Synopses & Reviews
Named the 2009 AAUP Best of the Best - Outstanding Book Distinction
The history of Mexican Americans spans more than five centuries and varies from region to region across the United States. Yet most of our history books devote at most a chapter to Chicano history, with even less attention to the story of Chicanas.
500 Years of Chicana Womenandrsquo;s History offers a powerful antidote to this omission with a vivid, pictorial account of struggle and survival, resilience and achievement, discrimination and identity. The bilingual text, along with hundreds of photos and other images, ranges from female-centered stories of pre-Columbian Mexico to profiles of contemporary social justice activists, labor leaders, youth organizers, artists, and environmentalists, among others.and#160; With a distinguished, seventeen-member advisory board, the book presents a remarkable combination of scholarship and youthful appeal.
In the section on jobs held by Mexicanas under U.S. rule in the 1800s, for example, readers learn about flamboyant Doandntilde;a Tules, who owned a popular gambling saloon in Santa Fe, and Eulalia Arrilla de Pandeacute;rez, a respected curandera (healer) in the San Diego area. Also covered are the andldquo;repatriationandrdquo; campaignsandrdquo; of the Midwest during the Depression that deported both adults and children, 75 percent of whom were U.S.andndash;born and knew nothing of Mexico. Other stories include those of the garment, laundry, and cannery worker strikes, told from the perspective of Chicanas on the ground.
From the women who fought and died in the Mexican Revolution to those marching with their young children today for immigrant rights, every story draws inspiration. Like the editorandrsquo;s previous book, 500 Years of Chicano History (still in print after 30 years), this thoroughly enriching view of Chicana womenandrsquo;s history promises to become a classic.
Review
andquot;A much-needed work: this bilingual history describing feminism's role in Chicana women's lives, from pre-columbian Mexico to now.andquot;
Review
"This history passionately shows that through unity and perseverance womencan make the world a better place for Chicanas/os and, indeed, for peoplefrom a diversity of backgrounds."
Review
"This collection makes a valuable addition to the published narratives of western women."and#8212;Dee Garceau, Great Plains Quarterly
Review
"[The First We Can Remember is] a vibrant picture of women's experiences in the pioneering of the American West."and#8212;Bob Edmonds, McCormick Messenger
Review
"A welcome addition to the bookshelf of pioneer studies, this work provides a critical primary source for undergraduates in the fields of history, cultural studies and womens' studies and highlights the need for additional work on the history and influence of CWA cultural workers."and#8212;Laura Woodworth-Ney, South Dakota State Historical Society
Synopsis
Named the 2009 AAUP Best of the Best - Outstanding Book Distinction
The history of Mexican Americans spans more than five centuries and varies from region to region across the United States. Yet most of our history books devote at most a chapter to Chicano history, with even less attention to the story of Chicanas. 500 Years of Chicana Womenandrsquo;s History offers a powerful antidote to this omission with a vivid, pictorial account of struggle and survival, resilience and achievement, discrimination and identity. The bilingual text, along with hundreds of photos and other images, ranges from female-centered stories of pre-Columbian Mexico to profiles of contemporary social justice activists, labor leaders, youth organizers, artists, and environmentalists, among others.and#160; With a distinguished, seventeen-member advisory board, the book presents a remarkable combination of scholarship and youthful appeal.
Synopsis
Looking over the great prairie in the early 1880s, Nellie Buchanan said, and#8220;I knew I would never be contented until I had a home of our own in the wonderful West.and#8221; Some were not so sanguine. Mary Cox described the prairie as and#8220;the most barren, forsaken country that we had ever seen.and#8221; Like the others whose stories appear in this book, these women were describing their own thoughts and experiences traveling to and settling in what became Colorado. Sixty-seven of their original, first-person narratives, recounted to Civil Works Administration workers in 1933 and 1934, are gathered for the first time in this book.
The First We Can Remember presents richly detailed, vivid, and widely varied accounts by women pioneers during the late nineteenth century. Narratives of white American-born, European, and Native American women contending with very different circumstances and geographical challenges tell what it was like to settle during the rise of the smelting and mining industries or the gold rush era; to farm or ranch for the first time; to struggle with unfamiliar neighbors, food and water shortages, crop failure, or simply the intransigent land and unpredictable weather. Together, these narrativesand#8212;historically and geographically framed by Lee Schweningerand#8217;s detailed introductionand#8212;create a vibrant picture of womenand#8217;s experiences in the pioneering of the American West.
About the Author
Elizabeth andquot;Betitaandquot; Martandiacute;nez is a widely known Chicana writer, activist, and lecturer. Now director of the Institute for Multiracial Justice in San Franciso, she has published six books, most recently
De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century.
and#160;
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Story of La Chicana Begins
A New Invader Comes
Chicanas at Work Under U.S. Rule
La Revoluciandoacute;n Mexicana
Let's Go To the U.S.
The Great Depression, Repatriation, Strike!
World War II
The Movement is Born
Life of a Farmworker Woman
Our Own Party
No a la Guerra en Vietnam
Work = Struggle
VIVA LA MUJER!
Mujeres who love women
Walking the Red Road
Culture contains the seed...
Today's Writers
Manduacute;sica, Teatro, Film,
The Counter-Insurgency
The Land That Came Back to Life
The Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice
New Worker Struggles
Immigrant Rights
Alliance Building Across Color Lines
Chicanas in Public Office
Youth Are Rising
Not to Be Forgotten
Further Reading
Photo and Illustration Credits
About the Author