JULY  2003   Editor: Mimi Lozano © 2000-3
mimilozano@aol.com

          Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
          Publication of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research 
http://members.aol.com/shhar  714-894-8161

 

Content Areas

United States
. . . 2
Galvez
. . . . 23
Surname Olmos
. . 27
Orange Co.,CA 
. . 29
Los Angeles, CA
. 31
California
. . . 34
Northwestern US
 
. 39
Southwestern US
. 41
Black 
. . . 44
Indigenous 
. . . 65
Sephardic
. . . 53
Texas
. . . 58
East  Mississippi
. 68
East Coast
 
. . . 73
Mexico
. . . 75
Caribbean/Cuba
 
. 80
International
 
. . . 85
History 
. . . 92
Archaeology 
. . . 97
Miscellaneous 
. . 98
END
. . . 103

2003 Index
Calendars
Networking 
Meetings 

Aug. 25, 1940, wedding of Juventino Muela and Margarita Alba, El Paso, TX 


Casasola Portraits Reveals Unique Family Story 
El Paso Times Living, January 11, 2003

For 60 years Casasola Studio in El Paso, Texas  photographed families in the community, compiling, essentially, a history of the community. The studio closed in the early 1990s leaving a collection of negatives under the care of  the University of Texas at El Paso. The collection is estimated at 30,000.  UTEP is archiving and slowly identifying the photos with the help of the community and El Paso Times' weekly publishing of a photo.    

Susan Novick at the Paso al Norte Immigration Museum is over-seeing much of the activities of collecting family stories connected to the photos. Paso al Norte is now distributing a newsletter, Cross Roads, which will include El Paso families.  For information, PasoAlNorte@utep.edu.  
"As my grandmother used to say . . . .  all of you who think you are of pure Spanish blood, don't shake your family tree too hard because a Moor, a Jew, and an Indian will drop."     Ernesto Uribe...
Somos Primos Staff: 
Mimi Lozano, Editor
John P. Schmal, 
Johanna de Soto, 
Howard Shorr
Armando Montes
Michael Stevens Perez
Rina Dichoso-Dungao, Ph.D.

Contributors: 

Karen Ackerman  
Joyce Basch
Pat Batista
Carmen Boone de Aguilar
Roberto Calderon
Roland Cantu
Bill Carmena
Julia Christy
Rina D. Dungao, Ph.D.
Augusta Elmwood
George Farias
Jack A. Fishman
Charles Fourquet
A. Garza
George Gause
Zeke Hernandez
Granville Hough, Ph.D.
John Inclan
David Lewis
Cindy LoBuglio
Monica Lopez
Ruben Martinez
Bobby McDonald
Al Milo
Anne Mocniak
Armando Montes
Paul Newfield
Michael Perez
Roberto Perez Guadarrama
Rob Rios
Perla A. Rodriguez
Jesse Rodriguez
Armando G. Roman
Bernardo Rondeau
Jo Russell
John P. Schmal
Isabel Schon, Ph.D.
Tania Scott
Albert Seguin
Howard Shorr
Harvey Smith
Joan de Soto
Robert H. Thonhoff
Ernesto Uribe
Elsa Valdez
Alfonso Vasquez Sotelo
Carlos Villanueva
J.D. Villarreal
Barbara Voss, Ph.D.
SHHAR Board:  Laura Arechabala Shane, Bea Armenta Dever, Diane Burton Godinez, Steven Hernandez,  Mimi Lozano Holtzman, Henry Marquez, Carlos Olvera, Crispin Rendon, Viola Rodriguez Sadler, John P. Schmal

UNITED STATES

An Ode to America
Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez
A General and a Gentleman  
Immigrants on Active Military Duty
Biggest News: Hispanics Largest Minority
Jose Angel Fourquet, Inter-America Bank
Pew Institute Study
Three Faces, Three Ancestral Backgrounds
Americans Embracing Spanish Multilingualism 
Broadcast network don't reflect nation's diversity
HISPANIC NEWS  Inaugural Publication
First Hispanic Private Equity Fund
The Leap: Corporate Worker to Entrepreneur

Partnership for Prosperity between Mexico & US 
LAZOS Bilingual E-newsletter
VISIBLE  Magazine
100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood 
Happy To Mix It All Up
Call for Multi-racial writers
Pedro Infante "El Idolo"
National Hispanic Coalition
A Call for Heritage Papers
A Last Hope for W.W. II Reparations 
Retailers Lure Hispanic Buyers
Latino Opinions - New Markets, New Immigrants 
Kansas City High School Phenomenon
NCLA  President Raul Yzaguirre Honored
Inter American Development/Floricanto Press
LULAC: Latino Economic and Political Growth

~An Ode to America~
From a Romanian newspaper Editorial - Another Perspective

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA. This excerpt is from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii meaning "Ode To America") on September 24, 2002 in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei ("The Daily Event" or "News of the Day"). 
Sent by Joyce Basch joycebasch@juno.com and Anne Mocniak. Annemocn@aol.com
Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing.

On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!" I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace.

I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion...Only freedom can work such miracles.
 

 

  Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez:  Latino general takes command of ground forces  
By Joseph L. Galloway
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE, June 17, 2003
Sent by Elsa Valdez Elsa.Valdez@med.va.gov

WASHINGTON – A soft-spoken 52-year-old Texan pinned on his third general's star over the weekend and took command of the U.S. Army's 5th Corps and all coalition ground forces in Iraq. It's the second tour in Iraq for Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez of Rio Grande City, Texas, who thrives on tough jobs. In his first tour, as an armor battalion commander, Sanchez fought his way almost to the gates of Basra in 1991 in Operation Desert Storm.
        Now it falls to Sanchez and the nearly 200,000 U.S. and British troops in Iraq to try to make peace and keep it among a fractious and feuding 24 million people in a country the size of California. His rise to high command is an American success story. He grew up poor in a poor Hispanic town in deep South Texas, son of a single mother who struggled to obtain education for her six children and herself.
        Sanchez can remember how excited he and his brothers and sisters were on the two Thursdays each month when his mother would go to the relief center and draw their food rations. "That meant we would have some meat, cheese and butter in the house for at least a couple of days," he said recently.
        Maria Elena Sauceda Sanchez and her family first lived in a one-room house on a dirt road on the outskirts of town. No indoor plumbing. Then they built a small two-bedroom bungalow on the same land. Again, no indoor plumbing. It wasn't until he went away to college that Sanchez had access to running water and an indoor toilet.
        Sanchez began working after school – sweeping up and cleaning his uncle Raul Sanchez's dry-cleaning and tailor shop and making deliveries – in the first grade. By the fourth grade he had a second after-school job, sweeping and cleaning at a pharmacy, helping keep the family afloat.
When he was in the sixth grade, his math teacher called him a dummy. He struggled to prove her wrong, and became a whiz at math. He graduated eighth in his high school class of 300, and was voted most likely to succeed.
        Sanchez's mother, who had only a fourth-grade education, earned her high school-equivalency certificate at night. "She never allowed herself to be defeated, in any environment. (She) taught me perseverance, dedication, focus and of course the will to succeed."
All her children graduated from college and today all are professionals: a teacher, a high school principal, a pharmacist, a power plant technician and the director of emergency room-technician training at a technical institute.
        A professor of military science helped Sanchez, a high school ROTC standout, win a four-year Army/Air Force college scholarship at Texas A&I College in Kingsville, where he earned his bachelor of science degree in mathematics.
Sanchez was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army in 1973. When someone told him he should avoid the 82nd Airborne Division "because ROTC lieutenants didn't stand a chance there, much less a Mexican," he promptly volunteered for the 82nd and served there for the next five years.
        His highest ambition then was to be an armor battalion commander, something he achieved in the first Persian Gulf War. Sanchez led three of his companies in a raid on Tillil Airfield in southern Iraq, destroying at least 10 MiG fighter planes on the ground, and earning a Bronze Star with a V for valor.
        Sanchez's commanding general, then-Maj. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, recalled that while deployed in Saudi Arabia, on the eve of war, he learned that one of Sanchez's parents was gravely ill, and called him in and told him to go home and deal with it, that he could get back before the war began. "His eyes clouded up with tears. He told me no, I'm not going home until I can take all these soldiers with me, safe, at the end of the war."
        Sanchez is one of nine Hispanic generals in U.S. Army history. Six of them hail from South Texas. Asked why this is so, Sanchez said: "It is love of country, a hardworking ethic and a value system that is totally compatible with military life. The Hispanic family is all about loyalty, taking care of each other, perseverance, courage and a willingness to sacrifice. Hard work in the Army is easy compared to being out in the fields picking cotton."

A General and a Gentleman - - Mother of new U.S. chief in Iraq looks back 

By Travis M. Whitehead, The Monitor, June 8, 2003
Sent by Juan de Dios Villarreal  juandv@granderiver.net


RIO GRANDE CITY — Maria Elena Sanchez looked proudly at the handsome military officer in the picture who is now the top U.S. commander in Iraq. his is my son when he got his first star when he was in Panama,” said Sanchez, gazing at a picture of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, 52.
        Gen. Sanchez is now in ancient Mesopotamia, an area rich in history. But he also has his own storied past, rich in details of hard work, family teamwork and a colorful cultural heritage. Sanchez was born and raised in Rio Grande City by a devoted mother who proudly claims her father was part Peruvian Inca Indian and part Aztec from Mexico. Her mother’s parents were from Spain During the Depression, she said, she and her parents and siblings moved often along the Texas Gulf Coast looking for work.
       “We were very poor,” she said. The 76-year-old mother of six — four sons and two daughters — never made it past the fourth grade. “My father didn’t let me go to school,” she said. “He said that women don’t need to work. They get married and the husband has to pay for everything.”
This was not the same message she gave to her own children. I always tell them, ‘you have to finish high school and go to college,’ ” she said. “And then when they grew up they all went to college.” 
        In her roomy West Roosevelt Street home, pictures of Indians, birds in flight and dreamy oceans cover the walls. Feathered dreamcatchers adorn the hallway, a shelf filled with books sits next to a white piano. She looked over a desk covered with pictures and newspaper clippings high- lighting their accomplishments. Her daughter, Maggie, is a principal at Lopez High School in Brownsville; daughter Diane is a pharmacist. Her son Robert is a registered nurse and an instructor at Texas State Technical  College; Leonel is an elementary school coach; and David works for an electrical company in Dallas.
        “I am proud of all of my children,” she said. What’s her winning formula?” “I was very strict with them,” she said. “They have their time to be here at home at night, by 9. I didn’t like them out in town with nothing to do.”  Each of her children was different and had their own interests in life.
Maggie used to round up the local children and pretend she was a teacher; David was always trying to fix things. Diana liked to play she was making medicines for patients.
        “Ricardo was very quiet,” she said. “When he was small, he would play with little toy soldiers I would buy at the 5 and 10 cent store. He always wanted me to buy them, and he would play all day when he was not in school. “He liked to study with the radio on. When he went to high school, he enjoyed ROTC.”
        The children grew up without their father, and their mother had to work at various jobs — at a flower shop, a dentist’s office, at a hospital as a nurse’s aid — to support them. When she had the opportunity to learn English, she did so, walking about a mile in the evening to Fort Ringgold with all six of her children with her. “They were small,” she said. “I never left them by themselves.”
        Because of their struggles, all six learned early the importance of teamwork and loyalty. And they never gave their mother any problems. “I taught them to respect me,” she said. “That’s what I always liked, they respected me.” Grade school pictures of Ricardo Sanchez reveal an energetic, yet pensive young boy with a warm smile and friendly dark eyes. Moving ahead a few years to high school, his ROTC photos show the same warm smile, complemented with a strong chin and a determined expression. In another picture, Ricardo Sanchez stands in a T-shirt in front of his brick home with an arm around his younger brother’s neck.
        Local residents are proud this native son. “He’s a wonderful young man,” said Dolly Olsen of Rio Grande City. “He used to work for the Piggly Wiggly. This kid’s family was poorer than church mice ” Such a dramatic rise to success is an inspiration to everyone in the area, Rio Grande City Mayor Baldemar Garza.
        “I think he is an example of what our community has produced and continues to produce from our people,” Garza said. “He’s very intelligent. He’s gone through our school district’s ROTC program which we still have. “We have a lot of veterans in our community. He’s very special to our vets. They see how important his position is for all of us.” 
        The children are grateful to the mother, who empowered them to go so far. In 1988, when Ricardo Sanchez was stationed in Europe, the young officer and gentleman took his mother on a trip with his wife and children all over Germany and Austria. “I loved it,” she said excitedly, bringing out armfuls of photo albums, picture postcard books, and guidebooks of all the places they visited. “I want to live there!” she said emphatically.
        The pictures reveal a smiling Maria Elena Sanchez walking with thern daughter-in-law down a road in the German woods, inhaling the cool European mountain air. There are postcards of Neuschwanstein Castle and quaint German towns with colorful frescoes on the sides of buildings, and books about Salzburg, Austria, Loderhein Castle, and Heidelberg. Other pictures reveal a
more sobering visit to the former Dachau concentration camp. 
        She spoke to her son recently when he called her from Europe. “He told me he was not going to call until they install phones (in Iraq),” she said. “He’s really proud of himself. Really happy.  “He’s been appointed to get his third star.” 


More than 60,000 immigrants are currently on active duty, with a little more than half of them not yet citizens.  Over 20% of all Medal of Honor recipients (716 of 3,406 total) were immigrants, and immigrants were (and continue to be) among the casualties and prisoners in the most recent war in Iraq.  For more information on immigrants in the military, see:

American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) web site on immigrants in the military: http://www.ailf.org/ipc/immigrants_in_the_military.asp 

Pew Hispanic Center fact sheet on Hispanics in the armed forces: http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/Hispanics%20in%20the%
20military%20Fact%20Sheet%20.pdf

Source: http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/060903immi.htm

Biggest News: Hispanics Are Now the Nation's Largest Minority
http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/multimedia/LULACKincannon.html

[[Editor's note: The Census Bureau announced on  June 18th, 2003, that Hispanics are now the nation's largest minority group. The nation's Hispanic population numbered 38.8 million in July 2002.  The nation's African American population, which has been the nation's largest minority since the country was founded, numbered 38.3 million. The arrival of this landmark happened much more quickly than had been forecast. These are some highlight gleaned from many articles.]]

Census Highlights: 
  • Three in five Hispanics are born in the United States. 
  • It is a young population: A third of Latinos are under 18. 
  • Hispanics are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have a high school education.
  • More than 21 percent of Hispanics were living in poverty, compared with about 8 percent of white non-Hispanic households and 19 percent of other non-Hispanic households.
  • Hispanic population in the United States grew almost four times faster than the rest of the country, accounting for one-half of the population increase in the nation between April 1, 2000 and July 1, 2002, the government said.

Sent by George Gause ggause@panam.edu  and Cindy LoBuglio 

The youngest U.S. Executive Director to the Inter-American Development Bank in U.S. history is Jose Angel Fourquet.
On December 14, 2001 he was sworn in by the Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill.  . A native of Puerto Rico, Mr. Fourquet also serves as U.S. Executive Director of the Inter-American Investment Corporation and represents the U.S. on the Donors Committee of the Multilateral Investment Fund.

Mr. Fourquet worked for six years as an Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In that capacity, Mr. Fourquet was posted abroad in Latin America and the Caribbean where he collected, evaluated and reported high-priority intelligence of interest to U.S. policy makers. For more information, go to:
http://www.fourquet.com/josebio.html


Sent by Charles Fourquet, whose father is Director Fourquet's cousin.  Charles is Vice President of The Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York,  http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com
Nuestra Herencia received recognition in the 2003 National Genealogical Society Newsletter Competition.  Kudos!!


Jose Angel Fourquet
Executive Director
Inter-American Development Bank

 


Pew Institute Study

http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/high%20school%20dropout%20report--final.pdf
 
Recent immigrants Latino kids have drop out rate of 34% - US born Latino kids 14% 
Hispanics in their late teens born outside the United States are more than twice as likely to drop out of high school as U.S.-born Latinos, according to an analysis of census data released Thursday. 
However . . .Among native-born Hispanic dropouts, 96 percent speak only English or are proficient in Spanish and English, while about half were employed. Fry suggested that programs that reach students of all backgrounds -- such as counseling about teen pregnancy and study skills -- could help reverse the dropout trend. 


Three Faces, Three Ancestral Backgrounds: 
Extract: Getting DNA to bear Witness by Dana Hawkins Simons
U.S. News & World Report, June 23, 2003

Roots: Behind the controversy are recent studies showing it's possible to identify people's likely ancestral roots by looking for tiny variants in the sequence of DNA "letters" found most often in specific groups. "Races do exist, and they have some biological meaning," says Mark Batzer, a human geneticist at Louisiana State University and an author of one such study. DNAPrint, which offers its service to both police and genealogy buffs, extracts and analyzes DNA from tissue left at a crime scenes or cells swabbed from inside the cheek.  It estimates a person's biogeographical ancestry admixture" - an ethnic recipe giving the person's fraction of African, East Asian, Indo-European, and American Indian ancestry. 
        The very idea of measuring race makes many people uncomfortable. DNAPrint, however, argues that the biogeographical ancestry its test measures is different from "race" and that the results confirm how little racial categories actually mean.  "By showing the continuum of genetic variation among people, our test dispels race as a scientific way of categorizing people, " says Mark Shriver, an expert on human population genetics as Pennsylvania State University and the developer of the DNAPrint test.

Extract: Americans Are Embracing Spanish Multilingualism 
International Herald Tribune, June 24, 2003 
http://www.hispaniconline.com/pop/free-sub.html

The increase in the number of Spanish speakers is also encouraging officials who deal with the public to learn the language. In Phoenix, Arizona, firefighters who learn Spanish qualify for a monthly bonus of $100. In Las Vegas a similar bonus is being finalized for county employees. Bilingual police officers in El Mirage, Arizona, receive an extra $100 a month, and those in Glendale, Arizona, get $75 Researchers at the University of Miami found that families in which only Spanish was spoken had an average income of $ 18,000; those with only English, $32,000. Those with both Spanish and English averaged $50, 376. Spanish also means big business
        By 2007, Hispanic buying power will reach $926 billion a year, according to researchers at the University of Georgia. Between 1990 and 2007, the buying power of Hispanics is expected to increase by 315 percent, compared to 111 percent for non-Hispanics. 

Extract: Broadcast network shows don't reflect nation's diversity
by Lynn Elber, Associated Press, 6-25-03

According to a UCLA study, although Hispanics make up 13.5 % of the population, but they only receive 3% total screen time on the six major networks. 

Spanish-language television doesn't make up for Hispanics' exclusion from the dominant networks, said Alex Nogales, head of the National Hispanic Media Coalition in Los Angeles. "America doesn't know  who its neighbors are.  We live among everybody else," he said.

HISPANIC NEWS 
Inaugural Publication:
April 20, 2003
Variety of articles, social and business issues  http://www.hispanic.bz/    http://www.Latinos.cc
 Published by Jon Garrido  jongarrido@qwest.net
The article below is from Hispanic News


First Hispanic Private Equity Fund Opens For Business

  Fund Seeks to Invest $70 Million in Established Companies
http://www.hispanic.bz/first_hispanic_private_equity_fund_opens_for_business.htm 
6-10-03


CHICAGO, May 15, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - The first nationwide Hispanic venture-capital fund has opened its doors for business, evolving from a 2000 alliance of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Bank One Corporation.  Hispania Capital Partners is actively seeking to invest more than $70 million in well-established, mid-size companies.

        Bank One stepped up with the first investment commitment -- up to $5 million -- and provided initial financing in the early stages of the fund's formation. Bank One also assisted in recruiting additional investors.

        "The support, expertise and recruitment of other investors by Bank One and the Hispanic Chamber has been essential in bringing this fund to reality," said Victor Maruri, fund manager, who has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking and capital markets.

        Hispania Capital Partners ( http://www.hispaniapartners.com ) plans to help a number of companies accelerate their growth through equity investments over the next few years with the participation of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The fund typically will invest $4 million to $8 million in businesses owned or managed by Hispanics and those serving the fast-growing Hispanic community.

         This is the first national fund focused solely on Hispanic businesses and is licensed by the SBA as a Small Business Investment Company.  That allows the SBA to guarantee financing of up to twice the amount of private capital raised by Hispania Capital.

        With initial private capital of $21 million and up to $42 million in SBA leverage, Hispania Capital starts off with a war chest to arm Hispanic companies to battle for the business of 35 million Hispanic Americans, who spend $450 billion each year. The country's Hispanic businesses employ more than 1.3 million workers and generate revenue of more than $180 billion.

        Over the next five years, the Hispanic population is projected to grow five times faster than the overall U.S. population.  Bank One has focused on Hispanic initiatives, such as the fund, because of the substantial Hispanic population in seven key markets Bank One serves: Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver and Tucson.

        "We know the importance of supporting our communities, whether it's through bilingual employees, banking services, business loans or investments," said Pete Gillespie, senior vice president in Bank One's Middle Market Banking and a member of the fund's advisory board.  "We know the fund will provide inspiration for the thousands of Hispanic small businesses served by banks like Bank One across the country."

         Hispania Capital is looking to work with established middle-market manufacturing, service and technology companies with annual sales of $10 million to $200 million.

        "We see tremendous opportunities to provide growth equity to Hispanic businesses, which historically have struggled to get enough capital," said Carlos Signoret, co-manager of the fund. "This fund will help larger companies achieve the kind of rapid growth that would be otherwise impossible."

        Verizon Communications is presently the fund's largest investor.  The investment banking firm of Duff & Phelps LLC will provide support and technical assistance through its joint venture agreement with Hispania Capital Partners.

 

The fund's investment decisions will be based on four primary criteria:

(1) Management: Business leaders and managers with extensive industry and operational experience are the top priority.

(2) Market: The market must have good long-term growth prospects and have large enough potential revenue.
(3) Product: The product or service must have a sustainable competitive advantage.

(4) Realization of gains: Managers must recognize that the fund's eventual exit strategy may include strategic sales, a merger or a public offering.

 

Hispania Partners usually will seek a return on its investment three to five years after its initial investment.  Information about the fund is available through Hispania Capital Partners LLC, 311 S. Wacker, Chicago, IL 60606 or by calling (312) 697-4600 or online at http://www.hispaniapartners.com.

 

 

This guidebook for new entrepreneurs and first time business owners reflects acknowledged social changes, needed and due.
It was sent by co-author, Armando G. Roman, whose Phoenix, Arizona practice focuses on small businesses and the issues that small business owners face on a day-to-day basis.
The issues revolve around accounting, banking, management, insurance, human resources, financing, retirement planning, tax minimization strategies, and many, many more issues. "Make the Leap: Shift from Corporate Worker to Entrepreneur" is available in all major book stores.
For more information: 602-468-2400  a.roman@romancpa.com  http://www.ROMANCPA.COM

The Partnership for Prosperity activates economic initiatives between Mexico and United States

June 10, 2003, San Francisco. In the framework of a Partnership for Prosperity Business Workshop, Mexican and United States government officials, businessmen, and academics signed various economic and cooperation initiatives that will boost Mexico's economic and scientific
development.  More than 850 businessmen, academics, and officials of both governments met in the San Francis Hotel in San Francisco to discuss business opportunities and projects that will support Mexico's economic expansion.  The Partnership's achievements at the Workshop include:

-· The signing of an agreement, to become effective when ratified by the Mexican Senate, that will allow the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation to offer a broad range of financial and risk insurance services to United States enterprises doing business in Mexico.

-· The United States Small Business Administration, NAFIN (Mexico's development bank) and the Department of the Economy signed an agreement to work together to develop more solid commercial ties that will boost trade and joint investments among Mexican and United States small and medium-sized enterprises.

-· Mexico's central bank and the United States Federal Reserve announced the creation of an automated clearing house for financial transactions between the two countries. The International Electronic Funds Transfer System will speed transfers between the two countries and is expected to cut the costs of financial transactions to less than one dollar.

-· The U.S. Bank and the National Savings and Financial Services Bank (Banco de Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros - BANSEFI) announced a new low-cost service for the transfer of funds from the United States to Mexico's rural communities. This service is offered through the banking alliance known as L@ Red de la Gente (the people's network).

-· The United States Trade and Development Agency announced plans to support feasibility and assistance studies for infrastructure projects in Mexico, including the expansion of Ciudad Obregon airport, the architecture of intelligent transportation systems, and support for Mexico's Federal Competition Commission.

-· It was agreed to explore a program of United States volunteers, mainly aimed at the high-technology sector, to work with the National Science and Technology Council (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología - CONACYT) in the development of Mexico's small and
medium-sized enterprises, as well as in the fields of science and technology, and science and development.

-· CONACYT signed agreements with the universities of Arizona, California, Georgetown, Iowa, and Texas to give Mexican students scholarship opportunities, to promote instructor and researcher
exchange programs, and to cooperate with joint promotion and research programs.

-· The United States and Mexico announced the launch of a prize for corporate social responsibility, the "Good Partner Award", to recognize the private sector's contribution to Mexico's economic and
social development.

-· The University of Georgetown and the United States Agency for International Development announced plans to provide training and support for most disadvantaged sectors of society, and to train cadres of business leaders in the agricultural and export sectors.

-· USAID announced plans to work together in the promotion of the use of lead-free materials in the creation of Mexican ceramic handicrafts.

-· USAID, together with the Mexican government, announced plans to create new alliances and partnerships among Mexican and United States universities, under the aegis of an initiative that includes the headings of training, scholarships, and social services. Medium-term supports were also announced between the public and private sector to encourage the growth of higher education in Mexico.

-· The International Fogarty Center, an agency of the United States National Institute of Health, and CONACYT announced plans to strengthen cooperation and research in biomedical sciences such as infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, mother and child health, and other vital medical areas.

-· The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness and the United States Council for Competitiveness set a working agenda to improve the region's competitiveness and promote economic development.

-· In the framework of the meeting the subject of corporate social responsibility was discussed. A project was announced by AOL Time Warner and the International Center for Missing Children for the creation of a similar center in Mexico that will support families and work with government, legal authorities, and corporate and community partners to provide technical training and establish a 24-hour call center and distribute photographs and information that will help to find missing children, to help to prevent children from being stolen at the border, and to prevent child exploitation.

-· Pharmaceutical company Merck, Inc. presented an initiative to identify and train Mexican scientists and contribute to a program of innovation through dialogue among Mexican and United States leaders. The Merck project will be carried out in cooperation with the National Institute of Genomic Medicine, the Foundation of the Americas, and the Council for Competitiveness.

Carlos Villanueva  carlosvillanueva@cvinternacional.com
CEO. C&V International PR, Marketing, Promotion & Business Development
http://www.cvinternacional.com
http://www.mexicanosenelexterior.com/carlos.htm

LAZOS Bilingual E-newsletter
  lazos@sre.gob.mx  
Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior  Número 17, Mexico D. F. 24 de junio de 2003

Lazos es un servicio informativo del IME, se distribuye todos los días y contiene información sobre notas periodísticas publicadas en México y EE.UU., sobre la población de origen mexicano y latino en EE.UU.   Para activar o cancelar una suscripción escribir a:  lazos@sre.gob.mx  

This issue had links to articles from the following publications: 
Dallas News
El Universal
Jornada
My San Antonio
La Opinion
Las Estrellas
Reforma
Washington Post

 VISIBLE  Magazine
,
Houston, (EFE).- , A new bilingual publication showcasing Ibero-American art, hit the newsstands June 10th with plans for distribution across the United States and Mexico.

Founded by Monika Hallqvist, a Mexican designer, and Rose Mary Salum, a Mexican writer, Visible has just published its second issue, something the magazine co-editors cite as proof that the project has passed the litmus test.  The magazine has just been accepted by the Ingram Book Group, the largest wholesale distributor of books and magazines in the United States, to be sold across the country in such bookstores as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
        The bilingual publication will also be available in art shops in Mexico and can be purchased through the National Culture and Arts Council (Conaculta). "We've been working on the idea of a magazine for over two years," Hallqvist told EFE. "What began as an idea to create a literary magazine ended up being what it is today: an art publication that covers all artistic expressions," the Mexican designer added.
        Visible Magazine includes editorials on topics such as painting, photography, sculpture, cinematography, architecture, history, literature and music. "We want to show the richness of our nations' cultures, as produced by Hispanics, Latin Americans and Spaniards," Salum explained.
        "We don't want to be identified as problem citizens. We want to be identified as people with ancestral cultures who produce, people who have studied, creative people capable of producing at a high level," Salum said. The new issue showcases the talents of Mexican photographer Gabriel Figueroa Flores and Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz, among others.

The magazine's text is written in both Spanish and English.

"Globalization means all countries are more connected, and it's important to produce a bilingual magazine in order for your message to reach a wider audience," Salum added. EFE

Extract: The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood Cinema
by Lynne Meredith Schreiber
Source: Friendly Exchange, summer 2003, pg. 40

The program is the most comprehensive archive ever compiled of the role of Latinos in film during the last century.  Farmers Insurance helped fund the documentary and is making it part of an educators' initiative to teach about multiculturalism.  
        This fall, 6,000 schools in Long Angeles and San Diego will receive a DVD of the documentary, which includes an introduction narrated by Cheech Marin, and an accompanying curriculum guide that offers multicultural lessons tied to the film.
        Farmers unveiled the educators' package at the California Association of Bilingual Educators and held a half-day institute on how to use the curriculum.  "We're trying to . . . develop a curriculum that is reflective of the multicultural tapestry and give teachers something different and interesting to work with," says Luisa Acosta-Franco, Farmers' public relations manager for diverse markets. "  
For more information on The Bronze Screen education program, visit http://www.bronzescreen.net


Happy To Mix It All Up,
June 8, 2003
by Joel Kotkin and Thomas Tseng
Washington Post  http://www.washingtonpost.com

Joel Kotkin, a senior fellow with the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University, is writing a book on the history of cities. Thomas Tseng, a research fellow at the institute, is the principal of New American Dimensions Inc., an ethnic marketing firm based in Los Angeles.
Authors' e-mails: jkotkin@pacbell.net and tdtseng@earthlink.net

        Romulo "Tim" Cisneros grew up in an intensely Mexican American family in San Antonio. His brother, Henry, grew up to become the city's first Latino mayor in recent history. Now an architect in Houston, Tim is married to a woman who is also Mexican American. For most of his life he's viewed himself, and his experience as an American, through the prism of his ethnic identity. He's Latino, and proud of it. But Cisneros doesn't expect that his three children will be nearly "as Latino" as he and his wife. In their old tree-lined neighborhood close by Houston's high-rise towers, his kids live and go to school amid a diversity of races -- Anglos, Asians and African Americans as well as Hispanics -- and within a culture that's rapidly transcending old racial barriers and redefining familiar racial themes.
        "My daughter listens to hip-hop, belongs to the Asian engineering society and has a crush on a black guy," Cisneros says with bemusement in his office in central Houston. "There's no identification with any group or race."
        Welcome to post-ethnic America. You may not have heard much about it yet, since it hasn't fully seeped into the intellectual and political realms that define the national discourse on racial issues. But it's in full bloom on American streets and in the marketplace, changing long-standing notions of ethnicity and race and reshaping interpersonal relationships in a manner that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. On its cutting edge are kids like Cisneros's and their counterparts across the country. No longer content to hew to a single cultural or racial identity, they are beginning to erase the often unbreachable divide that has marked, and marred, race relations in this country from the earliest European settlements.
        The emerging post-ethnic sensibilities challenge many fondly held assumptions of the political class, the media and, perhaps most of all, certain academic elites, as they contradict the notion that American ethnic and racial divisions are rarely transcended or, conversely, that assimilation -- the old idea of the melting pot -- turns ethnic populations into proto-Episcopalians who eat white bread with cheese spread. As such, they're sure to be unwelcome news to those with a vested interest in perpetuating ethnic divides, as well as to those who champion diversity, or multiculturalism, as a means of assuring a continued ethos of ethnic separation. But cultures will blend in spite of the ambitions of social engineers, and the future belongs to those who embrace it. This is especially true in the new reality of a post-ethnic America, which is about nothing so much as opportunity -- for American citizens, American culture and American business.
        Post-ethnicity reflects not only a growing willingness -- and ability -- to cross cultures, but also the evolution of a nation in which personal identity is shaped more by cultural preferences than by skin color or ethnic heritage. To put it in youth terms, you're less likely to be a Latina, an African American or an Asian American, for instance, than a hip-hopper, a roquero (rocker), or a pop-culture fan of any color or ethnic background.
        Today's young Americans represent the most multiracial group in modern American history. According to Census 2000, 40 percent of people under the age of 25 -- "echo boomers" and younger -- belong to some race or ethnic category other than "non-Hispanic white." Overall, during the 1990s, immigrants and their children were responsible for a remarkable 70 percent of total U.S. population growth. The kind of culture these new Americans are shaping is most evident in those places -- cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Houston -- where immigrants, and, more importantly, their offspring, are molding street-side realities. The food, the music, even the look of these cities reflect not a single cultural influence, but a plethora of them, and their young citizens dabble freely in the variety.
        Second- and third-generation Latinos are the vanguard of these cultural shifts. They constitute the largest and fastest-growing segments of young non-whites in the country, and in many communities across Texas, California and New York, they are the absolute majority of high school students and the overall workforce. If nativists, such as Pat Buchanan, or the cultural nationalists who infest most Chicano studies departments at universities were right, these descendants of Latin American immigrants -- who constitute three-fifths of all Latinos residing in the United States -- would be forthright cultural nationalists themselves, exclusively embracing the Spanish language, music and identity.
        But they're not. According to the Pew Hispanic Center/Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2002 National Survey of Latinos, most second-generation Latinos are either bilingual (47 percent) or English-dominant (46 percent). Only 7 percent consider themselves Spanish-dominant. The results tilt even more toward English among the third generation, with 22 percent indicating that they are bilingual, and the remaining 78 percent English-dominant. The same patterns hold for media and music. According to the market research firm Cultural Access Group, young Latinos consume English-language television and radio by better than 2 to 1 over Spanish affiliates. Only a tiny minority -- 13 percent in Los Angeles and half that in New York and Miami -- listen primarily to Spanish language music.
        So how do these young Latinos identify themselves? In a way not too different from other young Americans. Roughly half, according to the 2000 Census, consider themselves white and, on many critical issues, such as abortion and the war in Iraq, their views are often similar to, or more conservative, than those of their white counterparts. Viewed in this light, Latinos do not fit the mold of a permanently aggrieved minority on America's left. Similarly, their linguistic preferences would seem to challenge the continued viability of programs such as bilingual education, with their emphasis on preserving a distinct culture or "easing" Spanish-speaking youngsters into an English-language mainstream they appear to be diving into headfirst.
        Yet another thing is certain: Young Latinos aren't afraid to mix it up personally with other American races and cultural groups. Like Asian Americans, they have shown a strong tendency to intermarry. Roughly 30 percent of second-generation Latinos and Asians now wed people from outside their own racial groups. Mixed-race births in California have grown from 40,000 in 1980 to more than 70,000 annually; one out of every seven babies born in the Golden State in 1997 had parents of different races. This unprecedented mixing alone guarantees the development of an increasingly blended culture, not only for Latinos and Asians in particular but for young Americans as a whole.
        Among today's post-ethnic youth, cultural diversity is casually presumed as a normal aspect of daily life, and in the highly fluid youth marketplace, cultural identities are adopted, exchanged and shed as simply and efficiently as if they were eBay transactions. Take music, for example. White suburban kids -- following the reverse crossover example of this generation's most visible iconoclastic rap superstar, Eminem -- make up the majority of the country's so-called "b-boys and b-girls" who purchase (or download) hip-hop music created predominantly by black artists. Meanwhile, creators of this popular art form are themselves increasingly diverse. In Northern California, the underground deejay scene has long been dominated by Filipino "turntablists" who spin hip-hop beats to enthusiastic throngs of club goers of every nationality and color. Or consider the hit films among America's teenagers and twenty-some-things. Justin Lin's critically acclaimed "Better Luck Tomorrow" is an independent film released by MTV Films that explores suburban teen angst and violence -- through a cast that's only incidentally all-Asian American. And of course the blockbuster "The Matrix Reloaded" boasts a rainbow cast of all the colors and hues of a post-ethnic America.
        Leon Wynter, author of "American Skin: Pop Culture, Big Business, and the End of White America," notes that these commercial trans-racial representations sell in the mainstream marketplace. They signify, he states, "a vision of the American dream in which we are liberated from the politics of race to openly embrace any style, cultural trope, or image of beauty that attracts us regardless of its origin."
        Of course, we aren't quite there yet. But the new post-ethnic dynamic can be felt even in regions such as the South, where larger numbers of Latinos and Asians are now settling. These newcomers, suggests James Johnson, an African American demographer at the Kenan Institute in Chapel Hill, N.C., are breaking down the traditional black-white split that has so characterized previous race relations in the region. "You are seeing a shift, in the South particularly, into a society that is more the kind of thing you see in Los Angeles and other places," observes Johnson. In the process, he believes, the old racial divides will be replaced by a new, more nuance view of ethnicity and race.
        In many places, this will mean the need to provide immigrants with better access to education and to familiarize the local populace with the history, language and customs of the new Americans. It also will call for a new approach to dealing with "community" issues as many neighborhoods experience constant flux. In communities such as South Central Los Angeles (now officially re-christened South L.A.), for instance, what was once predominantly an African American enclave is now a majority Latino district. The challenges in addressing the area's problems -- regarding jobs, education and public safety -- go beyond race and are now often spoken of in economic and social terms rather than exclusively ethnic ones. Those who promote exclusively race-based approaches and resist the new ethnic dynamics no longer offer a working strategy for dealing with the problems of such communities.
        The post-ethnic reality is also expressed in how people of different ethnicities increasingly live and, yes, shop in America. A generation ago, Americans were warned about becoming a country bifurcated between inner-city minorities and suburban whites. But this is no longer a danger. Today, nearly 51 percent of Asians, 43 percent of Latinos and 32 percent of African Americans live in the suburbs. The immediate suburbs around Denver, for example, experienced a 50 percent increase in their Latino populations during the 1990s.
        Sub-urbanization, with its emphasis on cars, produces a different and more blended kind of "ethnic" economy than traditionally denser urban settlements such as New York's Chinatown. Shopping centers in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, the epitome of an immigrant-oriented suburban area, are likely to be multiethnic, with stores advertising in Russian, Farsi, Armenian and Spanish, as well as the ubiquitous English. The sharpest ethnic entrepreneurs are keyed into this post-ethnicity as a critical part of their business strategy. Andrew Cherng started Panda Express, the 500-restaurant chain, as a small family-run Chinese restaurant in Pasadena nearly 30 years ago. Today, it's the largest Chinese restaurant chain in the country, catering to the broader American public in shopping malls, retail centers and ballparks across 37 different states. Across California, the Asian supermarket chain 99 Ranch Market is finding a growing number of Latinos and whites among its customer base.
        To survive and prosper in the future, ethnic businesses -- as well as mainstream American ones -- will need to adjust to the new post-ethnic reality. So will the rest of us, because this is a trend that will only accelerate. In the America of the 21st century, race and ethnicity are sure to be continuously reinterpreted by succeeding generations, confounding the fears and prejudices of their befuddled elders.

CALL FOR SHORT STORIES FROM MULTIRACIAL WRITERS.

Experienced editorial team is assembling an anthology of short stories (fiction only) from biracial and multiracial authors. Stories must speak either directly or indirectly about what it is to be of mixed race in the United States. Authors whose short stories are selected will be paid $200.00 upon publication of the volume. Deadline: Submit up to 8,000 words by December 31, 2003. There is no entry fee. For complete guidelines, visit http://www.mixedstories.com
Source: LatinoLA

 

 

PEDRO INFANTE "EL IDOLO" 
 
 http://www.pedroinfante-elidolo.com

 

Sent by Harvey Smith, author  gringotapatio@hotmail.com
 

[[Go to the site and enjoy hearing segments featuring performances by Armando Infante along several duets with his father, Pedro Infante. I spent a few hours just listening and reading and re-reading.  It brought back many memories of my aunts (my mom was one of 7 sisters) who used to love Pedro Infante. Surely the sounds of Mexico were heard in the U.S. because of his charm and talent.  A personal thank you to Harvey Smith for bringing this forth. Beautiful! The book will soon be available in Spanish. What a dear gift for las Tías.]]

Book: The Story of a of a young man's obsession with his idol, Pedro Infante.and his search for a dream. Delfino Gutierrez lives with his widowed mother in the small Mexican town of Bernal. He is kind and strikingly handsome with a beautiful singing voice, but to the disappointment of his friends and anger of his uncaring employer Don Victor, Delfino is obsessed with the music of his idol, legendary singer and actor Pedro Infante.

El Idolo is the heartwarming story of a talented young man who becomes lost and confused in his pursuit of a dream. The dramatic and sometimes humorous adventures experienced during his relentless search for success are full of exciting twists and turns that ultimately lead to the discovery of a shocking secret the day before launching his career as a professional singer. 

Who was Pedro Infante? a foreward by Amando Infante 
My father, Pedro Infante, made nearly sixty movies in his brief lifetime and recorded 366 songs between 1943 and 1956. He was the first true superstar of the Mexican cinema. His fame and the phenomena of his stardom during the “Golden Age of Mexican Cinema” have never been equaled, even to this day. Pedro Infante was, and still is, El Idolo de Mexico.

http://www.pedroinfante-elidolo.com/where-to-buy.html
For More Information About EL IDOLO
(Books & CD) and Armando Infante,
Contact the Author at: GringoTapatio@hotmail.com
or write: EL IDOLO
3184-G Airway Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
http://www.pedroinfante-elidolo.com/contact.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Harvey Alexander Smith spent eleven years in Guadalajara, Mexico as a college student, magazine publisher and developer building homes for retired Americans. He is an avid horseman and a veteran of many cabalgatas (equestrian trail rides) throughout Latin America. Smith has many friends in Mexico and maintains a close friendship with Armando Infante, youngest son of Mexico’s legendary actor and singer, Pedro Infante. EL IDOLO and companion CD featuring the music of El Idolo, will soon be followed by Margaritas Are For Tourists, chronicling the exciting adventures of his life in Mexico during the 60’s

ARMANDO INFANTE
Born January 10, 1955 in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, Armando Infante is the youngest son of famous Mexican singer and actor, Pedro Infante Cruz. He was only two years of age when his father died on April 15, 1957 while the plane he was piloting exploded shortly after taking off. Armando was raised by his mother, Maria de Jesus Gutierrez Rivera, and resided in Morelia most of his life when he wasn’t busy traveling throughout Mexico, Central America and the United States performing the music made famous by his father.

National Hispanic Coalition  http://www.hispanic.bz/the_national_hispanic_coalition.htm

Hispanic.bz is the website fo the National Hispanic Coalition now forming across the USA. Our purpose is to become the advocate on national issues for all Hispanics, from native born to thsoe who arrived her last night. All are of equal importance for it is the influx of great numbers of immgirants that give ever increasing influence to the voice of Hispanic Americans. In tandem with advocacy, the National Hispanic Coalition will become the primary source of information on Hispanics for Hispanics and non Hispanics in the USA. We are not affiliated with any political organization.

If you accept united as one voice gives great leverage in obtaining programs for all Hispanics, both native born and immigrants, then join us and add your input. We are all equal as Hispanic non profit advocacy organizations and as individuals. Make your voice known in unison with the National Hispanic Coalition.  You can contact us on any page where there is directory.

A CALL FOR HERITAGE PAPERS:

Essays on Hispanic Americans: Reclaiming Cultural Heritage 19th - 21st centuries
Heritage Books, Inc., will accept submissions until 21 November 2003.

Heritage Papers is designed to bring current scholarship to the attention of researchers in a variety of disciplines.  Each volume in this series is intended to expose lay and professional scholars to the range of recent research being done on a particular theme.  The essays may be historiographical pieces that describe and critique authors currently writing on the subject matter, or thought-provoking and challenging to the status quo, or innovative in their analysis or
methodology, or solid works on aspects of the topic that have been insufficiently studied thus far.  Essays are selected based on their expected interest among both academics and the well-educated general reader.
        Heritage Books, Inc., welcomes paper submissions for a volume on Hispanic Americans and their efforts to reclaim their cultural heritage in an increasingly polyglot society.  This collection of essays seeks to explore the many facets of the Hispanic American experience, from encounters with Anglo-Americans during the nineteenth century through life in the United States in the early twenty-first century.
         Papers should focus on the social, economic, and political efforts made by Hispanics to maintain, reclaim, or expunge their cultural heritage when confronted with other cultures within the modern-day borders of the United States.  The editing committee encourages papers with an
interdisciplinary focus and invites advanced graduate students and faculty as well as professional scholars to submit their work on Spanish-speaking peoples from throughout the world who migrated to the U.S.
        Of interest are such issues as: Reasons for leaving the original homeland and the resulting problems and/or benefits to those who left as well as to those who remained behind; the development of support systems such as ethnic neighborhoods, organizations, and societies; the consequences of association or intermarriage with other ethnic groups; the images portrayed through such media as paintings, text, and film; and opportunities for and contributions to education, employment, and community and political activism.
        Manuscripts should be submitted in Windows formatted 3.5-inch disk or Zip disk, or e-mailed as an attachment to the Heritage Papers Editor; MS Word and .txt files only.  A maximum length of 25-30 pages is recommended.  Please include your name on the title page but omit it from all other pages; subsequent pages should have only the essay's title and page number on them.

Send submissions to:
Karen Ackermann, Heritage Papers Editor
Karen@heritagebooks.com
Heritage Books, Inc.
1540-E Pointer Ridge Place
Bowie, MD 20716

Heritage Books, Inc., established in 1978, is a leading publisher in the field of American history, biography, and heritage, with over 1900 titles currently in print.  Recent Hispanic-related titles include Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to
Mexico
by John Schmal and Donna Morales (2002).

A Last Hope for W.W. II Reparations
(not to mention fairness and justice)
By L.A. Chung, San Jose Mercury News  Posted on Tue, Jun. 10, 2003
Contact L.A. Chung at  lchung@ mercurynews.com  or (408) 920-5280. 

Imagine you are living your life peacefully, and one day you are forced to go with American soldiers, at gunpoint, on a ship to another country. That's what happened to Art Shibayama, his parents, and his five brothers and sisters when they were in Peru, nearly 60 years ago. The United States was at war with Germany, Japan and Italy in World War II.
        In a little-known chapter of American history, Latin American families of Japanese, German and Italian ancestry were forced into custody during World War II, stripped of their passports and shipped to detention camps in Texas.
        In one devastating move, the Shibayamas lost their shirt factory, their businesses, their freedom and their bright future. Denied a legal remedy for the past two decades, the 73-year-old San Jose resident and his brothers Kenichi and Takeshi are petitioning the last venue they can today: the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, a body of the Organization of American States.
        ``What we hope is that the OAS will make the United States open all the books: `What did you do? Who did you did it to? Where are the properties?' '' said Karen Parker, an international human rights lawyer. There's a pretty slim chance of that happening. But it's all he's got.  I first met Shibayama a decade ago. I've got to hand it to the man. He's going to die trying to get an accounting from our government.
        Bravo. I hope others around the country join him. They were, after all, put on American military ships and held in Department of Justice camps. Along with the 120,000 Japanese-Americans that everyone knows about, there were about 6,000 Latin Americans and 13,000 ``enemy aliens'' who had been picked up by the FBI in the United States and held in detention.
        Some historians have called it what it was: U.S. government-sponsored kidnapping to come up with prisoners to exchange for American soldiers. Thirteen Latin American governments cooperated with the United States government to identify thousands with ancestral roots in Axis countries -- often successful business owners with hard assets that would be left behind.
        Some, like Shibayama's grandparents, were exchanged for American prisoners in the middle of the war. He never saw his grandparents again.  After the war, Peru refused to take them back. The United States tried to deport them to Japan, but many of the Spanish-speaking Japanese fought that because they couldn't speak Japanese. The Shibayamas were sponsored by a New England food-packing company needing labor.
        Shibayama, a retired gas station owner, Korean War-era Army veteran and father of two, can afford to take things easy at his age. But instead, Shibayama unsuccessfully pursued, with some 2,000 others, access to the presidential apology and redress funds that Japanese-Americans received as a result of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
        Then he joined a class-action lawsuit with other Japanese Latin Americans in the mid-1990s. That ended in a settlement with the Justice Department, which included a letter of apology and $5,000. But Shibayama and 16 others thought the offer was intrinsically unfair. ``The letter doesn't even mention anything about us being taken from Peru, nothing like that,'' he said. ``So it doesn't have any meaning.''
        Redress legislation for the Japanese Latin Americans, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, failed repeatedly. So the international arena is the last resort. Parker says the OAS human rights commission has standing to order the U.S. government to pay the reparations, but that's another story.  It's not about the money, Shibayama said. It is about fairness. It's about the hearing. If he died tomorrow, he would have no regrets about passing up settlements. ``I did what I could. I did what I could and tried to make it right.''

Extract: Retailers Lure Hispanic Buyers as the Great Brown Hope By Anne D'Innocenzio
ASSOCIATED PRESS May 20, 2003    
http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/052603fe.htm

Hallmark Cards Inc. is marketing 2,500 greeting cards for Hispanics, close to double the number marketed a year ago, and Blockbuster Inc. has posted bilingual signs and has stocked video rentals in Spanish in nearly a quarter of its stores. 
   Blockbuster has studied its Hispanic customers in different parts of the country and tailored its stores to meet their tastes. Pete Wei, vice president of field marketing and customer segments at the video rental company, said that at its San Antoniostores, for example, Hispanic consumers prefer communicating in English, so there are fewer videos and signs in Spanish. 
    "They behave like Americans and Texans," Mr. Wei said. But in its Southern California stores, Blockbuster is bringing in more films in Spanish from Mexico 
At stake for retailers is Hispanics' immense buying power, expected to balloon to $926.1 billion in 2007 from about $580 billion last year, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. That far exceeds the growth rate in buying power of overall non-Hispanic consumers. 
    According to the latest U.S. Department of Labor report, Hispanics spent more on such categories as groceries, furniture, children's clothing and footwear than non-Hispanics in 2001 because they have larger families on average.   

Latino Opinions - New Markets, New Immigrants & New Students  

Raul@OpinionesLatinas.com


(LINK) NY Times – Advertisers Discover New Target Market
But the target market in this case is English-dominant, American-born and urban — in other words, the kind of bilingual, acculturated Latino who would rather watch "The Simpsons" on Fox than the soaps that populate prime time on Univision or Telemundo. It is a market that has to a large degree been neglected by advertisers, even though United States-born Latinos account for the fastest-growing segment of the Hispanic population. Most marketers that create campaigns for Hispanics generally run commercials in Spanish, aiming them at the traditional segment of the market. Yet it is estimated that nearly 70 percent of the overall Hispanic market is composed of people under 35, representing more than $300 billion in purchasing power — about half of all Hispanic spending.
Extract: Kansas City High School Turned into a Latino Graduate Producing Phenomenon
By Mary Sanchez    http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/052603ed.htm

Hispanics have one of the lowest graduation rates of any ethnic or racial group. 
Studies show that up to half drop out, nationwide. 

Kansas City, U.S., May 20, 2003(EFE)- A major U.S. Hispanic organization and the world's richest couple have joined forces to help turn a Kansas City high school from a place where most Latino students did not stay for long into a graduate-producing phenomenon. Of the 42 students graduating this year from Alta Vista Charter School, 38 are Hispanic. Thirteen years ago, most of the kids dropped out of school.
        "We had to start thinking beyond just getting them out of high school."  Microsoft chief Bill Gates, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is footing a big chunk of the school's budget. The program is now developing ways to help the students make a smooth transition from high school into college.  The foundation will help fund 70 small schools over the next five years. The idea is for them to become hybrids - institutions that are both high school and community college. By attending for five years, students can earn their high school diploma and two years of college credit. 
        Alta Vista is one of six schools the Gates Foundation is currently aiding through a partnership with the National Council of La Raza, one of the most important U.S. Hispanic groups. The school will eventually receive $400,000. 

 

NCLA  President Raul Yzaguirre Honored
A humble leader, passionate about empowering Latinos, Raul Yzaguirre recently received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Notre Dame at their 2003 commencement ceremony. He was also recently honored by the American Diabetes Association as Father of the Year. NCLR is proud to join these groups in recognizing Raul for his commitment to the Latino familia nationwide.
eboletin_1_reply@mailhost.groundspring.org
 
Inter American Development/Floricanto Press

The Floricanto Press carry an interesting selection of books touching on the U.S. Hispanic experience. It appears that some of the books are fiction, but also non-fiction. 

For example: BETWEEN BORDERS: ESSAYS ON MEXICANA/CHICANA HISTORY
The most comprehensive and complete original history of U.S. Latinas of Mexican descent written by an outstanding team of Mexican and U.S. scholars and based on copious documentary sources from both countries. Between Borders has been hailed by the scholarly community as the most comprehensive history of La Mujer Chicana 
A Three-time award winner writer, Monreal brings life to the passionate, heroic, and inspiring events that led to the Battle of Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862. His well researched and well written historical novel brings in all the characters who played a vital role in the defeat of the French invading forces.

Inter American Development/Floricanto Press
650 Castro St., Suite 120-331
Mountain View, California 94041-2055
Telephone: (415) 552 1879 Fax (702) 995 1410
http://www.floricantopress.com/catalog/index.htm  Sent by Zeke Hernandez  zekeher@juno.com

"Latino Economic and Political Growth: Emerging Communities" held in Orlando, Florida

Sent by Zeke Hernandez  zekeher@juno.com
 
National LULAC President Hector Flores performed the ceremonial "cutting of the ribbon" to open the 74th Annual Exposition and National Convention. Morning workshop sessions included subjects in the areas of "Leadership Skills for Non-Supervisors and Non-Managers; Interpersonal Leadership Communication; Supervisory Leadership Skills; Best Practices in Mentoring; and Leadership Competencies.
        The presiding officer for the "Partnership Luncheon" was Luben Montoya, Director of Government & Hispanic Affairs, Verizon, Washington, D.C. Louis Kincannon, U.S. Census Bureau Director used the occasion to announce the new data being provided to show that Latinos have made tremendous gains in non-traditional regions in the nation. He stated that Hispanics have increased 400% in North Carolina alone; and there were significant gains in Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Nevada.
        He noted that the Census Bureau is developing better method and engineering new methods in data gathering, for instance the use of GPS (Global Positioning System)to assist census takers in finding targeting census areas and the concentration of utilizing more of the short forms in 2010 to adhere to their "constitutional requirements."    More on LULAC

Bernardo de Galvez

1980 Commemorative U.S.Stamp
La Revista, Granaderos de Galvez
Cuban tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos to perform 
        at Oct 12 Galvez Concert Gala
National Society of DARs to do Look-ups
Unrecognized Minority Groups Serving Under 
     Bernardo de Galvez
Don Martin de Mayorga, Another Spanish Hero  
      of the America Revolution

General  Bernardo de Gálvez 
Commemorative Stamp

http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/galvezstamp.htm

This stamp was issued in 1980 
on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile. 
It shows Gen. Bernardo de Gálvez, 
with the Spanish Cross of Burgundy flag.    
© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, 
University of Georgia 

Links 
Spanish Cross of Burgundy Flag page
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/spflag.htm

Georgia History page
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahist.htm

La Revista
Website of the Order of the Granaderos y Damas de Galvez   http://www.granaderos.org/
For membership information, please email Roland Cantu at the gne@yahoo.com
Cuban tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos to perform at Oct 12 Galvez concert with LBSO  

Sent by Jack A. Fishman jfishman@lbso.org  
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra

The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra has engaged tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos to perform at the October 12 General Bernardo de Gálvez concert for the short arias that will be written by Ana Lara and Robert Maggio about the General Bernardo de Galvez. 
        Cuban tenor Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos has appeared extensively in opera and oratorio. Most recently he appeared as Riccardo in a highly acclaimed portrayal in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera with West Bay Opera, a role he will reprise next year with Anchorage Opera in Alaska, where he made his debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca.  Other roles include the title roles in Faust and Hoffmann.  He has recently sang tenor in Verdi's Requiem in Barcelona, Spain; Alfredo in Die Fledermaus; Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana; Alfredo in La Traviata; Don Luis in the zarzuela El Barberillo de la Vapies.  With Pacific Repertory Theater he has sung the Duke in Rigoletto; Florestan in Fidelio; Canio in Palliacci.  In Los Angeles Mr. Reoyo-Pazos has performed several roles in Candide at the Ahmanson Theater at the Los Angeles Music Center and was the cover for Tony in Masterclass at the Mark Taper Forum.  Upcoming engagements include a recital for West Bay Opera and Ramerrez/Johnson in La Fancuilla del West with the Mendocino Arts Festival in 2003. 
NSDAR VOLUNTEERS OFFER LOOKUPS. Do you think you might have an ancestor who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)? Would you like to know whether your ancestor is listed with the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) in its "Patriot Index"? A helpful group of NSDAR Volunteer "Genies" monitor the RootsWeb DAR Message Board every day and welcome lookup requests.

Include your Revolutionary War-era ancestor's first and last name, spouse's name (if known), dates of birth, death, and state of residence when posting your lookup request. You need not be interested in joining the NSDAR to request a lookup. [Note: This is a 2-line URL] 
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.organizations.dar


UNRECOGNIZED MINORITY GROUPS 
SERVING UNDER GENERAL BERNARDO GÁLVEZ
by 
Granville Hough, Ph.D.

        When studying membership lists of U. S. patriotic organizations, it is notable that certain groups have not been honored by their descendants. It is not prudent to say this is the fault of the patriotic
organizations, such as the DAR or the SAR, or the fault of the descendants.  At least now, if not before, descendants can honor their Patriot ancestors.
        Under General Gálvez were Spanish, French, German, English, and assorted others of European stock.  Also with him at Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola were soldiers of American Indian and African stock, as well as mixes of these races with the Europeans.  All fought bravely, and all deserve to be recognized.
        When Gálvez first moved against Manchac and Baton Rouge, he called on Louisiana Indians for help; and they responded with all the fighting braves they could spare.  The village chiefs came separately to Natchitoches and took the oath of allegiance to the Spanish crown.  We have their names, but we have not recovered the names of the 160 warriors who actually served.

1. Chief KYAAVADOUCHE of the Nadaque Nation, 74 warriors.
2. Chief COCAILLE of the Yatasse Nation, 16 warriors.
3. Chief YAMOH of the Natchitoches Nation, 13 warriors.
4. Chief QUENSY of the Adayes Nation, 16 warriors.
5. Chief CAPOT of the Bydaye Nation, 7 warriors.
6. Chief TYNIQOUAN of the Grand Cadoe Dahiou Nation, 77 warriors.
7. (chief deceased) of the Petite Cadoe Dahiou Nation, 58 warriors.
8. Chief NICOTAGUE-NANAN of the Quy de Singeo Nation, 54 warriors.

        When Gálvez got to Mobile, he either recognized or organized the Compañia de Negros de la Mobila, commonly known as the "Compañia de Petit Jean."   Activities of this company were frequently mentioned in records for Mobile, even though there were only 18 men.  The Company
Commander was Petit Jean, a free mulato, formerly slave to Louis Lusser of Mobile.  Next in command was Corporal Garcí/García.  Others who have been identified were Joseph Agustín, Agustín Badon, Cupidón Badon, Ambrosio Benoit, Andrés Chastán, Nicolás Chastán, Sinegal Chastán, Joseph Dubrocar, Jean Luis Duret, Luis Duret, Joseph Forgeron, Joseph Livois, David Medair, Philipe Narbonne, Príncipe Orbane, and Will Trouiller/Truillet.  After the Battle for Pensacola, Bernardo de Gálvez asked that pensions be awarded the scouts of the Negro Company because
of their bravery and constant contact with the Indians and British.
        Another organized unit of black soldiers was the company of the Moreno Battalion of Havana which found itself at Mobile for the British counterattack on the Village on 7 Jan 1781.  They were from an infantry battalion of free blacks assigned to the Fall, 1780, attack on Pensacola which was destroyed by hurricane.  Their transport ship had managed to take refuge from the storm in the Mobile harbor, and they were assigned to prepare for British counterattack.  With others, they held the line at the Village in fierce fighting, forcing the British into retreat. They later served at Pensacola.  Only the names of the dead and wounded have been recovered.
        Also serving at Mobile were blacks or mixed race people who were generally slaves from New Orleans or Mobile on loan to Gálvez by their owners.  Some had special skills, while others were simply strong workers.  They included: Alexos, laborer, from Mr. LeBlanc of New Orleans; Apolon, laborer from Mr. Cristóbal of German Coast, Bacus, worker at the fort, from Madame Fortier of New Orleans; Bacus, from Mr.LaBranch of New Orleans; Pierre Boissieux, blacksmith; Carlos/Carlos de
Cadefiel, mulato laborer from Mr. Tizoneaux of New Orleans; Cristóbal and Estevan, laborers, from Mr. Bernoudy of New Orleans; Negro Flon, blacksmith; Francisco, laborer from Madame Trepanier of New Orleans; Francisco and Guilhaume, laborers, from Mr. Bienvenu from New Orleans; Francisco, from Mr. LaMaziere of New Orleans; Honoré, special confidence missions, slave of Felicité Detrian; Hoyos, blacksmith; Jacabo and Maturin, laborers, slaves of Mr. Duparc of New Orleans; Mulato Libois; Louis, from Mr. St. Martín of New Orleans; Negro Mangula; Marcus, of Mobile Plaza; Phelipe, laborer, from Mr. Donoy of New Orleans; Pedro, from Mr. Colin Latour of New Orleans, Samacón, blacksmith; and Sanson, from Mr. DuGruize of New Orleans.
        Another group important at Mobile were the slaves captured on the plantations near Mobile.  They were fed and sustained by the Spanish and put to work on the fortifications or in other support roles.  The names of many of this group are known as well as their fate.  Under terms of surrender, they were returned to their pre-attack owners.
  
References:
Allan J. Kuethe, Cuba, 1753-1815, Crown, Military, and Society,
Knoxville, TN, The University of Tennessee Press, 1986.

Elizabeth Shown Mills.  Natchitoches Colonials - Censuses, Military
Rolls, and Tax Lists, 1722-1803, Chicago, IL, Adams Press, 1981.

F. de Borja Medina Rojas, José de Espelita: Governor of Mibila,
1780-1781, Sevilla (Spain), Publicaciónes de la Escula de Estudios
Hispanos Americanos de Sevilla, 1980.

Buchanan Parker Thomson.  Spain: Forgotten Ally of the American
Revolution, North Quincy, MA, The Christopher Publishing Company, 1976.

Another Spanish Hero of the America Revolution

SPANISH HEROES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION:
 VICEROY OF NEW SPAIN, DON MARTIN DE MAYORGA
by Granville Hough, Ph.D.
gwhough@earthlink.net


    Among those who furnished aid to the American colonies must be included the Viceroys of Mexico (New Spain), first, Viceroy Antonio María Bucarelli, who died in office in 1779, and second, Viceroy Martin de Mayorga, who served from 1779 until 1783, the exact years of the war. One of the resident judges of New Spain, Don Francisco de Anda, was asked to evaluate Mayorga's contributions to the war effort, and he reported on 19 Sep 1783.  This report came just as the war ended and Martin de Mayorga was being replaced as Viceroy by General Matías de Gálvez, former President of Guatemala.  It included what was publicly known about Mayorga's activities, but it does not specifically include secret aid to American colonies.  However, it is clear that shipments of
gun powder to New Orleans must include  some which was passed on to Americans.  The shipments to Guarico are of interest because this was the staging area in Haiti for Spanish soldiers under General Bernardo de Gálvez awaiting the invasion of Jamaica.  It was the imminence of this
invasion which kept the British focused on the West Indies rather than on the American colonies.  The amounts of money provided must include support for Americans as well as support for General Bernardo de Gálvez in his operations in West Florida and Guarico.  The last paragraph of
Judge de Anda's report follows:
   
    "And finally, that he (Mayorga) demonstrated courage and perseverance in the success of our arms in the past war with the English: he exerted himself to the utmost, in the defense of this Kingdom (Mexico), keeping it free of enemies and pirates, giving prompt orders for the construction of powder mills in Santa Fe and Chapultepec, where great quantities were produced, and there were sent from them to Havana 400,000 cajones, and the rest, amounting to 740,000 cajones, to New
Orleans, Campache, Presidio del Carmen, Tabasco and El Guarico, expediting with equal energy and collection, embarkation and shipment from Veracruz of great sums of money, provisions, goods, war stores, troops, and seamen to support them: to the Army and Squadron of Operations (Havana) went the sum of 31,941,304 pesos, 3 reales and 2/3 grains: and adding to this account the value of money spent on account of the fortifications of Havana:  he did not fail to aid promptly and
amply the Kingdom of Guatemala, the Philippine Islands, the Department of San Blas and the Californias, the forts of the interior, the expeditions sent from Yucatán and other ports and other obligations of the treasuries of this kingdom: for whose defense he succeeded in removing the sand duns in the vicinity of the forts of Yucatán; the coastal batteries of Alvarado and Mocambo and Coatzacoalcos; launches armed with cannon were built and galleys for the coast: picket boats which could go twenty leagues offshore were equipped with signal flags and explored the coast to observe the enemy ships: barracks and hospitals were established for the troops quartered at Orizaba, Córdoba and Puebla, and officers of the army were assigned to the instruction of the militia on the coast and in the several provinces, and vacancies were filled in the Infantry Regiments of Asturias, Granada, and the Crown, and in the Dragoons of Spain and Mexico."

(Endnote1.)  pp 279-280, Glascock, Melvin Bruce, New Spain and the War for America, 1779-1783, Phd dissertation, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA, 1969, published by University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI, 1980. Glascock stated he had found the statement to be essentially correct, though poorly organized for clarity and understanding."

SURNAME:   OLMOS 


Linaje castellano, posiblemente de diferentes procedencias simultáneas, por ser de la clase de los topónimos, según ocurre con otros de su especie, derivándose de los lugares donde existía abundancia de estos frondosos árboles perteneciente a la familia de las ulmáceas.


Traen por armas: En campo de oro, un arbol de sinople, y colgando de una rama un yermo de azur, del que pende con unas correas del mismo color,  un paves (escudo antiguo), de gules, cargado de nueve roeles de plata.

OLMOS

Ante la Orden Militar de Santiago, este apellido fue probado por el ingreso en ella de los siguientes Caballeros:
        Don Luis de Olmos Girón y de Ribera, natural de Villalón, Valladolid, 1638; don Alejo de Olmos y Quiñones González de la Vega y Baca, de Zamora, en 1663; don Martín de Olmos y Aguilar, de la Rúa y Hernández, de Trujillo, Cáceres, 1558; don Alonso de Valdelomar y Olmos, de la Revesa y Vellosa de Córdoba 1631, y don Fernando Díaz de Rivadeneira y Olmos, de Toledo, en 1527.
        La Sala de los Hijosdalgo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid, falló sobre la calidad de sangre de las siguientes personas, afincadas en los lugares que se expresan:
        Don Alejo de Olmos, escribano de Valladolid, en 1531; don Andrés de Olmos, Briviesca, Burgos, 1601; el licenciado don Francisco de Olmos, Villadiego, 1601; don Francisco de Olmos. Pozuelo de la Orden, 1666; don Francisco de Olmos. Roncesvalles, 1777; el licenciado don Juan de Olmos. San Miguel de la Cogulla, 1601; don Manuel de Olmos, Cabana, 1780; don Pedro de Olmos. Villafrechos, 1575; y don Ginés de Olmos Rico, natural de Pozuelo de la Orden, Valladolid, y residente en Santovenia de Pisuerga, en la misma provincia, el año 1803.
        Don Antonio González de Andía y Olmos de Aguilera, nacido en Santiago de Chile hacía 1626 fue admitido en la Orden de Alcántara el año 1662, donde acreditó la nobleza de su línea paterna y materna. Era nieto materno del Capitán don Pedro Olmos de Aguilera nacido en la Imperial, Perú,hijo a su vez del Maestre de Campo General don Pedro Olmos de Aguilera, natural de Porcuna, Jaén y de doña María de Zurita Villavicencio.
        El Santo Oficio de México, realizó expediente de “limpieza de sangre” del bachiller don Pedro de Olmos de Silva y Ruiz de Chávez, vecino de Sahuayo, Mich. el año 1787.
Por Real Cédula de 8 de septiembre de 1534, el Emperador Carlos V concedía privilegio de armas a don Francisco de Olmos, vecino de la ciudad de Tenochtitlán, en la Nueva España y natural de Portillo, Valladolid, por acudir en socorro de don Pedro de Alvarado a quien tenían cercados los indios.
        Este escudo se describe así: Mantelado: 1o. en azur, un castillo de oro; 2o. en sinople, un tigre rampante de su color, y en el mantel dos olmos de sinople de oro Bordura general de gules con ocho estrellas de oro.
        En esta familia, merece destacar fray Andrés de Olmos, nacido en los comienzos del siglo XVI, que pasó a la Nueva España en 1528 como compañero del Obispo de Zumárraga, autor de la primera gramática en lengua náhuatl, terminada en 1547, que se salió a la luz en París en 1857, así como de otros importantes trabajos sobre filología.

Extract from BLASONES Y APELLIDOS, 828-page book by Fernando Muñoz Altea
In its second edition, the book can be ordered from blasones@mail.com
or at P.O. Box 11232, El Paso, Texas   79995  
or by contacting
Armando Montes   AMontes@Mail.com

Click for a well-known celebrity with the Olmos name.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

The Wild Blue Yonder June 21, 2003, 
The Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, 12th Annual Awards Banquet 
Farm Worker Photo Exhibit -Fullerton Museum 
Martinez Book and Art Gallery 

 

Wild Blue Yonder 

The Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, 12th Annual Awards Banquet 

Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, California, June 21, 2003


Bobby McDonald
, Director of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County with United States Air Force Astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel, Michael P. Anderson.   Lt. Col. Anderson was the Payload Commander on the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia.  The entire crew  of Columbia died February 1st, 2003 during the shuttle's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.  The evening honored  the memory of Lt. Col. Anderson and the World War II Tuskegee black Airmen, some of whom were present to the great delight of the guests.  The history of black servicemen in the Air Force was reinforced through film clips, a video homage and displays.  All added to increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the valuable role of the black military in the U.S. Armed Forces. 

        The Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated,  determined young men who volunteered to become America's first black military airmen.  They came from every section of America, with large numbers coming from New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit.  Each one possessed a strong personal desire to serve the United States of America proudly and to the best of his ability as an airman, even while many other Americans felt that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism.

        
The black airmen who became single- or multi-engine pilots were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Tuskegee Alabama. From 1942 until 1946, nine hundred and ninety-two black- Americans graduated in aviation cadet classes at TAAF, and also received commissions and pilot's wings. 
The black airmen served in segregated units, either the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) or the 332nd Fighter Group. 
       In 1948, President Harry Truman enacted Executive Order No. 9981 - directing equality of treatment and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces, which in time led to the end of racial segregation in the U.S. military forces.  This was also the first step toward racial integration in the United States.  The experience, the record, and the behavior of black American airmen in World War II, and after, were important factors in the initiation of the historic social change to achieve racial equality in America.  For more information: http://tuskegeeairmen.org/airmen/who.html

Guests at the Wild Blue Yonder event included Galvez Committee members
(L to R) Juan Mayans, Liaison with Spain and Latin American Countries, Electa Anderson, 
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra Liaison, Mimi Lozano, and Jack Scanlan, Film Chairman.
Also attending were Viola (SHHAR Board), Charles (past SHHAR Board), Chuck Sadler,  
Curtis
(Sons of the American Revolution) and Marion Porter,  Michael Perez, Program Manager.


Farm Worker Photo Exhibit  at the Fullerton Museum

[[Editor's note: The following comments were from two librarians that viewed the  Farm Worker Photo Exhibit  at the Fullerton Museum.  I asked their permission to include their comments.]]

On a personal note, before I ever selected librarianship as a career, I had deep ties to the hard life of the farm worker.  My dad was a farm worker.  There were many summers that I spent in the fields of Santa Clara valley working side-by-side with my dad.  This was way before it became known as Silicon Valley .  Growing up I remember picking prunes, pears, tomatoes, walnuts, cherries, apricots, chilies, etc.  It was dirty, sweaty, backbreaking work.  In fact, every time I bite nto a fruit or vegetable, I have flashbacks to the fields and orchards that they came from.  I also grew up in the Sal Si Puedes barrio of San Jose , a neighborhood that was familiar to Cesar Chavez and is also the title of a book about him.  In college I actively participated in the lettuce and grape boycotts led by Cesar Chavez, and later supported the campaign against the use of short handle hoes.  There was this one UFW poster that I kept in my dorm room.  It was a fundraising event that featured Joan Baez.  Before I left employment at CSUF, I donated that poster to the Chicano Resource Center .  Not sure if it is still there.

Al Milo   alm@ci.fullerton.ca.us
Library Director
Fullerton Public Library
353 W. Commonwealth Avenue, Fullerton CA 92832-1796

I also attended the opening of The Migrant Project at the Fullerton Museum last Friday 6/6. In all honesty, I was drawn to it because there are many members of my immediate and extended family who started out in the fruit and vegetable fields of California. It is because of their hard labor and sacrifice I pushed myself academically and continue to do so professionally.   My mother and I attended the opening reception. We were both pleased to have had the artist Rick Nahmias give us an insightful talk. Of course, we were ever so honored to have the late Cesar Chavez's granddaughter speak to us as well!  All in all, it is a great exhibit and a wonderful way to be introduced to "California's invisible population." Two thumbs up. See you at the next REFORMA meeting.  
 
Saludos, Mónica López  mlopez92698@yahoo.com
Quick reminder of visiting authors in July to Martinez Book and Art Gallery 
1110 N. Main, Santa Ana

Graciela Limon & Maria Amparo Escandon "Under the Fifth Sun"  Latino Literature from California Thursday, July 10   at   7:00 pm.

Olga Wornat     "La Jefa"   Vida publica y privada de Marta Sahagun de Fox   
Sabado, Julio 12  a las  3:00 pm.  

Rudy Ruiz   "Adelante"  una guia personal del exito para usted y su familia.  
Thursday, July 24, 7:00 pm.

LOS ANGELES, CA

Museum of Latin American Art
" Chavez Ravine"
Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots
Herod's Law

Museum of Latin American Art, Murals under the Stars, Saturdays in July, 
Dramatic outdoor multimedia presentations by Gregorio Luke
Museum of Latin American Art  http://www.molaa.com   For information:  562-437-1689  
Saturdays:
July 12, 8:30 p.m.Frida Kahol
July 19, 8:30 p.m. Jose Clemente Orozco
July 26, 8:30 p.m.
" Chavez Ravine"

Hi Mimi, We had a great visit with the girls, enjoyed our dinner, and were surprised and delighted with the play - "Chavez Ravine" done by the Culture Clash group.  Starting with the end first - the culturally-mixed audience gave them a standing ovation for their inspired, multi-media  performance.  Somehow they managed to weave together a baseball game happening, the history of the Chavez Ravine purchase, and the intrigue surrounding the slimy process of old Los Angeles politics.  When
the deal for the Dodgers was finally signed, the table shook, and one character aptly remarked "Was that an earthquake or a power shift?".  Looking back on all the pain and suffering of the Latino
residents,  and the unfair way they were treated, and somehow finding humor and love in it all is part of their magic.  The run has been extended through July 12 at the Mark Taper Forum in the Music Center.   Sent by Pat Batista roy.pat@batista.com

On the 60th anniversary, of LA's Zoot Suit Riots

On June 26. La Peña Cultrual Center held a program to commemorate the style & defiance of the Zoot Suiter
3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, Ca. 94705   510-849-2568    
http:// www.lapena.org
Headshot

cover

                                                                                   Edward James Olmos

Part fact and part fiction, Zoot Suit is the film version of Luis Valdez's critically acclaimed play, based on the actual Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the zoot suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles. Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) is the leader of a group of Mexican-Americans being sent to San Quentin without substantial evidence for the death of a man at Sleepy Lagoon. As part of the defense committee, Alice Bloomfield (Tyne Daly) and George Shearer (Charles Aidman) fight the blatant miscarriage of justice for the freedom of Henry and his friends. Edward James Olmos stars as the mythical "El Pachuco" in a blend of action, music, and excitement. 
Summary written by Fiona Kelleghan {fkelleghan@aol.com}

Discussion: Zoot Suit Riots.  Film clips from various documentaries & movies will also be shown.
A critical reflection on their significance then and today.  In 1943, Los Angeles experienced one of the worst race riots in US history as servicemen attacked the Chicano communities of East Los Angeles. On the 60th anniversary, we will be taking a critical reflection on their significance then & today. Panel includes Jose Montoya and Dr. Jose Cuellar and others. http://cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/montoya_bio.html   http://online.sfsu.edu/~josecuel/  
The Zoot Suit Riots by Suavecito  Entire article, go to http://www.suavecito.com/history.htm

HEROD’S LAW  

June 13,  Landmark's Regent Theatre opened with an exclusive engagement of Luis Estrada’s award-winning comic fable, HEROD’S LAW (La Ley De Herodes). The winner of the Latin America Cinema Award  at the Sundance Film Festival.  Winner of 10 Ariel Awards (Mexican Oscars), including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
The Most Honored Film in Mexican History!

“Marvelous! Hilarious! Estrada directs with back-humored exhuberance along with daredevil visual panache. This is ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ as rewritten by Bertold Brecht”  
- A.O Scott, The New York Times.

“A bracingly sarcastic political comedy... possessed of a baleful satiric eye for hypocrisy and greed...and pitch-perfect comic timing...thumb-in-the-eye filmmaking rarely feels this good."
- John Patterson, L.A. Weekly

In 1949 in the small desert town of San Pedro de los Saguaros, a number of government officials have faced lynching by angry residents tired of being victimized by local corruption.  Anticipating the upcoming national elections, the ruling political party appoints a new municipal mayor and selects a rather naive former party member employed as a junkyard watchman, Juan Vargas (Damián Alcázar, El Crimen del Padre Amaro).  At the beginning, the new mayor attempts to bring to San Pedro de los Saguaros the great slogan of his party: modernism and social justice. But his idealism soon dissipates and Mayor Vargas resorts to blackmail, fraud and murder to retain his authority while his unscrupulous actions win unexpected support from his leaders.

A sexy satire about a corrupt regime, HEROD’S LAW caused much controversy when it opened in Mexico following government attempts to censure and stop the film from being shown in theatres after denouncing it as an attack on the PRI, Mexico’s then ruling party. 

Venevision International presents HEROD’S LAW (123 minutes), a film by Luis Estrada at Landmark’s Regent Theatre located on 1045 Broxton Avenue (between Weyburn & Kinross) in Westwood. For showtime information please call (310) 208-3259 or visit our website at http://www.LandmarkTheatres.com  http://www.LaLeyDeHerodesMovie.com
    
To receive updates about upcoming special engagements, advance screening invitations and other information about films playing at a Landmark Theatre near you, please join our mailing list: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/MailBag/MailIndex.asp

Sent by Bernardo Rondeau 

CALIFORNIA

21st Annual Old Town Descendant's Day
Oral History Research Study
Study of Books in Spanish for Children 
California's first Latino governor, 128 years ago
The Hispanic Foundation of the Silicon Valley
Liliana Garcia, Journalist of the Year
Web Site for "California Spanish Genealogy"
Birth, Death, and Marriage Certificates
Para su biblioteca

SAN DIEGO  21st ANNUAL OLD TOWN DESCENDANT'S DAY, 28 JUNE 2003

Representing the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research at the event was Board Member Diane Godinez , Curtis Porter, a Son of the American Revolution, Dr. Mildred Murry, a historian on the Galvez Project and Michael Perez, Galvez Project program manager. 

     Diane Godinez                      Curtis Porter                 Dr. Mildred Murry

Once again joining the Bernardo de Galvez Committee was Honorary Consul to Spain in San Diego, 
Maria Angeles O'Donnell Olson.  All shared aspects in the development and/or goals of the Hispanic American Heroes Series. An invitation was extended to the descendants of the founders of San Diego to attend the October 12 events and concert honoring Bernardo de Galvez. 

 INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN CALIFORNIA ORAL HISTORY RESEARCH STUDY 

The archaeological investigation will be researching the lives of people who lived at El Presidio de San Francisco during the Spanish-colonial and Mexican periods (1776-1847). Participating in the study will involve answering a few questions (in person or by phone or email) about how the Presidio of San Francisco is important to your heritage and about any questions or topics you would like us to address in our archaeological research. Your answers will help me design and implement
the archaeological excavation and laboratory research. Participants may select to have their answers remain confidential if they so desire.
       This research study is associated with an archaeological investigation that will be conducted at the Presidio of San Francisco in July and August 2003.  Somos Primos readers are welcome to visit the excavation while it is in progress (you do not need to participate in the oral history study to visit us).
        If you would be willing to participate in this study, or would like to schedule a visit to the research site, please contact Professor Barbara Voss of Stanford University at 650-725-6884 or by email at bvoss@stanford.edu.

2003 SUMMER WORKSHOP BOOKS IN SPANISH FOR YOUNG READERS

The Barahona Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents at California State University San Marcos announces its summer workshop
        July 28-30 — Traditional Literature from Latin America for Children and Adolescents/ Literatura Tradicional de Latino América para Niños y Jóvenes. Introduction to pre-Hispanic and colonial myths and legends from Latin America for children and adolescents. (Three-day workshop to be conducted in Spanish. $115.)
         Workshop sessions will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Students will be free to use the resources of the Center in the afternoons. Enrollment is limited; early registration is definitely recommended.
         For further information, please call (760) 750-4070 or write: Barahona Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents; California State University San Marcos; San Marcos, CA 92096-0001 Contact: Dr. Isabel Schon, Director (760) 750-4070; Fax: (760) 750-4073

California's first Latino governor held office 128 years ago
 
by Vicki Haddock
Historical insert in a very large article: 
About time for a Latino governor in California by Leslie Guttman, Insight staff writer
San Francisco Chronicle, May 11, 2003
Sent by Tania Scott  

       In the dusty pantheon of former governors of California, Romualdo Pacheco stand out - and not just because he's the only one who claimed to have lassoed a grizzly bear.  Pacheco was the state's first - and, so far, only - Latino governor, as well as the first born in California.  He served nine months in 1875.
        Born in Santa Barbara into a prominent family hailing from Guanajuato, Mexico, the young aristocrat Pacheco grew up speaking Spanish and then was sent to Hawaii to be schooled in English and French.  After stints as a seaman, gold miner and rancher, he was elected judge, state senator, state treasurer and, on the Republican ticket, lieutenant governor.
        That job had enough free time for him also to be warden of San Quentin penitentiary.  He became governor by default after Gov. Newton Booth won a U.S. Senate sear.  Pacheco's most memorable accomplishments: building bridges between the established Californianos and new settlers, and helping develop the University of California.  Later he was elect to Congress and became the first Latino to Chair a congressional Committee. 
       


The Hispanic Foundation of the Silicon Valley

A reception for Dr. Ellen Ochoa, NASA Astronaut and Stanford University Trustee, was held
on June 11th in Cupertino. 

For information about the Hispanic Foundation of the Silicon Valley, contact:
Perla A. Rodriguez, Community and Public Affairs Manager
Univision 14 KDTV and TeleFutura 66 KFSF
50 Fremont Street, 41st Floor, San Francisco, California 94105
Phone (415) 538-8076/ Fax (415) 538-8053
http://www.univision.com

Liliana Garcia first Latina in San Diego awarded “Journalist of the Year” by the Small Business
Administration.  http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/060903mn.htm

San Diego, CA – June 4, 2003 -  Liliana García is the only Hispanic journalist in San Diego County that produces and hosts her own radio talk show as well as her own television show on Spanish language networks.  “San Diego al Día,” her two-year-old program on the Radio Unica Network, is the highest-rated Spanish radio talk show in San Diego.  On the Univision Network, García hosts, “Despierta San Diego,” a local program that among other topics, focuses on supporting the social and economic development of the San Diego Hispanic community.
        In both radio and television, special interest is placed on promoting Hispanic-owned small businesses. Because of her constant work on this matter the Small Business Administration of San Diego has named her, “2003 Small Business Journalist of the Year.”  
        “This award is a great honor to me and I accept it in the name of my community, Hispanics that have proved that with the appropriate information and hard work we can take the opportunities given to us by this country and embrace them by turning them into success stories,” said García. This prestigious award is also given to other small business entrepreneurs in various categories. The awards will be presented to this year’s winners during an event to be held on Monday, June 9, 2003 at 11 a.m. at the Marriott & Marina Hotel, next to the Convention Center in Downtown San Diego. 
         “When I started in television and radio in San Diego, I set a goal for myself: to educate and inform my community… five years later my commitment continues, this time backed by hundreds of success stories from my audience,” concluded García.
        García has constantly been searching for new ways to integrate the Hispanic community both socially and economically through the use of media. The “Journalist of the Year” award is a great incentive for her to continue in her ways and a matter of great pride to the Hispanic community of San Diego. 
        For more information about Liliana García’s programs, “San Diegoal Día” or “Despierta San Diego,” please call (858) 503-6533.

Web Site for "California Spanish Genealogy"
Source: Julia Christy, Noticias para Los Californianos, Vol. 35, # 2, July 2003 

In independent web site for California Spanish Genealogy is maintained by Ron Filion.  Currently, it's a small site that includes areas for queries, surname contacts, links, lists of books, and some 18th century census lists.  Anyone with an interest in researching the early California Spanish families is welcome to take a look.   http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~calspanish/

Ron Filion is currently the co-host for both San Francisco and San Mateo county genweb sites, along with Pam Wolfskill.  He has acted as a lookup volunteer and avid researcher of early San Francisco for more than five years.  His previous website experience includes "San Francisco History" and "Escapes from Alcatraz" now found at http://www.sfgenealogy.com/history/sindex.htm

Birth, Death, and Marriage Certificates
The text of this message is found at: 
http://www.sonoma-county.org/Clerk/HTML_Documents/BDMCerts/Frameset_BDMCerts.htm
Sent by Jo Russell ljrussell@earthlink.net

         Did you know that the guidelines for ordering birth and death records are changing?
Because of the increased occurrence of identity theft, new laws were passed to protect birth and death records from misuse. These laws go into effect July 1, 2003. At that time, the steps necessary to obtain a birth or death record will change significantly.
        Effective July 1, 2003, the California Health and Safety Code, Section 103526, will permit only authorized individuals to receive certified copies of birth and death records. Those who are not authorized by law to receive certified copies will receive certified copies marked
"INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY."

In the case of birth records, the new law describes an authorized person as:
*    The registrant or a parent or legal guardian of the registrant.
*    A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or 7603 of the Family Code.
*    A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting official business.
*    A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of the registrant.
*    An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant's estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant's estate.

In the case of death records, the new law describes an authorized person as:
*    A parent or legal guardian of the registrant.
*    A party entitled to receive the record as a result of a court order, or an attorney or a licensed adoption agency seeking the birth record in order to comply with the requirements of Section 3140 or 7603 of the Family Code.
*    A member of a law enforcement agency or a representative of another governmental agency, as provided by law, who is conducting official business.
*    A child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of the registrant.
*    An attorney representing the registrant or the registrant's estate, or any person or agency empowered by statute or appointed by a court to act on behalf of the registrant or the registrant's estate.
*    A funeral director ordering certified copies of a death certificate on behalf of an individual specified in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 7100 of the Health and Safety Code.

Forms and Instructions:  Use the following links for request forms and instructions for completing your request:

Para su biblioteca  
   Sent by Carmen Boone de Aguilar 

Sé que les interesará adquirir el libro de un gran amigo mío (miembro de CMSA), Ed Vernon.  Se titula Misiones Antiguas (textos en inglés) y abarca las de los dos estados de Baja California, sus iglesias aún en pie, así como las ruinas de los primeros sitios y capillas de pueblos de visita, obras hidráulicas de los misioneros, etc.  Es una fuente muy valiosa de testimonios fotográficos.
         Ed es un gran campista y no escatimó fuerzas para llegar a fotografiar los sitios más remotos. También, logró obtener fotografías antiguas, algunas inéditas, de los descendientes de los primeros visitantes extranjeros de prinicipios del siglo XX.  Consta de 303 páginas a todo color y a todo lujo, impreso en Hong Kong.  No se trata de un libro académico (Ed es ingeniero retirado, cautivado por nuestra península desde hace unos 20 años), sino que estuvo pensado y realizado como "coffee table book", con máximo de fotografías de enorme detalle de sitios de misión que son inaccesibles para la mayoría de los fuereños interesados en la Baja California misional.  
          Misiones Antiguas tiene un precio de US $44.95 (con tarjeta de crédito) o $39.95 US (cheque o giro bancario) más envío aéreo a México (a mí esto me salió en $23.00 adicionales).  Si desean pedirlo, pueden escribirle a Ed--preferentemente en inglés.  
 
El e-mail de Edward W. Vernon es:  EWVERNON@aol.com
Viejo Press, 729 Woodland Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93108, Tel. (805) 969-4123.  

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Woman takes long road to citizenship 
Opinion, The Spectrum
 Illegal Immigrants Get Resident Tuition
Center for Basque Studies Newsletter
Old Songs, New Theories

Norma de la Cruz, left, laughs with classmates Rosenda Rodriguez, center, and Beatriz Cardenas during a study session at the Nevada Hispanic Services center Tuesday in preparation for taking the US Citizenship test. - Scott Sady/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Scott Sady
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Woman takes long road to citizenship 
byGeralda Miller 
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL, 6-20-03
Sent by Cindy LoBuglio lobuglio@thegrid.net 

Norma de la Cruz, left, laughs with classmates Rosenda Rodriguez, center, and Beatriz Cardenas during a study session at the free 12-week citizenship course Nevada Hispanic Services center Tuesday in preparation for taking the US Citizenship test.

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/06/20/45153.php
 
        The free citizenship classes were designed to help eligible legal permanent residents living in the hub of Reno’s Hispanic neighborhood, said Rosa Molina, immigration coordinator at Nevada Hispanic Services and founder of the class.
        Most of the people taking the class want to become U.S. citizens to have rights and be able to petition for their undocumented family members to become citizens, Lopez said.  The free citizenship classes were designed to help eligible legal permanent residents living in the hub of Reno’s Hispanic neighborhood, said Rosa Molina, immigration coordinator at Nevada Hispanic Services and founder of the class.
        The initial program was founded in early 2000 in a joint effort between Molina and the Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church. In 2002, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada began paying for the program, which is housed at NHS. The program has helped about 250 Hispanics become registered voters and U.S. citizens, Molina said.The students who take the class can get assistance completing the application for citizenship and legal guidance on matters that might keep them from becoming a citizen. They also can keep taking the class until they pass the test. The only requirement is that they register to vote once they have passed, Molina said.“The goal of the class is for them to become good citizens and to be involved in the political process,” Molina said. “We don’t tell them Democrat or Republican, but they have to register to vote.” 

Extract: Opinion - EDITORIAL Originally published Friday,  The Spectrum (Utah)  June 6, 2003
Source: http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/061603kc.htm

For the first time since the city incorporated in 1984, two Hispanics will sit on the City Council. Marco A. Ruelas and Robert "Bubba" Smith each won two-year terms on the council. 
        The voting results show that people in Mesquitewill vote for the best person for the job, regardless of race. And the results show that the Hispanic community is building leaders to help this growing city make good decisions during an exciting time in Mesquite's history. 
        A recent annexation doubled the size of the city's limits, with more than half of that land slated for development. A new airport is planned for the Mormon Mesa area. A new hospital is under construction. With Hispanics making up about 25 percent of the city's population, it is appropriate that Hispanics should have a leadership role in the future of Mesquite.  
        The Fairness and Equality Committee of Mesquite, a community action group in the town, has been working to promote minority interests. The committee has included in its goals a desire to improve employment opportunities for minorities living in the city. 
        Officials on the equality committee celebrated the two victories this week because they say it shows that Hispanics care enough about the community to be involved in the most serious issues facing all residents, besides the issues faced by minorities in the city. That means working to promote the city. It means working to bring in new businesses and to help businesses already in the city to grow.  

Extract: Illegal Immigrants Get Resident Tuition
Sent by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (May 21, 2003) SALEM, Ore. (AP) 
A bill pending in the Oregon Legislature would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition as long as they graduate from an Oregon high school, have lived at least three consecutive years in the state and show they are in the process of getting legal residency. . . . the state's Hispanic population, which has doubled in the past decade to more than 275,000 out of Oregon's 3.4 million people.
        ``If they get an education, earn more money and pay more taxes, overall those numbers dwarf the cost of education,'' said Josh Bernstein from the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group in Los Angeles.
        Congress is considering extending legal permanent residence to those under 21 who have lived in the United States at least five years.  Under the 1996 federal immigration-reform law, states cannot offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants unless they also offer it to all legal U.S. residents, regardless of what state they come from.
        California and the other states have gotten around the law by basing their in-state tuition policy for illegal students on whether they graduated from an in-state school after a certain number of years of attendance.  ``We are not talking about students who speak with an accent. Some have been here their entire schooling since kindergarten,'' said Laura Lanka, principal of Woodburn High School, where 60 percent of the 1,200 students are Hispanic.  ``I always told them that if they graduated with the right grades and good SAT scores I would help them get into a four-year university.''


Center for Basque Studies Newsletter,
Spring 2003, No. 67

Basque Studies Library of the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries is the recipient of a $248,000 grant awarded by teh National Endowment for the Humanities to create a database of materials on Basque language, culture, and history.  The database will include bibliographic records for around 30,000 books, articles, documents, and other materials from 1994 to the present, including full text of the materials when p9ssible.  The information will be accessible to the public via the Internet, and it will be possible to conduct searches in English, Spanish, or Basque.

The database will provide the first integrated access to the growing body of multi-disciplinary literature on Basque topics, and will serve as a high quality reference tool for scholars in the field, as well as for the casual information seeker.  The widespread availability of the information through the out the world, who would otherwise find it difficult to access these materials, and certainly would to find them in one convenient location.

A semi-annual publication of the Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557-0012     Available free and electronically.   


Old Songs, New Theories
: A Symposium on Oral Improvisational Poetry

The Center for Basque Studies hosted a conference May 16 and 17 on improvised oral poetry. Participants debated improvisational songs in various cultural traditions, including the Castilian romances, the Judeo-Spanish ballads, the Ibero-American decimas, the Asturian cante jondo, the Santanderian trovas, the Slavic guslari, the Arabic invectives, and the Basque bertsolariak.

 http://www.basque.unr.edu

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Searching Newspapers
Berlin Wall going up in Arizona 
Government Jobs  Way Up the Ladder 
History of LULAC
Saldivar Onate Family : Zacatecas /New Mex  
Memorial of Captain Cristobal de Zaldivar

Searching Newspapers

"Colorado Spring Gazette" (Colorado Springs, Colorado), 1888-1897, 1900-1902
This posting adds newspapers from:  --- 1889   (1,199 pages)
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=4717&key=D6921

"The Arizona Republican" (Phoenix, Arizona), 1891, 1893-1898
This update adds newspapers from: --- 1891   --- 1893-1898   (13,326 pages)
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=4717&key=D6866

Extract: Berlin Wall going up in Arizona – meets opposition
http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/060903jn.htm

By Maria Leon
Tucson, U.S. - June 2, 2003 - (EFE) - Scores of human rights and immigration activists, environmentalists and border residents rallied this weekend to express their opposition to a U.S. Border Patrol plan to expand a wall between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.
        Opponents of the plan claim it will not only fail to stop the flow of immigration but also increase the dangers faced by undocumented immigrants who try to enter the United States. They also say the wall would harm the area's fragile ecosystem.
        Sean Mariano Garcia, an immigration expert with the Latin American Working Group, said the Border Patrol unveiled in October 2002 its plan to expand the existing 15-foot-high steel fence that presently divides Arizona and Mexico around the border city of Nogales. The project calls for extending the steel curtain for 225 miles, about the entire length of the Arizona-Mexico border, and building a second 11-foot wall about 50-60 feet behind the first one.
        The proposed barrier would be equipped with powerful lights, motion sensors and 140 infrared cameras and be three times the length of the now-fallen Berlin Wall, Garcia said during a forum Saturday in Tucson, Arizona. Two types of fences already stand along sections of the 2,100-mile U.S.-Mexican border, but the Border Patrol has not yet determined which type to build in Arizona. The project is expected to cost approximately $1 billion.

Extract: Government Jobs Have Given Latinos a Way Up the Ladder 
The Artizona Daily Star, June 11, 2003

Working for local government, whether the city or county, has been a steppingstone for many Tucson families - none more so than Tucson's Latinos. According to most recent statistics, Latinos make up than 35 percent of the city's population and about 32 percent of the city's 5,000 employees.
        Stepping into an entry-level position with public works, or the secretarial pool, or the public safety departments, opened mid- and upper-level management positions to Tucson's Latinos, said former City Manager Luis Gutierrez, who began his career in the city's Finance Department and retired three years ago after 31 years with the city.
        As in New York, Boston, Chicago and Miami, civil service has helped create a viable middle-class among immigrant communities in Tucson. The economic foundation that came with a civil-service job enabled the children of immigrants to move up the economic ladder, send their children to college and enter the social and political mainstream.

History of  the League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC

http://www.lulac.org/Historical%20Files/Resources/History.html

[[This is a very interesting site with photos and biographies of the leaders, and historical information. Do read it.  However, there is one bit of information that I have never read any place else.  Does anyone have supporting data?]] 

Hispanic were just emerging from their darkest epoch when LULAC was founded. Survival itself was in question. More Mexicans were lynched in the Southwest between 1865 and 1920 than Blacks in other parts of the South, and cases of Mexicans being brutally assaulted and murdered were widespread. No jury would convict an Anglo for killing a Mexican. One famous Anglo gunfighter when asked how many men he had killed responded, "Each notch on the handles of my guns represent one kill and I have twenty-seven notches, not counting Mexicans." Discrimination did not know an age limit. In one incident a 14-year Mexican American girl choked to death while eating a dry tortilla because her peers were not allowed to get her a drink from a "white only" water fountain.


Saldivar Onate Family of Zacatecas and New Mexico

As a descendent of the Onate and Saldivar family of Zacatecas and New Mexico, I would like to share this document with your readers. A rule in genealogical research is to expect to find the unexpected.                   Cousin John D. Inclan  fromgalveston@yahoo.com


MEMORIAL OF CAPTAIN CRISTOBAL DE ZALDIVAR

September 9, 1628

Captain Cristobal de Zaldivar states that he was appointed lieutenant captain general for the pacification of the Chichimecas and Guachichiles Indians by the Marquis of Salinas when he was viceroy of New Spain; that he owns the San Marcos and Palmilla mines, from which have been taken many millions in silver for the service of his majesty and the benefit of these kingdoms, that he is married do Dona Leonor Cortez Motezuma, a daughter of Don Juanes de Tolosa and Dona Leonor Cortez Moctezuma, who was a daughter of the marquis, Hernando Cortez, and Dona Isabel Moctezuma, a legitimate daughter of Moctezuma, late ruler of New Spain; that he is the son of Captain Vicente de Zaldivar, who was lieutenant captain general for the said was against the Chichimecas by appointment of Viceroy Don Martin Enriquez; that he owned many haciendas and mines; that the said Don Juanes de Tolosa, his father-in-law, was one of the first conquistadors and settlers of the mines and city of Zacatecas and defeated the Indians in many clashes and battles; that for these services the king our lord, of glorious memory, grandfather of his majesty, granted the city of Zacatecas a coat of arms and ordered that the image and statue of his father-in-law, honoring him with fine words, be placed at its gate; that from the mines he settled there have been obtained for your majesty, from 1575 to 1614, a total of 6,338,000 pesos, not counting the royal fifths collected during this time, or from 1540, when these mines were first settled, to this period; that he is a nephew of Don Juan de Onate, knight of the Order of Santiago, conqueror of the provinces of New Mexico, and a nephew of Vicente de Zaldivar, also a knight of the same order and who held the post of maesa de campo in the said conquest, in which he  performed notable services.

He begs, in consideration of these facts, that his only son and heir, Don Juan de Zaldivar Cortez Moctezuma, be granted knighthood in the order of Santiago and an income of one thousand pesos from the treasury in Mexico, as has been done for other descendants of Moctezuma. He states  that his son has served as Alcalde ordinario of the city of Zacatecas, with the approval of the audiencia; that he is married to Dona Isabela de Castilla, daughter of Don Fernando Altamirano and Dona Leonor de Vera, granddaughter of Doctor Santiago de Vera, late judge of the audiencia of the Philippines and the president of that of Guadalajara, where he died.

All of the above is attested by patents and affidavits which he presents regarding his high rank and nobility.   [Endorsed on the cover sheet:] Advise his majesty that in view of these many services, he could be favored with the knighthood he seeks. [Rubric] September 9, 1628.

Text from the book, Don Juan de Oñate, Colonizer of New Mexico 1595-1629, by George P. Hammond  The University of New Mexico Press 1953. The original document is in the Archivo General de Indias.

Note: The Pizarro’s, Altamirano’s , and Cortez family were blood related. 
Source: The Genealogy of the Marqueses del Valle de Oaxaca, Don Hernan Cortez, Conquistador.  

The New Mexico Genealogical Society accepted my line. here it is.

BLACK

UCI 5th in Awarding B.S. to Minority Students 
African America Biographical Database 
Freedom Suits 
DNA Unlocks Ancestral Mysteries 
Music this Beautiful is Something to Share
Go to Orange County - Wild Blue Yonder 

UCI Ranks Fifth in Awarding Bachelor's Degrees to Minority Students 
A study in Black Issues in Higher Education ranks UCI fifth in the nation for awarding bachelor's degrees to minority students in the 2001-02 school year. The report is based on data submitted by institutions of  higher education to the U.S. Department of Education. 

*Link: http://www.blackissues.com/061903/
*Requires subscription but other interesting charts may be seen by going to the above link.  Once there locate "TOP 100" for statistical charts concerning minorities, blacks and Hispanics by location, discipline and various other factors.   
Sent by Rob Ríos, UCI Library riosr@uci.edu

African America Biographical Database 
  http://www.godfrey.org/
Source: UGA News, March-April 2003

The Godfrey Memorial Library held a special open house February 22nd, unveiling the newest database available to Godfrey Scholars.  Thanks to Colleen Cyr of Meriden, CT, the African America Biographical Database, containing thousands of full-text biographical sketches, photographs and other data about the lives of Black  Americans from all time periods is available to researchers from home as well as in the library.  

Freedom Suits  
http://stlcourtrecords.wustl.edu/index.cfm
Source: UGA News, March-April 2003

The St. Louis Circuit Court Historical Records Project is now offering Freedom Suits, "nearly 300 legal petitions for freedom brought by or on behalf of person of color held in slavery within the St. Louis area from 1814 to 1860."
DNA Unlocks Ancestral Mysteries
Source: Parade Magazine, 6-8-03, pg 17

A black-owned firm, African Ancestry Inc. is selling tests to those who want to trace their African roots.  The company's DNA database included gene sequences collected from 82 different populations in west and central Africa, the source of most slaves from 1619 to 1850.  A test will compare a person's DNA with the sequences from these and other African regions.  It's $349 and requires just a swab of cells from inside the mouth.
 Gina Paige and Dr. Rick Kittles, co-founders of African Ancestry Inc.
     One of the first people to use the registry was Dr. Rick Kittles, a molecular biologist at Howard University, who created the concept and co-founded African Ancestry Inc.  "The DNA I inherited from my mother matched DNA common among the Hausa people of northern Nigeria," says Kittles.  "I went there and saw people who looked like my relatives in the U.S., and I felt a strong sense of community."  Visit http://www.africanancestry.com  for details. 

Extract: 
Music this Beautiful is Something to Share,
 
by Leo Harris, Newsweek, 6-9-03, pg. 19-20, Photo, Jay Wolke

       In 1926 when Leo Harris was 6 years old, he fell in love with classical music and has been trying to share it with the black community since then.  Although his children and grandchildren have learned to enjoy classical music, Harris feels his family is the exception in the black community. 
       Even young African-Americans who are lucky enough to be exposed to classical music often feel uncomfortable expressing their appreciation, largely because the media often define "black music" as hip-hop or rap.

Leo Harris

         The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has started a diversity program to encourage minorities to audition, and last year it hired its first black permanent musician. "If he makes it, he will have done something I could only dream about."

INDIGENOUS

Memorial dedicated to Bighorn warriors
Tribe Straddling U.S., Mexico Caught in     
       Immigration Dispute 
"Trail of Tears Drama"
Fry Bread
Mexico puts new focus on the rights of Indians
Mexico's Ancient Culture


Photo: Steve Miller, Rapid City Journal


Memorial dedicated to Bighorn warriors

Ghost Riders: Wire sculpture depicting warriors on horse-back is part of a memorial to the 
Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who fought in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn 


On June 25, 1876, Custer attacked an Indian village along the Little Bighorn River.  He apparently miscalculated the size of the force that he and his troops would face. For more than a century, a hilltop granite obelisk and white headstones on the battlefield have honored the estimated 260 members of the 7th Cavalry who died in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
        Indians have long said that they never received proper recognition for fighting off the invading force.  They now have a monument within sight of the cavalry memorial. Congress authorized a memorial in 1991, but the $2.3 million in funding for the memorial came 10 years later.  
        National Park Service officials estimated 4,000 people attended the ceremony on June 25, 2003, which included speeches from tribal leaders and politicians.


Extract: Tribe Straddling U.S., Mexico Caught in Immigration Dispute 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89826,00.html   June 19, 2003

SELLS, Ariz. — Immigration officials and politicians are debating the citizenship rights of an Indian tribe whose land straddles both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. It's a dilemma that began more than 150 years ago with the Gadsden Purchase (search), a sliver of land bought from Mexico in the 1850s that sits mostly in Arizona but also runs across the border. 
        Since then, the Tohono O'odham (search) tribal nation has been split in half, living and working on both sides of the border. Stretching from southwest of Tucson, Ariz., into Mexico, the area has become an illegal immigrant war zone as border agents continue to crack down on an open door into America. In an effort to cut down on that illegal immigration, U.S. officials over the last 20 years have made crossing the border more difficult, both for the Tohono O'odham and anyone else crossing through the 2.8 million acres of land.
        The problem for many Tohono is that they do not possess birth certificates proving their American citizenship. So people like Raymond Valenzuela, one of about 1,000 tribal members living in Mexico, say their right to free passage has been compromised. "I think it is not right for [the federal government] to divide us in half. It is an insult to us, our heritage, our culture," he said in an interview. "That is why I don't believe in this border line."
        Tribal leaders argue that many who live across the border were born on the United States side of the land, but have only verbal and not written documentation of their births. Elders say native tradition should allow these people to roam freely as Americans.
        A new bill has been drafted that would amend the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act (search), making all tribal members U.S. citizens, even though their permanent homes may be south of the border. The bill, currently in Congress, not only would allow for free passage for tribal members, but it would also allow for those that live on the Mexican side to receive medical and other government benefits.
        Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., introduced the controversial bill, which critics say will not only jeopardize security but also create an American welfare state inside Mexico. "It creates pockets of citizenship in another country," said Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz. "Even if these people weren't born in the U.S., had never been in the U.S. and had no intentions of coming to the U.S., they have become citizens of the U.S."
        Meanwhile, the Tohono O'odham say they are helping officials root out illegal Mexican aliens who are using the land to cross into American territory. Hundreds of Mexicans are captured every day on the land, leaving both the Tohono and federal officials in the difficult position of having to decide who should be allowed to stay and who has to go.

Fox News' Adam Housley and Sarah Gould contributed to this report.
Extract "Trail of Tears Drama"
by Jennifer L. Brown, The Associated Press via OC Register, 6-8-03 
Performed in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, since annually since 1969, June 21st through Labor Day.  
Cherokee Heritage Center, 918-456-6007   http://www.cherokeeheritage.org

The "Trail of Tears Drama" tells the 160-year-old story of the Cherokees who walked 900-miles when the federal government forced them from southeastern states and into the hills of present-day eastern Oklahoma. The bones of 4,000 to 8,000 Cherokees were strewn along the trek from Tennessee, across the Mississippi River, through parts of Missouri and Arkansas to Oklahoma.

"When I'm out here performing, I'm trying to give voice to all those people who have passed away, who cannot speak," said Lewis.  

About 16,000 Cherokees remained in the southeastern states when federal troops herded them in to stockades to await the journey to Indian territory.  Thousands died from cholera,  measles and dysentery. The first groups arrived in what is now Oklahoma in January 1839.  That year, the Cherokees adopted a new constitution and build homes, churches and schools in Tahlequah.  The Cherokee female Seminary was the first higher-education institution for women west of the Mississippi River.  The Cherokee Advocate, printed in 1844 in Cherokee and English, was the first newspaper in the territory.
        Today, the Cherokee Nation is the second-largest Indian tribe in the country, with 200,000 members.  The tribe never will forget its ancestors and will try to teach its history to anyone who comes, said Will Hill, who played Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee language.  "It's not just a play for entertainment," he said. "It's an actual reliving of history that my family endured.  The fact that the Cherokee people are telling it on their own land, among their own people, is one way that helps those that are non-native understand the tragedy and gravity of this history."

Fry Bread
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups white flour
4 level tablesp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water
1. Mix together flours, baking powder and salt.
2. Add vegetable oil a little at a time, mix to corn meal appearance
3. Add warm water, only enough to make dough stick together.
4. Roll into fist-size balls.
5. cover the bowl with a towel for about 10 minutes
6. Pat dough out with your hands to the size of large pancakes
7. Fry in hot vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides.

Mexico puts new focus on the rights of Indians

Associated Press, via O.C. Register, 5-20-03

In April, Mexico's Congress revamped an agency to give a higher profile to Indian rights. It replaced the 54-year-old National Indian Institute.  It will have a board composed of 13 Cabinet secretaries and an advising council of more than 60 Indian cultures in Mexico, as well as academic experts and state governments.  "Attention to the peoples and communities will now be a responsibility shared by the entire governmental apparatus," said President Fox.  "In addition, new spaces will be opened to social participation."  Previous operations included a wide range of services for legal advice and  road-building to Indian-language radio stations



UNDERSTANDING THE DIVERSITY OF INDIGENOUS MEXICO
By 
John P. Schmal

 

The Republic of Mexico is a very large country, boasting a total area of 756,066 square miles and a population of 103,400,165 (July 2002 estimate).  And it is noteworthy that this vast area is ruled by one central authority located in Mexico City.  The Mexico of today has a central government and a national culture, held together by the Spanish language, which is the primary means of communication across this entire nation. 

However, five hundred years ago - before European explorers found their way to the mainland of North America - Mexico was a land of enormous diversity.  Across this entire land mass lived hundreds of indigenous groups scattered across mountains, valleys, plateaus, deserts and tropical forests of the lower third of the North American continent.  Starting in 1519, Spanish explorers, soldiers and entrepreneurs began a gradual conquest of this land. 

Between 1519 and 1600, the Spanish encountered dozens of indigenous groups speaking a plethora of languages, worshipping a pantheon of Gods, and practicing a multitude of cultures.  In essence, Mexico was a collection of many nations and autonomous states.  But this diversity is a phenomenon that developed slowly and over time.

Individual ethnic groups – as their component parts became isolated geographically from from one another –  would undergo linguistic differentiation and cultural divergence.  The result was that one linguistic group would slowly – over a period of centuries – splinter into smaller communities, each of which spoke dialects that became incomprehensible to one another.  This would eventually lead to one ethnic group – for example the Zapotec Indians – speaking dozens of languages, all of which evolved from the original mother tongue, perhaps thousands of years ago.
 

Today, however, one might be tempted to ask the following questions: "Where are the indigenous people of present-day Mexico?  Did the old cultures and languages disappear centuries ago?"  Yes, many tribes, culture and languages disappeared into extinction from a wide variety of causes:  war, disease, slavery, assimilation, and mestizaje.  The Mexican and Mexican-American people of today may have received their genetic makeup from some of these "lost tribes," but Spanish culture and language have combined with Indian customs and practices to create hybrid cultures on a local level in many parts of the country. 

At the time of independence - 1821 to 1825 - the total population of Mexico is believed to have numbered around 6,800,000. Estimates by Rosenblat tell us that 54.4% of this population was classified as indigenous.  But by the time of the 1930 national census, the number of Mexican citizens five years of age and older speaking indigenous languages was 2,251,086 individuals, 16.03% of the 14,042,201 national population five years of age and older.

With the exception of the 1921 census, most of the census questionnaires of the Twentieth Century only asked Mexican residents if they spoke indigenous languages and if they were bilingual.  These criteria can be misleading.  For one thing, many people who may have considered themselves to be part of indigenous culture may not have spoken an Indian language.  Also left out of this category would be the vast majority of Mexicans who saw themselves as the descendants of both the Indians and the Europeans.

By 1990, Mexico's population had reached 81,249,645 individuals.  Of this total, only 5,282,347 persons five years of age and older spoke indigenous languages, representing 6.5% of the total population. Another 1,139,625 children ranging from newborns to 4 years old lived in the households of indigenous speakers, representing another 1.39% of the population.  And another 2,289,716 persons were considered Indian, but did not speak indigenous languages.  With all these categories added up, we find that 8,711,488 persons - 10.72% of the total population - were actually identified as Indian or indigenous.

When we move on to the 2000 census, we find that the population of Mexico had increased to 97,483,412 souls.  Of this total, 6,044,547 persons five years of age and older were classified as indigenous speakers, representing 6.2%.  Living with these indigenous speakers were 1,233,455 children aged 0 to 4 who represented another 1.27% of the national population.  And, finally, 1,103,312 people - or 1.13% - were classified as indigenous but did not speak an Indian dialect.  When we tally up all these numbers, we find that the 8,381,314 persons were classified as indigenous, representing 8.60% of the total population, a significant drop from the figure of 1990.

And where are all these indigenous speakers found?  Ten Mexican states have populations in which more than ten percent of the persons five years of age and older are speakers of indigenous languages, and most of these people are found in southern and central states. 

Another ten states have populations ranging between 2% and 5%.  And eight states - including Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes and Guanajuato - have indigenous-speaking populations that make up less than one percent of the population of their respective states.  The states with the largest percentages of people who speak indigenous languages are listed as follows, with the population of indigenous speakers and the corresponding percentage of the state population:

    Yucatán            549,532        37.32%
    Oaxaca            1,120,312        37.11%
    Chiapas            809,592        24.62%
    Quintana Roo        173,592        22.98%
    Hidalgo                  339,866        17.22%
    Campeche              93,765        15.45%
    Guerrero            367,110        13.87%
    Puebla                 565,509        13.04%
    San Luis Potosí         235,253        11.70%
    Veracruz-Llave         633,372        10.35%

Current events have put the spotlight on the indigenous issues taking place in Chiapas, and almost everyone has heard about the Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula.  But the southwestern state of Oaxaca - without a doubt - has the largest numeric population indigenous peoples within its borders.  In the 1990 census, the state boasted a total of 3,019,560 inhabitants, of which 1,018,106 were speakers of indigenous languages who were five years of age or more. 

Another 190,715 were children 0 to 4 years of age, living with indigenous speakers. And an additional 383,199 Oaxaca residents were classified as having an indigenous identity (but not speaking an Amerindian language).  Once you had added up all these figures, you will find that 1,592,020 persons of indigenous identity lived in the state, representing 52.72% of the total state population and 18.27% of the total indigenous population of the Mexican Republic.

As the fifth largest state of Mexico, Oaxaca is characterized by extreme geographic fragmentation that has led her amazing cultural diversity. Over time, the mountain ranges and valleys of Oaxaca isolated various ethnic groups from one another, leading to the development of many local dialects. This segregation allowed sixteen ethnolinguistic groups to evolve and to maintain their individual languages, customs and ancestral traditions intact well into the colonial era and to the present day.

However, the historian María de Los Angeles Romero Frizzi suggests that "the linguistic categorization is somewhat misleading" partly because "the majority of indigenous peoples in Oaxaca identify more closely with their village or their community than with their ethnolinguistic group." In addition, Ms. Romero writes, some of the language families - including Zapotec, Mixtec, and Mazateco - "encompass a variety of regional languages, making for a more diverse picture than the number sixteen would suggest."

Oaxaca's two largest indigenous groups are the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. Both ethnic groups belong the Oto-Manguean Linguistic Family, which includes as many as 172 languages, ranging as far north as the states of Hidalgo and Querétaro (the Otomí) and as far south as Nicaragua. The Zapotecs, occupying 67 municipios of Oaxaca, are the largest ethnic group in the state. 

In fact, of the 172 living Oto-Manguean tongues, sixty-four are Zapotecan. In the 2000 census, Zapotec was spoken by more 421,796 people, or 7.0 percent of all Indians in Mexico. The Mixtecs, with 437,873 speakers over the age of 5 in 2000, were the third largest Amerindian group in Mexico, making up 7.2 percent of the indigenous population of Mexico.

The second largest group of indigenous speakers in Mexico is the Mayan Indians.  The Maya - inhabiting several southern states - were tallied at 800,291 in 2000, representing 13.2% of the Indian population.  The Mayans are a very diverse group, speaking almost seventy separate languages and occupying almost the entire Yucatan Peninsula as well as Chiapas.  In the 2000 census, the percentage of indigenous speakers 5 years of age and over in Yucatan was 37.32%.  The corresponding figure for Chiapas was 24.62%. 

Assimilation and mestizaje in these southern states did not proceed at the rapid pace seen in the central and northern states of Mexico. In 2000, 495,597 indigenous speakers of Chiapas did not speak Spanish, bringing the percentage of monolingual residents to 36.55% of the Indian speaking population.  However, this figure represented only 9% of the total state population.

The Purépecha Indians of Michoacán - also known as the Tarascans - have carried on a proud cultural tradition for almost a thousand years.  Although many Michoacanos identify with their Purépecha roots, only 108,545 persons - or 3.2% - living in the state speak indigenous languages.  And Purépecha - spoken by a total of 121,409 Mexicans - is only spoken by 2% of all indigenous speakers, making this language only the fourteenth most common tongue spoken in the Mexican Republic.

The Náhuatl language - spoken by the Aztec Indians - is the most common language in all of Mexico.  It is spoken by 1,448,936 individuals five years of age and older, accounting for 24% of all indigenous speakers.  The language is most common in the central states, but is also spoken throughout the country.  Although the Náhuatl language has been widely spoken in Mexico for centuries, internal migration has also played a role in its dispersal throughout the Republic.  Similarly, large numbers of Mixtec and Zapotec speakers can be found throughout the Mexican Republic, far from their Oaxacan homelands.  In fact, in 2000, Mixtecos made up 31.74% of the indigenous-speaking population of Baja California, 36.52% of Baja California Sur's Indians, and 27.65% of Sinaloa's indigenous groups.

Most of the central and northern states of Mexico have much smaller populations of indigenous speakers. Although a wide range of nomadic Indians wandered through various parts of Chihuahua during the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, many of those aboriginal tribes have vanished into extinction, usually being assimilated into more dominant tribal groups or settling down in the Spanish settlements to work as laborers.  According to the 2000 census, the population of persons five years and more who spoke indigenous languages in the State of Chihuahua amounted to 84,086 individuals - or 3.21% of the population of Chihuahua five years of age and older. 

The primary indigenous groups represented in Chihuahua were:  the Tarahumara (who numbered 70,842, or 84.25% of the indigenous population), the Tepehuán (numbering 6,178), the Náhuatl (1,011), Guarijio (917), Mazahua, Mixteco, Zapoteco, Pima, Chinanteco, and Otomí.  Of these groups, only the Tarahumara, Tepehuán, Guarijio and Pima-speakers are indigenous to Chihuahua and adjacent states.  The rest of the indigenous speakers represented transplants from Indian tribes that came from other parts of Mexico.

Many people are curious about the indigenous people of Mexico because they represent the last vestige of the old Mexico.   We cannot discount the influence of the Spanish culture, nor can we ignore the genetic and cultural contributions that African slaves, Basque immigrants, French emigres, and mestizo communities have made to Mexican society.

The Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) is the Mexican governmental institution responsible for the collection and publication of census data.  The reader who has an interest in exploring the social demographic and economic data for Mexico and its component states, can access the INEGI 2000 census data as the following website:
http://www.inegi.gob.mx/difusion/espanol/poblacion/.  To find out the absolute numbers and percentages of indigenous speakers for each state in 2000, you may access the following URL:
http://www.inegi.gob.mx/difusion/espanol/poblacion/definitivos/nal/sintesis/lengua.pdf/.

Copyright © 2003 by John P. Schmal. All Rights under applicable law are hereby reserved.

John Schmal is the coauthor (with Donna S. Morales) of "Mexican-American Geneaological Research:  Following the Paper Trail to Mexico" (published in 2002 by Heritage Books of Bowie, Maryland).  

John also gives lectures on Indigenous Mexico and is a Mexican genealogical consultant at the Los Angeles Family History Center.    John Schmal and Donna Morales recently signed another contract with Heritage Books to publish "The Indigenous Roots of a Mexican-American Family," which should be appear in print this October.

Sources:

Lyle Campbell, American Indian languages: the Historical Linguistics of Native America (Oxford University Press: Nueva York, 1997).

Lyle Campbell and Marianne Mithun (eds.), The Languages of Native America: Historical and Comparative Assessment (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979).

Departamento de la Estadistica Nación, "Annuario de 1930." (Tacuba, D.F., 1932),

María de Los Angeles Romero Frizzi, "The Indigenous Population of Oaxaca From the Sixteenth Century to the Present," in Richard E.W. Adams and Murdo J. MacLeod (eds.), The Cambrdige History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II, Mesomaerica, Part 2 (Cambridge, United Kingdom:  Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Barbara F. Grimes (ed.) "Ethnologue: Languages of the World," 14th ed. Summer Institute of Linguistics: Dallas.

Barbara F. Grimes (ed.), "Languages of Mexico," Online, December 2001.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Mexico
Last modified: January 2002 (Dallas, Texas: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C.).

Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI). "Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda, 2000. Tabulados Básicos y por Entidad Federativa. Bases de Datos y Tabulados de la Muestra Censal."  Mexico City, 2001.

INEGI, "Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XI Censo General de Población y Vivienda, 1990, Resumen General."

Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI), "Social and Demographic Statistics," Online: http://www.inegi.gob.mx/difusion/ingles/fiest.html. November 11, 2002.

"National Profile of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico: Chapter 2. Location of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico," Online:
http://sedesol.gob.mx/perfiles/nacional/english/02_location.html April 10, 2002.

SEPHARDIC

http://www.sephardim.com
Bringing memories to the masses
La Santa Catalina
Bridging the Gap, Latinos and Jews
Iberia

Sephardim

This site is a research tool for Sephardic & Jewish genealogy. 

We will attempt to cover many facets of Sephardic culture and attempt to add new information daily.

http://sephardim.com/
Focus on:
England
France
Portugal
Italian
Spanish

 

Henry Abramson, associate professor, program of Holocaust and Judaic Studies 
at Florida Atlantic University, among some of the 30,000 books to be cataloged.


Extract: Bringing memories to the masses
by Lauren Gold, Cox News Service, via the O.C. Register, 5- 27-03

Yiddish, which includes elements from German, Hebrew and Slavic languages, was once spoken by 90 percent of the world's Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews.  At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of Yiddish speakers worldwide was estimated at 11 million.
        But the Holocaust cut that number drastically.  And in the years that followed, fewer and fewer Jewish parents chose to teach their children Yiddish.  Now those children are grown, and they're throwing away their parents" Yiddish books, leaving scholars scrambling to save one-of-a-kind artifacts from the trash bin.  
        Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collections was established in 1989 as a sanctuary for some of those artifacts. "it's a treasure," Abramson said.  "Many of the materials are priceless.  They're really irreplaceable.  This was the vernacular of 90 percent of Jewry of the 19th century.  This is one of the last legacies we have of this culture."  There are about 800 "Yiskor" books (collection of records, photographs and memoirs written by immigrants about their hometown) and shelves of children's books.
        About 20,000 books have been cataloged: 5,000 to 6,000 are still in boxes.  

LA SANTA CATALINA
Written by Richard Santos

International Research Historian, Linguist and Educator based in San Antonio Texas

Sent by Ernesto Uribe  Euribe000@aol.com and George Gause ggause@panam.edu
 

This story first appeared in the San Antonio Express-News on December 10, 1988, but was recently sent to me by numerous researchers interested in the Sephardic roots of many Hispanics.  Santos writes that the article was actually first published in a newspaper in 1973.

                                                   Little Ships Treasure . . . was People 

It was a small ship, dual masted, squared-rigged, displaying only 30 tons fully loaded. It slipped into the port of Tampico in September 1580 and quietly began to unload its treasure. It carried neither spices from Cathy nor silks from Persia. Yet, its cargo was more precious than any which had sailed in the opposite direction from the Incas of Montezuma's treasury, The Santa Catalina carried people. 
        Two hundred families that sailed upon the Santa Catalina were Spanish and Portuguese shephardic Jewish colonists. They were settlers brought by conquistador Captain General Governor don Luis de Carvahal y de la Cueva for the purpose of establishing "the Nuevo Reyno de Leon." This "new" kingdom of Leon was decreed to begin at the mouth of the Panuco River (Near
Tampico) and extend 200 square leagues in all directions. Four centuries later, the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, south Texas and arts of Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi would compromise the extent of the "New Kingdom of Leon."
        Although the families (including the Governor and relatives) were all of shephardic descent, a great number were sincere and devout Christians. They were called conversos (converts) or nuevos cristianos (new Christians). A number of these families, however, were anusium (forced ones) who had been forcibly converted to Christianity. According to the records of the Holy Office of the inquisition, an even greater colonists were crypto-Jews who outwardly practiced the Christian faith while privately observing the "Laws of Moses."
        A hurricane that hit the Tampico area shortly after their arrival, began to disperse the two hundred families. Many fled towards Mexico City, settling there and in Taxco, Puebla and Queretaro. Others moved into the mining areas of the north to meet old friends and relatives in Zacatecas, Mazapil and Mipimi. Still a number stayed with Carvajal y de la Cueva and entered into exploration and colonization of Nuevo Leon.
        One old friend who had apparently been waiting for the families was don Diego de Montemayor. .Somehow related to the governor, don Diego enlisted in the ranks bringing along another old friend, don Gaspar Castaño de Sosa. The fourth person was captain Alberto del Canto. who in 1577 had been the officer on record as founder of Saltillo. The four men, perhaps all related, had been
active prospectors and slave runners in the Zacatecas- Miprimi-Mazapil frontier. Through a coordinated effort, Carvajal y de la Cueva sent them to select townships and mining sites. Later the governor would claim that he had sent don Antonio de Espejo into the tierra incognita now called New Mexico. Some of Espejo's men--who later served under del Canto, Castano de Sosa and Montemayor and settled in the Nuevo Reino de Leon--would seem to
verify the claim. 
        In 1582, Carvajal y de la Cueva entered the heart of Nuevo Leon and first settled at the site del Canto had named San Gregorio. The governor renamed it Ciudad Leon.. Years later it was named Cerralvo. The next stop by del Canto was the place called Santa Lucia, which Carvajal y de la Cueva named Volla after the governors fall. Montemayor resettled the site and called it Monterrey. 
        Late in 1585, the Mexican Supreme court ordered the governor to present himself in Mexico City. Upon arriving, he was quickly placed under house arrest and charged with maltreatment of the Indians and overstepping his authority in regards to jurisdiction of other frontier kingdoms. 
        An Indian uprising in Nuevo Leon forced acting governor Diego Montemayor  to retreat to Saltillo, taking all families and prospectors there for safekeeping.
        In early 1588, Carbajal y de la Cueva fled Mexico City and appeared in Saltillo where he regrouped his men and re-entered Nuevo Leon and on May 2, 1588, formally established the mining township of Almaden. Castano de Sosa was appointed mayor while Montemayor continued as acting governor. 
        Fleeing Mexico City, the governor had become a fugitive of the law and was rearrested at Almaden and taken in chains to Mexico City. While in prison, the governor learned that his sister and some of her children had been arrested as being Crypto-Jews. The governor himself was charged with being of Jewish descent and a "protector of the Jews."
        Two of the governors nephews had already fled from New Spain. Miguel and Baltazar Rodrigues de Matos (alias Carbajal) changed their names and resettled in Amsterdam after a stopover in the Vatican state. Also fleeing at the time were the husbands of the two nieces, Jorge de Almeida and Antonio Diaz de Casares. They managed to escape with their respective children. The governor's namesake and heir apparent, Luis Rodriguez de Matos, alias Luis de Carbajal, was also arrested. Under severe torture by the inquisition, the younger Luis later identified 116 Crypto-Jews.
        The arrests in Mexico City prompted Castano de Sosa to act. On July 27, 1590, Castano de Sosa gathered 170 people at Almaden and marched towards New Mexico. They crossed the Rio Grande between the Devils and Pecos Rivers, and followed the latter all the way to New Mexico. 
        Shortly thereafter, the entire group was arrested and returned to Chihuahua. Most of those families slipped back to Saltillo while others eventually joined the 1598 New Mexico colonization expedition of Juan Perez de Onate. 
        The mining town of Almaden was destined to be resettled a number of times until it eventually became a permanent town site now known as Monclovia, Coahuila. Former governor Luis de Carvajal never learned of any of this for he died in mid-February 1591 in the cells of the holy office of the inquisition.
        The governor's relatives, who had been reconverted to Christianity and released in 1590, were rearrested beginning February 1, 1591. There was no possible excuse this time for they were confirmed 'unrepented Jews."  Their physical torture began exactly one year and five days later. Their executions were held in the great Acto de Fe (Act of Faith) on December 8, 1596. 
        The inquisition was lenient with the women. They were first strangled with a wire before their bodies were burned. Luis Rodriguez de Matos, alias Luis de Carbajal, alias Joseph Lumbroso was burned alive for refusing to denounce his faith. Church historians and others would later debate a possible last minute conversion, His manner of execution argued against it. 
        All family members named Carbajal died that day. Surviving family members included Almeida, Rodriguez, Nunez, Casares, Hernandez, Diaz, Fonseca, Perez, de Leon and Chavez. Also surviving would be the brothers Miguel and Baltazar who chose to honor their brother, the young Luis by
changing their name to Lumbrano, thence other surviving possible relatives would include the del Canto, Castao de Sosa and Montemayor families with their respective Rodriguez, Garza, Falcon, Trevino, Quintanilla, Guerra, Hinojosa and Villarreal in-laws. 
        Today, 408 years after the arrival of La Santa Catalina and 392 years and two days after the Acto de Fe (Act of Faith), the descendants of the passengers of that small ship are primarily scattered throughout Northeast Mexico, Texas and New Mexico. By en large the descendents are Christian today. All that remains is a whispered oral tradition handed down for more than 400 years that are of Jewish descent. 
        Also remaining are selected plates and "folk customs." This include Semite (Semite bread), Capirotada (a raisin pudding), Albondigas (a seafood delicacy), turcos (a meat-filled bread called empanaditas in New Mexico), cabrito al pastor (roasted, not stewed in its own blood) and tortillas de flor de trigo (flower tortillas), which the young Luis recorded in his diary as being prepared in what is now the "Valle de Circumsision" (Circumcision Valley).
        The Southwest Hispanic Research Institute of the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is initiating its project on "Hispanic Jews and their Catholic descendants in New Mexico" The Institute is to be congratulated into delving into this long forgotten chapter in history of Northeast Mexico, Texas and New Mexico.
        After almost 20 years, I am still editing and expanding my manuscripts on the subject which first appeared in the newspaper in 1973. It is a debt owed to the passengers of La Santa Catalina. May they be remembered this Holiday season. 


Bridging the Gap, Latinos and Jews
by Pedro G. Cavallero
NCLA, Vol. 18, No. 4, Spring 2003

On February 5, 2002, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), in conjunction with the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) and the World Jewish Congress (WCJ), sponsored the First  Annual Latino/Jewish Congressional Awards Ceremony.  It was an historic event attended by numerous members of Congress.  WJC chairman Dr. Israel Singer and NCLR President Raul Yzaguirre urged those in attendance to identify issues that require action, and in which the experience of both communities can be put to work building an effective coalition between Jews and Latinos, constituting a model of intercommunity understanding at the international level.  
        Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late New York producer and director Joseph Papp founded FFEU with the purpose of strengthening relations among ethnic communities, combating bigotry and promoting understanding among Blacks, Jews and Latinos.  WJC is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations serving as a diplomatic arm of the Jewish.
        The Joseph Papp Racial Harmony Award was given to Representatives Bob Filner (D-CA) and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX).  Congressman Reyes has been an outspoken advocate in favor of the Hispanic/Jewish dialogue and a strong supporter of the El Paso Holocaust Museum.  Congressman Filner represents California District 50 - one of the most ethnically diverse districts in the nation composed of 41% Latino, 29% Anglo, and 15% African American.  In 2002, Filner was the only California member of Congress to receive a perfect score on all the votes monitored by the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

TEXAS 

National Council of La Raza, July 12-July 15
Seguin Family Visits Alamo Movie Set
Mythologizing The Alamo 
JLC RANCH
The Journal of South Texas 
Dallas Latino Cultural Center 
J.D. Villarreal's Homepage
The Saint of Cabora in El Paso
University of Texas at Arlington Collection
Los presidios de Coahuila
Entradas and Royal Inspection Expeditions
European comb Morion Helmet, Circa, 1570
Nuevas Philipinas - Provincia de Tejas, 1528
Catalogue of the Spanish Collection
Affidavit from Don Manuel Muñoz 
Galveston Immigration Database 

National Council of La Raza Annual Conference,
July 12-July 15
Featuring Latino Expo USA, Austin Convention Center

For more information: 202-785-5384, ext. 5
For sponsor information, visit http://www.nclr.org/special/conf


Seguin Family Visits Alamo Movie Set 
http://www.seguinfamilyhistory.com/alamoset.htm
Sent by Albert Seguin  ASeguin2@aol.com

[[What an extra special family reunion this must have been. Go to the website and read all about it.  Good to feel that a family unit will be overseeing the contents of the Alamo movie soon to be released.  Wonderful photo of the clan in front of the site.]]

"Yes, we all had a wonderful time, but the most important item on our agenda, is the promotion of our ancestor Col. Juan N. Seguin. We must bear in mind to continue in our quest to help educate the general public at large of Juan Seguin's contributions, and needless to say, his many sacrifices, in helping to obtain a free and independent Texas.

It is important to let our youngsters know of their birth right and heritage so that they too may hold their heads up high and proud in the knowledge that our ancestors helped to make the Great State of Texas what it is today."  


Extract: Mythologizing The Alamo 
by Richard G. Santos  

Points made in this article that was published in 1990 are:

1. There were not between 180-189 defenders of the Alamo, but more likely between 250-257.

2. Not true that there were no male survivors, at least four 
escaped and two have been positively identified, Henry Warnell and the other San Antonian Brigado Guerrero, belonged to Captain Juan Seguin's unit serving under Travis.

3. There never was a Moses rose.

4. 13,000 Mexico soldiers did not attack the Alamo, or suffer casualties of 1,500 to 6,000. Santa Ana committed approximately 1,850 men to the final battle, in which he suffered approximately 550 casualties.

Santos names several individuals who chose to embellish, twist, or obscure the facts about the battle at the Alamo: Felix Nuñez, Susannah Dickinson, William Zuber, Louis Rose. Working with archival data, Santos stripped away the tall tales from the truth. For example:

In the article, he points out that Travis' slave, Joe, in his first account of the siege, and battle stated he stayed in a room and could not see any action. Later, he is credited with saying that after being shot, Travis managed to sit up and run a sword through General Ventura Mora. Mora, acting general of the cavalry during the siege, was posted on the Gonzales Road and did not participate in the final assault of the Alamo. Moreover, he lived to a ripe old age and saw action in the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-1848.

Please go to the article for other examples. 

Source: "Mythologizing The Alamo", Express News (San Antonio, Texas: Saturday, March 3, 1990, page 6-C)  http://alamo-de-parras.welkin.org/archives/newsarch/santos.html


Extract: JLC RANCH, Founding family's San Antonio land sale to Toyota typical in changing state
by David McLemore San Antonio Bureau, The Dallas Morning News, May 25, 2003

Few places are as linked to the history of San Antonio as the JLC Ranch.  In 1794, Juan Ignacio Perez de Casanova, a young colonist from the Canary Islands, received a royal grant for a league of rolling pastureland between Leon creek and the Medina River.  There, he established el Rancho de la Purisima Concepcion, later expanding it to more than 24,000 acres.
        Don Juan Ignacio defended San Antonio from Mexican revolutionary forces amid attempts to break away from Spain.  He served briefly as the Spanish provincial governor of Texas before his death in October 1823. 
        His son, Jose Ignacio Perez*, continued ranching on the land.  During the Texas Revolution, he remained loyal to the Mexican government, taking his family to property along the Rio Grande.  He continued to pay taxes on the ranch however, which help him reclaim the land when he returned in 1846.  The Texas Republic, however, recognized only the original land grant of 4,000 acres.  That passed on to his descendants as the JLC Ranch.
The article did not include information about whether the current property holders of the land, the Small family, were descendants of Jose Ignacio Perez.  Patrica Walsh Small said that her family had raised cattle and horses on the 3,000 acres of rich grassland just 12 miles south of downtown San Antonio for more than 200 years. Also Mrs. Small's husband, John H. Small stated that eight generations of  the family had lived on the land. 
Plus the title says  . . .Founding Family's San Antonio land. .

Next month, the JLC Ranch, arguably one of the oldest ranches in the state remaining in the hands 
of one family, will be transferred for $16 million to Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America Inc. Within three years, pickup truck, not cattle, will be produced there.
        On February 10, Toyota formally announced it would make an $800 million investment in a plant that will employ 2,000 workers.  The state plans $14 million in infrastructure improvements on the site, mostly extending a rail line to the plant, and the city will kick in another $14 million.
        
___________________________________________________________________________ 

[[Editor's note: there are historical errors in this article, please read below and go to the website, for more information.  Juan Ignacio Pérez, the son of Domingo and María Concepción (de Carvajal) Pérez, was born in July 1761, the third of thirteen children, into a family long involved in the military affairs of Texas.  He was not a young colonist from the Canary Islands. ]] 

* Ignacio Pérez served as ad interim governor of Texas in early 1817, being relieved by Manuel Pardo in March.  Later in 1817  Pérez gave valuable service as an Indian fighter and in 1819 was sent by Governor Antonio María Martínez to oppose the encroachment on Texas soil by the Long Expedition. Pérez left San Antonio de Bexar on September 27, 1819, with some 550 men, soon to be augmented by 100 more when Indians threatened the force.  Moving toward Nacogdoches, he captured two small groups of Anglo-Americans.  On October 11 and again on October 15, he engaged small detachments of James Long's men.  He arrived in Nacogdoches on October 28 and moved on to the Sabine.  Long and remnants of his force had fled, but Pérez remained through November to drive the remaining Anglo-Americans out; his return trip to San Antonio was completed on February 2, 1820.
        In October 1821, he was sent again to engage Long, who reorganized his forces at Point Bolivar and had taken the town of La Bahía (present Goliad).  The town capitulated quickly before 
Pérez, and four days later, on October 8, 1821, Long was made a prisoner by Pérez and taken to San Antonio.

Source:  The Handbook of Texas, a Dictionary of Essential Information
Published by the The Texas State Historical Association, 1952

_____________________________________________________________________________________

To learn more go http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/fpe32.html

This biography is written by Jack Jackson, author of Los Mesteños, 1721-1821
Excellent book that covers Spanish Ranching in Texas.  


THE JOURNAL OF SOUTH TEXAS

Sent by George Gause  ggause@panam.edu

A Journal devoted to the History and Heritage of South Texas
    The South Texas Historical Association (STHA) was founded in  1954 "to encourage the organization and to aid in the development of local historical societies and to discover, collect, preserve and publish historical records and date relating to South Texas, and with special 
emphasis on the Tamaulipan background and the colony of Nuevo Santander."

    There are two meetings a year and jointly sponsored co-sessions with the John Stormont Lectures on South Texas Studies at Victoria College in February.

    _THE JOURNAL OF SOUTH TEXAS_ is the biannual publication and is sent to all members of the South Texas Historical Association. _JST_ is published by Texas A&M University-Kingsville for the South Texas Historical Association.  Individual Association membership is $15.00 annually.  Joint membership is $20.00 annually for a couple.

    The _JOURNAL OF SOUTH TEXAS_ seeks contributions about the social, political, military, economic and cultural history of South Texas.  Also sought are manuscripts about biographies, about the geography or about the literature of South Texas.  Manuscripts and correspondence concerning editorial matters should be addressed to Leslie Gene Hunter, editor, Department of History, MSC#166, Texas A&M-Kingsville, 700 University Boulevard, Kingsville, Texas 78363-8202. 

    To subscribe to the _JOURNAL OF SOUTH TEXAS_ send a check payable to "South Texas Historical Association" to the Treasurer:

    Professor Larry Knight, Treasurer  email: kflgh00@tamuk.edu
    South Texas Historical Association
    c/o Department of History
    MSC #166
    Texas A&M University-Kingsville
    Kingsville, Texas 78363-8202

LATINO CULTURAL CENTER OPENING IN SEPTEMBER 2003 IN DALLAS

WHERE: 2600 Live Oak at Good Latimer, Dallas, TX 75204

State-of-the-art building and cultural programs will enrich Dallas area with Latino culture and heritage
Sent by George Gause  ggause@panam.edu

WHAT: In just a few months, the North Texas area will be infused with Latino culture and heritage with the opening of the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas.  At the world-class cultural, performance and educational complex uniquely focused on Latino culture and contributions, the rich artistic expression of Latinos from yesterday to today will be represented.  

The goals of the center include the following:
*Preserve the arts and cultural traditions of the Latino population;
*Expose non-Latino communities in North Texas to the rich cultural heritage of the Latino population; 
*Nurture the Latino arts community in Dallas and beyond, especially help younger artists develop.

CONTACT: John Watts Nieto, Cultural Programs Coordinator, Latino Cultural Center
214/670-3320 or jnieto@mail.ci.dallas.tx.us 
Danielle McClelland, Public Information Officer, City of Dallas
214/564-7697 (mobile) or dmcclel@ci.dallas.tx.us 


J.D. VILLARREAL'S HOMEPAGE  

http://home.granderiver.net/~juandv/rio.html

If you have roots in Starr County, please look at this web site.  Links to many resources, both historical and genealogical.  J.D. is a teacher and has compiled related information as well.

Newspapers in Texas 
RootsWeb Message Board for Starr County -Ancestory.Com, 1860 Starr County, Census image 
Roots Web : Ancestry.Com for Starr County 
Starr County, Texas History 
Pictures of Rio Grande City
The Online Handbook of Texas

Family Roots: Includes Starr County Family Roots. 
JUAN IGNACIO BARRERA FAMILY'S GENEALOGY (MIER, TAMAULIPAS MEXICO) 
Jose O. Guerra's-Hispanic Genealogy Web Page 
Family Trees of South Texas: by Erasmo Eduardo (Eddie) Pulido 
Web Family Cards: By Danny Villarreal 
Los Villarreales Genealogy de Porcion 75-Juan Bautista Villarreal-in Starr County 


The Saint of Cabora in El Paso

by Luis Alberto Urrea, University of Illinois at Chicago
Member of the Paso al Norte Museum, International Advisory Council
Source: CrossRoads, News from the Paso al Norte Museum, Spring 2003

At the turn of the 20th century, el Paso saw the beginning of a spiritual movement that would sweep the borderlands.  The "Yaqui Saint," Teresa Urrea (1873-1906), had been expelled from Mexico by the dictator, Porfirio Diaz.  she had inspri3d poltiical and religious unrest in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua.  This unrest fueled the bitter Yaqui wars with the Mexican government, and resulted in the tragic siege and destruction of  Tomochic and the ill-fated invasion of Arizona by warriors loyal to Teresita's cause.
        Teresita was the illegitimate daughter of Tomás Urrea, a wealthy young land owner in the state of Sinaloa.  She was born in a dirt-floor ramada, then abandoned by her teenaged mother, an indigenous girl from the workers' village on the ranch.  In the absence of a mother, Teresita was raised by her aunt.
        As a young girl, she began her studies with the ranch midwife and healer woman, Maria Sonora, also known as Huila, or "skinny woman."  Under Huila, Teresita learned the basics of curandera herb-work and midwifery.  During this training, Tomas Urrea fell into disfavor with the Diaz regime and had to flee Sinaloa.  He took his operation into Sonora, settling on the family's henequen and cattle ranch near Alamos, the obscure property known as Cabora.  Teresita joined the procession of 300 head of cattle, horses and mules, workers, vaqueros, servants and family.  At the time, Tomas had a dozen children with his wife, Loreto Urrea.
        Once in Cabora, the Urreas became friends and occasional sponsors of the Yaqui villages nearby, granting protection from the mounted Mexican cavalry, and cutting out a percentage of the herd each year to save the tribe from starvation.  The Yaquis, in turn, spared Cabora from raids.  It was in this phase of the family history that Teresita came to the attention of Tomas and was accepted into the Urrea clan.  One member of the extended family was the well-know El Paso resident, Lauro Aguirre.      
        Aguirre was a political activist, a pre-revolutionary, and a newspaper man.  He launched the Diaz-baiting frontier newspaper, El Independiente, from the safety of Texas.  And when Teresita's followers revolted, he offer her shelter in his home.
        Her "miraculous" gifts appeared after a near-death experience.  After lying in a coma for days, she was pronounced dead.  At the teenager was prepared for burial, she awoke.  Reporters stated that her body gave off the scent of roses, and she began to heal her followers by touch. At the height of her powers, Teresita was besieged by 10,000 pilgrims in Sonora.
        Once she arrived in El Paso, Aguirre arranged for a tent to be set up in the center of town, and she took up her healing there.  She also wrote columns and editorials for the paper.  Unfortunately, Diaz decided to silence her from afar, and repeated attempts to assassinate her, drove her into the mountains of Arizona, where the Mexican spies could not reach her.  Her travels took her to Long Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis and New York.  She was celebrated and criticized in the American press, and she achieved some fame in the tabloids, being called "The Mexican Joan of Arc," "The Mexican Girl Saint," and "The Queen of the Yaquis."
        After settling in Clifton, Arizona, Teresita - now the mother of two girls - built a clinic and dedicated herself to traditional medicine.  They say she contracted "consumption" in the floods of 1906-07.  She died there at the age of 33.              

 


University of Texas at Arlington: Special Collections Guide

http://libraries.uta.edu/SpecColl/findaids/guideHisPhoto.htm

Enter the archives and special collections at the University of Texas at Arlington through the websitio cited below.  Compiled by Shirley R. Rodnitzky and Edited by Gerald D. Saxon, "A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the Special Collections Division at The University of Texas at Arlington," prepared in 2000, contains eight major sections:
1.  Guide to the Collection
2.  Historical Manuscripts Collection
3.  Texas Labor Archives
4.  Texas Political History Archives
5.  University Archives
6.  Historical Photographs Collection
7.  Unprocessed Collections
8.  Guide Index
SOURCE: 
Roberto R. Calderon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of History
PO Box 310650, University of North Texas
Denton, Texas 76203-0605
Tel. 940.369.8929/Office  
Fax. 940.369.8838/Dept.
E-mail: beto@unt.edu

Los presidios de Coahuila
http://mx.geocities.com/presidial/lospresidios.htm
Sent by John Inclan fromgalveston@yahoo.com

This is a wonderful resource for those that have already some information of their soldier ancestors. It also will help in giving a better understanding of what it took to set up and maintain settlements in these area.  Terms such as:    principal     los indios     los misioneros     los soldados     relatos     personajes     curiosidades  otros sitios    participa     

Los presidios eran las fortificaciones utilizadas por los soldados presidiales para protección contra los indios o las invasiones de extranjeros. Formaban una línea desde el océano Pacífico hasta el Golfo de México. En Coahuila (y Texas) existieron varios de los que aun se conservan ruinas de algunos. 

[[ Read of the character description of the soldiers in Coahuila. ]]  El reglamento de 1772 dispuso una nueva distribución de los presidios a lo largo de la frontera norte, formando una línea de defensa contra los indios y extranjeros. Esta línea constaba de trece presidios, más dos en avanzada hacia el norte  (los de Santa Fe en Nuevo México, y San Antonio del Bejar en Texas). Los presidios mantenían un correo mensual entre ellos. Bajo este contexto se formó una casta de hombres muy especiales, que fue la de los soldados presidiales.   Los soldados presidiales, una casta muy especial de hombres El reclutamiento de los soldados presidiales se hacia con gentes de la región. Nacidos en los desiertos y montañas del norte, criados bajo el constante peligro en que los ponían los indios bárbaros que infestaban esas provincias, siempre expuestos al extremoso clima, acostumbrados a grandes jornadas y fatigas, los soldados presidiales poseían  características fundamentales para su sobrevivencia y para el combate contra los indios que los soldados regulares de otras partes no tenían. 

Information on the following Presidios
PRESIDIO DE SANTIAGO DEL SALTILLO DEL OJO DE AGUA 
PRESIDIO DE SAN FRANCISCO DE COAHUILA 
PRESIDIO DE SAN JUAN BAUTISTA DEL RIO GRANDE 
PRESIDIO DE SANTA ROSA MARIA DE SACRAMENTO 
PRESIDIO DE SAN FERNANDO DE AUSTRIA 
PRESIDIO DE SAN VICENTE. 
PRESIDIO DE MONCLOVA VIEJO 
PRESIDIO DE AGUA VERDE 
PRESIDIO DE LA BABIA 


New Spain-Index, Entradas and Royal Inspection Expeditions, 1550-1800


Alonso De León 1689
Martín de Alarcón 1718-1719
Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo 1721-1722
Pedro de Rivera Villalón 1727
http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/alarconex3.htm
Marqués de Rubí 1767
Father Fray Gaspar José de Solis 1767

For Biographies, Search Handbook of Texas Online
The Rivera Expedition 1727

Pedro de Rivera y Villalón was designated by the King of Spain at the urging of the royal "auditor of war" Juan Manuel de Olivan Rebolledo and viceroy Juan de Acuña y Bejaraño, Marqués de Casafuerte to inspect the presidios and missions of the northern frontier of New Spain which included Nuevas Philipinas province of the Tejas Indians or Texas in 1727. His diary, Diario y Derrotero, was self-published in 1736 in Guatemala while he was governor and an original copy is in the Benson Latin American Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX. His party explored south from San Antonio into the future DeWitt Colony region which is described below. (Bracketed notes are in places based on those by Jack Jackson and William C. Foster in Imaginary Kingdom: Texas as Seen by the Rivera and Rubí Military Expeditions, 1727 and 1767, published 1995).September 26 to December 23 1727 

SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS © 1997-2001, Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights Reserved


EUROPEAN COMB MORION HELMET Circa 1570

Mistakenly thought to be representative of a Spanish helmet, this comb morion helmet became the universally popular style for the military during the reign of King Edward VI of England. It was also used by Spanish soldiers during their colonization's efforts.
Sent by John Inclan  fromgalveston@yahoo.com


Nueva Espana, Nuevas Philipinas - Provincia de Tejas, 1528-1821

http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/Spaincon.htm
Sent by John Inclan  fromgalveston@yahoo.com

Links to each of the following:

Anti-British Allies--Suppliers of Longhorn Beef 
Target of Filibusters--
    Early Player in Mexican Independence
Viceroys
Governors
Commandants
Sword & Cross
Inspection Expeditions
Bernardo de Galvez
Origin-Texas Ranching
Spanish Xenophobia
Filibuster Phillip Nolan Peter Ellis Bean
Disputed Borderland
Zebulon Pike
San Marcos de Neve 1807
San Marcos de Neve 1807
Anthony Glass 1808-1809
Events in Texas 1811
Las Casas Insurrection
Juan Zambrano
Revolution 1812
1st Republic of Texas Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara
Salcedo's Execution
Battle of Medina
Coastal Movements
Champ d'Asile
Border Treaty 1819
Dr. James Long
Immigration by Contract
Mexican Independence 

SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS
© 1997-2002, Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights Reserved 


CATALOGUE OF THE SPANISH COLLECTION

Catalogue of the Spanish Collection of the Texas General Land Office, Part I:  Titles, Unfinished Titles, Character Certificates, Applications for Admission, Registers & Field Notes.  June, 2003.  8 ½ x 11 in.; xviii, 344 pp.; softbound; $15.00 (shipping/handling and taxes included).

Catalogue of the Spanish Collection of the Texas General Land Office, Part II:  Correspondence, Empresario Contracts, Decrees, Appointments, Reports, Notices & Proceedings. June, 2003.  8 ½ x 11 in.; x, 276 pp.; softbound; $15.00 (shipping/handling and taxes included).

The Spanish Collection of the Texas General Land Office is one of the premier collections of  Texas historical documents and has long been considered the most valuable source of original records on the settlement of Texas before 1836.  The first comprehensive catalogue of the Spanish Collection is now available for general distribution.

The catalogue is in two parts.  Part I features the documents associated with obtaining a Spanish or Mexican land grant in Texas (titles, unfinished titles, character certificates, applications for admission, registers, and field notes), along with an essay on the history of the collection and explanations of each of the 24 categories of records.  Entries include genealogical information abstracted from the records.  The index to this volume lists approximately 6,500 actual or prospective Texas settlers, as
well as roads, Indian villages, ferries, and crossings referenced in the surveys.  Part II describes the correspondence, mission records, empresario contracts, decrees, reports, and proceedings generated by Spanish and Mexican efforts to administer their colonization and land distribution
systems in Texas.  It includes a topical arrangement of the records with a full description of each document, a calendar with summary descriptions, and a comprehensive name/subject index.  

Initial availability is limited to 450 sets, with future availability contingent on demand.  The catalogue is being offered at $15.00 per volume; $30 for the two-part set (shipping/handling and taxes included ).  Credit card orders (Visa or MasterCard only) can be placed by calling toll free 1-800-998-4456 (select option 2, Archives and Records).   To pay by check or money order, please send your remittance, payable to the "Texas General Land Office," to:  Texas General Land Office, Attn:  Archives and Records Division, 1700 N. Congress Ave., Austin, TX  78701. 

Note:  This catalogue does not include Spanish and Mexican land grants in the trans-Nueces, which prior to 1836 was not part of Texas.   Trans-Nueces grants are considered in a separate Texas General Land Office publication titled Guide to Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in South Texas, available for $5.41.


Affidavit from Don Manuel Muñoz 
Dated 14 August 1794

Don Manuel Muñoz, Lieutenant Colonel of the Cavalry of the Royal Army and, by order of His Majesty, Political and Military Governor of the province of Texas which is divided into two Ministries, the Royal Treasury and that of War.

I certify:  

        The doctor, Don Agustin Guillermo de Espangemberg, during the time he was in this Villa (San Fernando de Bexar), treated and cured me from an accident caused by "cargazon de humores" and that he also bled the Assistant Inspector, Don Juan Gutierrez de la Cueva, who failed to inquire if any medicine was used (not having the curiosity to ask); he had done the same with the otehr persons listed here which are: Don Blas Gil, who has given certification because of the cures to both himself and his wife; Don Joaquin Flores; JOsefa de Abila; Don Vicente Flores; Jose Antonio Quiñones; Don Manuel de la Concha; Jose Areola; a daughter of Mariano Ureña; Rita de Luna; Francisco de los Santos; Jose Reymundo Diaz; Don Xavier Galan; Carmen Guerra; Antonio Leal; Don Lucas de "Agula (or Aguilar); the driver of the Assistant Inspector: the Cadet, Don Jose Maria Guadiana; Don Vicente de la Cueva: a daughter of the Cavalry Corporal, Patricio Rodriguez, all of whom I have received declarations from and they state that they were helped and treated for their ailments and they were cured, not having suffered recurrences, even to this day.

        It is also true that he treated and applied medication to Don Miguel Yañez, (who served briefly as a notary to the Governor who writes this), but he did not appear to give a declaration.  He did state, however, that his illness was due to other causes.

      And so that it may be recorded wherever it may be convenient, I present this referral to Don Agustin Guillermo de Espangemberg, dated in San Antonio de Bexar on the fourteenth day of August, 1794.

                                                                                             Don Manuel Muñoz   (Rubric)

Spanish Archives at the Bexar County Courthouse, microfilm roll #24, Los Bexarenos, 1986


Galveston Immigration Database at the Texas Seaport Museum
 
can be accessed for free: http://www.tsm-elissa.org/immigration-login.htm
Sent by Joan De Soto

 What information is provided? The database includes names of passengers and members of their traveling parties, age, gender, occupation, country of origin, ship name, dates of departure and arrival, and destination in the United States. Information is also provided for a small number of ship arrivals. The ship database includes ship name, type of ship, master, home port of ship, arrival date at Galveston, port of departure, destination port, tonnage, number of immigrants, ship owner, and citation source. 
      Searches of the Galveston Immigration Database are based on surnames - the family’s last name. The first data retrieved is a table of all the last names that match the last name of the search. If an exact match is not found, a table of names closest to the spelling of the search name will appear on the screen. 
      The passenger arrival records normally listed people traveling together as a single record, and included several first names. When these records were entered into the database, space limitations allowed a maximum of 7 names to be recorded as a single “family unit”. If there were more than 7 people in the traveling family unit, the information was split into two records. This explains why, if you find several people with the same last name, it is possible that when you view the record for that family, you will see the same family details page. 
      The majority of the people who came to Galveston were either single men, or wives with children. There were many complete families, but more often they came at different times. Usually, one of the male family members immigrated first, to make enough money to afford to send for the rest of the family.
       How was this information gathered? The museum staff transferred records from microfilm of Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service passenger manifests from the National Archives, books containing additional source material and isolated passenger lists published in The Galveston Daily News. Additional sources continue to be researched for future inclusion in the database. 
       In all, the names of more than 130,000 passengers from the period 1846-1948 have been entered. The database lists only those who first disembarked in Texas. Many immigrants came through New York or one of the other East Coast ports and trans-shipped to Texas. Family legend may hand down a Texas port of entry, while immigration records reflect an Eastern port.

       Are the records complete? An unknown percentage of the records are missing; there are very few entries between 1871 and 1894.

Frequently asked questions: http://www.tsm-elissa.org/immigration-faq.htm

EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

The medals of Saint Hélèna - Genealogy  
Wm Research Center, New Orleans Collection
New Orleans (La.) Justices of the Peace
"La Nouvelle Frontiere"
Library will become Family History Center 
Saint-Domingue Page
Bringing a community of diversity together, LULAC


The Medals of Saint Hélèna-Genealogy  

http://www.stehelene.org/php/accueil.php?lang=en
Sent by Joan De Soto

The information is not all in English. The documents are in French.   

Interest and aim of this website: 
To create a database that will be of interest both to genealogists and historians. This work is especially important as the archives held by the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honour was destroyed in Paris in 1871. Only the copies of the documents held by each of the French Departmental Archives can be used if they themselves have not been destroyed. This database will allow us to reconstruct the vanished archives.. 
Display all the information that has been found in the Departmental Archives and outside France. 

What information can be found in these documents ? 
There are a lot of details on the army careers of our ancestors (countries visited, wounds received during the battles,..), on their physique (height, eyes colour,..), how they lived in 1857 (income, poverty,..) their health, their family situation, their feelings about the events in which they have participated.. 

Williams Research Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection

410 Chartes St.  New Orleans, LA 70130
504-598-7171
Manuscript Librarian, ex  504-598-7158

New Orleans (La.) Justices of the Peace 
Sent by Joan De Soto
Sample Index to Marriage Records http://nutrias.org/~nopl/inv/jp/jpmarr.htm

Louisiana Division staff members and volunteers have spent ten years putting together a card index to the marriage records of the New Orleans Justices of the Peace for the period 1846-1880. The index is almost complete and occupies three card catalogs. One of the last volunteers to work on the project used his personal computer to generate the cards. We were able to use his data to create what amounts to a "sample" of the full index. That "sample" is available through this web page.Each index entry displays the names of both spouses (each record is entered twice, one with groom's name in the first cell and again with bride's name in the first cell), date of record, and call number of the record volume in which the full record may be found. Within the record volumes entries are in chronological order. The page numbers shown in the index do not appear on the pages in the microfilmed volumes.

"La Nouvelle Frontiere" 
    
Sent by Joan De Soto
Theme of 2003 Society for the History of Discoveries Meeting
Source: Fronteras, Spring 2003, Vol. 12, No. 1

2003 marks the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase.  When the U.S. purchased this huge area from the French in 1803, it rapidly expanded the size of the young nation and helped precipitate migration westward.  The 2003 Society for the History of Discoveries meeting in New Orleans (October 23 to 26) will feature the theme "La Nouvelle Frontiere: Exploration and Discovery of the Louisiana Purchase," but papers will also be presented on other subjects.  For more information, visit the SHD website:  http://www.sochistdisc.org

Library will become Family History Center 
  
The Times-Picayune Thursday June 05, 2003
By Dennis Calkins, St. Tammany bureau 
Sent by David Lewis dclewis@jps.ne

Personal Note: The Times-Picayune is the largest circulation daily newspaper in Louisiana.

Genealogy fans in St. Tammany Parish will soon have the vast resources of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints at their fingertips. That's because the Covington branch of the parish library has been named an official Family History Center of the church, thanks to the work of Genealogy Society Vice President Robert Noles. 
        The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' database of genealogical records in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the most extensive source of such information in the United States. As an official Family History Center, the library will be able to access microfilm records of the church's vast database. 
Noles said that about two and a half years ago, he heard that the church was starting to let public libraries become Family History Centers. "Up until that time, such centers were only associated with local LDS churches," he said. "I talked to the director of the Family History Center in Baton Rouge and the one in Slidell, and they were not aware of the library project." 
The centers are run by volunteers and, generally, are open 10 to 15 hours a week, depending on how many volunteers are working there, Noles said. He said he called the church offices in Salt Lake City and got in touch with Jason Bowden, who knew about the project. "He said there was a pilot program involving 20 or 30 libraries," Noles said. 
Bowden also is responsible for issuing licenses for the church's FamilySearch software. The software is a database of genealogy indexes that history centers use to find names, dates and associated records. 
        However, the software doesn't contain images of the original documents. Those are available on microfilm to Family History Centers only, by request, and on loan from the church's Family History Library in Salt Lake City. 
        The microfilm records can't be accessed outside of the control of the Family History library. Bob Wilson, branch manager of the library's Electronic Resource Center in Covington, where Noles was conducting genealogy training classes, said he talked to Noles and was able to get a license to use the FamilySearch software. 
        Subsequently, the St. Tammany library agreed to apply to the church for designation as a Family History Center and approval was given in May. Genealogy is an important part of the foundation of the Latter Day Saints church, which is why the church has accumulated an incredible amount of genealogical records in Salt Lake City for use by its members. 
"One of the benefits of approving public libraries as family history centers is that it would make genealogical data available to people much more than 10-15 hours a week," Noles said. "The church really wants to make it available. That's their driving force." 
Noles said there are more than 1,800 family history centers in the United States and probably more than 3,000 worldwide. "Robert Noles brought to us the idea that it was possible for libraries and their Web sites to become sites for the FamilySearch software," Wilson said. "Then it was a question of us moving forward and requesting to be considered as one of those sites. Just last month we got the go-ahead from the church." 
        There is a Family History Center in the Slidell area, which is open about 12 hours a week, Wilson said. "By the Covington branch becoming one, we accomplish two things: First, we make the service available to the western side of the parish; and secondly, we offer expanded hours, up to possibly 60 hours a week." 
        Wilson said an advantage of borrowing microfilm records is that many genealogists prefer to view the original documents because they get much more information and the chances of transcription errors are reduced. Wilson said that with approval in place, Linda Brown-Kubisch, the library's genealogy specialist, is proceeding with implementation of the project. 
"I've been asked to get everything in place so that we can operate as a family history center," Brown-Kubisch said. "I've been working with the church office in Salt Lake City regarding all the details of setting it up and things are moving forward. "The next stage is to receive a distribution center number, unique to each center. We'll also receive an information packet, including forms for library patrons to use in ordering microfilm. We're waiting for both of those right now and we expect to hear from the church soon. 
         "Once people know that we are a family history center, I foresee an increased use in our genealogical services. We have two microfilm reader/printers available," Brown-Kubisch said. The Louisiana and Genealogy room is located at the Covington branch, containing all of the library's genealogy materials. 
        Although approval is a big step, it will be some time before the operation is up and running. 
Further research must be done, procedures need to be set up, library staff has to be trained and the system will have to be thoroughly tested so it will work smoothly and efficiently for library patrons. 
"Once everything is in place, the library will have an open house, including demonstrations on how to search the family history catalog, how to complete the proper forms for ordering microfilm and things like that. The public should watch for announcements from the library on this," said Brown-Kubisch." 
For more information on the history center project, call Linda Brown-Kubisch at the St. Tammany parish library, 893-6280, Ext. 10. 

Saint-Domingue Page

Exploring the genealogy and history of the French colony of Saint-Domingue (1664 - 1804)
Webmister Augusta Elmwood writes ..

When I started doing Saint-Domingue genealogy fifteen years ago, I had no idea of the roads down which it would take me, the friends I'd make, the distant cousins I'd meet, the places I'd visit. • First there was the Saint-Domingue Special Interest Group (the S*I*G*) which I formed in 1988 • And now it has led me here, where I can share the information I've collected about the history and genealogy of the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

HISTORY  Newsletter ARTICLES 
MAPS SURNAME LISTS and 
S*I*G* PROJECTS    Special Interest Projects
RESEARCH SOURCES  LINKS 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  2002 SURNAME INDEX 
Samford Link

NEW - you can now print out Application/Subscription Forms 
or the Surname Index form for submitting or updating your information
Click here to go to the forms. 
Please note: the Index form is only for S*I*G* members or Newsletter subscribers. Sorry, but I cannot publish surname info for everyone in the January issue or it would be as thick as a book !!

If you need information, but don't see it on this website, just drop me a line. Please let me hear from you. I'd appreciate any suggestions in regards to content, design, flow, links, or anything else. 
Write to me at Augusta@sstar.com   

Bringing a community of diversity together
- LULAC uses education to bridge cultural differences, By Matt Wagner, 6-1-03   http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/news/0601-Bringingac-66877.html

The Springfield News-Leader (Missouri). Emeli Zuber was rarely reminded of her Latin heritage while living in California. Then, five years ago, she moved to Noel, a rural town in the only Missouri county to border both Arkansas and Oklahoma. Zuber, a Jew of Mexican-German descent, said she was astounded by the lack of racial diversity.
        "Here, I can tell I'm Latin, and I had never even thought about it," said Zuber, who is fluent in both English and Spanish.  For the past two years, Zuber has been president of Missouri's newest chapter of the League for United Latin American Citizens, in Noel.
        LULAC held its second annual statewide convention Saturday at Drury University. Its theme: "A community united by our future." Besides Zuber, representatives from LULAC chapters in Springfield, Monett, Joplin, Neosho and Kansas City attended.  The Noel chapter was established in response to McDonald County's exponentially increasing Hispanic population — a trend Zuber said has prompted isolated incidents of intimidation from less tolerant residents.
        "What I'm trying to do is make sure both these cultures come together, and education is the best tool," she said. In 25 Missouri counties, the number of Hispanics grew from 7,579 in 1990 to 22,058 in 2000, according to the U.S. Census. McDonald County grew from 121 Hispanics in 1990 to 2,030 three years ago, causing a drastic demographic shake-up.
        "We contribute millions of dollars to the economy. We pay taxes. We do the jobs other people don't want to do," said Missouri LULAC Director Hortencia Vasquez Wilcox. "People are taking notice of us."  As Latinos continue to augment the work force, they need to be aware of the federal laws that afford them equal employment opportunity, said Blanca Vargas, LULAC vice president of the Midwest. "Employment discrimination is one of the areas we suffer from so much in the United States," said Vargas, the convention's keynote speaker.
        Sharron Blalock, an outreach manager with the St. Louis District Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, spent about an hour explaining major laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. She also encouraged people to contact her with any follow-up questions or if they needed to file a formal complaint against an employer.  "After they are able to put a face and a name with a government agency, some of that hesitation of dealing with the agency diminishes," Blalock said.
        But there are still some cultural mind-sets about governments and authorities to overcome, organizers admitted.  "Unfortunately — in Mexico and other Latin countries — if you stand up to the authorities, you disappear," noted Zuber.
        Representatives from the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City recently visited Noel to make identification cards for about 170 Hispanic residents, Zuber said.  The cards are one of many steps her chapter is taking to ensure that Hispanics stand up for their civil rights, a topic that was covered in one of the conference's breakout sessions Saturday. 

EAST COAST

Center for Puerto Rican Studies
The National Intelligencer, 1800-1850
Republicans sign up to learn Spanish
Return of Puerto Ricans Revives Spanish Harlem 

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies turns 30!

El Centro will be celebrating their 30th anniversary later this year, and to celebrate this event they have planned several events including a birthday celebration with a keynote speaker on September 19th, a fund-raising gala in connection with ElDiario/La Prensa (celebrating its 90th year!), a photographic exhibit documenting Puerto Rican Life in New York and the U.S. and will be hosting the Puerto Rican Studies Conference in 2004, organizing several panels during the academic year.
        El Centro was officially created by a vote of the CUNY Board of Trustees on September 23, 1973.  They recently received the Debra e. Bernhardt Annual Archives Award for Excellence in documenting New York's History for their leadership in documenting the history of groups who traditionally have been omitted from the historical records.

Source:
Nuestra Herencia, Spring/Summer 2003, Volume 6.2
A Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York Publication  http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com

The National Intelligencer, 1800-1850
Source: UGANEWS, March-April 2003, Vol. 32, No. 2

This database is an effort by the National Genealogical Society to provide a fully indexed abstract database of marriage and death notices from this early newspaper based in Washington D.C.  Prominent people from all around the country and even the world are included her.
        "The name index to the database is available online at no charge, and is fully searchable including assistance with name variations and misspelled names.  A user fee is charged for access to the full database at a modest charge to cover costs," says the announcement, published in UPFront, the NGS online newsletter, 1 Mar 2003
        The Database is located under "Resources" on the main NGS Web site http://www.ngsgenealogy.org

Republicans sign up to learn Spanish
– 19 House and 1 Senator, largest group yet.

By DENNIS CONRAD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – June 5, 2003 - With an eye toward the nation's fast-growing Hispanic community, Capitol Hill Republicans are turning to textbooks to win their support. Led by Illinois Rep. Jerry Weller, a group of 19 House Republicans and one Senate Republican have signed up to participate in a Spanish-language program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Graduate School. 
        It's the largest group of congressional lawmakers to participate in the language program that officials say initially began as a nonpartisan program in 1999 under the leadership of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and has had dozens of participants. About 50 House Republican staff will also begin participating in the 10-week program of once-a-week, two-hour conversational lessons. 
        A dozen or so House Democrats are also learning Spanish from a Graduate School instructor, according to Celinda Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the organizer, Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas. 
        "Republicans in Congress are eager to work with the Hispanic community on President Bush's agenda, and the launch of 'Spanish on The Hill' shows we are serious about working with Spanish-speaking America," he said. 
        Hispanic registered voters totaled 7.5 million in the 2000 census. And they represent a key voting bloc in electorally rich states such as California, Florida, New York and Texas. But Hispanic elected officials are overwhelmingly Democrats.  Weller said Republicans such as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have shown that when they communicate effectively with Hispanics they can demonstrate they have the same values of family, work, education and opportunity and warrant their majority support. 
Brief extract: 
Return of Puerto Ricans Revives Spanish Harlem New Life in El Barrio  
International Herald Tribune, 5-27-0
http://www.hispaniconline.com/pop/free-sub.html   6-18-03

Puerto Rican professionals, artists and intellectuals who grew up on the streets of East Harlem but moved away during the years when housing abandonment and drug selling were rampant are now returning, pumping new life into the neighborhood they call El Barrio.

        They are sprucing up once-decaying buildings and enlivening the area's cultural life with art galleries. Town houses and apartment buildings are blossoming where there were empty lots. As a result, voguish restaurants and cafes have popped up, including La Fonda Boricua, Dinerbar and SpaHa (a Soho-like coinage for Spanish Harlem). Their movement, the returnees say, is a philosophical crusade to keep Spanish Harlem the Puerto Rican heartland in the United States


MEXICO

"Misiones Jesuitas", Artes de México No. 65  
Book:
The Fighting Padre of Zapata
Feria de Marin, July 12-21st
Archivo Municipal de Moncolva 
Instituto Estatal de Documentacion
Historica Minima del Estado de Campeche
Coahuila y Tejas: Los Estados Unidos  de Méjico 
Coahuila: Bibliografía, Carlos A. Flores Villela
The Pilgrimage by Ulises de la Torre

Las Lenguas de Jalisco 
 

"Misiones Jesuitas", Artes de México No. 65  


A fines de la semana pasada salió de imprenta el N° 65, "Misiones Jesuitas", de Artes de México  artesmex@internet.com.mx,  http://www.artesdemexico.com.  En unos días más ya estará llegando a los suscriptores, librerías y otros puntos de distribución.      
        Este número de la revista/libro trata ampliamente "nuestro" territorio de misiones del Noroeste de la Nueva España, mas no termina ahí, sino que además ofrece una panorámica global de la Compañía de Jesús, como una operación transnacional que se adaptó a las circunstancias propias de cada campo misional en latitudes y longitudes muy diversas.  Al final se ofrecen todos los textos completos en inglés, así que el idioma no será excluyente para los angloparlantes interesados en el tema del "US Southwest".
        Los capítulos que se refieren a las misiones en China y en la Paraquaria los encuentro lectura obligada para quienes suponíamos que la evangelización jesuita en todas las provincias de misiones entre gentiles se regían bajo una fórmula más o menos uniforme. Por ejemplo, llama la atención percatarse acerca de la forma gradual y exitosa como los misioneros fueron inculcando la monogamia en las reducciones de Sudamérica, contrastando con la imposición drástica y no siempre venturosa con que esta práctica se implantó en los confines de la Nueva España. Me parecieron extraordinarios los capítulos que tratan de la modalidad adaptada por los jesuitas en China, que se fincó en el logro de prestigio para la Orden, a través de los vastos conocimientos científicos que distinguían a los misioneros seleccionados para operar en un medio de reconocida alta cultura milenaria.  
        Tras el éxito logrado el año pasado con el N° 58 "Colegios Jesuitas" (agotándose rapidamente), ya se están dando los primeros pasos hacia el tercero de la trilogía jesuítica de Artes de México, el cual versará sobre las aportaciones de la Compañía de Jesús al arte y la ciencia.  
 
Cordiales saludos,  Carmen Boone de Aguilar

Borderlands Book Store
held their first book signing event on June 29th

The author was María F. Rollin who signed copies of her new book 
The Fighting Padre of Zapata, Father Edward Bastien and the Falcon Dam Project

The Public is invited to the book signing. Maria F. Rollin is the sister of George Farías, President of Borderlands Book Store, Inc, who wrote the Foreword to the book. Maria spent ten years editing and researching Father Bastien’s text. It had been entrusted earlier to Maria’s parents. Maria presented a paper on the subject to the Texas State Historical Association on March 3, 2000 and it was later printed in the 2001 " Catholic Southwest: A Journal of History and Culture, Volume XII " under the main title, "The Champion of Zapata." This won for Maria the national first prize for an article in a Catholic journal.

Maria just retired from Laredo Community College where she taught Spanish and English as a Second Language. She recently established the Laredo chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) and serves as its current president.

6307 Wurzbach Road (at Evers Road) San Antonio, Texas 78240-7535
http://www.borderlandsbooks.com


Feria de Marin, Genealogy Conferences and Family Reunion, July 12 through July 21, 2002.
Sent by
A. Garza  AGarza0972@aol.com  George Gause ggause@panam.edu

For more information visit Las Familias de Marin Web Site
http://www.geocities.com/jofogo/

Conference Activities are FREE for Everyone. A gift of an English or Spanish language Library Book or Books, would be appreciated.  All donations will be given to the Marín Library.  Please do not bring novels or any offensive literature.  Preference are childrens books, History or Educational material.

Thrusday/Jueves * July/Julio 10, 2003
Third Anual Trail Ride (Cabalgata): To Commemorate The Arrival of Marin's Founder "Captain, Jose Martinez Flores" in 1684. Date: The Trail Ride will depart from the City Hall on Thrusday July
10, 2003, at 4 PM, and will end later that evening at the same place.

Friday/Viernes * July/Julio 11, 2003
The Feria Begins/Inicia La Feria

Saturday/Sábado * July/Julio 12, 2003
Special Presentation In Higueras by Profesora Leticia Montemayor
Villarreal (Cronista de Higueras, Nuevo Leon).

Profesora Leticia Montemayor: Topic/Tema: Historia de Hacienda de Higueras, Nuevo León

Date/Fecha: Saturday/Sábado July/Julio 12, 2003
Time/Hora: 1:00 pm
Place/Sitio: To be added

Field Trip:Museum in Higueras, Nuevo León, Hosted by Profesora Leticia Montemayor Villarreal (Cronista de Higueras, Nuevo Leon).  Date/Fecha: Saturday/Sábado July/Julio 12, 2003

Sunday/Domingo * July/Julio 13, 2003 Guest Speaker/Invitado Especial:Monica Montemayor: Topic/Tema: To be added Date/Fecha: Sunday/Domingo July/Julio 13, 2003 Time/Hora: 1:00
pm
Place/Sitio: Salon de Actos Guest Speaker/Invitado Especial: Maria Concepcion Hinojosa: 

El Patronato del Archivo Municipal de Moncolva A.C.

Tiene el Honor de Informar Sobre la Publicación del Catálogo:
Manifiestos de bienes de los vecinos de Monclova, 1835-1880.
Lucas Martínez Sánchez, Jefe de Archivo Municipal, Moncolva, Coahuila, México.
Solicitudes a: PATRONATO_ARCH_MVA@HOTMAIL.COM
SOURCE:  Roberto Calderon beto@unt.edu

Instituto Estatal de Documentacion

Alfonso Vasquez Sotelo, Director of the Instituto Estatal de Documentacion (State Archives of Coahuila) has asked that we publicize the web site of the IED so that researchers can become aware of the data available and how to get in touch with them if you desire some item of information. The web site is  http://www.coahuila.gob.mx/agob/ied/   

Instituto Estatal de Documentacion (State Archives of Coahuila)
Located in Ramos Arizpe, a suburb of Saltillo, Coahuila
Contact: Alfonso Vasquez Sotelo, Director   http://www.coahuila.gob.mx/sgob/ied/
Sent by Jesse Rodriguez 110245.2376@compuserve.com  & George Gause ggause@panam.edu


Historica Minima del Estado de Campeche

http://www.campeche.gob.mx/nuestroestado/Historia/capitulo1.htm

#LOS PRIMEROS ASENTAMIENTOS

Sent by Paul Newfield pcn01@webdsi.com

ANTECEDENTES GENERALES
El medio ambiente en el área maya
Los orígenes: El horizonte PALEOINDIO (40,000 - 7,000 a.C) 
El hombre arraiga en el suelo: el Horizonte Arcaico (7,000 - 2,500 a.C.) 
Aldeas y agricultores: el Horizonte Preclásico (2,500 - 250 a.C.) 

CAMPECHE 
El medio físico
Los primeros asentamientos 
El máximo esplendor: el Horizonte Clásico (250 a.C.-1000 d.C.) 
El Clásico Temprano (250-600 d.C.) 
Clásico Tardío (600-1000 d.C.) 
El nuevo orden: el Horizonte Posclásico (1000-1517 d.C.) 

Coahuila y Tejas: Los Estados Unidos  de Méjico, 1821-1836

This is an interesting website that has many layers of information to it. The index page reads as follows: "Coahuila y Tejas: Los Estados Unidos de Mejico, 1821-1836.  From Federalism to Centralista Dictatorship."  The site has 21 major categories that when you click on them, then have additional ones.  So good luck pursuing it if you do.  Sent by George Gause ggause@panam.edu    
The categories are as follows
Presidents-Mexico
Governors-Texas
1824 Federal Constitution
1827 State Constitution
Laws-Coahuila y Tejas
Government-S.H. Dixon
Immigration by Contract
Empresario System
Stephen F. Austin
Colonization Decree
National Colonization Laws
State Colonization Laws
Empresario Contracts
Fredonian Rebellion
Manuel Mier y Terán
Pedro Elías Beán
Jorge Fisher
Juan Davis Bradburn
José Antonio Navarro
Antonio de Santa Anna
Consultations

http://dl.tamu.edu/Projects/sodct/coahuilacon.htm
Source: Roberto Calderon beto@unt.edu
The site is copyrighted by Wallace L. McKeehan, 1997-2001 and he
has named he overall site, "SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS."


Coahuila: Bibliografía, Compilador Carlos A. Flores Villela

An interesting bibliography out of UNAM prepared by Carlos Arturo Flores Villela divided into seven sections: 1. Bibliografías 2. Historia 3. Sociedad 4. Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente 5. Economía 6. Política 7. Cultura.  May be accessed through the following web address:
http://www1.unam.mx/ceiich/bibliografias/coahuila.html

Source: Roberto Calderon beto@unt.edu   Sent by George Gause  ggause@panam.edu

La Peregrinación (The Pilgrimage) by Ulises de la Torre

October 30, 2000
San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico

Emotionally touching article of Ulises walking in the footsteps of his great-grandparents, Andrés Nicolás de la Torre, born in Malaga, Spain.  

Source:
Nuestra Herencia, Spring/Summer 2003, Volume 6.2
A Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York Publication  http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com


Las Lenguas de Jalisco 
by 
John P. Schmal

Educational Feature Story, http://www.hispanicvista.com/html3/060903ed.htm, June 9, 2003

Jalisco is "La Madre Patria" (the Mother Country) for millions of Mexican Americans.  Given this fact, it makes sense that many sons and daughters of Jalisco are curious about the cultural and linguistic roots of their indigenous ancestors.  Jalisco made up almost one-half of the Spanish colony of Nueva Galicia (New Galicia) and was an important cultural and economic force in the evolution of Mexico from a Spanish colony to a new nation.  Even today, some say Jalisco - whose capital city Guadalajara is the second largest city in all of Mexico - is the heart and soul of Mexico.  

The Jalisco of pre-Hispanic times was the home to many indigenous peoples.  Domingo Lázaro de Arregui, in his "Descripción de la Nueva Galicia" - published in 1621 - wrote that 72 languages were spoken in the Spanish colonial province of Nueva Galicia.  But, according to the author Eric Van Young, "the extensive and deep-running mestizaje of the area has meant that at any time much beyond the close of the colonial period the history of the native peoples has been progressively interwoven with (or submerged in) that of non-native groups."

The author José Ramirez Flores, in his work, "Lenguas Indígenas de Jalisco," has gone to great lengths in reconstructing the linguistic map of the Jalisco of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.  It must be remembered that, although Jalisco first came under Spanish control in the 1520s, certain sections of the state remained isolated and under Amerindian control until late in the Sixteenth Century.

According to Señor Flores, the languages of the Caxcanes Indians were widely spoken in the northcentral portion of Jalisco along the "Three-Fingers Border Zone" with Zacatecas.  It is believed that the Caxcanes language was spoken at Teocaltiche, Ameca, Huejúcar, and across the border in Nochistlán, Zacatecas. A a cultural group, the Caxcanes ceased to exist during the Nineteenth Century.

The Coras inhabited what is most of present-day Nayarit as well as the northwestern fringes of Jalisco.  The word "mariachi" is believed to have originated in their language.  Today, the Coras, numbering up to 15,000 people, continue to survive, primarily in Nayarit and Jalisco.  The Cora Indians have been studied by several historians and archaeologists.  One of the most interesting works about the Cora is Catherine Palmer Finerty's "In a Village Far From Home:  My Life Among the Cora Indians of the Sierra Madre" (Tucson:  University of Arizona Press, 2000).

The Coca Indians inhabited portions of central Jalisco, in the vicinity of Guadalajara and Lake Chapala.  The Guachichile Indians - so well known for their fierce resistance towards the Spaniards in the Chichimeca War (1550-1590) - inhabited the areas near Lagos de Moreno, Arandas, Ayo el Chico, and Tepatitlán in the Los Altosregion of northeastern Jalisco.  The Guachichiles, however, also occupied a large swatch of territory through most of present-day eastern Zacatecas.  The Guachichile Indians received their name from the Náhuatl language.  The name is derived from the combination of quaítl (head) and chichiltic (red), thanks to their custom of painting their bodies with red dye.  After the end of the Chichimeca War, the Guachichiles were very quickly assimilated and Christianized and no longer exist as a distinguishable cultural entity.

The Cuyutecos - speaking the Nahua language of the Aztecs - settled in southwestern Jalisco, inhabiting Talpa, Mascota, Mixtlán, Atengo, and Tecolotlán.  The population of this area - largely depleted by the epidemics of the Sixteenth Century - was partially repopulated by Spaniards and Indian settlers from Guadalajara and other parts of Mexico. Other Nahua languages were spoken in such southern Jalisco towns as Tuxpan and Zapotlán.

Some historians believe that the Huichol Indians  are descended from the nomadic Guachichiles, having moved westward and settled down to an agrarian lifestyle.inhabited a small area in northwestern Jalisco, adjacent to the border with Nayarit.  The Huichol, seeking to avoid confrontation with the Spaniards, became very isolated and thus we able to survive as a people and a culture.  Today, the Huichols number approximately 20,000 in both northeastern Nayarit and northwestern Jalisco.  

The survival of the Huichol has intrigued historians and archaeologists alike.  The art, history, culture, language and religion of the Huichol have been the subject of at least a dozen books.  Carl Lumholtz, in "Symbolism of the Huichol Indians: A Nation of Shamans" (Oakland, California:  B.I. Finson, 1988), made observations about the religion of the Huichol.  Stacy B. Schaefer and Peter T. Furst edited "People of the Peyote:  Huichol Indian History, Religion and Survival" (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996), discussed the history, culture and language of these fascinating people in great detail.

The Purépecha Indians - also referred to as the Tarascans, Tarscos, and Porhé -  inhabited most of present-day Michoacán and boasted a powerful empire that rivaled the Aztec Empire during the Fifteenth and early Sixteenth Centuries.  As recently as 1990, the Purápecha numbered 120,000 speakers.  This language, classified as an isolated language, was spoken along the southern fringes of southern Jalisco, adjacent to the border with Colima.  

The Tecuexes Indians occupied a considerable area of Jalisco north of Guadalajara and western Los Altos, including Mexticacan. The Tecuexes also occupied the  central region near Tequila, Amatltán, Cuquio, and Epatan.   The Tzaulteca language was spoken in several towns southwest of Lake Chapala, including Ataceo and Sayula.  The Tecuexes have been studied by Dr. Phil Weigand, who wrote articles on them.  They no longer exist as a cultural group.

In pre-Hispanic times, the Tepehuán Indians inhabited a wide swath of territory that stretch through sections of present-day Jalisco, Nayarit, Durango and Chihuahua.  However, their territory was gradually encroached upon by the Spaniards and indigenous migrants from central Mexico.  After they were crushed in their rebellion of 1616-1619, the Tepehuán moved to hiding places in the Sierra Madre to avoid Spanish vengeance.   

Today, the Tepehuán retain elements of their old culture.  At the time of the Spanish contact, the Tepehuanes language was spoken in "Three Fingers Region" of northwestern Jalisco in such towns as Tepec, Mezquitic and Colotlán.  The Tepehuanes language and culture are no longer found in Jalisco, but more than 25,000 Tepehuanes still reside in southern Chihuahua and southeastern Durango. The revolt of 1616 was described in great detail by Charlotte M. Gradie's "The Tepehuán Revolt of 1616:  Militarism, Evangelism and Colonialism in Seventeenth Century Nueva Vizcaya (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2000).  The author Campbell W. Pennington also wrote about the Tepehuán in "The Tepehuán of Chihuahua" (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1969).

The history of Jalisco from the beginning of the Spanish administration to the present has been a subject of many studies over the decades.  This emphasis on the more recent history has, for the most part, ignored or bypassed the indigenous aspects of Jalisco's colorful and fascinating history.  Part of the reason for this is that it is simply impossible to reconstruct the cultures and histories of an area so devastated by epidemics and military upheaval.  

Another reason is that the history of Jalisco from the time of independence to the present has been a dynamic force in the story of the nation of Mexico.  Nevertheless, the sources listed in the bibliography below may be able to provide the reader with a new window to the indigenous peoples of Jalisco.

_______________________________________

Sources:
Peter Gerhard, "The Northern Frontier of New Spain," Princeton, New Jersey: 
Princeton University Press, 1982.
Shirley S. Gorenstein, "Western and Northwestern Mexico," in Richard E. W. Adams and Murdo J. MacLeod, "The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica, Part 1" (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 318-357.
José Ramírez Flores, "Lenguas Indígenas de Jalisco", of "Colección: Historia: Serie: Documentos e Invetigación No. 1,"  Guadalajara, Jalisco: Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco, Secretaria General de Gobierno, 1980.
Stacy B. Schaefer and Peter T. Furst, "People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion, and Survival" (Albuquerque:  University of New Mexico, 1996).
Eric Van Young, "The Indigenous Peoples of Western Mexico from the Spanish Invasion to the Present:  The Center-West as Cultural Region and Natural Environment," in Richard E. W. Adams and Murdo J. MacLeod, "The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica, Part 2" (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 136-186.

CARIBBEAN/CUBA

      John Collins' Articles What's Happening in the Caribbean, Index  

Pymes Dominicanas.com
http://www.pymesdominicanas.com/english/articles/indexen_art/Index_collins.htm

Following are links. . .  Great Site.

Aruba
Aruba rebounding from 9/11 fallout 

Bahamas
Bahamas signs tax agreement with U.S. 

Barbados
Barbados project to help small hotels in trouble 
CANA shuts down temporarily to restructure 
New Barbados Hilton finally underway 

Belize
As a cruise destination Belize is fast-growing 

Caribbean Region
Caribbean State Ball in New York a big hit 06/16/03 
CARIBBEAN BUSINESS reporters recognized by the Caribbean Tourism Organization 05/26/03 
CARICOM-U.S. relations hit snag over Iraq 04/08/03 
U.S. disappointed with CARICOM over Iraq 03/22/03 
European forecast for Caribbean gloomy 01/18/03 
Dominican-American Caucus being formed 12/28/02 
Is future of Miami Conference in doubt?  12/14/02 
Low attendance at the Miami Caribbean Conference 12/14/02 
American Eagle selling Executive Air 11/11/02 
American conducts Caribbean blitz promotion. 11/02/02 
CARICOM region in severe economic downturn 28/10/02 
Miami gets big boost from Washington 28/10/02 
Miami Herald Conference a Latin affair 
American Eagle now largest airline at airport 
Telecommunications and Information Technology: Building a Competitive Caribbean 
Sidebar to Cantero-Frau? 
Nine Puerto Rico firms at Havana Food Show 
American Eagle combining Puerto Rico, Florida operations 
Atlanta challenging Miami for FTAA headquarters 
Banker Federico Sacasa named to head CLAA 
Business leader calls for taxing cruise passengers 
Caribbean leaders like Colin Powell 
Caribbean gas pipeline debated by experts 
Caribbean Studies Association meeting a big success 
Caribbean Tourism at a Crossroads 
Eastern Caribbean leftists flirting with Libya 
Economic reforms stalled in the Caribbean 
Devastating Impact of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 
Devastating impact of U.S. terror on Caribbean 
Forecast for airlines in region gloomy 
US Airways spreading its wings in Caribbean 

Dominica
Dominica to host Eco-Tourism Conference in May 
Dominican Republic
Punta Cana, Bavaro Beach strip continues to grow 05/26/03 
President Mejia’s visit to Washington  05/20/03 
DHUD Secretary Mel Martinez visits D.R.      03/25/03 
D.R. train controversy continues       03/25/03 
D.R. received $2.1 billion in remittances in 2002   10/03/03 
Church’s Fried Chicken closes in D.R.   03/03/03 
Puerto Rico construction trade caught in D.R. steel dispute 02/24/03 
Puerto Rico’s Trade with D.R. down $71.6 million 02/14/03 
Pan Am affiliate set to fly to D.R. 02/11/03 
Subervi books 240,000 more charter passengers 02/11/03 
Subervi hits the jack pot at Marketplace 01/24/03 
Multiple crises afflicting Dominican Republic 01/18/03 
Scotiabank $195 million loan for Caucedo closed 01/04/03 
Al Gore visits Santo Domingo 12/28/02 
D.R. apparel slowly recovering from 9/11  11/29/02 
New D.R. Monetary Code proposed 11/24/02 
D.R. trade deficit with Central America growing 10/28/02 
D.R. wants Free Trade Agreement with U.S. 
Caucedo super port purchases 15 Chinese cranes 
Pan Am suspends flights to D.R. 
American Chamber of Commerce of D.R. growing 
Banking sector in D.R. robust and growing 
CARICOM, Dominican Republic get into Free Trade 
Chamber deputies in D.R. vote to extend their terms; move unleashes political crisis in country 
CSX World Terminals names new head of D.R. operations 
Dedicated life of an Icon ends 
D.R. Congress approves $420 million train project 
D.R. hosting hemisphere’s American Chambers 
D.R. not at Bush El Salvador Summit 
Direction of tourism being debated in D.R. 
Exports from the Dominican Republic (D.R.) to the U.S. contracted 5% in 2001 
Fluctuations in D.R.'s economy being felt 
Hans Hertell gives first speech to American Chamber 
Millennium Express ferry to D.R. doing very well 
Minister of Industry & Commerce named new D.R. envoy to Washington 
New Radar for Punta Cana center of dispute 
President Mejia breaks ground for port complex 
Punta Cana, Bavaro Beach strip continues to grow  
Trade & Investment Expo set in D.R. 
U.S. Peace Corps in D.R. for 40 years 

Guyana
Loan to Guyana opposed by U.S. company 
Atlantic Tele-Network excluded from suit 03/25/03 

Jamaica
Trade dispute between Jamaica, Dom. Rep. 

Mexico
Mexican Government urged to legalize gambling 
While Cancun’s growth has slowed, forecasts upbeat 

Panama
Panama remains top container port in region 

Puerto Rico
Mejia makes two-day visit to Puerto Rico 06/16/03 
State of Caribbean tourism mixed 06/16/03 
Puerto Rico construction trade caught in D.R. steel dispute 
Puerto Rican coffee a hit at Marketplace 02/18/03 
Puerto Rico-USVI growth slowed slightly in FY02 02/14/03 
Caribbean Development Bank wants Puerto Rico in 
Puerto Rico not in Caribbean campaign 
Cantero Frau wants Puerto Rico's economy protected 
An Uneasy Relationship  in Formation 
European Union Center in Puerto Rico proposed 
July 25 in San Juan to have a Caribbean flavor 
Puerto Rico’s gaming well developed 
Participation by Puerto Rico in Caricom delayed 
Puerto Rico proposes expanding its Caricom role 
Poor foreign attendance on July 25 
Shipment of used tires from Puerto Rico to Haiti condemned 
Unlikely duo” a hit at Miami Conference 

St. Croix
Alexander A. Farrelly dead at 78 
St Croix hosting dozens of firefighters 

St. Kitts
South Korea’s Kia Motors invited to St. Kitts 
St. Kitts & Nevis poised to take off 
 
St. Lucia
Donald Trump meets with Stewart of Sandals 
STOP CHANGE 

St. Marteen
New York Carib News Conference invited to Puerto Rico 11/24/02 
Delta flying to St. Marteen in December 
St. Maarten to host Carib News Conference 
U.S. Navy vessel, three cruise ships cancel St. Marten calls after threat of terrorist attack 

Trinidad & Tobago 
Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela differ on gas 11/29/02 
Governing party returned in Trinidad & Tobago 
Cemex acquisition of Trinidad Cement a battle brewing 
CEMEX Wants to Acquire Trinidad Cement 
Liquefied natural gas pipeline proposed 
Trinidad & Tobago elections December 10  

US Virgin Islands
USVI immigration checkpoints ruled valid 05/07/03 
American Eagle cuts back in USVI 02/03/03 
Demonstrators mar Turnbull second inauguration 02/03/03 
Demonstrators mar Turnbull second inauguration 02/03/03 
USVI tourism down 7% in august 
Troubling picture of life in USVI 
USVI immigration case being appealed 
USVI in a campaign mode 

 

INTERNATIONAL 

El Nica
The Origin of spanish Family Names for Filipinos
Desarrollo de la Artesanía Canari 

Mel Miller's Camino
The History of Madrid Spain 
New France 
Genealogist for/of Venezuela

El Nica’, monólogo escrito y actuado por César Meléndez, se presento en La Puente. (Ciro César/La Opinión)
Cuenta conflictos conocidos por gente de todo el mundo Inmigrante como todos.

Dónde: Star Theatre, 145 North First Street, La Puente
Cómo: boletos de 25 a 35 dólares.
Información: (866) 468-3399 o en la internet http://www.elnica.org
José Fuentes-Salinas,  Redactor de La Opinión 

Antes de ser actor y dramaturgo, César Meléndez fue cargador de legumbres, vendedor de juguetes y de tarjetas de crédito e incluso vocalista de la orquesta de merengue de Wilfrido Vargas, pero un día la vergüenza lo obligó a dedicarse al teatro. “Eso fue hace nueve años. La Orquesta Sinfónica de Costa Rica iba a montar una ópera, pero necesitaba a alguien que tuviera experiencia escénica y yo no la tenía”, dice Meléndez, quien este fin de semana presenta en Los Angeles su monólogo El Nica. 

Cuenta que aquella experiencia lo impulsó a matricularse en la Universidad de Costa Rica y, precisamente, El Nica es su tesis universitaria.

La obra que se presenta el viernes, sábado y domingo en el teatro Star, de La Puente, se anuncia como la primera obra teatral centroamericana en Los Angeles. 

Habla de los conflictos que todo inmigrante enfrenta cuando llega a otro país donde no lo esperaban y donde frecuentemente lo rechazan.

“¡Cómo quisiera yo tener las palabras y la educación en esta cabecita para decirles que yo no soy el responsable directo de estar aquí, decirles que soy un ser humano y también siento!”, dice el monólogo que Meléndez estrenó en una función especial este miércoles.

Para Meléndez, ser inmigrante nicaragüense en Costa Rica, en Estados Unidos o en cualquier parte del mundo es algo muy semejante. Incluso, simplemente ser inmigrante es una condición que anuda los conflictos de su obra.

“No hace falta ser nicaragüense para sentir lo que pasa en la obra”, dice el actor-dramaturgo. 

“Hubo un guatemalteco que me dijo que eso también le pasó a él. Yo creo que los inmigrantes se llegan a convertir en una necesidad, ofrecen cosas que otros no quieren dar, como servicios baratos”.

Fuera de eso, dice, El Nica enseña las variedades musicales y rítmicas del idioma español, algo que es altamente apreciable en el contexto angelino, donde se juntan centroamericanos, sudamericanos, caribeños e incluso españoles.

“Por ejemplo, nosotros utilizamos mucho la palabra ‘¡chocho!’, que para los salvadoreños es como decir ‘hijue púch…’, o para los mexicanos ‘chin…’”.

Para muchos, en la presentación de obras como El Nica está la posibilidad de diversificar la oferta teatral, que hasta el momento es atendida por las agrupaciones mexicoamericanas y mexicanas, mayormente.

El Nica es una obra que se ha presentado por tres años en Costa Rica y próximamente estará en el teatro Rubén Darío, de Managua.  Patrocinadas por varias organizaciones binacionales, las presentaciones en Los Angeles destinarán parte de lo recaudado a la Fundación de Niños Abandonados de Nicaragua.



THE ORIGIN OF SPANISH FAMILY NAMES FOR FILIPINOS

By 
Rina D. Dungao, Ph.D

I have never really paid attention to the numerous Spanish surnames that most Filipinos carry (myself included) until I came across the "Claveria Decree of 1849" while doing research for my next article. Most of the time, when the thought of most Filipinos having Spanish surnames crossed my mind, I dismissed it to the fact that the Philippines was after all, hispanized for so many years, hence, the numerous Spanish surnames that abound.

Based on an "introduction" of Dr. Domingo Abella in his "Catalogo Alfabetico Apellidos " (1849), (Reprinted by the National Archives in Manila, 1973, Publication No. D-3), it was interesting to discover that before the Claveria Decree, most of the Filipinos (at that time, we were referred to as "indios" or "natives") did not have individual surnames. Having been recently converted to Christianity and Roman Catholicism, what most Filipinos did was to adopt the names of the saints which explains why many individuals have the same surnames such as "de los Santos" ( meaning ("of the Saints" or "from Saints") and "de la Cruz" ("of the Cross" or "from the Cross").

This practice, however, resulted in confusion "with regard to the administration of justice, government, finance and public order", not to mention "moral, civil and religious consequences" that most officials feared might occur simply because the family names were not transferred to the children making it "impossible to prove the degrees of consanguinity" for marriage purposes and other important transactions. It was mainly because of these reasons that a need for a catalogue of surnames was established.

Enter the compilation of family surnames by the religious orders of the Reverend Fathers Provincial who were tasked to obtain and collect Spanish surnames including indigenous names and also those "furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc." After which, a directive was issued for the implementation of a civil register which was supposed to serve as the "basis for statistics in a country, guarantee tax collections, regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions." It also provided specific information on the population’s movement, thereby avoiding "unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers and other abuses".

Thus, after hearing testimonies from the Reverend Provincials of the religious orders, the bishops and the Assessor General of the Government, D. Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, then "El Conde de Manila" as well as "Gobernador y Capitan General de Filipinas", after obtaining a copy of the printed catalogue of surnames, ordered officials or heads of each province, to be assigned to every town and distribute a number of surnames making sure that the distribution be in appropriate proportions. This came to be known as the "Claveria Decree of 1849". Some excerpts of the "Claveria Decree" were:

    1. "…the head of the province shall send these catalogues to the respective parish priest for distribution to the "cabecerias" (barabgays); this distribution shall be carried out with the help of the "gobernadorcillo", another municipal official, and two competent and respected "principales". Each "cabeza" shall be present with the individuals of this "cabeceria", and the father or the oldest person of each family shall choose or be assigned one of the surnames in the list which he shall then adopt, together with his direct descendants.
    2. Natives of Spanish, indigenous or Chinese origin who already have a surname may retain it and pass it on to their descendant.
    3. Children whose fathers are dead shall be given the surname of the paternal grandfather, and tin the absence of this, the surnames of the brothers or relatives of their father, thus avoiding unnecessary multiplicity and ensuring that those of the same family branch shall have the same surname.
    4. Children of unknown fathers shall be given the surname of the mother, and if this is also unknown, the surname of the guardian, or baptismal sponsor, or of the parish priest in case the sponsor does not allow it.
    5. Families who can prove that they have kept for four generations their surnames, even though it may be the name of a saint, but not those like "de la Cruz", "de los Santos", and some others which are so numerous that they would continue producing confusion, may pass them on to their descendants . The Reverend Fathers and the heads of provinces are advised to use their judgment in the implementation of this article.
    6. …Each "barangay" shall be assigned two to three days for any objections (regarding the new surname) which may be made before the parish priest.
    7. School teachers shall have a register of all children attending school, with their names and surnames, and shall see to it that they shall not address or know each other except by the surname listed in the register which should be that of the parents. In case of lack of enthusiasm in compliance with this order, the teacher(s) shall be punished in proportion to the offense at the discretion of the head of the province.
    8. The heads of families shall make known their new surnames to their children who may be absent…
    9. Neither the heads of provinces, nor parish priests, nor "gobernadorcillos" shall approve applications or documents (baptism, marriage, etc.) in which the interested parties do not express their names and surnames..
    10. Any individual who, after being inscribed in the new register, changes his name or surname shall be punished in accordance with the malice and circumstances of the case. The penalty shall be no less than eight days in jail, redeemable by a three-peso fine..

Furthermore, to make sure of the active implementation of the decree, parish priests were encouraged to assist their parishioners in understanding the advantages brought about by the Claveria Decree. To ensure this, all secular and regular prelates were requested to use their influence and position in overseeing that all parish priests cooperate. Their utmost cooperation was seen as "indispensable for the complete success" of the Claveria Decree.

To conclude, the "Claveria Decree" served its purpose in dispelling confusion among families but more importantly, guaranteed tax collections, regular performance of personal services and receiving payments for exemptions. This also explains now the origin of so many Filipinos having Spanish family names.

THE END

Reference(s):  For a complete copy of the Claveria Decree and its articles, please log on to the PhilGenWeb Project’s web page: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/9121/claveria.html


Fundación para la Etnografía y el Desarrollo de la Artesanía Canari
  http://www.fedac.org/ 
Spanish language website of the Gran Canaria with links to:
galleries, articles, publications, artists, networking. 
Sent by Bill Carmena  JCarm1724@aol.com

Mel Miller's Camino (Her walk across Spain)   Perigrino a pie a Santiago de Compostela 
 
Dear Friends,
 
Mel Miller's trip across Spain follows my own route and experience along the ancient pilgrimage path to Santiago de Compostela, the place where the bones of St. James the Apostle are said to be buried.  Mel's writing is brilliant and emotional, and well worth reading for its exuberance and joy.  As I write this, she is still walking along the Camino (almost 500 miles in all).  Please keep her and the other pilgrims in your prayers.
 
Paul Newfield, pcn01@webdsi.com

The History of Madrid Spain 
http://www.nova.es/~jlb/mad_in01.htm  

Sent by John Inclan  fromgalveston@yahoo.com


New France 
http://home.primus.ca/~lmrobert/index.html

Sent by Joan De Soto
Genealogy for descendants of the French colonists of North America by Michel Robert.

This site provides tidbits of information about colonists of New-France and their descendants from 1534 to 1899, in the form of passenger lists, places of origin, activities, maps, military rolls, people who took part in some historical events,etc. This may help learning about your ancestors.

 

   Venezuela Family History Research    


Roberto Pérez Guadarrama 

perezfru@telcel.net.ve

04143403359
0241-843229
mailto:robertoperezguadarrama@hotmail.com

First of a series of articles concerning Venezuela research sent by Roberto Pérez Guadarrama.


Yo esto Interesado en contactar Cronistas, Historiadores, Interesados en Genealogía,
Familiares,...en el Estado Trujillo, Venezuela

Ya que Mis Apellidos Paternos son de Pampan, Trujillo, Valera, Pampanito,
Flor de Patria... y Ciudades, Pueblos cercanos.


Los Apellidos de 6 Generaciones de los Miembros de Mi Árbol Genealógico
Lista de Apellidos: Números de Miembros: 3.413, Números de Familias: 1.045
Pérez, Rueda Godoy, Pérez Rueda, Pérez Vivas, Carillo, López, Pérez Carillo, Pérez Pérez, López, Segnini Calderón, Pérez Segnini, Romero, Pérez Romero,Hidalgo Borges, Hidalgo Pérez, Aponte, Aponte Pérez, Valeri, Pérez Valeri, Castellanos, Castellanos Pérez, Morillo, Castellanos Morillo, Torres, Castellano Torres, Jiménez, Castellanos Jiménez, Urbina, Urbina Castellanos,
Morales, Morales Castellanos, Sierra, Villalobos, Castellanos Sierra, Castellanos Villalobos, Araque, Acosta Salina, Araque Castellanos, Acosta Castellanos, Cachutt, Pérez Cachutt, Arjona, Pérez Arjona, Ramírez, Gil, Villegas, Márquez, Herrera, Pérez Márquez, Pérez Herrera, Pérez Villegas,
Manzanilla, Manzanilla Pérez, Aguilar, Manzanilla Aguilar, González, Manzanilla González, Molina, Molina Pérez, Morillo, Molina Morillo, Maldonado, Maldonado Molina, Marquina, Molina Marquina, Gechelle, Pérez Gechelle, Rivas, Pérez Rivas, Bravo, Barreto, Pérez Barreto, Pérez Bravo, Herrera, Pérez Herrera, Parilli, Parilli Pérez, Briceño, Briceño Pérez, Cardozo, Cardozo Pérez, Rodríguez Solá, Quintero, Pérez Rodríguez, Pérez Quintero, Martínez, Martínez Pérez, Arias, Acosta, Arias Pérez, Acosta Pérez, Cabrera, Alfonzo, Pérez Cabrera, Pérez Alfonzo, Urrieta, Urrieta Pérez, Núñez, Núñez Pérez, Briceño Perozo, Pérez Briceño, Baptista Colmenares, Baptista Pérez, García Valdez, García Pérez, Albornoz, Pérez Albornoz, Pérez Chuecos, González, González Pérez, Webel, Pérez Webel, Silva, Pérez Silva, Liendo, Pérez Liendo, Blonval López, Blonval Pérez,
Avellaneda, Urdaneta, Fernández, Mendoza, Mendoza Pérez, Lucero, Mendoza Lucero, Rondon, Rondon Mendoza, Colmenarez Colmenarez Pérez, Lobo, Lobo Colmenarez, Garrido, Garrido Colmenarez, Blanco Anzola, Pérez Blanco,Tálamo, Tálamo Pérez, Dubuc, Dubuc Pérez, Valeri, Valeri Pérez, Rojas, Rojas Valeri, Fermín, Fermín Rojas, Escalona, Escalona Rojas, Chuecos, Chuecos Pérez, Rad, Rad Chuecos, Terán, Terán Gil, Linares, Linares Terán, Briceño, Linares Briceño, Peña, Torres, Linares Peña, Linares Torres, Millán, Millán Linares, Muñoz, Muñoz Linares, González Mata, Linares González, Fernández, Fernández Linares, Bracamonte, Bracamonte Terán, Linares Bracamonte, Pereira, Linares Pereira, Jaimes, Jaimes Linares, León, Linares León, Franco
Ocanto, Franco Bracamonte, Montero, Montero Franco, Vásquez, Vásquez Franco, Segovia, Gómez, Ferreira, Bracamonte Gómez, Bracamonte Ferreira, Vásquez, Vásquez Bracamonte, Dávila, Dávila Vásquez, Guerrero, Vásquez Guerrero, Quevedo, Quevedo Bracamonte, Freire, Freire Quevedo, Changin, Realy, Changin Bracamonte, Realy Bracamonte, Bertinato, Bertinato Bracamonte, Guzmán, Guzmán Linares, Lazo, Linares Lazo, Reverón, Linares Reverón, Persati, Persati Linares, Grisoilas, Grisoilas Linares, Bastidas, Vásquez, Ruiz, Pérez Bastidas, Velásquez, Pérez Velásquez, Salas, Pérez Sala, Jaramillo, Pérez Jaramillo, Parra, Parra Pérez, Castellano, Castellano Pérez, López, López Pérez, Terán, Terán Pérez, Delgado, Delgado Terán, Rojas, Terán Rojas, González, González Terán, Aquilar, Montilla, Terán Aquilar, Terán Montilla, Santiago, Santiago Pérez, Perdomo, Perdomo Pérez, Guevara, Guevara Perdomo, Hurtado, Hurtado Perdomo, Márquez, Perdomo Márquez, Ruiz, Ruiz Perdomo, Lucena, Lucena Perdomo, Sáez, León, León Perdomo, García, Perdomo García, Ardiles, Perdomo Ardiles, Reyes, Perdomo Reyes, Bravo, Bravo Pérez, Gori,
Vásquez Gori, Guillén, Ruiz Guillen, Terán, Ruiz Terán, Pérez Vivas, Parilli, Parilli Pérez, González Vera, Terán, Torres, Pérez Torres, Morón Moreno, Ruiz, Cooz, Cooz Ruiz, Márquez, Márquez Cooz, Daboin, Cooz Daboin, Roja s, Cooz Rojas, González, González Cooz, Ruzza, Ruzza Cooz, Vanegas, Rosario, Ruiz Vanegas, Ruiz Rosario, Marcano, Rosario Marcano, Peña, Ruiz Peña, Rueda, Rueda Rosario, Pérez Morón, Paris, Parra Bastidas, Uzcatequi, Parra Uzcatequi, Daboin, Parra Daboin, Ferrini, Parra Ferrini, Cegana, Cegana Parra, Barreto, Barreto Parra, Pimentel, Pimentel Pérez, Llavaneras, Llavaneras Pimentel, Quevedo, Quevedo Pimentel, Márquez, Márquez Pimentel,
Briceño, Briceño Pimentel, Torres, Pérez Torres, Malden, Pérez Malden, Parilli, Pérez Parilli, Betancourt, Betancourt Pérez, González, González Pérez, Araujo, González Araujo, La Corte, González La Corte, González, González González, Valdiviezo, Valdiviezo González, Barrueta, Segnini Morón, Urbina, Mendoza, Daboin, Chesnean, Pérez Daboin, Pérez Chesnean, Boschetti,
Pérez Boschetti, Nadal, Villegas Corte, Briceño, Linares García, Quintero, Espronceda, Castaño De León, Palencia Sarache, Bastidas, Bastidas Pérez, Barreto Delgado, Pérez Barreto, Maldonado Espiña, Maldonado Briceño, Briceño, Briceño Pérez, Quevedo, Pérez Quevedo, Peña Parada, Guzmán Muchacho, Andrade Briceño, Andrade Peña, Villegas Cortes, Pérez Villegas, Rodríguez, Pérez Segnini Rodríguez, Seguias, Pérez Segnini Seguias, Littefield, Pérez Segnini Littefield, Lauria, Pérez Segnini Lauria, Von Oiste, Pérez Segnini Von Oiste, Mendoza, León, David, Pérez Segnini Mendoza, Pasos, David, Pérez León, Gabaldon Pérez, Pérez Segnini Gabaldon, González
Ramos, Martínez, González Pérez Segnini, Martínez Pérez Segnini, Estrada Moreno, Pérez Segnini Estrada, Lucente Pérez, Pérez Segnini Lucente, Pérez Castellanos, Pérez Pérez Castellanos, Pannacci, Pannacci Pérez, Torres, Torres Pannacci, Roa, Pannacci Roa, Moreno, Moreno Pannacci, Pérez, Pérez Pannacci, Machado, Mora, Mora Pannacci, Machado Pannacci, Maes Galindo,
Pérez Segnini Maes, Borjas Von Bach, Pérez Segnini Borjas, Urdaneta, Urdaneta Pérez, González, Mendoza González, Mendoza, Mendoza Mendoza, Segovia, Segovia Mendoza, Sandoval Gutiérrez , Linares, Urbina Sandoval, Chávez, Chávez Urbina, Dávila Fonseca, Pérez Dávila, Acerbo, Pérez Acerbo, Silva, Silva Pérez, Smit, Smit Pérez, Lauterbach, Lauterbach Pérez, Malpica,
Urbina Malpica, Benitez, Infante, Infante Urbina, Bandres, Bandres Urbina, Del Valle Urriola, Urbina Del Valle, Ojeda, Baez, Ojeda Urbina, Baez Urbina, Gravina, Gravina Ojeda, Soriano, Ojeda Soriano, Carrasquero, Carrasquero Urbina, Alvarez, Alvarez Mendoza, Andrade, Moreno, Araujo, Araujo Terán, Vásquez, Vásquez Araujo, García, García Vásquez, Cerrada, Yepes, Araujo Cerradas, Araujo Yepes, Cira, Ruzza, Lucente, Ruzza Araujo, Lucente Araujo, Riera, Cira Riera, Pineda, Pineda Pérez, Guillén, Guillén Pineda, Trejo, Trejo Pineda, Luongo, Luongo Pineda, Crespo, Crespo Pérez, González, González Crespo, Manzanilla, Crespo Manzanilla, Dugarte, Dugarte Crespo, Herrera, Prada, Pérez Prada, Segnini, Segnini Pérez, González Borges, González Segnini, Gerlache, Gerlache González, Guerrero, Guerrero González, Troconis, Troconis González, Mendoza, Mendoza González, Carvallo, Carvallo Segnini, Diez, Carvallo Diez, Marquez, Carvallo Marquez, Sánchez, Carvallo Sánchez, Carvallo Carvallo, Delgado, Segnini Delgado, Mejias, Briceño,
Briceño Segnini, Hernández, Segnini Hernández, Uzcatequi, González, Piña, Cira, Hernández, Pérez Cira, Pérez Piña, Torres, Pérez Torres, Valera, Castellanos León, Pérez Castellano, Pérez Briceño, Pérez Valera, Martínez,Pérez Martínez, Marquez Pérez, Mosquera, Pérez Mosquera, Rosales, Pérez Rosales, Rincón, Chuecos Rincón, González, González Chuecos, Arjona Texier,
Arjona Chuecos, Muchacho, Arjona Muchacho, Valero, Chuecos Valero, Norman, Norman Chuecos, Rodríguez, Chuecos Rodríguez, Pacheco, Chuecos Pacheco, Silliett, Moreno Siliett, Moreno, Delgado, Moreno Andrade, Delgado Andrade, Quevedo, Quevedo Moreno, Vicent, Vicent Delgado, Vásquez, Delgado Vásquez, Núñez, Araujo, Andrade Núñez, Andrade Araujo, Paredes Andrade, Aranguren, Lucente Pantaleone, Lucente Pérez, Sabala, Sabala Lucente, Araujo, Lucente Araujo, Pompeo, Lucente Pompeo, Pérez Araujo, Torres, Torres Pérez, Moreno, Pérez Moreno, Blanco, Pérez Blanco, Barreto, Aranguren Barreto, Betancourt, Aranguren Betancourt, Pérez Arjona, Duran, Morillo, Santos, Ruiz, Mendoza, Castellanos, Gonzalez, Raga, Cabrera, Briceño, Rodríguez, Raga Rodríguez, Contreras, Raga Contreras, Dávila, Raga Dávila, Rodríguez, Morillo Rodríguez, Pannacci, Azuaje, Alcubilla, Alcubilla Morillo, Ascanio, Borjas, Ascanio Azuaje, Borjas Azuaje, Elvis, Elvis Ascanio, Nieve, Nieve Ascanio, Moreno Pérez, Moreno Morillo, Ruiz, Ruiz Gonzalez, Cañizalez, Carrillo, Carrillo Ruiz, Valderrama, Valderrama Briceño, Olivares, Mendoza Olivares, Paredes, Paredes Mendoza, Dávila, Dávila Paredes, Bastidas, Villegas,Villegas Mendoza, Bastidas Mendoza, Quintero, Benitez, Gonzalez Benitez, Gonzalez Quintero, Gonzalez, Terán, Urbina, Pérez Gonzalez, Urbina, Terán, Boscan, Boscan Terán, Centeno, Centeno Boscan, Esquivel, Esquivel Boscan, Briceño, Boscan Briceño, Vera, Cuevas, Boscan Cuevas, Boscan Vera, Reverol, Arévalo, Arévalo Boscan, Colombo, Fajardo, Reyes Herrera, Pérez Reyes, Bacca, Daboin, Moreno, Batista, Pérez Batista, Godoy, Godoy Pérez, Mazzarri Pérez, Cols, Delmor, Delmor Pérez, Gabaldon, Gabaldon Pérez, La Riva, Azuaje, Ruiz, Gonzalez, Perdomo, Rosales, Pérez Azuaje, Pérez La Riva, Marquez Ramos, Marquez Pérez, Oliveira, Marquez Oliveira, Bourgeois, Lanza, Marquez Lanza, Marquez Bourgeois, Siverio, Marquez Siverio, Noquera Peña, Noquera Marquez, Gonzalez Delgado, Marquez Gonzalez, Almao, Urbano, Marquez Almao, Marquez Urbano, Signer, Signer Marquez, Sulbaran, Sulbaran Marquez, Rodriquez, Silva, Marquez Silva, Lopresti Marra, Huerta, Marquez Huerta, Marquez Lopresti, Guadarrama García, Pérez Guadarrama, Hernández Leoni,
Hernández Pérez, Yépez Pacheco, Pérez Yépez, Frusciante Berto, Pérez Frusciante, Sánchez, Pérez Sánchez, Pérez Quijada, Albani Orlando, Cooz Lanz, Pérez Albani, Pérez Cooz, Cestari, Cestari Pérez, Reischmann, Reischmann Cestari, Abreu, Cestari Abreu, Bravo Macitado, Pérez Bravo, Linares Pérez, Calderon Araujo, Calderon Pérez, Quevedo Guerra, Quevedo Pérez, Carpio, Quevedo Carpio, Caldera, Caldera Quevedo, Vieweg, Vieweg Pérez, Davila, Vieweg Davila, Obregón, Vieweg Obregón, Hermanni, Hermanni Vieweg, Jiménez, Jiménez Vieweg, Acosta, Acosta Vieweg, Maciat, Maciat Vieweg,


Estoy Interesado en contactar Cronistas, Historiadores, Interesados en
Genealogía, Familiares,...en el Estado Falcón, Paraguana.
Ya que Mis Apellidos Maternos son de Jadacaquiva, Guanadito, Los Taques,...
y Ciudades, Pueblos cercanos.

Los Apellidos de 6 Generaciones de los Miembros de Mi Árbol Genealógico son:
Lista de Apellidos
Lugo, Blanchard, Lugo Blanchard, García, Guadarrama, García Blanchard, Primera, García García, Colina, Yagua, Marín, Jordán, Brett, Amaya, Romero, Guede, Gomez, García Lugo, Romero Lugo, Croes, Guede Croes, Reyes, Reyes García, Camaya Brett, Velazco, Yagua Camaya, Gutiérrez, Jordán Gutiérrez, Alvarado, Alvarado Brett, Otero, García Marín, Chacon, Jordán Chacon, Guadarrama Valdez, Guadarrama García, Guadarrama Lugo, Montero, Montero Guadarrama, Rengifo, Rengifo Guadarrama, Astorga, Astorga Guadarrama, Toledo, Toledo Guadarrama, Caldera, Caldera Guadarrama, García Guadarrama, Gutiérrez, García Gutiérrez, García Hernández, García García, Penso, García Penso, Sierralta, Hernández, García Sierralta, García Hernández, García Brenke, Caraballo, García Caraballo, Juliao, Bernache, García Juliao, García Bernache, Montiel, García Montiel, Guadarrama Millano, Guadarrama García, Pérez Pérez, Pérez Guadarrama, Hernández Leoni, Hernández Pérez, Yépez Pacheco, Pérez Yépez, Frusciante Berto, Pérez Frusciante, Sánchez, Pérez Sánchez, Sarmiento Pérez, Guadarrama Sarmiento, Palmisano Lonigro, Palmisano
Guadarrama, Alvarado, Guadarrama Alvarado, Rodríguez Medina, Rodríguez Guadarrama, Ravel Sequera, Ludewig, Ravel Guadarrama, Ludewig Guadarrama, Bartoli Mendoza, Bartoli Guadarrama, Torres Zúñiga, Torres Bartoli, Bernabeu Marín, Guadarrama Bernabeu, Bagur , Monsalves, Angola Sarmiento, Guadarrama Bagur, Garzaro, Guadarrama Garzaro, Guadarrama Monsalves, Guadarrama Angola, Hernández, García Hernández, Sánchez, García Sánchez, García, Guadarrama, García García, Osorio Guadarrama, Osorio García, Padeuga, Osorio Padeuga, Saludes, Saludes Osorio, Biancanello, Biancanello Saludes, Farias, Farias Osorio, Puigbo, Puigbo Farias, Alegrett, Alegrett Farias, Lucena, Lucena Farias, Díaz, Farias Díaz, Blanchard, Blanchard García, Guadarrama Valdez,
García Guadarrama, Montero, Montero García, Lugo, Urbano, Martínez, Sánchez, Villa, Lugo Villa, Colina, Lugo Colina, Guadarrama García, Guadarrama Lugo, Amaya, Lugo Amaya, Lugo Sánchez, Lugo Lugo, Martínez Guadarrama, Martínez Lugo, Cossi, Lugo Cossi, Ocando, Ocando Primera, Guanipa, Guanipa Ocando, Díaz, Millano, Millano Ocando, Guadarrama, Peniche, Valdez Goitia,
Guadarrama Valdez, Petit Franco, Sánchez, Guadarrama Sánchez, González, Guadarrama González, Gomez, Guadarrama Gomez, Moreno, Guadarrama Moreno, García Lugo, Guadarrama García, Montero, Montero Guadarrama, Rengifo, Rengifo Guadarrama, Astorga, Astorga Guadarrama, Toledo, Toledo Guadarrama, Caldera, Caldera Guadarrama, Lugo, Lugo Guadarrama, Martínez, Martínez Guadarrama, García Lugo, García Guadarrama, Montero, Montero García,

Roberto José Pérez Guadarrama
C.I. 7.047.038
Cel. 04143403359
Tel. hab. 0241- 8432029
Dirección: Urb. Trigal Norte, Av. Del Antártico, Conjunto Residencial Valle
Escondido, Casa # 10.
Valencia, Estado Carabobo, Venezuela 2001

 

 

HISTORY


The Life and Times of Bernardo de Gálvez,

Spain’s Great Hero of the American Revolution

By Robert H. Thonhoff*

        During the brief forty-year life span of Bernardo de Gálvez, 1746-1786, a number of great historical events occurred, and a number of great historical personages lived. By that time, his mother country, Spain, had discovered, explored, subdued, and colonized the most extensive empire in the history of the world. Its empire extended around the Earth and included most of the Western Hemisphere. Since 1700, the Bourbon monarchical family had ruled Spain, beginning with King Philip V (1700-1746), continuing with King Ferdinand VI (1746-1759), and succeeded by King Carlos III (1759-1788). The stature of Carlos III, sometimes characterized as being "the best of the Bourbons," who brought Spain back to heights of glory and achievement not seen since the sixteenth century, is enhanced further when one considers his European contemporaries, all of whom were busily engaged in rival colonial ventures: King George III of the House of Hanover in England; King Louis XIV of the House of Bourbon in France; Maria Theresa of the House of Hapsburg in Austria and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire; Frederick the Great of the House of Hohenzollern in Prussia; Catherine the Great of the House of Romanov in Russia; and King Gustav III of Sweden. And it is interesting to note that the present King of Spain, Juan Carlos Victor María de Borbón y Borbón, who ascended to the throne as King Juan Carlos I at the end of the thirty-six year rule of Francisco Franco in 1975, is a direct descendant of King Carlos III.

        Historical highlights during the life of Bernardo de Gálvez include the ascendancy to the Spanish throne by Ferdinand VI in 1746, the Concordat with the Vatican in 1754 by which the Spanish Church became practically independent of Rome and was placed under the control of the government. From 1756-1763 Spain became involved in the Seven Years War, called the French and Indian War, in North America, which had profound results for both Spain and France. From 1775 until 1779 Spain became an unofficial ally of the American colonies in their revolt against England. After Spain declared war against England on June 21, 1779, Spain openly aided the Americans with great amounts of money, military supplies, and worldwide military campaigns against the British. Bernardo de Gálvez was commissioned by King Carlois III to conduct the military campaigns in North America. Shortly after the Treaty of Paris of 1783, Bernardo became Viceroy of New Spain for less than two years before he suffered an untimely death in Mexico City at the age of 40. Thus, it can be seen that Bernardo de Gálvez was a contemporary not only of some of the world’s great rulers but also of some of the world’s great leaders such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Marquis de Lafayette, Admiral de Grasse, General Rochambeau, Lord Cornwallis, Baron von Steuben, Baron de Kalb, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, and Casimir Pulaski, to mention just a few.

        Bernardo de Gálvez was born on July 23,1746, in Macharaviaya, a mountain village in the province of Málaga, Spain. He was the first son of Matías and Josepha Madrid y Gallardo de Gálvez, both of ancient nobility. He belonged to a family that during his lifetime was one of the most distinguished in the royal service of Spain. His father, Matías de Gálvez, after serving as Lieutenant Governor General of the Canary Islands and Captain-General of Guatemala, was elevated to Viceroy of New Spain in which position he served from 1784 until his death in 1785. Bernardo’s uncle, José de Gálvez, was the visitador general of New Spain form 1765 till 1771, when he returned to Spain to become Minister of the Indies, in which position he exercised power second only to King Carlos III himself. Another uncle, Miguel de Gálvez, was a field marshal in the royal army. A third uncle, Antonio de Gálvez, served as ambassador to the Czarina of Russia, Catherine the Great.

        Bernardo spent his childhood in the rural village of Macharaviaya. Following family tradition, he chose a military career and became a cadet in Military Academy of Ávila. At the age of sixteen he enlisted as a volunteer in a war against Portugal and became a lieutenant in the infantry. After that was he was promoted to captain in the Regiment of La Coruña. In 1765 he arrived in Mexico City for the fírst time as a part of the entourage of his uncle, José de Gálvez, who undertook an inspection tour of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1769 Gálvez was commissioned by Viceroy Teodoro de Croix to go to the northern frontier of New Spain, where he soon became commandant of military forces in Nueva Vizcaya and Sonora. He led several major expeditions against Apaches, whose depredations seriously crippled the economy of the region. During campaigns along the Pecos and Gila rivers in 1770-1771, he was wounded twice but gained military experience that proved invaluable a few years later. The name "Paso de Gálvez" was given to a crossing on the Pecos River where Gálvez led his troops to victory in a fight with the Apaches.

        Gálvez returned to Spain in 1771 and spent the next three years in France, where he enrolled in the Regiment of Cantabria to perfect himself in military science and to learn the French language and culture. After his return to Spain, he was assigned to the Regiment of Seville. As captain of infantry under Alejandro 0'Reilly, he participated in a failed attack on Algiers and suffered another wound in 1775. In recompense, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and attached to the Military School of Ávila. In 1776 he was transferred to the faraway province of Louisiana and promoted to colonel of the Louisiana Regiment. On January 1, 1777, he succeeded Luís de Unzaga as Governor of Louisiana.

        While Governor of Louisiana, Gálvez, a single young man barely thirty years of age, met and married María Feliciana de St. Maxent, a young widow. Bernardo adopted the daughter of Feliciana, Adelaida, and within the next few years they had their own children, Matilde (1780) and Miguel (1782). Another child, Guadalupe, was born to them in Mexico City on December 12, 1786, twelve days after Bernardo died.

        Before Spain formally entered the American Revolutionary War, Gálvez did much to aid the American patriots. He corresponded directly with Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Henry Lee, and personally received their emissaries, Oliver Pollock and Capt. George Gibson. Gálvez responded to their pleas for Spanish aid by securing the port of New Orleans so that only American, Spanish, and French ships could move up and down the Mississippi River. Eventually, the Mississippi-Ohio river system became a veritable lifeline to the American colonists, for over it great amounts of money, arms, ammunition, and military supplies, were delivered covertly to the embattled American forces under George Washington and George Rogers Clark.

        Spain formally declared war against Great Britain on June 21, 1779, and King Carlos III commissioned Gálvez to raise a force of men and conduct a campaign against the British along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. In order to feed his troops, Gálvez sent an emissary. Francisco García, with a letter to Texas governor Domingo Cabello requesting the delivery of Texas cattle to Spanish forces in Louisiana. Accordingly, between 1779 and 1782 an estimated ten to fifteen thousand head of cattle were rounded up on ranches belonging to citizens and missions of Béxar and La Bahía. From La Bahía, the assembly point, Texas rancheros and their vaqueros trailed these herds to Nacogdoches, Natchitoches, and Opelousas for distribution to Gálvez's forces. Providing escorts for these herds were soldiers from Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, Presidio La Bahía, and El Fuerte del Cíbolo. Several hundred horses were also sent along for artillery and cavalry purposes. Fueled in part by Texas beef, Gálvez, with 1,400 men, took to the field and waterways in the fall of 1779 and defeated the British in battles at Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. The next year, after a month-long siege with land and sea forces, Gálvez, with over 2,000 men, captured the British stronghold of Fort Charlotte at Mobile on March 14, 1780. The climax of the Gulf Coast campaign occurred the following year when Gálvez directed a joint land-sea attack on Pensacola, the British capital of West Florida. He commanded more than 7,000 men, including a part of the French fleet under Chevalier de Monteil, in the two-month siege of Fort George in Pensacola before its capture on May 10,1781.

        The Battle of Pensacola was a brilliantly executed and pivotal battle of the American Revolution. To recognize the bravery of Gálvez in breaching the entrance into Pensacola Bay single-handedly with his flagship, the Galveztown, so that the Spanish and French fleets might also enter, King Carlos III authorized the addition of the inscription, Yo Solo ("I Alone") to the Gálvez coat-of-arms.

        In the meantime, Gálvez’s Spanish forces secured the upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers by defeating the British at San Luís (St. Louis, Missouri), at San José (St. Joseph, Michigan), and by assisting George Rogers Clark in his battles at Vincennes (Indiana), Kaskaskia (Illinois), and Cahokia (Illinois). Additionally he secured the river ports at Sta. Genoveva (St. Genevieve), Cape Girardeau, and Arkansas Post. It can be added that General Bernardo de Gálvez won every battle that he and his Spanish forces fought in the North American campaign of the American Revolution.

        Spain fought the British not only on the North American Continent but also in the far off Philippines, Galápagos, Juan Fernández Islands, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bahamas, Jamaica, Minorca, and Gibraltar while constantly posing a possible Spanish-French invasion of Great Britain. France extended the worldwide dimensions of the war by fighting the British in India, Hudson Bay, and Sierra Leone in addition to the North American Continent and the West Indies.

        Gálvez had under his command men from Spain, Mayorca, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Ireland. From Louisiana he recruited Frenchman, Germans, Acadians, Canary Islanders, Indians, and Blacks, both slave and free. Under his command, also, were a contingent of the American First Continental Marines and a part of the South Carolina Navy. He also had many troops, sailors, and ships from México (New Spain). One of his top generals was Major General Gerónimo Girón, a direct descendant of Montezuma. His aide-de-camp in the Pensacola campaign was Francisco Miranda, the precursor of independence in Venezuela.

        On May 8,1782, Gálvez’s Spanish forces, aided by the South Carolina Navy, captured the British naval base at New Providence in the Bahamas. Gálvez was busy preparing for a grand campaign against Jamaica when peace negotiations ended the war.

        After the fighting, Gálvez helped draft the terms of the treaties that ended the war and established the boundary between Florida and the United States. Shortly thereafter he was cited by the American Congress for his aid during the war for independence. After the peace accords in April 1783, General Gálvez, accompanied by his wife and their three small children, returned to Spain for a brief rest. In October 1784 he was recalled to América to serve as Captain-General and Governor of Cuba. Accompanied again by his wife and three children plus the newly appointed Chargé d’Affaires to the new American Republic, Diego de Gardoqui, he embarked for America again. In February 1785 Gálvez went to Savannah and Baltimore to represent Spain in negotiations with the United States concerning the boundary between Florida and the United States. In April he was at Havana, where he learned that his father, Matías de Gálvez, had died on November 3, 1784, and that he was appointed to succeed his father as Viceroy of New Spain.

        Gálvez and his family arrived in Mexico City on June 17, 1785, to begin his duties as Viceroy of New Spain. Two of his main accomplishments were to finish the rebuilding of the Castle of Chapultepec (memorialized in the "Marines Hymn" as the "Halls of Montezuma") and to complete the construction of the Cathedral of México, the largest church in the Western Hemisphere.

        México City, the capital of New Spain, was in the throes of famine and disease at that time. Gálvez endeared himself to the people of México City by opening up not only the resources of the government but also his personal fortune to help the populace through the difficult times. Gálvez, however, contracted the illness and died in Mexico City on November 30, 1786. His body was buried next to his father's crypt in the wall of the Church of San Fernando. Symbolic of his love to the people and place of México, his heart, as per a custom of the time, was placed in an urn and enshrined in the Cathedral of México. On December 12, 1786, twelve days after his death and eight days after his funeral, his widow gave birth to another child, Guadalupe.

        On November 30,1986, exactly two hundred years after his death forty members of the orders of the Granaderos and Damas de Gálvez from Texas, including my wife Victoria and me, in conjunction with the Sociedad Mexicana de Amigos de España, placed a bronze plaque on Gálvez's crypt to honor the life and deeds of this great Spanish hero of the American Revolution. One cannot help wondering why it took two hundred years to mark the tomb of this truly great man of history; however, better late than never.

        Over the years a number of places were named in his honor of Bernardo de Gálvez. In 1767, the Paso de Gálvez, a ford on the Pecos River, was named in his honor, and in 1778, San Bernardo, a Taovayan village on the Red River in Texas, was named in honor of Gálvez, then the governor of Louisiana. Both, however, have long since been lost and generally forgotten in history. While he was viceroy of New Spain, Gálvez ordered José de Evia to survey of the Gulf Coast; the map maker named the biggest bay on the Texas coast Bahía de Gálvez, a name later altered to Galveston Bay. Later, the city, county, and island of Galveston were named in his honor. In Louisiana, St. Bernard Parish was named in his honor, and the parishes of East Feliciana and West Feliciana were named in honor of his wife, Feliciana, who, after Bernardo’s death, moved back to Europe and lived out her life in Spain and Italy.

        Much more could written about the life, deeds, and legacy of Bernardo de Gálvez. Suffice it to say here that the reader of this article can learn much more about this great Spanish hero of the American Revolution from many sources. A start may be made in the references that follow.

References for Supporting and Additional Information

Beerman, Eric, España y la Independencia de Estados Unidos. Madrid, Spain: Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.

Boeta, José Rodulfo, Bernardo de Gálvez. Madrid, Spain: Publicaciones Españolas, 1977.

Caughey, John Walton, Bernardo de Gálvez in Louisiana, 1776-1783. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1934; reprint, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Press, 1972.

Chávez, Thomas E., Spain and the Independence of the United States: An Intrinsic Gift. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 2002.

Coker, William S. and Hazel P. Coker, The Siege of Mobile, 1780, in Maps. Pensacola, Florida: Perdido Bay Press, 1982.

__________, The Siege of Pensacola, 1781, in Maps. Pensacola, Florida: Perdido Bay Press, 1981.

Fernández-Shaw, Carlos M., The Hispanic Presence in North America from 1492 to Today. New York, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1987.

Koker, Hubert L., "Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez Salvaged the Gulf Coast for the Future United States," Military History, June 1993.

LaFarelle Lorenzo G., Bernardo de Gálvez: Hero of the American Revolution. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1992.

Montemayor, E. A., Eric Beerman, and Winston De Ville, Yo Solo: The Battle Journal of Bernardo de Gálvez during the American Revolution. New Orleans, Louisiana: Polyanthos, 1978.

Thonhoff Robert H., The Texas Connection 'with the American Revolution. Burnet, Texas: Eakin Press, 1981.

__________, El Fuerte del Cíbolo: Sentinel of the Béxar-La Bahía Ranches. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, 1992.

__________, The Vital Contribution of Spain in the Winning of the American Revolution. Privately published by Robert H. Thonhoff, Karnes City, Texas, 2000.

__________, The Vital Contribution of Texas in the Winning of the American Revolution. Privately published by Robert H. Thonhoff, Karnes City, Texas, 2002.

Weddle, Robert S. and Robert H. Thonhoff, Drama and Conflict: The Texas Saga of l776. Austin, Texas: Madrona Press, 1976.

* Robert H. Thonhoff is an author, historian, speaker, emcee, retired educator, retired Karnes County Judge, former President of the Texas State Historical Association, and an Honorary Granadero de Gálvez. He and his wife Victoria, an Honorary Dama de Gálvez, reside in Karnes City, Texas, and have three children and five grandchildren..

ARCHAEOLOGY

Reputed Columbus Remains in Spain Exhumed Eastern Ethiopia Skulls Found

Reputed Columbus Remains in Spain Exhumed


Extract: MADRID, Spain  — A chest containing the supposed remains of Christopher Columbus (search) was exhumed June 2 for DNA and other tests to determine whether the bones are really those of the famed explorer.
        The test aims to settle a long debate over where Colombus is buried: in Spain's Seville Cathedral (search) or in a sprawling monument in the Dominican Republic's (search) capital, Santo Domingo. 
        In the presence of two descendants of Columbus — Jaime and Anunicada Colon de Carvajal — researchers removed two boxes from an ornate tomb at the cathedral in the southern city of Seville. One box is believed to hold the explorer's bones; the other is known to hold those of his son Hernando. 
        Columbus died and was buried in the Spanish city of Valladolid on May 20, 1506, although he had asked to be buried in the Americas.Three years later, his remains were moved to a monastery on La Cartuja, next to Seville. In 1537, Maria de Rojas y Toledo, widow of another of Columbus' sons, Diego, sent the bones of her husband and his father to the cathedral in Santo Domingo for burial. There they lay until 1795, when Spain ceded the island to France but decided Columbus' remains should not fall into the hands of foreigners. So a set of remains that the Spaniards believed were Columbus' were shipped to Havana and, when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, over to Seville .However, in 1877, workers digging in the Santo Domingo cathedral unearthed a leaden box containing bones and bearing the inscription, "Illustrious and distinguished male, don Cristobal Colon" — as Columbus is called in Spanish — thus sparking the controversy. 

Extract: Eastern Ethiopia Skulls Found
160,000-year-old fossilized skulls uncovered in Ethiopia are oldest anatomically modern humans
Source: UCBerkeleyNews, Robert Sanders, 11 june 2003
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/06/11_idaltu.shtml

BERKELEY - The fossilized skulls of two adults and one child discovered in the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia have been dated at 160,000 years, making them the oldest known fossils of modern humans, or Homo sapiens

"This set of fossils is stupendous," said team member F. Clark Howell, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of integrative biology and co-director with White of UC Berkeley's Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies. "This is a truly revolutionary scientific discovery." Howell added that these anatomically modern humans pre-date most neanderthals, and therefore could not have descended from them, as some scientists have proposed

They lived long before most examples of another early hominid, the neanderthal, or Homo neanderthalensis, proving beyond a reasonable doubt, said paleoanthropologist Tim White, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, . . . that Homo sapiens did not descend from these short, stocky creatures. More like cousins, neanderthals split off from the human tree more than 300,000 years ago and died out about 30,000 years ago, perhaps driven to extinction by modern humans.

Because the Herto fossils represent a transition between more primitive hominids from Africa and modern humans, they provide strong support for the hypothesis that modern humans evolved in Africa and subsequently spread into Eurasia. This hypothesis goes against the theory that modern humans arose in many areas of Europe, Asia and Africa from other hominids who had migrated out of Africa at a much earlier time.
[[Editor's question, what if they find 160,000 year old fossils some place else?]] 

Berhane Asfaw of the Rift Valley Research Service in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says that the fossil evidence "clearly shows what molecular anthropologists have been saying for a long time - that modern Homo sapiens evolved out of Africa. These fossilized skulls from Herto show that modern humans were living at around 160,000 years ago with full-fledged Homo sapiens features. The 'Out of Africa' hypothesis is now tested, ... (and) we can conclusively say that neanderthals had nothing to do with modern humans. They went extinct. 

MISCELLANEOUS

Searching Social Security Information
Railroad Retirement Board 
Digamy 
Genealogy Online Training Courses
Family History Radio's New eGenConference
City Directories
KARTOO.COM
Searching the Ellis Island Database in One Step
World Congress of Families Update,

Searching Social Security Information
      http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson10.htm 
Sent by Joan De Soto
This is a how- to- access and get needed information from the Social Security Index.

Railroad Retirement Board  
 http://www.rrb.gov/    Sent by Joan De Soto

Descendants of ancestors who worked on the railroads might also find useful information.
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board was created in the 1930s, and has records dating back to 1937, but they exist only for those whose emploeyrs were covered under the Railroad Retirement Act. You can obtain information about deceased individuals for genealgoical purposes. The records are arranged by Social Security number. If you do not know the number, provide as much identifying information as you have. Currently there is a $21 nonrefundable fee for a search in these records. Send request, along with check or money order, to: 
844 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2092


Digamy 

Sent by Armando Montes AMontes@mail.com
Source: Dr. Language, http://www.yourDictionary.com

Para genealogistas  Digamy (Noun)  Pronunciation: ['di-gê-mi] 

Definition 1: A second marriage after a divorce or the passing of a spouse, deuterogamy. 

Usage 1: Bigamy is illegal marriage to two spouses simultaneously; digamy is marriage to two spouses in legal succession. Polygamy is marriage to several partners simultaneously—"polygyny" refers to having several wives while "polyandry" refers to having several husbands. The adjective for today's noun is "digamous" and sounds like "bigamous." 

Suggested usage: The English language is rich in words referring to multiple spouses; clearly spousal affiliation is an important social issue among us and we must have terms to refer to all its aspects. Digamy has become almost as common as marriage since the more or less united states of North America began legalizing divorce in the 60s. "All my friends become digamous so fast, it is difficult to say that that none are bigamous." Digamy has become an aspect of family life that many US families in the post-Vietnam era have had to make allowances for. 

Etymology: From Greek digamia "marriage twice" based on dis "twice" + gamos "marriage." The synonym of today's word, "deuterogamy," comes from Greek deuteros "second" + "gamos" and is related to the name of the second book of the Bible, Deuteronomy from Greek deuteronomion "second law" from deuteros "second" + nom- "law." 



Genealogy Online Training Courses
, Each class is $29.95
www.myfamily.com/html/CM/News/weekly/030618.html

MyFamily.com is offering interactive online genealogy training websites to help you discover what the world of genealogy is all about. These websites will be led by popular family history experts to help you with all your genealogy needs. 
•  Receive four weeks of lessons and interaction with a genealogy expert 
•  Interact with a genealogy expert on each lesson through the site message board 
•  Search more than 1 billion names at Ancestry.com with a 30-day subscription including our online census images 
•  Receive tips and advice on how to find ancestors online 
•  Learn from eight independent study lessons through site interaction and worksheets for only $29.95USD (that's less than $4.00 per lesson!) 
•  Create your family tree using Online Family Tree software and downloadable genealogy forms 
•  Collaborate with other site members to grow your family tree over the course of a year 

First time ever:  Family History Radio's New eGenConference
A completely new kind of conference is going on:  June 10 to July 10.
Source: UGANEWS  May-June 2003, Vol. 32, No. 1
This is a chance to attend a conference and be a part of history in the making,  without leaving home.

You can still register at:  http://www.egenconference.com 
Flash presentation: http://www.xmission.com/~fhradio/lessons/openingpresentation.htm
Speaker program: http://www.familyhistoryradio.com/fhr_sp/program.php
Speakers Biographies: http://www.familyhistoryradio.com/fhr_sp/speaker.php


City Directories
  http://www.uscitydirectories.com/
Source: UGANEWS, March-April 2003, Vol. 32, No. 2

These resources can help you identify when and where a family moved.  They can also pinpoint a family's residence and save you time when you look for them in the census.  However, they're like phone books - likely to be thrown out when the newer edition comes along.  the copies that survived are deposited in libraries all around the country.
        Genealogy research Associates (Karen Clifford's Company) is creating a Web site to help you locate the directories you need.  The directories themselves are not on the site - just  their location.  However, you will often find that a helpful librarian at one of these libraries will do a look up for you.  Most directories list the head of the household, and the address.  Some may list an occupation, particularly those from the 1800s.
        There is also a link for you to use if you would like to volunteer to extract and contribute a directories list from a repository near you.

KARTOO.COM

Source: UGANEWS  May-June 2003, Vol. 32, No. 1

Would you like a new experience in websearching? Are you tired of long lists to scroll down when you use GOOGLE or other search engines.  Try KARTOO.com; it is a metasearcher with a twist.  those who "visualize" will enjoy their map-style presentation.  The results from the search are displayed on a "Map" with about ten individual sites shown as yellow circles.

Move your cursor over the circle and a short summary of site holdings are displayed in the left hand column. If the site is "connected" to other sites on the map "links" will be displayed.  In the upper left corner is a list of several most popular sites.  Just under the sites list is a list of topics.  You can click on the + or - to add or delete the topic search term to you next searches.

If you want to see the actual material just click on the yellow dot to be taken to the document or list.  When you want to see the next map of results, click on the green arrow in the bottom right hand corner.  (If there are no more findings the arrow will not be green.) 


Searching the Ellis Island Database in One Step
Sent by Joan De Soto

We acknowledge the work of Dr. Stephen Morse in creating this search tool,
with major contributions from Dr. Yves Goulnik.

New web address to the alternate Ellis Island portal, where you can perform searches not available on the official site.  Stephen P. Morse has created alternate ways to search census data. This isn't free, but if you have access to Ancestry, you have the following search capabilities:
  • Find a First, Middle, or last name that Contains a set of letters or Ends with a set of letters.
  • Do a Wildcard Search with only two known letters at the beginning of the name.
  • Search by Relationship to Head of House, narrowing down the number of hits for a common name.
  • Search by Microfilm number, or specific frame on the roll.
  • Search by Enumeration District or Page within it.

Family History Centers that are connected to the Internet now have the opportunity to sign up for Ancestry access for their patrons to use at no charge.  http://stevemorse.org/census/ancestry.html

You can now search the Ellis Island data for 732 ports of departure by using Stephen Morse's Ellis Island in One Step, and the White Form.  
For more on this ability, see http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/ellis.htm

Source: UGANEWS  May-June 2003, Vol. 32, No. 1


World Congress of Families Update,
Online!  17 June 2003  Volume 04 Issue 24
A Free Email Newsletter  http://www.worldcongress.org/WCFUpdate/wcf_update.htm

"If both father and mother attend regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly.  Only a quarter of their children will end up not practicing at all.  If the father is irregular and mother regular, only 3 percent of the children will subsequently become regulars themselves, while a further 59 percent will become irregulars.  Thirty-eight percent will be lost. If the father is non-practicing and mother regular, only 2 percent of children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly.  Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church."

(Source:  Robbie Low, "The Truth About Men & Church, Touchstone, June 2003; referencing Werner Haug and Phillipe Warner, "The demographic characteristics of linguistic and religious groups in Switzerland," in Werner Haug, et al, Population Studies No. 31, (vol. 2): The Demographic Characteristics of National Minorities in Certain European States, Council of Europe Directorate General III, Social Cohesion, Strasbourg, 2000.)

======================================================
Family Research Abstract of the Week: Worse than Lutefisk
======================================================
        It is well known that raising children as a single parent is not optimal for either parent or child(ren).  But just how bad is it?  Researchers in Sweden, relying on data gleaned from nine years of mortality, severe morbidity, and hospital inpatient records of nearly a million Swedish children included in the Swedish national registers, set out to determine just how being raised by a single parent effects the health and welfare of children.  It is worth noting at the outset, as the authors do, that "In 1999, a quarter of all Swedish 17-year-olds had experienced their parents' separation."
        The researchers investigated 65,085 children living with the same single parent in both 1985 and 1990, and compared their findings with 921,257 children living with two parents in both years.  The authors found that children of single parents had increased risks of psychiatric disease, suicide or suicide attempt, injury, and addiction.
        Even after adjusting for a number of factors, including the parent's mental health, addiction, or socioeconomic status, children of single parents still faced much tougher odds than children raised in two-parent homes: "...girls with single parents were more than twice as likely to commit suicide and more than three times as likely to die from an addiction to drugs or alcohol than were girls with two parents. Boys of single parents were more than five times more likely to die from an addiction to drugs or alcohol, more than three times as likely to die from a fall or poisoning, and four times more likely to die from external violence...."
        Even using the most stringent statistical model, girls were twice as likely, and boys were two-and-a-half times as likely, to develop psychiatric disease (relative risk for girls 2.1 [95% CI 1.9-2.3] and boys 2.5 [2.3-2.8]).  Both boys and girls were more likely to attempt suicide (girls 2.0 [1.9-2.2], boys 2.3 [2.1-2.6]) and to develop alcohol-related disease (girls 2.4 [2.2-2.7], boys 2.2 [2.0-2.4]).  Boys raised by a single parent were four times as likely to develop narcotics-related disease, and girls were more than three times as likely (girls 3.2 [2.7-3.7], boys 4.0 [3.5-4.5]). Moreover, boys raised in a single-parent home experienced a much higher likelihood of "all-cause mortality," that is, of dying from any cause: "After adjustment for age, the risk of dying was more than 50% greater in boys in single-parent families than in those boys living with both parents"
        The researchers conclude, after four iterations of adjusting the results, that, in the end, the effects of having just one parent cannot be explained by socioeconomics, parental status or health, or even addiction: "...even when a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic circumstances are included in multivariate models, children of single parents still have increased risks of mortality, severe morbidity, and injury," and, "...for all outcomes, significant increases in risk remained unaccounted for even in the fully adjusted model."
        No amount of massaging the figures, or of adjusting for confounding variables, will ever be able to explain away the reality that children need both parents at home.  With due respect to our Swedish friends, any attempt to deny this truth simply leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.

Source: Gunilla Ringbäck Weitoft, Anders Hjern, Bengt Haglund, and Måns Rosén, "Mortality, severe morbidity, and injury in children living with single parents in Sweden: A population-based study," The Lancet, Vol. 361, No. 9354 [25 January 2003]: 289-295; and Margaret Whitehead and Paula Holland, "What puts children of lone parents at a health disadvantage?" The Lancet, Vol. 361, No. 9354 [25 January 2003]: 271.

What you can do to help preserve the "natural family    https://www.profam.org/thc/thc_join.htm