facts.pdf (accessed March 29, 2005). Richards, Leverette. “Agents Sweep Rising Tide of Mexican Illegals South to the Border.” Oregonian, May 1, 1953, 4M. Stephen, Lynn. “Mixtec Farmworkers in Oregon: Linking Labor and Ethnicity through Farmworkers Unions and Hometown Associations.” In Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States. Eds. Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera-Salgado. La Jolla, CA: University of California at San Diego, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, 2004, 179–204. ———. The Story of PCUN and the Farmworkers Movement in Oregon. Eugene: University of Oregon, University Publications, 2001. ———. Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007. Taylor, Paul. “1937 Migratory Farm Labor in the United States.” Monthly Labor Review 44, no. 3 (1937): 537–547.

Oregon Turner, Brenda, and Mary Wood. “Hispanics in Oregon’s Workforce.” State of Oregon Employment Department. 1995. http://www.cascadeseast.org/pdf/oedhispanic.pdf (accessed June 25, 2007). U.S. Census Bureau. “Survey of Business Owners—Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Hispanic or Latino Origin and Race: 2002.” Geographic Area Estimates, Oregon. http://www.census.gov/csd/sbo/state/st41.HTM (accessed June 25, 2007). ———. State and County QuickFacts. Oregon, 2006a. http://quickfacts.census.gov/ qfd/states/41000.html (accessed June 25, 2007). ———. 2005 American Community Survey, Oregon, S0201. Selected Population Profile in the United States, Population Group: Mexican, 2006b. http://www.census.gov. Weber, B., and K. Okuyuma. “Child Care and Education in Oregon and Its Counties.” Oregon Child Care Research Partnership, 2002. Woodburn Latin American Club. “Fiesta Mexicana 1964–2007.” http://www.fiestamexicana. elhispanicnews.com/history.html (accessed June 25, 2007).

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39 PENNSYLVANIA Yolanda Padilla

CHRONOLOGY 1776–1781 1796 1823–1826 1826

1865 1872

1877 1885 1892 1893 1898

Trade between Philadelphia and Cuba intensifies during the American Revolution. Manuel Torres, the first Latin American diplomatic representative in the United States, arrives in Philadelphia. El Habanero, Philadelphia’s first Spanish-language newspaper, is published by Padre Félix Varela, a Cuban exile. Jicoténcatl, the first historical novel published in the Americas, is released by the William Stavely Publishing House in Philadelphia. No author takes credit for the anonymous work. First local chapter of the Republican Society of Cubans and Puerto Ricans is founded in Philadelphia. J.B. Lippincott & Co., a Philadelphia press, publishes Who Would Have Thought It?, a novel by Mexican American author María Amparo Ruiz de Burton. Spanish-speaking local branch of the Cigar Makers International Union is founded in Philadelphia. The Contract Labor Act, which prohibits contract labor admissions, is passed. Cuban and Puerto Rican exiles in Philadelphia form six clubs of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (Cuban Revolutionary Party). Cuban Revolutionary José Martí visits Philadelphia. The Spanish-American War results in the annexation of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii by the United States.

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1940 1945

The Spanish-American Fraternal Benevolent Association, also known as La Fraternal, is founded, becoming Philadelphia’s first Spanish-speaking mutual-aid society. Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, or La Milagrosa, Philadelphia’s first Spanish-language Catholic mission, is established. The Jones Act, which grants United States citizenship to Puerto Ricans, is passed. Bethlehem Steel president Eugene Grace secures an exemption from the 1885 Contract Labor Act and negotiates an agreement with the Mexican consulate for the importation of its new labor force. Trains depart San Antonio, Texas, for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, carrying 917 Mexican laborers. Temporary workers from Mexico, or braceros, are recruited to help with wartime labor shortages. Approximately 1,000 braceros come to Philadelphia during this time, most of whom will work on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Four hundred and forty Puerto Rican–born Puerto Ricans reside in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Regional Committee for Mexican War Workers publishes the first issue of El Bracero Mexicano. The publication features articles, essays, and poetry written by Mexican contract laborers working on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Pennsylvania 1948

1950 1952 1963 1972 1974

1979

1982 1984

1998

2001

2005

In the initiation of Operation Bootstrap, the first Puerto Rican migrant farmworkers are recruited to work in the orchards of Allentown. The first Spanish-speaking Boy Scout troop in Pennsylvania is organized in Philadelphia. Approximately 7,300 Puerto Rican–born individuals live in Philadelphia. The first direct flights between Philadelphia and San Juan, Puerto Rico, are scheduled. Philadelphia celebrates its first Puerto Rican Day Parade. The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series, led by Puerto Rican star right-fielder Roberto Clemente. Philadelphia’s Taller Puertorriqueño, a community-based graphic-arts workshop that provides cultural training alternatives to local youth, is founded. Nuestra Sangre (Our Blood), one of the first Latino murals in Philadelphia, is designed by artist and community activist Daniel Negrón and dedicated on the corner of Fifth and Cambria streets. Latino organizations begin to redevelop and revitalize el barrio in North Philadelphia. Fuego Latino, a Philadelphia gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) organization, first marches in the city’s Puerto Rican Day Parade. Pittsburgh’s Sixth Street Bridge is renamed the Roberto Clemente Bridge. The mural A Woman’s Place: A Warrior in the Struggle for International Solidarity, by Chicana artist Juana Alicia, is dedicated in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Roberto Clemente Charter School is established in Allentown. By the 2005–2006 school year, it has an enrollment of 225 students, 94 percent of which are Latino. Latinos constitute 4 percent of the Pennsylvania population. As in the nation as a whole, Latinos are the fastest growing minority group in the state. The Pennsylvania Latino population increases by 25 percent between 2000 and 2005; 65 percent of the state’s Latino population is Puerto Rican.

Historical Overview The history of Pennsylvania’s contact with Latin America begins in Philadelphia, the port city that had strong commercial ties with Cuba dating back at least to the late eighteenth century. Smuggling agricultural products between the ports of Philadelphia and Havana, Cuba, was big business for many years. It intensified during the American Revolution and was legalized in 1779. The trade relationship remained strong until Cuba’s so-called sugar revolution made the island the world’s

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Latino America richest colony in the first half of the nineteenth century, which made it more attractive to other port cities in the United States. New York, in particular, was well positioned to displace Philadelphia as Cuba’s primary trading partner.

PHILADELPHIA AS CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE Even after the weakening of its trade relationship with Cuba, Philadelphia continued to play an important role in Latin American history, becoming a center of political propaganda for Latin Americans who were agitating for independence from Spain. Propagandists circulated freely in Pennsylvania, gathering funds and developing plans for the coming campaigns for separation. The Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda made several trips to Philadelphia as he plotted liberation expeditions, deeming it “the most republican of cities.”1 Even the great liberator himself, Simón Bolívar, passed through. Bolívar was the revered nineteenth-century leader of numerous independence movements throughout South America. He observed to a U.S. official that he had seen “rational liberty” for the first time in his life during his visit to Philadelphia.2 The remarkable extent of Latin American revolutionary activity in Philadelphia was noted by Mexican novelist Martín Luis Guzmán, who in 1911 remarked that the city “was a paradise for conspirators.”3 Specific instances of the activities prompting Guzmán’s comment include a Philadelphia-based expedition that outfitted Puerto Rican revolutionaries preparing to invade the island in 1822; the founding of El Habanero, Philadelphia’s first Spanish-language newspaper, by the exiled Cuban priest Felix Varela in 1823; and the anonymous publication of Jicoténcatl by the William Stavely Publishing House of Philadelphia in 1826.4 Along with the editorials pushing for independence in El Habanero, Jicoténcatl contributed to the intellectual arguments in favor of the fight for Cuban independence. By the mid-nineteenth century, Philadelphia had become a leader in the manufacture of tobacco products, which encouraged Cuban and Puerto Rican cigar makers to migrate to the city. Many of these workers were involved in the Cuba Libre program, an independence movement based in the United States in the 1890s, and were also members of the movement’s primary political organization, the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (PRC).5

MIGRATION AND THE LABOR FORCE Cigar-making factories would continue to be an important source of employment well into the 1950s, but the industrialization of Philadelphia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created other job opportunities that encouraged

Pennsylvania many more Spanish-speaking migrants to move to the city. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans went to Philadelphia as contract laborers for the steel industry, the railroads, and the agricultural industry. Census data from the 1910s and 1920s show an increase in lodging facilities for single women and an increase in women working outside of the home; they often worked as clerks or managed boardinghouses. Many of these changes reflected the conditions prevailing during World War I. Eighty-five percent of the Spanish-speaking residents of Spring Garden (a Spanish-speaking enclave in Philadelphia) in 1920 had arrived in the United States between 1914 and 1919, with 65 percent having arrived between 1917 and 1919.6 These numbers indicate that as men went to war, labor shortages prompted higher rates of migration by Spanish-speaking migrants to Philadelphia, while also creating opportunities for Spanish-speaking women to work outside of the home. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, all occupational categories suffered tremendous losses, with unskilled blue-collar workers being the hardest hit of all. Despite the grim economic conditions, the city’s Spanish-speaking populations continued to grow. One reason was that the Great Depression devastated Puerto Rico too, and for many on the island, migrating to Philadelphia still looked like a more attractive option. Moreover, agricultural workers continued to be recruited into the region. Eventually, Cubans and Puerto Ricans became the dominant groups among the Spanish-speaking migrants, with Puerto Ricans overtaking Cubans after 1945.7 This period also marked the beginning of significant Latino migration to other areas of Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Steel, located in the western Pennsylvanian town of Bethlehem and one of the largest employers in the state at the time, had always relied on migrants from Eastern Europe to fill its dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. However, after the passage of federal immigration restrictions in 1921 virtually stopped the flow of such migrants, the company found itself suffering from a severe labor shortage. Observing that the immigration restrictions did not apply to Mexicans, the company secured an exemption from the 1885 Contract Labor Ban and in 1923 negotiated a contract with the Mexican consulate for close to one thousand Mexican laborers. Acclaimed agricultural economist Paul S. Taylor interviewed many of these workers for his research on Mexican migration. The interviews suggest that the workers generally felt they were treated fairly, but that biases against them resulted in their assignment to the hottest and dirtiest work in the coal ovens. Citing the supposed Mexican tolerance for extreme heat, company managers kept Mexicans in the ovens long after European employees would have been promoted.8 Other companies, such as the Pennsylvania Railroad, similarly offset labor shortages through the recruitment of Mexican contract workers.

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Latino America

OPERATION BOOTSTRAP AND PUERTO RICAN MIGRATION Latino migration to Pennsylvania was also triggered by the initiation of Operation Bootstrap in 1948. The program was promoted by the governments of the United States and Puerto Rico as a development strategy for the island; it consisted of a plan to transform Puerto Rico from an agricultural society to an industrial one. Ultimately, it provoked the movement of huge numbers of Puerto Ricans from rural to urban areas as they searched for work. Many industrial jobs were created, but they were a fraction of what was needed to employ the thousands upon thousands of rural Puerto Ricans who had been displaced by the decimation of the island’s agricultural sector. The United States and Puerto Rican governments encouraged this surplus population to emigrate in order to alleviate unemployment and population problems at home and to fill labor needs on the mainland. More than half a million islanders moved abroad over the next twenty years. Roughly 21,000 traveled to the United States every year as migrant farm laborers. Many of these migrants moved to New York, but a significant number settled in Pennsylvania. Some headed to Allentown, in the central eastern region of the state, to work in orchards. They provided cheap labor for the booming agricultural sector there, and their numbers grew to 325 men by 1951, an increase of three times over the previous year.9 In 1953 the men were featured in a three-page Sunday Call-Chronicle photo story on Puerto Rican migrant laborers. Recalling the stereotypes held by Bethlehem Steel managers toward their Mexican employees, the article asserted that “because tomatoes thrive in heat, tropical-born Puerto Ricans make ideal tomato pickers.”10 The paucity of Latina women in the region meant that many migrants married local women, thus establishing a small number of bicultural families. These alliances signal significant acceptance of the Puerto Rican laborers in the town at large, but as the Puerto Rican population grew, tensions surfaced between them and Allentown’s white population. In 1958, for example, when the Puerto Rican population numbered four hundred, the Morning Call published ten articles on the “Puerto Rican problem” and various community efforts to deal with it.11 Over time the Puerto Rican population grew large enough to establish community organizations that dealt with discrimination against Latinos. Most notably, the Casa Guadalupe was founded in 1967 as a social-services agency providing an array of education, health, and employment services. The organization is still in operation today. Several other important Latino communities emerged throughout Pennsylvania in a manner very similar to Allentown’s. Small clusters of contract workers, such as Puerto Rican grape pickers in Erie and Mexican mushroom workers in Kennett Square, marked the origins of what have become robust Latino populations at the present time.

Pennsylvania

“Puerto Rican workers deplaning in Philadelphia, 1947.” Courtesy of Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives, Bulletin Collection, Philadelphia PA.

The Pennsylvania city most affected by Operation Bootstrap was Philadelphia. The increasing number of Puerto Ricans after World War II shaped the city’s Latino landscape over the next fifty years. Puerto Ricans found support among one another and through the Philadelphia Catholic Church known as La Milagrosa, but they often found the rest of the city to be unwelcoming. Many landlords would not rent to Latinos, and underlying tensions between Puerto Ricans and other groups sometimes led to violence. Well-intentioned city workers and politicians tried to address such problems, but their recommendations were often informed by cultural misconceptions that attributed the community’s problems to its “Latin mentality.”12 By the late 1950s, Puerto Ricans began organizing with other Latinos to address concerns such as housing, bilingual education, discrimination, violence, and inadequate city services. However, just as these initial organizing efforts began, larger structural changes were taking place in Philadelphia. Between 1968 and 1985, urban renewal and gentrification efforts displaced many Latinos, forcing them to move to neighborhoods where they were often met with resistance—and sometimes

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Latino America violence—from white residents. By the 1970s, the manufacturing jobs that had provided work for so many Latinos were gone, engendering blight and poverty. Many Latinos responded by organizing again, this time focusing on economic development, health services, and cultural promotion. In addition, a younger generation of Puerto Ricans known as the Young Lords brought a more radical approach to Latino community activism. They fostered ethnic pride and advocated the independence of Puerto Rico. They drew attention to police brutality and criticized the system, breaking ranks with established Puerto Rican agencies such as Aspira and Concilio—groups that supported the Democratic Party. Although short-lived, the Young Lords left a lasting mark on Latino politics in the city, serving as a stepping-stone for several former members to achieve public office and helping to make ethnic pride a central characteristic of the many organizations that have followed.13

CURRENT DEMOGRAPHICS In the early twenty-first century, Latino Pennsylvania continues to grow. Latinos composed 3.2 percent of the state population in 2000, and in 2005 had grown to 4 percent. Philadelphia’s Latino population in 2000 was at 8.5 percent, and census estimates put the number at 10.5 percent in 2004, with Puerto Ricans constituting 8 percent of that number. With a 2000 census count of 91,527 Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia, the city has the third-largest Puerto Rican population outside of the island, behind New York (789,712) and Chicago (113,055). The Mexican population was expected to increase from its 2000 census numbers of 6,220 to more than 12,000 by 2004, thus remaining a small but rapidly expanding portion of the total Philadelphia Latino population. Several other Latino groups are making their numbers felt. Prior to 1990, few Dominicans lived in Philadelphia. Recently, more Dominicans have moved from New York to Philadelphia, seeking work and affordable housing. The 2000 census counted 4,337 Dominicans in the city, making Philadelphia the home of the fourteenth-largest Dominican population in the United States. Cubans numbered 2,730 in 2000, and are a slowly growing population compared to other Latino groups; Colombians were counted at 2,414 in the same period. The first sizable number of Colombians migrated to Philadelphia in the 1960s, seeking work as a consequence of changes in the 1965 Immigration Act. A second wave arrived in the 1970s and 1980s from New York and Colombia. As for Central Americans, the 2000 census counted 544 Nicaraguans, 518 Guatemalans, 501 Costa Ricans, 466 Hondurans, 378 Panamanians, and 337 Salvadorans. The city’s Central American population remained small until oppressive governments and U.S. intervention in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua in the late 1970s and 1980s created extremely difficult situations, forcing significant numbers to flee to the United States, with some settling in Philadelphia. Rounding out Philadelphia’s Latino

Pennsylvania community are South Americans. In 2000 an estimated 531 Argentines, 471 Peruvians, 420 Ecuadorans, 409 Venezuelans, 182 Chileans, 86 Uruguayans, 55 Bolivians, and 38 Paraguayans lived in Philadelphia.14 The rest of Pennsylvania is marked by scant numbers of Latinos in some areas and large numbers in others. Pittsburgh, the second-largest city in the state with a 2000 population of 2,358,695, only had an estimated 4,425 Latinos in that year. However, that small number represents a doubling of the population since 1990, showing that Pittsburgh’s Latino population is increasing.15 Lehigh County’s Latino population grew from 10.2 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2005. The county’s largest city, Allentown, saw an increase in its Latino population from 24.4 percent in 2000 to 33.9 percent in 2005. The county’s second-largest city, Bethlehem, experienced an increase in the same period, from 18.2 percent to 23.8 percent. Another significant pocket of Latinos resides in Lancaster, where Puerto Ricans constituted 23.34 percent of the population in 2000. Lancaster has celebrated its Puerto Rican heritage every year since 1979 with its Puerto Rican Day parade. Reading has a similarly high number of Puerto Rican residents, with 23.46 percent; its total Latino population was estimated at 50.4 percent in 2005. In Chester County, the Mexican population doubled to a little more than 10,000 between 2002 and 2005. The Mexican community there is the largest outside of Philadelphia. Kennett Square, located in Chester County, has a Latino population estimated at 27.9 percent in 2005, which primarily comprises Mexicans.16 Many of the Latinos who are settling in Kennett Square work in the area’s mushroom industry.

NOTABLE LATINOS Torres, Manuel (1778–1822). Manuel de Trujillo y Torres played a key role in establishing political connections between Philadelphia and Latin American in the early nineteenth century. He emigrated from Spain to New Granada (which later became the Republic of Colombia) in 1778. After a failed attempt to overthrow the Spanish government there in 1794, he was forced into exile in the United States. He lived the rest of his life in Philadelphia, where his activism in favor of Latin American independence fit well with the city’s status as a center of revolutionary activity. Through his writings and his personal relationships with political leaders in the United States and Latin America, Torres became the premier liaison between the two worlds. Shortly before his death, he met with President James Monroe as a diplomatic officer of Gran Colombia, a union of New Granada and Venezuela. This marked the first official acknowledgment of an independent Latin American nation, an event that Torres made possible. He is buried in the cemetery of old St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia with a plaque that reads, “As minister of the Republic of Colombia he was the first Latin American diplomatic representative in the United States of America.” Varela, Felix (1788–1853). A Catholic priest, philosopher, political agitator, educator, and Cuban nationalist, Félix Varela lived half of his life in exile in the United States. He lived in Philadelphia only briefly—from 1823–1825, roughly—but his time there marked

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Latino America an important moment in the early history of Latinos in the United States. Philadelphia, densely populated with revolutionaries agitating for Latin American independence, provided the perfect setting for Varela to begin publication of El Habanero, a newspaper devoted to the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule. Varela also published the second edition of his acclaimed Lecciones de filosofía (Lessons in Philosophy) in Philadelphia. He moved to New York in 1825, where he became associated with St. Peter’s Church. Clemente, Roberto (1934–1972). Roberto Clemente, born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, was a Major League Baseball player from 1955 to 1972. He played all 18 seasons of his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, leading them to World Series titles in 1961 and 1972. Known for his defensive prowess as well as his batting skills, he won twelve Gold Glove awards and was a four-time National League batting champion. Equally important is his legacy as a humanitarian and social activist. He focused his attention on aiding Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America in any way he could, often taking food and baseball supplies to them. He died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973, becoming the second Latino ever to be selected (Lefty Gomez was the first, in 1972) and the only exception to the mandatory five-year post-retirement waiting period since it was instituted in 1954. In Pittsburgh the Sixth Street Bridge was renamed in his memory, and the Pirates retired his number, 21, at the start of the 1973 season. Major League Baseball presents the Roberto Clemente Award every year to the player who best follows Clemente’s example with humanitarian work. In 2002, Clemente was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. There is also currently a campaign under way to have all major league teams retire Clemente’s number. Aguilera, Christina (1980–). Christina Aguilera, one of the most famous pop stars, was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a migrant from Guayaqil, Ecuador who had become a U.S. Army sergeant, and Shelly Loraine Fidler, a Spanish teacher of northern European ancestry. Her parents divorced when she was 6 years old, at which point her mother moved to Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Aguilera attended the Ingomar Middle School, in Wexford, and later the Rochester Area Elementary School, in Rochester, Pennsylvania. In 1990 she appeared on the popular talent show Star Search, but failed to win. She returned home and performed on Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV’s Wake Up with Larry Richert and became a regular performer of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games played by the Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey), Steelers (football), and Pirates (baseball). Before long Aguilera became known nationally, and she recorded her self-titled debut album in 1999, winning the Best New Artist award at the 2000 Grammy Awards. In 2000, Aguilera released her first album in Spanish, Mi Reflejo. The album topped the Latin charts and won Aguilera a Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Aguilera remains connected to her hometown of Pittsburgh, contributing regularly to the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her official Web site, she has toured the center, donated $200,000 to the shelter, and auctioned off front row seats and backstage passes to raise funds for the charity.

Pennsylvania

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latino cultural contributions in Pennsylvania are most evident in Philadelphia, the city with the earliest and most sustained contact with Latin America. One sees these contributions in the city’s murals; cultural and political organizations; festivals; newspapers; and small businesses. However, as pockets of Latino communities continue to grow in other areas of the state, Latino cultural contributions are attaining a broader geographical visibility and importance.

CASA GUA’DALUPE CENTER Casa Guadalupe is a nonprofit, community-based organization established in 1969 to meet the needs of Latino residents in the Lehigh Valley. It offers services for children, youth, adults, and elderly residents in the areas of health, education, and social service. The center works in partnership with other organizations in the community to promote economic empowerment, social mobility, and the civic participation of all residents of the Lehigh Valley. Its programs include the Summer Youth Reading and Writing Camp, the Garden Mosaic Program (intended to involve children in community gardens), and the Mini-Society Program (designed to teach youth about teamwork, decision making, and entrepreneurship).

“CORRIDO PENSILVANIO” A corrido is a Mexican narrative song or ballad based on oral tradition. Especially popular in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands between 1880 and 1930, the corrido highlights important social, political, and cultural issues that affect Mexican and Mexican American communities. Themes include war, romance, social justice, heroism, labor, and migration. The “Corrido Pensilvanio” reveals how the industrial experience of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation was a departure from the typical agricultural labor of the southwestern Mexican worker. It is included in Paul Taylor’s study of the Mexican laborers who traveled from the U.S. Southwest to work in Pennsylvania.

HISPANIC AMERICAN LEAGUE

OF

ARTISTS (HALA), LEHIGH VALLEY

Founded in 1994, the Hispanic American League of Artists (HALA) is an interdisciplinary ensemble of dancers, actors, vocalists, instrumentalists, and visual and media artists dedicated to nurturing creativity and developing Latino artists into amateur, semiprofessional, and professional performers. Its mission is to educate, develop, and promote Latino artists, as well as to educate the community

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Latino America about Latino culture. Since its inception, HALA has served Latinos and other interested community members from Allentown, Bethlehem, and the surrounding Lehigh Valley. The group recently hosted the second annual HALA Cine Latino festival, the only Latino film festival in Pennsylvania.

MURALS Philadelphia is filled with Latino-themed murals, many of which have been sponsored by Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program (MAP). These include Puerto Rican Woman (427 W. Dauphin Street), Recuerdo de Nuestra Tierra Encantada (Memories of Our Enchanted Land, 2249 N. Howard Street), and Puerto Rican Statue of Liberty (1701 Mount Vernon Street). In 1998 the United Electrical Workers Union (UE), in dialogue with the Mexican union Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT), commissioned Chicana artist Juana Alicia to create a mural in Erie, Pennsylvania. The mural, A Woman’s Place: A Warrior in the Struggle for International Solidarity, represents the resilience of working women over the last century, along with the link of solidarity between the UE, FAT, and workers internationally.

PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION

OF

LATINO ORGANIZATIONS (PALO)

The Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations (PALO) is a not-forprofit membership organization composed of Latino community-based human services and economic-development organizations located throughout the commonwealth. PALO is the only Latino statewide entity dedicated to the strengthening of Latino centers through economic development, capacity building, education, and the creation of effective bilingual and bicultural community services across Pennsylvania.

PERIODICALS The history of Latino periodical publications in Pennsylvania has been thin, but significant. The publication of El Habanero in Philadelphia was a watershed moment in the history of Latino letters and politics. El Habanero was founded, edited, and published by exiled Cuban priest Félix Varela from 1824–1826. This publication, the first known Spanish-language newspaper published in the United States, focused on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean exile community. It was smuggled into Havana for clandestine distribution. Representative article titles include “Religious Conditions in the Island of Cuba,” “Revolution Involving a Foreign Army,” “Secret Societies in the Island of Cuba,” and “Royal Order of Ferdinand VII Suppressing El Habanero.”

Pennsylvania Another important publication is the Hispanic Review, a quarterly journal devoted to research in Hispanic literary and cultural studies. Edited since 1933 by the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania, the journal features essays and book reviews on the diverse cultural manifestations of Spain and Latin America from the medieval period to the present. It shows an increasing interest in Latino literary and cultural issues. El Hispano is one of a number of more recent publications that provide information in Spanish for the local Latino communities. Founded in 1976 and published in Philadelphia, El Hispano is a weekly Spanish-language newspaper focusing on Latin America and on local issues of interest to Latinos in the region.

TALLER PUERTORRIQUEÑO Taller Puertorriqueño, which translates to “Puerto Rican Workshop,” was established in 1974 by Latino artists and activists in the North Kensington area of Philadelphia. They created a community-based, graphic-arts workshop to provide cultural training alternatives to local youth. The organization, now nationally recognized as a model organization that uses the arts as a vehicle for social change, has grown to include classrooms, a theater, two galleries, and a bookstore.

THE LATIN AMERICAN RADIO MAGAZINE The Latin American Radio Magazine began broadcasting in September 1995, airing on Carnegie Mellon University’s radio station, WRCT-FM (88.3). It is a weekly program broadcast in Spanish and geared toward the Latino community in Pittsburgh and the rest of western Pennsylvania. The program mixes news and music from Latin America with information of local interest to Latinos. The program is occasionally broadcast in Portuguese.

NOTES 1. Warren, 345, quoted in Karen Racine, Francisco de Miranda: A Transatlantic Life in the Age of Revolution (Wilmington, DE: S R Books, 2003), 37. 2. Warren, 345, quoted in David Bushnell, Simón Bolívar: Liberation and Disappointment (New York: Longman, 2004), 15–16. Two of Bolívar’s nephews, Fernando and Francis Bolívar, attended Germantown Academy in Philadelphia. See Warren, 345. 3. Quoted in Castillo-Feliú, 1. 4. Castillo-Feliú, 1. Jicoténcatl is widely agreed to be the first historical novel published anywhere in the Americas. 5. Vázquez, 13. This translates to the “Cuban Revolutionary Party.” For a detailed and personal account of the role of the cigar maker in Puerto Rican and Cuban politics, see The Memoirs of Bernardo Vega.

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Latino America 6. Vázquez, 14. 7. Vázquez, 15. 8. Taylor, 13–16; Mandell, 29. 9. Adams, 12. 10. Adams, 12. 11. Adams, 12–15. 12. Wilson, 18. 13. Wilson, 20. 14. This demographic information is available on the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Latino Philadelphia at a Glance Web page. 15. Jones. 16. Bocella.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Anna. Hidden from History: The Latino Community of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Allentown, PA: Lehigh County Historical Society, 2000. Alicia, Juana. Work Details: A Woman’s Place: http://www.juanaalicia.com/content/a-womansplace. Arsenault, Anne. “Manuel Torres: The ‘Franklin’ of the Southern World.” Pennsylvania Legacies 3, no. 2 (November 2003): 11. Bocella, Kathy, Alletta Emeno, and Dylan Purcell. “A Mexican Migration.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer (accessed August 15, 2006). Bowman, Charles H. “Manuel Torres in Philadelphia and the Recognition of Colombian Independence, 1821–22.” Records of the American Historical Catholic Society of Philadelphia 80 (1969). ———. “Manuel Torres: A Spanish American Patriot in Philadelphia, 1796–1822.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (1970): 26–53. Castillo-Feliú, Guillermo I. Introduction to Xicoténcatl. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999, 1–6. Garcia, Victor, and Laura Gonzalez Martinez. “Guanajuatense and Other Mexican Immigrants in the United States: New Communities in Non-Metropolitan and Agricultural Regions.” JSRI research report 47. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Julian Samora Research Institute, 1999. Hispanic American League of Artists (HALA). http://www.grupohala.com. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. http://www.hsp.org. ———. Latino Philadelphia at a Glance. http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=105. ———. Mexican Labor at Bethlehem Steel. http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=922. Jones, Diana Nelson. “Pittsburgh’s ‘Invisible’ Latinos are Emerging as Part of a National Population Explosion.” Post-gazette.com Magazine, 1999. http://www.post-gazette. com/magazine/19991003latinos1.asp (accessed October 3, 1999). Kanellos, Nicolás, and Helvetia Martell. Hispanic Periodicals in the United States: Origins to 1960. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 2000.

Pennsylvania Kugel, Seth. “Leaving New York, with Bodega in Tow.” New York Times, October 19, 2006, sec. 11. Mandell, Melissa M. “La Prensa and the Mexican Workers of Bethlehem Steel.” Pennsylvania Legacies 6, no. 2 (November 2006): 28–29. Maraniss, David. Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006. Marshall, Genevieve, and Christopher Schnaars. “The New Pennsylvanians: Hispanic and Born Elsewhere.” The Morning Call Online, 2006. http://www.mcall.com/news/specials/ all-a1_5censusaug15,0,5006206.story?coll=all-special-more-package (accessed August 15, 2006). McCadden, Joseph J. “The New York-to-Cuba Axis of Father Varela.” The Americas 20, no. 4 (April 1964): 376–392. Möller, Maria. “Philadelphia’s Mexican War Workers.” Pennsylvania Legacies 3, no. 2 (November 2003): 16. Möller, Maria, and Kathryn E. Wilson. “Images of Latino Philadelphia: An Essay in Photographs.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 128, no. 4 (October 2004): 386–398. Mural Arts Program. http://cml.upenn.edu/murals/default.asp. Salvucci, Linda. “Supply, Demand, and the Making of a Market: Philadelphia and Havana at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century.” In Atlantic Port Cities: Economy, Culture, and Society in the Atlantic World, 1650–1850. Eds. Franklin W. Knight and Peggy K. Liss. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991, 40–57. ———. “Merchants and Diplomats: Philadelphia’s Early Trade with Cuba.” Pennsylvania Legacies 3, no. 2 (November 2003): 6–10. Taller Puertorriqueño. http://www.tallerpr.org. Taylor, Paul S. Mexican Labor in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1931. ———. “Mexican Labor Colony at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.” In Chicanos: The Evolution of a People. Eds. Renato Rosaldo et. al. Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press, 1973, 372–375. U.S. Census Bureau. Pennsylvania QuickFacts. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/ 42000.html. Vázquez, Víctor. “Tobacco, Trains, and Textiles: Philadelphia’s Early Spanish-Speaking Enclaves, 1920–1936.” Pennsylvania Legacies 3, no. 2 (November 2003): 12–15. ———. “The Development of Pan-Latino Philadelphia, 1892–1945.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 128, no. 4 (October 2004): 367–384. Vega, Bernardo. Memoirs of Bernardo Vega: A Contribution to the History of the Puerto Rican Community in New York. Ed. César Andréu Iglesias. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1984. Warren, Richard A. “Displaced ‘Pan-Americans’ and the Transformation of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia, 1789–1850.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 128, no. 4 (October 2004): 343–366. Whalen, Carmen Teresa. “Bridging Homeland and Barrio Politics: The Young Lords in Philadelphia.” In The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora. Eds. Andrés

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Latino America Torres and José E. Velásquez. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1998, 107–123. ———. From Puerto Rico to Philadelphia: Puerto Rican Workers and Postwar Economies. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2001. Wilson, Kathryn E. “Building El Barrio: Latinos Transform Postwar Philadelphia.” Pennsylvania Legacies 3, no. 2 (November 2003): 17–21. WPSU Radio. “Hispanic in Pennsylvania.” What Matters. University Park, PA. August 8, 2006. www.wpsu.org/radio/audio/tuesdays/WM-060314.mp3.

40 RHODE ISLAND Michael E. Neagle

CHRONOLOGY 1650s–1670s

1730s 1870

1920s 1964 1970

1973 1976 1977 1979

The first migrants from Latin America arrive. Jewish settlers, originally from Spain and Portugal, migrate via the West Indies and settle in Newport. Additional Jewish migrants arrive from Curaçao. The U.S. census indicates that only 82 Rhode Island residents are born in Latin America. That figure will remain below 1,000 until the midtwentieth century. Puerto Ricans begin arriving in Rhode Island as seasonal workers on farms in the southern part of the state. The first migrants from Colombia arrive in Central Falls to work in textile mills. With help from the Diocese of Providence, the Latin American Community Center opens to help Latino migrants adjust to life in Rhode Island. It is one of the first instances of pan-Latino organization. WRIB-AM offers the state’s first Spanish-language radio programming. The Coalition of Hispanic Organizations forms to link some of the smaller Latino community groups already in existence. Progresso Latino, a nonprofit, community-based agency that serves Latinos, is founded in Central Falls. The Hispanic Social Services Committee holds its first meeting. The following year, it incorporates and changes its name to the Hispanic Social Services Association (HSSA), a nonprofit, community-based organization

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1980 1984 1985 1987

1990 1991

1992 1998

1999

aimed at improving the quality of life of Latinos in Rhode Island. In 1992 it becomes the Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy (CHisPA). The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the state’s Latino population to be 19,707, although this is widely believed to be an undercount. State legislature begins the Commission to Study the Issues Confronting the Hispanic Community in Rhode Island, a two-year investigation. The Hispanic Political Action Committee, one of the state’s first panLatino political organizations, is formed. Quisqueya en Acción, a nonprofit organization focusing on Dominican youth in Rhode Island, is founded. It later organizes the Dominican Festival of Rhode Island, which becomes one of the largest Dominican celebrations in the country. The U.S. census lists Rhode Island’s Latino population at 45,752. In response to the significant increase in the Latino population, Governor Bruce Sundlun establishes the first Governor’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Anastasia Williams is the first Latina elected to the Rhode Island state legislature. The Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC) is founded. Sol Gallery Group opens in Providence to promote and showcase the work of local Latino artists. Providence en Español, a weekly Spanish-language newspaper, begins publication.

Rhode Island 2000 2002 2005 2006

The U.S. census lists Rhode Island’s Latino population at 90,820— 8.7 percent of the state’s overall population. Juan Pichardo is the first Latino elected to the Rhode Island state senate. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are 112,722 Latinos in Rhode Island—about 10.9 percent of the state’s population. “Day Without an Immigrant” demonstration draws the most marchers to downtown Providence since the Vietnam War. Twenty-two Latinos run for state or local office in elections across Rhode Island; seven candidates win positions.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW As has been the case in most other states across the country, the increase in population and influence of Latinos in Rhode Island has been remarkable, particularly during the last two decades. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 90,820 Latinos in Rhode Island, accounting for 8.7 percent of the population and representing a growth of 108 percent since 1990. The growth rate was one of the highest in the country during that time and the largest in New England. Latinos stand as the largest minority (i.e., nonwhite) group in Rhode Island. As of 2005, the state’s Latino population was estimated to be more than 112,000. Approximately 70 percent of this population is concentrated in three cities: Providence (the state capital, which is 30 percent Latino), nearby Pawtucket, and Central Falls. As a result of their increasing numbers, Latinos have displayed more political clout in recent years, with representation in Rhode Island’s state house and senate, as well as a more notable presence in local businesses, the arts, and the media. However, increased recognition, participation, and influence have not necessarily led to improvements in material, social, and economic conditions for most of the state’s Latinos, as many of the Latino community’s concerns remain unresolved.

FIRST ARRIVALS Rhode Island has been a destination for migrants throughout its history. Although the state is widely known for its Italian, Irish, Portuguese, and French Canadian influences, some of its first migrants came from Latin America. Not long after Roger Williams founded the colony in the mid-seventeenth century, approximately 15 families of Jewish settlers arrived in Newport from the West Indies, completing a dual migration that had originated in Spain and Portugal. More Jewish settlers came from Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela, during the 1730s. But the number of migrants from Latin America to Rhode Island was virtually negligible for the next two centuries. This was, in part, a consequence of the declining economic interaction between the state and the region; European commercial

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Latino America restrictions following U.S. independence hampered Rhode Island merchants’ ability to trade with the West Indies.1 In fact, by 1900 the U.S. census counted only 253 Rhode Island residents who had been born in Latin America.2 Thanks to advances in transportation, as well as the need for labor, migrants from Latin America came in greater numbers in the early twentieth century. By virtue of their U.S. citizenship, the Puerto Ricans traveled an expedited path to the United States, and they were the first Latino national group to explore these new opportunities. During the 1920s, Puerto Ricans began arriving in the Ocean State in search of jobs in manufacturing, as well as seasonal work on small farms. But the Puerto Rican population in Rhode Island remained relatively small until the 1980s, a decade during which they migrated in numbers substantial enough to warrant their own political action committee and to establish a Puerto Rican parade and festival. By 2000 there were 25,422 Puerto Ricans in Rhode Island, comprising 28 percent of the state’s Latinos—the largest national group. Dominicans represent the second-largest Latino national group at about 20 percent. As was the case for Puerto Ricans, many Dominicans migrated by way of New York City in search of a better environment to raise families and to escape urban overcrowding. Many moved to Providence looking for better jobs, mainly in jewelry work and textile mills. At present Dominicans are the most politically active Latino group in the state. Their concerns about and experiences of discrimination have led to a drive for more collective action, the creation of community groups such as Quisqueya en Acción, and greater electoral participation. In fact, out of the 26 Dominicans who held elected office in the United States in 2006, three were in Rhode Island. Guatemalans are the third-largest Latino national group, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the population. Many came in search of political asylum during the 1960s and 1970s—when Guatemala was in the midst of a brutal civil war—and relied heavily on the Catholic Church for services to ease their transition. Many have settled in places such as the west end of Providence, Portsmouth, and Middletown. But Guatemalans today are still generally isolated and have not been as visible in political and social circles as other Latino groups.3 Although Mexicans are the fourth-largest Latino group in Rhode Island at 6.5 percent, little recorded evidence chronicles their experience prior to the 1980s. A 1940 estimate counted only 21 Mexicans in the state (which was actually a threefold increase from 20 years earlier). But the Mexican community grew substantially in the 1980s and 1990s as more migrants came to work on farms in West Warwick and Coventry. In addition, many others have migrated to Providence to work in the jewelry industry and start their own businesses.4 The migration of Colombians to Rhode Island has been much more targeted. It began in the mid-1960s, when textile mill owners in Central Falls recruited work-

Rhode Island ers in the Colombian provinces of Antioquia and Baranquilla, where textiles were a popular industry. Promises of employment and education encouraged other Colombians to migrate to Rhode Island, even after most of the mills shut down in the mid-1980s. Today, Colombians represent the fifth-largest group of Latinos in Rhode Island.5

BUSINESS AND LABOR The promise of jobs has been one of the strongest factors drawing Latino migrants to Rhode Island. Initially many of the jobs were in farming or factory work. Today many Latinos work in manufacturing or the service sector for relatively low pay. Attempts to incorporate unskilled Latino workers into unions began in the 1970s, when advocates such as Rev. Raymond Tetrault, a Catholic priest who worked as the director of Latino ministries in the Diocese of Providence, attempted to help these workers. Organizing these employees into groups proved to be a difficult task, however, mainly because of language and cultural barriers. Nevertheless, by the dawn of the twenty-first century, the entrepreneurial spirit of Latinos had become increasingly evident. Small-business development has grown substantially during the last decade. In 2002 there were an estimated 3,415 Latino-owned businesses in Rhode Island—a nearly tenfold increase since 1994—that had generated $213 million in revenue. The level of growth from 1997 to 2002 was nearly five times the national rate. Although about two-thirds of Latino-owned businesses are in Providence, there is also a significant presence in Central Falls, whose population is nearly 48 percent Latino. In 2000, 12 Latinoowned businesses collaborated to establish the Rhode Island Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce. Three years later, the first Latino Business Expo was held. In addition, organizations such as the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center have held a variety of workshops to help Latinos maximize their businesses. Non-Latino business owners also have come to realize the importance of appealing to Latino customers. The purchasing power of Rhode Island Latinos was an estimated $1.4 billion in 2002 and was projected to be $2.3 billion in 2008.

POOR LIVING CONDITIONS Despite increased commercial power, the conditions that many Latinos face— including opportunities for improvement—generally rank far below that of whites in Rhode Island, as well as other Latinos across the country. The percentage of the state’s Latinos who live below the poverty line increased from 30 percent to 36 percent during the 1990s—the highest rate of poverty among Latinos in the

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Latino America country. Rhode Island’s Latino population also has the largest percentage of its children living in poverty, the highest rate of female-headed families (40 percent of Latino households are headed by a single adult), and the lowest median income of all Latinos living in the United States. The chief reasons for these conditions are unemployment and underemployment. Many Latino migrants initially came to work in the manufacturing sector, but the availability of those jobs has decreased with the closing of factories in recent years. The unemployment rate among Latinos in 2000 was 8.9 percent, the highest rate among all ethnic groups in the state. Finding jobs is an even more difficult task for those who are not fluent in English. Education—or lack thereof— also is a concern. About half Rhode Island’s Latinos have less than a high-school education, and only 62 percent of Latino students graduate from high school— the lowest rate of any ethnic group in the state. In addition, Latinos make up only a small percentage of those earning advanced degrees in the state’s colleges and universities. Age also is an issue. The average age of the state’s Latinos in 2002 was 23.6, the lowest of any ethnic group in Rhode Island and the lowest among Latinos in New England, which suggests a lack of established social networks to provide support.6 The availability of, and access to, services to improve these conditions has been a long-standing concern among Latinos. Cutbacks in federally funded social programs during the 1980s came just as many Latinos began migrating.7 As a result, many have turned to the Catholic Church or community groups like Progreso Latino or the Hispanic Social Services Association (HSSA) of Rhode Island for help.

EMERGING PAN-LATINO COALITION A 1980 study of the Latinos of Rhode Island portrayed a community rife with division: “There is a great deal of divisiveness and nationalistic animosity between various Latin groups, especially between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. The Latin ‘community’ is not really one united community at all but a loose confederation of recently-arrived Spanish speaking migrants from more than a dozen separate Hispanic nations.”8 However, at the time that study was written, efforts belying that contention were already under way. These efforts were spurred, in part, by the desire to improve living conditions and provide opportunities for advancement, which led to increased cooperation among Latino national groups. In 1970 the Latin American Community Center, one of the first organizational attempts at pan-Latino cooperation, was formed with help from the Diocese of Providence. In 1977, Progreso Latino was founded in Central Falls as a nonprofit, community-based agency that offered services and opportunities for individual development. Additional organizational efforts toward pan-Latino cooperation and

Rhode Island the promotion of common interests continued into the 1980s with the foundation of HSSA, which later became the Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy (CHisPA), in Providence. By 2000 pan-Latino cooperation and commingling seemed to be more the norm than the exception. Events and festivals organized by one nationality tended to draw support and participation from others. The prime example is the annual Dominican Festival of Rhode Island, which was started by the Hispanic Cultural Arts Committee in 1985 and has become one of the largest Dominican celebrations in the country. Other Latino-oriented parades and festivals that draw a popular following include the Colombian Independence Day parade in Central Falls and the Puerto Rican Festival of Rhode Island. Although these gatherings often attract the attention and participation of the state’s non-Latino political and business leaders, Latinos’ assimilation into the larger society has not been free of conflict. Some of this discord can be traced to tension between new migrant groups and old ones that have been established in the state since the early twentieth century. As Rhode Island experienced an influx of migrants in the 1970s, many were “viewed bleakly by those who have ‘made it’ out of the ghetto.”9 The stereotype persisted that many of the new migrant— mostly Latinos and Asians—were “aliens without visas [who] provide cheap labor, but often increase welfare costs . . . [and] clamor for more aid.”10 Antimigrant sentiments, of which Latinos were the primary target, continued right up to the turn of the century. In February 1996, a Guatemalan migrant was assaulted in Providence by a teenager who had asked the man for his green card before attacking him. In 2006 a small, private group called Rhode Island Immigration Law Enforcement (RIILE) began a campaign against state assistance for undocumented workers and their families.

POLITICAL POWER Despite resistance, the collective voice of Latinos in Rhode Island has grown stronger in recent years. In addition to community-based initiatives, there recently has been more pan-Latino political cooperation. One of the first attempts at such cooperation was through the Hispanic Political Action Committee, founded in 1985. Thirteen years later, the Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC) was formed, a bipartisan PAC that boasted representation from a variety of Latino nationalities. Since then, many statewide politicians have pursued its support. Grassroots participation also has been apparent—most evident during the May 2006 “Day Without an Immigrant” national demonstrations. Thousands of demonstrators marched in downtown Providence in a gathering estimated to be the largest protest there since the Vietnam War. The daylong strike, boycott, and walkout resulted in the shutdown of hundreds of businesses

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Latino America statewide; about half the students in Central Falls and 40 percent of all students in Providence city schools did not attend classes that day. Direct electoral participation is another method by which Latinos have addressed their concerns. In 1992 native Panamanian Anastasia Williams became the first Latina, as well as the first black woman, to hold elected office in Rhode Island when she won a seat in the state house of representatives; she retained the seat again in 2006. In 2002, Juan Pichardo became the first Latino state senator, as well as the first Dominican American state senator in the country. Two years later, Grace Diaz became the first Dominican American woman in the United States to be elected to a state office when she defeated fellow Dominican and incumbent Leon Tejada for a state house seat. In 2006, 22 Latinos ran for elected offices throughout the state, some against incumbent Latinos. Of those candidates, seven won seats that November, including Pichardo, Williams, and Diaz in the state legislature; Tejada, Miguel Luna, and Luis Aponte in the Providence City Council; and Emilio Navarro in the Cranston City Council. During the last quarter century, Latinos’ collective concerns have been heard— if not necessarily resolved—by the upper reaches of state government. In 1984 the state’s house of representatives initiated a Commission to Study the Issues Confronting the Hispanic Community of Rhode Island. The two-year public study found insufficient education, services, job training, and housing to be the most pressing concerns of the Latino community. In 1991, Governor Bruce Sundlun appointed the first Governor’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs. The commission’s recommendations spurred legislation that helped form the first interpreter training program in Rhode Island, as well as the first organized Office of Interpreters in the state court system. The commission also fought against English Only legislation. In addition, the commission worked with the state’s caucus of black legislators to sponsor several forums designed to bring the Latino and African American communities closer together.

NOTABLE LATINOS Castillo, Osvaldo (1949–). A native of Puerto Rico, Castillo joined the Providence police force in 1974, becoming the first Latino officer in the state. In the 1980s, he played a more active role in the Latino community, helping to organize the state’s first Puerto Rican parade in 1984 and establish Casa Puerto Rico, a multiservice community center. Depeña, Melba (1972–). A native of the Dominican Republic, Depeña in 2003 was the first Latina, as well as the first woman, to be named executive director of the Rhode Island Democratic Party. She also founded the University of Rhode Island’s first Latina sorority, Sigma Lambda Upsilon. Martínez, Marta V. (1958–). An independent oral historian, Martínez has been instrumental in chronicling the experiences of Latino migrants and the consolidation of the

Rhode Island Latino community in Rhode Island. She served as HSSA’s first executive director and was the chairwoman of the first Governor’s Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs. A native of Mexico, Martínez also is the founder of the Hispanic Heritage Committee in Rhode Island. Mendóza, Victor (1949–). Born in the Dominican Republic, Mendóza was among the first Latino community organizers in the early 1970s. He was involved with the founding of such groups as the Coalition of Hispanic Organizations and the Hispanic Political Action Committee, as well as the Dominican Festival of Rhode Island. Noguera, Olga (1940–). A native of Guatemala, Noguera has been a notable activist since the late 1970s—first with Acción Hispana (a forerunner to Progreso Latino), and later, HSSA. She is a former president of the Providence school board and assistant director of the state’s Department of Human Services, which works with the Latino community. Rodríguez, Pablo (1955–). Among the cofounders of RILPAC, Rodríguez served as the organization’s first president. A native of Puerto Rico, he also was the first Latino medical director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, the first chair of the Minority Health Advisory Board at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and the only Latino to be appointed to the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission in 1994. Rosario, Josefina (1928–). Known as Doña Fefa, Rosario and her husband, Tony, were instrumental in helping other Latino migrants get settled in Rhode Island after they arrived via New York City in 1956. Shortly after migrating, this husband-and-wife team started Fefa’s Market, which is believed to be the first Latino market and restaurant in the state.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As the Latino population of Rhode Island has grown, so has its influence on the state’s culture. The Rhode Island School of Design museum began showing the works of local Latino artists in 1991; the popularity of these exhibits eventually led to the creation of the Sol Gallery in 1998. Another showcase is the Latin American Visual Arts Expo, an annual monthlong display launched in 2002 that is shown at the Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill in Providence and sponsored by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Works from the state’s Latino artists also have appeared in the Providence Art Club and the University of Rhode Island’s Fine Art Center Galleries. The growing Latino population also has had an impact on Rhode Island’s airwaves and media. The first Spanish-language station, WRIB-AM (1220), went on the air in 1973. As of 2004, three other stations in the state offered Spanishlanguage programming: WALE-AM (990), WPMZ-AM (1110), and WELH-FM (88.1). In addition, the state’s largest newspaper, the Providence Journal, features a page called “Página Latina” that offers news in Spanish about local Latinos, as well as events in Latin America. The most notable Spanish-language newspaper

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Celebrants wave flags of the Dominican Republic during the Dominican Festival of Rhode Island in 2003. The Festival, started in 1985, has grown to become one of the largest Dominican celebrations in the United States, and it draws many other Latinos from across Rhode Island. Courtesy of Marta V. Martinez.

is Providence en Español, a weekly that was established in 1999. Web sites dedicated to Spanish-speaking Latinos in Rhode Island also have been established, including http://www.uslatino.com, which offers news, and http://www.rimix.com, which features online yellow pages. The proliferation of Latino food and music also has been evident throughout Rhode Island. For example, there has been a substantial increase in the number of restaurants and groceries that offer foods from Latin America. A number of locally owned restaurants throughout the state feature culinary offerings from such places as Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Cuba, and El Salvador. In addition, some grocery stores carry ethnic foods often not found in a typical supermarket. Latino-themed nightclubs, located mostly in Providence and Pawtucket, also have become more popular in recent years. Salsa dancing, in particular, has become more prevalent. Some dance studios offer lessons and have given performances as part of the popular outdoor nighttime WaterFire displays in downtown Providence. Latinos have also had an impact on religion in Rhode Island. Many migrants have come from predominantly Catholic countries, and Rhode Island has one of

Rhode Island the highest proportions of Catholics in the country. The Roman Catholic Church was often the place to which many newly arrived migrants turned for help and services unavailable elsewhere. The resulting influx of migrants compelled many parishes to celebrate Sunday masses in Spanish. By 2007, 18 of the 152 parishes in the Diocese of Providence—which encompasses all of Rhode Island—offered masses in Spanish. In addition, the Baptist Church (particularly the Iglesia Bautista Hispana El Calvario, the Spanish-speaking congregation of the Calvary Baptist Church in Providence) also has been active in providing spiritual and social-service support to Latino migrants since the 1970s.

NOTES 1. McLoughlin, 47, 110. 2. Mayer and Goldstein, 56. 3. Marta V. Martínez, “The Latinos of Rhode Island,” in Uriarte, 46. 4. Martínez, 47. 5. Martínez, 41. 6. Uriarte, 8. 7. Miren Uriarte, “Growing into Power in Rhode Island,” in Torres, 139. 8. Conley, 39. 9. McLoughlin, 216. 10. McLoughlin, 226.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Castro, George A., chairman. Report of the Commission to Study the Issues Confronting the Hispanic Community in Rhode Island. Providence: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1986. Conley, Patrick T. Rhode Island Ethnic Heritage Fact Sheets. Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, Rhode Island Historical Society, 1980. Itzigsohn, Jose. “The Formation of Latino and Latina Panethnic Identities.” In Not Just Black and White: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States. Eds. Nancy Foner and George M. Fredrickson. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004. Mayer, Kurt B., and Sidney Goldstein. Migration and Economic Development in Rhode Island. Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1958. McLoughlin, William G. Rhode Island: A History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1978. Tetrault, Father Raymond. Interview by Paul Buhle. Tape recording, April 12, 1985. LaborIndustrial Relations and Community Life in Rhode Island, Oral History Project. Rhode Island Historical Society. Torres, Andres, ed. Latinos in New England. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006. Uriarte, Miren, et al. Rhode Island Latinos: A Scan of Issues Affecting the Latino Population of Rhode Island. Providence: Rhode Island Foundation, 2002.

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41 SOUTH CAROLINA Elaine C. Lacy

CHRONOLOGY 1514–1521

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1540 1566

1566–1567 1576 1577 1587 1670 1825 1846

Agents of Spanish official Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón explore the coastline, make landfall, and initiate contact with Native Americans in present-day South Carolina. De Ayllón himself establishes the first European colony, San Miguel de Guadalupe, in what is now the United States. It is abandoned after two months. Spaniard Hernando de Soto and 600 men explore parts of South Carolina, strengthening Spain’s claims to the region. Spain establishes Fort San Felipe and the settlement of Santa Elena in present-day South Carolina. Santa Elena becomes the capital of Spanish La Florida. Spaniard Juan Pardo explores areas of South Carolina in search of a land route to Mexico. Spanish colonists abandon Santa Elena. Spain constructs Fort San Marcos near the site of the former Fort San Felipe, and settlers rebuild Santa Elena. Deciding to focus resources on protecting St. Augustine, Spanish authorities order colonists to destroy and abandon Santa Elena. Spain cedes virtually all mainland East Coast holdings north of presentday Florida to Britain in the Treaty of Madrid. Charleston resident Joel R. Poinsett becomes the first envoy from the United States to Mexico. South Carolina’s Palmetto Regiment fights in Mexico during the U.S.Mexican War.

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2006

Ambrose Elliot and N.G. Gonzales found the State newspaper in Columbia. Almost two thousand Puerto Ricans are sent to help build Camp Jackson (now Fort Jackson). Puerto Rican soldiers are stationed at Fort Jackson. Cuban soldiers train at Fort Jackson. Colombians come to South Carolina to work in upstate textile mills. Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean workers pass through South Carolina as migrant agricultural workers. Increasing numbers of Mexican and Central American workers enter the state to take year-round jobs. Governor Jim Hodges signs into law a provision that South Carolina’s Latino population be included among minorities served by the state’s Commission for Minority Affairs. Thousands of Latino migrants participate in rallies across South Carolina, protesting punitive immigration legislation.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW COLONIAL SOUTH CAROLINA The Latino presence in South Carolina dates to the early sixteenth century. Spanish exploration of the region of present-day South Carolina began when Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón, a sugar planter and official in the Spanish colony on

South Carolina Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), commissioned Pedro de Salazar and Francisco Gordillo to search for new sources of indigenous labor for Spanish colonies in the Caribbean in 1514 and 1521, respectively. The explorers landed somewhere between present-day Georgia and Cape Fear, North Carolina. A few years later, De Ayllón was made adelantado (governor) of Spain’s La Florida and established the first European colony in what is now the United States: San Miguel de Guadalupe. The exact location of De Ayllón’s colony is disputed by scholars: some insist that it was in Georgia, others say South Carolina. Regardless, the colony was short-lived: De Ayllón died of a fever, and Spaniards were led to abandon the effort by factors like disease, desertion, division in Spanish ranks, a lack of supplies, and problems with local Native Americans. Another Spaniard, Hernando de Soto, visited the area in 1540. Along with 600 men, De Soto traversed South Carolina, visiting the indigenous province of Cofitachiqui and strengthening Spain’s claims to the region. Spain’s energies were focused on other areas of its New World empire until the 1560s, when Spanish agents built a fort, San Felipe, and established a colony, Santa Elena, on Parris Island, near present-day Beaufort, South Carolina. The primary aim in establishing a settlement so far north of St. Augustine was to protect Spanish shipping routes from marauders. Santa Elena became the capital of La Florida. The community also served as a base of operations from which Spanish military officer Juan Pardo attempted to pacify local indigenous groups and searched for sources of wealth and for an overland trade route to New Spain (Mexico) in 1566 and 1567. Santa Elena was settled by families transplanted from Spain. The local economy was dominated by farmers, artisans, and merchants, but poor land, a lack of supplies, and increasingly hostile relations with local Native American groups (largely as result of the community’s poor leadership) resulted in the settlement’s abandonment in 1576. In an effort to thwart French designs on the area and to reduce attacks on Spanish fleets, Spain established a new fort, San Marcos, near the former Fort San Felipe in 1577. In the next few years, a new influx of Spanish colonists rebuilt Santa Elena. They farmed better land farther inland; the community flourished and grew larger than the former colony of Santa Elena. Nevertheless, after Sir Francis Drake burned St. Augustine, Spanish officials determined that resources should be devoted exclusively to the southern region, and in 1587 ordered residents of Santa Elena to destroy the fort, as well as their homes, and to abandon the settlement. While Spain made no further efforts to establish permanent settlements in South Carolina, Franciscan friars from missions farther south continued to visit Native American communities in South Carolina, an effort began by Jesuits in 1568. A Yemassee Indian revolt against the Franciscan missions on the Georgia sea islands slowed these missionary efforts in South Carolina, and Spain’s

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Latino America attention to the region subsided after failed efforts to rebuild Santa Elena in the early seventeenth century. The Spain–South Carolina connection resurfaced during the American Revolution. In 1776, Francis Salvador, a businessman in Charleston, South Carolina, whose ancestors had fled Spain along with other Sephardic Jews, fought on the U.S. side and died in the Revolutionary War. Jorge Farragut, a South Carolinian who had migrated to the area from the Spanish island of Minorca, fought in the South Carolina navy and also was among the first Latino Revolutionary War heroes. The South Carolina navy also collaborated with Spanish forces in Cuba during the war to protect South Carolina’s coast.

SOUTH CAROLINA AND LATIN AMERICA South Carolinians’ relationship with Latin America continued after most of the former Spanish colonies in the Americas achieved their independence from Spain in the early nineteenth century. A number of South Carolinians served as envoys to Mexico in the nineteenth century, beginning with Joel Poinsett, who was appointed by President John Quincy Adams as the first minister to a newly independent Mexico in 1825. Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay asked Poinsett to work with the Mexican government to settle the disputed border between the United States and Mexico and to purchase land in Texas, which at the time was a province of Mexico. The Mexican government’s perception that the United States posed a threat to the country’s sovereignty, and Poinsett’s undiplomatic behavior and general ineffectiveness, led to his recall by President Andrew Jackson in 1829. Poinsett’s replacement, Andrew Butler, was born in South Carolina, then relocated to Texas. The political appointee’s lack of experience and determination to secure Texas for the United States increased the Mexican government’s distrust of the United States.1 Another South Carolinian, Waddy Thompson, served in Mexico as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in the early 1840s. Thompson was generally considered more successful in completing his mission in Mexico, and he is credited with strengthening U.S.-Mexican relations. John S. Cripps of Charleston also served as consul in Mexico in the 1850s. After Texas claimed independence from Mexico in 1836, the U.S. government’s decision to annex the former Mexican territory led to a war with Mexico (1846–1848). South Carolinians participated in this war, despite a great deal of disagreement over the wisdom of going to war with Mexico over Texas. The Palmetto Regiment, as the South Carolinian fighting unit was called, lost 43 percent of its numbers in combat and to disease, but still proved important to the war: the first flag raised when U.S. troops took the citadel at Chapultepec in Mexico City was the regiment’s palmetto flag. According to South Carolina folklore, soldiers

South Carolina who had served in the Mexican state of Veracruz and admired its capital city of Jalapa (now usually spelled Xalapa) returned to South Carolina and founded a new community in the state that they called Jalapa. Just as South Carolinians fought in Mexico, Latinos in South Carolina figured into the Civil War of 1861–1865. David Camden DeLeón, a Sephardic Jew from Camden, South Carolina, whose family had Spanish roots, was named the first surgeon general of the Confederacy in 1861. In addition, Ambrosio José Gonzales, a Spaniard who had relocated to Cuba and then to South Carolina, achieved the rank of colonel in the Confederate army and helped to defend the South Carolina coast. Ambrosio José Gonzales’s son, Ambrose Gonzales, was among Latinos in South Carolina who fought in the Spanish-American War of 1898. Enthusiasm for participating in the war against Spain was not high among South Carolinians, perhaps because of the well-remembered Civil War losses. When recruitment of volunteers began, one in three South Carolinians were rejected for military service because of age or medical concerns. The only regiment to reach Cuba was the Second Regiment, and they arrived after combat was over. The results of the Spanish-American War included Cuban independence and the U.S. acquisition of Puerto Rico as a territory. Connections between Puerto Rico and South Carolina formed in the next few decades. The construction of an army base in the midlands of South Carolina, Camp Jackson, began in 1917; the following year, roughly 2,000 Puerto Ricans arrived to help with base construction. Shortly after they arrived, an epidemic of influenza struck the area, and many of these laborers died. Most survivors were shipped back to Puerto Rico after the armistice was signed, and work on Camp Jackson slowed, although some laborers remained in the area. Puerto Rican soldiers were stationed at Fort Jackson (formerly Camp Jackson) in preparation for their participation in World War II. Increased numbers of Puerto Rican soldiers arrived at the base in the 1950s as the U.S. Army ended segregation of most Puerto Rican soldiers into the Sixty-Fifth Infantry Regiment, a Spanishspeaking unit. In the late 1960s, some Puerto Rican soldiers at the fort made national news as part of the anti-Vietnam War group GIs United Against the War in Vietnam. After the Castro revolution in Cuba in 1959, Cuban refugees arrived on U.S. shores by the thousands, and some were relocated to South Carolina and other states in the Southeast. Further, after the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961, hundreds of the Cuban ex-patriots who had participated in the failed invasion were inducted into the U.S. Army and relocated to Fort Jackson in South Carolina in 1963, where they created an organization titled Ex-Combatientes Cubanos de Ft. Jackson. According to some sources, the group’s mission briefly included planning another invasion of Cuba. South Carolina’s large Colombian population began to arrive in the 1970s, most with plans to work in the state’s textile industry. Owners of some of the

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Latino America state’s largest mills also owned mills in Colombia and began to bring workers here from that country. Since that time, the immigration of the majority of South Carolina’s Colombian population can be attributed to social networks, educational reasons, or professional ambitions.

LATINOS IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE LATE TWENTIETH TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES

AND

Despite the long-term Latino presence in South Carolina and the ongoing connections between South Carolina and Latin America, it was not until the late twentieth century that the state saw the arrival of large numbers of Latino migrants. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, South Carolina’s Latino population increased by 342 percent between 1990 and 2005 (from roughly 30,000 to 135,000).2 As a smaller state, South Carolina has not attracted the number of Latino migrants seen by the neighboring states of Georgia and North Carolina, but their numbers are nonetheless increasing: South Carolina is among four states with the most rapidly growing Latino populations in the country, according to the Census Bureau. Census estimates indicate that between 2000 and 2005, Latinos’ numbers increased by 9 percent, compared to a 1 percent increase for non-Latinos. Between 2004 and 2005, South Carolina’s Latino population grew 7.1 percent, which represents the third-fastest growth rate in the United States. Roughly 60 percent of the state’s Latinos were foreign-born, according to the American Community Survey (ACS) 2005. Most observers conclude that the census undercounts Latinos. The reasons include migrants’ complex household makeup, cultural differences in defining households, individual and family mobility, legal (authorized versus unauthorized) status, fear or distrust of government, and language barriers. Those who work with Latino communities in the state estimate that the population is at least double the census count. The arrival of Latino migrants in South Carolina is part of a larger trend: migrants’ movement into new settlement areas in the United States outside traditional gateways in Texas, California, New York, Chicago, and Florida. Since the early 1990s, six states in the U.S. Southeast (Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) have seen an increase in their Latino populations that greatly exceeds that of the nation as a whole: between 1990 and 2005 (the last available census data), the Latino population in these states increased by an average of 447 percent while growing by 85 percent nationwide. The Census Bureau reports that 73 percent of Latinos in these six states were of Mexican origin (compared to 63 percent nationally). This migrant movement to the Southeast occurred for a variety of reasons, the most salient involving economic factors. The South’s newly diversified, dynamic

South Carolina economy of the 1990s provided jobs at a higher rate than the country as a whole. In addition, some southeastern companies made the strategic decision to enhance their competitiveness in the face of global economic competition by remaining in the region and hiring low-cost migrant workers. Some migrants were pushed from traditional Latino settlement areas in the United States by competition over jobs and housing, high crime rates, and increasing anti-immigrant sentiment. Another critical factor associated with the movement of Latinos to the Southeast is their social networks. New migrants spread word of the region’s plentiful jobs, mild climate, and low cost of living to friends and family in their place of origin, spurring further migration—especially from countries with severe economic crises (including Mexico and several Central American countries) or with political or social strife (such as Colombia). The 2000 census, 2005 American Community Survey, and in-state research reports offer a profile of Latino migrants: ACS data suggests that those of Mexican origin constituted more than 60 percent of Latinos in South Carolina, followed in number by those of Central American origin (11 percent), Puerto Ricans (10 percent), and South Americans (7 percent). Hondurans and Guatemalans outnumber other Central Americans in the state, and Colombians constitute the largest component among South Americans. Most migrants are working-class males (56 percent of all Latinos are male, according to the ACS), and most have relatively little education: the ACS 2005 reports that 42 percent of Latinos 25 years old and older have less than high school education, and another 29 percent graduated from high school. A University of South Carolina study of Mexican migrants in 14 South Carolina counties revealed that the average education level of both males and females was 8.5 years.3 Some of the state’s Latinos are well educated, however: the ACS reports that in 2005, 27 percent had at least some college, and 10 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Prior to the 1990s, the majority of Latinos living in South Carolina had Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Colombian roots. The Puerto Rican presence in the state is the result of military postings, business opportunities, and social networks. Several hundred Cuban refugees were relocated to South Carolina after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and in the 1960s thousands of Cuban expatriates trained at Fort Jackson to lead a strike against Cuba, an exercise that was subsequently aborted. Like many Puerto Ricans, some Cubans retired to South Carolina after a stint at military bases in the state. More Cubans arrived in the 1980s and 1990s, largely as result of additional emigration from Cuba, social networks, and professional opportunities. Large numbers of Colombians relocated to South Carolina from New England textile towns in the 1970s, and as political and social conditions worsened in Colombia, social networks directed new emigrants to the state, many of whom also labored in upstate textile mills. Such social networks and professional and educational opportunities have continued to attract Colombians and other South Americans to South Carolina.

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Latino America Few Latinos of Mexican origin lived in the state before the 1990s, but many passed through as migrant agricultural workers. In the 1990s, 94 percent of workers in the East Coast migrant stream were Mexican-born.4 South Carolina’s economic restructuring in the 1980s and 1990s led to increasing numbers of low-paying service-sector jobs in the state, and a number of these workers settled out of the migrant stream to take year-round jobs. Plentiful jobs, a mild climate, the relatively low cost of living, and a population generally tolerant of migrants attracted an increasing number of Mexican and Central American workers to the state, particularly after the mid-1990s. Most Mexican migrants come to South Carolina directly; the majority arrive from southeastern states, including Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Chiapas—new sending states in that country.5 Latinos live in every county in South Carolina, but the largest Latino populations have settled in urban areas in the upstate (northwestern region), midlands, and low country (or coastal area). A booming construction industry, restaurants, and manufacturing are the primary draws for Latinos in the upstate. In the midlands, construction, poultry processing, light manufacturing, and restaurants attract migrants, and on the coast, the construction and hospitality industries are those in which more migrants are employed. Latinos have also concentrated in some of the state’s smaller communities, such as Saluda. Often referred to as Little Mexico, Saluda is also home to large numbers of Guatemalans, many of whom work alongside Mexicans in a local poultry plant. The highest percentage of Latinos (vis-à-vis the population as a whole) resided in Saluda, Jasper, Beaufort, Newberry, and Greenville counties in 2005. Many of South Carolina’s migrants are undocumented. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that South Carolina’s unauthorized migrant population in 2005 numbered between 35,000 and 75,000. While not all undocumented migrants are Latinos, reliable estimates suggest that at least 75 percent do arrive from Latin America. It has also been estimated that nationally, 80 to 85 percent of Mexican migrants are unauthorized. According to 2005 American Community Survey data, roughly 88,000 Mexican migrants were in the state, meaning that at least 75,000 unauthorized Mexican migrants alone reside in South Carolina. However, despite more rigorous border security after the attacks of September 11, 2001, many Mexican and Central American migrants tend to be sojourners—going back to their home countries for a period of time, only to return later. The actual number of unauthorized migrants therefore will fluctuate over time. A large number of Latinos in South Carolina live on the margin, both economically and socially. Most work for low wages and deal with job insecurity, poor and unsafe housing conditions, lack of transportation, language barriers, discrimination—and often, loneliness. Most also live in enclave conditions because of a shortage of affordable housing, South Carolina’s limited public transportation system, and the

South Carolina fact that the state denies driver’s licenses to unauthorized migrants. Further, discrimination, social and cultural differences, and separation from family members can lead to feelings of isolation. Some new migrants express feelings of loneliness and even invisibility. As one young woman from Veracruz said, “Only people at work know your name, but outside work it’s as though we don’t exist.”6

RESPONSE TO LATINO MIGRATION While a number of middle-class Latino professionals live in South Carolina, the majority of Latinos are new, working-class migrants. Some observers are quick to point out the positive economic impact this new low-wage workforce has had in the state—particularly in sustaining South Carolina’s construction, poultry processing, hospitality, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. Others point to Latinos’ buying power, estimated at $3.5 billion for the Mexican migrant population alone in 2006.7 In recent years, however, a growing number of South Carolinians have charged that working-class Latino migrants in the state act as a drain on resources, especially in the areas of education and health care. It is true that South Carolina’s public schools have had to absorb large numbers of migrants in recent years, resulting in a larger portion of the state education budget being directed toward English language classes (ESOL) in schools. In a number of schools across the state, Latino children make up half of the student body. Given that most Latinos have resided in the state less than 15 years, and most come directly from Latin America, the majority of Latino migrant children and adults lack English skills. Some school districts also offer English classes for adults. Health care administrators have expressed concern over the rising costs associated with emergency health care for Latino migrants, most of whom lack health insurance. As of 2007, however, no hard data exist regarding the extent of such costs. Several University of South Carolina (USC) studies indicate that most working-class Latinos forgo health care for themselves because of the high cost or other barriers, like language and transportation. But if they are parents, they do make an effort to see that their children receive health care. State legislators and local officials have expressed concern over the growing number of unauthorized Latino migrants and their potential cost to state and local governments. Local ordinances passed in Beaufort, Dorchester, and Pickens counties in late 2006 aim at punishing employers who knowingly hire unauthorized migrants, and state legislators have introduced and debated a number of bills between 2004 and 2007 that mimic legislation passed in the neighboring states of North Carolina and Georgia. If made law, some of the bills would authorize local law enforcement to arrest undocumented migrants, deny workman’s compensation to unauthorized Latino migrants injured on the job, and require

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Latino America employers to verify the legal residency of any potential employee. Other bills, such as those calling for denying education to children of unauthorized migrants, are clearly unconstitutional. At the same time, a variety of organizations and institutions have become advocates for the rights of Latinos in the state. These include Latino organizations such as Acercamiento Hispano and the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council in the midlands; Círculo Hispano Americano de Charleston and Latinos en Acción in Myrtle Beach; and the Latin American Council in Hilton Head, among others. Catholic and Protestant churches have also responded to the spiritual and material needs of new Latino migrants, providing worship services in Spanish, English-language classes, and sometimes clothing and food for Latinos. South Carolina’s Christian Action Council, among other groups in the state, has taken a strong stand against punitive legislation that would discriminate against new migrants. When thousands of Latino migrants held rallies in South Carolina in early April 2006, a large number of non-Latinos were on hand to support their claims for justice; during public hearings in late 2006 and early 2007 on proposed legislation regarding unauthorized migrants, many who spoke against the bills pointed to Latinos’ economic and cultural contributions to the state. For many native South Carolinians, the real danger posed by new, mostly nonEnglish-speaking migrants is that they are altering the so-called southern culture. In 1987 lawmakers made English the state’s official language (although no penalties for noncompliance were attached), and efforts in Hilton Head Island in 2007 to give town employees a bonus for learning Spanish came under attack from local residents. In letters to the editor and on Internet blogs, a rising chorus of voices speak out against increasing Latino migration, intimating that Latinos are attempting to change the state and region into another Mexico. In a state with a long history of troubled white-black relations, many working-class Latinos are enduring a form of racialization by some South Carolinians who are resisting change. Yet as the numbers of Latinos in the state steadily rise, change is sure to continue.

NOTABLE LATINOS Farragut, Jorge (1755–1817). Captain Jorge Farragut participated in the battle of Savannah during the U.S. Revolutionary War. Farragut, who was born on the Spanish island of Minorca, is among the Latino Revolutionary War heroes. Gonzales, Ambrosio José (1818–1893). Spaniard Ambrosio Gonzales was made a colonel in the Confederate army and helped defend the South Carolina coast during the Civil War. Gonzales relocated to South Carolina from Cuba in 1854 and married into the prominent Elliott family.

South Carolina Gonzales, Ambrose Elliott (1857–1926) and Narciso Gener Gonzales (1859–1903). Ambrose Gonzales and his brother N.G. Gonzales, sons of the Spanish General Ambrosio José Gonzales and Harriet Rutledge Elliott Gonzales, founded South Carolina’s largest newspaper, the State, in 1891. Ambrose acted as the newspaper’s publisher, and as business manager, president, treasurer, and general manager of the State Company until his death in 1926. N.G. served in the Cuban forces during the Spanish-American War. He was assassinated in 1903 by Lieutenant Governor James H. Tillman, who was angry about N.G.’s ongoing editorial attacks against him. Tillman was acquitted. Gaetán, Manuel (1937–). Puerto Rican–born Manuel “Manny” Gaetán is among the founders of the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council and a strong advocate for Latinos in South Carolina. Gaetán, who moved from Puerto Rico to the United States permanently in 1962 and to South Carolina in 1970, is president and CEO of MGR Enterprises, a management consulting firm in Columbia, South Carolina. Trained as an industrial engineer, Gaetán devoted many years to the apparel industry and has received several national and international awards for consulting and service. Santana, Irma G. (1947–). Community activist Irma G. Santana founded South Carolina’s first outreach organization for Latinos, Acercamiento Hispano de Carolina del Sur, in 1995. Born and raised in El Salvador, Santana migrated to the United States in 1967, then relocated to South Carolina in 1983. In addition, to her work with Acercamiento Hispano, Santana cofounded the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council and the Coalition for New South Carolinians, both of which work to meet the needs of Latinos in the state. Santana has been recognized both locally and nationally for her work with the Latino community. Rodriguez-Arpan, Luz (1949–). Luz Rodriguez-Arpan, a native of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, is the founder and president of Hispanic Connections Inc., a multiservice company in Columbia, South Carolina, that connects organizations and companies to the Latino community. Rodriguez-Arpan’s company published the first Hispanic Business Directory in the state and helps produce the annual Cinco de Mayo festival. Rodriguez-Arpan is also one of the founding members of the South Carolina Hispanic Leadership Council. Filemón, Juya V. (1955–). Rev. Filemón, a native of Colombia, is the vicar for Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. Father Filemón moved to South Carolina in 1995 after many years of serving migrants in Canada. Much of his work in South Carolina is with Latino migrant farm workers, but his service to the Latino community in general is widely recognized. Haskins, Gloria Arias (1956–). State Representative Gloria Haskins, a native of Colombia, is the first Latina to serve as an elected state official. Haskins, who represents Greenville County, first came to the house to serve out the term of her former husband, Terry E. Haskins, in late 2000. She was reelected in 2006 and has worked in various ways to support the interests of Latinos in the state. Ruíz, Alma Puente (1960–). Alma Puente Ruíz has received state and national recognition for her service to the Latino community in South Carolina, largely as result of her active role in establishing English-language and other training for migrant women. She

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Latino America arrived in South Carolina from Mexico in the 1980s to attend the University of South Carolina, then remained in the Columbia area. Alma is currently a social worker in one of the state’s school districts, and in that capacity has helped establish the state’s first Plaza Comunitaria, a learning center for Mexican high-school students and adults. Nieves, David “Chico” (1962–) and Sandra Nieves (1960–). David “Chico” Nieves and Sandra Nieves are among the first Latino police officers in South Carolina. Both relocated to South Carolina from New York—David in the 1980s and Sandra in the 1990s. David serves as president of the state chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers Association, and Sandra serves as secretary of that same chapter. Sandra was the catalyst for establishing the Hispanic/Latino Ad-Hoc Committee in the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs in 2000, and she and David have both served on that committee. Both have received awards for career accomplishments as well as for their service to the Latino community in the state.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Since the 1950s, those traveling along Interstate 95 have been exposed to what was, until recent years, one of South Carolina’s few symbols of so-called Latino culture in the state: a Mexican bandito who was part of a roadside attraction called South of the Border. The small amusement park is filled with unfortunate images of Mexicans (usually sleeping under sombreros) and includes misspelled English words as they may be spoken by someone with a Hispanic accent—even on its Web site, http://www.pedroland.com. Since the 1990s, however, South Carolinians have been increasingly exposed to authentic Latino culture in various forms. In the early twenty-first century, perhaps the most widely recognized element of Latino culture in South Carolina is food, which may now be tasted in a host of Mexican, Cuban, and Colombian restaurants across the state, even in small communities. The number of Mexican restaurants in South Carolina has grown exponentially in recent years, and these establishments now feature authentic Mexican dishes from various regions of the country. In Greenville, home to thousands of residents of Colombian origin, Colombian food shops are numerous, and a Colombian restaurant and bakery has opened as well. Cuban restaurants have also appeared in large cities as well as smaller cities, such as Aiken. Cities throughout South Carolina also include Mexican tiendas and bakeries, along with Mexican food stalls at flea markets. Latino food is also increasingly available outside ethnic restaurants and shops: most supermarkets in the state now stock Mexican food items, and the national chain restaurant Mo’s serves Mexican food that is more authentic than that of the older chain Taco Bell. Latino music has become much more accessible since the 1990s as well. Radio stations featuring Mexican and Caribbean music are on the air in major cities, and dance clubs across the state attract musical groups like Los Tigres del Norte,

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who play throughout the United States. Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and some other cities in the state boast Puerto Rican and Caribbean clubs, popular among middle-class Latinos who dance to salsa and other tropical rhythms, especially on weekends. Spanish-language media also have become more commonplace in South Carolina in the last decade. In addition to estabColombian children march in the Colombian Independence lishing the largest EnglishDay Parade, Greenville, 2006. Courtesy of Myriam Torres. language newspaper in the state in the late nineteenth century, Latinos are now publishing scores of Spanish-language papers in communities large and small, and a number of all-Spanish radio stations and television channels have appeared in major cities. Public libraries are adding to their Spanish-language collections, and the number of Spanish-language courses has mushroomed in high schools and universities. On Sundays, Protestant and Catholic churches alike offer services in Spanish, and a number of Protestant churches attended predominantly by Latinos have appeared. South Carolina’s culture is also enriched by the addition of new traditions and festivities such as quinceañeras, Día de la Virgin de Guadalupe, Cinco de Mayo, and Día de los Muertos, among others. It is perhaps during Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) that various elements of Hispanic culture are most visible to non-Hispanic South Carolinians. Latino social organizations in the larger cities across the state host festivals that feature salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaetón, norteña, ranchera, cumbia, and other types of Latino music, and a number of folkloric groups travel the state to perform Colombian, Mexican, Cuban, and Peruvian dances. During Hispanic Heritage Month, food vendors sell tamales, pastels, arroz con gandules, tostones, and other favorites to Latinos and curious non-Hispanic festivalgoers alike. Another visible element of Latino culture is related to sporting events. Public parks across South Carolina are sites of fútbol (soccer) practice and games on weekends; partly as a result of this exposure to the sport, the popularity of soccer has increased in public schools statewide. In some communities, a Mexican form of horse racing (in which only two horses compete on a straight length of track) also has become popular.

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Latino America The growth of the state’s Latino population and increased exposure to the food, music, language, sports, and traditions of Latin American countries will continue to shape local culture and society—hopefully to the point where places such as South of the Border will become even more anachronistic.

NOTES 1. Lamar, 1–17. 2. The following demographic information is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 and 2000 censuses, and American Community Survey 2005, as calculated by Elaine Lacy. 3. Lacy. 4. U.S. Department of Labor. 5. Lacy. 6. Lacy. 7. Woodward.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Durand, J., Douglas Massey, and F. Charvet. “The Changing Geography of Mexican Immigration to the United States: 1910–1996.” Social Science Quarterly 81 (2000): 1–15. Edgar, Walter. South Carolina: A History. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire. New York: Viking, 2000. Guitar, Lynn. “Franciscano Chicorano: A North American Indian in King Charles I’s Court.” Terrae Incognitae 29 (1997): 1–9. History of Fort Jackson. http://www.jackson.army.mil/Museum/History/TableContents. html. Kochhar, Rakesh, Roberto Suro, and Sonya Tafoya. The New Latino South: The Context and Consequences of Rapid Population Growth. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2005. Lacy, Elaine C. Mexican Immigrants in South Carolina: A Profile. Columbia: University of South Carolina, Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies, 2007. Lamar, Quentin Curtis. “A Diplomatic Disaster: The Mexican Mission of Anthony Butler, 1829–1834.” The Americas 45 (1988): 1–17. Lander, Ernest McPherson. Reluctant Imperialists: Calhoun, the South Carolinians, and the Mexican War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980. Odem, Mary, and Elaine Lacy, eds. Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Southeast: Impact and Challenges. Proceedings, Symposium on Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Southeast. Atlanta: Instituto de Mexico, 2005. Passel, Jeffrey. “Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Undocumented Population.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2005. Rowland, Lawrence S., Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers Jr. The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: Vol. I, 1514–1861. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.

South Carolina Thomas, John F. “Cuban Refugees in the United States.” International Migration Review 1 (1967): 46–57. Topping, Aileen Moore. “Alexander Gillon in Havana, ‘This Very Friendly Port.’” South Carolina Historical Magazine 83 (1982): 34–49. U.S. Department of Labor. National Agricultural Workers Survey 1994–1995. http://www.doleta.gov/agworker/report/ch1.cfm. Woodward, Douglas S. Mexican Immigrants: The New Face of the South Carolina Labor Force. Columbia: University of South Carolina, Moore School of Business, 2006.

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42 SOUTH DAKOTA John A. Morrow

CHRONOLOGY 1492 1540–1542 1682 1720s 1743 1763 1785 1789 1790 1794 1795 1800

1803

The Spanish Crown claims what would become South Dakota. Explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado claims the Great Plains for Spain. Explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claims all the land drained by the Mississippi, as well as its tributaries, for France. Spanish horses reach the Black Hills of present-day South Dakota. Explorers La Vérendrye brothers claim present-day South Dakota for France. French possessions west of the Mississippi are ceded to Spain. The governor of Louisiana, Esteban Rodriguez Miró, takes inventory of Spanish possessions. Hunters Juan Munier and Joseph Garreau become the first Spaniards to explore the Missouri. Spaniard Jacques d’Église explores the length and breadth of South Dakota. Spaniard Jean-Baptiste Trudeau erects the first European structure in South Dakota. Spaniard John Evans navigates through South and North Dakota. Spaniard Régis Loisel builds Fort aux Cèdres south of South Dakota’s present capital. Spain transfers the Louisiana Territory to the French. The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon.

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1804 1807 1861 1862 1932 1970–2005

Spanish explorer Pierre-Antoine Tabeau meets Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on the Missouri. U.S. fur trader, Manuel Lisa builds Fort Manuel and consolidates U.S. trade in South Dakota. The Dakota Territory is recognized by the U.S. government. The U.S. Congress passes the Homestead Act. President Franklin D. Roosevelt commits to developing the Missouri River. Latino population of South Dakota steadily increases from nearly 3,000 in 1970 to nearly 16,000 in 2005.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The history of Latinos in South Dakota starts in 1492 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) in the Americas. As a result of his discoveries, all of present-day South Dakota became part of New Spain. From 1540–1542, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554) explored Arizona, New Mexico, the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, and Kansas. According to some historians, Spanish explorers reached more northern regions. Alfred T. Andreas was convinced that Coronado had crossed into southern Nebraska on his return march, and Doane Robinson (1856–1946) believed that Spanish explorers may have come into the Black Hills of South Dakota before 1550. Whether the Spaniards

South Dakota reached present-day South Dakota, the expeditions by Coronado (1540–1542), Don Juan de Oñate (1598–1608), Antonio Valverde y Cosío (unknown–1719), and Pedro de Villasur (unknown–1720) confirmed their claims to the Great Plains. Rather than militarizing and permanently settling present-day South Dakota, the Spaniards contented themselves with establishing a trade presence among the Native Americans. The Spaniards viewed the Great Plains as a natural barrier protecting Spanish settlements to the south from incursions by other European powers. Without a military presence, however, the Spaniards were in no position to defend the prairies themselves. As a result, their claims to the region were soon challenged by the French. In 1682 French explorer René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687), traveled down the Mississippi River to its mouth. He claimed all the land drained by the Mississippi, as well as its tributaries, for France. In 1743, LaVérendrye made the first mention of Christian practices on South Dakotan soil. Of the Arikara living around Fort Pierre, he wrote, “They have a man with them that has been raised among the Spaniards and spoke that language as well as his mother tongue. I questioned him afterward and he told . . . that he had been baptized and had never forgotten his prayers.” The French hold on the Louisiana Territory did not last long. As a result of the French and Indian wars, French possessions west of the Mississippi were ceded to Spain under the 1762 Treaty of Paris. Once again the Louisiana Territory belonged to the Spaniards, who administered it from New Orleans from 1763–1800. While it was part and parcel of the Spanish empire, the north and the interior were only sparsely settled by French Canadian hunters and trappers. Native American nomads made up most of the residents on the Great Plains, with Spanish military control confined to the south. Despite the fact that the Spanish Army never reached South Dakota (with Pedro de Villasur having been stopped in Nebraska in 1720), the Spaniards maintained a series of forts and frontier posts inherited by the French; these extended along the Mississippi as far north as Michigan. In 1785 the new governor of Louisiana, Esteban Rodriguez Miró (1744–1795), took inventory of his domain in a report to his superiors. Beginning in 1789, a few hunters, including Juan Munier and Joseph Garreau (known in Spanish as Garán), were the first Spaniards to explore the Missouri. That very year, Juan Munier met the Ponca Indians and was given exclusive trading rights with them by the Spanish. Jacques d’Église, a French Canadian turned Spaniard, followed the next year, traversing the length and breadth of South Dakota to a greater extent than any of his countrymen. He alerted the Spaniards of the extent of foreign incursions into their territory. As a result, Spanish authorities asserted their rights over the upper Missouri. Spanish merchants formed the Company of Explorers of the Upper Missouri, and within the next few years, two Spanish

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Latino America expeditions made their way upriver. In 1794 a party led by Jean-Baptiste Trudeau ascended the Missouri, seeking a $3,000 reward offered to the first Spanish citizen to reach the Pacific via the Missouri. Stopped by Teton and Yankton Sioux, the explorers retreated to what is now Fort Randall Dam. There, on November 11, 1794, the Spanish citizens built a modest cabin to occupy for the winter, erecting the first European structure in South Dakota.1 In 1798, Régis Loisel (1773–1804), another French Canadian turned Spaniard, landed in St. Louis, determined to extend the fur trade to the headquarters of the Missouri. He partnered with Pierre Chouteau and the West Indian Jacques Clamorgan (1730–1814), who arrived in upper Louisiana in 1784 and worked for trader Francois Marmillon. The Spanish authorities granted Loisel, known as Santiago Clamorgan, the exclusive rights to trade with the Native Americans of the upper Missouri River. He formed the Spanish Commercial Company and made three unsuccessful attempts to reach the Pacific by overland travel. In the year 1800, Loisel built Fort aux Cèdres, 35 miles below South Dakota’s present capital, accompanied by Pierre-Antoine Tabeau (1755–1820). Upon his return to St. Louis in 1802, Loisel was commissioned by Charles Delassus (1767–1843), the last Spanish lieutenant governor of upper Louisiana, to survey the upper Missouri. In 1800, however, Spain had transferred the Louisiana Territory to the French through the Treaty of San Ildefonso. The treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana remained under Spanish control until the transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803—a mere three weeks before the cession to the United States. The territory was purchased indirectly from Napoleon via the Baring brothers and Hope and Co. As a result of the Louisiana Purchase, the South Dakota region now belonged to the United States. The stage was set for Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition, made possible by the Mackay-Evans map. While traveling upriver in May 1804, they came across Pierre-Antoine Tabeau, a Spanish citizen who was dispatched to explore and trade in South Dakota in 1803, as well as Régis Loisel. Tabeau accompanied Loisel up the Missouri in 1802 to make improvements to Forte aux Cèdres, then returned to the Dakotas and lived among the Arikara near the Grand River from 1803 to 1805. The two traders were unaware that Spain had given South Dakota back to the French in 1800 and that it was now U.S. territory. The transfer of South Dakota from Spain to France to the United States did not equate the end of the Latino presence in South Dakota. Manuel Lisa (1772–1820), who spoke nothing but Spanish, left St. Louis in 1807 with 45 trappers to trade in South Dakota. He traveled all the way up the Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone, reading his favorite book, Don Quijote, at every occasion along the way. In the spring of 1808, he established Fort Manuel. A master of dealing with the Native Americans, he was known among these natives as Chief Red Head. He organized the Santee Sioux and the Yanktonais to harass the

South Dakota English, and he persuaded 40 chiefs of the Missouri River tribes to make peace treaties with the United States. As a result of Manuel Lisa’s efforts, U.S. companies became the dominant force in the fur trade. In turn, he became known as the King of the Missouri. Accused of taking advantage of both the Native Americans and the government, he was forced to resign his commission in 1817. He staunchly defended his innocence to General William Clark (1770–1838) in a letter written entirely in Spanish. To this day, some Latino families in Belle Fourche, an old beaver trappers’ town, trace their roots back to members of the Manuel Lisa expeditions. Today, Latinos represent 3.7 percent of the town’s population, some of whom are descendants of the earliest Latino explorers and settlers.2 In 1861 the Dakota Territory was recognized by the U.S. government. Initially this included North and South Dakota and parts of Montana and Wyoming. In 1862 the U.S. Congress passed the Homestead Act.3 On November 2, 1889, the Dakota Territory was incorporated into the United States as the modern states of North and South Dakota. While most of the settlers who came to South Dakota were northern Europeans, smaller numbers came from Mexico and Spain. In 1925, for example, there were two Spanish-born South Dakotans in the state, and 74 who claimed

Sketch of Fort Manuel, South Dakota (1812) from John C. Luttig’s journal. Courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

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Latino America Spanish ancestry. Spanish-speaking people came to South Dakota partly because it did not have any racial restrictions.4 In 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) visited South Dakota and observed the damage caused by erosion and silt on navigation and agriculture. As a result, he committed to the development of the Missouri River. In 1933 the president approved the construction of the Fork Peck Dam, bringing Depression-era employment and training to tens of thousands of people. The number of on-site workers averaged 7,000 per year, reaching a peak of 10,546 in 1936. Other dams included the Oahe Dam, constructed between 1948 and 1962; the Big Bend Dam, built between 1959 and 1963; the Gavins Dam, completed in 1957; and the Fort Randall Dam, which required the construction of a new town to house the people who would build and maintain it. The town of Pickstown would house 3,500 workers, and at the height of its construction, almost 5,000 people worked on the dam, which was completed in 1954, bringing many Latino workers to the state. When the dams were completed, most of the Latino workers returned home. Some, however, remained behind, intermarrying with indigenous women. Most of these dams are on or near Native American reservations. As a result, many Spanish surnames are found on reservations in South Dakota.5 Latino culture is not particularly prevalent on reservations in South Dakota, nor is it being propagated. The Spanish language is still present among a few people; however, native South Dakotans have not adopted much from Latino culture. There are Mayas, Aztecs, and other Mexican and Central American natives living on the reservations, but they are not recognized by the majority of the native communities. Most of the Latinos on the reservations have adopted native culture; since the indigenous communities of South Dakota are matriarchal, it is the culture of the mother that prevails. If a Latino man marries an indigenous woman, she is the head of the household, and her influence will be dominant when it comes to the cultural and linguistic identity of the children. In 1970, when the population of South Dakota was 665,507, the state was home to 2,954 persons of Spanish language, of which 1,488 spoke Spanish as their mother tongue. By 1980, when the population of South Dakota was 690,768, there were 3,815 Spanish Americans in the state—slightly more than the 2,152 black Americans. In 1990, there were 5,006 Latinos in South Dakota. By the year 2000, there were 10,903 Latinos. By 2005 the Latino population of South Dakota reached 15,518, or 2 percent of the state’s population. Of these it is estimated that 50 percent are Mexicans, 20 percent are Guatemalans, 10 percent are Salvadorans, and the remaining 20 percent are from other Spanish American nations. As of 2006, the number of Mexicans in South Dakota has grown sufficiently large to warrant the visit of a mobile Mexican consulate. The majority of Latinos in South Dakota live in Sioux Falls. Prior to 1980, the city was almost exclusively white.6 Between 1980 and 1990, however, the minor-

South Dakota ity population of Sioux Falls tripled, mainly the result of work opportunities at John Morrell and Co., a pork slaughter and processing plant. According to the 2000 census, the city counted some 3,087 Latinos out of a population of 123,975 (namely, 2.5 percent of the population). By 2005 the Latino population had reached 5,136 out of 132,358. Minorities now represent 6 percent of Sioux Fall residents and 10 percent of schoolchildren. The second-largest Latino center in the state is Rapid City, which had 1,650 Latinos in the year 2000, representing 2.7 percent of the population. In Huron there are approximately 1,000 Latinos out of a population of 13,000 people, a significant increase since the 2000 census, which counted a mere 143 Latinos out of a population of 11,893 (namely, less than 1.2 percent of the population). As of 2006, Latinos students represented 7 percent of students in Huron schools, with 100 Latino children in English Lanugage Learner (ELL) classes. In Aberdeen, Latinos are 0.8 percent of the population. In Brookings, a population of 18,504 includes 139 Latinos, namely 0.75 percent of the population. In Pierre, the capital city, Latinos represent 1.2 percent of the population. While the number of Latinos on South Dakotan military bases is numerically small—130 Latinos and 34 Latinas—they represent 4.6 and 6.3 percent of personnel, which is significantly higher than the state average. According to the 2000 census, there were 6,522 Latino workers in South Dakota out of 577,129, comprising 1.1 percent of the population. Found in almost every county in the state, Latinos work in virtually all sectors of the economy. In 1987 there were 32 Latino farm operators; in 1992, there were 66. In 1993 there were 951 migrants and their dependents in the field of agriculture, half of which worked in potato fields. There were also 102 migrants working in nurseries and greenhouses. As of 2006, 10 Latino police officers were serving in the state of South Dakota. At present, slightly more than 2 percent of South Dakotan businesses belong to minorities—a number much lower than the national average of 14.6 percent. In 2004 and 2005, there were 2,342 Latino students in South Dakota elementary and secondary schools out of a total of 122,798 students. Since the year 2000, there have been 12 certified teachers who are Latinos out of a total of 9,000. In the year 2000, Latino students represented 0.5 percent of university students, while Latino professors made up 1.3 percent of the faculty. By 2006, there were 283 Latino students in the system, accounting for 0.92 percent of the total student body, and Latino professors constituted 1.5 percent of the faculty. During the 2005–2006 academic year, 477 Latino students enrolled in the state university system. The Latino community’s single greatest contribution in South Dakota is the countering of a decline in the state’s workforce. In 2000, the population of South Dakota was 744,844. It is estimated to grow to 800,462 by year 2030, an increase of some 45,618 individuals. While the population of the state is slowly increasing,

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Latino America it is rapidly aging. By 2015 to 2025, the state will have 23,000 fewer people aged 25 to 64. From 2000 to 2005, the growth rate of the predominantly white population was 1.98 percent—clearly insufficient to ensure the future viability of the region. During this period, however, the Latino population grew by 37.78 percent, and from 1990 to 2000, the Native American population increased by 23 percent. Native South Dakotans are now 8.5 percent of the population—the third-highest count in the nation. Increasingly, the future of the state of South Dakota seems to lie with its native and Latino communities.

NOTABLE LATINOS Cante, Fortino (1925–2001). Born in Mexico, Fortino Cante came to South Dakota as an agricultural worker in 1945, trained military personnel in masonry, interpreted for migrant workers, and founded the Tino’s Tacos brand. Chavier, Juan (1931–). Juan Chavier, a Dominican American physician, served the Aberdeen community for forty-one years. Pérez, Joseph (1931–2004). Born in Rapid City, Joseph Pérez fought in World War II. Wounded in Germany, he received many awards, including the prestigious Purple Heart. Elizalde, Felix (1932–). Born in Rapid City to a migrant agricultural worker, Elizalde Felix is a distinguished educator, journalist, media professional, community activist, and elected public official in the state of California. Chavier, Carmen (1943–). Carmen Chavier, Dominican American political activist, has been an active member of the Aberdeen community for forty-one years. García, Álvaro (1953–). Álvaro García, a Uruguayan American, has served as associate professor and dairy extension specialist at South Dakota State University in Brookings since 2001. Muñoz, María (1952–). María Muñoz, a Mexican American, has served the Latino community in Rapid City since 1984, serving as a translator, interpreter, volunteer, and activist. Muñoz, Ángel (1953–). Ángel Muñoz is the owner of the Muñoz Logging and Construction Co., which has been in operation since 1981. Originally from Mexico, he moved to Rapid City in 1978 after living in California. Lammers, Cristina (1956–). Originally from Uruguay, Cristina Lammers has served as an associate professor and graduate faculty member at South Dakota State University’s College of Nursing since 2001. Sánchez, Jorge (1957–). Jorge Sánchez, a native Nicaraguan, has worked at Avera McKennan Hospital and the University Health Center for the past ten years as a pediatric neurologist and medical director of pediatric neurology. Sánchez, Xiomara (1961–). Xiomara Sánchez, a Costa Rican American, is an artist specializing in contemporary blown and cast glasswork. She holds an MFA in glassmaking from the University of Wisconsin and has exhibited her work in several states.

South Dakota Ramos, María (1967–). Born in Spain, María Ramos is associate professor of Spanish and the head of the Department of Modern Languages at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As testimony to the Latino history of the state, many places in South Dakota have names of Spanish origin, including Fort Manuel, named after Latino explorer Manuel Lisa; Hermosa, which means “gorgeous”; and Boneita Springs, a corruption of bonita; and Bonilla, believed to have been named by William Kelley, division superintendent of the Milwaukee railroad, in honor of General Manuel Bonilla, who was the president of Honduras at the time. According to one version, the town of Delmont was derived from Delmonte (from the hillside), which was a popular chain of cafés in the country at the time. The town of Pedro is named after the card game supposedly invented by Pedro Carlos in Misión San Juan Bautista in California. One of the early townships in South Dakota was called Eldorado (the golden). There are also bodies of water of Spanish origin: Boneita Lake, Alcazar Lake, and Chamano Lake. “Boneita” is a local corruption for bonita; alcazar, which is Arabic for “the castle,” entered English via the Spanish language; chamano is colloquial Spanish for “shaman.” Mexican Creek was named after “Mexican Ed” Sánchez, who had a rank of this creek (which runs from Haakon County to Ash Creek) and who was murdered there. Many of the mines in South Dakota were given Spanish or Latin names: Plumbago (graphite), Oro Fino (fine gold), Alma (soul), Bonanza (success), Clara Nevada (clear and snow-covered), Eldorado (golden), El Refugio (the refuge), Mercedes, and Esmerelda (corruption of esmeralda, or emerald), while others evoked the Spanish American world with names like Inca and Montezuma. Several place names are both Latin and Spanish, including Alta (high), Corona (crown), Galena (iron ore), Plano (flat), and Pluma (feather). There is also a town named Spain. Despite its small size, the South Dakotan Latino community has made many contributions to the state. As explorers, settlers, railroad workers, farm laborers, construction workers, university professors, medical doctors, and other professionals, Latinos have been a permanent presence in the state of South Dakota since its earliest days. The cultural center of the South Dakotan Latino community is Sioux Falls. Latino businesses in the city include the Tienda y Taquería América, a Mexican and Salvadoran grocery store and coffee shop; Jalisco Taco Wagon; Puerto Vallarta Restaurant; and Polo’s Mexican Grocery Store, among others. Religious life in the Sioux Falls Latino community is primarily Christian. At least three churches offer masses in Spanish, including Holy Redeemer Church, as well as Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, which was founded in 1996 to cater

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Latino America specifically to the Latino community and which draws some 300 Spanish-speaking worshippers for mass. A few Latino Muslims are spread throughout the state, with some attending mosques in Sioux Falls and Brookings. Considering that the number of Latino Muslims in the United States has grown to more than 200,000, this comes as no surprise. Wherever there are Latinos, there are Catholics, Protestants, some occasional Jews, and an increasing number of Muslim converts. In the field of social services, many have come forth, both Latino and nonLatino, to cater to the Latino community. Lutheran Social Services has played a primordial role in serving the Spanish-speaking community, as well as Caminando Juntos, a Hispanic ministry organized by the Sisters of Presentation College. The Dakota Chicano/Hispanic Community Center provides legal and immigration services to the Latino community, and the Multicultural Center of Sioux Falls organizes various activities. The Latino community in Sioux Falls includes several musicians and artists, including a folk-dance group composed of José Quesada, his wife, María, and her sister, Christine Meza; as well as the cumbia band GuaMex, a GuatemalanMexican band. The Festival of Cultures held each June in Falls Park is also a major event in which the Latino community showcases its rich cultural heritage. Xiomara López, who lives in Tea, just outside of Sioux Falls, is the most notable Latina artist in the state. Her glass, neon, and metal sculptures have been displayed in several states. Her most recent show, Xiomara: Looking through the Glass, ran from April 21 through July 30, 2006, at the Visual Arts Center in Sioux Falls and was a great success. The Latino community in Huron has grown exponentially with the construction of a Dakota Provisions turkey plant in 2004, which drew hundreds of Latino workers and their dependents. Another major employer in the area, the LSI Jack Links Beef Jerky plant in Alpena, employs approximately 50 Latinos out of a workforce of 655. Besides contributing to the city’s workforce, the growth of the Latino community has created many businesses, including Mazatlan Restaurant, Nikki’s La Mexicana, and Vagabonds Discoteca. While predominantly working class, the Latino community in Huron also includes several professionals from Peru, Panama, and Mexico, from Web designers to bankers to case managers. Religious life in the Huron Latino community revolves around Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which offers Spanish mass once per month. Several Spanishlanguage Protestant churches have sprung up in recent years, with ministers from Central America, including Ezequiel Morales, from the Pentecostal Apostolic Christian Fellowship; as well as William Cosme, from the Iglesia de Restauración. The successful integration of Latinos into the Huron community is due directly to the diligent efforts of the city council, the local school district, the business community, and the religious community. The Workforce Development Task Force produced a comprehensive Spanish video to acquaint newcomers with the community. A seminar titled “Understanding, Appreciating, and Communicating

South Dakota with the Hispanic Population” was well attended. The seminar was delivered by Jill Luque, an ELL and Spanish Instructor at Cornerstones Career Learning Center. In order to assist new Spanish-speaking students, the Huron school district translated most registration materials, as well as student handbooks, into Spanish and developed a strong ELL program.7 The Latino community of the Rapid City region has created several businesses, including the Muñoz Logging and Construction Company, which has been operating for several decades; Benja’s Mexican Store; and two Mexican restaurants, La Costa and Guadalajara. There is also a Guadalajara Restaurant in Spearfish. Religious life in the community revolves around the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, which holds a monthly Spanish mass attended by a few dozen people. On December 12, 2006, a celebration in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe was organized, drawing some 400 worshippers. Up to 2006, the Aberdeen Latino community has been very small and primarily composed of medical doctors, professors, and businesspeople. The Overseas Club, an organization for women from outside the United States, has embraced newcomers to the community since the early 1900s. At present, two Mexican restaurants operate in the city, Guadalajara and Mazatlan, and a certified chef, Thomas Pérez, operates a catering service called Culinary Inspirations. Inspired by the proactive measures taken in Huron, Aberdeen mayor Mike Levsen has spearheaded efforts to ensure the smooth integration of Latino workers at the new Northern Beef Backers slaughter and processing plant. Trishna Batra from Absolutely Aberdeen and Lisa Olsen from Presentation College are coleaders of a diversity task force. In October 2006, public schools sent a contingent of educators to visit schools in Huron, Sioux Falls, Storm Lake, Iowa, and Worthington, MN, to prepare for a possible influx of Spanish-speaking students.

NOTES 1. Another Latino to explore South Dakota was John Thomas Evans (1770–1799), a Spanish citizen from Wales, England. He accompanied John Mackay (1761–1822), a Scottish highlander turned Spanish fur trader, explorer, and mapmaker, on an expedition from St. Louis to the upper Missouri. Mackay remained at Fort Charles in modern-day Nebraska, giving Evans detailed instructions on how to reach the Mandan villages of North Dakota, which Mackay had visited in 1787. During his travels, Evans was guided by the 1795 map made by the St. Louis surveyor general, Spaniard Antoine-Pierre Soulard (1766–1825), based in turn on the knowledge of traders like Jean-Baptiste Trudeau. 2. The rest of the Latinos in Belle Fourche are mainly descendants of agricultural workers who came to work the fertile beet and cucumber fields of the region. The Black Hills region, including Belle Fourche, was a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity from the early to mid-1920s. On August 23, 1924, the Klan gathered for a rally in Sturgis, drawing four to eight thousand participants. Another rally was organized in Belle Fourche on July 4, 1925, drawing five thousand Klansmen from 43 states and an estimated crowd of 40,000. As a

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Latino America result of these activities, which were primarily directed toward Latino Catholics, many Mexican American families felt forced to move from the region. 3. According to this act, heads of families or single men or women over the age of 21 could claim half a section of land for a two-dollar filing fee. So long as they lived on the land, built an eight-by-ten-foot house, dug a well, broke the soil, and grew a crop, they could own the property in five years. While the Homestead Act was a godsend for many European migrants, it was a death blow to the Native Americans in eastern South Dakota. By 1881 most of the First Nations in eastern South Dakota had moved east of the river, forced from their land by wars and treaties. 4. In the early days in South Dakota, the racial climate seems to have been relatively benign. It was only during the Depression that Jim Crow customs crept into South Dakota. The state had a brief flirtation with the Ku Klux Klan from 1922 to 1925, after which it ran out of relevant issues. The anti-Catholic sentiment, however, continued openly into the sixties, often targeting Latino South Dakotans and migrant farm workers. Signs saying “No Mexicans or dogs” were a frequent sight in the state. One such sign was posted outside The Arrow, a bar in Huron, in the late fifties. While racial slurs like “wetbacks,” “greasers,” and “filthy Mexicans” were commonly cast at Latinos in both the Dakotas, the level of tolerance has increased substantially in recent decades. According to statements from informants throughout the state, racism remains quite prevalent in the region, with widespread reports of police harassment of Latinos in the city of Brookings, consistent with the treatment reported by Native Americans. 5. As a result, names like Gonzales, Sanchez, and Mendoza are found on reservations in South Dakota. The Pine Ridge Reservation, for example, counts 57 Latinos out of a total population of 3,171. 6. Lovey Bliss, originally from Panama, has lived in Sioux Falls since 1974. At that time, she knew of only eight Latinos in the entire city. 7. Despite diligent efforts to serve Latino children in Huron, serious problems persist throughout the state. Parents of Latino children are often told by teachers that their children should only speak English at home, and that it is bad for them to be bilingual. In the worst of cases, Latino children in South Dakota have been deemed “mentally retarded” by teachers simply because they could not speak English. While this practice continued in parts of the United States until the 1970s, it has not ceased in South Dakota, likely attributable to a combination of prejudice and poor pedagogical preparation. 8. More than 1,800 Aberdeen residents—nearly 10 percent of the city’s population— signed a petition seeking to prevent the construction of the beef plant, fearing an influx of Latino workers to the community. On April 24, 2007, Brown County voters approved the TIF for Northern Beef Packers 6,902 to 3,471. That is 66.54 percent in favor and 33.46 percent opposed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Andreas, Alfred T., ed. History of the State of Nebraska. Chicago, IL: Western Historical Co., 1882. Board of Regents. Fact Book. Pierre: South Dakota Board of Regents, 1986–2006. http://www.sdbor.edu/publications/documents.

South Dakota Bureau of Census. http://factfinder.census.gov. ———. “Table 1: Interim Projections: Rankings of Census 2000 and Projected 2030 State Population Change.” http://www.census.gov/population/projections/PressTab1.xls. Graham Rezatto, Helen. The Making of the Two Dakotas. Lincoln, NE: Media Publishing, 1989. Green, Amy. “More U.S. Hispanics Drawn to Islam.” Christian Science Monitor, September 28, 2006. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0928/p03s02-ussc.html. Haines, Francis. “The Northward Spread of Horses among the Plains Indians.” American Anthropologist 40, no. 3 (July–September 1938): 429–437. Hoover, Herbert, and John E. Miller. A New History of South Dakota. Sioux Falls, SD: Augustana College, 2005. Hunhoff, Bernie. “Hispanic Sioux Falls.” South Dakota Magazine, November–December 2000: 26–35. Karolevevitz, Robert F. Challenge: The South Dakota Story. Sioux Falls, SD: Brevet Press, 1975. Keen, Russ. “Need for Interpreters Could Surface.” Aberdeen American News, October 24, 2006. http://www.aberdeennews.com. ———. “Teachers to Tackle Language Barrier.” Aberdeen American News, September 27, 2006. http://www.aberdeennews.com. ———. “Aberdeen Readies for Beef Plant.” Aberdeen American News, August 4, 2006. http://www.aberdeennews.com. Miller, David, and Nancy Veglahn. The South Dakota Story. Pierre, SD: Instructional Television Curriculum and Instruction, 1985. Nasatir, Abraham P. “Anglo-Spanish Rivalry on the Upper Missouri.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 16, no. 4 (March 1930): 507–528. ———. “Jacques d’Église on the Upper Missouri: 1791–1795.” Mississippi Valley Historical Review 14, no. 1 (June 1927): 47–56. National Center for Educational Statistics. State Education Date Profiles. http://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/states. National Park Service. “Explorers before Lewis and Clark.” The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery. http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/WestwardExpansion/ EarlyExplorers/EarlyExplorers.htm. Robinson, Doane. History of South Dakota. Chicago, IL: American Historical Society, 1930. ———. Encyclopedia of South Dakota. Pierre, SD: Doane Robinson, 1925. ———. History of South Dakota. Aberdeen, SD: Bowen, 1904. Schnell, Herbert S. History of South Dakota. 4th ed. Pierre: South Dakota State Historical Society P, 2004. Thompson, Harry F., ed. A New South Dakota History. Sioux Falls, SD: Center for Western Studies, 2005. U.S. Department of Interior. “Lewis and Clark: Big Dam Era.” http://www.usbr.gov/ gp/lewisandclark/damera.cfm. Van Balen, John A. Dakota Place Names: Geographical Names in 18th and 19th Century Maps. Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 1998.

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43 TENNESSEE Jamie Winders

CHRONOLOGY 1540–1541

1566–1567

1770s–1780s

1795 1865–1907 1918 1930s 1950s 1960s 1980s

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto leads an expedition into Tennessee and plants the Spanish flag along the Mississippi River near present-day Memphis. Juan Pardo, Spanish explorer, arrives in Tennessee and constructs the state’s first European-built structure. More than a century passes before another European comes to Tennessee. After British settlement in 1673, Spanish influence in Tennessee wanes. It remains strong, however, among the Chickasaw, who become a buffer between Anglo settlers and Spanish land claims in middle Tennessee. Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, Louisiana’s Spanish lieutenant governor, builds Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas in present-day Memphis. Tennessee elites attempt to recruit European migrants, but popular attitudes toward immigration take a nativist turn by the 1880s. 662 Mexicans live in a so-called Mexican village near a Nashville munitions and powder plant. A small number of migrant Latino laborers come to Tennessee from U.S. border states. A few Colombians come to Nashville to escape La Violencia. Cuban children evacuated during the Peter Pan airlift are brought to Nashville. Tennessee’s Latino population begins to grow slowly. In East Tennessee, local organizations provide education to the children of Latino migrant workers. In Tennessee cities, Catholic churches initiate Latino outreach.

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1996 1997

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Central American refugees arrive in Tennessee. More Cubans arrive in Nashville. Unámonos—an early consortium of Latino businesses, churches, and other groups—forms in Nashville, later becoming the local League of United Latin American Citizens. Operation South PAW (Protecting American Workers) detains undocumented workers across Tennessee and other southern states. The Mexican consulate distributes matrículas consulares (national identification cards) in Nashville. The first Latino representative is appointed to Nashville’s Human Relations Commission. TennCare, Tennessee’s replacement for Medicaid, agrees to process enrollment from Latino children whose parents lack Social Security numbers. Tennessee’s first statewide meeting of Latino leaders is held. Middle-Tennessee schools report a rapid increase in the population of students who speak English as a second language. Latinos are estimated to hold 90 percent of agricultural jobs and 50 percent of construction positions across Tennessee. Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce forms. In Nashville accusations of abuse of Latino residents by off-duty police officers surface; a citywide debate about racial justice begins. The Nashville-Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce forms.

Tennessee 2000

2001

2002

2003 2004

2005

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2007

A statewide coalition begins its campaign for new state legislation to allow residents without Social Security numbers to apply for driver’s licenses. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is created. Southern Migrant Legal Services establishes its southeastern headquarters in Nashville. Chapters of Lambda Alpha Theta, a Latina sorority, form at Vanderbilt University and the University of Tennessee. The governor of Tennessee signs Public Chapter 158, allowing persons without Social Security numbers to apply for driver’s licenses. Conexión Américas becomes Nashville’s first Latino-focused and staffed organization. Alianza del Pueblo forms as Knoxville’s first grassroots Latino nonprofit organization. Tennessee bans the use of matrículas consulares as identification for driver’s-license applicants. A new state law eliminates access to driver’s licenses for foreignborn residents who cannot prove legal residence or are in Tennessee temporarily. Anti-immigration groups gather at the Southern Midwest Immigration Summit in Nashville. In East Tennessee, Minutemen become active; Nashville and Memphis are added to their 2006 national tour. In response to growing anti-immigrant sentiment, the Welcoming Tennessee advocacy group forms. In Morristown, immigrant and socialjustice organizations rally for human rights. The Tennessee General Assembly introduces more than 20 immigration bills, most of which are defeated. The Hispanic Community Group of Tennessee becomes Nashville’s first grassroots organization focused on collective community action. The first Hispanic political-action committee, The Tennessee Hispanic Voters Coalition, forms. More than 46,000 eligible Latino voters are identified in Tennessee. A new Tennessee law requires that firms seeking state contracts certify that no undocumented workers are used. Fifty-three Congressional bills related to immigration are filed in Tennessee. Davidson County begins the 287(g) program to equip deputies to enforce federal immigration laws and deport arrested undocumented residents.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Tennessee only recently became a popular Latino destination, but its emergence as such has been quick and dramatic. From 1990 to 2000, the state’s Mexican-born population, the largest component of Tennessee’s Latino population, increased by 2,166 percent—the highest rate of increase in the nation.

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Latino America Across Tennessee, Latino neighborhoods have appeared rapidly as Latino children have enrolled in schools, Latino families have bought houses, and the ethnic and linguistic composition of labor markets, public spaces, and other aspects of Tennessee have latinized, so to speak. Tennessee may not have a long history as a migrant-receiving state, but Latinos who have arrived in the last fifteen years are making strong inroads into the state’s political, economic, and cultural practices. Although many Tennesseans believe that new Latino arrivals are the first to come to the Volunteer State, Tennessee’s history has included a Latino presence since its colonial period.

LATINOS

IN

TENNESSEE, 1540–1950

Tennessee’s earliest documented European presence is the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto, who came in 1540 in search of gold. In 1541, De Soto and his European and black followers reached the Mississippi River in present-day Memphis. Twenty-five years later, in 1566, another Spanish explorer, Juan Pardo, came to Tennessee. Whereas de Soto left only violent memories among Tennessee’s Native Americans, Pardo constructed Tennessee’s first European-built structures and was the first to use the name “Tennessee.” Although neither de Soto nor Pardo followed exploration with settlement, Spain continued to claim Tennessee as the Spanish Indies’ northern reach throughout the late eighteenth century. In the process, Spain influenced Tennessee’s landscape through trade relations with Native Americans, the survey system of metes and bounds, and its customs and place names, especially in West Tennessee.1 By the late eighteenth century, Spain had abandoned claims to Tennessee, but middle Tennessee entertained its own alliances with Spain. In the 1780s, concerned about being left out of trade negotiations over access to the Mississippi River and worried about Native American raids into white settlements, middle Tennessee turned to Louisiana’s Spanish governor, Don Estevan Miró, and opened a dialogue about Spanish allegiance. Spain was interested in middle Tennessee for both the area’s value in territorial struggles with Britain and the United States and its location as a barrier to westward-marching Anglo settlers. Middle Tennessee, on the other hand, was interested in Spanish allegiance as a bargaining chip with the U.S. government. In a show of commitment to this alliance, middle Tennessee’s Cumberland region was named the Mero District to honor the Spanish governor. That name, however, was the only claim Spain made on middle Tennessee, as Cumberland leaders successfully pressured the U.S. government and ceased negotiations with Spain. Despite early Spanish influence in Tennessee, 200 years passed before Latinos would again affect the state directly. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, Mexico played an indirect role in Tennessee’s military activity. After the Texas

Tennessee Revolution, many Tennesseans were sympathetic to Texas’s causes, volunteering en masse for service in the Mexican-American War. Evidence of their deployment can still be seen in Tennessee towns, such as Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo, with names recalling famous Mexican battle sites.2 This Latino influence in Tennessee stretches even farther south. In 1825, the town of Bolivar, Tennessee, was named to honor Simón Bolivar; and 1869 marked the founding of Brazil, Tennessee, after some community members emigrated to Brazil. From Bogotá to Cordova, a handful of Tennessee towns bear Latin traces, even if Latinos were largely absent in Tennessee until the mid-twentieth century.

LATINOS

IN

TENNESSEE, 1950–PRESENT

From the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century, Tennessee leaders attempted to recruit European migrants, but the state’s foreign-born population remained small as late as the 1980s. In the 1930s, for example, a small number of migrant Latinos were in rural Tennessee; in the 1950s, a few Colombian families came to Nashville to escape La Violencia. In the 1960s, a handful of Cuban children and families were brought to Tennessee when Castro took power—but they, like previous Latino groups, often blended into local communities. In the 1990s, however, this situation changed, as Tennessee experienced dramatic Latino population growth. From 1990 to 2005, the state’s foreign-born Latino population grew by 1,476 percent, with much of this growth occurring after 1995.3 Despite this rapid growth, Tennessee’s Latino communities remain small in comparison to those in gateway states like California. In 2000, Latinos constituted less than 3 percent of Tennessee’s population; in Nashville, home to the state’s largest Latino population, Latinos constitute around 6 percent of the metropolitan population.4 Substantial census undercounts are suspected, however, and Tennessee’s actual Latino population may be significantly greater. In Nashville, local organizations place its Latino population closer to 200,000, and a 2001 survey conducted by the Nashville dioceses showed an undercount as high as 40 percent in rural middle Tennessee.5 As is the case in many new destination states, Tennessee’s Latino population is set apart not by its size, but by its growth rate. From 1990 to 2000, Hamblen County’s Latino population grew by 1,785 percent.6 Between 1994 and 2004, Nashville’s public schools saw an 1,133 percent increase in Latino students, who now constitute 13 percent of the district’s student population. As Tennessee’s Latino population has grown, its composition has also changed. In the early to mid-1990s, young, single Mexican men began to arrive from Texas and California. Very quickly, this domestic migration became an international migration of Latina women, children, and other family members from many parts of Latin America. As word of available jobs and affordable housing drew more and

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Latino America more Latinos to Tennessee, Spanish-language newspapers and radio stations, Mexican groceries and video stores, and money-sending shops and bus companies popped up across the state, changing local communities in crucial ways.

LATINO MIGRATION TO RURAL AND URBAN TENNESSEE Latino migration has affected both rural and urban Tennessee, but not in uniform ways. In Tennessee cities, Latino population growth has been linked to economic growth, tight labor markets, affordable housing, and (until recently) favorable social climates. Urban Latinos work in nearly all sectors of Tennessee’s labor markets, from low-wage, temporary labor in construction and fast food to high-profile work as lawyers and business leaders. In rural Tennessee, by contrast, Latino population growth is more strongly connected to particular industries or agricultural products. In Bells, for example, many Latino workers are employed by the local Pictsweet Vegetables packaging plant.7 In Shelbyville, Tyson Foods employed 40 Latinos in 1993. By 1997, that number had grown to nearly 500—50 percent of the plant’s workforce.8 A second difference between rural and urban areas involves the composition of the respective Latino populations themselves. In rural Tennessee, many Latino communities are almost exclusively Mexican. Shelbyville’s Latino population, for example, is 95 percent Mexican.9 In Tennessee cities, however, Latino populations represent a wider range of nationalities. Nashville’s Latino population, while predominantly Mexican, has long-standing Colombian and Cuban communities, as well as newly arrived Central and South Americans, some of whom come from U.S. cities like Miami and some of whom come directly from Latin America. Latinos in smaller towns may also bring different education levels. Across Tennessee, Latino education levels are on par with national trends, but in Monterey, the proportion of Latinos with less than a high-school education reaches 70 percent.10 A final difference is the size and impact of local Latino populations. Tennessee cities have significantly larger Latino populations, as most Latinos in Tennessee are urban or suburban dwellers. In rural Tennessee, Latino populations are smaller, but often more visible. Bells, for instance, had around 500 Latinos in 2000, compared to approximately 26,000 Latinos in Nashville-Davidson County.11 Whereas officially, Nashville was 4.7 percent Latino in 2000, Bells was almost 23 percent Latino.12 Furthermore, in Tennessee cities, Latinos often live in particular neighborhoods. In smaller towns, however, they spread across neighborhoods and business districts, making even a small Latino community highly visible in shared public spaces, neighborhoods, and schools. Tennessee cities themselves also show key differences. Knoxville’s Latino population, for example, has strong links to Georgia and Florida, while Nashville’s Latino population is larger and represents more national groups. In Memphis, in contrast

Tennessee to both state and national trends, Latinos’ 2000 per-capita income was slightly higher than that of African Americans.13 Additionally, whereas Nashville’s Latinos have settled in white working-class neighborhoods built after World War II, Memphis’s Latino neighborhoods overlap with historically black neighborhoods. All of these characteristics impact the ways that social relations between Latinos and long-term Tennessee residents unfold.

CHANGING SOCIAL RELATIONS

IN

TENNESSEE

Although Latinos have much in common with generations of rural Tennesseans who migrated to midwestern and northeastern cities, Latinos are often perceived as racially, culturally, and linguistically different from black and white Tennesseans. This perception of Latinos leads many long-term residents to assume that all Latinos in Tennessee are Mexican, recently arrived, and undocumented. In discussions of Tennessee’s Latino community, for example, differences between a young mexicano working in Morristown for a few years and a middle-aged colombiana moving to Nashville to start a new life are often overlooked. Such differences, however, affect how Latinos experience life in Tennessee. In cities like Nashville and Memphis, Latino businesses and nonprofit organizations are often led by Central and South Americans, who publicly represent predominantly Mexican populations and speak for the immigrant community. Such class and nationality distinctions among Latinos are complemented by differences in legal status, which impact both how Latinos interact with state agencies, such as law enforcement, and where they go to voice concerns and obtain help. In addition to intra-community distinctions, Latinos in Tennessee also face new relationships with black and white residents. Many small Tennessee towns were unprepared for a Latino influx, creating rocky adjustments. In Morristown, for example, local organizations discovered in 2000 that the county hospital was not filing citizenship paperwork for children born to undocumented parents. In 2002, the Ku Klux Klan rallied in Morristown, protesting the influx of nonwhite migrants into the area. Amid hostility toward Latinos, however, are equally strong efforts to welcome them. The East Tennessee Catholic Diocese, for instance, was one of first institutions to reach out. In 2003 the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride came through Nashville; in March 2006, several thousand people took to Nashville streets in support of migrant rights. These initiatives point to both new challenges and new opportunities for Latinos and long-term Tennesseans.

CHANGING ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

IN

TENNESSEE

Tennessee’s political and economic characteristics make it attractive to not only Latinos, but also to their employers. With the absence of minimum-wage

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Latino America laws, the existence of right-to-work legislation, and the presence of pro-growth local governments, Tennessee has drawn low-wage, labor-intensive jobs, and its low living costs and tight labor markets have made it attractive for Latinos. Latino migration to Tennessee, however, has not been an exclusively economic phenomenon, as social factors, like safer neighborhoods and schools, have also drawn newcomers. Nonetheless, Latinos are mainly coming to Tennessee to work. In Tennessee cities, the service and construction industries experienced labor shortages in the 1990s, and Latinos often filled these physically demanding jobs with low wages, few benefits, and erratic work schedules. Whether hired through temporary staffing agencies or brought to work sites through migrant social networks, Latino workers play key roles in Tennessee’s booming urban economies. Although anecdotal arguments about worker displacement and conflicts periodically surface, relations among white, black, and Latino workers are difficult to generalize across the state. Studies of Memphis’s distribution sector, for example, point to both solidarity between Latino and black workers over employer treatment and tensions over language and work pace. In rural areas, like Hamblen County, the arrival of Latinos often coincided with disappearing manufacturing jobs, leading some local residents to blame Latinos for job losses and overall community decline. Tennessee’s political climate has also changed rapidly. From 2001 to 2004, Tennessee shifted from making driver’s licenses available to residents without Social Security numbers to passing one of the nation’s most restrictive laws concerning migrant access to driver’s licenses. As late as 2000, Tennessee had few politically focused Latino organizations. By 2006, however, a Hispanic politicalaction committee was in operation alongside statewide groups, such as TIRRC. More recently, the grassroots Hispanic Community Group of Tennessee has emerged, led by day laborers and other disenfranchised groups; this organization focuses on local community involvement. These quick—and sometimes unanticipated—transitions in Tennessee’s Latino communities have generated a range of local scenarios. Whereas in Memphis, Latino workers had an economic impact of $1,020,000,000 and almost 36,000 jobs in 2001, smaller towns with limited tax bases face difficult choices in their efforts to meet new demands for schools, health clinics, and court systems.14 In many Tennessee cities, growing networks of Latino businesses, political groups, and social organizations are in place, even if those organizations do not always connect with the most vulnerable Latinos. In smaller towns, however, Latinos rely on loose networks of statewide groups based in cities, local agencies overwhelmed with new demands, and small organizations staffed with volunteers. All of these differences are important to remember when thinking about Latinos in Tennessee. The state’s Latino population does not speak with one voice, nor are all its features captured in broadly painted depictions. Alongside well-known

Tennessee Latinos discussed below, for instance, are Latinos who live and work in the shadows of Tennessee’s economic and political system.

NOTABLE LATINOS Cuevas Martínez, Manuel Arturo José (1938–). Mexican-born Manuel is a fashion designer whose work has been worn by performers from Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton to Aerosmith, REM, and the Beatles. Known just by his first name, Manuel migrated to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s and came to Nashville in the late 1980s to open a highend shop catering to the music industry. Known as the King of Cowboy Couture, Manuel has displayed his work in many venues. García, Pedro (1947–). Cuban-born Pedro García is the director of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Coming to the United States through Operation Peter Pan in 1962, García grew up in Iowa and began his career as an educator in California in 1971. He was named superintendent of the Carpinteria Unified School District in 1991 and came to Nashville to assume his current position in 2001. Selected as Nashvillian of the Year in 2002, García has instituted key structural and programmatic changes in Nashville public schools during his tenure. Arteaga, Josías (1948–). Colombian-born Josías Arteaga worked as the National Executive Director of Colombia’s YMCA. In 1997 he transferred to Miami and came to Nashville to work with Latino youth in 2000. He directs the Hispanic Achievers program for Latino youth across middle Tennessee, and his program has become a national model for other YMCA branches. Mejía, María Clara (1952–). Colombian-born María Clara Mejía is the cofounder of Conexión Américas, Nashville’s first Latino-led and focused organization. As developer and chief instructor of a Latino cultural-competency training program, she has trained more than 3,000 people. Before coming to Nashville in 2000, she worked for the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank across much of Latin America. Rodriguez, Greg Jr. (1954–2005). Greg Rodriguez Jr. was a well-known community leader and founder of the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Born in Texas, he came to Nashville in 1994 through his work in the hospitality industry. In 2004 he was appointed Tennessee’s executive administrative assistant to the commissioner of safety, and he coordinated statewide activities for minority and migrant involvement. Guzmán, Salvador (1961–). Mexican-born Salvador Guzmán is an entrepreneur who owns many restaurants across middle Tennessee; he also opened Tennessee’s first Spanish-language radio station. Trained as a veterinarian, he came to Chattanooga in the 1980s to work as a busboy, opening his first restaurant in 1991. He cofounded the Nashville-Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and was its first president. In 2006 he was elected to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Gonzales, Jerry (1962–). Born in Michigan, Jerry Gonzales is a civil rights attorney and founding member of Unámonos, one of Nashville’s earliest Latino political organizations. Gonzales came to middle Tennessee in 1997 and has campaigned for new driver’s-license

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Latino America legislation, new court-interpreter standards, and stiffer laws for notarios públicos. He was co-counsel on a nationally covered court case in which a middle-Tennessee judge ordered a Mixtec woman to learn English or have her parental rights terminated. McPeek Villatoro, Marcos (1962–). A Latino southerner, Marcos McPeek Villatoro was born in East Tennessee. His work as a writer and community organizer has taken him from Guatemala to Alabama to Tennessee, and he has written extensively of these experiences. He is the author of several mystery novels involving the detective Romilia Chacón. Some of the novels, such as Home Killings and The Holy Spirit of My Uncle’s Cojones, are set in Tennessee. Hernández, Mónica (1963–). Mexican-born Mónica Hernández is the coordinator of the Pueblos de Latinoamérica project at the Highlander Research and Education Center, an institution widely known for its historic and contemporary social-justice work in the South. Working with Latino grassroots organizations across the region, she chairs the board of TIRRC and is involved in migrant rights and community empowerment throughout Tennessee. Cunza, Yuri (1971–). Peruvian-born Yuri Cunza is an actor, producer, director, and community activist. After coming to Nashville in 1996, Cunza produced some of the earliest Spanish-language television segments in Nashville and founded the Spanish-language newspaper La Noticia. He has been involved in Latino organizations and migrant initiatives and served as president of the Nashville-Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Velasquez, Jaci (1979–). Born in Texas, Jaci Velasquez is an internationally known contemporary Christian singer and actress, with both English- and Spanish-language hits. Since she began recording music in 1996, she has been nominated for Grammy and Latin Grammy awards and has won multiple Dove awards. With platinum and gold albums in English and Spanish, Velasquez has acted in the movie Chasing Papi and currently lives in Nashville.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS From citywide festivals to neighborhood gatherings, from Spanish-language advertising along major thoroughfares to Mexican flags on automobiles, Latinos are changing Tennessee’s cultural landscapes and practices. In 1999, for example, Nashville held its first Hispanic-American Film and Latin-American festivals. Performers like Los Tigres del Norte and Juan Gabriel come through the city, and professional Mexican soccer teams have added Tennessee to their schedules. Even smaller towns are home to Latino cultural events. Madison, for example, held a Hispanic Art and Folklore Festival in December 2006; Clarksville has hosted an annual Hispanic Festival since 2003. In many communities, Latinos organize nationally specific festivals. In Nashville, Colombian independence is celebrated each summer, and the first Brazilian festival was held in March 2007. Increasingly, some Latin Americans are forming organizations to celebrate and promote various aspects of Latino culture.

Tennessee

La Mexicana Market, Nashville, TN. Courtesy of Jamie Winders.

In 2005, Tango Nashville, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the Argentine tango, formed to join the Latino festivals and bands already performing across Tennessee. A Latino presence is also felt in various Tennessee media, from Villatoro’s mystery novels (set in Nashville’s Latino neighborhoods) to east Tennessee’s bilingual newspaper Mundo Hispano. Even in smaller towns like Lewisburg, Spanishlanguage books are increasingly available at local libraries. Spanish-language radio stations bring new music, from Mexican corridos to pan-Latin pop, to Tennessee communities, as Latinos themselves bring a new music market to Tennessee. In 2007 music executives began to explore ways to tap Latino preferences for norteño music and create new country-music fans. In neighborhoods where they have settled, Latino residents and businesses are changing local landscapes—sometimes with little notice from long-term residents and sometimes with negative reactions. As Latin-American restaurants and clubs emerge and Latino families become established residents, Spanish signage and Latin iconography are increasingly common. Amid these changes, some of the strongest Latino cultural contributions may be sitting in Tennessee public schools, a trend recognized by Tennessee State University and other universities that are beginning to recruit Latino students. As Latino children grow up in Tennessee, the face of the state will change in ways that challenge not only how Tennessee looks and sounds, but also where it fits in Latino America.

NOTES 1. Folmsbee, 1960; Cummins, 89–110; Harkins, 329. 2. All information concerning place names is drawn from Miller. 3. Migration Policy Institute.

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Latino America 4. Drever, 19–36, 2006. 5. Winders, 2004. 6. Smith and Williams, 2006. 7. Drever, 2006. 8. Reported in Winders, 2004. 9. Drever, 2006. 10. Drever, 2006. 11. Drever, 2006. 12. Drever, 2006. 13. Drever, 2006. 14. Mendoza, 2001. 15. Smith and Williams, 2006.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ansley, Fran, and Susan Williams. “Southern Women and Southern Borders on the Move: Tennessee Workers Explore the New International Division of Labor.” In Neither Separate Nor Equal: Women, Race, and Class in the South. Ed. Barbara Ellen Smith. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999, 207–244. Cantu, Norma. Report on Latino Culture and Traditional Arts in Tennessee. Nashville: Tennessee Arts Commission, 1999. Ciscel, David, Barbara Ellen Smith, and Marcela Mendoza. “Ghosts in the Global Machine: New Immigrants and the Redefinition of Work.” Journal of Economic Issues 37, no. 2 (2003): 333–341. Corlew, Robert. Tennessee: A Short History. 2nd ed. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990. Cummins, Light Townsend. “The Hispanic Heritage of the Southern United States of America.” Revista de historia de America 10, no. 5 (1988): 89–110. Drever, Anita. “New Neighbors in Dixie: The Community Impacts of Latino Migration to Tennessee.” In Latinos in the New South: Transformations of Place. Eds. Heather Smith and Owen Furuseth. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2006, 19–36. Folmsbee, Stanley, Robert Corlew, and Enoch Mitchell. The History of Tennessee, Volume I. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1960. Harkins, John. “Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas.” In The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Ed. Carroll Van West. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society and Rutledge Hill Press, 1998, 329. Kyriakoudes, Louis. The Social Origins of the Urban South: Race, Gender, and Migration in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, 1890–1930. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. Mendoza, Marcela, David Ciscel, and Barbara Ellen Smith. “Latino Immigrants in Memphis, Tennessee: Their Local Economic Impact.” Working paper 15. Memphis, TN: University of Memphis, Center for Research on Women, 2001. Migration Policy Institute. Data Hub. http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/state. cfm?ID=TN (accessed March 2007). Miller, Larry. Tennessee Place Names. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.

Tennessee Smith, Barbara Ellen, and Susan Williams. Across Races and Nations: Building New Communities in the U.S. South. Memphis, TN: University of Memphis, Center for Research on Women, Highlander Research and Education Center, Southern Regional Council, 2006. Tennessee: A Guide to the State. Compiled and written by the Federal Writers’ Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Tennessee. New York: Viking Press, 1939. Winders, Jamie. “(Re)working the US South: Latino Migration and the Politics of Race and Work in Nashville, Tennessee.” PhD diss., University of Kentucky, 2004. ———. “Placing Latinos in the Music City: Latino Migration and Urban Politics in Nashville, Tennessee.” In Latinos in the New South: Transformations of Place. Eds. Heather Smith and Owen Furuseth. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2006, 167–190.

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44 TEXAS Constance Cortez

Chronology 1519 1528–1532 1540–1542

1682 1685 1718 1731 1749 1755 1810 1821

Spanish cartographer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explores and maps the Texas coastline. Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, the Spanish king’s treasurer, shipwrecks on Galveston Island and explores Texas’s interior. The Francisco Vasquez de Coronado expedition from Spain explores the southwestern United States, the plains of the Texas panhandle, and parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. The first Franciscan mission, Corpus Christi de la Isleta, is established outside El Paso. French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, establishes Fort St. Louis in present-day Victoria County. Franciscans found Mission San Antonio de Valero, known as the Alamo, and the Spanish military establishes a presidio across the river. Fifty-five Canary Islanders establish a civilian settlement east of San Antonio’s presidio. A peace ceremony between the Spanish and the Apaches allows ranching expansion. Tomás Sánchez and other ranch owners found Laredo. Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo seizes the prison at Dolores, Mexico, and Mexico declares independence from Spain. Mexico wins independence from Spain. Spanish officials approve Moses Austin’s plan to bring 300 families into his colony in present-day Texas.

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1823 1824 1825

1830 1832–1833 1834 1836

1845 1845–1848 1848 1861 1870s 1875

Stephen F. Austin receives a grant from the Mexican government and continues his colonization in the Brazos River region. Mexico establishes a republican government with the Constitution of 1824. The Colonization Law for the State of Coahuila and Texas gives foreigners one-quarter league of land if they marry a Tejana. It also allows slavery in Texas. Mexico passes a law forbidding migration into Texas from the United States. Texas settlers hold the Conventions of 1832 and 1833. General López de Santa Anna sides with Mexican centralists who believe in a strong central government based in Mexico City. On March 6 the Alamo falls to Santa Anna’s military forces. The Battle of San Jacinto is fought on April 21, and Texas gains its independence. On December 29 Texas becomes the United States’ 28th state. The Mexican-American War is fought. Mexico signs the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, ceding 51 percent of its territory to the United States. Texas secedes from the Union, and Tejanos serve in Union and Confederate armies. The first mutual-aid societies (sociedades mutualistas) in Texas appear. The U.S. Civil Rights Act allows access to all public accommodations, regardless of race.

Texas 1891–1892 1904

1906 1910 1915 1917 1920 1923 1924 1929

1938 1942–1964

1944 1948 1954 1960

1964

1965 1966

Brownsville journalist Catarino Erasmo Garza instigates the Garza War, in which raids are made against Mexico’s Díaz government. The brothers Flores Magón publish the newspaper Regeneración in San Antonio. After fleeing San Antonio, they establish the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM) in St. Louis, Missouri, with chapters throughout Texas. The Alianza Hispano-Americana arrives in Texas. The Mexican Revolution leads to massive Mexican migration to the United States. The manifesto El Plan de San Diego calls for armed struggle against exploitation and the return of lands to Mexican Americans. Passage of the Immigration Act of 1917 curbs migration into the United States by requiring an entry tax and a literacy test. Cruz Azul Mexicana is founded in San Antonio. The organization aids impoverished Mexican Americans and emphasizes education. Texas’s white primary act formally disenfranchises many impoverished Texans. Congress creates the U.S. Border Patrol. The New York stock market crashes, and the Great Depression begins. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is established in Corpus Christi. Salvatierra v. Del Rio ISD challenges the segregation of Mexican American students in public schools. Emma Tenayuca leads a strike against the pecan-shelling companies in San Antonio. The Bracero Program, a contract labor program established by the United States and Mexico, allows Mexicans to temporarily work in the United States. Smith v. Allwright outlaws the state’s all-white primaries. Héctor García of Corpus Christi founds the American G.I. Forum of Texas. Operation Wetback repatriates more than one million laborers in the United States to Mexico. Viva Kennedy Clubs form across Texas. The Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO) is formed. The U.S. Civil Rights Act outlaws racial discrimination in public accommodations and employment. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlaws the poll tax. The Voting Rights Act is passed. With the support of the UFW, South Texas melon workers begin the Starr County Strike, protesting bad working conditions and low salaries. The strike marks the beginning of the Chicano Movement in Texas.

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Latino America 1967

1970 1972–1974 1975 1981 1986 1988 1993

1994 1995 1996 2000 2001 2003

2004 2005 2006

2007

The Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) is founded in San Antonio. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is founded in Texas. Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District extends the Brown v. Board of Education decision to Mexican Americans. Farah Manufacturing Company garment workers strike and call for a national boycott. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan expands the Voting Rights Act to include Spanish speakers in the Southwest, including Texas. Henry Cisneros becomes the first Mexican American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and the Anti–Drug Abuse Act are passed. Lauro F. Cavazos becomes the first Latino secretary of education. President Bill Clinton appoints Federico Peña to the post of secretary of transportation, and Henry Cisneros becomes secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Norma Cantú assumes the position of assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) takes effect. Corpus Christi’s famous Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla is murdered. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act are passed. César Chávez Day becomes a Texas holiday on a volunteer basis. Attacks occur on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11. Under the direction of Representative Tom DeLay (Houston), a redistricting plan is created that would negatively impact African American and Mexican American votes in the state. Minorities are 50.2 percent of the population of Texas, with Latinos making up the largest group within minority populations. Alberto Gonzales is named the 80th U.S. attorney general. Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund argues before the Supreme Court that the 2003 redistricting plan would effectively disenfranchise many African American and Mexican American voters. Tex-Mex singer Freddy Fender dies of cancer in Corpus Christi. Alberto Gonzales resigns his position as U.S. attorney general.

Historical Overview In 2000, Latinos numbered 7,318,988, or 35.1 percent of the Texas population. Dispersed across the state’s 261,797 square miles, this population represents nearly five hundred years of habitation. The current Latino presence in the area

Texas primarily represents migration from Mexico dating back to the sixteenth-century Spanish colonization of the region. Spanish exploration in the sixteenth century was followed by seventeenthand eighteenth-century settlement in present-day Texas. In the nineteenth century, Mexican independence from Spain, along with Anglo-American and European migration into the territory, redefined the identity of Tejanos (Texans of Mexican descent). While cultural and religious traditions tied Tejanos to Mexico, this group of Texans also felt a growing sense of autonomy. Economic and ideological conflicts between Mexico and Texas led to warfare resulting in the short-lived Republic of Texas (1836–1845). After Texas became a state in 1845, Tejanos experienced economic and educational restrictions, and many of their lands were seized. Tensions between Anglo-American and Mexican American citizens escalated in the twentieth century, after the beginning of the Mexican Revolution and the influx of Mexican migrants into the country. Many of the newly arrived migrants brought with them a revolutionary spirit that fired the Mexican American imagination. In the following decades, these migrants’ organizational efforts laid the groundwork for much of the economic and educational successes experienced during the Chicano Movement and beyond.

COLONIAL TEXAS In 1519, Spanish explorer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored and mapped the Texas coastline. However, the first true exploration of Texas occurred some nine years later. A Spanish expedition, initially sent to explore Florida, became shipwrecked on the peninsula’s west coast. The castaways built a boat and attempted a Caribbean crossing, only to be shipwrecked on Galveston Island. Most of the crew members died or were enslaved by Native Americans; only Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and four of his shipmates survived. After four years of captivity, Cabeza de Vaca and his companions escaped and traveled west in the hopes of eventually returning to Mexico. Their travels took them across central Texas and beyond. Cabeza de Vaca met up with another Spanish group in 1536; by 1537 he had returned to Spain, where he published an account of his travels and experiences, introducing Texas to the public. In the following decades, Spain sent additional explorers to the region with the intention of expanding the crown’s coffers. Most notable among these was Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Coronado set out in 1540 from Mexico City with an entourage of 300 Spanish soldiers and 1,000 Tlaxcalan Indians. For the next two years, they traveled over most of the southwestern United States, including the plains of Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as the Texas panhandle. The expedition’s principal goal was to locate the Seven Cities of Gold, the Edenic cities of wealth found in Spanish medieval legend. Although Coronado was frustrated in

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Latino America his quest, his journey had consequence. It is probable that stray horses from the Coronado expedition and those from later conquistadors created the first wild herds of the Great Plains. After Spain’s incursion into the region, two other events in Mexico spurred Texas’s Spanish colonization. The first was the 1548 discovery of silver near Zacatecas, Mexico. This brought about settlements at the Rio Conchos (in Chihuahua) headwaters that, in turn, became staging areas for later church and colonization efforts into both New Mexico and Texas. The establishment of northern settlements led to the second event that impacted northern expansion: the Chichimeca wars (1550–1590). As Spaniards settled Mexico’s ore-rich northern frontiers, they raided indigenous settlements to acquire native slaves to work their mines. The forty-year conflict resulted in the construction of numerous fortresses and missions to the north. These new strongholds served as foci for northward-moving colonial populations of the seventeenth century. Motives for the Spanish settlement of Texas went beyond colonization. In 1685, French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, landed in Texas and established the first French stronghold there, Fort St. Louis, on Matagorda Bay. Viewing the French presence as an incursion on their sovereign territory, the Spanish government sent Alonso de Leon, governor of the province of Coahuila, to find and confront them. De Leon’s forces found the fort in 1689, but it had been abandoned; the indigenous population had killed many French settlers, and disease had taken the rest. Nonetheless, the Spaniards set about eradicating all evidence of the French presence. They buried the bodies that they found, as well as the fort’s cannons, then destroyed what remained of the fort. So that there would be no further confusion as to the Spanish claim, in 1690 they also began building a series of missions and presidios in the area. These included the mission and presidio of Los Adaes (1717), located near Natchitoches. In 1722, Spain established a presidio on the former site of Fort St. Louis. As the French threat subsided, Spain abandoned the East Texas missions and withdrew its military. During the early decades of the eighteenth century, permanent communities at outposts, pueblos, and missions were established throughout Texas. Central to most communities were the missions—autonomous communities under the control of regular clergy, with those clergy belonging to specific orders. Chief among the Texas missions was Mission San Antonio de Valero, more popularly known as the Alamo. Founded in 1718 along with the presidio of San Fernando de Béxar (present-day San Antonio), the mission was joined two years later by Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, which had been moved from East Texas. Missions such as these were essential to the economic growth and spiritual maintenance of settlers in colonial Texas. They were also key in the religious conversion and protection of the indigenous population upon whom their economic life depended.

Texas The missions brought economic vitality to the colonial frontier by introducing European livestock, fruits, and vegetables to the area. While teaching reading and writing to their indigenous novices, mission workers also successfully passed on European notions of industry and agriculture. By mid-century, San Antonio’s missions were producing several thousand pounds of cotton annually. Those crops and limited livestock not required to maintain the missions and its inhabitants were traded with local communities and presidios or sent as tribute to Mexico. By the late eighteenth century, missions had been established throughout Texas. However, the regular clergy lacked the resources and manpower necessary to maintain so many churches scattered across such a vast territory, and the mendicants found themselves overextended. Further complicating matters, these missions often competed for resources and political power with local presidios and communities. The death knell for the missions came in the 1770s, when secular clergy took up residency in towns and began fulfilling the spiritual needs of the populace in community churches. With the missions’ decline, the indigenous populations were forced to leave mendicant protection and became tax-paying citizens who worked for their livings, albeit for greatly reduced wages. The growth of privately owned ranches also impacted the missions negatively. The cattle industry had been established in the early eighteenth century, with the majority of cattle being raised and protected within the mission. Private ranches had only limited stock and could not compete with the church’s well-ordered industry. However, mendicants raised livestock primarily to provide food for their indigenous residents. While the presidios associated with the missions protected them, the military could not depend on mission resources and thus raised their own cattle and horses or relied on small, private ranchers. After the Spaniards made peace with the Apaches at San Fernando de Béxar (1748), the area realized a substantial increase in private ranching from San Fernando de Béxar to Goliad. This prosperity is reflected in San Fernando’s population growth. In 1750 the community had only 500 inhabitants. By 1777 more than 1,300 people lived in the town and presidio communities, with another 709 people living in the five missions associated with the town. A preexisting mission was no longer requisite to a region’s settlement. For the first time, towns came into being because of ranching. In 1755, Captain Tomás Sánchez and three other large ranch-owning families founded Laredo with the cattle industry in mind. Within the next few years, cattle drives occurring along the San Antonio-Laredo road to Saltillo enhanced Laredo’s position as an important frontier outpost on the lower Camino Real. During this time, the vaquero (cowboy) came into being. Earlier, in 1537, the crown had partially laid the groundwork for the profession by establishing stockmen’s guilds, called mestas, throughout New Spain. These guilds were responsible for the industry’s regulation

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Latino America and had an enormous amount of power over economic activities related to ranching. In Laredo, the mesta’s duties included the assignment of grazing rights, setting of vaquero wages, registration of brands, and supervision of roundups (called mesteños, or rodeos) held in the spring and autumn. By the end of the eighteenth century, the colonists’ economic success, along with their desire to expand their interests, led to stirrings of discontent directed toward the Spanish Crown. These feelings coincided with economic dissatisfaction toward and alienation from Spain being felt across Mexico. In 1789, an official memoria, or petition, was presented to the authorities in San Fernando de Bexár protesting the crown’s seizure of the region’s cattle and disregard of local economic interests. In an attempt to fatten its coffers and rein in its vast empire, the Spanish government then passed more laws that undermined colonial autonomy and strategically placed peninsulares—people born in Spain—in positions of great authority, without consideration of local landowners and merchants and their preexisting trade relations. Despite their location in the empire’s northeastern hinterlands, the Bexareños had established booming economies and a ranching industry with economic and trade ties to Coahuila and Louisiana. The conflict and tension caused by the imposition of a colonial power led to great resentment and added to further cohesion among the Tejanos. By the turn of the nineteenth century, Tejanos all over Texas had developed a hard-won sense of selfsufficiency and autonomy. They were ready for independence.

THE MEXICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE REPUBLIC

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In 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo and his followers seized the prison at Dolores, Mexico, beginning Mexico’s 11-year struggle with Spain for its independence. In the north, Tejanos found themselves struggling on two fronts. On the one hand, many favored throwing off the yoke of Spain and its peninsular representatives; on the other, they were plagued with anxieties regarding the U.S. encroachment. With the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired the continent’s Midwest, as well as Louisiana. Since the purchase based its land estimates on LaSalle’s initial explorations, northern and eastern Texas were included in the negotiations. With their territory threatened, Spain retaliated by sending more troops to Texas to protect the borders. The increase in troops coincided with the escalating tensions between the crown and Mexico. Tejanos found themselves precariously positioned between two great powers. After Hidalgo’s proclamation, many Tejanos assumed a “wait and see” position, but others took decisive action and established an army devoted to Mexican independence. Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara, appointed Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, sensed an opportunity to help the republican forces. He declared Texas free from Spain and issued a call to arms in East Texas. There he

Texas recruited an army of Tejanos and U.S. citizens. Aided by Augustus McGee, a U.S. Army lieutenant, de Lara and his 130 men marched west. The forces seized La Bahía, south of Béxar, in 1812. After a decisive battle at Salado Creek in March of 1813, royalist forces surrendered to the Republican Army of the North. The victory proved to be short-lived. Internal squabbling between Tejano and U.S. soldiers, as well as dissatisfaction with leadership, allowed the royalist forces to retake Béxar and La Bahía within five months. Although Lara’s achievement was temporary, it constituted the only well-orchestrated uprising against Spain’s forces during Mexico’s eleven-year struggle for liberty. For the next eight years, Texas would remain under royalist rule until Mexico’s independence under Augustín Iturbide in 1821. The intervening years found royalist rule less than benevolent. Authorities quickly punished those involved in Lara’s insurrection, pardoning only those deemed as nonthreatening and willing to make peace with royalist rule. Leaders continued efforts at curtailing Tejano illegal trade with the United States and France. In Béxar, the ayuntamiento (town council) had its powers reined in, and the representative numbers were severely reduced. Even Béxar’s elite families were subject to ridicule, their governmental influence diminished. Despite royalist antagonisms, Tejanos remained cautious—a pragmatic decision based on the realization that they would have no control over their local government and economy until Mexico had become a sovereign nation. After Mexico gained independence in 1821, the relationship between Mexico and Texas was an uneasy one. Part of this can be attributed to Mexico’s political instability as a new country, but much of it had to do with the differing political, economic, and social agendas between the two regions. Despite prohibitions by the royalist government before independence, Tejanos had maintained extralegal trade with the United States that they continued after independence. This was frowned upon by the Mexican government, which chose to perpetuate a colonial vision of Texas as a defensive frontier against foreign incursion. Culturally, Mexicans viewed Tejanos as different from mexicanos, owing to their dress, customs, and dialect. All of these were equated more with the United States than with Mexico. Tejanos, for their part, viewed the Mexican government as unresponsive to their needs, just as Spain had been before them. After the Iturbide government’s fall in 1823, Mexico’s 1824 Constitution proclaimed the creation of a representative government and declared the state religion to be Roman Catholicism. Under the now geographically restructured Mexico, Texas was joined with Coalhuila as a single state, according to a rationale based on Texas’s sparse population. (Even during the colonial period, population estimates numbered only 4,000.) Independent-minded Tejanos immediately disliked this idea, especially when the regional governor’s office was

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Latino America moved out of Texas. Only after great political pressure did Mexico acquiesce to give the Tejanos subgovernors. Tensions escalated between Texas and Mexico as Tejanos made decisions enhancing the economic ties between Texas and the United States. Tejanos turned a blind eye to the Anglo-American establishment of the illegal trading port of Galveston. Further, to attract U.S. settlers, Tejanos had legislation passed in Saltillo, the Colonization Law for the State of Coahuila and Texas (1824), designed to attract U.S. cotton planters to Texas. The legislation allowed the migration of non-Catholics and possible marriage between foreigners and Tejanos—the latter made attractive by the lure of one quarter league of land as a dowry. Slavery was accommodated under the euphemism of “indentured servitude,” despite the fact that slavery had been outlawed in Mexico for many years. Although the situation created by the Tejanos was anathema to the Mexican central government, even their own political actions sometimes undermined their best interests. In 1821, U.S. citizen Moses Austin received permission from the Spanish government to establish an Anglo-American colony in the Brazos River region. Two years later, his son, Stephen F. Austin, formalized the agreement with the newly established Mexican government. Meanwhile, in Mexico, the government was destabilized by debates between centralists, who wanted a strong central government, and federalists, who favored strong state governments. Aware of their own particular needs, Tejanos sided with the federalists and sent representatives to the state government in Saltillo. Arguments in the legislature led to the representatives’ expulsion. This censure was greatly resented by Tejanos. In 1829 a presidential coup in Mexico sided with conservative centralists and led to harsher treatment of U.S. migrants in Texas. Mexico charged AngloAmerican settlers with violating laws because of their Protestant beliefs and slavery. The Mexican government passed a law in 1830 disallowing further migration from the United States and backed the legislation by increasing their military presence in Texas. Europeans, seen as lesser threats, were still allowed to migrate. Irish Catholic migrants settled in south Texas, and German Catholic populations established communities around present-day Austin and southeastern Texas. The law also prohibited foreign retail trade, impacting the growing trade with Anglocontrolled Santa Fe. In 1832, General López de Santa Anna overthrew Anastacio Bustamante’s conservative Mexican government. Tejanos sided with Santa Anna, who initially took a liberal stance. During the Conventions of 1832 and 1833, Tejanos and AngloAmericans stated their hopes for trade restabilization and for the addition of bilingual judges and administrators. Mostly the residents desired more economic and political autonomy. Their hopes were short-lived; Santa Anna changed sides and threw in with the centralists in 1834.

Texas Tejanos were not worried solely about Central Mexican politics, but were also preoccupied by events at home. Although they favored the economic vitality brought by U.S. migrants to the region, Tejanos felt overwhelmed by these migrants’ growing numbers. By 1830 the migrant population had reached almost thirty thousand, while Tejanos still numbered about four thousand. Further, the Anglo-Americans had their own political agendas and often acted unilaterally against Mexico, regardless of what their more cautious Tejano neighbors wanted. The seizing of Tejano ranch lands only exacerbated the growing distrust and antagonism. Although the Tejanos protested to the government in Saltillo, the Mexican government was not above distributing land grants to migrants that violated the Tejanos’ preexisting land titles. This contributed to economic rivalry that sometimes led to open conflict. The political instability led to military conflicts between Mexico and Tejanos, along with the Anglo-Americans, who now referred to themselves as Texians. Texas forces formed a federalist army, with Stephen F. Austin as its elected head. Many Tejanos enlisted as cavalry under Austin; Texians, recognizing the Tejanos’ abilities as much better horsemen, readily accepted them. The situation exploded in October 1835, when local Tejanos and Texians at Gonzales refused to surrender their canon to centralist forces. The federalists won the battle, and white settlers and some Tejanos began a war for independence. Shortly afterward, Texans took over the presidio at Goliad and fought the Battle of Concepción, where 90 federalists defeated more than 450 Mexican troops. By mid-December 1835, the federalist forces had overtaken San Antonio; the following February, they held their first political convention. Shortly after the convention and the creation of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Santa Anna laid siege to San Antonio. On March 6, 1936, the Alamo fell, and local Texians and Tejanos who were loyal to the republican cause fled. Although Santa Anna offered amnesty to Tejanos who had helped the Texians, many chose to remain with the republicans. However, even among those who fought at the Alamo, many were hesitant to fall in with the notion of an independent republic in which they would be severely outnumbered by the Texians. This group was not alone; centralist sentiments were strong in San Antonio and other communities. Even some Texians who had married into Tejano lines were supportive of Mexico’s government. The conflict did not end with the Alamo. In retaliation for the republican revolt, Santa Anna executed nearly 400 Texians and Tejanos at the Goliad Massacre. Texian Sam Houston responded at the Battle of San Jacinto, and Santa Anna forces were defeated. Tejano troops, headed by Juan Nepomuceno Seguín, distinguished themselves and were noted by many for their valor. With this battle, Texas won its independence and became a nation. Still, there was no peace between the Texians and Tejanos. During the war, republican forces had openly recruited Americans to join their ranks. The newly

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Latino America arrived population expressed open contempt for Roman Catholics and refused to distinguish between Mexicans and Tejanos. The possibility that some Tejanos might still be sympathetic to Mexico’s government did little to overcome Texian paranoia. Accusations of treason persisted, even against those who had died at the Alamo. Texian suspicions only seemed validated when Tejanos at San Antonio (retaken twice by Mexican forces during the 1840s) offered aid to wounded soldiers of both sides. In reality, most Tejanos assumed a neutral position in order to survive the Texas Revolution and the following period of instability. One could never be sure which army would win. Nonetheless, after much frustration, some Tejanos did take an aggressive stand. In August of 1838, Vincente Córdova led 400 Tejanos and Cherokees against Texian forces in East Texas. This event, known as the Córdoba Rebellion, was a Tejano reaction to the ever-increasing encroachment of migrants, oppressive disenfranchisement, and growing segregation. For their parts, the Native Americans had also been promised clear land titles by the republicans—an agreement rescinded once the war had been won. Both the Tejano and Cherokees formed a secret alliance with the Mexican government. After uncovering the plot, republican forces marched into the area, and many rebels fled. Those caught were charged with treason and hung. Other Tejanos made the best of the situation during the republican years and attempted to work politically for the betterment of their constituents. At a national level, two Tejanos, Francisco Ruiz and Juan Nepomuceno Seguín, served two-year appointments as senators. They lobbied for laws protecting Tejanos and punishing those opposed to the new republic. Ruiz argued for amnesty for those who had accepted Santa Anna’s offer of immunity after the Alamo’s fall, so that they could return home. Seguín argued for compensating the widows and orphans of the men who fell at the great battle. Two other Tejanos served as representatives in the congressional house: José Antonio Navarro and Rafael Calixto de la Garza. Navarro was instrumental in maintaining Tejano suffrage when, in 1845, it was threatened by the house’s white members. In San Antonio, one Tejano served a term as mayor, and the city council was predominantly Tejano. From 1838 until 1844, city council minutes were bilingual. In San Antonio, social interaction occurred among the Tejanos and Texians; among the Tejano elite, it was not unusual to see marriages between the two groups. The Tejanos believed such alliances to be beneficial, as many were not bilingual. Allying themselves with the white populace, they believed, would secure their political and social influence. The Texians sought the prestige of marrying into the older elite ranks and benefited from marrying into the larger landowning families. During the republic, Tejanos clung fiercely to their social practice of public celebrations and religious ceremonies. These included the Roman Catholic celebration of mass (taught by bilingual priests) and feast days. Despite increasing hostility from newly arrived Protestants, Tejanos actively participated in the

Texas preparations for all communal activities. Oftentimes, Texians were in attendance, especially at the more public secular activities, including celebrations of Mexican independence and the dances known as fandangos. In 1845 the United States annexed Texas, and the territory legally entered into the Union on December 29, 1845. Simultaneously, President James K. Polk made overtures toward the Mexican government for the acquisition of Texas, still considered a disputed territory by Mexico and California. When negotiations failed, Polk ordered troops to Corpus Christi, who then advanced west. Mexico interpreted this and Texas’s annexation as acts of war. The Mexican War (1846–1848) ended after U.S. forces marched into central Mexico and captured the capital and Puebla. The Mexicans signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, ceding 51 percent of their land to the United States. Among the territories gained was Texas.

STATEHOOD, THE CIVIL WAR, AND THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY Both the Mexican War and statehood complicated the relationship between the United States and Texas. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo remained silent on the issue of land partitioning, and Texas’s land claims encompassed parts of New Mexico, including Santa Fe—an expansionist move much disputed by Nuevomexicanos. In 1850, Santa Fe’s government proclaimed its independence, drawing New Mexico’s border well east of the Rio Grande River. Simultaneously, Congress passed a boundary act and four bills, collectively termed the Compromise of 1850. This series of legislation forced Texas to cede one-third of its land and demarcated the current borders. Texas was given ten million dollars as a recompense for its lost territory. Locally, economic and racial politics continued to define interactions between the Anglo-American and Mexican American populations. In 1859 large landowner Juan Cortina shot an Anglo city marshal for beating one of Cortina’s former employees in the streets of Brownsville, Texas. In late September, Cortina captured Brownsville and declared the area part of the “Republic of the Rio Grande,” an autonomous republic unsuccessfully attempted some nineteen years earlier by Mexican federalist Antonio Zapata. Cortina’s success lasted six months, owing to the concentration of Mexican American and Mexican supporters in the area. His forces fended off Texas Rangers and the Mexican Army—who, fearing another war with the United States, had joined the attack against the rebel. By 1860, Cortina, driven from Texas, retreated to Mexico, where he later became the Tamaulipas’s governor. The slavery issue marred Texas’s transition into statehood. The United States had decided that newly entering states would be divided equally among slaveholding and non-slaveholding states. Although most Tejanos did not own slaves,

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Latino America this was not true of some large Tejano landowners and the Anglo-American population located in east and southeast Texas. Many of the latter had migrated from the southeastern United States and were primarily involved in large agricultural enterprises, such as cotton. In 1861, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Tejanos fought on both sides of the war. Almost 3,000 Tejanos joined the Confederate army. Some, like Colonel Santos Benavides and his two brothers, Refugio and Cristóbal, served with distinction along the border. Tejanos in the Union army were recruited during 1863 and 1864 in South Texas, primarily from the lower classes. Tejano anti-Confederacy sentiment was fueled by a variety of causes: the historically racist treatment of Tejanos, the illegal land grabs that had rid Tejanos of their property, and an earnest abhorrence of slavery. Nonetheless, desertions were high. Of those who stayed, many were part of the Union’s Second Texas Cavalry. Probably the best-known Tejano who fought for the Union cause was Cecilio Balero, who, along with his son, Juan, distinguished himself in a fierce battle occurring at Los Patricios (1864). In 1870, Texas was readmitted into the Union, and reconstruction began. For Tejanos still under attack by Anglo-Americans, some respite occurred in the form of sociedades mutualistas—local mutual-aid societies. Versions of these groups had appeared earlier in Mexico. As in Mexico, Texas mutualistas endorsed cooperation, service, and protection from discrimination and economic hardships. They charged their members annual dues and often provided services such as limited insurance and death benefits, allowing members to bury their loved ones without the financial burden of funeral costs. In 1875, the U.S. Civil Rights Act was passed, which guaranteed “the equality of all men before the law.” The act provided equal access to public accommodations and should have helped the plight of Tejanos, but it was never acted upon in Texas. In 1883 the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional; thirteen years later, in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the “separate but equal” doctrine was ruled constitutional. Discrimination was therefore legal not only in terms of transportation and eating establishments, but also in education. In the nineteenth century, education for Tejanos was a challenge at both the advanced and basic levels. The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M) opened its doors in 1876, and the University of Texas followed suit seven years later, but both institutions maintained a closed-door policy when it came to nonwhite students. As far as primary and secondary education were concerned, Tejanos found opportunities only sporadically—usually through private or church-directed institutions. For example, Laredo’s Holding Institute, founded in 1880 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, directed its efforts toward educating Mexican children. El Paso, which had already established an elementary school and a high school, opened a school for Mexican children to learn English in 1888.

Texas The institution also offered vocational classes. In smaller Texas communities, such opportunities rarely occurred. Tejanos found employment in agriculture, but ranching was also important in late-nineteenth-century Texas. After the Civil War, cattle drives between Texas and Kansas occurred from 1875 to 1885. Enormous ranches, like those owned by Mifflin Kenedy and Richard King in South Texas, sought vaqueros to run herds. Indeed, during one visit to Mexico, King convinced an entire community to work his land, and more than one hundred men, women, and children settled on the estate. These became the forefathers of the famous Kineños, who continue to work the ranch to this day. The railroads’ arrival in Texas represented another economic opportunity for Mexican Americans. After 1860, three railroads—the Texas and New Orleans Railroad Company, the Eastern Texas Railroad Company, and the Washington County Railroad—were opened. In the years that followed, other railroad companies opened; by 1879, some 2,440 miles of track had been completed, with 6,000 miles added to that within the next ten years. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Tejano population had dramatically increased, especially in regions south of San Antonio and along the Rio Grande River. By 1900 the Mexican American population in Texas numbered 165,000. This was partly because of migration caused by the oppressive regime of Mexico’s Porfirio Díaz. As in the century’s early years, the new arrivals maintained strong ties to Mexican culture, and Spanish-language newspapers were introduced to Texas in the early part of the nineteenth century. By the last decade, some eightysix Spanish newspapers were in print in the state.

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA AND THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION The Progressive Era, the first two decades of the twentieth century, was marked by an acceleration of economic expansion. By 1920 the populations of many major cities numbered more than 50,000, with almost a third of Texas’s population living in urban areas. In the lower Rio Grande valley, the introduction of large-scale irrigation attracted thousands of white settlers into the state’s southern region. Texas’s overall population increased from 3,048,710 in 1900 to 4,663,228 by 1920. By 1919 the value of cotton and livestock production led to Texas’s increase in national power and influence. For all the prosperity witnessed during this time, the positive impact on Mexican American lives was marginal. With their numbers soaring to 250,000 by 1920, Tejanos still endured minimal political representation, except in a few small towns and San Antonio. This was in part attributable to the presence of a system known as “boss rule,” whereby local bosses, usually Anglo-American, maintained control over Tejano votes. Particularly palpable in south Texas by the end of the

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Latino America nineteenth century, the bosses’ control of the state protected Anglo interests and used the threat of the Texas Rangers to intimidate Mexican American citizens. The bosses helped large Anglo ranchers steal Tejano land while ensuring that Tejanos voted in the right way. While they also fulfilled the role of patron to Tejanos—distributing money to carry them through hard times and paying for weddings, funerals, and festivals—this was with the understanding that Tejanos would acquiesce to manipulation. Mexican American votes were also impacted by poll taxes instigated after the Civil War. Although initiated to disenfranchise African Americans and some poor whites, these taxes effectively removed most Mexican Americans from the electoral process. This eventually led to the white primary law of 1923. The most important event to change the course of the Tejano experience in a positive way was the 1910 Mexican Revolution. In 1876, Porfirio Díaz began a four-year term as Mexico’s president. Elected once again in 1884, he removed restrictions for reelection and remained president until 1911. He ruled as a despot, maintaining power through political corruption, through the unbridled use of the military, and through assassination. As it became impossible to criticize the regime inside the country, many liberal intellectuals and journalists fled, some settling in Texas. Even during the Porfiriato’s early decades, the impact on Tejanos was profound. Mexican journalist Catarino Erasmo Garza settled in Brownsville, where he promoted many of the established sociedades mutualistas; he also helped create these types of organizations in Brownsville, Laredo, and Corpus Christi. In 1887 he helped to publish El Libre Pensador, citing many abuses of power by Díaz and his lackeys. After U.S. authorities confiscated his machinery and imprisoned him for one month, he moved to Corpus Christi, where he renewed his attacks through the newspaper El Comercio Mexicano. This time he attacked not only the Mexican government, but also the Texas Rangers and others who were oppressing Mexican Americans. Along with many south Texas and northern Mexico sympathizers, Garza plotted Díaz’s overthrow. He had no problems recruiting followers, as Díaz’s abuses were numerous and appalling. During the Garza War (1891 and 1892), Garza and his associates staged three raids in Mexico. These were unsuccessful, as Díaz’s powerful northern forces repelled Garza’s army. In 1892, the U.S. government sent forces to Texas to address the conflict, the violence of which was spilling over the border. Garza left the state. Opposition to the Díaz regime began in earnest in the twentieth century with the inception of the Mexican Revolution. In the 1910 election, Francisco I. Madero ran against Díaz on a platform of real suffrage and a one-term presidency. Fearing Madero’s growing popularity, Díaz imprisoned him. Out on bail, Madero

Texas fled to San Antonio, where he issued the Plan de San Luis Potosí, a document that was a call to arms against the Díaz political and military machines. Madero’s cause was greatly aided by brothers Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón—two Mexican journalists who established a newspaper, Regeneración, in San Antonio in 1904. They condemned the Díaz regime, citing many injustices perpetrated by the despot. After being harassed by Mexican and U.S. governmental agents, the brothers fled to St. Louis, where they founded the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM) and established many chapters in Texas. Tejanos and recently arrived migrants sympathized with the PLM, as the party not only addressed Mexican injustices, but also weighed in on those against Mexican Americans in border states. The progressive PLM included women in their ranks, and many, like Laredo’s Sara Estela Ramírez, worked toward women’s equality. Other Tejanas functioned as speakers organizing rallies and fund-raisers for workers’ causes. By 1911 opposition from both the right and the left—and from Mexico and the United States—had critically destabilized the PLM. Regardless of the PLM’s eventual collapse, members and onlookers had learned the importance of political awareness, as well as the power of the pen. Women were particularly inspired, and newspapers like La Mujer Moderna, founded by San Antonio’s Andrea and Teresa Villarreal, and the weekly Voz de la Mujer, published by El Paso’s Isidra T. de Cardenas, offered a feminist perspective on events while underlining labor and the importance of solidarity. In San Antonio, La Prensa, a Spanish-language newspaper, filled the void left by Regeneración in 1913. The paper’s founder, Ignacio E. Lozano, covered events in Mexico while monitoring events impacting Tejanos, including local meeting announcements and news of abuses throughout Texas. By the end of the publication’s first year, readership was around 10,000. During its fifty years of publication, this paper became the most widely distributed voice of the Spanish-speaking populace of Texas, with readers in the United States, Central America, and South America. Migration numbers escalated as members from Mexico’s upper and lower classes fled Mexico’s destabilized lands. Many migrants integrated and married into the preexisting border populations. To curb the flow of foreigners, the U.S. government instigated the Immigration Act of 1917, requiring an eight-dollar tax per person and the successful completion of a literacy test to gain entrance into the country. Once in, the migrants found that they were not always of the same political bent. Among Mexico’s elite refugees, a war of words, battled out in editorials, ensued between Madero and exiled Díaz supporters. By far, however, the new regime supporters were favored over those of the old. As the ranks of laborers swelled, workers’ rights occupied a privileged position among Mexican Americans. Although rejected by mainstream white-controlled labor unions and craft guilds, Tejanos formed and joined more open-minded

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Latino America groups. La Agrupación Protectora, established in 1911, drew small-farm renters and laborers and saw some success in protecting their members from illegal repossession of their property. Tejanos also joined forces with many socialist affiliates that were gaining in popularity throughout the United States. The sociedades mutualistas continued with success. One of the largest, the Alianza Hispano-Americana, established in 1894 in Tucson, Arizona, spread to many southwestern states. By 1906 it had Texas affiliates in major cities, and eventually lodges were established in smaller towns as well. Like most mutualistas, the organization provided funds for widows and their children and encouraged free speech. Part of the Alianza’s agenda, which favored democratic engagement, extended membership to women in 1913. An outgrowth of the mutualistas was the female-run Cruz Azul Mexicana. This organization, founded in San Antonio in 1920, was dedicated to the aid of poor families, as well as education. As education reformers, members established a library in San Antonio in 1925. They also helped to fund a public clinic and offered legal assistance to the poor. The Cruz Azul eventually spread to rural towns. Women were also very important in the promotion of education. In 1911, teacher and journalist Jovita Idar formed the Liga Feminil Mexicanista in Laredo. Most members were working-class women, and their goal was to reform education and promote rights for Texas’s children. With this goal in mind, many educated women opened schools that were free of charge to impoverished children. They also took up collections of clothing and food to be distributed among the poor, holding fund-raisers to pay for the association’s activities. Reform was not always peaceful; sometimes, frustrated desires for equality manifested themselves in violent uprisings. In 1915 some Tejanos joined in support of the Plan de San Diego, a manifesto created in San Diego, Texas, calling for a separate Mexican American nation. The plan called for the reclamation of lands lost in the 1836 war with Mexico and those lost in the 1848 signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Tejanos, accompanied by some Mexicans from northern Mexico, led raids along the border. The Texas Rangers were called in, and the governor at the time, James E. Ferguson, threatened to send additional forces down to the border region. By November of that year, hostilities had ended. Mexican Americans occasionally found themselves caught up in mayhem not of their making. Francisco (Pancho) Villa had sided with progressives during the Mexican Revolution, and after Victoriano Huerta usurped Mexico’s presidency, Villa sided with Venustiano Carranza and rallied his forces. After falling out with Carranza, Villa began raiding towns along the Texas-Mexico border. The situation escalated when, in January 1916, Villa murdered sixteen Americans in Mexico, and conflict between Mexican Americans and the white population broke out in El Paso. After Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico, the United States sent

Texas General John J. Pershing to hunt for him. Further clashes continued for years after 1916, disrupting communal peace along the border.

THE DEPRESSION, THE NEW DEAL, AND WORLD WAR II Texas’s economic expansion continued in the 1920s. Cotton prices fluctuated, but other industries—particularly oil—experienced a boom. Although oil had been discovered at the Spindletop, near Beaumont, in 1901, Oklahoma was the industry’s center during the first two decades of the century. During World War I, rich fields in Electra, Texas, were found, followed by discoveries in Ranger and Burkburnet. By 1920 the industry had taken off, and Texas vied with Oklahoma for the position of top oil-producing state in the nation. Much of the money from the fields was channeled into education and public roads. By the end of the 1920s, the Tejano community had grown substantially because of migration caused by the Mexican Revolution and agricultural and industrial growth. By 1930, Texas claimed 5,824,715 residents, 683,681 of whom were Mexican American. Attendant with the rising numbers, a growth in Tejano self-awareness would lead to even more political activities from 1921 through World War II’s end. During the 1920s, three events occurred that would greatly inform the Tejanos’ lives over the next decades: the white-primary act, the creation of the border patrol, and the beginnings of the Great Depression. The white primary act—actually an extension of boss rule practiced during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—was aimed primarily at black voters. However, this act disenfranchised most working-class citizens of Texas, regardless of color, by legally condoning a poll tax. It was not until the 1927 Supreme Court case Nixon v. Herndon that the law was repealed. Nonetheless, the Democratic Party, which at this time was pro-segregation, got around this by allowing only their white executive committee to decide their primaries. In the 1944 case Smith v. Allwright, the NAACP took an active role in overturning this practice. In 1924 the United States Congress created the border patrol, a group assigned the responsibility of preventing smuggling and illegal entrance into the United States by land or sea. The border patrol for the southern part of the United States was located in El Paso, and in 1934, the first border-patrol academy opened in that same city. There, candidates learned marksmanship and riding. Along with the Texas Rangers, the border patrol monitored and strengthened the line between the United States and Mexico. The border patrol was particularly active during Prohibition, when alcohol was smuggled across the border. Texas Protestants and fundamentalists had long favored the prohibition of alcohol. By 1895, 53 of the 239 counties in the state were dry, and another 79 counties had so-called blue laws, which restricted the sale of alcohol, especially on Sundays. For the most part,

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Latino America African, Hispanic, and German Americans were against prohibition. In 1918 the federal government ratified the Twenty-First Amendment, prohibiting the sale of alcohol. This amendment was not repealed nationally until 1933—and in 1935 in Texas. The alcohol question was put under the control of local county and city governments. Possibly the most significant event impacting Mexican American lives in Texas was the New York stock market crash of October 29, 1929. During the weeks following the crash, stock value continued to fall, signaling a 40 percent loss valued at $26 billion. For the nation, this signaled the beginning of the Great Depression. Initially, Texas seemed unaffected by this turn of events, but by 1931, even land-rich Texas had succumbed to the Depression’s sobering effects. As banks and businesses closed, and people were given their pink slips, menial jobs became attractive to many unemployed Anglos. This resulted in the forcible repatriation of many recently arrived Mexicans. During the 1930s, some 300,000 people went back to Mexico. The U.S. and state governments were stretched to their limits and could not meet the needs of the people. Tejanos were among the first to lose their jobs. Local governments and private charities tried to step into the void left by the government, but the public coffers soon ran dry, and the industrial and private largess— on which most charities depended for funding—became nonexistent. Within the Mexican American communities, many mutualistas and other aid societies, like San Antonio’s Cruz Azul, failed and closed their doors. Despite the failure of some of the mutualistas, Latinos in Texas continued to create organizations emphasizing education and equal rights. In 1929, José Tomás (J.T.) Canales, Andrés de Luna, and other reformers met in Corpus Christi and founded the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). LULAC’s strength was in part attributable to the fact that it was the product of a merger of four other wellestablished organizations: the Corpus Christi council of the Sons of America; the Alice council of the Sons of America; the Knights of America; and the Latin Americans Citizens League in the Rio Grande valley and Laredo. LULAC’S members included laborers, small-business owners, and lawyers. The group organized parentteacher associations in Mexican American schools and filed suits against discriminatory practices. In the groundbreaking Salvatierra v. Del Rio ISD (1929), LULAC challenged the practice of segregated schools in Del Rio. Although the courts originally ordered an injunction in favor of Jesús Salvatierra, the complainant, the injunction was overruled on appeal. Nonetheless, this case constituted the first official challenge to the “separate but equal” practices in place in Texas’s education system. After the beginning of the Great Depression, LULAC stepped into the void left by the dwindling mutualista organizations. In 1930 they testified before Congress regarding racism in Texas and the forced repatriation of many who had made their home in the state for years. Throughout the 1930s, they attempted to circumvent the poll tax by organizing poll-tax drives in different communities. After Franklin

Texas D. Roosevelt’s election to the presidency, they fully supported his New Deal efforts and urged their constituents to do likewise. Other challenges to discrimination were undertaken by labor unions. In 1933 workers at San Antonio’s Finck Cigar Company went on strike, protesting low wages and working conditions. Five years later, Emma Tenayuca led the workers of the Southern Pecan Shelling Company in San Antonio on strike. Tenayuca had been active in the Finck strike and was a member of the Worker’s Alliance, a national organization formed during the Great Depression by the Communist Party. Beyond working conditions and low wages, the pecan shellers were protesting a cut in wages. As the strike spread, 400 factories were picketed, and 700 arrests were made. While a settlement was reached, the San Antonio factory owners re-mechanized their factories shortly thereafter and, over the next three years, 10,000 workers were replaced. In 1935, newly elected governor James Allred embraced Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Allred linked the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Work Projects Administration (WPA), National Youth Administration (NYA), and Public Works Administration (PWA) with the preexisting local efforts toward work relief. Many Tejanos found employment through these organizations. Many Tejanos who signed up with the CCC reasoned that, since it was run by the army, it was, to an extent, immune to local politics and racism. The Federal Music Project, a WPA agency, employed Mexican musicians, who were then organized into Mexican folk bands and orchestras that performed in public live concerts and over the airwaves. In 1935, Lyndon B. Johnson became the Texas director of the National Youth Administration, a program directed toward the education, counseling, and employment of young men and women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. The youngest director in the country at 27, Johnson worked ceaselessly to employ as many people as possible. In Johnson’s two years as its director, the program provided nearly 30,000 jobs, with the majority of jobs in south Texas going to Mexican Americans. For the most part, workers constructed roadside parks and bridges; in the city, employment was found in the construction of fountains and the repair of drainage systems. Training in skilled work included that obtained in a Laredo metal shop, and some workers helped repair National Guard glider planes in Houston. Some Tejanos even received college scholarships from this program. Jobs for women were provided in the fields of stenography and office work. By the end of Johnson’s two-year term, nearly as many women as men were employed by the NYA. World War II brought other opportunities to Mexican Americans. During the war, the NYA set up eleven training facilities in the state that would direct youthful energies toward the war effort. This training included welding, sheet metal work, and radio repair. After successfully completing their training, the youths were sent out all over the country to work in industries providing support for the war. Mexican Americans also joined various military branches, although discrimination continued even among soldiers and officers.

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Latino America In 1942, to contend with the depleted U.S. male population, the United States and Mexico instigated the Mexican Farm Labor Program, also known as the Bracero Program. This program allowed for the legal entry of Mexican workers into the United States for a specific amount of time, with the guaranteed wage of thirty cents per hour and the promise of humane treatment. However, Texas farm owners, who continued to use undocumented workers whom they could pay lower wages, did not initially sanction the agreement. Texas farm owners did not fully participate in the program until the 1950s. In the meantime, problems arose when many documented workers did not return to Mexico after their time had expired. This was compounded by the refusal of many of the illegal migrants to leave. The U.S. government responded by instigating Operation Wetback in 1954. This program forcibly repatriated more than one million workers to Mexico. Nonetheless, an estimated 4.5 million Mexican workers were brought into the United States between 1942 and 1964, and most remained to become U.S. citizens.

THE POSTWAR ERA AND THE CHICANO MOVEMENT Post–World War II activities laid the groundwork for the later labor and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. World War II changed many Texans; one of these was Héctor P. García, founder of the American GI Forum (AGIF). García had served as an army physician in Europe and had risen to the rank of major, earning a Bronze Star and six battle stars. Afterward he settled in Corpus Christi, where he joined LULAC in 1946, becoming the organization’s president one year later. He became more politically active when he realized that veterans’ rights were being ignored by the Veteran’s Administration. Since a forum to address this issue was clearly warranted, and because LULAC’s policy was to avoid intervening in politics, García established the American GI Forum in 1948. He intended that the organization address the veterans’ struggles against discrimination in health, housing, education, and employment. The forum’s first major challenge came a year later. In 1949, the director at Rice Funeral Home of Three Rivers, Texas, denied access to funeral-home services and refused to bury Private Felix Longoria, a soldier who had been shot while on active duty in the Philippines. The funeral director was concerned because the only cemetery in the young man’s hometown was all white, and the local white population objected to having a Mexican American buried there. Outraged, the AGIF organized a protest campaign and contacted then–state senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who intervened. Johnson arranged for Private Longoria to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. AGIF’s efforts on Longoria’s behalf drew national attention and established the organization’s credibility as an advocate for political change. Following the incident, chapters of the organization were opened throughout the United States. In

Texas Texas, AGIF expanded their efforts by registering citizens to vote, promoting the causes of political candidates that best addressed their needs, emphasizing a Mexican American presence on local draft boards, and creating student scholarships. They were also instrumental in major court cases, such as when they teamed up with LULAC in Hernandez v. the State of Texas (1954), a case that argued the protection of Mexican Americans under the Fourteenth Amendment. The American GI Forum was acknowledged by Congress, who issued it a federal charter in 1996. The forum’s political action extended into the realm of presidential politics. The formation of statewide Viva Kennedy clubs, the brainchild of Henry García, did much to catapult John F. Kennedy into the presidency. Kennedy had been active in World War II and became an AGIF member in 1960. Many members of both AGIF and LULAC were involved in the clubs and actively recruited people to get out and vote. Kennedy won the election with 91 percent of the Latino vote from Texas. In 1964 many of the same people formed Viva Johnson groups in support of LBJ, who had been Kennedy’s vice president and who had always been sympathetic toward the state’s Mexican American populace. Many Viva Kennedy Club members went on to form significant political-action groups, like PASSO (the Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations). PASSO’s main goals were to garner greater political power to enhance economic and social advancement of Mexican Americans. In 1962–1963, PASSO joined forces with the Teamsters Union and formed a political coalition that succeeded in electing five Latinos to the city council of Crystal City, Texas. The city operated under this council’s control for the next two years. In turn, PASSO inspired the creation of other organizations. MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund) was founded in 1967 with the main purpose of arguing civil rights lawsuits involving Mexican Americans. Another organization, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, was founded in San Antonio in 1974 and successfully allied itself with the civil rights movement, holding door-to-door voter registration drives in order to guarantee each citizen’s voting rights. Nationally, legislation was also passed that impacted Latino voters in Texas in a positive way. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation in schools and public places and barred unequal application of voter registration. That same year, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution was passed, prohibiting the poll tax for federal elections. In 1965 the National Voting Rights Act was passed, banning literacy tests as requirements and allowing Department of Justice oversight to registration. In 1975, Representative Barbara Jordan expanded this act to include Spanish speakers. Court cases and legislation driven by the civil rights movement and instigated by African Americans also impacted Mexican American education. In Sweatt v. Painter (1950), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation in higher education

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Latino America was unconstitutional. The complainant, Herman Marion Sweatt, had applied to the University of Texas School of Law in 1946, but his application had been denied because of race, despite the fact that he had met all eligibility requirements. The subsequent court decision required racial integration of the law school. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) argued that separate public schools for black and white students were “inherently unequal.” The American GI Forum of Texas also fought and won cases related to the segregation of Mexican children into Mexican schools. In 1957, a federal court ruled that segregation of Mexican American children in Texas public schools was unjustifiable. In 1973, Governor Dolph Briscoe signed the Texas Bilingual Education Act into law. This legislation required that in grade groups consisting of 20 or more non-English-speaking children, lessons must be taught in those students’ native language. In 1974 bilingual education was assured in a case successfully argued before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Vilma Martínez, MALDEF’s director. This effectively ended the 1905 prohibition against speaking Spanish in schools. The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of the United Farm Workers (UFW) in Texas. The UFW, originally the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), was founded in 1962 by civil rights activist César Chávez to protect farm laborer rights. In an area as agriculturally active as Texas, it was natural that Chávez’s message would have great impact. In 1966 the UFW supported melon workers in Starr County, Texas, in their strike and protest. The laborers marched from the Rio Grande valley to Austin in protest of bad working conditions and low salaries. The Starr County Strike marked the beginnings of the Chicano Movement in Texas. Later, in 1975, many former UFW workers would found the Texas Farm Workers Union (TFWU). For the next ten years, under Antonio Orendain’s leadership, TFWU organized strikes and workers in the Rio Grande valley and west Texas. Farm workers were not the only ones to find their voices through union organization. In 1969, garment workers at El Paso’s Farah Manufacturing Company formed a labor union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. In May 1972, 4,000 El Paso workers walked out in solidarity with plant workers at Farah’s San Antonio location, who had gone on strike after many of them had been fired for pro-union activities. The AFL-CIO supported the boycott of Farah products that followed. The strike lasted for two years, but in 1974 Farah was forced to reinstate the striking workers and provide a contract that would guarantee the workers pay increases, job security, and a well-defined grievance procedure. Labor and civil rights issues were the cornerstone of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and many groups were formed in response to a variety of issues. One of the most important student groups was the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), founded in San Antonio in 1967 by José Angel Gutiérrez, Willie C. Velásquez, Mario Compean, Ignacio Pérez, and Juan Patlán.

Texas Beyond concerning themselves with social-justice issues, MAYO members believed in nonviolent, direct political action. To this end, they sponsored and organized many demonstrations on behalf of laborers and students alike. From 1967 through 1972, they organized thirty-nine student walkouts across the state. One of the most memorable was the student walkout in Crystal City—the city PASSO had earlier helped to elect a Mexican American city council. In 1969, after the school board refused to act on parent and student allegations of discrimination, 200 Mexican American students walked out. This boycott soon spread to middle and elementary schools across the city. One of the results of MAYO’s success was the 1970 formation of the Raza Unida Party, organized by many of MAYO’s members. The party’s goals were to elect leaders who would bring greater economic, social, and political selfdetermination to Mexican Americans. The organization had branches all over Texas and outside of the state as well. Although the Raza Unida Party lasted only until 1978, its legacy is still palpable. They achieved particular success in elections in south Texas, winning seats on the Crystal City school board and city council, as well as positions in Kyle, Lockhart, and other places. Because of these victories, Mexican Americans continue to be represented in political office in south Texas.

THE LEGACY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND LATINOS IN TEXAS IN THE LATE TWENTIETH AND EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES The Chicano Movement led to great reform in the latter part of the twentieth century. Of the many changes that occurred, educational reform was perhaps impacted the most. In public schools, bilingual education continues, although limited by the number of qualified bilingual teachers available and challenged by the anti–affirmative action positions of the Reagan administration during the 1980s. Most major universities across the state, including the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso, now offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chicano/Mexican American studies. Professors have developed coursework that focuses on the political, economic, and artistic development of Latinos across the United States and in Texas. Latino educators now teach at universities and in public schools; many of these teachers, like José Angel Gutiérrez, participated in the Chicano Movement These changes are the result of consistent political engagement on the part of the Latino population. In particular, positions of national power—seemingly unattainable in earlier times—have been filled by many progressive leaders. Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, from San Antonio, represented the twentieth congressional district from 1961 to 1999. Henry Cisneros, elected to San Antonio’s mayoral office in 1981, became the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1993.

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Latino America Clinton also appointed Laredo-born Federico F. Peña to the post of secretary of transportation and Norma Cantú, former director of the MALDEF, to the post of assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. Mexican Americans also became more involved with the Republican Party and held positions of great authority within it. From 1965 to 1972, the MexicanAmerican Advisory Committee (MART) supported Republican candidates across the state and nationally. The Texas branch of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA), created in 1970, appealed to many conservative Puerto Rican and Cuban Americans who felt excluded by MART. Lauro F. Cavazos, born on the King Ranch in Kingsville, became the first Latino to serve in the U.S. cabinet when he assumed his duties as secretary of education in 1988. Most recently, San Antonio’s Alberto Gonzales served as White House counsel (2001–2005) and then as U.S. attorney general (2005–2007). Owing to educational opportunities and the efforts of earlier feminists, Latinas have also excelled in the years following the movement. Organizational efforts include the short-lived Chicana Research and Learning Center (1974–1976); the Mexican American Business and Professional Women’s Association (1975); and the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas (1987). By 1990, some 500 out of 2,400 Hispanic lawyers were women. By 1993, Latinas held more than 400 public offices in the state, and in 1995, El Paso’s Dolores Briones made a bid for a congressional seat. International events impacting Texas’s Latino community include the passage of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) in 1994. NAFTA was an attempt to eliminate all trade tariffs between Canada, the United States, and Mexico within 15 years. While trade would be stimulated between the three NAFTA partners, labor unions and industry in the United States opposed the treaty because of the potential for job loss. In Mexico, agricultural prices dropped, destabilizing a variety of local, interdependent economic arenas, which led to northern migration. By 1995, more than 500,000 Mexicans were working in dangerous and highly exploitative environments of the border maquiladoras— assembly plants for goods destined for the United States. Many of those who will not or cannot find employment enter the United States as undocumented workers, hoping for agricultural jobs. As in the past, the new influx has impacted existing Latino communities, especially those near the border. The September 11,. 2001, attacks on the United States have brought the immigration debate to a head. Before the attack, laws such as the Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986) enhanced the powers of U.S. border authorities and the DEA. During the 1990s, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996) imposed severe penalties for illegal activities on the part of migrants. The 9/11 attack on the United States by foreigners exacerbated tensions in the state and led to an ongoing, often heated exchange between members of Texas’s

Texas Latino and white communities. Within each camp, those who promote more of an open-door policy for migration do so for a variety of reasons, including the need for workers in agriculture and cattle, cultural affiliations and affinities with Mexico, and the vitality that comes with the influx of new people. Those opposed to migration cite an increase in illegal activities, including drug trafficking; a decrease in job security for U.S. citizens; and the heightened risk to national security. Accusations of racism and xenophobia, lobbed by the members of one group, have been met by accusations of un-American activities by the other.

NOTABLE LATINOS García, Héctor Pérez (1914–1996). Physician and World War II veteran Héctor García established the American GI Forum in 1948 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to aid veterans in their struggles against discrimination in health, housing, education, and employment. In 1960 he created and coordinated Viva Kennedy clubs, helping to win the presidency for John F. Kennedy. He served as the U.S. alternate ambassador to the United Nations in 1967 and was appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1968. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in1984. Paredes, Americo (1915–1999). Scholar Americo Paredes laid the foundation for Mexican American studies by working on corridos and folklore of the border region. One of the most beloved professors at the University of Texas at Austin, Paredes has written a variety of works, including With a Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and its Hero, Folktales of Mexico, and A Texas Mexican Cancionero: Folksongs of the Lower Border. At UT, he founded the Center for Intercultural Studies of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. Tenayuca, Emma (1916–1999). San Antonian Emma Tenayuca worked on behalf of Latino workers in Texas during the Depression. In 1934 she organized a strike at the Finck Cigar Factory and helped to establish the Workers Alliance, an organization for the mostly female unemployed workers. In 1938 she organized the San Antonio pecan shellers’ strike in protest of low wages and working conditions. In 1939, Tenayuca became chairperson of the Texas Communist Party. Gonzalez, Henry B. (1916–2000). In 1956, Democratic candidate Henry B. Gonzalez became the first Mexican American to be elected to the Texas senate. In 1961 he became the congressman for Texas’s twentieth district and served in that capacity until 1998. During his tenure in Congress, Gonzalez promoted civil rights and served on committees investigating political corruption. Gutiérrez, José Angel (1944–). Lawyer, activist, and University of Texas at Arlington professor José Angel Gutiérrez was a founding member of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) and the Raza Unida Party. His publications include El Político: The Mexican American Elected Official (1972), A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans (1974), and The Making of a Chicano Militant: Lessons from Cristal (1998). He founded the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) at UT Arlington (1994). Cisneros, Henry (1947–). In 1981, Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican American to be elected mayor of a major American city, San Antonio. After serving four terms as

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Latino America mayor, Cisneros became the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton in 1993; he remained there until his resignation in 1997. While holding national office, he reformed the public-housing system and successfully strengthened the department. Muñoz III, Henry (1960–). Henry Muñoz III is chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Kell Muñoz Architects Inc., the largest minority-owned architectural firm in Texas. Muñoz and his team developed Mestizo Regionalism, a style incorporating the history, traditions, and cultural evolution of the Texas and Mexico borderlands. In 1999 the Smithsonian Institution appointed Muñoz to its national board of trustees, and in 2002, Muñoz was elected a vice chairman of the board. In 2001 he was appointed to the National Committee for the Performing Arts of the Kennedy Center. Haubegger, Christy (1968–). Houston native and media mogul, Christy Haubegger started Latina magazine in 1996, after she had graduated from Stanford Law School at the age of 25. Latina, a bilingual magazine, has a growing readership of 2 million people and has been ranked first out of all Latino magazines in the United States. Beyond publishing, Haubegger has also worked in film. To date, she has been an associate producer for the film Chasing Papi (2003) and an executive producer for Spanglish (2004). Rodriguez, Robert Anthony (1968–). San Antonio–born director and producer Robert Rodriguez came to national attention with his film El Mariachi (1992), which won the Audience Award at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. Rodriguez completed the trilogy’s next two films, Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). These coincided with the Spy Kids trilogy (2001–2003). He has collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on films such as From Dusk Till Dawn (1995) and Grindhouse (2007). Sin City (2005), shot nearly entirely in front of a green screen, won the Technical Grand Prize at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Quintanilla-Pérez, Selena (1971–1995). Tejano singer Selena began singing at the age of six and was known for performing at venues on both sides of the border. Her fame spread during the 1980s and culminated in the award for Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards (1987). She won a Grammy award in 1994 for her album Selena Live! and was nominated for another the following year. She was murdered at the age of 23 on March 31, 1995.

Cultural Contributions The contributions of Mexican Americans to Texas culture are reflected in the cultural mestizaje of the overall populace. Probably the most popular Latino art form is found in music. Having at its core the corrido, or ballad, the art form is based on earlier ballads from southern Spain. Peaking in popularity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, corridos relayed the conflicts and heroes of South Texas. Modern mariachi music—known for the use of guitars, violins, and brass— originated with smaller regional string groups of late-eighteenth-century Mexico.

Texas In the nineteenth century, the groups gained popularity, especially in Jalisco. Voices were added, and performers donned the traje de charro (Jalisco cowboy outfit). By the early twentieth century, mariachi music had arrived in Texas and became particularly popular in South Texas and San Antonio, where it was performed regularly in the central plaza, La Plaza del Zacate. Today mariachi music is found all over Texas and is taught at some public schools and universities. Música norteña, also known as conjunto music, was an outgrowth of música Tejana. Norteña music represents a historically based fusion of Spanish and Mexican music. Nineteenth-century French-European dance music styles are filtered through modern and contemporary Mexican and American popular music; the style differs from Tejana music in its use of the German accordion, brought in by nineteenth-century Bohemian settlers of central Texas. Always popular on ranches in the 1930s, the style was widely distributed via the radio—and, as the desire for the music grew, appeared in dance halls. Today the style is exemplified by the work of three-time Grammy winner Flaco Jimenez. The Tejano Conjunto Festival has been organized every year since 1982 by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. The Houston band La Mafia, which received Grammy awards in 1996 and 1997, has repopularized norteña music across the United States and Mexico. These popular music forms have put Texas Latino performers on the map. While traditional ballads and folk songs remain celebrated by many performers, artists like Tish Hinojosa have successfully blended and modified these forms to fit the popular music genre. El Paso native Vikki Carr has received three Grammys for her Spanish-language albums (1985, 1992, 1995), and Corpus Christi’s Selena Quintanilla received one in 1995. Most recently, Los Lonely Boys won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. During the second part of the twentieth century, visual artists from Texas also realized some success. During the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, Latino artists organized themselves into art networks. One of the most successful of these, Con Safo (1972–1975), was organized in San Antonio by art historian Jacinto Quirarte and artist Melasio Casas. This collective, dedicated to promoting the work of Chicano artists regionally and nationally, organized many small exhibitions that included their work. After the breakup of the group, a short-lived spin-off, Los Quemados, greatly enhanced the careers of now-famous artists such as Santa Barraza, Carmen Lomas Garza, César Martínez, and Amado Peña. Local political pressure and national recognition of Tejano artists have resulted in the development of Latino culture centers and galleries in major cities across the state. In 1984 the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center opened its doors in San Antonio’s largely Latino west side. Although it formed as a multidisciplinary center, the organization directed most of its efforts toward the visual arts, and the site has hosted many notable exhibitions. It has also provided space for classes

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Latino America taught by some of San Antonio’s most prominent artists, such as Kathy Vargas, Avalerio Longoria, and Jorge Peña. Other arts centers followed San Antonio’s lead. Among these, Mexic Arte and Galería sin Fronteras in Austin, both of which opened in the 1980s, have proven to be two of the most long-lived. More recently, in 2003, the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas opened its doors to a variety of artists in the literary, theatrical, musical, and visual-arts fields. In 2007, San Antonio launched the opening of the largest Latino museum in the nation, the Museo Alameda. This Smithsonian-affiliated museum is dedicated to the display of Latino arts and history. The state’s distinctive cuisine, known as Tex-Mex food, was introduced early in the colonial period as a hybrid of Spanish and Native American food. The ranching culture of South Texas provided the core ingredients of many dishes: beef and cabrito (kid goat). These are supplemented by variously prepared pinto beans, rice, and tortillas. Among the innovative dishes served in restaurants and at taquerias throughout the state are chili con carne, chimichangas, fajitas, and hard-shell tacos. Fried tortilla chips served as an appetizer with picante sauce or pico de gallo (chopped onions, tomatoes, and chilies) are also Tejano innovations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Acosta, Teresa Palomo, and Ruthe Winegarten. Las Tejanas: 300 Years of History. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003. Acuña, Rodolfo. Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2000. Adams, Jerome R. Greasers and Gringos: The Historical Roots of Anglo-Hispanic Prejudice. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. Cabeza de Vaca, Alvarado Núñez. Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America. Translated and annotated by Cyclone Covey. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983. Graham, Joe S. El Rancho in South Texas: Continuity and Change from 1750. Exhibition catalogue from John E. Conner Museum, Texas A&M Kingsville. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 1994. Hardin, Stephen L. “Efficient in the Cause.” In Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 49–71. Hoefer, Michael, Nancy Rytina, and Christopher Campbell. “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2005.” Washington, DC: Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security, 2006. Jackson, Jack. Los Mesteños: Spanish Ranching in Texas, 1721–1821. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1986. Jones, C. Allan. Texas Roots: Agriculture and Rural Life Before the Civil War. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2005.

Texas Kessell, John L. Spain in the Southwest: A Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. Matovian, Timothy M. “Between Two Worlds” In Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 73–87. McKenzie, Phyllis. The Mexican Texans. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 2004. Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836–1986. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. Ortego y Gasca, Philip D. The Tejano Yearbook, 1519: A Selective Chronicle of the Hispanic Presence in Texas. San Antonio, Texas: Caravel Press, 1978. Passell, Jeffrey S. “The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.” Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center, 2006. Poyo, Gerald Eugene. “Community and Autonomy.” In Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 1–13. Pycior, Julie Leininger. LBJ and Mexican Americans: The Paradox of Power. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Soltero, Carlos R. Latinos and American Law: Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. Teja, Jesús F. de la. “Rebellion on the Frontier.” In Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 15–31. Texas Almanac. http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/timeline/early. Texas History Timeline (Key Events in Early History). http://www.lsjunction.com/events/ events.htm. Thompson, Jerry D. Mexican Texans in the Union Army. El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso, Texas Western Press, 1986. Tijerina, Andrés. “Under the Mexican Flag.” In Tejano Journey, 1770–1850. Ed. Gerald E. Poyo. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996, 33–47. ———. Tejanos and Texas Under the Mexican Flag, 1821–1836. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1994. University of Texas at Austin. Online handbook. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/ online/articles/LL/ryl2.html. Zamora, Cynthia Orozco, and Rodolfo Rocha, eds. Mexican Americans in Texas History. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2000.

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A ten-man expedition from Santa Fe, led by Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante, visits Utah. Mormon pioneers arrive in Utah. An influx of manitos (self-reference for Spanish-surnamed people from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado) arrive to work for churchowned sheep-herding operations in southern Utah. Their primary area of settlement in Utah is in the town of Monticello (in San Juan County), in the southeastern corner of the territory. Mexican and Mexican American laborers arrive to work in beet fields of Utah. A strike in Bingham Canyon leads to the recruitment of several thousand Mexican strike breakers from throughout the West to work in area copper mines. The dramatic increase in Mexican nationals leads to the establishment of a consulate in Salt Lake City. The first consul was José Lozano. The three Rivera sisters, early Mormon converts from Mexico, arrive in Salt Lake City. These women, and their husbands and offspring, all played active roles both in proselytizing other Spanish-speaking people and in establishing the first Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) organizations in Utah that were specifically Mexican. Mutual aid societies, such as the Cruz Azul and Union y Patria, are established in northern Utah.

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The first Cinco de Mayo and Diez y Seis de Septiembre commemorations take place in downtown Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Catholic Diocese conducts its first systematic survey of Salt Lake City’s Mexican population. The Rama Mexicana is established in the LDS Church to serve the socalled Mexican population of the capital city. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission is established on the west side of Salt Lake City. The mission is staffed by several Mexican nuns of the Order of Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Father James Collins arrives at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission. He serves the comunidad (community) of the west side of Salt Lake City until his death in 1957. The Centro Cívico Mexicano (Mexican Civic Center), a social and fraternal organization, is established in Salt Lake City. Vicente Mayer, who arrived in 1924 to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, serves as the CCM’s first president. Spanish-speaking people from New Mexico, Colorado, Mexico, and Puerto Rico arrive in Utah and work in various industrial sectors during the years of WWII. Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission is granted parish status by the Salt Lake Catholic Diocese. The Sociedad Protecion Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos (Society for the Mutual Protection of United Workers) is established in Salt Lake City

Utah

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and Ogden. This entity serves primarily as a manito response to the Centro Cívico Mexicano, which is perceived to be too Mexican. American GI Forum (an organization of Latino veterans) establishes branches in Ogden and Salt Lake City. Rama Mexicana is granted ward status by LDS hierarchy, and its name is changed to the Lucero Ward in June.1 Father Jerald H. Merrill arrives at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. He helps guide the parish through several years of social activism, which lead to the establishment of a credit union, a school, the Guadalupe Community Center, and one of the first Mexican-food restaurants in Salt Lake City (La Morena Café, named in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe). The cafe’s profits often subsidized some of the other entities established by the diocese and parish. Father Merrill and Orlando Rivera (a University of Utah professor and a member of the Lucero Ward) help establish a Chicano civil rights organization called SOCIO (Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity, and Opportunity) in Salt Lake City. Several Chicano student organizations are founded at various Utah state college campuses throughout the decade. The federal census counts a total of 43,550 “persons of Spanishlanguage” living in the state of Utah. The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake establishes its Diocesan Office of the Spanish-Speaking. It is estimated that Latinos now constitute approximately one half of all Catholics in the state of Utah. Gilbert Ramirez is named Chicano ombudsman for the state of Utah. This office is now called the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs and is part of the Utah Department of Community and Culture. Construction begins on a low-income housing project on the west side of Salt Lake City. The project is named Escalante Park. The Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD, a part of SOCIO) is established in Salt Lake City. The entity’s goal is to seek grants from governmental and private charitable agencies in order to fund (and manage) social-welfare programs designed to benefit the state’s Latino community. The IHRD still exists, but now operates under the name Centro de La Familia (Center for the Family). John Ulibarri (representing part of Weber County) and Rey Florez (representing a section of Salt Lake County) are elected to the Utah House of Representatives, becoming the first Latinos to serve in the legislature. Florez died in office in 1980, and his widow, Bobbie Florez, took his place, serving until 1986. Mexicanos (Mexicans), primarily from town of Juchipila (in Zacatecas state), begin arriving to work in the casino industry in Wendover, Nevada (now named West Wendover), which borders the town of Wendover, Utah.

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SOCIO ceases operation. The federal census counts a total of 84,597 “Hispanics” in the state of Utah. Community activist Eliud “Pete” Suazo is elected to the Utah House of Representatives. In 1996 he becomes the first Latino ever to serve in the Utah Senate. Andrew Valdez is appointed to serve as judge of Utah’s Third District Juvenile Court; he is the first Latino judge in the state. A study by the LDS Church notes that Spanish speakers account for almost one-third of the world’s Mormons. The federal census counts a total of 201,559 Hispanics in the state of Utah (approximately 11 percent of the state’s total population). State Senator Eluid “Pete” Suazo dies in an ATV accident in the La Sal Mountains in August. Research by Pew Hispanic counts a total of 264,010 Hispanics in the state of Utah—a 34 percent increase since the last federal census five years earlier. Officially, Latinos now account for 10.8 percent of the state’s population; community activists believe the actual number is closer to 15 percent. The LDS Church reports that there are 62 Spanish-speaking wards or branches in Salt Lake County, with another 25 and 35 in the neighboring counties of Davis and Utah. A new estimate by the Census Bureau places the total number of Latinos in Utah at around 278,000.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW A Salt Lake Tribune article dated April 25, 2006, conveyed the story of Jaime and Carmen De Leon, both natives of Chihuahua, Mexico, who now are small entrepreneurs in the city of Ogden. The family moved to the Beehive State in 2000, having given up a carpet-cleaning business in Anaheim in hope of leaving behind the negative influences of gangs and southern California congestion. Shortly thereafter, the couple took a chance by leasing an old boxing gym and opening a carnicería (meat market) in a run-down section of the downtown of this historic railroad city. Over the past few years, the enterprise has prospered and now offers not just meats, but a full line of Mexican grocery items. The undertaking has proven so successful that the De Leons recently opened a second establishment to serve a constantly growing customer base. The family’s business success, and the location where they have achieved it, have both been pleasant surprises. Utah might not have been the De Leons’ first choice, but as Carmen stated, “I’ve never imagined retiring here. Now, I am looking forward to it.”2 At first glance, Utah certainly is not the first locale most would expect to feature a vibrant and diverse Spanish-speaking community. However, a closer examination of the state’s history reveals that Spanish-surnamed people have

Utah contributed greatly to Utah’s economic and social development. Most people’s perception of the Beehive State is that the population is not very diverse. To an extent, such assumptions are correct, for a brief overview of Utah’s demographics reveal that whites constitute approximately 83.5 percent of the populace, but this does not tell the whole story.3 Although the overwhelming majority of Latinos live in Utah’s urban core (stretching from Ogden to Provo and covering an area of approximately 100 miles) by the year 2000, Spanish-surnamed people have lived and worked in all of Utah’s 29 counties.4 Recent studies by historians and other scholars have shed light upon the social, economic, and religious story of this community.

UTAH: THE COLONIAL AND MEXICAN ERAS (1765–1847) The territory of modern Utah did not generate much interest among the bureaucrats who governed Spain’s colonial enterprise. Researchers who have analyzed this period note that, although Juan Coronado’s expedition came close to crossing the current southern boundary in 1540, another two hundred years passed before agents of the Catholic Church and imperial Spain set foot within Utah’s modern borders. Recent evidence suggests that Juan Maria Antonio Rivera did make it to the Colorado River, near the present-day tourist town of Moab, in 1765. However, for all intents and purposes, it was not until 1776, with the arrival of a party led by Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante, that a well-documented foray into Utah by Europeans finally took place. The undertaking, often incorrectly referred to as the Escalante Expedition by many Utahans, had its genesis in an assignment given to Fray Dominguez by his superiors in 1775. Dominguez’s responsibilities included reporting on the current status of all New Mexico missions, surveying the condition of the archives in Santa Fe, and most importantly, searching for an overland route between Santa Fe and newly established missions in Monterey, California. Fray Dominguez completed his first two tasks by the early spring of 1776, then ordered his subordinate, Father Velez (who was serving at a nearby Zuni mission), to join him in undertaking the final responsibility. The initial departure date, set for July 4, was forestalled until July 29. Eight men were asked to accompany the priests; the most important of these was Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, a retired military engineer who produced several important maps (although with some glaring inaccuracies) after the expedition. The men traveled through northern New Mexico and into southern Colorado for the first few weeks of their journey; they finally camped near present-day Jensen, Utah, on September 11, 1776 (in the northeast corner of the state, near Dinosaur National Monument). Two weeks later, the explorers arrived on the eastern shore of what is now known as Utah Lake (near Provo) and met local Ute Indians. The natives asked the Spaniards to remain and instruct them in

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Latino America Christianity and informed the explorers of nearby physical features (including the existence of an unusually salty lake that lay to the north). In addition to providing positive commentaries regarding the area’s inhabitants and the natives’ desire for conversion, the fathers’ journal also noted that the locale, which they christened La Valle de Nuestra Senora de la Merced (now known as Utah Valley), teemed with wildlife and good lands suitable for growing grain and grazing cattle. After a three-day respite, the party continued in a southwesterly direction. Unfortunately, on October 8, the men became snowbound near present-day Milford, and it was there that Fray Dominguez suggested the expedition give up its quest to reach Monterey. The laymen, who hoped to profit from opening a new trade route, argued in favor of continuing. The priests then suggested that the party consult God in order to determine a final decision. On October 11, the party cast lots, and the decision was made to return to Santa Fe.5 The expedition, although it failed to reach Alta California, had important repercussions for Utah history. As a result of the information gathered by the Dominguez-Velez de Escalante enterprise, beginning in the early 1800s, Spanish—and later Mexican and American—traders (including slave dealers) and trappers came with increasing regularity to the Great Basin area. The trend generated extensive contacts with native inhabitants, but also fostered intense rivalries between Mexicans and Americans who sought to profit and affirm their respective nation’s dominance in the region. The maps and information generated by some of the mountain men proved invaluable to Mormon pioneers who arrived in the area by the late 1840s.6

LATINOS IN UTAH: THE TERRITORIAL AND EARLY STATEHOOD ERAS (1847–1940) In July of 1847, Brigham Young led his flock into the Salt Lake Valley and declared that “this is the place” where the Mormons would establish their homeland—free, hopefully, from the prying eyes of the U.S. government (even though Utah was, at this time, still part of Mexico). Arriving in the lands where they hoped to establish their version of Zion, the members of the LDS Church utilized a two-pronged approach to establish dominion over the territory: first, through a gradual expansion of settlements both north and south of the Salt Lake Valley; and second, via the creation of specific colonies (such as Cedar City and St. George) far beyond initial settlements to take advantage of natural resources and to produce specific goods.7 One such undertaking was the establishment of LDS-owned livestock operations in the southern part of the territory. Here, the paths of Mormon pioneers and Spanish-speaking people intersected during the last decades of the nineteenth century.

Utah The primary meeting place for this interaction was in and around the town of Monticello, located in southeastern Utah (in present-day San Juan County). Here both groups toiled to improve homesteads and cared for sheep and cattle. Many of the local Latinos, the majority of whom traced their ancestry back to northern New Mexico or southern Colorado, served as vaqueros and sheepherders at church-owned ranches. Catholic Church records show that the first baptism of a Spanish-surnamed Utah-born child took place in this community (in 1900). By 1920 several hundred Spanish speakers resided in the area, making a positive contribution to the local economy while also holding on to their religious and ethnic traditions. As the rest of the territory became more interconnected to the industrial economy of the United States (Utah entered the Union in 1896), Monticello served as a gateway to Spanish-surnamed individuals who headed north in search of employment in the new state’s expanding agricultural, mining, and transportation industries.8 In the last decades of the nineteenth century, capitalist development commenced the integration of Utah into the broader national market. Key developments in this process included the discovery of gold, silver, and copper by the mid-1860s and the arrival of railroad connections to other western cities (even prior to statehood). Such undertakings generated a need for unskilled labor and migrants from Sweden, Italy, and Greece; some Latinos also heeded the call for

Mexican and mexicano traqueros at work on Union Pacific tracks in northern Utah, c. 1920s. Used by permission, Utah State Historical Society, all rights reserved.

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Latino America workers. In addition, the state’s production of sugar beets increased dramatically during the years of World War I, and that helped bring more Latinos to toil in the fields of Box Elder County and elsewhere. Finally, the growth of mining and commercial agriculture necessitated the expansion of railroad facilities. This attracted still more mexicanos and Mexican Americans. It is estimated that by the early 1920s, 40 percent of the track labor between Salt Lake City and Milford was Spanish-surnamed. The sum total of this economic activity is partly reflected in the 1920 census, which documented a total of 1,666 persons of Mexican birth living in the state. By 1930 this figure had increased to slightly more than 4,000. As the Latino population expanded, individuals within the community took it upon themselves to establish organizations designed to meet cultural, social, and economic needs. Among the associations established during the 1920s and 1930s were a few mutuales (mutual aid societies) such as the Cruz Azul (the Mexican Blue Cross), Union y Patria (Unity and Nation), and most importantly, the Centro Cívico Mexicano (Mexican Civic Center). In general, such entities provided members with opportunities to celebrate national and other holidays; to pool meager earnings to help neighbors with medical and burial expenses; and to teach children about the history and culture of la patria (the nation). While the various societies assisted many and fostered a sense of ethnic orgullo (pride), the devastating impact of the Great Depression led to the demise, with the exception of the Centro Cívico Mexicano, of all of the early organizations by 1940. Religious associations also played a key role in the early development of the community. Not surprisingly, the two principal denominations functioning within the west side of Salt Lake City (the primary sector of concentration for Spanish speakers) were the Catholic and LDS churches. In 1920 the Diocese of Salt Lake (which encompassed the entire state) conducted its first census of the area’s so-called Mexican population. Administrators found approximately 100 familias living and working near two railroad depots in the downtown area. The priest who oversaw the undertaking, Father Francis Alva, argued that the diocese needed to be more aggressive and “protect” this flock from the “many preachers of all kinds who are after them.” Alva called for the establishment of a mission to serve the needs of the families. The cash-strapped diocese managed, with the assistance of Mexican nuns (from the Order of Sisters of Perpetual Adoration) to establish the Guadalupe Mission in 1927. In 1930, Father James Collins arrived at the facility. Through the efforts of these dedicated individuals, the mission offered religious services, language classes, sporting activities, and a summer day camp for neighborhood children throughout the 1930s. The LDS Church was also active in the barrio as the three Rivera sisters, converts from Mexico who arrived in Salt Lake City in 1919, were charged by the

Utah church hierarchy to begin ministering to su gente (your people) around the beet fields of Box Elder County. The Riveras (in conjunction with other Spanishspeaking converts who arrived in the early 1920s) were successful in proselytizing, and in May of 1923, the LDS Church established the Rama Mexicana (Mexican branch). The services provided paralleled those at Guadalupe Mission. In addition to religious ceremonies, the branch held patriotic and ethnic festivals and dances and provided members with mechanisms for mutual assistance. However, some differences caused tensions within the comunidad. The Rama Mexicana, for example, which was led by white church officials during these years, provided congregants with better access to information about jobs than was available to attendees at Guadalupe. This proved particularly valuable during the years of the Great Depression, when the Spanish-speaking population in Utah declined precipitously (the number, as tabulated by the Census Bureau, dropped from more than 4,000 to less than 1,100). By maintaining ties with the most important institution in the state of Utah, Latino converts had access to a more extensive range of social services than their Catholic brethren. Finally, some members of the two groups refused to permit their children to attend dances or to socialize with Latinos not of their particular denomination.9 The tensions among some of the adherents to the two denominations was only just beginning during this era; in many ways, these tensions continue to be part of Latino life in Utah.

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UTAH: THE WORLD WAR II ERA (1940–1945)

Not surprisingly, the years of World War II were quite positive, in an economic sense, for Utah. A dramatic increase in federal spending led to the employment of more than sixty thousand civilians in a variety of defense-related manufacturing plants, along with various military bases and depots established during the conflict. Between 1940 and 1945, Uncle Sam issued more than $1 billion in war contracts to local companies and spent another $430 million constructing facilities. Not surprisingly, the increased commercial activity stimulated a renewed interest among Latinos (primarily manitos) to either return, or move for the first time, to the Beehive State. Unlike other western states, Utah did not attract a large number of braceros during World War II; only about 600 to 700 of these workers toiled in the area. Indeed, the principal attraction for Spanish-surnamed individuals was the proliferation of industrial, mining, and railroad work. Not surprisingly, the majority of new arrivals lived in the state’s urban core and toiled for large companies such as Remington (in Salt Lake City); U.S. Steel Geneva Works (in Provo); Utah Copper and Kennecott Copper (in Bingham Canyon, a western suburb of the capital); the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (in Salt Lake City); and the Union Pacific Railroad (in Ogden). While the men employed by corporate behemoths did not experience complete

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Latino America equality and opportunity, most earned more than they had prior to the war years, and a few even managed to move into low-level supervisory positions (such as foremen) that had not previously been open to Spanish-surnamed personnel. Many Latinas took advantage of opportunities in other sectors of the state’s economy—specifically, in the areas of food processing and domestic work. Key employers of Spanish-speaking women during these years included Purity Biscuit, Utah Poultry, Sweet Candies, the Hotel Utah, American Laundry, and Star Laundry. Like their male counterparts, the majority of mujeres (women) were not provided with the opportunity to move into supervisory positions, but the steady work contributed to the economic stability of familias. Whereas most Latinas remained in industries considered traditional women’s employment, some did break down barriers and move into fields such as manufacturing or transportation. One such pioneer was Clotilda Gomez, who worked at a Salt Lake City railroad yard during the war. Not surprisingly, she was subjected to a daily dose of sexual harassment. She tolerated this ill treatment to provide for her four children. In a 1987 interview, Gomez noted that she endured maltreatment not only to earn a decent living, but because she felt she contributed to the war effort. Further, she argued that overcoming such obstacles had a dramatic impact on her sense of self-worth. “I think women changed from that era . . . [they took] this change in their lives in order to make decisions and work. Even among the Mexican families there started being a change with the women because they realized they were equal to men.”10 The economic upturn increased the level of diversity (and divisions) within the Spanish-speaking community of Utah as Bingham Canyon employers aggressively pursued laborers from Puerto Rico, bringing hundreds of islanderos (islanders) to the area beginning in 1943. The Boricuas (a Puerto Rican term of self-reference) faced many of the same problems earlier Latinos had endured in local mines— specifically, laboring in the lowest-paying and most demanding positions with little chance of promotion. Further, the Puerto Ricans endured discrimination from their fellow Spanish speakers, who considered the new arrivals to be foreigners who posed a grave threat to the jobs and families of veteranos (some of whom had been in Bingham since the late 1910s). The local Mexican consulate, Carlos Grimm, even stated that mexicanos should not sympathize with the Puerto Ricans, because “Spanish blood did not diffuse through Puerto Rico. During the early slave trading days, Negro blood mixed with that of the Puerto Ricans.”11 While the manitos and mexicanos in Utah found common ground in their disdain of Boricuas, this did not end all the obstacles between those two Spanishspeaking clusters. Debates and divisions regarding who was a real Mexican (so to speak), and who was not, continued unabated. The differences were so acute that many manitos refused to attend the Centro Cívico Mexicano functions (and many mexicanos did not want the manitos there), instead establishing their own union

Utah and mutual aid society right after the end of the war ( Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos, or the Society for the Mutual Protection of United Workers). This association, which established branches in both Salt Lake City and Ogden, continued to operate into the early 1960s. The growth of the Spanish-speaking community in Utah during the war years also had a dramatic impact upon both the Guadalupe Mission and the Rama Mexicana. The congregations grew, and by the end of the war, Guadalupe had been designated a parish by the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, and the Rama counted more than 120 congregants. The war years were beneficial in various ways, with steady pay and occupational opportunities evident for some of the Latinos of Utah. Still, this did not mean that the comunidad was internally united or that the majority of the state population was willing to accept Spanish-surnamed men, women, and children as equals. A great many issues remained unresolved, with a key question being how these Latinos would fit into Utah society after the end of World War II.

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UTAH: THE POSTWAR YEARS (1946–1967)

While Latinos’ efforts during the war years may not have changed the attitudes of all members of the white majority, important changes did take place within the Utah comunidad. After 1945 many individuals who had worked in the state’s industries and military facilities—and who had fought for their country in European and the Pacific theaters—refused to accept second-class citizenship any longer. These Spanish-surnamed men and women of the Beehive State accepted, as did their brethren in other states, the rhetoric of equality and brotherhood often and loudly proclaimed by the U.S. government. One veterano, Epifanio Gonzalez, captured the determination of this group accurately when, after returning home (having earned a Silver Star), he was denied the opportunity to buy a home on the east side of Salt Lake City. He asked, “How would you feel if you came [home] decorated, you fought your heart out in the war, and you say, ‘Now I am an American. I’m just as good as anybody.’ And then, all of a sudden, you’re just a second class citizen.”12 Discrimination against and the social and economic conditions of Latinos in Utah, while not as virulent as in other states, were less than ideal. An examination of any Census Bureau statistical measure from the 1950s and 1960s reveals that Spanish speakers lagged well behind the rest of Utah society. For example, they were poorer, the graduation rates for Spanish-surnamed children were quite low, and a disproportionately large percentage of the community’s workers were employed in low-skilled, low-paying positions. In addition, many property owners in the state refused to rent or sell to Latinos outside of certain neighborhoods. During the postwar years, various organizations worked to challenge such trends.

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Latino America During the 1950s and 1960s, the Centro Cívico Mexicano took the lead in providing services to the population on the west side of Salt Lake City. The Centro offered its membership a broad range of benefits, including sporting activities, reduced insurance payments, radio broadcasts, and classes designed to reinforce culture and traditions. The staff and congregants from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish often helped in these efforts. In addition, the Salt Lake Diocese established a Catholic elementary school and a community clinic in the barrio during the 1950s. Another entity that sought to improve circumstances in the community was the American GI Forum (AGIF), a veterans’ and civil rights organization that established branches in Ogden in 1954 and in Salt Lake City in 1955. The two local groups called for equal rights and fair treatment for Latinos, raised money for scholarships, and sought to end both employment and housing discrimination. Though the goals of the AGIF were commendable, the Utah branches were fairly ineffective in the face of suspicions among some in the Latino populace—and the broader society as well—that the AGIF was actually a front for communist infiltrators. The Utah branches spent so much time trying to prove their members’ worthiness, that they had little time left to effectively articulate their message and work for social justice. Leaders from the two principal Latino-based congregations, the Guadalupe Parish and the newly renamed Lucero Ward (the former Rama Mexicana), were also active in challenging conditions endured by the Spanish-surnamed people of Utah. After the death of Father Collins (in 1957), several priests came and went in rapid succession until 1961. At that time, Father Jerald H. Merrill arrived and led an effort to make the parish a more active participant in community affairs. During his time as pastor, Father Merrill established a branch of the Guadalupana Society (a service organization for Catholic women), a cursillo (literally, “little course”) movement (a service and religious program for Catholic men), as well as a cooperative food market, a Catholic credit union, and a center for barrio dwellers to gather and discuss local issues. All of these endeavors generated a larger social-action footprint for the parish, which was well in tune with the progressive changes brought about as a result of Vatican II. By June of 1960 Lucero Ward had grown to a total of 467 members, and this led to a change in status. The first leader of the Lucero congregation was Robert H. Burton, who was quite sympathetic to the plight and concerns of local Latinos, but who took a more conservative approach to remedying the circumstances extant in the barrio. As was common in earlier decades, Burton encouraged his congregants to develop their English skills and pursue educational opportunities in order to improve their lot. Given the historical context of the mid-1960s, this advice, while valuable, was clearly out of step. The Lucero Ward’s view of social progress changed dramatically in 1966, when Orlando Rivera (an educational psychology professor at the University of

Utah Utah) took over the group’s leadership. “The injustice of racism, he felt, affected all of the Spanish-surnamed people . . . regardless of denominational affiliation.”13 This led Rivera to seek common cause with Father Merrill (and others) in order to create an entity that, hopefully, would unite all of Utah’s Latinos in order to challenge social ills more effectively. The end result of their collaboration was the birth of an organization with the acronym of SOCIO (SpanishSpeaking Organization for Community, Integrity, and Opportunity), which means “good friend” in Spanish. During the next two decades (the group commenced operations in March of 1968) SOCIO and its leadership helped improve the social and economic circumstances of the Spanish-speaking population of the state of Utah. 14

LATINOS IN UTAH: THE CHICANO MOVEMENT AND REAGAN ERA (1968–1990) With the genesis of SOCIO, Utah Latinos established a nondenominational association with the goal of improving their social and economic circumstances. SOCIO’s charter noted that it would “act consistently and lawfully to establish and maintain justice in all areas affecting the well being of the Spanish-speaking person and community.” The hope was to overcome the religious and ethnic divisions that had split the group in previous decades and work to open up educational and occupational possibilities for all members of the comunidad.15 To accomplish this task, SOCIO’s leadership decided early on that the entity would not take a confrontational stand against the broader society. The Spanishspeaking people of the Beehive State continued to lag behind fellow Utahans in the areas of economics and education, but in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they still constituted only around four percent of the state’s population. Therefore, Merrill, Rivera, and others believed that if SOCIO “worked with” Utah’s political and business leadership, it would accomplish more than with ethnic militancy. In sum the leadership cadre envisioned that their group would “work with the system in such a way that changes some rules that amount to . . . artificial barriers” holding their people back. In cooperation with state and local governments, area school boards, and various law enforcement agencies, SOCIO undertook a broad range of programs designed to improve the daily existence and opportunities of Latinos. Among the plethora of cooperative efforts undertaken during these years were job and managerial training programs; health education; efforts to reduce recidivism among criminal offenders; new curricula in schools to help reduce the dropout rate; and affordable housing, among many other efforts. Of particular importance was the creation, in 1974, of the Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD). The entity’s goal was to seek grants from governmental and private agencies in order to

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Latino America fund (and manage) social-welfare programs designed to benefit the Latino population. Among the graduates of this organization’s training programs was Eliud “Pete” Suazo, who would go on to become an important community activist and Utah’s first Latino state senator. The IHRD continues to operate to this day, though now under the name of the Centro de La Familia (the Center for the Family). SOCIO also worked to improve the lines of communication between the Spanish-speaking community and state government. To that end, under the administration of Governor Calvin Rampton, the chief executive began meeting on a regular basis with SOCIO’s leaders. Further, Rampton established the position of Chicano ombudsman within the bureaucracy to provide Latinos a direct link to state government. Gilbert Ramirez was the first individual to occupy this position (starting in 1973). In subsequent years, the ombudsman position evolved; now Utah has an office of state government dedicated specifically to minority issues (the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs). This ombudsman post, in concurrence with the election of the first two Latino state representatives, John Ulibarri and Rey Florez, helped increase awareness within state government of issues and concerns of the Spanish-surnamed. In the area of schooling, the University of Utah, in conjunction with SOCIO and the Ford Foundation, invested monies in an effort to provide access to higher education to young men and women from the comunidad. Starting in 1969, the institution created a recruitment program that sought out recent high-school graduates from the west side of Salt Lake City and gave them an opportunity to attend the state’s flagship institution of higher learning. Such efforts also led to the establishment of Chicano-themed classes and organizations not only at the University of Utah, but at most of the state’s colleges and universities. The Latino population of Utah continued to grow during the 1970s and 1980s, and by 1990, the federal census counted a total of almost 85,000 Latinos. The group, however, also became more diverse (both ethnically and economically) during these decades. One major contributor to this trend was the LDS Church’s continued missionary activity throughout Latin America. Not surprisingly, many new Mormones (who hailed from places like Peru, Chile, and Argentina) decided to come to the city that stands at the heart of their denomination. Many of these recent converts were professionals in their native lands and have, over subsequent years, reestablished professional licensure or founded business enterprises. As a result, a fairly substantive gap now exists between the economic and social standing of many Mormones versus that of their mostly Catholic brethren.16 A second group that arrived in fairly large numbers during the 1980s comprised migrants (both documented and undocumented) from Mexico. These individuals took jobs in the restaurants, clubs, and other facilities in many of Utah’s thriving tourist locations (for example, in the Nevada border town of Wendover and in the ski town of Park City). In addition, other mexicanos came to work in the beef and

Utah poultry processing industries in communities such as Hyrum and Moroni.17 By the end of the decade, the broader population of Utah was noticing the dramatic increase in the Latino population—sometimes with very negative results, as demonstrated by a series of very public (and poorly administered) raids by the INS in places such as Wendover (in 1986).18 Another reason for the growing economic diversity (disparity) among Latinos by the end of the 1980s was the success of programs started by SOCIO. The entity that did so much to improve life for the Spanish speakers of Utah appeared to have a bright future when members gathered in 1985 to commemorate the group’s 17th anniversary. Indeed, there was even talk about buying a building and establishing a permanent and independent office for the organization (the group had been previously housed at University of Utah and, later, at Salt Lake City government facilities). It was not to be, and SOCIO ceased operations in 1986. What accounted for the demise of this once thriving enterprise? The group, which had been an all-volunteer entity at the beginning, shifted to a paid staff by the middle of the 1970s. Once that happened, Orlando Rivera argued, many people lost interest. Also, Rivera believed, the group was successful in achieving many of its goals in economic and educational advancement. Once this happened, many in the membership drifted away to follow other pursuits.19 Overall, one could argue that the Chicano Movement era was both a success and a failure in Utah. While SOCIO, working in conjunction with government and business leaders throughout the state, managed to open up many opportunities for some in the comunidad, the Beehive State’s economy also attracted many new Latinos during the 1980s who have not achieved as much social and economic progress. While many Mormon converts have been able to establish themselves in Utah since the end of the Reagan era, other mexicanos, who are less educated and mostly Catholic, have found a tougher road, with little beyond low-skilled and low-paying occupations available within the state’s economy.

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UTAH TODAY (1991–2007)

The economic and social differences (and other demographic trends) that were apparent by the end of the 1980s have become more pronounced in recent years. The Latino community of Utah has continued to grow and become even more diverse, with new migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and elsewhere moving into the state. In addition, the growing economic divergence noted in the 1980s had become even more pronounced by the end of the next decade. In regard to education, the percentage of Latinos in Utah with high-school diplomas actually declined by the middle of the 1990s. Another negative trend was a consistent rise in the number, and disproportionate representation of, Latinos incarcerated

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Latino America within the Utah penal bureaucracy. In 1995, for example, when Spanishsurnamed individuals made up around 6 percent of the total population, more than 18 percent of Utah inmates were of Spanish-speaking backgrounds. In general, it is correct to state that the economic and social progress of Latinos in Utah has been quite uneven in the years since the demise of SOCIO. The door to opportunity may have been opened for some, but certainly not for all.20 During the 1990s, a series of disturbing incidents took place throughout the state. To many community activists, these events indicated that Latinos were still viewed by many as necessary for economic development, but not fully accepted as equal members of Utah society. Two examples will suffice to demonstrate this unsettling pattern. In 1997 police raided a successful Latino business, La Diana Bakery, on the west side of Salt Lake City. The constables were under the assumption that “more than tortillas were being made in the factory.” The drug raid netted no illegal substances or guns. Even after State Senator Pete Suazo vouched for the honesty and character of owner Rafael Gomez, police remained suspicious. While the diligent officers assured Suazo and Gomez that they would “continue their investigation,” no charges were ever filed.21 In 1998 the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Salt Lake City police officials worked out an arrangement whereby local law enforcement would investigate whether arrested individuals were in the United States illegally. The Utah Office of Hispanics Affairs and various grassroots organizations protested, arguing that local officers were not responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws and that such a directive would result in painting all of Utah’s Latinos as illegals. The community’s efforts were enough to pressure the Salt Lake City Council to vote against the cross-deputizing effort.22 In addition to events like the ones described, by the early 2000s, Utah’s citizenry and political leadership were engrossed in a series of heated debates regarding Latino-themed issues, such as 1) whether to have driver’s-license exams in Spanish; 2) how to increase the graduation rate of Latinos in Utah schools; 3) whether to continue to provide children of undocumented workers with in-state tuition at Utah universities and colleges; and 4) the passage of hate crimes legislation targeted at protecting the state’s ethnic minorities. All of these trends demonstrate that, contrary to what many people may think, Utah is not on the periphery of the United States’ Latino-based political issues; rather, it is front and center in this passionate national discussion. Through recent and ongoing research by historians and other social scientists, it has been shown that Latinos have always played a significant role in the economic, social, and political history of the Beehive State. As numbers of the Spanish-surnamed, both Mormon and non-Mormon, continue to arrive in Salt Lake City and elsewhere throughout Utah, they will continue to strive to improve their communities and bring even more of a Latin sabor (flavor) to this corner of the intermountain West.

Utah

NOTABLE LATINOS Merrill, Jerald H. (1924–2005). Catholic priest Rev. Jerald H. Merrill had a long and varied career, much of which he dedicated to serving the Latino community in Utah. He graduated with a chemical-engineering degree from the University of Utah in 1948 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1958. He worked in the Diocese of Salt Lake between 1958 and 1982. During this time, he was one of the leaders of SOCIO. He resigned his position, married, and later became an Episcopal priest. He dedicated his second priestly ministry to serving the homeless in and around downtown Salt Lake City. Rivera, Orlando (1930–2006). Orlando Rivera was born in La Jara, Colorado, and raised in an LDS family. He worked as a sheepherder in southern Colorado in his youth and was dedicated to bringing about social change for Latinos in Utah during his entire professional career. He came to the University of Utah in the late 1950s and eventually served as coordinator for the Rehabilitation Counselor Training Program. He was a member of the Lucero Ward and one of the leaders in the establishment and history of SOCIO. He was also a member of the Utah Council of La Raza and other Latino-based civic organizations. Florez, John (1932–). John Florez was born on the west side of Salt Lake City, the son of a railroad worker and a housewife (who also served the community as a curandera, or healer). He graduated from West High School in 1951 and attended the University of Utah. Upon his graduation, he became involved with social programs and groups designed to help the poor—specifically, the Latino population of Utah. He has served various Utah politicians in many capacities, including in the U.S. Department of Labor and on the staff of Senator Orrin Hatch. He is a member of more than 40 state and local volunteer boards. Suazo, Eliud “Pete” (1951–2001). Utah Senator Eliud “Pete” Suazo was born in 1951, the son of a manito and manita who came to work in Utah during the years of World War II. Suazo graduated from West High School in 1968 and became involved with various programs operated by SOCIO. He attended the University of Utah (receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1973 and a master’s degree in 1978) and was involved in the founding of the campus’s MEChA chapter. He worked for a variety of public-service organizations in both New Mexico and Utah. He worked as a grant writer for IHRD and eventually served in the administrations of two Salt Lake City mayors. He won a seat in the Utah House in 1992, then moved on to the Utah Senate in 1996. Tragically, he was killed in an ATV accident in August of 2001.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Latinos have made many important contributions to Utah through a variety of community and Christian Church–related organizations. For example, the presence of a Latino LDS population has made it possible for the Church to recruit other Spanish-speaking people to their fold (both in the United States and elsewhere in the world). Starting in 1923 with the Rama Mexicana—renamed the Lucero Ward— and now, many other such entities—the dramatic growth in the number of Latino

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Latino America Mormons in Utah is a testament to the Church’s success in recruiting Spanish speakers to their fold. This is in part because of the efforts of Mormones from the local area. For many years, during the early part of the twentieth century, the Rama was a constant presence in Salt Lake City (and other areas of the state and the West) representing aspects of Mexican culture in a positive light before the broader Mormon community. In addition, as the Chicano Movement era commenced, leaders from Lucero were among those individuals at the helm of SOCIO as part of the struggle to improve circumstances for all of Utah’s Latinos. The congregation at Guadalupe Mission (and, later, parish) has also been quite active in the cultural landscape of Utah. Like their LDS brethren, the congregants at Guadalupe helped maintain Mexican and manito cultural traditions (such as Las Posadas, the Christmas time pilgrimage of Joseph and Mary that commemorates their search for lodging) throughout the state. Further, the membership was very active in a variety of community and church organizations—particularly SOCIO, which helped fight for civil rights and social justice. In the area of business, Utah has seen a dramatic growth in the number of Latinoowned businesses, particularly over the past twenty years. From the earliest mexicano/ manito-owned enterprises, such as homesteads, ranches, restaurants, and import businesses in the early 1900s, through the development of various Mexican-owned restaurants, boardinghouses, and bars in the cities of Utah during the 1930s and 1940s, Latino business owners have served the comunidad for many decades. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the number of such enterprises has risen and become more varied, and Utah now boasts not only Latino-owned service and restaurant enterprises, but also manufacturing and professional-service businesses as well. Of particular note was the establishment of the Talamahu Market on the west side of Salt Lake City. This enterprise, begun in the late 1980s, offered customers not only Mexican products, but eventually foods and items from other nations. In many ways, the inventory of this establishment reflected the growing diversity of the Latino population of Utah’s capital city: as Spanish speakers from Cuba, El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala, Argentina, and elsewhere made their way to the area, more and different items appeared on Talamahu’s shelves. In 1997 the Census Bureau estimated that there were 4,740 Latino-owned businesses in the state, which generated payrolls of more than $85 million and sales of approximately $4.55 billion.23 Further, the Spanish-surnamed clientele of Utah, accounted for approximately $3.67 billion in economic purchasing power by 2004.24 All of this is reflected in the growing attention to this population from the broader business community. Large retailers, such as Nordstrom, Sears, and others now regularly advertise in some of the numerous Spanish-language newspapers that circulate in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, and elsewhere throughout the state. Finally, it is important to take note of the recent genesis of the Pete Suazo Business Center (named after the late senator), which works to increase financial lit-

Utah eracy, aids in the establishment and operation of Latino-owned commercial enterprises, and assists in the procurement of business loans to help launch such operations. The center works in conjunction with some of the most important business entities in the state of Utah, including Zions Bank, the Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund, the Marriot School of Management at Brigham Young University, the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Utah.

NOTES 1. In the LDS Church, a branch is similar to a Catholic mission. It provides a variety of services, including religious ceremonies, to a small congregation. Only when membership at a branch reaches a certain number of families will the church’s hierarchy approve the entity’s designation as a ward (which is akin to a Catholic parish). 2. Jansen. 3. U.S. Census Bureau, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html. 4. U.S. Census Bureau, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable? 5. Warner, 35–52; and Jacobs, 200–223. 6. Solorzano, “Struggle Over Memory,” 81–113. 7. May, 65–72. 8. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 6–17. 9. Arrington, 3–34. 10. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 18–39 and 40–54. 11. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 59. 12. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 61. 13. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 66. 14. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 84. 15. For specific statistical information, see Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 67–84. 16. For specific statistical and other information, see Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 85–114. 17. Solorzano, “At the Gates of the Kingdom,” 177–212, 185–186. 18. Iber, “Mexican Workers in Utah: Life and Labor in Two Tourist Towns,” 60–66. 19. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 111–112. 20. Solorzano, 187–193. See also Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 115–131. 21. Iber, Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 124. 22. Solorzano, 194. 23. U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/epcd/mwb97/ut/UT.html. 24. Humphreys, 15.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, Eleanor B. “Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante.” Utah Historical Quarterly, 44 (Winter 1976): 40–58. Arrington, Leonard J., “The Commercialization of Utah’s Economy: Trends and Development from Statehood to 1910.” In A Dependent Commonwealth: Utah’s Economy from

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Latino America Statehood to the Great Depression. Ed. Dean L. May. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1974, 3–34. Benavides, E. Ferol, “The Saints Among the Saints: A Study of Curanderismo in Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 41 (Autumn 1973): 373–392. Gonzalez, William H., and Genaro M. Padilla. “Monticello, The Hispanic Cultural Gateway to Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 52 (Winter 1984): 9–28. Humphreys, Jeffrey M. “The Multicultural Economy 2004: America’s Minority Buying Power.” Georgia Business and Economic Conditions 64 (Third Quarter 2004). Iber, Jorge. Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 1912–1999. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001. ———. “Mexican Workers in Utah: Life and Labor in Two Tourist Towns.” Journal of the West 40 (Spring 2001): 60–66. Jacobs, G. Clell. “The Phantom Pathfinder: Juan Maria Antonio de Rivera and His Expedition.” Utah Historical Quarterly 60 (Summer 1992): 200–223. Jansen, Derek P. “Exploring Utah’s Counties–Weber: Ogden Neighborhood Becoming a Destination.” Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 2006. May, Dean L. Utah: A People’s History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987. Merrill, Jerald H. “Fifty Years with a Future: Salt Lake’s Guadalupe Mission and Parish.” Utah Historical Quarterly 40 (Summer 1972): 242–264. Pew Hispanic Center. “Hispanics at Mid-Decade.” September 2006. Solorzano, Armando. “Struggle over Memory: The Roots of the Mexican Americans in Utah, 1776 through the 1850s.” Aztlán 23 (Fall 1998): 81–117. ———. “At the Gates of the Kingdom: Latino Immigrants in Utah, 1900 to 2003.” In Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America. Eds. Elzbieta M. Gozdziak and Susan F. Martin. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005, 177–212. Topping, Gary. “The Hesitant Beginnings of the Catholic Church in Southeastern Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 71 (Spring 2003): 125–142. ———. Glen Canyon and San Juan County. Moscow: University of Idaho Press, 1997. U.S. Census Bureau. State and County Quick Facts, Utah. http://quickfacts.census. gov/qfd/states/49000.html (accessed July 26, 2007). ———. American Fact Finder, Utah—County. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ GCTTablee? (accessed July 26, 2007). ———. 1997 Economic Census of Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses. http://www.census.gov/epcd/mwb97/ut/UT.html (accessed August 3, 2007). Warner, Ted J. “The Spanish Epoch.” In Utah History. Eds. Richard D. Poll, Thomas G. Alexander, Eugene E. Campbell, and David E. Miller. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1989, 35–52.

46 VERMONT Phillip J. Granberry

CHRONOLOGY 1800s 1940 1980s 1989 1995 2007

Spanish migrants come to work in the state’s granite and marble quarries. The U.S. Census Bureau makes the first population estimate of 700 Latinos residing in Vermont. Latinos informally network to develop internal support structures, like Spanish conversation groups, to assist in strengthening their identity. Hermanos Productions, Vermont’s only Latino entertainment company, begins bringing Latin music and dance to the state. The first Latino Festival is held in Burlington. Latino dairy farm employees are seen as valuable contributors to the preservation of the traditional rural character of Vermont.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The 5,404 Latinos residing in Vermont on April 1 of 2000 make it home to the smallest Latino population of any state. Latinos constitute slightly less than 1 percent of the state’s population, ranking Vermont 48th, above only Maine and West Virginia in its concentration of Latino population. Although no record of the first Latinos to migrate to the state can be found, the first U.S. census to estimate Latinos recorded in 1940 that 700 Latinos resided in Vermont. At that time, they constituted only 0.2 percent of the state’s population. The 1970 U.S. census estimated that 1,610 Latinos lived in the state, and they constituted 0.4 percent of the state’s population. The Latino population expanded to 3,377

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in 1980, and Latinos constituted 0.7 percent of the population. In 1990, 3,862 Latinos resided in Vermont, and they still constituted less than 1 percent of the state’s population. Vermont is home to an estimated 0.6 percent of all Latinos in New England. Its small Latino population consists of people who have migrated to the state, and their socioeconomic profile supports the claim of an emerging Latino middle class. This trend is also occurring in the other northern New England states of Maine and New Hampshire. These three states are noted for having small Latino populations, as only 3.6 percent of all Latinos (regardless of place of birth) resided in one of these three northern New England states in 2000—but those Latinos are making important social and economic contributions to these states.1 The Latino population grew more rapidly—and thereby contributed more to overall population growth—than other ethno-racial groups in New England during the 1990s. The region’s Latino population growth was driven almost equally by migration and births to resident Latinos in the three northern New England states.2 Vermont is known for acceptance of cultural differences, but surprisingly, this openness is not reflected in the diversity of its population. Although an increasing number of Latino migrants are settling in nontraditional U.S. destinations, including New England, Vermont has not become a destination for significant numbers of Latino migrants.3 As a result, Latino contributions to Vermont reflect their limited, but growing presence. Overall, Vermont’s population grew by 8.8

Vermont percent during the 1990s, from 562,758 in 1990 to 608,827 in 2000. Although only a small proportion of Vermont’s population is nonwhite (3.8 percent), Latinos are the second-largest ethno-racial minority group and had a population increase of 15.9 percent in the 1990s. This growth was smaller than that of Asians (22.7 percent) and non-Latino blacks (20.3 percent), but larger than that of nonLatino whites (6.9 percent). As of April 2000, Mexicans (1,167) and Puerto Ricans (1,089) represented the two largest Latino populations in Vermont. Colombians (333), Cubans (333), and Peruvians (120) were the next-largest populations. Also included in the ten largest Latino populations in the state were Dominicans, Guatemalans, Ecuadorians, Hondurans, and Salvadorans. All these Latino groups saw an increase during the 1990s, except for Colombians, Dominicans, and Hondurans. The Latino population growth in Vermont is driven from nativity, not from migration: only 34.1 percent of the Latino population in 2000 was born outside the continental United States, compared to 47.4 percent in 1990. Even with this decline, only Asians had a higher percentage of foreign-born residents in Vermont. Demographic and individual characteristics for Latinos in Vermont are presented in this chapter to provide a portrait of this relatively small proportion of Vermont’s population that is making increasing economic and cultural contributions to the state. Characteristics of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Colombians, and Peruvians are provided using U.S. census data. Because of their small population size and recent arrival to the state, Latinos’ historical contributions are limited and have occurred over the last forty years. This chapter’s demographic portrait provides a lens to document these contributions. Latinos in Vermont present an interesting profile that is at times different from that of Latinos in other regions of the country. Examples of Latino contributions that support this demographic portrait are included to further demonstrate how Latinos are influencing the state’s economic and social life. The demand for workers to supply labor for Vermont’s granite and marble mills drew the initial Spanish migrants to the state. Spanish surnames can be found on tombstones dating back to the early 1800s in cemeteries across the state. Similarly, Vermont’s dairy farms are now drawing Latin American workers to the state, and these workers are keeping the state’s dairy farms operational. Today, Latinos find Vermont a welcoming place to express their culture. Vermont provides them with many opportunities to engage in the academic, cultural, economic, and social life of the state. They also are attracted to Vermont because its rural and mountain landscape reminds many of them of their countries of origin. Latinos from New York enjoy vacationing in Vermont, and some have taken up residence in the state. Chittenden County, which includes the city of Burlington, was home to nearly a third of the state’s Latino population in 2000.

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DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Age distribution provides an insight into the economic contribution that Latinos are likely to make. A higher proportion of the Latino population is under age 18 when compared to non-Latino white groups. This suggests that in the near term, Latinos are likely to impose relatively higher fiscal costs, similar to other minority groups; but in the medium and longer term, they are likely to begin working, paying taxes, and supporting the retiring non-Latino white population in the state. In contrast, a significantly lower percentage of Latinos were age 65 and above (5.5 percent) than non-Latino whites (13.0 percent). These percentages suggest that Latinos should not be incurring costs for the elderly care that the state needs to address in the near term.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS The socioeconomic portrait of Latinos in Vermont supports the emergence of a Latino middle class. The Latino median household income in 1999 was $38,728. This ranked them ahead of non-Latino blacks ($31,585) and close to Asians ($39,630) and non-Latino whites ($41,070). Latinos in Vermont are also well educated. Greater percentages of Latinos twenty-five years and older had more education than a high-school diploma (41.6 percent) than non-Latino whites (35.5 percent). Latinos in Vermont are more educated than Latinos of other states. Other factors influencing Latino economic participation are citizenship status and language proficiency. The majority of the Vermont’s Latinos were born in the United States, and 55.9 percent of Vermont’s foreign-born Latinos are naturalized citizens. Latino migrants (26.3 percent) in Vermont speak English very well, at rates better than Asian migrants (23.8 percent). Cubans (45.3 percent) and Puerto Ricans (41.9 percent) had the highest level of English proficiency. This was not true for all Latino groups, as Mexicans spoke English very well at a lower rate (25.4 percent), followed by Peruvians (16.7 percent) and Colombians (12.9 percent).

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION The quality of the education of Vermont’s Latinos and their ability to speak English well predicts their strong participation in the labor market. Vermont’s employment rate of all ethno-racial groups between the ages of 18 through 64 (excluding those in school) was high—consistently above 90 percent. Only Puerto Ricans (82.8 percent) are below non-Latino whites (94.4 percent). Vermont’s Latinos did not have as many family members who were employed. Latinos (2.0 members) had fewer family members working than non-Latino whites

Vermont (2.2 members) or Asians (2.2 members). The hourly wage rate of Latinos slightly lags behind non-Latino whites ($17.74) and Asians ($19.38). Cubans were the highest-earning Latino group on average, earning $16.11 an hour, followed by Puerto Ricans ($14.13), Mexicans ($11.04), and Peruvians ($8.45). Latino employment patterns in Vermont are somewhat different than in other states. Latinos did not appear drawn to Vermont to find blue-collar employment—in precision, craft, or repair occupations or as a machine operator, fabricator, or laborer—but instead find employment in the state’s service sector. There was a significant drop in the proportion of Latinos working in blue-collar jobs during the 1990s. Latino workers instead found service sector jobs. Also, Latinos have had some success in starting businesses. The 1997 U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Census reported that Vermont had 157 Latino-owned businesses that employed 1,551 workers. The majority of these businesses were in the service industries.4 These service industry businesses have successfully highlighted Latino cultural contributions, but Vermont does not have any Latino-run social-service agencies to support arriving Latinos. Vermont has attracted Latinos who are in the entertainment industry (see the following Notable Latinos section), and one of Vermont’s most visible Latino businesses is Hermanos Productions. It was founded in 1989 with the mission to provide the community of Chittenden County with music and dance that highlighted the rich and colorful Latino culture. Hermanos Productions now provides entertainment to all of New England. However, Latinos lament that they have not been successful in initiating any Latino social-service agencies. Latinos also note that there are no Latino restaurants or bookstores in the state. Latino migrants are playing a significant role in keeping Vermont’s dairy farms operational. Migrants from Mexico and Guatemala are increasingly helping to supply the labor for these farms. Estimates range that up to 2,000 Latino migrants are working in Vermont’s dairy industry.5 This work is physically demanding and requires long hours; over the last ten years, Vermont’s owners have found it difficult to attract native-born workers for these jobs. Many of these migrants work for as little as eight dollars an hour and work 60 to 70 hours a week. Some people in Vermont believe this labor supply is important to preserve Vermont’s rural landscape.6 They express concern that anti-immigrant attitudes will harm dairy farms in Vermont. In order to ensure that Latinos continue working on dairy farms, structural supports have been developed to help both the farmers and the Latino migrants. Attempting to limit problems with communication, University of Vermont (UVM) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture joined forces to develop the Vermont Dairy Spanish Project, with the help of a United States Department of Agriculture grant. Vermont farmers are offered a four-week intensive Spanish-language course that focuses on specific dairy industry

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Latino America phrases. The program has been well received by the dairy farmers, who have found they can communicate better with their Latino employees.

MOBILITY AND HOMEOWNERSHIP Latino migrants in Vermont had been living in the United States for a substantial amount of time. More than half (52.7 percent) of Latinos had lived in the United States for five years prior to the 2000 census. In addition, Vermont’s Latinos were highly mobile. On average, 56.9 percent of non-Latino whites had resided in the same location five years earlier, compared to only 41.6 percent of Latinos. Homeownership is one way to demonstrate a commitment to remain in one location and has been shown to be important for building sustainable social networks and social capital. Even though Latinos (59.2 percent) had a lower homeownership rate than non-Latino whites (73.4 percent), their rate was higher than that of Latinos nationally (45.6 percent). This profile of the demographic characteristics of Latinos highlights that the small Latino population in Vermont is unique. Latinos in Vermont are predominately native-born, have high levels of education, and have higher levels of homeownership compared to Latinos nationally. Similar to other Latinos, they have a high proportion of children under 18 and have participated in the labor force at a high rate. Latinos in the labor force are not overly employed in blue-collar jobs, instead working in service jobs. These Latino migrants offer socioeconomic opportunities and challenges for Vermont, as both they and the environment in which they live are shaped by their participation in all aspects of life in the state. Gradually, as their numbers increase, Latinos are making cultural contributions that enhance the quality of life in Vermont, and they are beginning to be recognized for the social contributions they make. They are not only offering the traditional cultural activities, but they are also maintaining a presence in nonLatino mediums. For example, “Café con Lupe” is a regular column by Ann Hagman Cardinal in the statewide publication Vermont Women. Her columns reflect her life experiences, including living in Vermont.

NOTABLE LATINOS Alvarez, Julia (1950–). Julia Alvarez, a noted novelist, is a writer in residence at Middlebury College. Alvarez was born in New York City but raised in the Dominican Republic. She is a writer of essays, fiction, and poetry. She graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College and later earned a master’s in creative writing from Syracuse University. She taught writing at several colleges and universities before coming to Middlebury College. She resigned her tenured faculty professorship in 1998 to write full time but remains a writer in residence at the college. Her most notable works are How

Vermont the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) and In the Time of Butterflies (1994). Her most recent publication is Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the U.S.A., released in 2007. Guzman, Luis (1956–). Luis Guzman is an actor most noted for playing Pachanga in Carlito’s Way. He was born in Puerto Rico and lived in New York City before moving to Vermont. He worked as a social worker in New York, also working part time as an actor. He has moved beyond a stereotypical Latino character role to his more recent work in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Fast Food Nation. He presently lives in Cabot. Monroig, Glenn (1957–). Glenn Monroig is a musician who recorded the first Spanish language rap song in 1983, “No Finjas.” He was born in Puerto Rico and is the son of Gilberto Monroig, the renowned bolero singer. He is a guitarist, singer, and composer. In addition to rap, Glenn Monroig is recognized for a variety of music styles, including boleros, rumba, and salsa. He lives in Stowe. Cardinal, Ann Hagman (1962–). Ann Hagman Cardinal coauthored Sister Chicas, a novel about three young Latinas growing up in Chicago, with Lisa Alvarado and Jane Alberdeston Coralin. She was born in New York and earned a bachelor’s degree in Latino studies from Norwich University and a master’s degree in sociology and creative writing from Vermont College of UI&U. Her monthly column, “Café con Lupe,” appears in Vermont Women. She lives in Morrisville.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Within Vermont’s small Latino population, Latinos have sought to develop an organizational structure in order to create a more visible Latino presence. This has occurred through social gatherings and networking on an informal level among the Latinos in Vermont. They have possessed a strong identity and have gradually developed a stronger cultural presence as their population has increased. During this slow process, many Latinos have offered support to one another through informal social settings. This networking has been enhanced by the socially progressive atmosphere that exists in Vermont. Latinos predominantly have used two venues to reach out to the broader community. First, the universities and colleges in Vermont have provided opportunities for Latinos to develop structural support for the desired cultural contributions that Latinos aspire to make in the state. The second venue is through the arts. Several Latino production companies offer programs with Latino dance and music. At times they have reached out to seemingly unlikely areas to find success. For example, the Vermont National Guard sponsored a Salsa Central Dance in 2006 with the help of a Latino dance group from Burlington.

ANNUAL LATINO FESTIVAL The largest cultural contribution that Latinos make in Vermont is their annual Latino festival, which began in 1995 with the assistance of the Burlington Parks

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Dancers performing during the 2007 Vermont Latino Festival in Burlington. Courtesy of Hermanos Productions.

Department. This event, which is now independently run under the leadership of Hector Cobeo, is a weeklong festival celebrating the many Latino cultures in Vermont. The festival takes place at Burlington’s Waterfront Park and offers opportunities for all to experience Latino art, dance, food, and music. In addition to activities for children, workshops for Latino dance and music are provided to encourage participation in Vermont’s Latino culture. The event is well attended; as many as 10,000 people have been estimated to participate in the festival’s activities in some years, and the event now receives support from more than fifteen sponsors, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont and the local Fox television affiliate.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Vermont’s colleges and universities not only attract Latinos to the state, both as students and professors, but they also support Latino groups who enrich campus life and provide programming opportunities that uphold Latino culture in the broader community. Both the University of Vermont (UVM) and St. Michael’s College have Latino student organizations. The Alianza Society at St. Michael’s College promotes multiculturalism and Latino identity through intellectual, social, and cultural programming for students and also for the larger community. Alianza Latina at the UVM was formed in 1988. It supports the Latin American community of UVM with education programs and activities. In addition, UVM’s La Casa Hispánica offers programs for individuals who have studied Spanish and are interested in speaking Spanish. It also provides Latino programs that include a

Vermont film series and the Annual Hispanic Forum. These events are marketed to the greater Burlington community.

NOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Granberry and Marcelli. Marcelli. Singer. U.S. Department of Commerce. Riedel, 1. Russell.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Granberry, P.J., and E.A. Marcelli. “Vermont.” In Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Eds. S. Oboler and D. González. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. http://www.oxford-latinos.com/entry?entry=t199.e965. Marcelli, E.A., and P.J. Granberry. “Latino New England: An Emerging Demographic and Economic Portrait.” In Latinos in New England. Ed. A. Torres. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006. Riedel, J. “Se Habla Español en la Granja.” The View. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT: June 27, 2007. http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/theview/article.php?id=2388 Russell, J. “On New England’s Dairy Farms, Foreign Workers Find a Home.” Boston Globe, 2007, B1. Singer, A. “The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways.” Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2004. http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2004/02demographics_singer.aspx. U.S. Department of Commerce. Hispanic: 1997 Economic Census. Washington, DC: 2001.

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47 VIRGINIA María Eugenia Verdaguer

CHRONOLOGY 1524–1526

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In 1524 Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón sails up the James River and the Chesapeake Bay from Hispaniola. In 1526 he founds the ill-fated settlement of San Miguel de Guandape, located in the Tidewater area. Spanish missionary Father Juan Bautista Segura sails the Chesapeake Bay and establishes the settlement of Axacan near the Rappahannock River. Killed by the Native Americans shortly after, Father Segura and the other missionaries become the first martyrs of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson and Venezuelan patriot Simón Bolívar establish a lifelong friendship that, in 1827, brings Bolívar’s nephew, Fernando, to study at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. Starting in the 1950s, post–Bretton Woods institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Organization of American States, recruit successive contingents of Latin American international civil servants who settle beyond the nation’s capital, across the northern Virginia and Maryland suburban areas. A small group of northern Virginia Latino community members found the Hispanic Committee of Virginia (HCV) to assist the growing Spanishspeaking migrant population in overcoming the cultural barriers preventing their faster integration to the larger community. HCV becomes the first Latino migrant–serving organization in the commonwealth. Severe Andean droughts and political, economic, and environmental turmoil bring large numbers of Bolivians, Peruvians, Cubans, and other

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1990s

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South Americans to the northern Virginia region. Around the same time, Mexican agricultural laborers join the Shenandoah valley seasonal apple-harvesting industry. Salvadorans begin to migrate en masse to the Washington, DC, and northern Virginia regions, escaping protracted civil war and political persecution back home. Whereas a sizable share of Guatemalans and Nicaraguans settle in the area, Mexicans expand their participation in seasonal agricultural industries across other regions of Virginia. Migration to Virginia gains momentum, with geographical dispersion across the entire state. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Hurricane Mitch displace thousands of Mexicans and Hondurans, fueling further migration to the region. Latino students at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville found the Bolívar Network—an organization for alumni of Latin American birth, origin, or affinity—to foster connections with one another and further enrich the diversity of the university and the wider Virginia community. Isis Castro, a Cuban-born bilingual instructional teacher with over 20 years of experience in K–12 education, is elected to serve a 4-year term on the school board for Fairfax County public schools, the largest school district in Virginia and the twelfth-largest school district in the nation. Mexican-born Michel Zajur founds the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (VHCC) at La Siesta Mexican Restaurant in Richmond. By building economic, social, and cultural bridges between Virginia and its

Virginia

2001

2002

2003

2004 2005

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growing Latino community, VHCC becomes the first statewide organization to represent Latinos in the Virginia business community. During the September 11 terrorist attacks, two of three hijacked planes crash into the New York World Trade Center, while the other crashes into the Pentagon, killing thousands and injuring many. Controversy arises over the fact that some of the plane hijackers obtained driver’s licenses from Virginia, Florida, and New Jersey, triggering an antiimmigrant backlash across the nation. Twenty-nine diverse Latino and Latino-supportive organizations came together to form the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO) to lobby the state legislature on behalf of their interests. In March, Salvadoran-born J. Walter Tejada is elected to the Arlington County Board in a special election. A few months later, he is reelected; he is currently serving a full 4-year term on the board. In May, Governor Mark R. Warner signs a law to prevent undocumented migrants from obtaining driver’s licenses in Virginia. Later on, he appoints the Virginia Latino Advisory Committee (VLAC) to serve as an advisory body on issues facing Latino constituents and to advocate for their interests. Isis Castro becomes the first Latina ever elected and appointed to serve on the board of education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In June Colombian-born Rev. José Eugenio Hoyos is appointed director of the Spanish Apostolate for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, becoming the first Latin American to ever hold the post. Emma Violand-Sanchez, a native of Bolivia and supervisor of the K–12 program English for Speakers of Other Languages/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT) for Arlington public schools, becomes the first Latina ever appointed to the Northern Virginia Community College board. In November a long-standing conflict over the creation of a publicly funded center for day laborers in the northern Virginia town of Herndon explodes into the national spotlight. The issue of migration, and the government’s role in it, spreads from town hall meetings to national talk radio to the Virginia governor’s race. When representatives of the Herndon chapter of the Minuteman Project, a national group that fights illegal migration, show up at the site to photograph workers and contractors, tension escalate, making the debate over illegal migration even more politically contentious. Latino-focused Security One Bank opens in Fairfax County’s Bailey’s Crossroads. The bank, spearheaded by Latino community members, operates as a full-service community bank, serving all small businesses and consumers, with a special focus on the underserved Latino market. In February the immigration debate takes center stage once again as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decides to side with school officials in a confrontation with the Bush administration over the federal No

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Latino America Child Left Behind law. Accusing the U.S. Department of Education of implementing biased policies in the testing of migrant students, supervisors officially support the school board’s decision to defy an administration directive to give certain students, who are still learning English, reading exams that cover the same grade-level materials as those taken by their native peers. In response federal officials threaten to withhold funds from the school system.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW EARLY ANTECEDENTS Although historical antecedents date back to the early sixteenth century, the pronounced Latino presence across Virginia is a very recent phenomenon. In 1524 Spanish explorer Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón sailed up the James River and the Chesapeake Bay to establish, in the Tidewater area, San Miguel de Guandape. There is controversy over the precise location of this short-lived settlement: Georgians, South Carolinians, and Virginians all claim it as their own. Six hundred people, including many African slaves and two Dominican priests, lived in the colony. Eventually, ship fever claimed the life of Vázquez de Ayllón, and most colonists died from the harsh winter and hostile attacks by Native Americans. By 1527 all survivors had returned to Hispaniola. A few decades later, Father Juan Bautista Segura, a young Powhatan Indian acting as a translator (known as Don Luis), and another missionary sailed the Chesapeake Bay to establish a mission without soldiers. In 1570 they founded the settlement of Axacan, near the Rappahannock River. Yet a few more centuries would pass before the first Latin America–Virginia connection emerged. In 1827 Thomas Jefferson’s friendship with Simón Bolívar prompted the latter’s nephew, Fernando, to study at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

LATINO MIGRATION

IN THE

CONTEMPORARY ERA

Until World War II, Virginia had been an area historically defined by black and white dichotomies, with no previous history of Latino settlement. International migration dates back to the 1950s, allowing for dramatic population growth over the last few decades. Around this time, the Latino presence emerged across northern Virginia, with international civil servants coming to work in post–Bretton Woods institutions in Washington, DC.1 These early arrivals would prove critical to the emergence of an informal, gendered labor-recruitment cycle that brought thousands of Central American women to the region to fill child care, cleaning, and other positions. A few decades later, during the 1970s and 1980s, a more dramatic migrant influx arrived to the Washington and northern Virginia suburban area, as Central

Virginia and South American migration escalated because of political and economic turmoil across Latin America. Largely in response to U.S. direct involvement in protracted civil wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, Central Americans settled across the area en masse through the linkages and networks established by that involvement. Though most Salvadorans and Guatemalans were fleeing from persecution and violence amid the bloodshed of civil war, U.S. immigration policy did not recognize them as political refugees, because such recognition would have disclosed the dissonance of President Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy, which included funding regimes that were grossly violating human rights. Salvadorans—by far the largest Latino population across the Washington metro area and northern Virginia suburbs—trace their roots to their country’s rural towns and small cities in the eastern provinces of La Unión, San Miguel, and Usulután. The Intipucá–Washington metro area route is one of the oldest and most publicized Salvadoran transnational migrant circuits, linking that small town at the southern tip of La Unión Department with migrant settlements in specific neighborhoods across suburban northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Over 20 percent of Salvadorans from Intipucá have resettled in the Washington metropolitan area, including the northern Virginia suburbs.2 By the 1990s, the foundation for a self-sustaining cycle of continuous migration had already been established, and migration to the region gained momentum. In fact, environmental disasters in several Central American countries fueled additional migration to the region. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch displaced thousands of Hondurans; earthquakes in El Salvador, in 2001, provided further incentives for migration to well-established Salvadoran communities across Virginia. Around this time, the greater Washington area officially became a new gateway city of migration, with boundaries between northern Virginia and the District of Columbia turning increasingly porous—a permeability of jurisdictional boundaries that became further magnified as most migrants coming to the Washington metropolitan area settled in suburban localities, rather than in the nation’s capital.3 Yet, after 2000 census data became widely available, demographers noted that the rapid increase of Virginia Latinos exceeded the northern Virginia boundaries. Other parts of the commonwealth, including secluded rural towns and smaller communities in localities such as Winchester, Harrisonburg, and the city of Galax, were also experiencing dramatic Latino growth. Attracted first by seasonal agricultural jobs in the fruit processing industry, and later on by year-round employment in expanding poultry factories across the Shenandoah valley, countless Latinos (mostly Mexicans) have now settled across the state.

VIRGINIA REGIONAL CONTRASTS AND DIVERSE LATINO COMMUNITIES Diversity and contrasts define the Virginia Latino experience. Whether settling in suburbia, midsize cities, or rural communities, newcomers have radically

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Latino America reconfigured long-established communities. Despite far less dramatic Latino growth than in states such as Georgia or North Carolina, Virginia has become, in a matter of a few decades, home to the sixteenth-largest Latino population in the country.4 Today’s 448,000 Virginia Latinos include both native-born and naturalized U.S. citizens, as well as foreign-born residents from all over the world.5 As the Virginia Latino Advisory Board Web site proudly states, “the Latino community represents a diversity of cultures and languages, unique needs and skills, countless contributions, and endless potential for the Commonwealth.”6 Around 60 percent of all Virginia Latinos (or at least 290,000), reside in northern Virginia, an area that presents remarkably unique features compared to the rest of the state. First, the area boasts some of the largest Latino communities across the state, as well as across the Washington metropolitan area, with localities—such as Arlington County, Bailey’s Crossroads, and Seven Corners—in which migrants outnumber natives. In Manassas Park City and Manassas City, Latinos represent respectively 28.72 percent and 25.60 percent of the total population. Similarly, in the city of Alexandria, Prince William County, Arlington County, and Fairfax County, Latinos’ share of the population is 13.71 percent, 18.04 percent, 16.10 percent, and 12.52 percent, respectively. Second, the foreign-born portion of the population is significantly larger across the northern Virginia region (19 percent) than across other regions of the state (10 percent). This is due in large part to north Virginia’s proximity to the nation’s capital, with its broad array of diplomatic, international, and development agencies as well as cultural amenities. Consequently, the northern Virginia Latino population draws from a more diverse group of nationalities when compared with counterpart populations scattered across other Virginia localities. Yet, the Latino presence has become manifest in other regions across the state as well; for example, communities along the Shenandoah valley have recently experienced equally dramatic increases in their Latino populations. Seasonal agricultural employment in fruit processing in Rockingham County and the city of Winchester, along with year-round employment in the recently consolidated poultry industry across the Shenandoah valley, has provided strong incentives for permanent Latino settlement. Industry giants such as Cargill, Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson Foods, and Perdue have made this region a major manufacturing center with high demand for cheap migrant labor. In Winchester, the Latino population grew approximately 600 percent between 1990 and 2000, whereas in Harrisonburg, the growth neared 650 percent. On the border with North Carolina, the city of Galax (famous for its Old Fiddler’s Convention) grew from 46 foreign-born residents to almost 600, or one-tenth of its total population.7 Nevertheless, despite the populations’ burgeoning numbers, no Latino group dominates the Virginia demographic landscape in the same way that Mexicans do in California or Cubans do in Miami. Salvadorans constitute the largest Latino

Virginia population, followed by Mexicans, Guatemalans, Bolivians, and Peruvians. Virginia Latinos are fragmented along national lines precisely because no significant numerical dominance exists for any one group.8 Whereas Central and South Americans dominate among northern Virginia localities, Mexicans have a numerical dominance over Latino communities in Richmond, Harrisonburg, Winchester, and Galax. Contrasts between northern Virginia and other regions of the state also include distinctive regional economies with differentiated labor demands. In particular, the northern Virginia economy offers a wider array of high-tech, professional, and managerial jobs in defense contracting and federal government, as well as less skilled jobs in retail, construction, and personal services. Conversely, the Winchester and Harrisonburg labor markets employ a disproportionate share of Latino migrants who speak limited English, documented and undocumented, in the manufacturing, construction, and agricultural sectors.9 Therefore, the northern Virginia labor market attracts a workforce that is far more heterogeneous in terms of class, including a substantial share of more skilled and more urban Latino migrants who leverage better wages, wealth creation, and mobility structures.

LATINO MIGRANT LIFE

IN

POST-9/11 VIRGINIA

Virginia Latinos have significantly reconfigured the demographic composition of long-established communities in only a couple of decades. Their visibility has become increasingly magnified because of their unprecedented cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity. Unprepared, local communities find themselves grappling with inadequate social and institutional systems to respond to the challenges of integration. As they struggle with growing demand for educational and social services for populations with limited English proficiency, several challenges have become painfully evident: an expanding presence of day laborers across suburban areas, residential overcrowding resulting from a shortage of affordable housing, social tensions, nativism, and migrant marginalization. The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, have significantly exacerbated such tensions, increasing Latinos’ vulnerability and adversely affecting the Virginia Latino community in a number of ways. Over recent years, state and local police have been charged with broader enforcement duties to control undocumented migration. In Virginia, the anti-immigrant backlash that followed the terror attacks has been fueled by the fact that Virginia was one of three states that issued driver’s licenses to some of the plane hijackers. Consequently, the post9/11 era has dramatically politicized the immigration debate with concomitant immigration policy changes that have targeted Latinos, further marginalizing them. In addition, Virginia law enforcement agencies have received additional

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Latino America funding to develop a regional anti-gang task force to coordinate policing efforts in response to growing concern about youth gang violence across suburban northern Virginia. Although the rationale behind some of these immigration policy changes was to deter potential terrorist and gang activity, such changes have contributed to a distorted public understanding of Latino migrants. This perception often blurs the lines between undocumented Latinos, terrorists, and gang members. Because Latinos constitute the majority of the undocumented, they have borne the brunt of this political backlash. For many Latino advocates and civil rights groups, the anti-immigrant backlash has become a more generalized attack on Latino residents, most likely driven by anxieties over demographic changes within Virginia communities. Enacted after the terror attacks, the Patriot Act has made it possible for immigration authorities to detain citizens and noncitizens with less judicial review than before. Virginia Governor Mark R. Wagner signed the Legal Presence Law (SB1058 and HB1954) in 2003, which requires residents to show proof that they are legally present in the United States in order to obtain an original Virginia driver’s license, permit, or special identity card. Effective since January 1, 2004, the law has resulted in long lines and discriminatory practices against Latinos at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).10 For many Latinos—undocumented, documented, and with temporary visas or pending immigration paperwork—the law has taken away their ability to perform daily activities, such as driving to work or taking children to school or to the doctor. Most poignantly, the Legal Presence Law has had a particularly adverse effect on Latinos in suburban and rural settings, which offer reduced public transportation options, as well as on agricultural workers, who cannot meet the residency requirement of the law because of the seasonal nature of their jobs. Though it was passed in a concerted effort to assuage anxieties about undocumented migration in the context of heightened national security concerns, the Legal Presence Law has had perverse repercussions for many Virginia Latinos. Because it presents obstacles for obtaining legal, valid identification, many Latinos no longer can perform daily transactions, such as opening a bank account, registering children for school, or accessing other public services. Although Mexicans and Guatemalans have access to a high-security consular identification card, agencies across the state do not generally recognize it for identification purposes, demanding that any identification show proof of legal immigrant status. Therefore, unable to open bank accounts, many Latinos end up carrying large sums of cash, becoming easy targets of robbery—and even violent crime. As another repercussion of the Legal Presence Law, Governor Warner vetoed HB2339 in 2003. This bill would have legally prohibited enrollment in Virginia’s

Virginia colleges and universities of students who could not prove legal presence in the United States—even if the applicants had grown up in Virginia and graduated from high schools across the state. Although HB2339 was rejected, Virginia universities still require students to show proof of legal status, denying in-state tuition to those unable to produce it. Currently, the 2007 Virginia General Assembly is reviewing over 22 anti-immigrant bills—some of which, if enacted, would deny higher education to Virginia students unable to show proof of legal residency. Beyond identification issues, escalating social tensions have become manifest through a variety of anti-immigrant legislation aimed at discouraging undocumented Latinos from living or working across the northern Virginia region. In Herndon, for example, a protracted controversy over the construction of a day laborers’ site placed the town at the heart of the national immigration debate. With the site finally becoming operational in 2005, the confrontation has now turned into a dispute over the enforcement of stricter rules that would require day laborers to show legal proof of residence. The local chapter of the Minuteman Project, a group favoring sharp curbs on illegal migration, makes occasional appearances to monitor activity and intimidate both day laborers and employers. Similarly, over the past few months, anti-immigrant bill proposals have emerged from localities such as Manassas, Culpeper, and Prince William County. As many Virginia residents show heightened anxiety about the demographic changes taking place in their communities, they are determined to deter illegal migration through indirect tactics, including stricter enforcement of residential overcrowding zoning laws; amendments of zoning definitions to allow for the eviction of extended family members from single-family homes; English-only proposals; and the commissioning of impact studies to assess the effects of illegal migration in local communities. The actual redefinition of the concept of family would make persons more than two generations removed from the head of the household eligible to be legally evicted from single-family homes. These attempts to address overcrowding in the city of Manassas have not been successful. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating complaints by residents, civil rights groups, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the city illegally targeted Latino families in the enforcement of zoning laws. Complaints to the U.S. Department of Education are also pending against the city from four Latino families who claim the Manassas public school system turned over students’ records to zoning inspectors without notifying the children’s parents, a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. To add complexity to this scenario, the rise in gang activity across northern Virginia has received widespread media attention in the last couple of years, expanding federal and local law enforcement budgets. In fact, in November 2005

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Latino America Congress provided $2.5 million for anti-gang efforts. Among the several hundred gangs in the area, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), with roots in the Salvadoran community, is considered the largest and most violent. Emerging in Los Angeles in the 1980s, MS-13 has recently spread to northern Virginia, where there are an estimated 2,000 gang members.11 In response to this, in 2004 the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation that made it a misdemeanor for anyone of any age to recruit or coerce someone into becoming a gang member. The new law also provides that three gang convictions within 10 years is now a felony, carrying a prison term of 5 to 20 years. The complex social and law enforcement issue of youth gang activity has been largely portrayed as an exclusively Latino and Asian phenomenon, which has contributed to increased ethnic and racial profiling of Latino youth. The collective perception of heightened vulnerability after September 11, 2001, together with the rise in youth gang activity and generalized anti-immigrant backlash, has recently led a few northern Virginia local agencies to apply for participation in a federal training program offered by the Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/BICE). Although in existence since 1996, when Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), the training program, known as 287(g), would train local police officers to enforce U.S. immigration law, including the initiation of deportation proceedings. Although participation in this program would give local police an additional tool to fight gang activity and terrorism, the cost of turning state police into immigration officers might far outweigh the law enforcement benefits because such measure would erode any existing trust between officers and the migrant community. Yet, as the immigration debate becomes more politically contentious, interest in the program has grown across the state. In northern Virginia, cities such as Herndon, Manassas, and Loudoun have expressed interest in participating in the program. This has created fear in Virginia Latinos, who are concerned and confused about the limits of power the program will vest upon participating officers. Although trained agents would only be allowed to target undocumented migrants involved in criminal activity, Latino advocacy groups and community leaders have expressed serious concerns about potential abuses in profiling and misuse of police power. Equally important is the inadequate number of Spanish-speaking police officers across the local agencies, which would further deteriorate the precarious situation of many Virginia Latinos unable to adequately fend for themselves if mistakenly profiled. Those developments notwithstanding, Virginia Latinos have found collective mechanisms to resist the political backlash, becoming mobilized through a variety of organizations that actively oppose immigrant-demonizing legislation. In 2002, some 29 Latino and Latino-supportive organizations came together to

Virginia advocate for Latino interests through the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO). In July 2003 Governor Mark R. Warner appointed the Virginia Latino Advisory Committee (VLAC) to serve as an advisory body on issues facing Latino constituents and to advocate for Latino interests. Legally a board since October 2005, the VLAB meets four times a year to hear from local communities across the state, discuss issues facing Latinos in the commonwealth, and develop reports articulating their recommendations to the governor on matters such as health, business, and education. The board consists of 21 citizen-members appointed by the governor, 15 of whom must be of Latino descent. In the spring of 2006, Virginia Latinos joined hundreds of others demanding amnesty at the National Mall rallies. Among community leaders and legislators, Father Hoyos, director of the Arlington Diocese’s Spanish Apostolate, marshaled and inspired protesters. Most recently, on February 5, 2007, VACOLAO gathered Latinos from around the state—including elected officials, business leaders, and ordinary working people—to lobby at the Virginia General Assembly, calling for justice and respect for migrants’ human rights. Part of a larger four-day event called Journey for Immigrant Justice, this mobilization featured rallies, a protest march, news conferences, and an ecumenical event to spotlight concerns about the record number of anti-immigrant bills introduced in 2007. Likewise, in an unprecedented move, day laborer organizers have joined forces with nonprofit groups in the area to advocate for migrant workers’ rights. In Herndon, Project Hope and Harmony has partnered with Reston Interfaith to run the Herndon Official Workers Center, an open-air labor site on the Loudoun-Fairfax county line, in what was once a police station. Most recently, the American Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) has aligned with a national network of day laborer organizers, the National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON), to push for workers’ rights and legalization for undocumented workers. Alexandria-headquartered Tenants and Workers United and the Virginia Justice Center for Farm and Immigrant Workers, with offices in Charlottesville and northern Virginia, are part of the 30-day-laborer centers and organizers under NDLON.

NOTABLE LATINOS Bolívar, Fernando (c. 1810–1898). Venezuelan-born Fernando Bolívar, the nephew and adoptive son of Simón Bolívar (the great hero of South America’s wars of independence), provided the first historical connection between Latin America and the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1827 Fernando became the first Latin American to attend the University of Virginia—even preferring it over West Point. Although he stayed for a brief period, Fernando always treasured his days in Charlottesville and wrote about them in his memoirs. Later, he became a distinguished South American diplomat. Today, the Bolivar Network, a University of Virginia alumni organization, is named after him.

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Latino America Soza, William (c. 1936–). Born in a small border town on the Rio Grande in Texas, Mexican American William Soza is currently one of the most prominent Latino business leaders across the commonwealth. A Virginia resident since the 1960s, Soza built Soza and Co Ltd. from a small business operation to a $137-million consultancy giant based in Fairfax County that offers services in information technology, management, and accounting. In 2005 Soza sold the company to Perot Systems Corp., but he continues to be active in civic, religious, community, and state organizations. He presently chairs the board of directors of Security One Bank, a new institution recently opened in Bailey’s Crossroads to focus on the underserved Latino market. He has served as member and vice chairman of the board of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulations for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as member and treasurer of the board of directors of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Arlington. Likewise, he serves on countless boards, including the Board of Visitors of George Mason University and the board of directors of the Enterprises for Hispanic Youth Foundation. He is currently commissioner of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. Tobar, Andres (c. 1945–). Born in Texas to Mexican parents, Andres Tobar currently chairs the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO), serving as governmental liaison and advocate for Latino interests in Virginia’s General Assembly. A 30-year resident of Virginia with a long history of civic and community activism across the state, Tobar also serves as the executive director of the Shirlington Employment and Education Center (SEEC) in northern Virginia, an organization that oversees the hiring of day laborers at the Shirlington Pavilion. Currently a member of the Virginia Latino Advisory Board, Tobar has served as executive director and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) and as a diversity recruiter and educational program administrator at the U.S. Department of Education. In 2003 he cochaired the Immigrant Educational Rights Coalition, opposing Virginia’s Attorney General Kilgore’s initiatives to deny undocumented students access to Virginia state colleges. Violand-Sánchez, Emma (unknown). A native of Bolivia, Emma Violand-Sánchez is the leading academic and administrative authority on ESL (English as a second language) instruction across northern Virginia. Having arrived in the United States as a high-school senior in the 1960s, today she is supervisor of English for Speakers of Other Languages/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT) from kindergarten to 12th grade for Arlington public schools, where she is responsible for staff development, curriculum development, parent education, registration, placement, and counseling for more than 265 staff members servicing approximately 8,025 language-minority students. Violand-Sánchez is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a consultant on family involvement, multicultural education, language-minority education, learning styles, and multiple intelligences, on which she has published several works. She is past president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Council 4606, and was responsible for initiating Escuela Bolivia (Bolivian School), a heritage language school for Spanish speakers. In 2005 she became the first Latina ever appointed to the Northern Virginia Community College Board. Castro, Isis (c. 1948–). Cuban-born Isis Castro was the first Latina publicly elected to serve on the Virginia State Board of Education. A northern Virginia bilingual instruc-

Virginia tional leader with over 20 years of experience in K–12 education and community outreach, she arrived in the United States at the age of 14 as a refugee in the program Peter Pan—the largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. In 1999, Castro was publicly elected to serve a 4-year term on the school board for Fairfax County public schools. Three years later, she was elected as that board’s chairperson. Most recently, in 2004, she was appointed to serve on the State Board of Education for the Commonwealth. She is also cofounder of El Progreso Hispano (Hispanic Progress), a nonprofit organization that provides low- and moderate-income migrants with English and citizenship classes. She also serves on the board of the Fairfax County Hispanic Leadership Alliance. Quintana-Baker, Maricel (1948–). Cuban-born Maricel Quintana-Baker is a prominent educational administrator in the Richmond-based Virginia State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV), where she serves as senior associate for academic affairs. Having arrived in the United States at the age of 14, she has several years of senior-level experience in the education, business, government, and nonprofit environments. In 2005 Governor Warner appointed her to the Virginia Latino Advisory Board, where she currently cochairs the Language Access Taskforce. Quintana-Baker serves on the National Advisory Board of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Social Science Research Network, the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, and the Women Executives in Virginia Higher Education. Gordon, Ronald (c. 1955–). A native of Lima, Peru, Ronald Gordon is a key business figure at both the state and national level. As founder and CEO of ZGS Communications, which owns and operates 10 Spanish-language television stations and three radio properties serving the Latino community, Gordon has created an empire within the Latino communications industry. A leading firm for more than 20 years, ZGS is the largest affiliate of the Telemundo network, with stations in Boston, El Paso, the Fort Myers–Naples area, Hartford, Orlando, Providence, Raleigh, Springfield, Tampa, and Washington, DC. Today his television and radio stations reach more than 1 million Latinos. In 1997, ZGS Communications Inc. and ZGS Broadcasting Inc. had combined revenues of approximately $8 million. Gordon’s company has received numerous awards for its productions, marketing, and community programs, including five Emmys. Currently, Gordon serves on the board of directors of the Latino-focused Security One Bank in Bailey’s Crossroads. Hoyos, José Eugenio (c. 1956–). Colombian-born Father José E. Hoyos is the first Latin American religious leader ever to be appointed director of the Spanish Apostolate for the Arlington Diocese. Having arrived in northern Virginia in 1988 to serve in the rapidly growing Diocese of Arlington, Father Hoyos has displayed charisma and indefatigable activism on behalf of Latinos, making him one of the Latino community’s paramount leaders. First appointed as a parochial vicar at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Father Hoyos moved to St. Anthony of Padua in 1993, where he served until 2001. A member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, he was named Washington of the Year in 1996. Father Hoyos has helped develop television and radio programming for the Latino community in northern

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Latino America Virginia, and he is founder and president of the Mapavi Inc. Youth Center, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to newcomers and youth, including educational programs and activities, to discourage them from joining gangs. Tejada, J. Walter (c. 1958–). Born in El Salvador, the Honorable Walter Tejada was the first Latino ever elected to the Arlington County Board, where he is now serving a 4-year term. Arriving in the United States at the age of 13, Tejada went from a poverty-stricken childhood working as a shoeshine boy back in El Salvador to a publicly elected position in U.S. local government. A Virginia resident and community leader since 1992, Tejada was appointed to serve as the first chairman of the Virginia Latino Advisory Commission (created by then-Governor Warner in 2003). He currently serves on numerous boards, including the Washington Council of Governments (COG) Human Services and Public Safety Policy Committees, the Communications Committee of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary Advisory Committee, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Latino Advisory Council, and others. Most recently, in October 2006, Governor Timothy Kaine appointed Tejada to the Urban Policy Task Force.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The fact that Latinos have significantly transformed Virginia’s cultural, social, and economic landscape in profound ways is today more evident than ever. Yet, with some of the most affluent counties in the country, Virginia communities often provide landscapes of striking cultural and socioeconomic contrasts. Latino day laborers, landscapers, contractors, nannies, and domestics have become ubiquitous in multimillion-dollar residences across Fairfax County and other northern Virginia localities. In Salvadoran-dominated communities such as the so-called Arlandria (thus named because it sits on the border between Arlington and Alexandria), most residents come from the small town of Chirilagua in eastern El Salvador and exist side by side with upwardly mobile Anglo-Americans living in newly built residential and commercial complexes. Further, well-established Latinos in professional, managerial, and diplomatic occupations employ compatriots and other fellow Latinos for a host of personal services and construction needs. Today, Virginia ranks 10th among states with the highest number of Latino businesses.12 Numerous communities offer a wide selection of Latin American restaurants; multiple Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations; Latino newspapers and magazines; soccer leagues; religious services in Spanish; Latino film festivals; heritage language schools; ATMs with Spanish text; and festivities commemorating national independence dates. Further, celebration of Salvadoran and Mexican local patron saints is customary in Catholic churches across the state. In fact, Mexico’s patron saint, the Lady of Guadalupe, has become an important religious celebration across Catholic parishes. In some churches, mariachi bands even launch off early morning festivities every December 12.

Virginia

Class taught by Pastor Luz Carballo (pictured) at the Multicultural Music Camp at St. John’s United Methodist Church, jointly sponsored with Mision La Esperanza, on July 25, 2002, Springfield, VA. Courtesy of Gwen Lewis, Copyright © 2002.

As in the past, worship communities across the state continue to play a central role in the lives of many migrants, whether through building a sense of community, providing social services, or expanding newcomers’ social networks. Because a large proportion of Virginia Latinos are foreign born, religious congregations promote their adaptation and personal development through free English and citizenship classes; a wide array of volunteering opportunities; health, legal, and tax clinics; and referral to social and community services. In offering a supportive and nourishing social setting, religious congregations often play a pivotal role, because they allow members to reinforce their ethnic identities while facilitating their adjustment to mainstream America. In Virginia, Salvadorans represent the largest share of Latino newcomers. For them, religious institutions have been particularly instrumental, given the circumstances surrounding their exit from El Salvador and arrival in the United States. The U.S. government’s hostile reception, expressed in its refusal to grant them refugee status, made these newcomers ineligible for state-sponsored resettlement assistance, including programs to support and strengthen community-building and social-service efforts. But this context of scarcity was counterbalanced with sympathetic efforts by progressive sectors of civil society. In fact, the civil war in

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Latino America El Salvador and the refugee crisis constituted catalytic forces that fueled pro-Salvadoran activism during the 1980s. Most remarkably, across northern Virginia, worship communities of various denominations have today become springboards for dynamic social-service agencies. For example, in Bailey’s Crossroads, Saint Anthony of Padua (a Catholic parish) and its neighbor, United Methodist Church-Culmore (UMC), have both launched initiatives to meet the pressing needs of low-income Latinos. In 1992, Rev. José Hoyos, then parochial vicar, founded Marcelino Pan y Vino Inc. (MAPAVI), a nonprofit sectarian organization that helps Latinos facing life-threatening diseases pay for medical expenses. Around the same time, UMC-Culmore pastor Rev. Eliana Rosa founded Grace Ministries, a popular emergency food distribution program that serves hundreds of needy Virginia Latino families the first Friday of every month. Likewise, in 2001 Alexandria-based Good Shepherd Catholic Church, together with community members, launched El Progreso Hispano (Hispanic Progress), an organization serving low-income Latinos in the Route 1 south corridor.

NOTES 1. The Bretton Woods conference of July 1944, attended by representatives of 44 nations, resulted in the creation of several new international financial institutions: the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). These institutions led to a system of management of the international economy, making the United States the hegemonic power that enforced the economic rules of the game. 2. See Levitt, and Montes and Garcia. Journalists brought Intipucá to public attention as early as 1979. In 1986 Salvadoran sociologist Segundo Montes conducted survey research in Intipucá and among Salvadorans in DC; throughout the 1980s and 1990s journalists from all over the world reported on Intipucá and its unique ties to DC. 3. Singer et al., 2004. 4. See Zarrugh; see also Virginia Latino Advisory Committee Reports. 5. True estimates of the Virginia Latino population might be much larger, given that census data do not account for the undocumented. Current figures estimate there are 100,000 undocumented Latinos across Virginia. See census data at the University of Virginia’s Cooper Center, in the Virginia Hispanics: Demographics and Workforce section: http://www3.ccps.virginia.edu /demographics/magazine/DW%20pages/5_HispanicsPart1_ DW/01_HispTitle.html (accessed 2006). 6. See Virginia Latino Advisory Board Web site, http://www.vlab.gov. 7. See Weldon Cooper Center, 2006, and Gozdziak and Bump. 8. Census 2005; Weldon Cooper Center: http://www3.ccps.virginia.edu/demographics/ magazine /DW%20pages/5_HispanicsPart1_DW/01_HispTitle.html. 9. Gozdziak and Martin. 10. Virginia Latino Advisory Commission Final Report 2004, 35. Virginia Latino Advisory Commission: 2004 Final Report, http://www.vlab.virginia.gov/Publications/ VLAC-Archives/2004FinalReport.pdf (accessed November 3, 2006).

Virginia 11. See E. Zimmerman, L. Dopkins, P. Masters, and S. Vallas, “Public Perceptions of Gang Activity in Northern Virginia: Results of a Pilot Study,” the Center for Social Science Research, Youth and Community Development Working Paper Series, George Mason University, 2006. 12. Virginia Latino Advisory Commission 2006 Final Report, http://www.vlab.virginia. gov/Publications/VLAC-/2006FinalReport.pdf.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Goerman, P. The Promised Land? The Lives and Voices of Hispanic Immigrants to the New South. New York: Routledge, 2006. Gozdziak, Elzbieta, and Micah Bump. “Poultry, Apples and New Immigrants in the Rural Communities of the Shenandoah Valley: An Ethnographic Case Study.” International Migration Review 42, no. 1 (2004): 149–164. Gozdziak, E.M., and S.F. Martin, eds. Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005. Kandel, W., and E. Parrado. “Restructuring of the US Meat Processing Industry and New Hispanic Migrant Destinations.” Population and Development Review 31, no. 3 (2005): 447–471. Landolt Marticorena, P.A. “The Causes and Consequences of Transnational Migration: Salvadorans in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.” PhD diss., Johns Hopkins University, 2000. Levitt, P. The Transnational Villagers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Manning, R.D. “Multicultural Washington, DC: The Changing Social and Economic Landscape of a Post-Industrial City.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 21 (1998): 328–355. Montes, S., and J. García. Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study. Washington DC: Georgetown University, Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Hemispheric Migration Project, 1988. Singer, A. “The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways.” Brookings Institution. Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and the Pew Center, 2004. http://www.brokkings.edu/ dybdocroot /urban/pubs/20040301_gateways.pdf. Singer, A., S. Friedman, I. Cheung, and M. Price. “The World in a Zip Code: Greater Washington DC as a New Region of Immigration.” Brookings Institution Survey Series. Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy. Brookings Greater Washington Research Program, 2001. Repak, T.A. Waiting On Washington: Central American Workers in the Nation’s Capital. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995. Zarrugh, L. “From Workers to Owners: Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the Shenandoah Valley.” James Madison University, Special Collections Library, Burruss Local History Grants, 2004. http://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/services/burruss/ZarrughPaper.aspx (accessed November 5, 2006).

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48 WASHINGTON Elizabeth Rink

CHRONOLOGY 1774 1790–1792 1792 1819

1853 1850s 1850–1856 1870 1889 1910–1917 1942–1947 1960s 1968

The Spanish explorer Juan Perez arrives on the Santiago in Washington State with a crew primarily of Mexican sailors. The first non–Native American settlements—Washington, Neah Bay, and Vancouver Island—are established with Mexican crew members. Two naturalists, Ariano Mozino and Anastasio Echeverria, make expeditions to Washington to sketch the landscape, plants, animals, and birds. The United States and Spain sign the Adams-Onis Treaty, in which the Spanish sell Florida to the United States and give up their claim to Washington. The Mexican mule packing system, which transports materials and foodstuffs for the gold trade in the Pacific Northwest, is established in Washington. The area that is now Washington becomes Washington Territory. The discovery of gold in Idaho and British Columbia establishes Washington as the center for purchasing provisions. Mexican mule packers are used in the Rogue River War. Walla Walla becomes known for its large Mexican population. Washington becomes a state. The Mexican Revolution results in a large migration of Mexicans to Washington. The Bracero program is established in Washington. The Muralist Art Movement emerges in Washington. Latino students at the University of Washington establish United Mexican American Students (UMAS) at the university.

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1968–1970

1969–1970 1970 1986

1995 2006

UMAS joins forces with the national Chicano Movement and becomes Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) at the University of Washington. Wildcat strikes in the Yakima valley lead to the establishment of the United Farm Workers Co-op in Toppenish. Wildcat strikes at hops ranches in Granger and Mabton are successful in getting better pay and working conditions for the Mexican laborers. Cesar Chavez, a Mexican American farmworker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (which later became the United Farm Workers), visits the Yakima valley. The United Farm Workers of Washington State is established. The first union contract is established in Washington State as a result of a strike at Chateau Sainte Michelle. On April 11, 2006, fifteen thousand Latinos march in Seattle for migrant rights.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The first Pacific Northwest settlers of Latin American origin arrived in the late 1700s in response to European explorers’ claims to the area. In 1774, two years before the United States declared its independence from Britain, Spain laid claim to lands in the Pacific Northwest. Juan Perez, a Spanish captain, was the first explorer of Latin American origin to sail along the coast of what is now Washington

Washington State. At that time, New Spain (present-day Mexico) served as the launching point for Spanish expeditions to what is now the United States of America. Subsequently, Captain Perez conducted four expeditions in the latter part of the eighteenth century to the coast of Washington with crew members of Mexican descent. As a result, in the 1790s, two settlements of mostly Mexicans were established along the Washington coast. These settlements, at Neah Bay and Vancouver Island, became the first non–Native American settlements in Washington, setting the stage for a 200-year legacy of cultural traditions and practices of peoples from primarily Spanish and Mexican origins. The names of historic landmasses, such as the Straits of Juan de Fuca, the San Juan Islands, and Rosario Straits, are examples of the early Latino presence in the Pacific Northwest.1 During the nineteenth century, the majority of people of Latin American descent who arrived in Washington came from Mexico. However, Chileans and other Latin Americans also arrived in the area. These Latinos from various homelands came to Washington to work as miners, ranch cattlemen, and laborers in the fields of the state’s steadily growing agricultural industry. The early 1920s and the years following World War II saw the greatest influx of people from Latin America to Washington. This migration, mainly of Mexicans from Mexico to Washington, served as the foundation for the Latino presence in the state. In the earlier days of migrant settlement, individuals and their families lived in the rural areas of the state, close to their mining and agricultural work. This has not changed significantly over the decades. However, the 1970s did see the Latin American population moving to more urban areas, such as Seattle. Today the Latin American population is the largest minority population in Washington State. Despite this they still have a low socioeconomic status in the state and have not been able to secure recognition as elected community leaders or in political offices.2 The cultural ambiance of Latin American communities in Washington has been highly influenced by peoples from Mexico and the Chicano Movement of the 1970s. Many of the towns in central and eastern Washington, including Wapato, Toppenish, Mabton, Granger, Sunnyside, and Spokane, have tiendas (stores) offering items from Mexico, such as religious icons and novellas (short stories). Panaderías (bakeries) and Mexican restaurants abound. Spanish-speaking radio stations broadcast throughout the region. Institutions such as the University of Washington in Seattle and Evergreen State College in Olympia serve as cultural hubs for Latin American artists, poets, and musicians.3

POPULATION Washington State’s Latin American population has experienced significant growth since the arrival of Latin Americans into the Columbia River basin some

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Latino America 200 years ago. The basis for the larger influx of Latin Americans into Washington began in the 1940s, when economic and labor industries in Washington began to boom. Starting in 1970, Latinos have been the largest minority population in Washington State. However, the most rapid growth in this population has been in the latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Between 1990 and 2000, the Latin American population in Washington doubled from 206,018 to 439,841 persons, with the percentage of the population increasing from 4.4 percent in 1990 to 7.5 percent in 2000. As of 2004, an estimated 77,000 Latin Americans have been added to Washington’s overall population. In Washington State, the Latin American population now constitutes approximately 8.4 percent of the total population.4

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Several factors have contributed to the increase in Latin Americans in Washington State over the past 20 years. These include migration, location in the state, age structure of the population, poverty, and education. Data from 2000 suggests that about 38.5 percent of the Latin American population in Washington State is foreign-born. These foreign-born Latin Americans increased by 300 percent from 40,454 in 1990 to 169,206 in 2000. Though some of these Latin Americans have arrived within the past 5 years, others have been living in the state for decades. Current population estimates indicate that approximately 21 percent of the Latin American population living in Washington arrived between 1990 and 2000. In addition, the Latinos settling there are much more likely to come from Mexico than other Latin American countries.5 There are 36 counties in the state of Washington, some of which are more affected by the rapid growth of Latin Americans than others. For example, counties in the central basin area of Washington, which include Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, and Yakima, have Latino populations that range from 20.1 to 47.2 percent. Okanogan, Skagit, and Walla Walla counties have experienced a Latin American population increase ranging from 10 to 20 percent. Neither western nor eastern Washington has seen a significant shift in the Latin American population. However, some of these counties—such as King, Pierce, and Snohomish, along the Pacific Coast—already had a sizable Latino population prior to the 1990s and experienced an increase of 15 to 26 percent into the early 2000s. The primary contributing factor to this influx is the Latino migrants’ employment in Washington’s extensive agricultural industry. The migration of young Latin Americans in Washington to work on the state’s many ranches and farms impacts the Latin American population’s age structure in the state. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the average age of the Latin American population in Washington State ranged from the late teens to early 20s. That statistic

Washington considered, the population’s birth rate is also an important factor contributing to the increase in number of Latinos. Latin American women have an average of 2.7 children in comparison to white women, who have 1.8 children. This slightly higher fertility rate, in addition to the younger age of the state’s Latin American population and the annual increase of migrants to the state each year, suggest that Washington’s Latin American population will continue to experience rapid growth well into the early part of the twenty-first century.6 Also related to the rise in migration of Latin Americans to Washington State is the number of Latinos living in poverty and at low levels of education. Latin Americans in Washington State are more likely to live in poverty than the total population. In 2000 approximately 25 percent of Washington’s Latin American population lived in poverty, compared to only 10 percent of the total population. Specifically in 2000, 30 percent of Latino children in Washington lived in poverty, compared to 14 percent of the total population. Education is often thought to prevent people from living in poverty by providing individuals with tools and skills to attain better employment and better access to health care, as well as other social benefits, and Latin Americans in Washington State are one of the less educated populations in the state. Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of Latin Americans living in Washington who had received less than a high-school diploma increased from 43 percent to 47 percent. As a result, in the year 2000, almost 50 percent of the Latin Americans in Washington did not have a highschool diploma, compared to 13 percent of the total population. In addition, only 11 percent of the Latin American population had a college degree.7

EARLY ECONOMIC INFLUENCE The migration of Latin Americans to Washington began with economic development in the state during the 1800s stemming from the fur trade and mining. The French, British, and Americans dominated the Washington fur trade with the Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest; Latin Americans did not play such an important role. However, they were instrumental in creating the infrastructure of the transportation system for the mining industry that burgeoned in Washington in the late nineteenth century. This was accomplished through Mexican mule packing. Demand for the Mexican mule packing system first grew large in California during the mid-eighteenth century as a result of California’s mining economy. In the 1850s, the discovery of gold in British Columbia and Idaho prompted many prospectors to travel through Washington to purchase supplies and provisions. At this time, the limitation of transportation in Washington’s central region contributed to the lack of economic development in the central part of the state. However, a large Mexican population began to settle in Walla Walla in order to

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Latino America support the state’s growing mining industry by implementing and developing the region’s first dependable commercial transportation system with mules. Thus, Mexican mule packers were in high demand from the 1850s up until the late 1870s, when the railroads became the most common method of transporting goods in Washington State.8,9

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Since the establishment of a Latin American presence in Washington in the late 1770s, the early economic development of the state mostly involved Mexicans who traveled to work on a short-term basis as ranchers and to lead commercial mule-packing expeditions—and, to a lesser extent, to work as miners and fur trappers—without settling permanently in the area. It was not until the Mexican Revolution, from 1910 to 1917, that Latin Americans settled more permanently in Washington. The political turmoil in Mexico instigated many Latinos to migrate to the United States—particularly Washington, to find employment in the state’s growing agricultural industry. The onset of World War II and the internment of Japanese Americans (in areas such as the Yakima valley and the farms and ranches surrounding Walla Walla) also dramatically increased the arrival of Latin Americans in Washington. The loss of Japanese Americans in Washington’s agricultural labor force created a crisis in Washington’s economy that was soon remedied by contracted Mexican laborers referred to as braceros.10 The Bracero program, which existed in Washington from 1942 to 1947, ensured a steady stream of contracted Mexican labor for Washington’s agricultural industry—and later, for the state’s railroad industry. With the establishment of the Bracero program, Latin Americans arrived in unprecedented numbers to Washington to harvest peaches, green beans, hops, apples, and sugar beets. The Bracero program ended in 1947, with only a brief revival during the Korean War in 1950 to 1953, because of the rising costs of supporting the program, as well as issues of maltreatment and racism. The program is credited with establishing Latinos as a permanent part of Washington’s total population.11 The termination of the Bracero program in combination with the end of World War II brought the first wave of Latinos from surrounding western states, such as Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Their arrival to work in Washington’s agricultural industry was encouraged by farm owners who had slowly become dependent on migrant labor. The Yakima valley, in eastern Washington, became the first major place where Latin Americans settled. Later, in the 1950s, they settled into other parts of the state, such as the Puget Sound area and the Skagit valley. By the 1960s, many migrant workers had abandoned their work pattern of moving through farms and ranches in the west to settle permanently in Washington.12

Washington

LATINO POLITICAL ACTIVISM Latin American political activism in Washington State did not stop with the demise of the Bracero program. The 1960s ushered in a new era of political activism among Washington’s Latin American population that lasted until the mid-1990s. The Mexican American civil rights movement begun by Cesar Chavez in the 1960s in California and the southwestern United States spread into the agricultural and urban areas of Washington State during the mid-1960s. As information about the Mexican American civil rights movement reached Washington State, two local farmworkers there, Tomás Villanueva and Guadalupe Gamboa, began their own community- and labor-organizing efforts after meeting personally with Chavez in 1965. Sometime around 1966, Latin American farmworkers in Washington launched their first labor strikes in the Yakima valley. In 1967 the Mexican American Federation was founded in Yakima in order to advocate for community development and political empowerment for Mexican Americans living and working in the valley. Shortly thereafter, also in 1967, Tomás Villanueva established Washington’s United Farm Workers Co-op in Toppenish, Washington. In 1968, Latino students at the University of Washington formed the United Mexican American Students (UMAS). In partnership with African American students from the University of Washington’s Black Student Union, as well as the University of Washington’s local chapter of the national Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), UMAS joined Chavez’s national grape boycott from 1968 to 1970. In addition to the Washington chapter of MEChA (located in Seattle), another key student group called the Brown Berets emerged as an influential student political group that linked University of Washington students with political activism in migrant farmworkers’ communities in other parts of the state. Between 1969 and 1970, Yakima valley experienced a series of strikes—referred to as wildcat strikes—from Latino farmworkers and the community activism groups MEChA and the Brown Berets. The Latin American farmers’ organizing efforts paid off in 1970, when wildcat strikes in the hops ranches in Granger and Mabton, Washington, secured better wages and working conditions for the workers.13–15 However, much of the success gained from the wildcat strikes at Granger and Mabton did not last. Organizing efforts characterized by large marches in towns throughout the Yakima valley continued in Washington’s agricultural areas through the 1980s, denouncing low wages and poor working conditions. In 1986 the United Farm Workers Co-Op, founded by Tomás Villanueva, was re-created into the United Farm Workers of Washington and was celebrated by a historic march led by Cesar Chavez in the Yakima valley.16 Further setbacks in unionizing Washington’s Latin American farmworkers continued into the late 1980s, when efforts by the United Farm Workers of

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Latino America Washington and the state’s Apple Commission in 1987 failed to reach an agreement regarding the alleviation of substandard living conditions, low wages, and high unemployment of workers in the state’s apple industry. In 1988 another organizing effort for better work conditions and wages was launched at the Chateau Sainte Michelle winery. By the early 1990s, the Chateau Saint Michelle efforts turned into a corporate campaign to improve the Latin American workers’ benefits. And, finally, in 1995, the first union contract for Farm Workers in Washington State was established some 20 years after Washington’s initial organizing efforts for better support of Latino farmworkers.17–19

THE LATINO INFLUENCE The Latin American influence in Washington State is most notably seen in the state’s central region of the Yakima valley. The total population of Yakima County is approximately 231,586, of which 38.6 percent are of Latino origin. Towns in the Yakima valley, such as Pasco, Burien, and Mount Vernon, have a distinct Latin American influence. It is not unusual to walk through the streets of these towns and see Mexican restaurants, groceries, and bakeries, or to hear Spanish radio stations on the airwaves. More specifically, it is Wapato, Washington—one of the oldest towns in the Yakima valley—that is referred to as Mexican Town. Wapato is almost 85 percent Latin American, with a distinct Latin American culture that dominates the town’s atmosphere.20 King County, in the western part of Washington, is another area where a strong Latin American influence has taken root, primarily in the state’s largest city, Seattle. Seattle’s Latin American population has grown from 8,000 in 1970 to 18,000 in 1990. In 2000 nearly 30,000 Latinos lived in Seattle, accounting for 5.28 percent of the total population. Latin American organizations in the Seattle area abound and address numerous Latin American issues, including access to health care, the arts, economic development, and business opportunities. The University of Washington at Seattle supports a Chicano Studies program with an emphasis on Latinos in the Pacific Northwest. Salsa clubs and art galleries with specific emphasis on Latinos from the Pacific Northwest can also be found in Seattle.21

MURALIST ART IN WASHINGTON S LATINO COMMUNITIES The Muralist Art Movement that began in the 1960s in the United States as a result of the Chicano civil rights movement had a strong influence on Latin American art and culture in the Pacific Northwest. Communities in Eastern Washington, such as Wapato and Walla Walla, saw an awakening of the arts and cultural activity inspired by the national Muralist Art Movement. Seattle also became a hub for murals depicting the educational, economic, and social strug-

Washington gles of Latin American people in the state, often displayed at cultural centers and the University of Washington. The University of Washington established a Centro de Estudios Chicanos; Metamorfosis, a magazine of Chicano/Latino art and literature in the Northwest, went into publication. The Muralist art of the Pacific Northwest shared many similarities with previous forms of Chicano art—namely Aztec, Mayan, and Inca pre-Columbian images. Several Latin American artists emerged from this movement, such as Emilio Aguayo, Daniel DeSiga, and Pablo O’Higgins. However, the art that flourished in Washington took on a distinct Northwest flair that reflected the area’s unique agricultural environment. Thus, the Muralist Art Movement in Washington had an undeniably regional appearance that captured the racism and labor struggles of the area farmworkers. Another distinct difference between the Muralist Art Movement in Washington and other parts of the United States was the role of community social-service agencies in Washington, some of which functioned primarily as cultural centers for the production of Latino art.22 In addition to the Muralist Art Movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, and in response to the Chicano civil rights struggle, other cultural enterprises were established in Washington. Theatre groups, such as Los Bailadoes de Bronce (the Bronze Dancers) and El Teatro del Piojo (Theater of Lice), sprouted in the region to promote not only Mexican dance, music, and cultural traditions within the community, but also to raise awareness of social and environmental issues affecting Latin Americans in the Pacific Northwest. La Escuelita was founded in Granger, Washington, to promote the preservation of the Spanish language, the study of Mexican history, and current Mexican and Mexican American cultural traditions. La Sociedad Mutualista was also founded in Granger in 1968 as a selfhelp foundation and sponsor of Mexican and Mexican American social and cultural events.23,24

WASHINGTON’S LATINOS

IN THE

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Despite the growing Latin American influence in Washington, the dynamic growth in the state’s Latino population over time has lead to several social and political issues in the twenty-first century. Some of the state’s Latinos’ most urgent social and political concerns include the K–12 education of the young Latin American population; the overall health of the population; access to affordable and environmentally healthy housing; and voter registration and participation of Latin American voters in state and local elections. In the area of early childhood education, Washington appears to be addressing the needs of the state’s Latino population with effective preschool programs. Migrant Head Start programs have been established that accept and respect a

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Latino America child’s home culture and language while also providing health and social services. Washington’s Building Bridges teacher-training program also offers a model approach to enhancing the capacities of preschool teachers to provide culturally appropriate early childhood education for Latino children. However, the low graduation rates of Latin Americans from high school in Washington are a concern. They indicate a need for Washington’s public-school system to promote academic achievement among their Latino students and develop programs that connect parents to their children’s school and to adult learning opportunities. The lack of Latino high-school graduates affects the number of Latinos entering higher education. Special programs that enable Latin Americans to access college resources while supporting their cultural backgrounds are still needed in Washington State. As in other parts of the western United States, Latin American youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system in Washington; as they move through that system, they become further disadvantaged because of socioeconomic and language barriers. Juvenile justice initiatives in Washington have led to some successful responses to these problems, such as including culturally competent detention alternatives and race-neutral screening criteria. Latin Americans in Washington, especially the undocumented, also exhibit larger health disparities and lower rates of access health care than other populations living in Washington. Steps to reduce these health disparities may be taken by implementing children’s health programs and promotoras de salud (community health-worker programs). In addition, Latino farmworkers in Washington continue to suffer from lead poisoning, respiratory illness, and pesticide exposure as a result of living in substandard housing, These environmental health concerns could be greatly alleviated by public investment in farmworker housing, as well as Latino-specific programs that address increasing Latino home ownership. Political disparities persist in Washington, despite the great strides made by the United Farm Workers of Washington in the latter part of the twentieth century. Politically, the Latin American population is underrepresented. Structural barriers to Latinos participating in political campaigns and voting suggest the need for ways to improve the federal Voting Rights Act. Programs to educate Latino youth on voting rights and political activism are also needed in the state.25

NOTABLE LATINOS Villanueva, Tomás (1937–). Tomás Villanueva is the founder and past president of the United Farm Workers of Washington State. Tomás Villanueva came to Washington with his family at the age of 14 to work as a farmworker in eastern Washington. In 1967 he founded the United Farm Worker Cooperative; from 1967 to 1974, Villanueva also was instrumental in starting the Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic; the United Farm

Washington Workers Service Center; a wave of hop harvest strikes in 1969, 1970, and 1971; and an increasingly successful grape boycott. Currently he lives in Toppenish and remains active in state and local politics. Aguayo, Emilio (1939–). Muralist Emilio Aguayo came from Denver to the Pacific Northwest in the 1960s. While a student at the University of Washington, Emilio painted the first regional Chicano mural, titled Aztlán. Gamboa, Guadalupe (1940–). Labor activist Guadalupe Gamboa was born to Mexican parents and came to Washington as part of the migrant farmworker community. He grew up in Yakima valley. He has been active in farmworker organizing since the 1960s and is one of the founders of the United Farm Workers of Washington State. He is a graduate of University of Washington law school and one of the founders of MEChA at the University of Washington. Gamboa, Erasmo (1944–). Educator and activist Erasmo Gamboa was born in Texas and grew up in the Yakima valley. In 1968 he enrolled at the University of Washington and founded the UW Chapter of MEChA. He was also the chairman of the university boycott committee, supporting the United Farm Workers’ boycott of nonunion grapes. Gamboa earned an MA in History from the University of Washington in 1973, and his PhD in 1984. He is currently associate professor of Chicano studies and adjunct associate professor of history and Latin American studies at UW. Dr. Gamboa assisted in the beginning of the Chicano Studies program at the University of Washington. DeSiga, Daniel (1949–). Artist Daniel DeSiga was born in Walla Walla, Washington. He was employed as a farmworker in eastern Washington for many years before he became known for his artwork. Some of Daniel DeSiga’s more notable works are the murals at El Centro de La Raza in Seattle and his artwork depicting farmworkers in Toppenish, Washington. Guillen, Rosalina (1963–). Community organizer Rosalinda Guillen moved to Washington at the age of ten with her family and worked as part of the migrant farm labor community in the northwest for much of the next decade. Guillen’s training as a community organizer began in 1988 when she was recruited by the Rainbow Coalition to mobilize support in Washington State for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential campaign. From 1993 to 1995, she ran the grassroots worker organizing campaign, which resulted in the first union contract for farmworkers in Washington State. Guillen is the cofounder of— and currently the executive director for—a grassroots organization in Bellingham, Washington, called Community to Community Development, which is committed to strengthening social, economic, and environmental justice movements.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS As more and more Latino migrants began to settle throughout the Columbia River basin in Washington State as a result of the area’s significant agricultural expansion, they brought with them their cultural and religious traditions from Mexico. While the Mexican settlers of the 1920s and 1930s were few in numbers,

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Latino America with many living in isolation communities in the western part of the state, their numbers substantially increased in the 1940s and 1950s, which fostered a cultural and religious awakening among the Mexican population in Washington. Traditionally, the center of Mexican culture was la familia (the family). Extended family was referred to as parentela. In the absence of their immediate family members, many Mexican farmworkers relied on their extended families as a means to share a common language and similar values, attitudes, and beliefs while working in the labor camps in Washington. Other traditional Mexican practices were also maintained in Washington’s many labor camps, such as going to a curandero (folk healer) for massage or to ward off the evil eye. Farm workers also saw the traditional healers for other serious illnesses that could be diagnosed or treated by modern medical practitioners. The labor camps also fostered music, dances, traditional storytelling, and the singing of corridos (ballads). Mexican fiestas began to be celebrated in the labor camps. Schools especially designed to teach children about their Mexican heritage, culture, and traditions were founded in the state, as were traveling theater groups. Mexican nonagricultural businesses, as well as tienditas (general mercantile stores), taquerías (taco restaurants), and panaderías (bakeries) began to appear in many of the towns in central and eastern Washington in order to serve the growing migrant population. Stores and restaurants such as these provided the Mexican population with Mexican food products and traditional Mexican meals; religious goods; Spanishlanguage books, newspapers, and records; and medical herbs, guitars, and serapes. La iglesia (the Roman Catholic Church) was a vital source of religious celebrations and customs among the Mexican settlers in Washington. Traditional Mexican cultural practices related to the Catholic Church became more and more frequent right around the time of the implementation of the Bracero program, during the 1940s. Bautismo (Baptism), confirmación (confirmation), and primera comunión (First Holy Communion) were religious ceremonies for Mexican infants and young children. Compadrazgo, or co-parenthood, celebrations were centered on the baptism of Mexican children and the bonding of families together. Quinceañeras were held for young Mexican girls on their fifteenth birthdays as a celebration of their entry into womanhood. Las Posadas, the re-creation of Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging with the Christ child, and the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Indian Juan Diego, also began to be held in Washington during the 1940s. The Catholic Church was also instrumental in promoting Mexican artistic traditions with the creation of estampas (color lithographed prints), which functioned as visual narratives of the life and times of many of the Catholic saints. Mexican Catholic families in Washington would display several of these saints on estampas in their homes in order to pray and give thanks to them.

Washington In the 1950s, after World War II, Mexicans living in Washington moved into the more urban areas of Washington State, like Seattle. In these more metropolitan areas, social clubs and community-based organizations developed. Fiestas familiares (house parties) were held as a means for people to socialize, dance, and enjoy traditional Mexican food. Spanish-speaking radio stations also became more prominent and would broadcast Mexican music; local Latino news; song dedications for friends and relatives as a way to honor their birthdays; and special broadcasts on favorite Mexican holidays, such as Mother’s Day or Mexican Independence Day (las Fiestas Patrias). The late 1960s saw the development of cultural centers in Washington. Folklórico dance troupes and musical ensembles flourished. Self-help activities and community mobilization efforts to address the social and educational issues of the Mexicans in Washington were supported by these cultural centers. Music performances, poetry readings, and periodicals like Metamorfosis were supported as a means to promote the social and artistic goals of Mexican artists living in the state. From the social movement across the United States in the 1960s and cultural centers such as those started in Seattle, the Washington’s Chicano Art Movement (Movimiento) of the 1970s and 1980s developed. The art of the Movimiento addressed the struggles of the Mexican population in Washington. Posters, murals, and logos were created to depict the cultural heritage, hardships, challenges, and aspirations of Mexican farmworkers in the region.

NOTES 1. Flores. 2. Historylink.org, “Latino History in Washington State.” 3. Gamboa, “A Social Portait: Chicano and Latino People of the Pacific Northwest.” 4. Kirschner and Irion. 5. Kirschner and Irion. 6. Kirschner and Irion. 7. Kirschner and Irion. 8. Jose Alamillo, “Latinos and Latinas in Washington State,” in Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 9. Gamboa, “The Mexican Mule Pack System.” 10. Gamboa, “Mexican Migration into Washington State.” 11. Gamboa, “Mexican Migration into Washington State.” 12. Gamboa, Mexican Labor and World War II. 13. Compean. 14. Rosales Castañeda, “The Chicano Movement in Washington State 1967–2006, Part 1—Political Activism.” 15. Historylink.org, “Latino History in Washington State.”

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Latino America 16. Garcia. 17. Jose Alamillo, “Latinos and Latinas in Washington State,” in Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). 18. “Overview of UFW in Washington State.” 19. Human Rights Watch 2000 Report. 20. Historylink.org, “Wapato—Its History and Hispanic Heritage.” 21. Gamboa, “Latinos, No Strangers to this Land.” 22. Ybarra-Frausto. 23. Whitem and Matheny-White. 24. Rosales Castañeda, “The Chicano Movement in Washington State 1967–2006, Part 2—Chicano Cultural Awakening.” 25. Apostolidis.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Apostolidis, Paul. “The State of the State of Washington’s Latinos: 2008.” http://www. whitman.edu/politics/state_of_the_state/read.cfm. Compean, Mario. “Mexican Americans in the Columbia Basin: A Historical Overview.” Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive. http://www.vancouver.wsu/crbeha/ ma/ma.htm (accessed August 2007). Flores, Lauro. “A Two Hundred Year Presence: Chicano and Other Latin American Artists in the Pacific Northwest.” In Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest Exhibit Catalog Reformatted for Use on the Chicano Latino Web Site at the Evergreen State College. Evergreen State College Library Web site, Chicano/Latino Archive, 1984. http://www.evergreen.edu/library/chicanolatino. Gamboa, Erasmo. “A Social Portait: Chicano and Latino People of the Pacific Northwest.” In Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest Exhibit Catalog Reformatted for Use on the Chicano Latino Web Site at the Evergreen State College. Evergreen State College Library Web site, Chicano/Latino Archive, 1984. http://www.evergreen.edu/ library/chicanolatino. ———. “Latinos, No Strangers to this Land.” Northwest Magazine, October–November 2000. ———. “The Mexican Mule Pack System of Transportation in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.” Journal of the West 29 (January 1990). ———. “Mexican Migration into Washington State: A History, 1940–1950.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 72, no.3 (July 1981). ———. Mexican Labor and World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest. 2nd ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. Garcia, Gilberto. “Organizational Activity and Political Empowerment: Chicano Politics in the Pacific Northwest.” In The Chicano Experience Northwest. 2nd ed. Eds. Carlos Maldonado and Gilberto Garcia. Dubuque, IA: Kendal/Hunt Publishing Company, 1998. Historylink.org. “Latino History in Washington State.” http://www.historylink.org/essays/ output.cfm?file_id=7901.

Washington ———. “Wapato—Its History and Hispanic Heritage.” http://www.historylink.org/essays/ output.cfm?file_id=7937. Human Rights Watch 2000 Report. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslabor/USLBR00807.htm. Kirschner, A., and B. Irion. “Washington Counts in the 21st Century. Growth and Change in Washington State’s Hispanic Population.” Washington State University Extension. Rosales Castañeda, Oscar. “The Chicano Movement in Washington State 1967–2006, Part 1— Political Activism.” http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/Chicanomovement_part1.htm. ———. “The Chicano Movement in Washington State 1967–2006, Part 2—Chicano Cultural Awakening. http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/Chicanomovement_part2.htm. University of Washington. “Overview of UFW in Washington State.” United Farm Workers in Washington State/University of Washington’s Bridges Center for Labor Studies, 2004. http://depts.washington/edu/pcls/ufw/history.htm. Whitem, Sid, and Pat Matheny-White. “Recent Developments: Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s and 1980s.” In Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest Exhibit Catalog Reformatted for Use on the Chicano Latino Web Site at the Evergreen State College. Evergreen State College Library Web site, Chicano/Latino Archive, 1984. http://www.evergreen.edu/library/chicanolatino. Ybarra-Frausto, Tomas. “Chicano Culture: Everyday Life in the Pacific Northwest.” In Chicano and Latino Artists in the Pacific Northwest Exhibit Catalog Reformatted for Use on the Chicano Latino Web Site at the Evergreen State College. Evergreen State College Library Web site, Chicano/Latino Archive, 1984. http://www.evergreen.edu/ library/chicanolatino.

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49 WEST VIRGINIA Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera

CHRONOLOGY 1800s–1900s

1903 1900–1920

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As West Virginia’s railroad, coal, and zinc production industries boom at the turn of the century, the state embarks on recruitment campaigns to attract European migrants. Spanish migrants, many from the region of Asturias, migrate to West Virginia. Clarksburg becomes an important fuel producer rich in coal, natural gas, and petroleum. The area’s mines attract Spanish miners. The zinc industry booms in West Virginia. Zinc production and smelting plants heavily recruit Spanish employees who were familiar with this type of work. Spanish migrants from the southern region of Andalusía, Galicia, and the northern region of Asturias migrate to southern West Virginia to work in the coal mines. The state census shows 464 Spaniards living in the state, with the majority living in Harrison County’s mining towns. According to the United States census, the Spanish population of West Virginia has risen to 1,543 persons. At the same time, the United States census lists 80 Mexicans living in the state. A Spanish vice consulate is established in Clarksburg, West Virginia, by the Spanish government in order to serve Spanish migrants. The West Virginia Department of Mines records show 2,212 Spanish laborers distributed throughout the state’s mines.

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Scotts Run, a coal-mining community in Monongalia County, peaked in coal production during the 1920s and is reported as having 12 Mexican families living in the area. The West Virginia Department of Mines annual report lists 233 Mexicans working in state mines. El Ateneo (the Athenaeum), a civil organization, is formed in Beckley to promote the cultural, educational, and recreational interests of local Spaniards. The group also served as a mutual-assistance association for Spaniards living in West Virginia. The contract-worker program, which imports temporary contract workers to labor primarily in agricultural fields throughout the United States, is created. In West Virginia, Caribbean workers become primary agricultural workers throughout the state in apple orchards and agricultural fields. Puerto Ricans on short-term contracts become a sought-out force of labor in the apple orchards. The town of Anmoore, West Virginia, is officially incorporated. Shortly thereafter, Victor González serves as the first mayor of the town. West Virginia receives certification for H-2 workers and begins to employ H-2 visa contract workers from Jamaica and Haiti in its farming industry. The first apple harvest for which West Virginia growers did not hire any H-2 contract workers is reaped. This opens up the way for Latino migrants in West Virginia. Since then, the majority of harvesters have

West Virginia

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become Latino based. Much of this Latinization has occurred in the state’s eastern panhandle area. West Virginia’s Latino population increases by nearly 18 percent. This growth is felt in 45 out of 55 state counties. The Mexican consul general visits West Virginia for the first time. Pinnick Kinnick Hill, a fictionalized account written by Gavin González, the son of Spanish migrants, is published. This bilingual text recounts the experiences of a Spanish zinc-mining family in West Virginia. It is the first book to capture the presence of Spanish miners who migrated to the state in the twentieth century. The first Latino college organization in the state of West Virginia, the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) at West Virginia University, is founded to promote engagement of the Latino community with the greater American society. Legislation making English the official language is passed. This legislation is largely a response to the recent influx of Spanish-speaking Latino migrants. The Eastern Panhandle Hispanic Advocacy Coalition (now UNIDOS), an organization founded to improve the quality of life among Latinos in West Virginia, is created. Christian Sanchez-Rubio, an undocumented migrant, runs over and kills four-year-old Tyler Evans. This incident spurs a wave of antiimmigrant sentiment and opposition to Latino presence in the state. The West Virginia University Extension Service launches the first Latino 4-H club in the state, in order to answer the needs of the growing Latino population in eastern West Virginia.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW West Virginia’s population is among the most homogenous in the country, with over 95 percent reporting themselves as white in the 2000 census. The Latino population in the state is less than 1 percent—among the lowest percentages in the nation. Still, Latino surnames (like Lopez, Martinez, and Alvarez) are commonplace throughout the state, bearing witness to vibrant communities that emerged in the early 1900s. Much of the history of these early migrants has remained safely guarded by their descendants. The history of early Latino communities throughout West Virginia is intimately linked to a twentieth-century industrial economy powered by coal. In contrast, more recent and emerging Latino communities—along the eastern panhandle of the state, for example—are more closely linked to a postindustrial economy. Thus earlier waves of Latinos were associated with booming coal and zinc industries in the state, whereas today’s migrants are more commonly associated with West Virginia’s agricultural, construction, and service industries. Despite any differences, the experiences of

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Latino America Latino migrants share parallels. Both waves of migrants responded to economic opportunities and recruitment efforts on behalf of employers; both experienced success as well as hardships; and both have left an indelible print on the social fabric of community.

EARLY LATINO PRESENCE

IN

WEST VIRGINIA’S MINING COMMUNITIES

In the early 1900s, West Virginia boasted a prospering economy based on coal mining and an incipient zinc industry. The successful finds of important coal deposits in West Virginia led to the opening of various mines throughout the state. Coal, the primary energy source for America’s industrial economy at the time, required an abundant labor source to keep up with growing demand. West Virginia’s solution was the recruitment and importation of workers—among them Spaniards and Mexicans who arrived in West Virginia’s coal and zinc mining towns in the first decades of the twentieth century. Migrants from Spain’s northern regions of Andalusia and Asturias were among those who came to West Virginia to work in the mines. Upon arriving in West Virginia, many Spaniards found that the physical environment was similar to the hilly landscapes that they had left behind; this helped ease their transition. Moreover, many of the men recruited from Andalusia and Asturias had labored in zinc and coal mines in their natal home and so were also familiar with the work. Spanish migration steadily grew in the early 1900s, though migration appears to have peaked by the 1920s. Fayette, Harrison, Logan, and Raleigh counties, located in southern West Virginia, became the principal destinations for Asturians and Andalusians working in the mines.1 In addition to the coal mines, some Asturians were also employed in a zinc smelter plant located in Harrison County. The lives of the young men who migrated to West Virginia were largely centered around the mines (or, in the case of zinc, the processing plant). In the towns that developed around the mines, Spanish migrants worked not only in the mines, but also in other occupations as stone masons, machine runners, engineers, bricklayers, and mechanics. Others became merchants operating small stores and barbershops. As migrants brought their wives and family, the women also took on important roles in the community: running boarding homes, doing laundry, selling food, and partaking in other jobs. In time Spanish migrants and their families thrived in the region. Still, their lives were often difficult. In the coal towns, Spanish migrants (among other Europeans) were subject to intimidation from Anglo-Americans—especially members of the Ku Klux Klan, who burned crosses and marched through towns, intimidating migrants because they were foreign and Catholic.2 In the mines, migrants were overworked without fair compensation. While they accepted the harsh conditions of work in the mines (including exposure to unhealthy air, dust,

West Virginia and the possibility of accidental death), Spanish miners did not tolerate exploitation on behalf of the coal companies. Miners were penalized for not filling coal cars to the satisfaction of managers. This was often used as a tactic to pay Spanish miners less than they were rightly due. Beyond that, the miners were subject to various forms of harassment. Drawing on their experiences with labor organizing in the home country, Spanish migrants contributed to the formation and leadership of the United Mine Workers of America.3 In several cases, including that of the Grasseli Zinc Plant, Spaniards helped lead successful labor strikes. Yet even despite hardships, Spanish migrants prospered. They maintained strong connections to the homeland and formed social clubs to promote their culture. For example, the Ateneo, organized in 1938, became the backbone of the Spanish community in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Through the social club, the migrants played music and held dances, dinners, and informal discussions. Forming ethnic enclaves, Spanish migrants continued to share their foodways and culture. By the 1950s, however, the coal and zinc industries of West Virginia were in decline, affecting Spanish migrants and their communities. In particular, Spanish men and women sought work opportunities elsewhere, and many Spaniards moved to other states. Still others remained behind, integrating themselves more fully into the social fabric of West Virginia, fusing their cultural traditions with those of Appalachia. Today families who descended from original Spanish migrants continue to thrive in West Virginia. In recent years, many descendants have begun to document their histories and reclaim pride in their language and culture. Although less is known about their history in West Virginia, Mexicans also settled the state’s coal-mining communities ruling the early 1900s. In the town of Omar, for example, several Mexican families clustered their houses together in a section of the community locally known as 700 Hill.4 There they settled, alone or with their families. The experiences of Mexicans in the coal-mining towns were similar to those of other ethnic minorities from Spain and other European nations. Deaths and accidents in the mines were part of life, as was exposure to discrimination and exploitation. Many Mexican miners eventually returned to Mexico, but others intermarried with Appalachians and built new families in the United States. While the heyday of West Virginia’s mining industry is long past, even today Mexican miners continue to be recruited for work in West Virginia’s coal mines.

FORGING A LATINO COMMUNITY AT THE TURN OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY As the United States enters the twenty-first century, the ethnic composition of the nation is rapidly changing; Latinos are becoming the fastest-growing minority

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Latino America group in the nation. Much of the growth among Latinos is the consequence of recent transnational migration from Latin America and the Caribbean. While states like California, Texas, and New York have been greatly affected by migration (especially since the mid-1960s), West Virginia has been one of the least affected states. In fact the state’s foreign-born population—which, according to the latest census, is estimated at 1.1 percent—ranks the lowest in the nation.5 Despite this low census (less than 1 percent Latino), the number of Latinos in the state is on the rise. In fact, Latino migration accounted for 40 percent of the population increase the state revealed in the 2000 census. By way of comparison, in 1990 there were 8,000 Latinos, and 12,279 in 2000. Many of the newly arrived Latinos came to the state after 1993.6 Though West Virginia has not been a state normally associated with a strong minority presence, Latinos have been increasingly attracted to economic opportunities there. Unlike Latinos at the turn of the twentieth century, today’s Latinos are primarily employed in agriculture, construction, and service work. In the state’s northeastern counties, Latinos have been employed in various farm industries, including apple harvesting, horse maintenance and training, and poultry processing. Apple harvesting provides an interesting example of how Latino migration has accompanied shifts in the state’s local economies. In 1992, after decades of importing contract laborers from the Caribbean and the British West Indies (under the federal H-2 program) to harvest fruit in the orchards of West Virginia, local farmers began to replace H-2 workers with Latino laborers. By substituting contract workers with Latino workers, farmers have been able to forgo the bureaucratic hassles and costs involved with contracting H-2 workers. At the same time, Latino migrants working in farm industries remain increasingly vulnerable and subject to exploitation by their employers as racial and ethnic minorities—not to mention as vulnerable undocumented farmworkers. Not all Latinos work under such tenuous conditions; numerous Latinos work for themselves as professionals and business owners. According to the Census Bureau, in 1997, 940 small businesses were owned by Latinos in West Virginia. The number of Latino-owned businesses declined in 2000, yet the sales receipts generated were higher than in 1997.7 Also noteworthy: between 1997 and 2002, West Virginia was one of the 10 states with the fastest growth in the number of Latina-owned businesses.8 Throughout the state’s eastern panhandle, Latinos have opened up small stores that introduce Latino sundries and edible treats, mostly for Latino consumption. In Petersburg, West Virginia, for example, La Casa en Las Montañas welcomes Latinos with their bilingual sign on the door. While in Keyser, West Virginia, Eliazar and Gonzalo Manuel, who migrated from Mexico, have opened up a grocery store that preserves a Latino atmosphere. Still other Latino businesses include restaurants, mechanic shops, and beauty shops that serve the broader community.

West Virginia The reaction to recent waves of Latino migrants arriving in West Virginia has not always been positive. In fact, many West Virginians have advocated for restrictionist measures in the state that are aimed mostly at Latino newcomers. In part some of the reaction is due to the influx of Mexican contract laborers brought into the state. In the mines, for example, contract Latino workers from Peru and Mexico are often exempt from established bylaws, and they may also be used as strike breakers. The Latino presence in agricultural orchards and other occupations within the state has affected relations between Anglo and Latino workers as a consequence of labor recruitment practices. Ironically, Latino newcomers have come to the state at a time when West Virginia’s economy is one of the most tenuous in the nation. In fact, the state ranks among the lowest in per capita income, according to the Census Bureau. In such a vulnerable economic climate, it is not surprising that Latinos have become targets of reactive and nativist responses that blame them for taking jobs away from poor Anglos, especially in regions that have become gateways for Latino migration. Thus Latinos face discrimination not only in their jobs, but also in schools and their communities at large. Latinos in various educational settings have reported acts of discrimination on behalf of administrators and students alike. In communities throughout the state, West Virginians have advocated for legislation efforts to control the working conditions of Latino contract laborers in the state, calling for English literacy stipulations. More broadly, many of the state’s residents have advocated for an English-only measure, aimed mostly at Latino newcomers. In response to these efforts, in 2005, West Virginia became the 28th state to approve English-only legislation. Though this piece of legislation was later rescinded, it sent a message to Latinos living within state boundaries. Surely, identifying as a racial or ethnic minority in an overwhelmingly demographically homogenous state can be intimidating.9 Despite any obstacles they might face, recent arrivals to West Virginia have made tremendous strides and are thriving throughout the state. In the southwestern counties, like Cabell, and in eastern panhandle counties, like Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson, the Latino population has experienced significant growth since the 1990s. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos account for 3.3 percent of the population in Jefferson County, as compared to 1 percent in Kanawha County, 2.7 percent in Berkeley County, and 1 percent in Morgan County, and in comparison to an estimated 0.9 percent overall Latino population in the state. The significant influx of Latinos into West Virginia did not go unnoticed by the Mexican government. In 2003 the Mexican consul general visited the state, paying homage to Mexican migrants living there.10 Today, Latinos in West Virginia are strengthening their communities throughout the state. As was true of Spanish and Mexican migrants early in the twentieth century, at the new millennium, Latinos are building social networks—at both individual and collective levels and spanning across state and national boundaries.

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Latino America Earlier waves of Latino migrants depended on few existing social groups, like the Ateneo, for support. In recent years, however, numerous advocacy groups have formed in response to a growing population—among them the Eastern Panhandle Hispanic Advocacy Coalition (also known as UNIDOS), an organization founded to improve the quality of life among Latinos in West Virginia. The Latinos’ success in business and in higher education within the state also attest to their greater accomplishments. Certainly there remains a need to create more support to incorporate Latino migrants into the state, but if the present is any indication of the future, the Latino population will continue to grow and integrate itself into the state’s social fabric.

NOTABLE LATINOS Moreno, Leopold (1923–). A Texan native, Leopold Moreno became the first Mexican American railroad inspector to work in West Virginia. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as an inspector of freight cars. Although Moreno eventually moved back to Texas, his position as an inspector opened the way for other Latinos to work their way up the employment hierarchy. Rodriguez, Rich “Rod” (1963–). West Virginia native Rich Rodriguez is the head football coach at the University of Michigan. Prior to moving to Michigan, he was the head coach at West Virginia University for seven seasons. He is currently one of only two Latino head football coaches in the NCAA.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Spaniards living in West Virginia mining communities in the twentieth century contributed to the cultural richness of the state. Their importance to the booming zinc economy at the time, for example, is memorialized in a historical highway marker for the town of Spelter. It reads, “Spelter community. Company town built for immigrant, primarily Spanish, zinc plant workers, 1910–1911.”11 In copperand zinc-mining communities throughout the state, Spanish migrants integrated themselves into the larger fabric of West Virginia culture and thrived as businessmen and laborers. Many of these migrants came from the regions of Asturias, in northern Spain, and Andalusia, in southern Spain. They brought their rich culture with them, including music, culinary tastes, religion, and language. In southern West Virginia in 1938, Spaniards formed the Ateneo, a social club and mutualassistance organization for their community. Although the membership has declined somewhat over the years, members continue to meet several times a year to share in food and folkways. They also brought with them anarchist tendencies that contributed to important mining strikes of the century during the 1930s and 1940s.12

West Virginia These early migrants left their imprint not only with historical markers and abundant Spanish surnames throughout the state, but also through their documentation of migration to West Virginia. The Asturian community, for example, maintains an online forum through which they share stories, photos, memories, and other information. Several children of Asturian migrants have documented their parents’ or grandparents’ migration to West Virginia.13 Beyond this forum, members of West Virginia’s Spanish community have also contributed through their scholarly publications. Gavin González’s Pinnick Kinnick Hill, for example, provides a personalized account of Asturian migrants living and working in the zinc mines near Clarksburg, West Virginia. His account relates the working conditions in the mines, the prejudices migrants withstood, their incredible resilience, and cultural celebrations. In addition to Gonzalez’s work, several academic theses have been recently written about the Spanish presence in West Virginia. These accounts contribute to the growing awareness of a cultural diversity that has spanned more than a century. The cultural contributions of Mexican migrants in the last century have not been so well documented. However, Mexican migration to West Virginia in the early to mid-twentieth century has inspired the production of a multimillion-dollar independent film. 700 Hill, currently in production, is inspired by the lives of entrepreneur David Mendez’s grandparents. His Mexican grandfather migrated from the mining town of San Luis Potosi to a coal-mining community in West Virginia, where he married an Appalachian-born Anglo woman who would become Mendez’s grandmother. Beyond telling the life stories of Mendez’s grandparents, the film will recover a history of Mexican migrants that until now remains untold. The post-1990 wave of Latino migrants continues to contribute to West Virginia’s cultural and ethnic diversity. The influence of Latino culture is evident in the burgeoning numbers of Latino restaurants that have opened in the last two decades. Today it is also not uncommon to see storewide advertisements written either in Spanish or both English and Spanish. In stores across the state, Mexican foods and music, along with Spanish-language videos, are sold widely. Additionally, social-service providers are increasingly coming into contact with the growing migrant population. In recent years, a radio program even interviewed local Latino leaders and provided information on social services to the community. In the schools, Latino presence has also contributed to the emergence of bilingual education programs and bilingual church services in the state. Within higher educational institutions, Latino graduates with bachelor’s degrees have increased since 1993. At West Virginia University, the growing numbers of Latino youth prompted the formation of the first Latino college organization in the state, the Latin American Student Organization (LASO). And in 2007, the West Virginia University’s Extension Service launched the first Latino 4-H club. Finally, the influx of Latinos into the state has prompted community leaders in several

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Latino America counties to include Latino heritage as a part of broader ethnic celebrations. In the eastern panhandle, the Hispanic Heritage Festival has become a popular celebration that draws people of all cultural backgrounds together. Certainly, as the Latino population of the state continues to grow, it is likely to make more profound cultural impacts.

NOTES 1. West Virginia Ethnic Communities. 2. See Gavin González. 3. Hidalgo, Reconstructing A History of Spanish Migrants, 116–119. 4. Sarah K. Winn, “700 Film Producer Wants to Tell Story of Mexican Immigrants in West Virginia,” Sunday Gazette-Mail, September 16, 2007. 5. See Padilla. 6. “West Virginia: Featured Facts,” from the Southern Regional Educational Board Fact Book on Higher Education, Atlanta, GA. Fact book available online at http://www.sreb.org. 7. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01-53.html. 8. HispanicTrends.com, “September 2004 Briefcase-Dynamic Trends.” Available online at http://www.hispaniconline.com/trends/2004/sep/briefcase/dynamictrends.html. 9. See West Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “Civil Rights Issues in West Virginia.” 10. Associated Press, “Mexican Consul General Visits West Virginia,” November 24, 2003. 11. http://www.asturianus.org/album/americanPlacesPhotos.html. 12. See Hidalgo, En las montañas. 13. http://www.asturianus.org/album/familySocialRecentPhotos.html.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arego-Asturian, Luis. West Virginia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGTYYIsqaFs. Asturian-American Migration Forum: http://www.asturianus.org. 4-H Club. http://www.wvu.edu/~facdis/newsletters/April07newsletter.pdf. González, Gavin. Pinnick Kinnick Hill: An American Story. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2003. González, Surronda. Introduction in Pinnick Kinnick Hill: An American Story. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2003. Gorczyca-Rayn, Beth. “Hispanics Find Support in Starting Business.” State Journal, December 8, 2005. http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?fun=viewstory&storyid= 7184. ———. “La Casa en las Montañas: Home in the Mountains.” State Journal, December 8, 2005. http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?fun=viewstory&sotryid=7184. ———. “Migrant Workers Part of Economy but at Risk for Abuse.” State Journal, September 14, 2006. http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?fun=viewstory&storyid= 7184.

West Virginia Heppel, Monica L., Joanne Spano, and Luis R. Torres. “Changes in the Apple Harvest Work Force in West Virginia: Implications for the Community.” http://migration.ucdavis.edu/ cf/more.php?id=151_0_2_0. Hidalgo, Tom. “En las montañas: Spaniards in Southern West Virginia.” Goldenseal 27(4): 52–59. ———. Reconstructing a History of Spanish Migrants in West Virginia: Implications for Multicultural Education. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Dissertation Services, 1999. Latino Education in West Virginia. http://www.wvomh.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket= imnVea5rkCc%3D&tabid=383ca. Latino Student Organizations in West Virginia. http://www.wvu.edu/%7Esos/Fresh StartSurvey/org_details.cfm?org_id=557-. Latinos in Appalachia. http://www.library.appstate.edu/appcoll/research_aids. Padilla, Yolanda. “West Virginia.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. Eds. Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. http://www.oxford-latinos.com/entry?entry=t199.e983. Ridder, Mona. “Manuel Brothers Open Hispanic Market on Main Street, Keyser.” Cumberland Times News, August 27, 2006. http://www.times-news.com. Saturday Gazette-Mail. “Trend? Importing Workers.” Editorial. October 8, 2006. http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Editorials/2006100715. Telamo. http://www.telamon.org. West Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “Civil Rights Issues in West Virginia: A Report to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2003.” http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/wv0503/main.htm. West Virginia Ethnic Communities. http://www.wvculture.org/arts/ethnic/index.html. West Virginia Statistics. http://www.fedstats.gov/qf/states/54000.html.

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50 WISCONSIN Victoria Hirschberg

CHRONOLOGY 1700s–1800s

1910–1930s

1940s

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Spanish fur trappers, sailors, traders, and soldiers arrive in Wisconsin. The Spanish government has a frontier outpost in St. Louis and supports the U.S. cause during the American Revolution by invading British supplies at Prairie du Chien. Latino migrants from Mexico and domestic migrants from south Texas travel to Wisconsin for jobs in Milwaukee’s tanneries, railroads, and factories. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 probably provides the catalyst for this migration. During the 1930s, an estimated 3,000 Mexicans from Texas arrive in Wisconsin. Between 1943 and 1947, the Federal Emergency Farm Labor Program brings about 17,000 foreign workers to Wisconsin, including approximately 7,000 Mexicans. Puerto Ricans begin arriving in Wisconsin. They primarily settle in the Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine counties. The Governor’s Commission on Human Rights releases the report “Migratory Agricultural Workers in Wisconsin: A Problem in Human Rights.” The approximately 50-page report details the injustices migrant workers face and the state’s economic demand for seasonal laborers. The commission conducts a study about children of migrant laborers in the Waupun region. The Governor’s Commission on Human Rights establishes the Migrant Relations Committee to address specific needs of the state’s migrant

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workers. In conjunction with the Wisconsin Canners Association, the commission also surveys several canneries, gauging the working conditions and recreation of migrant workers. Around 85 percent of about 18,000 migrant workers, including 5,000 children under age 16, travel to Wisconsin from Texas. The Governor’s Commission on Human Rights releases the report “The Migrant Labor Problem in Wisconsin.” This report discusses the substandard living conditions and often dubious working environments of migrant workers. The Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Migrant Ministry of the Wisconsin Council of Churches form United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS). In August Latino organizers Jesus Salas and Salvador Sanchez lead a march from Wautoma to Madison, called the March on Madison, in an attempt to bring attention to the plight of migrant workers. Organizers demand restrooms in the fields, representation on a state committee on migratory relations, better wages, and the enforcement of these policies. In December the Governor’s Committee on Migratory Labor releases its 1966 and 1967 reports on the state’s migrant workers. In November about 150 Latino activists wage the Struggle for Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, staging a sit-in at Chancellor

Wisconsin

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J. Martin Klotsche’s office. The organizers want to direct attention to the lack of Latino enrollment at the university; about 12 Latino students are enrolled at the campus of about 25,000. Activists occupy the office for days until university officials agree to form the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute as an entity focusing on increasing Latino enrollment. UMOS organizes a nine-day march from Milwaukee to Madison to demand better migrant housing and the rescinding of a trespass law they say impedes workers’ ability to meet with families. After UMOS representatives meet with Governor Patrick Lucey, the Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations agrees to a series of demands. The department commits to establishing a team to enforce regulations, permitting one UMOS worker to enter and inspect migrant housing, and distributing information for workers in Spanish. The Governor’s Council for Spanish Speaking People releases “Report on State Services to the Hispanic Population of Wisconsin.” After surveying state agencies, the report concludes that the state government improves historical accounts of Wisconsin’s Latino population. The Wisconsin legislature passes the Migrant Labor Law. This legislation outlines specific requirements regarding wages, hours, contracts, and housing for migrant workers. Many Latino activists call this legislative action a milestone. Cubans begin to settle in Wisconsin. Milwaukee becomes a majority-minority city, largely because of the African American community and the increasing Latino—including Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, and Central Americans—and Asian populations. UMOS establishes an old migrant labor camp as temporary shelter for workers in Waushara County—a well-known location for migrants. UMOS’s renovated migrant-labor camp in Waushara County, purchased in 1991, expands to the Aurora Center with the use of Farmers Home Administration Funds. The site includes a Head Start (built in 1996), seasonal housing, and emergency housing. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee officials rename the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute to the Roberto Hernández Center in honor of Hernández (d. 1994), one of the activists involved with the takeover of the chancellor’s office in 1970. Democrat Pedro Colón, of Puerto Rican heritage, becomes the first Latino to win a seat in the Wisconsin legislature; he represents Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Labor History Society sponsors Struggle for Justice: The Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement, a photojournalistic account of the hardships and resistance Latinos faced. Obreros Unidos union leader Jesus Salas, along with union journalist and photographer David Giffey, coauthored the exhibit, which travels around Wisconsin in different venues.

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Census numbers reveal that growth in the Mexican community leads to the large increase in Wisconsin’s Latino population. Growth in the Puerto Rican and Cuban community also fuel this increase. Angel Sánchez wins a seat on Milwaukee’s Common Council; he is the first Latino of Mexican heritage to do so. Eliza Ortiz, originally from Laredo, Texas, becomes the first Latina to serve on the executive board of United Food Commercial Workers Local 538. Oscar Mayer co-workers vote her into the position. An editorial appears in the April 17 edition of the Capital Times (Madison) saying that University of Wisconsin officials “targeted employees with Hispanic surnames to determine whether they were eligible for employment.” After the story goes public, university officials tell a reporter they were afraid the custodians lacked proof of citizenship. In Milwaukee, UMOS opens the Latina Resource Center to advocate against domestic violence. The resource center provides prevention services for women, children, and families. Latino leaders from throughout the United States and Mexico’s President Vicente Fox gather in Milwaukee for a meeting of the National Council of La Raza. The convention’s theme is “Hispanics in the Midwest: The Heart of America.” The Brown County Board passes a resolution to adopt English as its official language. Census numbers from 2000 show that Brown County, which includes Green Bay, has a population of about 227,000, and about 4 percent is Latino. At a meeting, representatives from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), American Civil Liberties Union, and the Hmong community oppose the resolution. Despite opposition, the resolution passes. Governor Jim Doyle appoints Jesus Salas to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declares March 31 to be Cesar Chavez Day in honor of the prominent Latino and farmworker advocate. The Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles opens the first bilingual customer service center at the Milwaukee UMOS center. To show solidarity and call for a pathway to citizenship, approximately 70,000 Wisconsin Latinos march during Un Día Sin Latinos, a nationwide event, to show the strength of Latinos living in the United States. In addition, many protest a bill by Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner calling for tighter border security and the ability to bring felony charges against illegal migrants residing in the United States. The annual League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) conference takes place in Milwaukee. LULAC, which promotes the education and civil rights of Latinos in the United States, started in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1929. There is an office in Racine.

Wisconsin

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ECONOMICS AND MIGRATION The connection between economics and migration has manifested itself throughout Wisconsin’s history. The Russians and Germans first came to work; however, by the early to mid-1900s, Latinos began replacing these workers as the Europeans permanently settled within Wisconsin. The majority of these Latinos migrated from Mexico or south Texas. Even today, economic conditions continue to attract Latinos northward as temporary agricultural or factory workers, although many Latinos have left the migrant stream and now reside year-round in Wisconsin. Though the Latino presence has gained momentum primarily during the last 100 years, limited evidence suggests some Spanish settlers arrived around Wisconsin’s rivers during the late 1700s to early 1800s for trading purposes. Mexicans and Mexican Americans currently account for the largest Latino group in Wisconsin, although there are large numbers of Puerto Ricans and Cubans and fewer Central Americans. Many Latinos arrived in search of work in agriculture, in food processing, or in factories, and that reasoning continues today. Workers from south Texas and Mexico cite similar reasons for coming to Wisconsin: higher wages and available jobs.1 Throughout the past century, Wisconsin’s Latino population has steadily increased. Census numbers from 1990 show that Wisconsin’s Latino population was just below 2 percent of the total population—fewer than 100,000. By the year 2000, that population had nearly doubled, and nearly half of that 10year increase stemmed from growth in the Latino community. Census estimates for 2005 also indicate an upward trend in this population.2 If the Latino population continues to grow, given migration and high birth rates, Wisconsin eventually could become a majority-minority state.3 Milwaukee earned that label in the late 1990s, given the large African American population and the growing Latino and Asian communities. A commentary that appeared in the May 7, 2000, edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stated, “They bury in Polish and baptize in Spanish,” indicating the changing demographics.4

HISTORICAL ROUTE TO WISCONSIN Historians believe the first Latinos to arrive by the thousands came shortly after the turn of the twentieth century. Many came from Mexico and headed north after the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920. Others came from the Rio Grande valley of Texas. These laborers—similar to the ones of today—came to Wisconsin in search of work in agriculture and canning, and in Milwaukee’s tanneries, railroads, and factories. During the 1920s and 1930s, Wisconsin’s thriving sugar beet industry required harvesting por mano, or by hand, escalating the need for labor. Some Midwestern agriculture companies directly recruited Latino workers from

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Latino agricultural workers, many who migrate from South Texas and Mexico, sharpen their machetes in preparation to sheer and shape Christmas trees during June 2005. Outside Wautoma. Photo by Joel Martinez. Courtesy of The Monitor, McAllen, TX.

south Texas; during the 1930s, about 3,000 Mexicans living in Texas migrated to Wisconsin. The state’s Latino population slowly grew, although census numbers do not always accurately reflect the population surges, as those numbers do not include seasonal workers. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced many Mexican factory workers south, although job opportunities brought these workers back to Wisconsin several years later. The Federal Emergency Farm Labor Program, enacted by the United States government in 1943 to fill the labor void caused by World War II, brought thousands of foreign workers to Wisconsin. This included workers from Mexico, Jamaica, and Honduras, along with prisoners of war from Germany and Italy. Between 1943 and 1947, about 7,000 Mexicans arrived in Wisconsin. The secondlargest Latino group, Puerto Ricans, also began arriving in Wisconsin during the mid- to late 1940s. They also came for economic reasons and settled mostly in the Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine counties. When the farm labor program ended in 1947, Wisconsin farmers utilized the Bracero program, a binational agreement between the United States and Mexico that permitted Mexican workers at U.S. companies to fill agricultural jobs. The program lasted between 1951 and 1964. In postwar years, Wisconsin companies shifted from using primarily Mexican foreign workers to employing those from the southwestern United States, partic-

Wisconsin ularly Texas. Also during this era, the existing Latino population began relocating from rural outskirts to the urban areas of Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha.

WISCONSIN’S MIGRANT WORKERS As the use of foreign workers diminished in the early 1950s, the population of the domestic migrant increased. These nomadic people generally hailed from Texas and traveled collectively as a family, though sometimes just single men arrived.5 The 1950s represented Wisconsin’s peak era for migrant workers, with about 11,000 in any given year until the middle of that decade.6 Job availability in the canning, processing, and agricultural industries attracted domestic migrants. Labor recruiters traveled to south Texas during the off-season to find workers. In 1950 the Governor’s Commission on Human Rights issued “Migratory Agricultural Workers in Wisconsin: A Problem in Human Rights,” the first of many reports recognizing problems surrounding the surge of Latino workers. This report detailed the lack of educational services, substandard housing, employment abuses, discrimination (including the name given to workers: “bean picker”), and health concerns of migrant workers. The report recognized migrant workers’ “unfortunate position” but concluded that because of the lack of a unifying agency and the fact that the worker is a “social problem to virtually all the public agencies established to protect the public welfare,” these problems would go unresolved.7 Follow-up reports indicated similar problems facing Wisconsin’s migrant workers, although the state organized the Migrant Relations Committee in 1953 to address these issues. One Wisconsin farmworker’s frustration with employers and lack of regulation led him to Madison in demand of change. Alcario Samudio, a farmworker from south Texas, spent 14 years as a laborer, foreman, and recruiter for a seed potato grower in Lake Mills, a small town about 20 miles from Madison. His frustration grew when Latino workers asked him about obtaining off-the-job insurance. When Samudio inquired about the insurance, the employer said such benefits were impossible, because Mexicans were “unstable and unreliable.” Not satisfied with the response, Samudio called the insurance company and said he had learned workers were eligible for the insurance and that his employer had lied. Disgusted by the employer’s actions, Samudio became determined to help migrant workers and headed to Madison to seek change at the state level.8

ADVOCACY AND ACTIVISM A recognition of the injustices and lack of available programs for Wisconsin’s Latino population led to the turbulent 1960s and 1970s—decades of protest, activism, and change. During the 1960s, advocacy organizations emerged, workers protested, and Latinos demanded rights and recognition. Much of the activity

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Latino America in Wisconsin mirrored other Latino movements occurring in the United States at this time, such as the grape boycott spearheaded by the United Farm Workers in California. In 1962 the Governor’s Commission on Human Rights released “The Migrant Labor Problem in Wisconsin.” The report referred to the migrant worker as “the low man on the labor totem pole.”9 The issues outlined in this report mirrored the same concerns as the report released in the 1950s: substandard housing, unfair wages, abuse, lack of education, and poor working conditions. Aside from advocacy, changes occurred in Wisconsin’s employment realm. The mechanization of harvesting led to a slight decrease of agricultural workers. Some Wisconsin farmers attributed the decline in Wisconsin’s agricultural sector to the rise of unions and activism. One farmer in Wautoma, a central Wisconsin town known for its cucumber harvest, indicated that while migrants sometimes had rough times, many farmers lacked the financial means and resources to provide the better housing or wages that migrants demanded.10 In 1965 several Wisconsin churches formed United Migrant Opportunity Services, commonly known as UMOS. It became one of the leading nonprofits advocating for Latino and worker’s rights. In 1966 migrant advocate Jesus Salas, a Texas farmworker living in Wautoma, helped lead the March on Madison. Organizers hoped this march of cucumber pickers would garner attention about the migrant experience and its injustices. Following the march, Salas organized the labor union Obreros Unidos (United Workers). One of the union’s initial organizing attempts was at a potato processing plant. This attempt was successful but came with struggles and some losses. After the employer refused to recognize the union, workers went on strike. During the strike, public donations and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) supported some workers and their families. However, many workers left to seek other employment or returned to Texas—a hardship for migrants dependent on wages from seasonal jobs. Working within the confines of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and State Labor Board, Obreros Unidos filed charges against the plant operator; the owner was found guilty of unfair labor practices and was ordered to financially compensate union members who had been laid off. Ultimately, some successes materialized from organizing against the potato processor. Despite some workers’ returning to Texas or seeking other jobs, Obreros Unidos had gained notoriety and set the stage for future union organizing in Wisconsin. Latino successes emerged from a series of struggles during this era in Wisconsin. Often, local and state politicians spoke against or belittled the Latino movement.11 Some even advocated for the discontinuation of federal funding to UMOS. Current UMOS Chief Executive Officer and President Lupe Martinez joined the organization in 1969 as an outreach worker based in Wautoma. Martinez recalls working from a school bus parked outside city limits and tapping into a nearby telephone pole for service. Many local farmers disliked UMOS and

Wisconsin banished its workers from their property.12 In addition to the external problems UMOS faced, the organization experienced its own internal upheaval. Many of the Latino activists decided it was time to oust the all-white male UMOS administration and hand the organization to the people it represented: Latinos. Some board members peacefully resigned, while others were not content with the decision. Salas eventually became the first Latino director of UMOS, and the ensuing directors continue to be Latino.13 The struggle for Latino recognition and worker’s rights continued into the 1970s. A report from the Governor’s Investigating Committee on Problems of Wisconsin’s Spanish Speaking Communities in 1971 sums up the Latino sentiment at the time. The report begins, In the days since we received our charge, we have listened to the voices of the Latin community in southeastern Wisconsin. We are deeply disturbed. We have seen a citizenry divorced and ignored by their institutions. We have felt the frustration and outrage which exists. Tragically, we have repeatedly seen evidence that faith in society and its institutions has been violated.

This report states that Wisconsin’s government continually ignored Latinos’ demands. Like previous reports, this one recommends improvements in education, health and social services, housing, and community relations and encourages the hiring of Latinos in various capacities. Also in 1971, UMOS representatives led a march from Milwaukee to Madison to demand better housing and the ability of outreach workers to enter private property to speak with migrant families. After a meeting with the governor, the Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations committed to allowing one UMOS worker to enter private property, to establishing an enforcement team, and to distributing information in Spanish, so workers could understand regulations designed to protect them. Latino education also became a key issue in the 1970s, hitting the forefront when about 150 Latino activists took control of the chancellor’s office at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to demand increased Latino enrollment. After several days of the sit-in, university officials went along with the demands and formed the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute. In 1977 the Wisconsin Legislature officially passed the Wisconsin Migrant Labor Law. This law outlined the state’s role in enforcement, requirements of migrant labor contractors and of the written contracts, certification of labor camps, wages, and civil action. Samudio, then working for the state, called this law a milestone for Latinos—a change brought about by years of organizing and demanding equality. The decade did not end quietly, either; protests continued. In 1978, Samudio and two other Latino activists fired a letter off to the secretary of the Department of Industry and Human Relations, reminding the department that it was noncompliant with

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Latino America recommendations put forth in the November 1976 report “Report on State Services to the Hispanic Population of Wisconsin.”14 The demand for migrant workers continued to decrease. Rifts between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans in Milwaukee divided the larger Latino community.15 And despite new laws, injustices continued against migrant workers. However, Latinos also gained power within the state structures, and UMOS continued receiving federal funds in lieu of attempts to shut down the organization.

CURRENT EVENTS In following years, the grassroots activism of the previous era slightly faded, although the controversial debate about immigration reform has once again ignited advocacy and protest. Estimates suggest that about 70,000 people marched in Milwaukee on May 1, 2006, known as Un Día Sin Latinos (A Day Without Latinos).16 Wisconsin’s leaders, for or against immigration reform, expect more changes as the United States Congress debates national policy. It is unclear how new legislation would affect Wisconsin’s Latino population. Many Latino activists have since become professors or obtained stateappointed positions, and they continue the fight for Latino justice. The Latino population continually increases, but some say the struggle is far from over for Wisconsin’s Latino population. The 2006 United Way report “Cuéntame: Latino Life in Dane County” indicates that Latinos live in crowded conditions, Latino children are more likely to drop out of school, and many Latinos do not understand available health care services.17 University of Wisconsin professor emerita Doris Slesinger published research about Wisconsin’s migrant labor force in 1979 that discussed populations, trends, and the “miserable situation of these hard working people.” In 1999, Slesinger told a reporter that migrants are still grossly underpaid and called them the invisible population.18 Though many aspects have changed, many remain the same. But Wisconsin’s Latinos are gaining recognition in various local, state, and business arenas. In 1998 voters elected Pedro Colón, a Puerto Rican and a Democrat representing Milwaukee. He became the first Latino to serve in the statehouse. In business, census numbers show that Latino-owned firms have increased in Wisconsin 24 percent from 1997 to 2002.19 Also, university officials named Carlos E. Santiago of Puerto Rico as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, making him the first Latino to hold this position. Additionally, Latino enrollment has grown within the University of Wisconsin system. In 2005 about 2.3 percent of the approximately 30,000 incoming freshmen students in the University of Wisconsin system were Latino—a steady increase since 1995.20 Governor Jim Doyle appointed Jesus Salas, who had helped wage the war on education in 1970, to the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents in 2003. However, Salas abruptly resigned in 2007, citing the lack of tuition support for

Wisconsin students of undocumented workers as “intolerable.” His resignation letter read, “There is a daily deterioration in the quality of life for the Latino, both for the undocumented as well as those of us who were born here.”21 Wisconsin’s migrant population also continues to fluctuate. While Latinos from south Texas and other southwestern states still seek processing and agricultural jobs in Wisconsin, the numbers continue to decrease. Single men from Mexico are replacing the extended Mexican American families from south Texas. Also, once-thriving agricultural industries (such as cucumbers and Christmas trees) are diminishing, and operations are closing.

NOTABLE LATINOS Samudio, Alcario (1937–). Alcario Samudio, a longtime advocate for Latinos in the Midwest and Texas, grew up in Mercedes, Texas, but migrated with his family for work in Wisconsin. He worked as a recruiter and a foreman at a seed potato company and lived in Wisconsin full time from 1952 to 1978. During the 1970s, he worked as the supervisor of migrant services for the state of Wisconsin and the Bureau of Migrant and Rural Services. He resigned in 1978, shortly after he worked to pass comprehensive legislation to help migrant workers in 1977. He then returned to Weslaco, Texas, in the Rio Grande valley, where he currently resides and works as a paralegal for Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid. He assists migrant workers who seek legal action against recruiters or employers. Chacon, Ernesto (1938–). Ernesto Chacon was an active player during Wisconsin’s farmworker movement during the 1950s. He grew up in Pearsall and San Antonio, Texas, and first came to Wisconsin through a high-school program that provided support to migrant families while they were up north. He helped buy groceries and translate. Although not a migrant worker himself, Chacon worked with La Raza Unida and was the lead organizer of the Latin American Union for Civil Rights. He also was involved with the Wisconsin part of the 1964 United Farm Workers grape boycott. He served as president of the Federation for Civic Action and currently is the deputy director of the Milwaukee office for Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. Hernández, Roberto (1944–1994). Roberto Hernández was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee when he helped lead the takeover of the chancellor’s office in 1970 to advocate for more Latino students. After the protest, the university began the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (which officials would rename after Hernández in 1996). While in Wisconsin, Hernández chaired the Council for Latin Americans and helped choose the first staff and director of the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute; he then returned to Texas. Martinez, Lupe (1945–). Lupe Martinez, current chief executive officer of United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS), traveled to Wisconsin with his family during the harvest. A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Martinez settled year-round in Wisconsin during the 1950s. He started as a UMOS outreach worker in 1969 and became executive president in 1974, a distinction he currently holds.

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Latino America Salas, Jesus (unknown). Jesus Salas, one of the prominent Latino activists in Wisconsin and Texas, migrated to Wautoma, where his family decided to stay during his teenage years. Salas, a native of Crystal City, Texas, organized Wisconsin’s migrant workers during the 1960s and 1970s. His work began in Wautoma, but he organized workers throughout Wisconsin and Texas. Salas helped lead the 1966 March on Madison to direct attention to the hardships migrant workers faced. He founded the union Obreros Unidos. He also served as UMOS executive director from 1969 to 1970. He now serves on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and resides in Milwaukee. Ortiz, Eliza (1967–). Eliza Ortiz, the first Latino to serve on the executive board of United Food Commercial Workers Local 538, relocated from Texas to Wisconsin during high school. After attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she began working at an Oscar Mayer plant as a union steward. Ortiz’s co-workers also elected her to the executive board, where she was the only female member. Colón, Pedro (1968–). Pedro Colón, originally from Puerto Rico, became the first Latino elected to the Wisconsin legislature in 1998. Colón grew up in Milwaukee and received a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A Democrat, Colón is currently serving his fifth term. The Milwaukee Business Journal named him one of the Top 40 under 40 in 1998. Romo, Tony (1981–). The National Football League has capitalized on Tony Romo, the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, to appeal to the Latino market and attract more fans. Romo, a third-generation Mexican American, grew up in Burlington, Wisconsin. His grandfather migrated from Coahuila, Mexico, to Texas.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS Throughout the large cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay to the smaller communities of Oshkosh and Appleton, Latinos have brought their culture to Wisconsin in the form of landscaping, art, music, and social events. Mexican flags wave over residences and businesses. Back windows display colorful decals of the Virgin de Guadalupe, a popular style in Mexico and throughout the southwestern United States. Even some Wisconsin Wal-Mart stores have a Spanish food section and sell Norteño albums. Numerous Tejano and Norteño bands, many from Chicago, perform at bailas, or dances, in Steven’s Point and Wautoma. These social gatherings offer a familiar space for many Latinos to enjoy common music and dance. Several movie theaters are debuting first-run Hollywood movies in Spanish.22 The University of Wisconsin campuses spearheaded numerous cultural events highlighting Latinos. CineFest, at University of Wisconsin at Madison, honored Latino filmmaker Hector Galan and aimed to encourage young Latinos to explore their historical connection to art and cinema.23

Wisconsin To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, the theater department wrote and performed Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Historia, or Our Voice, Our History.24

NOTES 1. Research conducted in Wisconsin during the summer of 2005 with migrant workers from Texas and Mexico. 2. Numbers extracted from http://www.census.gov. 3. As stated in the June 11, 2006, article “Report says local Latinos need help; many live on society’s margins,” which appears in the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), local officials believe the Latino population is much higher than what census numbers indicate. Also, some Wisconsin officials believe the Latino population is undercounted because many live collectively and go uncounted by the census, as stated in the August 20, 2006, edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the article “Hispanic residents up 23%; Waukesha library adds signs, reading materials in Spanish for patrons.” 4. John Gurda, “Cultures Blend, Evolve on the Southside,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 7, 2000, 1J. 5. Governor’s Commission on Human Rights, “Migratory Agricultural Workers in Wisconsin: A Problem in Human Rights,” 1950, preface, 6. 6. Information from report “Report for 1966 and 1967 with a summary of earlier developments,” from the Governor’s Committee on Migratory Labor. 7. See previous note, page 37. 8. Author interview with Samudio in October 2005 in Weslaco, Texas. 9. See 1962 report, “The Migrant Labor Problems in Wisconsin”, page 7. 10. Author interviews throughout Wautoma in June and July 2005. The ensuing stories appeared in the newspaper Monitor (McAllen, TX) in September 2005 and the State Journal (Madison, WI) in October 2005. 11. In 1969, Wautoma’s state assemblyman, Jon Wilcox, was quoted in the Waushara Argus, saying that with Jesus Salas in charge of UMOS, the organization would turn into a “militant agitation group with partisan philosophy and illegal picketing at the taxpayer’s expense.” 12. Author interview with Lupe Martinez in Milwaukee in June 2005, and via telephone in November 2006. 13. There is a passage about the change of administration in the 40-year timeline that appears in the UMOS online pamphlet. In an interview with the author in November 2006, Martinez also discussed the change of administration. 14. Letter provided by Alcario Samudio in an October 2005 interview, Weslaco, Texas. 15. Author interview with Martinez, November 2006. 16. As stated in the evening article by the Associated Press on May 1, 2006, Milwaukee police would not give an estimate of people marching this day. However, local organizations estimated the tens of thousands of participants could have equaled about 70,000. 17. See http://www.unitedwaydanecounty.org for complete report.

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Latino America 18. Pat Schneider, “Migrants Face Hard, Low-Paid Life, Study Finds,” Capital Times, October 12, 1999, 1C 19. “Hispanic-owned business up 24 percent in Wisconsin,” the Post-Crescent (Appleton), April 2, 2006. 20. Data from the University of Wisconsin System Informational Memorandum for the freshman class entering in fall 2005; from the http://www.wisconsin.edu homepage. 21. “Regent Resigns, Slams Real I.D. Program,” Badger Herald, October 29, 2007, http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/10/29/regent_resigns_slams.php. 22. “Movies in Spanish Find Audience Here,” Capital Times, August 25, 2007, http://www.madison.com/tct/news/207183. 23. Barbara Wolff, “Festival Celebrates Latino Film, Culture, Stories,” October 7, 2003, http://www.news.wisc.edu/9022 (accessed August 29, 2007). 24. “Hispanic Community Matures, Defines Itself,” Journal Sentinel, August 26, 2007, http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=651902 (accessed August 29, 2007).

BIBLIOGRAPHY Berry-Cabán, Cristóbal. Hispanics in Wisconsin: A Bibliography of Resource Materials. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1981. Erenburg, Mark. “Obreros Unidos in Wisconsin.” Monthly Labor Review 91 (June 1968): 17–23. In EBSCOhost (online database) in December 2006. Available from University of New Mexico Libraries. Giffey, David, and Jesus Salas. “Struggle for Justice: The Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement in Wisconsin.” Milwaukee: Wisconsin Labor History Society, 1998. http://www.wisconsinlaborhistory.org/Lucha-GiffeyProject.pdf (accessed November 2007). Governor’s Commission on Human Rights. “Migratory Agricultural Workers in Wisconsin: A Problem in Human Rights.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1950. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1343 (accessed January 2007). ———. “Report on testing of children of migratory agricultural workers in the Waupun area.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1950. http://www. wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1333 (accessed January 2007). Governor’s Investigating Committee on Problems of Wisconsin’s Spanish Speaking Communities. “Report to the Governor.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1971. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1262 (accessed January 2007). Pedro Colón Web site. Bio of State Rep. Pedro Colón. http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/ asm08/news/bio.html (accessed December 2006). Raushenbush, Elizabeth Brandeis. “The Migrant Labor Problem in Wisconsin.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1962. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ turningpoints/search.asp?id=1342 (accessed January 2007). Roberto Hernández Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Web site. Biography of Roberto Hernández. http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Acad_Aff/RHC/about.html (online January 07).

Wisconsin Rodriguez, Marc Simon. “A Movement Made of ‘Young Mexican Americans Seeking Change’: Critical Citizenship, Migration, and the Chicano Movement in Texas and Wisconsin, 1960–1975.” Western Historical Quarterly 34 (2003): 274–299. Accessed from http://www.historycooperative.org through University of New Mexico Libraries. Slesinger, Doris. “Migrant Agricultural Labor in Wisconsin: A Short History.” Paper presented at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers, Madison, WI. October 1979. United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS). UMOS Web site. http://www.umos.org/ corporate/history.aspx?sm=3 (accessed November 2006). University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Web site. Biography of Dr. Carlos E. Santiago. http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Chancellor/Vita.htm (accessed January 2007). Wisconsin Canners Association. “Report on Survey of Services and Facilities for Migrant Workers Employed by Wisconsin Canners.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1953. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1339 (accessed January 2007). Wisconsin State Employment Service. “Post-Season Farm Labor Report 1960.” Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Web site, 1960. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ turningpoints/search.asp?id=1344 (accessed January 2007).

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51 WYOMING Ed A. Muñoz

CHRONOLOGY 1493 1540–1542 1598 1706 1720

1776

1807

1825

1834

A papal bull proclaims Spain’s legal right to most of the New World, including the trans-Mississippi West. Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Spanish explorer Juan De Oñate establishes Santa Fe, New Mexico. Spanish captain Juan de Ulibarrí ransoms Picurís from Cuartelejo Apache in western Kansas. Spanish Lieutenant-General Don Pedro de Villasur’s French reconnoitering expedition suffers military defeat by Pawnees at the confluence of the Platte and Loup rivers in Nebraska. From September 10 to 15, Franciscan missionaries Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante reach La Vega de Santa Cruz, near Jensen, Utah, and approximately 100 miles from the Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming tristate border. Spanish American entrepreneur Manuel Lisa establishes the fur-trading outpost Fort Raymond at the confluence of Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers in Montana. The mountain man rendezvous is held at the confluence of Burnt Fork, Henry’s Fork, and Birch Creek—near present-day McKinnon, Wyoming, and within then-Mexican territory. The mountain man rendezvous is held at Ham’s Fork, near present-day Granger, Wyoming, and within then-Mexican territory.

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1840s 1843 1848

1850 1853

1855 1867–1868

1868

1890

Texas longhorns are driven to Independence, Westport, and Kansas City to meet needs of Oregon Trail emigrants. Spanish and American mountain men Louis Vasquez and Jim Bridger establish Fort Bridger at Black’s Fork, in Mexican territory. Southwestern Wyoming cedes to the United States from Mexico, with the eastern half becoming part of the Texas republic and the western half becoming part of the Utah territory. Mexican laborers contracted from Taos, New Mexico, carry on farming and herding operations at Fort Laramie. U.S. frontiersmen Kit Carson and Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell drive and deliver over 10,000 head of sheep from Santa Fe to Fort Laramie and on to California along the Overland Trail. Spanish American Louis Vasquez sells his share of Fort Bridger in the Utah territory to Mormons. Construction of the Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming opens up permanent settlement of state and expands economic development in the mining, livestock, and tourism industries. The Goodnight-Loving Cattle Trail, the historic cattle train, reaches Cheyenne from Texas. The Wyoming Territory is organized out of lands from the Dakota, Idaho, and Utah territories. Wyoming enters the Union as the 44th state on July 10.

Wyoming 1910s 1927 1940s

1948 1954 1960s 1970 1982–1984 1998 2003 2004 2006 2007

Heavy recruitment of Mexican and Mexican American workers for labor in sugar beet fields begins. Comisión Honorífica is established in Lovell, Wyoming, to combat social, economic, and political discrimination. A systematic, organized labor protest by sugar beet and railroad workers during the bracero era of World War II begins to slow economic discrimination against Wyoming Latinos. The Latin American Federation is established in Cheyenne. The Columbia School for children of Mexican-origin sugar beet workers in Torrington, Wyoming, closes. Social, economic, and political barriers begin to lessen for Mexican Americans and other Latinos. On January 12 the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) is established at the University of Wyoming. La Cultura Oral History Project is conducted under the auspices of the Wyoming Council for the Humanities. The Chicano Studies program is established at the University of Wyoming. La Radio Montañesa: Voz de la Gente (KOCA 93.5 FM) goes on the air, broadcasting bilingual programming from Laramie, Wyoming. The inaugural Celebración de la Charreada begins in Teton County Fairgrounds. An Immigration Rights Teach-In is held on University of Wyoming’s Prexy’s Pasture on May 1. The Trabajo y sueños en todas las generaciones de mestizaje en Wyoming mural is unveiled at the third annual Cesar Chavez Dinner on the University of Wyoming campus.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Many Spanish conquistadors, explorers, missionaries, and colonists garner much of the credit for the so-called early settlement of the southwestern and inter–Rocky Mountain regions of the United States in the middle of the sixteenth century. However, Mexican mestizos who accompanied the Spaniards northward were larger in number and provided most of the labor that greatly contributed to the heralded Spanish accomplishments. Whereas the nineteenth-century fur trading, livestock, mining, and railroad industries hastened Mexican mestizaje in the Wyoming territory, twentieth-century industrialization and commercial agriculture solidified the Mexican presence in the Cowboy State. Racial and ethnic discrimination experienced throughout the twentieth century produced political organizing and resilient Mexican American communities, which continue to significantly contribute to the Wyoming historical and cultural landscape at the turn of the twenty-first century.

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SPANISH EXPLORATION A number of mid- to late-sixteenth-century conquistador expeditions northward from central Mexico led to the founding of the province of Nuevo México, which extended to Colorado and parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming. Exploration and conquest gave way to seventeenth-century colonization. From the Taos and Santa Fe area, many certified and noncertified expeditions north, east, and west were motivated by a desire for diplomacy, war, and trade with the diverse indigenous peoples and competing European powers. Some speculate that Mexican–Native American scouts and Spanish traders may have explored the North Platte River into Wyoming at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The latter half of the eighteenth century saw travel northwestward into the heart of Ute tribal homelands to formalize trade relations and carve out a trail to the Pacific coast. The Dominguez–Escalante expedition of 1776–1777 is the best-documented northwestward trek from Santa Fe. In addition, Spanish frontiersmen’s unofficial geographic knowledge of southern Colorado helped confront, defeat, and pacify warring Comanche tribal bands that roamed north into southern Wyoming.

FUR TRADE At the turn of the nineteenth century, the profitable frontier fur trade in the inter–Rocky Mountain region became a focal point of contestation between indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Anglo-Americans. A key figure overlooked during this era is Manuel Lisa, the St. Louis Spanish American. Not long after Lewis and Clark returned from the Pacific, Lisa put into place an ambitious and prosperous plan he had developed with information collected by the famous exploratory expedition. Using the time-tested Spanish strategy of placating indigenous peoples through trade and commerce, Lisa befriended the various tribes living along the Missouri River to ensure the future safe transport of goods up and down the waterway. Profits would emerge from furs transported to St. Louis from the Three Forks area of the Missouri headwaters, in the inter–Rocky Mountain region. However, fear of confrontations with the Three Forks Blackfeet led to Lisa’s decision to build Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers in Montana. The area, abundant in game, was the favored wintering ground of the friendly Crow nation. From here, in November of 1807, Lisa sent out his contracted and mainly non-Spanish trappers to bring in furs from around the Wind River Mountains, the Shoshone River, the Jackson Hole, and the Yellowstone areas. Part of Lisa’s instructions to his trappers was to be wary for

Wyoming evidence of Spanish traders from Santa Fe, who reputedly were trading with the Shoshone peoples west of the Continental Divide. Lisa’s ultimate goal was the development of a trade route between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the upper Missouri River, which would form a triangular trade zone into the trans-Mississippi West, offering the potential of handsome profits. While Lisa never fully realized his plan, his Missouri Fur Company did lay the foundation for the inter–Rocky Mountain fur trade, which prospered for many years to come. What’s more, a great deal of commerce did develop within this triangular trade zone, and several mountain man rendezvous were held in Mexican territory.

LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY At the end of the 1830s, early Wyoming settlers increasingly looked to raising livestock as a viable economic activity. Spaniards had introduced longhorn cattle to Texas more than a century earlier, where they had increased exponentially by the time of Anglo arrival in 1821. A merger of Mexican and southern Anglo cattle traditions moved northward with the great Texas cattle drives to key railroad towns on the Great Plains. Many Texas cattle also found their way to midwestern points of origin to meet the requests of migrants traveling to Utah, California, and Oregon. This mid-nineteenth-century overland migration passed directly through southern and central Wyoming, spurring settlement and economic development. This brought about plans for the transcontinental railroad, which was built across southern Wyoming in the 1860s. As so-called civilization moved westward, Cheyenne became the hub of a regional cattle distribution system that was supplied with Texas cattle up until 1885. It is estimated that that one-third of the vaqueros driving cattle north from Texas were Mexican or black. By the mid-sixteenth century, sheep had found their way into New Mexican pastures—and like the Spanish Mexican vaquero culture, borreguero (sheepherder) culture spread north, east, and westward as sheep became a muchneeded commodity for the great migration across Wyoming. Borregueros and their families played a pivotal role in the mid-nineteenth-century development of Latino communities. Carbon County became an early point of destination for many New Mexican borregueros, with later generations of borregueros coming to Wyoming indirectly from Mexico and Colorado. Due to the seasonal nature of work in the cattle and sheep industries, many Mexican vaqueros and borregueros turned to employment in the developing railroad, mining, and agricultural industries during the off-seasons. This employment strategy allowed for Latino enclaves to solidify throughout the Wyoming landscape by the turn of the twentieth century.

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TWENTIETH-CENTURY INDUSTRIALIZATION Migrant labor increasingly became a mainstay of U.S. economic development at the turn of the twentieth century; the domestic labor supply could not keep up with rapid industrialization and increasing commercial agriculture across the country. Increased urbanization, labor competition, and labor organizing hardened U.S. xenophobia, allowing nativist forces to influence restrictive immigration policies that first disqualified Asians, then curtailed central, southern, and eastern European population flows. With these migrant labor flows cut off, the Mexican American migrant came to the forefront. The economic profits reaped through Mexican American and Mexican migrant labor instantaneously flowed to regions outside of the U.S. Southwest. Formal and informal labor recruitment processes were put into place to ameliorate perceived and actual labor shortages during the first half of the twentieth century. For many Mexican Latinos, higher wages and expanded economic opportunities compensated for the harsh climatic conditions and ethnic isolation often experienced in non-southwestern communities. However, increased economic mobility did not always temper individual and societal prejudice and discrimination against Mexicans in rural and urban communities beyond the Southwest. Mexican railroad workers began to join Mexican vaqueros, borregueros, hunters, packers, mule skinners, and teamsters in the development of Wyoming communities during the first half of the twentieth century. Mexican women, much like their white counterparts, solidified this presence in the railroad industry through their wartime efforts. Today railroad employment continues to be an economic mainstay for Wyoming Latinos. While not as important today as it was in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, the legacy of Mexican sugar beet workers is one of resilience and adaptation in the face of harsh labor exploitation and social segregation. Less documentation exists of the involvement of Wyoming Latinos in mining; nevertheless, anecdotal evidence suggests that raw-resources extraction is drawing a new generation of Latinos into the state.

COMMUNITY BUILDING, 1900–1960 Wyoming’s territorial and early statehood eras were generally welcoming to migrants due to these workers’ critical role in the region’s economic development. This view changed in 1914, when it became increasingly apparent that the United States would become involved in the First World War. Following the national trend, local Wyomingites began to fear all migrants because of their potential for developing a fifth column within U.S. borders. Equally responsible for fueling nativist attitudes was the perception that migrants were to blame for pre- and postwar economic downturns and accompanying labor-organizing efforts.

Wyoming Whereas second- and third-generation Europeans began to escape the negative manifestations of nativism through their gradual assimilation into U.S. society, the outcome for Mexicans was different, as their mestizo racial and ethnic background put them at odds with a pure Anglo background. Furthermore, Mexicans resisted their imposed second-class citizenry through individual and systematic efforts. This perseverance resulted in Mexicans becoming an increasing presence throughout the Western frontier as they turned into the favored migrant labor group. Providing reliable growth trends for the U.S. Latino population has proved difficult; the methods of racially and ethnically categorizing individuals are highly variable from census to census. Nevertheless, disaggregated data from selected decennial census can provide additional illustration of where and when Wyoming Mexican communities developed. In 1880, ten years prior to statehood, 40 people living in the Wyoming territory were identified as residents of the United States who had been born in Mexico. In 1930 this number increased by 7,581.5 percent to 3,075. Interestingly, in 1930 the U.S. Census Bureau for the first and only time established a category to combine foreign-born and U.S.-born individuals of Mexican descent. This decennial census ranked Wyoming 11th in the nation overall in terms of its total Mexican-descent population, with 7,174 Mexican individuals enumerated. Moreover, in 1930, Wyoming Mexicans ranked seventh nationally in terms of their percentage of the total state population (3.2 percent). Finally, Wyoming counties that had a Mexican population constituting at least 9 percent of the state Mexican-origin population were Big Horn (9.8 percent; Lovell, Powell, Worland); Carbon (10 percent; Rawlins, Hanna, Encampment); Goshen (10.7 percent; Fort Laramie, Torrington); Laramie (14.1 percent; Cheyenne); Platte (10.7 percent; Wheatland); and Sweetwater (11.9 percent; Granger, Green River, Rock Springs).1 This 1930 enumeration of the Mexican population coincides with the beginning of one of the worst episodes of race and ethnic relations in U.S history—the 1930s Mexican Repatriation program. This program, fueled by nativist rhetoric that blamed Mexicans for the time period’s economic depression, systematically repatriated and deported over 250,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans. It is estimated that Wyoming had lost half of its Mexican population by the end of the 1930s. From this point on, nativist rhetoric and discriminatory polices directed toward Mexicans and Mexican Americans have waxed and waned in accordance with levels of migration and the performance of the U.S. economy. Research shows that Mexican Latinos in Wyoming experienced overt social, economic, and political discrimination similar to that experienced by Mexican Latinos nationally up until about 1970, the height of the modern civil rights movement. State legislation in the late nineteenth century prohibited interracial marriages.

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Latino America Ku Klux Klan activities in the state during the 1920s were directed at all foreigners. De facto and de jure segregation was prominent in housing, educational, religious, and public facilities and establishments. Dual-wage systems and labor markets were based along ethnic lines. Debt peonage systems were formalized through town and company stores. Research also demonstrates formal and informal Mexican resistance to nativism, racism, and discrimination. European explorers and colonizers brought with them the practice of racial and ethnic intermarriage that formal legislation did little to halt. Increased participation in the secondary sectors of U.S. institutions (i.e., education, the labor force) during the twentieth century led to increases in Mexican-Anglo marital unions. Nationalist-oriented mutualistas, or mutual aid societies, such as La Comisión Honorífica (Honorary Commission), developed for social and political reasons. The Comisión’s Comité Patriótico organized patriotic celebrations, such as fiestas for Mexican Independence Day. In addition, the Comisión acted as an intermediary to the Mexican consulate. The consulate often intervened on behalf of Mexicans who were victims of unwarranted individual and organized violence, exploitative employers, predatory shop owners, and public-facilities segregation. Resistance and activism became more sophisticated during the 1940s and 1950s as the majority of the Mexican population became a Mexican American population that took increasing interest in the prospect of their inclusion into U.S. society. Mexican American parents worked ardently with child labor investigation committees and local PTAs to challenge discriminatory school policies. Labor organization experienced variable success that was dependent on the type of occupation, the level of participation with national labor organizations, and local conditions. Probably the most successful labor settlement originated from a federal grievance filed by unionized Mexican railroad workers in Cheyenne. Higher levels of success during this era required higher levels of assimilationist leadership in organizations such as the Latin American Club, the American GI Forum, and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Although these organizations could not fully overcome segregation and discrimination, they did lay a stronger foundation for social, economic, and political organizing that manifested in the Chicano Movement of the 1960s. The Chicano Movement, more than anything else, significantly decreased overt racism and discrimination, allowing increased integration into societal institutions. At the same time, its strong influence of Chicano nationalism worked to slow acculturation.

CONTEMPORARY ERA, 1970–2007 Though the 1960s nationalist movements’ demands for self-identity and selfdetermination were successful in slowing down the acculturation process within

Wyoming specific Latino populations, they did little to push mainstream public officials toward a system that accurately enumerates Latinos with respect to preferred national-origin ethnic labels. Since the 1970 census experiments, the umbrella terms “Hispanic” (and now “Latino”) have become the preferred labels with which to enumerate persons of Mexican and other Latin American descent. With respect to Wyoming Latinos in 1970s census data, they comprised 5.6 percent (an estimated 18,551 people) of the total state population (est. 332,416). Wyoming counties with a Latino population that was at least 9 percent of the total state Latino population were Albany (9.9 percent; est. 1,844; Laramie), Carbon (11.7 percent; est. 2,172; Rawlins, Hanna, Encampment), Laramie (30.6 percent; est. 5,685; Cheyenne), Natrona (9.6 percent; est. 1,773; Casper), and Sweetwater (10.6 percent; est. 1,970; Green River, Rock Springs). This list differs from the 1930s list of Wyoming counties whose total Mexican population was at least 9 percent of the state’s total Mexican population. Most notably, counties primarily known for sugar beet production—Big Horn (2.2 percent; est. 406; Lovell, Powell, Worland), Goshen (4.3 percent; est. 795; Fort Laramie, Torrington), and Platte (no available data; Wheatland)—were left off. On the other hand, counties known primarily for railroad and/or mining economic activities were added (i.e., Albany and Natrona).2 These demographic trends reflect the historical conditions of the late twentieth century. Commercial agriculture increased, along with technological advancements that reduced the need for agricultural workers. The oil and mining industries experienced booms in the 1970s and 1980s that infused traditional Wyoming economic opportunities and fueled the recruitment of labor from all over Wyoming and other parts of the United States. The success of the civil rights movement ensured that Mexican American workers would be included in expanding economic opportunities. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the formal and informal recruitment of Mexican American and Mexican labor continues to increase and decrease, depending on historical social, economic, and political pressures at the national, regional, state, and local levels. The 1965 elimination of immigration quota systems that were based on nationality gave way to an immigration policy that favored family reunification. This paved the way for increased legal and illegal migration to the United States. The Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986, designed to decrease migration flows, had the unintended effect of increasing migration. This heightened level of Latino migration helps explain how Latinos (12.6 percent) recently became the largest racial ethnic minority group in the United States, according to 2000 census data. Furthermore, their 10-year percentage increase (57.8 percent) from 1990 to 2000 was the largest among all racial and ethnic groupings. In comparison to national figures, Latinos are the largest ethnic group in Wyoming (6.4 percent), and they had the largest 10-year percentage increase

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Latino America (23 percent) of any racial ethnic grouping in the state from 1990 to 2000. At the county level, Latinos made up double-digit percentages of total county populations in Carbon (13.8 percent), Washakie (11.5 percent), and Laramie (10.9 percent). In terms of the 10-year Latino population change from 1990 to 2000, however, Carbon experienced a net decrease (6.6 percent), while Washakie (18.7 percent) and Laramie (21.7 percent) experienced net increases. Most notable is Teton County’s 650 percent increase among their Latino population from 158 persons in 1990 to 1,185 persons in 2000.3 Continued migration has worked to uphold and solidify negative stereotypes that continue to justify overt and covert individual and institutional discrimination. In Wyoming various public and private officials alike raise concerns about the acute and inherent criminality of Latino migrants and nonmigrants. Despite this, Latinos continue to grow in Wyoming at the turn of the twenty-first century. And although they are becoming a more and more vital part of the social, economic, and political landscape of Wyoming, they are also striving more and more to hold onto their latinidad (Latin-ness) as they selectively assimilate into mainstream society.

NOTABLE LATINOS Ontiveros, Inez (1934–). Inez Ontiveroz, resident of Lovell, Wyoming, since the early 1940s, was the recipient of the 2005 National Head Start Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In previous years, she was also recognized as the Wyoming and Region VIII Head Start Teacher of the Year. Esquibel, Floyd A. (1938–). Floyd Esquibel, a Cheyenne attorney, has been the Wyoming House District 44 Representative since 1997. He is a committee member for several important committees dealing with transportation, economic development, and the environment. Mercado, Oralia (1941–). Oralia Mercado, while raising her family as a single mother in Casper, became a mainstay in state government agencies, earned her associate of arts from Casper College, and obtained her bachelor of arts from the University of Wyoming. Her leadership in and commitment to social justice has earned her awards and appointments at the local, state, and national levels. DeHerrera, Juan Abran (1942–). “Abe” DeHerrera, a policeman in Rawlins, Wyoming, for over twenty years, was appointed by President Bill Clinton and served as U.S. marshal for the district of Wyoming from 1996–2002. Trujillo, Solomon (1951–). Solomon Trujillo, a University of Wyoming College of Business alumnus, is a leader in digital technology and telecommunications. His $1.02-million contribution to the college in 2001 endowed the Solomon D. Trujillo Center for eBusiness. Rios, Francisco A. (1956–). Francisco A. Rios is a professor of education studies at the University of Wyoming. He is nationally recognized as an expert in the field of Latinos

Wyoming and education. He is the senior associate editor of Multicultural Perspectives, the journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education. Garcia, Jesse (1982–). Jesse Garcia, born in Rawlins and raised in Hanna, is an emerging star with many acting credits and several awards on his growing resume. He is most known for his work in the highly acclaimed Quinceañera, which won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS The Mexican movement north to and settlement in Wyoming has added much to the state’s cultural landscape. Mestizaje, or the mixing of cultures, became a common practice for Spaniards—one that followed them on their exploratory and colonizing efforts. Mestizaje in Wyoming was evident early on and became characteristic of fur-trapping culture. In order for one to succeed as a fur trapper or trader, one needed to be multilingual and attendant to many different groups’ cultural values, traditions, and customs. These skills most often were developed through interethnic marital unions between indigenous, African, and European peoples. Census data shows that Wyoming Latinos have higher proportions of individuals racially identifying as white (50.1 percent) and as of two or more racial

Ruby Chacon’s “Trabajo y sueños en todo los genraciónes de mestizaje en Wyoming” mural. Copyright © University of Wyoming, Movimiento Estudiantíl Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), 2006. Used by permission.

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Latino America backgrounds (8.6 percent) than the nation as a whole (47.9 percent; 6.3 percent). In contrast, Wyoming Latinos have a lower proportion of individuals racially identifying as some other race (37.3 percent) than the nation as a whole (42.2 percent). With regards to specific Latino ethnic origin, Wyoming Latinos have a higher proportion of individuals identifying as some other Hispanic or Latino (22.9 percent) than the nation as a whole (17.3 percent).4 By the middle of the nineteenth century, vaquero and borreguero culture had left an indelible mark on the Wyoming livestock industry, blending many Mexican herding techniques with Anglo herding techniques. Mexican charros continue to be a popular mainstay of Cheyenne Frontier Days events. Traditional Mexican ballet folklórico dancing is performed locally throughout the state for many Latino and non-Latino cultural celebrations. Twentieth-century colonias further enriched the musical scene through popular dances for baptisms, marriages, scholarship fund-raisers, and cultural holidays featuring traditional accordion and orchestral bands. Mexican and non-Mexican restaurant menus throughout the Cowboy State are incomplete without some type of green chili dish available for selection. Various meat, vegetarian, and dessert tamales are becoming increasingly popular at local farmer’s markets. Not as common publicly, but still popular for many Mexican Latino households are baked, fried, and boiled chicharones (pork skin/rinds/cracklings). Most recently, Central American papusas are beginning to leave their mark on the Wyoming Latino culinary panorama. The majority of the ingredients needed for these traditional dishes can now be purchased at Latino tienditas (grocery stores), tortillerías (tortilla factories), carnicerías (butcher shops), and panaderías (bakeries) that have appeared in select Wyoming communities. Students, staff, and faculty at the University of Wyoming are working to increase awareness of Latina and Chicano aesthetics in various artistic expressions. With the cooperation of the theater and dance department, Alicia in Wonder Tierra, by Sylvia Gonzalez S., toured the state, performing at several elementary and junior high schools. The Chicano Studies program’s Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture series attracts nationally recognized authors and playwrights, such as Norma Cantu, Roberto Rodriguez, and Migdalia Cruz. The student organization Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) sponsors many cultural events ranging from Bailadores Azteca (Aztec Dancers) to Bajito y Suavecito (Low and Slow) Lowrider Car Show.

NOTES 1. Demographic data computed from information in Elizabeth Broadbent’s The Distribution of Mexican Population in the United States, (San Francisco, CA: R and E Research Associates, 1972).

Wyoming 2. Demographic data computed from information in Bureau of the Census, 1970 Census of Population: Characteristics of the Population, Wyoming; Vol. 1: Part 52, Tables 60, 129, 139 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Congress, 1973). 3. Demographic data computed from information in Elizabeth M. Grieco and Rachel C. Cassidy, Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin; C2KBR/01-1 (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). 4. Demographic data computed from information in Elizabeth M. Grieco and Rachel C. Cassidy, Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin; C2KBR/01-1 (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001); Betsy Guzmán, The Hispanic Population; C2KBR/01-3 (Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001); and U.S. Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF1) 100-Percent Data, “Table P8, Hispanic or Latino by Race [17]—Total Population for Wyoming”; and “Table PCT11, Hispanic or Latino by Specific Origin [31]—Total Population for Wyoming.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold, Peg. “Wyoming’s Sheep Herders.” Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal 69(1997): 29–34. Associated Press. “Cubin Pushes Tough Immigration Policy.” December 3, 2005. http: www.ap.org. Cardoso, Lawrence A. “Nativism in Wyoming 1868–1930: Changing Perceptions of Foreign Immigrants.” Annals of Wyoming 58(1986): 21–38. Carson, Phil. Across the Northern Frontier: Spanish Exploration in Colorado. Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 1998. Casper Star-Tribune Web site. http://casperstartribune.com. Gowans, Fred. Rocky Mountain Rendezvous: A History of the Fur Trade Rendezvous, 1825–1840. Layton, UT: G.M. Smith/Peregrine Smith Books, 1985. Hafen, LeRoy R. “Louis Vasquez.” In The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West, Vol. II. Ed. LeRoy R. Hafen. Spokane, WA: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 2001, 321–338. Hewitt, William L. “Mexican Workers in Wyoming during World War II: Necessity, Discrimination, and Protest.” Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal 54 (Fall 1882): 20–33. Hewlett, Horace W. “Territorial Wyoming and the Cattle Industry.” Master’s thesis, Yale University, 1941. Montejano, David. Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836–1986. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987. Oglesby, Richard E. Manuel Lisa and the Opening of the Missouri Fur Trade. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. Rios-Bustamante, Antonio. “Wyoming’s Mexican Hispanic History.” Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal 73 (2001): 2–9.

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APPENDIX: CENSUS DATA OF LATINOS, 1870–2000

Census Data of Latinos, 1870–1930 Year State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan

18701

19002

1920a3

1920b4

1930a5

1930b6

— — — — 9,339 124 — 27 — 2,256 86 — — — — — — — 994 62 — — —

— — — — 34,541 17,583 650 — — 11,654 — — — — — 72 135 — 1,302 — 376 1,093 129

201 — 60,325 256 90,496 10,894 — — — 8,700 — 5,602 1,125 3,854 — 2,560 13,568 133 3,527 — — — 1,268

69 — 88,464 278 121,276 14,340 19 24 35 119 44 — 1,128 4,334 725 2,888 16,170 98 2,620 2 47 57 1,344

176 — 1,086 465 15,504 — 13,604 — — 8,418 — — — — — — — — 1,939 — — — —

74 — 114,173 409 368,013 57,676 27 30 67 185 47 — 1,278 28,906 9,642 4,295 19,150 88 4,552 2 56 66 13,336

898

Appendix Census Data of Latinos, 1870–1930 (Continued) Year 1

2

State

1870

1900

Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

— — — — — 226 — — — — 17 — — — — — 82 73 — — 23,020 — — — — — — —

— — 433 — — — — 1,079 — 6,436 — — 154 — 53 1,150 253 — — — 71,305 — — — 182 — 499 —

TOTALS

36,306

149,079

3

1920a

1920b4

1930a5

1930b6

— 97 3,222 — 2,452 1,169 — 2.075 19,906 15,978 62 — — 6,697 — — — — — 167 249,652 1,083 — 94 — — — 1,786

350 155 3,383 269 2,746 1,297 1 255 32,794 1,479 10 42 942 7,977 616 1,481 4 6 95 54 388,675 1,202 1 38 384 55 238 2,000

— 78 — — — — — 2,415 390 30,462 — — — — — — — — — — 3,692 177 — — — — — —

3,626 1,221 4,989 2,571 6,321 3,090 1 454 59,340 2,898 10 608 4,037 7,354 1,568 3,405 10 9 816 25 683,681 4,012 1 36 562 257 2,396 7,174

504,876

700,630

78,406

1,422,544

Census Data of Latinos, 1970–2000 Year State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida

7

1970

1980

1990

2000

13,313 6,279 306,609 9,333 2,738,513 255,994 73,357 6,267 15,671 451,382

33,299 9,507 440,701 17,904 4,544,331 339,717 124,499 9,661 17,679 858,158

24,629 17,803 688,338 19,876 7,687,938 424,302 213,116 15,820 32,710 1,574,143

75,830 25,852 1,295,617 86,866 10,966,556 735,601 320,323 37,277 44,953 2,682,715

Appendix Census Data of Latinos, 1970–2000 (Continued) Year State

7

1970

1980

1990

2000

Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

29,824 23,276 18,476 364,397 67,188 17,448 46,706 11,112 69,678 3,730 52,974 64,860 120,687 23,198 8,182 40,640 7,771 21,067 27,142 2,681 310,476 379,723 1,455,941 22,611 2,007 95,128 36,007 34,577 106,634 6,961 10,999 2,954 13,873 1,981,861 43,550 2,469 48,742 70,734 6,261 41,402 18,551

61,260 71,263 36,615 635,602 87,047 25,536 63,339 27,406 99,134 9,005 64,746 141,043 162,440 32,123 24,731 51,653 9,974 28,025 53,879 5,587 491,883 477,222 1,659,300 56,667 3,902 119,883 57,419 65,847 153,961 19,707 33,426 4,023 34,077 2,985,824 60,302 3,304 79,868 120,016 12,707 62,972 24,499

108,922 81,390 52,927 904,446 98,788 32,647 93,670 21,984 93,044 6,829 125,102 287,549 201,596 53,884 15,931 61,702 12,174 36,969 124,419 11,333 739,861 579,224 2,214,026 76,726 4,665 139,696 86,160 112,707 232,262 45,752 30,551 5,252 32,741 4,339,905 84,597 3,661 160,288 214,570 8,489 93,194 25,751

435,227 87,699 101,690 1,530,262 214,536 82,473 188,252 59,939 107,738 9,360 227,916 428,729 323,877 143,382 39,569 118,592 18,081 94,425 393,970 20,489 1,117,191 765,386 2,867,583 378,963 7,786 217,123 179,304 275,314 394,088 90,820 95,076 10,903 123,838 6,669,666 201,559 5,504 329,540 441,509 12,279 192,921 31,669

TOTALS

9,589,216

14,608,673

22,354,059

35,305,818

1

White persons born in Mexico, Cuba or the West Indies according to http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus. 2 White persons born in Mexico, the West Indies, South America and Central America according to http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus.

899

900

Appendix 3 White persons born in Mexico, Cuba, the West Indies, Central America, or South America according to http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus. 4 Numbers represent white population of Mexican origin in the Untied States according to U.S. census reports for 1920. 5 White persons born in Mexico, the West Indies, South America and Central America according to http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus. 6 Numbers represent white population of Mexican origin in the Untied States according to U.S. census reports for 1930. 7 Figures based on 15% sample of state population estimating people of “Hispanic origin based on Spanish language.” See http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056.html.

INDEX

Note: Page entries followed by an “f” indicate that the reference is to a figure. “100 Best Ads Ever Created,” 211 638 Ways to Kill Castro, 186 700 Hill, 863 9/11 attack, impact of, 784–85 Abascal, Joaquín, 475 Abreu, Andres, 421–22 ACGA. See Arizona Cotton Growers Association (ACGA) ACLU. See American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ACORN. See Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Acosta, Jesuit José de, 557 Adams, John Quincy, 718 “A Day without Immigrants,” 146 Adelante, 139 Adult Basic Education program, 676 Advocacy and activism for Latinos, Wisconsin: activism in 1960s, 873–74; Latino education, issue of, 868–69,

875; March on Madison, 868, 874; Obreros Unidos, contributions of, 869, 874; recognition and worker’s rights in 1970s, struggles for, 875; Samudio’s contribution, 873, 875–76; Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute, formation of, 869, 875; UMOS, 868, 874–75 African Americans and Latinos, 454; migration to Mississippi, 454–55 African Americans: migration to Arkansas, 65–67; protest against wage disparity, 68 Afro-Caribbean religions: Santeria, 546, 547; Voodoo, 546, 547 AGIF. See American GI Forum (AGIF) Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M), 772 Agricultural industries in Arizona: development post-Gadsden, 34; federal dam projects, developments after, 34; Mexicans’ involvement in, 34–35; Phoenix, first agricultural settlement, 34

902

Index Agricultural Workers Association (ATA), 134 Aguayo, Emilio, 849 Aguilar, Bony, 504, 505, 512 Aguilár, Cristóbal, 82, 97 Aguilar, Maria, 307 Aguilar, Ray, 490, 498 Aguilera, Christina, 696 Aguilera, John, 280 Ahora, 515 AHU. See Asociación de Hispanos Unidos (AHU) Alabama: African American population in, 5–6; agriculture, 5; anti-immigrant sentiments in 1920s, 6–7; antiimmigration, 10; coal production, 6; conflicts with Latin America, 4–5; Cuban connection, 10–11; cultural contributions of Latinos, 12; economic developments, 5, 7; geographical location, 2f; mixed reactions about Latinos in, 9–11; nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 4–5; population in nineteenth century, 4; predominance of agriculture, 5; public health in, 8–9; racism and anti-Catholic sentiment in 1920s, 6; Spanish expedition and control on, 3–4 Alamo. See Mission San Antonio de Valero Alarcón, Hernando de, 28 Alaska: climate condition, 19; cultural contribution of Latinos, 20–22; food, 21; geographical location, 14f; Latinos migration to, 18; living condition of Latinos, 18–19; religion and festivals, 22; Spanish explorations, legacy of, 15–17; Spanish names in, 17–18; tourism, 18 Alaska Mexican Gold Mining Company, 14 Albuquerque, 555 Albuquerque, establishment of, 557 Albuquerque, foundation of, 549

Alcaraz, Lalo, 101 Alcoa. See Pittsburgh Reduction Company Aldunate, Wilson, 379 Alemán, Lucía Hernández, 73 Alfonzo, Alma, 651 Alianza Hispano-Americana, arrival of, 761, 776 Alianza Hispano-Americana in Texas, 761, 776 Alianza Latina, 509 Alianzas Alliances, 464 Alicia in Wonder Tierra, 894 Alien Contract Labor Law of 1885, 40 Alien Labor Act (1885), 463 Alien Registration Program, 427 All Things Considered, 649 Almacenes Hernández, 605 Almada, Baldomero “Mel,” 401 Alma Latina, 220 Alonso, Andres, 378 Altube, Pedro, 504, 512 Alva, Father Francis, 798 Alvarado, Alicia, 650 Alvarado, Saturnine, 313, 321 Alvarez, Julia, 816–17 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 95 American Community Survey (2005), 218 American Community Survey (ACS), 720 American Crystal Sugar Company, 427, 429 American Dream, 437 American Fur Company, Fort Clark, 630 American GI Forum (AGIF), 301, 415, 761, 802; formation of, 780; presidential politics and, 781 Americanization of Mexicans, 42–43 American legion post 505, 406 American Mushroom Institute, 148 American Protective Association, 38 American Resistance Foundation, 204 American Sugar Beet Company, The, 295 American Thread Company, 127, 133 Americas Review, The, 282

Index Ames, Iowa, 290, 291 Amistad, 30, 126 Amos, Elena Diaz-Verson, 202–3, 208, 210–11 Amos, John, 202 Anaconda Copper Mining Company, 476, 482 Anaconda Mining, 479, 482 Anaya, Adolfo, 571 Anaya, Cristóbal de, 555 Anchorage, Alaska: Latino population in, 15, 19, 21; Mexican cuisine in, 20; Our Lady of Guadalupe Church of, 22 Andersen, Wendell, 428 Anderson, Richard, 335 Andrade, Juan, 257 Andreas, Alfred T., 732 Andrews, L.H., 480 Anglos: migration in 1840s to America, 669; racism against Mexicans, 551, 552 Anna, Antonio López de Santa, 559 Annual Cinco de Mayo, 442 Annual Latino Festival, Latinos of New Hampshire, 528 Annual Latino Student Convention for Higher Education, 522 Anti-Drug Abuse Act (1986), 762, 784 Anti-immigrant campaigns in California, 96–97 Anti-immigrant legislation, 281 Anti-poverty, 675. See also VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996), 762, 784 Antonio, Pedro, 630 Anza, Don Juan Bautista de, 105, 110 Aparicio, Luis, 256 Apology Act (2005), 88 Aranda Corn, Adalhi, 343 Árboles (Trees), 602 Archdiocesan Catholic Community Services, 546 Arene, Eugenio, 162

Areyto Latino Festival, 139 Arizona: agricultural production, 40; Americanization of Mexicans, 42; barrios, 37; Bracero program, 40; chicano movement era, 48–51; colonialization, Spanish and Mexican, 28–30; copper boom in, 35–36; cultural contributions of Latinos, 58–60; geographical location, 26; Great Depression, impact of, 42–43; migration, Mexican, 39–41; mining industry, 31–32; post-chicano movement era, 51–53; post-Gadsden and early territorial periods, 30–35; racism, anti-Mexican, 32, 38; railroad, late nineteenth century, 37; ranching, 33–34; urbanization and early mutual aid societies, 37–39; World War II (See World War II and postwar eras in Arizona) Arizona Copper Company, 35–36 Arizona Cotton Growers Association (ACGA), 40 Arkansas: Bracero program in, 67–68; culture (See Cultural contributions, Latinos in Arkansas); geographical location, 64f; Latino populations in, 72; Mexican immigrants in, 66; migrants in 1960s–1980s, 69; as new receiving site to migrants, 69; poultry industry in, 70, 71–72; reception of Latinos in, 70–71; service economy, role of Latinos, 65 Arkansas Arte Latino, 74 Arkansas Delta: Mexicans in, 66 Armijo, Antonio, 503 Armijo, Manuel, 559 Arroyo, Felix, 387, 399–400 Arteaga, Josías, 753 Arza, Ralph, 171 Asociación de Hispanos Unidos (AHU), 340 Asociación Hondureña de Nueva Orleans, 354 Asociación Tepeyac, 598

903

904

Index ASPIRA Inc., 250–51, 594. See also Pantoja, Antonia Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), 435 Association of Mexican American Students, formation of, 313 ATA. See Agricultural Workers Association (ATA) Atlanta: Cubans migration to, 202; Latino population in, 204; Olympic Games (1996), 199, 205 “Atlantic Islands”: relationship with Connecticut, 131 Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill, 711 Augie Garcia Quintet, 441 The Augustan (Holterman), 479 Austin, Moses, 759, 768 Austin, Stephen. F, 760, 768, 769 Austin, Stephen F., 760 Avila-Peters, Maria Elena de, 73 Aviles, Alejandro, 73–74 Avilés, Menéndez de, 173 Ayala, Jorge “Rivi,” 187 Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez de, 611, 716 Ayuntamiento, 767 Azpiazu, Don, 605 Azteca, 20 Aztec mythology, 572 Aztlán, 572 Aztlán de Leavenworth, 313, 322 Bacon, Augustus Octavius, 198, 202 Badía, spice and herb company, 189 Badillo, Herman, 579, 600 Bahía Filipina. See Mobile Bay Baldenegro, Salomón, 57 Balero, Cecilio, 772 Ballet Folklórico Guadalupaño, 428, 441 Balseros. See “boat people” Barbosa, Jose Celso, 405, 421 Barceló, Nancy “Rusty,” 307 Barela, Casimiro, 120–21 Barrateros, 31 Barreiro, Mauricio, 378–79

Barrera, Michael L., 322 Barrera, Richard, 323 Barrio, 139 Barrio, El Museo del, 579, 587, 604 Barrio Libre, Tucson, 38 Barrios, 37–38 Barrios, Jarrett T., 387, 400 Barrow, Alaska, 18–19 Baseball, Dominican Republic and, 606 Bath houses. See Bony’s Baths Battle of Concepción, 769 Battle of San Jacinto, 760 Baun, Carolyn M., 682 Bauxite, 66 Bazán Manson, Andrea, 619 B.C. Rogers Poultry plant, 445 BCTC. See Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) BCU. See Butte Community Union (BCU) Beaubien, Carlos, 111, 112 Beaubien grant. See Beaubien, Carlos Beck, John, 631 Becknell, William, 463 Beehive State. See Utah Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Havana, 168 Bellas Artes, 470 Belpré, Pura, 579 Beltramo, Anthony F., 487 Benavides, Alonso de, 554, 556, 562–63 Benavides, José “Chope,” 566 Benavides, Lupe, 566 Benavides, Tony, 421 Benson, Elmer, 427 Benton, Thomas, 463, 464 Benzan, Rafael, 385 Berain, Jesse, 236 Bernardo, Altube, 504, 512 Best Lawyers in America, The, 258 Betabeleros. See Sugar beet workers Betancourt, Fernando, 136, 137 Bethlehem Steel, 691 Bettendorf Company, The, 294

Index Bettendorf Latino community (1920s), 296 Beyond Soul and Salsa forums, 621–22 Bilingual education (English and Spanish), 397–98, 594 Bilingual interpreters, 623 Bilingual newspapers (English and Spanish), 152 Bilingualism, Spanish-English, 511 Billings, Montana: Catholic Church, role in, 482; city council, 485; community of, 485; Latino population of, 482, 483; police force of, 485; sugar beet workers of, 479–83 Bingham Canyon, 791, 799, 800 Bingham, Hiram, 126, 131 Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, 8 Birmingham Post, 5 Birmingham’s Society of True Americans, 6 Bisbee Citizens’ Protective League, 41 Bithorn, Hiram, 255 Black, Hugo L., 6 Bless Me, Ultima (Anaya), 571 Bloody Marsh, Battle of, 198, 201 Bloody revolution in Mexico, 560 Blue-collar occupations, 616 Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) in Lexington, 339 Bluegrass Youth Ballet, 343 Blunt, Matt, 464, 469 Board of Higher Education, Illinois, 245 “Boat people,” 252 Bolívar, Fernando, 831 Bolívar, Simón, 690 Bolivar town, Tennessee, 749 Bommarito, Dinorah, 470 “Boneita,” 739 Bonillas, Ignacio, 54 Bonilla-Santiago, Gloria, 540, 543 Bony’s Baths, 504, 512 borax, discovery of, 504 Border Crossing: Cruzando el Río Bravo (Border Crossing: Crossing the Río Bravo), 291

Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act, 399 “Boricua Hawaiana,” 220 Boricuas. See Puerto Ricans boricuas, 800 Borregueros, 887, 894 Boston Globe, 401 Boston Independence Club, 385 Botánicas, 189 Bourbon Reforms, 557, 558 Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 483 Bracero Program, 275, 313, 317, 406, 430, 481, 494, 505–6, 631, 662, 672; in Arkansas, 67–68; in California, 89; contribution to economies of United States, 430; to hire Mexican laborers, 230; of Idaho, 232–33; and Mexican migrant workers in Ohio, 639; in Nevada, 505–6 Braceros, 248, 431 Brazos. See Bracero program Bridge Academy, 127 Briscoe, Dolph, 782 Broken Borders, 96 Brotherhood and religion, 569 Brownback, Sam, 323 Brown Berets, 433, 845 Brown v. Board of Education (1954), 74, 762, 782 Burgos, Julia de, 602 Burton, María Amparo Ruiz de, 687 Bush, George W. (President), 206, 512–13, 561 Bush, John Ellis “Jeb” (Florida Governor), 186 Business and labor in Rhode Island, 707 Business development and labor force participation, Latinos of New Hampshire, 523–24 Business development in Vermont, 815–16 Bustamante, Cruz Miguel, 82, 95, 100 Bustamante, Javier, 378 Butte Community Union (BCU), 484

905

906

Index Butte, Montana: Catholic Church in, role of, 482; copper miners of, 479–83; copper production, 476, 482; St. Joseph Church in, 482 Caballo de Palo (Wooden Horse), 602 Cabeza de Vaca, Núñez, 763 Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez, 83 Calderon, Maria Elena, 440 California: anti-immigrant campaigns, 96–97; Chicano movement in, 91–92; colonization of, 83; economic development, 86–87; ethnic tensions in, 89–91; geographical location, 78f; gold rush, 84–86, 229; Latino culture, 102–3; Latino migration, backlash of, 94–95; Latino population, diversification of, 92–94; Latinos in Californa, at the millennium, 96–97; Mexican labor, importation of, 88–89; Mexican repatriation program, 87–88; railroad, 88; social discrimination of Latinos, 84–86; Spanish colonialization, 83–84 California ranchers, 670 California state legislation/U.S. District Court: Proposition 187, 81, 84; Proposition 227, 81–82; Proposition 209/Civil Rights Initiative, 81, 95 Camacho Maas, Aura, 618–19 Camacho Souza, Blasé, 220 Camas calientes (hot beds), 207, 273 Cambio de Colores (Changes of Colors), 471 Cambridge, Massachusetts: implementation of rent control in, 385, 386; Latino population in, 395; as manufacturing center, 391; San José Las Flores and El Salvador as sister city of, 387 Cambridge Peace Commission, 387 Cambridge Spanish Council, 385 Camino Real, 549 CAMP. See Puerto Rican Migrant Support Committee (CAMP) Camp Grant Massacre of 1871, 25, 26, 31

Camp Jackson. See Fort Jackson Campo Nuestro, 212f Campos, Mary E., 306 Campos, Pedro Albizu, 389 Canción de la Verdad Sencilla, 602 Candomblé, 546 Cante, Fortino, 738 Cantero III, Raoul, 186–87 Cantú, Norma, 762 Canyon County, Idaho, 233 Caraballo, Wilfredo, 531, 541, 542 Cardenal, Ernesto, 340–41 Cárdenas, García López de, 28 Cárdenas, Gilberto, 283 Carnaval Carolina, 621 Carolina Playmakers, graduate program, 617 Caroline, 125 Carpentersville, Illinois, 245 Carpets, Georgian, 213 Carpooling, 207 Carr, Norma (Gómez), 220 Carrboro, city of, 622 Carrillo, Leopoldo, 32, 34, 54 Carson, Kit, 884 Carter, Jimmy (U.S. President), 179 CASA de Maryland Inc., formation of, 374 Casa Guadalupe Center, 697 Casa Valdez Tortilla Factory, Latino workers and, 227f Cass, Lewis, 405, 407 Castillo, Ana, 258 Castillo de San Marcos, fort, 168, 174 Castillo, Guadalupe, 57 Castillo, Osvaldo, 710 Castillo, Susan, 680 Castro, Fidel, 168, 177, 178, 198, 202, 534 Castro, Ida, 541, 542 Castro, Isis, 822, 823, 832–33 Castro, Raúl, 55 Cather, Willa, 564 Catholic Church-based Migrant Ministry, 675

Index Catholic churches, 278, 482, 550; EuroAmerican, 278; first Mexican, 269; Mexican festivals in, 277–78 Catholicism: Cuban folk, 188; Franciscan, 568; Spanish, 569 CAUSA. See Connecticut Association for United Spanish Action (CAUSA) Cavazos, Lauro F., 784 Cavelier, René Robert, 627, 731 Cayetano, Ben (Governor), 220 CCC. See Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Cecilia Valdés, 577 Celebración de la Charreada, 885 Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, 208 Centers for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 135 Center for Latino Arts and Culture, 531 Center for New North Carolinians, establishment of, 613, 618 Center for Puerto Rican Studies (El Centro), 579 Center for Rural Policy and Development, Minnesota State University, 436 Cento Muñoz, Rafaela, 343 Central Americans: migrant workers, 35, 180; migration to Massachusetts, 394–95 Centro Cultural Chicano, 429 Centro de La Familia (the Center for the Family). See Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD) Centro Legal, The, 635 Cepeda, Orlando, 470 Cervantes, Lorna Dee, 100–1 Cervantes, Manuel, 440 César Chávez Day, 762 Cesar Chavez Street, west side of St. Paul, 429 Cha-Cha. See Cepeda, Orlando Chacon, Ernesto, 877 Chacón, Eusebio, 551–52, 559, 565 Chacón, Rafael, 120, 485

Chapa, Jorge, 283 Charismatic Renewal, 607 Charney, Yolanda, 665 Charrería, 33 Chasing Papi, 754 Chávez, Cesar, 27, 50, 56, 98–99, 302, 840, 845; help for agricultural labor, 91; NFWA, cofounding of, 91–92 Chávez, Fray Angélico, 565 Chávez, Hugo, 181 Chavier, Carmen, 738 Chavier, Juan, 738 Cherokee County, Georgia, 204, 209 Chicago Hardware Foundry Company, 249 Chicago, Illinois: Cuban migration to, 252; first Puerto Rican Parade in, 250; Latino population in, 241–42; Mexican migration to, 243; Mexican populations in, 247–48; presence of Ecuadorians in, 254; Puerto Rican migration to, 249; Puerto Rican population in, 250 Chicago Metropolitan Sanctuary Alliance, 253 Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, 253 Chicago Tribune, 260 Chicanismo, 432 Chicano/Latino Studies Program, 668, 682 Chicano Movement and Muralist art, 846–47 Chicano Movement Era, 48–51 Chicano Movement in Arizona, 48–49 Chicano Movement in Texas: educational reform and, 783; MAYO, role of, 762, 783–84; Starr County strike and, 782 Chicano movement of 1960s, 506 Chicano-Riqueño Studies program, 270 Chicanos, 272, 280, 506. See also Mexican Americans Chicanos in Iowa, 301–3 Chicano social movements in California, 91–92

907

908

Index Chicanos Organizados de Rebeldes de Aztlán (C.O.R.A.), 322 Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), 48, 49 Chicano Studies Department, St. Cloud State University, 433 Chicano Studies program, 506 Chichimeco. See Westo tribe Chimayó shrine, 558 Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 217 Chittenden County, 813 Chope’s restaurant, 566 Chouteau, Pierre, 734 Christenson, Laura, 634 Christmas celebrations, 284, 622 Christopher Columbus, 628 Churches and religious organizations, 370–71 Churches, Christmas celebrations and, 622 Churches, sense of community and, 596–98 Cibola, Seven Cities of, 491 Cicero, Illinois, 242 CID. See City identification card (CID) Cinco de Mayo, 122, 212–13, 236, 261, 277, 433, 544 Circulo Mutualista Mejicano, 410 Cisneros, Henry, 762, 785–86 Cisneros, Sandra, 259 City identification card (CID), 136 City University of New York (CUNY), 595 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 779 Civil Rights Act (1964), 10, 234, 761, 781–82 Civil Rights Commission, Ohio, 651 Civil Rights Movement in Iowa, 290, 302 Civil War (U.S., 1861–1865), 351, 719 Civil War in El Salvador, 253 Clark City Press, 488 Clark County, Nevada, 507 Clark, William, 242, 489, 629, 735 CLASE. See Consejo de Latinamericanos en Alaska para Servicios Especiales (CLASE) Clay, Henry, 335, 718 Claypool-Kinney Bill, 42

Clemente, Roberto, 696 Cleveland communities: Mendez and Silvia-Tovar families, 641–42; Mexicans, 642–43 Cleveland Cuban Refugee Resettlement Committee, 648 Cleveland Hispanic Chamber, 651 Cleveland Legal Aid Society, 651 Cleveland Nationalities Directory, 646 Cleveland Public School District, 650 Cleveland State University, 650–51 Cleveland State University Library, 644 Clinton, Bill, 69 Club Azteca, 652 Club Mexicano Republicano, Tucson, 38 Club Yabucoa, 652 CLUES (Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio), 440 Coalhuila, joining with, 767 Coalition of Hispanic Organizations (COHO), 664, 703 Coalition of Resource Organizations (CORO), 477, 483 Coca-Cola company, 211, 213 Coffin, Bob, 512 COHO. See Coalition of Hispanic Organizations Colegio César Chávez, 668, 676 Coleman, William, 504 Colombian Independence Day, 262 Colombian Independence Day parade in Central Falls, 709 Colombianos Unidos Por Una Labor Activa (CUPULA), 262 Colombians: in cocaine trade, 179–80; Independence Day celebration, 253, 544, 754; migration to Illinois, 253; migration to Massachusetts, 395 Colonial Georgia, 199–201 Colonialization in Georgia, 199–201 Colonial Mississippi, 447–48 Colonial period, Texas: discontent toward Spanish Crown, 766; Fort St. Louis, establishment of, 759, 764; Los Adaes,

Index establishment of, 764; ranches, growth of, 765; Spanish expedition to, 759, 763; towns, emergence of, 765; vaquero, emergence of, 765–66 Colonial South Carolina, 716–18 Colonization Law, 760 Colonization Law for the State of Coahuila and Texas (1824), 768 Colón, Jesús, 602 Colón, Nadia, 540 Colón, Pedro, 869, 876, 878 Colorado: culture and sports (See Cultural contributions, Latinos in Colorado); equity and access, political rights, 119–20; establishment as United States territory, 112; geographical location, 106f; Great Depression and World War II, economical impact of, 115–16; labor force and industrialization in, 113–15; political groups and organizations, 112–13; racism against Latinos, 116–19; railroad, arrival of, 113; Spanish and Mexican settlements in, 110–11; trade with foreign nations, 111 Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation, 107, 114 Colorado Rapids, soccer league franchise, 123 Columbus, Christopher, 732 Comanches, 557 Comisiones honoríficas, 296 Comisión Honorífica Mexicana in Detroit, 405, 410 Comité Patriótico Mexicano, 482 Commission for Chicano Affairs, Oregon, 667 Commission for Hispanic Affairs, Idaho, 234 Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Missouri, 464, 469 Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Indiana, 270 Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Ohio, 649

Community formation in twentieth century, 585–87 Community Service Organization (CSO), 45, 46, 91 Comstock, Henry, 501 Comstock Lode, mines, 503 Concilio Mexicano, 477, 481 Conexión Américas, 753 Confederación de Uniones Omberas Mexicanas (CUOM), 79 Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, 157 Connecticut Association for United Spanish Action (CAUSA), 127 Connecticut Association of Latinos in Higher Education (CALAHE), 127 Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos, 135 Connecticut: Cuban migrations, 134; culture (See Cultural contributions, Latinos in Connecticut); education, 136; geographical location, 126f; health issues, 134–35; Latin American and Caribbean migration to, 131; Latino population in, 128–29; Mexican migrants, 135; State Commission on Puerto Rican and Latino Affairs, 136; tobacco industry, 130, 132; trade and labor, 129–30 Con Safo, art network, 787 Consejo de Latinamericanos en Alaska para Servicios Especiales (CLASE), 21 Contemporary era in Wyoming (1970–2007): acculturation process during 1970s, 890–91; continued Latino migration, negative impacts of, 892; economic development, impact of, 891; 1965 elimination of immigration quota, impact of, 891; Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986, 891; Latino population growth, 891–92; Latino population in counties, 891 Contract Labor Act (1885), 687 Contract Labor Ban (1885), 691

909

910

Index Cook County, Illinois, 241 Cook, Scott, 135 Cooperativa Comunitaria Latina de Crédito, 613 Copper boom during late nineteenth century, 35–36 Copper mines, and Mexicans, 35–36 Córdoba Rebellion, 770 Cordova, Valdemar A., 56 Corktown, Michigan, 409 Cornelius, Alescander, 131 CORO. See Coalition of Resource Organizations (CORO) Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de, 489, 491–92, 628, 660, 731 Coronado, Vásquez de, 549 Coronel, Antonio Francisco, 97 Corpus Christi de la Isleta, establishment of, 759 Corrido de Kiansis, 315–16 Corrido (Mexican folk ballad), 486 Corrido Pensilvanio, 697 Corridos, 786 Cortez, Manny, 512 Cortina, Juan, 771 Corzine, Jon, 541 Cosío, Antonio Valverde y, 628, 733 Costello, Angelina, 484 Costillo, Father Miguel Hidalgo y, 766 Cotto, Luis, 138 Council of Latin Americans in Alaska for Special Services. See Consejo de Latinamericanos en Alaska para Servicios Especiales (CLASE) Council of Latino Agencies (CLA), 160 Cova, Antonio Rafael de la, 341 Cowboys, 217, 765 Coyle, Father James E., 6 CPLC. See Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Credit Union Magazine, 615 Creole, 355 Creole girls, 353f Crew, Rudy, 171–72 Criolla, 191

Criollos, 558 Cristero Rebellion of late 1920s, 272 Cristo Rey Community Center, 418–19 Cruz Azul Mexicana, 761, 776 Cruz, Celia, 190–91 Cruz, Edgar, 666 Cruz, Felix, 540 Cruz, Ray, 221 Cruz-Gómez, José, 22 Cruz-Perez, Nilsa, 531, 541, 543 CSO. See Community Service Organization (CSO) Cuatro, 223 Cuban Adjustment Act, 169, 178 Cuban Association of Cleveland, 649 Cuban Revolution, 251, 276, 463, 466 Cuban Revolutionary Party, 388 Cubans: flag, 171; migration to Atlanta, 202; migration to Connecticut, 134; migration to Illinois, 251–52; migration to United States, 276; religion, 188; sugar production, 175 Cuban-Spanish-American War, 640 Cuevas Martínez, Manuel Arturo José, 753 Cugat, Xavier, 601–2, 605 Culinary Union, 510 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Arkansas, 74–75 Cultural contributions, Latinos in California, 102–103 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Colorado: arts, 122–23; cultural festivals, 122; religious practice, 122; soccer, popularity of, 123 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Connecticut: clubs, 138; education programs, 139; festivals, 139 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Delaware: festivals, 151–52; newspapers, Spanish, 152–53; radio stations and television, 153 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Florida: food and drink, 189–90; music, 190–91; religion, 187–89

Index Cultural contributions, Latinos in Georgia, 212–13 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Hawaii, 221–24 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Indiana, 283–85 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Massachusetts, 400–401 Cultural contribution, Latinos in Michigan, 422–24 Cultural contributions, Latinos in Nevada, 513–15 Cultural contributions, Latinos in New Mexico: folk medicine, 571; food, 570–71; legends, 571–72; religion and religious art, 568–70 Cultural contributions, Latinos in New York, 604–8 Cultural contributions, Latinos in North Carolina, 619–23 Cultural contributions, Latinos in North Dakota, 534–36 Cultural contributions, Latinos of Illinois, 262–63 Cultural contributions, Latinos of New Hampshire, 526–28 Cultural contributions of Latinos in District of Columbia: cultural heritage, 163; festivals, 163; theatre and art (See Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos (GALA)) Cultural contributions of Latinos in New Jersey, 543–47 Cultural contributions of Latinos to Arizona: artistic and intellectual life, 59–60; festivals, 58; religion, 58–59 Cultural Diversity Project, North Dakota, 635 Cunza, Yuri, 754 CUOM. See Confederación de Uniones Omberas Mexicanas (CUOM) CUPULA. See Colombianos Unidos Por Una Labor Activa (CUPULA) Curanderas, 571

Current issues of District of Columbia: educational, 160; migration, 159; political, 161; poverty, 160 Cursillistas, 607 Dalton City Schools, Georgia, 206 Dalton, Georgia, 206 Danbury 11, 128, 137 Danbury, Connecticut, 136 Daniels, Mitch, 270 Dartmouth College and Frescoes by Orozco, 527–28 Davis-Bacon Act, 357 Day of the Dead, festival, 277 Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo, 666 “Day Without an Immigrant,” 705 Death Comes for the Archbishop (Cather), 564 Death Valley, Nevada, 504 De Ayllón, Lucas Vásquez, 715 Décimas, 222 Deer Lodge, 475 d’Église, Jacques, 627, 629, 733 DeHerrera, Juan Abran, 892 De La Hoya, Oscar, 101 Delaware: culture (See Cultural contributions, Latinos in Delaware); geographical location, 146f; Latino population in, 148–49; mushroom industry of, 147–48; size, 147 Delaware and Pennsylvania Advisory Committee (DPAC), 148 Delawarehispanic.com, 153 DeLay, Tom, 762 Delgado, Candido, 413 Delgado, Félix, 652 Delgado, Louis, 648 Delgado, Milton, 150 Delgado, William, 259 Del Valle, Miguel, 258 Democratic Party, Puerto Rican, 599, 647 Democratic Party (U.S.), 280 Demographic characteristics of Maine, 365–66

911

912

Index Demographic characteristics of New Hampshire, 521–22 Department of Chicano Studies, 428 Department of Commerce’s Census and Economic Information Center, Montana, 478 Department of Education, Massachusetts, 398 Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/BICE), 830 Department of Labor, U.S., 68, 643 Department of Labor’s Current Population Survey, 227 Department of Public Service, Ohio, 650 Department of State, U.S. and Bracero program, 89 Department of Urban Housing and Development, 676 Depeña, Melba, 710 Desarden, Arnette, 470 Desi Arnaz. See Ricardo, Ricky DeSiga, Daniel, 849 De Soto Trail, 201 Detroit: construction begins on the Lodge expressway in, 406 DHS/BICE. See Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/BICE) Día de la Mujer Latina, 211 Día de los Muertos, 261, 442 Diamante Awards, 619 Diario del Gobierno, 350 Dias, Austin, 220 Díaz, Adam, 31 Diaz, Albert, 619 Diaz, Grace, 710 Díaz, José, 98 Díaz, Porfirio, 494, 661, 774 Diaz family, 295f Dillingham Commission, 353 Dillingham Commission, and Latinos in Louisiana, 353

District of Columbia: culture (See Cultural contributions of Latinos in District of Columbia); education system, 160; employment opportunities, 159; Latino population in, 158–59; politics, 161; poverty and public health issues, 160; social issues, 159–60 District Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 157 Division Street, Chicago, 251 Dixie Diaspora, The, 203, 210 Dixon, Jeremiah, 145 Doak, William N., 248 Dockendorff, Horton, 131–32 Dominguez, Francisco Atanasio: expedition to Colorado, 105, 110 Dominican community, making of, 591–94 Dominican Festival of Rhode Island, 709, 712f Dominicans and the second wave of Latinos, 393–94 Dominican Studies Institute at the City College, 579 Don Luis. See Segura, Father Juan Bautista Don Quijote, 630 Dorgan, Byron, 633 Down These Mean Streets, 586 DPAC. See Delaware and Pennsylvania Advisory Committee (DPAC) Drake, Francis, 167 Dream Act, The, 128, 136 Dukakis, Michael, 386 Durango, 568 Durán y Chávez, don Fernando, 554 Dustin Inman Society, 204 Early Latin Americans in Massachusetts, 388 Early Latino populations in smaller cities and towns, 392–93 Early mutual aid societies, 38–39 Early U.S. Florida (1821–1959), 176–77

Index Easley, Michael, Jr., 618 Eastern Panhandle Hispanic Advocacy Coalition. See UNIDOS East Harlem. See El Barrio Echiburu, Tito, 458 Economic impact of Latinos, 615–17 Economics and migration, Wisconsin, 867, 871 Economy of Hawaii, 219 Ecuadorians, migration to Illinois, 254–55 Ecuadorian Week, 262 Educational attainment and schools in New Hampshire, 522 Eielson Air Force Base: cultural events, 21; Latinos/Latinas, 22f El Barrio: commercial activity, 590; as leading Latino cultural institution, 587; location, 586 El Burrito, 440 El Burrito Mercado, restaurant, 441–42 “El campo 47,” 486 El Centro de la Raza, 477 El Centro Inc., 313, 322 El Clamor Público, 78 El Comercio Mexicano, 774 El Comité de la Merced, 112 El Cosmopolita, 320 El Crepúsculo dela Libertad (The Twilight of Liberty), 564 El Democrata, 37 El Diálogo, 401 El Diario, 578 El Habanero, 577, 687, 690, 698 El Hablador, 350 El hijo de la tempestad (Chacón: The Son of the Storm), 565 El Hispanic News, 668, 681 El Hispano, 699 El Hogar Puertorriqueño (the Puerto Rican Home), 647 Elías, Eulalia, 53 El Independiente, 350 Elizalde, Felix, 738 El Jardin (Morton: The Garden), 257

El Latino, 11 El Latino de Hoy, 681 El Libre Pensador, 774 Elliot, Ambrose, 716 El Manisero, 605 El Mensajero, 37 El Mundo, 515 El Museo del Barrio, 604 El Paraiso Club, 652 El Paso, Texas, 556 El Plan de San Diego, 761, 776 El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, 118 El Planeta, 401 El Programa Hispano, 681 El Pueblo, 612, 618 El Pueblo, Inc., 621 El Sol de Cleveland and La Prensa, 653 El Teatro Campesino, 80, 92 El Teatro del Piojo (Theater of Lice), 847 El Teatro Desengaño del Pueblo, 284 El Tiempo Hispano, 150, 152–53 El Tratado de la Mesilla. See Gadsden Purchase, treaty of El Tucsonense, 37 El Vacilón de la Mañana, 591 Elvira, Pablo, 484 El Vocero Hispano, 407 Emergency Farm Labor program, 494 Emory University, 202 Emotive outpouring, 607 English: as official language of Georgia, 199, 204–5, 209; as second language, 9, 539, 596, 620; as second language (ESL), 366 English for Speakers of Other Languages/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT), 823 English language classes (ESOL), 729 English Langugage Learner (ELL), 737 English Language Reaffirmation Act (2002), 305 English-only, 171, 245 Enlace Hispano, 222 Entérate, 470 Epic of American Civilization, The, 527f

913

914

Index Epidemic diseases: in Indians, 167, 174 Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Detroit, 417 Escalante, Jaime, 99 Escalante, Silvestre Velez de: expedition to Colorado, 110 Escobedo Cabral, Anna, 101 Escobedo, Eddie, 515 es cosa de mujeres, 597 Escudero, Ezra, 651 ESOL/HILT. English for Speakers of Other Languages/High Intensity Language Training (ESOL/HILT) Espaillat, Adriano, 579, 600 Espejo, Napoléon, 633 Esperanza Inc., 648 Espinel Ronstadt, Luisa, 54–55 Espinosa, Aurelio, 571 Esquibel, Floyd A., 892 Esta Buena Mine, 503 Estefan, Emilio, 186 Estefan, Gloria, 186, 190, 191 Ethnic group: and identity, 218–19 Ethinic groups: Japanese, 218; Spanishspeaking, 219 Ethnic origins, of Latinos, 20–21 “European brigade,” 351 European migration: to Nebraska, 491, 494 Evangelicals. See Protestants Evans, Faith, 220, 221 Evans, John, 627 Evans, John Thomas, 629 “Evolution of corn,” 291 Exito, 260 Fairbanks, Alaska: cultural environment, academic importance of, 19, 22; gold rush boom of 1902, 15; Latino population, 15, 19; Mexican presence in, 20–21; religious services in Spanish, 22 Fair Street Elementary School, 206 Falcón, Pricilla, 122 Falcón, Ricardo, 121–22 Farm Worker Appreciation Day, 236

Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC), 680 Farmworkers Unions and Hometown Associations, 684 Farm Worker Theater, The. See El Teatro Campesino Farragut, David Glasgow, 161, 351, 358 Farragut, Jorge, 724 Fast of Love. See Chávez, Cesar Faverón-Patriau, Gustavo, 369 Favorita, 16 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, festival, 277 Feast of St. John the Baptist, 596 Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, 322 Federal welfare reform, 387 Federation for the Advancement of Mexican Americans, 415 Feleciano, Paul, 323, 326–27 Feliciano, José, 651 Fender, Freddy, 762 Fennell, Patricia B., 665–66 Fernandez Cavada, Federico, 377–78 Fernandez, Ivette, 20, 21 Fernández, Joachim Octave, 358 Fernández, Joseph Marion, 161 Fernández Revuelta, Alina, 203, 211 Ferré, Maurice, 184, 185 Ferrer, David, 540 Ferrer, Fernando, 580, 603 Ferro Machine and Foundry of Cleveland, 646 FHDC. See Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC) Fiesta del Pueblo, 612, 621–22 Fiesta Mexicana, 667, 674 fiestas familiars, 851 fiestas patrias, 261, 277 Filemón, Juya V., 725 Filosofía, Lecciones de, 696 Finlay, Carlos, 5 First arrivals of Latino in Rhode Island, 705–7

Index “Flats,” 431 Flores-Ibarra, Oscar, 634 Florez, John, 807 Florida: cigar industry in, 177; civil war in, 176; Colombian immigrants in, 179–80; Cuban immigrants in, 177–79; cultural contributions of Latinos, 189–90; geographical location, 168f; geographical structure, 226f; immigrant population, 171; Indian populations, 172; Latin music, 190–91; Latino populations, 170, 181–82; Mexicans migration, 183; Middle Florida, 174; Nicaraguan immigrants in, 179, 181; Nicaraguan migrants, 179, 181; pluralism and diversity in, 171; political history, 170; political identity of Latinos in, 172, 184; Puerto Rican population, 180; Puerto Rican migration in, 180; relationship with Cuba, 175; Spanish colonization in (See Spanish Colonial Florida [1513–1763]); Venezuelan immigrants in, 181 Fogg Art Museum, Harvard, 400 Folk medicine, 544, 571 Folk song, Texan-Mexican, 409 Ford, Edsel, 411 Foreign Miners Tax, 78 Food processing industry, 438 Fork Peck Dam, 736 Fort aux Cèdres, South Dakota, 731, 734 Fort Jackson, 716 Fort Madison: Latino colonies and population growth, 293–94; Latino heritage and culture, 309 Fort Madison Daily Democrat, 294 Fort Manuel (1812), 735f, 739 Fort Manuel Lisa, 475, 478 Fort San Felipe, 715 Fort San Marcos, 715 Fox, Vicente (Mexican President), 429, 435 France: reclaiming Louisiana territory, 465

Franciscan missionaries: Catholicism, 553–54; Native American religious practices and, 555; in Santa Fe, 555 Franciscan Missions, establishment of, 197, 200 Franciscans, 554 Francisco (Father), 503 Fraticelli, Carlo Mario, 222 Freddy. See Ferrer, Fernando “Freedom boats,” 179 “Freedom flights,” 252 French and Indian War, 168, 175 French and Indian Wars, 628–29 French: control of Louisiana Territory, 493 French Louisiana, 242 Friedman, S.G., 645 Friendly House, Phoenix, 42 From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City, 603 Fronteras del Norte Oral History Project, 422 Fuego Latino, 689 Fuentes, Humberto, 236 Funds/grants: for Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa, 236 Furcal, Rafael Antoni, 102 Fur trade in Wyoming, 883, 886–87 Gabriel, Juan, 754 GACHA. See Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA) Gadsden Purchase, treaty of, 27, 30 Gaetán, Manuel, 725 Gaetano, Juan, 215, 216 Gainesville Elementary School, 206 Gainesville, Georgia: Latino immigrants in, 206; poultry industry, 205 GALA. See Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos (GALA) Galarza, Ernesto, 98, 355 GALEO. See Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) Galíndez, Jesús De, 578 Gallatin Valley, and migration, 483

915

916

Index Gálvez, Bernardo de, 11 Gamboa, Erasmo, 849 Gamboa, Guadalupe, 845, 849 Gambusinos, 32 Gang Intervention Partnership Program, 160 Garcés, Father Francisco, 511 García, Álvaro, 738 Garcia, Charles J., 281, 282–83 García, Delia C., 323, 328 García, Francisco, 342 García, Héctor P., 761, 780, 781, 785 García, Isabel, 58 Garcia, Jesse, 893 Garcia, Joe, 72 García, José, 37 Garcia-Menocal, Aniceto, 161–62 García, Pedro, 753 García Rivera, Oscar, 602 Garcia Smith, Placida, 55 Garcia, Tony, 122 Garden City Sugar Beet Company, foundation of, 312 Garesche, Julius, 161 Gárfias, Enrique, 54 Garreau, Joseph, 627, 629, 731, 733 Garza, Catarino Erasmo, 761, 774 Garza War, 774 Garzón, Luis, 427, 439 Gastón, Mauricio Miguel, 399 Gaxiola, César, 222 Genízaros, 557–58 Georgia: cultural contribution of Latinos in, 212–13; economic growth in, 203–4; education system, 209; as emerging gateway, 203–5; English as official language in, 209; first church, 197; first English colony in, 198; General Assembly elections (2002), 210; geographical location, 198f; Latin America and colonial period, 199–200; Latino populations, 203; Latino life in, 206–7; peach logo, 211, 213; poultry industry in, 198, 205–6; Supreme

Court, 199, 206, 210; textile industries in, 199, 206; unauthorized immigrants in, 204 Georgia and Latin America, 201–3 Georgia as an emerging gateway for migrants, 203–5 Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO), 210 “Georgiafornia,” 204 Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB529), 199, 209 Georgia’s response to Latino migration, 209–10 Georgia Tech, 198, 202 GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944), 45, 90 GI Forum, 301 Gillespie, Dizzy, 605 Ginés, Venus, 211 Goico, Mario, 324, 327 Goizueta family, 208 Goizueta, Roberto, 199, 211, 213 Gold, discovery of: at Boise, 229; in Northwest, 228; in Orofino Creek, 228 Gold rush (1849), 229 Gold rush, 84–86 Goliad Massacre, 769 Gomes, Estevan, 145 Gomes de Santo, Estevam (Estevão), 125, 129 Gomez, Cecil, 665 Gomez, Clotilda, 800 Gómez, Esteban, 363 Gómez, Eusebio Juan, 347, 350, 358 Gomez, Jesse, 269 Gomez, Rafael, 806 Gómez, Raúl, 634, 635 Gomez, Scott, 20 Gomez-Bethke, Irene, 440–1 Gomez-Bethke, Jesse, 440 Gonzales, Alberto, 762 Gonzales, Ambrose Elliott, 725 Gonzales, Ambrosio José, 719, 724 Gonzales, Jerry, 753

Index Gonzales, N.G., 716 Gonzáles, Pancho, 99 Gonzales, Rodolfo “Corky,” 109, 117, 121 Gonzáles, Ronald R., 82, 100 González, Gavin, 857, 863 Gonzalez, Henry B., 785 Gonzalez, Jane, 421 Gonzalez, Jose, 256 González, Jose B., 138 Gonzalez Mabbutt, Maria, 236 Gonzalez, Michael W., 259–60 Gonzalez, Ramiro, 261 González ,Victor, 856 Good Morning America, 260 Gordillo, Francisco, 197, 199, 611, 717 Gordon, Fortuna, 336 Gordon, Ronald, 833 Gorgas, William Crawford, 5 Government of Hawaii, 220 Governor’s Advisory, 525 Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Affairs (GACHA), 146, 151 Goya Foods Company, 542, 545 Grace, Eugene, 688 Grant, Johnny, 475 Grant-Kohrs Ranch, 475, 479, 487 Grantsville, Nevada: mines in, 503–4 Greaser Act, 78 Great American Boycott, 387 Great Depression: economic crisis in Indiana during, 427; from economic prosperity in California to, 86–87; effect on Idaho, 232; effects on Pennsylvania, 691; impact on economy of Colorado, 115; impact on Latinos in Arizona, 42–43; Mexican deportations from Iowa, 290, 297–98; Mexican migration to Oklahoma, 662; and Mexican Repatriation Program, 87–88 Great Depression in Arizona, 42–43 Great Depression, repatriation, and war, 411 Greater Hartford Council of Churches, The, 133

Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic Affairs Commission, 665 Great Migration, 275, 476, 586 Great Wall of Los Angeles, 102 Great Western Sugar Company, 476, 479, 494 Greene Consolidated Copper Company, 41 Grijalva, Raúl, 58 Grillo, Fernando E., 260–61 Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos (GALA), 163–64 Grupo Latinoamericano, 464, 471 Guadalajara, 741 Guadalupe Procession, 620f Guajardo, Pablo, 635 Gualdape colony. See San Miguel de Gualdape Guale Rebellion, 197, 200 Guatemalans: migrant farmworkers in Delaware, 148; migration to Illinois, 253–54 Guerra, Juan Luis, 606 Guerrero, Eduardo “Lalo,” 55–56 Guillen, Rosalina, 849 Guitars, Hawaiian, 222–23 Gulf Coast Latin American Association, 457 Gussman, Pedro, 6, 11 Gutierrez, Alfredo, 57 Gutierrez, Ana Sol, 378 Gutiérrez de Lara, Bernardo, 766–67 Gutierrez, Jennie, 498 Gutiérrez, José Angel, 785 Gutierrez, Luis, 258 Gutiérrez, Oscar, 102 Guzmán, Henry, 650 Guzmán, Lila, 341 Guzman, Luis, 817 Guzmán, Martín Luis, 690 Guzmán, Salvador, 753 Gylbert, Humfray, 129 HACER. See Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER)

917

918

Index Hagman, Ann, 816, 817 HALA. See Hispanic American League of Artists (HALA) Hall County, Georgia, 204 HALO. See Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) Hamley, George W., 126 Harlem Renaissance, 601 Hart-Celler Act (1965), 592 Hartford Courant, 134, 139 Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 387 Haskins, Gloria Arias, 725 Haubegger, Christy, 786 Havana, 173 Hawaii: cattle ranching, 217; cultural contribution of Latinos, 221–24; economy, 219; food, 222; geographical location of, 216f; government, 220; identity of Latinos in, 218–19; islands of, 216; Latino music, 222–23; Latino populations in, 218–19; multi-ethnicity, development of, 218; public radio stations in, 221, 224; Puerto Rican migration to, 217; sugar plantations, 217–18 Hawaii Hispanic Heritage Festival, 222 Hawai‘i Hispanic News, 220 HB 2140 law and Kansas, 324 HCV. See Hispanic Committee of Virginia (HCV) Health care and importance of language, 623 Heflin, J. Thomas, 6 Helton, Aurora Ramirez, 665 Henna, José Julio, 601 Hermanos Productions, 811, 815 Hernández, Carlos, 539 Hernandez, Irene C., 255 Hernández, Joseph, 176 Hernandez-Leon, Ruben, 666 Hernández, Mónica, 754 Hernandez, Pedro R., 484–85 Hernández, Rafael Marín, 397, 601, 605 Hernández, Roberto, 869, 877

Hernandez Rodriguez, Antonio (Tony), 235 Hernandez v. the State of Texas (1954), 781 “The Heroes of Freedom, Justice, and Peace” painting, 429f Herrada, Elena, 422 Herrera, Alderman, 622 Herrera, Carolina, 604 Herrera, John, 613, 615, 617 Herrera, Julian, 419 Herrera, Rosalía “Chalía,” 577 Herrera, Victor, 358 Heyn, Piet, 167, 174 Hidalgo, Hilda, 542 Hidalgo, Miguel, 558 High Plains Reader, 634, 635 Hijos de Juana Diaz (Sons of Juana Diaz), 652 Hijuelos, Oscar, 603 Hill, Jack, 255 HIN. See Hispanic Initiative Network (HIN) Hinojosa, Tish, 787 Hip-hop music, 606 Hispanic. See Latinos Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER), 437–38 Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO), 313 Hispanic American League of Artists (HALA), 697–98 Hispanic Assimilation Program, 64 Hispanic Bar Association, Ohio, 651 Hispanic Battered Women’s Program, 635 Hispanic Business, 208 Hispanic Business and Professional Association, 537 Hispanic Business Council, Alabama, 8 Hispanic Business Magazine, 604, 680 Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 158, 374, 463, 468 Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota, 429

Index Hispanic Committee of Virginia (HCV), 821 Hispanic Community Group of Tennesse, 747, 752 Hispanic Cultural Center (Nampa), 236 Hispanic Festival in Georgetown (Festival Hispano de Georgetown), 152 Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, 134–35 Hispanic Heritage Day, 216 Hispanic Heritage Month, 261 Hispanic Heritage Month, University of Arkansas, 74 Hispanic Illinois State Law Enforcement Association, 256 Hispanic Initiative Network (HIN), 340 Hispanic Institute for Research and Development, Bergen County College, 540 Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, 10 Hispanic Latino Initiative, Durham, 621, 623 Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis, 467, 468 Hispanic or Latino Awareness Organization (HOLA), 22 Hispanic Pilot Project, 209 Hispanics in Politics (HIP), 509 Hispanic Social Services Association (HSSA), 703, 708 Hispanic women, 559 Hobson, Richard Pearson, 5 Hodges, Jim, 716 HOLA. See Hispanic or Latino Awareness Organization (HOLA) Holly Sugar Company, 476 Holterman, Jack, 479 Holyoke city, and manufacturing industries, 392–93 Holy Spirit of My Uncle’s Cojones, The (McPeek Villatoro), 754 Holy Trinity Parish, credit union, 415 Home Killings (McPeek Villatoro), 754 Homestead Act (1862), 627, 732, 735 Horruytiner, Luis de, 174 Hostos, Eugenio M. de, 577

House on Mango Street, The (Cisneros), 259 Houser, Lowell, 290, 291 Housing, and immigrants, 438 Housing fraud, 207 Hoyos, Rev. José Eugenio, 823, 831, 833–34 HSSA. See Hispanic Social Services Association (HSSA) http://www.pedroland.com, 726 http://www.rimix.com, 712 http://www.uslatino.com, 712 Huckabee, Mike: Hispanic Assimilation Program and, 64; poultry plant raid, role in, 71–72 Huerta, Dolores, 80, 99; cofounding of NFWA, 91; help for agricultural labor, 91–92 Humanidad Inc., 127 Human Rights Commission, Idaho, 234 Hunt, James B., Jr., 613, 618, 621 Huron community, 740 Hurricane Katrina, and Mississippi, 455–56 Ibero-American Cultural Attachés Association, 380–81 IBP. See Iowa Beef Processors (IBP) ICE. See Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Idaho: braceros’ strikes in, 232–33; civil rights legislation and affirmative action programs in, 234; cowboy and ranching cultures, 228; cultural contributions of Latinos in, 236; early origins, 228–29; education system, 234–35; Latino populations in, 226–28; migrant workers life in, 233–35; National Guard’s participation in raid into New Mexico, 231; pea harvesting, 231; railroads, 229–32; Spanish settlement in, 228 Idaho Citizens Committee for Civil Rights, 234 Idaho Migrant Council (IMC), 234

919

920

Index Idaho State Farm Bureau Federation, 232 Idar, Jovita, 776 Iglesias Austrich, Jorge, 378 Iglesia Bautista Hispana El Calvario, Baptist Church, 713 Iglesia, Santiago de la, 629 IHRD. See Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD) IIRIRA. See Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) IIT ChemArray, sensing device, 261 Ilerio, Pedro, 652 Illegal immigrants. See Undocumented workers Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996), 762, 784 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), 830 Illinois: agriculture and industry, 243; Colombians migration to, 254; Cubans migration to, 251; cultural contributions of Latinos in, 262–63; economic development of Latinos in, 242; Ecuadorian migration to, 254; geographical location, 240; Guatemalans in, 253; languages, spoken in, 244; Latino populations in, 241–42; literacy rate of Latinos in, 244–45; poverty rate of Latinos in, 245; presidential election in, 245; Puerto Rican populations in, 249–51; railroads, underground, 253; Salvadorans in, 253; socioeconomic issues of, 244; war with Mexico, 243 I Love Lucy, TV show, 605 Image de Idaho, 234 IMC. See Idaho Migrant Council (IMC) Immanuel Baptist Church in Portland, 370 Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride (2003), 751 Immigration: Cubans to Connecticut, 134; education for, 135; enforcement of, 136; Puerto Ricans to Connecticut,

133; trade and, 130–31; unauthorized, 523 Immigration Act (1917), 40, 353–54, 671 Immigration Act (1965), 694 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 136, 429, 523 Immigration and Nationalization Services (INS): poultry plant, raid of, 71; refugee population in Massachusetts, estimation of, 396 Immigration and Naturalization Act, 385 Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 427, 494, 508 Immigration and Reform Act, 676 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), 52, 81, 148, 508, 662, 784; legislation council of, 762 Indiana: cultural contributions of Latinos, 283–85; economical revival of, 274; economy changes during World War II, 276; geographical location, 270; job opportunity, 272–73; Latino populations in, 270–72; Mexican populations in, 272 Indiana Harbor, East Chicago, 278 Indiana Latino/Hispanic Association, 281–82 Indiana State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Leadership Coalition, 281 Indiana University, Bloomington, 277 Indians: epidemic diseases in, 167, 174; and French war (See French and Indian War) Industrialization in twentieth-century, Wyoming, 888 INS. See Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Institute for Human Resource Development (IHRD), 793, 803–4 Institute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, 270, 285 Institute of Contemporary Art, 400 Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS), 612

Index Instituto Cultural del Medio Oeste, 279 Inter-American Cultural Center, 163 Interim Committee on Migratory Labor, 674 Interim years (1763–1821) in Florida, 175–76 International Workers of the World (IWW), 27, 41 Iowa: demographics, 291–92; geographical location of, 290f; Latino migration in 1980–2000, 303–4; Latino migration in 2000-present, 304–5; migrant labor, utilization of, 303–4; popular culture, 309; religion, 308–9; Spanish colonial period in, 293; Spanish language and media in, 308–9; statehood, 292; World War II and, 290 Iowa Beef Processors (IBP), 494 Iowa State University (ISU), 291 Iowa Valley Operating Company, 295 IRCA. See Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) Irizarry, Dora, 580 Isleños, 347 Isolated migrations in the 1970s–1980s, in Mississippi, 451–52 ISU. See Iowa State University (ISU) Iturbide, Augustín, 767 IWW. See International Workers of the World (IWW) Jackson, Andrew (President), 168 Jácome Sr., Alex G., 55 Jaffrey-Peterborough District Court, 523 Jalapa community, 719 Jalisco, Mexican state, 236 Jamaican laborers, and tobacco industry, 132 Jaramillo, Santiago, 671 Jefferson, Thomas, 493 Jenkins’ Ear, War of, 198, 201 Jicoténcatl (Stavely), 687, 690 Jimenez, Luis, 291

Jobs, Latinos in Indiana, 272–73 John Morrell and Co., 737 Johnny Tenorio and Other Plays (Morton), 257 Johnson, Edwin C., 108, 115 Jones Act (1917), 126, 131, 248, 251, 576, 585, 588 Jones, Kenneth, 132 Jones, Richard, 649–50 Jones-Shafroth Act (1917), 391, 396 Jordan, Barbara, 762, 781 Jordan, Hector, 256 Jordan, Ulery, 523 Jorge, Yolanda, 471 Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies (JOLLAS), 490 Judge Garrity Jr., W. Arthur, 386 Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, 602, 653 Julian Samora Research Institute of Michigan, 407, 422 Kachi-kachi music, 223 Kahlo, Frida, 405, 411 Kamehameha I (King), 216 Kamehameha III (King), 217 Kane County, Illinois, 242 Kanellos, Nicolás, 282 Kansas Advisory Committee on Mexican American Affairs. See Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission Kansas: Bracero program, impact of, 313, 317; Brownback’s legislation supporting refugee asylum, 323; cattle drives from Texas, 312, 315, 316; Chicano movement in, 321; corridor, development of, 315–16; cultural contribution of Latinos, 328–29; diversity among Latino community, 317–19; geographical structure, 312f; HB 2140 law in, 323–24; in-state tuition payment by illegal immigrants, 313, 323;

921

922

Index Kansas (continued) Latino culture in, 328–29, 329f; Latino population of, 324–26; Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and, 311; railroad, 315–17; railroads, development of, 315–17; segregated schooling for Latinos students, 312; Spanish acquisition of, 311, 314; Spanish colonies, establishment of, 313–15; statehood, 315; Treaty of San Ildefonso and, 311, 314; Vázquez de Coronado’s exploration to, 311, 313–14; Villasur’s expedition and, 311, 314; William Becknell expedition, the, 311 Kansas City: employment of Latinos in, 467; Mexican laborers, 467; population of, 466 Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission, 313 Kapu, 217 Karen (Herrera’s wife), 618 Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, 616 Kennedy, Anthony (Justice), 188 Kennedy, John F. (President), 255f, 269, 280 Kenny, Joseph, 133 Kentucky Ballet Theatre, 343 Kentucky: children of undocumented migrants, issues about, 339; cultural contribution of Latinos, 342–43; geographical structure, 336f; immigration rights, protest for, 336; Latino migration in nineteenth century, 337–38; politics, 340; Spanish colonization, 336–37; Tobacco Transition Payment program, 338 Kentucky Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 336, 340 Kentucky Derby, 343 Kentucky Migrant Network Coalition, 340 Kern, Clement, 415 Keyes v. [Denver] School Board Number One, 109, 118

KGLA. See Radio Tropical Caliente (KGLA) Kid Chocolate. See Sardiñas Montalbo, Eligio Kihuen, Ruben, 513 King of Cowboy Couture. See Cuevas Martínez, Manuel Arturo José King of the Missouri. See Lisa, Manuel Kino, Eusebio Francisco, 25, 28, 53 Kirkpatrick, Jeane, 394 Korean War, 244, 300–301 K-12 public education, 620 Ku Klux Klan, 6; activities in Wyoming, 889–90; anti-immigration rally in Alabama, 10; Indiana as a hub, 274 La Agrupación Protectora, 776 La Alianza Hispano-Americana, 25; buying and selling war bonds, 44; closing up, 48; evolution of, 39 La Anunciada, 129 La Bodega Latina, 367 La Casa Borinqueña, 135 La Casa Boriqua, 127, 135 La Casa Cultural. See La Casa Boriqua La Casa De La Unidad, 406, 422 La Casa Puertorriqueña (Puerto Rican Home), 652 La Clinica, 428, 433 La Clínica, St. Louis, 468 La Compañía de Teatro de Albuquerque, foundation of, 550 La Conquistadora (Chávez), 566 La Cultura Oral History Project, 885 La Escuelita, 127, 847 La Esperanza Community Center, Georgetown, 152 La Exitosa, 153 La Guardia, 37 LaGuardia, Fiorello, 590, 599 Lagunas, Miguel, 336, 341 La Honorífica Mexicana, 476 La iglesia, 850 La Liga Protectora Latina (LPL), 40

Index La Llorona, 572 Lamadrid, Enrique, 570 Lama, Pedro G. de la, 37 “Lamento Borincano,” 601 La Marqueta, open-air market, 590 La Mexicana Market, Nashville, 755f La Milagrosa, 688, 693 Lammers, Cristina, 738 La Mujer Moderna, 775 Lamy, Bishop of Santa Fe, 569 Lamy, Jean-Baptiste, 560, 564 Land Grant Committee, the. See El Comité de la Merced Landrove, Rafael J., 457 Landscaping, Latinos and, 205 La Onda Latino Americana, 285 La Opinión, 79 La Pantera, 681 La Patria, 350, 358 La plena, Puerto Rican rhythm, 605 La Prensa, 429, 435 La Prensa Gráfica, 139 La Primera Iglesia Cristiana de Gary, 279 Lara, Manuel, 269 La Radio Montañesa: Voz de la Gente, 885 La Raza Alumni Association (LRAA), 152 LaSalle, Robert, 311 La Salle, Sieur de, 759, 764 Las Dos Repúblicas (Chacón), 565 LA SED (Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development), 418 “La Sierra,” 112 LASO. See Latin American Student Organization (LASO) Las Posadas, 622 Las Vegas: Latino population in, 507; making, history of, 503 La Tierra Prometida (The Promised Land), 602 Latin America: Georgia and, relations between, 201–3; growth of ethnic groups from, 227 Latin American Center, 522

Latin American Center, New Hampshire, 519 Latin American Center Inc., 528 Latin American Club, 255 Latin American Club of Louisville, formation of, 336 Latin American Community Center, 708 Latin American Community Center (LACC), 145, 151 Latin American Film Festival, 163 Latin American population in Washington, 841–42 Latin American Radio Magazine. See WRCT-FM Latin American Radio Magazine, 699 Latin American Research Center (LARC), 618 Latin Americans: culture, 163; migrated to Illinois, 119; migration to Connecticut, 131; studies programs, 135–36 Latin Americans and agricultural development in Washington: Bracero program, consequences of, 844; inter-state Latino influx, 844; World War II, impact of, 844 Latin Americans Club, 198, 202 Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development Community, 406 Latin Americans in Massachusetts, 388–89 Latin American Student Organization (LASO), 857, 863 Latin American Visual Arts Expo, 711 Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, 603 Latin Business Association of Hawaii, 221 Latino American art, 543 Latino Americans in Missouri, 466 Latino boom: 1990s, migration to Mississippi, 453–54 Latino boom in Mississippi, 452–53 Latino Boricua Health Organization at Harvard Medical School, 150 Latino Business Expo, 707

923

924

Index Latino community building in Wyoming (1900–1960): Chicano Movement and, 890; Mexican communities, background of, 889; Mexican population in counties, 889; Mexican Repatriation program of 1930s, impact of, 889; Mexican second-class citizenry, resistance toward, 889; nativist attitudes during World War I, 888; resistance and activism toward discriminations and, 890; social, economic, political discrimination and, 889–90 Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU), 615. See also Herrera, John Latino community in West Virginia, forging, 859–62 Latino Credit Union and the Minnesota Migrant Council Latino culture in Vermont: annual Latino festival, 811, 817–18; colleges and universities, presence in, 818–19; social gatherings and networking, 817; Vermont Latino Festival in Burlington, 818f Latino culture in West Virginia: Ateneo, formation of, 859, 862; bilingual education programs and church services, 863; documentation of Spanish migration, 863; first Latino 4-H club, launch of, 857, 863; González, Gavin, contribution of, 857, 863; Hispanic Heritage Festival, celebrations of, 863–64; LASO, formation of, 857, 863; post1990 representations of, 863; Spanish scholarly publications, 863 Latino culture in Wisconsin, 878–79 Latino culture in Wyoming: Latina and Chicano aesthetics, 894; Mestizaje and, 893; Mexican and non-Mexican restaurant menus, 894; vaquero and borreguero culture, 894 Latino discrimination in California, 84–86 Latino diversity, growth of, 415–18

Latino entrepreneurial spirit, 589–91 Latino Festival Fiesta DC, 163 Latino food: adobo, 570; chile, 570; morcilla, 571; pozole, 571 Latino harbinger of gaming and tourism, 504–5 Latino influence in Yakima valley, Washington, 846 Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, 541 Latino life in Georgia, 206–7 Latino life in New Jersey, 538–39 Latino middle class, emergence of, 508–9 Latino migrant life in post-9/11 Virginia: amendments of zoning definitions, impact of, 829; anti-gang policies, 829–30; anti-immigration backlash, 823, 827, 829; concept of family, redefinition of, 829; demand for amnesty in 2006, 831; DHS/BICE, federal training program of, 830; Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, violation of, 823–24, 829; Herndon chapter of the Minuteman Project, impact of, 823, 829; IIRIRA, impact of, 830; immigration debate and, 823–24, 827, 828; Latinosupportive organizations, formation of, 822–23, 830–31; Legal Presence Law, impact of, 823, 828–29; migrant workers’ rights and, 831; Patriot Act, the, impact of, 828; regional anti-gang task force and, 827–28; socio-political problems, 827 Latino migration in contemporary era: Hurricane Mitch and, 822, 825; political turmoil in Latin America and, 824–8; post-Bretton Woods institutions, 821, 824; during 2000s, 825; Salvadoran migration, 822, 825 Latino migration post–World War II, in Massachusetts, 389–92 Latino organizations, development of, 369–70

Index Latino organizations, development of, in New Hampshire, 528 Latino pioneers in nineteenth century, 583–85 Latino political activism in Washington: Brown Berets, emergence of, 845; Chateau Sainte Michelle strike in, 840, 845–8; first union contract for farm workers, 840, 846; Mexican American civil rights movement, 845; Mexican American Federation, formation of, 845; national grape boycott (1968–1970), 845; UMAS, establishment of, 839, 845; United Farm Workers Co-op, establishment of, 840, 845; United Farm Workers of Washington, formation of, 845–46; Villanueva and Gamboa, contribution of, 845; wildcat strikes in, 840, 845 Latino political mobilization in Nevada, 510 Latino population boom, in District of Columbia, 159 Latino population in California, diversification of, 92–94 Latino population in Nevada, impact of, 510–11 Latino power brokers, 506–7 Latino presence in Missouri, 1500s–1800s, 465, Latinos: annual festival, 528; in California at millennium, 96–97; commercial center, 164f; contribution to education in Minnesota, 441; cultural contributions to Alaska, 20–22; in Delaware, 148–49; in District of Columbia, 159; early settlements in California, 83–84; economy changes, adoption to, 276–77; economic conditions of, 134; educational attainment and schools, 522; entrepreneurial spirit, 589–91; festivals, 236; first generation, 158; first wave of migration, in Minnesota, 429–30; gang violence among, 160;

Georgia’s response to migration, 209–10; health problems, 134–35; in labor force, 435–39; labor force in Colorado, 113–15; in labor market, 205–6, 206; laborers (See Bracero program); lack of education, 160; landscape workers, 205; language skills of, 436; life in Georgia, 206–7, 208; marijuana in, use of, 36; middle class, family, 508–9; migration to California, 94–95; military population in Alaska, 19, 22; mining industry, development of, 503; mobility and hometownship, 524–25; organizations, business and nonprofit, 528; political groups and organizations, 112–13; political participation, 525; politics, 279, 506; population growth of, in Alaska, 14; poultry industry of Arkansas, 70; poverty, 160, 207–8; poverty, dealing with, 235; power brokers, 506–7; prison population for New York state, 601; racism and discrimination against, 116–19, 434; and ranching, 504; religious celebrations, 277–79; in rural America, 18–19, 436–38; schooling and education in New York, 594–96; second largest minority group in Alaska, 15; socioeconomic characteristics and migration, 522; in today’s Arkansas, 72; underrepresented in professional careers, 158; U.S. citizenship to, 600; voter registration (in Illinois), 245–46; wildfire break in Alaska, assisting firefighters, 14 Latinos adaption to changing economy, 276–77 Latinos and arrival of railroad, 505 Latinos and education, 539–40 Latinos and labor force in Vermont, 814–15 Latinos and ranching, 504 Latinos as political refugees, in Massachusetts, 396–97 Latinos holidays in Nevada, 513–14

925

926

Index Latinos in fur trade and mining, role of, 839, 843–44 Latinos in government of New Jersey, 540–41 Latinos in labor market of Georgia, 205–6 Latinos in South Carolina in late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, 720–23; economic and social status, 722; education, 723 Latinos in the labor market of New Jersey, 535–38 Latinos in twenty-first century: health disparities among, 848; K-12 education issues, 847–48; over-represented in the juvenile justice system, 848 Latinos in Utah: after 1990s, 805–6; during Chicano movement, 803–4; colonial and Mexican eras, 795–96; cultural contributions of, 807–9; diversity among, 800–801; in postwar era, 801–3; during Reagan era, 804–5; territorial and early statehood eras, 796–99; in World War II era, 799–801 Latinos in Vermont: dairy farms, participation in, 811, 815–16; economic contributions of, 814; employment patterns of, 815; entertainment industry, participation in, 815; granite and marble mills, 811, 813; internal support structures, 811; labour force participation of, 814–15; language proficiency of, 814; mobility and homeownership of, 816; population, 811–13; socioeconomic portrait of Latinos, 814 Latinos in Virginia: cultural contributions of, 835f; diverse communities of, 825–27; migration during 1980s, 822; migration during 1990s, 822, 825; post 9/11 (See Latino migrant life in post-9/11 Virginia) Latinos in Washington, 847–48. See also Mexican culture in Washington Latinos in West Virginia: businesses, success in, 860; in coal and zinc mining

industries, 855, 858–59; cultural contributions of, 862–64; English-only legislation for, 861; population, growth of, 855, 856, 857–58; restrictions against migration of, 857, 861; social networks, building, 861–62; UNIDOS, formation of, 862 Latinos in Wisconsin: advocacy and activism (See advocacy and activism for Latinos, Wisconsin); cultural contributions of, 878–79; development during 1990s, 869, 876; development during 2000s, 870, 876–77; migration of, 867, 871–72 Latinos in Wyoming: community building of (See Latino community building in Wyoming (1900–1960)); in fur trade, 886–87; in livestock industry, 887; Mexican culture (See Latino culture in Wyoming); Mexican labor and industrialization, 888; Spanish exploration and, 886 Latino life in New Jersey, 538–39 Latinos Unidos del Norte, 14, 20, 22f Latinos Unidos of New Hampshire, 528 Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS), 682 La Tribuna, 544 La Tribuna Hispana, 583 La verdad, 350 LaVérendrye, 733 La Virgen Conquistadora, 556 La Voz del Pueblo, 681 Lázaro, Ladislas, 358 Lazo-Chadderton, Matty, 619 League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), 280, 290, 304; fight for civil rights, 45; Latino basic rights, protection of, 301; origin of, 300; political participation of, 46; role in Texas, 778–79, 781; War on Poverty, 48; World War II, role in, 44 Lee, George W., 63 Lee Wilson Plantation, 66 Legislative Interim Committee on Migratory Labor, 675

Index Lehigh Valley, 698 Leiva, Rodrigo, 162 Lemos, Manuel Gayoso de, 745 Leni-Lenape, 147 Levsen, Mike, 741 Lewis, Meriwether, 242, 489, 629 Lexington Hispanic Labor Task Force, 340 Leyva, Mark, 280 Liberty City (Miami-Dade County) and racial violence, 169, 184 Liga Antillana, 584 Liga de Artesanos, 584 Liga Feminil Mexicanista, 776 Linares, Guillermo, 579, 600, 603 Lincoln, Abraham (President), 243 Lincoln, Blanche, 71–72 Lisa, Manuel, 289, 293, 305–6, 478, 627, 630 Listen Chicano! An Informal History of the Mexican-American (Machado), 484 literatura recreativa, 565 Little Spain, 585 Livestock industry in Wyoming, 887 Lobo, Luis G., 379 Lodge expressway, 406 Loisel, Régis, 629, 731, 734 Long Michigan recession, 418–19 Longoria, Private Felix, 780 Longoria, Valerio, 457–58 López, Al, 650 Lopez, Al “Papa Rap,” 73 López Camarillo, Jeannie, 634 Lopez, Edwardo, 261–62 López, General Narciso, 335 López, George, 101 López, Joe Eddie, 56–57 López McKnight, Gloria, 421 Lopez, Paul J., 260 López-Rivera, Oscar, 256 López, Xiomara, 740 Lorain communities: Mendez and SilviaTovar families, 641–42; Mexicans, 642–43 Los Adaes, 764

Los Alamos labs, 561 Los Bailadoes de Bronce (the Bronze Dancers), 847 Los Repatriados, 422 Los Tigres del Norte, 726–27, 754 Louisiana: black migration in, 352; civil rights movement, 355–56; Civil War, consequences of, 351–52; Constitution of 1921, 354; educational and cultural industries in, 359–60; French control over, 349; geographical location of, 348f; Great Depression, effects of, 354; H-2B visa workers alliance, formation of, 357–58; Hondurans in, 354–55; Isleños, immigration of, 347, 349–50; Mexican-American War, effects in, 350–51; Mexican Revolution, effects of, 352–53 Louisiana Purchase, 289, 292, 465, 627 Louisville Colonels, purchase of, 335 Lozano, Ignacio E., 98, 775 Lozano, Raymond, 421 Lozano, Rudy, 258 LPL. See La Liga Protectora Latina (LPL) LRAA. See La Raza Alumni Association (LRAA) LRC (Land Rights Council of San Luis), 110, 119 Lucero Ward, 793, 802. See also Rama Mexicana Lukumi Babalu Aye, Church of, 188 LULAC. See League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Luna, Tristán de, 1, 3–4 LUS. See Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS) Lynch, John, 519, 525 Machado, Gerardo, 177 Machado, Manny, 484 Macias, David, 296–97 MACO. See Mexican American Community Organization (MACO) “Made in Mexico/Hecho en Mexico,” 400 Madero, Francisco I., 774–775

927

928

Index Madrid, Patricia, 550, 566–67 Maine: business development and labor force participation, 367–68; churches and religious organizations, 370–71; cultural contributions, 369–71; demographic characteristics, 365–66; Latino organizations, development of, 369–70; mobility and homeownership, 368–69; socioeconomic characteristics and educational attainment, 366–67 MALC. See Mexican American Liberation Committee (MALC) MALDEF. See Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) Maldonado, Gabriel, 503, 511–12 Maldonado, Roberto, 258–59 Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, The, 603 Manitos, 791, 799 Manuel, Old, 630 Manuel Ezequiel. See Chávez, Fray Angélico Manuel Jimenez “Canario,” 605 Many Deaths of Danny Rosales and Other Plays, The (Morton), 257 MAP. See Mural Arts Program (MAP) Maravilla, Joe, 269 Marcantonio, Vito, 599 Mariachi Festival, 666 Mariachi music, 786–87 María Gándara, Manuel, 25, 28, 30–31 Maricopa County Organizing Project (MCOP), 50 Mariel boatlift, 168, 179, 252 Marielitos, 179 Marín, Christine, 57 Marín, Francisco de Paula, 215, 216 Marin, Richard “Cheech,” 99 Marked Tree, and discrimination against Mexicans, 63, 67–68 Martí, José, 388, 389, 577, 687 Martínez, David G., 634 Martinez, Iris, 259 Martínez, Jim, 323

Martinez, Luis, 650 Martínez, Lula, 484 Martinez, Lupe, 877 Martínez, Marta, 710–11 Martínez, Melquiades, 171 Martínez, Miguel, 600 Martinez, Nolo, 613, 618, 621 Martínez, Oscar, 258 Martínez, Padre Antonio José, 564 Martínez, Padre José Antonio, 550 Martinez, Pedro Jamie, 400 Martínez Ybor, Vicente, 184–85 Martin, Joseph, 224 Martin, Patricia Preciado, 57 Maryland: contemporary issues, 377; cultural contributions of Latinos, 380–82; early history, 374–75; growth of the latino population, 376–77; recent developments, 375–76 Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (MMYC), 381 MASO. See Mexican American Student Organization (MASO) Mason, Charles, 145 Massachusetts: bilingual education of, 397–98; Central Americans, migration of, 394–95; Colombians and Mexicans, migration of, 395; Dominicans and second wave of Latinos, 393–94; food and restaurants, 401; geographical location, 386f; Latin American presence in, 388–89; Latino migration, post–World War II, 389–92; Latino populations in smaller cities and towns of, 392–93; Latinos as political refugees, 396–97; Latino culture, 400–401; migrant rights in, 398–99; Puerto Rican migrant farmworkers in, 385, 389f; radio stations, Spanish, 401; sports, Latinos role, 401 Massacre of the Dreamers (Castillo), 259 Masters Parents Advisory Council (PAC), 386, 398 Matos, Kica, 138 Matos, Maria, 150–51

Index Matrícula consular card, 208 Matrículas consulares, 746, 747 Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO), 222 Maui island, and Latino-owned companies, 219 Maxwell, Lucien Bonaparte, 884 May Day immigration rally, 501 MAYO. See Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) Mayo, Sonia, 633 Maza, 634 Maza Chante, 634 McCall, Tom, 681 McGehee, J.G., 445 McGreevey, James, 541 McHenry County, Illinois, 242 MCOP. See Maricopa County Organizing Project (MCOP) McPeek Villatoro, Marcos, 754 McVety, William J.A., 230 MEChA. See Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) Medina, 634 Medina, Joel, 458 Medrano, Hugo, 162, 164 Mejía, María Clara, 753 Melendez, Sara, 162 Meléndrez, Jesus, 37 Melnyck, Joseline Peña, 380 Mendez and Silvia-Tovar families, 641–42 Méndez, Frank S., 642, 650 Mendez, Natividad, 642, 650 Mendez v. Westminster District, 90 Mendoza, John, 512 Mendóza, Victor, 711 Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro, 167, 184 Menendez, Jose, 463 Menendez, Robert, 531, 540, 541f, 543 menudo, 498 MEO. See Maui Economic Opportunity (MEO) Mercado Central, market place, 429 Mercado de la Raza, 221 Mercado, Oralia, 892

Mercado, Raoul, 133 Merced, Nelson, 387, 399 Merengue, dance rhythm, 606 Merrill, Father Jerald H., 792, 802, 807 Mesilla Valley, 553 mestas, 765–66 Mestizaje, 893 Mexican American: arts, 568; first political club, establishment of, 269 Mexican American Community Organization (MACO), 481 Mexican American Cultural and Educational Center, 441 Mexican American Federation, 845 Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), 94, 280, 762, 781 Mexican American Liberation Committee (MALC), 49 Mexican Americans in Illinois, 246–49 Mexican Americans migrants to Idaho, 230 Mexican American Student Organization (MASO), 48, 49, 50 Mexican American Studies and Research Center, 51 Mexican-American War, 25, 27, 30, 463, 465, 559, 611; Latinos in Louisiana, participation of, 350–51; Latinos’ participation in, 350–51; state of Illinois, role in, 243 Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), 762, 783–84 Mexican bandito, 726 Mexican braceros, 249 Mexican: changing patterns of migration to, 507; mule packers, 229 Mexican colonies in early twentieth century, 247 Mexican culture in Washington: cultural and religious awakening, 849–50; cultural centers, development of, 851; fiestas, 850; fiestas familiars, 851; food products and traditional meals, 850;

929

930

Index Mexican culture in Washington (continued) Roman Catholic Church, the, contributions of, 850; traditional practices, 850 Mexican farm laborers, 229–30 Mexican Farm Labor Program (MFLP), 672 Mexican Fine Art Center Museum, 261 Mexican Folk Plays, 617 Mexican Independence Day, 236, 248, 277, 320, 513 Mexican Independence Day Fiesta, Billings, 486f Mexican Labor Program. See Bracero program Mexican migration to Idaho, 230 Mexican migration to Nevada, changing patterns of, 507–8 Mexican Mine, 503 Mexican mule packing in Washington, 839, 843–44 Mexicanos, 798, 799, 800–801, 804–5 Mexican period in Arizona: MexicanAmerican War 1846, consequences of, 30–31; Mexican war of Independence, consequences of, 29–30; Mormon Battalion, 25, 30; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), life after, 27, 30 Mexican Revolution, 489, 494; effects on Latinos in Louisiana, 352–53; Latino migration to Iowa and, 294; and Latino migration to Louisiana, 352; migration to Arizona during, 39 Mexican Revolution (1910–1917), 272 Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), 229 Mexican Revolution and World War I Era, 39–41 Mexican Revolution era in Arizona: job opportunities, 39–40; mass Mexican migration, 30 Mexicans: Americanization of, 42; in beet fields of Michigan, 405; food, 190; in Illinois, 246–49; Independence Day celebration in Nevada, 513; laborers in Illinois, 244; origin of, 499; post-

Chicano movement and, 51–53; presence in Arizona, 27, 30; railroad workers, 505; undocumented immigration, 508 Mexicans and Mexican Americans of Illinois, 246–49 Mexicans in the interwar delta, 448 Mexicans in Washington: agricultural development and (See Latin Americans and agricultural development in Washington); cultural contributions of (See Mexican culture in Washington); influence of, 841; migration, 839, 841; mule packing system, 839, 843–44; Muralist art and, 846–47; UMAS and, 839; wildcat strikes for, 840; Yakima valley and, 846 Mexican migration to Massachusetts, 395 “The Mexican Spirit Lives On,” 284f Mexican town redevelopment project, 407 Mexican Village, 617 Mexican War (1846–1848), 771 Mexican War of Independence and Texan Republic: Austin’s Anglo-American colony, 768; centralists versus federalists conflicts, 768, 769; Colonization Law for the State of Coahuila and Texas, impacts, 768; legislation against U.S. migrants, 768; malevolence of royalist rule, 767; Mexico-Texan souring relationship, 767–68; Republican Army of the North, victory of, 766–67; Ruiz and Seguín’s political achievements, 770; Santa Anna’s siege of San Antonio, 769; Santa Anna’s victory over conservatives, 768; seizure of Dolores prison, 766; Texas Declaration of Independence, creation of, 769; Texian-Tejano conflicts, 769–70; Texian-Tejano social interactions, 770–71; U.S. annexation of Texas, 760, 763, 771 Mexico City, 172

Index Mexico: control of New Mexico, 559; establishment as independent nation, 559 MFLP. See Mexican Farm Labor Program (MFLP) Miami, 171; drug trafficking, 187; Latin music, 191; racial voilence in, 179 Miami Herald, 177 Miami Sound Machine, 186 Miami Vice, 187 Michigan: culture (See Cultural contribution, Latinos in Michigan); geographical location, 406f; Great Depression era, 411–12; Latino diversity, growth of, 415–18; long recession of, 418–19; migration in 1920s, 408–11; new migrant boom, 419–20; sugar industry, 405; urban barrios, boom in, 414–15; World War II, and postwar boom, 412–13 Migrant Farm Labor Center, 69 “Migrant Labor Problem in Wisconsin, The,” 868, 874 Migrant Opportunities Program (MOP), 50 Migrant Relations Committee, Wisconsin, 867–68, 873 Migrant rights, Latinos in Massachusetts, 398–99 Migrants in 1960s–1980s to Arkansas, 69 Migration and Labor Force in Pennsylvania, 690–91 Migration backlash in California, 94–95 Migration of Central Americans, 394–95 Migration of Colombians and Mexicans, 395 “Migratory Agricultural Workers in Wisconsin: A Problem in Human Rights,” 867, 873 Miller, Pam, 340 Minaya, Omar, 580 Miners of Butte, 479–83 Mining communities in West Virginia, Latino presence: Ateneo, formation of,

859; difficulties in, 858–59; Mexican migration in 1900s, 856, 859; Spanish migration in 1900s, 855, 858; United Mine Workers of America, formation of, 859 Mining industry: Alaska Mexican Gold Mining Company, 14; development of, 503; Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, 31 Mining industry development, 503–4 Ministerio Way Out, Christian program, 598 Minner, Ruth Ann, 149 Minnesota: cultural contribution of Latinos, 440–42; economic mobility of Latinos, 436; education, Latinos contribution, 441; as emerging gateway for immigrants, 433–35; food processing industry, 434, 438; geographical structure of, 428; Latino migration, first wave of, 429–30; Latinos in rural areas of, 436–38; political and religious leaders, 439; racial tension and discrimination, 434, 435; St. Paul, west side of, 431–33; undocumented Latino workers, 438–39 Minnesota Office of Migrant Affairs, 428 Minnesota State Demographic Center, 434 Minnesota State University, Mankato, 436 MIRA!. See Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA!) Miracle for Mexico, A, 617 Miranda, Francisco de, 373, 690 Miranda, Marta, 341–42 Miranda-Yuen, Celia, 470 Miró, Don Estevan, 748 Miró, Esteban Rodriguez, 629, 731, 733 Miró, Joseph, 149–50 Mission San Antonio de Valero, 759, 764 Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, 764 Mississippi: African Americans and Latinos, 454–55; colonial, 447–48; economy, Latinos’ role in, 447;

931

932

Index Mississippi (continued) geographical structure of, 446f; Hurricane Katrina, effect of, 455–56; isolated migrations in 1970s–1980s, 451–52; Latino boom, 452–53; Latino culture in, 459–60; Mexican and Negro cotton pickers, 447f; Mexican migration to, 448–49; organizational change in, 456–57; poultry industry in, 454; tejanos and braceros in, 450–51 Mississippi Baptist Convention, 446 Mississippi Delta, 445 Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance (MIRA!), 456 Missouri: cultural contributions of Latino community, 471; cultural contributions of Latinos, 470–72; geographical structure of, 464f; labor and industry, 468; Latino Americans, new generation of, 466; Latino presence in 1500s–1800s, 465; Latinos in the show-me state, 465–66; migration of Latinos after 1950 in, 466; politics, 468–69; rural, 468; Spanish control in, 629 Missouri Latino politics, 468–69 MMYC. See Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (MMYC) Mobile Bay, 4 Mobility and homeownership, Latinos of New Hampshire, 524–25 Mocama (Georgia), 200 Moctezuma, Isabel, 551 Modern Florida (1959–2007), 177–84 Mohawk Carpet Mills, Calhoun, 206 Mojito, 189 Molasses Act of England, 125 Molina, Gloria, 100 Monroig, Glenn, 817 Monserrate, Hiram, 580 Montana: cultural contributions of, 485–86; as emerging gateway for migrants, 483; geographical structure of, 476f; nineteenth-century, 478–79; sugar beet workers and miners, 479–83

Montana Migrant Council, 476 Montana State University, 477 Montes, Jorge, 260 Moorhead, 434 MOP. See Migrant Opportunities Program (MOP) Mora, Antonio, 262 Moraga, Cherrie, 100 Morales, Rodney, 222 Moraloza, Victor Raul, 617–18 Moreno, Francisco, 37 Moreno, Henry, 335 Moreno, John, 80, 99 Moreno, Leopold, 862 Morning Call, 692 Morton, Carlos, 257 Mount Pleasant: cultural festivals (See Latino Festival Fiesta DC); riots in, 160 Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), 92, 313, 321–22, 682, 885 Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) in Washington, 840, 845 Moyeno, Hoboken Nellie, 541 Mujeres Activas En Letras Y Cambio Social (MALCS), 81 Mujeres Unidas, 635 Mule packing, 229 Mundo Hispano, 754 Munier, Juan, 627, 629, 731, 733 Muniz, Paul J. De, 668 Muñoz, Ángel, 738 Muñoz, Christina, 73 Muñoz, María, 738 Muñoz III, Henry, 786 Mural Arts Program (MAP), 698 Muralist art in Washington: Chicano civil rights movement and, 846–47; emergence of theatre groups, 847; La Sociedad Mutualista, foundation of, 847; reflecting agricultural environment, 847; role of community social-service agencies in, 847

Index Muralist Art Movement, 839, 844 Murals, 698 Murguía, Janet, 323, 327–28 Murrieta, Joaquín, 85–86, 98 Museum of International Folk Art, establishment of, 550 Mushroom industry in Delaware, 147–48 Música norteña, 787 Mutuales, 798 Mutualistas, 296 My Penitente Land (Chávez), 566 NACARA. See Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) NAFTA. See North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Naiberg, Silvia, 222 Napoleon. See also Louisiana Purchase: invasion of Spain by, 558 Narváez, Pánfilo de, 173 Nashville-Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 746 National Agricultural Statistics Service, 632 National Council of La Raza, 158 National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON), 831 National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), 91–92 National Hispanic Heritage Week, 513f National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, The, 603 National Steak and Poultry, Owasso, 664 National Tube Company, 642, 645 National Voting Rights Act (1965), 781 National Western Stock Show in Denver, 123 National Youth Administration (NYA), 779 National Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, 118 Naturalization, 600 NBC-17, news channel, 619 NDLON. See National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON)

Nebraska: cultural contributions of Latinos, 498–99; economy of, 494; education, 494; ethnicities and language of, 499; Mexican heritage, 499; modern period, 495–97; Spanish control in, 491–93; statehood, 493–95; state legislature, 499 Nebraska Hispanic Woman Award, 499 Nebraska Mexican American Commission, 499 Nebraska State Historical Society and Mexican American Commission, 499 Negrón, Edna, 137 Neighborhood House, 427, 432, 435 Nevada: Bracero program, 501; changing patterns of Mexican migration to, 507; Chicano Movement, 501; Culinary Union, 510; cultural contributions of Latinos, 513; demographics changes, 507; geographical location, 502; Latin Chamber of Commerce, 507; Latino holidays in, 513; Latino population, 502; Latino population, impact of, 510–11; Latino population in, 507; middle class Latinos, 508–9; politics, 509–10; railroad construction work in, 505; ranching by Latinos, 504; religion, 514; resort industry, 510; Spanish-language media, 514–15; tourism, gaming and, 504–5; undocumented immigration, Mexican, 508 New Dealers, and World War II, 412 New Hampshire: businesses development and labor force participation, 523; cultural contributions of Latinos to, 526; demography, 522–23; geographical location, 520f; labor force participation, 524; Latino festivals in, 528; Latino organizations, development of, 528; Latino population, 519–21; mobility and homeownership of Latinos in, 524–25; political participation, 525 New Hampshire College and University Council, 522

933

934

Index New Haven State Teachers’ College, 139 New Homestead Act (2005), 633 New Jersey: cultural contributions of Latinos, 543–47; economic condition of Latinos, 535–38; education, 539–40; EOF (Equal Opportunity Funding) program, 539–40; first waves migration of Latinos to, 533; geographical locations, 532f; Latino foods and restaurants in, 544–45; Latino life in New Jersey, 538–39; religious faith and practices, 545–46 New Mexico: culture (See Cultural contributions, Latinos in New Mexico); ethnic mixing, 558; folk medicine, 571; geographical location, 550f; Latino food, 570–71; origin of, 553; political control by United States, 559; Pueblo revolt in, 555–56; railroad, arrival of, 550; ranching and farming, 558; Spanish colonies in, 552–55; statehood, 550, 560; tax revolt, 559 New Mexico’s Hispanic trajectory over four centuries: early colonial period (1598–1680), 552–55; later colonial period (1680–1810), 555–59; modern period (1810–2000), 559–62 New Mexico State University, 550, 561 New York: churches in, Catholic and Protestants, 596–98; community formation in, 585–87; cultural contributions of Latinos, 604–8; Dominican community, making of, 591–94; enterprises in, Latino-owned, 589–91; geographical location, 578f; politics, 598–601; schooling and education system for Latinos, 594–96; size and location of Latino population, 580–83; Spanish-language TV and radio stations in, 591; survival of Puerto Ricans in, 587–89 New York City: Catholic life in, 607; Dominican population in, 591–94; economic transformation of, 589; survival of Latino immigrants in, 587–89 Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (1997), 161, 387, 397

Ni de acá ni de allá (Neither from here nor from there), 552 Nieto, Bonifacio, 67 Nieves, David “Chico,” 726 Nieves, Sandra, 726 Niggli, Josefina María, 617 Night of Blood, 199, 208 9/11 attack, impact of, 784–85 “Ninety miles” of Florida, 177 Nixon v. Herndon, 777 Niza, Marcos de, 25, 28 Noguera, Olga, 711 Nootka Controversy, 13, 16–17 Noriega, Manuel, 169, 180, 203 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 135, 762, 784, 822 North Carolina: cultural contributions of Latinos in, 619–23; economic impact of Latinos on, 615–16; exploration of North Carolina, 613; geographical location, 612f; historical background of, 613–15; Latino population in, 612, 614–15; Spanish invasion of, 613 North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA), 616 North Dakota: cowboy culture, 631; cultural contributions of Latinos, 634–36; French possession of, 628–29; geographical location, 628f; Latino population, 632–33; migrant farmworkers, 631–32; railroad construction, 631; Spanish military control of, 629; transferred from Spain to France, 630 Northwest Passage, search for, 14, 15, 16, 17 Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United. See Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Nordoeste (PCUN) Noticias Latinas, 681 Notus Farm Labor Committee, 233 Novello, Antonia, 579 Nuestra Sangre (Our Blood), 689 Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity), 278 Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Chávez), 566

Index Nuestra Voz, Nuestra Historia (Our Voice, Our History), 879 Nuñez, Balboa Vasquéz de, 669 Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 491 Nuyorican Poets Café, 579 NYA. See National Youth Administration (NYA) Oahe Dam, 736 Obreros Unidos Mexicanos, 410 Ochoa, Ellen, 101 Ochoa, Estevan, 32, 39, 42, 54 Office of Hispanic Affairs, New Jersey, 540 Office of Homeland Security, Georgia, 204 Office of Latino Affairs (OLA), 157, 161 Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLA), 490 O, Gilbert de la, 432, 440 Oglethorpe, James, 198, 201 Ohio: Bracero program, 639; cultural contributions of Latinos, 651–53; economic conditions, 639; General Assembly, 649; geographical structure, 640f; Latinos in postwar, 643–49; Latino voting of Democratic, 647; locus of Latino migration, 648; Lorain and Cleveland, communities of, 641–43; railroads, 641 O Jornal, 401 Oklahoma: cotton farming, 662; cultural contributions of Latinos, 666; demographic projections of, 660; early Mexican migration to, 660–63; eruption of Mexican Revolution, 657; geographic structure of, 658; population segregation in, 659; recent Mexican migration, 663–64; social issue, Latino communities, 664–65; statehood, 657 OLA. See Office of Latino Affairs (OLA) “Old migration,” 251 Olivárez, Graciela Gil, 56 OLLA. See Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLA) Olmos, Edward James, 100 Olympic Games, Atlanta, 199, 205

Oñate, Don Juan de, 549, 551, 628, 733 Oñate, Juan de, 311, 314, 552 Ontiveros, Inez, 892 Operation Bootstrap, 645, 692; and Puerto Rican migration to Pennsylvania, 692–94 Operation Pedro Pan, 178 Operation Peter Pan, 477 Operation Wetback: of 1954, in Louisiana, 355; and Mexican deportation, 290, 331; of 1950s, in Oregon, 673, 761 Opportunity Services (UMOS): Cuban settlements, beginning of, 869; “Cuéntame: Latino Life in Dane County” report, 876; English, official language, introduction of, 870; foreign migration to, 867, 871; Governor’s Committee on Migratory Labor reports, 868; historical route to (See Wisconsin, historical route); Latino activism in (See advocacy and activism for Latinos, Wisconsin); Latino culture in, 878–79; Latinos in 1990s, development of, 869, 876–77; Latinos in 2000s, 870; LULAC in, 870; March on Madison, 868; Mexican migration to, 867, 869, 871; Migrant Labor Law of, 869, 875; migrant workers of, 873; Slesinger’s research on migrant labor force, 876; Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute, 869, 875; Struggle for Education, 868–69, 875; Un Día Sin Latinos march in, 876 Orange Bowl stadium, 181, 188 Oregon: child care and education, 685; cultural contributions of Latinos in, 680–82; demographic overview of Latinos in, 678–79; geographical structure of, 668f; Immigration and Reform Act, 676–78; Latino migration, colonial Mexico to twentieth-century U.S. era, 668–70; Latino political and cultural organizing in, 674–76, 675; second generation, settlers, 673–74

935

936

Index Oregon Human Development Corporation, 675 Oregon Immigrant Rights Coalition, 668 Oregon Rural Opportunities (ORO), 667, 675 Oregon Territory, 669 Origins of New Mexico Families (Chávez), 566 Orixás worship, 188 ORO. See Oregon Rural Opportunities (ORO) Orofino Creek, 228 Orozco, José Clemente, 519, 527–28 Orozco, Raymond E., 256 Orta, Victor, 665 Ortega, John, 301 Ortiz, Eddie, 221 Ortiz, Eliza, 870, 878 Ortiz, Nancy N., 220 OSEDA. See University of Missouri’s Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA) Osorio, Jose M., 261 Oswaldo, Virgil, 606 Otero, Nora, 400 Otero, Ray, 119, 121 Our Lady Charity, 262 Our Lady of Guadalupe, 22, 427, 432 Our Lady of Guadalupe, catholic church, 269, 270, 278, 435 Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Billings, 477, 482 Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, 793, 802 Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. See La Milagrosa Pabey, George, 270, 280 PAC. See Masters Parents Advisory Council (PAC) Pacheco, Romualdo, 79, 98 Pacific Railroad Bill, introduction of, 312, 315 Padilla Andrews, Clara, 679–80

Padro, Lucy, 295 Pagan, Angel, 651 Pagan, Natividad, 650 “Página Latina,” 711 Palacios, Fernando, 212f Palma, Tomás Estrada, 578 PALO. See Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations (PALO) Palo, Monte, 546 Paniolos, 223 Pan-Latino coalition, 708–9 Pantoja, Alberto, 14, 17, 19–20 Pantoja, Antonia, 602–3 Pardo, Juan, 745, 748 Paredes, Americo, 785 Paredes, Ignacio, 501, 503 Parker, John Palmer, 217 Parsons, Lucy, 254 Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM), 761, 775 Partido Revolucionario Cubano (PRC), 687, 690 Paseo Boricua (Puerto Rican Road), 251 PASSO. See Political Association of SpanishSpeaking Organizations (PASSO) Pastor, Ed, 57 Patria, 388 Patrick, Deval L., 387 PAW. See Protecting American Workers (PAW) Pedro, Manuel San, 503–4 Peña, Federico, 119–20, 121, 762 Peninsulares, 766 Penitentes, 569 Pennsylvania: as center for Latin American independence, 690; cultural contributions of Latinos, 697–99; demographics, 694–95; geographical location, 687f; migration and labor force in, 690–91; Operation Bootstrap and Puerto Rican migration, 692–94; periodicals published in, 698–99 Pennsylvania Association of Latino Organizations (PALO), 698

Index Pensacola Bay, 175 Pentecostals. See Protestants Pepe’s North of the Border, Alaska, 21 Perales, Nina, 762 Peralta, Don Pedro de, 549, 554 Peralta, Freddy, 340 Peralta, José R., 580 Perche Rivas, Emilio, 378 Pérez and Martina: A Portorican Folk Tale, 579 Pérez, Eddie, 136, 137 Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael, 135, 137–38 Pérez, Irvan, 358 Pérez, Joseph, 738 Pérez, Juan, 669 Pérez, Leander Henry, Sr., 358 Perez-Luna, Victor, 260 Perez, Thomas E., 379 Perico, 201 Perry. See Ortiz, Nancy N. Peruvians Independence Day, 544 Pesqueira, Ignacio, 30–31 Pew Hispanic Center, 478 Phelps Dodge Corporation, 35 Pichardo, Juan, 705, 710 Pike, Zebulon, 493 Pilonieta Blanco, Gabriel, 150 Piloto, Private John M., 299 Pima Revolt of 1751, 28 Pinela, Gilberto, 470 Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Nordoeste (PCUN), 668 Pinkeiro, Apolinario, 131 Pinnick Kinnick Hill (González), 857, 863 Piore, Michael, 436 Pittsburgh Reduction Company, 63, 66 Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, 321–22 Plasencia, Ila, 295, 306 Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), 352, 772 Poemas en Veinte Zurcos, 602 Poinsett, Joel R., 715, 718 Political Association of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (PASSO), 761, 781, 783

Political participation, Latinos of New Hampshire, 525–26 Political power, 509–10 Politicization of Latinos, 506 Politics, Latinos in Indiana, 279–82 Politics, Latinos in New York, 598–601 Polk, James K. (President), 243, 463, 611 Ponce de León, Juan, 167, 172 Popé, 556 Portland Catholic Archdiocese, 674 Portland Soccer Championship, 370, 370f Portolá, Don Gaspar de, 83 Post-Chicano era in Arizona: impressive growth rate, 52–53; IRCA and, 52; Mexican American Studies and Research Center, formation of, 51; migration from Latin America, 51; Phoenix Union High School, closing down, 51; Sanctuary movement, 27, 51–52; sanctuary to Central American refugees, 51–52 Post-Gadsden and early territorial periods, in Arizona, 30–35 Post–World War II and Latino migration, 389–92 Poultry industry: INS raid in, 71–72; Latinos in Arkansas, 70; in Mississippi, 454 “Preciosa,” 601 Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, 561 Preston, General William, 335, 337 Price, Sterling, 463 Prieto, Yolanda, 542 “Primitive Love,” 186 Princesa, 16 Prisoner Review Board, Illinois, 261 Progreso Latino, 708 Protecting American Workers (PAW), 746 Protestant churches, 546 Protestantism, 597–98 Protestants, and Great Depression, 279 Providence en Español, 704, 712 Providence Journal, 711

937

938

Index Public school Public school, and Latino enrollment, 65 Public Works Administration (PWA), 779 Pueblo revolt, 555–56 Puente, Sylvia, 283 Puente, Tito, 579 Puerto, Jesús, 222 Puerto Rican Day Parade: in Connecticut, 139; in New York City, 588f; in Philadelphia, 689 Puerto Rican Festival of Rhode Island, 709 Puerto Rican food, 590 Puerto Rican Friendly Day, 653 Puerto Rican Heritage Society, 220, 221 Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches, A, 602 Puerto Rican Migrant Support Committee (CAMP), 134 Puerto Ricans and Cubans, joining with Mexicans, 275–76 Puerto Ricans: baseball league, 224; culture (see Puerto Rican Day Parade); defined, 592; Democratic Party, 599, 647; in garment industry, 593; in Hawaii, 217; in Illinois, 248–51; migrant farmworkers in Massachusetts, 385, 389f; migration to Connecticut, 133; migration to United States, 275; riots, 250; as seasonal agricultural workers, 391; status of U.S. citizenship, 251; in tobacco industry, 134; white-collar jobs, 251; in whitecollar jobs, 251 Puerto Ricans, migration to Illinois, 248–51 Puerto Rican Study, 594 Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, 579 Puerto Rico: Latino migrants from, 392; National Tube Company and government of, 645; protestantism, 279; as territory of United States, 391 Puturiba, Franciscan mission, 197 PWA. See Public Works Administration (PWA)

Que Buena, 663 Queen Anne’s War, 168 Quejo, Pedro de, 145, 147 Qué pasa Hawai, 220 Quexos, Pedro de, 197, 199–200, 611 Quinceañeras, 277 Quintana-Baker, Maricel, 833 Quintana, Sergio, 619 Quintanilla-Pérez, Selena, 762, 786, 787 Quintanilla, Selena, 787 Quintero, Omar, 342 Quisqueya en Acción, 704 Racism, 273–75; anti-Mexican, 32, 38; between Latinos and African Americans, 160–61 Racism in Indiana, 273–75 Radio Tropical Caliente (KGLA), 359 Radio Visión Cristiana, 591 Rael, Apolinar, 110, 119, 120 Railroad, arrival during late nineteenth century, 37 Railroads and Latino workers, 505 Railroads in Arizona, arrival of: copper boom and, 36; economic growth and, 35; increasing trades, 36–37 Rama Mexicana: establishment of, 792; grant of ward status, 793, 802; during Great Depression, 799 Ramirez, Gilbert, 804 Ramirez, Mirta, 251, 256 Ramírez, Ramón, 680 Ramírez, Sara Estela, 775 Ramirez, Victor, 380 Ramos, María, 739 Ramos, Ruben, 541 Rampton, Calvin, 804 Ramsay, Joseph. See Ramusio, José Ramusio, José, 630 Ranching in Arizona, 33–34 Rancho de Chimayó, restaurant and inn, 551

Index Rangel, Ray, 440 Raza Unida Party, Texas, 783 Reardon, Mara Candelaria, 270 Rebeil, Julia, 54 Redondo, José María, 33, 34, 53 Regeneración, 775 Reggaetón, 191 Regional contrasts and diverse Latino communities, Virginia: fruit processing and poultry industry, impact of, 825–26; Salvadoran population, majority of, 826–27; sixteenth largest Latino community, 825–26 Reinoso, Victor, 163 Religion, Latinos in Indiana, 277–79 Religion, Latinos in Nevada, 514 Rell, Jodi, 128, 136 Renacimiento, 423 Renta, Oscar De La, 604 Repatriation campaigns, 405 Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA), 784 Requena, Manuel, 97 Resort industry, Nevada, 510 Restrepo, Luis Fernando, 73 “Reverse migration,” 581 Review, The, 551 Revolutionary War, 130 Reyes, María Elena, 19 Reyna, Diana, 579 Rhode Island: business and labor, 707; cultural contributions of Latinos, 711–13; emerging pan-Latino coalition, 708–9; first arrivals of Latino migrants in, 705–607; geographical structure of, 704; politics, 709–10; poor living conditions, 707–8; Roman Catholic Church in, 713 Rhode Island Immigration Law Enforcement (RIILE), 709 Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC), 704, 709 Rhode Island School of Design, 711 Ribero, Diego, 129

Ricardo, Ricky, 605 Richardson, Bill, 528, 562 RILPAC. See Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee (RILPAC) Rio Grande Valley (Texas), 233, 553 Río Janeiro, 217 Rios, Francisco A., 892–893 Risco, Norbe, 343 Ritter, E., 68 Rivera, Diego, 405, 411 Rivera, Jaime “Gus,” 150 Rivera, Orlando, 793, 802–3, 805, 807 Rivera, Oscar García, 578, 586, 602 Rivera, Rafael, 503, 511 Rivera-Soto, Roberto, 541, 542 Rivera, Tomás, 306–7, 317 River North, Chicago, 251 RNHA. See Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) Robbery of Mexican immigrants. See Night of Blood Roberto Clemente Bridge, 689 Roberto Clemente Charter School, 689 Robinson, Doane, 732 Robinson, Jackie, 472, 606 Robledo, Pedro, 553 Rodriguez, Alex, 606 Rodriguez-Arpan, Luz, 725 Rodriguez, Esteban, 627 Rodríguez, Glenn, 341 Rodriguez, Greg Jr., 753 Rodríguez, Havidán, 150 Rodríguez, Pablo, 711 Rodríguez, Richard, 99 Rodriguez, Rich “Rod,” 862 Rodriguez, Robert Anthony, 786 Rodríguez, Paul, Jr., 102 Rodríguez Miró, Esteban, 336–37 Rogers, John, 458 Rojas y Borja, Luis de, 174 Romero, Alfonso, 601 Romero Cash, Marie, 567 Romero, Chan, 477, 485 Romero, Oscar (Archbishop), 253

939

940

Index Romero-Otero, Shirley, 119, 122 Romo, Tony, 878 Ronquillo, Jim, 482, 485 Ronstadt, Federico, 54 Ronstadt, Linda, 57–58 Roosevelt Dam, 40 Roosevelt, Franklin D. (President), 275, 494, 599, 732 Rosales, Manuel, 181 Rosario, Evelio, 647 Rosario, Josefina, 711 Rose water, medicinal use, 544 Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana, 168, 185–86 Roybal, Antonio, 567 Roy Communications, 208 Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel, 56 Ruíz, Alma Puente, 725 Ruiz de Burton, María A, 98 Ruiz, Jose, 378 Ruiz, Louis, 327 Ruiz, Richard, 327 Rum, Caribbean, 190 Rundquist, Maria E., 307–308 “rust belt,” 272 Rutgers University: Hispanic Women’s Leadership Institute, 540; Latino American art, 543 Sabor Tropical, 221, 224 SAC. See Spanish-American Committee (SAC) Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Portland, 370 Salas, Jesus: contribution of, 878; entering private property, demand for, 875; formation of, 868, 874; internal upheaval of, 875; March on Madison, organizing, 868, 874; migrant labor camp, contribution toward, 869; struggles of, 874–75; University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, appointment to, 870, 876–77 Salazar, J.U., 475 Salazar, Manuel, 295

Salazar, Pedro de, 717 Salazar, Rubén, 81, 99 Salinas, José, 280 Salinas, Raúl R., 313 Salle, Sieur de la, 627, 731 Salsa bands, 224, 442; Salsa Hawaii, 221; Son Caribe, 221 Salt Lake Tribune, 794 Salud de la Familia Medical Clinic, Woodburn, 668, 675 Salvadorans, migration to Illinois, 252 Salvadorans: migration to United States, 253; in state of New York, 582–83 Salvador, Natanael, 459 Salvatierra v. Del Rio ISD, 761, 778 Samaniego, Mariano, 39, 54 Samora, Julian, 282 Samudio, Alcario, 873, 875–76, 877 Samuel J. Friedman Farm Labor Agency of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 275 Sanchez, Francisco “Paco,” 121 Sanchez, Jeffrey, 387, 400 Sánchez, Jorge, 738 Sánchez, Martha, 221 Sánchez, Pedro, 564 Sánchez, Robert, 570 Sánchez, Rolando, 221 Sanchez, Salvador, 868 Sánchez, Tomás, 765 Sánchez, Xiomara, 738 Sánchez-Korrol, Virginia, 603 Sanchez-Rubio, Christian, 857 Sanctuary Movement, U.S.-based, 253, 254 San Diego mission, 83 Sandoval, Brian, 512 Sandoval, Isidore, 630 Sandoval, Martha, 9–10, 11 Sandoval, Teresita, 106, 120 San Felipe, 715 San Fernando de Béxar, 764 Sango, defined, 546 Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 554 San Luis de la Culebra, 111

Index San Miguel de Gualdape, 200 San Pedro, Manuel, 511 Santa Catalina, Spanish missionary, 197, 200 Santa Elena, 715 Santaella, Irma Vidal, 578 Santa Fe, 554; establishment of, 549; Franciscan churches and missionaries in, 555; Spanish rule in, 556; as a villa, 557 Santa Fe Art Museum, 561 Santa Fe Trail, 311, 314–15, 463 Santana, Irma G., 725 Santería, 188, 189, 546 santero tradition, 567 Santiago, 16 Santiago, Alex, 220 Santiago, Ángel, 223 Santiago, Carlos E., 876 Sardiñas Montalbo, Eligio, 602 Sawyer, Tom, 327 Scarface, 187 Schachtell, Ana Maria, 236 Schomburg, Arturo Alfonso, 601 Schooling, Latinos in New York, 594–96 School of the Americas (SOA), 203 Schroeder, Timothy C., 635 Searles, Robert, 167, 174 Sebelius, Janet, 313, 323 Sebelius, Kathleen, 313, 324 Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, 262 Segura, Father Juan Bautista, 821, 824 Selig Center for Economic Growth, 209 Semana Hispana, 151 Sensenbrenner, Bill, 658 “Separate but equal,” 352 Serra, Father Junípero, 97 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, 45 Seven Years’ War (Spain, France, and England), 660 Seville, 173 Seymour (Major of Connecticut), 130 S.G. Friedman Labor Agency, Philadelphia, 645

Shade Tobacco Growers Association, 132; and government of Puerto Rico, connection between, 391 Shaw, Caesar, 125 Sherman County, and Polish migrants, 494 “Ship of Dreams,” 222 Silva, Maria, 440 Silva, Rufino, 255 Silva, Tomas, 440 Silvis, Illinois, 244 Sioux Falls: Latino population of, 736–37; religious life in, 739–40 Sires, Albio, 532, 541, 542 Sixth Street Bridge, Pittsburgh. See Roberto Clemente Bridge SLE. See Students for Latino Empowerment (SLE) Sleepy Lagoon case, discrimination against Chicanos, 90 Smith, Desiree, 199, 209, 211 Smithsonian Latino Center, 163 Smith v. Allwright, 761 Snake River desert plateau, Southern Idaho, 229 Snyder, Nellie, 551 SOA. See School of the Americas (SOA) Soares, Anthony, 541 Sobh, Lou, 208, 211 Social identity of Latinos, 218–19 Sociedad Anahuac, 410 Sociedad Benéfica Cubana y Puertorriqueña, 577, 583 Sociedad Deportiva de San Lorenzo (Sand Lorenzo Sports Society), 652 sociedades mutualistas, 760, 776 Sociedad Mexicana de Protección Mutua, Arizona, 38 Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana (Mexican Mutual Aid Society), 642 Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos, 792, 801 Society for the Mutual Protection of United Workers. See Sociedad Protección Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos

941

942

Index Society of American Workers, 38 SOCIO. See Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity, and Opportunity (SOCIO) Sociodemographic characteristics of Washington, 842–43 Socioeconomic characteristics and migration, Latinos of New Hampshire, 522–23 Socioeconomic characteristics of Latinos, Vermont, 814 Sol de Aztlán, 419 Sol Gallery, 711 Solis, Carlos, 379 Solis, Hilda L., 101 Solorzano, Margarita, 73 Sombrero, 617 Somos Amigos Festival, 222 Son Caribe, 221 Sonora, 16 Sonora Exploring and Mining Company, The, 31, 32 Sons of Borinquen, 652 Sosa, Sammy, 261, 262 Soto, Balam, 138 Soto, Gary, 100 Soto, Hernando de, 197, 201, 210, 611, 717, 745; expedition to Nebraska, 492; expedition to Alabama, 1, 3; exploration of North Carolina, 613 Soto, Philip, 98 Soto Vélez, Clemente, 602 South America war of liberation, 584 South Carolina: colonial, 716–18; colonial, Spanish, 716–18; connection resurfaced with Spain, 718; cultural contributions of Latinos, 726–28; geographical structure, 716f; Latin America, relationship with, 718–20; Latin America and, 718–20; Latino migration, response to, 723–24; Latinos in late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, 720–23; relationship with Latino America, 718; de Soto visit, 717; Spanish-American War, results of, 719

South Carolina and Latin America, 718–20 South Dakota: cultural contributions of Latinos, 739–41; geographical structure of, 732f; Latino population of, 736; Louisiana Purchase and, 734; religion, 739; Spanish control on, 732–33; statehood, 732, 735 Southern Connecticut State University, 136 Southern Pacific railroad, 36 Souza, Blase Camacho, 221 Soza, William, 832 Spain: Louisiana colony, control over, 63; ownership of California, 83 Spanish-American Committee (SAC), 648 Spanish-American Fraternal Benevolent Association, 688 Spanish-American War, 198, 613–14, 719; First Connecticut National Guard, role of, 130; state of Illinois, role in, 243; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and, 559 Spanish Benevolent Society. See Sociedad Benéfica Cubana y Puertorriqueña Spanish colonial and Mexican periods, 28–30 Spanish colonial Florida (1513–1763), 172–75 Spanish colonial period in Arizona: de Niza’s exploration to, 25; life of nonNative American inhabitants, 29; Spanish presidios, establishment of, 28 Spanish colonial period in Iowa, 289, 293 Spanish colonization: in Florida, 172–75; in St. Augustine, 184 Spanish explorations to Alaska: Caamaño and Pantoja’s exploration (1792), 14, 17; Fidalgo’s expedition (1790), 13, 17; first (1774), 13, 15–16; fourth (1778), 13, 16; Malaspina and Bustamante’s exploration (1791–1792), 14, 17; Nootka controversy, 13, 16–17; second (1775), 13, 16; third (1779), 13, 16 “Spanish Jew,” 129

Index Spanish-language media, 514–15 Spanish Market, Santa Fe, 561, 567 Spanish names in Alaska, 17–18 Spanish names of Latinos: in Alaska, 17–18; reservations for, 635–36 Spanish presence in Nebraska, 491–93 Spanish Ranch, Nevada, 504 Spanish-Russian encounter (1778), 13, 16 Spanish-Speaking Organization for Community, Integrity, and Opportunity (SOCIO): ceasing operation of, 794; cessation of, 805; charter of, 803; communication with state government, 804; establishment of, 793, 803; IHRD and, 793, 803–4; programs, 804, 805; schooling, contribution toward, 804; Utah’s political and business leadership, association with, 803 “Spanish village,” 229 Special Agricultural Workers (SAW) program, 677 Spellman, Francis, 578, 596 Spiritism, 546 Spot Resolution, 243 Squatter and the Don, The (Ruiz de Burton), 98 St. Anne’s Church, 631 State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, 128 Stations of the Cross for the Basilica of Saint Francis, 567 St. Augustine, 174; Catholic rule in, 176; Spanish colonization in, 184 Stavely, William, 690 St. Christopher Catholic Church, Las Vegas, 514 St. Mary’s City, establishment of, 375 St. Paul, west side of, 431 St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill, 622 Steel industry, 135 Step Down Elder Brother, 617 Stephanopoulos, George, 562 Stonington, 126

Strode, Hudson, 5 Struggle for Justice: The Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement, 869 Students for Latino Empowerment (SLE), 209–10, 211 Suazo, Eliud “Pete,” 807 Sugar Beet Growers Association, Idaho, 232 Sugar beet workers of Billings, 479–83 Sunday Call-Chronicle, 692 Sundlun, Bruce, 704, 710 Supreme Court, Georgia, 199 Su Teatro (El Centro Su Teatro), 122–23 “Su voto es su voz,” 509 Swart, Anthony, 145 Sweatt v. Painter (1950), 781–82 Swift and Company, raid of, 429, 438–39 Tabeau, Pierre-Antoine, 630, 732, 734 Tafoya, Charles, 121 Talip, Alfredo, 255, 256f Taller Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Workshop), 699 Tanateros, 31 Tancredo, Tom, 184 Tango Nashville, 754 Tanner, John, 243 Tapia, Luis, 568 Task Force on Hispanic Education, 235 Tate, Frante, 21 Taylor, Paul, 671 Taylor, Paul S., 691 “Taylor Ranch,” 109 Tejada, Jo Raquel. See Welch, Raquel Tejada, J. Walter, 823, 834 Tejano migrants, 674 Tejanos, 428, 430; Anglo-Americans, problems with, 769–70; anti-Confederacy sentiment of, 772; economic and educational restrictions of, 772–73; economic ties with the United States, 768; employment opportunities for, 773; Great Depression, effects on, 778; Mexican Revolution, impact of, 774–75; Republican Party, supported by, 784;

943

944

Index Tejanos (continued) social interactions with Texans, 770–71; Spanish royalist army and, 767; U.S. Civil Rights Act and, 772 Tejanos and braceros, migration to Mississippi in 1940s–1960s, 450–51 telenovelas, 359 Temporary Protected Statute (TPS), 397 Tenayuca, Emma, 761, 779, 785 Tengo Voz, 370–71 TennCare, 746 Tennessee: cultural contributions of Latinos, 754; economic and political conditions, 751–53; geographical location, 746f; Latino population in, 474–78; Latino migration to rural and urban, 750–51; social relations, 751 Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 746 Tennessee Hispanic Voters Coalition, 747 Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), 747 Tenochtitlan, 572 Teton Valley, Idaho, 231 Texas: arrival of railroads in (See Texas in late nineteenth century); chicano movement and, 780–83; colonial, 763–66; cultural contributions, 786–88; educational reforms in, 781–82, 783; Great Depression, effect of, 777–80; Laredo, foundation of, 759, 765; during late nineteenth century (See Texas in late nineteenth century); late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries period, 783–85; during late twentieth century (See Texas in late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries); law forbidding migration into, 760; location of, 759f; LULAC, establishment of, 761, 778; MALDEF, foundation of, 762, 781; MAYO, foundation of, 762, 783–84; Mexican Revolution and, 773–77; Mexican War of Independence, impacts on (See Mexican War of Independence and

Texan Republic); Mexican War of Independence and, 769–71; minority population in, 762; NAFTA, passage of, 762, 784; outlawing of all-white primaries in, 761; PASSO, formation of, 761; Progressive Era and (See Texas in Progressive Era); ranching expansion of, 759; redistricting plan in, 762; RNHA in, 784; slavery issue in, 771–72; sociedades mutualistas, emergence of, 760, 776; Starr County strike, 761; statehood, achieving, 760, 763, 771; statehood and civil war, 771–73; Tenayuca’s strike against pecan-shelling companies, 761, 779, 785; U.S. Civil Rights Act, effects of, 761; Villa, Francisco, murders by, 776–77; Viva Kennedy Clubs, formation of, 761, 781; Voting Rights Act, 761, 762; white primary act, effects of, 761, 774, 777; World War I & II, impacts of (See Texas during postwar era) Texas A&M. See Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M) Texas Bilingual Education Act, 782 Texas during postwar era: AGIF and (See American GI Forum (AGIF)); Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, formation of, 782; Chicano movement, impacts of, 782–83; Civil Rights Act (1964), impact of, 761, 781–82; civil rights movement in, 781–82; MALDEF, formation of, 762, 781; National Voting Rights Act (1965), impact of, 781; PASSO, formation of, 761, 781, 783; Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, role of, 781; Starr County strike in, 761, 782; Texas Bilingual Education Act, legislation of, 782; TFWU, emergence of, 782; UFW, emergence of, 761, 782; Viva Kennedy Club, formation of, 781 Texas Farm Workers Union (TFWU), 782 Texas in late nineteenth century: arrival of railroad in, 773; Compromise of 1850,

Index 771; Confederacy, joining, 772; education of Tejanos, 761, 772–73; racial tension in, 771; readmission into the Union, 772; relationship with the United States, 771–72; Tejano population in, 773; Tejanos’ employment opportunities, 773; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 771; U.S. Civil Rights Act and, 772 Texas in late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries: educational reforms, 781–82; first Latino in the U.S. Cabinet, 784; Latinas, organizational effort of, 784; Latinos’ political engagement, 783–84; NAFTA, passage of, 762, 784; RNHA, creation of, 784 Texas in Progressive Era: Alianza Hispano-Americana, success of, 761, 776; Cruz Azul Mexicana, formation of, 776; economic expansion in, 773; Immigration Act of 1917, enforcement of, 775; Mexican migration, 775; Mexican War, build up of, 774–75; minimal political representation of Tejanos, 773–74; PLM, formation of, 775; Spanish-language newspapers, emergence of, 775; white primary law of 1923, 774; women’s role in, 776 Texas in twentieth century: economic expansion in, 777; labor unions, role of, 761, 779; LULAC, contribution of, 761, 778–79, 781; Mexican Farm Labor Program in, 761, 780; New Deal, success of, 779; New York stock market crash (1929), 761, 778; NYA, contribution of, 779; population increase of Tejano community, 777; repatriation of Mexicans, 778; U.S. Border Patrol, creation of, 777–78; white primary act, 777 Tex-Mex, 788 Textile industry. See American Thread Company TFWU. See Texas Farm Workers Union (TFWU)

This Week, 562 Thomas, Piri, 586 Thompson, Marie, 458 Thompson, Waddy, 718 Thon, Richard William “Dickie,” 283 Tienda de Abarrotes, grocery store, 439 Tiendas, 498 Tim Tam, victory of, 336 TIRRC. See Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) Tobacco industry, and child labor, 132 Tobacco Transition Payment program, 336, 338 Tobar, Andres, 832 Tobar, Hector, 101 Todd, Charles, 335 Torrado, René, 257 Torre de San Miguel, housing project, 428 Torres, Alva, 56 Torres, Gustavo, 379 Torres, Manuel, 687, 695 Torrez, Mike, 327 Torriente, Cristóbal, 255 tortas, 498 Tortilla Chronicles, 567 TPA. See Temporary Protected Statute (TPS) Trabajo y sueños en todas las generaciones de mestizaje en Wyoming, 885 Trabajo y sueños en todo los genraciónes de mestizaje en Wyoming, 893 Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 14, 15 Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, 669 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 25, 27, 30, 84, 112, 611, 660, 771 Treaty of Madrid, 168, 715 Treaty of Paris (1762), 733 Treaty of Paris (1763), 629 Treaty of San Ildefonso, 627, 629 Trecker, Bernadette, 635 Treviño, Robert P., 73 Triangle Community Foundation, 618 Tribune, 68 Trio Borinque, 223f Trujillo, Doña Luisa de, 563

945

946

Index Trujillo, Rafael, 591–92 Trujillo, Solomon, 892 Tu Casa, 368 Tully and Ochoa, 36 Tulsa County Library system, 666 UAF. See University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) UFW. See United Farm Workers (UFW) Ulewicz, Leona, 635 UMAS. See United Mexican American Students (UMAS) UMC. See United Methodist Church-Culmore (UMC) UMOS. See United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) UMW. See United Mine Workers (UMW) Unaccompanied Cuban Refugee Children’s Program, 477 Unámonos, 746 Unanue, Joseph, 542 Undocumented workers, 508; IRCA (1986) and, 508; of Minnesota, 438–39; Operation South PAW, detainment by, 746 Unemployment problem, 588–89 UNIDOS, 857, 862 Unidos Por Una Labor Activa (CUPULA), 254 United Farm Workers Co-op, 840, 845 United Farm Workers (UFW), 50, 91, 675, 761, 782 United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), 64 United Latinos of the North. See Latinos Unidos del Norte United Methodist Church-Culmore (UMC), 836 United Mexican American Students (UMAS), 839, 845 United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS), 868, 869 United Mine Workers (UMW), 108 United Puerto Rican Association of Hawaii, 215, 221

United States: annexation of Hawaii, 217; Bracero program, 631; credit unions, 616; Cuban protest against, 171; Cuban migration to, 276; immigration enforcement policy (See Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)); immigration laws, 252; immigration policies in the 1920s, 231; imprisonment for Latinos, 134; Korean War, 244; Latino populations, 614; Louisiana Purchase, 629; Mexican-American War, 243; political affiliation of Latinos in, 161; political control of New Mexico, 559; political control over Mexican territories, 228; Puerto Rican migration to, 275; Salvadoran migration to, 253; Spanish-American War, 198, 202, 243, 613–14; 46th Mexican consulate, 429, 435; undocumented workers in, 438; wealthiest Latina in, 208; and World War I, 246; World War II, participation in, 248 United States Employment Service, 232 United States for the First National Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, 118 United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The, 322–23 University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF), 19, 22 University of Connecticut: agricultural experiment stations, 131; Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 135 University of Minnesota: Department of Chicano Studies, 432; Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER), 437 University of Missouri, 464 University of Missouri’s Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA), 466 University of Nebraska, 490 University of New Mexico, 550, 561 Univision, 259, 423 “Un Trip through the Mind Jail,” 313 Urbanization, 37

Index Urquides, Jesús, 229, 235 Urquides, María, 55 U.S. Border Patrol, 508 U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey for 2005, 218; American Community Survey for 2006, 7; economic census report (1997), 524; estimate of Latino population in Oklahoma, 658; Latino population in New Hampshire, 519; Latino populations survey in Illinois, 241; population of New Mexico (2005), 561; 2006 population survey of Idaho, 227 U.S. Congress: District Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 157; Homestead Act, 631; immigration laws, approval of, 273 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 235 U.S. Department of Labor, 136, 249 U.S. government: approval of Cubans as refugees, 276; bracero program and, 430; Cuban population, 534; Cuban Refugee program, 534; federal taxes on tobacco, 130; intervention in Maya communities, 135; welfare programs for Cuban migrants, 178 U.S. president Polk, 559 U.S. Public Health Service study (1955), 233 U.S. Steel Corporation, 274, 275 U.S. Supreme Court: Keyes v. [Denver] School Board Number One, 109, 118 Utah: after 1990s, 805–6; American GI Forum, establishment of, 793; Bingham Canyon strike, 791; Centro Cívico Mexicano, the, establishment of, 792; during Chicano movement (See Utah during Chicano movement); Cinco de Mayo and Diez y Seis de Septiembre, commemorations of, 792; colonial and Mexican eras in, 795–96; Cruz Azul and Union y Patri, establishment of, 791, 798; Diocesan Office of the SpanishSpeaking, 793; diverse Spanish-speaking

community, 794–95; Dominguez and Velez de Escalante’s expedition to, 791; economic divergence, growth of, 805; first Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, establishing, 791, 798–99; IHRD, establishment of, 793; La Morena Café in, 793; Latino inmates, growth of, 806; Latinos in (See Latinos in Utah); Latino-themed issues, debates on, 806; manitos, influx of, 791; Mexican and Mexican laborers, arrival of, 791; Mormon pioneers, arrival of, 791; Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission, establishment of, 792; Rama Mexicana, establishment of, 792, 799; during Reagan era (See Utah in Reagan era); Sociedad Protecion Mutua de Trabajadores Unidos in, 792–93; SOCIO, establishment of, 793, 794; during territorial and early statehood eras (See territorial and early statehood eras in Utah); during World War II (See World War II era in Utah) Utah after 1990s, and discrimination against Latinos, 806 Utah during Chicano movement, 803–4, 805 Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 229, 232 Utah in Reagan era: beef and poultry processing industries, 804–5; Latino population, growth of, 804; Mexican migrants to, 804–5; SOCIO, demise of, 805; SOCIO programs, success of, 805 Utah, territorial and early statehood eras in: capitalist development in, 797–98, 797f; congregations, development of, 801; differences within comunidad, 799; Guadalupe Mission, establishment of, 792, 798; LDS-owned livestock operations, 796; Mormon pioneers and Spanish-speaking people, interactions, 796–97; mutuales, establishment of, 798; Rama Mexicana, establishment of, 792, 799; religious associations, role of, 798–99

947

948

Index VACO-LAO. See Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACO-LAO) Valadez, Lando, 299 Valdez, Bernard, 116, 121 Valdez, Luis, 80, 92, 102 Valdez, Pedro, 220 Valens, Ritchie, 99 Valentino, Rudolf, 410 Valenzuela, Ismael, 336 Valladares Foundation, 210–11 Valle, Miriam Colón, 579 Valley Migrant. See Oregon Rural Opportunities (ORO) Valley Migrant League, 675 Vancouver, George, 217 Vaquero, 894 Vaqueros. See Cowboys Varela, Felix, 690, 695, 696 Varela, Julio, 540 Varela y Morales, Felix, 577, 601 Varennes, Pierre Gaultier de, 627 Vargas and Amigos, Inc., 211 Vargas, Daniel O., 208, 211 Vargas, Don Diego de, 549, 556 Vas, Joseph, 543 Vásquez, Benito, 630 Vásquez, Carmen Soto de, 54 Vásquez de Ayllón, Lucas, 821, 824 Vasquez Olvera, Mary, 306 Vazquéz de Ayllon, Lucás, 197, 200, 210 Vázquez de Coronado, Francisco, 25, 28, 53, 311 Vega, Conrad, 429, 440 Vega, Silvera, 532, 541, 543 Velasco, Carlos, 37, 38, 54 Velasquez, Jaci, 754 Velazco, Anna, 162 Velázquez , Loreta Janeta, 347, 358 Velázquez, Nydia M., 579, 603 Velez, Beatriz, 199, 209, 211 Velez, Hector M., 525, 526 Venegas, Aurora V., 257 Vérendrye, La, 731 Vérendrye, Sieur de La, 627

Vermont: business development of (See Latinos in Vermont); demographic characteristics of, 814; historical overview of, 811–13; Latino culture in (See Latino culture in Vermont); Latinos in (See Latinos in Vermont); location of, 812f; Vermont Dairy Spanish Project, 815–16 Vermont Women, 816 Veteranos, 800 VHCC. See Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (VHCC) Viamontes, Orlando, 343 Vigil, Federico, 568 Villa, defined, 557 Villa, Francisco (Pancho), 776–77 Villa, José, 220–21 Villa-Komaroff, Lydia, 257 Villamarin, Juan A., 149 Villanueva, José A., 651 Villanueva, Tomás, 845, 848–49 Villa Parra, Olga, 282 Villaraigosa, Antonio, 82, 100 Villasur, Pedro de, 489, 492, 628, 733 Villaverde, Cirilo, 577 Vilsack, Tom, 304, 305 Violand-Sanchez, Emma, 823, 832 Virginia: Andean droughts, impacts of, 821–22; anti-immigrant backlash in, 823; Bolívar Network, formation of, 822; Father Segura’s settlement in, 821, 824; HCV, foundation of, 821; Latino culture in, 834–36, 835f; Latino migration during 1980s, 822; Latino migration during 1990s, 822; post-Bretton Woods institutions, Latino recruitments, 821, 824; Salvadoran population in, 822, 825, 826–27; Security One Bank, opening of, 823; VACO-LAO, formation of, 823; Vásquez de Ayllón’s exploration to, 821, 824; VHCC, foundation of, 822–23; VLAC, role of, 823 Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACO-LAO), 823, 831

Index Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (VHCC), 822–23 Virginia Latino Advisory Committee (VLAC), 823, 831 Virola, Tiofilo, 652 Visclosky, Peter, 280 Visión Hispana New Hampshire, 528 VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), 675 Viva Kennedy Club, Texas, 781 Viva Kennedy Clubs, 269, 280 Vivero, Mauricio, 162–63 Vizcaíno, Sebastian, 83 VLAC. See Virginia Latino Advisory Committee (VLAC) Voices Without Borders/Voces Sin Fronteras, 152 Voodoo, 546 Vote Now Hispanic New Hampshire, 528 Vote Now New Hampshire Hispanics, 525 Voter registration, 509–10, 599 Voter Registration Campaign, Project 2000, 509 Voting Rights Act (1965), 599 Voz de la Mujer, 775 Voz Hispana Causa Chavista, 682 WADO, radio station, 578, 591 Wake County, North Carolina, 622 Wallingford, 135 Warner, Mark R., 823 War of 1812, 130 War of Restoration (1861–1865), 584 War of the Quadruple Alliance, 492 Wars of Independence in Mexico, 549 Washington: Adams-Onis Treaty, 839; agricultural development in, 844; Bracero program in, 839, 844; centre of gold purchase, 839, 843; Chateau Sainte Michelle strike in, 840; first non-Native American settlements, 839, 841; first union contract, establishment of, 840; fur trade and mining in, 843–44; Latin American population in,

841–42; Latino culture in, 840; Latino political activism, 845; location of, 840f; march for migrant rights, 840; MEChA in, 840; Mexican migration in nineteenth century, 841; Mexican mule packing system, establishment of, 839; Mexican revolution, impact of, 839, 844; Mozino and Echeverria’s expeditions to, 839; mule packers in Rogue River War, 839, 843; Muralist Art Movement, 839; Perez, Juan, exploration of, 839, 840–41; sociodemographic characteristics of, 842–43; statehood of, 839; in twentyfirst century, 847–48; UMAS, establishment of, 839, 845; United Farm Workers Co-op, establishment of, 840, 845; Walla Walla, 839, 844; wildcat strikes in, 840, 845 Washington, DC: Cultural Center, Latin American and Caribbean, 163; foundation of, 158; Latino population of, 159 Washington Heights, 593 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 157 Watkins, Hollis, 455 Watson, Juana, 283 Wayne State University, 419 “The Way We Go to School: The Exclusion of Children in Boston” report, 397 WCUM, radio station, 139 Welch, Raquel, 256, 262 Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, Chicago, 262 Western Federation of Miners (WFM), 41 Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), 203 Westo tribe, 200–201 West Side Child Parent Bilingual Center, 251, 256 West Side Community Clinic. See La Clinica West Town community and Puerto Rican riots, 250

949

950

Index West Virginia: Anmoore, official incorporation of, 856; anti-immigrant sentiment in, 857, 861; Ateneo, importance of, 859, 862; Clarksburg, importance of, 855, 858–59; contract-worker program in, 856; Eastern Panhandle Hispanic Advocacy Coalition, 857, 862; El Ateneo, establishment of, 856; English-only legislation in, 861; first Latino 4-H club, 857, 863; H-2 visa contract workers, employment of, 856, 860; industry boom in, 855; LASO, establishment of, 857, 863; Latinobased apple harvesters in, 856–57, 860; Latino population, 855, 856, 857–58; Latinos in (See Latinos in West Virginia); location of, 856f; Mexican culture in (See Latino culture in West Virginia); mining industries in, 858–59; Scotts Run, success of, 856; Spanish culture in (See Latino culture in West Virginia); zinc industry boom in, 855 WFM. See Western Federation of Miners (WFM) Wheeler, William, 41 WHINSEC. See Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) White Heroin Winter (Morton), 257 White primary law of 1923, 774 Whitfield County, Georgia, 206 Who Would Have Thought It? (Burton), 687 Wichita, Mexican band, 329f Wilder Research Center, 438 Wilkinson, James, 336–37 Willamette Valley Immigration Project (WVIP), 668, 676 William, Lee G., 631 Williams, Anastasia, 704, 710 Williams, Panamanian Anastasia, 710 Willimantic, Connecticut, 133, 135 Wilson, Woodrow (President), 246

Window to the World Communications Inc., 259 Wine, South American, 190 Winston-Salem, 621 Winters, Aaron, 504 Winters, Rosie, 504, 512 Wisconsin: Federal Emergency Farm Labor Program, 867; location of, 868f; Migrant Relations Committee, 867–68; UMOS, contributions of, 868, 869, 874 Wisconsin, historical route: agricultural boom, impact of, 871–72, 872f; Federal Emergency Farm Labor Program, result of, 867, 872; Great Depression impact, 872; Mexican revolution, impact of, 867, 871; migration in 1960s, 868; postwar scenario, 872–73 Wisconsin Migrant Labor Law, 869, 875 Wisconsin’s migrant workers, 867, 873 Working and Living Conditions of Mushroom Workers, The, 145 Work Projects Administration (WPA), 779 World War I era, and Arizona: agricultural boom, 40; Mexican migration, 39–40; racial and class conflict, 41–42 World War II and postwar eras in Arizona, 43–48; agriculture industry, 44; braceros, contribution to, 44; civil rights movements, 45; economic and demographic boom, 43; high-tech and defense industries, 43–44; Mexican and Mexican Americans, employment of, 44 World War II: Bracero program in Arkansas, 67–68; economic crisis during, 274; effect on Idaho, 232–33; ethnic tension after, 89–91; impact on economy of Colorado, 115–16; Mexican deportation after, 290; Mexican labor, importation of, 88–89 World War II era in Utah: congregations, development of, 801; differences within Spanish-speaking community, 800–801; economic growth in, 799;

Index employment of Latinos, 799–800; food processing and domestic work in, 800; manufacturing or transportation industries in, 800 WPA. Work Projects Administration (WPA) WRCT-FM, 699 WRIB-AM, 703, 711 WUNI, television channel, 401 Wyoming: Chicano Studies program, 885; Comisión Honorífica, establishment of, 885; contemporary era in (See Contemporary era in Wyoming (1970–2007)); delivery over 10,000 head of sheep in 1853, 884; Fort Bridger, establishment of, 884; Franciscan missionaries, 883; fur-trading outposts, establishment of, 883, 886–87; Goodnight-Loving Cattle Trail in, 884; historical overview of (See Wyoming, historical overview); Immigration Rights Teach-In, 885; labor protest, World War II, 885; Latin American Federation, the, establishment of, 885; Latino culture in, 893–94; livestock industry in, 887; location of, 884; Mexican labor in 1910s, recruitment of, 885; mountain man rendezvous in, 883; statehood in United States, 884; Union Pacific Railroad, construction of, 884; Wyoming Territory, organizing of, 884

Wyoming, historical overview, 885; community building between 1900 and 1960 (See Latino community building in Wyoming (1900–1960)); fur trade, 883, 886–87; livestock industry in, 887; Spanish exploration, 883, 886; twentieth-century industrialization, 888 Xenophobia, 231 Yabucoa, town of, 653 Yale University, 131; study programs/courses, 135–36 Ybor City (Tampa), 168, 177, 185 Yellowstone Club, 483 Yepes, Carlos, 369 y no se lo tragó la tierra (Rivera: And the Earth Did Not Devour Them), 317 Yo Misma Fui mi Ruta, 602 Yukon-Kuskokwim region, Alaska, 19 Yzaguiree, Raul, 162 Zacatecan migrants: in Oklahoma, 663 Zacatecas, 551 Zajur, Michel, 822–23 Zamarripa, Sam, 211 Zapata, Antonio, 771 Zepeda, Manix, 634 Zoot Suit, 102 Zouaves First Florida Calvary of Louisiana, 351

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ABOUT THE EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTORS

Linda Allegro is Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Tulsa. Lucía V. Aranda is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Henry Bischoff is Professor Emeritus of History at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Stephanie A. Bohon is a demographer and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She is the author of Latinos in Ethnic Enclaves: Immigrant Workers and the Competition for Jobs (2001). Geraldo L. Cadava is Assistant Professor of History at Northwestern University. Constance Cortez is an Art Historian and Assistant Professor in the School of Art at Texas Tech University. Helen Delpar is Professor Emerita of History at the University of Alabama. She is the author of Looking South: The Evolution of Latin Americanist Scholarship in the United States, 1850–1975 (2007).

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About the Editor and Contributors Sylvia Fuentes is the Director of Research and Program Development at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. She is coeditor of Mapping Strategies: NACCS and the Challenge of Multiple (1999). Tricia Gabany-Guerrero is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at California State University at Fullerton. She directs the Mexican Environmental and Cultural Research Institute, a nonprofit organization. Jerry Garcia is Assistant Professor of History and Chicano/Latino Studies at Michigan State University. Nicki M. Gonzales is Assistant Professor of History at Regis University. Phillip J. Granberry teaches economics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Latino Studies at Dartmouth College. Todd Hartch is Associate Professor of History at Eastern Kentucky University. He is the author of Missionaries of the State: The Summer Institute of Linguistics, State Formation, and Indigenous Mexico, 1935–1985 (2006). Victoria Hirschberg is a graduate student in Community and Regional Planning and Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico. Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof is Assistant Professor of History and American Culture at the University of Michigan. He is author of A Tale of Two Cities: Santo Domingo and New York after 1950 (2008). Jorge Iber is Professor of History and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He is the author/coauthor/coeditor of three works on Latinos in the American West: Hispanics in the Mormon Zion, 1912–1999 (1999); Hispanics in the American West (coauthored with Arnoldo De Leon, 2005); and Mexican Americans and Sport: A Reader on Athletics and Barrio Life (coedited with Samuel O. Regalado, 2006). Edna Jiménez-Lugo is a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies in English at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Errol D. Jones is Professor Emeritus of History and Internship Coordinator at Boise State University.

About the Editor and Contributors Bridget A. Kevane is Chair and Associate Professor Department of Modern Languages & Literatures at Montana State University. David Knowlton is a social anthropologist and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Utah Valley University. Elaine C. Lacy is Professor of Latin American History at University of South Carolina at Aiken. She is coeditor of Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Southeast: Impact and Challenges (2005) and of Latino Immigrants and the Transformation of the U.S. South (2008). Lázaro Lima is Associate Professor of Latino Studies at Bryn Mawr College. He is the author of The Latino Body: Crisis Identities in American Literary and Cultural Memory (2007). Milton R. Machuca is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Pitzer College. Marcela Mendoza is a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. M.L. (Tony) Miranda is a Professor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Lori Morrison Gonzales is a graduate student at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. John A. Morrow is Associate Professor of Languages and Literature at Eastern New Mexico University and the author of Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Rubén Darío (2008) and Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Ernesto Cardenal (2008). Ed A. Muñoz is Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Director of Chicano Studies at the University of Wyoming. Michael E. Neagle is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Connecticut. Damian Nemirovsky is a graduate student in the Department of History at the University of Connecticut. Martin Nesvig is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Miami, Florida, and the editor of Local Religion in Colonial Mexico (2006) and of Religious Culture in Modern Mexico (2007).

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About the Editor and Contributors Mark Overmyer-Velázquez is Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Associate Professor of History at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of Visions of the Emerald City: Modernity, Tradition and the Formation of Porfirian Oaxaca, Mexico (2006) and the editor of History of Latinos in the United States (2007). Yolanda Padilla is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She coedited (with William Orchard) The Plays of Josefina Niggli: Recovered Landmarks of Latino Literature. Segundo S. Pantoja is a sociologist and Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. He is the author of Religion and Education among Latinos in New York City (2005). Enrique S. Pumar is Associate Professor of Sociology and International Development at the Catholic University of America. Elizabeth Rink is Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Human Development at Montana State University in Bozeman. Tom I. Romero II is Associate Professor of Law and History at Hamline University School of Law. Leah Schmalzbauer is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Montana State University. She is the author of Striving and Surviving: A Daily Life Analysis of Honduran Transnational Families (2005). José O. Solá is Assistant Professor of Latin American and Caribbean History at Cleveland State University. Lynn Stephen is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon (2007), Zapotec Women: Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in Globalized Oaxaca (2005), and of Zapata Lives!: Histories and Cultural Politics in Southern Mexico (2002). Steve Striffler is Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food (2005). Elizabeth Turnbull is an independent researcher and writer in Durham, North Carolina.

About the Editor and Contributors María Eugenia Verdaguer is a sociologist and Director of the Bachelor of Individualized Study Program and Mason Project on Immigration at George Mason University. Julie M. Weise is completing her PhD at Yale University. In 2009 she will become Assistant Professor of International Studies at California State University at Long Beach. Her article “Mexican Nationalisms, Southern Racisms: Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S. South, 1908–1939” appeared in American Quarterly in September 2008. Jamie Winders is Assistant Professor of Geography at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Brittney Yancy is a doctoral student of twentieth-century U.S. History at the University of Connecticut.

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