Somos Primos

SEPTEMBER 2009
114th Issue Online

Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-9

Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
 Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

Few others can claim the patriotism demonstrated by our Hispanic citizens. Consistent with this, they've received awards for heroism and bravery far in excess to their proportion of the population.  --Ronald Reagan - September 16, 1981

  Letters to the Editor : 

UNITED STATES

First Latina U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor

By
Mercy Bautista-Olvera

 Sonia Sotomayor as a baby with her parents Celina and Juan

Sonia Maria Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954 in the Bronx, a borough in New York . She is the daughter of Juan Sotomayor and Celina Báez-Sotomayor. She lived not too far from the stadium of her favorite team, the New York Yankees.  Her parents came to New York from Puerto Rico . During WWII, at 17, her mother, Celina Báez joined the Women's Army Corps in Georgia . She eventually settled in the Bronx , where she married Juan Sotomayor. Sonia’s father, a factory worker, died when Sonia was only nine-years old. The following year Sonia was diagnosed with diabetes. Their widowed mother Celina, living in a public housing project, raised both Sonia and her brother Juan. Her brother, now a physician, has been in private practice specializing in pulmonary and asthma diseases in Syracuse , New York .  He is also an assistant professor in Pediatrics and Allergy at the University Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital . Judge Sotomayor describes her mother as her biggest inspiration; her mother emphasized to her children the importance of hard work and education. Her mother Celina would later remarry Omar Lopez.  

         Sonia and her brother Juan                   A little girl with big dreams  

 Sonia Sotomayor: 8^th grade graduation
from the parochial Blessed Sacrament School

                       Cardinal Spellman High School in New York  

Sonia Sotomayor attended Cardinal Spellman High School in New York ; she was the 1972 Valedictorian of her high school class, she studied forensics and was class president as a sophomore and junior.    

Sotomayor 1976 Pyne Prize from Princeton 

Sotomayor went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in History from Princeton in 1976. At Princeton , she continued to excel, graduating summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. Sotomayor was a co-recipient of the Moses Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate.

                                        

My Princeton experience has been the people I've met.

To them, for their lessons of life, I remain

eternally indebted and appreciative.

To them and to that extra-special person in my life.  

Thank you __ For all that I am and am not.

The sum total of my life here, has been made-up

of little parts from all of you.
                                           SONIA SOTOMAYOR
Princeton yearbook, 1976      

On August 14, 1976, after graduating from Princeton , Sonia Sotomayor married her high school sweetheart, Kevin Edward Noonan. She and Noonan divorced amicably in 1983 with no children.   

In the fall of 1976, Sotomayor entered Yale Law School ; she became an editor of the Law Journal at Yale and managing editor of the Yale and Studies in World Public Order. In 1979, Sotomayor earned her Jurist Degree from Yale Law School .  
From 1979-1984, Sonia Sotomayor served as Assistant District Attorney, working in the New York County District Attorney’s Office with her mentor Robert Morgenthau. As a member of the Trial Bureau, Sotomayor litigated cases involving robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography.  

In 1984, she joined a private practice in New York City, her areas of specialty included intellectual property and copyright cases, international transactions involving grain commodity trading, and automobile dealer relations law. She worked for both American and foreign clients, with the opportunity to travel extensively domestically and abroad. Many of the cases required a great deal of investigative work when counterfeit issues arose. “As a result, I had my own bulletproof vest and worked closely with law enforcement officials,” she said.  

In 1990, the managing litigation partner of her firm, David A. Botwinik, urged Sotomayor to apply for a vacated seat on the Federal bench. “I had always wanted to be a judge, but I assumed it would happen much later in my career.” As Judge Sotomayor explains, “I was still in my 30’s at the time and I felt they would not even consider me. If it hadn’t been for my partner’s insistence and support, I never would have applied.”  

In November 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Sotomayor to serve as Federal Justice for the U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York.   She was confirmed on August 11, 1992. She was the youngest member of the court when appointed and the first Hispanic Federal judge for U.S. District Court.   

In 1995, Sotomayor made a key ruling that brought Major League Baseball back to the nation after a strike. She ruled in favor of Major League Baseball players over owners in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of the World Series. Many baseball observers agree that Sotomayor's quick decisive action helped halt a strike that had eliminated the last month and a half of the 1994 regular season as well as the entire postseason.    

Honorable Judge Sonia Sotomayor
  Second Circuit, Courts of Appeals  

     In 1997, President Clinton nominated Sotomayor to the U.S. Court of Appeals,    for the Second Circuit, one of the most demanding circuits in the country. In addition to Sotomayor’s distinguished judicial service, she has also served as a Lecturer at Columbia University Law School and as an Adjunct professor at New York University School of Law (1998-2007).From October 7, 1998 to August 7, 2009; she served as an Appellate Justice.  

She has served in a variety of legal roles, including as a prosecutor, litigator and judge. In her three-decade career, she has worked at nearly every level of the judicial system. Judge Sotomayor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in the last 100 years, and more overall judicial experience than anyone confirmed for the Court in the past 70 years.  

Judge Sotomayor has protected the rights of working Americans, ruling in favor of health benefits and fair wages for workers in several cases. She has shown support for First Amendment rights in cases of religious expression and the right to assemble and free speech. She has a strong record on Civil Rights cases ruling for plaintiffs who had been discriminated against based on disability, sex, and race.  

Judge Sotomayor is a widely respected legal figure, having been described as    ”highly qualified for any position in which, wisdom, intelligence, collegiality, and good character would be assets,” and as “a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess, and integrity.”  

The Nomination

Nomination Day, May 26, 2009; l-r;

Sotomayor’s nephew, Juan (brother), Celina, (mother) Sonia Sotomayor, 
Vice President Joe Biden and President Obama 

On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , to replace retiring Justice David Souter. Sotomayor’s nomination was formally submitted to the U.S. Senate on June 1, 2009.  

 The Senate Hearings: July 13 - 16, 2009

1^st Day of Hearings, July 13, 2009

   The Senate Vote  

August 6, 2009, Al Franken Senate Judiciary Committee member
announces the nomination to the U.S. Senate  

On August 6, 2009, the Senate voted 68-31 to confirm Sotomayor. Obama praised the Senate's vote as "breaking another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union.”  

The longest-serving senator, 91-year-old Robert Byrd of West Virginia , who has been in frail health following a long hospitalization, was brought in a wheelchair to vote in Sotomayor's favor. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., a supporter of the nomination, suffering from brain cancer, was the only Senator absent.  

In the final Senate tally, nine Republicans joined a majority of Democrats and the Senate's two independents to support Sotomayor's confirmation. They included the Senate's few GOP moderates and its lone Hispanic Republican, retiring Senator Mel Martinez of Florida , as well as conservative Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina , and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee , the party's third-ranking leader.  

California Senator Diane Feinstein stated, “It’s truly a great day for the United States of America . A great day for justice and the law, and a great day for every young woman out there who says, ‘Yes I can, I can do it if I work hard.’ That is the message of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She is going to be a wonderful Supreme Court Justice.  Our nation is going to be exceptionally well-served.”  

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois , a top Democratic Senator stated, "Those who oppose her for fear of her unique life experience do no justice to her or our nation. Their names will be listed in our nation's annals of elected officials’ one step behind America 's historic march forward."  

                                                   The Oath

August 8, 2009: l-r U. S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor,
  Juan (brother), Celina, (mother), and Chief Justice John Roberts    

On August 8, 2009, two swearing in ceremonies took place; the first was held in a private ceremony, in the second and public ceremony, she again took the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts in an ornate conference room beneath a portrait of the legendary Chief Justice John Marshall.  

August 12, 2009, White House reception

Another Wise Latina:  Mercy Bautista-Olvera 

Editor:  Although there was much political discourse and criticism about Judge Sotomayor's comment about a Wise Latina, surely the background and life experiences of an individual shape their perspective on life and decision making.  It is logical that humanity's yearning for  justice will be more likely satisfied when more perspectives, more viewpoints, are brought to the table.  

A few months ago I asked Mercy to share her biography with readers. Mercy is a beautiful example of another Wise Latina.  She has lived her life with love, respect and concern for others, doing her best in whatever situation she found herself. 

In addition to many individual articles written and shared in Somos Primos by Mercy, starting in 2005, in 2008, Mercy started a very tender series honoring our military.  Latinos/Latinas Ultimate Sacrifice, profiled Latinos killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

In 2009 Mercy started another series on Hispanics Breaking Barriers.  Published in this issue is the 9th in the series.  

After reading Mercy's bio,  I would like to invite readers to send articles (of any length) honoring a Latina whose selfless action improves the lives of others. It is the Wise Latina that grasps that what benefits an individual must also ultimately benefit the nation. Mercy is a fine example.  I know that each of you know Wise Latinas whose quiet, unsung lives demonstrate the principles of wisdom and right action.  Please share.

Mercy Bautista-Olvera  

Maria Mercedes (Mercy) Bautista was born in the city of Zacatecas , Zacatecas , Mexico ; she is the youngest daughter of Marcelino R. Bautista and Anastacia Nuñez-Bautista, (both deceased). When still a child, with five sisters and three brothers, her family immigrated to Los Angeles , California . A few months after their arrival, Mercy received a “Welcome to United States ” letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower (the letter regrettably, over time, became lost). Mercy attended elementary and middle school in South-East Los Angeles and graduated from John C. Fremont High School . Shortly thereafter, on September 28, 1963, Mercy became a naturalized citizen.  

As a teenager, Mercy worked such various jobs as a ticket cashier at the Mayan Theatre in downtown Los Angeles , auto part assembly worker, and for Learner’s Department store, she rose from an office clerk to Manager of the Credit Department.   

Married at an early age, her family would grow to include three daughters. She volunteered in her oldest daughter’s pre-school classroom and at the local Girl Scout chapter. In her daughter’s school she joined the P.T.A. and later became Chairperson of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board allowed Mercy to represent the issues and recommendations concerning her daughter’s elementary school at school district-wide meetings. After two years of volunteer service, she was hired by the school Principal to work as an “Education Aide III.”    

Mercy, at the time single parent, with three young daughters; enrolled at East Los Angeles Junior College . Holding three part-time jobs; classroom Aide, school office clerk, and local library worker, she now solely supported her three daughters and attended evening classes at East Los Angeles College .  She graduated with an Associate of Arts Degree, making the Honor List, the Dean’s List and Alpha Gamma Sigma Membership. (The following day after her graduation from college, she remarried).  

Mercy later attended California State University at Los Angeles and received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Child Development. By this time her experience and education qualified her to work as a “Teacher’s Assistant.”  As an “Assistant,” she could provide instruction in the classroom and when necessary, serve as a substitute teacher.  She still volunteered many hours translating for teachers and parents, and often tutored students during her lunchtime. Throughout her 22 years in education, she maintained an outstanding rapport with teachers, parents, and students.   

Mercy’s involvement with “Somos Primos” began when she attended a monument dedication for Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon on October 2, 2004 at Father Serra Park in Los Angeles . The monument site is dedicated to the Latino heroes who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. She later wrote about the dedication and sent it to the Somos Primos website.  

She then wrote another article for Somos Primos about her dad, Marcelino R. Bautista, who worked as a railroad worker under the Bracero plan during WWII. Somos Primos’ editor Mimi Lozano-Holtzman then asked permission to send the article to Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, the Director of the national organization, “Defend the Honor.” Consequently and with permission, Dr. Rivas-Rodriguez reprinted the article and photo of her father in the book, “A Legacy Greater Than Words.” Definitely, one of many highlights in her life was having her father’s name and photo in a published book.  

Mercy has been an advocate for many issues, she has written to express her views to U.S. Presidents, U.S. Senators, and U.S. Congressmen regarding soldiers/veterans not receiving Congressional Medal of Honor recognition, Veterans health insurance and benefits, the mistreatment of farm workers (by their employers), and abuses against illegal immigrants.  

For “Somos Primos” she then wrote a variety of articles presenting positive Hispanic role models; Hispanics in the Civil War, Benito Juarez, Marine Pfc. Guy Gabaldon, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, Enrique Camarena, Cesar Chavez, Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (Astronaut), and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner; (Argentina’s 1^st female President). She also wrote, “Los Niños Heroes de Chapultepec,” a little known battle against the French in 19^th century Mexican History.  

In 2008, she submitted a series of biographies titled “Latinos/Latinas Ultimate Sacrifice,” a series profiling Latinos killed in Iraq and Afghanistan .  She wrote in detail of the lives and contributions of nearly 130 fallen lives.  She strongly voiced that their sacrifices, never be forgotten.  In 2009, Mercy started another series “Hispanics Breaking Barriers.” This series presented the contributions of Hispanics in United States government and leadership.  She wrote how these leaders improved not only the local community, but the country as well.  

Currently, Mercy is part-time caretaker for her two youngest grandsons providing them with at home tutoring. At her grandson’s school, she still volunteers her time. In her spare time, she enjoys researching family history, reading, attending musicals, and plays. Mercy is married, has five children and seven grandchildren. She continues to live her life dedicated to children and education.

HISPANICS BREAKING BARRIERS

Part IX

By

Mercy Bautista-Olvera

In the coming months this series “Hispanics Breaking Barriers” will present the   contributions of Hispanics in United States government and leadership. Their contributions have improved not only the local community but the country as well.    Their struggles, stories, and accomplishments will by example, illustrate to our youth and to future generations that everything and anything is possible.

Dr. Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana : Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education in the Department of Education (Confirmed)

Vilma S. Martinez: U.S. Ambassador to Argentina (Confirmed)

John R. Fernandez: First Capital Group, Senior Vice President, currently a nominee for Assistant secretary of Commerce for Economic Development

Juan M. Garcia III: U.S. former member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 32^nd District, (Texas) currently a nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), Department of the Navy, Department of Defense

Dr. Ines Triay:  Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management in Energy Department (Confirmed)      

 Dr. Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana

Dr. Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education in the Department of Education, she will be a top advisor to Education Secretary Arne Duncan in the Obama Administration.

Thelma Esther Melendez’ family emigrated from Mexico . She was raised in Montebello , California . She is the daughter of Benedicto Melendez and Maria Melendez. She attended Fremont Elementary School , and eventually she married Otto Santa Ana, currently, a UCLA Chicano Studies Associate Professor. 

Melendez de Santa Ana earned a Bachelor Cum Laude in Sociology from UCLA.

As a Title VII Fellow, she earned a Ph.D. in language, literacy & learning from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California .

Melendez de Santa Ana has worked in the Montebello and Pasadena School Districts as a Bilingual classroom teacher, a middle school Assistant Principal (for curriculum and instruction), elementary school Principal, and Director of Instruction for elementary and middle schools.

Since 2006, Melendez de Santa Ana has been Superintendent of the 33,000 student Pomona Unified School District . She is a highly respected educator, with commitment and passion for helping students, she inspires everyone who works with her. Her motto of ‘Respect, Responsibility, and Results’ for every student, parent, and educator, are keys to improving student achievement.

Vilma S. Martinez

Vilma S. Martinez has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Argentina .  

Vilma Socorro Martinez was born on October 17, 1943 in San Antonio , Texas ; she is the daughter of Salvador Martinez and Marina Pina-Martinez. In the early 1970’s, she married fellow attorney Stuart Singer. They have two sons, Carlos and Ricardo.   

During her childhood, much of Texas was openly segregated. “We weren’t allowed to go into some of the parks,” Martinez recalls. “When we went to the movies, we had to sit in the back of the theater.”  

At 15 years of age, Martinez worked as a volunteer in the firm of a local Hispanic lawyer, Alonso Perales. The experience led her to focus her sights on becoming a lawyer.  

After graduating from high school, Vilma Martinez enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin , earning a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in 1964. She went on to Columbia University School of Law, receiving her Bachelor’s of Law (L.L.B). Degree in 1967.  

Martinez began her career as a staff attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1967.  “I joined the staff at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund when Title VII was new and I worked on Title VII cases throughout the South and an early Northern school desegregation case in Denver , Colorado ,” Martinez said.

In 1970, she became Equal Employment Opportunity Counsel for the New York State Division of Human Rights in New York City and in 1971; she joined the firm of Cahill, Gordon & Reindel in New York as a litigation associate.

Martinez was one of the first two women elected to the Board of Directors for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). In 1973, she was selected president and general counsel. She served in that capacity from 1973-1982. During her tenure, Martinez worked on a number of issues. She is proud of a major victory in Plyer vs. Doe, which guaranteed undocumented children the right to a public school education. She was also instrumental in MALDEF’s effort to expand the Voting Rights Act to Mexican-Americans.     

Since 1982, Martinez has been a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, where she specializes in federal and state court litigation, including defense of wrongful termination, employment litigation, and other commercial litigation.  

In 1994, she was hired by the Los Angeles Unified School District to challenge that portion of Proposition 187, which denied public school education to California ’s undocumented migrants. While her suit filed in the state courts successfully won a restraining order, a similar case was filed soon afterwards in the federal courts by MALDEF and other civil rights groups. The federal class action suit, Gregorio vs. Wilson , ultimately resulted in nearly all provisions of Proposition 187 being declared unconstitutional in 1998.  

Martinez is proof that a person from a humble beginning can become a success. Youth have looked to her for inspiration as they deal with the many challenges of living in a diverse culture.

Dr. John Russell Fernandez

John Fernandez, Senior Vice President for First Capital Group is a nominee for Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and Economic Development Administration for the Department of Commerce.  

John Russell Fernandez was born in Canton, Ohio, son of Armonia C. Fernandez, he is a first generation American, Fernandez grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. He is married to Karen Suzanne Howe they have one daughter, Isabel.  

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University ’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and a Master of Public Affairs (M.P.A.) and a Doctor of Law (J.D.) from Indiana University School of Law.  

Fernandez served as a law clerk for Indiana Supreme Court Justice Roger DeBruler, soon after he served in a private practice of law as a member of Bingham Summers Welsh and Spilman’s litigation practice group.  

Starting in 1991, Fernandez served on the Bloomington City Council for five years and as its President.  In his off-Counsel role, Fernandez advises private and governmental organizations on economic development, public finance and public policy issues. He earned a Jurist Doctor Degree from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington , Indiana in 1992.  

In 1993, Fernandez was admitted to the Bar Association in Indiana .  

In 1996, Fernandez served as Bloomington ’s Mayor. In his first term, Thomson Consumer electronics in Bloomington announced plans to close its plant. Fernandez marshaled community, state, and federal resources and developed a strategic redevelopment plan that led to over $200 million in private investments and created hundreds of new jobs.  As Mayor, Fernandez developed an aggressive downtown revitalization plan resulting in more than $100 million of new investments.  He also worked with business and Indiana University leaders to launch Bloomington ’s Life Sciences Partnership, securing more than $243 million in private investments and creating more than 3,700 jobs.   

From 1999-2003, Fernandez served a second term, as Mayor he served as a member of the Electronic Commerce & Internet Technology Taskforce for the United States Conference of Mayors. He is also a member of the Indiana Land Resources Council and the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.  

Fernandez was also the Indiana Democratic Party’s candidate for Secretary of State in 2002. 

In 2007, Fernandez joined the Obama for Change Indiana leadership team serving as a senior advisor and fundraiser.  For more than 20 years, John Fernandez has played a prominent leadership role in Bloomington and Indiana ’s civic life.  

Currently, Fernandez is Senior Vice President & Partner at First Capital Financial Group. In this capacity, he leads the real estate investment firm’s new development and acquisition team. Fernandez’ community activities include service on a number of philanthropic boards including, the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation and the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County .
 

Juan M. Garcia III   

Juan M. Garcia III, a second-generation Naval Aviator, and attorney, is a nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), Department of the Navy.  If the Senate confirms Garcia, he will provide leadership in recruiting, developing, and retaining personnel in the military and civilian service.   

Juan M. Garcia III was born on May 27, 1966 in St. Louis , Missouri ; he is the son Navy Pilot Juan Manuel Garcia II and Patricia Corcoran-Garcia. Juan is married to Denise Giraldez-Garcia; (of Puerto Rican descent) they met at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The couple have four children, twin eight-year-old boys, a six-year-old-daughter, and a three-year old son.

Garcia graduated with honors and received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles , where he gave the 1988 commencement address. In 1992, Garcia received his Jurist Degree-MPP (Jurist Degree-Master in Public Policy) from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard Garcia became a close friend to President Obama, they were law school classmates. 

In 1999-2000 Garcia served in the White House Fellow (the nation's premier leadership development program) serving as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education to Richard Riley. Garcia is a 2nd generation aviator; he has flown 30-armed missions in support of Operation Desert Thunder in the Persian Gulf , including an emergency landing in a sandstorm. He is the Commanding Officer of Naval Reserve Training Squadron 28. He served as Flag Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and the aide-de-camp in London to the Deputy Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe . Garcia served in Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia . He has served in supporting the enforcement of the no-fly zone in Iraq aboard the USS constellation.    

Garcia received his “Wings of Gold” from the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi , Texas ; his Military awards include the Joint Commendation Medal, the Naval Commendation Medal, and the Naval Achievement Award.    

Garcia left active duty in 2004 and continued to serve as an instructor pilot at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi with the Naval Reserves. Garcia served as Chair in the Board of Citizens for Educational Excellence and the Board of Governors for Leadership in Corpus Christy, Texas , the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Foundation, the Surfrider Environmental Group, and the Corpus Christi Barrios Association.  

Garcia was admitted to the Bar in 2005 in Corpus Christi , Texas , he served in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas.  

In January 2007, U.S. Representative Garcia won his first victory for open government. He represented the 32^nd District in the Texas House of Representatives. Garcia made the initiative of recording the vote as a direct avenue for ethical open government, the centerpiece of his campaign, and the bi-partisan legislation he co-authored has changed forever, the way the legislature does business. With overwhelming passage of Proposition 11 by the people of Texas , the Garcia Amendment was expanded and Texas Constitution made sure, that no new law can change the lives of Texans without public accountability for the vote.  

 Dr. Ines Triay  

Dr. Ines R. Triay has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management in Energy.   

Ines Triay was born in Cuba in 1958, the daughter of Miguel Eduardo de Triay and Ines de Triay. When she was three years old, she and her parents joined thousands in fleeing Cuba . The Triay family went into exile in Puerto Rico . Her father, an electrical engineer, and her mother, a piano and dance teacher, found success in Puerto Rico but moved to Miami , Florida , seeking opportunity for their daughter. She is married to John H. Hall.  

In 1980, Ines Triay received her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Chemistry, Magna Cum Laude in the University of Miami and in 1985; she earned her Doctorate Degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of Miami In Florida .  

Triay soon became recruited by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico , as a post-doctoral staff member in the Isotope and Nuclear Chemistry Division. She served as Manager of the Department’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico . During her tenure there, the number of transuranic waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant increased from one or two per week to 25 per week. She also spearheaded a national effort culminating in a plan that completes the disposal of all legacy transuranic waste 20 years early. Before managing the Carlsbad Field Office, she held several key positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  

During Triay tenure in these positions, the program completed the cleanup of the Department’s Rocky Flats site in Colorado and the Fernald site in Ohio . She also played an instrumental role in the commencement of remotely handled transuranic waste disposal operations at the Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico .  

Triay leads the largest, most diverse, and technically complex environmental cleanup program in the world, the program has an annual budget of more than $5.5 billion, workforce of more 30,000 federal and contractor employees. It has enough radioactive waste to fill the Louisiana Superdome and it originally involved more than 2 million acres at 107 sites located in 35 states.  

Triay has been awarded to the Presidential Rank Award, the Wendell Weart Waste Management Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Dixy Lee Ray Award for Environmental Protection, the National Atomic Museum ’s National Award of Nuclear Science, and numerous awards from the Department and Los Alamos National Laboratory recognizing her for excellence in performance.  

Triay is a member of numerous professional organizations; she has produced more than 200 articles, papers, reports, and presentations for professional conferences and workshops, as well as major trade publications. She is American Chemical Society certified member.

*Updates from Previous Articles*  

*Victor M. Mendez: Administrator of Federal Highway Administration in Transportation Department (Confirmed July 10, 2009)

(See April 2009 issue of “Somos Primos for complete biography)      

*Rosa “Rosie” Gumatao Rios: Treasurer of United States in Treasury Department (Confirmed July 24, 2009)

(See July 2009 issue of “Somos Primos for complete biography)   

Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers  
by 
Daisy Wanda Garcia

Dr. Hector P. Garcia Statue at  
Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi
LtoR: Terry Hernandez, Wanda Garcia, and Mariana Tinoco

On August 6, 2009, I had the privilege of attending a tour of my father’s collection, given by Dr. Tom Kreneck. Papa selected Dr. Kreneck to be the curator for his collection. Dr. Kreneck got into much detail on the archival process including techniques for preservation of the papers.  In addition, Dr. Kreneck stated that the special collections receive many requests for documents from all over the USA and from European countries. PBS and other entities contact the university asking for copies of photos and letters.  

Gray boxes containing Papa’s papers line metal shelves in the library.  Many display cases are in the reception area containing photos and other memorabilia. Stacks of pictures and letters from my Papa’s archives are piled high on tables.  

Memories flooded every time I saw an article or letters reminding me of a time my father was here - when the collection was but a vision.  

It began for me one summer in 1987. I returned to Corpus Christi, Texas to visit my parents.  My first stop was at my father’s clinic on Bright St.  Papa was in the reception area when I entered the clinic. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw him surrounded by papers and many file boxes. I asked, “What are you doing, Papa!”  I learned to expect anything when my father was involved.  So I was not surprised by his response.     “I am organizing my papers to give them to a university.  So far, he said, “Yale and University of Texas and CCSU want my papers.”  

Then he thrust the stack of documents he was holding and said “Kiki, put this in that box!”  The file boxes contained many file folders. The date and the subject matter were printed on the tab in black ink in my father’s distinct handwriting. For the next hours, Papa kept handing me packets of Xeroxed documents, newspaper articles and photographs. He would issue clear commands where to put them.  I observed that there were many copies of the same article.  I said, ‘Papa, do you want me to throw the duplicates?’  “No!” he said, “Leave them”. I remarked, “Papa, you have enough copies to donate your papers to three universities!”  

There were many contenders for Papa’s papers.  Some universities held weekly meetings to strategize how to obtain the papers.  For the next year, Universities wined and dined my father. Papa received many invitations and I accompanied him to many of the events. Yale created an endowed chair.  The University of Texas at Austin, Texas, Papa’s alma mater, named Papa outstanding alumnus.  In the end, Papa selected Corpus Christi State University (CCSU) because he wanted to be in proximity to his papers. In addition, he was afraid they would be lost if a major university had possession of his papers.   

In 1992, Dr. Garcia donated his papers to CCSU. CCSU President Dr. Alan Suggs had the appropriate celebrations and printed commemorative bookmarks to celebrate the event.  CCSU Gave Papa his own office.  He was really pleased to have the office.  Since he admired people with education, he felt that it was a form of validation from academia. He made many friends among the professors and would always address them formally.   In 1993, Corpus Christi State University became part of the Texas A&M University System, and its name was officially changed to Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.  

Texas A&M University housed the HPG papers in the special collections and archives Dept. of the Mary and Jeff Bell library.  In addition, A&M formed many committees to oversee the construction of a plaza with a statue in honor of my father.  Other committees were tasked with raising money for this project. The community swiftly raised the money and raised contributions totaling $500,000 to build the tree-lined tiled plaza. With the  $60,000 surplus, the University of A&M created the Garcia Scholarship Endowment fund to help students attend A&M-Corpus Christi.  

Friends of Dr. Garcia commissioned artist Roberto Garcia Jr. to create a statue for the plaza.   At the time the plaza was under construction, my father’s health was failing.  My sister and I would drive Papa at night to look at the different stages of construction of the plaza.  Later when Papa could not walk, friends took him in a wheel chair to examine the progress of the construction.  On one occasion, they noticed that Papa had tears in his eyes. By the time the work was completed on the plaza and the statue. Papa was in the hospital.  

On June 28, 1996, A&M University dedicated the statue and the plaza in honor of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who donated his papers to the school in 1992.   About one thousand people attended the dedication.

The 9-foot 1,800-pound bronze statue of Dr. Hector P. Garcia by Roberto Garcia Jr. was unveiled. It stood in the center of a fountain in a tree-lined plaza with a double courtyard about the size of a baseball field.  “It’s lavishly landscaped with every plant imaginable,” said Texas A&M University Vice President Pete DeDominicis.  “I think it will become a major tourist attraction once people discover it.” [1]Texas A&M Corpus Christi President Robert Furgason read a message from President Clinton, “As we commemorate Dr. Garcia’s lifelong work on behalf of education and civil rights for all Americans, let us rededicate ourselves to this crucial endeavor. I am proud to call Dr. Garcia my friend.[2]”  

Papa was not able to attend the dedication because he was in the hospital.  After the ceremony, Alicia Jasso of Texas A&M University took a VHS of the dedication to the hospital so that Papa could see the dedication.  However, Papa was so ill; he was unable to focus.  He died one month after the dedication on July 26, 1996.  

At the time of his death in 1996, Garcia’s papers were conveyed to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas.  Garcia's papers contain his voluminous archives about 350 linear feet, dealing with the American G.I. Forum and cover the major issues faced by Mexican Americans during his career as a champion of civil rights. 

These papers document Mexican-American history during much of the 20th Century and make A&M-Corpus Christi a center of
research on the nation's expanding Hispanic population.  The collection is considered a centerpiece of the holdings of the university’s Mary and Jeff Bell Library.  

 Dr. Thomas Kreneck, Associate Director of Special Collections & Archives, said, “Garcia’s papers comprise one of the most valuable resources in existence on the Mexican-American experience during the last half of the 20th century. “By his death in 1996, he was the elder statesman of Hispanic civil rights in this country.”   

Every time I look at the statue, I marvel how Robert Garcia Jr. captured the many facets of Papa’s personality- especially the healing qualities of Papa’s hands-the hands of a healer.  

Who would have known how far this vision would go? Who would have dreamed that my father’s paper would become the centerpiece of the department's manuscript holdings at Texas A&M University?   It brings me tremendous joy to know that people remember my father and hold him in such high esteem.  Though death and time have separated my father and me, not a day passes that I do not remember his great energy and presence.  I leave you in love and light.  

South Texas Native Helps NASA Reach for the Moon

Title: Humberto Sanchez, NASA Engineer
Origins: Columbus, Wis.
Academics: University of Texas
Degree: Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering

Sent by Rafael Ojeda rsnojeda@aol.com

The History of Naturalization in the United States

Roberto Galvan (1911-1958) Mexicano Civil Rights Leader

The Latino/a population in the United States is expected to triple by 20

Sent by  Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

Medal of Freedom Awarded

Hispanic Medal of Honor Society
 "Legacy of Valor" 
2009 NCLR Display

2009 NCLR, LtoR 

Capitan Fernando Nava, Mexico, 201 Squadron, 
Cpl. Rudy Hernandez, Korean, Medal of Honor Recipient, 
US WW II Pilot, Lt. Col.(retired) Henry Cervantes, 
and Victor Mancilla, film producer, Esquadron 201

Teardrop Buildings . . . . Remembering 9-11

NATIONAL ISSUES

Sen. Diane Feinstein Leaves Out Latinos in History of Civil Rights Bill                      
Judge: Texas city quelled Latino voting power
Health Care Tidbits 
California Assembly sends apology to Chinese immigrants

Sen. Diane Feinstein 
             Leaves Out Latinos in History of Civil Rights Bill                      

Judge: Texas city quelled Latino voting power
By Anabelle Garay Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press
July 15, 2009, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6531405.html

Health Care Tidbit

9 People, 2,678 ER Visits

Source: AARP Bulletin, June 2009, pg.6

California Assembly sends apology to Chinese immigrants
July 27, 2009, San Francisco News

The new face of America
A special report on Texas 



Getty Images Pledging allegiance

Jul 9th 2009, from The Economist print edition 
http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13938895 

ACTION ITEMS

National Museum of the American Latino

Urge congress to fund the museum commission
http://www.americanlatinomuseum.org/support/index.php

These are the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C.  

• Anacostia Community Museum
• Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
• Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
• Freer Gallery of Art
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• National Air and Space Museum
• National Air and Space Museum - Udvar-Hazy Center
• National Museum of African Art
• National Museum of American History
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Museum of the American Indian
• National Museum of the American Indian - Heye Center
• National Portrait Gallery
• National Postal Museum
• National Zoological Park
• Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum
• S. Dillon Ripley Center, International Gallery
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Smithsonian Institution Building, the Castle
  
  For a calendar of exhibits, go to:

http://www.gosmithsonian.com/calendar-exhibitions?utm_source=go
Smithnewsletter08132009&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AugustgoSmithNow

“Honor y Valor”  October 2-3rd, Austin

For information about the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project, please go to: www.lib.utexas.edu/ww2latinos/.

For information on sponsoring or attending the October 2-3rd event, 
please contact: Jim Estrada, Estrada Communications Group, Inc.
13729 Research Blvd., Suite 610
Austin, TX 78750
Tel: 512.335.7776  jim@estradausa.com

BUSINESS

Queso Fresco May Prevent Obesity
By Castro Cheese Co.
La Vaquita News, May 21, 2009

Got Workers? Dairy Farms Run Low on Labor

BOOKS

Author Jose Antonio Lopez opens your eyes to an amazing scenario through this compelling, suspenseful historical novel, Nights of Wailing, Days of Pain. 
As you immerse yourself into the lives of the Tejanos in 1920’s South Texas, you will witness the economic, social, and political lives of the U.S. citizens of Spanish Mexican ancestry – the Tejanos – during a memorable era of Texas history...".

Mr. Jose Antonio (Joe) Lopez, a USAF veteran, was born and raised in Laredo, Texas. Mr. Lopez is a descendant of the Uribes from Revilla, one of the earliest families that settled South Texas in 1750. He is married to the former Cordelia Jean “Cordy” Dancause of Laredo. They have a daughter, Brenda Jo. Mr. Lopez has college degrees from Laredo Jr. College and Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas. He earned a master’s degree in education. Mr. Lopez is the author of The Last Knight: Don Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Uribe, A Texas Hero. Visit his web-site: www.Texastejanos1920.com

Please remember to come and invite your friends and colleagues. Saturday, July 25, 2009, at 11:30 to 1:30 PM, Serenity Foundation, 6204 South First St., Austin, Texas.

Don Martin De Leon was the only Tejano empresario to settle a colony in Texas, in the days before statehood. Other empresarios, such as Moses Austin and Sterling C. Robertson, were Anglos who had been drawn to Texas by the lure of land. De Leon established his colony in southeast Texas, near the Gulf Coast, and founded the city of Victoria. He and his six sons governed the colony.

Though Don Martin died in 1833, his sons actively supported the Texas fight for independence by giving money and goods to the Texas Volunteers. But the family suffered from a general prejudice against people of Mexican descent-they lost their land and livestock and had to leave Texas. They returned in the late 1840s, but they no longer had the immense holdings of land and cattle that Don Martin had accumulated.

In 1972, the De Leon family was honored with Texas state historical markers on family graves in Evergreen Cemetery in Victoria. Finally, Martin De Leon and his family are recognized for their loyalty to Texas, their support of the Texas Revolution, and their contributions to the Republic of Texas.

Martin De Leon is the fourth tide in The Stars of Texas Series, aimed at fourth graders studying for the Texas history section of the TAKS test. The first two books in the series, Henrietta King: Rancher and Philanthropist and Mirabeau B. Lamar: Second President of Texas, have been chosen for the Accelerated Reader program, and Henrietta King was a Spur Award finalist. Free workbooks for all Stars of Texas Series books are available on-line.

JUDY ALTER is the author of numerous children's books. She is the long-time director of TCU Press and lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

EDUCATION

School Fire Escape Tube, USA
Sent by MFTKathie@msn.com

The Culture Wars' New Front: U.S. History Classes in Texas
The Wall Street Journal      July 14, 2009
By Stephanie Simon 

6th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TEACHER EDUCATION 
AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: Reframing
Race, Gender, and Teacher-Education Policy

* CALL FOR PROPOSALS * DUE SEPTEMBER 15th *

BILINGUAL/BICULTURAL EDUCATION

FACT SHEET ON SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN HORNE V. FLORES

Fandango returns to Santa Paula 
on Sunday, September 6th, 12-7 pm

PBS Listens to Latino ‘Voces'
Series Puts Aspects of U.S. Hispanic Life in Focus
by Laura Martinez -- Multichannel News

The Mexican Heritage Mariachi Poster Collection

Guide to Hispanic Heritage by the Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
http://www.britannica.com/hispanic_heritage/browse?browseId=251042#252500.toc 
From the homepage you can link to any of the following items, not indicated as links. 

The National Parks: American's Best Idea

San Francisco, CA – April 22, 2009 – At a one-day conference called “Parks for All” in San Francisco today the filmmaker Ken Burns said that he hopes his most recent film, THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA, will help attract new communities into the country’s parks. 

“Our national parks are a defining part of who we are as a people,” Burns said at the start of the conference, which took place on Earth Day at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco. “We’re hopeful new generations of Americans will discover our parks, embrace them and pass them on to their children as part of their heritage.”

Burns and his co-producer, Dayton Duncan, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, outlined an extensive outreach campaign that will accompany the broadcast of the NATIONAL PARKS film this September on PBS, including visits to 45 markets where the filmmakers will show clips and lead discussions about the national parks. The documentary — six episodes and twelve hours in length — tells the history of the national park idea, chronicling its birth in the mid-1800s and tracing its evolution for nearly 150 years. It is co-produced with WETA, the public television station in Washington, DC.

With support from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the filmmakers launched The Untold Stories Project to bring to light stories from the national parks focusing on the role of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in the creation and protection of individual parks and to engage new and traditionally underserved audiences in the educational richness of the national parks.

“When we started making this film eight years ago we quickly realized that the history of our parks is very much the history of our country,” Duncan said. “At the heart of the national park idea is the democratic notion that the most magnificent and sacred places in our nation belong to everyone. And from the very start, people of all backgrounds, rich and poor, well known and unknown, have been involved in the evolution of the park idea. We wanted to find — and then tell — their stories.”

The Untold Stories Project, conceived in 2004, will supplement the already ambitious educational and community outreach plans normally associated with his films, Burns said. “This entire project is aimed at helping the National Park Service in its efforts to let America’s increasingly diverse population know that the parks belong to them,” he said. “We hope it will prompt more people to experience their parks — and become stewards of their future.”

Among the elements of the outreach campaign for THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA are:

• A special research effort into people and stories often overlooked in histories of the national parks. Many of them were incorporated into the larger series and into the companion book to be published by Alfred A. Knopf in September. The entire research document also has been organized into a book that will be donated to the National Park Service for its use.

• A special 45-minute film, “The National Parks: This Is America,” which tells the story of the national park idea through the lens of a diverse cast of historical characters and brings the story closer to the present than does the larger documentary. This, too, will be given to the National Park Service.

• Five “mini-documentaries,” each about 10 minutes, profiling contemporary people from diverse backgrounds involved in parks issues. The topics include: “City Kids in National Parks”; “Manzanar – ‘Never Again’”; “Mount Rushmore – Telling America’s Stories”; “San Antonio Missions – Keeping History Alive”; and “Yosemite’s Buffalo Soldiers.”

• Translation of the entire 12-hour series into Spanish for broadcast on PBS stations; and translation of the shorter films into Spanish, Japanese and Lakota.

• An unprecedented outreach effort — involving local PBS stations and national parks near them — aimed at traditionally underserved audiences.

As part of the outreach campaign, 10 PBS stations have received community engagement grants to work with nearby national parks and other organizations to reach communities that have not historically visited the parks. Activities include working with local schools (Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami); outreach to communities near parks (San Antonio, Texas; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Ashville, North Carolina); partnerships with Outward Bound (Los Angeles) and Big Brothers/Big Sisters (Seattle); and digital and film workshops (San Francisco), among other initiatives, each designed to foster stewardship, care and understanding of the national parks. Additional grants were provided to 50 other public television stations for engagement activities, including screenings, community discussions and events, hands-on learning experiences in national parks, classroom outreach, local productions, Web sites and new media broadcasts. The National Park Foundation, which also is one of the film’s underwriters and main outreach partner, has provided grants to 36 units of the National Park Service to work with surrounding communities on projects related to the film.

Through Story Share, an on-line service created by WETA with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to allow people to share their stories in words, photographs and video, all stations within the PBS system will be able to collect local stories about the parks. These stories will ultimately be provided to the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service, where they will remain archived for future generations to use.

Beyond the local outreach programs, WETA will create and send educational materials, including video, to every middle school in the nation. The lesson plans, which will go to history and social studies teachers, focus on finding and telling the “untold” stories of one’s own community and the creation of student-generated projects incorporating the ideals of the film and the national parks.

John Boland, Chief Content Officer, PBS, said, “Our national parks are an American treasure. And in Ken’s hands they are also an extraordinary story about American life. We are very pleased to present this film to the country in September and to help generate a conversation about our parks and environment that will continue long after the broadcast.”

Ira Hirschfield, President of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, said, “We’re very honored to be working with Ken and Dayton, their partners at Florentine Films, and the entire PBS family, to share these important stories with the American public. By showing how the national parks have shaped the lives and histories of so many diverse people in this country, all of us can help Americans see a part of ourselves in these special places. And we can build an even stronger base of support for our National Parks as a vital resource for all.”

The announcement about the outreach efforts supporting the film was made at conference, “Parks for All,” organized by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service Golden Gate and KQED to examine efforts underway to broaden the appeal of national parks to reach more diverse audiences. Among those participating include Milton Chen, Executive Director of the George Lucas Education Foundation, a 2^nd Century Commissioner, National Park Service; Gerard Baker, Superintendent, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial; Nina Roberts, Professor of Recreation and Tourism, San Francisco State University; Rose Ochi, an attorney who helped to establish Manzanar National Historic Site; Bill Gwaltney, Assistant Regional Director for Workforce Enhancement for the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service; and Ernesto Pepito, Manager of Youth Leadership Programs, Crissy Field Center, Golden Gate National Parks.

THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA uses archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and what Burns believes is the most stunning cinematography in Florentine Films’ history. The series chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them and save them from destruction. It is simultaneously a biography of compelling characters and a biography of the American landscape.

Among the lengthy cast of characters profiled in the series is John Muir, a deeply religious mountain prophet who found inspiration in Yosemite and then inspired generations of parks enthusiasts; George Masa, a Japanese immigrant whose photographs of the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee served in the fight to protect the region as a national park; Chiura Obata, another Japanese immigrant, whose highly-acclaimed paintings of Yosemite gave Americans a fresh perspective through which to see their beloved landmarks; Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who persuaded Congress that a swamp in southern Florida, the Everglades, should be set aside as a national park; George Melendez Wright, a park ranger from San Francisco who recognized the need to preserve the parks’ wildlife in its natural state; Adolph Murie, a young biologist and protégé of Wright who was instrumental in reforming park policy so that wildlife — even predators — would have the same protections as the land itself; and Stephen Mather, a wealthy businessman who used his personal fortune and genius for promotion to create a National Park Service.  

These historical accounts are paralleled with contemporary stories of people who continue to be transformed and inspired by the parks today. They include Shelton Johnson, an African-American who grew up in Detroit, where the national parks seemed distant, unreachable places until he later became a park ranger; Gerard Baker, a Native-American park superintendent whose tribe has long considered the land sacred; Tuan Luong, a Paris-born Vietnamese rock climber and photographer who fell in love with the parks and dedicated himself to photographing all 58 national parks with a large format camera; and Juan Lujan, who grew up in west Texas during the Depression and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, with which he would help develop Big Bend National Park in Texas. Also included in the film are interviews with best-selling author Nevada Barr, a former park ranger; writer and environmentalist Terry Tempest Williams; historians William Cronon, Paul Schullery and Alfred Runte; and many others.

Funding is provided by General Motors; the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; Park Foundation, Inc.; Public Broadcasting Service; National Park Foundation; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The Pew Charitable Trusts; and Bank of America.

CULTURE

Editor:  My first introduction to cowboy poetry was in a Southwest Airlines flight magazine article.  I did not even know such a specialized area of poetry existed.  I really enjoyed the selection in the article.  The poems were funny, some-what irreverent, very simple, home-based philosophy, charming.  I've looked for Spanish surnamed cowboy poets, and had really not stumbled upon any, until this was sent from La Pena in Berkeley.  I hope that there are more Latino cowboy poets out there.  Maybe they just have shared with the public.   I certainly welcome any Latinos poet there with a connection to their cowboy roots.  

More on Tony Argento http://www.tonyargento.com/
More on Cowboy poetry  http://www.cowboypoetry.com/

Seattle International Latino Film Festival
SEPTEMBER 24 - 27 2009

ALMA AWARDS

The Rose, A Sense of Place

Sent by Roberto R. Calderón, Ph.D.  

Real Academia Española, noun
The Royal Spanish Academy

Joan Baez -- Celebrating 50 Years of Music
WHAT: An Evening with Joan Baez
WHEN: Friday, September 25, 2009 at 8pm
WHERE: Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd, San José (MAP)

A Brief Introduction to Mariachi -- Part 1: History

Mural Art Teaching and Training
http://www.arteganas.com/

Extract from: Now You’re Speaking My Language
By: David Kaplan
Nielsen IAG, July 9, 2009

BOOK: 
Mexican Americans and Language: Del dicho al hecho
by Glenn A. Martinez 

Associate professor of Spanish and linguistics 
University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas

LITERATURE

William Carlos Williams – Latino Poet, essay by Armando Rendón, J.D. 
¿Porque mataron a García Lorca?  poem by Armando Rendón, J.D. 

William Carlos Williams – Latino Poet

by Armando Rendón, J.D.  

¿Porque mataron a García Lorca?

Poem by Armando B. Rendón

MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT HEROES

Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who Do not.'
- Thomas Jefferson

"Orgullo Hispano"

Brigadier General Rafael O’Ferrall

By: Tony (The Marine) Santiago  

                      Brigadier General Rafael O’Ferrall  

Independence Day Citizen soldiers

USA TODAY editorial, July 02, 2009

Museum Exhibits

World War II Heroes from the Harlingen Area, Texas

Norman Rozeff, March 2009
http://cameroncountyhistoricalcommission.org/WorldWaIIHeroesFromHar.htm

On the quiet Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, Japan's armed forces launched a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. That was the start of the United State's participation in World War II. On that day Harlingen lost its first serviceman in the war. He was John Herbert Spaeth.

Johnny was a sailor serving on the USS Shaw (DD-347). She was a Mahan–class destroyer launched in 1936. The Shaw was in dry dock at the time of the attack. She was struck almost simultaneously in her forward portion by three separate dive bombers. An uncontrollable fire ensued, and the ship was ordered abandoned. Efforts were then made to flood the dry dock in an effort to quench the flames, however within a half hour after the bombardment, her forward munitions magazine spectacularly exploded and removed her bow. The aft portion remained afloat despite the intense fires that consumed her forward portion. Fragment missiles from the explosion pierced the old harbor tug Sotoyomo (YT-9) also in the dry dock, and she soon sank.

The proud Shaw would live to fight another day. In early 1942 she was partially restored at Pearl Harbor and then sailed to the West Coast and Mare's Island, San Francisco for a complete overhaul after which time she returned to service. She experienced considerable action in the South Pacific.

In 1949, four years after World War II ended the Charro Social Club erected a stone monument in then Diaz Park, now Lt. George Gutierrez Veterans Memorial Park, to commemorate their fallen servicemen in arms. The inscription on it reads:

IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF OUR COMRADES OF THE HARLINGEN DISTRICT WHO PAID THE SUPREME SACRIFICE WORLD WAR II 1941-1945

Carved in the gray granite stone are the names of the servicemen who had died. As time passed, relatives of other service personnel who had been overlooked came forth with additional names. Their names were cast in a bronze plate later affixed to the stone monument. There are ninety-three names in all.

Those listed on the monument are:

Bermea, Arturo
Bledsoe, Jesse William
Brittain, Ben Franklin
Burk, Billie
Bustamante, Gustavo

Carr, Elmer
Coffee, L. C.
Cormack, Laurence
Countz, Charles Wayne
Covio, Carlos C.

Crawford, Wayne
Datzman, Rowland P.
Delgado,Ramiro
Donald, William C.
Duloney, John

Duncan, Roy W.
Durham, William Dayton
Edmonson, Barney I.
Finley, Robert S.
Fry, Edward Jr.

Frye, Roy Thomas
Gilbert, Harold
Glenn, James E.
Gonzalez, Andres
Gonzalez, Augustin

Gonzalez, Eduardo V. Jr.
Gonzalez, Samuel
Green, Bernard
Haas, Elmer, Jr.
Hand, Roscoe, Ervin

Hassell, Charles Robert
Herrera, Nephlati
Herron, Buren Thomas
Hoover, Hal
Hopkins, Mickey O.

Hull, Charles W.
Jeffus, Marvin
King, John
Kist, George Joseph
Knowles, Charles L. Jr.

Return to Harlingen History

Return to CCHC Home Page

Medley, Alton C.
Miller, Carroll Paul
Minton, Gene
Mitchell, Leon R.
Molina, Higinio

Montgomery, Jim
Morris, Runyan
Muny, Billie
Murray, Phillip
Nantz, Albert

Oler,William L.
Owens, Ralph
Perkins, Martin B.
Pile, Porter Monroe
Raimond, Paul F.

Reiser, John C.
Rendon, Luis M.
Robbins, D. O.
Roberts, Jack
Rodriguez, Alejandro S.

Rodriguez, Belen T.
Rodriguez, Jose
Rodriguez, Librado
Romero, Rodolfo
Schleifer, Walter L.

Serna, Alejandro
Sharp, Richard L.
Silva, Antonio
Simmons, Sam Ed
Spaeth, Alvis

Spaeth, John Herbert
Swain Floyd E.
Thompson, Phillip
Townsley, Roy W.
Valdez, Joel

Van Hoy, Waythe
Vega, Albert M.
Villanueva, Gustavo
Walker, Wodward Jr.
West, Max

Wilds, David Warren
Wilson, Preston
Wisher, Leonard    

Federal Border Patrol Agent Julie Monsivais
End of Watch: July 18, 2009

Laws & Regulations to persons 
who may be naturalized based on Active Duty 

In fulfillment of their pledge
by 
Armando Rendón, J.D.

Periods of War for VA Benefits Eligibility

A Salute to Latino Veterans
November 04, 2003, 
Extracted from article on the Democratic Caucus web page at:
  http://dems.house.gov/ 

A Journal Of American Service

A web site that shares the emotional and spiritual experiences of the Vietnam War through poetry, stories, adn photos by combat veterans. Hosted by Vietnam Veteran Bill McDonald.
http://www.vietnamexp.com/newsletter/volume2_issues/vol2issue6.html

Payan Brothers Served in the Army, during World War II

PATRIOTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

DAR Spanish Task Force

Searching US and World Wide Archives for Spanish Records for List of Donativos

Retyped Xerographic Copy of  North Carolina State Archives Document

Letter from Patrick Henry to Governor Bernardo De Galvez

October 18, 1777

                                                                                 Williamsburg, Virginia
                                                                                  October 18, 1777

Sir,

     O take the liberty of presenting to your Excellency in the name of the State of the Republic of Virginia, my sincere thanks for the favorable reception which you were pleased to give to Mr. Gibson, a captain who sent to you with letters from our last executive consul and on the part of Major General Lee.  We are extremely sensible of the manner with which you have had the goodness to furnish us with a quantity of valuable in merchandise as a consequence of these letters and of the request which you have been pleased to make to the court of Spain, in our favor, of which we have just been informed at this moment and which has been followed with joy.  We are, sir, filled with the strongest sentiment of gratitude.  The United States of America and particularly Virginia, will never forget the precious and invaluable sign of favor which His Catholic Majesty has just accorded them.  They will show forever how they have been aided by the kindliness of a nation as generous and as exalted as yours.

     I pray Your Excellency to be pleased to inform us in what manner and how we shall be able to make the necessary restitution in order to acquit ourselves of the merchandise which has been so generously furnished us at your intercession, by your nation.  Address the letters which you may be pleased to write to me to Mr. Raleigh Colston Ecuyer, our agent at Saint Dominque, who will forward them to me.

     I have the honor of being, with the greatest respect, Sir,

                                                          Your Excellency's most humble

                                                                      obedient servant

                                                                      Patrick Henry
                                                                      Governor of the Commonwealth
                                                                      of Virginia

Retyped Xerographic Copy of  North Carolina State Archives Document

Letter from Thomas Jefferson from 
to Governor Bernardo de Galvez

November 8, 1779

                                                                                 Williamsburg
                                                                                 November 8, 1779

Sir,

     We learn by the return of Mr. Lindsay, who arrived here lately by way of Havana, and who had been sent by our Committee of Illinois down the Mississippi to New Orleans, that Colonel Rogers had left that place and continued his voyage up the Mississippi.  We await impatiently the reply brought by him from Your Excellency, to the letters of January 14, 1778, by Colonel Rogers, and January 26, 1778, by Captain Young, written by Governor Henry, whom I have had the honor of succeeding on his resignation.

     The attention of His Most Christian Majesty, since the date of these letters, to the continued hostilities between the condederated powers of France and North America against Great Britain, adding by their efforts, the weight of your powerful and wealthy empire, has given us all the assurance which human events can admit of a happy outcome of the present dispute.  Our proximity to the countries over which you preside directly, the direct channel of commerce by the Mississippi, the nature of these advantages with which we can furnish each other, indicate these which can result from a direct union, and on our part, the best foundations are established by a sentiment of gratitude for the favors which we have received from your hands.

P. de Cuba,  Legº 2370.

     Inspite of the calamities of the present war on our people, they have finally begun rapidly to extend their settlements on the Mississippi river and we have reason to believe, particularly so on the Ohio and branches which communicate directly with each other.  In the course of another year, there will be such a large number of inhabitants as to render their trade an object of your attention at New Orleans.  They can only be furnished with their necessities by the manufacturers of Europe and although they may wish to have them immediately, in exchange for the stave wood, furs, flour, pickled port, and beef, our people note be able to trade until they have opened their lands a little.  In order to protect them from the savages we are obliged to send and maintain among them a considerable armed force whose supplies, together with the clothes and the needs of the friendly savages, becomes an object of great difficulty for us.  For the smallest force which we have maintained at Kaskaskia, on the Mississippi, we have contracted a considerable debt at New Orleans with Mr. Pollock, aside from what is due to your crown for the help which it has generously furnished us an a number of letters of exchange brought by Colonel Clarke are at being declared.  We learn through Mr. Lindsay, that Mr. Pollock will probably be in great embarrassment if we do not make payment to him immediately.  The worst drought which has ever been seen since the establishment of this country has deprived us of the power to send flour, obliging us, for our own existence, to buy some from the neighboring states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, to whom 

P. de Cuba,  Legº 2370.

we have, until this year, furnished a great quantity.  The lack of salt prevents us from preparing beef and pickled pork for your market.  In this condition of affairs, we can only envisage the disgrace of this gentleman for these services which he has rendered us with the greatest veal.  We are making efforts in order to establish a capital in France by the delivery of tobacco, to which it will be possible to turn up to a certain point, but the accidents to which this tobacco is subjected in its exportation, render this dependence less sure than we would wish, for the relief of Mr. Pollock.  Aside from the fact that we have other very great needs, young as we are in commerce and manufacture and engaged in a war with the nation whose power on sear has been such that it has intercepted a great of the help which we have undertaken to export from Europe, you will not be surprised to learn that we find the greatest difficulty to procure either money or merchandise in order to answer the demands of our armies and this is why this would be a circumstance of great relief for us, if we were able to depositis in France, in order to draw from them for this part of our states which are on the Atlantic and to procure a suspension of the demands on your part, for the needs of our western forces for on, two, or three years, or such time, the longest that can be obtained.

     It is in veiw of this that Governor Henry, in his letters of January 14th and 26th, 1778, solicited from your nation a loan which Your Excellency had the goodness to under-take to communicate to your court.  We hope to learn through 

P. de Cuba,  Legº 2370.

Colonel Rogers, the outcome of this application and we would not have entreated with you until then on this subject, if we had not learned of the condition of Mr. Pollock.  As we flatter ourselves that because of you this request can have had success and that you may be authorized to advance some loans of money for us, I take the liberty of requesting you, in this case, to advance for us sixty-five thousand, eight hundred and fourteen piasters and five-eights, to Mr. Pollock.

     Surrounded as we are with difficulties, we can not succeed in performing all to which our gratitude pledges us, to replace this help promptly, but very certainly, in respect to this, nothing in our will be left undone.  Our particular prospects in order to do this and the time which it will take to accomplish it all will be the subject of another letter as soon as I have the honor of learning from whether we can be furnished and to what extent.  I hope also to learn through Colonel Rogers, Your Excellency's opinion on the other preposition, in the same letters, for the establishment of corresponding ports on your and our side of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Ohio, for the aggrandizement of commerce between us.

     After having rendered to Your Excellency, our very sincere thanks for the friendly dispositions which you have personally shown us, and having assured you of our profound respect and esteem, I take the liberty of subscribing myself. 

                                                                Your Excellency's

                                                                Very humble, obedient servant

                                                                Signed:   Th  Jefferson

       Editor: Thomas was entered with a small s to the right of Th

The Secret Help Given to the American Colonies by Spain Started in 1776 
by Virginia Sanchez

• Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence;
• Military veterans of the American Revolutionary War, including State navies and militias, local militias, privateers, and French or Spanish French Revolution and sailors who fought in the American theater of war;
• Civil servants of provisional or State governments;
• Members of the Continental Congress and State conventions and assemblies;
• Signers of Oaths of Allegiance or Oaths of Fidelity and Support;
• Participants in the Boston Tea Party;
• Prisoners of war, refugees, and defenders of forts and frontiers; doctors and nurses who aided Revolutionary casualties; and ministers, petitioners;
• And others who gave material or patriotic support to the Revolutionary cause.

SURNAMES

Wednesday, December 16, 1992      *  EXCELSIOR *

Volviendo a Nuestras Raices

HERALDICA

CONOZCA EL ORIGEN DEL APELLIDO

Early records gives Zamora as a place of origin for Alvaro de Zamora, arriving in New Spain from Cuba in 1519.  Alvaro was part of the capture of Tenochititlan and also the entrada into Tututepec.  Evidencing a special talent for language, he soon was supporting himself as one of only three interpreters for the Audiencia.  Ultimately, receiving the encomienda de Mazatlan and several estancias for his services as interpreter.  On February 15th, 1563 Alvaro de Zamora was awarded a coat of arms.

RUDOLFO ZAMORA, of Huntington Beach has traced his line back to a Sargento Major, DIEGO DE ZAMORA, born to Juan de Zamora and Magdelena Maria (last name unknown) in 1676 in the town of San Juan Tianguismanacio, Puebla.  In 1696, Diego married Josefa Francisca Esteban and soon moved north to Parras, Coahuila.  From this marriage, a daughter, Antonia Zamora, is the line from which Mr. Zamora descends.

Antonia Zamora married Mauricio Ortega.  Their son, Santiago Ortega de Zamora, born July 12, 1772 took the Zamora name when he married Maria Dolores Morales in January 22, 1792.  Taking a mother's surname, or even a grandmother's name was not entirely unusual in Mexico.  However, for the family researcher, the search is much more  challenging.  It took Mr. Zamora many dedicated hours to discover that his line was through a grandmother generations back, and not a grandfather.

Juan Zamora and Cecelia Montalva de Zamora are Mr. Zamora's immediate grandparents.  They married in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon where Mr. Zamora's father, Elijio was born in 1899, the first of 13 children.

The family moved to Poteet, Texas, raising strawberries, living a quiet, humble life on a small farm.  Elijio fulfilled his role as the eldest son with humility and love.   he started working at a very early age in the fields to help his family.  Through his life he gave generously, from the little that he had, to his family.  Never leaving projects half-way , Elijio always completed everything he started.  He was a noble self-made man.

Prio to marriage, Elijio worked in the physically demanding job of a furnace stroker in a gold smelter.  He married his bride, Paula Lopez in San Antonio, November 11, 1926.  After marriage he worked in a potato chip factory.  The depression forces him to look for other work.  In 1839-39, he attempted to feed his family as a train porter.  In 1940, Elijio and his family followed the crops into Michigan. 

Missing the Texas barrios, Elijio enjoyed the opportunity of hearing missionary priests teaching in Spanish and would frequently take young Rodolfo.  One incident Mr. Zamora said he would never forget was "the priest giving a sermon of how the devil would use his pitch fork to turn those poor souls around while in hell.   My Dad developed a loud cough to attempt to break the cycle of the sermon.  After trying that several times without success, he grabbed my hand, mumbling as we left, what garbage to be using in front of grown men."

"My father had tenacity of purpose.  He wanted my sister, Sally, and me to get an education, so we wouldn't have to work physically as hard as he did.  He wanted me to an engineer.  I remember in Jr. High taking as an elective a typing course. He flatly told me that taking typing was not for a man to learn.  I should have taken another drafting class."

Elijio moved his family back to San Antonio during the second world war in 1944.  he died a tragic early death, suffering a heart attack at 43 years old while working in an industrial laundry.

Mr. Zamora, married and the father of two sons and a daughter, fulfilled his father's desires.
Graduating with advanced engineering degrees, he went on to successfully start two companies, ChemResin in Santa Ana and then Ruvenco in Newport Beach.

"I learned from my father, to set a goal and not to give up.  I used his strength of character in doing my family research, and experienced an indescribable excitement, like no other feeling, a joy, a complete joy in discovering the records of my ancestors."

Other surnames on Rodolfo Zamor's pedigree are: Ortega, Lopez, Cortez, Montalvo, De la 
Cruz, Mata, Cardenas.

Compiled by Mimi Lozano (c) 1992, member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research.

CUENTOS

COTTON PICKING LABOR DAY
By
 Margarita B. Velez

             The aroma of grilling hamburgers filled the air, and I remembered another Labor Day when I learned the real meaning of labor.

            Money was scarce, and my brothers and I wanted to earn some cash before summer ended.  A cotton field at the end of Hammet Street was ready for picking, and presented a perfect job opportunity.  We were not deterred by Mama’s description of the harsh work.

            Very early in the morning Mama packed our lunch, and we joined the other people walking to the field.  The foreman eyed us with hesitation, but handed over a canvas sack to fill with the white puffy stuff topping the green plants.

            We watched as experienced cotton pickers pulled the cotton from the boll, and moved quickly down the row.  Then we began picking.  My first attempt was successful, but a prickly boll stabbed my hand. Stray dry branches scratched my legs, and my allergies flared up with the dust.  My brothers followed behind, and grumbled as we plucked the fluffy cotton from the plants.  The sun rose higher as the bag slowly filled up.

My back began to ache; my fingers throbbed, and my brothers complained about the labor.  But we were determined to finish the job.

            Finally, we dragged the full bag to be emptied, and were disappointed that it weighed so little.

            Returning to the field, we pulled the cotton from the dry bolls as the sun beat down on us.  One of our companions sang a mournful love song, and then someone else started singing, “Ay que laureles tan verdes” As we joined in the feisty song we found renewed energy.

            At lunchtime, we sat with the other workers under the truck’s shadow, and pulled out our sack lunch.  Mama’s tortillas filled with chorizo and eggs never tasted so good.

            When the foreman flirted with me, I gave him one of Mama’s tacos.  That prompted a burley picker to say, “Now you can get away with stuffing rocks in the cotton.”

            My hands were bleeding, and the picking was slow, so I cheated a little.  The rock fit in my hand, and I figured it wouldn’t be noticeable when the bag was emptied.  My brothers were scared when we approached the truck to empty the bag.  Chebo’s face was flushed, and he stammered, “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

            I watched the needle climb when the bag was hung on the weighing hook.  The fruit of my labor spilled, and the rock never appeared. 

As I returned to work, my mouth was dry as cotton.  The rest of the afternoon I feared the foreman would come to chase me off the field.  The next bag was free of rocks; the extra weight wasn’t worth the guilty experience. 

            By the time the field was cleared; our backs ached, and our hands were swollen.  My brother’s face was streaked with sweat and dust.  His green eyes flashed when he promised, “I’m never going to do this again.  I’m going to college so I’ll never have to work in a field.”

            At home; we bathed off the dirt and sweat, and rested.  Mama rubbed “Pomada de la Campana,” a soothing salve on our injured hands.

            The next day was the first day of my freshman year in high school; and as I walked with my friend Tara, she asked what I’d done on Labor Day.  I stuck out my swollen hands, and told her how my brothers and I earned a few dollars picking cotton.

“I guess my hands are hurting so much because I cheated,” I said confessing my crime.

That Labor Day lives in my memory as a reminder of how hard some folks still have to work to earn a living.  Whenever I wear a cotton garment, I’m thankful for a September day was the only time I labored in a cotton field.

September 1997

ON THE RUN by Ben Romero

Every kid likes to run. It comes natural. But running is better when it is done by choice.
During the summer, my father used to wake my brother and me before leaving for work at 5:00 a.m. He hated laziness and knew that if we didn’t get up early when we were on vacation from school, we’d end up sleeping until nine or ten. The purpose of getting us up, he told us, was so that we could run a couple of laps around our property for health reasons. It was supposed to get the blood circulating in our legs and promote growth. Since Mom was already up, she would cook breakfast for us while we were running, and we would get an early start on the list of chores Dad left for us. That way, by the time the heat of the day was upon us, we could take time to go to the irrigation ditch for a swim or sit in the shade and play cards.

My cousin, Michael often stayed with us during the summer. He hated getting up early, but made a contest out of everything. Being a couple years older than me, he’d let me take a shortcut and try to beat me back to the house. As I ran, I’d look over my shoulder and see Michael and my brother straining to overtake me, their hair flowing, faces distorted with effort. It was during these times that I let my imagination take over. In my mind, we were jockeys on swift horses headed for the finish line. My legs were my horse, and I galloped with all my might to win. Sometimes I did. Other times I lost, and I often found myself practicing in secret so that I could win more often. I wished I had the stamina of a horse.
One afternoon, after supper, as we sat outside enjoying the cool breeze that comes with the waning daylight of New Mexico summers, I asked my father why horses can run so fast and far without seeming to tire.

“Porque no tienen hiel (because they don‘t have gall),” he responded. I took this to mean that horses do not have a gall bladder. At the age of eight, Father to me was the pinnacle of wisdom. I pressed with more questions. I asked if horses never got tired at all. He said they don‘t get tired the same way people do and they’ll continue to run for their rider until they drop dead. It is their heart that will eventually get overworked and finally stop beating. That is why a horse should never be pushed too hard.

All this talk about horses was fascinating. It didn’t help me run faster, but it made me understand that I’d never be as fast as a horse.

One day my parents told us to get ready to go to town to visit Grandma. She’d been in the hospital recovering from surgery and finally got released. Mom said Grandma had a surprise she wanted to show us. She looked thin and pale, but Grandma’s toothless smile showed she was genuinely happy to see us. Her iron-tight hugs felt as strong as ever. None of us mentioned the surprise, but the suspense was killing me.

After the customary coffee, the sweet bread, the small talk surrounding a large display of get-well flowers, discussion of the surgery finally began. And then Grandma opened a cabinet and produced a dark bottle and spread some newspaper on the table so she could show us the contents. It looked like little green rocks, some were sharper than others. Mom said they were Grandma’s gall stones.

Huh? I looked at Dad. “Where did they get them and how did they take them out?” I demanded to know.  “Le sacaron la hiel (they removed her gall bladder).”
The thought took a few seconds to register. But then I saw my grandmother in a whole new light.  “Wow, Grandma! That means you can run all day like a horse without getting tired.”
 
Ben Romero
Author of Chicken Beaks Book Series
559-301-1545  http://www.benromero.com 

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

September 5th
9:30- 11:30 a.m.

"How to Start Your Family History"
FREE 

Orange County Multi-Regional Family History Center
674 S. Yorba
Orange, CA 

If you have been wanting to start your family research,  this is a good time to start. SHHAR meetings are free and open to the public.  We are a self-group. We meet and share our findings.  We do not collect dues.  Membership is simply asking to be notified of meetings.

For the first hour, the following members will share information about their research involvements.   The 2nd hour, attendees will to get small group, or one-on-one help. 

Thomas Saenz, will share the very helpful and useful results he has achieved in finding and corresponding with relatives with similar interest in genealogy and family history. 
He will also share the value of finding relatives (direct and indirect lineage) who have had a major part in history.  

Crispin Rendon, will explain how the SHHAR networking database works, and the kind of assistance that he frequently is able to give to email requests for help.  He will share information on his personal PAF database of 169,500 records (primarily Mexico), which includes family connections to many SHHAR members.  

Crispin has written and published on the web articles about the Y-DNA and mtDNA of a founding family of Northern Mexico.  He has also published a Descendants of Diego Trevino and Beatriz Quintanilla book that is being distributed to attendees of the 30th Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference next month. 

• A Mexican-American Family of California: In the Service of Three Flags (2003)
• Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following Paper Trail to Mexico (2002)
• Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts, Volume 1 (2006)
• Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts, Volume 2 (2006)
• Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts, Volume 3 (2006)
• Naturalizations of Mexican Americans: Extracts, Volume 4 (2007)
• The Dominguez Family: A Mexican-American Journey (2004)
• The Indigenous Roots of a Mexican-American Family (2004)
• The Journey to Latino Political Representation (2007)

Cuba, after the revolution
The OC Register is looking for native Cubans to interview
Do you know anyone?

Iola Gallardo
December 23, 1926 - - August 6, 2009

MIND READY FOUNDATION
http://www.mindready.org/

Obituary: Iola Gallardo, First Fullerton Hispanic Female Police Officer 
December 23, 1926 - August 6, 2009

WESTMINSTER THROUGH THE YEARS

The settlers who founded the temperance colony of Westminster in 1870 were not the first to come to the coastal plain. The earliest settlers were the Oak Grove people who occupied the land over 8,000 years ago and stayed until the climate became too dry and vegetation dwindled. The area remained uninhabited until the Gabrieleno Indians moved in from the desert to this area and numbered over 200,000. Diseases such as measles, smallpox and diphtheria reduced the Indian population.

The next recorded history of the North Orange County area dates to 1492, when Pope Alexander IV decreed that all unclaimed land in the North American continent belonged to the King of Spain. Large land grants called ranchos were awarded by the King to induce colonization of the continent.

The Spaniards cleared, surveyed and mapped their new land. In 1784 the Spanish Governor of California honored Manuel Nieto with a 21 mile square concession of land to be called the Rancho Las Bolsas. It covered most of what we know today as west Orange County. The Rancho prospered with large crops and fine herds, however, after Nieto’s death in 1804 his heirs quarreled and the Rancho was partitioned in1834.

During the 1850’s with California’s admission to the Union, the U.S. Land Commission was set up to review claims that rose from original Spanish land grants. An American named Abel Stearns saw this as an opportunity to buy up shares from the disputing factions of the Rancho Las Bolsas. With the Commission’s acceptance, Stearns became the sole owner of the rancho changing the name to Stearns Rancho.

FIRST DECADE OF THE WESTMINSTER COLONY

Westminster was the second colony in Orange County to be deliberately founded, but in contrast to the first which was Anaheim, Westminster was not founded by any one ethnic group nor did it center on one product economy.

Westminster was founded as a temperance colony by the Presbyterian Reverend, Lemuel P. Webber in 1870 upon his purchase of some 6,000 acres of the Stearns Rancho. Fulfilling his dream, he invited those people with like ideas in religion and morals to locate on individual 40 acre farms in his new colony. The town was named for the Westminster Assembly of 1643 which prescribed the basic tenets of the Presbyterian Church. John Y Anderson, a native of Virginia was the first man to respond to the Reverend’s invitation. Anderson took up residence on the corner of what we know as Westminster Boulevard and Monroe Street.

In 1872, the town’s first schoolhouse was built after a tax was levied which raised over $3,000 for the project. School started that August with 13 students.

In the spirit of cooperation, the township soon realized it had to make supplies more readily available for all to share. In 1874, the township opened the first “general store” beginning the first business district on Almond Avenue, which today is known as Westminster Boulevard.

At the end of 1874, the colony had 225 inhabitants, 62 families, and 52 farms.Acreage prices started at $13 rose to $20 and $30 per acre in 1875.

Soon, 1,800 additional acres were needed and added to the northern part of the colony. The first community newspaper, the Tribune, was started in 1878.

The district was surrounded with wild Spanish cattle, hogs, and horses. Meat was sold through a butcher for 9 cents per pound. Horses were rounded up and domesticated for riding and for work.

At the close of the first decade three churches were free of debt, testifying to the character of the towns people. An additional two general stores had been opened, two blacksmiths, a wagon shop, a harness shop, a milliner, and a shoemaker. A sorghum mill and two creameries set the scene for future industry and the self-sufficiency of Westminster.

THE 1880’s: The second decade was one of continuing development. This agricultural community had overcome swamps and tulles and a rainy season that flooded the region due to the lack of any drainage system. The Drainage Act of 1881 turned thousands of acres into productive soil and opened the most thriving celery fields in the world.

The Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads brought settlers from the Missouri River to the west coast for $15.00 and during the price wars the cost went to $1.00. Railroad travel marked a population and a land boom in all of Southern California. Before that, pioneering families could only arrive by ship which passed through the Panama Canal or overland in wagons through the hot desert.

Oxen teams hauled harvested crops from Irvine Ranch to Anaheim Landing and returned inland with lumber for Westminster’s growth. The 1880’s closed with the secession of the southern part of Los Angeles County which was to become Orange County.

THE 1890’s: Dairy farming was the principle source of income for many ranchers. These ranchers cooperatively built creameries which provided more jobs and eventually led to their products being exported. Peatland was yielding 12,000 bunches of celery per acre and trade went on.  Early settlers had pledged not to grow grapes, but outside influences modified tradition, and soon grapes began to flourish and the first saloon was then opened.

THE 1900’s: Westminster was growing. The colony continued to gain the reputation as the finest dairying center in the country. Chinese were brought in from Los Angeles and San Francisco along with some Japanese and Mexicans to farm the rich productive soil.

The first library was set up in the newly built Odd Fellows Hall in 1900. The first telephone was installed for the Wells Fargo mail agent, J.F. Patterson, who also became the agent for Southern Pacific Railroad when the line reached Westminster in 1902. The “Plaza Association” was organized to develop Sigler Park and also to provide awards to those citizens who caught chicken thieves. The Westminster Chamber of Commerce was formed to promote the town’s business.

THE 1910’s: With the Southern Pacific Railroad coming through Westminster, 1,500 to 2,700 carloads of celery were being shipped to eastern markets. Two large sugar factories, located within eight miles of the town, provided a convenient market for sugar beet growers. Land prices were rising with some acreage selling for $500 per acre.

During the 1910's the artesian wells were allowed to fill ponds, making the area into a well known sportsman’s paradise. Gun clubs dotted the marsh land along Bolsa Road. In 1913, the Westminster Gun Club bagged 8,633 ducks. At seasons end, the wells were capped, water drained off, and cattle returned to the pastures.

THE 1920’s: Westminster was known as a quiet village – an area primarily of scattered farms. It was one of the most ideal communities in which to raise a good family. It had the best schools and the finest church facilities in the local area.

1924 saw the Midway City subdivision and in 1927 Barber City was begun. The world’s largest goldfish farm moved into the area where the Westminster Mall stands today. The Westminster Gazette newspaper was established, and at the same time the original Green Kat Tavern was built. It was ironic that this community, first established as a temperance colony, should have a tavern as its landmark just a few decades later.

THE 1930’s: With the building activities of the late twenties, it seemed that Westminster might grow and become more than just a farming community in the thirties, but major events altered the growth. In the spirit of cooperation, the “Association of the Unemployed” was started during the depression years, assisting in securing food for the area. Then on March 10, 1933, a devastating earthquake damaged much of the city and all of its brick buildings. The 17th Street Hoover School had to be rebuilt by SPA and was opened again in 1935.

Additionally, in 1938, Southern California was struck by a severe flood. Fortunately, it bypassed Westminster proper but left washes and debris across roads, which disrupted access to the town for months.

THE 1940’s: As the forties began, one could view orange groves, lima beans, and sugar beet fields which surrounded the few businesses in downtown Westminster. By 1942, the population had reached 2,500. However, World War II brought several more changes which again effected the development growth of Westminster. Young men left the area to join the armed forces, and the Japanese, nearly all of them farmers, were moved out of Orange County. Defense workers from the Midwest settled in Westminster and joined their fellow neighbors working at local shipyards and aircraft factories, which were located nearby.

At the end of the war, many servicemen who enjoyed the Southern California climate decided to stay. Huge housing tracts grew in areas surrounding Westminster, but the agriculture remained untouched by this population boom, and sheep herders were able to keep their paths open through Westminster.

During these trying times, Westminster was part of the first desegregation case in the United States. A Federal judge denounced segregation in public schools, and integration came to most of California schools.

THE 1950’s: Recovering from the earthquake, the flood, and World War II, Westminster found itself growing once again. Land developers became interested in acquiring local farms. Eventually, new tracts were built, and in 1956, the population was recorded at 10,755.

In March of 1957, proceedings began to form a municipality called the Tri City. However, when Midway City withdrew from the venture a spiritual contest resulted. The voters finally chose to incorporate by a vote of 1,096 to 1,008, and it was also decided to retain the historical name of Westminster. The first permanent City Hall was located in the Hoover Schoolhouse.

September 10, 1959, Westminster High School became a reality. It was at that time, the most modern and up-to-date school in the county. Deriving its name and tradition from the English Westminster Abbey, the mascot became the lion, and the colors of the Royal Guard, red, black and white, were used.

THE 1960’s: In the 1960’s the population quadrupled. The number of schools grew from 3 in the fifties to 22 at the end of the sixties. Freeways were completed that linked Westminster with the Southland Freeway system.

In August of 1968, the city moved its base of operations from the condemned Hoover Schoolhouse to the new municipal facilities which, in keeping with tradition, followed the English theme. The Tower of Westminster, California, was built in the center of the square of brick civic buildings.

THE 1970’s: The 1970’s found a thriving community concerned with the original cooperation spirit the townspeople showed throughout the years. Most vacant land had been developed in residential zones and new construction was replacing some of the older dwellings. Two libraries situated in storefront buildings were accommodated by one new facility. The Historical Society, joining with the City Council restored and resettled the 1874 McCoy-Hare House in Heritage Park as a reminder of the early days.

In addition, the 1970’s were a prosperous decade for commerce. The Westminster Mall, a prestigious new shopping center, was built, housing 180 shops. Further construction of municipal buildings included an administration building and a senior citizens facility. New fire department buildings were being considered along with renovation of the civic auditorium. Street improvements and other capital outlay for the city continued with the same positive outlook held by the early day pioneers. This cooperative spirit, purpose and determination became the earmark of our city, Westminster.

THE 1980’s: The 1980’s saw population growth as Southeast Asian refugees, fleeing from the conflict in their homelands, relocated to this area. Over 500 businesses opened in the Bolsa Avenue area. The construction and development of Southeast Asian businesses, restaurants, and professional services is not only adding to the commercial base, also becoming a tourist attraction. The development of this area and the twenty-five-acre shopping center at Beach and Heil streets will add to the revenues needed to operate a still-growing city. Westminster now has an assessed valuation of over $2 billion, which reflects a 34.5 percent increase in a one-year period.

The growth of Westminster Colony in the 130 years since Rev. Webber chose this area will continue as will the spirit of cooperation and purpose demonstrated throughout the time Westminster grew into today’s thriving city of 73,500.

THE 1990’S: The 1990’s were a time of challenge, celebration, change and crisis for the city of Westminster.

There were many changes in land use during this period. The Warne family ranch at Bolsa and Bushard, that had held to its agricultural use from the early 1900’s, became a part of the Westminster “Little Saigon” area with the development of markets, retail stores, and professional offices. The Warne family farmhouse and big red barn (circa 1915) were relocated to Blakey Historical Park at 8612 Westminster Boulevard by the Westminster Historical Society. The Westminster Museum and the McCoy Hare House have also been moved to the two-acre parcel donated by Leaora Blakey.

The historic Westminster Auditorium, built in 1940 as a WPA project by the Westminster School District at Westminster Boulevard and Hoover, was demolished to become the site for a three-story assisted care facility in 1996. Under city municipal ownership, the auditorium had served as the Westminster Cultural Center for the past twenty years. Plans to construct a cultural center on City municipal-owned property east of the Civic Center are progressing slowly. The Community Services Center and the Senior Center are being used at this time for community events.

The Highway-39 Drive-in Theater (the last drive-in in Orange County), built in 1955, was redeveloped recently into a shopping center. With Wal-Mart as the anchor for this center, it boosts the sales-tax revenue for Westminster. Westminster Center at Goldenwest was redeveloped, as well as the Westminster Mall.

Amid political upheaval, fire services, that had been provided by Westminster Fire Department since incorporation in 1957 were transferred to the Orange County Fire Authority. The three local fire stations remain as part of the system. There were many celebrations during the 1990s. Westminster had a gala party to mark forty years of incorporation in 1997. The Blessed Sacrament Church celebrated fifty years, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church marked 125 years in the community. The Midway City Sanitary District, founded in 1939, marked the occasion by hosting an open house at the new office building at Cedarwood and Hazard. The district provides sewer and trash service and boasts the lowest rates in the country at this time. City Hall Administration buildings were remodeled during the 1990’s.

Westminster was named “All-America City” in 1996 by the National Civic League for civic accomplishments, made possible by the cooperative efforts of business, government, the volunteer sector, and other individuals. Projects recognized by this award included: Project SHUE (Safety, Health, Understanding, and Education), an intergenerational after-school program at the Senior Center for six-to-nine-year old Vietnamese and Hispanic “at risk” children; the anti-gang program TARGET (first of its kind in the nation), which teamed Police, Probation, and District Attorney working together daily in an office at the police station; and the Community Collaborative, which grouped leaders from city and county working to provide a total range of services. The spirit of cooperation that marked the early years of Westminster Colony continues to thrive in the Westminster of the 1990’s.

Crisis hit the community in September 1998, when the 5,000,000-gallon water-storage tank on Hefley Street ruptured, flooding the adjoining fire station and forty-nine Hefley Square Townhouses. There was no loss of life, but damage to homes was extensive. Nearly a year later, eleven of the homes were still being rebuilt or repaired. The fire station was damaged but is back in service. City employees, the Orange County Fire Authority, neighboring fire services and the Red Cross were on-site for days assessing the damage and assisting residents. Water storage for the city was non-existent as the twin storage tank was emptied while the cause of the tank failure was determined.

In 1999, Westminster was a city of 86,500 with an assessed valuation that is over $3.5 billion. Westminster School District has an enrollment of 9,817 in grades K through 8. Boos School and Midway City School closed during the 1990’s and the campus now houses single family homes.

THE 2000’s: The turn of the century and early years of 2000 found continued growth and improvement in Westminster. Design and completion of two 8million gallon state of the art water tanks at Hoover and Hazard Avenues assures an adequate water supply. In the Civic Center area, Sid Goldstein Memorial Park was dedicated. An important part of the park is the Vietnam War Memorial which is a tribute to all who served in that arena.

Coastline Community College now serves the community at its satellite campus located adjacent to the Westminster Rose Center, which includes a 411 seat theater and convention/banquet center for community events and programs. The Westminster Rose Center, Coastline College Educational buildings and Sid Goldstein Freedom Park joined the Civic Center City Buildings, Senior Center, the Orange County Courthouse, and the Orange County Library to create a focal point for Westminster that provide services for the residents of the community.

Residential and commercial growth continue as the assessed valuation has reached $5,186,876,215 and a population in 2005 that is 92,000 and growing.

Copyright © 2000 - 2009 City of Westminster, CA 

Sent by Ricardo Valverde
West13Rifa@aol.com

LOS ANGELES, CA

Reflections of Mrs. Wagstaff by Eddie Martinez
El Movimiento, Chicano Identity and Beyond as seen through the lens of Oscar Castillo
          Touching on history of Con Safos magazine by Gilbert Lujan
Thomas A. Saenz, Named MALDEF President And General Counsel
Obituary: Armando R. Cid
Obituary: Mario Fernando Vazquez
Downtown Long Beach Inaugural Latin American Parade & Festival
Semillas Community Schools First International Baccalaureate 
1st Long Beach Latin-American Parade and Festival

There was a rather large turnout of Willowbrook alumni at the memorial for Mrs. Wagstaff considering that she had left Willowbrook Junior High School 57 years ago. Attending were Willowbrook’s alumni and faculty from California State University, Los Angeles, where Dr. Marian Wagstaff taught Secondary Education and was Chairman of that department from 1952 until her retirement in 1976.  

The master of ceremonies for the memorial service was Harold Barnes, an alumnus of Willowbrook.  Speakers were Dr. Mary Falvey, Dean of the Charter College of Education and Adrian Dove, class of 1950, who gave us a historical journey of Mrs. Wagstaff’s experiences, “… her embrace of multiculturalism preceded Brown vs. Board of Education of 1954.” Then Josephine Martin spoke of her memories as Dr. Marian Wagstaff’s personal secretary.  At the end Robert Mallory spoke on behalf of his wife and himself as the Boulder Creek caretakers of Dr. Marian Wagstaff for 25 years until her death on April 26, 2009.  

In 1951 and 1952, the Wagstaff Way was responsible for Willowbrook Jr. High School receiving the Freedoms Foundation Award in Valley Forge, Pa., in recognition of teaching what the foundation called the American Way of Life.  Before the civil rights movement she saw no color and the students followed suit.  Most of the students at Willowbrook were minorities.  She was the first female principal of a school in the state.  She was also the first person to hire the first black teacher at Willowbrook.  She ran the junior high school like a high school in that there were many extra curricular programs offered to the students.  Many of the students went on to professional careers in medicine, sports, science, visual and performing arts, law, and education.  She never forgot her students and kept in touch with many of them, and they kept in touch with her until the very end.

When I spoke at the podium I talked about the importance of Mrs. Wagstaff’s project, ANYTOWN USA.  Her idea was to bring together young people of different ethnic backgrounds to a wooded campground far from city life. In 1951, Latino students were bussed in from the east side, Anglo students from the west side, Asian students from the south side, and African American students from the inner city of Los Angeles, where we all came together in Idyllwild.  In the beginning everyone seemed to be uncomfortable meeting strangers and remained separated. As the week passed, we were all soon making friends and sharing the many fun activities that included sports, singing, and story telling by the campfire. On the final day of camp, there was a lot of hugging and tearful goodbyes and the exchanging of phone numbers with the promises of reuniting next summer at ANYTOWN USA, which most of us did.    

In 1972, Mrs. Wagstaff and I were reacquainted after 20 years. She read a bulletin posted at Cal State LA where my name appeared as a portrait artist working for Walt Disney Studio and she contacted me there.  In 1975, she attended my art show entitled, Encanto en México at the Goez Art Studio & Gallery in East Los Angeles.  She expressed pride in my artwork on Mexico’s cultures and my Latino heritage.  

The last time I spoke with Mrs. Wagstaff was sometime in the late 1990’s, while I was visiting my fellow Willowbrook classmate, Wally Palmer.  The phone rang, it was Mrs. Wagstaff calling to say hello to both of us.  In our conversation, I told Mrs. Wagstaff that I remember what she had once told me, “Aim for the stars, you may not make it, but when you look around, you may get dizzy!” She responded, “You remembered that?”  I said, “I’ve never forgotten.”  

Below is a portrait I painted of her. The abstract background of green foliage is symbolic of the environment of her home in Boulder Creek, California.  On June 9, 1995, in a letter from her, Mrs. Wagstaff poetically finished with, “Our redwood trees and the surrounding natural habitat remain in a tranquil state.” 

El Movimiento,
Chicano Identity and Beyond through the lens of Oscar Castillo

Dear Mimi
I have included two new statements which are part of Oscar Castillo's upcoming Photography exhibit in Los Angeles (as is shown below !!).

The idea of homegrown Chicano Arte was absent and most only accepted or understood the famous big three Mexican painters: Diego Rivera, David Siquieiros and Jose Orozco.
So since the purpose of Con Safos was to expose and validate our Chicano experiences, it was mandatory to show how Ranflas ( custom Low  Riders ) represented a community folk Art form,  Cruising was also considered a kinetic 'Performance Art' parade of showboats as another low-rider tradition. 

The Low Rider a 1947 Chevy sedan owned by Mickey Lorenzano, from Wilmington was a sculptural emblem and jewel as folk art, The intent of the centerfold was meant to celebrate and claim validation of this Art form.

I asked Oscar to photograph this cultural vehicle at a 3/4' angle for the most advantageous view and he caught this great neighborhood ambiance and excellente carrito.
Thank you, Oscar

Los Four Artists
1974 Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Thomas A. Saenz, Counsel To Los Angeles Mayor, Named MALDEF President And General Counsel

Mario Fernando Vazquez
Attorney, Union and peace Activist
November 25, 1946-July 10, 2009

Bringing the Circle Together: 
A Native American Film Series is a FREE monthly film

CALIFORNIA

1st Long Beach Latin-American Parade and Festival